Xuanfu was called Shanggu in ancient times. As a large border city and the head of the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty, the town still has a lot of history in this dynasty.
In the early years of the Kingdom of China, King Gu was entrusted here. During the Zhengde Dynasty, Emperor Zhengde, who was keen on patrolling the border, built a palace in Xuanfu. The background of the folk legend about Emperor Zhengde and Sister Li Feng is in Xuanfu.
In the past, Xuanfu Town was a relatively pure military city. The residents were mainly officers, soldiers and their families, and the management was also militarized.
However, in the past twenty years, with the great development of border trade after the Longqing Peace Conference, the Xuanfu near the hinterland of the capital has also shown some signs of prosperity.
It is said that at the Zhangjiakou Bao Horse Market under the Xuanfu, the number of officially traded horses alone exceeds 30,000 each year, worth 150,000 to 200,000 taels of silver.
If we use the concept of GDP to describe it, Lin Tailai estimates that the current annual GDP of Boma City in Zhangjiakou has reached hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, and the scale will become larger and larger in the future.
It’s no wonder that in the future, the master and subordinates would change positions. The Zhangjiakou Fort, which was supposed to be a small border fort under the jurisdiction of Xuanfu Town, gradually grew bigger by relying on the border market, and eventually annexed Xuanfu.
Hundreds of years later, Xuanfu, once the head of the Nine Borders, was just a district under Zhangjiakou. This is the power of economic interests.
After Lin Tailai entered Xuanfu City from Nanguan and Changping Gate, he browsed the street scenes on both sides and listened to the explanation of the guide Hei Dazhuang.
Now Hei Dazhuang is completely convinced by this Hanlin master. This kind of temperament that does not take several pavilion elders seriously is something that others cannot learn from.
There are many institutions in Xuanfu City, the situation is relatively complicated, and Lin Tailai has no foundation here at all.
So he didn't plan to make a grand appearance when he came up. He just planned to enter the city quietly first and get a feel for the situation.
Although Lin Tailai also knew that even if he entered the city quietly, his identity could not be kept secret for a day or even a night, but he could always learn more about the local information from another angle.
Lin Tailai casually asked a few more questions about Hei Xiao, Hei Dazhuang's owner, and Hei Dazhuang immediately introduced him.
"My master is a role model for us servants! To use Mr. Lin's words, he is an idol."
"Every servant in Xuanfu City is full of admiration for my master!"
"Because my master was a top servant back then!"
Lin Tailai: ""
The best servant? Hei Dazhuang, are you serious about this? You don’t look like a time traveler, either?
After listening to a few more words, I finally understood what this "top servant" meant. It turned out that although Hei Xiao, the owner of Hei Dazhuang, was not well-known in official history, he was also a minor legend.
This man was kidnapped by the Northerners on the border when he was a child. He fled back to the Ming Dynasty in the 36th year of Jiajing when he was a young man. He had no way to make a living and could only become a servant in the Xuan Mansion.
As we all know, the servants of the military attache in Bianzhen are actually personal soldiers or family soldiers, and they are also the strongest soldiers around the military attache.
Then the legend was born. In the more than ten years from the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing to the Longqing Peace Conference, this servant named Hei Xiao participated in seven battles. In each battle, he beheaded one person and took seven heads.
Don't think that the number is small. Today's Ming Dynasty officials are very strict about the certification of heads. If you can behead hundreds of people in a battle, it can be called a great victory.
According to the current Ming Dynasty military merit system, beheading one person in Xuanfu Town can lead to a level up.
As a result, Hei Xiao started as a servant, and with the help of seven heads, he was successively promoted to the small flag, the general flag, and commanded the affairs of hundreds of households, deputy of hundreds of households, deputy of thousands of households, and thousands of households.
In other words, it only took Hei Xiao more than ten years to go from being a servant with nothing to commanding the avant-garde of the Xuanfu and guerrillas, and he still built a reputation for bravery in the Xuanfu.
In the eyes of all locals, what is a person like Hei Xiao other than "the best servant"?
When he learned about this, Lin Tailai was basically certain that Hei Xiao should be the father of Hei Yunlong, one of the northern commanders of the Chongzhen Dynasty in history.
With Lin Tailai's habit of "knowing people with a keen eye", he is still willing to give "talents" more opportunities to contact him when there is no conflict of interest.
This is one of the reasons why Lin Tailai decided to stay in Heixiao Mansion tonight.
The bell tower in Xuanfu Town is called Qingyuan Tower, the Drum Tower is called Zhenshuo Tower, and the Black Mansion is located to the west of Zhenshuo Tower.
Arriving at the gate of Hei Mansion, Hei Dazhuang stepped forward and said a few words. Suddenly the door opened, and a military attaché in his fifties quickly came out to greet him. Hei Xiao was the master of this manor.
Commander Hei knew that the imperial envoy wanted to keep a low profile for the time being, so he did not salute at the door. He only cupped his fists and bowed, and said enthusiastically: "Please come in quickly!"
Immediately, Lin Tailai and his group of more than a dozen people quickly entered the Black Mansion without staying outside.
