The ultimate goal of Zhu You's withdrawal from Jinzhou was to draw out some of the best soldiers and generals from western Liaoning for the defense of Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhen. Only by guarding these three towns can Huang Taiji's Donglu soldiers be considered north of the Great Wall. In this way, the Donglu would not be able to go to Shanxi, Beizhili and Shandong to rob and kill.
After taking out the big profit of salt, he finally reached an agreement with Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan, and brought the Liaoxi Army, which had 110,000 book soldiers, to his side.
With the support of the Liaoxi Army, it will be possible to rectify Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhen.
Even though the Western Liaoning Army looked like a bunch of useless snacks, they had been bullied by the Eastern captives in history, but in the early years of Chongzhen, they were still the first-class military force of the Ming Dynasty. Although they suffered enough losses from Donglu in the field battle, they were still enough to defeat Donglu in the city defense battle.
This is much better than the soldiers and horses of other brands in the Ming Dynasty!
During the Denglai Rebellion in history, the old Dongjiang troops led by Kong Youde and trained by Portuguese foreign generals were also beaten to pieces by thousands of Liao troops led by Wu Xiang.
This also shows the strength of the Liao army... and of course the strength of the Donglu.
The defenders of Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhen were much worse than the Dongjiang Army. They were completely vulnerable to the Donglu invaders.
Therefore, the problem facing Zhu Youjian now is not to attack and defend in western Liaoning and southern Liaoning, but to rectify Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhen. If Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhen are not in good condition, not only will they be unable to stop Huang Taiji's Donglu troops, but they will also be unable to deal with the Han tribe who were forced by the Donglu to graze sheep in their hometown of Liaohe Hetao.
In Zhu Youjian's previous life, he was defeated by the Han tribe. He was so embarrassed that he was sent to Inner Mongolia.
So this time he had to get the place back no matter what!
Yuan Chonghuan had already benefited, and of course he had to cooperate a little. He immediately said to Zhu Youjian: "Your Majesty, you can let Man Gui, Zhao Lijiao, and Zhu Mei lead 30,000 troops to enter the pass. I have two generals such as Kegang and Zu Dashou. , enough to guard Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan."
After Zhu Youjian listened to Yuan Chonghuan's report, he asked again: "Is 30,000 actual soldiers?"
This means are there any vacancies?
Although Liao Zhen has 110,000 troops on paper, its actual strength is at most 60,000.
"They are all actual soldiers." Yuan Chonghuan replied.
"Okay!" Zhu Youjian nodded, "Yuan Qing, Zhu Mei has been guarding Shanhaiguan for a long time. He is loyal and reliable, so I will leave it to you. Let me exchange him for Hou Shilu, and how about transferring Cao Wenzhao and Wu Xiang to me?"
Cao Wenzhao was Zhu Youjian's favorite general in his previous life, so of course he had to be transferred to his side now. Wu Xiang was Nizi's backer when he started his career, and the generals of the Wu family seemed to be quite capable and could be used.
As for Hou Shilu, he is also a rare strong general, and he is a guest army. He was urgently transferred from the post of General Soldier of Guyuan to aid Shanhaiguan during the Ningjin War.
"Your Majesty wants to use Cao Wenzhao and Wu Xiang. It is their blessing. How dare I stop it." Yuan Chonghuan immediately agreed to Zhu Youjian's request. "As for Hou Shilu, he was originally a guest general. Now that Guan Ning is calm, it is no longer useful. Naturally, we should leave this place of martial arts.”
Zhu Youjian also saw that the Minister of War, the King, was in the Jin Dynasty, "Cao Wenzhao and Wu Xiang were both transferred to the front army to serve. Mangui and Zhao Lijiao were both governors of the left, one was promoted to the crown prince and the other to the crown prince. The Taifus are not ordinary generals, and Hou Shilu is also a general. Wang Qing, how do you think they should be arranged?"
Wang Zaijin thought for a while and said: "Both Mangui and Zhao Lijiao can be the commander-in-chief of the important town. Hou Shilu has been the commander-in-chief of the big town for a long time... Now that Wang Wei, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, has been transferred, he can start with Mangui." , Zhao Lijiao, and Hou Shilu, choose one to take over."
"Let Zhao lead the army to take charge of the defense of Ji Town," Zhu Youjian said. "As for Mangui, let him replace Qu Jiazhen as the commander-in-chief of Datong!"
Qu Jiazhen, the governor of Datong, is a useless person! In my previous life, I didn't dare to fight when the Han tribe invaded. Let's go home early and retire in this life.
