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

If Zhang Shikang knew that Lu Xiangsheng had secretly submitted a memorial to Chongzhen, warning him to be wary of his warmongering, he would definitely sneer at him.

Until now, Zhang Shikang’s principles have been very clear: whether it is recovering lost territories or expanding territory, it cannot be at the expense of the food and clothing of the people inside the Great Wall.

After gaining military power, the Ming Dynasty has been constantly reforming in the past two years. Productivity is recovering, and with the continuous promotion of new crops, it will soon usher in a major wave of improvement.

The goal of this battle has been achieved. In Liaoxi alone, more than 30 prefectures, counties and cities of all sizes have been recovered.

If Lu Xiangsheng's achievements in southern Mongolia were also taken into account, the goal would have been exceeded long ago.

Seeing that Sun Weifan and Huang Degong were both ashamed, Zhang Shikang did not say anything and said directly:

"No more fighting, it's time to go back and fight again next year."

Military merit is a very valuable thing for Sun Weifan, Huang Degong, and even all the generals of the Imperial Guards.

Judging from Zhang Shikang's judgment of the future, he wanted to recover the Begonia leaves, conquer the Near West, the Central West, and the Far West, and get a share of the maritime trade. He had plenty of military merits.

There is no need at all for the court to exhaust all supplies of food and fodder at this critical juncture.

As for Zhang Shikang, he was no longer concerned about his military achievements.

He was already the Grand Marshal of the Ming Dynasty's army and the hereditary Duke of the State. The only way to get promoted further was to be crowned a king.

Although Brother Chongzhen seemed to not care at all, Zhang Shikang still felt that being too successful was not a good thing.

He wanted to unload some of the burden, such as at least resigning from the post of Marshal of the Army and returning military power to the court.

However, as soon as he revealed this thought, Brother Chongzhen got angry, which was really a headache.

"Tell the soldiers, the Imperial Guards have just made their mark, and you are all young. As long as I am here, you will have plenty of opportunities to establish meritorious service to the Ming Dynasty."

During the meeting, as long as his subordinates could not refute it, Zhang Shikang would basically make the final decision.

Sun Weifan and Huang Degong's thoughts were seen through, but they did not dare to refute at the end.

It was true that they were too anxious, and making the people suffer had become a joke within the Guards, and was seen as a mockery of the corrupt officials a few years ago.

They didn't expect that after a few years, they would become the target of the Marshal's ridicule.

“During the withdrawal process, we must ensure the basic security of the recaptured city, or we may temporarily leave some soldiers behind depending on the size of the city.

All troops can evacuate only after the arrival of the Huben Army and the Yongning Army garrisons.

The matters of retreat will be handed over to the two deputy commanders."

The Huben Army was a border defense force. After the recovery of western Liaoning, the Liaohe River banks became the border between the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, while Guanningjin became the hinterland.

The border defense forces naturally have to dispatch personnel to garrison. The border defense forces are mainly responsible for external enemies, while internal security such as bandits and robbers are the responsibility of the Yongning Army.

After Zhang Shikang finished speaking, he pretended to see the guest off. Sun Weifan asked:

"Does the Marshal have anything else to do?"

"Oh, I may have to go to Guihua City." Zhang Shikang threw Lu Xiangsheng's letter to Sun Weifan.

In the letter, Lu Xiangsheng said that after he defeated several tribes in southern Mongolia, he sent letters of persuasion to the remaining Mongolian tribes in the name of the Ming court.

The Qing Dynasty's decades of wars had already ravaged the Mongolian tribes south of the desert. The Battle of Guanshan also killed many elite troops of the tribes.

So when Lu Xiangsheng led tens of thousands of troops into Mongolia south of the desert, the Mongolian tribes, which were already in constant friction with each other and acted independently, were simply unable to resist.

Similarly, the Mongolian grassland is too vast. If Lu Xiangsheng really wants to carry out a complete sweep of the entire Mongolian territory south of the desert, it would be impossible without a year or two.

