There are no secrets in the court.
Even if the personnel of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau of Tiger Character Banner in the capital did not inquire, the news that Zhao Shujiao was about to go to Datong to suppress the rebellion would have spread throughout the capital in less than two days.
However, due to the deliberate inquiring by the spies of the Foreign Intelligence Agency, the spies had already learned the content of the imperial edict as soon as it left the Forbidden City.
The person sent by the imperial court to Shanhaiguan to deliver the message was a eunuch from the palace, while the person sent by the king himself to Datong to deliver the message was a fast horseman specially sent to deliver the message.
The eunuch who conveyed the order had not yet arrived at Shanhaiguan, and the fast cavalry sent by Wang himself to Datong had already delivered the news to Liu Heng in Datong Town.
After receiving the news from the capital, Liu Heng called Zhao Yutu, who was sitting in the governor's Yamen.
"News has come from the capital. The imperial court has appointed Zhao Lijiao, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, as the commander-in-chief of Datong. It won't be long before this person comes to Datong." Liu Heng said to Zhao Yutu who came to his office.
In front of him was a map of the Ming Dynasty. Not only was all the territory of the Ming Dynasty marked on it, including the land occupied by slaves and bandits in Liaodong, but also the various grassland tribes were divided one by one on the map.
Of course, the place occupied by the tiger flag is also indispensable on the map.
Different from other forces, in addition to Grassland and Datong, the Tiger Flag also has a Tiger Flag mark on an island at the bottom of the map.
If Ming Dynasty officials who are concerned about the situation in Fujian see it, they will definitely recognize that the island is Da Yuan Island, which is far away from Fujian.
Zhao Yutu frowned lightly and said: "Zhao Lingjiao is not comparable to the Taiyuan Chief Soldier and Soldier Commander not long ago. This person is a strong general. He can become one of the five general soldiers under Sun Chengzong among so many generals in Liaodong. It can be seen that It’s not a small skill.”
Liu Heng nodded slightly when he heard this.
Zhao Yutu continued: "Zhao Lijiao alone is not scary. When he comes to Datong, he will definitely bring some of Guan Ning's soldiers and horses. These soldiers and horses are elite soldiers and horses trained by Sun Chengzong after he arrived in Liaodong. Although they have not fought against each other, his subordinates I feel that it must be more powerful than the Datong and Xuanfu soldiers and horses we encountered before."
"No matter how powerful you are, you will still have to fight." Liu Heng smiled.
Guan Ning's cavalry will be regarded as famous in later generations. They are no weaker than the slave thieves in Liaodong, and they have suppressed countless rebellions in the pass.
Zhao Yutu said: "We have to fight, but we still have to prepare in advance. If we fail, we must be able to retreat to the grassland. After all, the grassland is the foundation of our Tiger Flag."
He was a little worried about the officers and soldiers coming from Liaodong.
Liu Heng laughed when he heard this and said: "Don't worry, no matter how powerful the officers and soldiers brought by Zhao Lijiao are, our soldiers of the Tiger Character Banner are not weak. If even a Guanning army from Liaodong is not weak, If we can’t beat them, let’s surrender as soon as possible.”
He believed that the Tiger Banner army, which was raised with more than half of the Tiger Character Banner's money and food, was no weaker than the Guan Ning Cavalry that was rumored in later generations. After all, it was stronger than the Liaodong army in terms of equipment and morale.
Since the establishment of the Tiger-Character Banner army, it has never lost a battle. On the contrary, Liaodong's soldiers and horses have lost one battle after another. No matter how elite the Guanning cavalry is, they are not as good as the Tiger-Character Banner army in spirit.
Another point is that the Guan Ning cavalry has not yet won a victory in suppressing the rebellion within the pass, and there is no psychological advantage in facing the rebels within the pass.
What's more, the army of the Tiger Character Banner is a regular army, not a group of bandits gathered together by hungry people.
Zhao Yutuchen said: "I don't know much about martial arts. Since the proprietor thinks that our tiger-character flag has a good chance of winning, I guess it's true."
He has always been doing some civil affairs. Now that the Tiger Character Banner has occupied Datong, his main task is to govern the place, while military affairs are directly decided by the Military and Political Department.
"Guan Ning's soldiers and horses are the last elite of the Ming Dynasty. As long as we defeat the Guan Ning soldiers and horses brought by Zhao Zhijiao, there will not be many soldiers and horses in the entire Ming Dynasty who can be our opponents, and they will be qualified to become our opponents in the future. , only the slave thieves from Liaodong are left." Liu Heng said.
Zhao Yutu said: "If you say so, we must defeat this Liaodong army. Once we lose to this army, it will damage the morale of our Tiger Flag army. When we face this Liaodong army in the future, it will be very difficult for us to do so." Might become withdrawn.”
"The battles with the official army will be done by the combat divisions below. The top priority is that you must prepare enough food and grass in advance. I don't want the army to fight because of food and grass problems, resulting in a failure in the battle." Liu Heng told Zhao Yutu said.
The reason why Zhao Yutu was brought here was to prepare the army for the upcoming battle.
Zhao Yutu nodded vigorously and said: "Don't worry, proprietor, we will definitely not delay the food and grass needed by the army."
"Okay, needless to say, if you object to the land division, you can write a letter, but I won't interfere. If there is nothing to do, just go back. The Tiger Character Banner has just occupied Datong, and there must be a lot of official business in the Yamen that needs to be handled." Yang Yuan issued an eviction order and was unwilling to argue with Su Naichen over the land allocation.
Even if Su Naichen hadn't been a member of Tiger Character Banner, he would have sent his men to secretly eliminate the opponent.
"Director Yang, as a high-ranking official of Tiger Character Banner, you should stand up and correct the mistakes of the proprietor instead of allowing the proprietor to mess around. Even the emperor of the Zhu family in the capital must have restrictions and should not do whatever he wants." Su Naichen was not willing to give up.
Dividing farmland is the first decision made by the Tiger Character Banner to govern Datong. As a county magistrate of Yanghewei, it would be difficult for him to stop such a decision. If an important figure within the Tiger Character Banner like Yang Yuan steps forward, He believes that wrong decisions such as dividing land may not be irreversible.
Snapped!
Yang Yuan slapped his palm heavily on the table.
With a cold voice, he said: "Su Naichen, are you blaming the proprietor? Or do you think the proprietor should appoint you as the chief assistant of the Tiger Flag and form a cabinet for you to govern the Tiger Flag? Everything about the flag?”
"Xiaguan naturally does not have the qualifications to be the chief assistant of the Tiger-Character Banner. However, Xiaguan feels that the Tiger-Character Banner should indeed have more civil servants and form an organization like the cabinet, instead of always issuing orders in the name of the Military and Political Department." Su Naichen looked at Yang Yuan and said.
What he said on his lips was what he really thought in his heart.
If he were an ordinary rebel force, he would naturally not say this, but the Tiger Flag is different. Even if there is no Datong, there are still Tumut grasslands governed by the Tiger Flag.
Now that the Tiger Character Banner had successfully captured Datong Town, defeated several imperial armies, and was at its peak of power, at this time he felt that officials like him under the Tiger Character Banner should put forward their own ideas, otherwise all the limelight would be lost to the Tiger Character Banner. The flag is occupied by generals, and it will be difficult for civil servants like them to take the lead in the future.
"Okay, go back!" Yang Yuan drove people away again, not wanting to talk nonsense with Su Naichen anymore.
Huo Zonghou stood up and walked to Su Naichen and persuaded him: "Sir Su County, I think you should go back first. Director Yang is already tired from the long journey. If you have anything else to do, wait until Director Yang has a rest."
