Chapter 513 512 Competing for Merit

Writing to Tan Lun was naturally Qi Jiguang's way of finding strong support.

Although the central government did not decide on the generals and deputy generals for taking over the Fuxinghua Mansion, Liu Xian's name was ranked first among the three in documents issued by the imperial court and local officials.

During this period of time, Qi Jiguang also looked at the troops led by Liu Xian and Yu Dayou. In terms of strength and quality of soldiers, Liu Xian's troops were the weakest.

Yu Dayou's troops are very strong, but Qi Jiguang is also confident that the troops he has trained for several months will not be inferior to them in a real fight.

Qi Jiguang made up his mind to show his hand in the battle to capture Fuxinghua Mansion, and naturally he had to seize the main attack power. However, with Liu Xian here, he was not sure of it, so he thought of inviting his old acquaintance Tan Lun to help him.

Tan Lun is a civil servant and the new governor of Fujian. As long as he reaches the front line, he will undoubtedly be the commander-in-chief of the Fuxinghua Mansion this time. In his view, this is actually a gift that comes to his door. Tan Lun has no reason to refuse this offer. thing.

Moreover, the Ming army has long been famous for competing for credit with each other. Qi Jiguang directly wrote his "worry" in the letter, "You must come in person, gather the three battalions of soldiers, and establish an alliance with blood, and the division will be determined." The road should be arranged according to the opportunity to stabilize the morale of the three battalions. "

Of course, the imperial court far away in the capital didn't know what happened in front of the Fujian formation. It didn't even occur to them that there would be some incidents that would lead to the separation of military morale before the war.

However, this kind of thing happens everywhere all the time.

The Fujian front line was only monitoring the movements of the Japanese pirates, waiting for the Zhejiang soldiers to arrive on the battlefield before launching an attack. At this time, Emperor Jiajing was summoning Xu Jie in the Yongshou Palace in Xiyuan.

"I have read your memorial to ask for someone to fill the cabinet vacancy. Who do you think is worthy of the post?"

Emperor Jiajing looked at the memorial on the imperial desk and asked calmly.

Xu Jie became more nimble, perhaps because under the pressure of Yan Song for many years, whether it was handling government affairs or dealing with people, he was completely different from before.

It was not so much his own idea as Xu Jie's memorial to clear up the cabinet ministers, but rather that he was forced to do it.

It has become the practice of the Ming Dynasty to have at least three people in the cabinet. Although there were only Yan Song and Director Xu Jie in the cabinet at the beginning, there was also a nominal cabinet minister Lu Ben, so there were still three people in name.

After Yan Song took office, for more than half a year, only Xu Jie and Yuan Wei handled government affairs in the cabinet, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among officials in the court.

As the first assistant, Xu Jie had to submit a memorial to ask for additional cabinet ministers.

As for his true thoughts, he knew it himself, and Emperor Jiajing could actually guess it.

"Knowing your ministers is better than your superiors, and I dare not act rashly."

Xu Jie bowed his head and replied respectfully.

Emperor Jiajing looked at Xu Jie, raised the corner of his mouth and said with a smile: "You know your ministers, but Yao and Shun and I, Taizu, knew the truth and used it.

If in that day, I had simplified myself and not been able to reach this point, although this official had no prime minister's name, he actually had a prime minister's position. The prime minister would choose the ancient right and court to push, which is definitely not the way. But don't the masters of the palace in future generations know people? "

"Yao used the Four Sacred Mountains and put him to death. Taizu used Li Shan to make Hu Weiyong his wife and punished him for his crime. The emperor first learned of Song's talents and used him. Later, he reprimanded and sent him because he listened to his son's greed and indulgence. All the great sage's deeds were not harmed. Yu Ming.”

Hearing Emperor Jiajing's words, Xu Jie immediately replied, and by the way, gave the emperor a small slap to justify his appointment of Yan Song.

"Haha. You said that the Four Mountains, Weiyong and the like are not Yao or Taizu who don't know their ministers. That's why they are not careful. Yao was the holy emperor, Taizu didn't know anything. However, if it is like this, future generations of palace ministers and ministers will not know anything. , Just in case, you can do it without any mistakes. Song's crime is not to listen to his son, but to harm the country and the people."

In fact, Emperor Jiajing was also considering adding new ministers to the cabinet, but it was not yet clear who would be the best.

However, as of now, with Xu Jie and Yuan Wei in the cabinet, cabinet affairs are running smoothly, so there has been no movement.

Emperor Jiajing naturally had channels to understand the pressure exerted on the cabinet by hundreds of officials in the DPRK. He summoned Xu Jie here today just to see what he thought, or in other words, it was also a test for Xu Jie.

If he recommends his friends when he asks "who among his fellow officials can be added to the post", Emperor Jiajing will definitely order the recommendation directly and arrange for officials who have no dealings with Xu Jie to enter the cabinet as a check.

However, Xu Jie was very smart and did not follow his words. Instead, he asked him to appoint more cabinet ministers.

If there was, he would have already issued an edict and summoned him to the cabinet to handle errands.

