The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 358 Negotiating Peace with the Later Jin

Although the bandits in the Central Plains had ceased their activities, Emperor Chongzhen was well aware that if he wanted to send troops to suppress the southwestern bandits, he had to first stabilize Liaodong.

History has proven that whenever the campaign to suppress bandits within the Great Wall reached a critical juncture, the capital region would be thrown into chaos by the eastern barbarians from beyond the Great Wall, thus causing the campaign to fail at the last minute.

He would never allow the same mistake to happen again.

Upon hearing this, Yang Sichang immediately bowed and responded:

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I have been secretly pushing forward the peace negotiations without the slightest slackening."

"Your Majesty, I have secretly sent people to contact Ningjin Governor Fang Yizao and the supervising eunuch Gao Qiqian."

"The matter of negotiating peace with the Eastern barbarians has now been entirely entrusted to the two of them."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian frowned even more deeply:
"The matter of peace negotiations concerns the national system and is of utmost importance."

"I have repeatedly emphasized that this should not be made public, so why did Minister Yang still contact the Governor of Ningjin?"

"Fang Yizao is, after all, an official outside the capital. If word gets out and the officials and censors in the court find out, they probably won't let it go easily."

"At that time, there will be a flood of impeachments, and it won't be easy for us, as ruler and subject, to handle this situation."

But Yang Sichang appeared confident and spoke with great certainty:

"Your Majesty is wise. It is precisely because this matter is confidential that we need to find a reliable person."

"To be honest, Governor Fang had previously received a letter from Huang Taiji outside the Great Wall seeking peace."

"But out of fear of public opinion in the court and the displeasure of His Majesty, I have never dared to report it."

“Your Majesty, I sent someone to contact him secretly and conveyed the central government’s intentions. He immediately agreed and said he would do his best to make this happen.”

"Your Majesty, rest assured, with Governor Fang handling things on the front lines and Eunuch Gao overseeing the situation, there is absolutely no chance of failure."

After hearing this explanation, Chongzhen's tense expression eased slightly.

If that's the case, it means Fang Yizao is quite cautious and must know the risks involved, so he wouldn't easily leak the secret.

However, neither the emperor nor his minister had ever personally experienced the flames of war on the frontier, and they lacked sufficient understanding of the true situation at the front.

They were unaware that since Huang Taiji ascended to the throne, he had been employing a two-pronged strategy of both coercion and persuasion towards the Ming Dynasty, fighting while negotiating.

On the one hand, he repeatedly organized incursions into the border regions to plunder people and property, thus undermining the Ming Dynasty's national strength and military morale;

On the other hand, he continued to send letters of negotiation to various border towns of the Ming Dynasty, doing his utmost to confuse, divide, and test them.

Not only the Ningjin front, but also Jizhen, Xuanfu, Datong and other places, and even Denglai, which is far away on the coast, received Huang Taiji's peace negotiation letter.

Which of the governors and generals in various regions wasn't a seasoned veteran of the officialdom?
Although they received the letter, none of them dared to present it to the imperial palace.

After all, everyone knew the fate of Governor Yuan for "unilaterally advocating peace negotiations," and no one wanted to follow in his footsteps and be sent to the capital to be executed by a thousand cuts.

Therefore, they kept all the letters concerning peace negotiations tightly under their control and never mentioned them.

But the situation is different now.

With the secret instructions of Yang Gebu, the emperor's most trusted confidant, how could Fang Yizao not understand the key points?
Yang Sichang was the most sought-after rising star in the officialdom and the emperor's most trusted confidant. With his involvement, and even the eunuch Gao Qiqian on his side, the situation became even more complicated.

This clearly shows that the emperor himself wanted to negotiate peace, but he was too proud to make a public statement and needed his ministers to "understand the emperor's intentions."

With this tacit understanding, Fang Yizao immediately became bolder.

The pressure on the Liaodong front was immense, and he feared that one day the city would fall and his life would be in danger.

Now that there is an opportunity for peace talks, we are naturally eager for it.

