The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Uri. Uri"

At this moment, on a wild road outside the northern border town, the powerful Tatar cavalry shouted "Long live" and charged at the enemy in front. The battlefield showed a one-sided situation.

The fleeing soldiers were chopped down to the ground by the Tatar cavalry who caught up behind them, wielding scimitars, and then were trampled mercilessly by the hoofs of horses.

Wherever the Tatar cavalry passed, there were countless corpses in fiery red uniforms lying on the ground. Flags and weapons were scattered on the ground. The injured horses were still wailing, and the ownerless horses kept circling around the corpse of their master, as if they were helpless.

Just in front of them, a group of red-coated soldiers were quickly overtaken and surrounded by the Tatar cavalry. They shouted and surrounded them from both sides. However, after the two groups merged, they did not rein in their horses and stop. Two layers of surrounding circles are formed outside.

After the encirclement was formed, they were already urging their horses to move in circles, shouting and shouting, as if to put pressure on the prey in their circle.

The soldiers in red quickly gathered together after being surrounded, with several large flags behind them. One of the broken flags could vaguely make out the character "Liu".

The Tatar cavalry did not seem to intend to immediately eliminate the Ming troops in the circle. They just kept running in circles around them, shooting arrows inside from time to time. When they heard the wails of injured people coming from the encirclement, the Tatars on horseback raised their voices loudly. laugh.

Not far away, a group of knights rushed over, stopped not far from the encirclement, and looked quietly at the group of surrounded people in the distance. First, an old man with a thick beard and wrinkles asked: "Are you sure it's not the case?" Liu Han leads the team?"

"Great Khan, we have already interrogated the captured prisoners. The one who came out this time was Liu Jinchen, the garrison of Pinglu City in the Ming Dynasty. Liu Han's fellow did not come."

A strong man next to the old man replied.

"Hmph, that old boy is better off."

The old man said something expressionlessly, then looked around, "No one ran away."

"Don't worry, Khan, no one has been missed."

The strong man replied hurriedly.

"You handle it and make them surrender. If they don't surrender, shoot them."

After saying this, the old man turned his horse and walked back without even looking at the prey in the surrounding circle in the distance.

There was no Datong military officer from the Ming Dynasty inside, it was just a guard, which did not attract him in the slightest. It was in vain that he spent a lot of effort to surround the people and prepare a pot of food.

Capital, Prince Yu's Mansion.

After listening to Wei Guangde's words, Zhang Juzheng frowned and said, "But should we remind the Ministry of War that there has been some activity in Datong recently?"

Wei Guangde knew what Zhang Juzheng meant, perhaps inspired by the huge results of the raid on Bansheng City. From last year to this year, Datong General Liu Han often sent troops out to attack.

"I should say that everyone in Yanshen Datong is guarding the city."

Wei Guangde also felt that it was right and said immediately. It was only after he finished speaking that he suddenly thought that the information on the previous note showed that there were only 20,000 Tatars near Shaanxi and Ningxia, but there were six Tatars who entered Nanshan last time. As many as ten thousand.

If the Tatars in Shaanxi are the captives who were evacuated from Nanshan, then where have the other 40,000 people gone?

In an instant, Wei Guangde was sweating.

Seeing the instant change in Wei Guangde's face, Zhang Juzheng asked hurriedly: "Shandai, what's wrong with you?"

In fact, Zhang Juzheng had this guess when he saw the note just now, and he raised it to see if Wei Guangde's views were consistent with his.

However, there is no need to ask now, he will know the answer just by looking at Wei Guangde's face.

"Notify the people in the Ministry of War immediately to give a warning to the superiors, but I'm afraid it's too late."

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly.

Both Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng could see this information. Could it be that the senior officials in the Ministry of War didn't know it? It's just that they were involved in too many affairs every day, so they might have ignored this information.

After all, the situation in Fujian is so bad now.

Previously, the Ministry of War's energy had gradually shifted to Jiangnan, and it only issued orders to border towns to guard and defend.

Hearing Wei Guangde say "it's too late", King Yu frowned and looked at him and asked, "What's too late?"

"Datong, I just hope Liu Han doesn't send troops out to raid the Tatar tribes these days."

Wei Guangde replied.

After hearing this, King Yu and Yin Shizhen also realized what the conversation between him and Zhang Juzheng was about just now.

"Quick, Li Fang, send someone quickly to talk to the people from the Ministry of War."

Prince Yu immediately turned to Li Fang and ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Li Fang also understood that the matter was of great importance and hurriedly ran out to find someone.

"If something happens to Datong, do you want Liu Han to be bailed out?"

Li Fang went out, and Zhang Juzheng asked Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde shook his head and did not answer, but the meaning was obvious. He was not familiar with Liu Han, so he didn't need to worry about him.

King Yu had already sat back in his seat at this time. He also understood the interaction between Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde just now. Liu Han and Wei Guangde had no contact, and naturally they had nothing to do with Mr. Xu Ge, otherwise Zhang Juzheng would not have asked that question. Words come.

