Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"First, let's talk about what the theory of land power is."

Jiang Xinghuo didn't care whether the new prison inmate who looked like Guan Gong could understand or not, so he continued speaking on his own.

"In the second volume of "On National Destiny", we said that we can regard all civilizations in the world as isolated islands, and terrain barriers such as deserts, Gobis, mountains, jungles, oceans, etc., are to isolate these An isolated island, full of misty waters.”

“In the World Island War, the civilization that is the first to get out of the involution of its own island and expand outward will gain a huge first-mover snowball advantage, occupy more and more islands, and conquer or assimilate more and more civilizations. Until he becomes the overlord of the entire World Island.”

"The theory of land power refers to the world we know, or to be accurately defined, the edges of the world that the Mongols reached during their Western Expeditions, and the fields that the Mongols conquered, occupied, and established their political power. There is a heartland, and this heartland is just like our heart. It supplies blood to the internal organs and is also the place where the internal organs must pass."

"This heartland, I call it the 'Continental Bridge.'"

Combining Jiang Xinghuo's words, Zheng He silently pondered the deeper meaning.

Zhu Gaoxu asked directly: "Mr. Jiang is talking about the Mobei Plateau mentioned before?"

"It's not just that."

Jiang Xinghuo said: "To be precise, the center of the continental bridge is Hezhong Mansion, the hometown of Xiliao."

Hezhong Mansion is the "fat city" that Zheng He recalled in "Journey to the West" written by Yelu Chucai, and it has a more famous name - Samarkand, now the capital of the Timur Khanate.

Samarkand, the first ancient capital in Central Asia, was called Xiwanjin in "Book of Wei", "Kang State" in "New Book of Tang", and in the Western Liao Dynasty it was called Hezhong Prefecture. The reason is that Samarkand is located in Azerbaijan. Between the Mu River and the Syr Darya River, the two main rivers in Central Asia, Yelu Dashi, who fled here in a hurry, missed his hometown and naturally recalled the Hezhong Prefecture in the south of the Liao Kingdom, which was sandwiched between the Fen River and the Yellow River, so he named it This naming.

"It makes some sense."

Zheng He considered Samarkand's geographical location and nodded in agreement.

When it comes to military geography, especially the military geography of the known world, Zhu Gaoxu can also chime in.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "If we don't look at China's territory, Samarkand is indeed the center connecting the east and west."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and said: "In fact, the Tang Dynasty expanded westward along the Silk Road for the same reason. The reason why the Talas War happened was not because of the Black-clad Eclipses (Abbasid Dynasty of the Arab Empire) Expanding eastward, the two collided at this central point."

The Battle of Talos was a frustrated action by the Tang army that took the initiative to replace defense with offense. The cause was that Gao Xianzhi, the governor of Anxi in the Tang Dynasty, bloodbathed the Kingdom of Shi. The prince of Shi Kingdom who had a chance to escape asked for help from Dashi in Black. After hearing the news, Gao Xianzhi took the initiative to attack Dashi and led the Tang coalition forces to attack Dashi over a long distance. They penetrated more than 700 miles and finally encountered the black-clad Dashi army in Talas. However, they ultimately failed due to the betrayal of the Geluolu soldiers in the coalition. , 30,000 Anxi Tang troops, only a few thousand people escaped. After this war, Tang craftsmen captured by the Arab Empire established the first paper mill outside China, and papermaking technology spread westward.

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "Then let me put forward a theory first, and you can judge whether it is correct or not."

Zheng He and Zhu Gaoxu nodded in unison.

"If I think that the land bridge where the Mongols once used Samarkand as the center point to conduct expeditions in all directions is the heart of the main world island where all the isolated islands of civilization gather together. And the land power theory is who controls the continent Whoever controls the World Island in the heart of the land bridge controls the World Island, and whoever controls the World Island controls the world. The expansion of the land power empire should start from the heart of the land bridge, from the center to the edge. Do you think it is right? If it’s not right, please explain why.”

After hearing this, the two fell into deep thought.

——————

The secret room next door.

Li Zhigang, the Minister of Rites, sat uneasily in his chair.

In front of him were the top decision-makers of the Ming Empire, including the emperor, the eldest prince, and the prime minister in black.

Of course, Li Zhigang's pressure did not come entirely from these people. To be precise, the pressure these people brought to him was far less than the pressure brought to him by the word "prison" or the familiar environment of prison.

