My life skills in Daming Liver - Chapter 682

c669 Zhang Juzheng’s geographical darkness

Both sides need a decisive battle.

But there are actually not many battlefield options for this decisive battle.

But the biggest joke in the world is that after giving the necessity of a decisive battle, history also determined the location for the decisive battle for both sides.

Almost unanimously, both sides decided that the decisive battle would be in Shandong.

Ministers did not have much opinion on the choice of the location for the decisive battle.

Ministers like Xu Wei who understood strategy naturally understood the importance of the decisive battle in Shandong. For people like Shen Shixing who had never fought in a battle, they did not think that the location of the decisive battle was very important.

In Tianjin, Wang Shizhen visited Zhang Juzheng again with gifts. At this time, Zhang Juzheng took some new drugs and recovered a little. He was now able to stand up and move around with the help of his nephew.

Today is a beautiful day, and Zhang Juzheng is sitting in the back garden reading the newspaper.

Wang Shizhen was already very familiar with the Zhang family. The house where Zhang Juzheng lived in Tianjin was not big, so he walked directly into the back garden.

Zhang Juzheng put down the newspaper and led Wang Shizhen to sit down.

“Uncle, please read the newspaper. It seems that the imperial court has chosen to fight in Shandong.”

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said: “I have read the newspaper. The decisive battle in Shandong is one of the few options for the court. If I were Li Chengliang, I would also choose to fight in Shandong.”

“Why?”

Zhang Juzheng said: “If the enemy is strong and we are weak, we will naturally have to fight decisively on our own territory. Although the battle outside the Pass is advertised as a great victory, our general also transported a large number of Jurchen heads from outside the Pass and piled them up in Beijing, but these It’s all fake. The officers and soldiers retreated to Shanhaiguan. This is the real result of the war.”

“General Li has even lost the place outside the Pass where he started. If we don’t fight decisively, there will be no chance for a decisive battle.”

There was a hint of melancholy and regret in both of their voices.

No matter what happened to the Ming Dynasty, this was the place where they worked for the first half of their lives. Seeing that the old era was about to be buried always made people a little sad.

Zhang Juzheng added: “General Li has two direct descendants. One is the Liaoyang cavalry brought in from outside the customs. However, these years of fighting in the south and north have also consumed a lot, and they suffered heavy losses during the decisive battle in Dagu.”

“The Liaoyang Iron Cavalry that was later reorganized has lost its original combat effectiveness.”

“The second force is the new army he organized and trained in Shandong. This is the direct lineage of General Li, so you can lose it outside the pass, but you cannot lose it in Shandong. If you want a decisive battle, you can only choose Shandong!”

Wang Shizhen suddenly realized that it was no wonder that newspapers were now promoting the decisive battle in Shandong. It turned out to be this reason.

It was Li Chengliang’s plan to fight a decisive battle in Shandong where the Ming army was the strongest.

If this war is lost, the southeastern army will march straight into the capital, and the Ming Dynasty will be completely destroyed. Li Chengliang, whether he lives or dies, will be able to write an ending to the history of the Ming Dynasty, and his name will be remembered in some way.

If they win, the Ming Dynasty can still survive for a while. Li Chengliang can rely on the prestige of this victory to integrate the army and people’s livelihood, and look forward to the next war.

Wang Shizhen suddenly said:

“Actually, this decisive battle means more to Ming Dynasty? Ming Dynasty cannot lose but win, but winning or losing in Southeast is not important? So it is Southeast that needs this decisive battle more?”

Zhang Juzheng nodded approvingly and said: “Yes, in fact, the Grand Governor of the Southeast is more eager for this decisive battle than General Li, so I let him choose the location of the decisive battle.”

It turned out that there was another level of consideration, and Wang Shizhen felt that she had a better understanding of politics.

Zhang Juzheng added: “Actually, General Li still takes one thing for granted.”

“What?”

“Shandong.”

“ah?”

Zhang Juzheng pointed to the newspaper and said: “Look at these official newspapers of the Ming Dynasty. They all praise Shandong’s loyalty to the court, saying that Qilu is a loyal and obedient place, which is different from the rebel base areas in the southeast.”

“I also learned a word from the southeastern newspapers, called ‘regional blackness’. Our general is a ‘regional boaster’, in order to win over the wealthy families and soldiers in Shandong and build momentum for this decisive battle in Shandong.”

“But actually?”

Neither Wang Shizhen nor Zhang Juzheng are from Shandong, so they naturally have no burden in discussing such regional topics.

Wang Shizhen said: “Isn’t it? The land of Qilu is the hometown of literary saints, and they have always been deferential to the court. When I was an official in the Ministry of Punishment, I heard that half of the world recommended officials to Shandong, and Shandong had the most people to become officials. Could it be that Not the most loyal to the imperial court?”

Zhang Juzheng smiled and said:

“Let me ask you, when Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, who did it fight in the two most difficult wars?”

Wang Shizhen was familiar with history books and said directly: “Of course it is the battle to destroy Zhao and Chu.”

The destruction of Zhao was the Battle of Changping. In this battle, 200,000 Zhao people were killed, and almost all the young Zhao people were slaughtered.

The destruction of Chu was also so tragic that at the end of the Warring States Period, the Chu State, which had been fighting for hegemony with Qin for many years, could only utter the prophecy that “Although Chu has three households, Qin will be destroyed by Chu” when Qin unified the world. This naturally included the Chu State’s response to Qin. Qin’s resistance, but the “Three Households” also illustrate that Chu’s population dropped sharply after the war between Qin and Chu, which also shows the intensity of Chu’s resistance.

Zhang Juzheng said: “Then how did Qi surrender?”

Wang Shizhen was stunned for a moment and said: “The Qin army entered Linzi, and the King of Qi surrendered.”

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said: “Qi can be said to have had the smoothest surrender among the Warring States countries, and it also suffered the least losses.”

Zhang Juzheng said: “Although Shandong is the hometown of Wen Sheng, Shandong has always been undefeated. It has not played a decisive role in the war over the ownership of the world for thousands of years.”

“Is it because the land of Qilu is not strong? Is it because the land of Qilu is not rich?”

“If you ask me, the land of Qilu can be the humerus of the empire, but it cannot be the liver and gallbladder of the empire.”

Wang Shizhen immediately understood what Zhang Juzheng meant. Although the human heart is sometimes illusory, it can also play a great role in war.

If the people of Shandong are not as reliable as Zhang Juzheng said, then the outcome of the decisive battle may not be as optimistic as Li Chengliang expected.

Zhang Juzheng then smiled and said: “What I’m talking about is just the people’s customs, and I’m not targeting any one person. It’s just that the land of Shandong is inherently undefeable and is not suitable for a decisive battle. Once the decisive battle in Shandong is defeated, the entire Gyeongsang Province and the Hebei will be lost.”

Wang Shizhen suddenly said: “Tianjin?”

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said: “Beijing and Tianjin are integrated. If Shandong is lost, Tianjin will definitely bear the brunt.”

Wang Shizhen sighed and said: “It seems that our general has no choice but to fight decisively.”

In the court, Li Chengliang mobilized all resources, and even borrowed troops and horses from Tumut’s new Khan Huangtaiji Khan, and finally assembled the last army.