Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 136 Dorgon Wants to Lead the Army in Person
"Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. I am just doing my duty!" Although Du Yinxi said this, he still had a smug smile on his face, and then he said:

"Over the past year or so, I have sent people to various prefectures in Huguang to investigate the terrain and study ancient books. In particular, after reviewing the records of the wars from the north to the south, I am even more convinced that Your Majesty's prediction of the next war situation is correct.

The Qing army now controls Xiangyang and the various prefectures of Chengtian. They can build a navy on the Han River and collect grain locally from Huguang. It is indeed very likely that they can attack southward from Huguang. At that time, whether from Yuezhou or Jiujiang, they can break through to the south, especially since Wuchang City is currently in the hands of the Qing army.

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang nodded:

"This is the most difficult thing to deal with. The Qing army has basically taken over the hundreds of thousands of border troops in the north. If Dorgon can guarantee the food and armaments for these troops, most of them will definitely follow the Qing army south without hesitation.

Li Zicheng had previously controlled Xiangyang and southern Henan for several years, and the population and production in these areas had recovered significantly. Even in Shaanxi, where he had only been in control for a year, the situation was similar. The Qing army had sufficient food and manpower to support its main force in the south.

Starting from the 15th year of Chongzhen, the large-scale droughts and locust plagues that had lasted for several years in the northern provinces gradually ended. Except for a few places, most of the northern provinces experienced more than two years of good weather and harvests. This was also the material basis for Dashun to gain a foothold in the Central Plains and grow stronger.

However, due to Li Zicheng's rapid defeat, the Shun army in Shaanxi, Henan, and northern Huguang quickly surrendered to the Qing army, and the production and living order in various places did not suffer a devastating blow.

Now, the political, economic and military legacy left by the short-lived Dashun is being divided up by the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.

As the main force in destroying Shun, the Manchu Qing naturally benefited the most. Not only did it occupy the northern provinces and gain hundreds of thousands of border troops, it also annexed tens of millions of people and a large amount of arable land.

Zhu Cilang took advantage of his status as a time traveler, made arrangements in advance, and incorporated the remaining Shun troops, successfully strengthening his own strength and finally filling the weakest link in the Yangtze River defense line.

Now, as soon as Du Yinxi heard Zhu Cilang's words, he immediately understood what he meant. Among all the ministers in the current court, he had a similar strategic thinking to Zhu Cilang, and was the one who could best understand Zhu Cilang's defensive strategy.

"Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong will most likely not be able to hold out for long. He is not as good at fighting as Li Zicheng. In the past few years, from Nanzhili to Huguang, he has been defeated several times by the troops led by Zuo Liangyu.

Now Chongqing and other parts of southern Sichuan have been gradually recaptured by our army, and Hanzhong is still in the hands of the Qing army. If Dorgon wants to capture Sichuan, he only needs to march south from Hanzhong, break through Baoning, and occupy Chengdu. It will probably only take a few months."

"As long as Chongqing and Guizhou are in my hands, even if Sichuan is temporarily lost, the situation is not too bad. Moreover, the Qing army's first attack will definitely be Huguang. These soldiers who broke into the camp must be trained as soon as possible." Zhu Cilang nodded and then said.

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. Li Guo, Gao Yigong, and another seven battalions of the Chuang army total over 30,000 elite soldiers. If we add Hao Yaoqi and Liu Tichun's troops, as well as the tens of thousands of battalions and militias from Changsha, Yuezhou, and Hengzhou, we will be able to deploy defenses along Yuezhou and Jingzhou, and even wait for an opportunity to launch a counterattack."

Du Yinxi paused after speaking, then changed the subject and asked Zhu Cilang with a clasp of his hands:
"However, if we want to train them according to the standards of Your Majesty's Palace Guard, the money and grain transported from Hunan and Guangdong and Guangxi will probably not be enough."

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang understood what Du Yinxi was thinking and immediately said with a smile:
"The 30,000-plus troops under Li Guo and Gao Yigong's command will be provided with food, money, and military equipment according to the standards of the Left Town Commandery. The same applies to Hao Yaoqi and Liu Tichun's troops. Since the troops of the Chuangying have been divided and governed, there is no need to continue strengthening the standard camps and militia training. However, new recruits should be selected from them and officers should be promoted.

The South lacks veteran soldiers and generals who have experienced many battles. A strong army cannot be trained immediately just by having food and armaments. From now on, Hao Yaoqi and Liu Tichun will be your personal standard battalion. Make good use of them.

