The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Catch up and seize the cart."

The soldiers around him and Dong Yikui and other generals heard his words and knew what Ma Fang meant, and they immediately raised their arms and shouted.

To rob a big car is to rob money.

Although the property on these carts was robbed by the Tatars from the Han people, everyone knows that the owners of these things may no longer be in this world.

The cruelty of the Tatars destined them not to survive.

Therefore, no one in the Ming army, from the generals to the soldiers, felt guilty for grabbing these things. These were the spoils of their fight and they should share them.

Shouts one after another rang out in the Ming army formation, and everyone was stimulated by the money in front of them.

As long as they persist for a moment longer, they will not only win the honor of defeating the Tatars, but also receive a lot of money. Their tired spirits will become excited again, and their morale will suddenly improve a lot.

The shouts from the rear and the fear in the hearts of the captives in the front, even Huang Taiji, at this time did not figure out what made the morale of the Ming army suddenly increase.

After running out for a long time and leaving many carts behind, the Ming army's pursuit gradually slowed down because the terrain became steeper at this time.

On both sides of the road, there is no longer broad flat land, replaced by sloping slopes, which is not conducive to cavalry running horses.

The change in terrain not only affected the Tatars' retreat speed, but also affected the Ming army's pursuit speed.

The two armies had to move closer to the main road, and the Tatars also used this to release several waves of arrows to prevent the Ming army from pursuing.

In a test of riding and shooting, the Ming army was obviously at a disadvantage.

The Xuanfu cavalry trained by Ma Fang could only maintain considerable combat effectiveness when charging, because although the Ming army's cavalry and shooting were not as good as those of the nomads who had lived on the grasslands for a long time, they could be equipped with sophisticated firearms.

Firearms can only be used as disposable consumables in cavalry battles. The Ming cavalry cannot reload on the bumpy horseback, let alone during the charge.

Prolonged fighting actually puts the Ming army at a disadvantage.

This was also the huge gap between firearms and crossbows during this period. On the premise that loading was simplified and the rate of fire was not greatly improved, firearms were still inferior to crossbows.

Having already captured many large vehicles, the Ming army did not want to continue the pursuit. Although continuing the pursuit might magnify the results, it might also suffer a fatal blow from the Tatars.

However, this did not happen, Ma Fang was in control of everything.

Just accept it as soon as you see fit.

At this time, this word emerged in Ma Fang's heart.

While pursuing, it is naturally impossible to brake in an emergency, which will only cause a huge man-made disaster, that is, the Ming army will collide with or even trample each other.

Raise your right hand and slowly reduce the horse's speed.

After seeing this, the generals and officers behind him all imitated the situation and raised their hands to signal to stop.

When the Ming army cavalry saw the general like this, they also slowed down their horses and watched the Tatars not far ahead running further and further away, during which two waves of arrows burst out.

However, at this time, the distance between the two armies had widened, and the continuous fighting had affected the arm strength of the Tatar cavalry to some extent, so most of the arrows landed in front of the Ming army's ranks.

Even if a few arrows fell into the ranks of the Ming army, they were blocked by the well-prepared Ming army cavalry with small round shields.

After all, the Mongols are good at using light arrows. The lethality of these arrows is actually limited, but they just fly farther. For an army that is unprepared and has weak protection, it is a fatal blow.

However, the Ming army had been fighting the Mongolian Tatars for a long time, so they naturally knew what kind of equipment to use.

In fact, the generals of the Ming Army knew the importance of sophisticated equipment, which was the basic guarantee for victory in the war, and naturally they would not deduct money from equipment.

Of course, this can only happen in border towns where wars have been going on for a long time. It is hard to say about the guard posts in the mainland where peace has been long.

During the Jiajing year, although corruption in the government offices such as the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty had become very common and even regularized, no matter whether it was the weapons sent to border towns by the inner court or the Weapons Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, all weapons sent to border towns were not necessarily defective. It just reduces the defective rate.

There are actually many benefits to this, that is, the border town can request more equipment from the Ministry of War every year, and the corresponding manufacturing tasks issued by the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry will be more.

Only during the Wanli period, due to the interaction of various reasons, did the quality of Ming army weapons completely get out of control, and most of the products were defective.

The greedy appetite is also developed bit by bit.

Two groups of men and horses were left to monitor the movements of the captives in case they fired their carbine, while the rest of the men and horses began to walk back, cleaning the battlefield and treating the wounded.

The two groups of people were monitoring, naturally, so that they could alternately cover when the Tatars counterattacked.

