Night falls deeply over the city of Beiping. This ancient and majestic city is like an old but majestic giant nesting on the horizon, quietly looking into the distance.
To the west of the Forbidden City in Beijing are the locations of various yamen of the imperial court. One of the yamen is particularly grand. The two stone lions weighing thousands of kilograms in front of the door are extremely majestic. They are different from the stone lions at the entrance of other yamen.
The stone lions in front of the yamen are either thin or lively, stepping on hydrangeas, or hugging cubs. However, the stone lions in front of this yamen have a strong body, a big head, a broad face, and stylish hair on the neck.
Majestic, mighty and domineering, this yamen is the Ministry of War yamen that claims to be in charge of millions of troops in the Ming Dynasty.
In a room deep in this yamen, a middle-aged man with an easy-going but dignified demeanor is sitting behind a desk and looking at a battle report sent from Qingzhou in his hand. He is wearing a vermilion official robe, with a
There is a majestic lion embroidered on his patch, and he wears thick-soled official shoes. This is the standard dress for first- and second-rank officials. He is Yang Sichang, the current Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty.
At this time, what Yang Sichang was holding was the battle report sent by Song Xinghe, the commander of the Qingzhou capital. The battle report stated that Pang Gang, a member of the Lingshan Guards in Qingzhou, went to Yangzhou to buy grain on the orders of the commander's Yamen, and encountered hundreds of Japanese pirates attacking Yangzhou.
Unexpectedly, everyone in Yangzhou feared the enemy like a tiger, but there were thousands of young and strong soldiers who closed the city gate tightly and did not dare to attack. Pang Gang, a member of the Lingshan Guards, led his troops out of the city to fight the enemy bravely, annihilating the Japanese pirates and capturing more than 300 heads.
Countless Japanese knives and other items were seized. However, Zhao Jie, who was guarding Yangzhou, waited for Pang Gang to defeat the Japanese pirates, but took the opportunity to go out of the city to seize military honors. Pang Gang refused to accept and argued with Zhao Jie. Zhao Jie became so angry that he ordered his subordinates to forcibly expel Pang Gang and others from Qingzhou.
Sergeant, this is why the two sides had a dispute. Later Pang Gang refused to accept the complaint and sued the Yangzhou garrison and others to the Qingzhou Commander's Yamen. The Qingzhou Commander's Yamen had no choice but to submit the Japanese pirates' heads and trophies to the capital...
...
In this battle report, Song Xinghe described the causes and consequences in detail. The battle report also mentioned Sun Zhili, the former Minister of Rites. In the battle report, Song Xinghe did not say a bad word about Sun Zhili, but every sentence pointed at Sun Zhili.
Yang Sichang put down the battle report from Qingzhou and picked up another battle report. This battle report was sent from Yangzhou. It had the signatures of the prefect of Yangzhou, the former Minister of Rites Sun Zhili, and the military garrison Zhao Jie.
The battle report was completely different from the battle report sent by Song Xinghe. The battle report stated that the Japanese pirates had attacked a few days ago, and Zhao Jie led his troops to resist vigorously. The Yangzhou magistrate Gu Shou took command from the center, and the former Minister of Rites, Sun Zhili, made proper arrangements.
, finally defeated the Japanese pirates, but Qingzhou guest army Pang Gang took advantage of the Yangzhou soldiers' unpreparedness to steal the Japanese pirates' heads and various seizures, and wounded Zhao Jie before fleeing...
Yang Sichang burst into laughter looking at this defeat that was full of loopholes. The people in Yangzhou really treated themselves like a three-year-old child. Not to mention whether the results stated in this battle report were true or false, Pang Gang alone could win from thousands of people.
Yangzhou soldiers snatched the Japanese pirates’ heads and trophies from their hands. Are these soldiers all dead?
Moreover, Yang Sichang had worked with Sun Zhili for more than ten years and knew him very well. This person had a lot of articles and talked about benevolence, justice and morality, but his ability to do things was very poor. Otherwise, he would not have been the Minister of Rites for only one year.
He was sent home by Emperor Chongzhen to retire. If he could calmly command Yangzhou soldiers and civilians to annihilate the Japanese pirates, Yang Sichang could tell that the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty would laugh out loud.
"Sun Zhili, Sun Zhili, do you still want to come back at this time?" Yang Sichang smiled disdainfully and threw the battle report in his hand into the fire cage next to him. The faint green smoke rose, and the battle report changed in the fire cage.
Became ashes.
