In Gansu, the north wind blows across the ground, and the cold wind kills.
Today's Gansu is not yet one of the famous nine-border military towns of the Ming Dynasty. Compared with important towns such as Datong and Xuanfu, it seems a bit small and shabby.
Of course, as an important city for fighting against the bandits, Gansu City is also scarred and bears the scars of vicissitudes of battle.
The mottled traces stood in the cold wind, silently telling its achievements.
In the inn, the furnishings were very simple. An old man in a scarlet robe, holding a writing brush, leaned on the desk and kept writing. Finally, he put down the writing brush in his hand and sighed deeply.
Yu Qian thought about what he had just seen during his inspection of the barracks, and his worries deepened.
This time the emperor sent him out of the capital to do three things, one of which was to thoroughly investigate the Luotong case.
This matter is not difficult, although it is an old case.
However, secretly, the emperor ordered Jin Yiwei to assist. On the surface, Yu Qian personally supervised the case. No matter how difficult the case is to investigate, as long as there are clues to find, he can get to the bottom of it.
For this matter, Yu Qian specially transferred several criminal case experts from the Ministry of Justice, and cooperated with the sealed case files from the Ministry of War and local governments, and quickly found a breakthrough.
Luo Tong's handling of the matter was indeed very good at that time, especially when Wang Ji, the Minister of War, who was responsible for investigating the case, turned a blind eye. Basically, the traces that could be found in the military and the handlers who knew the inside story were They were all silenced by him.
As for the bandits who purchased weapons at that time, they were also looked for opportunities to wipe out.
It should be said that it is very difficult to check now.
However, after careful investigation, Yu Qian found that all traces in the army had been swept away, but the group of bandits had an internal strife before they were wiped out.
There was a serious internal strife and a fire broke out in the village. In the end, a group of people escaped and disappeared, while the remaining people were wiped out by the officers and soldiers who followed.
The bandits who escaped carried some weapons with them.
Therefore, Yu Qian sent people to investigate carefully, and finally found traces of this group of people near Shaanxi, and now they have obtained a confession.
Although they did not know who was reselling the weapons in the first place, the corresponding quantities and types were consistent with the losses reported by the military at that time.
For this reason alone, Luo Tong cannot escape the involvement.
He was the censor of the military governor at that time. Even if the weapons were not resold by him, if they were left in the army for no reason and reported to the court as battle damage, it would be a crime of dereliction of duty.
Logically speaking, if this case continues to be investigated, more things can be found, but Yu Qian has no intention to investigate anymore.
Luo Tong's case was just a cover.
The crime of dereliction of duty is enough. If we go deeper into the investigation, it will be very difficult and time-consuming, and it will not make much sense.
In addition to Luo Tong's case, Yu Qian's second mission is to inspect the borders and investigate the feasibility of the nine-border town plan.
During this period of time, Yu Qian had basically traveled around Datong, from Gansu in the west to Xuanfu in the east, and the conditions he saw made him quite anxious.
Last year, they invaded first, with great momentum, and the battle damage at many passes was very serious.
Although the Ministry of Works has mobilized craftsmen from all over the country to restore them, many places have still not been restored due to financial reasons.
If you want to further rebuild a military town that is comparable to Datong and Xuanfu, you will have to face many problems.
Yu Qian was confident that he could solve the military issues, but there was a big gap in the financial issues.
Only after seeing the dilapidated cities in various places in person could Yu Qian feel more and more the importance of establishing a nine-border defense line.
Therefore, naturally, he paid more and more attention to the situation of military camps in various places.
However, after checking, Yu Qian felt more and more frightened.
The number of military camps in the Ming Dynasty today is one-third that of the founding of the country. The Kaizhong Fa, which was originally just a supplement, has become one of the main sources of border military expenditures.
Yu Qian, as Minister of the Ministry of War, has long known this.
However, what he didn't expect was that the number of military camps in various places that were still functioning normally was less than one-third of the total.
What is this concept?
Less than one-third of the normal military garrison was required to provide two-thirds of the military garrison taxes.
In other words, the taxes borne by the officers and soldiers in the farming camps have essentially doubled.
Because the land and utensils for farming were uniformly provided by the state, the Ming Dynasty set taxes on military camps very seriously. Depending on the region, the tax rate was 30% to 40% in some places, and 50% or 60% in some places.
Fortunately, the former can still leave some part of the military settlement, such as the land that needs to be handed over 50% or 60%. If the officers and soldiers cultivate for a year, not only will they not get any rations, but they will have to pay for it.
In many places, the government and army rations even had to be supplemented by Shangtun.
Ordinary sergeants are forced to come here. If things go on like this, how can we not cause all kinds of soldiers to flee.
