The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Xie moved to his mansion.

Xie Qian has resumed handling official duties in the past two days, but he still has not returned to the cabinet to check in. He usually just walks around various yamen. If there is something that needs to be handed over, he and Li Dongyang need to do it alone.

At the moment, he is not so much a cabinet minister as Li Dongyang's personal advisor, because he is only responsible to Li Dongyang now.

"Yu Qiao, you don't have to worry. From what we know so far, it has snowed heavily in various parts of the north. The war has still not progressed. Even Bo'an has not gained anything when he entered the grassland. It seems that this war will be fruitless. In the end, based on His Majesty's reflection on this matter, he will not be angry with those who advocate the cessation of war and rest."

Li Dongyang seemed to be in a very relaxed mood.

He came here to mention the good news to Xie Qian.

Xie Qian held the tea cup in his hand, but seemed to be full of thoughts, and sighed: "Even so, I am ashamed of my officials. Why didn't your majesty allow me to resign?"

Li Dongyang said: "It is the time for the government to employ people. If you leave, won't you be taking advantage of Zhang Bingkuan and others for nothing? This time there has been such a big commotion, but in the end it has wasted people and money and made no progress. It is to weaken his reputation and allow His Majesty to regain his reputation." It’s a great time to face up to the border defense issues. If you leave at this time, wouldn’t it be equivalent to admitting defeat?”

"hehe."

Xie Qian had a wry smile on his face.

Li Dongyang saw Xie Qian's negativity and neglect.

Li Dongyang said coldly: "No matter what, you can't leave. This is something I have discussed with Zhongtang. If you leave, the cabinet will be disrupted. Your Majesty will definitely take this as an opportunity to let Zhang Bingkuan join the cabinet." . If his reputation is damaged by this war, but he joins the cabinet because of it, this is probably not what you want to see, right?"

We obviously won, but in the end Xie Qian took the initiative to resign because of you, so it was us who lost.

"Binzhi, you are still too persistent." Xie Qian said.

"The same goes for you." Li Dongyang said, "Don't think that I don't know your thoughts. In terms of guarding against and grudge against Zhang Bingkuan, you are even worse than me. To this day, the court still maintains a clean flow. In other words, we, the cabinet, cannot ruin a good situation because of you."

"Ah."

Xie Qian just nodded.

He did not directly answer Li Dongyang's question.

Li Dongyang stood up and said: "In the past two days, the main issue in the DPRK is to ask His Majesty to issue an order to withdraw troops from various places as early as possible to ensure that various places can survive the winter safely, and the money and food for the winter are already being allocated. During the period of your participation, the Ministry of Household Affairs I have already said hello over there. With your ability, I believe that His Majesty will still rely heavily on you. This time, Zhang Bingkuan shot himself in the foot."

"hehe."

Xie Qian responded with a wry smile again.

Li Dongyang said: "Don't you think so?"

Xie Qian shook his head and still said nothing. He didn't say that he shook his head because Li Dongyang said "no", but he still felt that Li Dongyang was wrong.

"You, you... being negative is indeed a bit too much." Li Dongyang said with emotion, "But there will be a bright future eventually. I believe that God will not always only favor a person who relies on fate to cling to the king and rise to the top. Heaven and earth It has its own right path.”

……

……

Zhang Mao's men stumbled into the ground in Ningxia.

And he still had no further news from Zhang Rui and Ma Yi's troops.

"Master, the situation is not good." Zhong Decai ran to Zhang Mao, looking anxious.

Zhang Mao asked: "Are the Tatars coming?"

Zhong Decai said: "It would be better if we came. As far as we know now, the Tatars have been retreating for nearly ten days. In the past few days, there has been no movement of the Tatars anywhere."

"Isn't this a good thing?" Zhang Mao was still thinking about how to write the memorial, but now he suddenly seemed to have found a direction.

Zhong Decai was like a roundworm in Zhang Mao's stomach. Seeing Zhang Mao's indifferent expression, he couldn't help but be surprised and said: "Don't you want to take the credit for the Tatar retreat on yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Mao glared at Zhong Decai and said, "Isn't it because I came with the troops that the Tatars retreated?"

Zhong Decai couldn't help but smile bitterly.

It seemed that the British father-in-law was really optimistic. He said hurriedly: "My father-in-law, you don't think that we are still in those days a few years ago when news was blocked in the northwest and the frontier generals did whatever they said, right?"

Zhang Mao threw the pen on the ground and said angrily: "You mean, someone will falsely accuse me of falsely claiming military exploits?"

Zhong Decai said without hesitation: "That's right. There are Cai Guogong's people everywhere in the northwest now. Their self-proclaimed justice is actually ostracizing you. If you do this, it is equivalent to following the truth."

