My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 63: The Method of Chariot Camp
"Hanlin Academy!"

Shen Yikuan was the first to react. He slapped his thigh and rushed out of the public housing.

Luo Wanhua also reacted.

This is not the first time that Altan's tribe has invaded. As for how to deal with it, the memorials of the ministers in the Hanlin Academy must have the answer.

Those experienced Hanlin scholars had already rushed back to the Hanlin Academy to look for solutions from the memorials submitted by the ministers.

As expected, when Shen Yikuan and others returned to the Hanlin Academy, all the memorials from the ministers regarding the Altan issue had already been snatched away.

The most popular one is the memorial submitted by Zhao Zhenji during the Gengxu Rebellion. The two old Hanlin scholars almost fought over it.

Seeing this scene, Shen Yikuan wailed. Compared with these old foxes in the Hanlin Academy, his reaction was indeed too slow.

Military affairs are different from other government affairs. Fighting a war is a very professional matter, so most civil officials cannot actually offer any effective opinions.

However, during this period of the Ming Dynasty, although the Japanese invasion had subsided, the north and southwest regions were still in turmoil, and ministers who were proficient in military affairs were more likely to be promoted.

For example, Hu Zongxian was a third-class Jinshi and his initial official position was county magistrate. With such a starting point, it would be normal for him to climb to the position of provincial governor, which would be considered a great honor.

However, Hu Zongxian broke through his career ceiling by fighting against Japanese pirates and was promoted to the Minister of War and Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

The current governor of Xuanda, Wang Chonggu, is also an example. He also did not rank high in the imperial examination, but became a high-ranking official in the frontier.

Not all civil officials want to lead troops, but ministers who know about military affairs are more likely to be reused. Zhao Zhenji has the strongest military background in the cabinet, so he has the most say in military issues and can suppress Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng on this issue.

Sure enough, on August 18, Emperor Longqing issued an edict to officials in Beijing, requiring them to write a letter reporting on Altan Khan's invasion.

Officials of all ranks in the capital all rolled up their sleeves. Even if their opinions were not adopted, if they could leave a reputation of being "slightly familiar with military affairs" to the emperor and the cabinet, it would be very helpful for promotion.

Just as all the officials were submitting their petitions, Su Ze finally finished editing the second issue of "Yuefu Xinbao".

The second edition of the Voice of the People was still written by Su Ze himself. This time he copied the experiment of two iron balls falling to the ground at the same time.

Su Ze used the names of the Wise Old Man and the Foolish Old Man to tell the story of two people making a bet under the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda. A wooden ball and an iron ball of the same size were thrown down from the top of the wooden pagoda at the same time, and which ball would land first.

At the end of the story, Su Ze brought up the theory of "gravity" and also left a question for people to think about: what is the flight path of the iron ball shot out of the Portuguese cannon?
Su Ze did not give any answers to these questions. He published these stories just to stimulate people's interest in studying these issues.

All things are difficult at the beginning. Who says that there was no fertile ground for scientific research in ancient China?

Simply saying that ancient Chinese scholars were so keen on taking the imperial examinations and studying classics, history, and literature that they did not study science is a bit result-oriented.

Which figure in the history of modern Western science was not aristocratic and wealthy from a privileged family? Did they study science in order to become officials?
At the same time, Galileo was placed under house arrest by the church for supporting the heliocentric theory. Isn’t the scientific research environment in the West even worse?

Su Ze just wanted to start something. As long as someone was willing to do research, and as long as the results could be used in people's lives and the military, more people would participate in scientific research.

The ways people use in their daily lives and the ways of investigating things to gain knowledge may become the ways of science.

Wang Gen expounded on the New Learning based on Wang Yangming's foundation, and he himself expounded on the Taizhou School of Mind Learning based on Wang Gen's foundation. Neither Wang Yangming nor Wang Gen had any objections? What else can others say?
Anyway, Su Ze has plenty of patience. As long as he can produce results, Su Ze will immediately report to the court to reward this person. Seeing that the court has rewards, more people will naturally devote themselves to scientific research.

Su Ze handed the proofread manuscript to his subordinate clerk, and then dragged his tired body back home.

"Mr. Qingteng? What are you doing?"

These days, Su Ze went out early and came back late, and only left some daily correspondence matters to Xu Wei. But he didn't expect that when he returned home today, he saw Xu Wei had returned to the crazy look when they first met.

After he saw Su Ze, his eyes became clearer. Xu Wei tied his hair up with a wooden hairpin, picked up the manuscript on the table, and said to Su Ze:

"Dongweng, this is the strategy for defending against invaders written by Xu. Dongweng presents it to the court and will surely receive a reward!"

Xu Wei was full of arrogance when he said this, which reminded Su Ze of the arrogant look of Xu Wei when he first met him.

