After three rounds of wine, the five flavors of food are gone.
Wu Dui suddenly sighed, "Ma Lanxi came to see me before I returned to Beijing this time. He really insisted on quitting."
Gao pragmatically raised his chopsticks in the air, was stunned for a moment, took back his hand, and sighed, "Mr. Ma has been fighting for his whole life. Maybe he is really tired."
"It's not that he's tired, but that he's bored." Wu Dui said with a wry smile. "When he fought every two days for three days, he was in good health. Later, he was awarded 10% of the tribute. Although Tumut still had Xin Ai, he would do it from time to time. Some troubles came up, but they were suppressed by Anda. There has been no fighting on the Xuanda front line for a long time. One or two years were fine, but as time went by, Ma Lanxi couldn't stand it anymore. In his own words, there was no fighting for a year, and his bones It will itch for two years without fighting, and the bones will ache after three years without fighting, and the whole body will hurt.”
Gao Pragmatic could only smile bitterly. After a while, he whispered, "Maybe it's not just Ma Zongrong, but also Liu Zongrong from Sichuan."
"Which Liu Zongrong?" Wu Dui has been serving in the northern border town. He is a new soldier and is not particularly familiar with the military arrangements in the south.
"Liu Xian and Liu Weiming, the commander-in-chief of Sichuan." Gao pragmatically said, "That's Yu Long Qihu, the Liu from the north to the south."
"Oh, it's him, he also has bone pain," Wu Dui asked with a smile.
Gao Pragmatic didn't smile, but felt a little sad. "He has asked for resignation several times. I guess he really wants to quit."
Wu Dui's smile slowly faded, and he frowned and said, "After I took office, I found out that Yu Xujiang asked to retire three times last year, but the court refused. As a result, he died of illness at the end of the year. The court posthumously awarded him Zuo Dudu, posthumous title of Wu Xiang."
Gao Pragmatic smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, I think these four can all be knighted."
Wu Dui shook his head and said, "This is very rare. The imperial court does not attach great importance to the military merits of annihilating Japanese pirates and rebellious parties. Only those who have made great achievements in the battle against Mongolia can be easily awarded a title. For example, Li Chengliang of Liaodong fought in dozens of battles. After offering prisoners to the Imperial Ancestral Temple several times, he was able to confer the title of Ning Yuanbo. But even so, it was only a temporary title and could not be hereditary. The rest, even Qi Jiguang, could not have a title because he killed not enough northern captives."
Gao pragmatic shook his head and said, "Actually, I have always felt that the court is a bit biased in that it only recognizes rank."
Wu Dui smiled bitterly and said, "Ma Lanxi and Liu Weiming definitely have no chance. Apart from them, if you really want to knight Qi Nantang, I can say hello to the Military Selection and Cleaning Department of the Ministry of War, but Qi Jiguang I have to exchange for thousands of Tartar heads so that I can talk. Besides, unless Mr. Guo Ge nods to the cabinet, it will be useless for me to mention it."
"Thousands of Tartars." Now it was Gao Pragmatic's turn to smile bitterly. "Qi Zongrong has guarded Ji Town impeccably over the years. Tuman and Duoyan tried it out many times, but they were all beaten to the point of running away every time. They have stopped controlling Ji Town for a long time." The precinct was regarded as the main target for looting, and the overall strategy was changed and began to head eastward.
In this way, Li Chengliang's Liaodong has become the main battlefield. Ji Zhen can basically only watch the show. Where can he get these thousands of Tartar heads? Besides, Li Chengliang's troops are strong in Liaodong Jingqi, and Qi Jiguang's side The cavalry is somewhat deficient. It is mainly composed of infantry, horse-mounted infantry and artillery battalions. It may not be difficult for him to defeat the barbarians, but it is a bit difficult for him to obtain how many Tartar levels. "
Wu Dui spread his hands, "So Li Chengliang is very lucky. Now, among all the towns in Jiubian, he is the only one left in Liaodong who has the opportunity to take the initiative."
Wu Dui's words reminded Gao Pingshi of the fact that later generations jokingly said that Li Chengliang was actually the "Qing Emperor".
This starts with the situation in Liaodong at that time. In the original history, during the 276 years of the Ming Dynasty's reign, the constant intrusions of the Mongolians in the north and the Jurchens in the northeast put national security and the stability of the border areas at constant threat. Since Gao Gong in the Longqing period and Zhang Juzheng in the Wanli period were in power, they had organized military preparations and strengthened border defenses, effectively ensuring the stability of the northern border. Li Chengliang was appointed as the commander-in-chief and was stationed in Liaodong at this time.
