Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Ready!"

The twelve strong men shouted in unison.

Among the twelve people, in addition to Sun Dasheng, there is also Qi Dazhu from the Firearm Battalion. The two of them are pure amateurs, and the other ten were basically middle and low-level generals in the past, and the lowest rank was a captain.

"Okay, the question is..." Zhang Shikang didn't waste time and directly gave the question.

"In today's situation, there are bandits inside and the Qing army outside. How should we deal with it?

Don't rush to answer. I'll give you a quarter of an hour to think about it."

This question seems simple, but in fact Zhang Shikang is considering the strategic vision of these people.

A quarter of an hour passed quickly, and former guerrilla general Zhou Zhong was the first to stand up and say:

"Admiral, I think we should focus our main forces to eliminate the bandits first, and only defend against the Jiannu. After the bandits are eliminated, we can deal with the Jiannu."

A classic strategy is to stabilize the country before fighting against foreign enemies. After listening to Zhou Zhong's explanation, Zhang Shikang nodded without saying anything and gave a score on Zhou Zhong's file.

"My Lord Admiral, this is how our court has always defended against the Jiannu, but the Jiannu still manages to break into the interior of the country from the Great Wall every one or two years. I think we should negotiate peace with the Jiannu so that we can deal with the bandits with peace of mind." Another person expressed a different opinion.

In fact, the court officials were divided into several factions regarding how to deal with the Jiannu and the bandits. However, these factions argued for many years, and no conclusion was reached until the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Sun Dasheng saw that he was beaten to the punch by two people, and the other person quickly responded:

"How can the great Ming Dynasty, a country like ours, negotiate peace with a small tribe like the Jiannu? If this gets out to others, the neighboring small countries will laugh at us.

We think that the bandits are not worth mentioning. As long as there is food and silver in the national treasury and we are given 20,000 soldiers, we can wipe out the bandits.

Then we will lead the army, of course, mainly Admiral Zhang and Assistant General Sun, to go out of the border and take back the cities lost by our Ming Dynasty.

Let them know that the tiger whiskers of the Ming Dynasty are not something that anyone can touch. "

Sun Dasheng spoke passionately. After all, he was a man of noble birth and a hardliner in foreign policy. This was in line with everyone's expectations. After Sun Dasheng finished speaking, many grassroots soldiers actually agreed with him.

But Zhang Shikang shook his head slightly.

After Sun Dasheng finished speaking, Qi Dazhu stood up and said:

“I have never dealt with the Jian Nu, but I feel that most of the bandits rebelled because they couldn’t get enough food. As long as the imperial court can solve this problem, there is nothing to fear from the bandits.

As for the Jiannu, it is of course a good thing to be able to negotiate peace, the key is whether they are willing to do so."

……

"What the others said makes sense, but I think the Jiannu cannot negotiate peace."

The last person to answer the question was named Niu Gang, a captain in the infantry battalion. He was not tall, but very sturdy.

"The Song Dynasty also negotiated peace with the Jin and Liao dynasties, but what was the result? It was nothing but a joke.

My subordinates feel that peace talks mainly depend on the strength of the two parties. If the strength is equal, the talks will naturally be effective.

But if the advantages of both sides are not equal, the peace talks could break down at any time. Even if the court takes it lightly because of the peace talks and neglects to guard against the Jian Nu, it would be very dangerous for the court. "

Zhang Shikang raised his eyes and looked at Niu Gang. This man was quite knowledgeable.

Based on Zhang Shikang's topic, the twelve people expressed their opinions one after another, and all waited for Zhang Shikang's judgment.

In fact, at first glance, there are only a few answers to this question: negotiate peace with the Jiannu and fight the bandits with all your strength, fight both the Jiannu and the bandits on two fronts, appease the bandits and fight a decisive battle with the Jiannu, appease the bandits and negotiate peace with them.

But the core of the problem is not these. Niu Gang and the guerrilla general named Wen Bangguo were the closest to what Zhang Shikang thought, but they were only partly right.

It does take strength to negotiate peace with others. The peace agreement between the sheep and the tiger is simply a piece of waste paper. The bandits really rebelled because they couldn't get enough food.

The question is how to ensure that the people have enough food to eat?

Zhang Shikang did not want the military to interfere in politics. However, generals did not have to be ignorant of politics, but they could not be completely ignorant of it. Otherwise, they would only become pawns in the hands of high-ranking officials in the court.

"Whether it's negotiating peace, appeasing the enemy, or fighting on two fronts, the underlying logic is still money and food. But what if I tell you that my Ming Dynasty is not short of money and food at all?"

Zhang Shikang glanced coldly at Niu Gang and the others. They didn't know what was going on, so they kept silent. Zhang Shikang continued:

"If one day, this admiral tells you where there is money and food, a lot of money and food, enough to prevent the vast majority of the people from starving to death.

But these people will not hand over the money and grain obediently. There are people in the court who will protect them, but they are all big shots who can make you infamous for eternity at any time.

Getting these money and grain may make you infamous for eternity. Of course, it's just a possibility.

What will you choose? "

Zhang Shikang asked questions but did not expect their answers.

The class antagonism cannot be explained in just a few words. On this basis, whether it is the Jiannu or the bandits, it is actually not the core issue.

The crux of the problem is that those who have enough money and food to turn the situation around are unwilling to step forward.

Yet they still shout, citing Confucius and Mencius and national justice, standing on the moral high ground, hoping that others will risk their lives so that they can preserve their property.

If this problem is not solved, other problems will never be solved.

But after all, he had a general idea of the abilities of these generals, and Zhang Shikang read the files of the twelve people several times.

He stood up from the reviewing stand.

"Niu Gang, Wen Bangguo."

The two men were shocked and immediately fell to one knee on the ground.

"This admiral appoints you two as deputy commanders of the Beijing Camp. Remember what you said today, and remember the questions I asked just now. I look forward to your answers in the future."

"We swear to follow the admiral till death!" Both of them excitedly kowtowed to Zhang Shikang to express their gratitude.

Sun Dasheng pouted his lips and seemed unconvinced, but since his father was standing above him, he didn't dare to say a word.

Zhang Shikang then took another look at the remaining ten people, and then said to all the soldiers in the Beijing Camp:

"I will leave the selection of lieutenant generals to you. Select five from the ten of them by voting.

Remember, they will decide your life or death in the future.

Now, you decide whether they stay or go.

That’s fair, isn’t it?”