"This person is obviously trying to be mysterious, or knows what we are concerned about, so he writes some specious things to tease me."
When Xie Qian showed the note written by Zhang Zhou to Liu Jian and Li Dongyang the next day, he was still a little angry.
As a cabinet minister, Yu condescended to see Zhang Zhou, but he didn't see anyone.
Li Dongyang is not as sentimental as Xie Qian. He said: "The sentence "Good and evil will come to an end" is saying that Zhang's relatives will cause retribution in the future? This kind of words may not be appropriate here. It seems that he has more perfunctory meaning. What does Mr. Liu think?"
Liu Jian still focused on the first sentence. He frowned slightly: "Is a battle in the northwest necessary? It is still the Mengchun season, and there has been no movement of Di Yi in the northwest for two months."
The three of them could not find the answer from the note given by Zhang Zhou.
Xie Qian put the note away, burned it directly in the brazier, and sighed: "It seems that he has made up his mind to be a sycophant, and Jiangnan Jieyuan, that's all."
…
…
The three cabinet members did not take Zhang Zhou's reminder seriously.
But as soon as February entered, the situation in the Nine Borders changed suddenly, and ministers in both the government and the opposition were confused for a while.
The Tatar raids, which usually only occurred during the autumn harvest, actually started in February that year.
Coming up is Kou Bian from Duoyan Sanwei.
On the early morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, during the Fengtian Palace meeting, Dai Yi announced the matter in public: "... Duoyan and other three Tatars invaded Yizhou, Liaodong. The guarding eunuch Ren Liang, the chief military officer Li Gao, and the capital censor Zhang Yu retreated. Within the fortress of Uiju, please order us to send out troops at the right time."
Duoyan Sanwei is considered "honest" among the grassland tribes.
The general sense of presence is relatively weak, but if even the three guards of Duoyan come to Kou Bian, it seems to be a sign that the grassland situation is turbulent.
Civil officials also have different attitudes towards this.
Most people advocate not sending troops easily but holding on firmly.
However, it has also been suggested that the Ming Dynasty's defenses in Liaodong are relatively complete, and the three Duoyan guards are relatively weak, and they can send troops to fight with them.
Ma Wensheng, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, said: "Now that the enemy's situation is unclear, we should send sentries to conduct reconnaissance in places north of Liaodong and west of the grassland before making a decision."
After all, Ma Wensheng was an experienced Minister of War, and he managed to calm the situation.
As a result, the matter has not yet settled down.
In the next three days, until the seventh day of the lunar month, more than a dozen places in the northwest reported the situation of Tatar invaders, and for a while there was smoke everywhere.
On the morning of the seventh day of the lunar month, the court meeting had just ended.
Dai Yi, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, came to the cabinet and asked Liu Jian to go out to discuss the matter.
The two discussed for a long time before returning. Dai Yi left in a hurry. Xie Qian took a look and said, "It doesn't look like he is going back to Qianqing Palace."
Liu Jiandao: "I'm going to the Ministry of War."
"Why, is there another war?" Xie Qian asked casually.
Looking back at Li Dongyang, I saw that Li Dongyang didn't have much energy.
Liu Jiandao: "My guests will be leaving in the afternoon. If you are not interested in court affairs, you can go back and make preparations first."
The examination will start on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, and the curtain officer will enter the venue in advance on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. Li Dongyang and Cheng Minzheng are both examiners, and they will also set questions after entering the venue.
"It doesn't matter."
Li Dongyang wanted to know what was happening now.
After entering the curtain, he will be unable to contact the outside world for more than twenty days. By the time he comes out again, perhaps all the noise in the northwest will have subsided.
Liu Jian sighed: "Yansui and other places reported one after another that Di Yi invaded the territory, especially around the Yulin Guard. The Tatar cavalry passed by lightly, but most of them were unwilling to fight. They were pursuing in many places, but they did not gain anything. .”
Xie Qian said: "The Tatars are still coming, but why are they coming so strangely? In February, there are no green buds on the grassland in all the grasslands. At this time, what are the Kou Bian... planning?"