"Then what should we do? We can't let me tell Your Majesty that in fact I didn't do anything. Before I could lead the troops, all the Tatars ran away, and then..."

At this point, Zhang Mao suddenly stopped talking.

Because he suddenly realized that what he was doing was gradually consistent with what Zhu Hui had done in the previous year.

Zhong Decai said: "My lord, to put it bluntly, maybe Baoguo Gong also felt at the time that he had done a lot, but what was the result?"

"Stop talking nonsense, just tell me what to do now. Don't always talk about something big and bad. Don't I know that this battle is not easy to fight? But someone should tell me how to solve this problem, right?"

Zhong Decai probed: "Master, why don't we follow the example of the young master and lead troops into the grassland... and do something like a fool?"

"what?"

Zhang Mao frowned and said, "Is this how you become a teacher? Tell me to lead the troops into the grassland? I heard that there is a lot of snow this winter. It doesn't snow very much here, but it is snowing heavily in the north. You go in When you go to the grassland, you don’t want me to come out alive, right? Can my old bones withstand the torture?”

Zhong Decai said: "Then you should meet with the governor of Ningxia, or find a way to meet with Wang Zhitai, the leader of the trilateral system, and let them report your merits. A thousand words for yourself is not as good as a word for others. "

Zhang Mao also looked very hesitant, but he was also very annoyed and said: "Where can we meet them? Why is it so troublesome to bring soldiers?"

Zhong Decai sighed: "If we had won a big victory, we wouldn't have been in such trouble. Who told the Tatars not to show up? Now I hope that the young master can perform better and defeat the enemy on the grassland..."

"The credit will also go to Wang Bo'an. Who told him to go out with the surname Ma? This evil boy..."

While Zhang Mao was scolding, in his heart, like Zhong Decai, he hoped that his son could bring some miracles.

But then Zhong Decai poured cold water on him: "On the contrary, the generals at the border said that the snow in the north was too heavy and the troops everywhere had to withdraw their troops. There is also an advantage, that is, Cai Guogong planned the whole battle. If there is no result, , it might be... quite good for us."

"What a fart! I was afraid of winning before, and His Majesty attributed the credit to Zhang Bingkuan, but now I am afraid of failing in vain, because I will suffer with him!"

Zhang Mao was also very upset.

Obviously he and Zhang Zhou are rivals, but because they are both martial artists now, they seem to have many interests in common.

It was as if the civil servants in the court were still waiting for Zhang Mao to gain nothing, so as to impeach Zhang Zhou, and Wang Shouren who mobilized troops for Zhang Mao without authorization.

"Hurry up and write to Ningxia and ask them to allocate money and food. I can't let the soldiers starve to death. And... let Ningxia tell me. This should be my credit, right? Outside of the border, I But those who win the battle..." Zhong Decai looked embarrassed.

He was embarrassed to say that in fact, the credit was not yours at all, but was achieved by your son and Ma Yi.

……

……

Except for Wang Shouren, who still had no news from the various groups who set out to conquer the grassland, the remaining groups began to retreat.

Even Wang Qiong, who was previously very proud, had to accept the fact that the Tatars hid in hiding and did not fight head-on. He also realized that with the Ming Dynasty’s understanding of the grassland terrain, it was difficult to find traces of the Tatar main force in the vast grassland, and he could only Before the weather gets worse, withdraw to the Ming Dynasty to ensure that the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will not have abnormal attrition other than war.

"Sir Wang, news just came from Yulin Guards. It is said that the soldiers who came out of the border this time have not found anything. Only the people from Xinjian Bo's group have no news yet."

The Ministry will bring the news to Wang Qiong.

Wang Qiong looked very regretful and sighed: "Only Wang Bo'an can win. With his shrewdness and wisdom, as well as his strategy and courage, how could he return without success? I thought I would not lose to him. It seems...it still pales in comparison."

The general said: "The road to the south is now blocked due to snow, so it may not be easy to cross the river."

Wang Qiong then pointed to a place on the map and said: "Cross the river from here and go south. I have accepted the defeat in this war. I just hope that the court will not pursue it too much."

In Wang Qiong's view, his opportunity to perform in this war has been lost.

It will end in vain.

……

……

Wang Qiong was also frustrated. He felt inferior to Wang Shouren. After all, they were both chief commanders and Wang Shouren was a young junior. Wang Qiong had always regarded himself as a senior, but now he had to admit that the waves ahead were not as good as those behind.

At this time, the people on the east route who had withdrawn their troops earlier than Wang Qiong, namely Cui Yuan and Zhu Feng, were still experiencing some emergencies that they were unwilling to bear.

