Chapter 148: Sharpening and tempering, combining civil and military

"... Therefore, the Oirat of the West Mongols fled to the north of the desert, and the Tatar of the East Mongols split into two, among which Altan Khan surrendered to our dynasty in the fourth year of Longqing, and now only the Tumut Khan departments and the Duoyan Three Guards remain."

"It is time to sweep away the Duoyan Three Guards! Show martial power and prevent invasion, so that the system of China is respected and the barbarians are awed!"

Outside the Anmin Factory, Wang Chonggu spoke briefly, introducing the situation in the north of the Great Ming Dynasty and the historical origin of the past two hundred years to the Emperor.

Since the defeat of Toghus Temür Khan, the Northern Yuan had split into three major groups.

East Mongol Tatar, West Mongol Oirat, and Duoyan Three Guards.

In these two hundred years, the situation has been intertwined and changing, which can be said to be you singing and I appearing.

First is the West Mongol Oirat, one of the three groups.

Relying on attaching to the Great Ming to exchange for support, its strength expanded day by day.

After Esen succeeded to the throne, he finally accumulated strength and integrated the Mongol departments in one fell swoop, calling himself "Great Yuan Tian Sheng Great Khan."

To the Great Ming court, he began to sweep away his submissive appearance and reveal his fangs—"Repeatedly taught, not following the agreement, envoys coming and going often killing and plundering, and also holding other departments to invite and demand precious and rare things from China, and if not, they would create trouble."

At its peak, he used both kindness and power to conquer Hami, set up a province to remotely control Gansu, and invaded the Jurchens in the east to the seaside.

He even armed and invited the Great Ming Emperor to the tribe for study.

It can be said that the prestige was unparalleled and famous for a while.

But mixing in the world, you always have to pay back.

The tribe forcibly combined by war and personal prestige will eventually be burned because of the death of the individual.

After Esen died, the Oirat power was depressed, and the departments fought for power and profit, and the bottom was separated from the heart, continuing to be depressed for decades, and finally it was driven back to the northwest of the desert.

At the same time, the Mongol departments split again, and heroes rose together.

And the one who appeared immediately after was the East Mongol Tatar, another of the three groups.

After the successive defeats and deaths of Esen and the Chancellor Alachi, the Oirats retreated to the west of the desert, and the Tatars rose again among the Mongol tribes.

In the fifteenth year of Chenghua, after the East Mongol Dayan Khan succeeded to the throne, he cut off the treacherous ministers inside, drove out Ismayin outside, and personally conquered Dalan Tiligun to pacify the right-wing departments.

After decades of fighting east and west, Dayan Khan finally completely suppressed the West Mongols and unified the East Mongols.

"Annexing the tribes, full of ambition," they vaguely had the prospect and ambition of leading an army south.

But the lesson of the former, Dayan Khan was getting old, fearing that he would follow the footsteps of the "Great Yuan Tian Sheng Great Khan" who relied too much on personal prestige.

Thus, they began to refine internal politics, set about reforming the official system, enfeoffing their sons, consolidating the power of various tribes, and suppressing the Golden Family, which was called the New Policy of Northern Yuan... Following closely behind was the familiar sight of the policy dying with the person, and the renewed fragmentation of the Mongols.

With the event that Dayan Khan's third son, who controlled the right wing of the Mongols, ascended the throne, was forced to return to politics, and died, as a sign, the left and right wings of the East Mongol Tatar split into two.

There are many departments on the left and right, and it is messy.

But evolving to this day, the leader of the right wing is Altan Khan; the leader of the left wing is the Tumut Khan, the orthodox of the Golden Family.

In short.

Oirat, Tatar, and the Great Ming court, the three forces frequently played games, each had victories and defeats, and in the blink of an eye, it was two hundred years.

And as the last of the three Mongol groups, the Duoyan Guard participated in it in a different way—the slave of the three families.

In the twenty-second year of Hongwu, the Founding Emperor set up the Duoyan, Prince Tai Ning, and Fuyu Three Guards north of the Huangshui, recruiting the tribes of the former Yuan Liaowang, which is the so-called Duoyan Three Guards.

This is a de facto vassal relationship, but for the barbarians, it is just convenient to ride the wall.

