Originally, if the prince was not in the hall, the ministers would definitely look at Wu Qi. The three giants of the Ministry of War, Feng Yuanbiao and Zhang Fengxiang, had already expressed their opinions, but Wu Qi had been silent all the time. This was completely different from his usual criticism of the strategies and his loud voice. All the ministers were all strange in their hearts. Everyone knew that Wu Qi was a "princeling party". Since Wu Qi did not speak, everyone would naturally look at the prince.

Zhu Cilang kept bowing his head and pondering. He had discussed the defense issues of the Great Wall on the Western Front with Wu and the General Staff Office more than once. Every time he had a big talk, everyone expressed his opinions. During this period, he had discussed it with Feng Yuanbiao, Minister of War and Li Banghua, the left censor. Zhu Cilang used a time traveler to evaluate and screen out the role of four hundred years of information and history. Finally, he decided on a set of defense plans that he thought were most suitable.

But Wu Yan had some disagreements, so he remained silent when he discussed the matter today - he did not agree, but he did not object to the prince's plan.

It is of great importance. Even if you have thought about it many times, Zhu Cilang still needs to think carefully before he is about to say it out.

When the ministers looked at it, Zhu Cilang took a secret breath and bowed to Emperor Chongzhen on the imperial throne: "Father, my son thought that the defense of the Great Wall was not in the city blockage, but in the role of blockage and early warning. The blockage did not say much, and only talked about early warning. Because of the early warning of the Great Wall, the Jingji area could have time and space to prepare. In the past, when facing the Mongolian Hu, although the Great Wall border was once in a few times, the threat of the Great Wall border to our Great Wall border after Emperor Shizong was greatly alleviated. The reasons were only two. First, Emperor Shizong opened up the border trade so that the Mongolian Hu no longer had to obtain materials through looting. Second, Mongolia was divided and without unified power, it was difficult to launch a large-scale military operation on our Ming Dynasty."

"But after Jianlu rushed forward, the shape of the Great Wall border changed. Especially after Lin Danhan died of illness, Menglu had all turned to Jianlu. The Great Wall border lost its buffer. The Great Wall was full of breaches everywhere, but Jianlu carried Menglu to invade and could kill under my Great Wall at any time. And my Ming Dynasty could not know in advance. This is the fundamental reason why the Great Wall was in danger and Jianlu repeatedly entered the barriers!"

"There is a saying among the people: Don't be afraid of thieves stealing, just be afraid of thieves thinking about it. Once the thief is concerned, you have to be guarded day and night. No matter how high the walls of your home are built, if you don't tie a dog outside the wall, you will be afraid that you will not be able to defend yourself."

"This dog is Menglu. My son believes that in the long run, I, the Ming Dynasty, still must find ways to divide and win over Menglu, so that it can be used by me. Even if it cannot be used by me, I cannot obey Jianlu."

All the ministers listen quietly.

When hearing about the Menggu, some court officials who knew about the incident in that year sighed slightly in their hearts. During the Tianqi Year, the Ming Dynasty court fixed a certain amount of annual silver for each Mongolian division every year, one was to appease and the other was to recruit them to participate in the Liaodong war. During the Battle of Guanning, Lin Danhan sent 10,000 Mongolian cavalry to help. Although there was no use of birds, he used 40,000 taels of silver in the Ming Dynasty in vain after going to the expedition. At least they did not understand Jianlu and did not have the same friendship with Jianlu, and could help a little more or less.

However, after Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, natural disasters continued, the Ming Dynasty famines continued, and the finances were not enough. The Ming Dynasty really had no surplus grain to support the Mongols. The Mongols had become a huge burden on the finances. Emperor Chongzhen felt that giving Jianlu "Year Silver" was a humiliation, so he cut off his "support" to Mongolia. At the same time, Jianlu extended an olive branch to Mongolia. Even under the blockade of the Ming Dynasty, he still provided grain and rice support to Jianlu---It has to be admitted that Nurhaci and Huang Taiji both had strategic vision and knew that Jianlu had to have the support of the Mongols to fight against the Ming Dynasty in a corner. Even if he had difficulty, he would win over the Mongols.

Nurhaci and Huang Taiji's efforts were rewarded, and Lin Danhan was a man with great ambitions and talent, which eventually led to all the tribes in Inner Mongolia turning to Jianlu.

Looking back on the past, the court officials who knew about the past sighed. If the court had tightened its belt and given the Mongolians a certain amount of money and food, the situation would have never been until now. At least the Jianlu could not enter the border from all over the Great Wall.

The court officials sighed secretly, and the chief ministers secretly peeked at Emperor Chongzhen's face and found that Emperor Chongzhen had a gloomy face. His mood was indeed affected. Some ministers who were close friends with the prince couldn't help but sigh in their hearts: The prince was still too old and did not carefully consider his words. Although what he said was the most reasonable, it wiped his father's face.

