As for the eldest young master Gao Yuan's first performance since he left southern Xinjiang to study in the capital more than ten years ago, everyone present will naturally have their own evaluation of him. This is a matter of course. However, everyone more or less understood that Gao Yuan came alone instead of accompanying his mother Huang Zhiting, which in itself revealed something unusual.
"To figure out what's best" is not a compliment in most contexts, but in fact it is something that almost everyone has to do, so everyone in Southern Xinjiang naturally has to think about it.
Why didn't the underage young master accompany his wife to go south, and let her support him and help him establish his status among the people in southern Xinjiang?
Why did the underage young master dare to show his favor to Huang Hu so blatantly and be quite rude to his elder brother, while Gao Mengnan, as the "eldest member" of the Gao family clan at the reception banquet, just looked on with cold eyes?
The last point is that after the reception banquet just now, Gao Mengnan originally wanted to lead Gao Yuan back to the nominal Siam Palace, privately nicknamed the "Dingnan Palace" to rest, but Gao Yuan refused, saying instead I need to go to the military headquarters first.
Naturally, everyone could not defeat him, so the officers and generals had to accompany him under the leadership of Gao Jue... So, what does this incident mean?
Everyone works for the Gao family - or to put it more bluntly, for Gao Pragmatism, so these issues have to be thought about.
According to the practice in the past few years, the madam was supposed to go south at this time, but unexpectedly she did not go south this time. Instead, the eldest young master came. Why did the master arrange it like this?
If according to normal thinking, the wife was left in the capital, but another important person went south, then it may mean that the master has lost trust in the wife.
However, this important person who went south was actually the eldest young master, so this speculation seemed to be unreasonable. After all, the eldest young master’s biological mother is his wife. If the wife loses the master’s trust, how can the eldest young master have the opportunity to sit alone in southern Xinjiang?
Then there is only another possibility, and that is that the master is deliberately creating an opportunity for the eldest master to sit alone. But this speculation may have been valid three days ago, but it is no longer valid now, because a letter from Fei Ge from the capital has arrived: Liu Xin, the secretary-general of Beijing, has left for the south to assist the eldest young master in handling "related military affairs."
The saying goes that a small amount of words means a big deal, and this sentence about flying pigeons conveying messages probably reflects this.
Everyone naturally knows Liu Xin's identity. In her identity, "the master's concubine" is the most irrelevant. Her most important identity is the secretary-general of Jinghua on the stage, but off the stage she is the master's childhood sweetheart (widely misunderstood due to Huang Zhiting's attitude), the daughter of the famous imperial general Liu Xian, the sister of Liu Wei, and the wife's former battlefield partner and close friend.
Huang Zhiding's power in southern Xinjiang relied on the Battle of Lang Son to capture Xiongguan, the Battle of Bago to defeat Mangyingli, and the Battle of Pasang to defeat Naresuan. And Liu Xin was no less willing to give in. Although Huang Zhiting commanded the battle of Pasang, that battle mainly relied on Liu Xin's extraordinary troops. In addition, she single-handedly led the troops to quell the Siamese rebels, went straight to Huanglong to defeat Cambodia, and made an emergency landing in Mussali, etc., which were also unparalleled achievements in southern Xinjiang.
To a certain extent, the current situation in southern Xinjiang was achieved because Gao Pragmatic only laid down Annan as a bridgehead and established an effective system. However, in the subsequent battlefields, it mainly relied on Huang Zhiting and Liu Xin, the "unparalleled pair". "Jiao" opens up new territories.
And when Liu Xin goes north and returns to Beijing, it will be even worse! She rose from the master's personal staff to the serious secretary-general of the Beijing Secretariat, and was privately regarded as the "chief assistant of the cabinet" within Beijing.
You should know that if several confidential secretaries of the Secretariat have business trips, such as when Military Secretary Ruan Fuyuan goes south to review the Nanyang Fleet, the Nanyang Fleet Headquarters will hold a grand welcome ceremony and ship review ceremony for them.
Moreover, throughout the review schedule, almost all the generals of the Nanyang Fleet Command followed suit as guides and escorts, taking Ruan Fuyuan to comprehensively visit and review the military ports, warships, shipyards, naval warehouses, naval camps, etc. The entire fleet senior management was cautious throughout the process. .