So on the third day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign, Fang Yizao brought in the eunuch Gao Qiqian to jointly handle this matter.

They sent a fortune teller named Zhou Yuanzhong as a secret envoy, accompanied by six attendants, to secretly cross the border to meet with Huang Taiji and discuss peace talks.

When the news reached Shenyang, Huang Taiji's first reaction was surprise.

The Ming court actually took the initiative to send envoys to negotiate peace?

His frequent talk of peace negotiations was nothing more than a strategy to mislead the Ming court and buy time for his own actions.

The Ming Dynasty court has always maintained a very tough stance, displaying an attitude of being the superior empire and fighting the rebels to the death.

Did the sun rise in the west today?
Huang Taiji harbored doubts, so he decided not to personally intervene for the time being, so as not to reveal his own attitude too early.

He first sent Xi Fu, a Grand Academician of the Inner Academy of Literature, Ergetu, a Gentleman of the Ministry of Rites, Zhan Ba, and others to welcome the envoy and host a banquet to test his intentions.

At the same time, he immediately dispatched skilled spies to quickly infiltrate the capital region to gather information.

The spies acted swiftly, bringing back several key pieces of intelligence in less than half a month:

Emperor Chongzhen and his Minister of War planned a large-scale military operation, the main purpose of which was to completely wipe out the bandits within the territory.

The Ming court spared no effort in increasing its troops by 120,000, and laid out a net covering the four cardinal directions and six intermediate directions.

After the most notorious rebel leader, Li Zicheng, was defeated, he was captured alive and then taken to the capital to be executed by slow slicing.
Other notorious bandits such as Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai also surrendered one after another, and the chaos in the Central Plains was initially brought under control.

Upon hearing this news, Huang Taiji, seated on the dragon throne, couldn't help but sigh:
"The Central Plains are indeed vast and rich in resources..."

"Seeing that the Ming court was already in decline and beset by internal and external troubles, it was still able to mobilize an army of 120,000 men to suppress bandits in a short period of time."

What does 120,000 people mean? That's roughly the same number of men in Manchuria.

"After all, it was the Ming Dynasty, which lasted for more than two hundred years. It had a very solid foundation."

The more Huang Taiji marveled at the profound heritage of the Ming Dynasty, the stronger his desire for the Central Plains became.

Peace talks are out of the question.

However, it was entirely possible to take this opportunity to extort a hefty sum from Emperor Chongzhen.

Objectively speaking, Huang Taiji was indeed a powerful and ruthless figure.

His strength lies in the fact that he not only listens humbly to others' suggestions, but also improves upon them.

At the time, Fan Wencheng only provided Huang Taiji with a strategic idea for entering the Central Plains: to gain control of the Central Plains, one must first seize Beijing, threaten North China, and then wait for the opportune moment.

But Fan Wencheng was completely stumped on how to capture Beijing, and Huang Taiji had to figure it out himself.

After careful consideration, Huang Taiji aptly put forward the theoretical idea that "attacking the Ming dynasty is like felling a tree."

He repeatedly emphasized the need to avoid direct confrontation with the Ming army and to avoid attacking fortified cities and strongholds.

Instead, the aim is to gradually undermine the Ming Dynasty's outer defenses through continuous small-scale harassment and plunder, thereby continuously depleting the Ming's national strength, military power, and public morale.
Accumulate small victories into a great victory, and finally, when the foundation of the Ming Dynasty is rotten, topple this towering tree in one fell swoop.

Simply put, it's about constantly bleeding the Ming Dynasty dry until it dies.

Now, faced with the peace negotiations that had come to their doorstep, Huang Taiji keenly realized that this was an excellent opportunity to "bleed" the Ming Dynasty dry.

He immediately summoned his confidants, drafted an outrageous peace treaty, and sent it to Fang Yizao and Gao Qiqian through an envoy.