"Let me think about this again."

Emperor Jiajing opened his mouth and said this, which was regarded as exposing the matter of this memorial.

"What do you think about Bo going to Miyun?"

Putting aside the matter of adding cabinet ministers for the time being, Emperor Jiajing began to consult Xu Jie for his views on government affairs.

In Prince Yu's palace, Prince Yu also summoned people from the palace to discuss the Northern Affairs.

In this short period of half a month, news broke out in Xuanfu and Liaodong that almost happened within a few days of each other. If the previous discussion was just casual, then this time King Yu paid much more attention to it.

"I captured 5,000 cavalrymen who invaded Dishui Cliff of Xuanfu. They marched south from the Black Desert Mountains and defeated General Song Lan in a guerrilla attack on Ma Jin and others. The troops then plundered Longqing, Yongning and other places. They stationed themselves at Piaocha Road in the east and west of Hongshan Mountain. Formerly appointed as the general commander of Datong. Official Liu Han fought hard but the thieves then marched westward from Liugou to Hupi Village and attacked Zhangjiabao but were unable to do so. They fled in and out of the heavy snow and stayed there for seven days. "

After Li Fang read the battle report he had transcribed in his hand, he picked up another Liaodong battle report and read: "The prisoners invaded Liaoyang. The commander-in-chief Yang Zhao led his troops to cover up the attack. They were defeated at Qinghe. Not long after escaping from the fortress, they attacked Chang'an Fort again. Zhao Set up an ambush and wait for them to escape, behead seventy-five people in front of the prisoners, and capture fifty horses."

"I remember we talked about this a few days ago. We didn't want it to happen so soon. Battle reports have been sent from Xuanda and Liaodong. I have always felt a little uneasy these past two days."

King Yu spoke from above.

In fact, when Wei Guangde entered Prince Yu's Mansion, he heard Li Fang quietly reveal the news.

Last night, King Yu woke up in the middle of the night, saying that he dreamed that the captives were once again approaching the capital city, and he couldn't sleep the whole night after that.

Li Fang informed Wei Guangde of the news in advance, naturally hoping that he could be prepared and be able to give Prince Yu some comfort later.

Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng looked at each other at that moment, but both smiled bitterly.

King Yu is no longer a child, and he cannot be persuaded by just a few words.

Perhaps, this is still the sequelae of the "Gengxu Revolution".

During the "Gengxu Incident", King Yu was already a sensible young man. Of course, he knew that the whole capital was panicked and the government and the public were shaken violently when the incident occurred. At that time, the only thing the court could do was not to dispatch a large army to attack the captives, but only urgently Close the city gates and defend yourself.

King Yu has lived in the palace since he was a child. Due to various reasons, he has always been insecure. With the help of this incident, this fear may have been deeply ingrained and buried deep in his heart.

Perhaps it was because when a few people analyzed Jizhen and Liaodong that day that they exaggerated their status, King Yu let go of the fear in his heart.

Wei Guangde could only think this way. What could he say? Today, of course, he could only boast about Yang Bo's abilities.

Fortunately, when Yang Bo was in charge of Xuanda and Jizhen, the stable border did not give the Tatars any opportunity. I hope this can appease King Yu.

Perhaps because it has been more than ten years since the "Gengxu Incident", most people in the capital have forgotten about it.

Wei Guangde had never experienced it personally, so he naturally did not know the situation in the capital at that time, from the civil and military officials to the common people's fear of the captives, so after hearing from Zhang Juzheng that An Dahan seemed to be making big moves again. At that time, I didn't take it seriously, let alone think that in the forty-second year of Jiajing, it would almost lead to the disaster of the year.

"By the way, Shandai, if Anda's troops really attack the capital city, will you go out of the city and lead the army to fight with them?"

After the cooperation of Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng, King Yu's worries were finally dispelled or relieved. At least King Yu had a smile on his face.

As for whether he can sit back and relax after this, neither Wei Guangde nor Zhang Juzheng is sure.

When leaving Prince Yu's Mansion, Zhang Juzheng joked with Wei Guangde about this matter and asked.

"As for the soldiers in the Beijing camp, they are still careless in defending the city. If they are taken out to fight with the Tatars in the field, they will be dead and without life."

Wei Guangde replied angrily, "If the soldiers from Jiubian can be sent back in time, I will go out of the city to command the border troops. Even if I can't eliminate them and capture Anda Khan, I will still be confident in driving them out."

Wei Guangde dared to say this, of course, relying on the big killer weapon in his hand - Ma Fang.

If the captive cavalry really arrived at the capital, Ma Fang, as the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, would not be still herding sheep in Zhangjiakou. He must be leading troops to serve the king.

Naturally, Wei Guangde didn't have much confidence in the other generals and the troops they led, but he still had confidence in the men and horses led by Ma Fang.

In fact, all the generals in the entire Northern Nine Borders knew the importance of military training.

Just kidding, these families made their fortunes by fighting and winning wars. An Neng didn't understand the reason.

