Chapter 343: Arrogant Soldiers and Strong
Generals The chaos in the military camp outside the capital city is not entirely due to the corruption of the Ming Dynasty.
Since the fall of Yan Song, even meritorious officials like Hu Zongxian have been liquidated, let alone ordinary officials who had taken refuge in Yan Song and his son.
However, Yan Song had been in power for more than 20 years, and most of the officials in the court were involved with his father and son.
So after Yan Song's fall, it immediately turned into a pure carnival.
Only by impeaching these "strict party members" can we have room for improvement, so there was an attack on Hu Zongxian.
After the fall of Yan Song and his son, the Ministry of Works was the most severely liquidated, and those responsible for construction and transportation were the errands of the Ministry of Works.
During Yan Song's administration, he also had deep control over the Ministry of War, and many officials were eliminated from the Ministry of War. It was the responsibility of the Ministry of War to be responsible for logistics and troop mobilization.
Many of the Qingliu who replaced Yan Dang did not have much experience in governance. Some of them were former public officials and did not understand the work procedures of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War. Naturally, the result was chaos in both ministries.
This is not to say that being strict with the party is good, but in the context of party struggle like the Ming Dynasty, the losers were eliminated and the winners took all. This situation caused turmoil to the entire country's administrative system and would greatly damage the execution of the administrative system. force.
It would be fine if this kind of turmoil occurred in normal times. These officials would still have time to familiarize themselves with government affairs, and the administrative system would also have the ability to repair itself.
But in times of turmoil, this turmoil can have disastrous consequences.
In addition, Xu Jie's governing style is also different from Yan Song.
It is true that Yan Song is a traitor, but Yan Song is also a capable traitor.
In Su Ze's historical timeline, Jiajing's grandson Wanli longed for a treacherous official like Mr. Yan Ge who could suppress the officials to preside over the government.
Yan Song was able to control the state affairs for more than 20 years, and he was cruel and skillful in his actions. He was a person who could control the court.
In contrast, Xu Jie's governing philosophy is "the best is as good as water", and his governing program is "repaying the Lord with power and blessings, and returning government affairs to the officials."
Yuan Wei, the second assistant in Xu Jie's cabinet, basically says he is ill at home and does not participate in cabinet affairs.
The assistant minister Zhao Zhenji is even more of a non-stick pot. He basically does not express any opinions in the cabinet and submits all reports according to the opinions of the six ministries. Anyway, there is no merit or demerit in this way.
Emperor Jiajing's health was not as good as before. He could not directly take charge of the affairs of state, and he did not want to come to the stage.
If he comes to the stage, if Nanjing and Fengyang Mansion are lost (the capital has not received the news yet), then the responsibility will be borne by the emperor. Now that he is hiding behind the scenes, this responsibility can still be shouldered by the cabinet and ministers.
At such critical moments, it is often necessary for an authoritative leader to stand up and make decisions. Obviously, such a leader cannot appear in the court like this. The result is that the six ministries and departments blame each other, even arranging things like arranging the nine-sided cavalry barracks southward. not good.
The only thing that the Ming court was thankful for was that Yang Bo, the Minister of War, knew the military well, and under his coordination, there was no big mess like Ying Xiao.
However, Yang Shangshu was sixty years old and had no energy to do everything attentively. The soldiers in the Gyeonggi military camp were not effectively managed at all. These soldiers often left the camp in disorder, making the people near Gyeonggi miserable.
There is another reason for the chaos in the military camp, and that is that there is still one thing that has not yet been decided, that is, the commander who will lead the army this time has not yet been decided.
After the Tumubao Incident, civil servants gradually outnumbered nobles. In such large-scale national wars, the court would appoint a civil servant as the commander-in-chief.
Generally speaking, a civilian official with the title of Minister of the Ministry of War must be appointed. If there are many governors, he should be appointed as Minister of Military Affairs.
But who should be appointed as the minister of military affairs? The governor has 30,000 cavalry from the nine sides, 50,000 soldiers from the Beijing camp, and the troops withdrawn from South Zhili. Such a large army must have an experienced minister who understands military affairs. .
However, Yang Bo, the Minister of War, claimed that he was old and refused to lead the troops to fight. The Ming court did not dare to let someone of his age preside over such a national war.
Except for Yang Bo, among the many ministers in the capital, there were very few ministers with military experience.
This is of course also to be blamed on Emperor Jiajing, a minister who knew how to fight. Wang Yan was killed, Hu Zongxian was impeached and dismissed from office and surrendered to the enemy. In the huge Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to find a civil servant with the qualifications to command the army.
The court discussed who should lead the troops for the expedition for five days, and until March 20th, the Ming court still had no conclusion.
On March 21, Xu Jie personally visited Yang Bo, the Minister of War, and asked him to be the Minister of Rongzheng and lead an army of hundreds of thousands southward.
