Chapter 891: Peach Blossoms Still Smiling in the Spring Breeze (Part 2)

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As the saying goes, hard work pays off. One day in August, Wanli finally waited for what he wanted. After noon that day, the emperor was flipping through the memorials in a daze, thinking about reading the last two books, and then taking a nap. When he saw the memorial, he suddenly became energetic.

It was a book published by the Ministry of Houke. This person has always been low-key and never participated in party disputes in the officialdom. However, when encountering illegal things, he was able to perform his duties and make generous suggestions, and was always loyal. A few months ago, he was ordered to go to Liaodong to inspect the military farming matters and left Shanhaiguan. He stayed outside the pass for more than two months. After returning, he handed over his errands and wrote this memorial in his personal name, revealing a major scandal of "killing, surrendering, and taking credit for his achievements"!

The incident happened when the emperor was married, but it might be better to start with the imperial court ending its military service in the Hetao area seven years ago and shifting its focus to Jiliao.

Everyone in the world knows that during the twelve years since the arrival of the Pavilion, the most commendable thing was to make good use of the generals and stabilize the border. The achievements of regaining Hetao and pacifying the southwest were needless to say, but what was even more valuable was his choice of generals and his military preparations.

Chen Si himself admitted that he had put the most effort into military reform. By vigorously promoting all-round military system reform, he spared no effort to develop military equipment for more than ten years, so that the Ming Dynasty's thousands of miles of border defense and the camp of the siege gradually had a Tiger Army that was good at fighting...

More eye-catching than those silent institutional reforms, it is his choice of border commander and military deployment. After all, in this long post-cold weapon era, the personal ability of the general is still a decisive factor in the combat effectiveness of the army. With competent commander, there will be generals who are not afraid of death. With competent generals, there will be a hero who is not afraid of death. Because whether the generals in front are selected well is the key to the peace of the border defense.

Silence is lucky. At that time, there were star stars in all directions: Qi Jiguang, Ma Fang, Li Chengliang, Yu Dayou, Tan Lun, Wang Chonggu, Fang Fengshi, Yin Zhengmao, Ling Yunyi, Liu Xian, etc., all of whom were the only generals who could stand on their own, and they were the only grand occasions seen in two hundred years.

A clever woman is hard to cook without rice. With the increasingly powerful military force as a backing, he can calmly arrange national defense plans. Prime Minister Rong Zheng has been doing his best for many years, and he has objectively estimated the entire situation... Although the Tatars have turned from strong to weak, the characteristics of the nomadic peoples determine that the Ming army, which is mainly infantry, is finally in a passive situation.

To completely eliminate the Tartars, it is impossible to achieve anyway. What's more realistic is to hold on to each other and beat the other - he saw that the *** people are not a single piece of iron. Each unit is in time and in time, and they also attack and kill each other. This can be completely divided and controlled. His strategy is to "control the east and west".

Xihuai is the kindness of Tumote and Ordos tribes. These princes and princes were basically punished and obeyed. The court gave them the title of prince and opened up the trade to solve the problem of their tribe's meal. The war was not good for anyone, so they were naturally willing to pay tribute for a long time and then sealed their fortunes through the wool trade. They were close to the butt of the Ming Dynasty and could not even be chased away.

But it is impossible to rely on raising the wolf at once, not to mention that the reason why "If you are not a race, your heart will be different" is impossible to understand. Therefore, even if they beg for the Tuman and Duoyan tribes entrenched in Liaodong, even if they beg for the tribute like their compatriots in Tumochuan and Hetao, they must not agree. There is only one word to treat them, that is, "beat"!

The reason is very simple. If the Tatar East and West divisions agreed to the request of the "East Lie", the Tatar East and West divisions may be underestimated by both the tribute, but none of them can be held back. Therefore, taking completely different countermeasures against the two major forces of the Tatar can ensure that they have resentment and will never be together... With the comparison of the "East System", the part of the "Xihuai" cherishes peace even more. With the "Xihuai" lying north of Ji Liao, echoing the Ming Dynasty, the part of the "East System" dare not kill them easily.

The candidates for implementing the "East System" strategy, the original choice was Qi Jiguang and Ma Fang. Qi Jiguang stabilized the defense and protected the capital from harassment. As an assault force, Ma Fang went deep into Liaodong and used cavalry to control cavalry, eliminated the vitality of Tuman and Duoyan, and drove them farther away, the better.

However, Prince Ma was old after all, and he was old enough to take off his armor and rest. Moreover, he was born in the Xuanda system and was strongly resisted by the Liaodong generals and could not play any role. Therefore, after repeated consideration, Ma Fang was left in Xuanfu, while supporting the elderly and shocking the Western Captains. The replacement could only be Li Chengliang, who was born in Liaodong and shining in the battle of reunification, but because of his greed for merit, his troops were almost wiped out...

