Fu Shanhe

Chapter 275: Planning in Progress

"My dear ministers, what do you think of the memorials submitted by the Prince of Lu, the Duke of Yansheng, the Marquis of Wuyang, and a group of officials from Shandong?"

Emperor Yongning's question made all the ministers lower their heads.

From the emperor's perspective, the changes in Shandong were undoubtedly a challenge to imperial power.

In theory, all officials should stand together with the emperor and jointly safeguard imperial power.

However, the situation in Shandong is special, and "common people" is just an excuse on the surface. What is really troublesome are the princes and the Yansheng Duke.

In fact, the vassal kings were not too difficult to deal with.

Since the outbreak of the White Lotus Rebellion, the number of princes who have died has exceeded double digits, and no one cares about adding one more.

Even in the eyes of many officials, it would be best if all these parasites from the royal family were killed off.

It will be troublesome if it involves Duke Yansheng.

Descendants of a sage is not just a title, it also represents the Confucian orthodoxy.

If it fell into the hands of the northern barbarians, it would be a major blow to Dayu politically.

People can temporarily avoid the limelight, but the tomb and temple of Confucius cannot be moved.

If the grassland coalition forces disturb the peace of Confucius, the scholars of the world will be able to send them away with a spit.

Faced with this dilemma, everyone simply turned a deaf and dumb.

Anyway, if you don't express your opinion, you won't make mistakes.

"Why are you all silent?"

"What's the point of the court supporting you?"

……

"Prime Minister, you answer!"

When the emperor called his name, sweat broke out on Wan Junhui's forehead.

On one side is the imperial power, and on the other side is the symbol of Confucian spirit, neither of which can be abandoned.

"Your Majesty, I am incompetent!"

Wan Junhui replied nervously.

It’s not that he lacks responsibility, it’s just that there is no correct answer to this question.

Defending the capital is politically correct, and protecting the Confucian holy land is also politically correct.

Even if a choice really has to be made, it will be done quietly and will not be discussed in the court.

"waste!"

Emperor Yongning cursed without any mercy.

The Prime Minister was a coward, which made him very disappointed.

Shandong is certainly important, but compared with the capital, it is not worth mentioning.

Deep down in his heart, the thought of replacing the Prime Minister flashed through his mind again, but he immediately dismissed it.

This is the fourth prime minister since he ascended the throne, and the average term of office is less than one year.

Wan Junhui was promoted by him personally, and it would be a joke if he didn't even serve the full half-year term.

The Prime Minister chose to play deaf and dumb, and it was naturally impossible for the civil and military officials to step forward at this time.

Everyone remained silent. No matter how unhappy the emperor was, he could not replace them all.

Things came to a stalemate, and officials once again turned to traditional skill mode - put it on hold!
As long as no one responds, no matter what happens, it will be the people below who are making their own decisions.

Even if something goes wrong, it will be the fault of the people below.

If a clear answer is given and the people below carry out the orders of the court, then the responsibility will fall on these decision makers.

……

Outside the capital, the flags of the northern barbarians fluttered in the wind.

“The capital of the Yu Dynasty is heavily guarded, and it will take time to break into the city.

According to information from insiders, enemy reinforcements are coming from all over the place.

In addition to our old rival Liaozhen, which needs close attention, the most important thing to pay attention to is the reinforcements from Guangdong and Guangxi.

The commander in charge of this army was the maternal uncle of the grandson of Emperor Yongning. He had already landed in Shandong, and the total force was said to be 100,000.

Those Guifang people alone would most likely not be a match for this man.

Who among you is willing to lead your troops and take charge of the war in Shandong on behalf of this Chanyu?"

Huugjile asked seriously.

The combat effectiveness of Dayu’s army has always been a mystery.

The powerful ones are really powerful, and the weak ones are really weak.

The powerful troops inside can fight on equal terms with their elite cavalry.

Fortunately, there was a group of people within the Yu Dynasty who were dragging their feet and seriously restricted the performance of the army, otherwise they would have had no chance at all.

"Great Chanyu, please leave this battle to me!
Since I was promoted to the rank of Wan Hu, I have not achieved any achievements that I can show off. It is a good opportunity to cut off the head of Wuyang Hou to make a good start."

Erdun said carelessly.

Where there are interests, there are disputes.

There are also multiple powerful groups within the Tatars.

It was only by relying on Huugjile's prestige that the internal conflicts were suppressed.

In order to better manage the tribe and avoid one family dominating the region, Huugjile divided the tribe into ten groups.

