Chapter 577: Official Residence Meeting (3)

If the army doesn't move, how do we resolve the coming Kong Youde Rebellion?

Facing this question, Army Commander Han Xiaobo gave a decisive answer: lay out the plan in advance, control how the situation develops, and snuff out the crisis in its infancy!

Without a doubt, Han Xiaobo's answer didn't pass muster — it was far too vague and couldn't convince the meeting attendees.

So next, Han Xiaobo could only explain in detail.

"I've noticed a blind spot everyone has: that whenever the army moves, it can solve any problem by sheer force. But the chaos of Kong Youde's revolt isn't something the army can resolve just by showing up."

"There's a key link in this: who is the department responsible for certifying Kong Youde's rebellion?"

Glancing left and right, after waiting a moment, Han Xiaobo saw that only a few people seemed to catch on, so he smiled and said: "Dengzhou is not Yizhou. It's not a place we can go to or start a fight whenever we please. Yes, Kong Youde rebels — but without the court investigating and certifying it, then issuing explicit orders to deploy troops, if our forces suddenly descend from the heavens and rush to Shandong to 'Fire Merge' with 'friendly forces,' that is also rebellion, and of an even worse nature!"

Once Han Xiaobo put it that way, more people saw the operational problems.

Information traveled very slowly in the seventeenth century.

For the Crossing Faction, the operational difficulty of Kong Youde's revolt lies precisely here: even if we send troops north in advance, sending too few is useless, and if we send too many, is a great army supposed to march across prefectures and counties all the way to Wuqiao Town to lie in ambush and wait for Kong Youde's soldier to steal that one chicken?

How would the Transmigrators explain to the court afterward that they sent a large army to Shandong to land and ambush Kong Youde's Forces without orders?

That they happened to be out for a stroll and ran into rebels?

Would the court believe that?

By then, in the court's eyes, the one truly harboring sinister intentions and coming to rebel would be none other than you, surnamed Cao!"

"So, foreknowledge isn't all-powerful. At the very least, it has to be applied in the right place to have any effect."

After Han Xiaobo summarized, seeing that some people still seemed unconvinced, he could only sigh and continue the projection: "Even if we send a telegram now, go through the procedures, and find an excuse to send troops to Dengzhou, we'd still have to wait at least until Kong Youde rebels and his army is Under the City of Dengzhou before we can act, right?"

"Yet by that point, what would be the point of mobilizing forces and straining resources?"

"Historically, after Kong Youde's rebellion, he turned his coat from Beizhili and fought his way back to the Shandong Peninsula, first overrunning Linyi, Ling County, Shanghe, Qingcheng, and other cities, sweeping up Natives along the way to swell his Power Base, and only then led his troops toward Dengzhou."

"Close on the heels of that, Chen Youshi, the Vice General of Lüshun in the Dongjiang Garrison, and Mao Chenglu, the Vice General of Guanglu Island (Mao Wenlong's nephew), who were on good terms with Kong Youde, immediately rose up in response upon hearing the news, at One Degree carving out half of the Dongjiang Garrison and echoing the Shandong rebels from north to south."

Han Xiaobo looked helpless: "Our highest interest In the North is social stability and orderly population flow. All our actions must revolve around this objective."

"That is to say, the moment Kong Youde raises the rebel banner, sending our troops loses its meaning. Because the region will inevitably fall into ruin, social order will be shattered, and the negative influence will already be Spreading. And these are things a single military unit cannot prevent."

Hearing Han Xiaobo reach this point, Mu Longcheng, sitting to the side, immediately added: "By that time, Kong Youde will have already grown from 800 Cavalry to a motley army of tens of thousands. Our forces could at most rout them, and the Consequence would be even worse, because Shandong would be thoroughly ravaged by the scattered defeated troops."

Finally, Mu Longcheng asked in retort: "We can't just have the army disarm and seize Kong Youde's Forces the moment they land, on the grounds that this Servant is about to rebel because of a single chicken?"

After this simple projection by Han and Mu, those present finally realized the awkwardness of sending troops north to deal with Kong Youde's Forces: a thankless task, with many links in the chain impossible to explain to the court.

And by this time, Xia Xianze, the CEO of the Transmigration Company, who sat alone in the highest seat and handled countless affairs daily, probably to save time, also made his stance clear.

He first pushed aside the stack of documents before him regarding the Dengzhou Incident, paused for a moment, and then said: "I also do not approve of sending troops. Setting aside secondary factors like pretexts and finances, have you considered that this would give the court a valid excuse to drag us out beyond the passes to serve as cannon fodder?"

"Exactly, that's the crux of the problem!" Han Xiaobo slapped his thigh; a man with thick brows and big eyes could actually be extremely smooth when flattering: "As expected, General Manager Xia sees it all with penetrating insight! Didn't we say before, strategically we need to watch the fire from across the river! At this critical juncture, what our Commander Cao should be doing is finding an excuse to disappear, not sending troops north in a show of strength to slap his own face!"

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Since the Grand Secretary had set the tone, the attendees no longer obstructed the matter of sending troops north. Besides, Han Xiaobo's opinion was, after all, correct, and everyone now also saw the unreliability of sending troops.

Yet the problem remained unresolved: what exactly should be done about the Kong Youde Rebellion?

The next moment, Han Xiaobo opened the folder in front of him and took out a few sheets of office paper: "These are my recent telegraphic communications with Yao Jianshe at Tianjin Station and Xue Haiyuan at Beijing Station."

