From all aspects, Fang Zhenshan is a very contradictory person. .
He was originally a scholar, but he abandoned literature to join the military and joined the army to worship a general. He was obviously a military attache, but he still maintained a scholar's way of thinking. Fang Zhenshan, who was between civil and military officials, had different advantages of both civil and military officials in the Ming Dynasty.
At the same time, they also had their own shortcomings as civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty, such as the caution, shrewdness and indecisiveness of the Ming Dynasty civil servants, and the pragmatic style and self-respect of the border military attachés, all of which were reflected in Fang Zhenshan.
Since he served as the garrison commander of Guyuan Military Town, Guyuan Military Town has gradually been marked by Fang Zhenshan! He is low-key, cautious, puts self-preservation first, and constantly accumulates strength!
Over the years, Guyuan Military Town has always actively responded to the calls and orders of the governors of the three sides without touching its own interests. It can be said to be a model for the border army. However, if the orders of the governors of the three sides violate the interests of Guyuan Military Town,
Guyuan Military Town will find various reasons to delay and do nothing, but under Fang Zhenshan's cautious methods, the Trilateral Governor's Mansion often cannot find any faults and can only do nothing.
But no matter what, Fang Zhenshan would never openly violate the orders of the Trilateral Governor's Office.
It is precisely because of this that Fang Zhenshan was hesitant after receiving seven official documents from Zhao Junchen.
"If things were so simple, then I wouldn't be in such a dilemma now! You guys, you don't understand the brilliance of our imperial envoy's methods at all!"
While sighing and shaking his head, seeing that most of the people were confused, Fang Zhenshan slowly and patiently explained: "As I said just now, among these seven official documents, except for the first and last two official documents, the other five official documents seem to be
It’s dazzling, but in fact it’s just to boost the morale of the frontier troops and force us to actively challenge and confront the Mongols head-on! It’s not only to boost the morale of us upper-level military attachés, but also to boost the morale of the lower-level frontier troops!”
Speaking of this, Fang Zhenshan frowned slightly: "The team sent by the Governor's Mansion to deliver the official documents are not ordinary low-level officials, but the imperial guards under Zhao Junchen, and many elite forbidden troops are accompanying them. Their target
It’s not just about sending official documents! This time our Guyuan Military Town welcomed a total of five Jinyi Guards and twenty elite Imperial Guards. After they handed the official documents from the Governor’s Mansion into my hands, they did not leave Guyuan Military Town immediately.
Instead, they stayed and posted announcements everywhere in the military town, constantly publicizing the contents of the announcement! The content of the announcement was not much different from the official documents in our hands, but it directly faced the bottom border troops... Moreover, look at their
It seems that we may stay for a long time, not only to continue to agitate the emotions of the frontier soldiers at the bottom, but also to monitor our every move and report the situation to the Governor's Mansion at any time!"
As he spoke, Fang Zhenshan sighed again and continued: "Right now, I am afraid that many low-level border troops have seen the announcement from the Governor's Mansion and been instigated by the Imperial Guards and the Forbidden Army.
This move must be to make them grateful, because many of them must be ready to take action on the generous rewards promised by the Governor's Mansion! Obviously, Zhao Junchen wants to bypass us and directly win the support of the lower-level frontier soldiers. This is the bottom line.
It’s a plan! So, if we want to violate the orders of the Governor-General’s Mansion, we may encounter backlash from the bottom-level border troops. This is something we must consider!
The situation we are facing in Guyuan Military Town is even more complicated. A few days ago, I sent 300 private soldiers to support Zhang Shengde, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and escorted him to meet the imperial envoy Zhao Junchen, so these 300 private soldiers also suffered the same fate.
After being attacked by the Mongols, all of them have now gained rich military exploits. When the Governor's Mansion was awarding rewards, their names were all on the list. Everyone had achieved amazing gains. The soldiers in the military town looked at the comrades who had been with them day and night in the past.
What would you think if you suddenly rose to prominence and were rewarded with millions of dollars?... And after the governor-general sent the Mongolian heads and prisoners to Guyuan for display, the emotions of the frontier soldiers would be even harder to control! At that point
At that time, with the pressure from the Governor-General's Mansion to supervise the war, and the active request for war from the frontier soldiers, how could we sit still?"
After hearing Fang Zhenshan's explanation, everyone in the lobby also frowned.
Deputy Commander-in-Chief Ma Hancheng showed an unruly attitude and said in a vicious voice: "How can the Mongols be easy to deal with? In these years, when have we taken advantage? Not to mention that the situation this year is particularly serious! Mr. Commander-in-Chief, we must not do this.
Let the imperial envoy Zhao Junchen do whatever he wants! What he did was obviously to interfere in the internal affairs of our military town! According to the view of his humble position, no matter whether he is a royal guard or a forbidden soldier, we must not allow them to stay here and unscrupulously incite the morale of the army.
Since they haven't caused much impact yet, just find a reason to send troops to send them out of the country as 'gifts'! Just do it neatly and it will be over!"
