Xiao Jing almost stopped standing after hearing this.
At any rate, he managed to return to the room of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and tell Wei Bin and Chen Kuanyi what he knew. The two of them couldn't help but be shocked and asked: "Dong Lai Guo...does he really have a back-up plan?"
Xiao Jing said: "The information about sending troops to Liaodong is not accurate. Your Majesty has not said much to our family, but it is expected that it is the time of autumn harvest. In addition to preparing to build the Nu'er Gandu Division, Uncle Xinjian, who is using troops in northern Liaoning and other places, is the most capable." Are you free?"
Chen Kuan sighed: "The so-called leisure time, it is better to say that he is the only one who has made no progress along the way. Wherever the troops are useless? But rushing from northern Liaoning to Ningxia, isn't it... unlikely to be time-limited?"
Wei Bin also said hurriedly: "I haven't heard anything about sending troops from Liaodong recently, not even news about the mobilization of grain and grass."
Among the three ceremonial supervisors, Wei Bin had the greatest influence in Liaodong, but that was also in the past. After Zhang Yu and others, the governor of Liaodong, were replaced, Liaodong is now basically Zhang Zhou's territory.
But there is still a bit of the old department, and the information channels are also open to him.
Xiao Jing said: "His Majesty will arrange the arrangements for money, food and supplies through the Beijing camp. Maybe this battle also involves Jizhou. We don't know the details."
Chen Kuan and Wei Bin also felt Xiao Jing's helplessness.
After the rise of Zhang Zhou, even the Supervisor of Ceremonies was no longer the most trusted "person around" the emperor. It was not once or twice that the Supervisor of Ceremonies found out later. They also understood why Xiao Jing would side with the civil servants to check and balance Zhang. Zhou, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he wants to show how awesome Xiao Jing is, or that he wants to fight for power, but he just wants to balance the relationship between several parties, so as not to let Zhang Zhou become bigger.
But now...
Everything seems to be in vain.
"Mr. Lai Guo, is he moving now?"
Chen Kuan asked, and then realized that he might have asked inappropriately. He added, "With troops on the nine sides, it doesn't matter if Duke Lai is not on the border. Others are not in the north. Now the matter of impeaching him is over. Your Majesty is not in a hurry to call him back when he is using troops?"
Just saying, this is not like His Majesty’s style.
If you have anything to do, ask Bingkuan. Now that Bingkuan escaped unharmed despite being attacked by a group of people, and he was still allowed to stay in Nanjing, how can you ask your Bingkuan if you have something to do?
Xiao Jing sighed: "The prince is also in Nanjing. It is estimated that the Laiguo Guild will go back with the prince. Now we don't even know what your majesty asked him to go to Nanjing for. It's better not to worry about it. We will go back and inform the household minister Zhou. A word from the Minister... Also, recently the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry may have to be replaced together. The Minister of the Ministry of Hubu is known to be Zhong Zhong. His Majesty the Minister of the Ministry of Industry has not yet asked the courtiers for their opinions. Please pay more attention and it is best to find someone... …”
"Those who can ventilate." Wei Bin said, "Understood. In fact, Wang Zongyi, the admiral of Shanchang in Yizhou, or Wang Ji, the secretary of household affairs in Jingcang, the governor, are both acceptable."
The Chief of Ceremonies wanted to arrange for "one of his own" to be the Minister of Works as much as possible when the civil servants in the DPRK were weak.
Wang Zongyi was excluded by Zhang Zhou before, and the governor of Yizhou Shanchang was only a minister. Although Wang Ji was the minister of the household department, he was only a part-time official. His identity was more similar to the left minister of the household department. During the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, he was the governor of Jingcangchu. Bei also holds the title of Shangshu.
In history, Wang Zongyi and Wang Ji were not appointed as ministers of the Six Northern Dynasties, and they ended up serving as ministers of the Six Northern Dynasties.
As for the three chief ministers, they knew that they were relatively on the fringes of civil servants and could easily be gathered around.
"Go back and take the opportunity to walk around. Don't go there in person. Your Majesty will pay attention to our movements at this time. I hope your Majesty will not be obsessed with the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry, or it may not be prepared for the people of Lai Guogong." Xiao Jing sighed.
Probably saying.
Once Zhang Zhou intervenes, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry is likely to be reserved for "someone".
Who it is, it’s hard to say.
Chen Kuan asked: "Why is it not prepared for Duke Lai Guo?"
Xiao Jing said: "No, your Majesty has been reading the examples about Yang Shan and Wang Ji recently. It is obvious that he wants Lai Guogong to concurrently serve as Minister of War. There is nothing wrong with this matter."
"Then..." Wei Bin glanced at Chen Kuan. When he saw that Chen Kuan had no expression, he nodded and said, "I'll send someone later."
