Chapter 147: Tempering and strengthening, combining civil and military skills

"…Therefore, the Western Mongolian Wala fled to the northern desert, and the Eastern Mongolian Tatars were divided into two. Among them, Altan Khan submitted to our dynasty in the fourth year of Longqing. Now only the Tuman Khan tribes and the three Doyan guards are left."

"We should wipe out the three guards of Doyan! Show off our might and prevent invasion, which will make China dignified and make foreigners look solemn!"

Outside the Anmin Factory, Wang Chonggu briefly introduced to the emperor the situation in the north of the Ming Dynasty and its history over the past two hundred years.

After the defeat of Toghon Temur Khan, the Northern Yuan Dynasty split into three major groups.

Eastern Mongol Tatars, Western Mongol Oirat, and the Three Guards of Doyan.

During these two hundred years, the situation was intertwined and the situation was changing rapidly, with one person taking his place after another.

First was the Western Mongolian Wala, one of the three groups.

Its strength grew by relying on the Ming Dynasty in exchange for support.

After Yesen ascended the throne, he finally made great progress and unified the Mongolian tribes in one fell swoop, calling himself "Tian Shengda Khan of the Great Yuan Dynasty".

As for the Ming court, they began to show their fangs and shook off their submissiveness. "They refused to obey the orders and sent many people to kill and plunder. They also took other tribes with them and asked for precious and rare things from China. If they did not obey, they would cause trouble."

During its peak period, it used both kindness and force to conquer Hami, set up a province to remotely control Gansu, and invaded the Jurchens along the eastern coast.

They even invited the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to study in the tribe.

His reputation was unparalleled and he was famous all the time.

But you will always have to pay for what you have done.

A tribe that is forcibly held together by war and personal prestige will eventually be destroyed by the death of an individual.

After Yesen's death, the power of the Oirat Mongols never recovered. Various tribes fought for power, the lower classes turned against each other, and the situation remained sluggish for decades. Eventually, the Mongols were driven back to the northwest desert.

At the same time, the Mongolian tribes split again and many heroes emerged.

The next to appear on the scene was the Eastern Mongol Tatars, another of the three groups.

After Yesen and Zhiyuan A'ra were defeated one after another, the Oirat retreated to the western desert, and the Tatars once again rose in power among the Mongolian tribes.

In the 15th year of Chenghua, after Dayan Khan of Eastern Mongolia ascended the throne, he beheaded powerful ministers at home, expelled Yismain, and personally led an expedition to lead Darantligun to pacify the right wing tribes.

After decades of conquests, Dayan Khan finally completely suppressed Western Mongolia and unified Eastern Mongolia.

"After annexing all the tribes, he was full of ambition and enthusiasm," and there seemed to be a vision of leading the army southward.

But learning from the previous experience, Dayan Khan was getting older and was afraid that he would follow in the footsteps of "Tian Shengda Khan of the Yuan Dynasty" who relied too much on his personal prestige.

So he began to refine internal affairs, reform the official system, enfeoff his sons, take power from various tribes, suppress the Golden Family, which was called the New Deal of Northern Yuan Dynasty...Following closely was the much-anticipated end of the regime and the renewed division of Mongolia.

Marked by a series of events including the third son of Dayan Khan, who controlled the right wing of Mongolia, ascending the throne, being forced to return power, and returning to his post, the left and right wings of the Eastern Mongolian Tatars were split into two.

There are numerous departments on the left and right, and it is a mess.

But as it has evolved to date, the leader of the right wing is Altan Khan, and the leader of the left wing is Tuman Khan, the orthodox Khan of the Golden Family.

all in all.

The three forces of Oirat, Tatar and the Ming Dynasty court frequently competed with each other, winning and losing alternately, and two hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

As the last of the three major Mongolian groups, Doyanwei participated in it in a different way - three surnamed slaves.

In the 22nd year of Hongwu, Taizu established the Doyan, Taining and Fuyu guards north of Huangshui River and recruited the tribes of the former Yuan Liao king, which are the so-called Doyan Three Guards.

This is a de facto vassal relationship, but for the barbarians, it is just a convenient fence-sitting position.

They often maneuvered between the imperial court and the Oirat and Tatar, sometimes leading the two sides to invade the Ming border, and sometimes reporting military intelligence to the imperial court.

