The Nine-Border Frontier Army, among the entire Ming Dynasty army, can be described as the most courageous among the three armies.
Jiubian's combat power is the most ferocious. They can kill several times the enemy, making the Great Wall of the Empire stand firm.
The pro-army's equipment is the most sophisticated. The Ming Dynasty's most advanced firearms and equipment, and the toughest armor and stomach, allow this central armed force to crush all the ways.
These are the two strongest military forces recognized by the empire.
Over the years, the imperial court has invested a huge amount of resources in Jiubian. Before the 24th year of Hongwu, it was even known for its overwhelming power.
Every large-scale operation by the frontier army has an impact that can directly affect the entire area north of the Yellow River.
Even during these years of suppressing the Japanese state in the east and conquering Jiaozhi in the south, the imperial court never thought of using the troops of the Nine-Border Frontier Army.
However, it seems that all this is about to be broken.
Beiping Dusi, Congtai Station outside Handan City, Guangping Prefecture.
This post is located in Handan, which is considered an important location in the entire Beiping Dusi. From Congtaiyi, go southeast and pass through the Daming Mansion of Beiping Dusi, and you can enter Dongchang Prefecture of Shandong Road. Go southwest and cross Handan City, and you can enter the northernmost part of Henan Road.
Zhangdefu.
Congtaiyi is the place where three official roads and post roads converge and are controlled.
But today, more than 10,000 cavalrymen, carrying the cold wind from the north, went south from outside Jiubian Pass to Congtaiyi without any warning.
More than 10,000 cavalrymen were enough for the imperial court to coordinate with the infantry to organize a massive military campaign to the north.
But today, these more than 10,000 cavalry are under the command of the Peking Capital Envoys Division, the Yan Palace Guard Command Division, and Zhang Zhiyuan, a popular figure in the new army in the north. They have stopped outside Congtaiyi. p>
When more than 10,000 cavalrymen were ordered to stop, the team in the front reined in their horses and stopped. The rolling horses behind them immediately responded and stopped one by one. The left and right battalions dispersed out of Congtaiyi according to the marching method and stationed themselves on the left and right to guard.
In front of Congtai Station, most of the busy merchants, passers-by, and officials who heard the arrival of the military officers and soldiers emptied out in the blink of an eye and disappeared without a trace.
After hearing the news, the postmaster of Congtaiyi hurriedly led people from the post station to greet him.
Yi Cheng left the post station and looked at the border army horses parked on the official road outside the post station, and his heart couldn't help but tremble.
In the past few years, the imperial court has been continuously promoting the reform of post stations. Every year, various post stations, express shops, etc. will be added to the number of disabled soldiers from the frontier and the army.
Congtai Station is located in the capital city of Peiping, and is where the three passes are controlled. In the past, it was considered a large station. In recent years, it has been increasingly expanded, adding many disabled soldiers and personnel who retired from the border army in the capital city of Peiping.
Countless increases.
It is precisely because of this that the Yicheng of Congtaiyi has a far better understanding of the Nine-Border Frontier Army than ordinary people.
The dark army in front of me was silent, with only countless war horses breathing hot air.
With just one glance, Yi Cheng knew that this must be the best among the best in the frontier army.
If it is placed outside the fortress, it will be an elite heavy division that can charge forward and determine the order of the army.
But today, these frontier troops who were supposed to be stationed outside the fortress, waiting for an opportunity to march north to exterminate the remnants of the Yuan thieves, suddenly appeared in Congtai Station, which had to make the Yi Cheng's imagination wander.
"Yi Cheng, the army seems to be resting at our Congtai Station."
The post guard who was following Yi Cheng reminded him in a low voice.
The postman's legs were a little shaky and bumpy as he walked, and the palms hidden under his sleeves twitched for no reason from time to time.
This postman is also someone who retired from the border army in the past two years.
Yi Cheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva and nodded uneasily.
Quickly jog forward and rush towards the front of the army formation.
Zhang Zhiyuan, who was leading more than 10,000 frontier cavalry, held the reins and sat upright on his horse, his eyes slightly lowered, overlooking Congtai Station in front of him and the Congtai Station Chief who was driving over with his people.
It took several days to lead the troops south from Peiping.
But Zhang Zhiyuan still clearly remembers what happened when King Yan got the official document requesting transfer from his grandson.
This year’s Northern Expedition of the Peking Dusi had actually been decided at the end of last year. As soon as spring began, all parties in Peiping were preparing for the Northern Expedition.