Fang Zhenshan glanced at Ma Hancheng, shook his head and said: "If this approach was feasible, I would have sent troops long ago! But today is different from the past! The person in charge of the overall situation of Shaanxi and Gansu is not Wang Zheng or Liang Fuchen! But the imperial envoy
Zhao Junchen! This person is an imperial envoy and represents the justice of the imperial court. If I forcibly drive away his people, I will be disobeying the imperial court and will definitely encounter trouble in the future! In addition, Zhao Junchen is different from the previous trilateral governors.
The governor wants to gain a foothold in Shaanxi-Gansu and cannot do without our support, so he will not dare to offend the military town at will. However, Zhao Junchen will not stay in Shaanxi-Gansu for a long time, so he can take revenge unscrupulously! ...The most important thing is
What’s more, Zhao Junchen has military power in his hands!”
Then, Fang Zhenshan's expression became more serious and he said in a solemn voice: "Now, Zhao Junchen has taken control of Huamachi Camp and killed Shi Song, the commander-in-chief of Huamachi Camp. This means that Zhao Junchen has taken over the leadership of Huamachi Camp."
The army, including more than 5,000 private soldiers carefully trained by Shi Song and others! According to the official documents of the Governor's Mansion, headed by the two garrison generals from Yulin and Ningxia, more than 20 military attachés from the two military towns have already come to Zhao
Junchen donated 5,000 private soldiers... In addition, the 50,000 elite forbidden army reinforcements sent by the imperial court were obviously following Zhao Junchen's lead... Compared with the Governor's Mansion, we are already at a disadvantage in terms of strength! If our attitude is
He was too tough and lost his face, so I'm afraid he won't be able to gain any advantage... I have to admire Zhao Junchen's methods. All the military attachés in Guyuan Military Town have spent many years of hard work, but they have only managed to maintain a total of more than ten thousand private soldiers, but
It has only been a few days since Zhao Junchen entered Shaanxi and Gansu, but his strength has already surpassed that of ours!"
As Fang Zhenshan finished speaking, everyone present fell silent.
Among the Shaanxi-Gansu border troops, they have always valued strength and respected the strong. Zhao Junchen's current military strength is stronger than theirs. If they want to resist, they naturally lack the confidence in their hearts.
Ma Hancheng gradually became irritable and said: "The governor-general wants to force us to fight the Mongols, but this will never work! It will not do us any good, but it will be a waste of troops! The messenger from the governor-general is trying to confuse the morale of the army, and we must find a way to stop it.
If it really doesn't work, come here! You can't let them do whatever they want!"
Fang Zhenshan's expression was still hesitant. After being silent for a long time again, he slowly said: "It's best to consider this matter in the long term. The current situation is sensitive. Zhao Junchen's vision and means are superb, and he has the righteousness and strength of the Governor's Mansion and the Imperial Envoy."
Advantage, it’s best not to offend easily!”
Seeing Fang Zhenshan's statement and Fang Zhenshan's hesitation, Zhang Wenqi, the governor of Guyuan, sighed in his heart.
Prudence and meticulousness have always been Fang Zhenshan's greatest advantage. The stable development of Guyuan Military Town in recent years is largely due to this advantage of Fang Zhenshan. However, caution and meticulousness are often synonymous with foresight and foresight. Now, Zhao Junchen's sudden attack, Bu
He pressed forward step by step, but seemed too hesitant.
Although Zhang Wenqi is a civilian official, Guyuan Military Town is under the rule of Guyuan Prefecture. The jurisdictions of the two sides overlap and their interests are entangled. They have long been one and the same. Now, after receiving the official document from the Governor's Office, he is also standing in Guyuan Military Town.
Consider the position.
Seeing that Fang Zhenshan still had no idea, neither this nor that would work, it would only make people frustrated. After Zhang Wenqi thought for a moment, he suddenly changed the subject and said: "My lord, according to my opinion, the Governor's Mansion wants to
To force us to take the initiative to confront the Mongols, we not only encourage military morale, but also send people to monitor us. This seems to put us in a dilemma, but it is not a top priority! As you said before, His Majesty does not want Zhao Junchen to interfere with military power.
, after learning that Zhao Junchen took over the defense of Shaanxi and Gansu, a new imperial envoy will soon be sent to replace Zhao Junchen to take charge of the border defense plan! So we just need to delay it as much as possible. If we are really forced too hard, we can do it as soon as possible.
If we fight against the Mongols a few times, we won't suffer much loss. As long as the new imperial envoy takes over from Zhao Junchen, everything will be solved!"
Hearing Zhang Wenqi's statement, Fang Zhenshan nodded slightly and said slowly: "That's the only way it can be... But I always feel that even if the imperial court sends a new imperial envoy to replace Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen may not hand over power easily! But
In any case, as long as it is delayed until that time, our pressure will be relieved a lot... There will always be some reckless people rushing to be the first and directly disobeying Zhao Junchen's orders. Then we can observe Zhao Junchen's reaction. We still
Just wait and watch it turn into something better!”
Zhang Wenqi said: "My lord, the top priority now is actually the last official document! Zhao Junchen wants to mobilize elite private soldiers from Guyuan Military Town to form a new army of soldiers. We need to express our attitude as soon as possible on this matter!"
