Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 184 Attack on all fronts!

As soon as Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, no official in the crowded and narrow Yulin County Government Office stood up to respond.

Because the current situation is more or less helpless for the Ming Dynasty.

Economic blockade was the most effective way for the Ming Dynasty to control the Mongolian tribes outside the Great Wall.

But now, because of the internal traitors colluding with the enemy, if the economic blockade fails to work, it means that the Ming Dynasty will be helpless against the little prince's military actions.

Because in the vast desert, the Ming army could not be sure where the little prince would fight the decisive battle with the Mongolian right wing.

This is not the 21st century. There are no convenient means of communication. Even if the Ming Dynasty wants to stop the little prince from unifying Mongolia and rescue the Mongolian right wing, I am afraid that the little prince will have destroyed the Mongolian right wing before the Ming Dynasty reinforcements find the little prince.

The Central Plains dynasty sometimes found itself in an awkward situation, because the nomadic cavalry was so mobile and flexible that it was difficult for the Central Plains dynasty to completely annihilate the nomadic peoples even if it had a strong national strength. Sometimes, in order to save the people's strength, it had to take a defensive stance and could only wait for the nomadic peoples to harass it before engaging in battle. Even if it did, it could only repel them at best! It was difficult to achieve the goal of pursuing and annihilating the nomadic peoples and maintaining peace forever.

Now, the Ming Dynasty has once again fallen into this embarrassing situation.

The little prince did not choose to become an enemy of the Ming Dynasty just because Zhu Houzhao had his son Urusborot tortured to death. Instead, he continued to implement his strategy of unifying Mongolia first.

The Ming Dynasty could either choose to take the initiative and expend national strength to rescue the Mongolian right wing and prevent the little prince from unifying Mongolia. However, if it did so, it might get lost and return empty-handed. It was also possible that the war between the little prince and the Mongolian right wing would end before the Ming Dynasty could rescue them.

Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty could only watch from the sidelines as the little prince unified Mongolia and then became even bigger, posing a greater threat to the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Moreover, there is another problem facing the Ming Dynasty Zhengde Emperor Zhu Houzhao, that is, Zhu Houzhao has just conferred three royal titles on the Mongolian tribes and asked them to submit to the Ming Dynasty.

but now.

Among these three Mongolian tribes that had just been granted the title of king and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, two were about to be eliminated by the little prince, and one directly rebelled and surrendered to the little prince, and colluded with the little prince to eliminate the other two Mongolian tribes that had already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty.

If the Ming Dynasty turns a blind eye to this, it will have a negative impact on the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty.

This also means that in the future other Mongolian tribes will think that it is meaningless to submit to the Ming Dynasty, because even if they submit to the Ming Dynasty, other tribes can still attack them unscrupulously, and the Ming Dynasty will be helpless and will not rescue them, so they will despise the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, if the Ming Dynasty sat back and watched the Chahar tribe first submit to the Ming Dynasty and then betrayed the Ming Dynasty and colluded with the little prince without taking any action, it would also damage the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, and the Mongolian tribes that would submit to the Ming Dynasty in the future would betray the Ming Dynasty without scruples.

Historically, this is how the story unfolded. After the rise of the Later Jin Dynasty, although Altan had been crowned king by the Ming Dynasty, the Mongolian tribes still betrayed the Ming Dynasty one after another and became running dogs of the Qing Dynasty.

It can be seen that if the Ming Dynasty turns a blind eye to the little prince and the Chahar tribe's behavior of trampling on its dignity, there will be serious consequences.

Cabinet Chief Minister Jiao Fang, Imperial Household Department Chief Liu Jin, and other officials present were aware of this, but they did not dare to advise Zhu Houzhao to send Ming troops to rescue, because this would likely waste money and food without any results, and the person who proposed sending troops to rescue the Mongolian right wing would likely be blamed for it.

Zhu Houzhao himself knew that now was the time for him to face a choice, a choice of whether or not to maintain the external majesty of the Ming Dynasty. If he wanted to maintain this majesty, he had to be prepared to spend money and food, or even return empty-handed or even be defeated.

In fact, this decision could only be made by Zhu Houzhao himself.

When Zhu Houzhao saw that no one answered, he became more certain that this matter was just as Qiu Yue said, and only he, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, could make a new decision.

The dry wood was burning fiercely in the winter night, and from time to time it made a crackling sound, stirring up some dust. When the dust settled, the entire Yulin County Government returned to silence.

Zhu Houzhao stood up and stepped on the charcoal that had splashed onto the ground. The charcoal still had sparks, but in the blink of an eye, it was crushed into a stain by Zhu Houzhao's thick shoes. He couldn't help but say:
"The little prince guessed that the Ming Dynasty dared not attack the desert easily, and did not care about the dignity of the Ming Dynasty. He only thought that the grassland was the world of the Yuan people! But I don't want to do what he wants. The dignity of the Ming Dynasty is sacred and inviolable!
If the little prince dares to destroy the tribes that have submitted to the Ming Dynasty, I will dare to destroy him, even if it consumes national strength! National strength can be restored! But the dignity of the Han Dynasty cannot be desecrated, and the prestige of the Ming Dynasty cannot be limited to the walls! Moreover, I will not do anything to gain fame and suffer losses! "

As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao looked at the Cabinet Chief Minister Jiao Fang and the Chief Seal of the Imperial Household Department Liu Jin:

"Draft an order! Order all the border towns of the Ming Dynasty to send their cavalry out into the desert! Harass the little prince's rear, and kill any cavalry they encounter! Loot any herdsmen they encounter! Burn any tents they encounter! Steal any horses and sheep they encounter! Attack first!
The goal is not to annihilate the enemy, but to rob the enemy of their property as the achievement. If the main force of the little prince's troops withdraws, then quickly withdraw back to the interior!
The purpose of this battle is to disrupt the entire Hetao rear of his little prince! His little prince can plunder the Central Plains, and my cavalry can also plunder the Hetao he now occupies! "After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, the cabinet chief Jiao Fang and others looked at Zhu Houzhao in surprise. They admitted that this was a very effective countermeasure, and it was also the best and most beneficial measure for the Ming Dynasty.

