The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 331

Wenhua Hall.

The Sutra Banquet on the second day of November was the last Sutra Banquet of the year, and the emperor hosted the Hanlin Jingyan officials after the end.

After the Hanlin Jingyan official left, the emperor summoned Zhang Zhou who did not attend the Jingyan that day, and left Zhu Houzhao behind, and arranged the sand table and maps, and Zhang Zhou explained the Liaodong battle for Zhu Youtang and his son. .

The only person who is qualified to listen in is Xiao Jing who is about to take over as the eunuch in charge of the ceremony.

"...From Daning to the north, across the Luan River, and then to the two branches of Huangshui, this area used to be the area where the Duoyan and Taining guards went south in winter, but this year the little Tatar prince moved eastward. Afterwards, none of the three Duoyan guards showed any signs of moving south, all because in the past few months, it has become normal for soldiers and horses from the Liaodong and Jizhou towns to go out for patrols, and the three guards of Duoyan dare not go south casually even in winter."

"The location of the ambush is in the upper reaches of the northern branch of the Huangshui River. It is 260 miles north of Daning, where the right wing of the Keshidan tribe is located. Most of the surrounding areas are deserts and Gobi. However, due to the Huangshui River, the road is relatively flat. According to common sense, It is said that it is difficult to form an ambush, but the terrain is narrow, and the Ming soldiers and horses can stand on both sides of the bank, no matter which part of the Duoyan Sanwei passes by, they will have to go north to force them back."

"At that time, the governor of Liaodong will lead troops and horses, and will encircle them from both sides, forcing the three guards to abandon their people and use cavalry to break through the siege. Then they will be able to catch the turtle in the urn. This is the situation of driving the dog into a poor alley."

Zhang Zhou explained the points that could be marked on the sand table and map.

Zhu Youtang knew about this plan a long time ago, and he just nodded slightly. As long as it was a plan formulated by Zhang Zhou, he almost agreed with both hands and feet.

Zhu Houzhao blinked innocent eyes beside him and asked, "Do they have no other way to go?"

Zhu Youtang laughed and said: "Prince, this is about your tricky use of troops, Mr. Zhang. He sent troops from Liaodong with great fanfare, and did not go to Ningyuan, Yizhou and other places, but he specifically selected Shenyang Zhongwei in the southeast of Duoyan Sanwei to send troops. In this way, if the three guards of Duoyan withdraw to the north, the troops of the Ming Dynasty only need to advance northward, and they can take back all the land previously occupied by Dabatu Mengke."

Zhu Houzhao frowned when he heard the words. Listening to what his father said made him both anxious and unnutritive. He said, "Father, this means that there are Batu Mengke's troops in the north of Duoyan Sanwei. They dare not go north, so they can only go north." To the west, we lie in ambush on the road he must pass, is that what you mean?"

"That's right." Zhu Youtang didn't take it seriously, he felt that he explained it very clearly.

Zhu Houzhao said: "My son asked, is there no other way?"

Zhu Youtang looked at Zhang Zhou, meaning you should explain to this kid.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "There are roads, but in the eastern part of Mongolia, there are many deserts and Gobi deserts. The road to the west is either occupied by some small tribes of the Tatar Chahar tribe, or the road is more dangerous and often has to wear The Gobi Desert, which is hundreds of miles away, is covered with snow after winter, and the roads are difficult to distinguish, but walking along the river is often the easiest way to distinguish the roads."

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "You already have a premonition that it's going to snow on the grassland, right?"

Zhang Zhou shook his head: "No, it doesn't matter if it snows or not, and because Duoyan's three guards are now incomplete, they can't bear the loss, and they can't trust each other. Under such circumstances, they must go separately. Going to the north bank of Huangshui is my guess based on their possible marching route."

"Not sure?" Zhu Houzhao was hopeful.

Zhu Houzhao complained: "Prince, it is impossible to be fully sure every time you march and fight. You have to judge the situation according to the situation."

Zhu Houzhao drew the map and said: "Send troops from Jizhou to Keshidan, the road is so long, the Tartars will not notice it at all? If the Tartars find out along the way, if they warn in advance, it is not just an ambush. It is easy to fall short of success, and it is very likely to be ambushed by counterattacks.”

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "His Royal Highness, let's not talk about it all. After the little Tatar prince moved eastward, within a radius of [-] miles around Daning, there was actually no movement of any tribes. This area, from the current point of view , already within the deterrent range of the Ming cavalry."