It's just that these were all so many years ago.

The reason why the overall combat power of the Ming army declined was actually mainly because after years of development, these families had already spread out and flourished.

The family's expenses have increased, but the salary and rewards from the court remain the same, the so-called customary system, which is of course not enough.

They want to live a luxurious life, but because they are on the northern border and have no stable source of money, they can only rely on the mountains and rivers to make ends meet. They rely on the border to smuggle goods and withhold military pay to fill their own coffers.

However, since he is a general, he naturally knows the value of soldiers' combat power, so each family often retains a force to maintain combat effectiveness, whether it is for self-protection or military exploits, anyway, in the huge Ming Dynasty frontier army sequence , there are still countless troops with considerable combat power.

It's just that such teams are rare after all, and have nothing to do with the overall combat strength of the army.

If he had thought about this, he might have slapped his chest in front of Zhang Juzheng and promised that he not only dared to go out of the city to fight the Tatars, but also dared to shout out the bold words of annihilating them.

A few days later, Tan Lun in Fuzhou received a letter from Qi Jiguang.

In fact, he had been deeply worried about this battle to encircle and suppress the Xinghua Japanese pirates soon after receiving the order. Because the Zhejiang Dusi was unwilling to send elite troops to assist in the battle, Qi Jiguang was able to bring out two thousand old soldiers, including He is expressing someone's affection.

Although Qi Jiguang only said in his letter that there was a lack of clear command on the front line and was worried that something unexpected might happen as a result, Tan Lun also knew about the front line and was afraid that there might have been some conflicts between the three generals.

In fact, Qi Jiguang is not sure whether Liu Xian intends to grab the credit, but if he does nothing and lets it go, then his contribution in this battle may be ranked last, because Liu Xian and Yu Dayou will use his subordinates to There were too many new recruits and they could not stand the fight, so they were not given any meritorious service.

Now Qi Jiguang also holds the title of deputy commander-in-chief of Zhejiang Province, exercising the power of commander-in-chief.

Although the imperial court did not appoint a chief military officer in Zhejiang, seeing Yu Dayou reminded him that Yu Dayou was the previous chief military officer of Zhejiang.

Whether he was unwilling to be inferior to others or wanted to make achievements, Qi Jiguang hoped to be promoted to the next level with this military achievement.

"Where are Hu Shouren's troops now?"

When Tan Lun received the imperial edict and took office, he was actually as clear as a mirror in his heart. If he could not recapture Xinghua City, his position as governor would be over.

Originally, he was worried that going to the front line in person would cause dissatisfaction among generals such as Liu Xian and Yu Dayou, but after receiving Qi Jiguang's letter, he knew that he had to go to Xinghua Prefecture.

Liu Xian, Yu Dayou, and Qi Jiguang, he knew them when he was in Zhejiang, so he really couldn't do it when he took office to Xinghua Prefecture to grab credit.

But judging from the current situation, he couldn't care less.

"Dong Weng, most of General Hu's troops are new soldiers. I heard that they were training while marching, so they were moving slowly.

According to the itinerary, they should have passed Fu'an by now, and may have reached Shanyang Town and entered the territory of Fuzhou Prefecture."

After a brief calculation, a teacher beside him immediately gave the answer.

"Send people to investigate the army's news immediately, and we will go south to Xinghua with them."

Tan Lun had made a decision, so he opened his mouth and ordered, "In addition, you write a letter to General Qi and tell him about this arrangement."

"Dong Weng, should we tell General Qi that the court has already intended to promote him to the position of general?"

The teacher spoke again.

"Hmm?"

Tan Lun thought for a while and shook his head, "It's inconvenient for me to tell you about this matter. Besides, although the court has this intention, it lacks an opportunity after all. He, Qi Lao Hu, still needs to make a great contribution."

"Isn't this Xinghua?"

The teacher laughed.

"Haha, the general officer of Fujian, the court has already selected someone."

Tan Lun said with a smile.

He understood that his assistant was thinking for him.

Transferred from Zhejiang to Fujian, he certainly hoped that his soldiers would be obedient. He was familiar with Qi Jiguang and he had taken good care of Qi Jiguang in the past. If Qi Lao Hu could be transferred to Fujian, he would be able to do his job well.

"Who?"

The master was surprised.

"Yu Dayou."

Tan Lun answered directly, "Maybe after the war, the imperial edict will be delivered."

"General Yu's reinstatement speed is also quite fast. He will be promoted to general soon after being promoted from a lieutenant general."

The master was amazed.

"It's just someone in the court."

Tan Lun smiled.

Yu Dayou went from being imprisoned to being exiled, and then promoted rapidly after his achievements in Datong. In fact, it was because the officials in the court gave him face. Otherwise, why could he be promoted so quickly among the nearly 100,000 military officers in the Ming Dynasty.

"General Yu is a good fighter, and it is reasonable to have the help of a noble person."

"Yes."

"With General Yu in charge, Dong Weng should have nothing to worry about."

The master was obviously a person who admired Yu Dayou, and he said this sincerely at this time.