Chapter 236 235 Not as Brave as Ma Fang

The news that Anda's troops had entered the Kou Xuan Mansion had already spread in Beijing, and the people in the city were extremely nervous at first.

The scene where the Tatars came to the city only happened a few years ago, and it was so short that people cannot forget it.

In a short period of time, the prices of houses in the east and west gates of the capital plummeted, and a large number of people poured into the south city, making it even more crowded.

Fortunately, the southern city wall built in the Ming Dynasty occupies a very large area. The southern direction of the capital was only fully developed near the inner city. It seemed extremely lively. There was still a large open space near the city wall, which could allow these panicked people to flee into the city. The people can build a temporary shelter.

When the people in the capital gradually calmed down after several days of panic, as refugees from the Xuanfu entered Changping through Juyongguan and other passes, and some people even fled to the capital, the panic of the people in the city was once again raised.

During this period of time, the entire capital seemed to be in panic and chaos.

In response to such a situation, the imperial court and the Shuntian Prefecture could only send a large number of government officials and Beijing camp officers and soldiers to patrol the streets every day to suppress lawlessness.

Although the people in the capital were really shocked by the influx of refugees from the Xuanfu government, they also brought more credible information, that is, the Anta Department had indeed invaded, but it seems that they have not yet attacked Juyongguan. Here in the capital Still safe.

The imperial court's hundreds of thousands of troops will go to encircle and suppress them.

This is the most common sentence spoken by the people in the capital after dinner during this period of time, although the speaker may not believe it himself.

The people near the capital finally settled down. At least until the Anda tribe failed to break through the Juyongguan Great Wall, the capital was still safe.

The people who originally flocked to Nancheng due to panic also returned home one after another, going to work where they should, and farming where they should.

The vegetable farmers around the capital still get up early every day to sell vegetables in the capital. Everything seems to have returned to its original point, except that there are many more Xuanfu refugees in the capital. They are looking for jobs that can feed them, or begging on the streets to make a living.

On this day, the sky was bright, and a large number of people outside the city were already waiting outside Fucheng Gate to enter the city.

Not long after, with a "creak" sound, the heavy city gate was opened inwards, but before they could squeeze in, they were blocked by a group of soldiers coming out of the city.

It is not surprising for these people. It is the same every day. The city gate has been opened and will be released soon. They just need to wait patiently for a while.

Soon, after setting up defenses inside and outside the city gate to prevent people from entering and exiting the city gate, the soldiers no longer held up their swords and guns to prevent the people from entering and exiting the city gate. They just asked them not to crowd and move forward in a queue.

The first ones to enter the city were naturally a few carriages outside the city gate. It was obvious at a glance that those gorgeously decorated carriages were not owned by ordinary people, so they naturally had priority to enter the city.

After the carriage entered the city, the people passed through the city gate in twos and threes carrying burdens and bamboo baskets on their backs.

"Da da da"

The crisp sound of horse hooves trampling on the stone slabs came from far to near. This was a horse team of the Ming Army. The people on the horses were all wearing the red battle coats of the Ming Army.

This group of Ming army cavalry consisted of seven or eight people. Each of them was either carrying something on his back or holding a long pole in his hand. They just rode towards the city gate. As they approached, the leader stood guard at the city gate. The army shouted: "Xuanfu reports urgently, Xuanfu reports urgently"

When they heard that it was from the Xuan Mansion, the people below the city did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly hid aside to make way. At this time, the soldiers guarding the city had also begun to clear the way, driving the people inside the city gate to both sides.

"Da da da"

The sound of horse hooves passed through the city gate with a dull sound, and then they rushed into the inner city.

Although they had left and were no longer visible in the blink of an eye, the people below the city were really asking about the expressions of the soldiers just now, guessing whether they brought good news or bad news.

In the yamen of the Ministry of War in the capital, Nie Bao, the Minister of War, was sitting in the public room, looking at the official documents submitted by the various military offices, and handling daily official duties.

Serving the emperor who is not very fond of court is actually a kind of luck for the ministers. They can ask for leave in advance for various reasons and do not have to go to Fengtianmen before dawn to pay respects.

Of course, ministers couldn't stop going every day. They usually took two or three days off after going a few times, and then went back again. Anyway, they couldn't see the emperor. If they wanted to see him, they had to go to Xiyuan.

Even if you go to Xiyuan, if there is nothing important, you will usually not see it.

While he was flipping through the pages, footsteps sounded outside the door. It was very chaotic, and it seemed that the people who came in were in a hurry. Nie Bao put down the official document in his hand and looked up. An official was running from the yard to the office with an official document in his hand. Outside the door.

"What's up?"

As Minister of the Ministry of War, every word and deed has its own magnanimity.

"Master Nie, Master Weng of Xuanfu is urgently reporting."

The clerk quickly bowed and said, holding the official document with both hands.

Nie Bao took the official document and saw that the seal was intact, then nodded and said: "I understand."

