Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 67: The Emperor Leads the Army in Person (Two-in-One Subscription Request)
At this time, standing in the court were not only officials from the six ministries, but also Chen Fu and Liu Zeqing from Jiangbei, Chang Denggui and Liu Liangzuo and other generals in the military camp outside the city. They were all recalled to Nanjing to jointly discuss strategies to defend against the enemy.

Duoduo's army had already set out south on October 19th. If nothing unexpected happened, the vanguard would be able to reach Xuzhou or even Fengyang by mid-December.

The Jinyiwei under Zhou Shixian's command failed to penetrate deep into northern Zhili and did not obtain any relevant information at all. If the Qing court's military order had not been transmitted to Shandong along with Dorgon's edict, the officials in Nanjing would probably still be immersed in the dream of living in peace in the south of the Yangtze River.

Gao Jie and Huang Degong, one guarding Xuzhou and the other guarding Huai'an, were on the front lines of the battlefield. To prevent any accidents, Zhu Cilang did not hastily recall them.

At the same time, the news that the Shun army launched a counterattack in Huaiqing, Henan and defeated the Qing army on October 12 was learned by the scouts and Jinyiwei sent by Gao Jie seven days ago.

However, the specific circumstances of this battle and the casualties on both sides of Shun and Qing are still unclear.

This was the intelligence available during this period. Not only was it severely delayed, but it was also often unclear. Without sufficient battlefield experience, it was impossible to make a judgment.

Based on the situation in the north, Zhu Cilang had roughly guessed that Dorgon would underestimate the enemy and that the Qing army would initially split into two routes, one to destroy Shun and the other to destroy Ming, but he was not clear about the specific time.

However, since he left the palace at the end of July to inspect the "Palace Front Army" and the "Yingtian Weapon Bureau", Zhu Cilang had already begun to make full preparations to block the Qing army in Jiangbei.

At the beginning of August, Lu Zhenfei began to arrange ships to transport the grain and fodder collected from the prefectures of Huaiyang to the treasury in Fengyang.

In September, summer grain from Jiangxi, Jiangnan and other places will be transported north, and by the end of November, the collection of autumn grain in the Huaiyang area will also be carried out as scheduled.

By then, Fengyang City will have enough food and fodder for a 50,000-strong army and 7,000 mules and horses for a year. Even if he leads the Palace Army and the main force of the Beijing Camp to the north, he can still hold out in the city for more than a year.

Now, the most important issue for Zhu Cilang was how to repel the Qing army and how to convince his ministers to lead the army in person.

He knew very well that those ministers and nobles who had always avoided war would do their utmost to prevent him from moving the imperial court to lead the army in person.

"Liu Zeqing, you're retreating from Shandong. Tell me, is it feasible to move the imperial court to Zhongdu and then march north to Shandong?"

Zhu Cilang did not continue to ask Gao Hongtu, but turned his attention to Liu Zeqing, the general stationed in Luzhou Prefecture.

Liu Zeqing was suddenly called out, and his face was slightly startled, but he reacted quickly, immediately bowed his waist, clasped his hands together and said:
"Your Majesty, it is not impossible to move the imperial court to Zhongdu and march north to Shandong to defeat the invaders and restore the northern capital, but the time is not yet ripe."

"What does it mean when the time is ripe?" Zhu Cilang asked immediately.

"When I was in Henan, I led troops and fought against the rebels several times. Although I achieved some minor victories, I was eventually forced to retreat to Shandong due to the situation.

The rebels' troops were already considered capable of fighting. The Tartars had already defeated the rebels several times in the past few months, and their strength should not be underestimated. As for the Battle of Huaiqing, the truth of the matter remains unknown.

Therefore, I believe that we must first recruit hundreds of thousands of soldiers, store millions of dollars in military pay, prepare over a hundred thousand horses, and then spend two to three years preparing our equipment before we can cross the river and engage the Qing army in a decisive battle. Otherwise, victory will be extremely difficult."