At the same time, Zhang Juzheng, the minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War, and Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of Liaoyang, were appointed as Yang Bo's deputies and military counselors.
The chief minister of the cabinet comes to visit. If he refuses again, the next person to come will be the emperor.
Yang Bo knew he couldn't refuse, but he put two conditions on Xu Jie.
Sitting in the living room, Yang Bo, who was already full of white hair, said:
"I will not accept your orders. After I arrive in Xuzhou, I ask the court not to interfere with the specific military strategy."
Xu Jie stroked his beard and said: "Of course this is ."
Yang Bo continued: "I'm relieved about Uncle Zhang, but Li Chengliang has lived outside the customs for a long time. He seems to be wild and impulsive, but in fact he is cunning and cunning. I am worried about the court using him as my deputy." Xu Jie said with a frown
. : "Li Chengliang was appointed by His Majesty as the deputy commander, and the imperial edict has been issued and cannot be changed."
Yang Bo said: "Li Chengliang relies on his trusted cavalry to command the army, so I suggest reorganizing the nine troops in the capital. The cavalry on the sides should be dispersed and reorganized, so that military leaders like Li Chengliang cannot interfere too much in military affairs."
Xu Jie frowned and said, "Will this reduce the combat effectiveness of the cavalry on the nine sides?"
Yang Bo nodded and said, "This Naturally, there is a tacit understanding between the cavalry outside the pass and the father-son brothers joining the army. The so-called father-son army is also called the father-son army. But because of this, this kind of army is often as unruly and untamed as the Tang Fan Zhenya soldiers. When it comes to the Xuzhou battlefield, if a tough battle begins, Often disobeying orders is the best way to protect yourself."
"Disbanding these cavalry does not mean completely dismantling them, but it means that the military leader cannot fully control his trusted followers."
Xu Jie also nodded and said, "I will write to your Majesty about this."
Yang Bo He cupped his hands and said, "This is an important military matter. Please take care of Mr. Xu Ge."
After sending Xu Jie away, Yang Bo sighed, packed his things and headed to the Gyeonggi Camp.
Gyeonggi Camp, in the barracks.
Li Ruzhen's three thousand newly recruited Jurchen cavalry are among the most disliked in the entire military camp.
Going south from Liaoyang, the cavalry who followed Li Ruzhen to rob the people finally braved the severe cold and arrived in the capital.
Even so, many people were covered in frostbite from the cold, and some had their toes frozen off.
But many of the people they plundered along the way stayed forever in the early spring of the 42nd year of Jiajing.
The military camps of Li Ruzhen and other Jurchen cavalry were also arranged in the dilapidated barracks, and the rations and feed delivered every day were in short supply.
After arriving in Gyeonggi, taking advantage of the chaos in the management of the military camp, Li Rushe led his tribe to plunder near Gyeonggi.
Today, when Li Rushe came back from plundering, the Jurchen riders in the barracks gathered around and looked at the burden on Li Rushe's horse. "Damn, this village is so damn hard to eat today. They even organized rural soldiers. If the general flag hadn't broken up their queue, they wouldn't have been able to grab these grains!" The rider behind Li Rushe got off his horse and loaded up the food
. The baggage of food was thrown to the ground.
The riders in the barracks gathered around and began to snatch the food in the bag.
Li Ruzhen had a stern look on his face. Originally, he was still under some psychological pressure about robbing Han people, but after robbing them all the way, he felt no pressure at all.
And the violence in his heart was also growing. In the past few days, he not only beat people during the robbery, but also almost killed a villager.
Returning to the barracks, Li Ruzhen felt even more irritable. His original intention of returning to his clan to recruit troops to serve Li Chengliang had completely faded away. Now he was thinking about how to protect his family members.
Especially after arriving in Gyeonggi Province, it turns out that not every piece of land is covered with snow half the time, and not every piece of land is made of hard frozen soil. It turns out that city walls can be so tall and tall, and commerce can be so prosperous.
Something called ambition grew in Li Rushe's heart.
In accordance with Yang Bo's request, Xu Jie submitted a memorial to the emperor in the name of the cabinet, requesting that the cavalry on the nine sides be split up and reorganized.
Emperor Jiajing was somewhat hesitant about this memorial from the cabinet.
Since Li Chengliang went south, he wrote letters to the emperor every now and then to express his loyalty. He talked about strategy and tactics. He also said that his Liaoyang cavalry was elite and powerful, as if as long as the nine-sided cavalry went south, the Soviet thieves could be put down immediately.
Li Chengliang's words were vulgar, but he seemed to have a sense of naivety, which made Jiajing, who was suspicious and seriously ill, feel believable.
If it weren't for the fact that Li Chengliang was a military general, the emperor would have promoted him to the rank of general.
Emperor Jiajing was also aware of the cabinet's suggestions, but he was also afraid that if the Liaoyang cavalry were split up, it would affect the army's combat effectiveness.
