Chapter 1046: Pacifying Liao Is Also a Business! (Seeking Subscriptions)

The court sessions of the Hongxing reign differed from those of all previous dynasties. Apart from the grand ceremonial audiences, all sessions were small meetings, and these small meetings were further divided into four types: the Two-Palace court sessions, the policy-deliberation court sessions, the Grand Secretariat court sessions, and the Grand Marshal's Office court sessions. Among them, the Two-Palace court sessions and the policy-deliberation court sessions were regular meetings held on a fixed schedule. If the Son of Heaven was in Yingtian, the Two-Palace court sessions were held at least twenty times a month, while the policy-deliberation court sessions were held five times.

The Grand Secretariat court sessions and the Grand Marshal's Office court sessions, however, were not regular meetings. They were convened only when difficult problems arose in domestic governance or military affairs — for example, when discussing major public works, disaster relief, or trade issues, the Grand Marshal's Office did not need to attend (the army had a Minister of War within the Grand Secretariat). And when military matters were discussed, the civil officials of the Grand Secretariat likewise did not need to attend; the Minister of War representing the Grand Secretariat was sufficient. With too many people in attendance, not only would there be too many voices, but secrets would also easily leak.

Therefore, in the Hongxing reign, military deployments were generally not discussed by the civil officials of the Grand Secretariat — they did not understand such matters at all, so what good plans could they possibly offer?

And today's Grand Marshal's Office court session had one extra "civil official" in attendance: the Minister of Revenue, Duke of Quan, Zheng Zhilong.

Although Zheng Zhilong understood military affairs and had once been a warlord, his appearance still greatly surprised the assembled northern army commanders — Wu Sanfu, Sun Fugui, Zhu Chunjie, Yan Yingyuan, Qi Yuanbi, and the Minister of War Li Ruolian.

"All you ministers may rise. Be seated."

Seeing that his ministers had all finished their bows, Zhu Cilang waved his hand and let them take their seats. By now, the ministers of the Great Ming seldom kowtowed anymore; apart from the grand court audiences, all the various court sessions used only the bowing salute. The reason for this was not that Zhu Cilang disliked people kowtowing, but rather that Zhu Cilang liked to place a very long conference table in the halls where the various small court sessions were held. This way everyone could take notes while meeting, and ministers could also bring documents with them to the session, making it look like a proper meeting. But once this long table was set up, kowtowing became inconvenient, and it also looked undignified — somewhat like crawling under a table. If everyone were made to stand on top of the table to kowtow, the climbing up and down would be even more unseemly. These were all high-ranking ministers, not little children — crawling under tables and climbing on tables, what kind of appearance would that be?

So Emperor Zhu simply had everyone stand beside the table and give a bow.

"We have already reviewed the plan submitted by the Grand Marshal's Office — dividing the troops into five routes. Very good! It just looks a bit like that time in the forty-seventh year of Wanli. It won't let the enemy concentrate their forces and defeat us one by one, will it?"

Emperor Zhu had spotted the problem too — why did this plan look so much like Sarhu? A field army of a hundred forty or fifty thousand divided into five routes, with seemingly no way to support one another!

And moreover, they would be operating deep within territory firmly controlled by the eastern barbarians. Relying on just ten or twenty thousand black-musket mule soldiers probably would not be enough to screen the movements of a five-route army, would it?

When the time came, what if Duoni adopted the same policy of "no matter how many routes you come by, I go by only one"?

"Your Majesty," Wu Sanfu said, "a force of ten divisions divided into five routes gives each route two divisions. Counting the various auxiliary troops and temporarily attached units, each route numbers close to thirty thousand men. Even if the eastern barbarians concentrated sixty thousand troops, they could not prevail in a frontal engagement. If two divisions of the New Army can seize favorable terrain in time and then deploy into positional defense, they can withstand the repeated fierce assaults of a hundred thousand eastern barbarians.

Therefore, the method of dividing the troops into five routes has no flaw whatsoever."

"Then how will the five route armies coordinate, and who can serve as overall commander?" Zhu Cilang asked next.

Wu Sanfu said: "The current Governor-General of Liaodong, Zhu Chunchen, has long served in the ranks, has outstanding achievements, and is mature and steady. He can serve as overall commander of the five route armies."

What? Zhu Chunchen as overall commander? Zhu Cilang thought to himself: You're not joking, are you? The operational plan is the same as at the Battle of Sarhu, and on top of that you want Zhu Chunchen as commander — is this meant to summon back the ghost of the Great Qing?

"Yan Yingyuan, what do you think?" Zhu Cilang felt Wu Sanfu's opinion was unreliable, so he turned to the Director of the Staff Department, Yan Yingyuan, for his opinion.

