Zhang Shize continued: "During the Hongzhi period, Mu Cheng's grandson, Mu Cong, died without heirs, and his son Mu Kun took over the title. Because Mu Kun was not a descendant of Mu Cheng, the court originally planned to let him inherit the Marquis of Xiping. However, Mu Kun and his family were rejected.
The local officials in Yunnan objected, saying that "the people of Yunnan know that the Duke of Qian does not know the Marquis of Xiping, and the Marquis of Xiping may be underestimated." Therefore, Xiaozong ordered Mu Kun to inherit the title of Duke of Qian."
"The Duke of Guizhou has been passed down for ten generations this year. But a big event happened in June this year." Zhang Shize took a sip of water and continued: "Ding Mao, March 5, the fifth year of Tianqi (April 25, 1625) Mu Qi
Yuan Si's grandfather was the Duke of Qian. Mu Qiyuan was frivolous and lawless, allowing his slaves to harm the people. Patrolman Yu Yao arrested the illegal slaves according to the law. Mu Qiyuan actually mobilized troops and aimed artillery at the patrol office."
Lin Yueru interjected: "This incident caused a big fuss and made the late emperor furious. The adoptive father wanted to deal with him at that time. The Mu family went around looking for people to smoothen the relationship, spending money like water."
Xiao Niangpi sneered and said: "The Mu family is also getting worse from generation to generation. In the forty year of Wanli (1612), Mu Changzuo resigned due to illness, and Mu Qiyuan began to serve as the commander-in-chief of Qianshi. The real power was still in the hands of Mu Changzuo. Apocalypse
In the second year (1622), Guizhou Anbangyan rebelled, and the imperial court ordered Mu Changzuo and Mu Qiyuan to go on an expedition. The two were afraid and had many excuses. The imperial court had long been dissatisfied with their family. They were afraid that something would happen, so in order to avoid disaster, they hurried
I asked my grandson Mu Qiyuan to take over. I didn’t expect that Mu Qiyuan would be even more incompetent and cause a big disaster."
Zhang Shize nodded and said: "Think of the hero Mu Ying back then. Who would have thought that the descendants of later generations would be so unbearable. On June 10th, the first year of Chongzhen (July 10, 1628), his mother Song was afraid that her son would cause trouble for the family, so she poisoned the general.
Mu Qiyuan was poisoned to death, and his ten-year-old son Mu Tianbo inherited the dukedom of Guizhou.
Upon hearing this, Yang Fan asked: "Then the current Duke of Guizhou is a ten-year-old child."
Zhang Shize nodded and said, "Yes, it's this ten-year-old kid Mu Tianbo."
Yang Fan was touched when he heard this name. Mu Tianbo was a loyal minister and a national hero, no worse than Zheng Chenggong. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he fought to the end to protect the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Mu Tianbo followed the Yongli court, and then followed Zhu Youlang
When he entered Burma, he was kidnapped by Burmese soldiers at the Curse River. He grabbed a knife and resisted until death.
Yang Fan asked: "From the Ming Dynasty to the Chongzhen Dynasty, how many dukes were there?"
Zhang Shize counted on his fingers and said: "My family has a British duke, the Mu family has a Guizhou duke, the Xu family has a Wei duke and a Dingguo duke. There is also a Chengguo duke. The first generation Chengguo duke is Zhu Neng, the hero of Jingnan.
It has been twelve generations now. The contemporary Duke of Cheng is Zhu Chunchen. He was crowned in the 39th year of Wanli. These are the five dukes."
Xiao Niangpi picked up the goblet and took a sip of the Bordeaux red wine with ice cubes. With satisfied eyes, she put down the goblet and said, "Sir, the only remaining dukes in these five families were all awarded titles based on their military exploits.
No one got there by relying on nepotism."
Zhang Shize said with a smile: "Sister-in-law is right, our family was built with swords and guns. It's not like those cats and dogs later, who got it by marrying off their daughters, and Princess Shang became the prince-in-law. They were all soft-hearted.
For food.”
Yang Fan nodded, indicating that the matter of the five dukes was clear. He asked: "How many noble families are there in total now?"
Zhang Shize raised his head and thought for a while, then said: "There are five princes, twenty-four marquises, and thirty-five uncles in the noble family. Of course, now that you are included, there are thirty-six earls. There are still 27 in the royal family.
The prince has fiefdoms in various places."
