Chapter 1637 Ren Zijuan’s words awaken the dreamer
Before coming to see Shen Yourong, Feng Ziying had been thinking about how to talk about this conversation with Shen Yourong, and to what extent or depth it should be discussed, which made him think a lot.
Feng Ziying’s impression of Shen Yourong comes from two aspects: on the one hand, memories from past lives, and on the other hand, contacts in this life.
What he could remember from his previous memory was that Shen Yourong was a naval general and had served in the Jiliao, Fujian-Zhejiang, and Denglai naval forces for several times. He had rich experience, a tough character, and a strong patriotism. He had fought against Japanese pirates. , also fought against the Red Mao Fan, and repeatedly defended the sovereignty of the Ming Dynasty. This experience alone is enough to prove that Shen Yourong is an excellent navy commander.
From the contact in this life, Feng Ziying could also feel that Shen Yourong was very discerning and his concerns about Jianzhou Jurchens were quite consistent with hers. This also meant that she and he had a common goal, which was to contain the Jurchens and even destroy them. To achieve this, in the future, coastal control over Liaodong, Liaonan, and even North Korea must be firmly in hand, and the supply lines in Liaodong must be gradually shifted from land to sea. This can greatly improve support efficiency and reduce transportation costs. Cost can even be said to be the key to the future success or failure of Liaodong's strategy.
Feng Ziying had some understanding of the defeat of Ming Dynasty in Liaodong in her previous life. Various misjudgments of situations, tactical failures, and personnel errors were indeed problems in Feng Ziying's view, but this was not the key to the failure of Ming Dynasty in Liaodong. The key was to ensure security. question.
With the expansion of the power of the Jianzhou Jurchens and the short-term rise of Chahar Lin Dan Khan, a huge pincer-like suppression was formed on the situation in Liaodong. After Lin Dan Khan was defeated by the Jianzhou Jurchens, Liaodong suddenly became like an isolated island, lacking sufficient resources. The reserve population guarantee to maintain the operation of the entire Liaodong Town cannot sustain the needs of the Liaodong Army for a long time. It can only be supplied through the Liaoxi Corridor, which makes the supply more difficult and consumes a lot of money. In addition, North Korea's Li Cong adopts a slip-up policy. Unable to provide substantial support to Daming.
When the price of food in Liaodong was several times more expensive than in the capital, and when the court's guarantee for Liaodong could only be supported by silver rather than substantive materials, the war had already been lost.
The lack of sufficient financial and material support, coupled with the loss of maneuverability and depth, caused the Ming Dynasty and Liaodong to gradually lose its strategic initiative. The most important thing is that the support of various materials was too expensive, which made it difficult for the Ming Dynasty to support it financially, and could only carry out Strategic contraction.
It's just that there is no Jiliao Navy in Da Zhou, so Feng Ziying will seize the opportunity to push Shen Yourong to the position of Denglai Navy Admiral. Wang Ziteng's contempt for the Navy actually gave Shen Yourong a chance. , allowing him to monopolize the power of the Denglai Navy. Of course, this is also because of his full support behind it.
Shen Yourong valued Liaodong as much as he did. In his opinion, the Japanese pirates and the Hongmao Fan were foreign enemies from afar, and the Jianzhou Jurchens were the imminent and real threat to the hinterland of the capital. Because of this, Feng Ziying was I feel that I can achieve in-depth cooperation with him.
But this shock may be related to the internal struggle for the throne within the Zhang family of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Feng Ziying is not sure what Shen Yourong's attitude is.
Shen Yourong was from Xuancheng, Ningguo Prefecture, and theoretically from Jiangnan. However, he was a warrior with a martial arts background, and his thoughts were different from those of the gentry. The gentry also looked down on such warriors, and Shen Yourong had always been there. In the military, the recognition of the imperial court should be far higher than that of Prince Yitada or the slightly nihilistic geographical concept of Jiangnan. Feng Ziying was still somewhat sure of this.
If we were just talking about the threat of the Jurchens in Jianzhou and the security of Liaodong, Feng Ziying believed that Shen Yourong would definitely agree with her. But when it came to the possible confrontation between the north and the south, it would even require the Denglai Navy, Fujian Navy and Guangdong Navy to protect it if it happened. In this situation, Feng Ziying felt that in order to ensure the support of the imperial court based on the north, Feng Ziying felt that it was necessary to communicate and persuade the other party.
Seeing Feng Ziying's serious face, Shen Yourong seemed very relaxed, "Master Feng, judging from your posture, do you have any important matters to communicate with me?"
Prime Shuntian and Admiral Dengrai are theoretically incompatible with each other, but the tacit understanding and cooperation between the two over the years need not be mentioned. Everyone has this awareness.
Feng Ziying nodded, "There are indeed some important things that I want to communicate with Mr. Shen, but for a while I couldn't find a suitable place to start."
"Oh?" Shen Yourong was very curious. He had seen the former Xiao Feng's eloquence, and the princes in the court also praised his talent. How could he still be so eloquent when facing him? What can't be said?
