Ma Zhongxi was meeting guests in the General Military Mansion where he was temporarily staying.
After Zhang Zhou led his troops on an expedition, he was too embarrassed to live in the governor's office, or in his opinion, he was about to step down from office, and there were only a few days left in office anyway, so it didn't matter if he lived there.
The guest he met was Lin Ting, the new director of the Ministry of Industry who came to Xuanfu with Zhang Yiyi. Lin Ting came to visit Ma Zhongxi on behalf of his father Lin Han.
"Ma Zhongcheng, there is a result..."
Not long after Ma Zhongxi and Lin Ting were done, the subordinate officer ran in with a hurried look on his face.
Ma Zhongxi frowned and said: "Why are you so rude? What is the result?"
The subordinate officer was panting and said hurriedly: "It's Weininghai...there is a battle report...Deputy General Ma and Chief Wang led the troops to defeat the enemy in Weininghai, beheading 1,300 people, and captured the old and weak women and children of Menggol Jin tribe." There were more than 6,300 people, more than 20,000 cattle, horses, camels and other large livestock, and more than 70,000 sheep..."
"What?"
Ma Zhongxi stood up in shock.
His eyes were instantly filled with blood, as if bloodshot threads were about to burst and spurt out blood at any moment.
Lin Ting next to him asked hurriedly: "Have the soldiers and horses been withdrawn?"
The subordinate officer took a breath and said, "No..."
When he heard "no", Ma Zhongxi somehow relaxed a little. He didn't know why he had such a reaction. He was also thinking in his heart, shouldn't he hope that Ma Yi and Wang Shouren would lead their troops back smoothly? But if Zhang Zhou, who was impeached by me, dispatched Ma Yi, who was also impeached by me, to win this victory... would there be room for my old face?
"I'm not done yet." The official finally finished his sentence.
"cough!"
Ma Zhongxi choked on his own saliva and glared at his subordinates with eyes that looked murderous.
Are you fucking kidding me?
"On the way back, Deputy General Ma and others escorted the prisoners, cattle and sheep, and fought with the Tatars all the way, beheading Liu Jie. Withdrawing more than 40 miles north of Maoerzhuang, they encountered more than 8,000 Tatar soldiers and horses from all walks of life. , and then withdrew the troops into the grassland mountains. After a fierce battle, they were blown up and more than 1,900 Tatars were beheaded... Then Zhang Zhitai's soldiers and horses arrived to cover the retreat of the troops and horses. It is estimated that they have already withdrawn into the pass..."
"Ma Zhongcheng, you..."
Before the officer finished speaking, he saw that Ma Zhongxi could no longer stand and was falling backwards. He rushed to help him but was too late.
Fortunately, there was Lin Ting standing next to him, who hurriedly stretched out his hand to support him.
"It's okay, it's okay." Ma Zhongxi calmed down. His words didn't sound like he was speaking to the two people around him, but more like he was trying to calm himself down.
Lin Ting said with joy on his face: "This is truly an extraordinary feat, and it is no less impressive than Marquis Weining."
Speaking of this, Lin Ting looked a little gloomy.
I also followed Zhang Zhou to the northwest, but why can Wang Shouren go with the army because he is the director of the Ministry of War, while I am just the director of the Ministry of Industry and can only stay in Xuan Mansion to wait for the mining?
But the problem is, the war is over, and my mining business has not yet been settled. Otherwise, why would I come to visit Ma Zhongcheng when I have nothing to do? Or am I trying to take advantage of my father's connections and ask him to find something for me to do?
Now……
It’s hard to describe in one word.
Ma Zhongxi's face was dark, and he said that he had won the battle on the front line, but his expression gave people the feeling that Ma Yi and Wang Shouren had been completely wiped out in the Weining Sea.
The official said: "The battle report has been sent to the capital. It was only sent to the General Military Mansion. Zhang Zhitai also had another official document, which he said would be delivered in a few hours. He also asked Wandu to take charge of surrounding defense matters. You see..."
Ma Zhongxi closed his eyes and waved his hands, which probably meant that you have brought all the words to me, and I also know that you can go and cool down wherever you like.
Lin Ting said: "Ma Zhongcheng also contributed the most to this battle."
It was originally meant as a compliment, but to Ma Zhongxi's ears, it sounded like murder. He had a look of embarrassment on his face, his cheeks instantly turned red and he almost said angrily: "I would rather not take such credit! You put my Ming soldiers in danger.
, surrounded by dangers, not pragmatic in defense, and only thinking about outlandish ideas, do you know the impact on the Ming Pass after the defeat? "
In fact, when Lin Ting finished saying that, he felt that he might have said the wrong thing.