Duoyan Wei's career as a fence-sitter began during the Hongwu period and became uncontrollable thereafter.

First, Emperor Xuanzong used weapons to reason with the emperor, and personally went to kill the three guards of Doyan. Frightened, the three guards of Doyan then submitted to the imperial court.

Then the Oirat rose to power, and the three guards of Doyan quickly slid to their knees, and from being a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, they turned into the arms of the Oirat.

When the Oirat weakened, the three guards of Doyan immediately sought another way out and turned to the Ming Dynasty again - "We were once forced by the Oirat to join them, but now we have been allowed to return to the court, but life is difficult. We beg for plowshares, crops, and farmland for our support."

The central government was angry, but still reluctantly granted arable land, cattle, sheep, and farm tools, and the two were reunited again.

During this period, the three guards of Doyan were extremely obedient and even often led them to plunder the Eastern Mongolian Tatars.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. As the Eastern Mongolian Tatars regained their strength, the Three Guards of Doyan began to flirt with them again.

The imperial court was out of reach at this time and had no choice but to make symbolic preparations - "Bolai has been communicating with the three guards for a long time... The way to prevent it is of course up to me."

After that, the three guards of Doyan followed Bolai's orders and once followed him to Central Asia.

When Yesen died, Eastern Mongolia was divided into two. The Three Guards of Doyan regarded themselves as vassals of the Ming Dynasty on the one hand, and at the same time submitted to Tumen Khan on the other.

Ideologically, they hoped to find an opportunity to restore independence through the confrontation between the two sides, but in practice they engaged in plundering and offended both sides.

Such a division must have resulted from considerable internal disputes.

After sitting on the fence for two hundred years, and with the Ming Dynasty playing coward, the Doyan Guards now hardly take the court seriously - if they can't win, they just have to bow their heads and accept the title, it has always been like this.

Therefore, during the Wanli period, in order to suppress internal disputes, the leader Dong Huli focused on plundering the Ming Dynasty and diverting internal conflicts.

This spring, Dong Huli wanted to plunder in the Ji-Liao area because of food expenses. Fortunately, he met Qi Jiguang and was beaten head-on.

But what I didn’t expect was that he didn’t even take a break and was ready to do it again next spring!
The solution Wang Chonggu proposed for this matter was as clear as he was.

He had completely different attitudes towards the Tatar moderates and radicals - he was more moderate towards the moderates than the moderates themselves, and more radical towards the radicals than the radicals themselves.

He was on friendly terms with Altan Khan, but was determined to kill the Doyan Guards.

After Wang Chonggu finished speaking, he waited quietly for the emperor's reply.

In the past, both Emperor Shizong and Emperor Muzong did not want to provoke border conflicts, the Ministry of Revenue complained all day long that it had no money, and the censors said every day that they would not bother with the barbarians.

But the situation is very different now!
The emperor intended to train the Beijing camp and reorganize the border troops.

When the Sino-French policy was restarted at the beginning of the year, Yin Shidan was even instructed to fill up the granaries in Ji and Liao first. His purpose was self-evident.

The Ministry of Revenue had also gone through two rounds of plundering in Nanzhili and Huguang, so it must have a lot of surplus money.

Even the censors in the past two years did not easily talk about being kind to others. Before the opening of the trade, they frequently urged Xuan Da to go out of the border to collect money.

Of course, apart from these, the most mature opportunity was for Wang Chonggu to enter the cabinet and assist in military affairs.

Could he be content with just making some money?
Of course not!

If you can pacify the north and eliminate the Tartar threat during your tenure...

Then it will be worthwhile to serve in the cabinet!

Now that the Oirat Mongols have declined and disappeared, Altan Khan has surrendered, and the Tuman Khan of the Golden Family is a skinny camel that is bigger than a horse, none of them are good targets for bullying the emperor and establishing his authority.

On the contrary, it was the descendants of the former Yuan Liao King of Duoyanwei, who had a big name but a small size, who danced the most happily!
Isn't it just right for the imperial court to use it to "show off its power and prevent invasion and violence, so that China's dignity will be respected and foreigners will be in awe"?
Once this battle is won.

