Fireworks in March, misty rain south of the Yangtze River, Jinling City is adjacent to the Yangtze River to the north, and the Qinhuai River crosses it. The humidity is too heavy, so the fog is also heavy, especially during the plum rain season, which is even more uncomfortable. On this afternoon, more than a dozen people Officials in bright red court uniforms were waiting outside the west gate in the mist, as if they were waiting for someone.
In the evening, the sound of horse hooves sounded, and a cavalry galloped over. There were hundreds of people. The leader was wearing a big red python robe and a seven-beam crown, which showed that he had an unusual status.
"Mr. Xu, you have returned to the court," a eunuch said sharply, and all the ministers behind him also saluted the visitor. There was no way, the visitor was Wei Guogong Xu Huizu, and he returned to the court victoriously. These ministers were forced to Sent to welcome you,
Xu Huizu was appointed as the general to conquer the barbarians. It has been more than a year since he went to Annan. He finally put down the rebellion in Annan. Although there are still some sporadic small rebellions that need to be suppressed, the court has many things to do and urgently urges him to return to the court. , he had no choice but to entrust Annan's affairs to his deputy and return to the court quickly.
When Xu Huizu saw that the people who came to greet him were all ministers, he was about to dismount his horse and return the courtesy, but the eunuch said: "Mr. Xu, your Majesty has urgently summoned you. You'd better go to the palace first."
Since it was an urgent summons from the emperor, Xu Huizu had no choice but to bow to his colleagues, ride his horse into the city, and rush into the palace all the way. Even the guards from the imperial city and the palace city did not stop him, and directly let him ride into the palace. The cavalry in the palace city, this It can be regarded as a very high privilege. You must know that the rules in the Ming Dynasty palace are very strict. Even first-class veterans have to walk into the palace.
Xu Huizu didn't have time to sigh. He was thinking about how to respond to the emperor's call. Although he was in Annan, he was also very well-informed. He was the first to know about major events that happened in the imperial court, and the imperial court was in the north. He was defeated one after another on the battlefield and lost troops and generals, which made him very worried.
It wasn't just Xu Huizu who was worried about state affairs. Emperor Jianwen was also so worried that his face had lost a lot of weight. As soon as Xu Huizu arrived, he immediately summoned him at the Qianqing Palace. After giving him praise, he asked about strategies to pacify Peking. Xu Huizu was not in a hurry. Instead of answering, he asked the Ministry of War to show him a summary of the war in the north.
Qi Tai, Minister of the Ministry of War, was also present. He was well prepared and immediately handed some battle reports to Xu Huizu. Xu Huizu glanced over them in a hurry, but his brows were furrowed because he discovered that the Ming army had been involved in the "counter-insurgency" battle not long ago. , hundreds of thousands of troops were lost. These people were either killed in battle or captured. In fact, the remaining garrison troops in Shandong, Shanxi and other places were less than 100,000. In addition, many military households fled, and the number of troops available for requisition was even pitiful. ,
Xu Huizu knew that it was impossible to pacify the Peking Army with only 100,000 people, because the will of the Shuntian Mansion people to defend the city was so terrifying. Even if the Peking City alone was besieged by 200,000 troops, it could be defeated without a garrison. It lasted for a year and a half, and the Peiping army was already like wolves and tigers. Even if there were two to three hundred thousand troops, they would have to be extra careful to have any chance of victory.
"Does Xu Aiqing have a good strategy for defeating thieves?" Emperor Jianwen asked anxiously when he saw Xu Huizu frowning and saying nothing.
Xu Huizu shook his head and said: "The existing troops in the north are insufficient. Four hundred thousand troops are needed to quell the Peiping rebellion."
