The border gate of Datong was faced with the pressure of Anda's army. Wang Chonggu and Fang Fengshi did not fully adopt the historical strategy of resolutely holding on. Instead, after discussing with Ma Fang, Cheng Wen and Gao Pragmatic, they obtained the approval of Huang Mengyu, the eunuch of Datong. , under the prerequisite of resolutely holding on, using the deputy imperial envoy Gao Pangshi as bait to go to Desheng Fort in front of the main force of the Chinese army in Anda to lure the enemy. At the same time, Ma Fang was ordered to concentrate the elite cavalry in the three towns of Xuan and Dahe in Shanxi to find fighter opportunities to escape. one strike.
Originally, the total number of cavalrymen in the three towns of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi of the Ming Army who were truly worthy of fighting was only a little over 30,000, and among them, those who could be called elite and easily deployed were less than half of them. After careful calculation, it turned out that Only about thirteen thousand.
Fortunately, since this year, Gao Pragmatic has provided Xuanda Second Town with more than 2,300 war horses of suitable age and strong physique by controlling and expanding the Caogan Bailixia Smuggling Group, making up for the closure of the horse market in recent years. Xuan's horse reserves were increasingly depleted. Finally, under Ma Fang's careful planning, he finally gathered about 15,000 elite cavalry to accompany him on the expedition.
Previously in Datong City, the four giants of Datong and the two imperial envoys had a careful discussion and decided not to make a clear battle target decision on Ma Fang's troops, but only passed a general resolution: Ma Fang's elite cavalry will not respond to me. The main force of the Chinese army engaged in the battle, but moved the right wing of the army - that is, the left wing of the Anda Third Army - to attack the approximately 20,000 Mongolian cavalry commanded by Anda's eldest son Xin'ai Huang Taiji.
Since the six people present at the meeting were all the so-called "peace advocates," everyone was very open to Ma Fang's tactical goals. They did not require Ma Fang to defeat Xin Ai's troops, nor did they require Ma Fang to achieve anything. Gao Pragmatic even half-jokingly and half-seriously said to Ma Fang: "Lanxi Duke only needs to let Xin Ai suffer some losses in this battle, but don't get excited and kill Xin Ai on the spot." If they are killed or captured, in that case, there will definitely be someone in our court who is like a chicken blood, thinking that the northern captives are not good enough, why should they make peace, then it will be unsightly."
Ma Fang knew that although Gao Pingshi's words seemed to be flattering, they were actually warnings. He, Marshal Ma, had always been a smart man who could understand the true intentions of the DPRK, and of course he would not do such stupid things. Although it was a great achievement to kill Xin Ai in formation, Marshal Ma was probably more aware of the troubles after killing Xin Ai or capturing Xin Ai than Gao Pragmatic.
The actual situation in the three Shanxi towns of Xuanda was as clear as a mirror in Ma Dashuai's mind. Normal defense was not enough. If An Da was offended and another large-scale invasion was carried out regardless of casualties, although it was unlikely that there would be another Gengshu Incident, It will definitely cause panic at the border and panic in the capital. When the time comes, none of you will be left behind.
Relatively speaking, after all, the two imperial envoys were only here to inspect defense, so there might not be any big trouble, but for the Xuan Da border generals, including himself, it would be a big trouble.
So when faced with Gao Pragmatic's half-joking words, Ma Fang solemnly stated that she would not show off regardless of the truth. The only purpose of this battle was to "hit pain but not hurt" Xin Ai's subordinates, let me answer Understand that Ming Dynasty is not only able to hold on, but it is also not without the ability to fight back.
Because Gao Pragmatic had previously expressed Gao Gong's attitude towards this incident in private to Ma Fang, that is, although the court was based on peace, the prerequisite was that it must be able to fight. It is necessary to persuade Anda to calm down and offer tribute on the basis of "being able to fight".
Because only in this way, the court can gain face, and the ministers can easily persuade and guide the officials, and reverse the abnormal political thinking of the Ming Dynasty that no matter how bad the actual situation is, all those who have enemies must fight to the end.
This is actually one of the chronic problems of the Ming Dynasty, that is, face is greater than lizi. If you dare not give me face, then I will fight you to the end even if I don't have lizi.
This is not the thinking of a mature politician, this is clearly the grudge of a child! The Ming Dynasty was so kind and kind to its scholars for two hundred years, but they actually raised so many giant, brain-dead babies?
Fortunately, the two factions, the central ministers and the frontier commanders, knew the inside story well and could look at the problem from a practical perspective, so they barely maintained the "original judgment" of Zhu He. However, some mainland officials and Yanguan were different. He stood up and spoke without pain in his back, shouting the main battle slogans impassionedly, as if he could not prove his loyalty and courage otherwise.
In particular, Ye Mengxiong, a censor who was quite famous in later generations, shouted the main battle slogan particularly loudly. He fought hard and demanded to fight Anda to the end.
Before Gao Pangshi and the others held a meeting to decide that Ma Fang would send troops, they also saw in the court newspaper that Ye Mengxiong, the censor, also cited the Taosongzhai incident as a metaphor in his memorial, and that the court had explicitly accepted Han Naji's surrender. After that, he insisted that Hannaji's surrender should not be accepted.
Taosong Village is not a village, but the concubine of Anda's eldest son Xin Ai Huang Taiji. She came to join him in August of the 36th year of Jiajing's reign because of an affair with his subordinates. Yang Shun, the then governor of Xuanda, took great credit for Shu Shizong. Soon, Xin Ai used force, but Yang Shun was timid. On the one hand, he let Taosongzhai escape, and on the other hand, he notified Xin Ai of his escape destination. As a result, not only was Taosongzhai captured by Xin Ai and immediately brutally killed, but it also led to months of siege by Mongolia. After Sejong learned the inside story, he was naturally furious and declared "Minister of War Jiangdong Daishun".
Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng disagreed with this statement, especially Zhang Juzheng, who personally explained to the officials that Hannaji was different from Taosongzhai.
First of all, Hannaji is the "Dachengtaiji", which is the master of a tribe. He not only has military strength and political status, but also has influence on other tribes in Tumochuan because of his bloodline and the favor of Yi Kehatun. .
Secondly, Taosongzhai was the first to cheat on Xin Ai's subordinates as a concubine, and he was the party who "passed first". Xin Ai was the victim. Daming took Taosongzhai in, which was morally untenable. But this time, the situation with Han Naji was exactly the opposite. I was the one who was morally untenable. Han Naji himself had no fault at all, but was the victim. Ming took Han Naji into custody. No moral damage is done.
Longqing believed that what Zhang Juzheng said was reasonable, and Gao Gong also insisted on it, so he issued a decree to confer Han Naji as a commander and Ali Ge as a minister of thousands of households, and each was given a piece of clothing and resettlement in the town.
Who would have expected that at this time, Ye Mengxiong actually went to court again, insisting that the emperor take back the order, saying, "It is not appropriate to accept the surrender of Han Naji, and it is not appropriate for the imperial court to confer official titles."
Long Qing was furious and issued an edict to reprimand Ye Mengxiong for "spreading chaos with his false words, demoting him to the second level, and transferring him to a foreign post." At this time, the controversy caused by the surrender of Han Naji was settled within the court.
At this time, it depends on whether Wang Chonggu and Fang Fengshi can stabilize the border situation, and whether Ma Fang can achieve results, so that Anda will not dare to use war to force the Ming Dynasty to hand over Hannaji.