They often detour between the court and Oirat and Tatar, sometimes guiding the two sides to invade the Ming border, and sometimes reporting military intelligence to the court.

The wall-grass career of the Duoyan Guard began in the Hongwu period, and it was out of control afterwards.

First, Emperor Xuanzong reasoned with soldiers and personally went to the Duoyan Three Guards to kill, and in fear, the Duoyan Three Guards bowed their heads to the court.

Then came the rise of Oirat, and the Duoyan Three Guards quickly knelt and slid, turning from a Great Ming vassal to the embrace of Oirat.

And when Oirat was weak, the Duoyan Three Guards immediately looked for another way out and found the Great Ming Dynasty again—"Once threatened by Oirat to follow them, now I have returned to the court, but the daily supply is difficult, begging for plows, seeds, and cultivated land to support."

The central government was angry, but still pinched its nose to give cultivated land, cattle, sheep, and agricultural tools, and the two combined again.

During this period, the Duoyan Three Guards were extremely obedient, and even often led the crowd to plunder the East Mongol Tatar.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. With the reorganization of the East Mongol Tatar, the Duoyan Three Guards began to flirt with the East Mongol Tatar again.

The court was out of reach at this time, and there was no way, so it could only symbolically make preparations—"Boli and the Three Guards have been communicating for more than a day... The way of prevention is naturally in me."

After this, the Duoyan Three Guards listened to orders in Boli's tent and once followed them to Central Asia.

And after Esen died, the East Mongols split into two, and the Duoyan Three Guards on the one hand claimed to be a Great Ming vassal, and on the other hand simultaneously submitted to the Tumut Khan.

Ideologically, they hoped to restore independence by taking advantage of the confrontation between the two sides, and behaviorally, they all plundered and offended both sides.

Such a split must have a lot of internal disputes.

Riding the wall for two hundred years, plus the Great Ming Dynasty once rushed to be a turtle, the Duoyan Guard now almost doesn't take the court seriously—if you can't beat it, you just bow your head and be sealed, it has always been like this.

Thus, in the Wanli period, the leader Dong Huli, in order to suppress internal disputes, focused on plundering the Great Ming Dynasty to transfer internal contradictions.

This spring, Dong Huli wanted to plunder in the Jiliao area because of food usage, but unfortunately met Qi Jiguang and hit a bloody nose.

Just didn't expect that he didn't pant, and was ready to come again next spring!

And Wang Chonggu's plan for this matter is as clear as his person.

He has different attitudes towards the Tatar moderate faction and the radical faction—more moderate than the moderate faction itself, and more radical than the radical faction itself.

He calls Altan Khan a brother, and shouts and kills the Duoyan Guard.

Wang Chonggu finished speaking and waited quietly for the Emperor's reply.

In the past, Emperor Shizong and Emperor Muzong did not want to start a border dispute, the Ministry of Revenue was arguing that there was no money all day, and the censors did not care about the barbarians.

But the situation is very different now!

The Emperor intends to train the Beijing Camp and rectify the border army.

When the Kaizhong Law was restarted at the beginning of the year, he even instructed Yin Shidan to fill the granaries of Jiliao first, and his purpose was self-evident.

And the Ministry of Revenue has also experienced two rounds of looting in Nanzhili and Huguang, and there must be a lot of surplus money.

Even the censors of these two years did not easily talk about kindness. Before opening the mutual market, they frequently urged Xuan Da to go out of the fortress to fight the autumn wind.

Of course, besides these, the most mature opportunity is that he, Wang Chonggu, entered the Cabinet and assisted in military affairs.

Can he only be satisfied with making some money?

Of course not!

In his position, he plans his government. If he can pacify the north and sweep away the Tatar disaster during his tenure...

That would not be in vain for a trip to the Cabinet!

Now Oirat is depressed and hidden, Altan Khan has surrendered, and the Golden Family Tumut Khan is a thin camel bigger than a horse, none of which are good objects for establishing prestige.

On the contrary, the Duoyan Guard, the descendant of the former Yuan Liaowang, has a big name, a small size, but jumps the most happily!

Isn't it just suitable for the court to use to "show martial power and prevent invasion, so that the system of China is respected and the barbarians are awed"?

Once this battle is won.

Whether it is to raise the prestige of the Cabinet or to shock the right wing of the Mongols, it will help pave the way for pacifying the Tumut Khan...