"In fact, as early as half a year ago, the General Staff here had close intelligence exchanges and situation projections with the Northern Trio regarding the Dengzhou Incident. So, as they say, specialized skills have their masters; every word I say today has a basis."

After glancing at a certain person, Han Xiaobo handed one copy of the file to Xia Xianze and tossed the rest onto the long table: "The Northern Trio, especially Yao Jianshe at Tianjin Station, who is Responsible For the Dengzhou region, has already agreed to the General Staff's special plan for the Dengzhou Incident and has already entered the preliminary preparation phase."

"The name of this plan is 'Half-Cooked Rice.'"

As soon as Han Xiaobo finished speaking, someone immediately smiled: "What kind of plan is this? Why such a strange name?"

"Everything Has Two Sides." Han Xiaobo didn't answer directly, seemingly analyzing the situation again: "The remnants of the Dongjiang Garrison, represented by Kong Youde, are both victims of court factional infighting, which is lamentable, and also unadulterated feudal Military Strongmen, representatives of backward armed forces."

"And our objective is to both ensure a stable and peaceful situation in Shandong and to swallow and digest that group of Dongjiang Army Warlords... to hesitate to act for fear of collateral damage — if that isn't half-cooked rice, what is?"

Xia Xianze did not touch that file.

As the head of Government, he had actually long ago heard the Military's special reports on the Dalinghe Campaign and even the Dengzhou Incident, so he knew very well what was written in that file.

Now, seeing Han Xiaobo reveal his hidden agenda, he did not easily state his position but slowly asked: "What step has this plan of yours reached?"

"Since it hasn't been approved yet, for now, in the Capital, we can only make preliminary preparations. If everything goes smoothly, once the war starts, that ally of ours will know that Commander Cao is not willing to take a large army into the murky waters beyond the passes this time."

"Regarding Kong Youde." Han Xiaobo's eyes flickered as he finally revealed the core of the plan: "According to our plan, in this timeline, he will not receive the order to go to Liaodong to rescue Zu Dashou. Because the order from the Ministry of War that Denglai Governor Sun Yuanhua receives This Time will require him to Be Prepared To assemble his troops to rendezvous with 'reinforcements' coming from the sea, landing in Liaodong to strike at the slave Jian's flank — besiege Wei to rescue Zhao."

"This way, it's pulling the firewood from under the cauldron." Han Xiaobo now leaned back in his chair and said with a smile: "This is how foreknowledge should be used. If you only know how to charge head-on at everything, can you still call yourselves Transmigrators?"

Seeing Han Xiaobo smugly mocking the crowd, someone immediately asked: "All you've done is shift the pressure from the military to the political sphere. Is that viable? And also, didn't you say no troops would be sent? What's this about reinforcements from the sea?"

Han Xiaobo was no longer paying attention to irrelevant persons. He stared intently at Xia Xianze and said solemnly: "That ally of ours has coasted to victory all this way. It's about time he did something, isn't it? Ordering the Dengzhou army to take the sea route and board our ships — that's not too high a demand, is it?"

With the matter laid out to this step, Xia Xianze actually agreed with the plan, so he finally asked: "These so-called sea reinforcements of yours?"

"That would be the merchant fleet. According to the Tianjin Station's plan, they'll be loaded with grain and ready-made clothes, meant for recruiting those Beggars in the Dongjiang Garrison."

Han Xiaobo finally summarized clearly: "This matter, actually, the military side is just putting on a show and shouting a few slogans. The ones truly operating it are the Northern Trio. The military sets the stage; politics and economics put on the show."

Hearing this, Xia Xianze finally nodded his agreement to the "Half-Cooked Rice" plan: "Take it slow. Half-cooked rice — I see it as a matter of patient, grinding effort. No need to rush."

With Xia Xianze's final word settling the matter, at this point, the Crossing Faction had formulated its due strategic response plan for the series of subsequent situations related to the future great war in the Ming Dynasty's north.

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And on the very next day after the meeting, Cao Chuan, Pillar of the Southern Sky, Mainstay of the Court, the Loyal and Brave Count, formally announced an important piece of news: In view of the Satsuma State in Haedong recently blocking trade routes and plundering the Cao Clan's fleet, he, the Old Man, Had To urgently lead a great army on campaign to punish the unsubmissive.

Then, in less than 10 days, Commander Cao, under the gaze of the multitude, gathered his army at White Goose Pond outside Guangzhou City, and toasted an oath of departure with Governor-General Xiong. Afterward, the Satsuma Subjugation Fleet, composed of two Giant Ships and dozens of large warships, hoisted sail, left port, and headed straight for the South Seas, vanishing without a trace.

At the same time, in the distant northern lands, Zu Dashou, the Frontline General-in-Chief of the Guanning Army, stood upon the ruins of Dalinghe Fort north of Jinzhou, gazing northward with a face full of solemnity. And beneath his feet were large numbers of Auxiliary Soldiers and civilian laborers Desperately Constructing the fort walls.

At the same time, at the West Gate of the even more distant city of Liaoyang, Huang Taiji, the Later Jin Khan, was taking turns performing the Manchu ceremonial embrace greeting for honored guests with a group of Mongol Taijis clad in leather robes. And behind the honored guests rolled the endless Menggu army.

Also at the same time, in a military camp in Hebei, a young man Wearing a bright red Padded Jacket lifted the door curtain and entered the room, holding a telegram in his hand: "Sir, a telegram."

"Bring it here quickly!" The middle-aged man Sitting In the seat of honor, who was in the middle of eating, immediately put down his chopsticks upon hearing this and took the telegram.