prosperous age

"What do you think of Shandai?"

Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant on duty, asked after reading the report from the Ministry of War.

"Datong has recognized it. If they refuse what they ask for, it will inevitably make the Mongolian tribes give up and fight with the imperial court to the end."

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly and said that although he had great opinions on the Datong Peace Conference discussed by Wang Chonggu, he could not overturn the previous imperial policy at this time.

Zhang Juzheng knew that Wei Guangde's attitude was the same as his, so he nodded and said, "Then follow Duoyan's old routine."

The so-called old rule is naturally to restore the original Ming Dynasty grant to the Duoyan tribe.

After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, Mobei Mongolia was divided into three tribes, among which the Uliangha tribe lived in the area of ​​​​Xiliao River and Laoha River.

During the Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang sent troops to the Northern Expedition many times. As Nahachu was forced to surrender, the Mongolian Khan Tougustimur was defeated in Yuerhai, and the tribes of Eastern Mongolia beyond the Greater Khingan Mountains were completely isolated and helpless.

In the 22nd year of Hongwu, the former Yuan Liao Wang, Huining Wang, and Duoyan Marshal's Mansion of the Wuliangha Tribe successively requested to be attached. Zhu Yuanzhang then set up the Taining, Duoyan, and Fuyu Commandery Divisions in their areas, under which they were subordinated. In the capital of Daning, he appointed his son Zhu Quan as King Ning and commanded all the guards. These were the "Three Duoyan Guards".

In the third year of Jianwen, King Zhu Di of Yan launched an army to quell Jingnan. In order to fight against the imperial army, Zhu Di, with the support of Ning King Zhu Quan, incorporated the Daning army including the "Duoyan Three Guards", and the Duoyan Three Guards also made great achievements in the subsequent wars. .

After Zhu Di conquered the world, in view of the military exploits of the "Three Duoyan Guards", he sent people many times to appease and reward them. Therefore, in the early years of Yongle, the "Three Duoyan Guards" also spent a honeymoon period with the Ming Dynasty.

However, among the "Three Duoyan Guards" at that time, Taining Guard was the strongest, Fuyu Guard was the second, and Duoyan Guard was the weakest.

However, Zhu Di's canonization was headed by Duo Yanwei, and it goes without saying much about his intention.

After that, the Duoyan Guards rose rapidly with the support of the Ming Dynasty and gradually annexed the other two guards. Therefore, these three guards were collectively called the "Three Duoyan Guards". Because the Duoyan Guards were mainly composed of the Uuliangha tribe, they were also called "the Three Guards of Duoyan Guards". Wu Liang Ha San Wei".

Later, with the rise of the Mongolian Tatar tribe, the Duoyan Three Guards were often harassed by them, and because of their military power, they secretly attached themselves to the Tatars, and even used horses to help them find out the reality of the Ming Dynasty's border.

When Zhu Di found out, he issued an edict to investigate, but it was self-defeating. Some of the Duoyan Sanwei tribe married the Tatar Grand Master Arutai and openly resisted the Ming Dynasty.

In order to resolve the Mongolian threat to the border, Zhu Di personally conquered Mobei five times starting from the eighth year of Yongle. During the battle, he found that some Uliangha people had joined the Tatar army, so he issued another edict to condemn them, but with little effect.

Therefore, on the way to the third Northern Expedition in July of the 20th year of Yongle, Zhu Di directly led his troops deep into the Quseer River Basin and defeated the three Duoyan guards, and the relationship between the two parties broke down.

After Zhu Di's death, in view of the depletion of national power caused by frequent military campaigns by the imperial court during the Yongle period, the Ming Dynasty began to implement strategic contraction during the Ren and Xuan years, which greatly reduced the pressure on the three guards of Duoyan.