The sudden arrival of Taisun's official transfer request directly disrupted the deployment of the Peiping Dusi. A group of people, led by the generals within the Peiping Dusi, were unwilling to send troops south.
The people in Prince Yan's palace strongly supported Prince Yan in sending troops south to Henan Road. Especially led by Yao Guangxiao, who came after hearing the news.
At the beginning, the two sides had a lot of conflict of opinions. The first compromise and proposal was that the Peiping side mobilized more than 10,000 infantrymen to go south to Henan. It was considered that they had listened to the official request for transfer from the emperor's grandson who now held the emperor's order.
Yao Guangxiao and others reluctantly agree with this.
However, no one expected that when King Yan finally made the decision, he would directly change the more than 10,000 infantry into more than 10,000 cavalry.
Moreover, the most elite cavalry from the Ma Junying under the Peking Dusi were sent.
This greatly exceeded the expectations of the Peiping governor, exceeded Yao Guangxiao's expectations, and even surprised Zhang Zhiyuan.
On that day, no one in the city of Beiping could understand why His Highness King Yan would dispatch more than 10,000 elite soldiers from the military camp to go south to respond to the official request to support the emperor's grandson when he was facing the imminent Northern Expedition.<
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What Zhang Zhiyuan didn't expect even more was...
Originally, he had been designated as the vanguard general of Hongwu's 28th Northern Expedition, but he was directly pulled down by His Highness King Yan and asked him to lead the more than 10,000 cavalry troops south to Henan.
Did King Yan really transfer the official document for the emperor's grandson's request, or was it because the Crown Prince of Yan was also in Henan, or did King Yan have other ideas?
Zhang Zhiyuan didn't have the slightest clue about this, so he could only lead the people all the way to Congtai Station outside Handan City in such a confused state.
"I am humbled by Congtai Yiyicheng, please see the general."
The postmaster of Congtaiyi finally led the people to the front of Zhang Zhiyuan's horse, bent down and held his hands, politely, and carefully asked: "I wonder if the general is commanding the border troops to go south to Congtaiyi. How can I support the army?"<
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Yi Cheng did not dare to ask what the purpose of so many cavalrymen from the Jiubianma camp was heading south.
This has exceeded the scope of what he, a little Yi Cheng, can deal with.
A post station, whether it is a big one or a small one, just obey the orders of the army at this time.
Zhang Zhiyuan still held the reins and whip in his hands, sitting upright on the horse, his body swaying slightly as the horse swayed back and forth.
He lowered his head and looked at Yi Cheng in front of his horse, chuckled and said: "The army is passing through and has disturbed Congtai Post. I hope Yi Cheng will forgive me. Our army will be waiting here, and there will be a lot of trouble in the future. Please Yi Cheng can talk to me."
The army will go to Handan City together and inform the local government so that our army will not be without rice to cook."
This time Zhang Zhiyuan led the army and horses to go south. Because the Northern Expedition was still advancing, in order to ensure the supply of the frontier troops after they left the fortress, they did not bring much military rations, and they needed support from local officials along the way.
How could Yi Cheng dare to say anything?
Hearing that this army and horses would be stationed here at Congtaiyi for an unknown amount of time, the army looked around, and Yicheng did not dare to say any words of rejection.
The postmaster hurriedly spoke: "This is nature, this is nature. Although Congtai Posthouse is not big, it has the advantage of occupying a good location. A lot of food and supplies have been stocked in the posthouse.
The general has just arrived today to command the army and horses. I am now preparing food for the army, as well as beans and refined grains for the army and horses.
After the army has settled down, I will go with others to the Handan County Government Office to report the matter to the county magistrate, and the county office's warehouse will supply the general's needs."
"Trouble with Yi Cheng."
Zhang Zhiyuan sat on the horse and cupped his hands towards the other party as a return gift.
However, the cavalry of more than 10,000 horses in the military camp dismounted under the orders. The officers and soldiers led the horses and gathered to draw a ground for the camp. They borrowed the wood stored in Congtai Station, cut down the surrounding trees, and built the fences needed for the war horses before sunset.
OK.
The tents were quietly erected under the night. After the officers and soldiers on patrol had eaten their meals early, they began to patrol the wild areas around Congtaiyi.
Tan Ma shuttled back and forth between the camps of the central army and the left and right armies, gathering and synchronizing the latest situations in each military camp.
The magistrate of Handan County rushed over after receiving the news in the evening.
Along with the arrival of the Handan County Magistrate, there were also thousands of loads of grain and grass urgently transferred from the county government warehouse. I was afraid that because of the shortage of grain and grass for the army, these murderous border troops would be allowed to rob the place.