In addition to the three Wanhu that they managed themselves, the remaining seven Wanhu only managed six or seven thousand households.

According to the rules set by Huugjile, one household corresponded to one soldier.

When the father dies, the son inherits; when the elder brother dies, the younger brother inherits.

Someone must be serving in the military to be able to live independently.

If there is no adult male in the family serving in the military, then the family faces the fate of being split up.

Behind the barbarism is actually the desire to better continue the race.

For the Tatar people with backward productivity, it is difficult to survive on the grassland without young and strong families.

According to this model, the total military strength of the Tatar tribe, where every citizen is a soldier, is about 70,000 to 80,000.

In actual operation, there are slight changes.

Young and strong people on the grassland are the productive force, and every Tatar family will give birth to as many children as possible.

It is common for a family to have multiple male children.

In this context, all the Wanhu increased their looting gains and tacitly replenished their military forces.

There is nothing wrong with this kind of militaristic approach as long as you keep winning battles.

Once the army suffers heavy losses, it will not be able to find enough young and strong reinforcements to recover.

As the Great Khan, Huugjil turned a blind eye to these shortcomings.

Adults need to be responsible for their own choices.

Weakening the power of his younger brothers is essentially maintaining his rule.

The Tatar tribe was unified for too short a time, and there are still a large number of other races among them, so the internal centripetal force is not strong.

“Okay, the battle in Shandong is up to you.

I, the Chanyu, have only two requests: beat them hard and rob them hard.

Facing a behemoth like Dayu, it is difficult for us to kill them with one blow.

The best way is to keep bleeding this giant so that they can never recover!"

Huugjile laughed.

In fact, he also took a risk when he entered the country to plunder.

Before the army set out, most people in the tribe were against advancing alone, fearing that Liaozhen would try to switch places with them.

The Dayu family is big and powerful, they can afford the loss, but the Tatars cannot.

If there really were tens of thousands of Yu Dynasty cavalrymen charging into their rear where their troops were scarce, their entire clan might be wiped out.

Fortunately, his plan was successful, and he spent a lot of money on public relations, which influenced the decision-making of the Dayu court.

In this life-and-death struggle, the enemy made a series of wrong decisions.

……

Dengzhou Prefecture. A large group of soldiers set out from the dock, marching in neat steps to the front line in an orderly manner.

As the commander-in-chief of the army, Marquis Wuyang's face turned completely black.

The imperial court has been slow to give an answer, and anyone who has worked in government knows that this is a disguised way of passing the buck.

If the capital fell, he would definitely be a historical sinner.

Those writers who hold the pen will unceremoniously throw the blame onto this unfortunate guy.

If an accident happens in Shandong, or if something happens to Prince Lu or Duke Yansheng's family, the blame will still be put on him.

On this issue, the identity of a relative by marriage cannot play any role.

The emperor's nephew must be still complaining in his heart about why he had to go to Shandong to land.

If the army sent to support the king had rushed all the way to Tianjin Prefecture without stopping along the way, this incident would not have happened.

He is neither a popular person nor a popular person. This is the real situation of Marquis Wuyang at the moment.

"My Lord, it would be too time-consuming to travel this far. Why don't we go directly to Jinan Prefecture by water?"

Li Mu suggested tentatively.

Knowing that his boss was in a bad mood, he was no longer enthusiastic about the upcoming battle.

But the overall situation must be considered after all.

Having come all the way here, I have to find a chance to show off.

Since the army that is loyal to the king has stayed in Shandong, it must make achievements.

Li Mu had no confidence in defeating the highly mobile enemy head-on.

The easiest military achievement to obtain now is the Battle of Jinan.

"The owner is not in a hurry, so why should we be in a hurry?

If Jinan was really in danger, they would have urged us to set off long ago, and would not have asked us to divide our troops to reinforce multiple locations.

There are many government troops in Shandong, and there are many people who are responsible for defending the territory. There is no need for us to shoulder all the responsibilities!"

Marquis Wuyang decisively refused.

The fact that Shandong government had colluded with Prince of Lu and Duke Yansheng to plot against him still bothered the powerful governor.

Since the safety of the country is involved, he cannot take revenge on a large scale, but it is still possible for him to find an opportunity to vent his resentment.

Rescue must be carried out, but when to do it depends on his mood.

If the rescue operation fails, the worst that can happen is that we just give up and go back to living the life of a parasite.

It is the duty of local officials to guard their territory.

As the commander of the foreign troops, he had sufficient autonomy in the absence of explicit orders from the imperial court.