Then Li Dongyang found a copy from a pile of memorials.
Liu Jian took it in his hand and looked at it, but sighed heavily.
Li Dongyang said: "There are people who have asked Wang Weining to go to the northwest to organize the army. Most of them are because there are still people in the court who don't know about Wang Weining's affairs in the northwest. They may also be trying to test him."
"You've been here for a while, but you still don't know that Wang Weining is in the northwest?" Xie Qian was smiling.
Are these officials naive or stupid?
When there was no war before, you stepped on Wang Yue and regarded him as a moth from the Ming Dynasty. As a result, now that there is a war in the northwest, you all want to ask the court to transfer Wang Yue to the northwest to frighten the demons and monsters.
It comes when you call it and it goes away when you wave it?
Li Dongyang looked at Liu Jianda and said: "What is the purpose of the Tatars invading the border so unscrupulously? Is it true as mentioned before, or does it mean to invade the border on a large scale?"
I asked Li Dongyang to analyze it before, but I would never believe that the Tatars would invade the country on a large scale before the beginning of spring.
But now Li Dongyang is not sure either.
Xie Qian asked: "Where is Wang Weining now?"
Liu Jiandao: "Tuotou Pass."
Xie Qian said with doubts on his face: "There have been no battle reports at Piantou Pass recently. Why did the Tatars miss this place? It seems that Xuanfu has hostile intentions."
Li Dongyang said: "It used to be said that in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty, there were ten pots and nine lids, and there were always areas that could not be covered. But now there is only one Wang Weining, who has ten pots and one lid. Since it is covered at Piantou Pass, the Tatars will Did he appear here by chance? Or is it that His Majesty will ask Wang Weining to be on guard at the front line of Xuanda and move troops and horses at any time?"
Liu Jian just shook his head.
Until now, he has not figured out the specific movements of the Northwestern Tatars, or even the purpose of the Tatar invasion.
Xie Qian said: "Now the Duoyan Three Guards invade Liaodong with the strongest force, and Liaodong should be the focus of defense. If it is just Liaodong... I am afraid that Wang Weining will not have anything to do."
From the Ming Dynasty to the Hongzhi period, the battlefield in Liaodong has always been the location of hard power from all over the nine sides. In other words, Di Yi outside Liaodong was too invulnerable.
On the contrary, the three sides and Xuanda were often attacked by the Tatars and became the focus of the nine sides' defense.
…
…
In early February, reports of battles came in one after another from all nine sides of the Ming Dynasty, which also made the people around the emperor extremely anxious.
Dai Yi even had to go in and out of the bureaus such as the Bureau of Ceremony, the Cabinet Duty Room, and the Ministry of War to inquire about the opinions of all parties. After collecting the information as soon as possible, he reported it to Zhu Youtang.
Zhu Youtang didn't dare to neglect. He stayed in Qianqing Palace almost every day. He didn't even bother to go back to Kunning Palace after nightfall. He simply put all his food, accommodation and work in one place.
Queen Zhang had been a little cold to him before, but now it was him who was snubbing Queen Zhang.
"...Your Majesty, the Ministry of War's opinion is that the battle in Liaodong should be prioritized. At present, it seems that Duoyan can only send 3,000 troops in Liaodong. Most of them are infantry and cavalry. If they are pursued with light cavalry, they may be surrounded and annihilated. …”
The opinions given by the Ministry of War are basically consistent with those of the cabinet.
If you have to hit only one spot, it's better to pick the softer one.
The enemy situation outside Sanbian and Xuanda is unclear, and those places have been controlled by the Tatars for hundreds of years. If you send troops accidentally, you can easily get into trouble. It is better to be in Liaodong... at least most of the areas are the Ming Dynasty. If we dig deep into the area, we'll have to wait and see if there are any jujubes.
Zhu Youtang sighed: "But Wang Weining is not in Liaodong."
Dai Yi didn't know what to say.
