Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 128

Chapter 128 Lotus Blossom with Bright Tongue
Zou Fang was indeed panicking. Looking at Wang Zhen’s black and twisted face, his back was soaked in sweat. It was obvious that Eunuch Wang was really angry this time.

But the one who pushed Lu Zhen out to speak in front of His Majesty was precisely him, Shilang Zou. Although Wang Zhen had indeed chosen him, Eunuch Wang would not reason with him in his rage. It was only natural for him to vent his anger on him.

Under such circumstances, the only thing Zou Fang could do was to express his position and reprimand Lu Zhen. Luckily, the other colleagues’ reaction wasn’t slow either. Seeing this situation, they also rushed forward to show their solidarity, finally suppressing Lu Zhen’s momentum.

But at this moment, an old voice suddenly rang out, “Minister Zou, what you said is really inappropriate. Didn’t you recommend County Magistrate Lu to come up and speak? What, are you going to go back on your word now?”

Once these words were spoken, the originally noisy scene immediately quieted down. Zou Fang’s body suddenly trembled and he opened his mouth, but he didn’t dare to refute them. The others didn’t dare to act as opponents. All of them stood there with embarrassed expressions. Even Wang Zhen’s expression changed once again.

The reason for that was because the person who spoke was none other than Yang Pu, the most renowned and senior cabinet chief in the Imperial Court. Although he had always been calm and seldom placed his qualifications or relied on the old to sell his old age, as long as he spoke, not to mention ordinary officials, even Emperor could only listen to him today.

Moreover, his words had hit the nail on the head. He was originally recommended by Zou Fang, but now that he was accusing him like this, wasn’t he slapping himself in the face? Thinking of this, many officials revealed expressions of schadenfreude. Naturally, they hated this colleague who had betrayed them.

Among them, Xu Xi, Zou Fang’s superior and Minister of Military Affairs, felt the most happy in his heart. He also took the opportunity to say, “That’s right, you can’t be so upside down in front of His Majesty at such a grand court meeting. Are you trying to bully a lord?”

‘”Your Majesty, I never dare to have such disrespectful thoughts. It’s just that Lu Zhen’s words are too sensational, that’s all.” Zou Fang was even more panicked in his heart as he hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, this minister has never dared to have such disrespectful thoughts. It’s just that this Lu Zhen’s words are too sensational.”

“Your Majesty, this official feels that what he said is reasonable. He has indeed pointed to the problem in our Great Bright Border Region and the army.” Xu Xi naturally wouldn’t let go of this opportunity and immediately said to each other in a tit-for-tat manner.

Zhu Qizhen also revealed a puzzled expression, “Lu Zhen, even I feel that there are many inconsistencies in your words. Since you said that there are many drawbacks to not using troops against the Mongols, why did you say that you shouldn’t use troops at this time?”

Because of his status, when Zou Fang and the others reprimanded him, Lu Zhen, this small county magistrate, was really hard to refute. Only now did Emperor bow down and explain, “Your Majesty, I have never mentioned the drawbacks of not sending troops. I only said that the border army should change.”

Sure enough, he left a button here. Yang Pu had a warm smile on his face as he took a deep look at the young man. His scheming was indeed not shallow.

Orthodox frowned in confusion, “Is there any difference between the two?”

“Just now, I was about to explain further, but I was interrupted by Minister Zou’s words. I hope His Majesty will forgive me!” Lu Zhen hurriedly admitted his mistake. However, these words were innuendoes, accusing Zou Fang of something wrong. This caused his expression to stiffen, and he felt even angrier in his heart.

“Then speak carefully. I would like to hear your opinion.” Orthodoxy nodded.

Lu Zhen hurriedly complied before continuing, “Actually, what I mentioned just now is only part of the reason. There are some other reasons related to the Mongols that are unfavorable to my dispatch of troops.” His Majesty and all of you know that during the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Central Plains had defeated the grassland tribes, and some tribes had even perished. “But I would like to ask, since that is the case, why are there still so many tribes rooted in the grasslands?”

This question was really tricky, causing everyone to be stunned. A few of them subconsciously shook their heads. Obviously, they had never considered this point.

Lu Zhen didn’t expect them to give him an answer, so he asked himself, “Actually, it’s only because they can’t do their best.” The northern grasslands are incomparably vast, and our army of the Central Plains has invaded them. Even if we use a million people, we will still not be able to completely occupy the entire grasslands. In this way, the Hu Lu of the north would have a way to retreat. Even if their Yuan Qi was seriously injured, they would still be able to leave behind a fire seed. For example, the Xiongnu, Turkic, and other tribes, although due to the attack of the Han and Tang Dynasties, their forces were very weak, and even extinguished, but this was just the digestion of the grasslands, the extinction of an old tribe, will inevitably allow a new tribe to rise. Therefore, there were Turks after the Huns, Khitan after the Turks, and Nuzhen and Mongol after the Khitan.

