Chapter 512 511 Xinghua Prefecture Situation

Some people say that bureaucratic capital is a form of rent-seeking through rights with the purpose of obtaining excessive profits.

Bureaucratic capital is very harmful. The main reason is that it uses its power to implement monopoly transactions to obtain excess violence.

Under the protection of power, there is no such thing as market competition, and all competitors will be wiped out in the face of power.

Although this form is detrimental to economic development, it has to be said that in the early stages of capital accumulation, this is the most convenient way to expand capital.

However, all this can only stay in Wei Guangde's mind now.

After all, he currently does not have enough power to support a huge capital.

Regarding the understanding of the Ming Dynasty, although many people in later generations believed that due to the formation of the cabinet system, the imperial power was subject to certain restrictions, and it was no longer the only one who was aloof and exclusive.

Because the stability of imperial power requires the support of the bureaucratic group headed by the cabinet, it seems that the imperial power and the bureaucratic group are in a cooperative relationship. Especially after the bureaucratic group has the power to refute the imperial edict, many people believe that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has become a For decoration, the bureaucracy has actually eclipsed the imperial power.

For Wei Guangde now, he can only laugh.

Maybe the last emperor in the late Ming Dynasty was like that, but from what he sees and hears now, the imperial power is still supreme.

The so-called imperial decree does not leave the palace, which definitely did not exist in the era he lived in.

Here, the greatest power still comes from the emperor.

Therefore, in order for Wei Guangde to realize his expectations, he must get the support of King Yu.

When Emperor Jiajing was on the throne, he still planned to just hang around. After all, he had too many cards to play, and no matter how he looked at it, he would never be reused.

Perhaps this is why he and Zhang Juzheng were sent by Emperor Jiajing to collate the "Yongle Dadian".

"Zhifu, in your opinion, with the combined strength of your army and mine, can we conquer Wudang Mountain, seize Xucuowochao, and face Pinghai Guard City?"

Liu Xian looked at Yu Dayou with eager eyes and asked.

"Director Liu, although 6,000 of my men have arrived, our army with all its strength can only reach over 8,000. We are really lacking in preparedness to fight against the Japanese pirates."

Yu Dayou looked at the Japanese pirate barracks opposite, which had gradually improved its defenses, and Yu Dayou replied with some worry.

After the Japanese pirates withdrew from Xinghua Fucheng, they ambush Pinghaiwei officers and soldiers, and then captured Pinghaiwei City.

Even though Liu Xian sent troops to rescue as soon as he got the news, it was not enough.

There were more than 6,000 Japanese pirates, and Liu Xian only had more than 1,000 troops in his hands. Seeing that there was no hope of rescue, he could not avoid being attacked by the Japanese pirates, so he had to withdraw to the military camp.

After the Japanese invaders occupied Pinghaiweicheng, they set up a camp in front of Xucuo as a shield to prevent the Ming army from reaching Pinghaiweicheng.

Facing the Japanese pirates who had an absolute advantage, the Ming army did not dare to harass them and could only watch the Japanese pirates build camps.

The Nangan soldiers and horses led by Yu Dayou had arrived for a few days and had been repaired. Liu Xian also took advantage of this time to gather Pinghai Guards and escape from the Ming army, and his troops were expanded to more than 2,000.

Eight thousand against six thousand, the Ming army still did not have an absolute advantage. Facing the vicious Japanese pirates, Yu Dayou was not optimistic that this method alone could win.

"Captain Liu, from my humble position, it is better to wait until Yuan Jing's troops are in place before launching an attack. I think the Zhejiang troops will be arriving soon."

Seeing Liu Xian's ugly face, Yu Dayou had no choice but to speak again.

Having suffered too many losses, he was also worried that he had said something wrong just now and would be criticized for being timid.

"Yuan Jing, is there any news from Zhejiang soldiers?"

Although Liu Xian looked worried, he also knew in his heart that if he went to fight now, he was really not sure of winning.

Yu Dayou's worries are actually not unfounded.

So, he turned to look at Qi Jiguang and asked.

"Director Liu, according to the news that came out a few days ago, I think the Zhejiang soldiers should have arrived in Funing Prefecture."

Funing Prefecture is located in the north of Fujian and borders Zhejiang together with Jianning Prefecture.

Although Qi Jiguang knew that if he said this, he would definitely arouse Liu Xian's dissatisfaction, he had nothing to do.

He did not dare to hide such a major military matter.

Sure enough, Liu Xian's face became even more ugly when he heard the answer given by Qi Jiguang.

Qi Jiguang has been here for more than a month, and the Zhejiang soldiers under his command have just left Zhejiang, and they are moving at the speed of a tortoise.

