***
In the second hall of the Changsha Governor's Office, Yang Shen, Zhuge Min, He Liang, Li Yuan, Meng Ke, Liu Meng, Huang Lianshan, and Ning Yuan were all present. Li Shi was guarding the door himself.
After Qin Mu gave a brief opening speech, no one in the audience spoke, and the scene became a little awkward.
"What? Are you all mute?"
"Sir, are we going to raise the flag of rebellion?" Liu Meng asked directly because he was Qin Mu's most loyal descendant.
Qin Mu immediately came to his senses after hearing this question. He stroked his forehead gently, stared at Liu Meng and said, "This officer... ... pay attention, I asked you to discuss the future strategic direction, not where we should move to. If you want to arrange a big chess game, you must first have a strategic plan, so that everything can proceed step by step. Liu Meng, you are deliberately slapping this officer in the face, right?"
After all, Qin Mu was still waving the flag of the Ming Dynasty, so it was impossible for him to roam around like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, occupying wherever he wanted. So the strategic direction he mentioned naturally did not refer to where the army would move to, but what the future strategic policy would focus on.
Meng Ke thought for a moment and said, "Sir, it is not necessarily impossible to move. I'm afraid you don't know that the reason why Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong can live to this day is not because they were so powerful in the past, but because the generals in charge of the encirclement and suppression took advantage of the enemy and allowed them to revive again and again. For example, in the 13th year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong was chased by Zuo Liangyu and had nowhere to go, so he sent his subordinate Ma Yuanli with a large sum of money to find Zuo Liangyu and said: Xianzhong is here, so you are valued. Your troops have killed and looted a lot, and the cabinet is suspicious and self-centered. Without Xianzhong, you will be destroyed soon. After hearing this, Zuo Liangyu secretly allowed Zhang Xianzhong to escape..."
"How do you know this?"
"Wu Xueli, after being defeated and captured in Liling, Wu Xueli said everything he could to save his life. Sir, now that things have come to this, we can do the same."
Ning Yuan added: "That's right, sir, just drive Zhang Xianzhong wherever you think is good and follow him."
"He eats lamp wick ash and farts lightly." Qin Mu scolded lightly, "It's the time and the situation. We took advantage of the situation a few days ago and luckily won a battle against Zhang Xianzhong. Now he still has 150,000 troops. Even if we put all 100,000 troops into it, we may not be able to win. I'm not trying to boost his morale, but as long as Zhang Xianzhong doesn't go south to attack Changsha, we will be lucky. We can drive him away wherever he wants to occupy. I warn you, don't think you are the best in the world just because you have won a few battles."
Ning Yuan did not dare to say a word back. What he said just now was indeed a little out of touch with reality. Since he went on the expedition, he had been successful in almost everything, which inevitably gave rise to some arrogance. But if you think about it carefully, the fact is just as Qin Mu said. One hundred thousand newly recruited soldiers, in a frontal battle, may not be Zhang Xianzhong's opponent.
Qin Mu had actually thought about it a long time ago. The Central Plains was a place of war. Now it was a thousand miles of barren land. It was impossible to gain a foothold.
Guanzhong is not bad. There are many strong soldiers in Guanzhong, so the source of soldiers is not a problem. However, Guanzhong has also been through several wars and is in ruins. The newly emerging Qing Dynasty is not the corrupt Mongols that Zhu Yuanzhang faced. Unless rifles that can restrain cavalry are produced, it is unrealistic to destroy the Qing Dynasty all at once. That is to say, there will be a relatively long confrontation process. The ruined Guanzhong cannot provide the financial and material resources to fight against the Qing Dynasty. Adding a rich Sichuan is about the same;
But this is just a thought. Now Li Zicheng has gone to Guanzhong, and Zhang Xianzhong is very likely to go west to Sichuan. His current strength is not enough to compete with others for these places. Even if he can win them, he will have no time to develop.
There is even no time to occupy Jiangnan. For now, there is no need to think about anything else. The wisest choice is to focus on managing Huguang and southern Jiangxi.
Meng Ke said at this time: "Sir, you want to defend Huguang and southern Jiangxi, but I am afraid you may not be able to do so. Sun Chuanting was defeated and it is only a matter of time before Guanzhong falls into the hands of Li Zicheng. Zuo Liangyu attacked us actively, but he was afraid of the rebels. He has been stranded in Dazhi and dared not move west. Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, only you have won successive victories and successfully recovered most of Huguang. As long as the emperor still wants to keep the Ming Dynasty, he will definitely not let you sit idle in Huguang. When the imperial edicts come one after another, will you send troops or not?"
Zhuge Min said, "General Meng is right. My Lord, the Emperor will certainly give you a higher rank in order to win you over. But this rank will not be given for nothing. It is natural for you to chase the enemy and kill the bandits. And you will certainly be put on a big hat. Since you are still a minister of the Ming Dynasty, you must save some face for the Emperor and yourself. Otherwise, how can you stop the people from talking nonsense?"
Yang Shen said at this time: "Sir, Huguang is a vast land with flat waters and wide lands, without dangerous mountains and rivers to rely on. Since ancient times, no one has been able to defend Huguang without Wuchang and Jingzhou. Xiangyang is located at the strategic point upstream of Wuchang and Jingzhou. If Xiangyang is lost, Wuchang and Jingzhou will be lost. Therefore, to defend Wuchang and Jingzhou, you must first defend Xiangyang. If you intend to manage Huguang, you must control Wuchang, Jingzhou and Xiangyang. Otherwise, managing Huguang is nothing but a mirage."
