Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"I plan to divide our troops into two groups. The main force will be led by Zhu Neng, Duke of Cheng, and enter Annan from Guangxi. The partial force will be led by Mu Sheng, the Hou of Xiping who has been in Yunnan for a long time, and enter Annan from Yunnan."

As soon as Zhu Di finished speaking, Jiang Xinghuo's objections came one after another, which surprised a few people.

"Your Majesty must never order Duke Cheng to lead an army to march south!"

"this"

Zhu Di was stunned for a moment, not understanding what Jiang Xinghuo meant.

It stands to reason that Duke Cheng Zhu Neng is the most suitable candidate to lead the main force of the Ming army to conquer Annan southward.

why?

In addition to Yao Guangxiao, who had just returned to secular life and was awarded the title of "Rongguo Gong", Jingnan Wuxun had a total of three dukes, including the British Duke Zhang Yu who had died in the war (his son Zhang Fu is currently Xin Anbo), who is still alive Duke Qiu Fu of Qi State, and Zhu Neng, Duke of Cheng State.

Leading troops to fight is also based on seniority, especially when the leader is the main force of 200,000 Ming troops.

Rong Guogong Yao Guangxiao was sixty-seven years old. He was also a civil servant and had to lead the reform. It was impossible for him to lead troops to conquer Annan.

Therefore, it seems that the question becomes one of two, Zhu Di chooses one from the Duke of Qi, Qiu Fu, or the Duke of Cheng, Zhu Neng.

But the problem is that the climate in Annan is very different from that in the north of the Ming Dynasty, with smog, jungles, etc.

The Duke of Qi, Qiu Fu, is already in his sixtieth year this year. If he is asked to lead his troops to conquer Annan, if he is not acclimatized, his star will fall.

Therefore, after analyzing seniority in capital allocation and filtering it out by subtraction, in the end there is actually an answer.

Now he is the same age as Li Jinglong, the war god of the Ming Dynasty, Cao Guogong, and Zhu Neng, the thirty-three-year-old Duke of Cheng, who is in his prime.

Zhu Neng, with sufficient qualifications, was the hereditary deputy Qianhu of the Yanshan Guards. He was Zhu Di's best confidant. He had followed Zhu Di in the northern expedition to the desert in his early years and surrendered the Beiyuan Taiwei Nai'er Buhua. When the army was launched to suppress Jingnan, he worked with Zhang Yu He led his troops to kill Zhang Bing, the chief envoy of Peking, and Xie Gui, the commander-in-chief of the capital, and captured the nine gates of Peking. After that, Zhending, Zhengcunba, Baigouhe, Dongchang, Jiahe, Lingbi, and Dujiang were almost occupied. Jingnan shocked the whole audience.

As for ability, Zhu Neng is one of the best generals in the Yan army, and he is also a handsome man who Zhu Di can trust to be his own.

If Zhu Di had to choose who to hand over the main force of the Ming army, it could only be Zhu Neng, Duke of Cheng, and not anyone else.

What would Zhu Neng think if he were to let Zhu Neng go and use other marquises whose abilities, qualifications, and prestige were not as good as his? Is Zhu Di really relieved?

After all, the conquest of Annan was a veritable battle to destroy the country. Although it was treated with thunderous momentum and the attitude of a lion fighting a rabbit, it was after all related to the main force of 200,000 Ming troops.

It is not even an exaggeration to say that this is Zhu Di's lifeblood.

Therefore, Zhu Di thought for a long time but could not figure out why Jiang Xinghuo objected to Zhu Neng, Duke of Cheng, leading troops to conquer Annan.

"Why did Mr. Jiang say that? I think Cheng Guogong is quite suitable?" Zhu Gaoxu also asked beside him.

But then, Jiang Xinghuo gave them an irresistible reason, a reason that was enough to clear up their confusion.

"In the future I saw before, Zhu Neng, Duke of Chengguo, led the southern expedition. Before he reached Annan, he died of illness in Longzhou, Guangxi because of the acclimatization."

Jiang Xinghuo added: "The Ming Dynasty's conquest of Annan went very smoothly. Hu Jiyou usurped the country, and just like Wang Mang established a new dynasty, he made a bunch of messy reforms, which were ambitious but aroused public resentment. As soon as the Ming Dynasty soldiers arrived, , the Annan garrison fled. Therefore, whether the army conquering Annan is commanded by a famous general like Cheng Guogong is not the most important factor. As long as it is a general whom Your Majesty can trust, he can complete this task."

Obviously, although Zhu Di has considerable trust in Jiang Xinghuo's ability to open his eyes, it is certainly impossible for Zhu Di to make such a major decision based solely on Jiang Xinghuo's words.

Seeing that Zhu Di was still a little hesitant, Jiang Xinghuo simply said.

"Jiang Mou guessed that the acclimatization is probably just an external cause. If it is an internal cause, then Duke Cheng Guo must be extremely exhausted physically and mentally after years of fighting. Now living from the north to the south, he should be a little uncomfortable. It’s just that they are all covered up and no one can see them. Your Majesty might as well visit them in person. If there are indeed some clues, just change them to another general. Does the Ming Dynasty still lack generals who can lead the army?"

Speaking of this, Zhu Di couldn't help but remember that tonight, there was supposed to be a banquet for honorable ministers, but Zhu Neng, the Duke of Chengguo, did ask for sick leave from him because of the cold.

This made Zhu Di worried.

Zhu Neng is his most valued general in his prime. After all, Qiu Fu is already Lian Po. Although he still has the ability to continue on the battlefield, Zhu Di will not torment Qiu Fu anymore if he is not out of options.

