prosperous age

"No matter how bad the Liaodong war situation is, the safety of the capital is the most important thing. It is a major issue that concerns the world. If you are not careful, the whole country may be shaken."

Wei Guangde's last words are definitely not nonsense, but are based on facts.

He felt that Huang Taiji commanded the Eight Banners soldiers to rampage across Gyeonggi several times at that time.

The surrounding area of ​​the capital cannot be protected, not to mention the courtiers in the capital, the officials in the south of the Yangtze River will also feel that the country is about to perish.

Therefore, all dynasties have paid great attention to the security of the capital and its surrounding areas. Even in later generations, the people in the capital can enjoy living conditions far superior to those in other regions.

Wei Guangde's words may be light words to him and Zhang Juzheng, but to Yu Wang and Yin Shizhen, they undoubtedly revealed the deep fear hidden deep in their hearts.

Yes, the scenes that happened in the 29th year of Jiajing resurfaced in their minds, lingering.

The Mongol Tartars broke through the wall, and their soldiers headed straight to Tongzhou, which was only a short distance away from the capital. The turmoil in the capital caused at that time, and countless people around the capital flocked into the city.

At that time, there was no outer city built later in Beijing, but the people there could only abandon their homes and flee to the inner city.

At that time, the streets of the entire capital were overcrowded, and it was noisy until late at night.

But the Beijing camp was unusable, so Emperor Jiajing could only call names directly and appointed ministers to guard the city gates, and the capital was also under emergency martial law.

During that time, people in the capital were in panic, and no one knew whether the Tartars would invade the city tomorrow.

"It's true that we can't do what Yang Xuan wants. The army must stay in Ji Town to protect Gyeonggi."

King Yu finally came to his senses at this time, and shouted loudly.

Zhang Juzheng was a little surprised by King Yu's gaffe, and looked straight at the past, but in his eyes, it seemed that Yin Shizhen was not surprised, but just nodded slightly.

Immediately, Zhang Juzheng probably guessed what was going on.

After Wei Guangde and others left Prince Yu's mansion, King Yu still had lingering fears.

At that time, not only the people were in chaos, but even the court and the inner court were like this. At that time, King Yu could only hide in the palace of his mother and concubine, in constant fear.

But now, he is the master of Prince Yu's Mansion. In this room, it's like a small imperial court. He can feel some feeling of being an emperor.

When something happens, discuss with the ministers, and let them brainstorm to find out the essence of the problem and find a solution.

Unlike the imperial meeting, the decisions they made here would not affect the court, but it did make him gradually understand what it means to govern the country.

Think back to the beginning, when Gao Gong was in the palace, he often summoned the officials of the palace to discuss the government affairs with him, analyzing the pros and cons for him.

Gao Gong, Chen Yiqin, Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng, these people have all expressed their opinions here, and King Yu thinks their remarks are very insightful.

In the future, let them join the cabinet.

When something happens, just call them to discuss it.

Listen to what they say, and finally act according to the results of the discussion.

Suddenly, King Yu felt that being an emperor was not difficult.

The so-called "carry the sun and moon on your shoulders, and carry the stars on your back" is not as difficult as imagined. In fact, it is very simple with a group of loyal and capable courtiers.

King Yu got up slowly and walked around the room. This is his small court, where he and his officials discuss matters.

After going out the door, he walked towards the backyard. Thinking of the little baby who was born soon, King Yu felt happy again, and his pace quickened a little.

From then on, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng were asked to be teachers for his son.

The people in Prince Yu's mansion, that is, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng are the youngest, so they are just suitable to be his son's teacher and teach him.

Zhang Juzheng was very talented, so he was in charge of the prince's essay writing, and Wei Guangde taught the prince martial arts after his experience in war.

A piece of paper and a weapon complement each other.

Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng and others left Prince Yu's Mansion, not knowing that his future had been arranged by King Yu, and they were still discussing with Zhang Juzheng in whispers all the way out of the Palace.

What they were discussing at the moment was, of course, whether Yang Xuan would listen to Yang Bo's words and leave the soldiers and horses in Jizhen to garrison in Jizhen.

In the last battle between the two Yangs, Yang Xuan did not listen to Yang Bo, although Yang Bo withheld the food and grass that should have been allocated to Ji Town according to Xu Jie's wishes, so that he did not dare to send troops to Liaodong.

But this time, it seems that Yang Xuan intends to use this as an excuse to shirk some responsibility to the Ministry of War. It is not known whether Yang Bo can withstand the pressure.

"Mr. Xu Ge, I'm afraid I have to talk about it with my uncle."

Wei Guangde said in a low voice, "This time we must take a clear stand on Yang Shangshu's side and force Yang Xuan to submit.

Brother Uncle also saw His Highness's reaction just now.

I believe that the one from Xiyuan will do the same.