Qin Mu agreed with what Yang Shen said. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Xiangyang was a strategic location for resisting the Mongols. Only when Xiangyang was saved could the south of the Yangtze River be stable. Later, when the Mongols broke Xiangyang, the Southern Song Dynasty had no place to defend and collapsed quickly. Qin Mu naturally knew the importance of Xiangyang, but... ... ...
He Liang said at this time: "To defend Huguang, we must first defend Wuchang. To defend Wuchang, we must first defend Xiangyang. This is true, but we must do everything within our capabilities. If we are too ambitious, it will easily lead to internal strife. At present, Huguang is not settled, and your soldiers are untrained. If you rashly go north, it will be a way to cause trouble. Don't forget that we are enemies with Zuo Liangyu and mortal enemies with Zhang Xianzhong. Now Xiangyang is in the hands of Li Zicheng. Let's not talk about whether we can take Xiangyang. Even if we can take it by chance, it will only make a big enemy for ourselves. When you are surrounded by enemies, with 100,000 newly recruited soldiers, what do you think is the chance of winning?"
"What you eat belongs to you. I have always believed in this principle." Qin Mu suddenly said this, which made the people present confused about his intention. Qin Mu picked up the teacup, took a sip and then continued, "But the premise is that you have the ability to digest what you eat, otherwise you will get a stomachache. Wuchang, Jingzhou, and Xiangyang must be taken in the future, but definitely not now. For now, just keep the south of Yuezhou. There is no need for everyone to say more, let's talk about how to keep Huguang first."
Li Yuan said first: "Sir, the emperor's order is not difficult to deal with. For example, Zuo Liangyu, the emperor has issued many edicts to urge him to fight, but Zuo Liangyu has not yet moved west. You can just delay. If you can't delay, you can reorganize the 60,000 rebels captured in Liuyang and send a general to chase the enemy. But how to control Huguang is a bit troublesome.
At present, most officials in the prefectures and counties of Huguang are temporarily appointed by you. If you can be appointed as the governor of Huguang, these problems will be solved. However, it is unlikely that you will be appointed as the governor of Huguang. However, in order to win you over, the court will not transfer you to another place. At present, the governor of Gannan is vacant. If my prediction is correct, the court will most likely let you take over the post of governor of Gannan so that you can follow the order to fight the bandits.
But this caused a problem. You can't control Huguang. Although the officials of Huguang's prefectures and counties are appointed by you, the time is short. Once He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, comes back to take charge of the military and political affairs, it is foreseeable that at least some officials of the prefectures and counties will turn against you in order to protect their positions. We have to formulate countermeasures in advance."
"What's there to think about? If you go back to southern Jiangxi, there will definitely be a lot of bastards who will betray you." Liu Meng suddenly chuckled and said fiercely, "But if you don't go back to southern Jiangxi, I'll see who dares to betray you if I can help you."
He Liang suddenly understood and couldn't help but clap his hands and said, "Good, General Liu's words are very good. Sir, no matter what position the court gives you, you just need to stay in Huguang in the name of chasing bandits. In this way, no matter who is He Tengjiao or whoever becomes the governor of Huguang, it will not be difficult to sideline him. After a long time, the officials of various states and counties will recognize the situation. Even if you return to southern Jiangxi in the future, no one will dare to do anything rebellious."
This move made Qin Mu very satisfied. He couldn't help but glance at Liu Meng twice. This guy had a face full of whiskers, and was comparable to Zhang Fei. No matter how you looked at him, he looked like a rough man, but he often said some shocking words and could get to the point directly. After his words, the problem of Guanghu was solved.
Political power comes from the barrel of a gun, and as for the military, Qin Mu will definitely hold on to it tightly.
What has always given him a headache is the civil affairs. After all, the Qing Dynasty was about to march south, and all the troops had to be trained off-duty so that they could be trained into elite soldiers as quickly as possible. In this way, the army would have to rely on the local areas for support. If the local officials betrayed him, the so-called management of Huguang would become empty talk.
According to Liu Meng's method, no matter what official position the court conferred on him, he could stay in Huguang and become the emperor, and then all problems would no longer be problems.
Meng Ke said, "Sir, judging from Zhang Xianzhong's movements, he is likely to flee to Sichuan. If that is the case, you will lose the reason to stay in Huguang. Therefore, you must..."
Meng Ke did not continue because it was not pleasant to hear. Everyone knew the answer. To put it bluntly, it was nothing more than raising thieves for one's own protection. Now that Zhang Xianzhong was gone and there were no thieves anymore, he could raise a new batch. The 60,000 Dashi troops captured in Liuyang could be fully utilized.
Things were almost sorted out, and Qin Mu felt relieved. At this time, Li Shi came in and whispered in Qin Mu's ear: "Sir, there is a group of people outside the government office. They said they came from Jinling and wanted to see you. Among them are eunuchs and men from the East Factory."
*******************************
ps: Please vote for recommendation, please vote for recommendation. Don’t forget to vote for recommendation to support the book when reading it.
.(To be continued..)
...