To say that civil servants were cautious about using troops on the nine sides, Zhu Youtang was actually more cautious about this. He initially agreed to Zhang Zhou's proposal and sent Wang Yue to the northwest. He did not ask Wang Yue to lead troops to attack. He mainly wanted to take precautions.
If it was a rash advance, there would be no need for those ministers to dissuade him. Zhu Youtang would be the first to object.
Even though Liaodong is a soft persimmon, Zhu Youtang still doesn't dare to take risks.
"Your Majesty, how about transferring Wang Weining... to Liaodong?" Wei Bin on the side seemed to have a bad idea.
Several eunuchs, including the emperor, looked at Wei Bin.
Wei Bin lowered his head.
He himself knew that this was not a good strategy. After preparing for the war at Piantouguan for a long time, he ended up transferring Wang Yue to Liaodong. If something happened... it would be a big sin.
But sometimes, they eunuchs are left to take the blame.
If the emperor also has this idea, but is embarrassed to say it, then Wei Bin puts it forward and asks the emperor to adopt it, and something goes wrong in the end. The emperor does not need to take responsibility, but he Wei Bin takes the responsibility...
No matter how stupid the idea is, the eunuch has to mention it.
Zhu Youtang said: "I still want to believe Bingkuan. He said it was at Biantou Pass. Logically speaking...it's almost the same."
Xiao Jing said: "What your Majesty said is absolutely true. The enemy situation reported back from the northwest at night, Xuanda front line is much calmer than usual when Di Yi invaded the country, or there may be something brewing."
"What do you think of Bingkuan?"
Zhu Youtang said a few words and took him to Zhang Zhou.
Xiao Jing lowered his head and said: "Yesterday, I visited Mr. Zhang. He made it clear that as long as the Tatars start to invade the country, the results will be announced within ten days."
"Ten days?"
Zhu Youtang has doubts about this time limit.
Dai Yi said from the side: "Your Majesty, I see, what Mr. Zhang means is that if the Tatars want to use Piantou Pass as the target of plunder, and there are old suspicion formations everywhere, then they should also expect that the imperial court will be there." Having made arrangements recently, they are probably afraid that His Majesty will transfer Wang Weining to the northwest."
Zhu Youtang nodded in agreement: "It makes sense. If there is no real move in ten days, then the current suspicion formation will be meaningless."
While talking, Zhu Youtang looked at the entire map.
This map was drawn by Zhang Zhou.
Almost all the passes, fortresses, and earthen fortresses on each side of the nine sides were marked on it, and the mountains and rivers were also marked in detail. Zhu Youtang looked at it for a long time, and several eunuchs around him also stared at it for a long time.
In the end, it was Xiao Jing who asked the question that everyone seemed to want to ask, but it sounded stupid: "Where did the Tatars come from?"
Zhu Youtang sighed: "The northern defense of the Ming Dynasty stretches for thousands of miles. To find out the direction of the Tatars' outburst, I am afraid that the only way to find out is within Di Yi."
Chen Kuan reminded: "Isn't there still Mr. Zhang..."
"hehe."
Zhu Youtang smiled and his face became much more relaxed, "There is a Bingkuan who can take care of my worries and can withstand a hundred thousand troops. He also suggested that Wang Weining be deployed at Piantou Pass. I accepted it. Why bother now?" Are you doubting it again?"
Speaking of this, Zhu Youtang suddenly became a little nervous and said: "But you haven't come all the time, which still makes me anxious. I really thought that the day when I would get the results would be more than ten days later..."
Xiao Jing advised: "Your Majesty, there is no need to rush."
"How many days until the general examination starts?" Zhu Youtang asked.
Xiao Jing said: "The candidates will be admitted before night tomorrow, and the exam will start early the day after tomorrow."
"Alas!" Zhu Youtang sighed, "At this time, Bingkuan is no longer with me. If he could have made more plans by my side, it wouldn't be like this... Didn't he say the other two things..."
"Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang said he would go back tomorrow and he would write a submission before entering the palace."
"This Bingkuan, can't you be more straightforward? It makes me anxious to wait."
(End of chapter)