Come.
As the saying goes, soldiers pass through a sieve.
Although the Ming Dynasty is not as good as this now, even though the army is a powerful weapon of the empire, local officials and people still dare not offend it.
Even the cautious Handan County Magistrate might not have enough food and fodder for the army. When he left the city, he had already asked the county magistrate to contact the big gentry households under Handan's jurisdiction and be ready to donate food and fodder to the army at any time.
"Laogui County is here today, and there will be more disturbances in the future. If there is anything inappropriate, I hope your county can inform you in time."
In the wilderness not far from Congtaiyi, Zhang Zhiyuan led a group of military generals and sent the magistrate of Handan County and other people who had brought food and grass out of the camp gate. Zhang Zhiyuan was apologetic and explained sincerely.
The Handan County magistrate repeatedly waved his hands and shook his head: "The generals used to bleed for the country outside the Great Wall, but now in Handan County, we will never let the generals go hungry again."
The Handan County Magistrate said it very politely.
Zhang Zhiyuan cupped his fists and raised his hands: "So we have Lao Gui County. It's late at night, so I will ask someone to escort Gui County back to the city."
As he spoke, Zhang Zhiyuan called the generals in the army to organize the team to escort the Handan County magistrate back to the city.
The Handan County Magistrate was still trying to shirk, but he saw that the army had already organized a cavalry team. He knew that he could not refuse, so he could only say goodbye with enthusiasm and polite thanks.
When the crowd was late at night, the sound of insects came from the wilderness.
In the wilderness outside the camp, the sound of horse hooves could be heard just now. It was the military horses that escorted the Handan County magistrate back to the city. No one would notice that when the team came back, there were a few more people than when they left.
After everyone entered the camp, one of them quickly dismounted from his horse and quickly ran towards the Chinese army's tent.
At this moment, Zhang Zhiyuan in the big tent has not yet fallen asleep. Instead, he is sitting alone in front of the table borrowed from Congtaiyi, using the candlelight on the side to light up the night to read the military aircraft.
When he heard the hoofbeats of military horses coming from outside the tent, Zhang Zhiyuan put down the military documents in his hand and looked up at Xiang Shang's still empty tent door.
When waiting for Tang Keke's burly body to appear in Zhang Zhiyuan's sight, he still couldn't figure out why such a person would be called this name.
Tang Keke arrived in Peiping anonymously, joined Zhang Zhiyuan's subordinates, and quickly arrived in front of him.
Tang Keke, who had been in the army for a long time, his already burly body was now even more full of implicit explosive power.
Two arms full of tendon flesh were raised up and hugged each other, and they bowed and said: "See the general below."
Zhang Zhiyuan waved his hand: "Sit down and talk."
Tang Keke was not polite, nodded and sat in front of Zhang Zhiyuan, reached for the teapot and cup on the table, and poured himself a cup of tea.
After drinking the tea, Tang Keke said: "There are great changes on the Henan Road side, and the situation is also developing in an uncontrollable direction."
Zhang Zhiyuan said softly but did not speak.
In the past few years, Zhang Zhiyuan has gone from being a small flag officer of the Yulin Guards to being the commander of the Peking Capital Division and the commander of the Prince's Palace Guard Command Division. He has also been in Peking and Jiubian.
Create a reputation as a little murderer.
To him, no matter how big the uncontrollable chaos is in Henan Province, it will only end up with a few more heads under his own sword.
As a pioneer for the king, in order to repay the kindness of the great grandson, it is not a bad idea to restore Wu Anjun himself.
Tang Keke's eyes flashed twice, he frowned and looked at Zhang Zhiyuan, and then said: "His Majesty's decree, His Majesty the Emperor Taisun is now as powerful as Your Majesty, and all internal and external departments, officials and affairs can be decided by His Majesty."
When Zhang Zhiyuan heard this, his face finally showed some fluctuations, an expression of joy and surprise.
He said softly: "Your Majesty is so kind to His Highness."
Tang Keke silently rolled his eyes and said, "His Royal Highness entered Kaifeng City and detained the officials of Henan Province at night, and then went out of the city to wipe out the large gentry family in Donghu Village under Kaifeng City.
Waiting for His Majesty's decree to arrive, Your Highness will be appointed Yousi of Henan Province to implement the reform policy and conduct an investigation throughout Henan. Recently, dozens of people have been arrested by the Jinyi Guards, and chaos has arisen in Henan Province."
