Who is better to choose? To be honest, Gao Pragmatic thinks that no matter who he chooses, it will be the same, because none of the honorable men currently available have little war experience, let alone naval battle experience. No matter who he chooses, he is still a rookie?
However, the emperor was able to raise this issue not only because of Gao Jingshi's special relationship with him, but probably more because of Gao Jingshi's prestige in the military and his status as the helmsman of the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance.
What does prestige in the military mean? This means that as long as the palace lets out word that it is a highly pragmatic recommendation for someone to serve as the admiral of the Japanese navy to assist Korea, at least there will not be many people in the military who dare to question it. In addition, it is obvious at first glance that there must be political factors in the appointment of an honorary as an admiral. It is very likely that this admiral is just in name and may not actually command front-line operations.
Therefore, usually when the inner and outer courts, civil servants and generals see this scene, they will not start to complain foolishly at first. Even if they want to complain, it will only happen after news of the unfavorable battle situation is transmitted back to the capital.
In this way, it actually means that Gao pragmatism only needs to choose a mascot. It is best for this mascot not to express any opinions at will in terms of combat. All operations should be directed by Chen Lin, who is his nominal deputy.
But there is a problem here. According to Gao Pangshi's previous recommendation, he meant to make Chen Lin the head coach of the Navy and Deng Zilong as his deputy.
If an honorable minister is now the head coach and Chen Lin can only be his deputy, what will Deng Zilong do? Arrange a so-called vanguard general for him? This is not possible, the vanguard and deputy tasks are very different.
Moreover, Gao Pingshi wanted to use Chen Lin in this battle, not only because history has proven that Chen Lin is suitable for this position, but also because after he became a cabinet minister, the pragmatic school was about to fully expand its power in the south. The former does not need explanation, but for the latter, you will know why if you look back at Chen Lin's first half of his life.
In 1543 AD, the 22nd year of Jiajing, Chen Lin was born in Longtianpu, Wengyuan County, Shaozhou, Guangdong. History books record that Chen Lin had great ambitions when he was young, practiced martial arts diligently, and was familiar with the art of war. At this time, the Ming Dynasty was experiencing constant turmoil across the country, especially in Guangdong. In addition to being deeply affected by the Japanese pirate rebellion, there were also armed separatist groups formed by local people. It can be said that the situation was extremely complicated.
In the 41st year of Jiajing, that is, in 1562 AD, large-scale incidents led by Zhang Lian and Lin Chaoxi occurred in Lianjiang and Chaozhou areas of Guangdong, with tens of thousands of participants at one time [Note: This incident is mentioned in this volume] I mentioned it when I wrote about Cao Gan].
When the news reached Beijing, the imperial court was shocked and hurriedly ordered local officials in Guangdong to put it down as soon as possible. At that time, because there were no people who were good at fighting in the Guangdong government, they posted a list of "Those who are proficient in the art of war will be honored by thousands of households." After seeing the list, Chen Lin, who was only 19 years old at the time, immediately enlisted in the army and started his career. military career.
After the young Chen Lin joined the army, he offered many suggestions, which gradually stabilized the situation of the Ming army in Guangdong. Historical records record that "Gong (Chen Lin) offered advice to the army and made a fortune. Zhang Gongqi took it and appointed him as the commander-in-chief to lead the military affairs." Although Mr. Ba was only a seventh-grade military attache, it was enough to show that Chen Lin had excellent military qualities when he was young.
In October of that year, Chen Lin went out with the army to attack Lin Chaoxi's troops. Chen Lin, who was bold and careful, decided to go to Lin Chaoxi's military camp alone to persuade him to surrender. "The man rode to the stronghold alone and ordered the imperial court's prestige. All parties dispersed, so he planned to capture Chaoxi and Chaojing and bring them to the market." In just one sentence You can see Chen Lin's courage and resourcefulness.
In the next two years, Chen Lin successfully put down the rebellion many times, which also enabled him to be promoted to the position of commanding Qianshi of Shaozhou in the 43rd year of Jiajing (1564 AD).
One year later, in the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, another incident occurred in Guangdong. Bandit Zhuo Wensheng and others looted Ruyuan, Yingde and other counties and built nests to resist the government. At that time, a man surnamed Feng was captured. Zhuo Wensheng sat down and raised the price, demanding that the government pay a large ransom.
Just when everyone was at their wits' end, Chen Lin came up with a bold plan. He decided to go to the meeting alone and use himself as a hostage in exchange for Feng Qianshi. After Chen Lin arrived at the enemy's nest alone, he told the bandits that he was the protector Chen Lin. If Feng Qianshi was let go and he stayed, they would There will be more ransom.
Zhuo Wensheng and others who were eager for wealth actually believed Chen Lin's statement. Chen Lin, who went deep into the enemy's lair, did not panic, but talked and laughed with his guard. A few days later, Chen Lin felt that Feng Qianshi had successfully escaped, so she started her own escape plan.
He first used gambling tricks to seduce these bandits. At the same time, the bandits also believed that their lair was foolproof, so they relaxed their guard. Chen Lin seized the opportunity to escape quietly. At this time, Chen Lin not only regained his freedom, but more importantly, he had detailed information inside the bandits' lair.