Whether it is to raise the reputation of the cabinet or to shock the Mongolian right wing, it will help pave the way for the pacification of Tuman Khan...

The unfinished work of our dynasty for 200 years may be accomplished in the hands of Wang Chonggu!

Not to mention the folk ancestral temples, even the martial temples are worth a look!
Thinking of this, Wang Chonggu almost couldn't control himself and smiled in celebration of his success in advance.

……

Zhu Yijun looked at the strange smile on Wang Chonggu's lips and felt inexplicably sick.

Is the Jin Party plotting against me?

Tumu Rebellion? Or Gengxu Rebellion?
You better be careful with this guy.

Zhu Yijun thought about it for a while, then shook his head and threw Wang Chonggu's weird smile out of his mind.

He immediately got back to the point: "My Lord, I have lived in the deep palace for a long time and I don't know anything about military affairs. Don't make such a big deal about it."

"Let me ask you."

"How many people are there in the Duoyan Guards? How many soldiers are there? Do you know the geography of the place where you live? Is the climate there suitable for going on an expedition? Will there be any Tartars to help you?"

There is no need to discuss the political correctness of the Northern Expedition. They had plundered again and again, so why would they need to find any excuses?

However, fighting a war must be based on the actual situation. We cannot get excited and support Wang Chonggu in sending troops just because he said a few harsh words.

Wang Chonggu obviously came prepared.

Upon hearing this, he immediately took out a memorial from his sleeve and presented it to the emperor: "Your Majesty, please allow me to report."

"The Duoyan Guard is now stationed between the northeast of Shanhaiguan and Xifengkou and Xuanda. It is outside the nomadic Great Wall, separated only by a wall. The climate is not much different from that of Jiliao and Xuanda."

"Besides, if we prepare now, it will be the perfect time to send troops to clean up the area around the beginning of next spring when the snow melts and the weather warms up!"

"As for the people of the tribe that Your Majesty asked about, in recent years, most of the strong and capable people have been absorbed by the subordinate tribes of Shunyi King and Tuman Khan, and the number of people in this tribe has been decreasing day by day."

"The main force of the Duoyan Guards now has less than 30,000 people! There are only 4,000 combat soldiers, including more than 1,000 cavalry!"

"As for whether there will be any Tartars to come to our aid..."

"Your Majesty, it is precisely because of this concern that we must take the initiative before the Dong foxes collude to harass our dynasty!"

At the end, Wang Chonggu spoke earnestly and said, "Your Majesty! The three guards are barbarians, they are obedient in public and rebellious in private. The weak ones are the eyes and ears of the two barbarians in the east and west, and the strong ones are the wings of the two houses in the east and west."

"Since the Gengxu year of the Jiajing reign, seduction and harassment have occurred every year. This is truly detestable."

"How can your majesty bear to see the people of the border towns suffer from unrest for the rest of their lives?"

"Now that we want to train our troops and have a legitimate reason to do so, why don't we first eliminate the scabies?"

These words were obviously aimed at persuading the emperor, and great efforts were made to do so.

But Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu speechlessly and reminded him: "Wang Qing, in the first year of Longqing, Duoyan Wei Yingke led his troops to attack Jielingkou. The battle report said there were more than 15,000 people."

"This year, the foxes of the Duoyan Guards attacked our Xifeng Pass, and the battle report said that there were more than 10,000 soldiers." "Let's not talk about whether they came out in full force, but how come Wang Qing said that there were only 4,000 soldiers?"

Those who don’t know would think that Qi Jiguang killed ten thousand people.

This is a common problem among court officials.

Either exaggerating or ignoring the difficulty, in order to achieve their own goals, they always find ways to deceive the emperor.

Whether it was local bandits or the barbarians being cleared out by the garrisons, they would often say that they "blocked out the sky and the sun, and the military might was terrifying", and their military exploits would often include "burning thousands of houses and villages, and tens of thousands of people drowning in the river".

A cult gang of three or five people can also make big news, as if they are about to rush to the capital and seize the throne.

And if you want the emperor to send troops to someone.

The other side is outnumbered, poorly equipped, and a mob.

As long as the emperor issues an edict, everything will be fine.

The military situation was so mixed that the emperor had no idea what the actual situation was.

As soon as the emperor said this, Wang Chonggu thought to himself that it was indeed not easy to fool him.

