Now that the emperor has been declared dead, the various opinions of the outer court are actually of little significance. However, the turmoil caused by the war in Jianzhou did not end so easily.
There is an extremely important incident that has not yet been resolved: Li Chengliang's defeat.
This matter has already caused a stir in the capital. From the Shandong Dao Yushi Han Xianyou impeaching Li Chengliang for killing Liang and taking advantage of the past, to the Zhili Yushi Ren Yangxin impeaching Li Chengliang for being incapable of losing power, and the Li family's descendants "circling Shenjing to control the left and right." "Arrogance cannot be shaken", it can be said that every wave is higher than the next.
However, Shen Shixing, under the persuasion of Wang Xijue, appealed for Li Chengliang's rescue and said: "Today, the situation on the nine sides is difficult, and Liaodong alone is in trouble; the generals on the nine sides are loyal and brave, and Liang alone is the best. In the past twenty years, there has never been a battle without fighting. There is no day when I am not on guard, it can be said that I have tried my best.
As for the situation when using troops, since ancient times it is difficult to say that there will be no victory but no defeat. Now, taking advantage of their achievements in bloody battles and taking advantage of their loyalty to serve the country, they have broken the hearts of the officials and allowed the barbarians to run rampant without daring to suppress them. If you dare not participate in the discussion, how could it be harmful?
Today, Jianzhou is still surrounded by three forces, and the brothers of the captive chieftains have no wings to fly. After all this great work has been accomplished, even if all the ugly people are punished, what's the point of regretting it? However, it was not Li Chengliang's job to suppress the barbarians and leave the fortress alone, and encirclement in several routes was also Li Chengliang's legacy strategy. If a mistake in planning and a loss in a battle resulted in many branches, Liang Baisheng's contribution would not have been achieved. This will be the case for ministers and others. Cherish it deeply. The Emperor Fuwang has given me special insights. "
Shen Shixing was a dignified Yuanfu, and he personally went to Shushen to rescue Li Chengliang, which was naturally not an ordinary level. Although there was no prime minister in the Ming Dynasty, the chief minister was still regarded as the leader of all officials. Even the emperor had to consider the face of the chief minister at ordinary times.
In addition, Shen Shixing's application for rescue was very particular. He did not discuss whether Li Chengliang had killed good people in the past and took credit for it. He also did not bother to defend the Li family's "big tail". He simply reviewed Li Chengliang's hundreds of years in the past twenty years. The merit of war emphasizes that it is human nature to suffer an occasional defeat. It is really unbearable that one defeat wiped out half of his life's achievements.
The reason why this statement is particular is that he knew that the emperor understood in his heart:
First, it is actually very common for generals to kill good people and take credit for their actions these days when fighting, especially when fighting foreign countries. Li Chengliang is not the only one who does this.
Secondly, when it comes to going out to fight, if you lose a battle, you will have to pursue the old case. Who will dare to go to war lightly in the future? How many generals dare to guarantee that they will never be defeated in this life?
Thirdly, although Li Chengliang's troops were defeated now, the situation in Jianzhou was not out of control, and the encirclement of the three armies was still going smoothly. This was also Li Chengliang's previous plan. How could he just focus on one defeat and ignore the entire battle? Woolen cloth? He also had a share of the credit for this overall victory. What's the point of convicting someone based only on one aspect's defeat?
Fourthly, the reason why Shen Shixing did not defend the saying that the Li Chengliang family was too powerful to be eliminated and that "the left and right sides of the Shenjing were tightly controlled and arrogant could not be shaken" was not because it was a fait accompli.
The so-called "Right of the Ring of God" who can truly be called unshakable is not Li Chengliang, but Gao Pragmatism.
Even in Liaodong, Li Chengliang's direct descendants only had about 30,000 people, while Li Rusong had another 5,000 people in Xuanfu. Can the number of thirty-five thousand be enough to "encircle Shenjing and hold it tightly on both sides, and the arrogance cannot shake it"? What a joke!
The capital's capital camp is said to have 400,000 soldiers. Although most of them cannot fight, there are 60,000 top-notch imperial guards among them. Judging from the situation of the Grand Parade, this army is more elite than any frontier army. It can be called the best in Qi Jiguang's military training history. peak. Although Shen Shixing didn't understand soldiers, he heard Gao Pragmatic's evaluation: In front of the Imperial Guard formation, a hundred thousand elite cavalry charged into the formation and could not be shaken.
A hundred thousand fine cavalry charging into the formation? Even if it takes thirty or forty years to go back, Anda Khan will have such a huge military power when he is at his strongest.
Needless to say, outside the capital, looking from east to west and starting from Liaodong:
There are about 180,000 troops in Liaodong, of which 30,000 are direct descendants of Li Chengliang, and among the remaining 150,000, there are also 30,000 direct descendants of Cao Yun, Ma Dong, and Ma Chengxun who were seconded by Xuanda University. ?