…
…
Ningxia Town.
Although Zhu Feng set off from the capital and Yang Yiqing left from Nanjing, they arrived almost at the same time, and Zhu Feng only arrived one day earlier than Yang Yiqing.
After Yang Yiqing arrived in Ningxia on a starry night journey, he didn't bother to rest. He was about to start a battle against the main force of the little Tatar prince. He even didn't know much about the current preparations for the war in Ningxia, but the emperor's orders came one after another. Top civil servants also have high expectations for him, and he can feel the invisible pressure.
"Yang Junmen, you may not know that there are not many troops and horses that can be dispatched around Ningxia Town. There are not even ten thousand individual cavalry, and they are scattered in various cities, and some are in fortress towns in distant passes. Within, if we mobilize them in a hurry, we can only mobilize three thousand."
The person who reported the situation to Yang Yiqing at the military meeting was Song Lan, the former Ningxia Commander-in-Chief. Now that Zhu Feng has arrived, Song Lan has become the Deputy Commander-in-Chief.
Song Lan himself did not have a title, but served as the commander of Ningxia West Road.
Before, he was the deputy of Duke Zhu Fu, and now he is the deputy of Zhu Feng... The father and son of the old Zhu family took turns to be his commanders, but when asked who he wanted to work with... he naturally wanted to follow Zhu Feng, just because Zhu Feng is famous, but it is easy for him to become famous.
Yang Yiqing said: "It's not necessary to send out cavalry."
Zhu Feng said: "But if we don't have cavalry and use a mixture of infantry and cavalry to compete head-on with the Tatar cavalry, I'm afraid..."
"Isn't there the mighty gunpowder and the mighty cannon?" Yang Yiqing looked at Zhu Feng.
He obviously didn't want to rely entirely on the new firearms. These words seemed to remind Zhu Feng, don't go against the grain or even badmouth in such military meetings. Even if Zhang Zhou, Wang Qiong and others are spoiling you, I won't tolerate you. problems.
As the commander-in-chief, you are only responsible for executing military orders. You are not responsible for issuing orders, and you are not allowed to participate in decision-making.
By teaching Zhu Feng a lesson, Yang Yiqing instantly increased his prestige among the generals. Even Marquis Anbian dared to face the reprimand... Then he must have real ability. Otherwise, why would Marquis Anbian swallow his anger so much? Not to mention that military generals have to listen to civil servants. Since ancient times, generals have been at odds with each other frequently. Not to mention that Anbianhou has won the trust of the emperor and Duke Lai.
Yang Yiqing said: "There are not many soldiers and horses this time, so they will be divided into parts. Troops will be sent out from all the border passes and divided into two groups. The cavalry will be responsible for guarding the area of fifty miles back and forth from the pass, while the infantry will go thirty miles outside the city." , to ensure that the approximately fifty miles around the pass are not plundered by the Tatars.”
The generals present couldn't help but look at each other.
There are tens of thousands of Tatar cavalry, even if it is less than the fifty thousand reported by the outside world, but there is no problem at all if there are thirty or forty thousand. Even if the Tatars are broken into pieces to plunder, there are at least five cavalry along the way. Thousands to tens of thousands.
Just like this, what are the few people in the pass cities and fortresses enough to do?
If the Tatars invade within fifty miles of the suburbs of a certain pass, and the men and horses sent out by the pass to protect the autumn harvest, will they dare to fight head-on? Why not retreat to the pass and watch the Tatars wreak havoc?
"General Zhu." Yang Yiqing said suddenly.
Zhu Feng reacted for a moment before realizing that this was calling him. He still looked a little dull and said, "Yes."
"You personally lead the elite cavalry of Ningxia Town, cooperate with gunpowder and powerful cannons, and coordinate four thousand infantry to roam around the passes." Yang Yiqing issued the military order.
"This...this..." Zhu Feng originally wanted to say, is this asking me to die?
But he held back in the end because he was not familiar with Yang Yiqing. Before this meeting, he only went to see Yang Yiqing in a courtesy ceremony. At best, it was the second meeting between the two.
"Yes." Zhu Feng also accepted the order directly.
…
…
When Yang Yiqing came up, he wanted to mobilize soldiers and horses from all over Ningxia Town to drive away the Tatars in the so-called "break them into parts".
After the military meeting, in addition to sending out cavalry and general orders, even the officers and soldiers of the Ningxia garrison began to make arrangements to follow Zhu Feng out to "fight guerrillas."
In general, wherever there is a gap, Zhu Feng will fill it.