The reason is also simple. Li Zhigang's past life experience has proved that he is indeed a prisoner who can be punished and sentenced.

Li Zhigang is a very, very interesting person. It can even be said that he is the most interesting person in the entire Yongle era.

It would be a pity not to give a brief introduction to his life of "more prisons, more rewards".

Li Zhigang was from Huating, Songjiang. To be fair, his character was really poor. He was proficient in flattery, corruption and bending the law, which was completely opposite to the word "Zhigang".

During the era of Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Zhigang served as an aide to Prince Zhu Biao, so he was recommended by Zhu Biao and was awarded the position of Doctor of the Ministry of Rites.

Then Li Zhigang was imprisoned for committing a crime, and was later demoted to guard the border. Soon after, he activated his banknote ability for the first time. After many activities, he was recalled as a doctor in the Ministry of Industry and promoted to Henan Right Councilor. This was Li Zhigang's first time. Journey to prison.

During the reign of Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen, Li Zhigang served as the Left Councilor of Huguang and was imprisoned again for committing crimes. This was Li Zhigang's second trip to prison.

Later, the Yan army went south and crossed the river with cavalry.

Jiang Xinghuo was arrested and Li Zhigang was released.

The reason is also very simple. Li Zhigang activated his money ability for the second time and gave money to Zhu Di's close ministers. Everyone praised Li Zhigang for his talents, so Zhu Di appointed him as Youtongzheng. Soon after, due to the purge of the court, He was made the Minister of Rites, and this time he was also asked to participate in the compilation of the "Records of Taizu" in name.

In Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, Li Zhigang actually had his third and fourth journey to prison.

If the historical line had not been disturbed, in the year after that, in the second year of Yongle, Zhu Di appointed Zhu Gaochi as the crown prince, and Li Zhigang would concurrently serve as the bachelor of Zuo Chunfang as the Minister of Rites, and would be on duty to give banquets in the East Palace, one after another with Xie Jin. Go talk.

Then because of the struggle with Jie Jin, Li Zhigang will complete his third journey to prison.

Soon thereafter, Li Zhigang, who used his money power for the third time, will return to the starting point of his career as a doctor in the Ministry of Rites.

Well, after decades of tossing and going back to the starting point, Li Zhigang was very angry, and he had every reason to hate Jie Jin, so he slandered Jie Jin in secret, and Jie Jin was thrown into prison as he wished.

As a result, Xie Jin's confession implicated Li Zhigang, and Li Zhigang was sentenced to more than ten years. This was his fourth trip to prison.

This time Li Zhigang's money-making ability failed, and he was not released as prefect until the first year of Hongxi when Zhu Gaochi succeeded to the throne. At this time, Li Zhigang was already seventy years old, and he only served as prefect for one year. In the second year, Zhu Zhanji succeeded him. In the first year of Xuande's reign, he died in office, ending a life of "more prisons, more gains".

So just like Jiang Xinghuo has a bit of elevator claustrophobia, Li Zhigang and Li Shangshu, who have only entered the palace for the second time, already have a bit of "prison phobia".

Sweat slowly seeped out from Li Zhigang's forehead and dripped on the ground. He gently wiped his face covered with cold sweat with his hands, trying to stay calm.

Although his eyes were blurred by sweat, he felt as if he was in an abyss, with countless ferocious ghost faces roaring at him, which made his hair stand on end.

"Li Shangshu?"

The emperor's voice seemed to come from a very far away place.

"Your Majesty, I, I am a little unwell." Li Zhigang said in a trembling voice.

At the emperor's signal, two minor officials, Guo Jing and Chai Che, took out their handkerchiefs and wiped Li Zhigang's sweat from left to right. He looked as if he had been fished out of the water.

Wringing her handkerchief, Guo Jing looked at the pale old man in front of her and felt a little funny. You said you are so old, why are you still afraid of jail? We young people are not afraid here every day.

"Ahem." Chai Che coughed twice, reminding his companions not to laugh out loud.

"Is Li Shangshu feeling better?"

Zhu Di was quite concerned about Li Zhigang, a useful yes-man.

Li Zhigang managed to get up and replied: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am ashamed. I am feeling better."

"If you don't feel well, just sit down and listen." Zhu Di pressed his palms weakly, "What does Li Shangshu think about the question on the other side?"