Its main contents include:
First, Huang Taiji demanded that the Ming emperor formally confer upon him the title of "Emperor of the Great Qing" in order to gain a political status equal to that of the Ming Dynasty;
Secondly, the Ming Dynasty had to cede all the land outside Shanhaiguan to the Qing Dynasty;

Finally, the Ming Dynasty had to give the Qing Dynasty 5,000 taels of gold and 500,000 taels of silver every year, while the Qing Dynasty reciprocated with special products such as ginseng and sable fur.

When the letter reached Fang Yizao and Gao Qiqian, they were terrified and turned pale after just one glance.

Even if they had the greatest courage, they dared not agree to the slightest request, and could only quickly and secretly report Huang Taiji's demands to the capital.

Sure enough, when the peace terms were presented to Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian was furious after just one glance.

He slammed the memorial to the ground and cursed:
"The Jurchens have gone too far!"

"I am the Emperor of the Celestial Empire, how can I kneel down to a rebellious corner of the world and cede territory to make peace?"

"It's just wishful thinking!"

Seeing this, Yang Sichang quickly spoke up to offer advice:
"Your Majesty, calm down!"

“Huang Taiji is asking for an exorbitant price. We can negotiate on the spot.”

"Peace negotiations are never something that can be accomplished overnight. The terms can be discussed slowly and there is no need to rush."

"Perhaps we can manage to smooth things over while we're talking, thus buying our imperial army a precious opportunity to wipe out the bandits in Sichuan."

"As long as we keep things confidential and prevent those censors and ministers from stirring things up, there is still room for maneuver in this matter."

"Once the southwest is pacified, we will naturally be able to focus on dealing with the Eastern barbarians."

However, given the Ming Dynasty's tradition of being as discreet as a sieve, expecting such a major event to remain completely secret was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Soon, rumors began to circulate from some unknown corner, claiming that the imperial court was secretly negotiating peace with the Eastern barbarians and that Yang Sichang was colluding with the enemy and betraying the country.

The entire government and the public were instantly in an uproar.

In particular, ministers who considered themselves upright and skilled in moral writing stood up indignantly to express their opposition.

Censors and officials in charge of criticism were even more enthusiastic, sending impeachment memorials to the palace one after another.

They used strong language, angrily denouncing Yang Sichang as "colluding with the enemy and betraying the country," and saying that "his heart is deserving of death," comparing him to the likes of Qin Hui in history.

Although these people were not good at fighting, when it came to talking and making moral pronouncements, few people in the entire Ming Dynasty could match them.

Seeing the overwhelming public opinion in the court, which was almost overwhelming him, Yang Sichang knew he could no longer remain silent.

He decided to personally step forward and explain to the officials in the court, suppressing the dissenting voices.

On the third day of the fifth month of the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign, the atmosphere at the regular court was exceptionally solemn.

After the general political affairs were reported, Yang Sichang, holding a jade tablet, stepped forward, bowed, and said in a loud voice:

"Your Majesty, I have this memorial."

"Recently, there has been much discussion in the court about the situation in Liaodong. Many people who are not aware of the facts are making wild guesses about the emperor's intentions and slandering national policies."

"As a subject holding a position in the Ministry of War, I am in charge of this matter and request to present my case in accordance with the law to set the record straight."

He then quoted extensively from classical texts and delivered a carefully prepared policy essay.

At its core, it uses celestial phenomena as evidence to try to cloak the sensitive topic of "peace negotiations" in the guise of "following the will of Heaven."

"According to my observation of the celestial phenomena, Mars has recently gone out of control and Venus has appeared in broad daylight. These are all omens of war."

"According to historical records, during the Jianwu era of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was also a sign that Mars invaded the Pleiades, indicating the presence of barbarian troops."

How did Emperor Guangwu respond?

"He then sent envoys to make peace with the Southern Xiongnu, established trade routes, and finally achieved peace on the border, thus ushering in the prosperous Jianwu era."

"This is in accordance with the timing of the seasons and the principle of overcoming strength with gentleness."

He paused, then gave a counterexample:

“In contrast, during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, the moon was obscured by Mars, and strange phenomena occurred frequently.”