As soon as Zhang Wenqi finished speaking, Deputy Commander Ma Hancheng seemed to have been stepped on and immediately jumped up and said: "This matter is even worse! Our private soldiers have spent countless hard work, money and food, and finally we have what we have now.
Why should he dedicate his strength to Zhao Junchen? Although Zhao Junchen said that he would compensate us with soldiers, horses, and money for recruiting soldiers, but who knows whether he can keep his word? Besides, the money for soldiers, horses, and money for recruiting soldiers are very important to the thousands of households below.
It may be attractive to hundreds of households, but it’s nothing unusual in our eyes!”
This time, Fang Zhenshan didn't hesitate too much and directly supported Ma Hancheng's opinion, saying: "We really can't hand over private soldiers to Zhao Junchen. I'm not worried that Zhao Junchen will break his promise. I really don't want to see Zhao Junchen."
The strength of the troops in his hands has further increased! Now Zhao Junchen's strength cannot be underestimated. If we hand over our private soldiers to him again, the border army generals everywhere will definitely follow suit. In this way, Zhao Junchen's
With 20,000 private soldiers and the support of 50,000 elite forbidden troops, we can completely overwhelm the four major military towns, and we will completely lose our ability to compete. By that time, no matter how many soldiers, armor, horses and
What can we do with the money for recruiting soldiers? Are we not allowed to be driven and controlled by Zhao Junchen? What if Zhao Junchen forces us to die?"
Seeing Fang Zhenshan's firm attitude this time, Zhang Wenqi couldn't help but be stunned.
But soon, Zhang Wenqi put forward his own opinion and asked: "The concerns of the Commander-in-Chief are indeed reasonable! But now we cannot directly violate Zhao Junchen's order, so how should we respond to this official document?"
Fang Zhenshan had obviously made up his mind this time and said: "Of course it is the same as the previous official documents, expressing support! Although Zhao Junchen asked us for private soldiers, this was not clearly mentioned in the official document after all! So we
We can transfer some ordinary border troops to the Governor's Mansion, which can be regarded as following Zhao Junchen's order. We insist that these ordinary border troops are the elite of Guyuan Military Town, and Zhao Junchen will not be able to do anything to us in a short time!"
After a pause, Fang Zhenshan hesitated for a moment and then added: "However, this matter cannot be too perfunctory, otherwise it will seem like we are deliberately humiliating Zhao Junchen to prevent Zhao Junchen from becoming angry... Deputy Commander Ma just said
The argument is very reasonable. The armor, horses and recruitment money that Zhao Junchen compensated are not particularly important to us high-level military attachés in the military town, but they are still very cost-effective for the thousands of households below. So if it is
Thousands of households plan to donate their private soldiers to Zhao Junchen, so we don’t have to stop them. The private soldiers under their command are only a few dozen people, and they can’t gather much strength. Even if they give some of them to Zhao Junchen,
Zhao Junchen can't increase his strength much, but he can just use these private soldiers to decorate his appearance and save the two sides from fighting. However, it is best not to participate in the high-level military attachés in the military town. The strength of Guyuan Military Town must be guaranteed, otherwise in the future
It’s up to Zhao Junchen to decide!”
Fang Zhenshan's decision was considered well thought out. Everyone in the lobby was convinced and stood up to express their agreement!
However, just after Fang Zhenshan finally made a decision based on the seven official documents sent by the Governor's Mansion, a soldier from the General Military Mansion suddenly entered the lobby in a hurry and handed Fang Zhenshan a letter, saying: "Master General Soldier
, This is a secret letter sent by Mr. Zhang, the governor of Shaanxi."
Fang Zhenshan was slightly startled, but he did not dare to neglect it and quickly reached out to take the secret letter and opened it to check.
Fang Zhenshan was an officer who abandoned civil service to join the military, while Zhang Shengde was a civil servant who was familiar with military strategy. Guyuan Military Town was under the jurisdiction of the governor of Shaanxi. The two sides shared many common languages and had a very close relationship on weekdays.
Therefore, after Fang Zhenshan saw the secret letter sent by Zhang Shengde, he attached great importance to it. Now that Zhang Shengde is at Huamachi Camp, Fang Zhenshan also hopes to learn more about Zhao Junchen's character and style through Zhang Shengde's secret letter.
However, when he read the secret letter carefully, Fang Zhenshan's expression began to change, sometimes a little shocked, sometimes a little gloomy, it seemed that the news in the secret letter was very shocking.
After Fang Zhenshan finished reading the secret letter, he took a long breath and hesitated again.
After Ma Hancheng saw Fang Zhenshan's appearance, he couldn't help but ask: "Master General, what exactly did Governor Zhang's secret letter say?"
Fang Zhenshan looked around at everyone present and did not answer Ma Hancheng's question. After a long silence, he suddenly gritted his teeth and said: "The decision just now is invalid! In Guyuan Army Town, everyone from me to the next has deployed more than 40% of their private soldiers.
Gather them together and hand them over to the Commander-in-Chief of the Governor's Palace!"