It's all right if I don't invade Jizhen, but if Yang Shangshu really hits the mark, the consequences will be unpredictable. "

Zhang Juzheng nodded, and replied: "I heard from the teacher about what happened last time, after all, it was just a guess at that time, and it was not easy for him to choose to support Yang Shangshu, and the palace didn't have an obvious attitude, just let them discuss it.

This time it was different, Jizhen's army would enter Liaodong, and Jizhen's troops would inevitably be empty, this was absolutely impossible. "

"I am most afraid that Yang Xuan will be stubborn and refuse to listen to the opinions of the Ministry of War and the cabinet. The current situation is different from the original."

Wei Guangde was still a little worried, "I'm most afraid that he has sent troops to Shanhaiguan at this time, and even if he recovers it, it will take a long time. If the Tatars take the opportunity to go south and attack the border wall of Ji Town, the result will be unpredictable."

At this time, Yang Xuan, as Wei Guangde said, is living like a year in the governor's mansion, and now he is eager to make some achievements, so as to defuse some criticisms from the court.

He had already received the news that someone from the Sixth Division and the Metropolitan Procuratorate had begun to impeach him, and there were a large number of responders. I believed that Xiyuan would soon be overwhelmed by these impeachment memorials.

Now Yang Xuan, the only life-saving straw he can grasp is that when the Tartars attack the city of Liaodong, the army of Jizhen can arrive at the battlefield in time, defeat these Mongolian Tartars, and kill them.

For Yang Xuan, he also has to race against time.

No one knew whether the emergency call for help from Liaodong would be delivered to him in the next moment, so he issued a warrant to the general soldier of Jizhen early on, ordering him to quickly lead the troops out of Shanhaiguan to rescue Liaodong.

Of course, when he issued this order, he did not forget to issue strict vigilance orders to all the gates of the Great Wall in Ji Town. He did not want the tower to be stolen.

Regardless of whether it is useful or not, at least this order must still be issued.

This is the way to survive in the officialdom. Knowing that after Jizhen's army is transferred out, there will definitely be mistakes in the defense of Jizhen, but what should be done is still to be done, otherwise it will be negligent.

Although flustered in his heart, Yang Xuan also had a feeling of strategizing and winning thousands of miles.

Yes, in Yang Xuan's opinion, if Yang Bo hadn't held him back, if Yang Zhao hadn't been too stupid, he would have fallen to where he is now.

Yang Xuan's official career is actually very similar to Yang Bo's. The governor of Ji Town served as a springboard to enter the center and became one of the nine ministers.

If Yang Bo can do it, he can do it himself.

After breaking up with Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng looked at the sky and went directly to Xu Ge's old mansion.

After a short period of panic, the cabinet has returned to its previous calm, and began to arrange for the aftermath, including ordering the Taipu Temple to purchase additional war horses to supplement the losses in Liaodong. below.

These were all agreed upon by Emperor Jiajing when he summoned him before, so naturally he would not expect that there would be mistakes.

From Xu Jie and Yuan Wei's point of view, Yang Xuan should be in a panic at this time, and his next step should be to obey the orders of the capital, and he will never dare to make decisions without authorization.

Evil people, let the Ministry of War do the work.

However, after Zhang Juzheng came to the door, he told Xu Jie all about what happened in Prince Yu's Mansion, especially Wei Guangde's worries.

Aspirations and talents are sparse, and they can't be used.

This is Wei Guangde's evaluation of Yang Xuan.

"When we left the palace, Wei Guangde also explained to me Yang Xuan's mentality at the moment. He thought that under the impeachment of the officials at this time, he must be eager to make meritorious deeds. The governor must have had that concern as well."

Zhang Juzheng finally told Xu Jie what Wei Guangde had said about Yang Xuan's mentality when he broke up with Wei Guangde.

Xu Jie stroked his beard lightly, and listened quietly, but his heart was also in a state of turmoil.

At this time, he had two concerns in his mind, one was that Yang Xuan insisted on doing something reckless, dispatching troops from Jizhen to aid Liao, leaving the defense of Gyeonggi empty, and the other was that he was a little worried about Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde is too outstanding in King Yu's mansion, which will definitely affect his disciple Zhang Juzheng's position in King Yu's heart.

Although Wei Guangde seems harmless to humans and animals, things in the officialdom are not as simple as whether you harm others or not.

As long as there is a threat to him, Xu Jie doesn't mind finding a way to get rid of him, just like Gao Gong wanted to get Wei Guangde to Fujian.

Thinking about it now, Xu Jie felt a little compassion at the beginning.

Although Xu Jie maintained a good relationship with Gao Gong, it was only on the surface. In his heart, he still hoped that he could replace Gao Gong in King Yu's heart.

However, King Yu's situation is too special, and as a courtier of Emperor Jiajing, he can't categorically serve him, it will only make him lose points in front of the emperor.