After speaking, he opened the official document and looked at it carefully, and then a look of ecstasy appeared on his face.

Xuanfu finally won the battle.

Since Nie Bao was reinstated as Minister of War in the 31st year of Jiajing, he has been troubled by the Southern Japanese and Northern captives. Especially this Northern captive, who is near the capital. The slightest move will cause uproar in the city. Naturally, their Ministry of War He was the first to be impeached by Qingliu such as the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which made him, the Minister of War, extremely annoyed.

Nie Bao, whose courtesy name was Wenwei and whose nickname was Shuangjiang, was from Yongfeng County, Jiangxi Province, and was considered one of Wei Guangde's fellow villagers.

Nie Bao was upright and honest throughout his life. He impeached dozens of "corrupt officials" and was as clean as water. He was so poor that he was wrongly imprisoned. When he was arrested, he did not even have the food allowance for the imperial guard. After being dismissed, in order to make a living, he often walked back and forth between Qingyuan Mountain and other academies in Ji'an to teach.

It's just that Nie Bao is now over 60 years old, but he looks like he is in his 70s or 80s. This is also caused by his position in the Ministry of War. There are too many troubles.

It is worth mentioning that Nie Bao is considered to be the orthodox successor of Wang Shouren's philosophy of mind. He believes that conscience is not ready-made, and can only be achieved through the cultivation of "no intention in movement and stillness, forgetting both inside and outside". He advocates the cultivation of tranquility, the theory of effort to achieve emptiness and tranquility, and also advocates caution and fear.

After reading the urgent report in his hand, Nie Bao stood up excitedly, and almost fell because of his excessive movement.

The clerk in the public office next to him hurriedly stepped forward to support him, and then he heard him ask: "Where is the messenger? And those things?"

"Report to Lord Nie, the postmen are all outside."

Before the clerk finished speaking, he felt a gust of wind blowing in front of him, and then heard Nie Bao's voice at the door, "I'll go and take a look first."

At this time, in the center of the capital, outside the West Garden Gate on the west side of the palace, as the palace gate opened, Lu Bing, wearing a dragon robe, had already walked in first.

He received a secret report from the Jinyiwei Xuanfu last night, and he was very excited after reading it.

With this news of victory, the capital, which was tense before, can finally relax a little.

But at this time, the palace gate has been locked, and he can't enter the palace even without an imperial edict. He can only wait until dawn to open the palace gate before reporting the good news to Emperor Jiajing.

Yes, in Wei Guangde's view, it is a battle that cannot be won or lost. After forcing back the Altan Khan tribe, it is a great victory in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty court.

What was the situation six years ago? Altan Khan led his troops to plunder near the capital. The troops from Jizhen, Xuanfu and other places gathered nearby and dared not fight. They had to wait until the enemy had eaten and finished looting before leaving.

This time was different. The Tartars entered Xuanfu, and the Xuanfu army finally fought with the Tartars and won, forcing Altan Khan to withdraw his camp and return north.

It was a pity that this opportunity was wasted. If the Xuanfu army had more cavalry, it might be possible to keep Altan Khan, the thief chief. Once he was caught, Emperor Jiajing would definitely hold a grand ceremony to offer captives and offer sacrifices to the Taimiao.

What a pity.

Lu Bing, who had arrived outside the palace gate early, was thinking about this at the moment, but after the palace gate was opened, it did not affect his speed of entering the palace at all.

Soon he arrived outside the Yongshou Palace and asked the eunuch standing by whether Emperor Jiajing had woken up.

After learning that Emperor Jiajing had gotten up and was washing up inside, he hurriedly asked the eunuch to go in and report that he wanted to see His Majesty and had urgent military information to report.

Soon, Lu Bing was allowed to enter the Yongshou Palace. After entering the hall, he saw Emperor Jiajing dressed like an immortal. Lu Bing smiled flatteringly and said, "Congratulations to the emperor. Last night I received a secret report from Xuanfu. Wei Guangde and Wei Chuanlu, who were appointed by the emperor, commanded the Xuanfu army to win a great victory in Bao'an Prefecture this time. Altan Khan was driven away by him."

"Huh? Really?"

Emperor Jiajing thought he was very smart and naturally didn't want to be deceived by his subordinates at will. In fact, what he hated most was those who dared to deceive him, especially those who succeeded in deceiving him.

He trusted Lu Bing very much, but he was a little skeptical when he heard what Lu Bing said just now.

Wei Guangde, a child of seventeen or eighteen years old can fight?

It might be more reliable to let his uncle come.

He had learned about the two previous battles against the Japanese pirates that Jiujiang Guard participated in through the East Factory and Jinyiwei, but there was one thing he didn't know, which was the actual combat power of the Japanese pirates.