During the Zhengtong years, the Oara emerged in the Mongolian grassland, and the three guards of Duoyan were forced to attach themselves to the leader of the Oara, Ye Xian. Driven by Yexian, they repeatedly invaded Liaodong, Datong, Yan'an and other places in the Ming Dynasty. As a result, they were defeated by the Ming army many times. , and even encountered Ye Xian's back stabbings one after another, and the situation became increasingly difficult.

The three guards of Duoyan could not bear the ravages of Oara and tried to join the Ming Dynasty. They not only secretly provided information about Oara to the Ming Dynasty, but even requested to be stationed in the border areas of the Ming Dynasty. However, due to their rebellion and capriciousness, they were rejected by the Ming Dynasty Zong.

As a result, the three guards of Duoyan turned to the already weakened Tatar tribe and secretly interacted with their leader Bolai.

It wasn't until Ye Xian died, the Wala Division fell apart, and the Tatar Division re-emerged that the life of the Duoyan Sanwei became easier.

Starting from the Chenghua period, the Duoyan Three Guards still often had conflicts with the Ming Dynasty. Although they entered the customs many times to plunder, they were often hungry due to natural disasters and asked the Ming Dynasty to restore the horse market to trade food and other items.

Although the Ming Dynasty never broke off contact with the three guards of Duoyan, it often interrupted transactions as punishment for their intrusion southward.

Obviously, Zhang Juzheng said that the Duoyan tribe should be treated according to the old rules. In fact, it means still appointing officials according to the health system and allowing mutual trading. It is not like signing a new agreement with Anda Khan to bind the rights and obligations of both parties.

Wei Guangde did not object to this either.

After all, the Duoyan tribe is not very powerful, but Wei Guangde dislikes it for its sometimes rebellious and erratic behavior.

"I don't know how long Duoyan will be honest after this battle."

Thinking of Duoyanbu's achievements over the years, Wei Guangde couldn't help but sigh.

"With Qi Yuanjing in Jizhen, you and I don't have to worry."

Unexpectedly, Zhang Juzheng said with confidence, "From what I read, my Ming army defeated the enemy in the field and deserved a heavy reward. It is worthy of a special book."

However, as Shandai said, Duoyan is a villain. Even if he surrenders this time, Jizhen cannot take it lightly. He still needs to let the Ministry of War inform General Qi. "

Wei Guangde nodded and approved Zhang Juzheng's proposal.

"By the way, I urge them to send up the memorial to report their merits as soon as possible."

Finally, Zhang Juzheng reminded again.

At the same time, Dong Fox, the leader of the Duoyan tribe, and his nephew Chang Ang, who were temporarily settled in the Dongjiashan Military Fort in Ji Town, were also spying.

"Uncle, if we come in like this, Zhi'er still feels a little dangerous."

Chang Ang whispered to Dong Hu.

"Don't worry, the Ming court won't do anything to us. Even if they don't accept surrender, they will drive us out of the city. It's a pity that it's dangerous to be bald."

Dong Fox said to his nephew Dong Changang.

"If Ming people don't let uncle go, I will gather an army on the grassland to beg him. If that doesn't work, we will go to Tumut Khan or Chahar and ask them to borrow troops."

Chang Ang still refused to give up and suggested to Dong Hu in a low voice.

Chang'ang had a blood feud against the Ming Dynasty. In the first year of Longqing, his father led the Duoyan cavalry to harass the Ming Dynasty and was killed by the Ming army's artillery. The position of leader of the Duoyan tribe fell to Dong Fox.

"Don't act rashly for the time being. Wait until Zhangbald comes back. Now the Tumut people have stopped fighting the Ming people. That is to say, Chahar is still fighting with the Liaodong Ming army.

If we act too hastily at this time, if the Ming court resents us and sends a large army to encircle and suppress us, we may even lose our last pasture.

Now we have the Tumut people to the west and Chahar to the north. Their power cannot be underestimated.

It was because they were too powerful that we had to move near the Ming Realm.

Once the Ming emperor is angered, we will have no grassland for grazing, and our Duoyan tribe will not be far from falling apart.

