In late October, Zhu Hao and Yu Chengxun still had not received notice of their return to Beijing.
Yu Chengxun went to see Xu Pengju, but was disappointed, but he was not discouraged and tried every means to send a greeting letter to the garrison Yamen again, just to let Xu Pengju know that he, Yu Chengxun, had not left and was still waiting to meet him.
Yu Chengxun went out for another whole day that day. When he came back, he saw Zhu Hao reading in the pavilion by the lake. He couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It's rare for people in the world to be as calm as Jingdao."
Zhu Hao put down his book and asked, "Have things changed?"
Yu Chengxun said: "I heard that Luo An, the governor of Beizhen Fusi Town sent by your Majesty to Nanjing, has already returned home."
"Back to...the capital?" Zhu Hao thought for a while and asked.
"Um."
Yu Chengxun said: "I didn't know about this at first. I only found out about it when someone from Nanjing Jinyiwei spread the news."
After all, Yu Chengxun had connections to Nanjing Jinyiwei and could get some inside information.
Luo An is gone?
Didn't leave at all!
He was just dormant waiting for new orders, and the person who gave the direct order was Zhu Hao.
Zhu Hao has been living a leisurely life recently, and there is no need to be demanding in everything. As a result, Luo An did not show up for a long time, and others thought he was gone.
In fact, Luo An never gave out any idea that he had left or would leave. It was only speculation by outsiders. And a Jinyiwei North Town Fusi Town Fu envoy in Nanjing can still cause some waves.
"Is there any news from the northwest?"
Zhu Hao asked.
Yu Chengxun shook his head: "Tang Bohu has not been heard from since he arrived at the Neisan Pass. It is said that he did not get actual military power at the Neisan Pass and was restricted by Governor Xuan. He was accompanied by the Marquis of Jianchang and the supervisor Zhang Yong. He did not have any troops.
What can you do with experience? But recently... the Tartars seem to have stopped a lot."
Zhu Hao nodded.
The Tatars seemed to have calmed down, but they were actually gathering their forces.
There is nothing to hide. In fact, without Zhu Hao specifically mentioning it, the northwest governor and generals could feel that a storm was coming.
Otherwise, the imperial court would not have continuously allocated money, food and materials to the northwest. In fact, it was just to prepare for war.
After the autumn grain is stored in the warehouse, the last wave of Tatar plunder will peak before winter.
The Tatars were expelled to the Mobei wilderness by the Ming army. Everything they did had the same purpose, which was to survive and allow the ethnic group to continue.
Thinking about the past few years when the grasslands have been hit by disasters one after another and a severe cold winter is about to come, think about what they lack and you will know what they will do.
...
........
Juyongguan.
Tang Yin took the "family assets" prepared for him by Zhu Hao and moved in with great force.
The commander-in-chief of Juyongguan was named Li.
The Ming Dynasty had a general army during war, but in peacetime, it was divided into garrison, guard command, and gold affairs. Li did not belong to any faction in the court. On the contrary, he was closely related to the previously replaced Governor Xuanda.
Zang Feng had a good relationship with him. It is said that during the more than half a year that Zang Feng was the governor of Xuanda, he also treated Li Boring with great respect and entrustment.
There are more than 4,000 troops defending Juyong Pass.
This is quite a lot.
If the Tatars really come over and 4,000 people guard the pass, it will be difficult for the Tatars to capture tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. In addition, Juyong Pass has the capital's back, so it can get help from the capital's reinforcements.
This is theoretically true, but in fact the existence of Juyongguan is useless and looks dangerous. However, whether it was the previous Tumubao Incident, the later Gengxu Incident, or the defeat of the Ming Dynasty by Li Zicheng, Juyongguan did not play any role.
due defensive role.
After Tang Yin entered Juyong Pass, he formally communicated with the eunuch Zhang Yong.
The first thing Zhang Yong did when he met Tang Yin as a military supervisor was to curry favor with Tang Yin. He didn't have the majesty of being the same as those in the army during the Zhengde Dynasty. He simply worshiped Tang Yin as an ancestor.
Zhang Yong seems to be following the orders of Empress Dowager Zhang and was arranged by Yang Tinghe to come to the northwest. But how smart is Zhang Yong? Couldn't he see that the current situation in the northwest
, is it actually a struggle between the new emperor and Yang Tinghe? As a eunuch who has lost power, he is also considered a member of Yang Yiqing and Wang Qiong's faction. The orthodox civil servants have long dismissed him to the ranks of female sycophants, and now he has to quickly curry favor with the emperor.
celebrity?
If you have resources, you must use them, and use them well. As long as you can please Tang Yin, he will have a foothold in front of the emperor in the future. He will not have to go home and live quietly when the censor impeaches him. The feeling of losing power is not good.
It feels so good!
So...
In Yang Tinghe's view, Zhang Yong, who was originally fully qualified to contain Tang Yin, immediately became Tang Yin's follower after arriving in the northwest.
On this day, Tang Yin took Zhang Yong, Zhang Yanling, Jiang Lun and others to inspect the garrison in the school city.
Commander-in-Chief Li Bor personally led the way.
Jiang Lun laughed and laughed along the way, as if it was an honor to come to the northwest. On the contrary, Zhang Yanling, who had never learned anything in the past, showed a calm and restrained look in front of others. Those who didn't know thought he had some scheming intentions. In fact,
It was because he had been feeling unhappy recently that he actually came to the northwest to fight, resenting the hard work his sister had arranged for him.