Ruan Fuyuan is just one of the nine members of the Secretariat, but he already has such authority, not to mention that the person who is coming to Dingnan now is the Secretary-General of the Secretariat, Liu Xin, who has huge influence on Gao Pragmatic, Huang Zhiting and his wife. Woolen cloth?
Now, since the "Chief Minister of the Cabinet" is coming in person, and Fei Ge's biography clearly states "Assist the Young Master," then looking back, it is natural to understand the meaning of Gao Yuan's visit - to rectify his name and establish his authority.
Just like Gao Jingshi's reference before making this decision, many people in southern Xinjiang immediately thought of the institutional template of the "Gao Yuan-Liu Xin" combination: the Tang Dynasty's "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses" expedition system. (Note: Of course, it’s not just the Tang Dynasty. For example, the Song Dynasty also had the general marshal of the world’s soldiers and horses.)
"Generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses" is the kind of position that sounds awesome when you hear it, and in fact it is indeed very awesome. People like Li Shi, Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, Zhao Gou, Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, etc., all served as the generalissimo of the soldiers and horses of the world.
During the Anshi Rebellion, the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses became the "standard official position" for the prince. For example, Emperor Daizong Li Yu of the Tang Dynasty, when he was still a prince, his father Emperor Suzong Li Heng of the Tang Dynasty asked Li Yu, as the "General Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses", to command the Tang Army to the south of Chang'an City together with generals such as Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, and Pugu Huaien. Xiangji Temple launched an attack.
After fierce fighting, the Tang army annihilated more than 80,000 elite Anshi rebels at Xiangji Temple, and achieved the most significant military victory since the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion. After Li Yu ascended the throne, his prince Li Shi, as the "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses", commanded the Tang army to launch the final attack on the rebels.
So, what exactly is the official position of "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses"? Why did the emperor of the Tang Dynasty let the prince instead of the military general serve as the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses?
The term marshal was used as a title for the supreme commander of a combat force during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. "Zuo Zhuan" once recorded that Jin Wengong considered the candidate for marshal (the commander-in-chief of the army). The famous Jin general Xian Zhen defeated the Chu army in the Battle of Chengpu and became the first combat commander in Chinese history with a marshal record and title.
It is worth mentioning that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, marshal was only the title given to the supreme commander of the combat forces by other officials and lower-level officers and soldiers. At that time, "marshal" did not form a relatively fixed official position.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, marshal gradually formed a relatively fixed official position, and the function of this official position was to lead the army in wartime operations. For example, during the Xuanzheng period of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Xuan of the Northern Zhou Dynasty appointed his uncle Yu Wensheng as the marching marshal to command the troops to go out to meet the enemy.
During the establishment of the Tang Dynasty by Li Yuan, the Tang army established "left and right marshals". When Li Shimin was still King of Qin, he served as the "Marshal of the West". As the situation in the Tang Dynasty stabilized, the Tang court established the position of "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses" as the supreme commander of the Tang army's wartime command. The specific position was held by the prince.
Of course, the Tang Dynasty also established the "Deputy Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses", and ministers with high prestige served as "Deputy Marshals of the World's Soldiers and Horses".
Here comes the question, why is the marshal of the world's soldiers and horses a prince instead of a general?
Logically speaking, commanding troops to fight is a technical job. As the highest wartime commander of the army, the post of Grand Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses seems to be filled by the most professional military attache. However, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty gave the prince the position of Grand Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses. What considerations did he have and what was the reason?
First, in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, who was still a prince, served as the "Marshal of the Western Campaign" and led troops on expeditions. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty established the Grand Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses and made the prince serve as the Grand Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses, which was in line with the "political tradition" of the Tang Dynasty.
The so-called Li Shimin served as the "Marshal of the Western Campaign" and led troops on the expedition. It happened in 617 AD, after Xue Ju proclaimed himself emperor and established a separatist regime. Li Yuan, who had not yet officially proclaimed himself emperor at the time, ordered Li Shimin to lead an expedition against Xue Ju. After a fierce battle, Li Shimin's troops severely damaged Xue Ju's troops and annihilated thousands of Xue Ju's troops. Xue Ju was forced to retreat to Longyou.