You must know that last year when he was a co-president of Yongping Mansion, he wrote to him asking for support from the Denglai Navy. He was sent by the adventurous Hou Chengzu to lead the army north. With this friendship, Shen Yourong felt that there was nothing else he could do. Is it difficult for Feng Ziying to speak?
“Master Feng, is there anything we can’t be honest with each other about? Or is it so serious that you find it difficult to make a choice?”
Shen Yourong smiled and said: "I have experienced a lot, and you have become famous since you were young, and now you are the Prime Minister of Shuntian Prefecture. You are favored by the emperor and favored by the cabinet. The performance of Yongping Prefecture has impressed everyone in the court. The military I was shocked. After Huaiyu came back, he was full of praise for you, saying that you are a tiger father without a dog son. You are talented in both civil and military affairs. You beat the Mongols to pieces, which is amazing. It is a big deal. I think Can you and I have a talk?"
Shen Yourong has a very favorable impression of Feng Ziying, not only because Feng Ziying strongly recommended him back then, which brightened his originally gloomy career, but also because of the similarities in many views and ideas.
He even believed that Feng Ziying was more suitable to lead troops. After Hou Chengzu came back, he talked about Feng Ziying's training regulations for fire gun soldiers, which made him look askance. However, Feng Ziying's outstanding performance as a civil servant made him realize that this person might really be the future leader. It is rare for a big shot to be so close to a big shot, and it is even more difficult to make friends with him.
Shen Yourong smiled slightly and nodded: "In that case, I am also very curious today and want to hear what difficulties you have, so worried and entangled,..."
Feng Ziying burst into laughter. Shen Yourong's grace and magnanimity made her seem a bit petty. She trusted those she hired and ignored those she doubted. Since she believed that the other party was a trustworthy person, others dared to send troops north to support her despite the disapproval of the world. What's wrong with me and being honest with myself?
“Sir Shen, have you heard in Denglai that Jiangnan has been unstable this year?” Feng Ziying thought it would be better to talk about a few signs and issues first to see the other party’s attitude, and then get to the core step by step.
Shen Yourong frowned slightly and then said, "I am from Xuancheng. Although I have been away for a long time, I still know a little about the situation in my hometown. The Nanjing side feels that the imperial court is too harsh on Jiangnan in terms of taxes and hopes to reduce them. In addition, Maybe the imperial court is too biased towards northerners in terms of spring positions?"
“What do you think?” Feng Ziying continued to ask.
"I am not the one who should comment on the theory of the imperial court's policies, but since you asked, Mr. Feng, I don't answer. It seems that I am not upright. Well, every policy of the imperial court will indeed benefit some people and harm some people. How to balance it? This is a problem for the court, but the defense of the north must not be neglected at all. It is difficult for the Jiangnan gentry to feel the pressure from the north. The court should respond through Lin Wenchen, a scholar from Jiangnan in the middle of the court. I feel that the current court is not doing a good job in this regard. As for the issue of Chunwei Jiangnan posts, this is an old matter that has been disputed between the north and the south for many years, and the court should consider it."
As expected of a sophisticated veteran, Feng Ziying’s answers in these aspects were all watertight, but Feng Ziying was still very satisfied. It was enough that he could hear the attitude tendencies.
“Then what do Master Shen think of the performance of the Denglai Army in Bozhou?” Feng Ziying suddenly changed the topic and moved it to Wang Ziteng.
Shen Yourong was startled, and after pondering for a long time, he said, "Ziying, do you think that Prince Tengbie has some agenda?"
"Is it just that Prince Teng has other agendas?" Feng Ziying was even more certain when she heard Shen Yourong calling herself by his own name instead of Master Feng.
Shen Yourong's color changed slightly. As the waves rocked slightly, the ship's plank moved slightly. His clear face looked even more profound in the flickering light. After a long pause, he sighed and said, "The situation is really serious." Is it that bad? It’s impossible for the court to be unaware of it, right?"
This sentence also made it difficult for Feng Ziying to answer.
He always felt that it was impossible for the court to be unaware of such a big thing, and it was impossible for there to be no clues. However, he negotiated with Long Jinwei, reported it to Qi Yongtai and Qiao Yingjia, and even mentioned it to Chai Ke, but nothing happened. There were more or less formal responses, but most of them thought that he was making a fuss, which made him have to reflect on whether he was really neurotic.
How could the imperial court not notice the problem that Shen Yourong could sense?
Is there any problem here?
"Master Shen, I don't know." Feng Ziying could only reply with some difficulty: "The imperial court may be aware of it and even have countermeasures, but I always think that the imperial court still does not pay enough attention, or that they are too complacent and underestimate it. Various impacts and subsequent impacts that may occur once an incident occurs.”
Noticing the bitterness and embarrassment on Feng Ziying's face, Shen Yourong asked again: "Have you ever reflected on that Ziying?"
"Of course." Feng Ziying nodded in surprise, but seeing the depth in Shen Yourong's eyes, she seemed to understand: "What your lord means..."
"The court won't be so dismissive, right? This is no different from other things." Shen Yourong said slowly.
(End of this chapter)