Chapter 720: People Float Outside the Great Wall and Lost Contact (Part 1)
Given the distance between Datong and the capital, urgent documents can be delivered within a day or two.
Before the Northern Army retreated, the governor of Datong and the general military officer jointly issued a memorial to impeach Governor Xuanda, which was related to the safety of the border towns and urgently required the court to deal with it to prevent the situation from suddenly deteriorating. This was a "six hundred miles urgent matter"
"It's official.
Theoretically, after such a level memorial reaches the capital, it must be delivered directly to the emperor no matter what time it is.
Even if the palace doors were locked late at night, the memorials would still be sent into the palace through the crack in the door, and then the emperor would be woken up to read them.
However, since the power of the cabinet was expanded and the cabinet academicians entered the Zhiwuyi Palace, the memorials were often seen by the academicians first.
Late at night, at midnight, Xia Yan, the first assistant, had gone to bed early, but Yan Song, the great scholar, was still diligently practicing Qingci.
Then, when the "Four Major Crimes Against Qin Dewei in Impeaching Governor-General Xuan Da Military Affairs" was delivered, it fell into Yan Song's hands.
Mr. Yan Ge counted the time and estimated that Emperor Jiajing had not gone to bed at this time, so he continued to wait with the memorial.
It was not until the fourth watch that Yan Song picked up the memorial, walked slowly to the gate of Renshou Palace, and asked the eunuch to call Emperor Jiajing to read the memorial.
A person who has just fallen into a deep sleep and is woken up must be in a bad mood, let alone a person with the character of Emperor Jiajing.
Then seeing such an irritating memorial, Emperor Jiajing immediately fell into a state of rage.
Very good, all this is based on Mr. Yan Ge's prediction, using the emperor's emotions to manipulate people or even kill people, this is Mr. Yan Ge's specialty in history.
Then Emperor Jiajing immediately sent an order to summon all the civil and military ministers who had entered the Zhiwuyi Palace to discuss matters in the front hall of the Renshou Palace. Even Zhang Chao, the Minister of Rites, was summoned.
Under the bright candlelight, Emperor Jiajing's face was a little flushed, maybe because he was angry.
Emperor Jiajing handed the memorial to the ministers and said angrily: "Qin Dewei is ungrateful!"
The ministers except Yan Song were all speechless after hastily circulating the memorial.
The people who can stand here, no matter the king or the minister, are not stupid. It is not that easy to deceive them all.
However, the facts are listed so clearly in this memorial, without any vagueness or concealment.
Then everyone can only think that what is written in it is probably true. Otherwise, we would not have the guts to write it so clearly. Lies that can be exposed as soon as they are exposed are meaningless.
Not to mention that it was jointly signed by the governor and the commander-in-chief. It might be possible for one person to go crazy, but it is impossible for two people to go crazy together.
Then everyone understood the reason for the emperor's anger. It really wasn't because he was woken up in the middle of the night.
A deeply trusted person is assigned to an important position at a critical moment. Not to mention how much he has accomplished, but he must at least stabilize the situation, right?
As a result, the reward seems to be deliberate corruption, and even selfish collusion with the enemy to make profits. How can the emperor not be angry?
Not to mention, Emperor Jiajing had just been slapped in the face by Beilu and was feeling aggrieved. As a result, Qin Dewei acted as if he had been slapped in the face again. He might even have thoughts of killing someone.
Many people are beginning to wonder, is Qin Dewei too arrogant, and things will begin to turn upside down?
Throughout history, there are many such examples. Many historical figures miraculously rose to glory for a while, and then suddenly began to commit suicide, such as Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty.
This year is indeed a big political year. Maybe the post-Qin Dewei era is coming?
Thinking about it, it's a bit of a pity. Although Qin Dewei is very sharp in dealing with people, he is also very sharp in dealing with business. I don't know how many troublesome problems he has helped the cabinet solve with "kindness".
Only Zhang Chao, the Minister of Rites, had no choice but to stand up and help the unscrupulous disciple who was impeached to defend himself: "This is just a pacifying statement, which allows Qin Dewei to defend himself."
He didn't know what the situation was on the front line, so he could only say this to give Qin Dewei a chance.
Guo Xun took the opportunity to say: "Qin Dewei has entered the northern part of the Great Wall and will not come back until he wanders around for ten days and a half. How can he defend himself in the vast desert and his whereabouts are unknown?"
Emperor Jiajing glanced around and issued an order: "Guo Xun went to Datong Town as an imperial envoy. After verifying the situation, he escorted Qin Dewei back to Beijing!"
Governor Qin, who was already outside the Great Wall and had lost contact, would not care too much even if he knew the actions behind the scenes of Governor Datong.