This is the difficulty of being an official in this era. There are no connections in the capital. If something goes wrong, you have to take care of it yourself.

But if there is someone in the capital, there is still a chance to save one or two. Even if it cannot be saved in the end, it is possible to at least reduce some of the culpability.

If you want to keep in touch with the capital, just rely on correspondence, how can you establish a friendship of the same age? At least send someone to visit and bring some gifts. It shouldn't be too shabby, let alone those who want to be promoted, and they must be prepared to pay filial piety.

Such people who are local officials cannot support their families simply by relying on the salary from the court. Where does the money from connections come from? It’s not just a matter of trying other ways to get money from local sources.

No matter when they first studied, they kept saying that they wanted to "establish a heart for the world, establish a destiny for the people, carry on the unique knowledge for the saints, and create peace for all generations." After they were named on the gold list, they still had to think about themselves.

Even if you tell yourself against your will, what you are doing now is just for promotion, and only after promotion can you save more people in the "future" and make decisions for all people.

Not long after, Li Fang came back and whispered to King Yu: "We have sent someone."

"Um."

King Yu agreed, then looked at the sky outside the window and said, "It's almost done. Let me bring lunch over. I won't go back to the back today, I will eat here."

Although this incident left a shadow in the hearts of everyone in Prince Yu's mansion, it was quickly forgotten by everyone, and Prince Yu asked people to prepare lunch.

The strong smell of blood attracted predators from the grassland. Within a few days, sentinels sent by the Datong Army also discovered this battlefield. The news was quickly spread back to Datong City, and the battle report was quickly sent to the capital through the military post.

Liu Han did not dare to hide the news that the entire army was wiped out and the whereabouts of the garrison was unknown, not to mention that the prefect and censor were still in Datong City.

Liu Han could only report in an uneasy mood. He just said that he sent troops out to clear grass valleys because he found scattered cavalry around Datong. Liu Jinchen, the guard, took the initiative to request to go out to investigate. The army fell and Liu Jinchen's whereabouts were unknown.

While reporting the matter, they also had to mobilize troops from other towns and forts to replenish Pinglu City. They also continued to send detective horses out to find out information and search for survivors, which was also a hectic mess.

After all, there were more than 3,000 people. Dong Xue, the censor of Datong, did not dare to conceal the matter. However, after communicating with Liu Han, he still reported the news of the defeat of the Datong army with the original reason of Liu Han's battle report.

It's just that the memorial also made a result that Liu Han could accept, that is, how to deal with the aftermath.

The Datong army went out to hunt grass and valleys, but the civil servants of Datong turned a blind eye. In fact, the reason was very simple. In addition to leaving some of the harvest for the army, they would also share the profits.

It’s just that the loss was too great and someone must be responsible.

Liu Han is naturally the only one who can calm the matter, but he only needs a result that everyone can accept.

Within a few days, the report of the Datong battle was finally sent to the Ministry of War.

Yang Bo naturally didn't believe the words in the battle report.

In fact, the Datong Army has repeatedly left the border and rushed to the grassland tribes in recent years. The Ministry of War has also learned about it through channels, but they have made gains before, so naturally no one said anything about it.

But this time it was different. Losing three thousand men and horses at once would have a huge impact, not to mention the entire army was wiped out.

Defeat, a big defeat.

Contrary to what later generations thought, in fact, the military battles of this era, with thousands of casualties, were an event that was enough to shock both the government and the public.

Confrontations involving tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people only existed in novels, and the actual number of troops fighting was only a few thousand.

In fact, it can also be seen from the Ming Dynasty guard system.

A single guardhouse can only be filled with more than 5,000 people, which is enough to support a war.

If you can combine more guard posts together, you can, but you need to set up a military formation to facilitate command. At this time, it is usually a guard post-by-guard post operation, but there is also a big trouble, that is, the problem of logistics supply. .

News of the disastrous defeat of the Datong Army soon reached Xiyuan and reached the ears of Emperor Jiajing.

No one knows what kind of verdict the emperor will make. At this time, Pan En, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, also received a report from Dong Xue.

After reading Dong Xue's impeachment memorial, Paine only frowned slightly, and then attached his own comments after the memorial.

"In September of this year, there were zero thieves in Datong. Liu Han, the commander-in-chief, sent Liu Jinchen, the garrison of Pinglu City, to lead the troops in pursuit. He was captured by the thieves. Due to Han's decline and illness, he repeatedly missed opportunities and the general Zheng Xiao was investigated. Han, It is a crime of misdeeds. Due to the decline of the Han Dynasty, it is appropriate to change the tune and use it differently."

Although Dong Xue's memorial was well written, Pan En could naturally see that Dong Xue, the censor, might also have something to do with it, so the impeachment of Liu Han was no longer up to the task of Datong's military commander.

Now that they have discussed this result and someone is responsible for the defeat, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has no reason to hold on to him.

If we really want to keep investigating, if Dong Xuezhen is sent in if there is something wrong with him, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will also be embarrassed.

As for the Ministry of War, when they received Liu Han's battle report and apology letter, they had the same thoughts as him.