The embankment of a thousand miles was destroyed by ant nests, and the military garrison was abandoned. The chain reaction was that the frontier troops fled and their combat effectiveness was seriously reduced. At the same time, over-reliance on the Kaizhong method increased the burden on the imperial government's finances, and military expenditures increased year by year. But when facing foreign enemies, they collapsed in a single battle.
Therefore, it is not unreasonable to say that in the battle of Wala, the enemy was able to conquer the enemy first.
The Ming Dynasty has been in existence for less than a hundred years, and all its previous emperors can be called British masters. As a result, the border has become so rotten...
The more he went to the field, saw the real scenes, and the more he understood the corrupt status of the border, the heavier Yu Qian felt.
How can such a custom and such a frontier army be able to protect the homeland and the country?
The sky was already setting. Yu Qian rubbed his forehead, put down the pen in his hand, and sighed as he looked at the thick pile of reports that he had deleted countless times.
To be honest, before going to the border in person, Yu Qian was somewhat proud of himself.
Although it is said that the emperor was the first to take the credit for the War of Oara, Yu Qian did everything himself to rectify the capital camp, coordinate the border troops, ensure logistics, and coordinate the military forces in various places.
He is not proud of this, but he will not belittle himself either.
However, when he actually inspected the border and set his sights on the military villages, Yu Qian truly discovered how incompetent he was as the Minister of War.
If anyone sees Yu Qian now, they will be greatly surprised.
Yu Shaobao, who had always been very determined and never hesitated, now looked hesitant and sad.
After all, with the corruption at the border and the situations he had found out these days, even Yu Qian couldn't help but feel a little powerless in his heart.
However, he is Yu Qian, a proud Yu Qian who would rather break than bend!
Therefore, shame and self-pity are not his style. He will only face difficulties!
Making a decision silently in his heart, Yu Qian's eyes became firm again.
Immediately, Yu Qian caught a glimpse of the imperial edict in his hand that had just been rushed eight hundred miles away.
So, he couldn't help but have another thought.
The reason why the emperor suppressed his Jiubian proposal and insisted on letting him come to the border in person, was this the intention?
With this in mind, there was a green-robed official in his thirties outside. After knocking on the door, he walked in quietly, bowed his hands, and said.
"Shaobao, news just came from the Xuan Mansion that the Supreme Emperor's Holy Chariot has just set off from the Xuan Mansion."
This person's name was Fang Gao, who was originally the head of the Arsenal Department. Later, he was recommended by Yu Qian and promoted to the rank of Wailang, a member of the Ministry of War, responsible for the affairs of the Arsenal Department. He was regarded as a confidant promoted by Yu Qian.
This case involved weapons, so Yu Qian brought him over.
After hearing Fang Gao's words, Yu Qian also came back to his senses.
He is not a person who is particularly willing to figure out the holy will. He has his own beliefs.
What's more, whether the emperor had this intention or not was not important to him.
A gentleman has something to do and something not to do... he must do something!
In his position, he should plan his affairs. He has found out and seen these things. As long as he is still the Minister of the Ministry of War, he will fight against them to the end!
With a gentle breath, Yu Qian arranged the memorials with dry ink on hand, then carefully sealed them with wax, stamped his seal, and said.
"Same as before, eight hundred miles of expedited delivery, straight to the imperial court!"
So, next to Yu Qian, out of the shadows that no one noticed, a sergeant dressed as a royal guard wearing an embroidered spring knife walked out.
This person took the memorial, carefully read it completely, sealed it again with the Jin Yiwei method, bowed, and then silently retreated.
From beginning to end, without a single glance.
Although this scene had happened more than once, Yu Qian still couldn't help but look at him a few more times.
Logically speaking, Jinyiwei is an official establishment of the imperial court, and everyone in it has a file that can be checked in the Ministry of War.
However, Yu Qian couldn't find this person's file!
In other words, what he could see was an extremely ordinary file.
This man joined the army a year ago. The file shows that he was an ordinary military household to fill a vacancy. His father was a Jinyiwei Xiaoqi and died in the battle. As the only son, he inherited the identity of a military household and became an ordinary Jinyiwei Xiaoqi. His life experience, The origins are very clear.
However, if you look closely, you can find many clues. For example, everyone in his family has died, and the so-called "father" does have a son, but he is frail and sick, and he stays in bed all year round. He said he didn't see people very often.
For another example, this person is just an ordinary person. If you were thrown into the crowd, you wouldn't be able to tell anything special about him. Even his title is just an ordinary imperial guard.
However, since Yu Qian came out of the capital, wherever he went, he could command thousands of households or hundreds of households to move.
Yu Qian believed that if it hadn't been for this investigation of the military camp, which required the help of the Jin Yiwei, he might never have known that there were such people under the emperor.
The water in Jinyiwei was far deeper than he imagined!
However, Yu Qian didn't ask much. He just needed to know that after his memorial was handed over to this person, it would be delivered to the emperor quietly without going through any procedures.
