In the Jinshen Hall, Xu Jingchang looked solemn and authentic.【】
In recent days, all the talk in the court has been about the upcoming war in the Western Regions. The matter has spread, and all the meritorious officials who usually do not need to go to court are also aware of it. Zhu Di is working intensively from top to bottom.
He made arrangements. Mentally, he despised Tamerlane very much, but he did not act carelessly towards Tamerlane who came with great momentum.
Xu Jingchang said: "The sergeants from Gan and Liang are mostly from the Tibetan, Fan, Qiang and Miao ethnic groups, especially the Mongolian and Hui ethnic groups. Not only do these two ethnic groups have the most soldiers in the army, but they also have the largest number of local people."
, and Timur was flying the banner of the Mongols and he believed in Islam, so he had great appeal among these soldiers and people.
Song Sheng, the Pingqiang general, had previously sent a message back to Jia's capital. When they passed through Ganliang, the sergeants from Ganliang were very respectful to them. Sometimes these merchants had trouble passing customs with their private goods, so they would open and close the door privately.
Send them out of the country. Song Sheng also discovered that merchants had spies from other places, and some sergeants even took the initiative to leak border affairs to them without taking the benefits.",
Having said this, Xu Jingchang gave a bitter smile and said to Zhu Di: "Your Majesty, don't expect such people to fight bravely. Even if they are passive and lazy, they are still good. Many of their soldiers will be killed once Timur's army comes to the city.
Although Jiayuguan is dangerous and dangerous, with such soldiers guarding it, it may be defeated in a single battle and difficult to hold on. What's more, from the news now, Timur's spies have secretly infiltrated into the local area and begun to stir up people's hearts.
Already."
"Order the imperial envoy to go to Ganliang to enforce strict military discipline, and order Song Sheng to strictly restrain them. Those who are particularly unreliable will be transferred away from the dangerous passes of Xiongguan!"
Zhu Di said in a deep voice, he also knew that this was easy to say, but difficult to do. Many legions in the Ganliang area were directly converted into guard posts by tribes, and most of the Han armies were recruited directly from local military households.
Many local Han people believe in Islam. Not to mention other ethnic minorities, even these Han people who believe in Islam will have a strong will when the time comes.
Zhu Di twisted his thick black eyebrows, stared at the huge map, and asked: "If Ganliang cannot be defended, where can we fight it?"
Xu Jingchang said: "I have consulted with the senior officials from the Ministry of War and the Fifth Army Governor's Office and believe that if Ganliang is lost, Tamerlane's army will march straight in and occupy Shaanxi, Gannan, and Ningxia in one fell swoop. Our second-line troops can be gathered in Henan."
, start a decisive battle with them. If we win, we can take advantage of the victory to pursue, regain the lost ground, and drive them back! If we fail, then..."
Xu Jingchang took a long breath, pointed his finger on the Huaihe River, and said with difficulty: "I'm afraid, we have to set up a third line of defense here to decide the outcome!"
Zhu Di said in a deep voice: "In the Shaanxi-Gansu area, there are currently about 150,000 troops stationed in various forts. If we passively meet the enemy, they may be divided and surrounded by Timur and defeated one by one! In addition, there are some soldiers in the Shaanxi-Gansu army.
It's not very reliable. Once the switch is turned on to defeat the enemy, the pass will be dangerous and cannot be relied upon!"
He stood up, walked around the main hall, pondered for a long time, suddenly stopped, and said solemnly: "I ordered to go down and transfer 200,000 troops from Shanxi, Sichuan, and Henan to Shaanxi and Gansu. The Shaanxi-Gansu army will garrison the fortress. From Shanxi,
The three divisions of Sichuan and Henan, with 200,000 soldiers and horses, are at the forefront, taking the initiative to seek out the enemy for a decisive battle!"
Xu Jingchang was surprised when he heard this and said: "Your Majesty, this is too risky. The second line is empty. Once the enemy breaks through, the consequences will be disastrous. Furthermore, if Shanxi soldiers and horses are mobilized, once Wala becomes ambitious... Your Majesty, although Wala has tipped us off,
But the wolf's ambition is capricious..."
Zhu Di didn't hesitate after hearing this. He hesitated for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Yes, although Wala chose us between Timur and Ming Dynasty, we must be guarded against the ambitions of wolves. Shanxi Dusi's troops cannot move.
, I will go on a personal expedition and bring out the soldiers and horses from the Beijing camp!"
Xu Jingchang was even more dizzy when he heard this. With the intelligence collected recently, some news and rumors about Tamerlane's empire were gradually grasped by the imperial court. Tamerlane's achievements in the West were so brilliant that he seemed to be the reincarnation of Genghis Khan.
