First Minister of Ming Dynasty

First Minister Section 623

Mao Gui frowned slightly, "The Grand Master is right, but the timing..."

Zhang Ximeng waved his hand and said with a smile, "I didn't say I would give up this opportunity... My idea is whether I can send a fleet... to stop the troops of Champa in the name of mediating the conflict between the two countries!"

"Zhancheng?" Mao Gui was stunned, and quickly said: "Grand Master, I was going to say it just now. Don't look at Zhancheng winning this time, but generally speaking, Zhancheng is weaker than Chen Dynasty. We help Annan, in case Chen Chao takes a breather and destroys Champa, with the granary in the south, Annan will be difficult to deal with."

Zhang Ximeng smiled and said: "Listen to me first... I mean, in the name of protecting Annan, we suppressed Champa, and then we stationed troops between the two countries, and in the name of preventing the two countries from continuing to fight, knocked down Champa." Open the gates of Annan and Champa, and get both of them in one go!"

Sun Yan and Mao Gui looked at each other, and they both revealed that they were worthy of being grand masters. They wanted to annex two countries in one go, and they really had an amazing appetite.

Sun Yan pondered for a while, Zhang Ximeng smiled and said, "Why, do you have a different opinion?"

Sun Yan waved his hands hastily, "The grand master's idea is already complete, and I also mean the same... But I have one more small matter, I want to see what the grand master thinks."

"What's the matter?" Zhang Ximeng asked curiously.

Sun Yan lowered his voice slightly, "Grand Master, let's suppress Zhancheng first, and prevent them from continuing to attack Annan, and then knock on Annan's door...But to the outside world, or our newspapers, can we tell our people that the imperial court is for To support the righteous and crusade against the faint king?"

Zhang Ximeng frowned slightly. Although he said that he would go directly to Annan at this moment, take advantage of the emptiness, and take advantage of the fire, which would cause future troubles... But there are a group of scholars who are close to Ming Dynasty in Annan's country, and they can't let them down.

What's more, what Zhang Ximeng said was Daming's bottom line, if he could get more, why would he refuse it!

"can!"

With Zhang Ximeng's nod, Mao Gui and Sun Yan looked at each other and smiled with relief.

Then they formulated a set of detailed strategies and handed them to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Lao Zhu also quickly agreed.

Daming's propaganda machine was in full swing, and the newspapers were full of articles, mainly introducing the history of Annan's past belonging to the Central Plains Dynasty, and also talking about the misery and hardship of the people in Annan.

What's more, he now has the courage to raise troops angrily and crusade against the faint king.

The newspapers reported it extensively, making the topic that had already aroused excitement suddenly explode.

It turned out that this was the case in Annan. It turned out that this small country was also looking forward to implementing the national policy of Ming Dynasty... This is a great thing!

In any case, we have to help the scene.

Regardless of others, Zhang Dong, who just sold Busan Port for a sum of money, is already changing from shot to shot.

Because Zhang Ziming received the Medal of Merit of the Ming Dynasty, plus Zhang Dong's credit for capturing the King of Korea...their father and son became famous all over the world in an instant, and became household names.

With fame, everything is convenient.

Many aspiring young people came to join Zhang Dong, the number exceeded 300.

Zhang Dong also ran to the shipyard in Liujiagang. After reporting his name, he met the master. After some bargaining, they got five newest fast warships!

In addition, Zhang Dong also bought a batch of munitions, including ten artillery pieces and two hundred new-style firecrackers, at a friendly price.

In an instant, his men switched from shotgun to cannon.

"Annan's righteous people rose up, we can't stand idly by, they believe in the Grand Master's theory, they are our brothers!"

The group of young people under him are also eager to try, but some people are still worried.

"What does the imperial court mean? What if we go and cause trouble?"

Zhang Dong chuckled, "We are fighting for the interests of Ming! Annan is the territory of Ming. Even if the court has various considerations, it is not easy to do it directly, we must find a way to bring Annan back... just like we were in Korea. Do that!"

Chapter 862 Grand Master Zhang Is My Uncle

Zhang Dong led his troops to the south, and in his army, there was a young man named Zhang Yu. His experience was quite special. Some people said that his ancestors belonged to Mongolia, and others said that he was captured by others. , into the army.

Anyway, he was taken as a prisoner.

After the Battle of Lingbei, Zhang Yu fell to Daming. It stands to reason that a person like him should be sent to work in a factory in Beiping, and he will not be able to come out until at least five years later.

But soon Zhang Yu left the lumberyard, and then moved to Yingtian, and then as if feeling a call from somewhere, he followed Zhang Dong, and they went south to Annan together.

Meeting Zhang Yu, Zhang Dong laughed immediately.

He has picked up a treasure, not to mention that this Zhang Yu can write well, his martial arts are quite good, and his archery skills are extremely high, he can be called a warrior who can stand up to ten.

"Very good, great, the two of us will be half-brothers from now on! This time we go to Annan, we must make great achievements and achieve great success! It turns out that I don't like Busan Port. Let's find a good place this time. , also build a country, decide on your own!"