In 618 AD, Li Yuan officially proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an and established the Tang Dynasty. With the establishment of the political power, Li Yuan asked Li Shimin to personally serve as the "Marshal of the West" to attack Xue Ju's separatist regime, and command the Tang army to attack Xue Ju.
Due to Li Shimin's sudden serious illness on the front line and Liu Wenjing and others' deployment errors during the battle, the Tang army was ambushed by Xue Ju's troops and suffered sixty-seven out of ten losses. Li Shimin was forced to order the army to return to Chang'an. In August of the same year, after Li Shimin recovered, the Tang army attacked again and completely annihilated the troops of Xue Ju's separatist regime.
Judging from the results of the war, this time Li Shimin served as the "Marshal of the West", due to force majeure such as his own serious illness during the period, his combat was unsatisfactory in his military career. However, his appointment as the "Marshal of the West" created a rule in the military history of the Tang Dynasty: that is, the highest commander of the combat forces who appeared as the "marshal official" during wartime, this "marshal" had to be held by the prince.
Therefore, whether it was the "Marshal of the West" that Li Shimin served as in the early days or the "General of the World's Soldiers and Horses" later, the prince who was ordered to lead the troops had to lead the troops as the supreme commander of the army in wartime.
In 626 AD, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Revolution and ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Since all the later emperors of the Tang Dynasty were direct descendants of Li Shimin, when the emperors of the Tang Dynasty, who were descendants of Li Shimin, established the official position of "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses" as the highest commander of the army, they had to follow the "ancestral" rules. Political correctness" and let the prince serve as "the general marshal of the world's soldiers and horses."
Of course, at some point, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty would also let the prince serve as the "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses", but since they were all descendants of Li Shimin, it didn't matter.
Secondly, out of fear of military generals rebelling, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty did not allow military generals to serve as marshals of the world's soldiers and horses. This was quite obvious in the Anshi Rebellion.
The military system of the Tang Dynasty was divided into the "mansion army system" and the "recruitment system" periods. During the period of the government military system, the Emperor of Tang naturally did not allow military generals to directly serve as the general marshals of the world's soldiers and horses out of the mentality of being supreme in the world's imperial power and wary of rebellion by military generals. Of course, in addition to not allowing generals to serve as marshals of the world's troops, Emperor Tang also imposed other restrictions on generals leading troops in war.
For example, the position held by military generals during wartime as "March Commander" is a temporary official position, with only the power to lead troops and no administrative, personnel or financial power. In this way, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty minimized the possibility of military commanders rebelling.
As the phenomenon of land annexation became more and more obvious, the imperial military system came to an end by the time of Wu Zetian. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the military service system of the Tang Dynasty was basically changed to a recruitment system. Local military governors had the right to recruit soldiers on their own, and gradually became warlords who controlled the military and political power of one party.
In 755 AD, An Lushan rebelled against the imperial court, and the famous Anshi Rebellion in the history of the Tang Dynasty broke out.
The Anshi Rebellion not only made the prosperous Tang Dynasty "helpless and the flowers fell", but also had a certain impact on the military system of the Tang Dynasty. Before the Anshi Rebellion, although the emperor of the Tang Dynasty did not allow military generals to serve as marshals of the world's troops, they still gave them greater autonomy in military command.
But after the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Emperor took various measures to limit the command autonomy of the generals because he was afraid that the generals who led the troops in the war would become "the second in Anlu Mountain". As a result, famous generals such as Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi of the Tang Army were not only unable to become "marshals of the world's soldiers and horses", but they also had to be controlled by the eunuchs who oversaw the army.
Of course, as eunuchs directly participated in the Tang Dynasty's military operations to quell the Anshi Rebellion, the power of the eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty became more and more powerful. After the Jingyuan Incident, Tang Dezong simply no longer trusted military generals, and instead completely handed over the military power of the Central Forbidden Army Shence Army to the eunuchs, thus laying the groundwork for the eunuch chaos in the later Tang Dynasty.
No war broke out in southern Xinjiang after Cambodia was pacified. Although large armies were dispatched to seize the Aralia Peninsula, the most important city of Malacca was forced to be handed over peacefully to Portugal. Some small city-states on the Aralia Peninsula were not only weak, but also They are not affiliated with each other and even contradict each other, which makes this troop dispatch basically at the level of an armed parade.