When he saw Ma Zhongxi's reaction, he realized that he was stepping on Ma Zhongxi's tail.
He is also angry in his heart. Look at my stupid words. Isn’t mentioning this to him the same as killing him? I have forgotten that he was dismissed by His Majesty for participating in the impeachment of Bingkuan. He is getting emotional and begging to return to his old age... Others
To what extent have his achievements been misinterpreted in his eyes? Your Majesty asked Bingkuan to come to the northwest just to send troops, wasn't it?
"Ma Laozhongcheng, please calm down, I'd better wait until next time..."
Lin Ting didn't seem to be very popular at first glance. He saw Ma Zhongxi's embarrassing scene and said the wrong thing. If he didn't leave quickly and dejected, how long would he wait?
come back next time?
Never seen again!
Ma Zhongxi said: "Li Zhan, you should stay away from Zhang Bingkuan in the future. It's not that I don't despise him, but it's because what he does is to lick blood on the blade of a knife. Such a clever person will definitely not end well!"
Lin Ting felt embarrassed.
Are you saying you don't look down on him?
As soon as Zhang Bingkuan achieved great success, you belittled him until he was worthless. His relationship did not go as you expected and his reputation was ruined. Are you not willing to accept it?
"yes."
Lin Ting disagreed in his heart, but he still responded.
It can be regarded as giving Ma Zhongxi enough face.
At this time, Lin Ting was also beating a drum in his heart. My sister is about to marry Zhang Bingkuan as a concubine. He treats me like his brother-in-law. Even my father is not as picky about him as before, even if I want to leave him.
If you stay further away, you might be bound to one place, right?
"Help me go inside and rest. If Zhang Bingkuan's official letter comes, don't show it to me. Let the people in the General Military Mansion deal with it by themselves! Li Zhan, I won't send it!"
Ma Zhongxi seemed to be deeply hurt inside.
I'm bleeding too much, so I need to go into the room and take a good rest.
Lin Ting also said goodbye to Ma Zhongxi with emotions of envy, jealousy and hatred in his heart.
…
…
The battle report went all the way east and soon reached the capital.
Because the results of this battle were very effective in demonstrating the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, the battle report was like a net, with a line leading from Yanghekou to various places on the nine sides. Even when reaching the capital, all lines were open.
Cabinet value.
The two Zhongshushe people had just handed over the urgent battle report from the General Affairs Department. Liu Jian also took the initiative to greet him at the door. He picked up the battle report and looked at it in his hands. Li Dongyang and Xie Qian looked at him in confusion.
, Liu Jian closed the door that had been left open due to the hot weather, and walked over to the two of them with the battle report.
"Snapped!"
Liu Jian let go of his hand and almost threw the battle report on the table.
Li Dongyang hurriedly picked it up, and this time he saw it with Xie Qian, both of whom had mixed expressions on their faces.
"He really won. He killed more than 3,000 Di Yi and captured more than 16,000 people... Wang Weining's coffin board couldn't even hold it down, right?" Xie Qian showed his venomous side and marveled at his military exploits.
He was so incredible that he joked about the change in the situation brought about by this victory.
"Good thing." Li Dongyang also followed Liu Jian's example and dropped the memorial on the table with a flick of his hand.
Liu Jian had already sat down at this time. There was no joy on his face, only worry, but he seemed to be sighing and said: "How did you get to this point?"
The amount of credit is actually irrelevant to Ming Dynasty.
The meritorious service in the Northwest has little to do with their cabinet. To say that professional politicians would be happy about the good news in the Northwest is just to show others. What they care more about is the change in the power structure of the court.
When Li Dongyang saw Liu Jian's reaction, he no longer tried to hide his nice words. He said: "Once this credit is confirmed, Zhang Bingkuan's influence in the Governor's Mansion will be unprecedented. It will be difficult to check and balance him."
It's difficult, but it's better to push him into the Governor's Mansion like Wang Shichang did before, and there will be few holidays from now on."
Xie Qian asked with a smile: "Binzhi, that's easy to say. Do you think it's that easy?"
Until now, you, Li Binzhi, still don’t think that whether Zhang Zhou should be a civil servant or a military officer is a choice that can be made by cabinet ministers, right?
In other words, the emperor just wanted him to be a civil servant and a military officer at the same time, and work together on both sides. Do you want to be out of sight but out of mind? Sorry, there is no such option.
Of course Li Dongyang understood this, and he said: "Maybe we can start with Bo'an!"