As a person with no moral bottom line, Li Shangshu did not open his mouth to tell the emperor how to come to the emperor like those rotten Confucian scholars who have become stupid in reading. Instead, he carefully tried to figure out Zhu Di's mentality of liking martial arts. He spoke.

"I think what this person said is quite reasonable. I think that since Genghis Khan was able to conquer the world and made the decision to attack Khorezm first and then attack the Jin Kingdom, he must have had this consideration in mind. .Perhaps Genghis Khan didn’t know what ‘Heartland’ and ‘Continental Bridge’ were, but the principles should be the same.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di nodded with satisfaction.

Li Zhigang is a person who is easy to use and can use his brain to do things according to his wishes.

As an emperor, of course, he does not want his ministers to be able to do things or unable to do things, but they all openly or covertly contradict themselves.

For some positions, it doesn't matter whether you can do things or not. What's important is understanding the emperor's thoughts. Unlike the more professional Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Industry, and Ministry of War, the Minister of Rites is such a position.

Moreover, what Li Zhigang said is not completely unreasonable. The Mongols conquered the world by taking the path of "heartland" and "continental bridge" that Jiang Xinghuo mentioned. The Mongolian precedent has proved that this path is indeed feasible. .

But Zhu Gaochi said at this time: "Father, I think something is wrong."

"Oh? Tell me."

Zhu Di encouraged the good boy.

"The heartland is right, and the continental bridge is right, but the problem is that the supply cost of this road is too high. The Mongols can drive cattle, sheep and horses across thousands of miles to fight, which requires extremely tough and hard-working people. The quality of the army has been extremely rare for thousands of years. Even the Mongols only lasted for two generations and were no longer able to carry out such thousands-mile marches."

As the logistics person in charge of the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Gaochi slowly spoke to Zhu Di almost subconsciously, out of some occupational disease-like considerations.

After Zhu Di heard this, he also compared it from his heart.

The Yan army, which had recently experienced the arduous four-year bloody battle of Jingnan, was even slightly better than the Ming army at the founding of Hongwu in terms of combat effectiveness, equipment, and soldiers.

Judging from the large-scale, ultra-long-distance outflanks Zhu Di led this army to complete in several battles, Zhu Di is confident that the quality of this army is the best in the world.

So, can this world's number one army be able to carry out large-scale maneuvers across thousands of miles like the Mongols?

Zhu Di believes that it is very difficult.

Of course, there are reasons for the different attributes of the army. The Yan army, which is a mixture of Han soldiers and Mongol Tartar officials in the north, is not all cavalry like the Mongolian army in the Genghis Khan era, but a mixture of infantry and cavalry. The proportion of cavalry is, There are also mostly semi-armored cavalry and heavy armored cavalry, not light cavalry like the Mongols.

Therefore, whether it was the mules and horses needed to carry armor, the horses needed to convert infantry into mounted infantry, or the donkey carts to transport food, the Yan army was destined to be unable to conduct expeditions across thousands of miles like the Mongols.

Dao Yan also sighed softly: "The Mongolian expedition to the west is unprecedented in ancient times, and it will be difficult for future generations to achieve it."

""Journey to the West" once recorded the scene of Mongolia's Western Expedition, which is the so-called: the mountains and rivers are close to each other, and the sky is green. The chariots and tents are like clouds, and the soldiers are like rain. The horses and cattle are in the wild, and the soldiers are impressive. Fireworks look at each other, and the camp is thousands of miles away. . It has never been so prosperous through the ages."

Zhu Di not only nodded, but since he couldn't do it, talking about "Heartland" and "Continental Bridge" was probably just talk on paper.

The truth is correct, but except for the Mongols in the era of Genghis Khan, no army can do it again.

After all, the terrain on the mainland bridge is too harsh and the environment is too difficult for thousands of soldiers who are both hard-working and nomadic to make a living.

——————

"I don't think it's right."

Zheng He was the first to speak: "The reason why it's wrong is also very simple. I dare to ask Mr. Jiang, how many years has passed since the Battle of Talos before the Tang Anxi Army lost control of the Anxi Protectorate and the Beiting Protectorate? "

Jiang Xinghuo replied calmly: "More than ten years after the Battle of Talas, the Anshi Rebellion broke out. Tang Ting began to gradually lose control of the Western Regions. And forty years after this battle, Tang Ting completely lost the Anxi Protectorate and the Beiting Capital. The poem "Xiliangjie" by Bai Juyi, the Tang poet who protected the government, once said: Anxi is usually thousands of miles away, but today the border defense is in Fengxiang (Baoji, Shaanxi). What this poem reflects is the situation where the Tang court completely lost control of the western territory. .”

