Two days later, at the cathedral outside Yongding Gate in the capital, flags were fluttering, and 20,000 soldiers and horses from two battalions of Yaowu Camp and Zhenwei Camp lined up for review.
Zhu Houzhao led all the civil and military officials to the scene. After some impassioned encouragement, Zhu Houzhao declared that Zhang Yanling should be awarded the seal and ribbon and flag of the general who defeated the thieves, and he also gave Zhang Yanling a sword.
Zhu Houzhao announced that the most important task of the court now is to suppress the rebels, and everything will revolve around this matter. Since Zhang Yanling is appointed as the commander, he will be given all the military powers related to the peace of the rebels. Who dares to disobey the general of the peace of the rebels? Zhang Yanling can kill first and then report the order, and he has full authority to make the decision.
Such power was unique. Everyone understood that the emperor was really anxious. The situation was corrupt, and the emperor needed manpower to turn the tide and calm the situation quickly. For this reason, he did not hesitate to give Zhang Yanling the greatest trust and power.
It can be seen from one point that the emperor did not even send eunuchs to accompany the army when the army went on an expedition. In the past, when any army went out, in addition to the generals who led the army, the inner and outer courts had to send eunuchs and civilian officials. There is a system of checks and balances and supervision. But this time there is none.
The mood of the ministers is very complicated. On the one hand, Zhang Yanling has always had a bad impression in the minds of the officials of the inner and outer courts. Needless to say, the eunuchs headed by Liu Jin of the inner court regard Zhang Yanling as a thorn in their side and want to get rid of him quickly. The outer court has also recently expressed concern about Zhang Yanling. Zhang Yanling had quite a few criticisms.
The reason is naturally Zhang Yanling's overstepping of authority in dealing with Guangdong officials. These officials don't think about whether those officials in Guangdong should be dealt with. What they think about is the disrespect and contempt for civilian officials by the Xungui Group represented by Zhang Yanling, "putting aside the facts." .In the face of facts and self-esteem, the civil servants chose the latter. So they were very dissatisfied with Zhang Yanling.
Under such circumstances, Zhang Yanling was restored to his post and went on an expedition with great glory. This made everyone in the inner and outer court feel extremely uncomfortable. Seeing Zhang Yanling's arrogance, he was very angry.
But on the other hand, the bandits in Hebei have grown in strength, with an army of 100,000, and they have swept through more than a dozen cities in several prefectures in Hebei, with followers gathering in large numbers. This situation is causing anxiety and panic.
At this time, Zhang Yanling stepped forward to lead the army on the expedition. Of course, they also hoped that Zhang Yanling could successfully defeat the thieves and resolve the crisis facing the court.
But if Zhang Yanling succeeds, it will be a great achievement and an unpleasant thing.
Under Zhu Houzhao's hopeful eyes and the officials' contradictory eyes, Zhang Yanling held her head high, led Xu Yande, Zhang Yin, Meng Liang and other lieutenant generals to inspect the three armies, then saluted and mounted their horses. With an order, three cannons were fired, and the army set off to march. South, go straight to Bazhou.
On the way to Bazhou, Xu Yande asked Zhang Yanling about his strategy for defeating thieves. Zhang Yanling laughed and gave him four words: adapt to circumstances. Xu Yande rolled his eyes and said nothing. It felt like fighting with his brother-in-law seemed like child's play, but he could win every time. It’s really unreasonable.
But this time, before Xu Guangzuo set out for the expedition, he carefully told Xu Yande that he must obey Zhang Yanling's orders and carry out his requests to the letter. Xu Yande also knew that this time the stakes were high and he did not dare to show off.
Moreover, this was Xu Yande's first official battle as a leader. It was Xu Yande's first actual battle as a regimental battalion. Speaking of which, he was still a rookie general. He was still a little panicked. All he had to do was listen to Zhang Yanling's orders.
On March 19, the army arrived outside Bazhou City. The generals stationed in Bazhou came out of the city to greet them.