Zhang Dong was in high spirits. Since Gao Li made a vote, he now found the feeling.

The difference between countries is sometimes greater than that between people... For example, on a test paper, he may get zero marks in the test, and someone in the same class gets full marks in the test, and there is a difference of [-] points in the middle.

But if a few countries are sitting here, for example, Daming can barely score [-] points, no more, but some countries can definitely score minus [-] points, the difference is [-] points.

Totally unreasonable.

Regardless of the fact that there are only a few hundred of them, even if there are only a few dozen of them, as long as they are courageous, careful, cunning, and seize the opportunity, they can accomplish great things that others dare not imagine.

Zhang Dong is very confident in this point. Unlike Zhang Dong, Zhang Yu is a full-fledged actionist. He only carefully wipes the strong bow in his hand.

He relied on this bow to kill a fierce tiger.That's right, although Zhang Yu didn't have the ability to kill a tiger with his bare hands, he was definitely not a waste of food with a shovel.

It was because of this tiger skin that Zhang Yu left the lumber camp ahead of time. It was the boss of the lumber camp who instructed him to join the army in the south, so as not to waste his good skills.

Then he went south by boat, and the sailors on the boat told him about overseas affairs.

Only then did Zhang Yu realize that according to the current rules of the Ming army, if he wanted to join the army, he had to rely on martial arts alone, and also had to be able to read and write, especially background checks... That’s right, not everyone in the current Ming army can do it. went in.

A situation like that where thieves join the army will never happen.

After Tang He took charge of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, he began drastic reforms... Speaking of which, in the entire Ming Dynasty, the person who was least afraid of offending people was probably this one.

Not even Xu Da.

Generals must be born in martial arts and must pass the assessment. Someone talked to Tang He, saying that he should be eclectic, no matter what kind of talent he can use, as long as he knows how to fight!

Tang He stared at him, who wants talent?

Who said I have to choose talents?

Tell you, don't feel good about yourself.

I first choose obedient ones... Hundreds of thousands of Ming soldiers, generals from top to bottom, don't need you to be talented, and don't need you to have any ideas.

Do what the school taught you, and do it honestly, understand the firecrackers and artillery in your hand, and understand the logistics.This is enough!

As for the art of war, what tactics... Don't talk about it with me, wait until you understand the firearms!

Tang He really didn't care about anything, some of the disobedient Uncle Hou were dismissed by him directly... so that the entire Huaixi nobles, except for a few dukes, had nothing left.

Tang He's tossing aroused unanimous opposition, from the army to the Ministry of Education, and some even went to Zhu Biao's place, hoping that His Highness would come forward and take down Tang He.

But I'm sorry, no matter what they think, it's useless.

Tanghe is as stable as Mount Tai.

Some people guessed that it was Zhang Taishi who supported Tang He behind his back, but Zhang Ximeng knew very well that there was only one real backer for Tang He, and that was Zhu Yuanzhang.

Lao Zhu has made up his mind. In order to completely eradicate the problem of arrogant soldiers and tyrannical generals threatening the court, he advocates reforms in the army... First of all, generals must come from martial arts... This does not mean that all those trained by the school are usable talent.

On the contrary, there are more idiots who study hard.

But I'm sorry, what the Ming army needs right now is rules, that is, regularization, walking, sitting and lying down, every word and deed, every action, all must have rules!

And all the rules point to one core, that is loyalty!

Absolute loyalty!

You can't return the soldiers to the generals, and you can't control the army for generations. All soldiers and horses must follow the same set of rules. Maybe this set of rules has some shortcomings, but now, it must be done like this!

Implement it in one go!

Some people may ask, will this not damage the combat effectiveness of the Ming army?

I can only say haha ​​about this, if there are several 10 people, and everyone agrees, can this combat effectiveness still be low?

The key is to be united and united.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew better than anyone else that he could control the generals in the army, but Zhu Biao couldn't do it anymore. When he went to his grandson, he was afraid that there would be more problems.

The arrogant soldier has always been the most troublesome thing in the past. If he is too strong, he will be easily backlashed, and if he is too weak, he will be bullied again.

Sometimes, as a last resort, it is impossible to send the arrogant soldiers away.

After all, what they want outside is just money and land... This group of soldiers will be deadly.

In order to avoid future troubles, Lao Zhu agreed to Tang He's strategy and carried out a thorough rectification of the army.

As for Tang He, he also thought very clearly that his son was the governor of the country of Wa, at worst he moved to the country of Wa to retire, anyway, he would not bow his head in Daming for one day.

Under Tang He's tossing, a large number of lieutenant soldiers were disarmed and returned to the fields. Most of these people were unwilling to go home and farm.

Therefore, you will find that there are commercial restaurants, car dealers, and transportation companies opened by veterans... There are also people who invest in building factories, and more people simply go to sea to look for opportunities outside.

Under Zhang Dong's subordinates, there are many such people.