Of course, Zhu Ciyang knew that these things would make his father unhappy, but he still wanted to say that if he wanted to correct the mistake, he had to admit it first. If he didn't dare to admit it, how could he talk about correcting it? And only those words were said by his son. If it were other court officials' advice, Emperor Chongzhen's face would be even more ugly.

Of course, another reason is that Zhu Cilang knew clearly that Emperor Chongzhen loved his calf deeply, and after he was unhappy, his heart would soon feel relieved: "My son is wise, like me", "Better than the blue", and "My emperor has successors in the morning".

Compared with disagreement, comfort will last longer in Emperor Chongzhen's heart.

Zhu Cixuan continued: "But last year, Jianlu divided Menglu into the Eight Banners and married Menglu's relatives and nobles. In the short term, it was not easy to get apart from them. In other words, the dog outside the wall cannot be tied up for the time being in the Ming Dynasty. Without warning, Jianlu's army suddenly came to the city. Even if the court spent 800,000 taels of silver to repair and strengthen the 400-mile Great Wall that strengthened Miyun, it would be difficult to stick to it."

"Not to mention, repairing the 400-mile Great Wall requires a lot of manpower and material resources. The border of the Great Wall is sparsely populated and requires recruiting civilians from the inland. Such a project is not a day or two, and it is afraid it will take two to three years to complete. Therefore, my son believes that the Miyun Great Wall can be repaired in small quantities, but it is not suitable for large-scale construction. The savings should be used elsewhere."

Hearing this, the left censor Li Banghua went out to salute, and his voice was gentle but very powerful: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said so much. I have agreed that people's livelihood is in decline and people's strength is scarce. It is definitely not the best time to repair the Miyun Great Wall at this time!"

Repairing the 400-mile Great Wall is a major project that requires the use of hundreds of thousands of people's strength. It is not enough to rely solely on the capital. People in Baoding, Xuanhua, and even Datong, Shanxi must be used.

When the Ming Dynasty was prosperous, it was barely necessary to build the Great Wall, let alone now?

But guarding against the enemy is a major event. If Jianlu can really be blocked from the Great Wall, even if he swallows blood with his teeth, the Ming Dynasty would have to grit his teeth and persevere. Today's discussion is not about the court discussion, not in Wenhua Palace, but in Qianqing Palace. Only a dozen important officials of the dynasty were involved, without the participation of censors, and everyone spoke cautiously. This is also the reason why Li Banghua knew that the Great Wall consumed manpower and material resources, but was not the first to stand up to oppose it. Now there is the prince's leader, and every word of the prince was mentioned to him, so he couldn't help but stand up and supported him first.

Emperor Chongzhen on the imperial throne frowned and refused to comment.

Seeing that the prince objected, Zhang Fengxiang, the Minister of War, who proposed the second proposal, was a little frightened and bowed to Zhu Cilang: "What Your Highness said is also true. However, if the Miyun Great Wall is not repaired and reinforced, if you want to successfully guard it, you must all the soldiers of the Jing camp drove to Gubeikou, Jiziling, and guarded the pass. Jianlu entered the block last year and suffered a loss of no firearms. If you enter the block again next time, you will definitely carry more firearms. If the pass is not strong and cannot withstand artillery fire, even the Jingwu Camp will be difficult to defend. Once the Miyun Great Wall is broken, Jianlu's military peak will reach the capital. Therefore, Miyun Great Wall must be repaired."

Hearing this, the courtier who agreed nodded slightly.

Zhu Cilang also nodded and said solemnly: "There is nothing wrong with the young Sima. It is just that if you want to build the Miyun Great Wall into a copper wall, it is not a one-day effort. The money and food consumed are not supported by the imperial court. The most important thing is that even if the Miyun Great Wall is built into a copper wall, there are many loopholes in other places, and it is probably difficult to stop Jianlu from entering the barrier. In addition, our Ming Dynasty is now in internal and external troubles, and money and food must be used on the blade, and no one cent or one cent can be wasted. Therefore, the students think that spending huge silver to repair the Miyun Great Wall is not necessarily the best strategy."

Zhang Fengxiang's face was happy, then he was suspicious again, and asked tentatively: "Is there a best plan for your high school to say this?"

Zhang Fengxiang is an old official. He has been in the Ministry of War for many years. In order to defend the Great Wall, he racked his brains and thought of endless countermeasures. In the end, he still believed that sticking to the Jizhou defense line and repairing the Miyun Great Wall was the best way to deal with the enemy's entry into the Frontier. Even though he knew that repairing the Great Wall required huge manpower and material resources, the court was afraid that the court could not afford it, but he could not think of other better ways. He heard what the prince said in his words, as if there were other good strategies. He couldn't help but be happy, but then he was suspicious - Can the prince really come up with other tricks?