Therefore, he wanted to force the Mongols in the south of the desert to surrender voluntarily by issuing a summons, and he used the example of King Shunyi to convince them.

Except for a few tribes such as Khalkha and Khorchin that were closely tied to the Qing Dynasty, the rest of the tribes agreed to send special envoys to Guihua City for negotiations.

Of course, Lu Xiangsheng did not dare to make the final decision on such an important matter, so he asked Zhang Shikang to decide.

It is certainly a good thing to defeat the enemy without fighting, and Zhang Shikang expressed his full agreement.

He likes to sign a treaty under the city's siege the most, provided that he is not the one standing under the city.

Seeing that the Grand Marshal had important matters to attend to and was not trying to be lazy again, Sun Weifan fell silent.

"How does the Marshal plan to deal with the Mongols?"

After reading the letter, Huang Degong asked.

Since ancient times, nomadic peoples have been a big problem, and the Han people have never truly conquered them.

The Qing Dynasty was very successful in this regard, but it simply strengthened its control through continuous marriages.

But Zhang Shikang did not like this approach. Not surrendering, not marrying a princess, not being a vassal, and not paying tribute had been the glorious tradition of the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years.

“It’s fine to confer titles on a few kings, but those who are conferred titles must be treated equally with the princes of the Zhu family.

Or if you want to continue to command the army, then you can earn military merits according to the military merit system of our Ming Dynasty.

In short, the Ming Dynasty does not keep useless things.

The most important point is that from now on, the Ming Dynasty will build cities and station troops on the grasslands."

Zhang Shikang has actually been thinking about the grassland issue all the time, and the final answer is not complicated.

The Chinese nation did not become an infrastructure maniac only in later generations. Judging from the current global level, the current Ming Dynasty is worthy of this title.

With the rapid recovery of productivity in the Ming Dynasty and Zhang Shikang's unremitting efforts to improve the status and income level of craftsmen.

He could almost speculate that within a few years, Ming Dynasty's productivity would be in excess.

The national treasury has a surplus, the private sector has labor, and the General Administration of Manufacturing is continuously training more science and engineering talents.

It is only natural to transfer excess financial, material and human resources to infrastructure.

The current infrastructure level of the Ming Dynasty is still too low. There are only a few official roads, and there has been no money for maintenance for decades.

Building roads and bridges and constructing new cities can further promote commercial prosperity.

For nomadic peoples, ending their nomadic state can resolve most of the conflicts.

What remains is gradual assimilation, which is the strength of Confucianism, which is extremely inclusive.

In a word, the future is promising.

"I treat him the same as the prince of the Zhu family... Oh, I understand."

Huang Degong curled his lips and looked at Sun Weifan, both of them expressing their dissatisfaction.

In the past two years, when the people in the interior of the country were plundered, apart from the gentry class who suffered a great loss, the princes of the Zhu family were the second worst hit.

Not only were all the lands reclaimed, but even the shops under their control were uprooted, and they were reduced to relying solely on royal salaries from the imperial court to survive.

Moreover, their salaries were cut a lot. Except for the crown prince who could inherit the title, the rest of the descendants had to be demoted in rank and became ordinary people within a few generations.

This is a brilliant move. Compared to the profits the court can obtain, the cost of supporting a few idle princes is not worth mentioning.

In a word, if this is accomplished, not only will war be avoided, but the Mongolian Plateau will also be controlled quietly, which is really killing two birds with one stone.

However, those Mongolian princes and nobles are not stupid. Will they agree to give up their military power?

Zhang Shikang did not intend to talk much about the Mongols. Everything depends on human efforts. How can you know if you don't try?

"The decision to withdraw our troops was due to another matter besides the Mongols that needed to be resolved as soon as possible.

Otherwise, no matter where I send my troops, the imperial court will always have concerns." Zhang Shikang frowned.

Sun Weifan and Huang Degong were both frowning in thought, but Chen Ying said bluntly:

"The Marshal is worried about Zheng Zhilong, right?"

……