There are three guards and horses mobilized from Tianjin Three Guards and Datong Xuanfu and other places stationed in Bazhou. According to the law, these soldiers and horses even belong to Zhang Yanling. These six guards and horses have been stationed in Bazhou for more than half a month, during which there was only one attack.
, that is, they attacked Wen'an County. Later, after learning that Ma Zhongxi was defeated, they quickly retreated to Bazhou and did not dare to attack again.
When they learned that the imperial court had sent Zhang Yanling to command the troops, the generals came out of the city to greet him.
"The junior general Xu Wei has met the great general."
"The last general Zhou Liangchen has met the great general."
"The last general Jiang Bin has met the great general."
"The junior general Xu Tai has met the great general."
"The junior general Wu Hao has met the great general."
"..."
Outside Bazhou North City, all the generals paid tribute to Zhang Yanling.
Xu Wei and Zhou Liang were the commanders of the three Tianjin guards. There was another commander, Li Yun, who stayed behind in the Tianjin guards and did not follow. Jiang Bin was a border army general transferred from Datong, and Xu Tai and Wu Hao were two guards transferred from Xuanfu.
commander.
Zhang Yanling returned the salute with a smile, ordered his troops to be stationed on the spot, and led hundreds of cavalry and generals into Bazhou City.
In the lobby of Bazhou Yamen, Zhang Yanling took a short break and then held a combat meeting.
"Generals, I have been ordered to defeat the thieves and command all the troops. From today on, we are brothers fighting side by side. I have no other requirements for you. I only want you to remember one thing, and that is: Absolutely
Obey military orders without any discount. Do you understand?"
"The general will finally understand!" the generals shouted loudly.
Zhang Yanling stood behind the military case, looked at the people in front of him with cold eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Some words may sound harsh to you, but I still want to tell you. You have more experience in leading armies than me, and you have served in the army.
It has been longer than me. However, that is all in the past. Just like now, you are sitting on tens of thousands of troops, but you are watching helplessly
It is ridiculous to stand still while the rebels are raging in front of you. The three guards and horses from Tianjin are just fine. After all, they are soldiers and horses from the inland guard station and have no combat experience. But for the three guards and horses transferred from your border town
In other words, does the imperial court want you to come here to have a free meal? You are brought here to suppress the rebellion, not to let you lie down and sleep in Bazhou City."
Jiang Bin, Xu Tai and others had purple faces, embarrassed and annoyed. Originally, they were veteran generals of the frontier army. This time they were mobilized to suppress the rebellion, thinking that they could pick weak persimmons and gain military merit. Unexpectedly, their opponents were fierce.
, they actually had nowhere to start.
After Ma Zhongxi's defeat, he fled back to Bazhou. He described the bandits as cunning and unpredictable, which made them feel that they could not act rashly. If they failed, the gains would outweigh the losses. Now being pointed at the nose and scolded by Zhang Yanling in front of his face, he felt embarrassed and angry.
"Master Hou! I'll wait..." Jiang Bin said.
"Call me General. This is the army. There are no princes. I am your superior officer." Zhang Yanling shouted sternly.
Jiang Bin is tall and has a majestic appearance. He usually gives people a feeling of oppression and bullying. Even in Datong Mansion, he holds the position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief, with high power and position, and all soldiers are afraid of him. But at this moment, he was attacked by a man in his twenties.
The young man yelled harshly, his face completely unbearable. He was about to have an attack.
Xu Tai, the guard general of Xuanfu, tugged on his sleeve and told him to be patient. Zhang Yanling obviously wanted to take office and establish his authority, but he was afraid that no one would contradict him. Anyone who contradicted him at this time would be severely punished. He
The sword given by the emperor is placed on the table.
Jiang Bin sighed, held back his anger, and said in a deep voice: "The general will realize his mistake and report back to the general. The reason why we did not march is because Bazhou is in an important position and is the gateway to the capital. The imperial court has repeatedly warned us to defend it.
Bazhou, so..."