Because sometimes, everyone is simply a creature of different dimensions. A thought from a higher-dimensional creature can destroy everything of a lower-dimensional creature.
After Datong's right guard led 5,500 elite cavalry and several servants out of the border wall, Qin's governor did not immediately urge the army to move forward.
Instead, they just wandered for more than half a day, only a few dozen miles out of the fortress. In the afternoon, they ordered the entire army to rest.
It has to be said that it is really difficult to go to the outside of the Great Wall. Even Governor Qin, who is as noble as a bachelor and governor, is not very comfortable.
In fact, neither the Chinese Army officer Jin Ruquan, the flag officer Li Zi, nor General Bai who led troops from Xuanfu Town for reinforcements could not quite understand the thinking of Commander Qin.
Generally speaking, the Governor of Xuanda sat in the center of Yanghe City and commanded, so he never went out to the fortress in person. But the key point was that he didn't see any important goals worthy of the governor's departure.
All we can say is that this is probably "doing politics". This mission is not a military mission, but a political mission.
Look, after only walking a few dozen miles, I ordered a two-hour rest, just like taking a walk. After two hours, it was approaching evening, so why not continue camping and rest?
Of course, the officers and soldiers had no objection to resting and carried out this order very seriously.
Seeing that it was dusk, Superintendent Qin suddenly asked all battalion officers above the management level to go to the Chinese army tent for a meeting.
In the Ming Dynasty's camp system, a team of fifty men had a team of officers. In an army of 5,500, there were more than 100 battalion officers above the team officers.
After all the battalion officers gathered together, Commander Qin came out of the central military tent and ordered: "Immediately throw away all the baggage. All officers and soldiers only carry three days of dry food each, and set off immediately to attack all night long!"
This order came so unexpectedly and suddenly that the battalion officers were completely unprepared and did not react for a moment.
Moreover, this order is not confusing. Where is Bensui?
Commander Qin asked his soldiers to unfold the large map and called all the battalion officers above the commander-in-chief.
Standing in front of the big map, the general manager saw a place marked with a mark in the empty desert.
Governor Qin pointed to the mark and said: "The target is here, three hundred miles away from us! We have to march overnight and we can arrive tomorrow!"
General Bai from Xuanfu Town couldn't help but ask, "What is this place?"
Governor Qin replied simply and clearly: "It should be the lair of the chief, Anda!"
Commander Bai couldn't help but be stunned, "How did the supervisor determine this?"
After the Ming Dynasty retreated within the border wall, its intelligence collection efforts on the north dropped sharply.
In addition, the tribes in the north are constantly fighting each other, with numerous changes, and the king's flag changing at every turn, which makes the Ming Dynasty often confused.
In recent years, it is only known that the chief Anda crossed the Yellow River from Hetao, expanded eastward, and occupied the ancient Fengzhoutan area to station herders.
However, this so-called Fengzhou Beach is a large area with a radius of several hundred miles, and it is impossible to determine exactly where Anda's lair is.
So how did Governor Qin know?
Qin Dewei said proudly: "I know astronomy from the top and geography from the bottom. This time I was ordered to capture the prisoners, and a god came to me in my dream to point out the location of the thieves' nest!"
Only then did all the battalion officers fully understand that the superintendent went out to the fortress under the pretext of burning wasteland, but in fact the real purpose was to "destroy the nest."
Destroying nests, like burning wasteland, was one of the tactics used by the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers to fight against the Northern invaders. As the name suggests, they were to find the nests where the Northern invaders lived and launch an attack.
In the early years of the Republic of China, General Lan Yu's Battle of Yuerhai, and Emperor Taizong Wen's several northern expeditions were essentially raids on the nest.
But later on, the Ming Dynasty couldn't handle it so much, and the nest-breaking was relatively minor. The most famous one was the Battle of Weining Sea in the Chenghua Dynasty.
In recent years, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have been tired of defending the border wall, and they have not launched a campaign to destroy the nest for many years.
Unexpectedly, today, all the camp officers suddenly heard that they were going to destroy the nest again. They couldn't help but look at each other. Could it be that the supervisor was joking?
Inspector Qin emphasized: "Do you think that I, the Inspector, would make fun of your own safety?"
Then he pointed at the map again and said: "The chief's lair is right here. A lot of achievements are waiting for you to get it!"
I have to say that the map is relatively rough, especially in Saibei beyond the border wall, where there are many blank spaces.
According to the scientific and archaeological conclusions of later generations, the base camp in the middle and early stages of Anda's dominance was not in the Guihua City as it was known to later generations.
The real home base of the Anda tribe was in the area between Baotou and Hohhot in later generations, that is, the Tumut Right Banner area.
In the original time and space, during the 30 to 40 years of Jiajing, Ida relied on Han craftsmen to build Dabansheng City in the base camp, while Guihua City was built even later.