With the support of the Central Committee, he gave full play to his military talents and established a brave and capable Li family army, which enabled the Ming Dynasty border soldiers, who had always been despised by the Mongolian army, to "reinforce their military voice." , the courageous team "will achieve great success and be extremely powerful", and have achieved brilliant results time and time again.
The original biography of the Ming Dynasty records that Li Chengliang "suppressed the Liao Dynasty for 22 years, and achieved ten great victories one after another." His task of garrisoning in Liaodong was to prevent Mongolian tribes from entering the border and plundering and to use force to ensure that the imperial court exercised effective jurisdiction over the Jurchen tribes.
It should be affirmed that during the three years of guarding the Liao Dynasty, he performed his duties outstandingly. In countless battles, he not only dealt a powerful blow to the Mongolian cavalry that invaded the border, but also successfully blocked the Mongolian cavalry at the border wall. In addition, it also effectively controlled the Jurchens who were seeking internal unity and strength, ensuring the stability of the Liaodong region for a period of time.
But in this process, why did Nurhaci gradually rise? How did Li Chengliang lose control of the Jurchens?
Gao Jingshi secretly had some understanding of the Jurchens at that time during his "Observation of Government". At this time, the Jurchens were divided into three major divisions, Jianzhou, Haixi and Donghai. Each division also included several smaller divisions, but no matter the large division, The small tribes do not belong to each other, and are in the heroic age of conquering each other and competing for the throne.
The Ming Dynasty's ruling policy towards them was to "divide and rule", granting ministers the titles of Qianhu, Wanhu, Commander, and Governor respectively to prevent them from unifying and forming a powerful force that was difficult to control.
If a certain tribe is powerful and refuses to obey the constraints of the imperial court, in order to prevent it from annexing other tribes, the official army will send troops to conquer and weaken it. In fact, until now, Gao Pragmatic felt that Li Chengliang, as the highest military officer guarding Liaodong, faithfully implemented the court's strategy.
For example, Wang Gao, the chief of the Jianzhou tribe, was unruly and unruly among the Jurchen tribes in Jianzhou. During the Jiajing period, he "repeatedly stole borders" and killed dozens of Ming army generals below the deputy commander-in-chief and above the commander-in-chief.
In July of the second year of Wanli, his subordinate Xia Lihong had a conflict with the border officers and soldiers because of pursuing the fugitives, and the officers and soldiers guarding Pei Chengzu and others were killed. The imperial court ordered him to hand over the murderer, but he refused to listen. Zhang Xueyan, the then governor of Liaodong, petitioned the imperial court to stop the tribute market, and the imperial court agreed.
So Wang Gao united with a certain Mongolian Tumote tribe and Taining and other tribes to plot a large-scale invasion of the Liaoshen area. Li Chengliang detected his movements, sent troops to defeat his troops at Wuweizichong, and then attacked his stronghold. The next year, he was captured and executed.
After Wang Gao, Wang Wutang's power rose in the Jianzhou Department, and he continued to invade and plunder the border areas. Li Chengliang had just gone to the imperial court some time ago, asking for permission to go and annihilate him.
It can be seen that at least at this time, Li Chengliang did not have any "consciousness" of the "Qing Emperor". He was still the Liaodong God of War who wholeheartedly implemented the court's decisions. For the Jurchens, Li Chengliang was the Sword of Damocles above their heads.
Therefore, even though Gao Pragmatic has always been worried about Li Chengliang's thinking going astray due to his past life history, he can't do anything now.
Gao Pragmatic frowned slightly and said, "Li Chengliang is fifty-four this year. As a military general, he will be old in a few years. Who Liaodong will use by then is still unknown."
Wu Dui didn't understand the meaning of Gao Pragmatic's words for a moment, and hesitated and said, "I haven't heard that he is not in good health. He should be able to use it for a few more years."
Gao Pragmatic couldn't say it clearly, so he smiled and said, "It's good to be useful, but the court always promotes and trains some young generals to avoid being left without successors."
Wu Dui doesn't object to this. After all, military generals are different from civilian officials. It doesn't matter if civilian officials are too old to walk, as long as their thinking is clear. But if a military general is too old to ride a horse, then what troops will he have?
However, Wu Dui still misunderstood what Gao Pragmatic meant, thinking that he wanted to promote someone, so he asked in a half-joking tone, "Junior brother, do you have any good generals and talents from the younger generation to recommend? If so, Brother Yu must investigate carefully, and you can't teach Mingzhu." Dusty.”
