The master of the Great Ming Dynasty and the three big men in the Ministry of War are now sitting in the Qianqing Palace.

  The Minister of War, Tang Du, has been following Zhu Laoyezi since he started his army. After the abolition of the Secretariat, he served as the Minister of Justice. Not long ago, the Minister of War, Li Wei, retired and returned to his hometown. Tang Du took over his position and was in charge of the military power. Wang Zhihe and Li Ke, two newly appointed deputy ministers, can be said that the entire leadership of the Ministry of War has been replaced.

  "Zhen, regarding the memorial about Bei Yuan knocking on the pass, it was you who requested to present it at the imperial court gathering. Tell me, what is the current situation like on the other side of the Great Wall?"

  Tang Dong stood up and replied: "Reporting to Your Majesty, since the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, the Northern Yuan's cavalry has been raiding all over the Great Wall border of our great Ming Dynasty, especially in the northern Ping Left near the border. According to my scouts' reports, this time it is a military action by Ping Zhang Nai'er Buhe as a probe into the defensive strength of our great Ming borders, and there are also Ping Zhang Bieerli Buhe and Tai Shi Wentai waiting in ambush."

  "I think that if they are probing our military strength and find it insufficient, they will launch a large-scale attack. If there is no opportunity for them to do so, they will not suffer any losses either. However, this would be troublesome for my border troops, who would have to respond to the swift cavalry of the Northern Yuan from all directions."

  Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, indicating his agreement with Tang's views. He knew that cavalry had always been a weakness of the Ming army, but now they could use firearms to counterattack against the iron cavalry. However, the number of war horses was still a sore spot for the Ming dynasty.

  "Wang Zhi, how is the research on the breeding management of war horses at Taibao Temple going?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked, turning his head to ask the Minister of War on his side.

  "Since the establishment of the Taibao Temple, our horse policy has developed rapidly. From the 48 groups of five pastures in the sixth year of Hongwu to the 98 groups of five pastures in the seventh year of Hongwu, and then to the 184 groups of ten pastures that I counted from Chuzhou this year, excluding the old, weak, sick and disabled, we can directly mobilize about 86,000 war horses, which is twice the number of horses our great Ming dynasty has had since its founding!" Wang Zhi's eloquent explanation made it clear that he deeply understood the importance of warhorses to the current situation of the Ming dynasty, and that the Taibao Temple had done a great job in increasing the number of warhorses several times over in just a few years.

  Hearing this news, Zhu's face relaxed a lot, but thinking about how his own army still needed to gather horses from three different stables, while the Northern Yuan court had a natural advantage with tens of thousands of warhorses at their disposal, made it hard for him to catch up. Thinking about this, the old master couldn't help but sigh...

  Four people discussed the disturbance of the Northern Yuan border for a long time, and even had dinner in the palace with food bestowed by Zhu Yuanzhang. However, after discussing back and forth, they still couldn't come to a conclusion. Tang Zhong thought that since winter was approaching, the Northern Yuan army would not be able to sustain a prolonged war, as fighting in winter was difficult for them on horseback. Therefore, it wasn't necessary to pay too much attention to the northern border affairs.

  His idea was to first stabilize Yunnan, where the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty still lingered, a thorn in the throat of the Ming Dynasty that could not be spat out.

  But Wang Zhi had a different idea, he thought that Yunnan was only a minor problem, Yunnan was located in a remote and safe place, with dense mountains and forests, and the local ethnic groups were not subject to imperial rule. At that time, it would be enough to send a general with 100,000 troops to conquer the south, and perhaps those local chieftains would surrender to our great Ming dynasty just like they did when they surrendered to the Yuan dynasty.

  On the other hand, the Mongols in the north are the real enemies of our great Ming dynasty. Their military strength is still very strong. At this time, we should strengthen our defenses and prepare for war, and absolutely cannot ignore them, allowing the northern Mongolian iron cavalry to raid our borders at will.

  Two people are arguing endlessly in the Qianqing Palace, Li Ke Gang is a peacemaker who doesn't want to offend either side and agrees with both. Old Master Zhu sits quietly on his chair watching the two people arguing below, he enjoys this kind of show, every time his officials start quarreling because of different political views, the old master is always the happiest, hoping they would argue even more fiercely, so that he can control the courtiers more easily, if all the officials are in harmony, then his throne will be unstable.

  "Hum! Does the Grand Secretary mean to let the Northern Yuan cavalry run amok under our Great Ming borders?" Wang Zhi said with a strong tone, his anger gradually rising.

  "I, an old man, won't argue with you about these things. I've never said such words before. In my humble opinion, the great strategy for our country is to first stabilize the south and then the north, and to prioritize internal affairs over external ones." Tang Ding stroked his beard and spoke calmly, having long passed the age of impulsive outbursts, with a deep understanding of the importance of cultivating one's inner energy.

  Tang Dong's calm demeanor irritated Wang Zhi's nerves, and at the age of 45, Wang Zhi was still as passionate as a raging fire. He gritted his teeth and stared at Tang Dong, if not in the Qianqing Palace, he might have been accused of beating an official.

  "Alright, Zhen, don't provoke him anymore. At his age, he's still acting like a child." Li Ke continued to stir the mud.

  At this time, Mr. Zhu, who had been watching the play for half a day, spoke up: "Let's stop here for today, you three can disperse, I will have my own verdict on this matter."

  After finishing speaking, he didn't pay attention to the three ministers again and instead carefully read the "Minister's Precepts" in his hand.

  Three high-ranking court officials looked at me, I looked at them, and then looked at the book title in the emperor's hand, and couldn't help but shiver. This "Min Jie Lu" was written by Wu Chen, a compiler of the Hanlin Academy, after Hu Weiyong, the all-powerful prime minister, died. It records 212 people who disobeyed the rules among the kings, nobles, eunuchs, and corrupt officials throughout history, specifically for these high-ranking officials to read...

  "I beg to withdraw." The three ministers, who felt a chill run down their spines for no reason, hastily bowed and retreated.

  Mr. Zhu still concentrated on reading books, but in his mind, he carefully thought about another thing, which was to plan to go out of the pass and launch a northern expedition again.

  What Wang Zhi said is not wrong, and what Tang Ding said also makes sense. But for Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the Ming Dynasty by overthrowing the Yuan Dynasty, the greatest enemy at this moment is still the Northern Yuan riding on the grasslands, rather than the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty trapped in the mountains and rivers, where even a horse cannot be seen.

  "King Xi ordered, Xu Da, the Duke of Wei, to be appointed as the General-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Army against the Northern Barbarians, Tang He, the Duke of Xining, as the Left Deputy General, and Fu Youde, the Marquis of Yingchuan, as the Right Deputy General. The next year, in early spring, they divided their troops into two routes to march north from Yanmen Pass."

  "Also, instruct the Ministry of War to allocate military equipment and horses, as well as food and supplies, they must arrive at the front line before our great army sets out next year!" The old eunuch standing beside him hastily picked up his brush to write it down. Old Master Zhu finally made a decision, planning to respond to Northern Yuan's Ping Zhang Nai Er Nuohuo's probe.

  But I, the great Ming dynasty, cannot be like him, a small local official, who only dares to fight in a small way. Two armies with a total of three million soldiers, this is what real war looks like.

  Thus, the fourth northern expedition of the Hongwu era was decided by Zhu Gongzi on this drizzly autumn evening. He believed that with the current military might and morale of the Ming Dynasty, plus two dukes and one marquis leading the troops, this northern expedition would surely end in a great victory...

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