The unfinished work of the country for two hundred years may not be realized in the hands of Wang Chonggu!

Not to mention the living ancestral hall of the people, even the Martial Temple may not be able to take a peek!

Thinking of this, Wang Chonggu almost couldn't control it, revealing a smile of celebrating his success in advance.

Zhu Yijun looked at the strange smile on Wang Chonggu's mouth and felt inexplicably cold.

Is the Jin Party calculating him?

The Tumu Crisis? Or the Gengxu Crisis?

Must be careful with this guy.

Zhu Yijun let his imagination run wild for a long time, then shook his head and threw Wang Chonggu's strange smile out of his mind.

He immediately returned to the topic: "Minister Wang, I have lived in the deep palace for a long time and don't know military affairs. Don't say it so broadly."

"I ask you."

"How many people are in the Duoyan Guard? How many soldiers? Is the surrounding geography of the place of residence clear? Is the climate there suitable for an expedition? Will there be Tatar barbarians helping each other?"

The political correctness of the Northern Expedition does not need to be discussed; they have plundered again and again, so why look for any reason.

But fighting still needs to be based on reality, and one cannot listen to Wang Chonggu's two harsh words and get hot-blooded, supporting the dispatch of troops for Wang Chonggu.

Wang Chonggu was clearly prepared.

Upon hearing this, he immediately took out a memorial from his sleeve and presented it to the Emperor: "Your Majesty, please listen."

"The Duoyan Guard now grazes between the northeast of Shanhai Pass to Xifengkou and Xuanda, grazing outside the Great Wall, only a wall away, and the climate is not much different from Jiliao and Xuanda."

"Moreover, now that we are preparing, it is just right to send troops to clear it before and after the spring of next year, when the snow melts and the weather warms up!"

"And the departments you asked about, in recent years, the strong and strong have mostly been absorbed and lived by the Shunyi King and Tumut Khan departments, and the number of the main department is decreasing day by day."

"The main department of the Duoyan Guard is now less than thirty thousand people! There are only four thousand soldiers, including more than one thousand cavalry!"

"As for whether there will be Tatar barbarians helping each other..."

"Your Majesty, it is precisely because of this concern that we must strike first before Dong Huli connects and harasses our dynasty!"

At the end, Wang Chonggu said earnestly: "Your Majesty! The three guards are barbarians, submissive on the outside but rebellious on the inside. The weak are the eyes and ears of the two barbarians in the east and west, and the strong are the wings of the two houses in the east and west."

"Since the Gengxu year of Jiajing, they have been inciting harassment, and there is no year without it, which is truly hateful."

"How can Your Majesty bear to see the people on the border never have peace?"

"Now that we want to train troops and have a famous teacher, why not sweep away the scabies first!?"

These words were clearly aimed at persuading the Emperor and did enough work.

But Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu speechlessly and reminded: "Minister Wang, in the first year of Longqing, Yingke of the Duoyan Guard led troops to break into the Jieling Pass, and the battle report wrote more than 15,000 people."

"This year, Dong Huli of the Duoyan Guard committed a crime against our Xifengkou, and the battle report also had more than 10,000 people."

"Not to mention whether it was a nest, how did it become only four thousand in Minister Wang's mouth?"

Those who don't know would think Qi Jiguang killed ten thousand people.

This is the common problem of court officials.

Either exaggerate, or ignore the difficulty. In order to achieve their goals, they always want to find ways to deceive the Emperor.

Whether it is local bandits or the clearing of barbarians by the guards, it is always "covering the sky and the sun, the military power is terrifying," and the battle merit of clearing is "burning thousands of village houses, drowning thousands in the river."

A cult group of three or five people can also make a big news, making it seem like they will kill to the capital in the next moment and seize the bird position.

And if you hope the Emperor sends troops to somewhere.

Then the other side is few in number, inferior in equipment, a scabies disease, and a mob.

As long as the Emperor issues an edict, everything will get better.

The military situation is so muddy, making the Emperor not clear about what the specific situation is.

As soon as the Emperor said this, Wang Chonggu secretly said that it was not easy to fool.

Wang Chonggu coughed lightly and did not answer the Emperor's question directly.

Instead, he took out another memorial from the sleeve of his other hand.