The situation in Yunnan is also urgent. We must dispatch a strong army as soon as possible, otherwise Mu Tianbo, Yang Zhiwei and others will not be able to suppress the Tusi rebellion. These areas also need support from Hunan for money and grain. "

After hearing this, Du Yinxi no longer dared to ask Zhu Cilang for more money, food, and weapons to strengthen the military. Now the Ming Dynasty needed troops stationed almost everywhere, either to guard against the Qing army or to suppress bandits and riots. In recent years, the southwest was plagued by constant rebellions by local chieftains.

In such a situation, it is naturally impossible for every troop to meet the standards of the Palace Army, otherwise, the Ming Dynasty's finances will not be able to support it.

Although Zhu Cilang's Palace Army had many institutional structures that were ahead of their time, its training methods were still inherited from the Qi Family Army.

You should know that the size of the Qi Family Army has always been only a few thousand people. Even during the period when Qi Jiguang was guarding Jizhen, the Qi Family Army was only a part of the army, and the rest of the troops were basically the original garrison troops of Jizhen.

The problems of the Palace Army are the same as those of the Qi Family Army. The core of the Qi Family Army has never been the so-called "Mandarin Duck Formation" tactics, nor various training methods, but the treatment of officers and soldiers, as well as a complete set of incentive and management systems. This is the essential difference between it and the traditional Ming Army.

After all, the tactics of the Qi family army have never been mysterious. "Ji Xiao Xin Shu" and "Lian Bing Ji Shi" have always been public and easy to understand, suitable for all ages. Even officers with generally low cultural levels can quickly master them through learning.

But even so, Qi Jiguang's method of training soldiers was taught without reservation, but still few people were able to learn it successfully, and some could not even exert 30% of their strength.

This is partly because although Qi Jiguang improved the art of war, he could not change the military system of the Ming Dynasty. This was a fundamental issue for the country. The military system of the Ming Dynasty relied on its financial system. Without enough money, everything was out of the question.

On the other hand, Qi Jijun's entire military management system and the way he awarded merit would put the control of the army in the hands of the generals. This would make it impossible to guarantee that the military would be controlled by the civil officials, something that the Ming emperor and the civil officials could not accept.

As long as the problems involving the fundamental political system, military system, and financial system cannot be solved, the Qi Family Army can only exist within the Ming system in an alternative way, relying on Qi Jiguang's personal ability and the special care of people like Zhang Juzheng and Tan Lun.

In fact, it was not only Qi Jiguang who had no solution to this problem. Xiong Tingbi and Hong Chengchou in the late Ming Dynasty were also in the same situation. The fundamental reason why the court had no patience with them was that they spent too much money but could not achieve immediate results.

Without institutional changes in the Ming Dynasty, it would have been impossible to sustain this practice for a long time. The Battle of Songjin lasted so long, and in the end the Ming Dynasty was forced to go to war and failed. This was actually the reason.

Zhu Cilang was able to form the "Palace Front Army" because of his status as emperor, and also because the demise of one or two hundred thousand troops in the north greatly reduced the financial pressure on the Dingwu court.

As for the Nanjing Jingying, it actually supported more than 10,000 troops with a total of 60,000 troops, which is why each camp has the current combat capability. The troops of Gao Jie and Huang Degong were the same. They had already completed the separation of combat troops and auxiliary troops.

However, these troops were not organized according to the standards of the Palace Army. The Chuang Army and the Zuozhen Army could only ensure the supply of money, food and armaments according to the standards of the Northern Frontier Army.

However, Zhu Cilang would never be stingy with Du Yinxi and the Huguang army. He would find a way to raise enough money and food to form an army, even if he had to demolish the Forbidden City in Nanjing.

"Zheng Sen is currently training a navy for the Ganbei army in Poyang Lake. He will soon come to Dongting Lake and train a powerful navy in Huguang as well."

"Your Majesty is wise. I was just about to ask you about the formation of the navy. Now the Dongting Lake navy can only transport food and supplies and has no combat power. If this continues, it will be difficult to cooperate with the land army in combat." Du Yinxi bowed and clasped his fists.

After Du Yinxi had basically explained the issues regarding military training and allocation of money and grain, Zhu Cilang immediately asked about He Tengjiao's previous interference in recruiting the rebel army.

He Tengjiao had huge differences with Du Yinxi in this regard. Even the civil servants in northern Jiangxi had huge differences with Du Yinxi in this regard. Zhu Cilang had previously kept Wu Jinxi in Yuezhou because his attitude towards appeasement was relatively pragmatic.

