The Ministry of War Yamen.
Xie Qian came in a hurry and went directly to the inner hall to meet Ma Wensheng alone.
Ma Wensheng handed Xie Qian a compilation of official affairs in Liaodong. Xie Qian took it in his hand and frowned when he saw that it was a thick pile.
"There's news about the expedition." Ma Wensheng said.
Xie Qianben was going to look at the memorial. When he heard this, he raised his head and looked surprised: "The news has arrived? Then... it shouldn't be a good news, right?"
In Xie Qian's view, there has been no movement from the emperor this time. The battle report has been delayed for so many days. If it was a successful report, it would have spread long ago. Why wait for Ma Wensheng to call him, a great scholar and minister of the Ministry of War? Did you say it secretly during the inner court discussion?
"It's not clear yet," Ma Wensheng said, "It was Ye Bushou who was spying on the military situation in Yizhou. He got the information from the grassland and reported it to the local government in Yizhou. However, this group of people did not go to Yizhou. Everything must be done by leading the troops. The person’s report shall prevail.”
Xie Qian laughed dumbly.
Ma Wensheng pointed to Xie Qian's compilation of local affairs in Liaodong and said: "The cost of this battle is listed above. I originally wanted to transfer the local affairs in Jizhou, but there has been no movement. The closer we get, Wherever you are, it will be more difficult for the Ministry of War to intervene."
"Um."
Xie Qian nodded to express his understanding.
After all, Jizhou is at the feet of the emperor. Any military situation here is of great concern. If the Ministry of War wants Jizhou to make some military affairs arrangements and reports, it must follow the rules. The closer to the capital, the greater the military affairs involvement.
"Did you win or lose? Or did you return without success? Brother Futu, you have been in battle for a long time. You have to estimate the outcome at this time. You should be able to do it with certainty, right?"
Xie Qian was determined to get an answer from Ma Wensheng.
Just as he was talking, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Ma Wensheng ordered.
Immediately, Yang Mi, the right minister of the Ministry of War, came in.
"Thank you, Mr. Ma Bu Tang." Yang Mi saluted.
"You're welcome." Xie Qian said with a smile, "This Ministry of War is really a good place now. I always felt very calm when I came here before. Why do I still feel like it has become a dragon's pond and a tiger's den now?"
Ma Wensheng glanced over and asked, "You mean, it's because the Ministry of War has an additional minister, Zuo, who is also in charge of the governor's office?"
"Haha." Xie Qian was very good at making jokes, but he didn't make it clear.
Yang Mi said: "I went to check it out. What Yizhou reported was the troops from Jizhou and Liaozhen. They were heading east from Huangshui, and their destination was Shenyang Zhongwei. No large group of Tatar troops were found along the way. Traces. There is no snow piled up on the grassland now. After the snow melts, the climate is very cold and the roads are muddy and difficult to travel."
"Where is the result?" Xie Qian was waiting for a result. Not only did Ma Wensheng refuse to analyze it, but now Yang Mi seemed to be playing tricks on him.
Yang Mi said helplessly: "There is no result."
Xie Qian stood up and looked very annoyed and said: "I have never seen people marching and fighting like this. Do you mean that both Lu Wan and Wang Xian don't understand the rules? When running an army, marching and fighting, no matter what the result is, it should not be When it comes to reporting gains and losses, if there is a delay, there will be a delay. If one person doesn't understand this rule, it's fine, but two people don't understand it? Is there a guarding officer in the army? Why don't even they rush to report it? "
Yang Mi didn't need to hide his position like Ma Wensheng. He said: "Maybe the result is not satisfactory."
Xie Qian said: "Whether it is a defeat, heavy losses, or no merit, does this still need to be concealed?"
Yang Mi looked at Ma Wensheng and saw that Ma Wensheng did not analyze it. He continued: "It is precisely because the results are unsatisfactory that there is a need to compromise."
"hehe."
Xie Qian seemed to understand.
Yang Mi seemed to be analyzing why Wang Xian and Lu Wan had not reported the results for a long time, but in fact he was implying that the people recommended by Zhang Zhou were criticized by the civil servants of the DPRK for fear that they would not receive credit, or they would not be able to achieve the desired results. The emperor expected to be accused, so he wanted to hide the results of the victory.
Xie Qian smiled and said, "You mean, they want to hunt rabbits on the way back to Shenyang to see if they can kill a few border residents and take credit for it, so as to get rewards from the court?"
Yang Mi said: "It's not impossible."
Ma Wensheng finally said: "Such a large-scale troop dispatch, with more than 40,000 troops in each group, and no regard for mobilizing food, grass and baggage. If they want to obtain military glory in such a way, it is probably unreasonable."