Looking at the current situation of Taining and Fuyu, they are unwilling to attach themselves to the south and have been completely annexed by Chahar.

Let Chahar anger Ming and let Ming vent his anger on them. Our Duoyan tribe can no longer bear the consequences of being hit by Ming court again. "

Dong Fox said to his nephew.

"But I'm still not willing to give in."

Chang Ang said angrily.

"You didn't realize that in this battle, the Ming army's chariots and cavalry cooperated, and our prairie cavalry could no longer take advantage even in field battles.

Why let the men of the tribe sacrifice themselves in vain? Let the Chahar people test the Ming court's reality. "

Dong Hu was translated as fox by Ming Ting, so he was naturally cunning enough.

He has seen that among all the forces on the grassland, his Duoyan tribe is the weakest.

When faced with the aggressive Chahar people, they had to choose to rely on Anda Khan to protect themselves.

But now that Anda Khan has made peace with the Ming court, it is unwise for them and the Chahar people to continue fighting with the Ming court.

You always have to pick the softest persimmon. Before them and the Chahar people, Duoyanbu was undoubtedly the softest persimmon. If they really get into a fight with Ming Ting, they will be exterminated.

"The Chahar people don't seem to be able to defeat the Ming Dynasty. Recently, they have been acting jointly with the Jurchens."

Chang Ang calmed down a little after hearing his uncle's reminder.

Now the Duoyan tribe does not have much room to survive. Once it becomes an enemy of the Ming court, there is really no room for detours to avoid the Ming army's attack.

The Duoyan tribe can still maintain its independence until now because they have never been willing to live together with other tribes to avoid being annexed by others.

Once they are driven to Tumut or Chahar territory by the Ming army, they may not be able to save the last of their tribesmen.

On the grassland, the strong have always been respected, and large tribes annexed small tribes.

"Just let them fight, the more fierce the better, to attract Mingting's attention to the Chahar people."

Dong Fox sneered.

Wei Guangde left the chief assistant's duty room, returned to his room, and wrote a note to the Ministry of War.

Just now Zhang Juzheng talked about the field battle, which made Wei Guangde also interested.

Since Qi Jiguang's chariot camp and cavalry operations can suppress the Mongolian cavalry, other military towns in Jiubian should also follow suit.

The note to the Ministry of War was naturally to ask each town to send people to Ji Town to learn from Qi Jiguang's military training methods and form independent chariot and cavalry battalion systems.

In the future, the Ming army that came out of the border and entered the prairie would use the chariot battalion and the cavalry battalion as the backbone to ensure that they could gain the upper hand even in field battles.

In Wei Guangde's view, only by gradually training a strong Ming army can we gradually weaken the team of servants that the generals now rely on to fight.

The reason why generals support their servants is actually to have a sharp-sword army in hand to rush forward at critical moments.

The main culprit for all this is the decline in the Ming army's combat effectiveness.

If the Ming army's combat strength recovers, the generals will naturally not need to support their families in large numbers.

The soldiers Qi Jiguang trained were recruited soldiers, and they received military pay and rewards from the court, which was not the same as those of the servants.

Since such soldiers can win battles, then this system should be pushed out and extended to all military towns on the nine sides. Those generals will no longer need to continue to spend a lot of money to support their families. In other words, just raising some personal guards will be enough. .

It's just that achieving such a goal cannot be accomplished in a short period of time. It will definitely take more than ten years or even longer for the border town army generals to figure it out.

You should know that Ada Khan, the main force of the Mongolian tribe that threatened the Ming Dynasty, has negotiated peace with the Ming Dynasty.

Although there are occasional wars on the border, they are mainly caused by horse thieves' plundering, and it is not that the two sides want to rekindle the war.

If those generals maintain servants for a few more years, they will find that the private soldiers they support have no use for them, and they will naturally consider disbanding them and shift their attention to new infantry camps, vehicle camps, and cavalry camps.

