As a royal eunuch, Yang Peng often comes in and out of the palace recently, and his task is to communicate with Zhang Zhou about the affairs of the capital camp.
As the person who coordinated the streamlining and downsizing work of the Beijing camp, Chen Kuan was hijacked by Yang Peng, the real eunuch, in many matters. The ceremonial supervisor was more of a cover in this matter, while Yang Peng was the one who carried out Zhang Zhou's orders. People with some military orders in the Beijing camp.
The capital, inside the school grounds of Yanwu Hall.
Yang Peng and Zhang Zhou were doing some inspections, and by the way, they also reported on their recent errands: "...the British public turned a blind eye to the affairs in the Beijing camp, but always felt that he would do something. , Master Zhang, you should be more careful, all kinds of rumors in the capital are very unfavorable to you."
"For example?" Zhang Zhou asked.
Yang Peng said: "The vassal vassals headed by Ning Fan are admonishing Your Majesty, saying that they rely too much on you. As for the people in the Bureau of Ceremonies, they seem to have many opinions on you. When it comes to military and political affairs, they can delay Then delay... The Governor's Office, headed by the British Duke, has recently complained about the abolition of the three major battalions or ignored them... There are also officials... You should know this better than us, just I'm afraid that some blind people may cause trouble for you now."
Even Yang Peng could feel that Zhang Zhou was surrounded by enemies.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I'm used to it."
Just as he was talking, a group of people came out, including Zhu Feng, Wang Qiong and others. They also came to inspect the Yanwu Hall.
Wang Qiong was officially promoted to the position of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue, and he was considered the number one figure in the capital. Wang Qiong himself "appreciated" Zhu Feng very much. Although Wang Qiong was not the instructor of Yanwu Hall this time, he still served as As an "advisor", he will attend as a special guest when it comes to major military drills or exercises.
"Cai Guogong."
"Zhang Shangshu!"
A group of people on the opposite side saluted Zhang Zhou.
In addition to Wang Qiong and Zhu Feng, there are also two chief officials transferred from the Ministry of Household Affairs. They were not Jinshi in the twelfth year of Hongzhi, but in the ninth year of Hongzhi.
Now when the officials allocate manpower to Zhang Zhou, they also deliberately avoid sharing the same year with Zhang Zhou, which means to form a certain check and balance on Zhang Zhou.
As for the Xiang Party... let alone a Jinshi from southern Zhili, even a southern Jinshi would not be assigned to Zhang Zhou... but this is not a problem for Zhang Zhou.
"Classes will start after the new year. The students who will be dispatched from the northwest to study in the martial arts hall will mainly be generals from the Three Sides and Liaodong." Wang Qiong said, "But I don't know how the current slave Gandu Siping Jurchen's mission will progress? I heard that recently It has always been supported by Liaodong Dusi. If Bo'an doesn't return to Liaodong, the stall will not be able to support it."
Wang Qiong has a big picture view.
What he was worried about was that Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren had half-finished their great cause of pacifying the Jurchens, or that the affairs of Pingjing in northern Liaoning had stopped halfway.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "It will naturally continue after the new year. There were hundreds of thousands of Jurchens resettled before the new year. After the spring, we will do another sweep. By the end of next year, the Nuergandusi will be settled. Your Majesty, It is still necessary to select suitable generals from the Yanwu Hall and go to Liaodong to complete the unfinished business of Xinjian Bo."
Wang Qiong actually doesn’t want to go to Liaodong himself.
Fighting Jurchens was still too low-level for the aspiring civil servants and generals of this era.
There are obviously Tatars to fight, so why bother with those inconspicuous Jurchens? Of course, people with lofty ideals in this era would never have thought that the people who would threaten the stability of the Ming Dynasty in the future would be these Liaodong slaves who were looked down upon by them.
…
…
Many people came to Yanwu Hall that day.
It was the last inspection of the site before the year. After the year, we will use this site as the basis for teaching students.