, how could the emperor easily go on an expedition in person? If he changed his generals, he would be defeated if he lost. The Ming Dynasty could immediately organize troops and horses to fight again. If the emperor personally went on an expedition but was defeated, or even had a shortcoming, there would not even be a chance to restore the defeat.
there is none left.
Xu Jingchang and several generals hurriedly tried to persuade him, but Zhu Di stood up angrily, smashed his fist on the case, and resolutely said: "This battle must be fought outside, and we cannot let wolves in to harm my country and people! Since others can't defend it, we must fight it outside."
If you stay, then I will go there myself and defend the enemy from outside the country!"
Xu Jingchang was sweating profusely and said repeatedly: "Your Majesty, General Song Sheng, the commander-in-chief of Gansu Province, has been in Ganliang for a long time and has been in Fanrong uniform. His military power is extremely powerful in the Western Regions. It is enough to have General Song to guard the Western Regions. Why not order Mr. Song to do so?"
Where is the general commanding all the ministries? Your Majesty will go on a personal expedition, which is absolutely impossible!"
Zhu Di sighed: "Song Sheng is old and in poor health. He has written many times, requesting to resign and return to the capital. But because I don't have the right generals to guard the Western Regions, I have always refused. Alas! Now let him lead the army alone.
I can’t rest assured!”
Zhu Di's words are not hypocritical, he really has no one to use. When he first started the army, he had many famous generals under his command, but by this time, famous generals such as Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, Wang Zhen, Chen Heng, and Tan Yuan
They are all dead. Qiu Fu is in charge of Beijing, controlling the Tatars in the north and the Oara in the west. He cannot be separated easily. As for Liu Cai, Chen, Zheng Heng, Meng Shan and Huozhen, all the generals are brave men.
These are his direct descendants. What about the generals who joined him one after another after his imprisonment? Xu Huizu and Geng Bing are undoubtedly qualified to take command. Xu Huizu can attack and defend. He is definitely a good general in the world. The problem is that this person cannot be used. He
He didn't dare to use it. He handed over the army to Xu Huizu and went to the Western Regions. Who knew whether he would come back with a banner?
Geng Changxing was good at fighting and defending, and asked him to guard the Western Regions, which was enough to turn the Western Regions into a copper and iron wall, so that Tiemuer returned in vain and defeated. However, he was already dead. Even if he was still alive, like Xu Huizu, he had no
Dare to use it. In addition, there is Sheng Yong, who is also good at fighting. Now he has been impeached and committed suicide. Although the remaining generals, Ping An, He Fu, and Gu Cheng are all known as veteran generals, the problem is that these people are only good at fighting. They are called
They followed the instructions and led a group of troops to fight. There was absolutely no problem. They were asked to take command and deploy troops. To be honest, it was an embarrassing task.
Didn't Zhu Di know the consequences if the imperial commander's personal expedition failed? He did it as a last resort!
At this moment, Mu En stood on tiptoe and poked her head at the door, looking like she wanted to come in but didn't dare.
Zhu Di glared at him and asked angrily: "What's the matter?"
Mu En said quickly: "Your Majesty, Duke Yang Xu wants to see you!"
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"Come, come, he's here! He's here indeed, hey, Sister Sai'er, you're so good, you can actually trick him out!"
Lying in the grass, staring at the figure walking in the distance, my eyebrows were dancing with thought, not caring that I was one year older than Tang Sai'er, but I called her sister.
Tang Saier said triumphantly: "Of course, it's not easy to manipulate this silly boy, hum! But..."
She suddenly felt guilty and said: "If we tease him like this, he won't complain to the Duke, right? I'm afraid... I'm afraid..."
"Hey! Don't be afraid!"
Si Xun quickly patted his chest and said, "Sister Sai'er, my father is actually very kind. He looks fierce when you don't stare at him, but he is actually very easy to talk to. If my mother wants to beat us, we go to my father and he will definitely protect us. Don't let him scold us that night. We were all pretending to be scared in front of him, so Daddy was reluctant to really beat us."
Tang Saier pouted and said, "You are his daughters, but I am not!"
Siyang said: "Then it's even more impossible for me to teach you a lesson. My father calls your mother Mrs. Sister-in-law. How can I bully you? Good sister, help me get rid of this bad temper. I will share whatever delicious food you have in the future. Half for you, no! I’ll give you the bigger half! You are our good eldest sister, you must be loyal!”
As soon as she mentioned loyalty, Tang Saier's chest straightened up and she said with determination, "It's done!" She turned around and told Siyu and Siqi: "Don't make any noise, it will make him alert. You are the only one to ask!"
The two little guys nodded hurriedly, their eyes full of excitement.
