When news of Ma Cheng'en's affair reached the management team, Gao Pragmatic also felt it was a bit tricky.
It stands to reason that the direct order Ma Chengen received was to block the mouth and ensure that the main force of the Chahar Mongolian army was surrounded. As a result, Ma Chengen could have arrived, but in the end he failed to complete it for some reason. Instead, he encountered a battle that seemed to be a draw, but actually suffered a secret loss, resulting in a major strategic failure.
From this perspective, Ma Chengen deserves to be severely punished. If Gao Pragmatic happens to want to establish his authority at this time, even if it is to "borrow your head", that is okay.
However, reality often cannot be completely reasonable. There are many aspects to consider, and the final conclusion will most likely be a compromise.
For example, as I just said, the most severe punishment for Ma Chengen at this moment can be to "use your head for a purpose." As a Mongolian and Yuan strategist, Gao Pragmatic held Shang Fang's sword. If he wanted to, he could use the full power granted to him in the imperial edict to directly kill those who "don't want to die" and enforce military law.
However, there are several questions that must be clarified: Does Ma Chengen really deserve to die? Who benefits and who loses when he dies? Will it benefit the future if he doesn't die?
Adults are never supposed to make decisions in the heat of the moment, and politicians certainly don't. Just like it is absolutely impossible to become a beauty in anger, Wu Sangui is most likely to be misled by the Dashun Army's practice of torturing hundreds of officials in the capital and the false information that his father Wu Xiang was arrested. There would be no good end for him to join Dashun. At that time, with Li Zicheng in the west and Dorgon in the east, he really had no place to run, so he finally decided to "borrow troops" - if he could, he would borrow troops, and if he couldn't, he had to surrender.
In short, as the leader of a military group, the starting point for all his considerations is interests, and it can only be interests. Not to mention whether Chen Yuanyuan's status in Wu Sangui's mind is high or not is hard to say. Even if we take a step back, so what if it is very high. Is it higher than Yang Yuhuan in Li Longji's eyes?
In the same way, Gao Pragmatic cannot be stupid and get angry because Ma Chengen "disobeys orders and misses the opportunity" at this time. Instead, he must first understand the above issues.
Among these three questions, the most critical one is actually the second one: Who benefits and who loses when he dies?
As a leader among the younger generation of the Ma family army, Ma Chengen is a top general at the general level like his uncle Ma Gui. To a certain extent, he is the leader of the next generation of the Ma family army.
General Ma was the first general that Gao Jingshi took under his command. He was not only the founder of Gao Dang's generals, but also the representative of Xuan Da's generals. The Xin School did not consider adding sand to Xuanda at all. To a large extent, it was precisely because the two generals, Ma Jiajun and Ma Jiajun, firmly stood in the high-pragmatism camp, so the three towns of Xuanda could not get in at all.
Oh, in fact, the Xinxue School had previously thought of mixing things up with Xuanda University. For example, transferring Li Rusong to serve as the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Province a few years ago was actually an attempt.
It's just that this candidate was not chosen well. Li Rusong was the choice of a famous general in war, but he was a pure layman in politics. There were several "domineering" incidents in succession, which made many people unable to step down.
Later, when the Northwest Rebellion caught up, Li Rusong was transferred to the northwest by Gao Pangshi and made meritorious service. After Gao pragmatic returned to Beijing, he was sent to Guyuan by the emperor to hang out for a period of time in the Shaanxi General Army. Bing, Gansu General Bing]. Later, something happened to Li Chengliang, and he simply asked Li Rusong to return to Liaodong.
The reason for this development is that, firstly, the Li family is powerful in Liaodong, and Li Chengliang has to step down so that someone can control the Li family's army; secondly, it is also because Li Rusong's temper is really not good at united front work, and he offends people wherever he goes. The political technical work of mixing sand is completely hopeless.
Closer to home, since the Ma family's army is so important in the Gao Party, how could Gao Pragmatic kill the next generation leader of the Ma family because of such an incident? Isn't this a typical "relatives hate and enemies are happy"? What's more, although the Ma family is currently full of talents, Ma Chengen's identity is really special.
He is the son of Mafu and an only son. Ma Fu died young that year. Later, Ma Jin, as Ma Chengen's uncle, and Ma Gui, as his third uncle, both loved Ma Chengen very much. The uncle and the third uncle even did not hesitate to lose face and sent Ma Cheng'en to Ma Fang's sect for training, in order to train him well so that they would not be embarrassed to face their brothers under Jiuquan in the future.
Now that Ma Gui has just won at the mouth of the Three Gorges, if Gao Pragmatic turns around and punishes Ma Chengen severely, what will Ma Gui think?