Wang Chonggu coughed lightly and did not directly answer the emperor's question.

He then took out another memorial from the sleeve of his other hand.

He ignored the emperor's strange look and respectfully submitted a memorial, saying, "Your Majesty, the files from the Ministry of War that I just reviewed may have omissions, but even if we follow the example of Prince Shunyi..."

Zhu Yijun interrupted Wang Chonggu halfway through his speech.

The former looked at Wang Chonggu and pushed the memorial back.

He said earnestly: "My Lord, I know you are passionate, but don't be anxious."

"Military and national affairs cannot be decided in private by a few words between you and me, the king and his subjects."

“In addition to knowing the enemy, you must also know yourself.”

"The troops guarding the nine borders, are there any spare forces to be deployed? Which troops will be deployed, and how many? How much silver and food will be spent? Are there enough cavalry, and can they patrol outside the Great Wall?"

"I don't know any of this, how can I discuss it with you?"

Seeing that the emperor kept making excuses, Wang Chonggu felt a little disappointed.

Although the emperor is not in charge of the government now and he assists in military affairs, he has the final say on whether to send troops. If they want to send troops, they must support themselves without the emperor's support.

Just when I was lost.

Wang Chonggu only heard the emperor change the subject: "You may wish to draft the memorial in more detail first, and then we can discuss it in court."

The former suddenly looked up and showed a look of joy.

After Zhu Yijun finished speaking, he looked at Ma Ziqiang again and said, "Let's put aside the merits and demerits of the Duman battle for now. After the court discussion is over, we can discuss it with the Ministry of War."

In principle, he was not opposed to small-scale wars, but there had been wars going on in the southeast, and no one said it was a waste of resources.

But while support is support, it also needs to be considered in light of the specific circumstances.

On the one hand, we need to assess the financial burden, and on the other hand, we need to avoid the risk of developing into a major war.

Therefore, it is better for the six ministries and nine ministers to discuss it together.

Seeing that the emperor lightly revealed Du Man's affairs, Ma Ziqiang did not argue, but only bowed to show that he understood.

Wang Chonggu was overjoyed and bowed down immediately: "I obey your order!"

Having said that, he put the two memorials back into his sleeves.

At this time, Zhu Yijun suddenly stopped him again, as if on impulse, and said: "Go write to Liu Yingjie, the governor of Ji and Liao, and Qi Jiguang, the governor of the four military training towns, and ask them to give details of the situation of Ji and Liao Duoyanwei, and... express their position on whether to send troops."

This was an experienced approach. Upon hearing this, Wang Chonggu felt that the emperor was very organized and meticulous in his approach and did not think there was anything wrong with it.

After waiting for a while, seeing that the emperor had no other instructions, Wang Chonggu bowed and took his leave.

Zhu Yijun nodded and signaled the eunuch not far away to see him off.

To put it bluntly, although the border general's statement in the memorial was just a seemingly casual remark he made, in fact, the one sentence he mentioned from the border general would be more effective than Wang Chonggu's three sentences.

Well, of course, I am not familiar with Liu Yingjie, the governor of Ji and Liao, so I am showing respect to his official rank.

The main one is Qi Jiguang.

Whenever Qi Jiguang said he could fight.

Zhu Yijun would support sending troops without hesitation.

On the contrary, if Qi Jiguang felt that the war could not be fought, even if the court agreed that the war could be fought, Zhu Yijun would still go against the majority opinion.

Not only Duoyanwei.

Even the Tuman Khan may have to rely on him.

Ma Ziqiang was standing aside. Seeing Wang Chonggu leave and the emperor in a daze, he also quickly bowed and was about to leave.

While waiting for the emperor to go through the process, Ma Ziqiang was ready to step back.

"Wait a moment, Grand Master."

Hearing the emperor's words "please stay", Ma Ziqiang quickly pressed down his leg and tried to maintain a respectful demeanor: "Please give me your instructions, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun couldn't help laughing when he saw Ma Ziqiang swaying.

He waved his hand and said, "Grand Master, please get up first. I just suddenly remembered two things that I want to discuss with you."

Ma Ziqiang's surname is not a good one. In order to avoid bad luck by saying "you will lose immediately", court officials now call him Grand Master of the Imperial Household.