"Your Majesty, this subject believes the Duke of Chengguo can bear this heavy responsibility." Yan Yingyuan said, "Since the relocation of the capital in the jiashen year, the Duke of Chengguo has continuously held military office, serving successively as Regional Commander or Governor-General of the Capital Camps, Fengyang, Henan, Shanxi, and other places, and has held office in Liaodong since the ninth year of Hongxing. He is thoroughly familiar with affairs in Liaodong and Liaoxi. If Your Majesty intends to use troops this autumn, the Duke of Chengguo is the most suitable candidate for overall commander."

Zhu Cilang frowned slightly and gave no indication of approval or disapproval.

After a moment, he spoke again: "This time We intend to personally lead the campaign, so a Pacify-Liao Traveling Palace shall be established!"

Personally lead the campaign?

And establish a Pacify-Liao Traveling Palace?

What was this about?

The military bigwigs were all taken aback.

The Minister of Revenue, Zheng Zhilong, smiled and spoke up: "Beyond the passes lie thousands of li of fertile land, and its products are extremely abundant — a rich region no less than the wealthy lands of the America Gulf. And the coast of the Bohai Bay is the very essence of the lands beyond the passes. Once it is recovered by the court, it will be yet another opportunity to make a fortune!"

Make a fortune?

How did the topic suddenly turn to making a fortune?

Wasn't this a military conference? Just a moment ago they were talking about the Pacify-Liao Traveling Palace, so how did the discussion suddenly turn to making a fortune? And just how exactly was this fortune to be made?

Zhu Cilang said with a smile: "Pacifying Liao is also a business! Done well, the court's tax revenue can greatly increase, the meritorious officers and soldiers can be granted land, and the common people of Liaodong, Youyan, and Shandong can live and work in peace and contentment — then everyone is happy! But if it is done poorly, even if the Liao territory is recovered, it will be very difficult to control it in the long term, and even harder to profit from it!"

A money-losing business still has to be done when it must be, but the fertile lands beyond the passes absolutely must not be run at a loss. If even this could lose money, then why bother going to the New World at all?

"May this subject ask how Your Majesty plans to profit from the Pacify-Liao campaign?" Wu Sanfu asked.

Well now, the military conference had turned into an investment analysis meeting.

Zhu Cilang said thoughtfully: "To develop the Liao territory, profit from transportation must come first, and among transportation profits, water transport is foremost. The profits of water transport lie first in sea transport and second in river transport. At present, the naval forces of Liaodong and Liaoxi and the river transport of the Liao River have not been linked together. Therefore, establishing a seaport at the mouth of the Liao River, creating a hub for river and sea transport, should be the first priority in developing the Liao territory!"

The place he was referring to was the future Yingkou. In later times it was, he wasn't sure, a third-tier or fourth-tier city. But right now there were no hundred-thousand-ton giant ships, nor trains or railways. So the Liao River and its tributaries had enormous value in the transport of goods! Because the products of the Liao region, apart from ginseng, deer antler, furs, and eastern pearls — things that were quite expensive but did little to drive the overall economy — were these three: grain, timber, and livestock.

And the transportation costs of these three things were all very high. Shipping them overland into the interior meant taking a loss!

If grain, timber, and livestock could not be transported into the interior, then the economy of the Liao River basin would find it very difficult to achieve any great development. Without economic development, the Liao River basin could not support a large garrison, and the cost to the Great Ming of managing the Liao territory would become extremely high — to the point of being unaffordable.

Moreover, if the economy of the Liao territory could not fully exchange and integrate with the interior, another consequence would arise: the Liao territory would become a region relatively independent economically.

This meant the central government would find it very difficult to control the Liao territory through economic and financial means.

Zhu Cilang said: "The grain, livestock, and timber produced in the Liao territory should be supplied in large quantities to Hebei and Shandong in the interior, and the best route for transporting Liao goods into the interior is from the mouth of the Liao River to Tianjin. Therefore, Tianjin will be the city that benefits the most after the pacification of Liao!

Our Pacify-Liao Traveling Palace shall be established in Tianjin!"

Looking at the map, the sea route between Dengzhou and Lüshun seemed to be the main route for shipping Liao goods outward.

But the actual situation was not so. Behind Lüshun and Dengzhou there were no inland river transport systems to support them. So their radiating capacity was limited, far less advantageous than the mouth of the Liao River and Tianjin.

Zhu Cilang continued: "In the future, Tianjin will be upgraded to a prefecture and become the heart of the northern lands. And as for the mouth of the Liao River — We bestow upon it the name Tianhe Prefecture. It shall be the foundation of the Liao territory!"

Emperor Zhu paused here, and his gaze swept across both sides of the conference table. Except for Zheng Zhilong, everyone else was buried in taking notes — this was yet another windfall opportunity! Hurry and invest in property in Tianjin Prefecture! Be sure to only rent and never sell, so it can be passed down to one's descendants!

(End of Chapter)