Ningxia Governor Liang Wenmeng lost his black gauze hat, and the position of Ningxia Governor had to be rearranged. Since Yuan Fu was present, the emperor naturally asked for his opinion first.
Shen Shixing was waiting for this opportunity and immediately said: "I recommend Ye Mengxiong, governor of Guizhou, to adjust Ningxia."
As soon as these words came out, Gao Pragmatic's brows immediately wrinkled.
Ye Mengxiong... This person is not an incompetent person, but unfortunately there are two problems: first, this person is a rising star that the Heart School has focused on cultivating in recent years; second, this person is a radical militant who does not care about the cause.
Ye Mengxiong was a gold medalist in the 44th year of Jiajing reign. Logically speaking, Gao Gong was still his teacher. However, he was a disciple of Xinxue. Of course, he was unwilling to worship Gao Gong. Moreover, since he was not ranked high on the gold medal list, he was among the top three. He was only in the middle, so he did not stay in Beijing, but directly served as magistrate of Fuqing County.
In the second year of Longqing's reign, he was transferred to the capital and served as the head of the household department. He was also moved to supervise the censor. He was usually very active. In the fourth year of Longqing's reign, an important turning point came - he clearly opposed the payment of tribute, which was contrary to Gao Gong and Gao pragmatism's ideas. Moreover, because of his fierce words at the time of Shang Shu, he angered the emperor, so he was demoted to the position of Prime Minister of Heyang County, Shaanxi Province. .
However, his actions attracted the attention of the big guys of the Xin School, and they began to focus on training him. Soon after, he moved to the right to be promoted to Germany, and then transferred to the head of the Nanjing Household Department to supervise Fengyangcang. In the second year of Wanli, he was transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and soon became the prefect of Ganzhou. He resigned due to Ding You.
After the mourning period was over, Shen Shixing still did not forget him and immediately appointed him as the prefect of Anqing. In the tenth year of Wanli, when Guo Pu and Zhang Siwei handed over power, Shen Shixing worked for him again and became the Zhejiang patrol envoy. During this term, he created the "Ye Gong Magic Gun" and handed it over to the Xu family in Songjiang to prepare for private military industry for the purpose of "preventing Japanese pirates".
It should be noted that this Ye Gong's magic weapon is not a musket, but a vehicle-mounted cannon. Moreover, he adopted the idea of Jinghua artillery, not using copper, but using pure iron to make the gun body. Previously, only Jinghua had changed the material of army artillery to steel. Other military industrial companies or yamen did not have such technology, or could not. Control the size while maintaining quality and quantity.
Ye Gong's divine gun is slightly different from Jinghua's "1234" guns. It is only divided into three types: Tian, Di and Xuan. The Tianzi-type magic gun weighs 280 kilograms (converted, the same below) and is 3 feet 5 inches long; the Di-zig magic gun weighs 200 kilograms and is 3 feet 2 inches long; the Xuan-zig magic gun weighs 150 kilograms and is 3 feet 1 inch long. Each cannon has a three-wheeled gun carriage. There are two wheels in the front with a wheel height of 2 feet 5 inches. There is one wheel in the back with a wheel height of 1 feet 3 inches. The front is high and the rear is low. The muzzle is high.
To put it simply, this Ye Gongshen gun is a simplified version of the Jinghua series artillery, which is right in the middle of the No. 1 and 2 cannons, the No. 2 and 3 cannons, and the No. 3 and 4 cannons. Although the Ministry of War later measured that the power of its artillery was slightly inferior to that of Jinghua, it was still able to mass-produce it because it was the first privately owned military industrial enterprise in the South. This is why the Jinghua series of artillery was mainly equipped with the Northern Army rather than the Southern Army. An important reason is that after all, the Xinxue School officials in the south are very powerful, and the southern provinces have never been areas that Beijing can easily penetrate.