“To me, even if the Emperor of the Taizong Empire is brave and wise, going into the grasslands a few times can only destroy the Mongols, but it is very difficult to completely eliminate them. That is precisely the reason. And can the current Imperial Court really reach the strength of the Emperor of the Taizong Empire?”

Everyone, including the Son of Heaven, didn’t dare to answer this question because Emperor Yongle was the ancestor they worshipped. The ancients also had a deep tradition, so it was naturally impossible for them to think that Great Ming was stronger than Emperor Yongle.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen only smiled and continued, “Just as I said, the amount of money needed to use the Mongol army is countless. Is it really worth it?”

Zhu Qizhen unconsciously wavered when this account was placed in front of the Emperor. After all, he was not a mediocre person, so he could tell the weight of the matter. Moreover, he would not ignore thousands of Li people and the country because of his own likes and dislikes.

Lu Zhen continued to strike while the iron is hot, “Besides, there are actually endless disputes among the Mongols. This may not be a bad thing for me, Daming.” As long as they had more internal conflicts, Daming could take advantage of the fishermen. But once we do use troops on the grasslands, the Mongols will probably unite in order to protect themselves. Originally, Grand Master Vara was also a person of great talent, and it was very likely that after some effort, he would reunite the grasslands. If I, Daming, were to send troops now, I would only be able to create better conditions for him.

“Therefore, whether it is from my Great Ming or the Mongol people, it is not a wise choice to launch an attack at this moment. This is the reason why this official thinks that we cannot send troops. I hope His Majesty will learn from it.”

After saying those words, many officials nodded their heads repeatedly. There were some things they could think of, some that they didn’t even consider, but they were considered by a small county magistrate like Lu Zhen. This caused them to admire him, but they also valued him a little more.

Even the Son of Heaven had a solemn expression on his face, “In that case, we really shouldn’t send troops.”

“Lu Zhen, you’ve said so much, but the question just now hasn’t been explained clearly. Your words are inconsistent, but what should you say?” Seeing that Lu Zhen’s words made everyone nod, Zou Fang unconsciously became a little anxious and could only hold onto a little and chase after him.

However, Lu Zhen was already prepared and smiled, “Shilang Zou, calm down. I haven’t finished speaking Xiaguan yet. Meng people have always been a big problem in my heart, so I naturally can’t let them go. And the situation of the north army is not optimistic, so the Imperial Court must take some measures to change this.”

“According to my humble opinion, I, Daming, am going to use saber weapons to speak to the Mongols. However, this is not the present, but the future. We should use ten or twenty years to set up a grassland plan, weaken its strength bit by bit, and strengthen our frontier army. Then, we can eliminate this strong enemy in one go.”

“That sounds good. Do you have any effective methods?”

“Of course.” Facing the provocation of the other party, Lu Zhen refused, “Your Majesty, the war of annihilation is not something that can be accomplished in a single step. Specifically speaking, it is nothing more than forcing our Great Ming Border Army to transport enough grain and armaments to the north every year. As long as it was a small amount of hoarding, it would not damage the use of the Imperial Court, and it would not put too much pressure on the people. However, after a few years or decades of preparation, these grain armaments would be sufficient for the army’s future expedition to the north, when sand accumulated to form a pagoda and water accumulated to form an abyss. Also, during this period, more troops were deployed to the border and capital armies, as well as to other places, to strengthen the army of the whole country. In this way, when they really wanted to use troops against the Mongols in the future, they wouldn’t cause any trouble because they didn’t have enough elites, and there would still be people guarding the border town.

“On the other hand, it is to weaken the strength of the Mongolian people on the grasslands. I believe that as long as we recruit and help some tribes that dare to fight against Wali, we will be unable to truly unify the grasslands, and let them continue to fall into the quagmire of mutual attacks, we will be able to greatly reduce their resistance in the future.

“I also have a deep understanding of this point. Those grassland tribes have always had some views on Wali, especially the Tatar tribe. They are from the Golden Family. After Genghis Khan, they complained more about the Wali tribe. If we can rope them in, the grassland situation will become even more chaotic with the strategy of exorcising wolves and devouring tigers.”

Some of these strategies were summed up from the information Wang Zhen sent, while others were memorized by Lu Zhen from various forums and other places before he crossed over. Now that he took them out, it was much more profound and reasonable than ordinary officials.

This caused the officials to look at him with even more astonishment and admiration. Even a big shot like Yang Pu and Xu Xi was filled with admiration for Lu Zhen. They felt that this young man really had great talent and was the talent the Imperial Court needed.

As for Emperor, he was already dazed by Lu Zhen’s words. In fact, he didn’t have much military experience, so he couldn’t make up his mind now. In the end, he turned his gaze to a noble general not far from him and said, “Duke of England, what do you think of this?”