Ignoring the Emperor's strange eyes, he respectfully presented the memorial: "Your Majesty, this was the case file of the Ministry of War that I checked, or there may be omissions, but even according to the Shunyi King..."

Halfway through, Zhu Yijun directly interrupted Wang Chonggu's words.

The former looked at Wang Chonggu and pushed the memorial back.

He said earnestly: "Minister Wang, I know your enthusiasm, but don't be in a hurry."

"Great affairs of the country are not something that you and I, monarch and minister, can decide in private in a few words."

"Besides knowing the enemy, you must also know yourself."

"Do the various armies guarding the nine borders have the energy to draw out? Which department should go out, how many troops should be sent? How much silver and grain will be consumed? Is the cavalry sufficient, and can it patrol outside the Great Wall?"

"I don't know any of these, how can I discuss it with you?"

Seeing the Emperor pushing back again and again, Wang Chonggu was a little disappointed.

Although the Emperor has not personally governed now, and military affairs are assisted by him, he can decide whether to send troops or not, but if he wants to send troops, he really can't do it without the Emperor's support.

Just as he was disappointed.

Wang Chonggu only heard the Emperor change the subject: "Minister, you might as well draft the memorial in detail, and then discuss it at the court."

The former raised his head suddenly, revealing joy.

Zhu Yijun finished this sentence and looked at Ma Ziqiang: "Put aside the merits and demerits of the Dou Barbarian battle for now, and discuss it with the Ministry of War after this matter is discussed in court."

In principle, he does not oppose small-scale wars. The southeast has been fighting all the time, and no one has said that it is poor and warlike.

But support is support, and it must be combined with specific circumstances.

First, evaluate the financial burden, and second, avoid the risk of developing into a big war.

So it is better for the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers to calculate together.

Ma Ziqiang saw the Emperor lightly reveal the matter of the Dou Barbarians and did not argue, just saluted to show he knew.

Wang Chonggu bowed down hurriedly after being overjoyed: "I obey the decree!"

Saying that, he took the two memorials back into his sleeves.

At this time, Zhu Yijun suddenly called him again, as if he had a temporary idea, and said: "Send a letter to the Jiliao Grand Coordinator Liu Yingjie and the Four Towns Training Grand Coordinator Qi Jiguang, asking them to state the details of the Jiliao Duoyan Guard situation, and... express an attitude on whether to send troops."

This is the old-fashioned way. Wang Chonggu heard this and only felt that the Emperor was methodical and watertight in everything, and didn't feel anything wrong.

After waiting for a while, seeing that the Emperor had no other instructions, Wang Chonggu bowed and retreated.

Zhu Yijun nodded and signaled the inner servant not far away to see him off.

To say something unpleasant, although the matter of the border generals submitting a memorial to express their stance was just a sentence he seemed to mention casually, in fact, the words of the border generals he mentioned would be more useful than Wang Chonggu's three sentences.

Uh, of course, Jiliao Grand Coordinator Liu Yingjie, I don't know him, it's considered respect for the official rank.

★C〇

Mainly Qi Jiguang.

As long as Qi Jiguang says he can fight.

Zhu Yijun will support the dispatch of troops without hesitation.

Conversely, once Qi Jiguang feels that he cannot fight, even if the court deliberation feels that he can fight, Zhu Yijun will still force the public opinion.

Not just the Duoyan Guard.

Even the Tumut Khan may have to rely on him.

Ma Ziqiang stood aside, seeing Wang Chonggu retreat, and the Emperor was in a daze, he also hurriedly saluted and wanted to leave.

Waiting for the Emperor to go through the process, Ma Ziqiang was ready to step back.

"Great Minister of Rites, wait a moment."

Hearing the Emperor's stay, Ma Ziqiang hurriedly pressed the leg that was exerting force, barely maintaining a respectful posture: "Please give instructions, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun saw Ma Ziqiang's body sway and couldn't help laughing.

He waved his hand: "Great Minister of Rites, get up first. I just suddenly remembered two things and want to discuss with the Great Minister of Rites."

Ma Ziqiang's surname is not good. In order not to shout "lose immediately" and get bad luck, the court officials now call him Great Minister of Rites.

After Ma Ziqiang stood up, Zhu Yijun said slowly to Ma Ziqiang: "There are more than two months left before the spring examination. Has the Ministry of Rites discussed the two chief examiners?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Ziqiang quietly raised his head and looked at the Emperor.