Then came the conquest of the Nanyang Islands. This time it was a proper dimensionality reduction attack. "Once the heavenly soldiers arrive, they will be invincible" everywhere, so much so that when Huang Zhiting reported to Gao Pragmatic, she almost mentioned it in one sentence. She didn't even bother to waste words explaining the progress of the war - anyway, either It is "our army has arrived, surrender", or "our army has arrived, if it does not surrender, break it", there is really no need to say more.
Because of this objective reality, and the fact that Huang Zhiting was entrusted by her husband to take charge of Southern Xinjiang with the dignity of a wife, although a Military Command Department was established in Southern Xinjiang, the post of head of the Military Command Department has been vacant for a long time. Finally, Gao Jue was appointed as the deputy recently. minister.
To a certain extent, the Minister of Military Command may be compared to the status of "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses" in southern Xinjiang, but in fact this position is more like "Shang Shu of the Ministry of War" or "Grand Governor of the Governor's Office" in the early Ming Dynasty.
The difference is very simple. The Minister of War manages the world's military affairs but does not command the troops, let alone directly lead the troops. The power to command the troops lies with the Metropolitan Governor's Office, and the troops are led by the temporarily appointed commander-in-chief (later changed from temporary to customized). ).
This time Gao Yuan went south. The order from the capital was not very clear at first. He only ordered some troops to be mobilized to Bago and designated Gao Yuan to command them. However, he did not specify what he was commanding them to do. Of course, the officials and generals in southern Xinjiang could all guess. Yes, but those are two different things.
It's different now. The "chief assistant" comes in person, or as Gao Yuan's "assistance". This is too similar to the Tang Dynasty's "Grand Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses" and "Deputy Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses" - with the "Prince" taking the lead. , "important minister" presided over.
It is not necessary to describe how the officials in southern Xinjiang responded to the new changes. However, when Gao Yuan inspected the military headquarters that afternoon, he did something unexpected, but he forced Gao Ruiqi to give up his seat. The impact of the incident appears to be much smaller.
What's going on? For the first time, he met his second uncle Huang Yingpin, who was late for the reception banquet for some reason, and after a conversation, he decided to let Huang Yingpin transfer 3,500 wolves from his hereditary territory, Nghe An Mansion in Annan. soldiers, and the five hundred wolf soldiers he brought with him to form a joint force to join the military operation on the Western Front that Gao Yuan is responsible for this time.
Huang Yingpin has appeared in the previous article, but with very little mention, he needs to be introduced here.
Huang Chengzu, the father of Huang Zhiting, had one daughter and two sons. The eldest daughter Huang Zhiting married Gao Pragmatic and was granted the title of Madam Hou. At the same time, because she was a chieftain, she was not subject to the gender restrictions of ordinary economic officials. She also became the deputy governor of Annan and was in charge of Siam by imperial decree.
The eldest son Huang Yinglei had a perverse personality since he was a child. As an adult, he became dissatisfied because the power of Siming Mansion was in the hands of his eldest sister Huang Zhiting. Huang Zhiting then gave him a certain amount of power and planned to observe him for a period of time. If Huang Yinglei's performance was acceptable, he planned to give up power and retire. Unexpectedly, Huang Yinglei's performance was so bad that he almost caused civil strife, forcing Huang Zhiting to take back his power and put him under house arrest.
Later, Gao Jingshi regained Annan, and the Siming Huang family moved to Annan. As one of the great contributors, the Huang family's power expanded, and their status became more stable because of Gao Jingshi's marriage to Huang Zhiting. Huang Yinglei got another chance and was used to marry Princess Biajue of Nanzhang. Unexpectedly, this guy was still restless and encouraged the princess to get involved in the Nanzhang rebellion.
Huang Zhiting personally took action to quell the civil strife. Huang Yinglei and Princess Biajue were completely imprisoned. The original power of the Huang family to attack was deprived of power and handed over to his younger brother Huang Yingpin.
Huang Yingpin, the second son of Huang Chengzu, is nearly ten years younger than his sister Huang Zhiting. He has never been caught up in any big events, and because his brother was so unsatisfactory, he inexplicably got the inheritance rights of the Huang family.