Liu Jian looked at Li Dongyang and said, "Speak directly."
Li Dongyang no longer made any cover-up: "Bo'an is different from Zhang Bingkuan. Most of the credit this time comes from his on-the-spot planning. As a person who personally participated in the war, the credit naturally belongs to him alone. Zhang Bingkuan only played a role in making decisions and dealing with the aftermath."
thing."
Xie Qian continued to smile: "I'm afraid His Majesty won't think so."
"Yu Qiao, can you wait until I finish speaking?" Li Dongyang was also annoyed.
It's a hot topic now. If you're not around to help with advice, what does it mean to throw cold water on it?
Liu Jiandao: "My dear, you don't have to go on. It's no wonder that we have reached this stage. In fact, Zhang Bingkuan is capable of many things. We should not regard him as different, but treat him as accepted by the world. He cannot do anything by himself."
In Liu Jian's opinion, he returned to his original attitude towards Zhang Zhou.
Since you really can't beat Zhang Zhou in some aspects, let's not think about how to fight him. Let's think about how to win him over and let him take the "right path".
If we always engage in confrontation and are inferior to him every time, then God's trust in us civil servants will definitely decrease day by day. Then wouldn't we just dig a hole and jump into it ourselves?
But if Zhang Zhou is won over by us and becomes one of our own, he is awesome and we are awesome, and the emperor will have more trust in us civil servants.
Li Dongyang is naturally on Liu Jian's side, and he is still relying on Zhang Zhou to treat his son's illness. He is asking for help. While asking for help, Li Dongyang feels that he is not worthy of it.
As for being able to do it.
But I just don’t do it for the sake of face, and I’m still rude when I should do it.
Xie Qian said: "I'm afraid that Zhang Bingkuan will become empty-minded and he will be arrogant by then. When he first entered the court, he was a little arrogant. How can we make him feel at ease in court affairs in the future? Since ancient times, princes have
He is busy with side affairs, so it would be unwise not to allow him to enter the Governor's Mansion."
Xie Qian obviously felt that Li Dongyang's previous proposal was more reasonable.
Now that we are gradually at an absolute disadvantage in contending with Zhang Zhou, we cannot allow him to continue to stay in the court and cause harm to us.
The purpose is to let him become a martial artist, let him enter the governor's mansion, or even stay in the northwest.
At worst, we won't interfere too much with the military affairs in the northwest and let him fiddle with it. But as long as he stays away from the court and keeps a distance from the emperor, as his achievements increase day by day and the resentment between the emperor and his ministers grows, his influence on court affairs will naturally be weakened. We don't even need to take action, Zhang Zhou's flash in the pan will be gone as soon as he appears.
Liu Jian shook his head and said: "It's better not to think about it within a year or two. Let's see how His Majesty arranges it."
According to Liu Jian’s meaning.
Now things are still under Zhu Youtang's control, it depends on how the emperor wants to use Zhang Zhou.
Xie Qian kept chattering: "Things are not settled in the northwest, so what if he is left in the northwest? Since ancient times, there are many people who are good at using troops to attack and plot. How many of them have a good ending?"
Li Dongyang said: "If he only uses troops and has cunning plans, that may be the case, but His Majesty's trust in him goes beyond the use of troops? Yu Qiao, this matter cannot be forced. As Mr. Liu said, I will stand by His Majesty in everything without comment. It’s better not to cause trouble than to cause humiliation to oneself.”
"snort!"
Xie Qian still seemed very unwilling.
Mainly because Zhang Zhou’s rise came at the wrong time.
If Xie Qian was the chief assistant, he might not have such a big opinion. The key is that he was still on the rise in his career, but he met the unreasonable Zhang Zhou. Doesn't that mean that the channel for Xie Qian's rise was So blocked?
…
…
Inside the Qianqing Palace.
Xiao Jing carefully placed the battle report in front of Zhu Youtang.
Zhu Youtang looked up at Xiao Jing, then at Dai Yi and others next to him. Everyone's eyes showed excitement. Zhu Youtang smiled and nodded and said: "Okay."
Just now Xiao Jing only said that he had received good news.
Moreover, it was a complete victory. Xiao Jing did not elaborate on the specific results, but Zhu Youtang knew that his Bingkuan would not let him down.
"How many to kill?" Zhu Youtang didn't rush to ask all the details.
It's like opening a deck of cards, one by one.
Enjoy the joy of realizing your wish for a while longer.
Xiao Jing said happily: "More than three thousand."
"Oh, a little less?" Zhu Youtang was already happy, but he still had to pretend to be nonchalant, but the smile on his face could no longer be concealed.