The chief examiner of the meeting examination is a key position.

Especially in the case of taking 407 people in this subject, how many students can be recruited? How many party members can be cultivated?

It can be said that the chief examiner of the meeting examination can not only get fame but also get real power!

Because of this, it is usually the Emperor's confidant.

For example, the chief examiner of the previous subject was Zhang Juzheng and Lu Diaoyang.

Of course, this session is definitely not possible. After all, the sons of these two have been granted special favors to take the exam. If they still want to be chief examiners, it is too against the rules—even if the descendants' test papers are approved by the Emperor, this attitude cannot be less.

Subtracting the professional mismatch Wang Chonggu, and the pre-determined position Gao Yi.

This determines that outside the Cabinet, there is another candidate.

Ma Ziqiang didn't know the Emperor's intention, so he had to say some words without merit or fault: "Your Majesty, the court is currently meeting and recommending, including Gao Yi, Zhang Gelao of the Jianji Hall and Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Wang Xilie, Head of the Zhan Shi Fu and Head of the Hanlin Academy, and Zhu Dazhou, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and Reader of the Hanlin Academy, three people."

Zhu Yijun said "oh": "All are learned scholars..."

Ma Ziqiang echoed the Emperor.

At this time, Zhu Yijun suddenly looked at Ma Ziqiang and asked suspiciously: "The Great Minister of Rites is also a learned scholar, why not in the meeting recommendation?"

As soon as the words fell, Ma Ziqiang's heart jumped suddenly.

If someone else said this in the Emperor's mouth, Ma Ziqiang would think it was irony—the three were either the top scholar of the first rank or the top ten of the second rank, recognized learned scholars, where would he, a third-rank Jinshi, be embarrassed.

Even if he reached the meeting recommendation, he would not be able to compare with Wang Xilie in the court deliberation.

Or rather, the consensus of the current court officials is that Gao Yi and Wang Xilie are the main examiners, even if Zhu Dazhou, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is just a companion.

But listening to the meaning of the Emperor's words, it is clearly pointing to something—isn't this clearly intending to let himself be the main examiner!

Ma Ziqiang was hesitating about how to express his stance.

Only to see the Emperor summon the Middle Secretary beside him and order: "Minister Deng, go to the Cabinet and say that for the meeting examination chief examiner, also recommend the Great Minister of Rites to me."

Ma Ziqiang watched Deng Yizan go towards the Cabinet, his heart was half happy and half worried.

The happy thing is that he was granted grace by the Emperor again.

The worry is that there must be something difficult for him to do.

For a time, Ma Ziqiang tried his best to restrain his expression that was difficult to hold, and lowered his head: "Your Majesty, I am talented and shallow..."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and interrupted his polite words.

"There is one more thing, I suddenly remembered when I was playing with Zhang Gelao Wang just now."

Ma Ziqiang saw that he didn't even let him finish the etiquette, and he felt bad, raising his vigilance.

Zhu Yijun didn't care what Ma Ziqiang was thinking, and said to himself: "You just heard about the Duoyan Guard, and it will be discussed in court in a few days."

"Now Wang Zhang Gelao and I both intend to train the Beijing Camp and send it to Jiliao to assist the border army."

"In this situation, I think, whether to send troops or not, shouldn't the Beijing Camp Grand Coordinator attend the court deliberation?"

"I ascended the throne at a young age and am not familiar with the civil and military rituals of our dynasty, and I fear that I will break the system of the country..."

He paused for a moment, looked straight at Ma Ziqiang, with a thoughtful look: "Great Minister of Rites, a learned scholar, can you tell me if there is a way for military officials to attend the court deliberation in the ritual system?"

By the way, I read two books before, but I accidentally forgot them. I suddenly remembered them today.

One is a cultivation book. The male lead can live for nine lives and has been eating life-extending pills. The longer he lives, the more powerful he is. Then he sleeps with people everywhere and doesn't take responsibility. He practices wood-based techniques, and the update is slow.

There is also an urban book. The male lead's future self writes a diary to fight against aliens. There are two heroines, one of whom studies law.

I can't remember the book titles. Is there any kind person who has read them to remind me? ===== CHAPTER 149 =====