Wan Ji seemed to have forgotten this and continued: "Last time Jiang Guan led his troops to attack Zhangde Mansion, and although he finally successfully expelled him, his general Wang Fuchen still occupies Wu'an and Handan cities. His troops have not had many troops, but directly threatened Daming and Zhangde Mansions. Our army attacked several times and wanted to eliminate both places, but in the end they all returned without success. In addition to him, Jiang Guan in Lu'an, Tang Tong in Tianjin, Bai Guangen in Cangzhou, and the main forces of the Qing army in Xinhe and Julu, all greatly restrained our army's limited forces."

After saying that, Wan Ji looked at Li Yan and said, "Lin Quan, forget to act arbitrarily and be incomplete. You are a cautious person, why do you want to follow him to make trouble?"

Li Yan raised his eyebrows, "Why did the Auspicious man say this!"

Wan Ji stared at him with his eyes, "Lin Quan, you won't tell me that what you said in the meeting hall before was a temporary idea! Such a detailed plan, and allocating the tasks of each general and official so carefully, have you already had the same thoughts as Wang Zishou?"

Li Yan smiled faintly and said, "Mr. Ji, you have seen it just now. Those who support the war with the Duke of the Netherlands are not just Wang Zi. Just look at Mr. Chang Geng, who is so angry that he almost abandoned his official position and retired."

Wan Ji waved his hand and said, "Can you be the same as you? He is a scholar and does not have military affairs. But you are familiar with all the situation of our army. Do you really think that now is a good time to start a war with the Heyi? How much troops can we call, how much supplies can we put in, and whether we can have the strength to defeat the Heyi? Do you not know all of this in your heart?"

Gu Yanwu and Yu Chenglong heard Wan Ji's seriousness and felt a little nervous, and they all looked at Li Yan.

Li Yan frowned and remained silent for a while and said, "Mr. Ji, it's not that we want to start a war with Heyi at this moment, but that they kill my comrades. Whether we want to or not, we need to fight."

Wan Ji shook his head and said, "I don't mean that I don't need to teach Heyi a lesson. But at present, I think the focus of our army should be on dealing with the Manchu captivity. Our army is not superior in water strength, and we can only use delay tactics to fight against the Heyi and Yi, and gradually consume its strength. How much does it cost to pay for this protracted war of attrition? Do you really don't understand these?"

Li Yan raised his head and asked, "Mr. Ji Ren, since you have such doubts, why didn't you explain it in the classroom before?"

Wan Ji sighed softly, "Just as you said just now, you and Wangqiu are not the only ones who support the war with the Hakka. I also feel that we need to tell the Hakkaka about our army's attitude. But I do not agree with what you said about how many troops we should call and how large the scale of this war should be controlled. And these are obviously not suitable to be said in public on such occasions. I am now asking Beiming and Zhongqing to accompany us, and I also want them to see the current situation of our army."

Seeing Li Yan frowning and silent, Wan Ji continued: "Lin Quan, I need you to be consistent with me and persuade Wang Zi to slow down this matter. Even if the war really starts, the scale of the war should be strictly controlled."

Li Yan was silent for a while, and finally shook his head and said, "My Lord, I cannot agree with this matter. Forget what I said is right. Compared with the Heyi, the Manhu is also his own people. The most important thing is that I feel that it is urgent to start a war with the Heyi, and this is the best time."

Wan Ji's face was slightly stunned, "What do you mean?"

Li Yan said: "In the past, Zheng He's voyage to the West, and all the vassal states of the South China Ocean became vassal states of the Ming Dynasty at that time. But then, the officials banned the fleet from going to the sea because Zheng He's voyage to the West was too expensive and had no other choice. The treasure ships were destroyed, the waters were disbanded, and the sea map was taken as garbage and the sea was ashes in the warehouse. Since then, the Ming Dynasty has no absolute power naval force to fight with foreign enemies at sea. Later, Japanese pirates rampant along the coast and pirates rampant in the sea. Faced with sea thieves like Zheng Zhilong, the Ming court could only use the strategy of pacification in the end, and Quanzhou became Zheng Zhilong's private land. Why is all this?"

Li Yan glanced at Wan Ji and said in a deep voice: "The officials are short-sighted, one step slow, one step slow. My Chinese treasure ship was the best in the world during the Yongle period, but it is currently behind many Western barbarians. If countries such as Brunei, Sulu, Java, Aceh, etc. hadn't Wangqin took action in time, these places would probably be controlled by Western barbarians. The result is that if Western barbarians were willing, they could take a boat to kill directly to all parts of the coast at any time, that would be another Japanese pirate rebellion, and the scale would never be inferior to any previous one."

Wan Ji shook his head and said, "I know all the things you said. But at present, our army only owns the entire territory of Shandong and some other border areas, less than one-sixth of the entire world. If it is occupied by the Central Plains, it is understandable to launch heavy troops to attack the Hayi. At present, the forces of the Manchu, the Southern Ming, the Chuangjun, and the Longwu Army are intertwined..."

Wanji did not continue to talk.

Li Yan smiled and said indifferently: "Mr. Jilin, the question is, besides us, which of the forces you mentioned needs maritime trade to support huge military expenditure? There is a part of the Nanming, but it is not worth mentioning compared to us. Before, the main business of us were Western and Portuguese. Now the Dutch barbarians have captured Manila, which has led to a sharp decline in maritime trade with the Western barbarians, and the transaction with the Portuguese has also been affected. If it is allowed to occupy the entire South China Sea, the entire maritime trade will collapse completely. How can Shandong support such a large-scale army?"

Wan Ji frowned, "If a full-scale war with the Du Yi, can the sea trade continue?"

Li Yan replied: "As long as the problem of the Dutch and the barbarians can be solved as soon as possible, maritime trade will be sustainable and at least most of it can be preserved. On the contrary, it will be the greatest damage to maritime trade."

Seeing Wan Ji's confused expression, Li Yan continued: "The barbarians fear power but do not have virtue. The reason why Westerners are so bold this time is that they feel that their ships are strong and cannons are not something that our army can resist. In addition, our civil strife in China is constantly incessant, so we have no time to worry about him. If our army is indifferent to this, it will only encourage its rampant momentum. The navy is strong, from the South Ocean to the Yellow Sea, and even the Bohai Sea, there is nowhere to go. If we are allowed to concentrate our troops and attack from all directions, how many troops will our army need to deploy in various places to resist?"
Chapter completed!