"Emperor Taizong ignored the warnings from Heaven and recklessly launched a northern expedition against the Khitan, which ultimately resulted in the defeat at Gaoliang River, the loss of his elite troops, and a great loss of national strength."

"Isn't this going against the will of Heaven and inviting disaster upon oneself?"

Yang Sichang's long-winded explanation was nothing more than an attempt to use historical anecdotes to demonstrate the correctness and necessity of his role in presiding over the peace negotiations.

However, this far-fetched argument was immediately met with fierce rebuttal.

Huang Daozhou, the Junior Grand Master of Ceremonies, was the first to stand up and launched into a tirade against Yang Sichang.
"Minister Yang's statement is utterly wrong!"

"The celestial signs are a warning to the ruler to cultivate virtue and govern wisely, to befriend virtuous ministers and keep away from treacherous people. How can they be an excuse for you to seek revenge against a wicked man and kneel before a villain?!"

He slapped a heavy accusation on Yang Sichang, then immediately shifted his tone, pointing directly at Yang's personal character.

"Propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame are the four pillars of a nation; filial piety, brotherly love, loyalty, and trustworthiness are the foundation of a person."

"Lord Yang, you were reinstated before the mourning period for your father was over and were allowed to participate in state affairs. Isn't this contrary to the teachings of the sages and against human ethics and natural law?"

"How can someone who cannot even uphold basic filial piety have the audacity to discuss celestial phenomena and national policies?"

There's a saying that goes, "If one's heart is not upright, one's words will be false."

Then, Huang Daozhou turned his attention to the peace negotiations themselves:

"The Eastern Barbarians, the Jianzhou barbarians, have repeatedly invaded our Great Ming, abducted our people, and destroyed our cities. This is an irreconcilable enmity!"

"Huang Taiji is cunning and untrustworthy. His so-called peace talks are nothing more than a delaying tactic."

"Throughout history, no one has ever managed to survive by maintaining good relations with tigers and wolves!"

"Anyone who believes in their treacherous tricks and insists on peace talks is either foolish or delusional; in reality, how is that different from colluding with the enemy and betraying the country?!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, and although he did not directly mention Emperor Chongzhen's name, every word struck a chord with him:
"The principles of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the distinction between Chinese and barbarians are inviolable!" "Today, some people actually want to imitate the old ways of the Five Dynasties, ceding territory and paying tribute. What qualifications do they have to be the rulers of the people of the world?"

Huang Daozhou's words were no longer just veiled criticism; they were practically a direct and blatant attack.

The old stories of the Five Dynasties, ceding territory and paying tribute, doesn't that refer to the puppet emperor Shi Jingtang?
The entire court was terrified, and everyone was worried for Huang Daozhou.

As expected, Zhu Youjian, sitting upright on the dragon throne, had already turned from white to green, and then from green to red.

An uncontrollable rage surged to his head. Since ascending the throne, he had worked tirelessly day and night, striving to govern the country well. He believed he was not destined to bring about the downfall of the nation, yet he encountered signs of national ruin everywhere.

To be publicly rebuked by a subject like this in court is utterly outrageous!

"enough!"

Zhu Youjian slammed his hand on the imperial desk, pointed at Huang Daozhou, and roared angrily in a stern voice.
"Stop using your clever words and deceit to distort the truth!"

"I can see you're not ignorant; you're clearly using this as an excuse to slander your ministers and mock the emperor!"

"Such outrageous remarks are no different from those of Shao Zhengmao in ancient times."

"Clever words corrupt morality, and eloquent arguments undermine politics. He has read a bellyful of books of sages and worthies, but all he has learned is how to speak sycophantically and sophistry!"

"According to the instructions of the founding emperor, those like you who spread heresies and disrupt the order of the court should be executed without pardon!"

The moment the word "slay" was uttered, the air in the hall seemed to freeze, and everyone was so frightened that they dared not utter a sound.

But Zhu Youjian still had a sliver of reason. He knew that killing a leader of the upright faction like Huang Daozhou would inevitably cause a public uproar.