"Four hundred thousand," before Emperor Jianwen could say anything, Qi Tai, Minister of the Ministry of War, was dumbfounded. The imperial court had suffered successive defeats in the past few years and lost countless troops, money and food. Even if they could force 400,000 people to recruit them at one time, they would not be able to collect so much money and food. and weapons,
"If we don't have 400,000 troops, I can't guarantee victory." Xu Huizu thought for a moment and then said, "If we want to train elite soldiers again, we don't need 400,000 troops. It's just that elite soldiers cannot be trained in a day."
"Now that the Liao army has fought to the death with the Peiping rebels, the Peiping rebel army will definitely be severely damaged. It will take so many troops to quell it," Emperor Jianwen asked with some disbelief,
"The leader of the Peiping thieves is good at winning over people's hearts, and the people in Shuntian Prefecture are all using him. Even if the bandit army is completely wiped out, the leader of the thieves can use the power of the entire city to defend Beiping City. If there are not hundreds of thousands of troops to surround it, it is probably impossible to attack it.
If the city cannot be captured for a long time, and the Peiping thieves turn to the Tartars for help, our army will be attacked from both sides, and the battle situation will become more dangerous."
"Your Majesty, the imperial court can first send a letter to Guilichi, the leader of the Tatar tribe, to show his kindness and power, so that he can become a naturalized member of our court, which will cut off the retreat of the Peiping thieves," Fang Xiaoru on the side said matter-of-factly. He thought that the Tatars
The leader of the tribe is a big boss, and he can be sold as long as he is given an official position and some benefits.
Of course, Xu Huizu was not as naive as Fang Xiaoru. He glanced at Fang Xiaoru with disdain and said: "Tatars have greedy ambitions and cannot be accepted by an imperial edict."
"If you don't give it a try, how will you know what you can't do?" Huang Zicheng on the side said to Fang Xiaoru,
"Even if the edict is successful, it will take a lot of time to send envoys back and forth, and the thieves in Peiping are already rampant before our eyes. We are just trying to make ends meet. How can water far away save the fire nearby?" Although Xu Huizu said calmly, he was secretly speaking.
He scolded Fang Qihuang and others as ignorant people.
But it's no wonder that as the pillars of the country, Fang Qi, Huang and others have performed really poorly. They have made almost no political achievements, and they are also confused in the military. If Xu Huizu was the emperor, he would have sent these scholars who were causing harm to the country to the
They went to the frontier to continue their "further studies" and taught them what it meant to be in a difficult world.
It's a pity that Xu Huizu is not the emperor. He has no say in the court.
"The thieves in Peiping are so rampant, Xu Aiqing really has no good strategy to defeat the thieves," Emperor Jianwen asked,
"There are no good policies, only regular ones. Our dynasty has been fighting for years, and the national strength is difficult to support. It is time to rest and recuperate. The north should focus on defense and should not rush to raise troops. Now that the troops in the north are insufficient, it is more important to defend the territory, train troops and prepare for war, waiting for the Liao army
When you are fighting with the Peiping thieves and both sides suffer, then you can try something else."
"Standing firm, isn't this just sitting back and watching the Peiping thieves gain power?" Qi Tai asked rhetorically. As representatives of the civil service group, Fang, Qi, and Huang were very disgusted with the strategy of leading the Liao army to attack the Peiping army, because in their view, abandoning Shanhaiguan
It is no different from being a traitor to the country. It will definitely leave a bad name in history. How could they do such a thing if they love face so much?
But this time, Emperor Jianwen unexpectedly ignored the objections of Fang Qihuang and others, agreed to Xu Huizu's suggestion, and gave up Shanhaiguan and Yongping Mansion. This shows that Emperor Jianwen no longer obeyed Fang Qihuang and others.
Well, for Fang, Qi, and Huang, and for the civil service group they represented, this was a dangerous signal, so many petty officials below kept using switches to manipulate the enemy and attack Xu Huizu for colluding with the King of Liao.