"What do you think of the negative picture?" Xie Qian was a little angry.
You think what Yang Mi and I analyzed is wrong, but you can’t explain why. Are you adding to the problem for us?
Ma Wensheng sighed: "I can't tell yet, but I always feel that something will happen outside the battlefield. The two armies of Liaodong and Jizhou attack. No matter what the result is, whether it is to reward one's merits afterwards, or to cover up one's mistakes. There will always be a lot of pushback and perfunctoryness.”
Xie Qian said with emotion: "That's right. Ji Zhen and Liao Zhen send troops from two directions. If they lead the troops with the general command, or send a minister of the Ministry of War to control both sides by one person, it might not be so troublesome. It's not. They have to send troops separately, with the same purpose but different tasks. I don’t know if Zhang Bingkuan is new to officialdom and doesn’t understand? Or does he do it intentionally? "
Ma Wensheng said: "That's what happened. If anything happens, I will let you know, Yu Qiao."
"No." Xie Qian raised his hand and said, "Don't come to notify me. Report it normally. If you feel that something is not convenient for others to know, then report it to the bank. I will go back first."
…
…
Cabinet value.
Liu Jian and Li Dongyang looked at the Liaodong local military affairs report brought back by Xie Qian, and they seemed to be deep in thought.
Xie Qian said with a smile: "Don't you think it's rare? The whereabouts of this group of people were actually discovered by Yizhou's scouts who went out to explore the enemy's situation. The soldiers and horses were almost entering the border areas of the Ming Dynasty, but the results of the battle have not yet been reported. Binzhi, you You’ve always been resourceful, can you tell me?”
"That means winning." Li Dongyang said.
"Huh?" The smile on Xie Qian's face froze and he frowned, "He won't repay you if he wins?"
Li Dongyang sighed and said: "Precisely because it is neither a loss nor a failure, they are not in a hurry to report. If it is the first two, reporting early and late will not change the result, so why are they dragging it out?"
"Hey, why did your words change in your mouth, Li Bin?" Xie Qian obviously didn't want to agree with Li Dongyang's statement.
But it seems that what Li Dongyang said has some truth.
Liu Jian asked with a smile: "Actually, the Ministry of War's speculation is not unreasonable. Perhaps because the results of the battle were not satisfactory, they wanted to kill the good ones on the way back and take credit."
Li Dongyang said: "No, such a big movement, if it is just for a few heads, but it has to bear the fault of late report of the war, even if Wang Xian doesn't care, the two governors of Liaodong and the lieutenant of Liaodong are absolutely responsible. They won't accept it. They still want to operate in Liaodong for a long time, how can they cause trouble to themselves?"
Xie Qian shook his head: "Bin Zhi, I don't think so. I think it is more likely that they will return without success."
At this time, Xie Qian still seemed very stubborn.
After finally getting an opportunity to suppress Zhang Zhou, or in other words, an opportunity to damage Zhang Zhou's "invincible" reputation, Xie Qian felt that he could not miss it, nor could he lose hope in this aspect and add obstacles to himself.
Li Dongyang didn't know how to explain it to Xie Qian, so he didn't explain it. He only said his own thoughts: "It's precisely because they have huge military achievements as a foundation, but they have problems with the division of merits, so they report late. I think it is probably because the soldiers of Liao Town did not get much credit, but the soldiers and horses of Ji Town who were ambushed did. That is why the governor of Liaodong, Lu Wan, the lieutenant of the garrison Zhang Yong, and the chief military officer of Liaodong, Shouning Hou, were able to I want to use my close relationship with His Majesty and Zhang Bingkuan to surpass Ji Zhen in terms of credit."
"ah?"
After Xie Qian heard this, he was stunned for a moment.
Liu Jiandao: "With what you said, it seems everything can be explained."
Xie Qian glanced over and said, "Does Mr. Liu Ge also think that what Binzhi said is right?"
Liu Jian put down the previous briefing on border affairs in Liaodong and said: "This time, the Ming Dynasty dispatched so many soldiers and horses, but there was no movement after the war. It is not because they are not familiar with the world, but because they know the rules too well and know the past. In terms of military merit, whichever side gets the Tatar head will be awarded the military merit. However, this battle was fought jointly by the Liaodong and Jizhou sides, and the Liaodong side was in terms of the number of troops and the captain who led the troops. The Shi, Zhongguan and Chief Military Officers all have far greater regulations than Jizhou, so there will be irreconcilable conflicts after the war. That's why the reporting of military exploits will be delayed."