In fact, the imperial court would not even know that this memorial existed...
Of course, as the Minister of War, Yu Qian still knows some information.
For example, during the Battle of Oara, the frontier troops lost many elite Ye Bu Shuangs. Some of them were found dead, but some others are still alive and dead...
After handing the memorial out, Yu Qian breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Fang Gao, who came in to report, and said.
"Okay, you go make arrangements, we will set off tomorrow to Xuan Mansion!"
"ah?"
Fang Gao didn't realize it for a while. The emperor's decree came yesterday. He rushed eight hundred miles and ordered Yu Qian to go to the Xuan Mansion to persuade the emperor to return to the capital.
This matter was not kept secret, so Fang Gao naturally knew about it.
However, after Yu Qian finished reading it, he was not in a hurry. He only said that he still had some things to deal with and it would not be too late to wait for two days before setting off.
At the same time, he told Fang Gao to pay attention to the developments in Haoxuan Mansion and report any news immediately.
As a close confidant of Yu Qian, Fang Gao naturally knew that Yu Qian had more than one responsibility during this border patrol. Although the Lord had never made it clear to him, from many clues, he could roughly guess what the Lord was investigating.
Originally, Fang Gao also thought that his boss's investigation of the military camp had reached a critical moment, so it was not convenient for him to leave immediately.
But now it seems that it is not...
Blinking, Fang Gao looked at the document in his hand again and said.
"Shaobao, what I just said is that the Supreme Emperor has left for the capital. You..."
You don't have to go...
The emperor issued an edict, hoping that you would persuade the Supreme Emperor to return to the court as soon as possible. Now, the Supreme Emperor has left without waiting for anyone to persuade him, so why are you still going?
Yu Qian didn't explain too much, he just looked at the imperial edict in his hand and said.
"You don't have to ask any more questions, just go and do it!"
Although Fang Gao was confused, he nodded and turned around to make arrangements.
Yu Qian sat back on the chair, unfolded the imperial edict in his hand, and looked at the words "Full responsibility for the affairs of the Supreme Emperor in Xuan Mansion" written on it, and fell into deep thought.
Yu Qian had never been worried about the Emperor's return.
Although he was on the border, thanks to the Jin Yiwei, Yu Qian was able to get news of many major events in Beijing as quickly as possible.
So he knew that once the prince's departure from the cabinet became a foregone conclusion, the emperor would have to go back, it would only be a matter of time.
As for asking him to go to the Xuan Mansion to "admonish" the Supreme Emperor, his intention was not to admonish, but to go to the Xuan Mansion!
Among the towns on the border of the Ming Dynasty, Datong and Xuanfu are the most important. Among them, Xuanfu is especially important because it has a long history, many soldiers, and more complicated relationships.
This time, Yu Qian visited various borders. From Datong to the vicinity of Xuanfu, and then from the vicinity of Xuanfu to Gansu, he actually made a big circle.
However, he never went to Xuanfu City.
As for the reason...
He tapped his right hand gently on the case, making clear and regular sounds. Yu Qian seemed to be talking to himself.
"Tao Jin, the uncle of Datong, inherited his father's position in the 14th year of Yongle and became the commander of the Yangzhou Guard. In the 21st year of Yongle, he was transferred to the Yanghe Guard and served as a retinue of Emperor Taizong in the Northern Expedition. He was brave and calm in nature and had military exploits. He was the commander of the Jin Dynasty."
"In the first year of Zhengtong, he was recommended by Liu Pu, the Marquis of Anyuan, so the British Duke Zhang Fu personally tried his military skills and was promoted to the commander of the capital. In the fourteenth year of Zhengtong, he served as the left-hand general and suppressed the rebellion in Zhejiang. In April, he returned to the army and made progress with his merits. The Commander-in-Chief of the Central Military Command, Qian Shi."
"In August, Tao Jin was also forced to attack Zijingguan first. Tao Jin was ordered to go out with Ningyuan Marquis Renli to kill the enemy chieftain Yan Timur. The court commended him for his merits and granted him the title of Datong Uncle. Later he was transferred to Xuanfu and served as the chief military officer. So far, he has For half a year.”
Yu Qian just said this, counting Tao Jin's resume in a calm tone.
Then, he paused, and after a moment, Fang continued.
"The former chief military officer of Xuanfu was Yang Hong, the Marquis of Changping, the governor of Jingying of the Houjun Commandery. His nephew Yang Xin followed Yang Hong to guard Xuanfu for many years and made many military exploits. Now he serves as deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanfu. "
At this point, the words are over.
It ends abruptly, but with profound meaning.
In the place where the setting sun cannot shine, the unique subtle collision sound of embroidered spring knives sounded, as if someone stood up, and then fell into silence...