"That's it!"

Zheng He imitated Guan Gong, stroked his fake beard, and said: "The reason why in just forty years, the western border of the Tang Dynasty retreated from Congling, tens of thousands of miles away, to Fengxiang in Guanzhong on the east side of Longshan Mountain. The reason for this is that it is really difficult to supply supplies in the deserts next to the west. Even if troops are stationed, even if they can rely on profits from trade to supplement their expenditures and even have a surplus, the more they fight, the richer they become, and the more they fight, the more military exploits they gain, but this so-called 'Continental Bridge' , the fundamental problems of the 'Heartland' cannot be solved."

"Let's talk about it." Zhu Gaoxu asked curiously.

Zheng He said with certainty: "That is the Western Silk Road, a wealthy trade route. In the final analysis, it is just a trade route. It itself cannot produce enough supplies, including armor, weapons, arrows, and food, all of which have to be obtained from Transporting it from the distant Guanzhong may not be a loss if you just calculate the money. After all, if you occupy the Western Region, you can get the right to collect taxes on the trade routes, but once a war breaks out, these things cannot be bought with money alone."

After speaking, Zheng He looked at Jiang Xinghuo confidently.

Somewhat to Zhu Gaoxu's surprise, Mr. Jiang did not refute, but admitted it.

"You are right, especially the sentence 'trade routes are just trade routes'. You are especially right."

"So going back to the issue we mentioned before, it may not be difficult for you to understand why I say that the core of land power theory is actually the concentration and high pressure of population and resources."

"It must be understood that any discussion of land power or sea power without the right to trade access routes fails to recognize the essence of the matter."

"Land power or sea power, which will be mentioned later, as national power, are a means rather than a result of safeguarding the country's international power, that is, the power of communication between countries."

Jiang Xinghuo asked: "So what is international power?"

Zhu Gaoxu was the first to answer: "Just like those generals of the Tang Dynasty, they traveled across the Western Regions and destroyed countries at every turn. If there was a country that did not submit to China, it would be completely destroyed."

Zheng He thought more profoundly: "I think it should be the ability to influence other countries, so that other countries can bow their heads to China."

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head.

"There is a saying that temples are the continuation of the economy, and wars are the continuation of the temples. International power is the ability of a country to influence other countries in all aspects from the perspectives of war, temples, economy, etc., and the most fundamental of them is , the most lasting thing is the economic benefits.”

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Zhu Gaoxu and asked softly: "Do you still remember the lesson in the first volume of our "On National Destiny"? In that lesson, we also mentioned the Tang Dynasty."

Zhu Gaoxu was startled and then recalled it.

"At that time, Mr. Jiang, you recited a poem and looked quite sad."

"Don't you know, the Han family has two hundred states in Shandong, and thousands of villages are home to Jingqi!"

"No one has collected the bones of the past, new ghosts are annoying and old ghosts are crying, the sky is cloudy, rainy and wet, and the sound is chirping."

"In that lesson, you said that the reason why the Tang Dynasty wanted to control the Western Regions at all costs was to become a big watermelon. If the Tang Dynasty controlled the Silk Road, it would have countless wealth and would not need to rely on land tax to live."

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly said "Hey".

In a daze, he seemed to remember the foreshadowing of a sentence Jiang Xinghuo had planted a few months ago.

"Both the strong Han Dynasty and the prosperous Tang Dynasty failed in the end. This also involves the core of the 'National Destiny Theory', which will be discussed later."

The grass is as gray as a snake thread, and the veins lie thousands of miles away.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Zhu Gaoxu's appearance and rubbed his hands happily. This student remembered it very seriously.

"It seems that you have remembered it, so today, in the third volume of "The Theory of National Destiny", I will reveal to you the introduction buried in the first volume."

"Why did the powerful Han Dynasty and the prosperous Tang Dynasty fail in their attempts to control the expansion of trade routes in the Western Regions?"

“This is also the fundamental difference between land power theory and sea power theory.”