"Really?" Although Xie Qian didn't want to admit it, after some analysis by Li Dongyang and Liu Jian, he seemed to feel that what they said was very reasonable.
Li Dongyang said: "Then Mr. Liu Ge thinks, did Zhang Bingkuan expect today's situation before this?"
This time Liu Jian shook his head after thinking: "Whether it is the soldiers in Liaodong or the generals in Jizhou, he recommended them. Why does he need to let the two groups quarrel?"
"Wait a minute." Xie Qian stretched out his hand to interrupt the two people who were talking, and analyzed by himself, "Even if what you said is reasonable, it was because of the dispute over military merit that the report was delayed, then they have already passed this time on their way back to the army. It has been a long time, from the place where the war took place to the area where Yizhou Ye Bushou can be found, at least seven or eight days have passed. No matter how difficult it is to determine the military merits, we should have a conclusion now, right?"
At this time, it was Li Dongyang's turn to shake his head: "Because there are so few troops from Jizhou, it is impossible for them to go through the grasslands and deserts to Daning and then from Daning to Jizhou. They have to accompany the Liao Town troops with a small number of troops. Withdrawing to Shenyang Zhongwei, we couldn't figure out the military merits along the way."
"People are under the eaves." Liu Jian said.
"Yes." Li Dongyang nodded, "But Wang Weigang was a supervisor of censorship and had an upright personality. Even if he knew that he did not have an advantage when discussing merit, he would not give in easily. This is why the two sides have not reached a conclusion."
Xie Qian smiled bitterly and said: "You actually think that because of the war merits, what happened today was because of the uneven distribution of the merits? It's really... alas! I surrender to you!"
Liu Jian asked: "So Binzhi, do you think they will reach an agreement next?"
"No." Li Dongyang said, "If I were Wang Weigang, I would not let everyone in Liao Town report the merits. He might report the merits in advance and join forces with Lieutenant Commander Ma Yongcheng to report the merits."
"Listen to Heaven?" Liu Jian frowned.
"No, no matter how close they are to each other, Ma Yongcheng, Wang Weigang and Peng Quan cannot compare with the three in Liao Town. If he insists on reporting on his own, he will definitely make trouble in advance and make it known to both the government and the public in the future. It is meaningless for people to repay their merits."
Li Dongyang seemed to know very well that Wang Xian had an average temper.
Xie Qian said: "Bin Zhi, you said that Wang Xian will report his merits in advance. Don't Liaodong side also report in advance? Lu Wan, Zhang Yong and Zhang Heling are close to Zhang Bingkuan and they are all His Majesty's people. What did they say? Will His Majesty and Zhang Bingkuan believe it?"
This time Li Dongyang did not answer. Liu Jian shook his head and said: "For such a big contribution, any party reporting it must obtain the co-signation of the other party. Unless, as Binzhi said, it makes the matter known to both the government and the public, and the matter is publicized first, then It doesn’t matter whether the other party’s consent is needed. And for this kind of credit, the party with less credit, that is, the party who is at fault, is actually very passive.”
"Why be passive?" Xie Qian asked.
Liu Jian sighed: "They first have to go through the process of supervising the censor. If they don't reach an agreement with the other side and the results are inconsistent, His Majesty will definitely investigate. Then they will have to bear the fault of falsely reporting military achievements."
"Oh. You are saying that Wang Xian reported it on his own because the military merits were originally earned by him in Jizhou, so he is not worried about falsely reporting military exploits, and he is not afraid of investigation. Is that what you mean?" Xie Qian said and looked aside Li Dongyang.
Neither Liu Jian nor Li Dongyang answered him.
Liu Jiandao: "So Binzhi, you think that Zhang Bingkuan may have known about today's situation in advance and deliberately set it up like this?"
Li Dongyang shook his head: "Actually, it doesn't matter how it is set up. The one who set up the ambush must be the Jizhen headquarters who secretly dispatched troops and horses, and the one who contributed the effort and mobilized troops must also be the Liaodong side. The side that set up the ambush had a better chance of achieving military success than the side that pursued them openly. Bigger. Now we should think about whether we should help Ji Zhen or Liao Zhen."
"Isn't it a little early?" Xie Qian said.
Liu Jian nodded and said: "It's a bit early. Everything is still inconclusive. What if Jizhou doesn't want the ministers of the DPRK to be involved? The credit is not small. No matter how you divide it, Zhang Bingkuan's credit has long been recorded by His Majesty. What’s the point of fighting in your heart?”
Li Dongyang said: "Then keep an eye on the Yima coming from Liaodong. If Wang Weigang really wants to show off his merits, then this is his last chance."