So he suppressed the murderous intent in his heart and shouted:

"Heaven cherishes life, and I am by nature benevolent and unwilling to lightly initiate the killing."

"You are hereby demoted six ranks, banished from the capital, and sent to Jiangxi Province as an eighth-rank minor official responsible for checking documents. You must reflect on your arrogant and rebellious crimes!"

"Retreat!"

After saying this, Chongzhen ignored all the officials and officials in the court, turned and left, leaving behind only an angry back view.

The emperor was so furious that he directly stood up for Yang Sichang and refuted Huang Daozhou's decision to demote him.

This tough stance finally suppressed the dissenting voices in the court.

Seeing the emperor's resolute attitude, the officials fell silent, no longer daring to speak up.

Just as the storm was about to subside, a memorial from Xuanda University stirred up trouble once again.

This memorial was naturally delivered by Lu Xiang-sheng, and its purpose was also to oppose the peace talks.

But Lu Xiang-sheng was clever; unlike Huang Dao-zhou, he did not launch a direct attack and refute the emperor and Yang Si-chang's peace negotiations.

He cleverly quoted the emperor's original words in a previous document to the Ministry of War: "The troops can be rewarded, but the Eastern Barbarians should never be rewarded," as the basis for his argument.

In his memorial, he stated that His Majesty's words, though seemingly golden, have long been clear in their distinction between barbarians and other ethnic groups, and have been treated accordingly.

If Huang Taiji truly intends to negotiate peace, he must first return the Liaodong territory he seized as a sign of repentance.

Otherwise, there is no need to discuss anything!
As for the threat from the Eastern barbarians, Your Majesty, please rest assured. Although I am merely a scholar, I have some knowledge of military affairs and dare not fail Your Majesty's expectations.

Your Majesty, the Commander-in-Chief of Xuanfu and Datong, has diligently trained and prepared your troops over the years. Your forces are now ready to fight and have soldiers capable of engaging in battle!

Your Majesty, please rest assured, I am confident that I can defend the borders of the Ming Dynasty and resist the Eastern barbarians!

Upon hearing Lu Xiang-sheng's resounding guarantee, Emperor Chongzhen fell silent, as did all the civil and military officials in the court.

However, this silence was tinged with disapproval.

Who doesn't know how fierce the Jurchen soldiers were outside the Great Wall?

There has long been a saying that the Jurchens are invincible if they number less than ten thousand, but if they number ten thousand.

Since the Battle of Sarhu, the government troops have suffered almost every defeat in every battle.

Although Governor Lu is known for his military expertise, isn't it a bit presumptuous, even laughable, to say that he is "confident in being able to resist the Eastern barbarians"?

But Lu Xiang-sheng himself doesn't think so.

He only knew that the Xuanda border defenses were now much stronger and more powerful than before.

Since he was appointed Governor-General of Xuanda during a time of crisis, he has launched a large-scale land reclamation campaign with great efficiency.

Due to repeated invasions by the Qing army, the Xuanda area was already almost deserted, with large tracts of land unclaimed.

Therefore, Lu Xiang-sheng's land reclamation work went very smoothly. He not only restored the military settlements in the garrisons, but also recruited a large number of displaced people.

These wastelands were allocated to displaced people by the government through a system of hiring them, with rice and grain distributed quarterly as wages. Most of the grain produced was collected by the government and used to fund the military.

Historical records state that Lu Xiang-sheng "greatly promoted the military settlement system, and when the grain harvest was plentiful, each mu (unit of land area) yielded one zhong (a unit of dry measure), accumulating more than 200,000 jin (a unit of weight) of grain."

With grain in hand, don't panic in my heart.

Having solved the problem of food, Lu Xiang-sheng immediately began to reorganize his troops and build a strong and capable army.

He immediately set about eliminating the old, weak, and disabled soldiers from the barracks, recruiting strong and brave warriors into the army, and greatly improving training methods to enhance the combat effectiveness of the border troops.

At the same time, he reformed the military's reward system.