In fact, in the history of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, if Zhu Neng had not died of illness on the way to Annan, then the leader of the first northern expedition to Mobei in the seventh year of Yongle would never have been the 67-year-old veteran Qiu Fu. If Qiu Fu hadn't lost his mind and caused the entire army to be annihilated, Zhu Di would not have been without a commander, and he personally conquered Mobei.

So, this is actually a chain reaction relationship.

Zhu Di, who was much younger than Zhu Di, could survive. Zhu Di often did not have to fight in person.

But Jiang Xinghuo did have one sentence that touched his heart.

Does the Ming Dynasty still lack generals who can lead troops?

The Ming Dynasty did not lack generals, but it lacked commanders, or to be more strict, it lacked commanders that Zhu Di could trust.

Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu, Ping An, and Sheng Yong are all handsome talents who can stand alone, but the problem is, Zhu Di can't trust them!

The latter three were all sent to the north by Zhu Di to reorganize the border defense. The middle-level generals they managed were all from the Yan army, and their sources of troops came from the guards and border guards of several major fortress kings. Zhu Di obviously had a hand in reserve. of.

The veteran Zhenyuan Hou Gu Cheng is also a handsome man and is now responsible for preparing for the war against the Jurchens.

Therefore, the only choices left for Zhu Di were the second-rate marquises.

However, these marquises can command tens of thousands of troops and command the main force of 200,000 Ming troops. However, they still lack experience in fighting such large armies.

Zhu Di did not dare to use the main force of 200,000 Ming troops to practice with them.

But Zhu Di suddenly realized a problem: "That's not right. Wouldn't it be better if I just asked the National Master directly?"

Zhu Di asked Jiang Xinghuo directly.

"In the future that the Imperial Guard sees, who is commanding the Ming army?"

"Zhang Fu." Jiang Xinghuo gave his answer.

Is Xin An Bo Zhang Fu, who is twenty-eight years old this year?

Hearing this answer, Zhu Di frowned deeply.

"Let me think about it again."

The originally foolproof candidate for the coaching selection has now encountered a "failure", and Zhu Di cannot make a rash decision, so he put it aside for the time being and plans to personally see the physical condition of Cheng Guogong Zhu Neng before making a decision.

Now that he has just settled down on the dragon throne, Zhu Di himself will definitely not move lightly. He can only let his trusted generals lead troops to conquer Annan.

In Zhu Di's mind, the head coach candidates for the next few battles have been decided.

Xu Huizu, Ping An, and Sheng Yong must handle the final battle to reduce the vassalage first.

The plan to gradually eliminate the three Jurchen tribes, which is less difficult militarily but more difficult politically, is to deal with the Odoli tribe first, then deter North Korea, and then deal with the Huli tribe and Tuowen tribe, which was handed over to the veteran Zhenyuan Hou Gu Cheng went to execute it.

Leading the Japanese army on a cross-sea expedition to Japan, Zhu Di planned to give Cao Guogong Li Jinglong a chance.

As for the more distant expedition to Mobei, Zhu Neng or himself would lead the army when his rule was stable.

Putting this question aside for the moment, Zhu Di continued to ask.

"Then what are the three strategies of the Imperial Preceptor's plan for war, apart from tiring the enemy, what are the other two strategies?"

Hearing this, Yao Guangxiao and Zhu Gaoxu also looked at Jiang Xinghuo curiously, looking forward to his answer.

"The second aspect is to confuse the enemy."

Jiang Xinghuo said slowly: "The so-called confusing the enemy, as the name suggests, is to confuse the enemy and make the enemy feel contemptuous."

"This is similar to the principle of the art of war." Zhu Di nodded slightly.

"A war of public opinion is indeed another form of war. What should be included in a war, a war of public opinion also has it."

Yao Guangxiao asked: "Then how to confuse the enemy?"

"Create stories that can attract the enemy's attention and interest the enemy. These stories may seem beneficial to the enemy and can confuse the enemy, but there must be a reversal in the story so that the same story can be used to attack the enemy later."

This is actually part of intelligence psychology, Jiang Xinghuo explained in detail.

"For example, since the enemy used Wang Anshi's "Zheng Xia Qiu Rain" during the reform as a means of attacking the reform to prove the correctness of the induction of heaven and man, then we might as well take the initiative to publish a rumor story to inflate the enemy's momentum and make the enemy stronger. I feel like I have a chance to win, but in this story, there is room for reversal."

Jiang Xinghuo tells the story inspired by his cousin Jiang Xuan, which is the story of the three masters Sun Wukong and Che Chiguo praying for rain and fighting in the "Journey to the West" that has not yet been published.

After hearing this story, Zhu Di and others couldn't help but fell into deep thought.

If this story corresponds to reality, who is the national master of Chechiguo? Who drives away Buddhists to do hard labor? Who is taking the initiative to bet and pray for rain?

On the surface, it seems that he is mocking Jiang Xinghuo, but once Jiang Xinghuo can reverse the situation, then whoever asks for rain will be the "Monkey King" who saves the people from drought!

"Whether it's tiring the enemy or confusing the enemy, it seems that they are all auxiliary means in public warfare?"

After thinking deeply, Zhu Di looked at Jiang Xinghuo: "Then what is the ultimate move of the imperial master in the public war?"

Jiang Xinghuo simply replied: "Destroy the enemy."

"The more you argue, the clearer the truth becomes. Target the enemy's weakest point in public opinion and attack his key points!"

Zhu Di obviously had no idea how to conduct a public opinion war. If he had, he wouldn't have been scolded by the Jiangnan gentry in various ways for more than four years.

But Yao Guangxiao understood a deeper meaning from Jiang Xinghuo's words.

Jiang Sheng not only wants to break the public opinion dilemma caused by Jing Qing's blood oath for the reform.

And he also wants to take this opportunity to directly attack Neo-Confucianism!