However, Jiao Fang couldn't help thinking, isn't this too shameless and despicable? Instead of engaging in a head-on battle with the enemy's army, they attacked from behind and plundered their rear. This is no different from the Tartars! They have no integrity like the Celestial Empire!

"Your Majesty! This action may be despised by the scholars of the world. The censors will impeach Your Majesty for not dominating the world with the kingly way, but plundering the world with cruelty. They will impeach you for losing the hearts of the people. After all, the Celestial Empire is a country of etiquette. If we go to war, we cannot use such a despicable act," Jiao Fang reminded hurriedly.

Zhu Houzhao was very surprised. Isn't it normal to give someone a tooth for a tooth? Besides, this is the only way now. Can we just sit back and watch the little prince become powerful? Is it necessary to pay attention to the meanness or elegance of the means to deal with the enemy?
But Zhu Houzhao did not ask more questions. He knew that this era was deeply influenced by Confucianism, which emphasized that one should have a legitimate reason for one's actions, and should rule the world with courtesy. Even when dealing with enemies, one should be lenient. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao could understand Jiao Fang's reminder. He also knew that he could not convince these officials who grew up with Confucian education, but he was the emperor and he had the power to make decisions. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao still said firmly:

"Just draft the decree! Impeachment and criticism are their rights! But decision-making is my power. I am the emperor of Ming Dynasty, not them! Moreover, this move will not lose the hearts of the people, but will win their hearts. Since ancient times, people have always been submissive to the strong! The same is true between countries!"

"According to the order!"

The chief minister of the cabinet, Jiao Fang, replied.

At the end of the fourth year of Zhengde and before the New Year of the fifth year of Zhengde, countless messengers began to appear on official roads from Gansu to Xuanhua. The sound of horse hooves echoed in this cold winter. The experienced veterans knew that the court was going to make a big move.

Gansu, Shaanxi, Yansui, Ningxia, and Xuanhua all began to have border troops led by the eunuchs and generals of the various border towns! For a time, the entire Hetao area was full of Ming cavalry, and because the little prince had led all 50,000 cavalry to fight on the right wing of Mongolia, the rear was extremely empty.

Cai Kuan, the governor of Shaanxi, led only 3,000 cavalrymen and set out from Yulinwei. He swept across the entire Hetao area and plundered all the way to the vicinity of Muna Mountain!
Burn any Tatar tents you encounter along the way!

Kill the Tatar cavalry if you meet them!

Catch the herdsmen, slaves, sheep and horses when you meet them!
When the warmth of spring returned in March, the three thousand people brought with them nearly ten thousand herdsmen and slaves, six thousand horses, and no less than ten thousand sheep!
Officers and soldiers from other border towns also made a fortune and rescued many Han people who were looted by the Tatars.

When March came, Ma Wensheng was ordered to send imperial censors to count the looted supplies. He saw that many of the returning border officers and soldiers looked satisfied, and it was obvious that they had tasted women, and each one was much more docile than before.

Moreover, according to the rules, the gold and silver jewelry these border soldiers picked up themselves would be considered theirs. Therefore, the border soldiers who had to rely on rice and bread for many days in the past finally made a fortune this time!

For many officers and soldiers, this time of looting under imperial order was not only a way to make a fortune but also a chance to hold their heads high!
After all, the Ming Dynasty had always been plundered by the Tartars in the past, but now that the roles had changed, the soldiers and civilians in the border towns instantly felt as if they had gotten rid of their anger!

The conflicts between the military and civilians have also eased a lot. After all, the officers and soldiers have become rich and will no longer be too harsh on their own people. Military discipline has also improved a lot.

The border troops were hoping that the emperor would issue another decree allowing them to go out of the border to plunder again.

But this was obviously impossible, because this kind of looting was intolerable to the Confucian gentry. If the Tartars were robbed, how would they make money from the border trade that they secretly controlled?

In the past, the Tartars plundered the wealth of the military and civilians in the border towns, and then bought salt, iron, tea, cloth and other items from merchants with powerful and noble backgrounds. In the end, the powerful and noble were the ones who made the most money.

They even had to support bandits and let them plunder border towns so that they could take advantage of the opportunity to annex land.

Now that many of the Tartars have been robbed and killed, how can they support the invaders and make it easier for themselves to annex land in the future?
Now that the border troops have taken back the money that the Tartars had robbed, the powerful gentry naturally can no longer make money, and their interests will naturally be damaged.

Therefore, there is no doubt that they wanted to stop Zhu Houzhao from encouraging his own military and civilians to plunder abroad, and their reasons for this matter were particularly just, that is, the emperor's allowing the border troops to do so was really against the harmony of heaven, too unpopular, and not what the Celestial Empire should do.

Memorials of advice flew to Datong Prefecture like snowflakes, all of them discussing this matter and using Confucian theories to tell the emperor that the Ming Dynasty should follow the words of the sages and win people over with virtue.

Thanks to the book friend Wanwuwangzuo for the reward of 100 Qidian coins

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(End of this chapter)