But if you think about it, Xu Wei seemed to have the capital to be so arrogant. He assisted Hu Zongxian in resisting the Japanese pirates and fought side by side with Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang. He also compiled the military work "Wubian" with his good friend Tang Shunzhi.

Su Ze was moved when he saw the ten thousand-word letter written by Xu Wei with great effort. He read it carefully under the candlelight, and the more he read, the more he felt that Xu Wei was indeed a man of great talent!

This ten-thousand-word letter provides a detailed discussion of everything from border military strategy to the geography of mountains and rivers in the Xuanfu and Datong areas and border defense conditions. Xu Wei even had some understanding of the situations of various tribes on the grassland and proposed corresponding strategies of differentiation and attraction.

Xu Wei even discussed the detailed tactics.

The tactic proposed by Xu Wei was called Chariot Camp.

Of course, Xu Wei also said in his ten-thousand-word letter that this chariot camp was not his original idea, but was inspired by Yu Dayou's side-car tactic during the anti-Japanese war.

Xu Wei wrote:

"It imitates the style of Yu Dayou's single-wheeled, side-carriage carriage, with a tiger-head sign on the front and elm-paneled slats on the sides, containing embrasures for Portuguese guns. The shaft is engraved with yin-yang mortise and tenon joints, allowing for quick formation."

He arranged the configuration for the chariot camp, "Each chariot shall be equipped with six sharp-eyed soldiers, carrying two three-barreled guns, five magic quivers, and three bags of iron caltrops."

The battle formation is "When encountering cavalry, form a tortoise shell formation; when retreating, transform into a long snake formation."

Xu Wei also proposed four strategies for defense and warfare, corresponding to "field battles on the plains, ambushes in dangerous passes, reclamation and settlement on the border, and winter harassment and spring attacks", systematically proposing specific strategies against the enemy.

Xu Wei even made contingency plans for possible problems in the chariot camp: "We must guard against generals who are greedy for merit and advance rashly, otherwise they will be intercepted and killed before the chariot formation is completed; we must strictly investigate the workmen who cut corners, as loose mortise and tenon joints will endanger the entire army; we must carefully choose the right time and place, as rain, snow and mud will make it difficult to move forward."

Finally, Xu Wei wrote confidently:

"In the past, Li Mu, defending Dai County, defeated the Xiongnu with a thousand chariots; Yue Wumu won a great victory at Yancheng, defeating the Iron Buddha with his mazha sword. Now, if we can obtain 30,000 fine chariots, supported by beacons on the border walls, we can recapture the Hetao area and control the south of the desert."

After reading the ten thousand word letter, Su Ze said to Xu Wei:

"Mr. Talented!"

Xu Wei was somewhat depressed. He said:
"Dong Weng's proposal of this strategy will surely attract the attention of the court. Considering the importance Dong Weng holds in the hearts of His Majesty and all the other ministers, if the chariot camp strategy can be accomplished and can bring decades of peace to the borders of the Ming Dynasty, then this Xu will have no regrets in his life!"

Xu Wei did not have an official status and was not qualified to submit memorials, so he could only help Su Ze draft memorials as an aide.

After reading the ten thousand word letter, Su Ze said to Xu Wei:

"Mr. Qingteng, I, Su, do not wish to take credit for this. You should submit this memorial later."

"?"

Su Ze said again:
"A few days ago, I talked about Mr. Qingteng with Shen Li, the Minister of the Imperial College. Coincidentally, there was a vacancy for a tribute student in the Imperial College, so I gave you the qualification to fill it."

"Mr. Qingteng, please prepare for the Shuntian Prefecture Provincial Examination while working as my assistant."

Xu Wei looked at Su Ze in surprise and said, "I am already forty-eight years old. Do I still want to take the imperial examination?"

Su Ze said:

"I read in the Hanlin Academy that during the Jiajing reign there was a Jinshi named Wang Hongjian. He won the first place in the Henan provincial examination as a teenager, and only became a Jinshi at the age of 49."

"Mr. Qingteng is only forty-eight, why can't he take the exam again?"

"If Mr. Qingteng is interested in military affairs, he can be appointed to an official position in the northwest after passing the imperial examination, which will also benefit the local area. Therefore, this memorial should be submitted by you yourself!"

Xu Wei's eyes were moist, and he bowed deeply to Su Ze as a gesture of respect.
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In fact, Su Ze had no intention of getting involved in the affairs of the northern border. Sure enough, on August 22, news came from the border again, and it turned out that the siege of Datong was a misunderstanding.

However, the focus of the court's dispute shifted from how to defend the capital to an unknown direction.

No more updates today, I need to prepare for the later plot, which will be put on the shelves soon.

Thank you again for your support.

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(End of this chapter)