"Hou Shilu moved to Xuanfu," Zhu Youjian added. "As for the 30,000 people drawn from Liao Town, after deducting the family members of each general, half went to Datong and the other half went to Ji Town. Hou Shilu was originally a guest general, so there was no need to divide it into Liao Town. The soldiers of the town are gone, just bring your servants to the Xuan Mansion."
Zhu Youjian's deployment of troops was certainly well thought out. Although Xuanfu Town was also one of the Nine Borders, it was much worse than Datong and Ji Town.
Datong is known as the first of the nine sides! It has 72 forts under its jurisdiction, with more than 130,000 soldiers on hand. Moreover, it is the front line of confrontation with the Han tribe who moved westward, so it must be garrisoned by strong generals.
Not to mention Jizhen, it is directly the gateway to the capital, so nothing should be missed. During the Great Rebellion, Huang Taiji came in from Jizhen. So this time Zhu Youjian sent Zhao Lianzhi early and asked him to bring 15,000 Liao troops to secure the Jizhen Great Wall.
And Xuanfu is not that important, because behind Xuanfu is the natural barrier of Juyongguan... The possibility of Huang Taiji breaking Xuanfu first and then Juyongguan is zero. In history, Huang Taiji sent troops into the pass five times, but he never broke through Xuanfu City and Juyong Pass.
Therefore, it is very reassuring to send Hou Shilu to garrison.
...
In March of the first year of Chongzhen, Zhangjiakou.
While Zhu Youjian was busy mobilizing troops and generals and adjusting the defenses of the four towns of Liao, Ji, Xuan, and Da, Fan Wencheng, who had shaved his head, said goodbye to his wife, and disguised himself as a lama, had followed a group of Mongolian Aohan camps. The caravan entered Zhangjiakou Fort under the pretext of joining the Han tribe.
At this time, Zhangjiakou was a commercial road connecting the inside and outside of the mouth. After I paid tribute, Xuanfu and Datong, two important towns that had been at war for many years, began to stabilize and calm down. Zhangjiakou Fort has also transformed from a former forward fortress into the largest thoroughfare for exchanges between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia. Mongolian furs and livestock, as well as tea bricks, ironware, and salt from the Central Plains, were all traded here.
Even under the background of the rise of Jianzhou and the Mongolian invasion of Han tribes moving westward, the prosperity of Zhangjiakou was not affected at all, and it even went one step further.
The reason for this is that the warring parties always have some transactions to make... either openly or secretly. Zhangjiakou, located near Xuanfu City, is a place with little strategic value but great economic value. Although Zhangjiakou is also a pass on the Great Wall, the Great Wall is fortified layer by layer in the Xuanfu area, so it is of little significance to break through Zhangjiakou. And not far away from Zhangjiakou is Xuanfu City. This is an extremely strong castle! In the early Ming Dynasty, it was the fiefdom of King Gu, and during the Wuzong era of the Ming Dynasty, it was also the residence of the emperor. So the city is very strong and not easy to break. So the city is very strong and not easy to break. Therefore, the Chahan tribe, which already controls the Bashang grassland north of Xuanfu, has no intention of invading Zhangjiakou.
The market in Zhangjiakou has become more prosperous and lively because of the arrival of the Han Dynasty.
The market outside Zhangjiakou Castle is noisy and noisy. Teams of camels and teams of carriages and horses continue to pass through the market. Businessmen wearing Mongolian and Han costumes were haggling loudly in various parts of the market, sometimes speaking Chinese and sometimes Mongolian, and it was very lively.
Lamas are also very common here. The Mongolians outside the country now believe in Lamaism, and therefore like to eat fast and chant Buddha's name, which is not as fierce as in the past.
There are actually "Yellow Temples", or Lama Temples, on the territory of the Han people in Kou Nei, which are left over from the Yuan Dynasty's rule in the northern region. There are quite a few Huang Temples, almost as many as the Qing Temple (Han Buddhism).
Therefore, Fan Wencheng no longer had to pretend to be a monk and could come and go in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
However, after arriving at Zhangjiakou Mutual Market, he did not go south immediately. Instead, he found the largest trading house in Zhangjiakou Mutual Market - the old Fan family from Shanxi!
The old boss of the Fan family is Fan Yongdou, the famous leader of the eight imperial merchants in history! Fan Yong has been operating in Zhangjiakou for seven generations, specializing in dealing with the Mongolians on the grasslands. We are old acquaintances with the Han tribe, and we also connected with the Kingdom of Jin through the Aohan camp of the Han tribe...