Just continue to find the way.

"Have you been heading south these two days?" Zhu Feng found Cui Yuan two days after withdrawing his troops and asked eagerly.

Cui Yuan was also studying the terrain map painstakingly. Hearing this, he raised his head and glanced at Zhu Feng and said: "I can still tell the basic north and south, but... I don't know whether I am going southwest or due south."

Zhu Feng said: "Aren't you going to the southeast?"

Cui Yuan said helplessly: "The scouts from the front reported that it was slightly east. The road was very rugged, and the terrain was too undulating. We had to find other ways out."

Zhu Feng said with an annoyed look on his face: "Why are there such terrains everywhere? Where are we?"

"This……"

Cui Yuan couldn't answer the question, and he didn't have much to hide in front of Zhu Feng. He even had a feeling of sympathy for each other, "Zhijie, you don't have to worry. The map given by Cai Guogong also marked the surrounding areas." ...The terrain goes from low to high, like a plateau, and now we only need to find a relatively gentle road. Finding the road has not been easy this winter and summer, especially in this snowy weather..."

Zhu Feng said: "Then according to the current progress, how many days can we go back?"

"About... it will take another six or seven days... maybe ten days or so." Cui Yuandao, "Continue to look at the situation. The Tatars will not appear now. At this point, we just need to find a way back."

Zhu Feng sat down and said with a depressed look on his face: "I never thought that when I went out on an expedition, I couldn't even find the way back."

Cui Yuan smiled and said: "There are roads, but it is difficult to walk on snowy days. Look at the scene outside...it is gray every day and white everywhere. Those in the army who are familiar with the grassland environment say that it may still be... There will be heavy snowstorms, but fortunately we have brought a lot of things, including a charcoal fire, so we don’t have to worry too much. We can last for ten days and a half, so it won’t be a problem.”

Zhu Feng said: "But there are also many soldiers suffering from frostbite."

Zhu Feng continued to smile and comforted: "So we don't have to be too anxious, and we can't make the soldiers suffer."

"Yeah." Zhu Feng couldn't say anything. He could only comfort himself that these were temporary difficulties and could be solved.

……

……

On the third day of retreat, the team suddenly stopped.

According to the military order, they were required to stop where they were, but they were not required to stay where they were. As for the reason, Zhu Feng didn't know the reason, so he hurried to find Cui Yuan.

Fang learned that there was an emergency ahead.

"Marquis Anbian is here."

Cui Yuan had already met with several generals to discuss matters in advance, and when he saw Zhu Fenglai, he seemed very general-like.

I am probably telling my soldiers that even if I have no experience in some things, you can still trust this Anbianhou. After all, he is an awesome person who has fought tough battles.

Cui Yuan walked over and all the generals saluted him.

Cui Yuan pulled him to a place where a temporary white tent was set up, and then showed him the map.

"What happened?" Zhu Feng looked confused.

Cui Yuan gave him a blank look, meaning to ask him to show some tolerance, and then said loudly: "The wind is a bit strong, you need to take a breath first. That's it, we found a Tatar camp ahead."

"Camp? Here?"

Zhu Feng was even more confused.

We agreed to go south, but there is a Tatar camp in the south?

Cui Yuandao: "Yes, at first I thought it was a small group of tribesmen, but then I sent Ye Bushou to explore and found that the surrounding camps were not small, at least a tribe with tens of thousands of people, and there were white utensils everywhere. It’s so vast that it’s not easy to find in the first place, but someone was melting snow to get water and was discovered by a sentinel, so they reported back and followed their path to find their camp.”

Zhu Feng asked: "Could it be the troops of Duoyan Sanwei? They... seem to be around Daning."

The general on the side said: "Master Hou, we are not around Daning now. In fact, it is at least three hundred miles away from Daning."

Zhu Feng looked at Cui Yuan with questioning eyes, as if asking, didn't you say that we have been north of Daning?

Cui Yuandao: "Actually, there were some deviations in our march at first. On the way north, we turned around and headed northwest. This is why I always said that we would withdraw to the southeast. I didn't expect the Tatars to be stationed in such a place. There is actually no way south here..."

Zhu Feng understood it as soon as he heard it.

The Tatars found a place to station themselves that did not go south or north and had a large height difference. If the Ming army wanted to find them, they would have to walk horizontally for at least three hundred miles to find this place.

As a result, they got lost and took an unusual path, so they came here by mistake.

Zhu Feng instinctively thought, is this just bad luck?

Then he realized that this damn place was not suitable for fighting, especially the weather... Besides, it was impossible for the other side to not detect them. It was not easy to chase the Tatars on the grassland. (End of chapter)