Therefore, he chose to let his disciple Zhang Juzheng enter Prince Yu's mansion to supplement this feeling.

But after thinking about it, Xu Jie still regarded Gao Gong and even Wei Guangde as enemies in his heart.

In the past, Wei Guangde didn't pay much attention to him, after all, the official rank was there.

But in the past two years, through Zhang Juzheng, Xu Jie has already seen that Wei Guangde's status in Yu Wang's mansion is not low, and his position in Yu Wang's heart is probably higher than that of Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen, who have been with him for many years.

After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he waited for the teacher to speak, but the teacher was really silent for a long time, as if he was still in deep thought.

Naturally, Zhang Juzheng couldn't interrupt the teacher's train of thought at this time, so he could only continue to wait.

After a long time, Xu Jie's eyes moved slightly, as if he had come to his senses, he said lightly, "The words of good loans are reasonable, but the old man is not thinking carefully."

Xu Jie got up, walked around the room, and then said to Zhang Juzheng: "I will make a note of this matter, and I will contact Yang Shangshu to deal with it tomorrow morning."

After finishing speaking, Xu Jie turned to Zhang Juzheng and said, "You should pay more attention to this Wei Guangde. Maybe in the future he will be your ally who shares weal and woe, or may be an enemy who turns against each other. You have to be aware of it."

Hearing this, Zhang Juzheng immediately understood the teacher's teaching.

Wei Guangde is too capable, and he will definitely compete with him for the right to speak in the court in the future. Even if he agrees with Wei Guangde in many aspects, it will not change, just like his relationship with Gao Gong.

His teacher Xu Jie had already reminded him of this before, and he was always on guard against Gao Gong's tricks behind his back.

Because, there can only be one Chief Assistant in the Great Ming Dynasty Hall.

Zhang Juzheng bowed and agreed, after all the teacher was doing it for his own good.

He can still tell the difference.

After Zhang Juzheng left Xu's residence, Xu Jie was also thinking about this matter in his heart. He would send someone to invite Yang Bo and Yang Shangshu to the cabinet to discuss this matter in the morning. He also wanted to hold the chief soldier of Ji Town, so that the people of Ji Town could be controlled. Soldiers and horses, at least let the court know what Yang Xuan is doing.

Based on Xu Jie's understanding of Yang Xuan, he might really ignore the cabinet note.

At this time, in the Yanshan Mountains to the north of the capital, a huge cavalry unit was slowly walking on the winding mountain road.

This army was naturally the Mongolian tribal cavalry led by Huang Taiji. They had just wiped out the troops led by General Yang Zhao in Liaodong, and then they used the mobility of their horses to quickly approach Jizhen.

In ancient times, the avenue was called the pass, and the small road was called the mouth. It is located at Gubeikou in the Yanshan Mountains, which is one of the many passes of the Great Wall.

Gubeikou Great Wall is located in the southeast of Gubeikou Town, Miyun District, Beijing. It is composed of Crouching Tiger Mountain Great Wall, Panlong Mountain Great Wall, Jinshanling Great Wall and Simatai Great Wall. It is the throat of Liaodong Plain and Inner Mongolia leading to the Central Plains.

This time Huang Taiji went south, the first choice of attacking target was naturally here.

However, the special geographical location of Gubeikou was naturally the area that the Ming army focused on, and the defense was tight on weekdays, not to mention the governor of Jiliao Yang Xuan had just issued another order.

Hiding and watching from a distance, Huang Taiji found that the Ming army's defenses here were heavily guarded and almost impeccable, so he had no choice but to give up and find another place as a breakthrough.

Huang Taiji was not a fool either. The Mongolian tribe had a small population. It was impossible for him to attack the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty regardless of casualties.

Here, it's just a passage for them to advance and retreat, and it's not worth spending too much effort at all.

Abandoning Gubeikou does not mean that they will give up this opportunity to attack Daming.

Jizhen's army hurriedly left the Santun camp and moved towards Shanhaiguan. The Ming army's actions were not small, and the news would naturally spread to the Tazi army through some channels.

If such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is given up, Huang Taiji doesn't know how he will fix him when he goes back.

Although these years, Lao Khan no longer wants to fight and kill, so he also intends to restrain his followers, but after all, he has to eat.

Continuous natural disasters have made life extremely difficult for the Mongols, but Daming has been blocking the passage of the mutual market. No matter what method he uses to contact Ming officials, it doesn't work.

This time, Altan Khan also agreed to his request to mobilize troops for the purpose of training Xin Aitaiji. If he succeeds, he can force Ming to commit crimes.

Huang Taiji led his troops to leave Gubeikou to the east, and observed Caojiazhai Pass and Yangjiabao along the way, and finally arrived at the bank of Quanshui River.