Jizhen originally had 130,000 to 40,000 soldiers. Later, due to Qi Jiguang's transfer to the commander of the imperial guard and Qi Jin's transfer to Shenyang guerrillas, the number of soldiers dropped a bit. However, since Ji Town is one of the main positions in the plan to send troops to Chahar, 40,000 to 50,000 squads of troops were transferred from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang, Jiangxi and other places, and the current total strength remains at 170,000 to 80,000.
The Li family only has one Li Ruzhang in Ji Town, and his position is only to serve as the general guarding Jizhou West Road. Li Ruzhang was the fourth son of Li Chengliang, so his treatment was naturally not as good as that of his eldest son Li Rusong. He only had a thousand servants with him. What can these thousand people do if they are placed in front of the elites of 178,000 Ji Town?
The Xuanfu's military strength was once as high as about 150,000. However, with the infiltration of the Ma Jiajun and the Ma Jiajun, and the long-term lull in the Tumut direction, the Xuanfu's total military strength has also declined, and is now about 130,000. , five thousand of which were the Liaodong cavalry brought by Li Rusong.
Although the 5,000 Liaodong cavalry are not weak, Xuanfu is the place where Ma Fang rose to prominence. He has been under the leadership of Gao Dang for many years. Whether it is military morale or military strength, Li Rusong is a strong dragon in Xuanfu who can hardly defeat the local snake. What's more, because of Ma Fang's relationship, Xuanfu's cavalry is also a strong point and is not afraid of Li Rusong's Liaodong cavalry.
Not to mention Datong, which has 120,000 soldiers and not a single general from the Li family, it has a completely high party base.
Then there is Shanxi Town, which is the one omitted from the "Three Xuanda Towns". It also has 70,000 soldiers, and there are also no Li generals. It is also the base of the Gao Party.
There is also Changping Town under the jurisdiction of Governor Shuntian. It is difficult to say whether it is the capital itself or the periphery of the capital, but it also has 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers. Among them, there was a guerrilla general Li Ruwu in the Li family, but he was only Li Chengliang's nephew, and he only had three hundred servants around him, so he was completely worth mentioning.
In such a situation, even if Shen Shixing heard it, he would be indifferent even if the emperor didn't believe it. He could even imagine that Gao Qingshi would sneer and sneer when he heard this.
According to the traditional thinking of the Ming Dynasty, since Gao Jingshi, the most famous military commander in the world who is famous all over the world, is sitting in the capital, and there are a lot of generals he has commanded in the surrounding towns, how can a general like Li Chengliang dare to Do you have any evil intentions?
After all, the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty were so confident that they would not take military generals seriously when there was no powerful military commander in charge. With such a powerful military commander around, they would naturally not worry about the mere 30,000 soldiers. Therefore, to say that Li Chengliang's tail is unstoppable is purely because the civil servants are discriminating against military generals and believe that rebellion can only be done by military generals, so they use it as an example at such a moment.
But it's useless to say that, with His Majesty's shrewdness, it is impossible to calculate everything at all. Unless the emperor himself wanted to punish Li Chengliang, he would not take this statement seriously.
When Shen Shixing came to rescue Shen, Li Chengliang had just been defeated, the battle of Jianzhou had not yet been fought, and the emperor was still hesitating on how to deal with it. Therefore, Gao Pragmatic suggested that the emperor not respond until the fight was over, and the emperor agreed.
Now that the battle is over, Jianzhou "surrenders and loses half" and is waiting to be dismembered by three points. At this moment, it is time for the emperor to make a decision.
Zhu Yijun took this opportunity to bring up the matter again and asked Gao pragmatically how he thought Li Chengliang should handle it.
Gao Pragmatic was very direct and said: "Based on my personal military habits, rewards and punishments must be clearly defined. It is common to all people in the world that Ning Yuanbo worked hard and achieved great results in the past. If he pursues and fights just because of a defeat, , is really inappropriate. On this point, I agree with Yuan Fu’s theory.
However, although Uncle Ning Yuan's achievements in the past were high, he was also richly rewarded by the late emperor and His Majesty, and he is now a hereditary earl. This so-called reward is sufficient and cannot be considered as a reason for not being punished. "
Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "This is where I hesitate. In fact, what should be rewarded has already been rewarded, but this punishment... is not easy to punish, lest people in the world say that I, the emperor, are mean and unkind, which is really embarrassing. "
Gao pragmatically said: "I thought it was difficult, but it is not the case. Punishment must be punished, but favor can be calculated differently."
Zhu Yijun was a little surprised and asked: "How can these two be done at the same time?"
Gao pragmatically said: "I believe that Ning Yuanbo's defeat is actually the biggest defeat of the imperial court in recent years. If it were anyone else, I'm afraid he would not be a pity to be jailed or put to death. But since he is a world king, we might as well be more lenient and only take away his position. Just order him to return to the capital as Ning Yuanbo to recuperate."
Zhu Yijun's expression changed slightly: "Do you think... this punishment is not severe enough? From Liaodong..."
"Your Majesty, don't be impatient. I haven't finished speaking yet."
Generally speaking, ministers are not allowed to interrupt the emperor's speech, but Zhu Yijun was used to being rude when he was alone with Gao Pragmatic, so he didn't think there was any problem. He just followed his words and said, "Then continue."
