Now, the Li family has been defeated, and the Liaoxi warlords have not yet formed due to the overhaul of the Guanningjin Defense Line.
The Liaodong gentry either died or surrendered to the Later Jin, or had lost their land and moved to other places, becoming paper tigers. This was the time when Xiong Tingbi could make his move.
The new military system's regulations prohibiting the maintenance of private soldiers and the accompanying of family members in the army prevented the emergence of warlords to the greatest extent possible.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao was not too worried about letting Zu Dashou return to Liaodong and Kong Youde return to Dongjiang.
Zhang Yu'er was busy helping the emperor put on his robe and tying its belt. Finally, she took two steps back, looked at him carefully, and smiled with seeming satisfaction.
Zhu Youxiao also returned his gentle smile and asked casually, "Why has Xiaobai been sleeping so much these past two days? He seems a little different from before!"
Zhang Yuer also felt strange. She glanced at Bai Niangniang who was lying lazily in the nest, but she couldn't tell what was wrong.
"Forget it." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Maybe he's just feeling lazy because the weather is warm!" After that, he walked over and wanted to take a closer look at Xiaobai.
Seeing him approaching, Xiaobai immediately became alert, stood up straight, stared at Zhu Youxiao with his heterochromic eyes, as if he was ready to escape from his clutches at any time.
Zhu Youxiao saw the gleam in Xiaobai's eyes and knew that everything was fine, but he was very unhappy with its defensive look.
Zhang Yu'er hurried over, picked up Lady Bai, and smiled at the emperor, saying, "Lady Bai is fine. Your Majesty can go to Wuying Palace without worry!"
Zhu Youxiao rolled his eyes and turned to leave the hall.
In the side hall of Wuying Palace, all the generals had gathered together and were discussing and arguing around the large sand table in the hall.
The sand table has been expanded a lot, marking out the nine important border towns and the various tribes on the grasslands outside the Great Wall in as much detail as possible.
Moreover, the eunuchs had already told them that the emperor had allowed them to make noises and look through the information in the palace without being too bound by etiquette.
Only by seeing such a large and intuitive sand table did the generals understand how serious the Ming Dynasty's border troubles were.
Don't say that the Mongolian tribes were peaceful. That was a temporary peace bought with money and materials, that is, market rewards. When the years were bad, there were still tribes coming to plunder.
Starting from the end of the Wanli period, the imperial court issued annual rewards of silver to the Mongolian tribes outside the Xuanfu border, initially only a few thousand taels.
When the Jiannu rebelled against the Ming and went to war, the Mongol tribes became targets of both sides. The amount of silver the Mongol tribes demanded from the Ming Dynasty soared, now reaching over 100,000 taels.
These materials are on the bookshelf next to the sand table, including the annual food and salary requirements of each border town and the cost of transporting these food and salary by the court.
For a real soldier, this is a shame!
Eating food transferred from all over the country and receiving military pay from the imperial court, yet unable to defend themselves against foreign aggression, they still have to pay to buy peace. Where is the face of the imperial court? What is the point of the state maintaining an army?
In addition to training soldiers, this first batch of military officers, in accordance with the arrangements of the Ministry of War and the requirements of Zhu Youxiao, often discussed and studied together, and they became familiar with each other.
Therefore, after looking at the markings of the enemy and our own situation on the sand table and reading these internal materials, debates and even arguments are inevitable.
"The root of the problem lies with the Jiannu. If Liaodong hadn't been so corrupted, how could the Western Tartars dare to advance even further?"
"If the border towns had strong troops and horses, how could the Western Tartars dare to act rashly?"
"Nonsense! If we weren't afraid that the Western Tartars would turn to the Jiannu, how could we agree to their excessive demands?"
"Alas, as soldiers, we are unable to suppress the rebellion and recover the lost territory. I am truly ashamed."
"They feel at ease when they eat food and receive salary, but they suffer repeated defeats when fighting for their country. This is really shameful."