Dai Yi smiled and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, it is a little less, but who said it wasn't Mr. Zhang who went into battle in person? It's okay to give a discount."
"Yeah." Zhu Youtang smiled and nodded.
It seems that the king and his ministers can reach an agreement on bragging and comforting each other.
"How many prisoners are there?" Zhu Youtang continued to draw cards.
Xiao Jing became more happy this time, stretched out his fingers, and made a one, then a six.
Dai Yi asked from the side: "One thousand six?"
Zhu Youtang said: "Three thousand have been killed. Weininghai is the headquarters of Fire Sieve. It's a bit unreasonable to only capture 1,600...but it can't be 16, right?"
Xiao Jing said in surprise: "What your Majesty said is absolutely true, it is exactly more than 16,300... Incidentally, there are also more than 20,000 large animals and more than 70,000 small animals..."
"Haha, really?" Zhu Youtang couldn't bear it anymore this time.
Dai Yi imitated Zhu Youtang's previous tone and said: "Are there so many people in Weininghai?"
"That's right." Zhu Youtang suppressed a smile, "Wang Weining made a surprise attack on Weininghai and captured only a few hundred people. No matter how many there were, a thousand people would be a great achievement. He only sent three thousand and killed three thousand. How could he capture so many people?" many?"
Xiao Jing smiled and said, "It's all Mr. Zhang's gunpowder and firearms that contributed to this."
"Oh, then I have to take a closer look."
Zhu Youtang then stretched out his hand and opened the good news in front of him.
At this time, Dai Yi, Chen Kuan, and Wei Bin also leaned over and wanted to take a look together.
When you see the detailed summary of the war above, especially when you see that more than 3,000 enemies were killed, it is just a conservative estimate. After all, many Tatars were directly blown to pieces and no bones were left. There are also the detailed processes of the two battles... ...Zhu Youtang breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "It's not enough."
Several eunuchs nearby felt that the emperor was a bit pretentious.
Isn't this enough?
What kind of credit is needed to make it worth writing?
"What I mean is that until the grassland is leveled, we will still have to send troops in the future. The situation in the northwest is very different from before. In the past, all the troops sent out used bows and horses. Obviously, the Ming soldiers were not like those Di Yi who were born on horseback. , there are always disadvantages. But now and in the future, firearms are the priority, so we must raise them as soon as possible, lest the Tatars learn the essence and not be able to reach the plains."
Zhu Youtang is still relatively rational.
The credit is great and I am very satisfied, but I immediately thought that there is a time difference now. We can use the firearms, but the Tatars have not learned them yet and cannot use them, so now the advantage lies with us.
What we need to do is to use our advantages to completely solve the problem instead of waiting any longer.
This is probably a bit similar to the Hongyi cannon in the late Ming Dynasty. It was originally the trump card of the Ming army, but in the end it was copied by the enemy.
Dai Yi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, with Mr. Zhang in the northwest, I believe it will be completed in a few years."
"He is not needed." Zhu Youtang shook his head and said, "I can see that there is no need for him to be in charge in the northwest. His ability to recognize people is very sophisticated and unique, and he can always produce miraculous results when employing people. Whether it is Zhu Zhijie, It’s Wang Qiong and Wang Shouren who have proven time and again that he has the right vision. Even Ma Yi can let him work for him. It’s not easy.”
Xiao Jing asked: "Your Majesty wants to keep him in the capital?"
"This is natural." Zhu Youtang nodded.
Only then did Dai Yi realize that he might have said the wrong thing.
How can you kill a chicken with a bull's knife?
It is true that Zhang Zhou can take charge of the preparations for the grassland, but he does not have to let Zhang Zhou go to the northwest to take charge. Can the emperor leave Zhang Zhou now?
And he insisted on suggesting that Zhang Zhou be in the northwest, which would make the emperor feel... that he was jealous of Zhang Zhou and wanted to transfer Zhang Zhou away from the emperor. Wouldn't that be... causing trouble for himself?
"Haha, I can't help it anymore. I want to see the reaction of the ministers in the court tomorrow." Zhu Youtang stood up on the spot, suddenly as if he was very majestic, looking at the world and full of strategies, " Bingkuan has given me credit."
Dai Yi quickly said, "Your Majesty, it's time to confer a knighthood on Mr. Zhang."
Zhu Youtang said: "It is natural to give a gift, but I no longer intend to give it to any prince or uncle. If I want to give it, I will give it to the Duke of the country. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, when the prime minister of the army won the title, he would be given to the Duke of Lai."