So, after returning, he led the Ming army to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop and captured Zhuo Wensheng alive. For many years since then, Chen Lin has been on the front line of fighting chaos in Guangdong, and has led troops to defeat local bandits many times.
Time came to the first year of Wanli. At that time, Chen Lin relied on his military exploits to be promoted to the chief minister of Guangdong and became a senior military general. As soon as Chen Lin took office, he organized a campaign to suppress the bandit Deng Shenglong. This was also the first military operation that Chen Lin presided over alone in his military career. Relying on his rich military experience, Chen Lin used the ambush arranged in advance to capture Deng Shenglong alive and returned with a great victory.
In the second year of Wanli, Chen Lin once again led the troops to participate in the combat operation against the thief Zhu Liangbao in eastern Guangdong. Zhu Liangbao had been attacked by the imperial court as a bandit as early as the Longqing period, and then chose to surrender to the imperial court and accepted a huge reward.
But what I didn't expect was that it didn't take long for Zhu Liangbao to rebel again and become a bandit. The local Ming army was unable to match them, and the eastern Guangdong area fell into turmoil again. Zhu Liangbao also carried out extensive construction projects and built a city that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. The stronghold was used to fight against the government troops.
In the spring of that year, Chen Lin volunteered and was willing to lead 3,000 Ming troops to pacify Zhu Liangbao. Yin Zhengmao, who was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi at the time, was overjoyed. In order to ensure the smooth operation of the battle, he specifically granted Chen Lin the right to handle the battlefield "at every opportunity and without any compromise." He also promised to petition the imperial court to promote Chen Lin to the rank of participating general if the battle was successful. .
Yin Zhengmao was mentioned in the previous article in this book. He was not originally a high-ranking party member (herein referred to as a subordinate or ally of Gao Gongmen), but later because Gao Gong did not shy away from hatred, he recommended him as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and then gradually began to get closer to the high-ranking party. aside.
This is a bit like Zhang Juzheng's original disciple Liang Menglong. The latter also gradually became the pragmatist school because Gao Gong was fairly appointed without regard to relationships but abilities. He was also a die-hard Gao Party member and was of great help to Gao Pragmatism later on.
Closer to home, in March and April, Chen Lin led his troops outside Chu Liangbao's walled city. He chose to build a tall watchtower first to observe the specific situation in the enemy's nest. At the same time, he ordered the soldiers to prepare a bunch of hay each to fill the enemy's nest. Silt around the flat.
After fully understanding the enemy's situation, Chen Lin decided to divide his troops into two groups and attack from the north and south. Among them, he personally led the army to attack from the north. At the same time, he used the wind direction to decisively launch a fire attack, causing the city that Chu Liangbao thought was unbreakable to instantly turn into a sea of flames.
In this battle, Chen Lin and his family members alone killed "two hundred and twenty-four" bandits, and Chu Liangbao was also buried in the sea of fire. In order to win this battle, Chen Lin did not take off her armor for a long time, and her hair on her temples began to turn gray.
In the third year of Wanli, due to the temporary cessation of fighting in eastern Guangdong, Yin Zhengmao turned his attention to the Luopang area in western Guangdong. Chen Lin, as a general in the Guangdong area, was naturally transferred to western Guangdong to serve as the guerrilla general in Zhaoqing, Guangdong. , and later served as Gaozhou Senator-General.
The Luopang area has been an inhabited area of the Yao people since ancient times. In the early years, the imperial court established chieftains to govern the area. However, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the local Yao people rebelled, which caused transportation obstacles in the Guangdong and Guangxi areas. Although they had been cleared before, due to the terrain, Various reasons such as military strength have never been well resolved.
As the situation in the rest of Guangdong eased, the imperial court, under the decision-making of Gao Gong, the chief minister at the time, finally decided to make every effort to solve the problem in the Luopang area.
In the fourth year of Wanli, Ling Yunyi, the newly appointed governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, formulated a battle plan to attack Luopang. He merged the original four generals in Guangdong into two, one to guard Gaozhou and the other to guard Zhaoqing. Chen Lin was responsible for Gaozhou. military operations in the region.
One year later, in the fifth year of Wanli, the rebellion in the Luopang area was finally put down. After that, the Luopang area was divided into one state and two counties, one of which was Luoding state. Chen Lin was promoted to deputy general of the army due to his meritorious service in quelling the rebellion, and was appointed as the staff general of Dong'an. He has been stationed in Luoding for several years.
However, in the eleventh year of Wanli, that is, 1583 AD, Chen Lin was impeached by the Guangdong Inspector for deducting military pay and causing soldiers to mutiny. Although he was later suppressed by him.
Impeachment always has a miraculous effect. Zhu Yijun dismissed him from office without saying a word. However, considering Luo Ding's special nature, he allowed Chen Lin to serve as a criminal and fined him half a year's salary, so that he could perform meritorious service. This time, it was the first major blow to Chen Lin's career.