They are generally youthful and ambitious.There is no need for us in the army. In other places, we still shine, live better, and make more noise.

It is conceivable what will happen when such a group of living ancestors go to Annan.

"Father, why do I feel that you were fooled by Sun Yan?"

Zhang Chengtian sat across from Zhang Ximeng. As he got older, Zhang Chengtian lost weight obviously, and his height increased rapidly. He looked more and more thin and white like the Zhang family.

Finally, no one doubted it anymore. Except for the extra baby fat on Zhang Chengtian's face, he was almost carved out of the same mold as Zhang Ximeng.

This kid is also becoming smarter and more capable... For example, this time, Sun Yan wants to publicize the incident, support the righteous men in Annan, crusade against the faint king, promote Zhang Zi's learning, and rescue the people of Annan...

But fundamentally, he still acted in accordance with Zhang Ximeng's proposal, trying to open the doors of the two countries, successfully grasping the lifelines of the two countries, and gradually bringing them into the territory of Ming Dynasty.

But when it came to actual implementation, Zhang Chengtian found that there was a bit of a pretentiousness, and Sun Yan kept encouraging the younger generation to march towards Annan.

Zhang Chengtian even discovered a complete immigration plan, which exists in the Ministry of Education.

"Do you want to say that Sun Yan is obeying the law and breaking the law?" Zhang Ximeng said with a smile.

Zhang Chengtian pondered slightly, "Father, it stands to reason that Sun Yan doesn't have the guts to play tricks on you old man, I'm really a little confused."

Zhang Ximeng smiled, "Why can't you figure it out... A country as large as Ming Dynasty is a huge system from top to bottom. If you say that I will definitely help those Annan volunteers, what do you think will happen?"

"It must be paid by people and money, and go all out!" Zhang Chengtian thought about it.

"Then what happens if you lose the battle and use too much force?" Zhang Ximeng asked with a smile.

Zhang Chengtian was startled, he seemed to understand.

"I understand. That is to say, even if you always want to take this opportunity to take down Annan in one fell swoop, you can't say it directly. Once you say it, the next one will do it regardless of the cost. Then the resources invested are too large. Too much, if you can't recycle it, you will suffer heavy losses. There will be problems in the past dynasties to expand the territory and waste the people and money." Zhang Chengtian smiled and said: "Is that so?"

Zhang Ximeng nodded, "Indeed."

Zhang Chengtian said again: "Father, what should we do then? Is there a safer way?"

Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "Of course there are. For example, some people rush forward now. They are not soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, nor do they represent the court of the Ming Dynasty. If they fail, they will not damage the court situation. But if they succeed, it will be A book of ten thousand profits, with the imperial court following behind, is enough to get everything that belongs to the imperial court!"

Only then did Zhang Chengtian suddenly realize, "I understand, it turns out that Sun Yan's obedience and injustice are what you tacitly agreed to!"

Zhang Ximeng sternly said, "What are you talking about, don't use these bad words on yourself, you are getting bigger and bigger now, and you are a close minister of the emperor, if you dare to speak nonsense, I will slap your mouth son!"

Zhang Chengtian quickly grinned, "Don't worry, I'll be careful. But I'm looking forward to what those people will do! I can't wait."

It is said that after Zhang Dong and others successfully arrived in Annan, they contacted the local rebels, and immediately figured out the situation... Annan at the moment can be roughly divided into three forces.

First of all, these rebels, under the banner of equalizing the land, want to crusade against the faint king and overthrow the Chen Dynasty.

However, the internal chaos of this group of people is just a group of rabble, and many powerful people have been mixed in. The so-called equal distribution of land and acres cannot be implemented at all.

When Zhang Dong saw it, he was very disappointed!

Even though he doesn't read much, he is very clear about how Zhang Ximeng engages in the equalization of land. His father, Zhang Ziming, always talks about it. Even if you change your family and have a stable life, this kindness is as high as the sky and as deep as the sea.

But on Annan's side, it was all shouting and excitement, and there was no sign of implementation.

But it is worth mentioning that in addition to the courtiers and the royal family, Annan has a powerful official named Hu Jishou. It is said that his ancestors were from Zhejiang, and later moved to Annan. After several generations, he climbed to a high position.

After learning about this, Zhang Dong called Zhang Yu directly, "Let's go, let's go see Hu!"

Zhang Yu is also a ruthless person, so he didn't ask any unnecessary questions, and the two left directly.

Needless to say, they actually saw Hu Jiyao.

"Annan was originally the hometown of the Central Plains, and you are also a descendant of China... What do you want to do now?" Zhang Dong went straight to the point.

The other party was startled, "You, who are you representing? What's the matter?"

"Of course Da Ming is behind me!" Zhang Dong gave a vague answer, "Thus now, it is nothing more than Da Ming supporting the rebel army and completing the equal land, or it is Da Ming supporting reliable people, such as you... to complete the equal land, you Pick one!"

Hu Jiyan hesitated again, "Can you really represent Daming?"