"What the Duke of Dongping said is absolutely right. The Northern Expedition is a national policy and must be carried out with caution. If we underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, our army will suffer a setback and we will surely lose the hearts of the people south and north of the Yangtze River, and even in the Central Plains." Shi Kefa quickly spoke out in support.

"That's right. If we lose people's hearts because of this, it will probably take decades to recover. It will be absolutely impossible." Ma Shiying also stepped out immediately, bowed his waist and clasped his hands, and spoke loudly:
"Moreover, military and national affairs concern the lives of millions of ordinary people. Your Majesty is a sage king, and you must not allow the people of the world to suffer because of the words of one person."

Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying echoed each other, and as soon as the latter finished speaking, he immediately spoke again:
"Mr. Ma is right. Your Majesty is the ruler of the Ming Dynasty, and you are responsible for the lives of millions of people. You must not listen to slander and lead the army in person. Otherwise, it is very likely to cause disaster."

As soon as the two men finished speaking, a number of ministers and nobles in the court who were unwilling to launch a northern expedition and angered the Qing army also spoke out, trying to persuade Zhu Cilang to give up the idea of ​​"moving the capital to Zhongdu and advancing north to Shandong."

After Dorgon's edict reached Nanjing, both Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying panicked. Not only them, but most of the officials in Nanjing were in a state of panic all day long. They even began to privately discuss and blame Li Banghua, Gao Hongtu and others, believing that it was their toughness that attracted the Qing army.

Before this, military intelligence from the north had not yet arrived. The Qing Dynasty was not familiar with the situation in the south and had not yet captured Shanxi. Not only did it not send a clear signal to attack the south, it also contacted Nanjing, causing these ministers who had no ambition to mistakenly believe that there was a possibility of "allying with the enemy to suppress the bandits."

As Dorgon's attitude became tougher, the Qing army moved south to occupy northern Zhili, Shandong, and parts of Henan. These ministers took a step back and began to have the delusion of dividing the world into two with the Yellow River, or even Shandong and Henan, as the boundary.

Of course, before Zhu Cilang entered Nanjing, he had already set the national policy of the Northern Expedition based on Chongzhen's last wish. They did not dare to talk about joining forces with the enemy to suppress the invasion and divide the world into two in the court as had happened in history.

But as soon as Gao Hongtu threatened to launch a northern expedition, these ministers and nobles would attack him for various reasons, and would indirectly blame Li Banghua for insisting on allocating funds for large-scale military training.

If Zhu Cilang was not truly incapable of launching a northern expedition at this time and was temporarily unable to carry out a large-scale purge of the court, these loyal ministers who claimed to be serving the country and the people would have resigned and retired long ago.

Zhu Cilang watched Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying singing the same tune and getting closer and closer. Suddenly, he remembered what he and Shi Kefa had said when the Jinyiwei was rebuilt, and he just felt funny.

He had long guessed that Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying would eventually become enemies of Gao Hongtu, who insisted on the Northern Expedition, because of his and Li Banghua's existence.

Due to certain historical reasons, Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying seemed to be two opposing factions that were incompatible with each other in history. Shi Kefa was even squeezed out by Ma Shiying and went to Jiangbei to fight against the Qing Dynasty.

But the two actually only had major differences in their personal ethics. There was not much disagreement on their basic policies towards the Qing Dynasty, and both strongly supported the "ally with the enemy to suppress the bandits."

In the original history, Dorgon also wrote a letter to Shi Kefa that was highly threatening.

After Shi Kefa ordered the Jinshi Huang Rifang to draft a reply, he was afraid that Huang Rifang's original manuscript of the reply would anger the Qing court because it was "quite harsh", so he said, "There is no need to argue", and then he personally edited and finalized the manuscript, which is ridiculous.

Of course, if we really want to talk about ability, Ma Shiying completely crushed Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Zhang Shenyan and others in the political struggle.

In fact, the civil and military ministers in power at that time were basically political dwarfs with shallow abilities and short-sightedness. Faced with the crisis of the country, they not only did not make progress, but also always resigned and retired to protect themselves because of a little grievance and exclusion.