Why, my Ma family has brought their own elite soldiers and rations, and they have been working hard under your Gao family in Xinzheng for twenty years. Now because you didn't win a battle well, you killed my nephew without saying a word?
So from this point of view, let alone killing Ma Chengen, even severe punishment would be extremely irrational. It is really a typical example of asking others to accept the surgery after having surgery on oneself. It is no different from the third brother who was ridiculed by netizens in later generations. It is a top performance of being out of his mind.
Who benefits? That must be the benefit of the Heart School! You, someone high up, cut off his arm, why can't the My Heart School be happy? There is no need to say who will lose the money.
The second most important thing is, will Ma Chengen's immortality be beneficial to the future? This is almost certain. Looking back at Ma Chengen's promotion path, we can find that the reason why he became the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu at a young age is that his most important military exploits were achieved with Gao Pragmatism, and his promotion to the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu was even more pragmatic. The driving force from it.
According to the custom of the Ming Dynasty officialdom, the word "高" on Ma Chengen's forehead is dazzling. Unless he wants to be stabbed in the spine by everyone in the world, it is unlikely that he will betray Gao pragmatism in this life.
Regarding this point, we can see it by referring to the original history of how Zu Dashou dared to lead his troops and leave after Yuan Chonghuan was killed by Chongzhen. The relationship between Yuan Chonghuan and Zu Dashou at that time was similar to the relationship between Gao Pragmatic and Ma Jiajiang at this time. . At that time, Zu Dashou knew very well that Chongzhen would not do anything to him, but he still led his troops and left without saying a word. The reason was that he followed the custom of the times: being loyal to the emperor is a small matter, and being loyal to Entang is a big matter.
It may be difficult for future generations to understand this kind of thinking, but in fact this situation has a cultural basis. You can see that Confucius clearly supported "kissing each other". He said, "The father hides for the son, and the son hides for the father. This is always the case." It means that if a family member commits a crime, you should conceal it from him, because this is the most sincere and basic human nature - Confucius did not say that you should "preserve the principles of nature and destroy human desires."
This kind of thinking gradually fermented, forming a patriarchal system with Chinese characteristics, and then formed the thinking of allegiance at all levels. In the Ming Dynasty, as the teacher-student relationship in the officialdom and the servant system in the army became popular, strange phenomena such as the "favor" and "end hall" of civilian officials were greater than that of the emperor, and the orders of the family head were greater than the imperial edicts and military orders.
All in all, keeping Ma Cheng'en alive almost means that the Ma family will basically obey Gao Pragmatism in the next few decades.
So the last question, should Ma Chengen die? This is actually a very flexible question. If strictly speaking from the perspective of executing military orders, it may be damnable. After all, the last military order he received was to gag.
However, there is something debatable about this matter, that is, before this order, Gao Pragmatic had another order very early on, which was to ask all ministries to pay attention to search where the Chahar tribe had fled.
This order has never been taken back since it was issued, which means that Ma Chengen has always been shouldering the responsibility of searching for the Chahar tribe. In this case, when he discovered the Chahar tribe and immediately chased them to intercept them, he was also executing a highly pragmatic military order. In this case, even if it led to other mistakes and failures, it can only be said that he misjudged the choice between the two tasks, but it cannot be said that he violated military orders.
If that's the case, then at least it shouldn't be a capital crime. At the same time, considering that Ma Chengen's performance during the war was not only brave and fearless, but also wise, it could offset some of the adverse effects, so there was an excuse to protect him.
If you want to understand these three issues, now you have to consider specific solutions. If the crime is not to be punished on the spot, in theory, Gao Pragmatic, the manager, cannot make decisions without authorization. His authority is only to report the situation to the court and make suggestions. The decision-making power lies with the Ministry of War, the cabinet, and the emperor. Of course, the emperor is the final decision-maker.
Since Gao Pragmatic wanted to protect Ma Chengen, he would simply help others to the end. I think Ma Gui's wisdom would not fail to understand the mystery. Therefore, Gao pragmatically decided to step forward to help Ma Chengen take the blame for his strategic mistakes - after all, it would be fatal for Ma Chengen to carry the blame, but it would be no big deal if it was Gao who carried the blame.
There is always no shortage of surprises on the battlefield. He was very pragmatic and had previously ordered all ministries to search for the Chahar tribe to migrate. This was something he had enough reasons to do. As for what happened in the end, it was basically an accident. Even if the Heart School wanted to find fault, the Practical School had reason to shirk it.