In fact, when Huang Taiji responded to the Sun troops' retreat, he was considering alternately covering the retreat. However, the Sun troops were beaten so badly that they could not take over, so they could only stay in the rear.

Ma Fang took his personal guards and quickly arrived in front of several large cars. Looking at the boxes and bags packed full of boxes, he felt happy.

The things in the box are unlikely to be gold and silver treasures. After all, the Tatars looted villages and towns. It seems that they have not captured any cities. It would be difficult to obtain large amounts of gold and silver.

It should be clothes and fabrics, and the bag is most likely food.

Ma Fang had already made his own judgment, but he still asked someone to open a few large boxes. He wanted to see what was there with his own eyes.

Soon, some soldiers dismounted, climbed onto the cart and opened the boxes and bags.

The bags did contain grain, salt and tea, and the boxes contained mostly clothes and cloth, but there were also a small amount of other things, all necessities of life.

Relatively speaking, Ma Fang likes food and clothing more.

Food is the cornerstone of the stability of the army. In fact, this is not only true for the army, but also for a country.

Clothes and cloth are what soldiers need. You can wear them yourself or take them home. Even if the size is not suitable, your family can change them and wear them.

Moreover, these clothes seemed to be of good quality in terms of fabric and workmanship. They must have been snatched from the homes of landlords and squires. They included not only Songjiang cotton but also many silk products.

There are also many types of cloth, but this makes it easier to distribute.

In fact, at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, cloth was often used as military pay, and because of social productivity, military households also liked to accept cloth as military pay.

This is actually the main reason why cotton was vigorously promoted in the Ming Dynasty. Cotton was not only used to make cotton-padded jackets and quilts, but was also used to weave cloth. As a result, the textile industry in Jiangnan developed greatly.

Zhu Yuanzhang established the tax system, and the physical goods received were directly distributed to the military households of the Ming army in this way.

But now, with the difficulty of transporting physical taxes and levies, the imperial court has become more willing to use money to pay military salaries, instead of food and cloth in the early Ming Dynasty.

On several carts, only one bag of gold and silver was found, which was only more than a hundred taels of silver. Although it was a large amount of wealth, it seemed extremely small when placed in an army of tens of thousands of people.

"I guess all the good things were taken away by Huang Taiji and his soldiers."

Seeing that there was not much gold and silver, Dong Yikui was just a little disappointed and said bitterly.

"Will you leave good things in the cart?"

Ma Fang didn't care. These looted things were better than nothing, and most of them would be distributed to the soldiers below anyway.

But if he really wants something good, he will definitely get the big share. After all, he still needs to make friends and take care of various relationships in the capital.

"Tell them to pay attention, especially the boxes containing toys, calligraphy and paintings, and keep them for me. I can use them."

Ma Fang left the errands to Dong Yikui, but still asked for what she wanted.

"Yes, Marshal."

Of course Dong Yikui knew what Ma Fang wanted these things for. In fact, Ma Fang was not a scholar. Of course, if he wanted these toys, calligraphy and paintings, he would not keep them for himself, but give them to others.

Even a big boss understands this.

The military rations and military pay of the Xuanfu were given priority by the imperial court. Why?

As long as he, Dong Yikui, deducts a little from the food and salary he receives from Bingbeidao, he will be more practical than Ma Fang.

However, his eyes were actually more focused on the bag of gold and silver.

They are all generals, and they have no shortage of food and clothing, and they are still rich in gold and silver.

Ma Fang took people back to check on the treatment of the wounded.

For those who survived a battle, even the wounded, Ma Fang would order the army doctors to treat them with all their heart. This was also a way to maintain the morale of the soldiers.

Who knows if he will become one of them after the next war.

If the general gives up at will, no one will be willing to work for him in the future.

Many bad habits in the Ming army were actually accumulated bit by bit.

Some generals only care about money and ignore the soldiers, so the first thing the soldiers think about during battle is to protect themselves.

If things go on like this, the combat power of the Ming army will naturally decline rapidly and out of control.

The dead soldiers were cremated and then taken back to their homes in Xuanfu by their fellow soldiers for burial. This was also the tradition of the Ming army and the Han army.

As long as conditions permit, in fact, soldiers will not be buried casually, and they will try their best to return them to their roots.

He also wanted to write a battle report first, and report his great victory in Pinggu to Beijing as soon as possible.

This is merit and reward. I despise the timely reward of silver and a few pieces of cloth, but the soldiers need it.

He ordered the military scribe to write a simple battle report. There was plenty of time to write a detailed battle report, as well as a merit book, which the Ministry of War needed to record merit.

However, Ma Fang still wrote a letter in his own hand and sent someone to the Wei family in the capital.