The lecturers for the third class have been decided.
Zhang Zhou is the chief instructor, but he does not usually appear in the Yanwu Hall.
Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling will be the instructors of Xunchen, Zhu Feng will be the instructor of military generals, and Lu Wan, who will return to Beijing after a while, will be the instructor of civil servants. At the same time, Lu Wan will also serve as the actual operator of Yanwu Hall.
In other words, Zhang Zhou is the leader, Lu Wan is the deputy, followed by Zhu Feng and the Zhang brothers.
As for the implementation of the specific task of teaching skills, Liu Gui and other people who have followed Wang Shouren to the grassland battlefield will be responsible. As for the Yanwu Hall, the emperor also appointed a "guarding eunuch", which is equivalent to being responsible for daily drills and Supervision... Originally the emperor wanted to use Cao Shun, the eunuch guarding the Xuanfu who had assisted Wang Shouren in completing the Battle of Weininghai.
But later, Zhu Houzhao personally recommended him to his father, and then Grand Eunuch Liu Jin became the first guard eunuch of Yanwu Hall.
Except for Lu Wan who is still in Liaodong and has not arrived in the capital, the other instructors and main teaching staff are already in the capital. When they return, they must first report to Zhang Zhou, the "principal".
Of course, the nominal principal is not Zhang Zhou, but Zhu Youtang himself.
Even when the school started this time, Zhu Youtang made it clear that he would come to participate in it in person, and the school would probably start after the Lantern Festival, around the twentieth of the first lunar month, and would be held almost at the same time as the Zutian Ceremony.
Zhu Youtang attaches great importance to the expansion of Yanwu Hall, or the formal determination of enrollment and teaching. Zhu Youtang wants to build Yanwu Hall into his own private military force, so that he can get rid of the imperial court's control over him from now on. Due to the constraints, Zhu Youtang's ideal was actually the same as that of his grandfather, Yingzong, who personally went to conquer the Tatars.
…
…
On that day, Zhang Zhou was the host and a simple banquet was held in the dormitory next to the Yanwu Hall campus.
"...the place is still a bit crude, but from now on this is where the Ming Army will gather its talents. I have no virtue or incompetence. I am just taking advantage of a little bit of early entry. I would like to cheer you up here. I hope you can cultivate the Ming Army in the future." Chinese and English talents will do their part.”
Zhang Zhou toasted everyone in front of the two banquet tables.
Except for Wang Qiong and Zhu Feng, most of them were actually ordinary officials, or people transferred from the Governor's Office to do miscellaneous tasks.
The Zhang brothers didn't come, and they didn't seem to care much about being instructors.
Wang Qiong was very considerate and spoke on behalf of the Ministry of Husbandry during the dinner: "Your Majesty has issued an order to the Ministry of Husbandry to assist Zhang Shangshu of the Ministry of Husbandry to maintain the operation of the Yanwu Hall. Everyone, I have once As a member of Kenwudang, I hope to be able to work with you all in the future."
As an instructor, Zhu Feng seemed very shy.
While everyone was drinking, Zhang Zhou called Wang Qiong to the back hall to talk to Wang Qiong alone.
"You must have heard about the defeat of Fire Sieve, right?" Zhang Zhou asked.
"Yes." Wang Qiong said, "His Majesty has decided to issue an edict to rebuke the little Tatar prince for his arrogance. At the same time, he may send the Trilateral Qin General System with troops from Yansui and other places to complete the search and suppression of the Hetao area. The Tatars cannot be allowed to live in the Hetao for a long time."
Zhang Zhou said: "In your opinion, Mr. Wang, how long will it take to level the grassland?"
This is a "face-to-face instruction" and can be regarded as Zhang Zhou's "inspection" of Wang Qiong.
The content has nothing to do with Yanwutang, but whether Wang Qiong can take on the responsibility of assisting in pacifying the grassland.