Not only that, these ministers and nobles hated the Dashun and Dashi far more than the Qing Dynasty, which had invaded the Great Wall many times to plunder and had already seized the capital and other places. With the wishful thinking of "borrowing the enemy to quell the invasion", they often gave in to the latter.

If it weren't for Zhu Cilang's presence at the palace, Ma Shiying would have already driven these so-called "upright men" out of the cabinet, even forcing them to resign. "I understand!" Zhu Cilang sighed softly. "Without hundreds of thousands of soldiers, millions of dollars in military pay, over a hundred thousand war horses, and two or three years of accumulated equipment, marching into Shandong and restoring the country would be nothing but wishful thinking."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and sang in unison.

This means that His Majesty has realized that Gao Hongtu's strategy of a northern expedition is totally unacceptable.

"However, given the current state finances, how many years would it take to train hundreds of thousands of soldiers and save millions in military pay? How could the southern provinces even raise over a hundred thousand war horses? Would the equipment accumulated over two or three years be enough for such a large army?"

But contrary to everyone's expectations, Zhu Cilang changed the subject and threw the difficult question back.

"So, I have always said that we should not act too hastily. The Northern Expedition must be carried out slowly!" Shi Kefa did not see the direction of the wind clearly for a moment, and answered complacently with his head held high.

"Take it step by step?" Zhu Cilang frowned, and his tone was extremely unfriendly:
“Since you know that the Northern Expedition requires such a large army and that the imperial court’s finances cannot meet the needs for more than ten years, why did you always say that you would take it step by step, and were unwilling to introduce new taxes or increase military spending? Could it be that the Tartars would wait for me to take it step by step?

If what Liu Zeqing just said is true, how can the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in Nanzhili be so weak and weak to stop the Qing army from advancing southwards? Is it just a matter of taking it slow and steady?

"The so-called gradual approach is nothing more than some people being afraid of the Qing as a tiger and not daring to admit it!" Gao Hongtu said immediately upon seeing this.

Chen Zilong, the military official who had always supported the large-scale military training for the Northern Expedition and was highly valued and ordered to inspect the Nanjing camp, also spoke out:
"Your Majesty, after this battle, we must not take things as they please. We must quickly train a large army, march north to attack the Tartars, and wipe out the rebellion!"

"Although the Tartars are ready to move south, there are still tens of thousands of soldiers in Nanzhili. As long as we defend the cities along the river and resist step by step, we will be able to repel them." Seeing that Zhu Cilang was angry, Ma Shiying ignored Gao Hongtu's ridicule and hurriedly explained.

"If we can wait until the Qing army in the west and the rebels are both defeated, perhaps the Qing army heading south will retreat without a fight. By then, peace will be restored in Jiangnan, and Your Majesty will be able to take charge of the situation, slowly plan, and train a strong army."

"Mr. Ma is right, that's what I meant!" Shi Kefa was also panicked at this time and quickly explained:
"I have always advocated a gradual approach, with the court acting within its means, because I am concerned that the tax burden will be too heavy and cause suffering to the people."

On the one hand, they did not want Zhu Cilang to launch a northern expedition and tried their best to belittle the strength of the Southern Zhili armies. On the other hand, in order to fight for power, they constantly attacked Gao Hongtu who advocated training troops for the northern expedition, and even secretly blamed Li Banghua. At this time, they were basically caught in self-contradiction and could only keep explaining to try to make themselves less embarrassed.

At this time, even Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying, who tried their best to avoid fighting, knew that there would be a battle. They only hoped that the rebels could die together with the Qing army in the west, and then the army in the north of the Yangtze River could defend the city and repel the attack of the Qing army in the south, forcing the latter to retreat.

For the peace-avoiding faction headed by the two, as long as they can preserve the most prosperous land of Jiangnan and maintain their own power, the vast territory in the north and tens of millions of people can all be sacrificed.

These war-avoiding factions were very afraid of the Qing army and did not believe that the army of Southern Zhili could defeat the latter. They could only fantasize about achieving the goal of maintaining peace in the south of the Yangtze River through peaceful negotiations with the Qing army.

