Chapter 1087: Using Capital to Injure Rivals — Zhu Is Richest (Please Subscribe)

"Well now, Li Dingguo has even reached Wuzhang Plain, and Wu Sangui still dares to call himself Cao Zhen? He's clearly Sima Yi!"

The Zhu Emperor, just back in the Old Mountain Palace in Yingtian Prefecture from Tianjin, sat high upon the Hall of Imperial Supremacy, holding a memorial from Wu Sangui, Governor-General of Gansu and Shaanxi, and spoke with a smile words that set the minds of the ministers below churning.

Just where had this Wu Sangui offended the Zhu Emperor? Why was the Emperor always calling him Sima Yi? Those were frightening words! Sima Yi was the traitor who rebelled against the Cao family! Could the Zhu Emperor suspect the old Wu family of wanting to imitate the Sima family? Surely not — did the old Wu family have that kind of ability? Wu Xiang was lying sick and feeble at home; Wu Sanfeng had been kicked off to Heilongjiang with one boot; although Wu Sanfu held the post of military adviser, everyone knew he had no real power in his hands. Only Wu Sangui commanded troops, and his soldiers were far off in the northwest with mediocre fighting strength — he was drenched in sweat just fighting Li Dingguo, so how could he be a Sima Yi? Could it be that the Emperor was also moving against the old Wu family, the foremost imperial in-laws? Was he going to depose Empress Wu Sanmei and put Zheng Chagu on the throne?

Impossible, surely? Wasn't the Emperor's state policy one of north-south balance? Over the past two years, as the southeast's wealth grew day by day, southerners had grown ever stronger in politics and military affairs — how could the Zhu Emperor replace Wu with Zheng at a time like this?

Compared with the big, dumb, rough old Wu family, the Zheng family looked far more like Sima Yi.

At that thought, quite a few northern officials began sizing up Chief Zheng out of the corners of their eyes. The Chief was as he always was — a smile on his face, wishing wealth and prosperity, neither delighted nor startled. As if noticing the odd looks from others, the Chief gave a cough, rose from his seat, and began to speak: "Your Majesty, this old subject believes that the Duke of Liang's tactic of imitating Sima Yi — holding his positions and defending firmly to resist Zhuge — strikes precisely at the vital point of the roving bandits."

"Is that so?" Zhu Cilang smiled. "Explain."

Zheng Zhilong said: "Though this subject does not understand warfare on land, I have administered the Ministry of Revenue for many years and am familiar with the empire's grain, money, and household registers. Moreover, I have learned from the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the grain, money, household registers, and fiscal system of the bandits' false dynasty.

Although the bandits' false dynasty is cramped in territory and its people poor, it supports its army with the full strength of the entire nation, and all profit flows from a single channel — the only path to honor is war. It is a state of tigers and wolves, as fierce as the tyrannical Qin. But the present world is no longer the age of the Seven Powers contending. For one, the realm is not divided into seven — nine parts in ten belong to the Celestial Dynasty, while the bandits hold only Ba-Shu without Guanzhong. Thus they have the tyranny of Qin but not its wealth.

For another, the present world has long ceased to be only the Divine Continent — there is the West, there is India, there is the New World! Seagoing ships can sail ten thousand li and circle the globe. A strong state can raise sail for distant voyages and extend its territory ten thousand li beyond its shores. But the bandits are trapped in the southwestern mountains, without good seaports, unable to expand overseas, and with no way to draw in the wealth of the world. Thus they possess the tyranny of Qin in vain, yet have nowhere to stretch it.

Therefore the bandits are tyrannical but not strong, and cannot endure. If we attack swiftly and advance fiercely, they will surely fight with the whole nation thrown in — even if we win, we will greatly injure our vitality, and the gain will not be worth the loss.

Our dynasty's wealth is ten times theirs, and we can extend our territory overseas and draw goods from around the globe. What we lack compared with them is that our profit flows from many channels — we are strong but not tyrannical. Thus we are suited to endurance and not to swift violence.

This subject recommends that the court wage a war of endurance against the bandits: besiege them on all sides, advance by fortresses, seek not victory but only duration — use capital to injure men, use time to exhaust the enemy!"

Zheng Zhilong was a merchant, and he offered Zhu Cilang a merchant's stratagem — run a losing business, use capital to injure rivals, and let the bandits, with their small capital and thin margins, lose until they drop dead!

"Sanfu, what do you think?" Zhu Cilang was all too familiar with the tactic of using capital to injure rivals — the "daddies" of later ages loved playing this game! Two "daddies" competed at burning money, and as they burned, they burned all their other competitors to death.

And now Zhu Cilang himself was "Daddy Zhu," and the richest man of the Great Ming and the second-richest man of the Great Ming were on his side — there was plenty of money to burn! Burn those penniless roving bandits to death!

