The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde didn't wait long. The chamberlain came to report, and King Yu invited him over.

King Yu's life is becoming more and more prosperous now, so unless something big happens in the court, he rarely goes to the front yard.

I followed the chamberlain to the inner courtyard of the palace. At this time, the surrounding area had been cleared. Except for some chamberlains, all the palace people had left.

"Meet His Highness Prince Yu."

Wei Guangde saw that King Yu Zhu Zaijing had already stood up to come over to greet him, so he hurriedly saluted him first.

King Yu showed kindness, but he could not be arrogant because of his favor, he still had to have the proper etiquette.

For such an occasion, of course there is no need to bow down, so Wei Guangde bowed deeply to King Yu.

However, this is what King Yu can do when he is still in hiding. In the future, when King Yu ascends the throne as the emperor, it will be troublesome to see King Yu report the matter.

The Ming Dynasty followed the Yuan Dynasty's system of kneeling to the emperor. All officials, regardless of their rank, had to kneel and report political affairs to the emperor. After the performance, the emperor ordered them to stand up before they could stand up.

When the emperor issued an edict, all officials would kneel to listen.

When the emperor rewards ministers, the ministers must kneel in front of the emperor to receive the gift, and then kowtow five times.

In the Ming Dynasty, when the emperor and his ministers were discussing matters, only those who reported to the emperor had to kneel down, while others stood. When the kneeling speaker finished his speech, the emperor could order him to stand up.

Thinking about it, if he had anything to say to King Yu at that time, he would have to kneel down. Wei Guangde felt that his knees might not be able to withstand it.

Fortunately, Wei Guangde was not summoned by Emperor Jiajing a few times in total, and each time he actually had nothing to report and was mostly asked by the emperor.

Later history books criticized Emperor Jiajing for not going to court for twenty years. However, based on Wei Guangde's personal experience, he quite liked this kind of emperor. He didn't have to get up early to go to court or kneel in the hall to report. He only had to write down. The article was sent to Xiyuan for everyone's convenience.

Of course, it is a common problem among civil servants in the Ming Dynasty to behave when they get a bargain.

Although everyone is fine with what Emperor Jiajing did, they still have to show their concern for the country and the people in private and complain about Emperor Jiajing's failure to go to court.

After Wei Guang Deping died, King Yu smiled and said: "Shandai, you and I are both teachers and friends, so we don't have to be so particular in private."

"I don't dare. Although His Highness has not corrected his name, he is actually the Crown Prince, and you and I are actually the monarch and his ministers."

Although he really didn't want to say these words, Wei Guangde still had to say them on this occasion.

Anyway, except for the chamberlain around King Yu, no one else was present.

"Haha, a good loan is a courtesy."

King Yu just smiled, and then asked seriously: "I wonder what the important thing is for Shandai to come here?"

Wei Guangde hesitated for a moment, organized his words, and told King Yu what he had said to Zhang Juzheng before.

"You said Ma Fang plans to lead his troops to attack the desert in the near future? A sneak attack on Anda Khan's camp?"

King Yu asked with a look of disbelief.

He had just escaped from the predicament of the cavalry raiding the capital, and within a few days, King Yu heard that Ma Fang was planning to retaliate in kind. Naturally, he was pleasantly surprised.

Over the years, Ma Fang's record was enough to reassure King Yu, so he was not immediately worried about Ma Fang's risky moves.

In fact, Ma Fang has won and lost in recent years. However, in Wei Guangde's words, of course he only talked about the victories and not the defeats. Even if he was mentioned, in Wei Guangde's mouth, it turned into a tragic victory after a bloody battle. .

Seeing King Yu's expression, Wei Guangde didn't know how to express his mood at this time.

Maybe he is too sensitive.

However, after discussing with Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde became more and more worried about Ma Fang's participation in the battle.

He didn't directly answer King Yu's question. How stupid he was. He had already made it clear.

Next, Wei Guangde told all his worries about the war, including several possibilities he mentioned in his discussion with Zhang Juzheng, detailing the victory and defeat one by one.

"Although this battle is a bit risky, the Tatars have just been wreaking havoc in the capital. I think we should retaliate this time."

Like Emperor Jiajing, the emperor and princes of the Ming Dynasty had the same attitude towards foreign enemies, which was to fight back.

After the "Gengxu Incident", Emperor Jiajing was determined to prepare his troops for the Northern Expedition to retaliate, but due to various reasons, it failed in the end.

And this time the Tatars repeated the same situation again, which naturally made King Yu excited and wanted to retaliate and take the most ruthless revenge.

"However, Shandai, your and uncle's concerns are justified."

King Yu said in a deep voice, "How do you plan to perfect this strategy for Ma Fang?"

