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Chapter 834: Time is out (Part 1)

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When Zhang Juzheng visited Gao Mansion, he was silent at the Ministry of War meeting with Tan Lun and Wu Dui.

No one would believe it. Today, the three of them gathered together, which was the first time this year... First, they went to Huizhou in silence at the beginning of the year. Before they could come back, Wu Dui went to various arsenals to inspect. Half a month later, Tan Lun went to inspect Jiubian again and returned to the capital the day before yesterday. If this happened to be two days later, I might not be able to get all the people together again.

"It's the Chinese Valentine's Day today, and the Cowherd Weaving NV Magpie Bridge Meeting." He looked at his two confidants, silent and had no usual airs. He leaned comfortably on the back of the chair and said with a smile: "We are similar to that pair of miserable mandarin ducks. Why is it so difficult to meet?"

Seeing that the Lord Zhongtang was in a good mood, Tan Lun and Wu Dui were also relaxed. The latter smiled and said, "They are couples, and we are threesomes. Of course, it is more difficult to get them together."

"Haha, come on..." Tan Lun said righteously: "I am only interested in young nv sons."

"I know if I don't say this..." Wu Dui has been in the army after all, and can't stand the Hun who came out of the team like Tan Lun.

"Cough..." Chen Si coughed lightly, thinking that he didn't exist if he thought he was the official? Then he looked at the Western bell in the corner and said, "Let's talk about serious business." The two shilangs quickly sat upright.

"In a blink of an eye, you two have been in office for a year." Chen Si whispered: "Today is just a simple report." He said, looking at the two and said: "Who will come first?"

After hearing what he said, Tan Lun and Wu Dui's expressions became serious. Now that Yang Bo has retired, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Education is empty. I believe that this time, the Lord Zhongtang will not let him fall behind. As long as there is no problem, it will most likely fall on Tan Lun's head, and Wu Dui can also go further and change the right to the left.

The two looked at each other, and Tan Lun said unwillingly: "The official is here first." Seeing the silent nod, he said in a deep voice: "The task assigned by the Lord Zhongtang is to promote the nine sides to achieve a strategic transformation from passive defense to active defense." The border defense strategy that has been decided long ago is divided into three steps, first from passive defense to active defense; then from active defense to key counterattack; finally achieve a comprehensive suppression of méng Gu. A detailed plan was formulated at each step and continuously improved. The most optimistic estimate is to achieve the entire plan for ten to fifteen years.

"This year is the second year of the implementation of the plan, and it is also a critical year that concerns whether the goal can be achieved." Tan Lun said: "So from the first lunar month to now, Xiaguan has basically been patrolling the shuttle in various towns on the Jiubian."

"Thank you for your hard work," said silently, expressing comfort, "How is the completion?"

"Overall, it is quite gratifying," Tan Lun said excitedly: "'I move first, and I will hurt the enemy first.' The benefits have been shown on the front line of Xuanda. Now, Ji Liao, the three sides have also taken the initiative this year, sending fierce rangers to search for Tartar camps, snatch horses, burn grasslands, or sneak attacks on their camps. Although due to lack of strength and the ancients, they have not won much money. However, in their frequent sā After disturbing, the ancients had to make changes. First of all, they did not dare to scatter into scattered bunches and grazed everywhere as before, but gathered into large tribes to prevent us from attacking. But in this way, their grazing would be greatly affected... As long as we increase the intensity of disturbing, their cattle and horses would not be able to eat enough grass. If they could not put on fat in autumn, hum..." Tan Lun smiled a little and said with a dangerous smile: "The snowstorm in winter is not easy to endure."

Silently nodded, signaling him to continue. Tan Lun continued: "Secondly, their range of activities has also ranged from dozens of miles close to the border to two hundred miles away. This is very important for our early warning and can effectively prevent their sneak attacks."

"The third point is not good news." Tan Lun said in a deep voice: "Although the number of times the ancient tribes in the ancient tribes this year is generally 30% less than in previous years, after discussing with several governors and generals, I agreed that this is a sign of a big battle." After a pause, he decomposed for silence: "Since Tumu Fort, the ancients have been suppressing us. It has been a hundred years. Have you ever suffered such a great loss as the Wanquan Right Guard? Have you ever been bullied like this? The leaders of all tribes must be full of anger. But seeing that Altan has no movement, they have to hold their troops down."

