In the study of the side palace, Taichang had just sat down, and Lu Xiangsheng rushed over.

His task is to bring people to build a city, and he is also in the city, so he naturally comes quickly.

After the monarch and ministers met, Taichang asked directly: "Jiandou, what do you think the young and strong men who trained these tribes to deal with the European barbarians?"

When Lu Xiangsheng heard this, he was stunned.

He really couldn't understand why the emperor placed 400,000 soldiers of the Shenji Camp and Shenwu Camp here to build a city, but instead wanted to train the young and strong native tribes here to deal with the European barbarians.

He was stunned for a while, but still couldn't help asking: "Master, can't you beat those European barbarians with the strength of the Shenji Camp and the Shenwu Camp?"

Who said he couldn't beat it?

This is not a question of whether you can beat it or not.

Taichang thought for a while and then explained: "The European barbarians are different from the Japanese and Donghu. They are also equipped with a lot of muskets and artillery. If we really fight with them on land, casualties will inevitably be caused.

This is not the main problem. The main problem is that it is too far from the Ming Dynasty, and the continent is even further away from the Ming Dynasty.

The hard work of attacking far away is a taboo in military strategists.

If we mobilize many troops to fight with people in America or even in the continent, think about it, how many people have to be dispatched and how much food, supplies have to be transported?"

Well, this is indeed a problem.

After all, fighting these days is no longer a fight for swords and guns. Muskets and artillery all consume ammunition, and the soldiers of Shenji Camp and Shenwu Camp also have to make a living.

It would be fine if one or two battles were fought. If it was fought for one or two years or even several years, it would be impossible to transport food and supplies.

Lu Xiangsheng thought about it, but was still a little unwilling to say: "Master, we can open our territory here and expand our territory, then transport the garrisons to grow grain, and we can also open factories here to make weapons and ammunition."

Don't you know how big it is?

Taichang shook his head helplessly, then stood up in person, took out a "Kunyu Wanguo Map" from the bookcase behind, and pointed to the American continent and said, "Look, the width here is probably more than ten thousand miles, and the distance between the north and south is tens of thousands of miles. If we want to completely occupy this continent, how many infantry do we have to dispatch and how many guards will we have to send to guard it?"

Well, if you have such a large continent or two continents, no matter how many infantry people are transferred to grab them, even if you fight, it will be difficult to defend well if you transfer two hundred wards to come.

When Lu Xiangsheng heard this, he was a little confused about how to deal with it.

Taichang then pointed to the central and western North America and said: "Now, the Indian tribes here have been compressed by continental countries to this area of ​​central North America.

If we can help them defend this area and even drive away all the European countries that occupy the east coast, then we can take down this area in the north without any effort, and we don’t even have to send any guards to guard it.

Because in the south is our ally Spain, and there are these tribes in the middle, other continental countries can't defeat it at all.

Even if other continental countries want to fight, we just need to use a little force behind and provide some help. Spain in the south and these tribes in the middle can easily knock them back."

To be honest, at the beginning, he thought that he could occupy as much territory as he could, and he would occupy as much place as he could.

Because the territory of the Ming Dynasty was not large enough at that time and the grain was not produced enough, once natural disasters were encountered, the people might starve to death.

This situation occurred in many dynasties before the Ming Dynasty.

So, at the beginning, he thought about expanding the territory of the Ming Dynasty to its limit, and taking up as much place as he could.

However, as the territory of the Ming Dynasty became larger and larger, his ideas gradually changed.

He found that the larger the territory, the better.

Because the larger the territory, the more difficult it is to control it.

If the occupied territory is too large to control, it will not be a good thing.

The Sun-Don't Setting Empire in History is a very obvious example

So what if they seize more colonies? Once they resist, they will be in a state of great anxiety.

Just like the empire that the sun does not set, it is as greedy as the empire, and sooner or later it will decline.

The Mongol Empire in history is also a very obvious example.

No matter how big the territory is, it is not a good thing to control it.