Therefore, based on the archaeological location of Dabansheng City in the future, it can be inferred that the specific location of Anda's current lair should be a place called Meidaizhao in Tumed Right Banner in later generations.
Fortunately, the directions of the mountains and rivers on the map are basically believable. After all, these are fixed marks that cannot be escaped.
Qin Dewei guessed the location of Anda's old nest based on the Yellow River, Daqing Mountain and other geographical locations.
The error should be no more than a few dozen miles, which is acceptable. After all, the Beibei live in pursuit of water and grass, and it is normal to move back and forth for dozens of miles. When they get nearby, just send Ye Bushou to conduct reconnaissance.
General Bai looked at the point on the map. If this was really Anda's lair, it would explain why Commander Qin had to leave Datong City and first move to Datong Right Guard before leaving the fortress.
It might take six to seven hundred miles to get there from Datong City.
From the right guard of Datong, after walking dozens of miles and resting, the distance for the next attack was only 300 miles.
Anyone who knows the military knows that a six- to seven-hundred-mile raid and a three-hundred-mile raid are not the same concept at all, and the level of difficulty is not the same.
While General Bai was still thinking about it, Inspector Qin had already begun to deliver a speech to the battalion officers.
"I would like to say three points. First, I am right here, personally advancing and retreating with you!
Given the favor that the emperor has shown to this governor, if there is anything wrong with this governor due to your incompetence in fighting, you will all be punished by the emperor, and your wives, children, and children will all be sent to the army!"
General Bai just wanted to roll his eyes when he heard this, but he couldn't help but admit that this was very possible.
The Xuan Mansion was so close to the capital, so of course he knew the situation in the capital. Governor Qin was known as the Jiajing Man, and he was an auspicious figure.
"Second, the chief's Anda tribe has about 20,000 troops, and the troops directly under Anda are about 7,000. The maximum number of troops left behind in the bandits' nest is only a thousand cavalry. The rest were taken away to the south!"
General Bai was stunned again. How did you, Inspector Qin, know so precisely? Could it be that a god really gave you a dream?
"Third, the chief and the thief's nest must have savings. When we raid the thief's nest, we will kill, set fire to, and loot. If not, we can also steal some horses! If you can't even do this well, you are in vain as officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty!"
Mr. Bai was speechless. Why did this sound strange?
"Fourth, the Holy One is worried and angry day and night because of the invasion of the Northern Bandits. If we can raid the thieves' nest this time, it will definitely comfort the Holy Heart! Everyone will be rewarded generously, and it is not impossible to even upgrade to the second or third level!"
General Bai was a little confused. Didn't Supervisor Qin say you would only talk about three points?
"Fifth, if you don't fight now to defeat the weak, use the strong to bully the weak, attack them unprepared, and gain both fame and fortune, when will you wait?"
At this time, the sky was already dark, and Governor Qin put away his speech and ordered: "Go! Go forward, forward, forward! Those who fall behind will fend for themselves!"
With the help of maps and guides, after a night of rapid marching, and by the time it was dark, we were already exhausted and could no longer support ourselves.
So they rested on the spot again, and sent out a large number of "night guard" to investigate everywhere.
About an hour later, the sentinels reported back and discovered a fort thirty miles to the north.
All the camp officers were surprised when they heard this report.
As we all know, the barbarians lived in felt tents and had no craftsmanship, so how could they build castles?
Only Governor Qin stood up first, "That's probably where it is!"
Having truly found the target means that this trip will not be in vain, and the whole army is inspired.
After driving north for an unknown distance, they found the undulating terrain ahead and a small hill. Governor Qin jumped on his horse and looked into the distance.
I saw a flat river on the other side of the hill, and in the distance I saw small patches of farmland, and in the center of each farmland, a small castle was built.
On the other side of the farmland, there were felt tents scattered over a radius of several miles, making it look like a normal barbarian settlement.
The well-informed General Bai was also dumbfounded, "There are actually farmers in the North?"
He had never heard in his life that Hu people still farmed. Do they have the skills?
Qin Dewei sneered: "The Northern captives are all Han Chinese who surrendered to the bandits! There are White Lotus sect bandits and border rebels who fled to Hudi!
This kind of small fort is called Bansheng City, and it was probably built by Qiu Fu, the bandit leader of the White Lotus Sect who surrendered to the thieves!
This is just the beginning, if we don’t destroy them, there will be more and more Bansheng cities like this in the future!”
The time when Qin Dewei traveled through was relatively early, and the White Lotus Sect had just begun to surrender to the enemy, so the farmland and castles seen here were not large in scale.
The credit was right in front of him, and it looked like it wasn't difficult to win. Commander Bai was immediately eager to give it a try: "The Superintendent ordered us to do it!"