However, the happiest thing about this battle was that Qi Jiguang severely damaged the Duoyan tribe. In Wei Guangde's opinion, in the past two or three years, the Duoyan tribe should not dare to be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty again.

With this layer of protection, Wei Guangde would be more confident to mobilize Qi Jiguang's army to enter Liaodong to fight.

But Tan Lun's previous reminder still rings in his ears. After the Jizhen army enters Liaodong, they will not only have to face the Jurchen enemies, but also be prepared for constraints from the friendly Liaodong Army. This is the most difficult problem Wei Guangde needs to solve now.

There is not much of a command problem. At that time, the Ministry of War can send a minister to take charge of the entire army, and there is no need to worry about the Jizhen army being targeted.

It's just the logistics of Jizhen's army and horses that are most likely to hold back the Liaodong Army.

The army trained by Qi Jiguang used a large number of firearms. It was a force with a mixture of cold weapons and hot weapons, and it had extremely high requirements for logistical equipment.

"It seems that we have to discuss it with Tan Lun later to see if we can solve the baggage problem."

Wei Guangde couldn't help but muttered that he might as well go there at night and take a look around.

Now that Zhu Heng has left Beijing, there are fewer senior officials from Jiangxi in the capital, so Wei Guangde's daily movements are naturally much more flexible.

That night, after Wei Guangde had dinner at home, he spoke to his wife and went to Tan Lun's mansion in a sedan.

After meeting in Tan Mansion and chatting for a while, Wei Guangde told the matter.

The two of them had long discussed that Qi Jiguang would go north to Liaodong to participate in the sweep of the Jurchens' caves. Tan Lun was not surprised to hear that Wei Guangde was worried about the constraints of the Liaodong army. He reminded him of this.

But when he heard Wei Guangde's proposal to find a way to solve the logistics of Jizhen's army in Liaodong, Tan Lun's eyes widened and he looked at Wei Guangde in surprise.

"What's wrong? Am I wrong to worry?"

Wei Guangde asked a little strangely.

"No no no."

Tan Lun waved his hands hurriedly and said, "You are thinking the same thing as Yuan Jing, he also has the same idea."

Unexpectedly, Tan Lun replied.

"Did you tell Yuan Jing about your journey north to Liaodong?"

Wei Guangde asked doubtfully.

"No."

Tan Lun waved his hand and said with a smile: "This time we went out to pursue the Duoyan tribe, and the army marched for more than a hundred miles. When Yuan Jing came back, he felt deeply about the logistical difficulties of the army. He intended to build a new army on the basis of the existing infantry, vehicle and battalion armies. Baggage camps are used to solve the logistics and transportation problems of the army."

"Ying camp?"

Wei Guangde was a little confused when he heard this.

The military system of the Ming Dynasty consisted of combat troops and auxiliary troops. Whenever there was a war, the combat troops were of course the first unit to be dispatched. After that, the remaining soldiers would be mobilized to form heavy supplies, and food and grass would be raised to accompany the combat troops before setting off.

If the preparations are sufficient, the soldiers and the supply troops can of course go together, but if there is a sudden war, it will often be two or three days after the soldiers are dispatched before the supply soldiers can load up the provisions and pursue them.

In the military system of the Ming Dynasty, the army was required to march forty miles in one day, and eighty miles in two days. That is, when the supply troops were dispatched, they were already eighty miles away from the soldiers.

In fighting the prairie cavalry, the Mongols were very good at fighting the Ming army's transport troops.

When the Ming army dispatched troops, the standard was to carry three days of rations. It can be seen that as long as the transport troops are blocked by the enemy, it will easily lead to a situation where the soldiers in the front are cut off from food and grass, and they can only fight the enemy hungry.

"How is he going to build a camp?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"I'm worried about this too."

Tan Lun smiled bitterly and said, "As soon as he opened his mouth, he asked me for three thousand mules and horses. Where can I find them for him?"

Wei Guangde also clicked his tongue when he heard this, but he was more interested in how Qi Jiguang's camp was planned to be configured. (End of chapter)