However, Du Yinxi did not exaggerate. He knew that Zhu Cilang had sent the Jinyiwei to keep an eye on Changsha, Yuezhou, and northern Jiangxi. He had no idea how much control the young emperor in front of him had over many things.

Of course, Zhu Cilang asked him these questions at this time not to test his loyalty, but because he was worried that He Tengjiao's attitude towards the remaining troops of the Chuang Army would cause unpredictable battlefield defeat in the subsequent war.

He has never dared to underestimate the destructive power of these civil servants. Now he can only remind Du Yinxi to respond flexibly when necessary.
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Early the next morning, the Ming army outside Jingzhou City began to prepare for the siege, and the soldiers in each camp were busy. Zheng Siwei and Li Qifeng in Jingzhou City looked at the densely packed Ming army outside, which was moving like ants, and felt anxious.

On the third day, in order to avoid the ambush of the Ming army, they made a long detour to the north and finally arrived safely at Tangma of the Qing army in Wuchang City, and reported that Zhu Cilang was leading a large army to join the camp and encircle Jingzhou.

As soon as Tong Yanghe received the military intelligence, he called the two generals Wang Tizhong and Wang Deren to his front, and handed them the report he had just received with a frown.

"Emperor Ming actually led the expedition to Jingzhou in person?" Wang Tizhong and his general Wang Deren screamed in shock at the same time, feeling as unbelievable as Zheng Siwei and Li Qifeng before.

"Li Guo and Gao Yigong still have so many troops under their command, how could they surrender directly? Could it be that the Gao family also died with Li Zicheng at Jiugong Mountain?"

"It's very likely that the rebel army that fled south from Jiugong Mountain surrendered to the Ming court first, and then persuaded Li Guo and Gao Yigong. The two of them gathered too many troops and retreated to a small area, making it difficult to capture Jingzhou City. Food and fodder supplies were a major problem, and they couldn't control such a large army."

After the two of them finished reading the urgent newspaper in astonishment and discussed it with emotion, Tong Yanghe finally spoke slowly:

"Emperor Ming personally led an army of tens of thousands to attack Jingzhou. The defenses of northern Jiangxi and southern Jiangxi must be vulnerable now. This important military information must be reported to the Regent immediately."

"Sir, the Emperor Ming is personally leading a large army to besiege Jingzhou, bringing dozens of cannons with him. I'm afraid Zheng Siwei won't be able to hold out for long. Although Jingzhou City is strong and tall, it can't withstand the continuous bombardment of heavy artillery!" Wang Tizhong said, clasping his hands. "That's right," Wang Deren beside him said immediately.
"The Chuang army lacks heavy artillery and is not good at attacking cities. As long as there is sufficient food and grass in the city, there is no need to worry about how long the siege will last. But the Ming Emperor is different. Zheng Siwei said in the Tangbao that he saw over a hundred artillery pieces, but in reality there should be only forty or fifty."

Wang Tizhong and Wang Deren were both from the Chuang army. They were very clear about the combat effectiveness of the army under Li Guo and Gao Yigong. They also knew that the latter were not good at attacking strongholds and it was almost impossible for them to capture Jingzhou City.

Of course, they also knew that even if they added the more than a thousand Eight Banners troops in Wuchang City, the troops under their command would not be enough to defeat Li Guo and Gao Yigong's army in a field battle.

"If the Ming army really had forty or fifty heavy artillery pieces, it would probably only take them a month or so to capture Jingzhou City, or even less." Tong Yanghe sighed, then added:
"Prince Ying and Prince Yu have both returned north with their armies. Aljin in Xi'an only has about 2,000 cavalrymen. Even if they come to help, it will only be a drop in the bucket. Emperor Ming alone already has an army of tens of thousands."

Wang Tizhong could hear Tong Yanghe's worry. The other party was obviously hinting at him to take action, but he had no confidence at all when facing Li Guo and Gao Yigong, not to mention that Emperor Ming was now leading the army of Zuo Zhen.

Seeing that Wang Tizhong didn't say anything, Tong Yanghe turned his attention to Wang Deren. The latter was shocked and said immediately:
"Sir, I believe that before Prince Ying and Prince Yu lead their troops to support us, we should also take some action. Even if we cannot defeat the Ming army, we must at least slow down their siege."