But this is nothing but wishful thinking. Without a strong army to protect it, how could the Qing court remain indifferent to the colorful world of Jiangnan?

Seeing that Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying had lost their confidence, Li Banghua knew that the time was ripe, so he immediately stepped out and said,
"Your Majesty, what the Earl of Dongping said is indeed reasonable. Without millions of dollars in military pay and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, it would be inappropriate to resume the Northern Expedition!

But the most urgent thing now is not to raise millions of military funds, train hundreds of thousands of strong soldiers, and send troops to the north to recover the country, but to raise military funds and food, organize troops, and repel the Qing army heading south."

"With hundreds of thousands of troops on the march, the cost of wages is indeed a problem." Zhu Cilang nodded in agreement, then frowned and said:
"But if we impose more taxes on the people, I'm afraid the southern provinces will be destitute."

"Your Majesty is wise. The people in the southern provinces are already suffering terribly. You really shouldn't impose additional taxes on them for military affairs." Ma Shiying saw that Zhu Cilang's expression did not ease until Li Banghua spoke, so he quickly flattered him.

Shi Kefa, who was always a step behind others, also said quickly after hearing this: "Your Majesty, you are compassionate to the people, which is the act of a wise king."

"No need to increase taxes." Li Banghua's words shocked everyone and instantly attracted the attention of all the ministers.

But he remained calm, paused, and then said slowly:
"The court's finances are indeed in short supply, but Jiangnan owes tens of millions in taxes. This dispatch of troops to defend the Huai River and repel the enemy is related to the safety of the court and the Ming Dynasty. Those taxes owed should be partially collected."

"That's a good idea. These unpaid taxes have accumulated over the years, and it's time to recover some of them. But we must not push them too hard, or else public resentment will boil over. Just distribute the one million in unpaid taxes over the past fifteen years!"

Zhu Cilang took the opportunity to finalize the matter quickly. He knew that Li Banghua had chosen the right time to propose this method of raising funds, which almost all the ministers and nobles in the court had strongly opposed before and considered inappropriate.

"Are there any objections to this matter?"

All the ministers and nobles below had nothing to say. No one dared to express opposition at this time, otherwise they would be like Ma Shiying and Shi Kefa just now, asking for trouble and even angering the emperor.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang glanced around and then said slowly:

"The money and food needed for the army's march north to repel the enemy is now a temporary solution, but as for how to repel the enemy, do you have any good ideas, my good ministers?
Just now, Mr. Gao suggested that I move the capital to Zhongdu and march north to Shandong, but you all disagreed. I am not a foolish ruler who does not accept good advice. Since you disagree, you should at least give me a way to repel the enemy!
If you only know how to oppose, this is not good, that is not right, what use do I have for you ministers? It would be better to raise more soldiers and help me kill the enemy."

"Even if Your Majesty does not march north to Shandong, you should move your capital to Zhongdu and lead the army in person. Only in this way can we boost the morale of our army and successfully resist the enemy!" Gao Hongtu had to settle for the second best option and immediately bowed and put his sleeves together.

"I also think so!" Li Banghua also expressed his support.

Apart from Zhu Cilang himself, he did not believe that anyone else could control the Jiangbei army. If someone else led the troops, the various forces defending Jiangbei would surely be defeated one by one by the Qing army.

He understood too well the temperament of the Ming generals who fought on their own!
As Li Banghua expressed his opinion, Chang Denggui and Chen Fu, two trusted generals promoted by Zhu Cilang, suddenly understood and expressed their support for the emperor's idea of ​​leading the army in person.

In fact, they had no idea how to deal with the Qing army. Although their soldiers had been trained for half a year, it was still unknown whether they were strong enough to defend the city and repel the Qing army.

Seeing this, Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing also expressed their agreement. Liu Liangzuo even wanted to lead his troops north with Zhu Cilang to escape from the current situation of being gradually sidelined.

(End of this chapter)