Zhu Cilang shook his head: "I dare not, I just have a superficial idea and say it out and discuss it with you guys."

Speaking of this, he looked at Emperor Chongzhen on the imperial throne and bowed: "Father, my son thought that Jianlu had suffered a great loss in the barrier last year. With the temper of Jianlu and the chief Huang Taiji of Jianlu, there is 50% chance of entering the barrier this winter, and the former shame of the former. In addition, our Ming Dynasty closed the border trade, Jianlu and Mongolian tribes could not obtain a series of necessary supplies such as grain, rice, salt, and medicinal materials from our Ming Dynasty. In order to survive, they could only enter the barrier. Together, the two were combined, the possibility of Jianlu entering the barrier this winter is more than 80%. The troops will definitely be more and more fierce than this year, so the court must make the worst plan."

"What is the worst?" Emperor Chongzhen spoke. He has been in power for seventeen years, and the two words he most feared to hear are "worst".

Zhu Cilang slightly raised his tone: "It is already mid-February. Even if the court has enough money and food, and is determined to overhaul the Miyun Great Wall, it will take a certain amount of time for the governments in various places to mobilize civilians. When the official construction begins, it is afraid that it will be summer. However, Jianlu will enter the barrier after autumn. It is too late. Therefore, the court cannot place all hope on the defense of Jizhou defense line and Miyun Great Wall. It is necessary to strengthen the defense of these two places while establishing the second and third lines of defense. Then, even if there is a difference between the Miyun Great Wall and Jianlu breaks the pass and enters the barrier, our Ming Dynasty can still block them, so that they cannot repeat the 12th year of Chongzhen, after breaking the pass from Gubeikou, he went south along the canal and attacked Jinan Prefecture, and plundered countless people in our Ming Dynasty, and the tragedy of the murder of the Uncle King of Lu."

"What is the second and third way?" Emperor Chongzhen asked anxiously.

"With the capital as the core, Tongzhou, Sanhe, Xianghe as the arms, and Tianjin as the flying wings, strengthen the defense of these four places and block Jianlu in the capital area. This is the second line of defense."

"Where is the third path?" asked Emperor Chongzhen.

"With Hejian Prefecture, which is mainly engaged in water and land, as the core, Cangzhou, Baoding is the left and right wings, Shandong is the support, two prefectures, three prefectures and twenty-eight counties, the city and city are defending. Among them, Hejian Prefecture is the top priority. You must not let Jianlu cross Hejian Prefecture and enter Shandong and Nanzhili. This is the bottom line of my Ming defense and it is also a deadline. If you fight for everything, you must also defend it! In this way, you can ensure that my Ming Dynasty is unhindered." Zhu Cixuan said.

Hearing this, the faces of the ministers in the hall changed slightly - the defense of the Chinese dynasty has always been about defending the enemy outside the country. However, the court had money, and would hit the Great Wall and Liaodong to avoid the capital being shaken and being pointed at by Jianlu's military front. The prince is good now. His words are just in his own way, and he is going to use the capital as the Great Wall. The prince wants to defend it is actually Shandong and Nanzhili!

In addition, Hejian Prefecture (now Hejian County, Cangzhou) is 500 miles away from the capital. According to the prince, is it necessary to turn all of these 500 miles into battlefields?

Could the prince be too cautious?

My Ming Dynasty had already repelled Jianlu's entry into the Frontier once last year. Isn't this year not possible? Didn't the prince ask for two salt fields and say that the military salary will be one million taels more this year, and another 30,000 to 40,000 warriors will be recruited? With so many soldiers, will my Ming Dynasty repeat the tragedy of the 12th year of Chongzhen and be killed by Jianlu into Shandong?

Not only the ministers, Wu Qi also thought so. Therefore, he had doubts about the prince's plan and kept silent.

"The only task of the above areas and cities this year is to repair cities and recruit soldiers and villages. In addition to the local area to raise funds, explaining to the people the danger of building troops into the border, and calling on gentry and wealthy businessmen to raise funds, the court also needs to allocate enough silver to support. The Ministry of War sent people to inspect and guide them to repair and strengthen city walls and train villages. This move can not only provide relief to villagers, but also find a way out for those villagers who have no livelihoods, but also because they are local people in the hometown and do not have to travel far. When the imperial edict is issued, all places can implement it immediately. Six to seven months will be enough to renovate the cities in various places, and the new villages can have a certain combat power."

Finally, Zhu Cilang gave a deep gift: "I have roughly calculated the above construction of cities and places. The silver required is about 800,000 taels. Although the amount is similar to the cost of repairing the Miyun Great Wall, the effect can be clearly seen. However, if these three lines of defense are completed, I think that even if Jianlu attacks this winter, my Ming Dynasty can retreat slowly, exchange space for time, and finally repel it."

After the prince finished speaking, the hall was silent.
Chapter completed!