Yu Dayou on the side also looked at Qi Jiguang with some surprise. He did not expect that the Zhejiang soldiers' operations would be so delayed, but it was completely inconsistent with his impression of Qi Jiguang.

As the saying goes, a soldier is the courage of a general, and a general is the soul of a soldier.

For the generals who led the troops, they all agreed with this statement.

For this reason, when Yu Dayou worked with Qi Jiguang, although he looked down upon him for using his self-trained troops in everything, he could understand his approach from the bottom of his heart.

But this time, the marching speed of the soldiers brought out by Qi Jiguang overturned his understanding of Qi Jiguang.

What kind of generals there are, there are what kind of soldiers.

Now Yu Dayou has some doubts. The past Qi Jiguang may have begun to decline due to continuous victories and huge rewards.

"Why so slow?"

Liu Xian asked disappointedly.

Zhejiang soldiers came from afar, and even if they arrived at the battlefield, they had to give them several days to repair themselves, otherwise they would not be able to go to the battlefield.

However, the current marching speed is really too slow.

At this time, Qi Jiguang just opened his mouth, but made no sound.

Yu Dayou's face changed slightly, and then he thought of something.

"Alas."

Yu Dayou sighed and lowered his head.

His sigh immediately attracted Liu Xian's attention, and he couldn't help but look over.

However, when he saw Yu Dayou's actions, although he had some guesses in his mind, he was still not sure, so he had to ask tentatively: "Does Zhifu know the reason?"

He did not ask Qi Jiguang directly, but asked Yu Dayou.

Perhaps because Yu Dayou was now outside the situation, he could still look at this matter with a relatively calm attitude, so he could see more.

Hearing Liu Xian's question, Yu Dayou raised his head and smiled bitterly: "Yuan Jing must have had his own reasons, just like the governor was so eager to fight."

"Alas."

This time it was Liu Xian who sighed, "In the past few days, I have received three letters from Governor Zhang, reiterating the requirements of the Ministry of War that this battle must be foolproof and not a single thief must be leaked, and also requiring the Japanese pirates to be annihilated as soon as possible.

But look, there are only so many capable soldiers, how can I fight quickly and decisively."

As he said, Liu Xian turned around and pointed at the Ming army camp behind him.

Behind them were two Ming army camps. The camp on the left was slightly smaller, which was Liu Xian's headquarters and the defeated soldiers he gathered, while the camp on the right was much larger, which was the troops Yu Dayou brought from Nan Gan.

The three of them tacitly did not mention the dispatch of troops from the surrounding prefectures and counties for reinforcement. In fact, they had already seen the current situation of the Ming army in Fujian all the way here.

This is also the reason why Liu Xian did not mobilize troops from the surrounding areas, but preferred to select strong and strong soldiers from the refugees.

As for the wolf soldiers that Liu Xian had always wanted to apply to Zhang Nie, the governor of Fujian and Guangdong, for mobilization, they were all assigned to the coastal prefectures and counties of Guangdong at this time.

In Zhang Nie's words, Xinghua Prefecture is already like this. If Fujian and Guangdong are attacked by Japanese pirates again, even if they lose a county, they will inevitably bear the wrath of the court.

"Zhejiang is also unwilling to mobilize elite land divisions to Fujian to eliminate Japanese pirates."

Liu Xian said for no reason, and he didn't know whether he was asking Yu Dayou or Qi Jiguang.

After the voice fell, no one answered for a long time. At this time, he knew the answer.

Zhang Nie was unwilling to mobilize elite troops to Fujian in the north, but to guard Guangdong, so how could he expect Zhejiang to mobilize any large army to come.

I'm afraid that Qi Jiguang was able to lead the troops because the Ministry of War appointed generals, otherwise it would be impossible for him to go south here.

With this in mind, Liu Xian turned to Qi Jiguang and asked, "Yuan Jing, tell me honestly, how much combat effectiveness do the Zhejiang soldiers who followed you south have?"

If Liu Xian had maintained high confidence in destroying this group of Japanese pirates before, then now, he was already a little uneasy.

There is no doubt that if he let this group of Japanese pirates who occupied Xinghua City escape, he would definitely not be able to withstand the emperor's anger, and the civil servants in the court would definitely use him as a scapegoat.

Qi Jiguang knew that he had to tell the truth at this point. He looked at Liu Xian and Yu Dayou and said, "Two thousand of them are new troops that I trained before and have experience in the battlefield of suppressing the Japanese. The other two thousand are newly recruited soldiers who have not been trained."

"So, the actual combat power for this suppression of the Japanese is only the six thousand soldiers in Zhifu's hands and less than a thousand in my hands, and the two thousand Zhejiang soldiers who have been on the battlefield."

At this time, Liu Xian's tone of voice was already very low, which also revealed his deep disappointment in his heart.