Two years later, in the 13th year of Wanli, Chen Lin chose to resign and live in Luoding. This left him idle for seven years. Until 1592 AD, which was the 20th year of Wanli, Chen Lin's fate changed due to A major event was changed - aiding Korea and fighting against Japanese aggression.
In the original history, there were of course historical reasons why Chen Lin, a veteran who had been idle for seven years, was used in this war. The reason is that when the Ming Dynasty heard that Japanese pirates were invading North Korea, the first thing they worried about was their own coastal provinces. Therefore, all provinces required strict defense to avoid being invaded by Japanese pirates from the sea, and Guangdong was certainly no exception.
But this has led to a problem, that is, the coastal provinces have the advantage of naval forces, but they have difficulty mobilizing troops to fight abroad because they have to defend their territory. As a result, the imperial court began to think of ways to recruit some "retired veteran cadres" and coastal generals who "lived idle" because of their mistakes. In this way, Chen Lin was selected because of a series of military exploits in his early years.
The current situation is not much different from the original history at this point. The imperial court had already made the decision to let the coastal provinces strengthen their defenses before Gao Pragmatic returned to Beijing.
The Ministry of War was also too pragmatic and had no time to conduct remote control, so it quickly formulated orders for each province according to the requirements of the emperor and the cabinet. Temporarily changing major policies is one of the most taboo things for the central government, so when Gao Pangshi learned the news, it was not easy to make any changes, so he could only follow the rules - so he proposed to let Chen Lin be the admiral of the navy. Recommended.
At this point, let’s look back at Chen Lin’s resume: whose recognition did he rely on to enter the ranks of senior generals? It was Yin Zhengmao, an older generation minister-level civil servant who was not from the real school but was ultimately close to the real school, especially to Gao Dang.
But obviously, at that time, Chen Lin had not yet made it clear who he would be a disciple of - or in other words, he was not even that important. Therefore, he later won a great victory under the command of Ling Yunyi, and was recommended by Ling Yunyi to guard Luoding. for many years.
Luoding is the largest showcase of Ling Yunyi's achievements, and his role as a local military commander obviously requires his recognition. Therefore, Chen Lin at this time is actually considered Ling Yunyi's person.
However, Ling Yunyi fell down in an instant because he offended Gao Pragmatic and was used by Gao to establish his power in a rage. At this moment, Chen Lin, the unlucky guy who had just hugged him, was dumbfounded - he was held to death in Luoding for many years without saying a word, and later he made trouble, withheld military pay and caused a commotion.
No one knows why Chen Lin, who originally did not deduct military pay but was only focused on fighting and meritorious service, "degenerated" at this time, but from normal thinking, it is likely that he hoped to save some money and make some plans to try to change his bad luck. transport.
It is a pity that as a general in Guangdong at that time, he had not yet entered a higher level of vision. In fact, the amount of money he can generate is too small. Even if he manages it, it cannot reach the level of Gao Pragmatism. He can't even get Gao Pragmatism to come forward and plead for him. It is a waste of money. .
As a result, Chen Lin became discouraged soon after and simply resigned and stayed at home for seven years. However, Gao Pragmatic actually knew Chen Lin's situation. However, politicians cannot act based on joy and anger alone. Even if Gao Pragmatic knew that Chen Lin's misfortune was purely caused by Ling Yunyi's incident, he would not take the initiative to help Chen Lin. Otherwise, where is his majesty in the officialdom? ——Unless Chen Lin also has a sister named Chen Xin or something...
Seven years have passed since that incident, and the limelight can be said to be over now. Moreover, there is no need to worry about Gao Pragmatic's current majesty. With the power of destroying Yuan in hand, Gao Pragmatism was in the limelight for a while, both in the government and the public, in the inner and outer courts, and there was no obstacle to re-enabling Chen Lin.
Today's Ming Dynasty is stronger than the Ming Dynasty in the original history, and Chen Lin offered to borrow Jinghua's power. This shows two things: first, Chen Lin's thinking is still clear, and he can see the gap in power balance at a glance and knows how to win; second, Chen Lin's thinking is still clear. He was using this as a pretext to transfer his credentials to Gao Jingshi. In fact, he made it clear that he wanted to join Gao Jingshi.
Borrowing my power from Jinghua, how dare you not share the credit with me afterwards? No matter whether Gao Gongzhen doesn't care about this credit, at least this must be Chen Lin's attitude.
As a local senior general in Guangdong, it is obviously meaningful for Chen Lin to join Gao Pragmatic's command. Therefore, Gao Pragmatic, in turn, must ensure Chen Lin's status in this battle. It cannot be because of the addition of an additional military minister. The admiral weakened Chen Lin's own merits.
As noble as the military officials are, the credit itself doesn't mean much to them, so why not give it to someone with more valuable credit?
Gao Jingshi pondered for a long time, and finally said: "Your Majesty, I suggest that Cheng Guogong be appointed as the admiral of the navy, Chen Lin be appointed as the commander of the Eastern Expedition Fleet, and Deng Zilong be appointed as the deputy commander of the Eastern Expedition Fleet."
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PS: It’s so cold that I don’t want to type...