Compared with the Liaozhen troops who arrived late, he, the governor-general in charge of four provinces, had already given the imperial court a lot of face.

Accountability is non-existent.

Even if we ignore his status as a relative of the emperor, we should also consider the idea of ​​raising an army of 100,000 to support the king.

Liaozhen can negotiate terms with the imperial court, and Marquis Wuyang now also has the capital to negotiate terms with the imperial court.

Now the southern provinces are filled with his old subordinates.

The Dayu Dynasty wanted to quell the White Lotus Rebellion and needed the help of these people.

In this context, the first thing the court needs to do is to maintain stability.

“My Lord, our entire army is heading to Jinan, so some people should be anxious.

No matter what they say then, we will just insist that the army is suffering from acclimatization problems and dysentery in the camp.

When Shandong becomes impatient, we will send out local troops from Shandong to defend the holy temple.

Use them as bait to lure the Northern Tartar cavalry and wait for an opportunity to ambush them."

Li Mu said calmly.

The Northern Tartars wanted to destroy Dayu's military power. After putting out the bait, the fish would definitely come.

The problem was that they had no nets, and facing the enemy's cavalry who could move freely, it was almost impossible for the infantry to ambush them.

Large-scale ambushes are impossible, but small victories on local battlefields are still possible.

The only drawback is that the bait is led all the way in front and the fish will follow.

The army that was originally defending the holy temple is likely to become a guide, leading the enemy all the way to the Kong family's lair.

The name of Duke Yansheng was known throughout the world, and even on the grasslands, he was well-known.

If the Northern Barbarians had ambitions to rule the world, they would definitely not attack them and would even protect them.

However, there are definitely not many Hu people who have such ideas.

The Northern Tartars may seem powerful, but they are still a long way from conquering the world.

Faced with the Yansheng Duke who is as wealthy as a country, even if the Northern Tartar leaders can resist the temptation, the tribes below will not be able to resist taking action.

Although the grassland coalition was mainly composed of northern barbarians, it was essentially an alliance.

There are countless small groups within the alliance.

Even the orders from the Northern Tartar Chanyu would change when they were executed at the lower levels.

“Is it too risky to put out such a big bait?”

Marquis Wuyang asked with concern.

He had no objection to setting traps and entrapping the northern barbarians while striking at Shandong.

The problem is that the bait is thrown too hard, and if the enemy swallows it in one gulp, it will be a big trouble.

Failure to send reinforcements in time has caused the sage to not rest in peace, and the scholars will spit at him indiscriminately.

The Governor of Shandong will certainly be in trouble, and he, as the Governor-General, will probably also be scolded bitterly.

As for the people below, they will at most be mentioned in passing, and will most likely be forgotten.

This is the price you have to pay for being the boss.

“My Lord, there are definitely risks.

But someone has to do this kind of work.

If we don't let them go, then our people will have to go. If we are not careful, the army will suffer heavy losses.

Even if the subsequent plan succeeds, the losses in front of us will overshadow the original glorious military achievements. "

Li Mu continued to deceive.

There are only two ways for the army to gain military merit.

Either defend the city and wait for the enemy to attack.

But it's just hard work.

The grassland coalition forces are not fools. They will not use their own cavalry to attack the city. If they want to fight, they will only use them as cannon fodder.

Even after chopping off a lot of heads, the Ministry of War still suspected that he was trying to take credit for the killing of innocent people.

After all, there are still obvious differences in appearance between the people from the grasslands and those from the interior.

Taking the initiative and luring the enemy to attack is a strategy with both high returns and risks.

"That's it!
As the Art of War says: A general should avoid being soft-hearted and lenient.

For the sake of my country and my people, I will be ruthless for once.

Send someone to tell the Shandong Governor's Office that we will enter Jinan Prefecture by water.

Let them prepare ships in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Most of our ships are seagoing vessels and cannot go deep into the inland rivers. "

Marquis Wuyang gave the order decisively.

A dead Taoist friend is not a poor Taoist.

If you can transfer the risk, there is no need to bear it yourself.

If the plan fails, just pretend nothing happened.

Anyway, he is just a guest soldier, and if he can help defend Jinan, then he has accomplished his mission.

During the local battle, an accident occurred on the way to reinforcement. It was because the Shandong generals themselves were not careful enough.

Theoretically speaking, as long as the infantry formed a military formation, it would be difficult for the cavalry to attack.

If they are armored infantry, they can even confront cavalry head-on in special terrain.

……

(End of this chapter)