"Well..." Silent nodded. He knew why Altan had never taken revenge. First of all, of course, the battle of Wanquan Right Guards caused a heavy blow to him. Without two or three years, he could not recover his vitality. Secondly, after Altan's xiǎo Shulabuke Taiji was killed by Li Chengliang as a shield... The Wushen tribe he led was one of the 30,000 households on the left wing, with strong soldiers and strong strength, and he didn't listen to Altan's orders. This time, Labuke died so strangely, their tribe members turned their suspicious eyes to Altan, thinking that it was his plot against the Wushen tribe that killed Labuke. Altan sent an envoy to explain and was also killed by them.

The reason why the Wushen tribe dared to do this was because in the Battle of Wanquan Right Guard, the other 20,000 households led by Altan's son Bingtu and Bu Yan suffered heavy losses, so they had the intention of unifying the left wing and competing with Altan. All of Altan's thoughts were used to deal with this increasingly unfamiliar tribe, which also led to its disturbance to the Ming Dynasty this year.

There is also a third point. The architecture of Hohhot City gave Altan its own royal city for the first time. His tribe lived in the city. Without going out to grazing, he could rely on the agriculture and handicrafts in the surrounding Bansheng area to be self-sufficient. To a certain extent, this also reduced Altan's desire to plunder the Ming Dynasty... Every time the ancients invaded, what they most wanted for the Ming Dynasty was not gold, silver and silk that could not be eaten or worn, but iron pots, kitchen knives, cloth, buckets, grain and other daily necessities.

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"Last year, Altan attacked very fiercely in order to save face, but we were prepared for it. Although he was not making any noise, he did not get much benefit, so he found out this year." Tan Lun continued: "The rest of the tribes followed his horse's head, so they also stopped for half a year, but they were disturbed by us, and there was no blood supply. They did not grab enough winter supplies and could not last the next year. So they would definitely instigate Altan to send troops and fight us fiercely. In order to win people's hearts, Altan would probably have to make this happen." Finally, he concluded to Chen Si: "So they are very likely to have a large-scale invasion as early as nine or October after the war horse's cubs."

Silently asked, "How are you preparing on each side?"

"I already know that Wang Chonggu, Huo Ji, and Cao Bangfu are all capable of being the leader. As long as I am prepared, I will not repeat the scene two years ago." After a while, Tan Lun looked at his silent face and said, "But the border affairs have been abandoned for a long time, they dare not guarantee it, but instead faced me with difficulties. They all said, "I don't have many soldiers, I don't have enough food, and the generals can't get the other person, so I may not be able to do anything."

"What do you think?" He looked at Tan Lun silently.

"The officials thought that all three of these were insufficient." Tan Lun was a silent confidant, so he naturally would not be confused with him. Instead, he said bluntly: "There is no need to worry about the small number of soldiers but the weak. Although the border troops are in serious shortages today, the food and property are in stock. If they can be solicited according to the registration, they can be investigated and paid for them. If they are trained according to the registration, what are the concerns about the lack of soldiers? Besides, in the past few years, there have been tens of thousands of soldiers in each town, and there is no need to be short of soldiers. As for the insufficient food and salary, donate useless expenses and their financial resources to raise the fighting people, why worry about the lack of money? As for the generals and generals who cannot get the person, they will be rewarded to persuade meritoriously and lenient to extend the power of the general. Then, who is loyal and brave, who does not want to work hard, and why not worry about not having a general?"

He heard this and said, "If you want to make achievements, you must have this kind of demeanor!" He said with a smile, "But why do I feel that these three points they mentioned are also implicit?"

"The central government is wise, and the subordinates think so." Tan Lun said in a deep voice: "Although the complaints of the three governors are insincere, they can also reflect the real contradiction behind this... The so-called 'not many soldiers' are actually because they have too many guest soldiers, different authority, and inconvenient dispatch; the so-called 'insufficient food' is actually because they are jealous of the sufficient supply of guest soldiers; the so-called 'generals cannot be allowed to be the generals" is just because they have too many generals in the south, and they have formed their own faction and do not listen to the dispatch."

"So in the final analysis," Chen Si said lightly: "Is it the contradiction between the main soldiers and the guest soldiers?"