Zhu Youtang was a little displeased and said: "Prince, I asked you to come and listen, so don't interrupt casually. Do you think that after the Ming Dynasty had long-range and heavy artillery, would the Tatar tribes dare to move closer to the border of the Ming Dynasty? In the past, Duoyan Sanwei entered the winter Afterwards, they only graze within a few dozen miles outside my fortress, how arrogant, if they are asked to come now, do they dare to come?"

"Oh."

Zhu Houzhao wrinkled his nose and said nothing more.

Xiao Jing on the side leaned forward, and timidly asked like a big girl: "Dare to ask Mr. Zhang, who is leading the soldiers and horses that set up an ambush on this road?"

Zhang Zhoudao: "The new military officer, Wang Xianzhi, is in charge of the army. The commander is Peng Quan, the former commander of Jianchangwei. The middle officer is Ma Yongcheng, who is also from the East Palace."

Xiao Jing was speechless for a moment.

Except for Peng Quan, he knew a lot about these three people, and he was not even familiar with Ma Yongcheng, let alone Wang Xian, who had never heard of them.

It was actually arranged by Zhang Zhou to lead troops to attack?
Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Xiao Jing, why, are you surprised? In fact, Bingkuan's use of troops in Liaodong is more to intimidate the grasslands. The way to use troops is to win by surprise. If everything is done step by step, I am afraid that the future In a few years, the Tatar tribes will not fight against Ming Dynasty head-on. It is not easy to succeed in surprise attacks every time."

"Yes, yes." Of course Xiao Jing understood this truth.

Not to mention that Ming had new firearms, even if they didn't, the Tatars would not be able to fight head-on when they knew that Ming sent the main force to attack.

The main purpose of the Tatar invaders is to plunder, not to fight with Daming. No matter how many soldiers they lose, they can make up for it, and one of them counts as one... The living environment in the grassland is so bad. In the bloody battle, even if the loss of personnel is smaller than that of Daming, they are the ones who suffer the most.

Zhu Youtang looked at the sand table and said with emotion: "If you want to achieve the results of the battle, you must either make progress slowly and slowly build the city to the hinterland of the grassland, or someone like You Bingkuan can design a good strategy and get it by surprise. Results."

Xiao Jingdao: "The servants also think this plan is very good, but they don't know the little Tatar prince's movements."

He is reminding.

No matter how good the plan is, Dayan Khan may suddenly show up and catch the troops in ambush of Ming Dynasty by surprise. No matter how many troops you bring, if you meet the main force of 20 or [-] Tatars, the result will probably be Daming's disastrous defeat.

Zhu Youtang smiled and said: "Bingkuan, you can tell him. It's not that I'm talking about you, Xiao Jing, you are becoming more and more like those ministers of the court. You worry about this and that, so don't fight this battle at all. .”

Xiao Jing suddenly seemed to be hit on the forehead with a hammer.

After all, he had discussed with Wei Bin before, and secretly caused trouble for Zhang Zhou, making it difficult for Lu Wan, Zhang Heling, and Zhang Yong to send troops.

Now Lu Wan did not set foot on the grassland until nearly 20 days later. In fact, Wei Bin also secretly instructed the soldiers to slack off and tried to get Lu Wan to abandon the plan to send troops to the grassland and retreat to Liaodong.

The emperor's words were more like hitting him.

Let you be fine, just like civil servants, you like to question Zhang Zhou's plan, it's because you are short-sighted and have no foresight.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Eunuch Xiao, it's like this. The little Tatar prince didn't take much advantage in the battle with Duoyan Sanwei when he marched eastward. That is to say, both sides are losers."

"what?"

Xiao Jing was very surprised, he didn't know this news until now.

He didn't know if it came from Zhang Zhou's summary of the information, or from Zhang Zhou's "God's will", and he calculated it by himself.

"Otherwise, why do you think he is in a hurry to send troops to Ningxia? He is eager to establish his reputation, and after the battle, Duoyan Sanwei is actually unable to confront the little Tatar prince head-on. This is the window period for me to send troops to Ming Dynasty. It’s an opportunity not to be missed.” Zhang Zhou said it easily.

Xiao Jing listened, but his heart was overwhelmed.

Zhu Youtang said: "Bingkuan, what you said earlier is correct, even if the Tatars are really capable of finding out about your plan to send troops, they will probably stand by and watch. I don't even believe it. He, Batu Mengke, dares to confront Daming at this time. For the enemy."