Gao Jingshi then continued: "Uncle Ning Yuan resigned from Liao Town, and the post of Liao Commander became vacant. In fact, according to my original intention, Ning Yuanbo lost and Cao Yu won in this battle, so it is right that Cao Yu should take over as Commander of Liao. However, Your Majesty neither If people in the world misunderstand, then Cao Yu’s reward needs to be considered separately, and the position of commander of Liao Dynasty will still be handed over to the Li family."
Zhu Yijun's heart moved and he frowned: "Are you talking about Li Rusong?"
Zhu Yijun was quite satisfied with Li Rusong, but it seemed a little strange that he had removed his father and then sent him to Liaodong as a general soldier. Although if you do this, you are indeed not afraid of people in the world saying that you are mean and ungrateful, but looking at it on the other hand, it seems that you are afraid of the Li family and feel that the Li family cannot survive without them in Liaodong. It still feels wrong.
He frowned and thought for a long time, but he was still not particularly satisfied, so he said: "Let me consider this matter in detail, but just now you mentioned that Cao Yun should be rewarded for his contribution... It would be fine if he takes over as Commander-in-Chief of Liao. If not, how should we repay the work?"
Gao pragmatically said: "It stands to reason that Cao Yu has been in Liaodong for half his life and is most familiar with the situation in Liaodong. When the Liaodong affairs are initially decided and the Mongolian war is about to start, it is not the best idea to transfer him away from Liaodong. But the matter is now over, let's take a moment It's not impossible to make a trade-off, but it's best not to move too far away.
According to my humble opinion, if it is inconvenient for Cao Yu to take over as Commander of Liao this time, it would be better to transfer him to Commander Ji first. Ji Town is the closest to Liaodong, and it is also an important place for sending troops to Chahar. It is also appropriate to use Cao Yu to control it. "
"That makes sense." Zhu Yijun thought for a while and then asked, "What about Yang Siwei?"
Yang Siwei is the current chief military officer of Jizhen, taking over the position left by Qi Jiguang when he came to Beijing.
Gao pragmatically said: "Yang Siwei's arrangement depends on whether the emperor wants to let Li Rusong leave Liaodong."
Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "What does this mean?"
Gao pragmatic smiled and replied: "I wonder if your majesty still remembers that Yang Siwei was originally from Liaodong? That's right. Ning Yuanbo took over as commander of Liao in the fourth year of Longqing because the former commander-in-chief of Liaodong Wang Zhidao died in battle, and Yang Siwei had already served as the commander-in-chief of Changping in the second year of Longqing, and before that, he was the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong.
In other words, it was precisely because Yang Siwei was transferred to Changping that the position of deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong at that time was vacated for Ning Yuanbo. So after Wang Zhidao died in battle, Ning Yuanbo was able to serve as commander-in-chief of Liao. Otherwise, Yang Siwei would have succeeded Liao Commander that year.
Therefore, I have three arrangements for your Majesty's reference: first, if Li Rusong is transferred to Liao Commander, then Cao Yu will be promoted to Ji Commander, and Yang Siwei will be promoted to Xuan Commander; second, if Li Rusong does not move, Cao Yu will take over as Liao Commander. Yang Siwei did not move; thirdly, Li Rusong did not move, Cao Yu was promoted to Commander Ji, and Yang Siwei returned to control Liao Commander. "
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "I understand what you mean, but I think these three arrangements are reasonable, but they are not perfect... I don't mean to blame you. This matter is indeed quite difficult. I just have to think about it again.”
Gao pragmatically said: "Yes, I understand."
Zhu Yijun thought for a while and suddenly asked: "Hey, since Yang Siwei became famous earlier than Li Chengliang, how old is he now?"
Gao pragmatically left the Ministry of War not long ago, so he still remembered this clearly, and immediately replied: "Yang Siwei was born in the ninth year of Jiajing, and he is fifty-nine years old this year."
Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "Is he still strong?"
This question is really not unnecessary. During this period, some of the generals of the Ming Dynasty suffered a lot of injuries. When they were nearly sixty years old, many hidden diseases appeared, and most of them resigned and retired. It is rare to be as healthy and long-lived as Li Chengliang. It is very rare. .
Gao pragmatically said: "I heard before that his health in recent years has not been as good as in his early years, but I heard not long ago that he once led troops to patrol the border. It doesn't matter if I think about it."
Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "But there is no guarantee of victory. The body bones of these military ministers have always been either broken, or broken down very quickly. In three or four years, they can go from flying generals to lying on the bed to recuperate. Since There are already rumors that his health is not as good as before... Unless I want to say something unlucky, I'm afraid he won't be strong for much longer. If I let him fight in front of the battle again, it would be unbecoming of a king."
It’s not easy to accept this high-pragmatic statement, so there is no interface.
Zhu Yijun sighed: "Forget it, let him go to Xuanfu. There has been nothing happening there for many years. In the future, Chahar will not send troops to the Xuanfu general. At most, we will dispatch some troops. This is something he He can still do it. As for Li Rusong... let him go to Liaodong to replace his father. I hope he won't be like his father."
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