"When I came here, I also considered the trouble of suppressing the Japanese this time, so I did not use the previous training methods for those new recruits, but only trained them to form a battle array and release firearms. They should be able to fight by then."

Qi Jiguang said at this time.

Hearing Qi Jiguang's words, Yu Dayou became interested and stared at him and asked, "Do the soldiers you lead train as they march?"

"The court has an order, and we must follow it, so we can only take this approach."

Qi Jiguang still answered with a bitter face.

Yu Dayou and Liu Xian looked at each other at this time, and they knew why the Zhejiang soldiers were so slow to march south.

According to the rules of the Ming army's march, they would walk for half a day every day, arrive at a place, and then rest and train. After walking for several days in a row, they should rest for a day in a certain place, and then continue to set off. Wouldn't this speed be reduced?

However, at this time, Yu Dayou and Liu Xian were actually most worried about how much combat power the soldiers trained in this way could exert.

He would rather have a hundred elite soldiers than a thousand ordinary people.

Who are they to fight against the vicious Japanese pirates?

They are all fierce people who have seen blood on their hands. For the people of this era, many people will tremble and feel weak when they see the bloody battlefield, let alone fighting the enemy with swords and guns.

Moreover, the herd effect of the military formation is also very strong.

In the era of cold weapons, if there is a collapse in the neat battle formation, it will often spread to other troops quickly, leading to the collapse of the whole situation.

Although Liu, Yu, and Qi did not know these truths, they still had many years of battle experience and knew that soldiers had a blind obedience mentality.

The so-called beheading the general and seizing the flag in ancient times was actually to achieve overall victory with a local breakthrough, and that point was the military flag.

On the battlefield, the military flag can be said to be a very important symbol. It not only carries the morale of the army, but also represents life and death.

This may also be the natural pursuit of glory by soldiers. The soldiers waved the military flag vigorously to ignite the soldiers' fighting spirit. As long as the military flag is there, they are there; but once the military flag falls, the spiritual pillar will disappear.

If the military flag is taken away, it not only represents the safety of the commander, but also represents their unpredictable future.

However, at this time, Liu Xian and Qi Jiguang still had no idea without seeing the Zhejiang soldiers coming from the north.

Two thousand civilians, joined the army for several months, and marched thousands of miles. What kind of combat power can such a team have?

Don't collapse at the first touch, and also lead to the disintegration of the morale of their own troops, that would be bad.

Yu Dayou knew that the atmosphere between the three of them was not good, and wanted to break the dullness, so he smiled and said: "Anyway, Yuan Jing is good at training new soldiers, and his soldiers are good at using firearms. They can be the central army at that time. I think the Japanese pirates can hardly fight against such a large army."

Yu Dayou could only follow Qi Jiguang's words. Since he said that he had made arrangements before going south to train these new soldiers to use firearms, it seems that there are still some merits.

In Yu Dayou's impression, Qi Jiguang seems to be the only one who pays more attention to the use of firearms in the Ming army in Jiangnan.

In fact, he didn't think much of firearms at the beginning, but now, his views have changed a lot, especially after relying on infantry to use firearms to defeat the cavalry of the Altan tribe.

He has seen the huge power that can be unleashed by the concentrated use of firearms.

As for Liu Xian, according to Yu Dayou's observation during this period, it seems that he has not paid attention to it at all, and is still training according to the standard drill of the Ming army.

"Let's talk about how to deploy the troops after the Zhejiang soldiers arrive."

Yu Dayou's words did not dispel Liu Xian's concerns, he just spoke lightly.

However, he immediately said to Yu Dayou earnestly: "Zhi Fu, this battle is of great importance."

Yu Dayou nodded slightly and tacitly agreed with Liu Xian's words.

Yu Dayou had received Wei Guangde's previous letter to him, and knew that he would be appointed as the general of Fujian.

Not only that, his official title even concurrently held the position of the general of Nan Gan, the general of Fujian and Nan Gan.

Although the general was a nominal position and a temporary official position, after all, he was removed from the position of the general of Zhejiang at the beginning, and now he has finally been promoted back.

Liu Xian did this because he was not optimistic about the troops brought by Qi Jiguang, and chose to rely on and Yu Dayou to work together to eliminate the current Japanese pirates.

Qi Jiguang saw these interactions between the two in private, but did not say much.

Here, the official position was naturally Liu Xian's highest, he was second, and Yu Dayou's was the lowest.

Even though Yu Dayou was once his immediate superior.

Thinking of this, Qi Jiguang also had a plan in mind.

Of course, he didn't want to be ignored, so he chose to write a letter to the new Fujian Governor Tan Lun after returning to the camp, asking him to personally go to Xinghua Prefecture to supervise the battle.