"It is better to get a hundred catties of gold than to get a promise from Ji Bu." - "Historical Records·Biography of Ji Bu Luan Bu".
Throughout the ages, Ji Bu is not the only one who has promised a thousand pieces of gold? The high pragmatic commitment is also well-known. This had already spread throughout the world after his heroic feats in Wei Hui during his childhood. Borrowing 300,000 taels in vain and paying it back with nothing, this is far more than "a hundred catties of gold". According to normal conversion, it is 30,000 taels of gold.
What makes it even more difficult to say a word of doubt is that the 300,000 taels he borrowed at that time was for the purpose of relieving the victims, rather than for personal gain. Even if people later discovered that Gao Pragmatic spent the three hundred thousand taels without any loss at all, it can only be said that he managed it wisely.
Even the rebel generals who had long believed that they had committed treason and injustice could not help but feel excited about the statement of such a well-known official of the imperial court who was also a powerful manager of the Seven Towns.
Maybe this is really a glimmer of hope?
Everyone is aware of the current situation in Ningxia. Although Kuaibai has always boasted that Ningxia's city defense is impregnable, everyone is a military officer. No one knows about siege. As long as the other party has the ability to besiege for a long time, it will be fine sooner or later if they stay in the city. A dead end.
Do the officers and soldiers have the ability to besiege the city for a long time? The answer seems to be self-evident. Of course the huge Ming Dynasty has such ability.
Even if everyone knows that the court is short of money, everyone also knows that the court's lack of money is caused by the ban on vassalage. Who is more important, the establishment of a vassal state or the suppression of rebellion? Obviously everyone believes that countering the rebellion is more important, so if the court is really forced to do so, it can definitely squeeze out money for a long-term siege as long as it suspends the vassal ban or significantly extends the scheduled completion time from three years.
Since the imperial court has the ability to besiege the city for a long time, it means that Ningxia will be finished sooner or later, and Kuai Bai and his son will become losers sooner or later. As for their so-called "waiting for the world to change", most of the generals are not optimistic about it now.
This truth is actually obvious. The reason why the reasons that Kuaibai originally used to convince them seemed very sufficient. The key lies in the great prospects specially outlined by Burihatu: Chahar takes care of Tumed; Ordos helps Ningxia stabilize the situation. Both sides Waiting for an opportunity to carve up Shaanxi; the Huo Luochi brothers annexed Gansu and connected Qinghai, Gansu, and Songshan.
According to Burihatu's grand blueprint, the four families can work together to surround the west and north sides of the Ming Dynasty in the future, basically forming the situation when the Mongol Empire rose. As long as everyone works together, the destruction of the Ming Dynasty will be just around the corner. Once such a great deed is completed, not only will Tumen Khan's achievements directly match that of Genghis Khan, but even Boshu Ketu, Kuai Bai, Huo Luochi and others, who is not a great Khan? It is not impossible to rebuild the new "Four Great Khanates"...
It has to be said that Burihatu's agitation ability is indeed very strong. Kuaibai believes that this prospect is completely promising and has always firmly believed in it.
But what about the reality? The Ningxia generals did have some hope at the beginning, but unfortunately the reality was too cruel, and the original plan was shattered after a short battle of Hurihuliang. The main force of the Ordos Khanate, which was at a pivotal position in the Burihatu blueprint, was defeated by the Ming army - of course, the Ming-Mongolian coalition forces to be precise - and even Boshu Ketu Jinong himself was defeated on the spot. Captured.
Immediately afterwards, the Ordos tribe suddenly transformed and became an accomplice of the Ming army. It turned its guns and began to attack Tu Wenxiu. Another main force, the Yilduqi tribe, also went on an expedition to Huoluochi with Tuotuo.
What hope is there? No matter how optimistic the estimate is, there seems to be only one possibility to reverse the decline, and that is for the Tumen Khan to quickly launch a large-scale Western Expedition while Tuotuo is away on war, and defeat Tumo with lightning speed. Special, completely turning the situation of the entire right-wing Mongolia around. Otherwise, all grand plans and hegemonies will be just a mirror image, with no possibility of realization.
Of course, you may also be able to count on the two brothers Huo Luochi and Jilitu, hoping that they can defeat Tuotuo and Yilduzhi with the advantage of waiting for work. If so, the situation in Ningxia will probably be slightly stable for a while. .
Perhaps because they had not completely given up on brothers Tumen and Huo Luochi, although the Ningxia generals all received the memorandum - in fact, it might as well be called a letter of persuasion to surrender - no one took action immediately, and they only quietly contacted each other. , and outsiders simply don’t know what was said specifically.
However, the actions of the generals alarmed Kuai Bai and his son, and they began to worry about their own safety.
The meaning of Gao Pragmatic's statement is actually very simple. It is a typical "only punish the first culprit and ignore the rest." Unfortunately, for Kuai Bai and his son, this attitude is equivalent to a reminder, because they are the "chief culprits" defined by Gao Pragmatic. ". All the generals have a way to retreat, but they, the father and son, have no way to retreat. Behind them is an abyss, and they can only go to the dark side in one way.