Big things are reduced to small things, and small things are reduced to nothing.

The official document from the Metropolitan Procuratorate lagged behind the Ministry of War for half a day, but it was quickly delivered to Emperor Jiajing's imperial desk.

"What else can I say? Liu Han's dismissal is certain, and that general should be demoted and reassigned."

The news was sent to Prince Yu's Mansion immediately, and the people in the Prince's Mansion just looked at it casually and dropped the matter.

It was expected, not surprising at all, but Wei Guangde asked Zhang Juzheng out of curiosity and wanted to know how the cabinet voted.

Zhang Juzheng smiled and said: "Liu Han himself said that he was no longer qualified. Dong Xue also said that Liu Han was old and weak, and had been ill for a long time and could not govern. He just wanted the court to let him go. He was demoted and transferred. It was just a rhetoric. The court made it worse. Punishment also serves as an explanation to others.”

Wei Guangde nodded. He would not get involved in this matter. Things in Bian Town were very complicated. Unless Ma Fang was involved, he would not interfere.

"By the way, that Qi Jiguang is really good. I only heard a few months ago that he led his troops to a great victory in Taizhou. This time he sent troops to Jiangxi to recover Guixi and Qianshan, and drove Zhang Lian's rebels out of Guangxin Mansion. Where are you? You should feel relieved.”

Zhang Juzheng said to Wei Guangde with a smile at this time.

A few days ago, news came that Zhang Lian's troops were attacking Guangxin Mansion. Wei Guangde was really worried for a while.

There is no way, the combat power shown by Zhang Lian's troops is too fierce. If they continue to fight like this, whether they invade Southern Zhili or sweep across Jiangxi, Wei Guangde's family may not be able to live in peace.

"Hu Zongxian has been in Zhejiang for so long, it would be derelict if he did not train an elite army."

Wei Guangde said disdainfully.

"Too."

Zhang Juzheng nodded and agreed with Wei Guangde's statement.

As the governor-general responsible for suppressing Japanese invaders, if he cannot train a strong army, how can he talk about suppressing Japanese invaders? Are so many military expenditures going to the dogs every year?

"One more thing, do you know Tan Lunqian?"

Zhang Juzheng suddenly asked Wei Guangde again, as if he had just thought of it.

"Tan Lun?"

Wei Guangde thought about it and shook his head.

"Yesterday, Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of War went to the cabinet. I heard that he remembered that Fu Tan Lun would lead the army to annihilate Zhang Lian."

Zhang Juzheng said.

"Yang Shangshu went to the cabinet to discuss this matter?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"He first asked the two bachelors in the cabinet for their opinions. If they didn't object to him, he would go ahead."

Zhang Juzheng smiled.

"Resurrection? Tan Lun was dismissed from his post before?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"No, Ding You. Now that the filial piety has been fulfilled, I have already sent a note to the Ministry of Personnel. I guess I am looking for someone to follow Yang Shangshu's path. If I want to be appointed as soon as possible, it won't work if no one recommends me."

Zhang Juzheng said.

"The two cabinet ministers have no objection, right?"

Wei Guangde saw Zhang Juzheng saying this and asked directly without hesitation.

"I heard that Yang Shangshu intended to let Hu Zongxian concentrate on suppressing the Japanese, while Tan Lun led some Zhejiang troops south to be responsible for destroying Zhang Lian."

Hearing this, Wei Guangde felt a thump in his heart, knowing that the idea he was still planning to go south to participate in the annihilation of Zhang Lian might not be possible.

The Ministry of War seems to have a complete plan to wipe out Zhang Lian's rebels, and has now begun to deploy troops and generals.

Wei Guangde smacked his lips and said nothing.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde and smiled: "Why, Shandai still wants to lead the army in Fujian?"

"Hehe, there, there."

Wei Guangde laughed twice and said perfunctorily.

Within two days, news came out from Xiyuan that Liu Han, the chief military officer of Datong, was dismissed from his post, and Zheng Xiao, the staff general, was demoted and transferred to another position. The great defeat of the Datong army, which lost 3,000 people, was finally revealed.

On the same day, Yang Bo, Minister of the Ministry of War, stated that the invasion of Jiangxi began with banditry in southern Jiangxi, and that the officers and soldiers were increasingly ineffective and could not spread. He had previously issued an edict instructing ministers to report peace in September, but now it has expired and is ineffective. , please give further instructions to all ministers to suppress the situation, and still order to follow the example of border defense and report the traitors every five days. The minister also said that the imperial censor Gu Gu said that the development of the border area was easy and the strategy could be entrusted with military affairs. Deputy envoy Tan Lun was responsible for guarding the sea route. I have tried to train the local soldiers to be wise and brave, but now I have returned to my hometown to defend the system. When there are many mulberry families, it is better to use the ink to pacify the place. Moreover, the thieves in Fujian and Guangzhou rely on several lairs and ears, so use strong soldiers to take advantage of the weakness and attack them to save them. , thieves will be led inward, and chaos can be quelled.