Wang Qiong sighed: "I am afraid that I will miss important events due to the superficiality of this official. It is better for you, Zhang Budang, to draw up the plan in person."
According to Wang Qiong, I am not even as good as Wang Bo'an now. Wang Bo'an is now the general secretary of Xuanda, and I have the title of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue. From prestige to military exploits, I am not as good as Wang Shouren. What do you want? When hiring people, it is better to use a young and energetic person like Wang Boan first. He should be more in line with your needs.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Wang Bo'an is still young and vigorous. Don't get me wrong, I am not jealous of talents. On the contrary, I think that if we want to conquer cities and territories, or complete pioneering tasks, the one who must be in command is Wang Bo'an. But in terms of the overall situation of the northwest , the person who succeeds Mr. Qin as the trilateral leader must have extraordinary foresight!"
Wang Qiong frowned.
He was thinking, is this a compliment?
No matter how awesome Wang Shouren was, he was already in the Xuanda General System. After Qin Hong resigned, it was reasonable and reasonable for Wang Shouren to be promoted to the Trilateral General System.
If I were to go... would I be able to control the scene with such high prestige?
Zhang Zhou said: "Is Mr. Wang worried that his reputation is not enough?"
After Wang Qiong thought about it, he nodded slightly and said: "Northwestern military affairs should be determined by military merit. Before, Wang Weining had the prestige and blessing. After Wang Weining, only Wang Xinjian has the ability to compete with him. Of course, if Zhang Butang goes to the northwest in person, That must be what everyone expects.”
"No!" Zhang Zhou said, "If we want to stabilize the overall situation, I feel that you, Wang Shilang, are not beneath me."
Although Wang Qiong knew that these words were somewhat complimentary, she was still greatly encouraged after hearing them.
Zhang Zhou said: "At the critical moment when Marquis Weining died of illness, you were the only one who could carry his banner and stabilize the morale of the army at the pass. When Wang Bo'an led the troops into the grassland and were isolated and helpless, only you could take the overall situation into consideration and lead the troops thousands of miles away to come to his aid. . If it is purely based on fighting, Wang Boan is indeed a talented general, but if it is based on running the country and ensuring peace, he still lacks a lot of experience."
Wang Qiong felt excited after hearing this.
Although Zhang Zhou, as a rising star, is not qualified to evaluate so many people.
However, Zhang Zhou's reputation in the army was unique. No matter how powerful Wang Shouren was, he still listened to Zhang Zhou's orders and tactics. Moreover, the emperor completely relied on Zhang Zhou.
Zhang Zhou has enough right to speak, and his comments are authoritative enough.
Even Wang Qiong himself would think... But no, Wang Bo'an led his troops to win the battle on the grassland, and it was still up to me to escape unscathed. In terms of the overall situation, how could I be worse than Wang Bo'an? Besides, that kid just entered the officialdom, so naturally he is not as experienced as I am in officialdom entertainment...
Zhang Zhoudao: "In the next few years, the conflict with the Tatars will definitely not stop, and the internal Tatars will also accelerate the completion of annexation. The defeat of Huoshii is an introduction, and the Tatar prince's engulfment of the Mongolian right wing will also begin from now on."
Wang Qiong asked: "What does Zhang Budang mean..."
Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "I want to say that if there is a war in the northwest in the coming year, it will definitely start from the three sides. The battle for the Hetao will become the main trend in the future battlefield. At that time, Wang Bo'an was guarding the front line of Xuanda, fighting against the Tatars. The right wing forms a threat and can send troops into the grassland at any time to encircle it. As for the active attack on the three sides, you will be responsible for everything, Wang Shilang, what do you think?"
"this……"
Wang Qiong wanted to say, I am the left minister of the household department, do I have the qualifications?
Zhang Zhou sighed: "Old Minister Qin is still old."
The implication is that it was time for Qin Hong to retire. He was only used because Wang Yue died of illness. No one was more virtuous and respected than Qin Hong.