The emperor thought for a while and said to Chen Hong, the eunuch beside him:
"Go to the Gyeonggi camp, show this memorial to Li Chengliang, and ask him how to reply."
Chen Hong was shocked, and the cabinet gave the emperor a memorial. The border general saw that this was no longer against the rules, but shocking.
But Chen Hong also secretly noted that Li Chengliang seemed to be quite favored in the emperor's heart, and the emperor would discuss even such major military and national affairs with him.
Chen Hong's thoughts moved quickly, and he immediately realized that things were not as good as before.
When the country is stable, civil servants can naturally dominate the generals.
But when the country is in crisis, the importance of generals will definitely rise.
Chen Hong immediately took the memorial and the emperor's decree and came to the camp in Gyeonggi.
Chen Hong entered the military camp in disguise and after revealing his identity, Li Chengliang immediately greeted the palace official in person.
"Eunuch Chen!"
Li Chengliang enthusiastically grabbed Chen Hong's hand as soon as he came up and pulled him into the tent. Then Li Chengliang's personal soldiers brought over an exquisite box, which when opened revealed a golden ingot.
The smile on Chen Hong's face became even thicker. Li Chengliang was actually so polite. Even everyone here was so rude and rude when giving gifts, but these golds were enough to forgive his rudeness.
Chen Hong's cronies accepted the box, and then Chen Hong handed the cabinet memorial to Li Chengliang and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty's secret decree, please ask General Li to read the memorial. If you have anything to say, Zajia will naturally bring it to your Majesty." Li Chengliang pretended not to have any
. Seeing the word "cabinet" on the cover of the memorial, he opened the memorial and took a look. When he saw the line about dividing the troops under the generals, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
For a border general like him, his soldiers are all their capital and their support.
If they really split their armies as the cabinet said, the result would be a loss of control over the army. Once something went wrong in the war, the generals who had been beheaded before would be their fate.
Although Li Chengliang is arrogant, he is very sober.
After he read it, he immediately said to Chen Hong:
"Absolutely not!"
Li Chengliang pretended to be angry and said: "Eunuch Chen, you don't know that Jiubian is different from the mainland. The generals on the border eat and live with the soldiers. Soldiers and officers are also brothers. This is where the combat effectiveness of the frontier cavalry lies." "
The most important thing for the cavalry is to cooperate in the charge. Only father and son brothers can move forward indomitably. If they are split and reorganized, the cavalry will definitely be greatly damaged. combat effectiveness."
"If it is defeated, the whole army will be defeated. By then, it will be forgotten that Li will die. If he cannot repay the kindness of the emperor, what should he do?"
Li Chengliang said sincerely, and he was talking about military affairs. Chen Hong didn't understand military matters, but he felt that what he said made sense.
Chen Hong immediately said: "In this case, I will definitely bring General Li's words to His Majesty intact."
Li Chengliang continued: "Eunuch, Li has one more sentence that he would like you to bring to His Majesty."
Chen Hong Thinking of the gold in the box, he put a smile on his face and said: "Commander Li
, please speak." Li Chengliang said: "I and the border cavalry have not been blessed for a long time. If I can see the beauty of the sky before going on the expedition, my morale will definitely be high. Increase."
"So?"
"I invite your Majesty to personally review the troops and let the nine-sided cavalry bathe in the holy grace. We will definitely be able to defeat the Su thieves in one fell swoop!"
The smile on Chen Hong's face became thicker. Based on his understanding of the emperor, this suggestion is The emperor was scratched.
Chen Hong immediately said: "The Za family will definitely bring General Li's words."
When Chen Hong returned to the palace and brought Li Chengliang's suggestions to the emperor, Jiajing indeed touched his beard and nodded slightly.
Xu Jie, the chief minister of the cabinet, wrote a memorial to split up the border troops but was rejected. At the same time, the emperor ordered the Ministry of War to organize a military parade. The emperor would personally climb the tower to review the army. After the parade, he could go south.
Yang Bo was even more troubled after receiving the order. He had to conduct a military parade when the capital's food supply was insufficient, and how much manpower and material resources would be wasted.
But the emperor wanted to have a military parade, so he could only take out precious food and grass and practice for two more days before he could build a team that could be reviewed.
March 23rd was an auspicious day calculated by Qin Tianjian.
Emperor Jiajing, who had not been in court for a long time, climbed up to the city gate tower and saw the neatly organized cavalry going around the city gate. He was extremely pleased and ordered to reward the generals of the three armies, especially Li Chengliang, the deputy general of the army.
Thirty-nine thousand frontier cavalry and 50,000 Beijing battalion infantry began to move south along the canal.
On the southeast side, the Second Brigade and the Third Brigade came all the way from Nanjing to Shanghai unimpeded, and Yangzhou Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture, Taizhou Prefecture and other prefectures and counties along the way watched the wind.
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