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Qi Jiguang never disappointed people. After taking office, he started training troops while building a hollow enemy platform. In his memorial to the court, he said that the border defense of Ji Town lasted for two thousand miles, and as long as there was a gap, the entire Great Wall would be destroyed. It would be a waste to build a five-meter-high, hollow, three-layer inside, complete enemy platform, and complete armor, equipment, and food. Soldiers can watch inside or quickly assemble into field troops.

His initiative was eventually supported by the court. After three years, from Juyongguan to Shanhaiguan, a total of 1,200 such enemy platforms were built, making the original soft abdomen of the Ming Dynasty, Jizhou, an iron barrier. In the past, Altan's invasion of the capital would never happen again.

The north had a strong defense for a while, and the enemy could not enter, so they could only go to Liaodong. Liaodong was an inherent territory of the Ming Dynasty. As the left arm of Yanjing, it was bordered on the barbarians on three sides and blocked the sea on the other side. Shanhaiguan was separated from the inside and outside. Its strategic position was very important. Because it was frequently harassed by the *** and Jurchens, it was difficult for the Han people to settle down, so the land was vast and sparsely populated, and the population was concentrated in the garrison stations, and most of them were military families. Therefore, there were no prefectures and counties in the Liaodong area, and it was specialized in the garrison stations and implemented military rule.

This kind of local conditions has indeed played a positive role for a long time. More than 100,000 troops relied on military farming without the need for support from the mainland. However, the good times did not last long. The drawbacks of military farming broke out here, and because they were located outside the pass, they were even more lawless. A large number of military farming was embezzled by the hereditary military generals, and the military and civilians of the garrison became serfs, and they had no choice but to flee in large numbers. The fields were deserted, the military farming was abandoned, the supply of funds was exhausted, and the military supplies gradually disappeared, which made the people come and go freely and completely lost the barrier function in the pass.

When choosing this place as a battlefield, I naturally took it as a military area, and it was large and sparsely populated, which caused the least damage to people's livelihood. But it was precisely because of the vast and sparsely populated areas that had to be used to fight. As a native of Liaodong, Li Chengliang was a must-have candidate.

The reason why silence didn't use him at the beginning was not because he was worried that he would not be competent, but because he was uncontrolled outside the pass, and even more worried that the Liaodong military general group would be even more insulting and would not lose its tail. But if you want to accomplish things in Liaodong, you can only use the Liao people, and there is no way.

Without Li Chengliang, Liaodong generals were colluding into groups and wandering from the rule of the court, it would be better to let one of his own people take charge, and at least he could control it. As for the consequences, it would be better to pacify Liaodong first and eliminate the real life and death enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

Silence is so annoying to Li Chengliang's personality weakness, and he often writes to persuade him. He repeatedly urges him not to be obscene with military discipline, just to make contributions, and not to kill innocent people indiscriminately, and intensify the ***. It is rare for the chief assistant to give such patient guidance to a border general. How could Li Chengliang, a martial artist, not be willing to serve him?

After taking office as general of Liaodong, facing more than 200,000 troops from Tuman and Duoyan, he was in charge of Liaoyang, fearless in the face of danger, actively repairing fortifications, selecting generals and recruiting athletes, and stabilizing the situation. But defense was never his first choice. After gaining a foothold, Li Chengliang quickly turned defense into offense. In the fifth year of Longqing, he attacked Yu Zhuoshan, beheaded more than a thousand levels, and made the first contribution to the battle against Liaodong.

During the Wanli period, he had even more unparalleled battles to defeat the enemy. In the first year of Wanli, Duoyan's tribe and Tuman gathered 20,000 cavalry, plundered Yongping and Chenyang in the south, and Li Chengliang led the firearm battalion to attack head-on and annihilate more than a thousand enemies. Then, he led his army to go out of the frontier at night, raided more than 200 miles long, and directly attacked the enemy's invasion camp - Pishan Camp, and beheaded a thousand levels, which was a great victory in Pishan Camp.

Victories such as this, such as raids, and beheading hundreds to thousands of more than a thousand were countless from the first year of Wanli to the three years. The dust rolled on the Liaodong Plain, and the Ming army flag was invincible, so the Tartars could only avoid it from afar. In the past, the Ming army was beaten so hard that they did not dare to show their heads. It seemed like a different world.

Sometimes it is not good to be too brave. It takes only three years to drive the Tartars away. Although Li Chengliang's reputation has been greatly improved, his military achievements are not easy to settle. How can he seek rewards for his subordinates without military achievements? If he wants to bully the ***, he can only order the troops to attack for a long distance, but the loss is too great, and it is often not worth the loss. Moreover, because of the existence of the military censor, it has become unrealistic for Li Chengliang to kill civilians indiscriminately and make contributions.