Zhang Zhiyuan couldn't help but feel nervous, and said in a deep voice: "How is His Highness's safety? Do you... do you have enough manpower? I will break camp and set off tonight to go south to Henan Road to protect the safety of His Highness's golden body."
Tang Keke couldn't help but rolled his eyes at Zhang Zhiyuan again.
Among the countless benefits and advantages of becoming a secret guard, one is the ability to retrieve the life history of anyone with whom the secret guard has records.
Tang Keke knew the favor the emperor's grandson had towards Zhang Zhiyuan, and also knew how important that favor was at that time.
Zhang Zhiyuan is a person who values kindness, and Tang Keke understands this clearly.
He shook his head: "General, there is no need to worry about the safety of His Highness. Yu Ma now leads more than 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Henan Dao Guard, and Tang Bi leads 5,660 Lin Youwei troops and horses to defend Kaifeng City together. His Highness is also accompanied by Jin Yiwei.
As for the people in my secret guard, there is no need to worry about safety."
Zhang Zhiyuan was still a little worried, his face was tense, and his eyes were staring at Tang Keke, who was as big and thick as a small mountain.
Tang Ke saw this situation and immediately said: "If the people on your highness' side turn around, the general is going to Henan Road. The general is waiting here at Congtai Post. Once your highness needs it, he will come to you on his own."
There will be news sent over."
Zhang Zhiyuan's brows furrowed even more: "His Royal Highness has issued an official document asking for the deployment of troops and horses in Peking. Now our army is moving south. Why does Your Highness not allow us to enter Henan Road?"
Zhang Zhiyuan is still worried about how the situation in Henan Province will develop in the future.
Suddenly, he opened his mouth with a sigh and looked at Tang Keke sitting in front of him with a complicated expression.
"Your Highness wants us to lead the army south to Shandong?"
Tang Keke took a sip of tea and shook his head: "Your Highness didn't say anything, and I don't know either."
Zhang Zhiyuan lightly clicked the table with his fingers, looked at Tang Keke several times, and said in a low voice: "It seems that the only purpose of our army stopping here is to bluff. It is called controlling the north of Henan Road.
In fact, we are preparing to go south to Shandong."
Tang Keke still shook his head: "I don't know, I didn't get any news."
Zhang Zhiyuan snorted twice, and there was a hint of murderous intent in his brows: "His Royal Highness is promoting reforms in Henan Province and conducting inventory. I am afraid that this move will not only cause chaos in Henan Province. Congtai Station goes southeast to Shandong and southwest to Henan." My troops cannot go to Henan. The goal there is to control Shandong in the north, respond to the situation in Henan Road at any time, and go southeast to Shandong. In order to cooperate with His Highness's layout in Henan Road and prevent Shandong Road from continuous unrest. If both Henan and Shandong Roads are in chaos, then we will
In the nine-border situation of the Ming Dynasty, the north and south are no longer smooth."
Tang Keke kept shaking his head: "Your Highness has not explained this matter to me."
As he muttered, Tang Keke looked at Zhang Zhiyuan several times.
He really didn't know what kind of arrangements His Highness Taisun would have, but as a member of the scheme set up by Taisun, Tang Keke vaguely had the same associations and deductions as Zhang Zhiyuan at the moment.
And he also knows more than Zhang Zhiyuan.
For another example, he knew that behind Tongguan, there were now three guards from the Prince of Qin's Palace stationed.
We also know that the Beijing troops who were still in various places in the south of the Yangtze River last year, although they received orders to return to Beijing in the previous trip, they have been moving very slowly recently.
The Beijing army, which had already rushed back to the capital, also left the capital and rushed to various places again on the grounds that they had to take turns returning to their original guard posts.
He also knew that Jinyiwei had been doubling its expansion, either explicitly or covertly, since the beginning of the year.
Although the cavalry of more than ten thousand Jiubianma military camp can gallop in the Central Plains and exert an invincible intimidation, the light and dark arrangement on Henan Road can only be regarded as the icing on the cake.
At this time, Zhang Zhiyuan's face gradually showed an expression of sudden realization.
"Your Majesty has asked me to command 10,000 cavalry troops heading south this time. Could it be that he has already seen His Highness's plan?"
"Going southeast to Shandong, our nine-sided cavalry can quell all the rebels."
When Zhang Zhiyuan said this, his eyes began to shine continuously. At this moment, Dayou wanted to receive a military order and lead the army from the southeast to Shandong to bring peace to all the evildoers.
Tang Keke chuckled helplessly: "General, don't be impatient, just wait for your orders."