Zhang Pan raised his head and made eye contact with Cao Wenzhao, the guerrilla commander of Liaodong Town.
The two men's remarks were surprisingly consistent. They couldn't help but smile bitterly at each other, feeling a sense of mutual respect as heroes.
"Once Dongjiang Town has finished recruiting and training its troops, we'll attack the Jiannu from the sea. This will surely make them lose sight of everything and become exhausted." Kong Youde pointed at the sand table. "Look, with such a vast coastline, how could the Jiannu defend it?"
Mao Chenglu agreed with this. He pointed out from Pi Island and headed north along the Yalu River. He said happily, "If we go up the river and attack the Jiannu from behind, we can catch them off guard."
Zhang Pan smiled and nodded, but his eyes were fixed on southern Liaoning, Lushun, Jinzhou, Nanguan... That was a strategic idea he had long had.
"Lord Sun, the Minister of War, has arrived." The voice of the eunuch came from outside the hall. The generals inside the hall hurriedly stopped talking, straightened their clothes, and bowed to greet him.
Sun Chengzong walked into the hall. Although he was old, he was in good spirits.
"I pay my respects to Lord Sun." The generals bowed and saluted to pay their respects to their superior.
"No need for formalities." Sun Chengzong raised his hand with a smile, glanced around, and nodded with seeming satisfaction.
Sitting down in the middle seat, Sun Chengzong extended his hand to signal the generals to take their seats, stroked his thick beard, and nodded with a smile.
After the generals were seated, Sun Chengzong coughed lightly and said, "I'm sure you've reviewed the situation on the sand table and the documents, right?"
Hearing the generals' responses, Sun Chengzong's expression grew serious, and he slowly said, "I believe you all didn't feel too much of the seriousness and urgency before, but now that you understand, you will understand the difficulties of the state and the court."
"The Emperor is wise and virtuous, placing equal emphasis on civil and military affairs. He has also painstakingly planned to ensure that the army is well-armored, well-equipped, and has sufficient provisions and pay. You are the elite of the army, and His Majesty has high expectations of you. He hopes that you will revive the declining army, that the officers and soldiers will fight for their lives, and that the military and civilians will live in peace..."
"After you return to your respective towns, you must rigorously train your soldiers according to the new methods. After a few months, each town should have several thousand elite soldiers; after a year, they will all be brave warriors..."
"In a battle against the Eastern Tartars, strong armor and sharp weapons are one thing, but the most important thing is courage. If you have courage, you will dare to fight. Without courage, strong armor and sharp weapons will be useless..."
"For over a decade, the slave war has intensified, and Liaodong has been completely lost. Your Majesty is deeply concerned, and the soldiers and civilians are terrified. However, this time of crisis is an opportunity for you to train your troops, march forth boldly, and achieve great things."
Sun Chengzong stood up, his eyes sweeping across the generals, and he saluted, "Will you all emulate the aspirations of Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, achieve great feats in suppressing and sweeping the enemy, and strive to earn titles for your wives and children, and leave your names in history?"
"I shall serve my country with all my heart and soul."
"I will defend this dangerous border with all my might and die on the battlefield."
"I will not hesitate to die on the battlefield."
…………
All the generals stood up and bowed, all of them were passionate. Although their words were not flowery, they showed the spirit of warriors.
Sun Chengzong smiled and nodded repeatedly, saying, "You all are fearless and brave enough to fight bravely. How can His Majesty be so stingy with your rewards?"
As he spoke, he called all the generals to gather around the sand table, pointed out the situation, and discussed the battle, defense and joint attack.
When Zhu Youxiao arrived at Wuying Palace, he took his seat directly in the main hall and summoned all the generals to meet him.
"No need to formalize, everyone, please stand up!" After bowing, Zhu Youxiao nodded with a smile and extended his hand to signal the generals to take a seat.
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