Ma Fang is only the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, and he can only govern the Xuanfu.

This dispatch of troops will inevitably take away most of the Xuanfu's mobile troops, causing the Xuanfu's defense strength to be greatly weakened. At this time, it is indeed necessary to supplement the Xuanfu's military strength.

In fact, the most important role of the Great Wall is not to keep the enemy out as a wall, like in a siege.

The wall is thousands of miles long. Even if the Ming Dynasty filled in millions of troops for this purpose, it would actually be impossible to fill up the Great Wall.

The Great Wall is a defense system, relying on a complete defense engineering system composed of various fortifications such as city walls, watchtowers, gates, piers, camps, guards, towns, and beacon towers.

Many people in later generations believed that the Great Wall was useless. Foreign enemies could invade by opening a gap in the Great Wall and march straight in. Only people without strategic common sense believed this.

In fact, the more important role of the garrison on the Great Wall is early warning, and of course they are also combat soldiers.

When traces of the enemy are discovered, early warning begins, and at the same time, of course, resistance must be carried out. The purpose is actually just to buy some time, so that the people in the interior can step up preparations for war, and create some time to strengthen the walls and clear the fields.

It takes time to open a gap, and you also have to defend against the attack of the defenders. The strategic advantage of a sudden attack by the nomads is completely lost. The beacon tower can quickly transmit military information to a distant place, and it can also give the Central Plains region sufficient time to prepare and resist the attack.

Most nomads go to the Central Plains to plunder, and attacking cities is not their strong point. Once warning is given, the property and manpower they can grab will be greatly reduced.

Moreover, they generally did not dare to go deep into the hinterland to plunder, for fear of being cut off by the defenders at both ends of the gap.

The Ming Dynasty built a large number of forts along the Great Wall, which were actually the main fortifications to defend against the attacks of the cavalry.

These forts are as small as small cities and difficult to attack, and they are densely packed within dozens of miles behind the Great Wall.

If the Tatars broke through the border wall, they would either attack and loot these forts, or they would directly skip them and continue to penetrate deeper to launch attacks on other large cities in the interior of the Ming Dynasty. The troops in these forts would be to regain the walls and block them. The main force of its smooth retreat.

Because of this wall, when the nomads attacked the Ming Dynasty, they could not choose a place to enter at will. Instead, they had to find ways to break through the passes along the Great Wall and seize a gate.

In this way, their huge force can pass through the Great Wall smoothly, and the looted materials and people can also pass through the customs smoothly.

The purpose of supplementing Xuanfu's troops is naturally to have sufficient reserve troops to go up and expel the intruding Tatar army when the Tatars attack Xuanfu.

"My idea is to mobilize the soldiers and horses from Shanxi Town to support Xuanfu and make up for Ma Fang's lack of defense after he left."

Wei Guangde said.

"Why Shanxi Town and not Datong? The performance of Datong's general Jiang Yingxiong and his subordinates this time is also very eye-catching, and their combat power is also good."

King Yu wondered.

"It's not without reason that Governor Xuanda Jiang Dong has always chosen to be based in Datong."

Wei Guangde had no choice but to say.

"Ma Fang and Jiang Dong are at odds?"

Hearing this, King Yu frowned slightly.

Thinking of lobbying King Yu to come forward and help Xu Jie suppress Yang Bo, Wei Guangde explained to King Yu that Jiangdong wanted to transfer elite soldiers from the main barracks of Xuanfu.

When it comes to the struggle for power, King Yu has nothing to say.

Rights are rights only if you hold them in your hands.

Once it is handed over to others, it is no longer within your control.

King Yu could understand Ma Fang's reason for rejecting Jiang Dong.

"The current chief military officer of Shanxi Town is Dong Yikui. He was recommended by the Ministry of War because of his meritorious service in the war, and he has just been transferred from Xuanfu.

He has been in Xuanfu for many years and is very familiar with it. This is the right time for him to organize Shanxi troops and send reinforcements, so he can sit back and relax. "

Wei Guangde continued, but he was worried that King Yu would not understand the urgency of the matter, and added: "This matter cannot be delayed. Based on my understanding of Ma Fang, he may have already sent troops to the border wall at this time and may leave the fortress at any time."

"However, what should I do? This matter must be discussed with Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of War. It is only reasonable that the Ministry of War should take action."

King Yu is not a novice, he is just a prince. He has no right to use the army.

Moreover, this is also inviting trouble. Beware that if the father finds out about it, it is possible to abolish him on the grounds that he has ulterior motives.

"Your Highness doesn't need to do anything. Naturally, I will go to see Yang Shangshu and tell him about Ma Fang's plan to raid Beihetan in the near future. However, I think there is something wrong, so I went to him to discuss how to make up for some of the mistakes."