However, because Huang Zhiting was the sole leader of Anbang Prefecture at that time, if the Huang family's territory was given too much, conflicts might arise within the Guangxi chieftains. Therefore, at the beginning, the Huang family only received two small towns, Shannan and Waiqinghua. Mansion.
However, rebellions still broke out in Annan from time to time in the following years. Although Cen Ling was the main general responsible for countering the rebellion, the Huang family and branches also made a lot of contributions. Therefore, when the situation stabilized later, Gao pragmatically conducted a campaign against the chieftains. Big adjustment.
With the acquisition of the Nanyang Islands, Cen Ling's family was transferred to the Sumatra Island in later generations. In terms of territory area, it has become a super chieftain, and the Annan territory he vacated can be easily moved and changed.
The change of seal was very complicated, so I won’t go into details here. In short, the Huang family made a lot of money this time and got the entire Ngee Ann Mansion. At this time, Nghe An Province not only included Nghe An Province and Ha Tinh Province in later Vietnam, but also included about half of Borikhamxay Province in Laos.
The Nghe An area has already been developed well. The governorship of Yingdu, Yanzhou, Lin'an and Duc Tho are all prosperous places. In addition, there is Ha Tinh now, so it is even more prosperous - because of the high-grade and large reserves of Ha Tinh Iron Mine, Jinghua not only has a steel factory in Ha Tinh, but also a musket arsenal. Although these factories do not belong to the Huang family, they will drive the development of related industries and local economy!
As a result, Huang Yingpin became the top among the chieftains. Not only did he have a special status, he was also extremely wealthy. But what's interesting is that Huang Yingping is not satisfied with the "boring life of a rich man". He has his own ambitions.
Huang Yingping yearns for his sister's legendary career and hopes to prove himself on the battlefield. For this reason, although he could have rested on his ancestral property and wandered freely, he chose the military camp.
Since he officially took power, he has focused solely on training troops. After Huang Zhiting learned about it, he gently warned him not to expand the army at will. Therefore, he regarded training an elite army as his ideal. He not only required his wolf soldiers to adhere to the old training methods, but also tried every means to update weapons and equipment and conduct firearms training.
After several years of this, according to the performance of the Military Command's "Southern Xinjiang Competition", the combat effectiveness of the Huang family's wolf soldiers in Nghe An Prefecture is at least equal to that of the Jinggang garrison, and their fighting will is visibly high.
Fortunately, Huang Yingping took his sister's words very seriously and controlled the size of his wolf soldiers extremely well, firmly maintaining the two-town size approved by Gao Pragmatic, which was 25,000 people.
By the way, at Huang Yingpin's insistence, the Huang family became the first chieftain unit to completely copy the establishment of the garrison (also the same as the Imperial Guard of the Ming Dynasty), that is, each town's officers, soldiers, infantry, horse, artillery, engineering, baggage and other arms Composed, each town has a commander, a deputy commander, a chief of staff, and a logistics chief.
Each town has 748 officers and supervisors, 10,436 combat soldiers, and 1,328 support troops, for a total of 12,512 people. .
This time Gao Yuan went south, and all the famous people in southern Xinjiang gathered in Dingnancheng. Huang Yingpin, as his uncle, was naturally going to arrive, so he set off immediately. However, he was not very lucky this time. He happened to encounter a flood when passing through the Tonle Sap Lake area in Cambodia. Although it did not cause much damage to him and his entourage, it delayed his trip and even missed the noon feast. .
After arriving in the afternoon, he heard that Gao Yuan had gone to the Military Command Department. Huang Yingpin was surprised but also worried, fearing that Gao Yuan would blame him for not arriving after the deadline. Although there should be no such thing as "beheading someone who is overdue", but what if the nephew insists on using his uncle to establish his authority?
Unexpectedly, it was only when he met Gao Yuan that he realized that his worries were unnecessary. Gao Yuan was very kind to him. He not only comforted him that the flood blocking the road was an unhuman fault, but also asked him about the results of the Nghe An Prefecture's wolf soldiers in the Southern Xinjiang Competition. It was decided to let him send an order to Yi'an to send additional troops to gather enough troops to conquer Arakan.
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PS: I can write as much as I can now, 6K today.
(End of chapter)