At this time, the wrinkles on the face of the legendary military attache Hei Xiao were almost turning into chrysanthemums. He never expected that he would get such a reward by running his adopted son Hei Fenghu to take the martial arts test in the capital, and actually invite the immortal home.
This feeling is probably like buying a lottery ticket on the roadside hundreds of years later and winning a multi-million jackpot.
After sitting down in the hall, Commander Hei said: "I often tell my peers that Lin Zhuangyuan is a role model for our generation!
Others only admire Lin Zhuangyuan's talent and fame, but I only admire Lin Zhuangyuan's courage and bravery!"
Oh? Although Lin Tailai looked calm on the face, he secretly thought in his heart that this "top servant" was kidnapped to the grassland since he was a child, but he could survive for more than ten years and escape back;
After that, he was able to successfully obtain the decapitation merit seven times in a row and level up. It seems that in addition to being brave, he probably also has some strengths such as "knowing how to be a good person".
He then heard Commander Hei continue to say: "In those days, Lin Zhuangyuan was able to intimidate Jiangzuo with his military position of simply commanding the general affairs. He defeated several governors, inspectors, imperial envoys and other ministers with customs and defense duties.
Even those of us who are far away from the frontier have heard about Lin Zhuangyuan’s deeds, and we all admire him and admire him!
Therefore, Lin Zhuangyuan’s name has long been in our hearts, and Lin Zhuangyuan’s deeds are like miracles in our eyes!”
Lin Tailai felt that although Hei Xiao's words were flattering, they might contain sixty-seven percent sincerity.
After all, today's policy is to control military affairs with civilians. Civilian officials have very strong suppression power over military attachés. The loudest speakers in border towns are the governors and governors. Military attachés are generally aggrieved when facing civilian officials.
Even the Earl's son, the first-rank commander-in-chief Li Rusong, wanted to be on an equal footing with the third-rank governor Xu Shouqian when he was in Xuanfu the year before last, which caused a huge uproar and was forced to be transferred back to the capital.
It is a very coincidence that Li Rusong's incident happened in the same year as Lin Tailai's rebellion and mediation of civil unrest.
After the military attache of the Xuanfu government witnessed what happened to Li Rusong and then heard about Lin Tailai's deeds in the south, who wouldn't want to live like Lin Tailai?
A mutiny will occur if there is a disagreement, and civil unrest will occur without a word being spoken. Governors, inspectors, imperial envoys, censors, and prefects will just go ahead and do it!
Those who should be arrested should be arrested, and those who should commit suicide should commit suicide!
In the end, the court didn't do anything to Lin Tailai, and he was treated like a real man!
As a top servant, Hei Xiao is already legendary in the eyes of others.
But he truly felt that compared with the legend of Lin Zhuangyuan, he could only be said to be insignificant. Even though he was known as brave, he never had the courage to confront the governor head-on.
"How much do you know about Xu Junmen?" Lin Tailai suddenly asked.
Commander Hei was stunned, what does Lin Zhuangyuan mean?
Border towns are different from those in the mainland. The governor's military attributes are greater, so it is customary to respectfully call them military gates, and the station is called Xingyuan.
The Xu Junmen that Lin Tailai suddenly mentioned was of course referring to Xu Shouqian, the governor of Xuanfu.
Seeing Hei Xiao stunned, Lin Tailai asked maliciously: "I heard that Xu Junmen is greedy, is that true?"
Black Commander: ""
Just now, I was still admiring Lin Zhuangyuan's heroic deeds of continuously criticizing the governor. In the next moment, I heard Lin Zhuangyuan asked Governor Xu maliciously. Did he want to do it again?
No, no, this kind of counterattack seems very exciting, but if it drags you down, it will be a bit scary!
"This is what a man should do" is all fantasy and cannot be taken seriously!
Seeing Commander Hei's reaction, Lin Tailai chuckled and said: "The imperial court sent me to inspect the Xuan Mansion to investigate and impeachment matters.
Therefore, it is normal to ask local officials about Xu Junmen's situation, and it is my responsibility, so you don't need to think too much about it."
Seeing that Lin Zhuangyuan did not further press Governor Xu about the situation, Commander Hei breathed a sigh of relief.
He was afraid that Lin Zhuangyuan would force him to cause trouble, and he didn't know anything about the inside story, so he became cannon fodder in the high-level struggle.
Of course, things were not that simple. Although Lin Tailai had no enmity with Xu Shouqian, the governor of Xuanfu, Lin Tailai still planned to touch Governor Xu in order to get a good relationship with Li Rusong.
If it were other military attaches, even if they were Dukes of the country, it might not be worth paying the price to befriend them, but Li Rusong was different.
After all, in the middle period of the Wanli Dynasty, Li Rusong was the only one among the generals. Whenever there was a big war, including fighting against the Japanese, Emperor Wanli would definitely send Li Rusong to lead the army.
If you want to gain military merit or go into battle to kill Japanese enemies, you cannot avoid Li Rusong, and there is no one more useful than Li Rusong.
Therefore, Lin Tailai clearly believed that Li Rusong was worthy of his "investment". Even if he failed, he still had to let Li Rusong see his actions.