Picking up the Qingzhou battle report again, Yang Sichang picked up his pen and drew a circle on Pang Gang's name, and murmured: "Is this Pang Gang really so capable that he can defeat three hundred Japanese pirates with two hundred infantry? If true.
He is indeed a good general, but how can he be a mere member of a hundred households if he is so brave?"
Thinking of this, Yang Sichang took up his pen and wrote in the Qingzhou Commander Song Xinghe's application for promotion of Pang Gang to Lingshan Guard Qianhu: "Accurate!" and then put this meritorious service on his sleeve.
Then he shouted loudly: "Come here, prepare the sedan chair, I am going to court."
When Yang Sichang rushed to the Forbidden City excitedly, the sky had already begun to darken, and hundreds of officials were already waiting outside the Forbidden City for the palace gate to open. When the time came to Mao hour, the palace gate opened wide, and the officials began to file in, tall and full-body
The draped Han generals stood in the Forbidden City one by one, looking particularly solemn.
Soon, Emperor Chongzhen, wearing a golden five-clawed dragon robe, walked in from the front of the main hall. Along the way, all the officials knelt down and saluted.
About three minutes later, Chongzhen finally walked to his dragon chair, sat down, and said loudly: "Everyone is equal!"
"Long live thanks!"
Yang Sichang, who was standing at the front, took the opportunity to look up at Emperor Chongzhen. This 25-year-old Ming monarch didn't look very good. His face that should have been healthy and rosy became a little pale due to staying up too late, and his eyes were rimmed.
Revealing a faint black color, the originally handsome face showed an old-fashioned feeling. His brows were habitually wrinkled at the same time, and it seemed that he was still troubled by the numerous bad news.
At this time, a eunuch shouted in a high-pitched voice: "If you have something to do, please leave the court!"
Yang Sichang hurriedly walked out of the queue and said loudly: "I'm going to start my memorial to you, Your Majesty. I have the original memorial."
Chongzhen didn't sleep last night and was naturally not in good spirits. However, after seeing Yang Sichang standing up, he cheered up and said, "Yang Aiqing, is there any good news in Shaanxi and Henan?"
Yang Sichang said respectfully: "Your Majesty, what I want to report is not about the war between rogue bandits, but about the affairs of Yangzhou."
"Yangzhou!" Chongzhen was startled. He stood up and asked eagerly: "Southern, is there something going on in Jiangnan too?"
Now the imperial court relies almost entirely on Jiangnan for its tax and food supplies. If Jiangnan is in chaos, the imperial court will be in big trouble. No wonder Chongzhen is anxious.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, what I am about to announce is not a bad thing, but a good thing. Yesterday, the commander of Qingzhou Prefecture came to report that a member of the Qingzhou Lingshan Guards went to Yangzhou to buy grain in the name of Song Xinghe, the commander of Qingzhou Prefecture.
When Japanese pirates invaded Yangzhou, this man immediately led his troops to kill the enemy bravely and captured more than 300 Japanese pirate heads and countless other items."
"Oh! Is there anything else?" Sure enough, Chongzhen was overjoyed after hearing this and asked: "What's the name of that Baihu? How old is he? Where is he from?"
Yang Sichang bowed and replied: "Replying to the emperor, the name of this hundred households is Pang Gang. He is only twenty-four years old this year. He was originally a military household, but it is not hereditary, but he just joined the military this year."
"Okay, okay!" Chongzhen stood up happily and walked around, saying, "Has Yang Aiqing checked the results of the battle?"
"Replying to the emperor, I have personally verified that the three hundred and twenty-two Japanese pirate heads are all authentic and absolutely not false."
Naturally, Yang Sichang did not dare to be careless about this kind of thing. He had already asked someone to carefully check the heads. The results of the check made him very satisfied. All the heads were genuine Japanese.
"Then we must give heavy rewards to the commander of Baihu and Qingzhou." After getting excited, Chongzhen spoke, "I have never been stingy with rewards for meritorious ministers."
Yang Sichang, who had been prepared for a long time, quickly took the opportunity to say: "I have already made a preliminary agreement on this. I have already promoted the hundred-household minister to Lingshan Guard Qianhu, with a reward of one thousand taels of silver and twenty pieces of silk.
The commander of the Qingzhou capital who has good command will be rewarded with two thousand taels of silver, and will be rated as excellent in this year's evaluation."
"Okay, just as Aiqing said." Chongzhen, who had been troubled by the rogue bandits in Shaanxi during this period, heard a rare piece of good news at this time, and his original worried mood became much happier. In this way, Pang Gang was promoted to a hundred households.
That's settled.
Thank you to book friend Lee Yueling, Chaochunmumur for the reward, thank you all!