After the military meeting, Zhu Feng did not go with Song Lan and the others. Not only was he not familiar with Yang Yiqing, he was also not familiar with the local generals. It was tantamount to being a strange general who arrived in a strange place and did not know the situation well. , to fight an unprepared war under the pressure of the emperor's order.
The people on Song Lan's side didn't understand the situation after attending the meeting.
"General Song, what do you think Yang Junmen is going to do? If he leaves the city gate like this, he will be chased everywhere by the Tatar cavalry. If he is not careful, he will lose his troops and generals." One of his subordinates named Li Xun Qianhu Road.
Li Xuan was so anxious because he was among the group of people who followed Zhu Feng out of the city.
Song Landao: "Don't you all know this? In fact, Yang Junmen is not a direct descendant of Duke Lai, but Marquis Anbian is."
"We know this." Not only Li Xuan was saying, but people around him were also interjecting.
The sphere of influence between the DPRK and China and the soldiers in the northwest are somewhat clear.
Song Lan said coldly: "Your Majesty has high expectations for the local soldiers in Ningxia. At this time, Yang Junmen knew that the attack strategy was inappropriate, but he had to send troops. Then if he hands over the authority to command and manage the army to Anbian Hou, doesn’t the responsibility just get pushed out?”
"Isn't that true?" Li Xuan said, "If the army is defeated, what good will it do to Yang Junmen? Shouldn't this mean that we should put aside the past grudges and face the powerful enemy together?"
"Hmm."
Song Lan was obviously not the kind of general who followed orders and seemed very sinister. This was probably because he had read and been baptized by the Four Books and Five Classics.
Song Landao said: "After all, we are doing things according to orders. It is best if the blame does not fall on ourselves. Everyone, I would like to advise you, keeping the sons and daughters around you and saving your own lives is more important than anything else."
…
…
When Yang Yiqing came to Ningxia this time, the only "one of his own" available to him was the guest he brought over, Wu Ying, who is now the governor of the governor's Yamen.
Wu Ying was older than Yang Yiqing. He was born in Juren. He had served as a local evangelist in his early years. He had been in Shaanxi for many years. Yang Yiqing discovered and hired him back when he was the deputy envoy for teaching in Shaanxi.
"Ying Ning, if you send people out like this, I'm afraid you will be criticized." Wu Ying and Yang Yiqing have always been considered friends.
Because Wu Ying is from Shaanxi, she also speaks with a strong Guanzhong accent.
Yang Yiqing said: "It is difficult to achieve great things if you count on the soldiers and horses of Ningxia Town. I have written many times to Mr. Qin, who is in charge of the trilateral military affairs, asking him to send troops to coordinate, but now I have not received a reply. Now I have When you take office, you should go to him to ask for troops, horses, and food."
Wu Ying was also helpless.
The war is about to begin, and the men and horses are insufficient and scattered. Now you actually want to make a last resort and go to the Trilateral General Assembly stationed in Yansui to ask for troops, horses, and supplies?
"well!"
Maybe Yang Yiqing also felt that this battle came too hastily. He said, "Just show it and do it. I know that the soldiers and horses in Ningxia have no intention of decisive battle and no high morale to fight, but I also understand that your Majesty is eager to defend the enemy." , The pattern of the border towns has changed in the past few years, and even the generals below have become disheartened, thinking that they can decide the outcome with the Tatars on the battlefield."
Wu Ying said: "Just don't be affected by them."
"Even His Majesty thinks so, what else can I do? But you should also know that the most powerful troops of the Tatars have always been the headquarters of the little Tatar prince. But what has the little prince of Tatar lost in recent years?"
Yang Yiqing lamented a lot in his words, "In recent years, no major victory against the enemy has occurred in the three sides, and Ningxia is to the west of the three sides, almost isolated from the passes. In the past few years, Ningxia has been attacked by the Tatars again and again. When the Tartars invaded, were there any commendable achievements?"
Wu Ying thought about it for a while and said, "When it comes to Marquis Weining..."
This has to mention Wang Yue's "Helan Mountain Victory".
Yang Yiqing said: "So I also want to learn from Wang Weining."
"Ying Ning, what do you mean?" Wu Ying opened her mouth.
It can be said that when Wang Yue, as the trilateral commander, sent troops from Ningxia to the Helan Mountains, the number of troops he sent was only more than 10,000.
What Wang Yue used was also broken into parts - Zhu Jin, the deputy commander-in-chief of Yansui and the commander-in-chief of the capital, led two thousand troops out of the south road; Thousands of troops left the middle road; deputy commander-in-chief Zhang An, the commander-in-chief of the capital, and Hao Shan, the right supervisor of the gun, led two thousand troops out of the north road.
Wang Yue's headquarters is in the middle.
Yang Yiqing said: "What Wang Weining and Wang Xinjian can accomplish, why can't I? The battle in Ningxia is probably the best and only opportunity in my life!"