…
…
royal palace.
Zhu Youtang was also waiting for news from Liaodong, but it was Xiao Jing who showed up with Zhang Zhou after going to see Zhang Zhou and brought the latest news.
"Your Majesty, the result is here." Xiao Jing said in surprise.
When Zhu Youtang saw Xiao Jing's reaction, his face instantly turned rosy and he asked, "Won?"
Xiao Jing looked at Zhang Zhou, meaning to let Zhang Zhou speak.
Zhang Zhou looked much calmer than Xiao Jing: "I set up an ambush in Huangshui and killed Taining and Duoyan. The two guards were defeated. Not counting those who were blown to pieces, the prisoners, severed heads, and left and right ears were counted together. , there are also nearly three thousand.”
"Okay, okay!" Zhu Youtang was extremely excited.
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, don't be too hasty to be happy. Something happened that seems to be unexpected."
"What's the matter?" Zhu Youtang looked a little embarrassed.
Even if they win, could it be that Ming's side suffered greater losses than the other side?
Zhang Zhou seemed to be like a roundworm in Zhu Youtang's belly and said: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty's soldiers have suffered very few casualties, not even a hundred."
"Oh. Haha, Bingkuan, please elaborate." Zhu Youtang was delighted when he heard this.
The battle damage ratio is so good, so what else is there to worry about?
Zhang Zhou said: "This battle was mainly won by the Jizhou side who ambushed. Most of the heads, ears, and prisoners were obtained by them."
Zhu Youtang nodded seriously and said: "The military merits are divided, right? Alas! They all contributed equally. The Liaodong side has worked hard for so many days, and they all have credit, and they should be equal."
"Your Majesty, it would be fine if there was really no distinction between equals, but the problem is that three days after the end of this battle, the governor of Liaodong reported that previous discussions with Jizhou about military merits ended in vain, and both sides had their own opinions. "Zhang Zhou said.
Zhu Youtang said: "Is this why they have not reported the results of this battle for so long?"
Xiao Jing said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, please calm down."
"I'm not angry. If we win, we can discuss it. I'm afraid that these troop leaders pay more attention to military achievements than the soldiers. They both serve the Ming Dynasty. Why do we need to distinguish them so clearly? Will I treat them badly?"
Zhu Youtang looked very fair and impartial.
Zhang Zhoudao: "Lu Wan jointly signed a petition with Zhang Yong and Zhang Heling to impeach the generals on the Jizhou side who delayed their journey in order to seize battle glory. As a result, they missed the opportunity to fight, causing the troops of Duoyan Sanwei on the north road to flee westward to escape from the encirclement."
"well!"
Zhu Youtang became a little anxious when he heard this.
The results were satisfactory, but after the war...trouble began.
Wang Xian thought he had the upper hand by striking first, but in fact Lu Wan was not stupid. While he was discussing military exploits with you, he secretly also made a report. The main reason was that the Jizhou people who participated in Wang Xian's impeachment wanted to be at the Huangshui River. They snatched the heads of the slain Tatars, regardless of the overall strategy, and ordered the 10,000 to 20,000 Duoyan guardsmen on the northern front to break out of the encirclement and escape westward smoothly.
Lu Wan is not the kind of person who can't do anything after seeing military achievements.
He made Wang Xian think that he was doing it for military glory, but in fact he was doing it to file a complaint in advance.
Matters of military merit cannot withstand investigation, especially when there is Zhang Zhou in the court. In order to gain Zhang Zhou's trust, Lu Wan naturally wanted to describe his side as hard-working and uncomplaining. In the end, because Jizhou's side wanted to grab credit, he And missed the opportunity.
Who gets the military merit may not matter to Lu Wan, but gaining the trust of Zhang Zhou and the emperor is more important.
If you, Wang Xian, like to fight, fight. It is best to make things bigger and let the emperor and Zhang Zhou know that you will do whatever it takes to get that little military merit. Even if you have great achievements, the emperor will suppress you when it comes to rewards. In the future, it is impossible for the emperor and Zhang Zhou to value someone like you who only cares about military merit.
You, Wang Xian, have a good plan, and I, Lu Wan, also have a wall ladder.
certainly.
Zhang Heling was unaware of Lu Wan's intentions, and even Zhang Yong might not be aware of it either.
Both Zhang Heling and Zhang Yong only focused on the immediate military achievements. It didn't matter whether they would be respected in the future.
Zhang Zhou sighed: "Your Majesty, it's a bit difficult to determine the merits and demerits."
(End of chapter)