"Fart!" Zhang Yanling shouted sharply.
Jiang Bin stared at Zhang Yanling, his eyes burning.
"Not convinced? Who told you that Bazhou must be defended? You are so stupid. Bring me the map." Zhang Yanling shouted.
Zhang Yin responded and took a folded sheepskin map from the guard, helped Zhang Yanling unfold the map, and hung it on the wall of the hall.
The map is about 10 feet in diameter, very large, and the drawing is extremely delicate. And it is actually made with colored pens. The mountains, rivers and rivers are distinguished by different colors, and all the place names and rivers are marked on it in small regular script with hairpin flowers.
Although Xu Wanyi was not happy that Zhang Yanling was going to fight again, when she learned that Zhang Yanling needed to make maps of Hebei, Shandong and other places, she still hired a painter from the Duke of Dingguo and asked Xu Guangzuo to mobilize her connections and transferred her from the Hanlin Academy.
A bunch of map albums came and he spent a day and a night making this map. He gave it to Zhang Yanling before he went on an expedition.
"Everyone, please take a look. This is a partial map of Hebei, Shandong, Henan and the capital. Bazhou is here, Hebei is in the middle, Taihang Mountain is in the west, and the capital is on the top. Kaifeng Prefecture in Henan is below, and Shandong is in the southeast. I just want to ask you one question.
"Where are the imperial troops and horses?" Zhang Yanling asked, pointing at the map with her scabbard.
"Well... there are 200,000 troops in the capital. The local guards in Shandong are about the same as those in Hebei, and slightly more in Henan. They only have four guards." Xu Wei, commander of the Tianjin Zuowei, said with narrowed eyes.
"That's good. To the west is the Taihang Mountains, to the east is the sea, and the bandits are in Hebei. There are 200,000 soldiers from the capital camp and some troops from the capital. I just ask you, if it were you, what would you choose?" Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
asked.
"This... it stands to reason that we should attack at weak points." Xu Wei and others hesitated.
"That's right. A fool also knows that there are hundreds of thousands of troops in the capital, and they can get reinforcements from the border troops in Datong and Xuanfu at any time. The traitors will attack the capital? What fool would think so? If they want to survive, they will be trapped in Hebei
The land is absolutely impossible. There are not many troops in the inland and southern local guards. The most likely way for them is to take the road to Shandong or Henan.
Next, seize the land of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. It is best to occupy Nanjing and sweep across the south of the Yangtze River. Use the river as a barrier, use Nanjing as the capital, govern across the river, and establish the imperial court. Bazhou? Only attack Bazhou if you have a bad brain. Hehe, you guys stay here
It’s a waste of time here. Now we have to press harder and harder, and we can’t allow them to turn around calmly. Do you have any opinions on what I said?”
Zhang Yanling threw the sword on the table and glanced at everyone coldly.
There was silence in the hall. No matter what you think of Zhang Yanling, you have to admire his ability. In such a chaotic situation, he can clearly explain the entire situation and direction in a few words. This is his ability.
Xu Yande looked at his brother-in-law silently, feeling ashamed for all the disrespect and contempt he had shown towards his brother-in-law before. Compared with him, there was a huge difference between him and himself. No wonder his father said that in the future, the Dingguo Palace would need Zhang Yanling’s
Support and care. Obviously dad understands Zhang Yanling's ability.
"The general is in a commanding position, and what he said is true..." Xu Tai said in a deep voice.
"What the general said makes perfect sense, no no, it must be so." The other generals also said one after another.
Zhang Yanling looked at Jiang Bin and said, "Jiang Bin, are you convinced?"
Jiang Bin cupped his hands and said, "I will finally be convinced."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "A lot of time has been wasted now. I guess the bandits have already moved south. What we need to do now is to contain them in Hebei. Even if we can't contain them in Hebei, we still have to contain them."
North of the Yangtze River. Once you cross the river, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, I give an order!"
The generals raised their chests in fear and listened attentively to the order.