However, when the father and son put it together, they discovered that their views were exactly the opposite.
Kuaibai believed that although the generals had a way out, he had done a good job in wooing them, as long as there was no bad news from Tumen Khan and Huo Luochi brothers - like the capture of Boshu Ketu That kind of - then for a while, they will not listen to Gao Pragmatic's deception and turn to the official army.
Therefore, even if the position of the generals is shaken, it is not yet time to "clean up the door." After all, Gao Pragmatic's tens of thousands of troops are outside at this time. If there is such turmoil internally, it will be very dangerous. This kind of civil unrest may be exploited by Gao Pragmatic.
Kuai Chengen's attitude was exactly the opposite. He believed that since Gao pragmatically sent troops, the government and army had gone too smoothly. Especially after the main force of Boshu Ketu Khan's camp, the closest and strongest reinforcement to Ningxia, was defeated by the army and became the lackeys of the Ming court, the generals' confidence in their father and son will definitely be greatly shaken. It is impossible to conclude at this moment. Will the generals be tempted by the pragmatic surrender letter and take risks to do "big things"?
Therefore, Yi Chengen strongly advocated preemptive strike. Even considering that there should be no big internal turmoil due to the current situation of the enemy, at least he should kill the chicken to scare the monkeys and use the head of a certain general to warn the other generals and let them know. How serious are the consequences of betraying your family?
After listening to his son's opinion, Kuai Bai was in a dilemma. What Chengen said is not unreasonable, especially for a military group. If there are signs of rebellion that are not contained in time, the consequences will sometimes become unimaginable.
But Kuaibai thought he understood Gao Pragmatic's intention very well. He must have wanted to cause civil strife in Ningxia City, and then take the opportunity to violently attack the city and seize Ningxia in one fell swoop.
If he kills the chicken and scares the monkey as his son hopes, it will be fine if everything goes well. If something unexpected happens, the pragmatic Gao outside the city will definitely fan the flames, causing civil strife to break out and never be controlled again. By that time, he would be able to directly reap the benefits without even attacking the city.
Although it is good to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, at this moment, it is really difficult to control the heat. If you don't do it right, it will turn into a firecracker.
After thinking about it, Kuaibai still rejected his son's proposal, but he still gave a sign and said that he would wait and see the outcome of the battle between the Huo Luochi brothers, Tuotuo and Yilduzi, and also look at Tumen. Will the Great Khan send troops?
Kuai Chengen was not satisfied and kept asking for a while, but Kuaibai had to tell him more clearly, saying that Tumen Khan was far away and it might be delayed until we get the news, so it would depend on the performance of Brother Huo Luochi. If Brother Huo Luochi is defeated, we will immediately kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, lest Gao pragmatically use this victory to continue to intimidate and lure the generals.
Yi Chengen reluctantly accepted this statement and returned to his residence with a sullen face.
Only when he returned to his own house did he know that a guest had arrived. This guest, Yi Chengen, had never met him before, but he had heard of his name - none other than Zhou Zhe, who had once defended the Ningxia Central Guard against the rebels.
Kuai Chengen was furious when he heard this and wanted to kill Zhou Zhe on the spot. Unexpectedly, Zhou Zhe laughed and said, "I came to save you, but you want to kill me. It's really a strange thing in the world."
Upon hearing this, Kuai Chengen felt a move in his heart. He asked the servants of the Cangtou Army to take action slowly, and said coldly: "My Kuai family has an army of more than 100,000 people. Even Tieling Li Yincheng is far behind. Why do you need Ercao to save us!"
Zhou Zhe laughed and said: "Li Yincheng was knighted for his military exploits. He is the first of the frontier commanders in this dynasty. How noble his status is. How can it be compared to your rebellion? You say you have many troops, not to mention the so-called more than ten How many percent of the army of ten thousand is real? Let me ask you: How much of this army does your family take, and how much does the generals take?"
Kuai Chengen's heart trembled, but his face became more and more stern, and he snorted: "My Kuai family extends kindness to all the generals, and the soldiers of the generals are the soldiers of my Kuai family."
Zhou Zhe sighed: "In this case, tomorrow your heads will be hanging high on the top of the Ningxia city... What a pity, what a pity! It's a pity that Gao Shutai thought that your father and son were also deducted from military pay and their military morale was unstable. I had no choice but to do such a thing, to be killed like this, a waste of my ability..."
Kuai Chengen felt chilled in his heart. Images of the generals flashed through his mind, and he asked: "Gao Shutai... what do you mean by this?"
"I'm not afraid to tell you the truth." Zhou Zhe spread his hands: "Gao Shutai sent many lobbyists to Ningxia City to lobby, but the student was only one of them, and because he was old and weak, he was the slowest to come... By the way , I wonder if any of the other generals can tell you about this?"
Yi Chengen's expression changed drastically, and he quickly asked: "You said there were lobbyists from other people there already?"