Killing civilians without any success was a vicious act that the Ming army had been popular for a hundred years. When it came to Li Chengliang, it was even more unscrupulous. After the war, the soldiers killed border civilians in batches in batches, cut off their heads, and re-formed them into whips according to the customs of ***. The Ministry of War personnel discussed the number of heads, but no one else was concerned. As early as the reign of Yan Song, the border soldiers were a major harm to the border people. The silent mentor Chen Lian once chanted a poem in pain: "There has been no such thing as cutting off the birth and offering brilliance, and the bones were undone. The white grass and yellow sand and stormy nights, so many wronged souls were looking for their heads!"

In order to curb this ugly phenomenon, Chen Si ordered the military censor to be responsible for the battle report. If there is any false report, false report, or kill civilians and take credit, they will be severely punished. Unlike the gentle means of civilians, Chen Si is very strict in governing the military. After killing a few guys who are in front of you, the military censors finally glared at the sight of monitoring the troops every battle. Killing civilians and take credit for the victory is finally no longer seen...

Therefore, in the past year, Li Chengliang has almost no great achievements. Although he attacked frequently, he beheaded only one or two hundred people, or at most two or three hundred people. For the court, emperor and the people who have become accustomed to the invincible battle of General Li, there is nothing to be excited about.

However, before the emperor's wedding, the Liaodong side rushed to hear good news: it was said that Liaodong Governor Zhang Xueyan and General Li Chengliang found information. The Tartars wanted to take advantage of the Ming army to celebrate the emperor's wedding. The defense was slackening, and they robbed cattle and sheep from a long distance. The two men then used the trick and lured the enemy into detours. Finally, in Changding Fort, they surrounded and killed the invading enemy, and won a great victory. From the captive chief, they killed more than 2,000 heads at the level of the captive chief. This was a great victory that had not been seen in several years. Not only did the national prestige shock, but the atmosphere of celebration also pushed the atmosphere to a climax.

When the good news arrived in Beijing, Wanli was very happy and immediately thanked the Jiao Temple, thanking the heaven and earth and ancestors for their blessings. At the same time, he ordered the cabinet to give a reward. Empress Dowager Cisheng also ordered the cabinet, saying: "It is the silent visit of the ancestors of heaven and earth, which is the celebration of the country. Yuan Fu is usually responsible for planning, and you and others are united in praise of it." This kind of slandering the royal family and giving everyone benefits, the great ministers naturally responded positively.

However, for the sake of caution, Chen Mo did not do as soon as he did. Instead, he waited until the Liaodong Prefecture followed Andaoren's report and saw his description that the group of people rushed towards the border that day with cattle and sheep, saying that they were surrendering. Although the Tatars were usually honest, they were only more scrupulous on the battlefield and had many tricks. Therefore, the Ming army judged that this must be a false surrender. The guardian of Changding Fort was Li Rusong, the son of Li Chengliang, who was better at fighting than him, but he was more eager for quick success and instant benefits. After the Death, Li Rusong took the lead and led his soldiers to kill them like a strong wind, killing them like chopping vegetables, and soon wiped out the strong enemy.

With his years of experience in leading troops, he felt that there was something strange about it. However, because "honor comes from the top", although the emperor was unable to decide on his own government affairs, he could fully exercise the power of gratitude and reward. In order not to let the cabinet take away this favor, the emperor issued an imperial edict first. He quickly sent the eunuch Wei Chao, the eunuch at the Qing Dynasty, to represent himself to reward the three armies on behalf of himself. General Li Chengliang Lu Jue was first level, and ordered Zhang Xueyan to be the governor of Liaodong, Li Rusong was promoted to the fourth-rank commander, and even the officials in the court were rewarded... Then the emperor's wedding and the great victory in Liaodong, the ministers, the generals, were generally at the first level of the Jin Dynasty, and Yin Yizi. It was a celebration of the whole world, and everyone was very happy.

However, now, this scholar named Guangmao actually revealed that the battle of Changding Fort was not an attack on the enemy. The truth is... A tribe of Tatars angered the cruel Duoyan tribe. Because he was afraid that the Duoyan tribe would come to wipe out, he took nearly 3,000 people from all over the country and rushed to the border of Daming to seek protection. Li Rusong was young and inexperienced. He saw so many people coming to chase the mules and horses, and mistakenly thought it was the enemy's cavalry, so he came over while the enemy was riding a distance. He was tired and had not yet established a foothold, so he opened and closed the door to cover the killing. The crowd who came to beg for surrender was caught off guard. They fled around.

As soon as the two sides joined the formation, Li Rusong felt something was wrong, but this dynasty used the heads to calculate the bounty, and his soldiers were eager to make contributions. They all showed their butcher's knife and killed them when they saw them. In less than half an hour, more than two thousand men, women, and young people died in such a bad life: After Li Chengliang found out, he believed that since the matter reached this point, instead of killing innocent people and punishing his son, it would be better to report the merits to the court just by mistake.

Guangmao said that this is the truth of the so-called "Changding Fort Victory"...

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Chapter completed!