He publicly announced that anyone who could cut off the head of a real Tartar, starting with the "surprise troops" specifically responsible for raids and reconnaissance, would be rewarded with fifty taels of silver.

Of these, the one who directly cut off the head received thirty-six taels, while the comrades who assisted received fourteen taels.

Even if a beheading is not possible, if an enemy's bow and arrow can be captured, the reward will be equivalent to the market price in silver.

If a warhorse is captured, a reward will be given according to the price of the horse.

This clear, generous, and timely reward system greatly stimulated the soldiers' desire for battle and their courage.

Regarding the Ming army's shortage of horses, Lu Xiang-sheng wrote to Emperor Chongzhen, requesting the resumption of trade with various Mongol tribes.

Even though most of the Mongol tribes had sided with the Later Jin, this was still an opportunity.

In his memorial, he proposed that the court could justifiably cut off the annual rewards and only allow trade without providing any additional rewards.

The core purpose of the border trade was to purchase urgently needed military horses for the Xuanda border army.

Initially, Emperor Chongzhen was extremely resistant to this memorial.

He had an instinctive wariness and aversion to the term "mutual trade," after all, one of Yuan Chonghuan's crimes was "unauthorized opening of horse markets to supply the enemy with provisions."

In his view, such things could only be tacitly approved, never explicitly authorized.

However, after repeated persuasion from Yang Sichang, Emperor Chongzhen finally agreed with a stroke of his vermilion pen.

With the emperor's approval, Lu Xiang-sheng immediately opened a horse market in Xuan-Da, which became a great success.

Soon, an unexpected surprise appeared.

The Khalkha tribe of Outer Mongolia, far away in the northern desert, actually bypassed the areas controlled by the Later Jin and secretly sent people to Datong to request trade.

Moreover, the horses brought by the Khalkha tribe were very cheap.

It turns out that the Khalkha tribe was far away in the northern desert and had never received any annual rewards from the Ming Dynasty. They had always wanted to trade with the Ming Dynasty, but they had been blocked by the Tumed and other tribes who acted as middlemen.

Now they smuggle themselves into Datong to sell horses, where the people are friendly, the horses are cheap, and they don't even need annual rewards.

In this way, Lu Xiang-sheng acquired nearly 20,000 warhorses for Xuanda at a very low cost in less than a year after taking office.

At the same time, he also took this opportunity to establish preliminary contact with the leaders of the Outer Khalkha tribes, attempting to use this to undermine the Later Jin's control over Mongolia.

In this way, Lu Xiang-sheng, with his outstanding administrative and military training abilities, managed to train a formidable force in the devastated Xuanda region.

This elite force was not some kind of elite army, but rather a standard battalion that every governor-general had.

The Tianxiong Army was originally a force assembled by Lu Xiang-sheng through private gathering of local militia; it was nowhere near comparable to the Governor-General's standard troops.

After all, he was now a proper governor-general, and he had to train troops according to the Ming Dynasty system, unlike before when he could just randomly create a unit name and recruit soldiers.

However, Lu Xiang-sheng's standard camp was a bit too large.

His standard battalion consisted of 10,000 elite troops drawn from Xuanfu and Datong, and all the cavalrymen were equipped with new weapons and warhorses.

Infantry were mixed in a 2:3 ratio of firearms to melee weapons, aiming to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy with firepower in the initial engagement.

With the addition of troops from Xuanfu, Datong, and the three towns of Shanxi, Lu Xiang-sheng directly controlled a total force of over 30,000 men.

Moreover, they are all real soldiers who have undergone rigorous training and selection, not just fictitious personnel on the roster.

Another significant change was that, since the Ming army was able to get food, the night scouts in the Xuanda region, which had been almost paralyzed, actually began to move again.

It should be noted that since the end of the Wanli era, due to severe shortages of grain and provisions, the night watchmen in the Xuanda region had long been defunct.

Some fled, others gave up, and they were unable to venture beyond the Great Wall to scout out enemy positions.

This directly resulted in the Ming army being unaware of the intelligence on the Mongols and Later Jin beyond the Great Wall, and local officials often only realized the situation after the enemy had already breached the pass and entered the pass.