"Yeah." Wu Ying had a thousand words in her heart, but she could only swallow them back.
This means I have to bite the bullet and press forward.
…
…
As Yang Yiqing decided on a military strategy after entering Ningxia, his strategic ideas quickly spread among the court.
Zhu Youtang didn't mind Yang Yiqing's trouble.
Because in the past two years, the several great victories that Zhang Zhou presided over seemed to outsiders to have been achieved through "fudges", and none of them were serious gains.
"Send someone to pass Ningxia's military strategy to Nanzhili, let Bingkuan take a look, and then send the message back with a fast horse." Zhu Youtang himself did not make much evaluation, and he was too lazy to listen to the ministers' opinions. Yes, it would be better to ask Zhang Zhou directly.
Xiao Jing took Zhu Youtang's autographed letter and Yang Yiqing's memorial together, and then found someone to deliver it to Zhang Zhou.
He was also thinking in his mind, if Zhang Bingkuan was really indispensable in this battle, why not call him back, but why did he sacrifice the near and seek the far away to ask his opinion?
…
…
Inside Nanjing.
Zhu Houzhao has been very good these days, running wild and wandering around everywhere.
He also went to attend cultural gatherings, listened to music and operas, and even traveled to various places. This was a hardship for Xu Jing and other Jin Yiwei who were responsible for the secret surveillance.
Yang Peng was in Nanjing without being dispatched by Zhang Zhou, and was secretly helping to protect Zhu Houzhao. He was also very anxious when he learned that Zhu Houzhao often visited crowded places and often escaped from the sight of his guards.
Finally he got the emperor's order and finally had an excuse to visit Zhang Zhou.
On this day, Zhang Zhou had just been to Yingtian Mansion, and after returning, he met Yang Peng in the Yamen of the Ministry of War in Nanjing.
"Ningxia has deployed troops." Yang Peng handed Yang Yiqing's memorial and the emperor's letter to Zhang Zhou.
After Zhang Zhou read it, he just nodded.
Yang Peng said: "Master Zhang, please give me some advice as soon as possible. Your Majesty is still waiting."
Zhang Zhou frowned and said, "Let me think about it, right? To send a message from here to the capital, no matter how fast the horse is, it will take three or four days, so why be impatient?"
Yang Peng lowered his head.
Zhang Zhou said: "Yang Yingning has the spirit of adventurism, but it is a bit unrealistic."
"What?" Yang Peng's eyes widened.
"Don't you want to comment? Come, find someone to record it." Zhang Zhou greeted.
"No, you tell me, I can remember it." Yang Peng said, "Or you can write it in your own handwriting, so that His Majesty can agree with it more. Are you saying...the tactics are unrealistic?"
Zhang Zhou stood up and said: "Logically speaking, I shouldn't deliberately evaluate a general who uses troops in the border areas. He will not be subject to military orders abroad. He has the power to make appropriate strategic arrangements, and in terms of the ability to manage the army, he also has It may not be that he is under me, and I don’t need to deny the arrangements he made based on the actual situation.”
"yes."
Yang Peng thought to himself, you said he is unrealistic, but why don't you deny it?
Zhang Zhou said: "But the problem is that he has too few troops and horses at his disposal. I understand that he wants to imitate Wang Weining and use his unique military skills in exchange for taking the initiative in the situation. But Wang Weining relies on his reputation to fight, and he Yang Yingning No."
Yang Peng said: "Isn't there also Marquis Anbian?"
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "So he sent Zhu Zhijie out as a vanguard."
"Yeah?"
Only then did Yang Peng carefully read Yang Yiqing's previous report, and then he seemed to understand. It turned out that Yang Yiqing told the emperor that after arriving in Ningxia, he planned to send Zhu Feng to send troops to fight guerrillas first, not to use Zhu Feng as cannon fodder, but as... a vanguard?
The rhetoric changed a bit, and in an instant, it felt like Yang Yiqing had changed from a master of blame-shifting to a capable man of military force.
wrong.
Zhang Shike made it clear that Yang Yingning was unrealistic.
Zhang Zhou said: "You should consider the loser a win. Maybe the little Tatar prince is really afraid of this pair and leads his troops to withdraw on his own?"
"Ahem, it seems that Master Zhang is not very optimistic about this battle." Yang Peng said.
"There's no way to be optimistic." Zhang Zhou said, "I told you before, if you ask me to face such a situation, I can't do anything. Fighting based on reputation is not the right way after all. In this case, unless you give me 20,000 cavalry , five hundred artillery pieces, I can drive away the 50,000 elite troops of the little Tartar prince, otherwise...it will be a drop in the bucket."
(End of chapter)