Zhou Zhe didn't answer, but laughed: "It seems that no one told you... Sigh, it seems that you can't save your good head."
Kuai Chengen was a cold-blooded person to begin with. Hearing these words, he became extremely angry and said bitterly: "I should have known that these bastards were unreliable! After receiving the memorandum, not one of them was handed over. It can be said that they were calmed down, but The government sent lobbyists, but no one reported it. You really think I don’t dare to kill anyone anymore!”
Zhou Zhe curled his lips and said: "What's the use of killing people at will? Even if you kill Liu Dongyang or Xu Chao, will the rest of the people be frightened? Don't even think about it. Now Tuotuo and Yiledu are both Qi, Taihuhan and the three groups of elite cavalry of 70,000 to 80,000 people went to surround Huoluochi and Tuerlu. Can they still come? As for Tumen, how could he dare to send troops to the west if he didn't capture Daning? Chahan Don’t you want Hot?
And what is the situation of our officers and soldiers? In addition to the 60,000 to 70,000 troops from the three sides of Shaanxi, there are also tens of thousands of reinforcements from Shanxi, and another 20,000 from Sichuan. The total is at least twice that of Ningxia, and they are all elites from each town, not the rabble brought in temporarily from Ningxia city.
Under such circumstances, who can come to save Ningxia Gucheng? Since no one can save him, all the generals in the city would not think for themselves. Wouldn't it be a good idea to unite and sell your father and son in order to let the court forget the past and even be rich for the rest of his life? "
Yi Chengen's face changed drastically, and he breathed heavily. After a moment, he asked: "Gao Wu... How does Gao Shutai plan to treat me?"
Zhou Zhe was stunned for a moment, and suddenly discovered a key point: Kuai Chengen didn't mention Kuai Bai, but only asked himself.
"Gao Shutai said..." Zhou Zhe said slowly: "Whoever opens the city first to ask for surrender will be regarded as the first meritorious service. If he kills the enemy and fights for division in the city, his merit will be increased. On the emperor's side, Gao Shutai can guarantee that he will be punished for his merits, not only will no harm be done to him, but he will also be rewarded based on his merits."
Yi Chengen rolled his eyes and asked: "How to reward me?" He reminded: "Although my father and son do not have an army of more than 100,000, they still have 60,000."
Zhou Zhe said calmly: "The hereditary commander-in-chief of Ningxia."
Kuai Chengen was overjoyed at first, then a little disbelieving, and said doubtfully: "I never heard that the chief soldier can be hereditary."
Zhou Zhe shook his head and said: "Why not? Isn't the Duke of Guizhou the hereditary general of Yunnan?"
Yi Chengen opened his eyes wide and said in disbelief: "Gao Shutai can make my father and son become the same as the Duke of Guizhou? I don't ask if he can..."
"You want to know why he did this, right?" Zhou Zhe smiled, shook his head and said, "There is no doubt about this. There is only one enemy of Ming Dynasty right now, and that is Tumen. As long as Tumen can be eliminated, Ming Dynasty will win." There are no worries anymore. Compared with this, Ningxia, a mere town of one generation, is nothing. Do you think the emperor will care? Besides, the Ningxia commander-in-chief is hereditary for your father and son. It is just in accordance with the old system of Yunnan and has nothing to do with civil servants. Gao Shu Why should Taiwan be stingy?”
Kuai Cheng'en was overjoyed and hurriedly patted his chest and agreed. At the same time, he expressed his loyalty and said, "If this happens, if Gao Shutai goes to conquer Chahar in the future, my family will definitely invite him to be the vanguard to repay Gao Shutai's kindness." !”
Zhou Zhe smiled, responded generously, and reminded: "This matter is already imminent. If 'those people' are allowed to take the lead, I never said these words just now..."
A murderous intent flashed through Yi Chengen's eagle-like eyes, and he nodded slowly: "Since they are unkind, don't blame me for being unjust. Mr. Zhou, please sit in my house for a while, and I will go and get things done quickly. ”
Zhou Zhe shook his head and said, "I'm not going to sit down anymore. I have to tell the lord the news here quickly, otherwise the lord doesn't know who the loyal ministers and good generals are."
When Yi Chengen heard this, he hurriedly said: "That's right, that's right. This matter really can't be delayed, so I'll give it to Mr. Zhou."
Zhou Zhe stood up with a smile and said goodbye: "General Yi is busy with the army, so I won't bother sending you far away. From now on, students will still have time to come to the general's residence to ask for help in Ningxia... Say goodbye."
Kuai Chengen said politely, and when Zhou Zhe left, he took a deep breath and said to the servant beside him: "Go, mobilize the Cangtou Army and Ningxia Headquarters, and say that I have secret orders from my father and have something important to do immediately. "
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Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
PS: To control the length, the story of how Yi Chengen killed the non-direct generals of Ningxia is basically left blank. Tomorrow’s chapter will only briefly explain it, and we will immediately enter the subsequent aftermath.