Because of this contribution, Ye Mengxiong was quickly transferred to the Yongping Military Preparation Road. Gao Pragmatic was disgusted - Yongping Road was under the jurisdiction of Kaiping, and he made things difficult for the three major factories in Jinghua for a while. He later said that the three major factories were disturbing the people. It was said that the three major factories had too many private servants. Fortunately, Gao Pragmatic had already returned to Beijing at that time. After Shen Shixing took the lead and gave Ye Mengxiong the "No. 1 in Integrity" evaluation, he found a way to transfer him to Shandong's Shandong Government Suppression and Integrity Envoy. , and then it became clear. The envoy to suppress government corruption was a temporary assignment, and Ye Mengxiong soon moved to the right to be the governor of Guizhou, where he remains today.
To put it simply, Ye Mengxiong still has some abilities, but he is very difficult to deal with the Real School, and this person is "high-spirited." No matter what disputes arise between the Ming Dynasty and surrounding forces, if you ask Ye Mengxiong's attitude, this guy will definitely say the same thing. :Dry!
If there were a few more words, it would be: Fuck everything!
Just like when I asked for tribute, Gao Gong had already clarified the reasons for the tribute, and also proposed the specific steps of "West Huai East System", which was completely in line with the actual situation of the Ming Dynasty at that time. However, Ye Mengxiong just disagreed and continued to write. , expressing fiercely that the only way to deal with the Mongols is to fight to the end, and there is no need to win over one faction and fight another.
Brother, if I can fight, do you still want me to tell you?
It is for these two reasons that Gao Pragmatic frowned when Shen Shixing mentioned Ye Mengxiong. Firstly, Ye Mengxiong, a bad-tempered Xin School official, has become the governor of Ningxia. He may have to face some troubles of disobedience or even disobedience. Secondly, even if he wins in the end, it is equivalent to giving free side effects to the Xin School officials. .
However, Shen Shixing's timing was really good. He didn't compete with Gao Jingshi for the governorship of the three countries just now, and he personally "recommended" Gao Jingshi. At this time, if Gao Jingshi opposed his proposal, it would be unavoidable. Some are unreasonable and even suspected of relying on favors to gain power.
Gao Pragmatic was not Ye Mengxiong, and he would not make blind noises regardless of the actual situation, so he knew that he could not speak out to object at the moment, so he remained expressionless and silent.
But Zhu Yijun no longer remembered Ye Mengxiong's deeds back then. After hearing Shen Shixing's recommendation, he subconsciously asked Gao Pragmatic: "Qiu Zhen, what do you think?"
Gao Pingshi sighed in his heart, but kept a calm expression on his face, and said calmly: "I am not very familiar with Ye Futai, and I don't know much about his personality and abilities, but since Yuan Fu agrees, There must be something to behold.”
The meaning of this is very simple: I don’t know anything, don’t ask me about this matter, and don’t come to me if you get in trouble.
However, Zhu Yijun didn't think much about it. After all, he also knew that Gao Jingshi had served abroad twice in the past few years. He subconsciously felt that Gao Jingshi might not know the people and things in the court as well as he did before, so it was normal to not be familiar with someone.
But understanding does not mean that there is no objection. Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "In that case, let Ye Mengxiong go to Ningxia... Yuan Fu, Ye Mengxiong is still in Guizhou, how long will it take to go to Ningxia?"
Shen Shixing thought and calculated, and said: "He entered Shaanxi when he entered Hanzhong from Sichuan. Although this road is mostly mountainous, it will always be faster than Wei Xuezeng." Then he paused and glanced at Gao Pragmatically. He glanced at it, smiled softly, and said: "Besides, there is only one Pinglu City left in Ningxia. He, the governor, may not be able to do anything for a while, so it doesn't matter if it is later. I hope that Gao Jinglue will advance quickly and wait until Ye Mengxiong arrives. , we just need to clean up the battlefield."
Zhu Yijun only thought that Mr. Shen was joking or saying something auspicious. He laughed but did not think deeply.