"There are a lot of people here who are freeloaders. Zhang Guoji, the Marquis of Taikang, is the father of Empress Zhang of Xizong. Wangwei is the uncle of Yongnian, and is the father of Empress Xiaoduan of Shenzong. Tianrui is the uncle of Yongning, and is the father of Empress Dowager Xiaojing, the mother of Guangzong. Guo Weicheng is the uncle of Boping, and Xiaoyuan is the father of Guangzong.
The queen’s father is Zhou Kui, the uncle of Jiading, who is now my father.”
Yang Fan asked: "Who are the nobles in charge of the troops in the capital camp now?"
Zhang Shize smiled bitterly and said: "These are all scenery that are about to pass. Your Majesty has deprived the nobles of their military power this time. The admiral of the capital camp is Xiangcheng Bo Li Shouqi. But the biggest military leaders who actually control the elite troops are my family and Xu
There are four families: the Guo family, the Zhu family, and a few marquises, but their right to speak is limited, and the actual troops they control are also limited."
Xiao Niangpi put down the skewers and said: "The Guo family is a waste. Guo Xun actually rented out the cavalry and horse pastures to make profits, leaving the army and horses with no way to supply, and the horses were all hungry and skinny. He deducted food and wages very badly. In fact, in
The officers and soldiers of the battalion often did not receive military pay. Because "they were not given food or drink" and "we only provided food and sleep to each other", the quality of the soldiers was extremely low and their physical fitness was extremely poor. They often had food on their faces and could not wear armor and stomach. The cavalry also "mounted their horses".
You can’t use a whip to subdue a horse.”
Lin Yueru also sighed and said: "This fine capital camp, with its 72 guard posts and 400,000 troops, was so majestic. The tiger and wolf divisions of Emperor Chengzu's five northern expeditions to Mongolia have now been completely destroyed by them."
Zhang Shize said: "Zhu Chunchen is a treacherous and cunning man. He is a veteran in the officialdom. He is very slippery. Except for leading troops, he is proficient in everything else. He is in charge of the capital camp, and the more he controls, the more chaos he will get."
After saying that, Zhang Shize, who was a bit drunk, patted Yang Fan on the shoulder and said: "Among the younger generation of nobles today, the only ones who know how to fight are you and me. The rest are just useless snacks."
He looked down at the empty wine glass again and continued: "It's a pity that Your Majesty doesn't even trust you or me, so he wants to change our positions and take back military power. It's not a good thing that His Majesty is so suspicious. Your Majesty doesn't understand, who is truly reliable?"
It’s your honor. If Dong Lin can be relied upon, even sows can climb trees.”
The young lady burst out laughing and scolded: "You are a scumbag with no virtues. Your Majesty is not very kind to you. You are so young and you are already a general. My master is still a commander in his actual job."
Who can I talk to?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Yang Fan said with a smile: "How do you know that I have trained the Beijing camp well, and His Majesty will not return your honors to you."
"What are you talking about? His Majesty is planning to let you work in vain again." Zhang Shize's eyes widened in surprise.
Yang Fan felt helpless. In fact, Lin Yueru's evaluation of Chongzhen was very pertinent. He used people to death.
"Let's not talk about this for now. If you have this time, let's think about how to train these 50,000 soldiers and horses in the Beijing camp. If His Majesty really lets us take these wastes and go to the battlefield to practice them. I'm afraid they will fail completely. I think about them
It’s a pain in the ass to lose their quality. We only have a little more than a month to train them,” Yang Fan said.
Because it is already October, which is equivalent to November in the Gregorian calendar. We have been training for more than a month, and then we set off before the Spring Festival. The army walked to Guihua City and had all the supplies. It was the beginning of spring. It was just in time for the war to begin.
"Fortunately, I have trained the soldiers from the car camp who defended Qianhu in Hexi before, and they have experienced the test of actual combat this time. They are very reliable for defense. Otherwise, so many new recruits would go to the grassland
In battle, great things must happen." Yang Fan said.
Zhang Shize said: "Guihua City is a fortified city. I spent a lot of money to build it back then. We can't just walk all the way there with siege weapons. There are basically no trees in that place, and we can't attack there."
City weapons.”
Yang Fan said: "You don't have to worry about attacking the city. I have a magical weapon. No matter how strong the city is, it won't be a problem."
"Sacred weapon?" Zhang Shize asked curiously, "What magical weapon? Tell me about it."
"You don't understand even after I tell you. This thing is called a heartless cannon. Have you ever heard of it?"
"Heartless gunman, hey, you invented this name as soon as I heard it. It's so damn exciting."
This chapter has been completed!