After Ma Ziqiang stood up, Zhu Yijun slowly said to him, "There are still more than two months until the Spring Examination. Has the Ministry of Rites decided on the two examiners?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Ziqiang quietly looked up at the emperor.

The chief officer of the imperial examination holds a key position.

Especially with 407 candidates admitted this year, how many students can be recruited? How many party members can be cultivated?
It can be said that the chief examiner of the imperial examination can not only gain fame, but also real power!
Because of this, they are usually the emperor's confidants.

For example, the examiners of the previous subject were Zhang Juzheng and Lu Diaoyang.

Of course, this session is definitely not possible. After all, these two sons have been allowed to take the exam with the emperor's special privilege. If they still want to be the chief examiner, it would be too unruly - even if the test papers of their descendants are marked by the emperor, this attitude cannot be ignored.

Let’s exclude Wang Chonggu, whose major is not related to the job, and Grohe, who has been given a position.

This means that there must be another candidate outside the cabinet.

Ma Ziqiang didn't know the emperor's intention, so he could only say something that was neither good nor bad: "Your Majesty, the court is now considering nominating three people, including Gao Yi, the Grand Secretary of Jianji Palace and the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Wang Xilie, the Director of the Zhanshi Palace and the Director of the Hanlin Academy, and Zhu Dashou, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and the Reader of the Hanlin Academy."

Zhu Yijun said, "They are all learned people..."

Ma Ziqiang echoed the emperor.

At this time, Zhu Yijun suddenly looked at Ma Ziqiang and asked in confusion: "The Grand Master is also a learned man, why is he not here?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Ziqiang's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

If an ordinary person heard what the emperor said, Ma Ziqiang would have thought it was irony - the three men were either the top scorers in the first class or the top ten in the second class, and they were all recognized as well-educated people. How could he, a third-class Jinshi, feel embarrassed to do that?

Even if he attended the meeting, he could not beat Wang Xilie in court discussions.

In other words, the consensus among court officials now is that Gao Yi and Wang Xilie will be the examiners, and even Zhu Dashou, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, is just a runner-up.

However, judging from the emperor's words, he clearly meant something - wasn't it obvious that he intended to let him be the examiner?

Ma Ziqiang was hesitating about how to express his opinion.

The emperor called over the secretary of the imperial court and ordered, "Mr. Deng, go and tell the cabinet to ask the chief examiner of the imperial examination to also send the Grand Master of Imperial Clan to me."

Ma Ziqiang watched Deng Yizan go towards the cabinet, feeling mixed emotions of joy and sorrow.

The good news is that the emperor has shown favor to him again.

What worries me is that there will definitely be difficult things for him to do.

For a moment, Ma Ziqiang tried his best to control his tense expression and lowered his head: "Your Majesty, I am a humble official..."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, interrupting his polite words.

"There is one more thing, which I just remembered when I was discussing with Lord Wang."

Seeing that he was not allowed to complete the formalities, Ma Ziqiang thought something was wrong and became more alert.

Zhu Yijun didn't care what Ma Ziqiang was thinking, and continued, "You just heard about the matter of Duoyanwei. The court will discuss it soon."

"Now, I and Lord Wang both intend to train the Beijing Camp and send it to Ji and Liao to assist the border troops."

"In this situation, I am thinking, whether to send troops or not, should we also let the Governor of the Beijing Camp attend the court discussion?"

"I ascended the throne at a young age and am not familiar with the civil and military etiquette of our dynasty. I am also afraid that I will destroy the system of our dynasty..."

He paused for a moment, and looked straight at Ma Ziqiang, thinking: "Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, a learned scholar, could you tell me if there is any way for military officials to discuss matters in the court in terms of etiquette?"

　As a side note, I read these two books before, but accidentally forgot about them. I suddenly remembered them today.

　　One is a story about cultivating immortals. The hero can live for nine lifetimes and keeps taking longevity pills. His kung fu becomes more powerful the longer he lives. He then fucks people everywhere and is irresponsible. He practices wood-based kung fu and updates slowly.

　　There is also an urban novel in which the male protagonist's future self can write a diary to fight aliens. There are two female protagonists, one of whom studies law.

　　I can't remember the title of the book, if anyone has read it please remind me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)