By the end of June, the mobilization of 34,000 soldiers from the Six Guards in the Southern Expedition was completed. Civil officials Xue Yan, Hou Hai, Pei Youzhen and others had already left Beijing under the order.

Zhang Fu, the Marquis of Xincheng, was officially appointed as the General of the Conquest of Yi in Fengtian Hall, and was ordered to command all the military powers of the southern expedition army of the Jingying, the Annan Governor's Office, the Guards and the troops recruited by Guangxi and Guangdong, and had the right to act temporarily. Chen Xuan was the chief general of the navy and controlled all the fleets participating in the war, but he had to comply with Zhang Fu's military orders. Liu Sheng, the Marquis of Anyuan, was the Deputy General of the Left of the Conquest of Yi, and Yin Desheng, the Marquis of Heyang, was the Deputy General of the Right of the Conquest of Yi.

When the army set off, it was clear and windy. People were in the north of the capital, and they could also hear the surging rivers slapped to the shore.

Zhu Gaoxu led the crowd to send Zhang Fu and other soldiers to the outside of Jinchuan Gate. Zhu Gaoxu gave wine and said goodbye, and repeatedly reminded the generals to take into account the righteousness and pay attention to public opinion propaganda to reduce the local people's willingness to resist.

The carriages of Queen Chen and King Annan Chen Zhengyuan were also in the central army. When everyone said goodbye, the curtain of the carriage was opened in a corner. Chen was already covered with tears, his expression was extremely sad, and he cried like a tearful person.

But while she was heartbroken, she tried every means to persuade Zhu Gaoxu to let her go back. The person was so conflicted. Zhu Gaoxu could only sit on the horse's back and waved his hands a few times. For a moment, the scene of confidence seemed to be covered with a hint of entangled sorrow.

The crowd passing through the Jinchuan Gate corridor behind was a central army infantry escorting the "Round Dragon Sun and Moon Flag". When they lined out of the corridor, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly felt a sense of dazedness, as if he didn't know where he was.

Most of the soldiers of the Beijing camp who went to the expedition this time received newly issued military uniforms from the imperial court, but the military uniforms worn in combat mainly took into account the armor and were practical; so almost all the soldiers wore the wide-brimmed iron helmets of the Ming army and carried various combat tools. Only this line of flag protection was wearing dresses, they wore large-brimmed cloth hats on their heads, brand new gray clothes and pants on their bodies, carrying "Chun Han" light guns, but did not carry ammunition, and looked very clean.

Regardless of the power of the mesh gun, the slender and newly forged gun barrel is very smooth and shines in the sun. Because of the large-brimmed hat, the neat military appearance is very similar to the modern army. Such a scene made the people watching from afar look at each other and were completely attracted by the strange team.

The ancient Jinchuan Gate Tower, the pagodas on Lion Mountain, the pavilions and towers, water pavilions and arch bridges are all elegant scenes in the style of the Ming Dynasty. However, this army made Zhu Gaoxu feel the factors of change.

With the sound of drums with uniform rhythm, the army kept moving in a row, and the footsteps were very neat. The generals riding horses held their fists to the left on the back of the horse. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also held his fists to return the salute to them; "Ticaca..." The sound of footsteps that were staggered from far and near made it difficult for the generals to hear clearly.

There were continuous formations of infantry and cavalry in the corridor. Most of them were in the Hundred Houses team, and each team maintained appropriate gaps in front and behind. Although there were many people on this road, there were no congestion. There were still room for one side of the road, so that the commanders riding horses could travel, and the military discipline and order of the Jingying Army was good.

The tilt of military expenditure after Zhu Gaoxu took office seemed to be effective in military power. However, he hoped that these elite Beijing camps could play a real role and bring substantial national benefits.

Zhu Gaoxu watched for a while, but did not ride his carriage and rode his horse back to the city.

A group of great Han generals from the Jinyiwei followed Zhu Gaoxu and rode a horse from the main road in the capital city until they entered Xi'an Gate. When they arrived at Xihua Gate, the soldiers of the Jinyiwei stopped.

Zhu Gaoxu did not get off his horse and rode into the palace to Rouyi Hall. There was no horse riding in the palace, but no one stopped him. At most, civil servants wrote letters and emphasized the correspondence between etiquette and heaven. Zhu Gaoxu was always in the ears of such things.

Everything was as usual in the simple and bright main hall of Rouyi Hall. A while ago, he often spent time with civil and military officials discussing the affairs of Annan Kingdom, and the map on the table was still there.

But when Zhu Gaoxu walked in, he suddenly felt that the place seemed empty. Only then did he realize that the people living in the back hall had left.

Chen only lives here temporarily, but it has been a long time; he usually just sends an eunuch to summon her and can see her immediately. Now Zhu Gaoxu is still a little uncomfortable at once, and always feels that something is missing.

He sat down behind the big table, looked at the memorials and maps above, and did nothing. After a while, he unconsciously reached out and placed his hand on his forehead, rubbed hard for a while.

At this moment, the eunuch Wang Gui bent over and walked in, holding the whisk and said, "Report to the Emperor, the Emperor, the former guardian of the Ministry of State sent a memorial to the palace. He did not go to the Zhengsi, and said that he had written some important things. I have put the memorial on it for the Emperor."