After what happened two days ago, Xia Xun casually mentioned to several of his beloved wives that the Yu family and his son were visiting as guests. How could they bully others like this? They had to discipline their daughter. This was great. The four girls suffered first. The eldest lady Ming'er was given a lesson, but later she was caught and spanked by her mother, which made the four girls hate her so much that the blame was placed on Yu Qian's head. The four of them begged Tang Sai'er for advice and rectification. He vented his anger.
So the four of them arrived here. There was still a large open space in the back house of the Yang family, which had not yet been developed. There was originally a large pit in the ground. It turned out to be a large pit where lime was mixed during the construction of houses, pavilions, and courtyard walls. There were also There was a foot deep of lime, and after a few rains, the accumulated water inside slightly covered the lime, leaving a thin layer of clear water. A few people used this ready-made pit as a disguise, and spread tree roots and grass stems on top.
If the four girls from the Yang family were to do this job, it would be very obvious that it was a trap to tell people off at a glance, but if it was done by an expert like Tang Saier, even if Xia Xun came, nothing would happen at all.
Yu Qian received a note with only one sentence on it: "Report to my father, you are a despicable person! If you have the ability, come to the back house and let's compete. Whoever loses and then files a complaint is the puppy!"
The note was dictated by Tang Sai'er and written by Si Yang. Although Tang Sai'er was young, she was very discerning, and her ability to recognize people was not bad. She had already judged it. Yu Qian, this boy, is proud! He has a noble character and an arrogant temper. If you say something else, he may ignore you, but if you say he is a despicable person, he will definitely come to argue with you. Sure enough, Yu Qian came with great enthusiasm.
So he stepped on it, plunged in, and fell into the lime pit.
Several girls laughed and ran happily to the lime pit. The lime had been soaked in water and would no longer burn the skin, because there was a layer of lime underneath, which was quite soft. Yu Qian was not injured, but his head and face were injured.
His clothes and clothes were all stained white by lime. He stretched out his hand to wipe the water on his face, and his pretty face turned even whiter.
When the five little girls saw his hair and face turned pale and embarrassed, they could only lean forward and back in joy.
Only then did Yu Qian know the plan. He stood in the puddle, looking miserable, but he didn't want to make these little girls proud. He wiped lime on his face again, raised his head high, and proudly uttered a poem: "
Thousands of hammers have been used to carve out the deep mountains, and the fire is burning them as if it were nothing. I am not afraid of being shattered into pieces, but I want to leave my innocence in the world!"
Although Si Yang and Si Xun are naughty, the Yang family has invited famous teachers to teach them knowledge since they were young. This knowledge is extraordinary. When they heard him speak out the poems, they were so aspirational and full of no hesitation that they even forgot to laugh at him.
If Xia Xunruo were here, he might be shocked. He knew that the "Lime Song" he had memorized when he was in school was a Mingzhi poem written by Yu Qian when he was a boy. But he didn't know that this Mingzhi poem was actually written by Yu Qian.
He was born in a lime pit and dared his lover Yu Shaobao to recite this poem. He was not a young boy who had the world in mind. He was just pretending to be cool in front of a few girls...
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Xia Xun was well aware of Zhu Di's dilemma of having no generals available.
In fact, there has always been a doubt in his heart, that is: Will Timur die on the way during his Eastern Expedition?
If he had just arrived in the Ming Dynasty, he might have been able to confirm it, but after experiencing so many things, many things have changed, and he is no longer sure.
If you can't be sure, you don't dare to take risks. If the Ming Dynasty really didn't make preparations, and Timur killed Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia in full force, it would be an immeasurable catastrophe.
However, there are too many major projects in the Ming Dynasty. If the troops here are dispatched as if they are faced with a powerful enemy, building fortresses, building city walls, and stationing troops here to prepare, Timur will really die on the way.
How much food will Pingbai's preparation cost? Even if the Ming Dynasty's national strength can withstand such trouble, the burden on the people's shoulders will definitely be much heavier.
He sent people to investigate for a long time, and already had more detailed information about Tamerlane than the imperial court. However, there was still no accurate information about Tamburlaine's health. Xia Xun knew very well that the news about Tamburlaine's eastern expedition was both
It has been reported that the emperor will definitely make preparations in advance. He, the brother-in-law, is a very proud person at heart. Last time, he rebelled against Zhu Di. This time he did not speak. Zhu Di would rather drive and conquer in person than lower his status.
, asking him to take action.
To take the initiative into his own hands as much as possible and prepare for war in the Western Region with as little expenditure as possible, then Yang Xu had to take the initiative and shoulder this responsibility.
So, Xia Xun recommended himself!
He knew very well that if this mission was successfully completed, it would only be the icing on the cake for his personal future. If it was failed, he would be ruined, but he still came. Just because he was also a member of the Ming Dynasty, and he suffered from countless people.