Xiao Jing found it even more incredible.

The little Tatar princes have sent troops to harass Ningxia West Road in Ningxia, saying that Batu Mengke dare not fight Ming Dynasty head-on?
Or did Batu Mengke hate the Duoyan Sanwei for fighting, so he allowed the Duoyan Sanwei to be annexed by Ming?
He was also thinking, isn't His Majesty's belief in this Mr. Zhang a bit unreasonable?

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Actually, this is just a time difference. The little Tatar prince is in the west, and the Great Ming is in the east. Our goal is Duoyan Sanwei, and his goal is to establish prestige. Huozhai will lead troops westward. If the Tatar prince If the prince wants to establish his prestige on the grassland, it is much easier to clean up the fire sieve than to fight our Daming on the frontal battlefield."

"Their invasion in Ningxia was more about looting. So far, no decent battle has been fought, which shows the weakness in their bones. So far, the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses invaded by the little Tatar prince have even Not daring to approach Daming's fortress is enough to show that they are afraid of my Daming's artillery and sky gunpowder. They are just cooperating with each other and taking what they need."

……

……

What Dayan Khan needs is the prestige of the grassland, and what Ming needs is the encroachment on the grassland.

Xiao Jing understood this, but he was still puzzled by how Zhang Zhou determined that Batu Mengke's main force was in Ningxia, not Liaodong... Xiao Jing didn't dare to think about things that he couldn't understand, mainly because The emperor gave him a slap in the face earlier, which made him realize that the result of his heart being inclined to civil servants may lead him into a catastrophe.

Looking for trouble for Zhang Zhou... After searching for a long time, the trouble came to him.

Xiao Jing understood Zhang Zhou's intention to send troops, but the ministers did not understand.

When the government and the opposition, even some middle and lower Beijing officials who had never been involved in the Liaodong dispatch were talking about one thing, they knew that it was not a secret.

At this time, Zhu Youtang announced something in public in the court hall, which really surprised the civil and military ministers in the court.

"...I have decided to grant Bingkuan the title of 'Duke of the Kingdom of Lai', and I will give you a certificate. His official position in the court will not change."

When the emperor finished talking about the matter, before the civil and military ministers in the court could respond, he asked Xiao Jing to read out the imperial edict for bestowing the nobility in public.

Waiting until Xiao Jing finished reading, Liu Jian looked at the vacant seat of the British public Zhang Mao, and then came out and said: "Your Majesty, why is the imperial edict not reviewed by the cabinet and six subjects, but publicized? Veterans believe that if you are already a civil servant, you can avoid military honors...or if you already have a title, you should avoid suspicion of not being a civil servant."

Zhu Youtang said: "Mr. Liu Ge, I think that Bingkuan's contribution should not be evaded anymore. Giving him a title at this time can be regarded as a summary of the various battles at the border this year. If you think it is inappropriate... ...It can only be said that you failed to understand my deep meaning."

Still mean?
Even if a close sycophant has some military merits, most of them are not obtained by himself in battle. Even if we really recognize his title, shouldn't we also consider dismissing his civil post?

On the one hand, he wanted to be the Duke of the state, but on the other hand, he also wanted to be the head of civil servants. He was also a bachelor's servant and a military minister, so he was left to take charge of everything by himself.

Seeing that Liu Jian refused to go back, Zhu Youtang asked, "I also want to ask you, after he was promoted to the left servant of the Ministry of War, did he interfere with the daily affairs of the Ministry of War? Or did he break the court?" The order of the hall? Ladies and gentlemen, if any of you have any objections, I don’t mind if you come up to protest, and I will refute them one by one. There is no need to object here.”

"Of course, the Lord of the Duke is just the result of my meritorious deeds. I will never let down the meritorious deeds of the Minister of Military Affairs of the DPRK, especially in the border war. No need to say any more."

Zhu Youtang also felt very tired.

Every time Zhang Zhou wanted to add an official to the nobility, he would encounter opposition from the court ministers.

He also knew that the reward for Zhang Zhou was a little too much, a little too soon, but he just couldn't help but want to give Zhang Zhou a little more... In addition, this time the reward had some special "purposes", so he even more Can't listen to any advice.

……

……

When Zhang Zhouren sat at home, the title came down to his head.

But this time, it was Zhu Youtang who greeted Zhang Zhou, not Zhang Zhou himself, and Zhu Youtang had a good reason for conferring the title this time.