Zhu Gaoxu responded, reached out and picked up the memorial at the top and opened it.

The Northern Department of the Guardian Department sent people to the north to buy some Mongolian and ancient people, and received news: The Great Khan of Mongolia, Benyali died of sweating!

Zhu Gaoxu realized that the situation in Mongolia would undergo a great evolution. His attention immediately separated from the subtle emotions just now and carefully read the content of the memorial.

From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, the Ming army carried out a revenge northern expedition, with the target of the battle being the Tatars. Zhu Gaoxu felt that the battle was very unhappy, and more than 200,000 people in the entire army suffered. However, the Tatars seemed to be very uncomfortable and suffered heavy losses. After the tent of Ben Yari's Khan was destroyed by the E Kingdom's Gongping Ping An, he led his troops to retreat westward.

As a result, because of insufficient food and grass, the Benyalis Khan tribe had to borrow grain from the west. Unexpectedly, the Wats Khan took advantage of the situation and raided Benyalis Khan, slaughtering Benyalis himself and most of his troops. This Khan was the nominal "Khan of the All Mongolian Kingdom". Once he died, the Wats Khan quickly supported a new Khan: Bali Khan.

Bari Khan claims to be a descendant of the Golden Family, but at least the Ming Dynasty has no way of knowing who it is.

The Tatar tribes that suffered heavy losses were actually in power Alutai, known as the Mongolian Grand Tutor. Alutai was hit by the Ming army because of his strength. He was extremely panicked and furious at the situation where Watashida was able to support the Mongolian Khan and took the opportunity to expand eastward.

This Alutai, who once fought against the Ming army with 200,000 to 300,000 troops, was killed by the man who was unwilling to seek peace. In the struggle within Mongolia, he decided to change his strategy.

The bribed Mongols reported to the Ming Dynasty officials that Alutai was collecting good horses from various tribes and preparing to send envoys to pay tribute to the Ming court to show their friendship. They seemed to want to take the initiative to change their relationship with the Ming Dynasty and use the military power of the Ming army to attack the wats and sects in the west.

After reading the memorial, Zhu Gaoxu looked up at Wang Gui who was standing in front and said, "Take it to Wuying Palace and let the ministers in the cabinet and Dianbao Department take a look."

"Yes." Wang Gui bowed his body and picked up the memorial with both hands.

Zhu Gaoxu decided to listen to the ministers' opinions first, but he didn't have to think too much and immediately lost interest in continuing the northern expedition.

Last year, Zhu Gaoxu was not very willing to go to the northern expedition, but because the Tatars took the initiative to harass the border with all kinds of evil, he did not want to appear too weak when he ascended the throne. Then he went deep into the grassland to fight a war, which made him realize that the northern expedition was a huge and thankless thing.

But the Mongols seemed to have some misunderstandings about the Ming Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols were in power, and the rebels in the world were one after another. The strategy of the Yuan court was to attack whoever was king or emperor, because they could not attack multiple ways at the same time. This was the strategy of the Ming Taizu Group to slow down the king.

Now the Mongolians seem to think that the Ming Dynasty would do the same and attack the "Mongolian Khan". The ancients did attach too much importance to status and flags.

But the fact is that from Emperor Zhu Gaoxu to court ministers, he is a little resistant to unprofitable wars. The reason why Zhu Gaoxu ignored the advice of his ministers and insisted on planning military operations in the South China Sea and Northeast Asia was simply because he felt that there were long-term benefits; but even Zhu Gaoxu himself could not see any benefits for the northern grasslands.

To solve the northern problem through large-scale battles and relying solely on offensive blasts, Zhu Gaoxu tried it and thought that the cost was too high and lacked feasibility.

As for the flag of the Golden Family, you don’t have to pay too much attention to it. The glory of the past has long ended and the wheel that cannot escape the torrent of history will sooner or later be abandoned by the Mongols. Just like the "Han" and "Tang" flags in the Central Plains back then, they once had great appeal and were eventually eliminated.

Zhu Gaoxu is no longer willing to continue the northern expedition.

The problem is that the "Jingnan Campaign" has drawn too many troops from the Northern Guards, and has not managed the north in recent years, causing the northern national defense to become increasingly weak. Fortunately, the Mongolian tribes are also fighting internally and cannot truly threaten the northern border for the time being... So in the north, Zhu Gaoxu felt that it is necessary to re-improve the national defense system and occupy favorable key areas. Actively defend the national policy first, consider building a bastion, and then slowly plan it.

Such a major event will be huge. Fortunately, guarding against the nomadic tribes in the north has always been the key to national defense in the Central Plains and is easy to receive support from the government and the opposition. After all, everyone needs a sense of security.

Several maps on the table were placed, including maps of Japan, Annan situation map, Tatar Watts power map, Hami in West Mongolia and other complex sections. There were also nautical charts in the corner, one by one, one line to India and the coast of Africa. Zhu Gaoxu's fingers slowly moved on it.

After a long time, he finally put down the drawings, leaned back on the chair, and fell into deep thought without saying a word.
Chapter completed!