The key to this world of dominance is to always maintain strong strength. As for territory and resources, it is enough.

Gu Kuang

At this moment, the territory and resources of the Ming Dynasty were already sufficient, and even places like New Yangzhou Prefecture and New Jingzhou Prefecture were too late to develop.

If you seize territory crazily, it will become a burden.

Not only do they not have so much energy or so population to develop, they also have to consume a lot of guards.

Therefore, as long as the territory is enough, the next focus is on how to maintain the strength of the Ming Dynasty, or in other words, make the enemies of the Ming Dynasty unable to become strong.

Lu Xiangsheng was also full of his mind to expand his territory.

However, he is not a reckless man who only knows how to fight.

After Taichang explained so carefully, he still understood that he could not just be greedy for too much and big, and how to maintain his own strength is the fundamental one.

It is obvious that if the tribes here can be cultivated, the Ming Dynasty can add a lot of help, or in other words, the Ming Dynasty will be stronger.

If you just greedy for the big and the big, and insist on seizing this continent, the strength of the Ming Dynasty is likely to be severely damaged.

Thinking of this, he nodded slowly and said, "The emperor is wise. Next, we should indeed cultivate the tribes here and let them deal with the European barbarians."

Well, just be able to figure it out.

Taichang analyzed carefully again: "Now, with our weapons and equipment level, it is not difficult to make these tribes stronger.

The key is how we control them after we make them stronger.

If they can't control them after being trained, and even bite us in the opposite direction, it's just causing trouble.

Also, we can't make them too powerful, strong enough to threaten us or even defeat us.

We are trying to cultivate obedient vassals, not to cultivate strong opponents.”

When Lu Xiangsheng heard this, he thoughtfully said: "Your Majesty, what do you mean is that they can withstand the barbarians in the continent, right?"

Taichang thought for a while, then clicked on the southern North America and South America on the map, and then said seriously: "Maybe, we have to give them a certain amount of attack power."

This means that they may have to beat Spain.

In other words, the tribes here need to be cultivated to the extent that they can fight against the continental countries.

However, it cannot be cultivated to the extent that it can threaten the Ming Dynasty, and it cannot be cultivated for oneself to develop a strong enemy.

This seems very difficult. To make people stronger, they can't become too strong, and they have to make people obedient.

How can this effect be achieved?

Lu Xiangsheng frowned and pondered for a while, and suddenly had an idea: "Master, we may change the system of the Dusiwei Office and apply it to this side."

When Taichang heard this, he couldn't help but say with interest: "Oh, tell me, how to change it?"

Lu Xiangsheng thought, "For example, we can move several tribes together by organizing the garrison, or let them form a tribe alliance of 5,000 to 10,000 young and strong, and teach them to build acropolis at key passes, and then send them some weapons. In this way, they can withstand the invasion of the continental barbarians and not become too strong."

Well, relying on the defense of the Acropolis is a good way.

Problem, there are muskets and cannons in various countries across Europe.

Taichang couldn't help frowning and said, "If we don't send them some muskets and artillery, they still can't withstand the invasion of the European barbarians.

As for letting them unite and drive away the British, French and Dutch, or even hit Spain, it would be even more impossible.

Question: We have equipped them with muskets and cannons, and they may pose a threat to us. How can we deal with this problem appropriately?"

This is indeed a problem.

Lu Xiangsheng thought for a while, then said carefully: "Maybe, we can cast some red cannons for them and put them on the city wall. In this way, it is okay for them to withstand the invasion of small groups of enemies.

If they encounter a large-scale invasion, we can send generals to mobilize the forces of other tribal alliances around us and send a certain number of soldiers from the Shenji Battalion with muskets and cannons to support them.

In this way, they can't do anything if they don't listen to us.

Because without our command and support, they still cannot defeat the European barbarians.

As for going to war with European countries, we just need to gather them together, put swords, shields and guns in front, and then send the soldiers of the Shenji Camp to disrupt the enemy's formation with artillery, and then command them to rush forward."
Chapter completed!