Xiao Jing personally brought Xu Qiong, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, to Zhang Zhou's mansion to declare the decree. At the same time, he also gave him an imperial certificate, which is the legendary iron certificate of Danshu. With this thing, Zhang Zhou's title can be hereditary, Zhang Zhou He has become a well-known Duke of the Ming Dynasty. Although he is not as good as those heroes in the founding of the country and the Jingnan period, if we look at the present, there is no one who can compare with him.

"My lord, congratulations."

Xiao Jing's face was piled up like flowers, it seemed that he was trying his best to flatter him, but he also faintly revealed some disappointment, it was a kind of loneliness and sadness that he clearly wanted to compete, but his rank was not enough.

It seems to be happy for Zhang Zhou, but in fact it is envy, jealousy and hatred.

Zhang Zhou greeted Xu Qiong and the officials from the Ministry of Rites who came, and after sending them away, he and Xiao Jing opened the plaque of "Lai Guogong Mansion" inscribed by Zhu Youtang's imperial pen. Zhang Zhou thought that the emperor would Give some high-sounding words of encouragement, such as loyalty, benevolence and righteousness, but I didn't expect the emperor to be so direct.

Perhaps Zhu Youtang felt that it would be more practical to give a title directly than to say anything at this time.

"My lord, I think you understand what your Majesty means. This conferment of the title is a compliment to your achievements in various wars in Daming this year. The soldiers saw it."

"At the same time, this is also to paralyze the Tatars, making them think that my Ming Dynasty's various wars this year have come to an end, but they don't know that there is still a good show to come."

Xiao Jing seemed to understand the emperor's intentions very well.

But Zhang Zhou knew.

The reason for the so-called paralysis of the enemy is a bit far-fetched. It is still a question of when the award will reach the ears of Duoyan Sanwei and Dayan Khan.

I'm afraid the war has ended before the news arrives.

It was originally an ambush... If there is no ambush... then withdraw?Anyway, there is no big loss.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Then should I go to the palace with Eunuch Xiao to thank you?"

"Your Majesty said, you are busy with business, and you can just take the opportunity to go over when the hearing office is discussing matters. The so-called gratitude is also superficial, so don't take it too seriously." Xiao Jing said with a smile.

Zhang Zhou knew that Xiao Jing was not intentionally spreading nonsense.

The minister won the title, he should have entered the palace to thank him, no matter how brave Xiao Jing was, he would not dare to make up such a thing.

Xiao Jing said that the emperor didn't need him to thank him, so he really didn't need it.

Zhang Zhou said with emotion: "To be honest, I am still a little uncomfortable with the sudden title of title. I always feel like I am in a dream. I thought that I would have the chance to become a marquis and a general after the grasslands were pacified. Thinking...you haven't even started yet, and you've already made a name for yourself?"

"Haha." Xiao Jing said with a smile, "That can only say that you are capable. But Duke, let's not slack off. His Majesty has in mind the leveling of the grasslands, and you must help His Majesty realize it. I give you the title, It is both a compliment and an expectation for you."

"Understand, understand." Zhang Zhou said.

Xiao Jing saw a lot of things brought in from the yard, and gave a special explanation, and then said: "You have won the title, and you want to come to the house to have a lot of fun. Let's not bother our family, so we bid farewell."

"Congratulations."

Zhang Zhou personally sent Xiao Jing and Jin Yiwei out.

……

……

Lord Lai.

As promised by Zhu Youtang, the bestowal of the title was only more than two months late.

Zhang Zhou also understood Zhu Youtang's routine.

When Zhang Zhou just returned to the court, what Zhu Youtang thought was to help him stabilize the civil servants in the court first, and if he didn't confer titles, the ministers would have no way to object... After he stabilized all the civil servants, he would give Wu Xun's The title was bestowed, probably to avoid "long nights and many dreams".

In case of any accident in the Huangshui ambush, the civil servants will definitely be entangled in the merits and demerits. At that time, if they want to give Zhang Zhou a title, it seems that the name will not be right.

And even if Peng Quan and the others succeeded in the Huangshui ambush, it would only be icing on the cake for Zhang Zhou's military exploits.

Simply...

The title was given before the war.

Zhu Youtang instantly felt that he had accomplished a major event in his life, at least in the 12 years of Hongzhi, no matter whether the Huangshui ambush was successful or not, he could have no regrets, and waited for the arrival of the 13th year of Hongzhi with peace of mind.

(End of this chapter)