"Your Majesty, if we are to besiege them on all sides, we can raise five great armies!" Wu Sanfu breathed a slight sigh of relief — the Zhu Emperor did not seem to suspect Wu Sangui of disloyalty. "At present my elder brother Sangui is encamped between Baoji and Mei County — that is one route. The Shang and Kong armies are encamped at Mount Qi — that is the second route. Send one army out from Xiangyang to press upon Yunyang — that is the third route. Order the Sichuan Garrison out from Zunyi to threaten Chongqing — that is the fourth route. Order the Guizhou army out from Pu'an to attack Qujing — that is the fifth route.

The five great armies, nominally five hundred thousand strong, will all make an empty show of force, advance step by step with fortified camps, press forward slowly, advance without retreating, and hold on with perseverance. In this way we can certainly make the bandits' false dynasty drain its national strength, and within five years the lands of Sichuan and Yunnan can be recovered."

Guanzhong absolutely could not be lost! So Wu Sangui had long since abandoned the battle at Xihe and, with his three infantry divisions and his Hexi cavalry, had come huffing and puffing back to Guanzhong to seek a decisive battle with Li Dingguo.

And Li Dingguo was no fool — he would not stupidly fight a field battle with Wu Sangui on the Guanzhong plain. Wu Sangui's army was a mixed force of cavalry, infantry, and artillery that could not deploy in narrow mountain gullies and naturally could not bring its strength to bear there — but once on open ground, would it not hang Li Dingguo's mountain troops up and beat them?

If the Great Ming's Liaodong campaign were still being fought, Li Dingguo might have considered a desperate fight. But now the Ming had already crushed Duoni, and within the Nine Provinces only the Shun alone remained resisting the Celestial Dynasty.

So Li Dingguo did not dare stake everything. He snatched a little grain within the borders of Baoji County and Mei County before Wu Sangui arrived, then shrank back to hold Heshang Plain, Wuzhang Plain, Dasan Pass, and Jinya Pass. These "plains" were not flatlands but high terraces, often rising several dozen meters above the ground, level on top but with very steep paths leading up. It was easy to strike down from the Qinling Mountains, but very hard to push back up from the Guanzhong plain. Otherwise Zhuge Liang would not have chosen them as the place to farm in front of his battle lines.

Once Li Dingguo was up on the high terraces, Wu Sangui naturally would not launch an immediate assault, so he could only move up close to Heshang Plain, Wuzhang Plain, Dasan Pass, and Jinya Pass to build ramparts and dig trenches. First establish invincibility, then seek to advance — it did look rather like Sima Yi. Yet the one issuing challenges was Wu Sangui, not the Shun's would-be Zhuge, Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo had originally wanted to take advantage of the Great Ming's main force being tied up in the Liaodong campaign to grab something in Guanzhong. Now the situation under heaven had changed abruptly — the Shun was resisting the whole world from a single corner, the disadvantage was too great, and grabbing an advantage was impossible. But he could not retreat either. The moment he withdrew, the Shun's decline would be set. Wu Sangui would surely chase his rear and kill his way into Hanzhong — and this Wu Sangui was no easy mark!

So the situation on the northwestern front had now shifted from the Shun attacking and the Ming defending to a standoff between the two armies.

Wu Sanfu, seasoned in military affairs, knew well that it would not be easy for Wu Sangui to storm Dasan Pass, Wuzhang Plain, Heshang Plain, and Jinya Pass by force. So he had devised this five-route campaign against the Shun for Wu Sangui — opening three more fronts in Huguang, Sichuan, and Yunnan to disperse the bandits' strength. The bandits claimed 250,000 territorial troops: roughly 100,000 were deployed on the Mount Qi front and the Guanzhong front, about 50,000 on the Burma side, and perhaps 100,000 remained within the country.

If Huguang, Sichuan, and Yunnan came under attack as well, the bandits' forces would be stretched taut, and perhaps Li Dingguo would be forced to withdraw. Then Wu Sangui could fall on them in pursuit, and perhaps ride the momentum straight into Hanzhong.

Zhu Cilang glanced at Wei Zaode, who had been brought back to serve again as Chief Grand Secretary. The Grand Secretary said: "Your Majesty may journey west to Wuhan and proclaim a personal campaign. In addition, you may order the Commandery Prince of Rinan to shift his forces to Siam, making a show of attacking Burma and Lan Na — this would be the sixth route in the campaign against the bandits."

"Luo Dagong!" Zhu Cilang called the name of Luo Dagong, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Luo Dagong said: "This subject believes it is feasible for the Commandery Prince of Rinan to shift his station to Siam, but sending troops from Siam against Burma and Lan Na should not be rushed. We must first negotiate terms with Siam, lest we waste our military strength for nothing."

"What terms?" Zhu Cilang asked.

"Burma is hard to take; Lan Na is easy to seize," Luo Dagong said. "But if Lan Na is taken, to whom would it belong? And what benefit would the Celestial Dynasty gain? This subject suggests exchanging Lan Na for the three districts of Pattani, Songkhla, and Yala in southern Siam. Then we can move the Jinghai Army in, and merge the Jinghai Army's current jurisdiction into the Jin'ou Army."

(End of Chapter)