However, as a person who is "excessive in calculations", although Gao Pragmatic smiled, he couldn't help but murmur in his heart: Shen Yaoquan hinted repeatedly today that I can counter the rebellion "quickly" and "quickly". What does this mean? Does he want to provoke the general, or does he want to praise him?
As a highly pragmatic person, it was impossible for him to believe that Shen Shixing had "good intentions" for him. Just like Shen Shixing's behavior tonight, he gave way first for the final gain. happy
In essence, his acting style is somewhat similar to Gao Pragmatism.
The personnel issues were almost arranged, and the next step was to discuss specific military affairs. Zhu Yijun first asked: "To be honest, the situation in the northwest is bad enough right now. You are leading Shanxi reinforcements into Shaanxi, and you are responsible for Boshu Ketu and Weibai. I’m not too worried about where the troops are headed, but Huo Luochi and Zhuli Rabbit are a bit far apart, and I’m worried that you won’t be able to reach them for a while... Do you think we should deploy more troops and horses from Sichuan to support them?"
Gao pragmatic did not answer directly, but asked first: "If the Sichuan army goes north, will the soldiers' wages be allocated from Shenjing or Nanjing?"
He was not asking casually, because Sichuan's troops and horses were usually managed by the Nanjing Ministry of War, not the Beijing Ministry of War. This is just like when Liu Xian was the commander-in-chief of Sichuan and was transferred to the southern provinces to fight, Nanjing was responsible for food and salary. Even after he stayed in Langshan, he was made things difficult by the Duke of Wei.
But there is a situation here, that is, if the southern troops are transferred to the north, the Beijing Ministry of War will generally be responsible for food and salary, just like the use and supply of the Qi family army. Sichuan falls under the management of the Nanjing Ministry of War, but if the Sichuan army enters Shaanxi, it will be considered to have entered the scope directly under the jurisdiction of the Beijing Ministry of War. It stands to reason that it will be replaced by the Beijing Ministry of War to provide food and salary.
Obviously, the reason why Gao Pragmatic asked this was because he did not want to increase the burden on the court, and Zhu Yijun immediately reacted.
However, Zhu Yijun had other considerations, and frowned and asked: "I understand what you mean, but now is not the time to think about money - putting down a rebellion is different from taking the initiative. The latter can wait, but the former cannot wait. To be honest, if this money It has to be spent, so it must be spent, so don’t worry about it first.”
Gao Pragmatic was quite pleased to hear this. Although the emperor was young, he knew his priorities very well, and his years of "reading with him" were not in vain.
So he smiled and said: "Since the emperor has said so, I am naturally not afraid of 'the more, the merrier'."
Zhu Yijun couldn't help but smile after hearing this and said: "Okay, what can the Sichuan army mobilize? After you return to the Ministry of War, discuss it with Liang Menglong and explain it in the last statement. Now let's talk about the mobilization of Shanxi troops and horses. Are you going to mobilize them? Who will go? How much will be adjusted?"
Gao pragmatically said: "Ma Gui and Li Rusong. Datong tunes 20,000 yuan and Taiyuan tunes 10,000 yuan."
Zhu Yijun was stunned for a moment, hesitated, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Ma Gui and Li Rusong... they are both capable, but your total of only 30,000 troops is not enough? The military report said , Kuaibai alone already has 60,000 troops, Boshu Ketu is expected to dispatch at least 30,000 to 40,000 cavalry, not to mention Huo Luochi and Zhuli Tu. It has been figured out earlier that the two of them plus We can raise up to 50,000 yuan at most."
The so-called 30,000 to 40,000 by Boshu Ketu was actually just the strength that his headquarters had without large-scale mobilization. In fact, as a farmer, he was really ruthless, and he could only collect 50,000 to 60,000 people. It's just that the strength of the Ordos tribe is somewhat scattered. There are still more than 30,000 and nearly 40,000 cavalry there.