Coupled with the fact that Gao Pragmatic has two great victories at the moment, namely, the Great Victory of Naturalization and the Great Victory of Lightning Lake, this battle against Yuan has been a complete victory on the whole, and the next step is nothing more than continuing to pursue Tumen and Abba. With the two works of Dai Saiyin and Khan, it is unlikely that the court would seize on a small mistake and magnify it infinitely.
After making up his mind, Gao Pingshi explained to Cao Ke and asked him to draft the essay for him, while he wrote a handwritten letter to reply to Ma Chengen. In this handwritten letter, Gao Pragmatic did not mention how to deal with Ma Chengen at all, but he also did not mention his merits. He only affirmed his bravery in fighting and warned him to take a good rest and not to take it lightly just because he was young and in good health. etc.
This letter is quite interesting to read. The pragmatic tone in the letter is not only caring, but also a typical model of elders caring for younger generations. If you think about the fact that they are almost the same age, this seems a bit strange, but Gao Xiangpang has been friends with Ma Gui for a long time, so it is natural to treat Ma Chengen with the same attitude as a junior.
After finishing these things, it was already late at night. Gao Pragmatic has been on the road with the cavalry during this period. He only took it easy during the two days he was stationed at Lightning Lake. Overall, it was considered a high-intensity work. Although he couldn't be said to be physically and mentally exhausted, he was indeed a little tired, so he rarely saw it. He did not meet with the generals and went to bed "early".
The next day, Li Rusong sent a military report, saying that he had met with the vanguard of Qi Jiguang's imperial guards. He did not catch up with the Chaharmeng army along the way. He expected that the opponent had already fled north. He proposed to continue the pursuit and asked Gao Pragmatic for approval.
Li Rusong has always had a strong desire to make meritorious deeds. Gao Pragmatic has known this for a long time, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. However, this military report still made him feel that it was not that simple. He always felt that Li Rusong seemed not happy to be with Qi Jiguang. meet.
why? How can one be bright when one is born with beauty? It doesn't seem right either. If there is someone in Liaodong who wants to say to Qi Jiguang, "How can you be bright when you are born with good friends?", it should be Li Chengliang. What's the point of having him, Li Rusong, as a junior? You know, back then Li Chengliang specially arranged for Li Rusong to go to Jizhen, where Qi Jiguang was in charge, for training. In theory, Qi Jiguang was still his old boss.
Eh? Old boss...oh, that's it. It seems that Li Rusong does have some heart problems, but it is not that "how can one be bright when he is born well", but that Li Rusong, who is already the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, may not want to meet an old man with a higher status, older qualifications and greater achievements than him in front of outsiders. handsome.
Ha, this guy is really a bit arrogant. But... whatever, let's fulfill him. Gao pragmatic quickly replied to Li Rusong, approving him to continue pursuing the Mongolian army, but required him to report his location and the situation he faced at least twice a day - whether it was good or bad.
In addition, this time is different from before. Gao Pragmatic has already vaguely felt that something is not right about the Chahar tribe. Even the entire Chahar tribe has appeared in Tumut, and it seems that they are going to conduct a great migration.
Great migration is not uncommon for nomads, but it does not mean that migration is inevitable. Generally speaking, some preparations need to be made in advance. Of course, Gao Pragmatic has no research in this area. He doesn't know exactly how far in advance such preparations need to be started. But in any case, if Chahar is really going to migrate this time, it means that they have made a plan some time in advance and implemented it seriously.
If this guess is true, it would explain some of the things that puzzled me before. For example, they gave up Chahanhot without saying a word, such as the perfect use of the golden cicada to escape the shell, such as the inexplicable naturalization, etc. Under the premise of "being prepared to migrate", all the above can be explained.
However, there seems to be one thing that cannot be explained: if Chahar plans to migrate early, what will the Outer Khalkha tribe do? Does Abadai Saiyin Khan know about this? If he knew, why would he be willing to cooperate with Tumen?
This is very baffling, because if Tumen migrated in a big way and the destination was far away, then his deterrent effect on Abadai Saiyin Khan would have actually disappeared, and Abadai Saiyin Khan would have no reason to follow him. The baton turned.
But thinking of this, something caught Gao Pragmatic's attention: the news from Han Naji was that he had occupied Helin and controlled some scattered small tribes around it, which meant that Abadai Saiyin Khan had also moved his headquarters. He left, but did not pack away all the tribes he ruled.
Could it be that the Outer Khalkha tribe is also planning to migrate? But where does he plan to go? Are you going with the Chahar tribe? If they go together, the Chahar Mongolian army is about to run away now, but the Mongolian army of the Outer Kalkha Division he leads is still stranded in the war zone. Isn't he afraid that he won't be able to escape?
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