Speaking of which, Gao Pragmatic himself is a bit suspicious. It may be a habit he developed in his previous life. After all, he has been in the system and is used to seeing people who do one thing in front of them and behind their backs, so he will not trust anyone easily.
In his view, the so-called loyalty is nothing more than the price of betrayal being too high. Only in rare cases do some people develop a loyal mentality, but such people must be very few.
Gao Pragmatic does not feel that he currently has the conditions to make people unconditionally loyal, so he would rather let all "loyalty" be directly linked to benefits and costs, rather than hoping that the other party's conscience will find out.
The reason why he specifically mentioned selecting a group of guards from Bailixia just now was actually for two reasons:
The first is to let any faction around you see the hope of victory in the "competition for favor", so that they can focus on pleasing themselves as their master instead of trying to escape from their control.
The second is to train your own cavalry team. After all, this era is still an era of transition from cold weapons to hot weapons. There are no major war weapons such as Maxim machine guns that will directly eliminate cavalry, so cavalry must be available.
What's more, the Ming Dynasty's main combat targets, at least for the time being, are mainly Mongolia or the Tunguska wild boar skins a little further away. The cavalry of these two companies are superior arms. Although they can rely on some advanced tactics of later generations to strengthen their After the development of firearms, some tactical advantages have been achieved, but no matter how you have the tactical advantage, the movement and surprise capabilities of the cavalry are still there. Whether it's Qi Jiguang's car formation or the hollow phalanx of lobster soldiers that made the "Eight Banners Elites" suffer so much in later generations, they are essentially defensive counterattacks and an obvious positional warfare style. If you want to take the initiative, others may not be willing. I'll fight you.
In addition, since Bailixia's own strength far exceeds Gao Pragmatic's previous expectations, he is bound to make some adjustments to his thinking regarding Bailixia.
Originally Gao Jingshi only planned to use Bailixia as a "trading company" to trade with Mongolia. Although he knew that Bailixia had nearly a thousand thieves or cavalry, at first Gao Jingshi only regarded them as people on horseback. The escort is a bit like a prairie transport team.
But when Gao pragmatic discovered that Bailixia had accumulated such wealth and strategic resources, he had the idea of using Bailixia to a greater extent. Maybe it can become the cradle for future cavalry training.
Helping Bailixia open the Datong trade route is not just a pragmatic nonsense. That was because Ma Fang, an extremely rare Ming Dynasty general who insisted on "equaling horses with horses", had too much demand for horses, and official transactions were not allowed.
But the Ming Dynasty is always a country short of horses, and the gap is difficult to estimate. If Datong Town, which is close to Gao Gong, can quietly open such an opening, then not only Bailixia's business will definitely reach a higher level, Isn't it a step forward for Mongolia to move from economic penetration to economic control, and from economic control to political control?
Of course, this matter cannot rely solely on Gao Gong's face, which is not to say that Gao Gong's face is not enough - as long as Emperor Longqing is still in power, Gao pragmatically believes that Gao Gong's face is enough to work in a mere Datong town.
But again, loyalty without benefits must be unstable. Today, you have great authority over the world, and your writings are everywhere. If I don't listen to you, I may die miserably. Of course I will be loyal, maybe a hundred times more loyal than your watchdog. But I can’t get anything out of your hands. You sat at the banquet and ate the meat. I worked hard to help you but didn’t even get a mouthful of soup. Can I be convinced? When the situation changes in the future, can I not come out and bite back?
You must be rewarded for your efforts. They are not your parents, so why should you expect them to work hard for you without asking for anything in return?
So Gao Jingshi told Cao Gan again: "You have to remember, although I will find ways to help you contact Datong, whether it is Wang Jianchuan, the governor of Xuanda, or Zhao Ke, the general of Datong, I will help you contact him, but you must Remember to leave a share for them... I don't know if you left a benefit for the border troops in Xuanfu, but also for the specific people who dealt with it, but in the future, all this money must be spent. "When we eat meat, we must leave some soup for others. If we eat alone, something will happen. Do you understand?"
Who knew that Cao Gan smiled and said: "Don't worry, young master, I understand these business matters." But he frowned again and asked tentatively: "But there is one thing that I must tell the young master. The governor of Xuanda, Wang Chonggu and Yansui The two commander-in-chief Zhao Ke were originally transferred from Shaanxi. The younger one has never had any dealings with them before. If the young master wants the young master and others to open up the Datong trade route, in addition to the young master, you will inform them in advance. You need to leave two letters of credit for me, otherwise I won’t be able to see them because of my identity.”
Gao pragmatic nodded and said: "This is easy. After I return to Beijing, I will contact them first, and then I will naturally write two greetings and forward them to you as a stepping stone."
Wang Chonggu was transferred from Shaanxi Trilateral Governor to Xuanda Governor this year. Gao Pragmatic not only knew about this, but also knew what accidents might have occurred: because historically Wang Chonggu seemed to have been transferred only in April this year, but Now he was transferred here three months in advance. When Gao pragmatic heard the news before, he still had some doubts about whether there was something wrong with history.
It can be said that the important positions in Shaanxi, Xuanda and Jiliao were all famous ministers and generals during the Longqing period. Gao Pragmatic sometimes even wondered whether Emperor Longqing's ability was seriously underestimated by later generations of scholars. Putting aside everything else, this talent alone is worthy of being called a wise king.
Let’s not mention Shaanxi, which is a little far away. Let’s just look at the people in Xuanda and Jiliao:
Wang Chonggu, the governor-general of Xuanda, had Ma Fang, the general of the Xuanfu, and Zhao Ke, the general of Datong; Tan Lun, the governor of Jiliao, had Qi Jiguang, the general of Jizhen, and Wang Zhidao, the general of Liaodong, and Li Chengliang, the deputy general of the army.
Here, Wang Chonggu and Tan Lun are typical "military civil servants", and they have experienced wars for a long time, and their ability to command troops is needless to say; while Ma Fang, Qi Jiguang, Li Chengliang, etc. are all people who will become famous in later generations, and their military exploits can be They testified.
Historically, Wang Zhidao died in battle this year. He was too pragmatic to intervene in this matter and had no interest in it. The main concern in his mind was Zhao Ke, the commander-in-chief of Datong.
Zhao Ke was not well-known in later generations, and was not even singled out in history books. From the looks of it, he seemed to be a general with average abilities. But Gao pragmatically remembered that when he read Muzong's Annals, there was a sentence in it: In the spring of the third year of Renzi, the first month of the lunar month, Datong's chief military officer Zhao Ke defeated me and answered in Hongci Fort.
In this year, Anda's power is unparalleled. There are many mediocre people on the Ming army who turn around and leave when they see Anda's flag. The stronger ones only dare to hold on to the city when facing Anda. It was Qi Jiguang, Ma Fang and other extravagant figures who dared to hear that I was coming, and without saying a word, they raised troops and went to do it.
And this Zhao Ke was actually able to defeat me at Hongci Castle. After all, he should be a capable person under his command.
