Chapter 30 Section 6 Outstanding Decisions

The third reason for Zhu Yuanzhang's success is that he has a good view of the overall situation, is good at grasping opportunities, and has the ability to make decisions. Zhu Yuanzhang's success in his life has three key points: first, he left the Jianghuai River, crossed the river and captured Nanjing, opened up a new base, and created the foundation for independent rule of the roost.The second is to fight east and west, and eliminate Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng in the correct order.The third is the Southern and Northern Expeditions to eliminate the Northern Yuan in a steady and steady manner.A number of battles were deployed in each of the three major nodes. Zhu Yuanzhang could accurately calculate who should come first and who should come last, who should be the least important, and who should be the most important, whether it is the overall plan or specific battles. Know yourself and the enemy, use your strength regardless, be methodical, and be sure to win.

After Guo Zixing died, Zhu Yuanzhang actually owned the army.At that time, he had been operating in Huaixi for two or three years, and he had a small foundation, but he was able to resolutely abandon all this, cross the river and start again.This decision is really "immensely correct".It turned out that at this time, the Dayuan world had already collapsed.Henan and Huaibei were all occupied by the Red Scarf Army. They fought fiercely with the Yuan army in the north, so that the main force of the Yuan army was blocked in the Central Plains and could not go south.At that time, Jiangnan was not only rich in food, but the Yuan army stationed there was relatively weak and separated and isolated by the heroes, which was conducive to defeating them individually.It is this decision that shows Zhu Yuanzhang's extraordinary vision and also determines Zhu Yuanzhang's future destiny.

After crossing to the south, Zhu Yuanzhang adopted the strategy of low-key development and making a fortune in silence, taking advantage of the chaos to develop.After Zhu Yuanzhang captured Jiqing, it happened that Liu Futong led the peasant army of the Song Dynasty to start a large-scale northern expedition, beating the Yuan army dizzily.Zhu Yuanzhang seized this opportunity and quickly captured Changxing, Changzhou, Ningguo, Jiangyin, Changshu, Huizhou, Chizhou, Yangzhou and other places, and established his own bases.Others are eager to become king, but he sticks to Zhu Sheng's strategy of "building high walls, accumulating food widely, and becoming king slowly", and strives to minimize his influence so as not to attract the attention of the Yuan government. , quietly expanding its strength.

After gaining a seat, looking around the world, Zhu Yuanzhang found that he was in a very coincidental position: to the east was Zhang Shicheng's department, which occupied most of Jiangsu to the coast; to the west were Xu Shouhui and Chen Youliang, who occupied the two lakes of Jiangxi, Anhui and Anhui; to the north was the regime of King Xiaoming.That is to say, they happened to form a three-sided barrier for Zhu Yuanzhang on the north, west, east, and west sides, keeping the main force of the Yuan army out, and the only southeast Zhejiang side that was in contact with the Yuan army, the Yuan army was very weak, and there were only some isolated and scattered strongholds. It is far away from the headquarters of the Yuan Dynasty.

According to this situation, Zhu Yuanzhang made a strategic decision to consolidate the east and west lines and attack the southeast.On the northern front, since King Xiao Ming belonged to his "friendly army", he only left a small number of troops to maintain local law and order; , also adopted a defensive posture against Xu Shouhui and Chen Youliang, using defense as an offense; the main force attacked to the southeast to wipe out the Yuan army in eastern Zhejiang.After two years of hard work, he conquered the affluent eastern Zhejiang, doubled his territory, and became the three giants of Jiangnan alongside Xu Shouhui (later Chen Youliang) and Zhang Shicheng.It wasn't until this time that the Yuan government and the heroes paid enough attention to him, and at this time his power had already been established.

He cleverly used the right time and place, and was good at dancing in the chaotic situation. The situation cannot always be in Zhu Yuanzhang's favor.After the three-way Northern Expedition of the Red Scarf Army of the Song Dynasty won a temporary victory, they were full of ambitions and lacked a unified command, so they were soon defeated by the Yuan army.From the fifth year of Longfeng (1359 A.D.), the Red Scarf Army of the Song Dynasty failed again and again and was chased around.Over the past few years, Zhu Yuanzhang was able to calmly develop his power in the Jiangnan area because of the cover of the Red Turban Army of the Song Dynasty. Now, the north has lost its barrier, and it is surrounded by Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang on the east and west.Especially in the fifth year of Dragon and Phoenix and the seventh year of Dragon and Phoenix, the Yuan army won several decisive victories, and they were overwhelming in the north. It seemed that they might soon go south, and Zhu Yuanzhang was on the way for the Yuan army to go south.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't want to bear the heavy responsibility of resisting the Yuan army. Judging from the general situation, he made a decision to fight against the Yuan with one point and deal with other peasant armies with nine points. He decided to form a friendship with the Yuan Dynasty and jointly deal with other peasant armies.Zhu Yuanzhang sent envoys to Bianliang twice to "communicate" with Chahan Timur, a general of the Yuan Dynasty.His calculation is that if Dayuan's life should not be terminated and Hu Yun revives, he can fall at the feet of the Mongolian Khan without losing his wealth. (Wu Han's "Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang") If Dayuan proves to be incapable in the end, he can make friends at this time, and he can avoid being directly attacked.

Emperor Yuanshun was very happy when he heard the news. He sent Zhang Chang, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, to Zhu Yuanzhang's place with an edict, and decided to grant Pingzhang political affairs to Dr. Ronglu, Jiangxi Province and other places. Unexpectedly, at this time, General Chahan Timur was stubbornly resisted by Chen Ruotou in the Central Plains, unable to attack for a long time, it seemed that he could not go south for a while.Zhu Yuanzhang then ignored the appointment of the Yuan Dynasty and asked Zhang Chang and others to wait for a year outside their own borders. Until December of the eighth year of the Dragon and Phoenix, a large-scale conflict broke out between the Yuan General and the Polo Timur. , Zhu Yuanzhang judged that they would not launch a large-scale attack to the south, so he decided to make a trip to the east of the Yangtze River and seek development by himself.So he formally rejected the Yuan Dynasty's appointment, but he still kept close contact with Kuo Kuo Timur, maintained an attitude of sitting on the fence, and left room for himself: "Since now, messengers have followed, merchants have never ceased, and there is no mutual relationship, which is what we want. "This strategy prevented Zhu Yuanzhang from being directly attacked by the Yuan army.