It's that easy to restore the Ming army's fighting capacity: just give them a meal, and they'll be willing to risk their lives for you.

In March of the tenth year of the Chongzhen reign, ten scouts from Ningyuan Fort in Xuanfu went out to scout beyond the Great Wall.

Forty miles beyond the Great Wall, they were captured by several Kharachin Mongols.

Logically speaking, once these Mongols caught Ming scouts, they could have killed them, cut off their heads, and reported their achievements to Huang Taiji.

However, the Mongols knew that Lu Xiang-sheng had opened a trade market in Zhangjiakou, so they did not report it to the Qing court. Instead, they stripped the clothes off the ten night scouts and drove them back.

When the news reached Lu Xiang-sheng's ears, he was very surprised. How could ten people be so easily subdued by a few Mongols and stripped naked?

So he personally took charge of the matter.

Only then did he realize that the Ming army's night scouts, due to years of hunger and malnutrition, had neither the strength nor the physique to fight.

Seeing this, Lu Xiang-sheng was both heartbroken and furious.

He immediately ordered an increase in rations for all night watchmen and border guards, and encouraged physically strong and agile young men in the army to join the night watchmen.

At the same time, he strictly ordered the commanders of each border fortress not to rely solely on night patrols, but to regularly dispatch their elite cavalry to take turns patrolling and scouting outside the border, thereby expanding the scope of early warning.

He clearly stipulated that if any defense zone failed to detect enemy activity in a timely manner, resulting in enemy infiltration, the garrison commander of that area would be held strictly accountable.

From then on, the Ming army along the Xuanda Great Wall became active again, changing its previous passive and defeated state.

Thanks to Lu Xiang-sheng's tireless efforts, the Ming army in the Xuan-Da region gradually began to recover from famine and disarray.

Not only was morale boosted, but equipment and training were also completely revamped, the intelligence system was rebuilt, and combat effectiveness was visibly improved.

With Lu Xiang-sheng's strong statement and his impressive achievements in military reform, the opposition that had just been suppressed in the government has resurfaced.

Many officials who had initially adopted a wait-and-see attitude also submitted letters expressing their opposition.

Memorials impeaching Yang Sichang for "using the enemy to bolster his own power and undermining the great defense between China and the barbarians" were sent to the Office of Transmission one after another, piling up on Emperor Chongzhen's desk.

Faced with this immense public pressure, especially after Lu Xiang-sheng proved with facts that there was still hope for border defense, Zhu Youjian and Yang Sichang were truly at their wits' end.

Zhu Youjian could forcibly demote officials like Huang Daozhou who dared to speak out, but he could not ignore the opinions of Lu Xiangshan, a military and political genius and a high-ranking official in charge of a region.

The emperor and his minister sat facing each other in silence in the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, staring at each other with helpless expressions on their faces.

Under immense political pressure, they had no choice but to abandon peace negotiations with the Later Jin.

With the peace negotiations stalled, Emperor Chongzhen dared not easily send troops to attack Sichuan.

Without resolving the threat from the north, he dared not easily mobilize a large army to attack the southwest from afar.

However, in Chongzhen's eyes, the bandits in the southwest were a major threat, and he could not rest easy until they were eliminated.

Are we just going to stand by and watch the bandits grow stronger and eventually become uncontrollable?
Emperor Chongzhen was anxious, but Yang Sichang was even more anxious.

He knew better than anyone that in order to wipe out the bandits, the imperial court had almost exhausted its resources for the next few years.

This kind of short-sighted approach requires a swift and decisive victory.

If we can wipe out the bandits and the southwestern rebels in one fell swoop, then all the investment and risks will be worthwhile.

But the fear is that the war will drag on and become a protracted war that drains the nation's strength.

Every extra day the war drags on, the hundreds of thousands of troops will consume enormous amounts of food and supplies, and to feed them, it will be necessary to continue levying additional taxes.

It's a vicious cycle.

(End of this chapter)