In the letter, Ma Fang naturally praised King Yu and others. He bluntly said that because of King Yu's care, the Xuanfu army was able to receive sufficient supplies from the court, so their morale was high, and they were able to defeat the captive cavalry with overwhelming force.

These words were also told by Wei Guangde to Ma Fang in his previous letters.

Because, except for very special letters, he would selectively give these letters to King Yu for viewing.

Ma Fang knew that this was also to establish his status in the mind of King Yu, the future emperor of the Ming Empire.

This is Wei Guangde taking care of him, and of course he is willing to do it.

As for how to distribute the spoils, it was naturally none of Ma Fang's business, but at night, the two big boxes were carried into Ma Fang's tent by Dong Yikui's soldiers.

The work of cleaning up the battlefield has not yet been completed. The bodies of the Tatars have to be disposed of, but they are just buried casually. It will take time to clean up the usable things.

It is estimated that the cleaning work will not be completed until tomorrow.

After Dong Yikui took the people away. Ma Fang opened the box with his own hands. There were many scrolls, and there were many pen and ink inkstones and other things at the bottom of the box. There were several pieces of beautifully burnt paper porcelain from the previous dynasty, and a few of them were made of gold, silver, and ivory.

After just a glance, Ma Fang closed the lid.

I don’t know if I will be summoned to Beijing this time, I’ll tell when the time comes.

These two boxes of things must be sent to the capital and handed over to Wei Guangde.

Whatever he likes, he will naturally keep it first, and the rest will be given to officials from the Ministry of War and other yamen.

Anyway, he, Ma Fang, doesn't understand this. He can get ten thousand taels of silver from the military salary allocated from the imperial court to the Xuanfu every year, and he is satisfied.

The battle report of the Xuanfu Army was quickly delivered to the capital at nightfall. Although the martial law in the capital had been lifted after Huang Taiji led his troops northward, the nighttime curfew remained the same.

However, because it was wartime, the officials sent by the Ministry of War at each city gate did not withdraw, so the Xuanfu messenger was immediately lifted up the city wall in a hanging basket, and the messenger and the battle report were immediately sent to the Ministry of War.

The great results recorded in Ma Fang's battle report undoubtedly revitalized the solemn atmosphere of the Ministry of War. In fact, the Ministry of War was lifeless for the past two days, because the news that Sun Bin, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen, was defeated and killed has spread to the capital, and has even been reported to the capital. Verify.

The Jizhen cavalry suffered heavy losses in this battle and were no longer able to continue the head-on confrontation with the Tatars.

Even Yang Bo's eyes jumped when he saw such a battle report.

However, he still honestly delivered the battle report to the cabinet and waited for the emperor to read it, even though he was in a state of anxiety and trembling with fear at the moment.

Because of the outbreak of the war, he has not returned to the mansion to rest for several days. He has always dealt with him casually in his own duty room. The scribe also made a bed for him on the side of the duty room.

I was sleeping that day when I was suddenly awakened by the noise outside and the "dong dong dong" knocking on the door.

"What's the matter?"

Yang Bo was not angry at being disturbed. In fact, at this moment he was worried about whether there would be another bad news.

He had already heard the noisy people outside, and it was obvious that the matter was not serious.

I only heard Ge Jin's voice coming from outside the door, "Sir, Master Yang, good news. The Xuanfu army defeated the Tatars in the north of Pinggu and beheaded a thousand prisoners."

Ge Jin's voice sounded very excited. Yang Bo sat up from the bed in excitement, quickly put on his clothes and came over to open the door.

Soon, Ge Jin and several scribes came in quickly. Ge Jin also held a battle report in his hand.

The scribe immediately stepped forward to help Yang Bo get dressed, but Yang Bo had already taken the battle report from Ge Jin. A scribe came over with a lamp to illuminate, and with a few weak oil lamps, Yang Bo quickly read the Xuanfu Ma Fang The Ministry's battle report.

"Finally I can give an explanation to His Majesty."

After reading it, Yang Bo couldn't help but burst into tears.

In the past two days, he, the Minister of War, was undoubtedly under tremendous pressure.

They were all news of failure, and in the end, the Jizhen army was defeated miserably, and the chief military officer was killed. If not for the trust of Emperor Jiajing, he would have resigned long ago.

With the good news, he naturally wanted to send him to the palace as soon as possible.

"Prepare the sedan chair and enter the palace."

"Sir, Your Majesty should rest."

Ge Jin didn't know what he meant, so he said quickly.

"Then go to Wuyi Hall first and hand it over to Mr. Ge."