"The Ming Emperor personally led the army, so those Ming troops must be elite. There are already tens of thousands of elite soldiers in Chuangying. Even if we gather the armies of several prefectures in eastern Hubei, I am afraid we will still be unable to match them." Tong Yanghe sighed again.

He did not want Wang Tizhong and Wang Deren to take the blame, but he knew that if he sent troops directly to rescue, the entire army would be annihilated. This would be a huge blow to the situation in Huguang, and even Wuchang might not be able to be defended in the end.

Tong Yanghe knew very well that after the Ming Emperor won victories in Jiangbei and Ganbei at the same time, the flag of the Ming court had great appeal. Wuchang City was located on the south bank of the Yangtze River. Many soldiers in the city still had the Ming Dynasty in their hearts. He did not dare to relax at all.

Seeing this, Wang Deren asked tentatively, "Sir, since we are just stalling for time and waiting for the imperial army to arrive, perhaps we can use the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao."

"Go attack Yuezhou?" Wang Tizhong understood immediately after hearing this.

"That's right. Emperor Ming has brought all his troops to Jingzhou. Yuezhou's defenses must be weak. Let's attack Yuezhou. As long as we can threaten Changsha, Emperor Ming will definitely withdraw his troops to support us."

"What a great strategy! Besiege Wei to save Zhao!" Tong Yanghe clapped his hands in approval, but he was still very cautious and added:
"But before that, we must send scouts to probe Yuezhou's military situation. The Ming Emperor is very cunning, and this could very well be a trap he has set. We must be careful."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Also, send Tang Ma to deliver a letter to Zheng Siwei, telling him to hold on and defend Jingzhou City to the death." Tong Yanghe said, turning his head to the north and said sternly:

"As long as Zheng Siwei can hold off the Ming army for two or three months, the Regent's reinforcements will surely arrive. By then, neither the Chuang army nor the Ming Emperor will be able to withstand a single blow!"
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At this time, in Prince Rui's mansion in Beijing, Dorgon was seeking opinions from Hong Chengchou on several controversial issues in the court, and he had no idea that Jingzhou City was in danger.

Dorgon's Prince Rui's Palace was first built during the Yongle period. After Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, he planned two royal gardens symmetrically on the east and west sides of the imperial city. The garden on the west side was centered on Taiye Lake and was called the West Garden, and the garden on the east side was called the East Garden. Because the East Garden was located south of Donghuamen, it was also called "Nan Nei" and "Xiao Nancheng".

When Zhu Zhanji came to the throne, he expanded the previous "Xiaonan City", also known as the "Prince's Palace", and built a large number of palace buildings as the place where the "Dragon Rise", and it was known as the "Mingnan Palace".

In the 14th year of Zhengtong, the northern tribe Wala invaded and the "Tumu Incident" broke out. The world-renowned god of war in later generations - Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen led the army to fight in person and was captured. His brother Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne and with the support of important officials such as Yu Qian, successfully repelled the Wala and won the victory.

Later, Zhu Qizhen was released by the Oirat Mongols. Emperor Jingtai honored him as the "Grand Emperor" on the surface, but actually placed him under house arrest in the Mingnan Palace. Zhu Qizhen was unwilling to accept this, and took advantage of Emperor Jingtai's serious illness to launch a coup, seize back the imperial power, and also placed Emperor Jingtai under house arrest in the Mingnan Palace.

Not only that, after his restoration, Zhu Qizhen expanded the Ming Nan Palace, making it one of the "three major inner palaces" of the imperial palace along with the Purple Gold City and the Western Garden.

It was not until the 17th year of Chongzhen that the Qing army entered the pass. After careful consideration, the Manchu regent Dorgon chose the "Ming Nan Palace" as his residence, and it was then converted into the Prince Rui's Palace.

As a result, the gate of Prince Rui's palace began to be bustling with traffic every day, and even became the actual political power center of the current Qing court.

"The defeat at Duoduolang resulted in a missed opportunity, and as a result, Jiangnan is still under the control of the Ming court. Money and grain from the south cannot be transported north. The Qing army, with its hundreds of thousands of men and women, and the hundreds of thousands of troops recruited from the north, are now struggling to secure military pay and food."

Dorgon said this and stopped in a pavilion in the palace. He put his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky, and then said:
"North China has fertile land, vast tracts of good farmland, and millions of farmers, but local banditry is rampant, and the Ming army in the south continues to harass and plunder. If we use Zhili in the north to support the Eight Banners, and establish a banner in Jinan, Linqing, Kaifeng, and Luoyang, we can simultaneously solve the problems of settling the Eight Banners and safeguarding the people."