Now that the war situation in the northwest has been stabilized, and it has been proved that Qin Hong did not take much initiative when the little Tatar prince invaded, Ningxia could not be defended even if it was robbed... Then use Qin Hong's reputation to stabilize it The purpose of military morale is no longer that important. It is time for someone with stronger abilities to go over and let him deal with the little Tatar prince.
Zhang Zhou said: "In order to ensure that Wang Shilang can sufficiently deter Di Yi on three sides in the future, the Ming Dynasty will take the initiative to send troops to Hami as an opportunity, and then send troops to Turpan and other places to drive the Tatars out of the Western Regions and other places. Before the middle of the year, strive to build light A thousand cannons, more than 200 long-range cannons and heavy cannons, and the land on three sides, if you add thousands of flint muskets, will you see enough?"
Only then did Wang Qiong know.
Zhang Zhou was giving him "military merit".
Wang Shouren's victory on the grassland was almost entirely due to Zhang Zhou's iron mine opening in Yongping Prefecture, plus the 600 light cannons cast from the Xishan Coal Mine, and the 4,000 flint muskets.
If you give him a thousand light cannons, plus 200 long-range cannons and heavy cannons, then Wang Qiong can also walk sideways on three sides.
Nowadays, the acquisition of military merit is not based on how many cavalry are built, but how many new firearms are built.
Wang Qiong said: "If your official is really lucky enough to be able to lead troops to guard the borders of the Ming Dynasty on three sides, he should do his best."
Wang Qiong knew that this was Zhang Zhou's "bribing" alone. If it weren't for the emperor's instructions, Zhang Zhou would not have said this to him so rashly.
The purpose of giving him military honors is to make him the president of the three sides. The next Minister of War after Zhang Zhou is probably his Wang Qiong... Even Wang Qiong has the same chance as Wang Yue, Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren , as a civil servant, he obtained military merit and nobility.
Wang Qiong was transferred back to the capital from the northwest as Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue. In fact, he felt a little disappointed. He felt that he was being overpowered by Wang Shouren, and there was an insurmountable mountain like Zhang Zhou above him. He felt that there was no hope in life.
But now he feels hope is just around the corner.
…
…
Zhang Zhou talked a lot with Wang Qiong about the strategy of using troops in the northwest.
Zhang Zhou also asked Wang Qiong to go back and write more "military policies". The general meaning is that you should write more insights about the northwest and show it to the emperor. No matter how good the writing is, it will at least prove that you are serious, so that the emperor can do it next time. When deciding who will succeed Qin Hong, your enthusiasm for military affairs will be mentioned in front of the court officials. When the court recommends you to be the Trilateral Chief, it will be more justified.
Wang Qiong is full of confidence.
This time he was not able to join the Yanwu Hall as an instructor, but as a consultant, he had the opportunity to aspire for the position of the Trilateral General System, which made him feel that he was with the wrong person.
After the mobilization meeting at Yanwu Hall, when Zhang Zhou returned to the listening office in the afternoon, Zhu Youtang came to Zhang Zhou in person to talk about employment in the northwest for the coming year.
"Bingkuan, this is my dispatch to the governors of the Nine Borders. Some people should be replaced. For example, this Yang Yiqing has no merit in Ningxia. I plan to transfer him to Nanjing as a young minister of Dali Temple. From now on, let him He is staying in Nanjing, there is no need to come back and be an eyesore!"
It’s time for a change of governors in Jiubian.
In addition to Xu Jin, the newly appointed governor of Pianguan, and Wang Shouren, who concurrently serves as governor of Datong, who will not be replaced, the other governors include Ma Zhongxi, who had a bad relationship with Zhang Zhou before, but has maintained his position as governor of Xuanfu for a long time. , it’s time to replace them.
Zhu Youtang recently asked the Ministry of Civil Affairs for a list of local officials, so he went back to consider who could be transferred to the northwest as governor.