"Among the military gates of the Tang Dynasty and the northwest passes, Juyong Pass is located in the important area of the capital, but the city defense has not been strengthened in successive years. Soldiers and horses have been repeatedly transferred to the northwest, and even the company servants are not fully mobilized. You can see that the walls of Juyong Pass now have
If it is damaged, it would be very dangerous if *** chooses the weak point to attack."
Li Bor said he was taking Tang Yin to inspect the armed forces, but in fact he was just asking Tang Yin to complain.
to be honest.
Just want money and people.
The situation in the northwest is like this. Since the reform of the salt tax in the Hongzhi period, the finance of the northwest has been getting worse year by year. Now it basically relies on the allocation by the court. If the court cannot allocate the funds, the soldiers will have to drink from the northwest wind.
The imperial court was not responsible for providing support, and farming could not be carried out, so the soldiers had nothing to do except to fight against the autumn wind and cause trouble for local officials and the people.
Build a fortress?
Sorry, we will only repair it unless it is an important pass in the northwest.
If you have a three-pass pass in the inner city and wait for the Tatars to kill you and face the capital directly, why are you repairing it? Simply strengthening the walls of the capital is no better than building the Juyong Pass?
This also reflects the awkward strategic position of Nei Sanguan.
Since it cannot face the enemy head-on, it is said to be the last barrier for the defense of the capital, but in fact, for whatever benefit the imperial court has, it will not consider the inner three passes.
The superiors did not allocate money, food, or special funds. Now, finally, there is a war in the northwest. The Tatars' plunder has also extended to the surrounding areas of the Inner Three Passes. The imperial court also sent Tang Bohu, a famous member of the New Emperor's faction, to be the governor of the Inner Three Passes. Of course, Li Bor
Take the opportunity to come to Tang Yin to complain and ask for money.
Tang Yin sighed: "I have heard about the situation of the three inner passes before I arrived. It's just that I am just bringing troops to guard. The matter of strengthening defense is not under my control."
You want money from me?
I, Mr. Tang, have taken care of some accounts for the imperial court, but I am just an errand boy, and I don’t risk my life if I ask for money.
Several people went up to the gate of the pass.
Looking into the distance from the city gate tower, we can see the high mountains ahead. A few miles along the official road, there is a vast wilderness. At this time, because the Tatars are knocking on the edge, there is nothing moving in the wilderness.
There are only some unknown objects floating in the sky.
"Tang Junmen, look, there are always things flying in the air around us recently. I don't know what they are. Are they sent by the Communist Party?"
Li Bor pointed to the distance and said.
Jiang Lun smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, they were sent by us."
Zhang Yong asked in surprise: "Those in the sky? What are those?"
Tang Yin said: "Calling a hot air balloon is like releasing a sky lantern. It can be lifted into the sky by burning it. If the fire is stopped, the ball will gradually descend. If you cooperate with this, you can spy on the enemy's situation."
With that said, Tang Yin took out the telescope.
"nice one."
Zhang Yong glanced at it and said with a smile.
As a famous figure in the army during the Zhengde period, Zhang Yong had a share in the telescopes purchased by Prince Xing for the court. When Tang Yin took out the telescope, Zhang Yong knew that Tang Yin was also an expert.
.
Li Dao: "Tang Junmen is saying that this thing that can lift into the air can be used to spy on the enemy's situation at high altitudes?"
Zhang Yanling said coldly: "The enemy is not here, why are you spying?"
Zhang Yong said with a smile: "Jianchang Marquis may not know, this is to prepare in advance... The so-called climbing high to see far, if you can cooperate with the observation of far-sighted objects in mid-air, as long as the Tatars come to kill, they will definitely be able to give early warning. This
It’s much more effective than a beacon tower.”
"I don't believe it!" Zhang Yanling said coldly, "Even if you see it, how can you send a message? If they fly back, the day lilies will be cold."
Tang Yin said: "There will be a special signaling signal, which is not difficult."
Just as he was talking, the hot air balloon in the distance suddenly emitted a red flare in the clear sky.
Zhang Yong suddenly became nervous: "Is this an enemy situation?"
"No, this is a situation that needs to be reported every hour. It means that they are safe and fine, and they have not encountered any danger and do not need help from others... The hot air balloon is only used at Juyongguan now, and will be used at Zijingguan and Zijingguan later.
Down the horse pass." Tang Yin said with a smile.
Zhang Yong wondered: "Is this something made by our Ming Dynasty? I never heard of it when I left the capital."
Tang Yin smiled and didn't explain much.
In fact, he didn't know about this thing until he arrived at Xishan Military Factory.
Moreover, Zhu Hao also specially asked the Jin Yiwei to train sentinels, all of whom were direct descendants of the Qianxing Prince's Palace. When they were in Xishan, they would go out on sunny days to observe the weather and wind direction, and also monitor whether there were bandits around Xishan. How many times did this thing go through?
Months of training have produced a group of people who are relatively good at manipulation.
However, because the technology is relatively backward, it can only be sent out when the sky is clear, there is no wind or the wind is low, and there may be a temporary "crash landing" situation. If it is used on the front line, deviations may occur.
Now it's like training in battle, flying around the inner three passes to spy on whether there are any Tartars attacking the inner three passes.
"Okay, General Li will take us to inspect the troops and horses in the city. Recently, the troops and horses brought by me are also stationed in the city. I hope there will be no disputes. If anything happens, military discipline must be strictly enforced... Here at the top of the city,
I plan to send more people and transport the newly cast cannons to train a group of qualified gunners! "