"What the prince said is absolutely true."

When Hong Chengchou heard these high-sounding words, although he was dissatisfied, he could only bow and agree. He knew that Dorgon did not call him here just to say this, and he could not stop the Qing Dynasty from grabbing land in North China.

Although Ajige won consecutive battles, he was eventually defeated in Jiujiang, and Duoduo was blocked in Jianghuai. All these increased the financial pressure on the Qing Dynasty.

In order to gain power for himself and the support of the Manchu nobles, Dorgon implemented the policy of land grabbing with a more determined attitude, preparing to turn the North China region into the Eight Banners' manor, especially northern Zhili.

"But now it is a problem to resettle the hundreds of thousands of troops in Shaanxi and Shanxi. It will be difficult to support them with the local fiscal and tax revenue." Dorgon sighed.

He had the Eight Banners encircle his territory, which naturally won him numerous supporters. However, how to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of surrendered Ming troops was a major problem. Even the Qing court did not dare to trust Wu Sangui, let alone these Ming troops.

Hong Chengchou knew what Dorgon wanted to do, and immediately bowed and said:
"Your Highness, why don't you refer to the previous emperor's strategy and incorporate some of the elite Han troops into the Eight Banners? On the one hand, this will expand the Han Eight Banners and enhance the strength of the Eight Banners Army. On the other hand, after incorporating them into the banners, these troops can also be properly settled in the local area.

Moreover, this way, those hundreds of thousands of troops will be successfully divided, so even if some of them harbor rebellious intentions, there is no need to worry. As for the opposition of the princes and beile in the court, we can promote some beizi to lead the troops to supervise and also train the flag-raising troops. "

"Hahaha, great!" Dorgon laughed out loud upon hearing this. "That's what I thought too. If there's profit, some guys will definitely stop interfering."

Seeing that Dorgon was in a good mood, Hong Chengchou immediately said, "Your Highness, there is one more thing I want to say."

"Is it about promoting shaving the head?" Dorgon's face darkened instantly, and he glanced at Hong Chengchou.

"Your Highness, this matter concerns the fate of the Qing Dynasty, and I have to speak out." Hong Chengchou bent his waist and lowered his posture even lower.

Seeing this, Dorgon finally relented and said, "Tell me!"

In fact, after Ajige and Dodo suffered defeat on the battlefield, he had the idea of ​​postponing the shaving of hair in various places. However, the large-scale rebellions in Shandong, Henan and other places made Dorgon worried. There were also a group of Manchu nobles in the court who supported shaving of hair. He did not want his heroic image to be damaged.

"I believe that shaving the head and keeping the queue is a noble policy of the new dynasty and will eventually be implemented nationwide. However, the time is not yet ripe. Why not take advantage of the opportunity of raising the banner and only allow bannermen and bondservants, officials, and gentry to shave their heads? Anyone else who shaves without permission will be punished."

Hong Chengchou watched the expression on Dorgon's face gradually change, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately continued:
"People have always been ignorant of right and wrong. Everything they do and say has always been for the sake of profit. Princes can even kneel down to study. To take the imperial examination, they must shave their heads. If officials, virtuous and talented people, wealthy people, and scholars all shave their heads, and even consider shaving their heads beautiful, then naturally countless people will follow suit.

In this way, the prince would not have to worry that the full implementation of shaving the head would encounter local resistance or even breed rebellion as before.

If someone insists on implementing the policy completely, Your Majesty can send him to a certain place and give him full responsibility for the hair-shaving. However, no unrest is allowed. Otherwise, he will be stripped of his title and dismissed from his post. This will naturally reduce the number of people who oppose it."

"Hahaha, good, another brilliant plan, Hong Chengchou, I was right about you!" Dorgon laughed again after hearing this. This could even allow him to take the opportunity to eliminate dissidents and further consolidate his power.

"When the prince sends troops south again to destroy the remnants of the Ming Dynasty, there will be no worries even if we immediately implement the shaving of hair throughout the country." Hong Chengchou added after seeing this.

When he heard the words "going south", Dorgon snorted coldly with a stern face:

"Hmph, the petty Ming Emperor, the remnant of the Ming Dynasty, is simply trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm. You are overestimating your own capabilities. This time, I will personally lead the troops south to destroy Zhu Cilang's prestige!"

　Thanks to the book friend "Yuekenlu Dazhuang" for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)