,with bad intentions,
But it's no wonder. In the final analysis, all struggles are power struggles. Under the righteous appearance of civil servants, they are not necessarily worried about the country and the people. Many times they are just worried about the hair on their heads and hands.
power over
However, in terms of worldly sophistication, Emperor Jianwen was still at the level of a primary school student. He had heard such attacks many times, and he also felt that Xu Huizu might have different intentions. This time Xu Huizu asked for 400,000 troops, which made him even more suspicious.
However, doubts were doubts. Emperor Jianwen still had to use Xu Huizu. After all, there was only one general available in the court. Therefore, he frowned and asked: "The court cannot just sit back and watch the Peking thieves become powerful. Does Xu Aiqing have any strategies to suppress it?"
"The strategies to suppress are: first, cut off their money and food to make them have internal relations; second, cut off their arms and make them trapped outside; third, win their hearts and make them chaotic." Xu Huizu certainly had some plans in mind, but these plans If he wants to succeed, he must personally coordinate the implementation.
After hearing what Xu Huizu said, Emperor Jianwen finally felt confident. Just as he was about to ask more questions, a eunuch hurriedly came to the palace and said, "Urgent report, Jinyi Guards urgent report."
"Read," Emperor Jianwen said somewhat depressedly, because these days, most of the urgent reports were reports of military defeats, which made him extremely depressed.
The eunuch in the hall opened the door to study, but this time Emperor Jianwen was overjoyed after hearing this, because Qianhu, the Jinyiwei who was sent to Zhending Mansion to investigate the enemy's situation, reported: According to the internal report in Beiping City, it was learned that Wan Lei, the leader of the Peiping thieves, was killed in the battle formation. After suffering heavy losses, the Peiping thieves were now leaderless.
"Okay, okay, okay," Fang Qihuang and others cheered when they heard the news. Fang Xiaoru even quoted from the scriptures and cursed Wan Lei for being rebellious and unethical. He deserves to be blamed by God.
"Since the leader of the Peiping bandit has been seriously injured, our army will take advantage of the situation and attack the bandit's lair. We will surely defeat the bandit in one battle," Qi Tai said happily,
"What Mr. Qi said is absolutely true. Our army still has hundreds of thousands of troops and horses in the north. If we attack with all our strength, we will definitely wipe out the Peking thieves," Huang Zicheng also said,
Xu Huizu didn't take everything for granted like Fang Qihuang. He still asked with a cautious look: "Where does this news come from? Is it true?"
"This news was confirmed by an insider in Beiping City. It cannot be false. There are actually people in Beiping City who are willing to act as insiders. This shows that the Peiping thieves are really unpopular." Fang Xiaoru began to expand on it and continued to curse the Peiping thieves for their treason and wickedness. The sky is angry and people are complaining.
Xu Huizu was naturally not in the mood to listen to this. He was about to say more when suddenly there was a rumbling thunder in his ears. His heart trembled instinctively, and he suddenly remembered something and shouted: "Guard,"
As Xu Huizu finished speaking, he heard another whistling wind, followed by several violent bombardments from not far away. The ground shook violently, and a violent explosion wave was directly launched. On the weft tent in the court hall, rocks and flying sand directly hit his face, and Emperor Jianwen, who was sitting in the main hall, was so shocked that he rolled down from the dragon chair.
"Artillery, it's artillery bombardment. Hurry, quickly protect His Majesty and leave the palace." Xu Huizu crawled to the side of Emperor Jianwen, helped Emperor Jianwen who was still in a daze, and left.
And at this moment, another rumbling sound came from the Purple Mountain in the south, and countless slings and stones bombarded the palace city. The entire palace city suddenly became a mess, and the palace ladies and eunuchs were screaming and running around... .
"Is there a short way out of the palace?" Xu Huizu pulled a dazed eunuch closer to him and asked urgently, because the Qianqing Palace is located at the head of the three back palaces, in the middle of the palace, too far from the gate of the palace, where artillery fire In the stormy environment, Xu Huizu could not guarantee his safe escape from the palace.
"Yes, Emperor Taizu Gao left a secret passage out of the palace." The eunuch was also surprised and immediately led the way.