He was thinking about things in his mind and naturally changed the topic and said: "Recently, I have heard that the situation in the north is turbulent. The Sanniangzi and Zhalike on the right wing of the northern barbarians are competing for the title of King of Shunyi. What do you think the final result will be?"
Hei Xiao lived on the grassland for more than ten years when he was a teenager, and has been living in the border town since he was in his prime. It can be said that he is very familiar with the situation inside and outside the border wall.
Therefore, to Lin Tailai's question, Hei Xiao answered without hesitation: "No matter what, Lalik and Sanniangzi will definitely compromise in the end. It's nothing more than a compromise."
Lin Tailai continued to ask: "Can't they split up and fight each other?"
Hei Xiao said with great certainty: "Inside and outside the border wall of Xuanda, including the imperial court and the right wing of the Beibei, no one in the upper management wants to fight anymore!"
Lin Tailai said with great interest: "I would like to hear the details."
In this regard, Hei Xiao is considered an expert, and Rushu Jiazhen’s analysis said: “Let’s talk about the imperial court first. First, the general direction of the imperial court is to maintain peace with the right wing of the Northern Lu, and to maintain war with the left wing of the Great Khan, the leader of the Northern Lu.
In addition to reducing the pressure on the border, this also included the strategy of provoking internal strife between the right wing and the left wing of the Northern Barbarians.
Therefore, the imperial court did not want the right wing of the Northern Barbarians to fall into internal strife and chaos and decline, so that the Great Khan, the leader of the left wing of the Northern Barbarians, could regain power.
Second, if the right wing of the Northern Barbarians falls into internal fighting, there will inevitably be winners and losers.
The winner can monopolize the profits of the horse market, but the loser will definitely have to rely on border raids to obtain supplies.
For the imperial court, it would lose the significance of opening a tribute city and bring unnecessary trouble.
Therefore, the imperial court definitely hopes that the right wing of the northern barbarians will compromise internally and successfully complete the succession of King Shunyi. It does not want to change the status quo of Xuanda and the overall peace among the three parties at all."
After talking about his own side, Hei Xiao began to analyze the opposing sides of the Beibei right wing: "As for Sanniangzi and Zhelike, after nearly twenty years of enjoyment, the senior members of the Beibei right wing including them are completely inseparable from the interests of the border city.
.
In Zhangjiakou Baoguan Market alone, Beilu earns nearly 200,000 taels from selling horses every year. There are three other such horse markets in various places.
Therefore, the senior officials of the Northern Lu right wing are absolutely reluctant to give up the border market, but regarding the opening and closing of the border market, the initiative lies entirely in the hands of the Ming court, and the senior officials of the Northern Lu right wing must take into account the attitude of the Ming court.
If the Ming Dynasty is angered, then Gongshi will be gone. They cannot bear the pressure.
To put it bluntly, if someone from Beilu really caused the border market to close down, someone else might have his head chopped off and sent to the Ming Dynasty."
Lin Tailai said thoughtfully: "Your Excellency, what you are saying is that we just have to be tough on the issue of the successor of King Shunyi?"
Hei Xiao replied very definitely: "No matter how fierce the quarrel between Sanniangzi and Zalike is, even if there is a small-scale friction, we in the Ming Dynasty don't have to worry about him.
Just use the toughest attitude to force them to compromise, and then wait for the results to come out!
Lin Zhuangyuan, as an imperial envoy touring the Xuanfu, may be exposed to this matter. Sanniangzi and Zhelike may come to Lin Zhuangyuan for support.
But Lin Zhuangyuan just needs to believe me and put strong pressure on Sanniangzi and Zhalike!
If it doesn't work, we can close this year's horse market for a month, or cut off tens of thousands of taels of horse-racing silver, as a just right warning.
In the end, no matter how many compromises are made between the right wing of the Northern Banners, as long as the succession of King Shunyi is completed, Lin Zhuangyuan will be able to obtain a great service of mediation, isn't it wonderful?"
Lin Tailai happily patted Commander Hei on the shoulder and said kindly: "Old Hei, your analysis and suggestions really touched my heart and I have learned a lesson!"
Commander Hei was immediately flattered. He had been on both sides of the border for decades and had a better understanding of the mentality of the characters on both sides.
For many historical events, only basic information is recorded in historical materials.
However, the various subtle psychological states of the parties can only be guessed by their own minds, or analyzed by people like Hei Xiao who are truly familiar with the situation, but the latter is obviously more reliable than the former.
Hearing these analyzes from Hei Xiao today, Lin Tailai felt unexpectedly happy. He is indeed a top servant.
When you come to Xuanfu, in addition to fighting against Governor Xu, you will definitely have to preside over foreign affairs to gain merit.
Lin Tailai had never had a clear idea before, but after Commander Hei's analysis, he immediately had an idea.
Three people go together there must be my teacher!
It's a pity that this person is a bit "Ye Gong loves dragons", and he always admires him for daring to carry out a mutiny to depose the governor, but he gave up immediately after testing whether he wanted to join him.