"Yes," Tan Lun said: "The Northern Army Town, with officers and soldiers, has been hereditary for two hundred years, and has long become three major groups that cannot be penetrated by needles and cannot be poured into water. And more than 100,000 tourists from the south came with victory and were in a foreign land, so they would naturally join forces. The three governors had the idea of ​​splitting up the hunch, and the soldiers responded to it. Their authority was greatly reduced, so they were naturally unhappy."

"Haha, this is really unpleasant from all sides." A wry smiled at the corner of Chen's mouth.

The transfer of troops from the south to the north was first proposed by Tan Lun. Now it was the result, which made him a little embarrassed. He quickly explained: "According to the original plan, the transfer of troops from the south to the north was only the first step, and the second step was to defeat them. This step was crucial, because the soldiers of Yan and Zhao had been guarding the border for a hundred years, and their spirits were exhausted early and there was no military discipline. It was not to teach the soldiers of Wu and Yue to teach them, otherwise nothing would be accomplished." As he said that, he spread his hands and said: "But now the host and guest soldiers are in a state of water and fire, how can they succeed?"

"I have made some plans for this matter, but the time was not yet ripe." Chen waved his hand and said lightly: "Now, wait until you can repel the Tartars again, and then you can implement it!"

When Tan Lun heard this, he said with a stern expression: "Abide by the order!"

Silently looked at Wu Dui who had been quiet and said, "Junze, what's wrong with you?"

Wu Dui said in a deep voice: "Xiaoguan's task this year is to build the nine arsenals and compete for military positions." He said: "Let's talk about the previous one. In the past year, the general arsenal has been established in accordance with the requirements of the adults. I personally serve as the chief executive. I also established nine special arsenals in Beijing, Zhili and Shandong, producing armored tools, swords, muskets, cannons, and chariots, respectively..." He sighed and said: "But this year, the effect is not optimistic, there are a shortage of craftsmen, low efficiency, serious expenses, and quality is not up to standard... In this year's military procurement, the general arsenal can only meet 30% and the remaining 70% must be provided by the workshops under the Ministry of Works' Arms Bureau."

The silent face slung. According to his plan, all the military workshops should be closed this year and all the weapons production should be transferred to the Arsenal Factory under the Ministry of War. However, the Ministry of Works is unwilling to cancel the weapons bureau, and those nobles are unwilling to close the military workshops. The reason is nothing more than the word "interest". They don't want to give the féirou in the bowl to the Ministry of War...

"But we have raised the acceptance standards," Wu Dui said quickly: "The quality of weapons is much better than before."

"I will solve this..." Silent face said in a quiet voice: "Tell me about the 'martial vocational competition'."

"Yes." Wu Dui responded quickly: "Although the first 'competition was held in two years," the problems that have already been experiencing are not optimistic. Our Ministry of War naturally tried its best to implement them, but the problems mainly lie in the local areas. The provincial officials and supervisors of various provinces have all written and written to the Ministry of War, saying that the staff and the staff are very expensive and cannot provide teaching for the children of the generals who should attack. Therefore, this year, only the prefectures in Zhili, Shandong, and several southeastern provinces have opened martial arts to recruit students of Yingxi. Now that it has been a year, if the rest of the provinces are not launched, there will be big problems in the future competition!"

"Well..." Chen Si nodded slowly and said, "What are the opinions of the governors of each province?"

"They mean that either let the children of these generals pay their own expenses, or the Ministry of War allocate special funds." Wu Dui smiled bitterly: "But this is not realistic. If the generals follow the first method, the generals will rebel; if the second method is followed, not to mention that the Ministry of War has no money, even if they can afford this money, they will be exploited layer by layer. It is really unknown how much money can be used for special funds."

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Today's meeting was really a breath. Basically, the two shilangs did not complete any of the tasks assigned by themselves. But they knew that they could not blame them because there was a problem at the root, so it was a bit difficult for the two shilangs to solve it.

Seeing that the two of them were not slapped on their faces, Chen Si had to cheer them up and said, "The conditions before were not ripe. If it were not time to wait, I would not force you to implement these measures. It would be really difficult for you." The two of them said they didn't dare to, and waved their hands silently, and said, "Besides, this year has not been in vain. At least you have a deep understanding of their respective fields. Once the time is ripe and the conditions are met, I firmly believe that you will use the shortest time to achieve the best results!"

There was some gloriousness in the eyes of the two of them, and they actually asked in unison: "When will that be?"

"It's almost done." said quietly: "The night has passed, and dawn is right in front of you."

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Chapter completed!