Wang Shouren left the capital in mid-March and went to Shaanxi to take up his post.
Since Zhu Yuanzhang merged the two provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu in the second year of Hongwu, the actual area under Shaanxi's jurisdiction was very huge, including later Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Hetao area and part of Qinghai Province later.
The right side of the 'ji' shape of the Yellow River is the junction of Shaanxi and Shanxi, and going west has to reach the Hexi Corridor, the junction with Hami, that is, Xinjiang.
In order to govern such a huge place, the Ming Dynasty established the Shaanxi Xingdu Department in addition to the normal Shaanxi Capital Command Department.
The Metropolitan Commander's Department is one of the three departments, namely the Chief Executive's Department, the Inspector's Department and the Capital Commander's Department.
In some areas where military pressure was huge on the frontiers and where ethnic minorities were concentrated, the imperial court established military and political institutions such as the Provincial Command and Envoy Department as a supplement.
To put it simply, the Xingdu Division was established to assist the Du Division in border areas with complex situations in order to strengthen management. It is not found in every province.
Of course, this situation in Shaanxi definitely requires it.
However, Dusi and Xingdusi have no subordinate relationship. They both belong to the Fifth Army Dudufu, and in fact they take orders from the Ministry of War.
The administrative offices of the two organizations are also different. The Shaanxi Du Commandery Division is located in Xi'an, while the Shaanxi Xingdu Division is located in Ganzhou, which later became Zhangye City, Gansu Province.
Xi'an Du Command and Envoy Division has 11 garrison offices under its jurisdiction, including Yulin Guard, Suide Guard, Ningxia Guard, Ningxia Qianwei, etc.
Shaanxi Xingdu Division has 12 guard posts under its jurisdiction, and its main defense area is the Hexi Corridor.
As the governor of Shaanxi, Wang Shouren had won the trust of the emperor, and when he was sent here, he considered the possibility of encountering border wars later, so the imperial decree appointing him stated that he had the power to control the twenty-three guards in Shaanxi. On paper, there are 200,000 frontier troops.
Two hundred thousand is not an accurate number, but the ancients did not have the heart to count heads every day, so this can be roughly reported.
With such strength on paper, Wang Shouren's journey has not been easy.
At this juncture, it was obvious that the combat effectiveness of the border army was extremely weak. Since Yang Yiqing took charge of Shanxi and became the governor of the three sides, the situation of the border army has improved.
But the so-called improvement is that several more forts were built, and sometimes they acted as horns to each other, and sometimes they jointly defended, which was nothing more than building a strong defense line.
Because no one is able to solve the fundamental problem of the destruction of military camps.
On the one hand, the fields in the military garrison were left uncultivated by soldiers fleeing, and on the other hand, they were also occupied by others. Either way, people are required to farm, so many soldiers have gone back to become farmers.
Shortage of health clinics is a common phenomenon in various places.
As for the military power mentioned in the memorial, it can be achieved by local troops raising some military supplies, but it is best to leave it like this.
What Wang Shouren faced was such a mess, lack of food, wages, and people.
It can even be said that he went to Xi'an not to be an official, but to be a money-spreading boy.
Everyone at the top and bottom knew that he was the emperor's favorite, and he was designated to get money. For example, the commanders of Shaanxi Capital, Yulin Guards, and Ningxia Guards all hesitated for a long time, and in the end they just said: No money.
Wang Shouren had a long beard, and he stroked it slowly. He did not agree at first, but only said: "I would like to check the various guard posts on the spot."
The commander of Yulin Guard is named Zhong Yifei. He is not some confused and incompetent general. After all, Yang Yiqing has also appointed some people here. However, the environment is such that it is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.
"Zhongcheng, then go to Yulinwei first and see it with your own eyes. Then you will know why we ask you to speak."
"Yes, Zhongcheng."
Everyone responded.
Wang Shouren said: "I have the money."
At his words, everyone's eyes widened.