Wei Guangde said that he told King Yu these things, and of course he could not create any problems for him.

This is inconsistent with his image in King Yu's mind and will give people the impression of a troublemaker.

In fact, Ma Fang only mentioned it casually in his letter to clarify this battle.

But he thought it was just a passing move, but he pointed out the target of the attack, which made Wei Guangde alert. Ma Fang should have had this plan for a long time.

He wouldn't be nervous if the raid time was advanced or postponed, but at this point in time, he felt it was extremely inappropriate.

Now, this feeling has become stronger and stronger.

"Since you have this idea, why don't you come to see me? You might as well talk to Yang Shangshu directly."

At this time, King Yu also realized that this was a troublesome matter. As a prince, he could not get involved, even though Emperor Jiajing did not seem to stop him from contacting foreign generals.

"As long as it's because of Jiangdong."

Wei Guangde continued at this time: "Your Highness should know that Jiang Dong and Liu Tao are competing for the position of Governor of Ji Liao."

King Yu nodded and said, "I heard about this."

"Yang Shangshu is also in his sixties. He has privately expressed his lack of energy many times before. I guess his plan seems to be to let Jiang Dong take his place."

Wei Guangde said.

"You want to prevent Jiang Dong from becoming the governor of Ji Liao and from joining the Ministry of War."

King Yu understood a little bit, "It's just that, after all, he is the person recommended by Yang Shangshu, so it's not easy for him to interfere in this matter."

"But there is a rift between Jiang Dong and Ma Fang. If Jiang Dong takes charge of the military department, it may be detrimental to Ma Fang."

Wei Guangde answered directly.

"Do you want me to express my support for Liu Tao?"

King Yu was hesitant. Behind Liu Tao was Xu Jie, and behind Jiang Dong was Yang Bo. They were all important officials in the court.

Originally, given his character, he would naturally stay away from the competition for the position of Governor of Ji Liao and not participate in it.

But now we know the relationship between Jiang Dong and Ma Fang, and the official position of Governor Jiliao is extremely sensitive.

Indeed, if Jiangdong comes to control Jiliao, he will almost be the sure candidate to be the next Minister of War, as long as nothing else happens to him.

You must know that he has already gone through all the transitions required to be the Minister of the Ministry of War. From the Minister of the Ministry of War to the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, he is now just shy of taking over the post of Governor of Jiliao.

Wei Guangde didn't know what King Yu was thinking at this time, but he just saw him bowing his head and thinking for a long time.

Wei Guangde was not in a hurry and just waited quietly.

King Yu was also weighing the pros and cons at this time. If he got involved in this matter, he might offend Yang Bo.

As Wei Guangde said, Yang Bo is indeed considering his successor.

In fact, Xu Jie was older than Yang Bo, but in King Yu's memory, there seemed to be no news that Xu Jie wanted to become an official, and to outsiders, it seemed that Xu Jie was still very old and strong.

Thinking of this, and thinking of Ma Fang who was involved, King Yu finally made the final decision.

At this time, in Zhangjiakou, Ma Fang had already led his elite cavalry to the fortress for repairs, but the news he had been waiting for had not yet arrived.

The sneak attack on North Beach was certainly not a decision made by Ma Fang on a whim. He had actually been preparing for it for more than a year.

Not only were they sent out at night to collect terrain information along the route, but they also continuously tracked the whereabouts of Anda Khan, striving to succeed in one strike.

Anda Khan is now surrounded by armies all year round. The older a person gets, the more he cherishes his life. The ambitions he once had are no longer there, and the fearless courage has also dissipated. All that remains is the experience accumulated after a lifetime of military service, and nothing more. Unparalleled deterrence.

Ma Fang has always targeted An Dahan, so naturally he has to take all influences into consideration, even the route of the troops and the camping location, so as not to leave any loopholes.

But sometimes, being reckless and showing off your courage often leads to unexpected results. The emergence of the phrase "a wise man will make a mistake every time he thinks" also shows that adequate preparation is often the source of failure.

Now, Ma Fang has once again assembled the mobile forces he can mobilize in the Xuanfu into the Zhangjiakou Fort in the name of border patrol. He only needs to confirm the location of Anda Khan before taking action.

Prepare enough.

In his intentional or unintentional training, the Xuanfu Army had unknowingly conducted relevant simulation exercises many times.

Although there are many people participating, not many people know the complete details. This is also for the sake of confidentiality.

While he was waiting patiently, outside Zhangjiakou Pass, which was more than ten miles away from Zhangjiakou Fort, a fast horse was prancing towards the city gate with its whip raised.