For this thing, whether it was the court maintained by civil officials or the intelligence agencies controlled by eunuchs and cronies, they were unwilling to make some things too clear, and it was better to be a little confused.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing knew that the most outstanding battles in the two battles were actually commanded by Wu Zhankui, the commander of Jiujiang Guard, and Wei Guangde's father also participated in it.

It was precisely because of the accurate information obtained from the intelligence agency that he was convinced that Wei Guangde really rode a horse and chopped people, so he looked at him differently. For those who were loyal to him, Emperor Jiajing would not be stingy.

If the ministers under him were loyal to him and worked hard, he would not have to distract himself from the government affairs, and could practice the art of longevity wholeheartedly.

At this time, the eunuch Huang Jin had taken over the urgent report sent by the Jinyiwei Xuanfu spy from Lu Bing, and then forwarded it to Emperor Jiajing.

This is a copy of the internal documents of the Jinyiwei. The original text cannot be shown to the emperor. Those words are real, and you can't recognize them without a little vision.

Emperor Jiajing is not a fool. After reading the above content, he stroked his beard and said, "It is a victory. At least the bandit chieftain was driven away."

The Jinyiwei will not embellish some things. They are very straightforward and even give a detailed description of the general battle process and the losses of both sides.

The losses of the Ming army are roughly the same as those of the Altan Khan. However, the spies of the Jinyiwei did not know Wei Guangde's true thoughts at the time. What he could find out were what Wei Guangde said to others.

Wei Guangde planned to withdraw to Bao'an Prefecture to defend with all his strength, but he did not say so to the outside world. In his words, the purpose of quietly withdrawing from the Altan Khan camp to Bao'an Prefecture was to lure the snake out of the hole again, disperse Altan Khan's forces, and replicate the previous battle.

For such words, most of the Xuanfu army generals believed it.

Why, there is a ready-made case, they really forced our department to retreat during the day, and the real results are there, they can't help but not believe it.

Wei Guangde deliberately returned Anda Khan's camp, hoping to lure him to choose to divide his troops again, so that the Ming army would divide and attack together. Especially after knowing that Anda Khan had withdrawn his troops, Wei Guangde felt very sorry for a while in front of the generals.

According to Wei Guangde, the next time he fights An Dahan, he will definitely not completely copy the previous tactics. In this battle, Wei Guangde will use a tactic of encircling the point and calling for reinforcements with An Da Khan.

The Ming army was often beaten like this by Anda Khan. The Tatars pretended to attack the Ming army's fort, attracting surrounding reinforcements to ambush them halfway.

Regarding Wei Guangde's performance at that time, he introduced his strategic concept for the next battle to the Xuanfu generals, which deceived some people.

All of this is reflected in the information from Emperor Jiajing.

After reading it completely, Emperor Jiajing was in a good mood. He wondered if it was time to send the Blue Immortal over, and he wanted to celebrate with a fast.

However, he suddenly thought of something mentioned in the intelligence that he had seen before, and he immediately became concerned about it.

After reading it again, he said with some unfinished thoughts: "What a pity for this opportunity, I almost caught the thief chief Anda Khan."

After hearing what Emperor Jiajing said, Lu Bing naturally knew what the emperor was talking about, and he also sighed with regret.

Thinking of the name of a certain person mentioned in it, Emperor Jiajing asked Lu Bing: "This Ma Fang, does your Jin Yiwei have a profile? Is he really as brave as mentioned above?"

After hearing the emperor's question, Lu Bing hurriedly bowed and replied: "Reporting to the emperor, Ma Fang is from Weizhou, Shanxi. His courtesy name is Dexin and his alias is Lanxi. When he was young, he was robbed by the Tatars and taken as a slave outside the customs. He later fled back to Jin. He was appointed as a pawn in the Datong Army.

After that, he repeatedly made military exploits and was promoted by Zhou Shangwen, Taifu Zhou, then the commander-in-chief of Datong. He was promoted from a pawn to a thousand households. In the 29th year of Jiajing, due to several battles with the Anda tribe, he was promoted to a commander due to his meritorious service, and he led an army as a guerrilla general. "

When Emperor Jiajing asked, he naturally wanted to know all the information about Ma Fang. Lu Bing had already checked these last night and naturally answered fluently.

“The process of this battle is clearly stated in the official documents, and it was confirmed by multiple parties before I dared to report it.

This time Ma Fangma's guerrillas led their troops to raid Anda Khan's camp. It is a real fact. According to the remaining sergeants, they attacked twice near Anda Khan's military camp. They could see the military tent and representatives of me. It was a pity that Anda Khan left a large group of troops around him, so they completely lost the chance to capture Anda Khan alive.

It should be true that Ma Fang’s troops refused to retreat in this battle and severely damaged Anda Khan’s Royal Guards. Ma Fang led his troops to attack Anda Khan’s military tent and was seriously injured because of this, but he still fought for his life. It should not be false.”

"No more brave than Ma Fang."

During Lu Bing's eloquent narration, he suddenly heard something in his ears, as if he heard what Emperor Jiajing said.