"But the imperial court allocated money to me so that I can guard the border and repel foreign enemies. Therefore, I have to put this money to good use. To put it more directly, the money allocated by the imperial court will definitely not be able to take care of everyone. The current situation on the border is not good. For the sake of the overall situation, I can only give troops to those who can fight, those who dare to fight, and those who are good at fighting.
As long as you have a good fighting force and win the battle, why are you afraid of being short of money? "
Seeing their complicated expressions, Wang Shouren added, "In the past, I, the governor of Shaanxi, ignored him, but I am a disciple of Wang Jizhigong in the cabinet. With just a note, I can enter the palace to meet the Holy Emperor. So I want the money." If you have it, you must have it.”
After saying this, the atmosphere in the room became more lively.
"That's OK! I'll listen to Zhongcheng in everything!"
"It's okay to listen, but when it comes to winning, can Zhong Cheng win in this situation?"
Wang Shouren nodded confidently, "I have an idea, are you willing to listen?"
Everyone looked at each other, could it be that this white-faced scholar sent by the capital was good at fighting?
"I have fought with Wang Xiangmin in the past, and later also led troops in Fujian. However, suppressing bandits in the interior is different from fighting on the frontier. In Fujian, there are mostly mountainous trails, and the soldiers are expensive but not expensive. If there are too many, they will be crowded. It's useless if you can't reach the mountain. But in Shaanxi, the Tatars may attack from any direction, so it's better to be both more expensive and more expensive. However, this is difficult to achieve, so the next best thing is to be more expensive than you. many.
The Tatar army was a marauding force, and they wanted above all to be able to come and go without hindrance. We have to attack him on this point, which is to set up obstacles at every level. If we can fight, we will fight. If we can't, we will retreat. "
In fact, Wang Shouren didn't want to add the last five words, but the reality was that he had to formulate strategies based on reality.
Then he explained: "In a nutshell, if the Tatars enter Shaanxi from Yulin or Huamachi, we will definitely not be able to defeat the enemy with one blow, but there are guard posts in various places in Shaanxi, and the guard posts in various places must be guarded day and night. , take turns intruding, you chew a piece, I chew a piece, you can cause heavy losses to it. "
"I'm afraid Zhongcheng is unaware of something. The Tatar cavalry is as powerful as fire. If you are not careful, this intrusion will never come back."
"Does the Ming Dynasty have no cavalry? Yang Shangyi's headquarters is in Ningxia Town. We know this, and the Tatars know it even more. Moreover, there is Ningxia to the west of Yulin and Datong to the east, so he must not dare to fight for a long time or pursue deeply."
"What if we invade from Ningxia and further west?"
"He doesn't dare either."
Wang Shouren concluded this sentence directly.
"In the second year of Zhengde, the imperial court succeeded in suppressing traps, but Ningxia wants to go further west? After running so far, when he comes back, where will his nest be?"
All in all, this is the difference between those who have the ability to counterattack and those who have no ability to counterattack. If only a few years ago, there were just some infantry and the border forts were in dilapidated condition, and the generals leading the army would even be afraid to move forward, then the Tatars Naturally, you can fight however you want.
But once the Central Plains Dynasty came to their senses, the Great Wall stretched nearly a thousand miles from east to west, and they still had cavalry in their hands, they could adopt some proactive tactics.
Of course, the Tatars would definitely avoid the Ming's elite troops.
This made the remaining people murmur in their hearts, especially Yulin Wei.
"Zhongcheng, although Ningxia and Datong are close, it will take several days to assemble the troops and then set off to help. However, Tatar troops can often travel hundreds of miles in a day."
Compassion does not command troops.
This is not the original suppression of bandits.
Wang Shouren was a Confucian general, but he was very experienced in leading troops. At this juncture, he changed his tone and said, "Commander Zhong thinks that being rewarded for meritorious service is an easy matter? When General Zhou Shangwen died in Huamachi, Hit by several knives, fight to the death and never retreat, only in this way can you achieve success in the future!"
People die in war, and if you are afraid of sacrifice, the end result may be that more people die.
(End of chapter)