It can also be seen from this that Tumut, who usually maintains a strength of about 100,000, is indeed no better than Ordos. However, the population of Tumut is more than double that of Ordos. If they really want to mobilize for war, the advantage is still relatively obvious. What's more, Tumut already has some agricultural areas, and the potential for long-term war is obviously better than that of Ordos.
As for Huo Luochi and Zhuli Rabbit, they have already explained before that 50,000 is the limit for the two of them when they work together, and it is usually difficult to maintain it.
But in any case, Gao Pragmatic only transferred 30,000 people from Shanxi, which seemed to be too few. And the key point is that there is no shortage of troops in the three towns of Shanxi. Xuanfu has 130,000, Datong has 120,000, and Taiyuan has 60,000 to 70,000. The total number is just over 300,000. Why only use one-tenth?
However, Gao Pragmatic shook his head and said: "The so-called 60,000 troops that Kuai worshiped, among which the elites could not exceed 30,000 at most - Ningxia Town originally only had 30,000 troops stationed there, they couldn't all be elites, right? And his extra 30,000 troops could not be all elites. Ten thousand people, except for the four thousand private soldiers he has raised, the rest are mostly newly recruited rabble, not worth mentioning.
Although Huo Luochi and Zhuli Rabbit Erliu have a combined strength of 50,000, as long as Burihatu returns eastwards, with their ability, it will be very difficult for them to break through the border wall of Nian Bo and Zhuang Langwei. Difficulty, as long as Guyuan can maintain supply to these two important places, it will be temporarily stable, so there is no need to rush.
As for Boshu Ketu... I still have some methods I want to try. If it works, maybe he can be allowed to return to Hetao without a big battle. "
Zhu Yijun was startled when he heard this, and then he was overjoyed and asked: "Is there such a way? Come on, tell me!"
Gao was pragmatic but more serious, and said calmly: "The way is to apply pressure from all sides: first ask King Shunyi to gather an army, and let him say that Tumut's 150,000 fine cavalry are ready at Fengzhou Beach, and they will march south at any time; then declare Dashan Town mobilized its troops frequently, and at the same time quietly spread the news, saying that the 30,000 people led by the minister were just a cover. In fact, the imperial court planned to mobilize an army of 200,000, and with the cooperation of Tumote, the Hetao was annihilated; finally, someone was sent to persuade Taigal Zhungenhatun and Qiejin asked the two siblings to force Boshu Ketu back."
Taigalzhungenhatun is Boshu Ketu's mother and Qiejin's cousin. With all her support, she finally retained Boshu Ketu's position as a farmer. At the same time, she also had a great influence on Boshu Ketu's subordinates. Theoretically, after Buyan Batur's death, he The direct tribe of Taigal is in the hands of the regent Hatun. Boshu Ketu actually received this power from his mother. Therefore, Taigalzhungen Hatun certainly has considerable residual power in the army. .
Zhu Yijun was overjoyed when he heard this and praised: "Qiuzhen is really powerful. If this wonderful move continues, Boshu Ketu will have to go back to Hetao unless he is crazy." However, after a pause, Zhu Yijun asked worriedly: "Will Han Naji really make any move? Also, if Tumen takes this news seriously and prepares to send troops to Tumut, that will be troublesome."
Gao pragmatically shook his head and said: "If Burihatu doesn't return to Chahanhot for one day, Tumen will not have the confidence to send troops. Besides, we can also do more things, such as letting Yang Siwei and Li Chengliang perform a vigorous drill, Or simply mobilize the troops or something to make the Tumen nervous."
Zhu Yijun saw that he had thought everything through and breathed a sigh of relief: "Well, since you have a comprehensive plan, I can rest assured. It's getting late today. Mr. Shen, please be honest, you just go back first, and we'll go back tomorrow." Take care of all the matters just discussed. Especially for truth-seeking, your time is limited, so go as early as possible if you can, or go back as early as possible."
Shen Shixing and Gao Pragmatic accepted the offer and returned to their respective homes under the escort of the eunuchs in charge of rituals and the guards of the imperial city.
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