In name, anyone above the local prefect level can be considered as a candidate, but in fact, if you want to be a governor, you must have the experience of being an "inspecting censor" in Jiubian, and basically have the official position of "left and right chief envoy", which is equivalent to a province The highest civil and political officer or deputy... As for the inspector general, he wanted to be promoted to the governor level at once, unless he could "see him differently" with the emperor.
This kind of leapfrog promotion must have Zhang Zhou's "endorsement", which means that you are only qualified if Zhang Zhou thinks you can be promoted out of the ordinary.
Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, how do you plan to use Wang Xian?"
Wang Xian is still the governor of Jizhou.
During the Hongzhi period, there was no governor of Jizhou and Liaodong. Jizhou and Liaodong were governors who served as the highest officials, and they did not coordinate the deployment. As Wang Xian got too close to civil servants during the Battle of Huangshui, Wang Xian was dismissed. The civil servants recommended him as a popular candidate for the next governor of the three sides, and some even recommended him to return to the court as the censor of the right capital or directly as the minister of the six departments.
If Wang Shouren had not made a sudden appearance in the battle of Guanshan, perhaps the traditional civil servants would have wanted to give Wang Xian the post of Xuan Da Zongzhi.
Zhu Youtang thought for a while and remained silent.
Regarding Wang Xian, his attitude is also somewhat complicated.
Wang Xian was recommended by Zhang Zhou. Later, through the Battle of Huangshui, Wang Xian and Peng Quan led their troops to defeat Lu Wan's troops in Liaodong in the Battle of Huangshui. They won a great victory at Huangshui with 4,000 troops and horses. When rewards were given for meritorious deeds, almost half of the credit was given to the soldiers of Jizhou, thus sowing discord with the soldiers of Liaodong.
It can be said that Wang Xian has now become an outlier in the military.
Obviously you can join Zhang Zhou and have a better future, but he just wants to help Jizhou soldiers to gain credit, and puts himself on the opposite side of Zhang Zhou, but it seems that he has completely failed Zhang Zhou's support.
"Bingkuan, tell me." Zhu Youtang said.
Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Since I don't know how to make a decision, let's make it even."
"Pingtiao?" Zhu Youtang frowned.
Zhang Zhou said: "After the wars in Ningxia last summer and autumn, everything is now in full swing. Wang Xian has been in Jizhou for a long time. Isn't it appropriate to ask him to go to Ningxia to be responsible for rectifying the army? And Yang Yiqing, the governor of Ningxia, was transferred to Jizhou. As governor, the two of them will be swapped, what do you think, Your Majesty?"
Zhu Youtang laughed when he heard this and said, "That's not impossible, but what's the point of this?"
Zhang Zhou also smiled and said: "Actually, Your Majesty, you see that Wang Xian is a bit difficult to deal with, but if the trilateral system is replaced by Wang Qiong in the future, maybe he will be impressed by Wang Qiong's magnanimity and can cooperate with Wang Qiong." Would it be better for Qiong to govern the land on the three sides?"
"Why?"
Zhu Youtang frowned.
This question is a bit out of scope.
Wang Xian doesn’t obey you, but you recommended Wang Qiong. Will Wang Xian obey Wang Qiong?
Zhang Zhou said: "This is just my feeling. I have always been promoted to my current high position by relying on some unattractive things, which is looked down upon by some traditional officials. But if there are border army governors who can make contributions to the Ming Dynasty in a calm and down-to-earth way, they can sincerely serve the Ming Dynasty." The Ming Dynasty can win battles even if they do things well, so why worry that they can’t win people’s hearts?”
"Well." Zhu Youtang thought about it for a while and praised, "It's rare that you don't care about them. I can see that you still appreciate them. Then I will give them a chance and let them try again. If they can do this, As you said, if they can make contributions to the Ming Dynasty, I will not be stingy with rewards, and I will even help you connect people, and I will let them know your painstaking efforts in the future."
(End of chapter)
