The clouds are clearing the snow, the spring breeze is thawing, and the sparse trees are beginning to sprout little buds.
In the General Military Office of Datong, Ma Gui held two letters in his hand and pondered for a long time without saying a word.
A majestic young man of fourteen or fifteen years old couldn't help but ask: "My father has been hesitating for a long time, wondering what is the matter that cannot be resolved?"
Ma Gui was awakened by the sound of his father's voice. He turned to look at the young man in front of him and smiled: "It's not that I can't decide, it's just... that's all, you don't understand even if I tell you. Go and invite your Uncle Ma, just tell me
I have something important to discuss."
This young man is none other than Ma Chengzhao, the eldest son of Ma Gui. Although Ma Chengzhao is young, he has the tradition of being a son of the Ma family. He has been strong since he was a child. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, he looks like an adult northern man.
Almost the same, just a little tender.
Ma Chengzhao didn't seem to be particularly afraid of his father. Hearing this, he muttered: "My father didn't tell me, and he said I didn't understand. But you always don't tell me anything, so when will I understand?"
Ma Gui was startled, and then suddenly burst into laughter. His voice was always strong, and his laughter was like a tiger roaring, as if even the thin porcelain vases placed in the hall were shaking.
Ma Chengzhao couldn't help but said: "Father is really powerful." It turned out that he was in the period of voice change, and his voice sounded strange. He was especially envious of his father's voice.
Ma Gui stopped laughing, but still had a smile on his face, and said to Ma Chengzhao: "The way you spoke just now is somewhat similar to what you said when you were my father." Then he paused slightly and said with emotion: "Children of the Ma family.
I have always been in the military, and you have also been appointed as a military official this year, so I can talk to you about this matter today."
Ma Chengzhao's eyes lit up and he immediately started smiling, looking eager to try.
Ma Gui didn't talk about the business first, but waved to him, pointed to the chair under his hand and said, "Sit down."
This made Ma Chengzhao even happier. Previously, he could only stand and listen to instructions in front of his father. Looking at his appearance today, his father seemed to be planning to treat him as a general under his command. This was really gratifying.
Ma Chengzhao, who was so excited that his whole body was trembling, hurried over quickly, sat down quickly, straightened his chest, and looked like he was waiting for military orders, which was quite a posture.
However, Ma Gui just smiled secretly in his heart, but his face calmed down, and he pondered for a while, and asked: "Since you want to be a general, I am not only your father, but also your officer and commander. Whatever abilities you have, I have to
Take the exam."
Ma Chengzhao's back straightened as he heard this, and he said loudly: "Son... even if the general is under the command of the commander, he can still perform at least thirty or fifty moves."
Ma Gui glanced at him, but did not make a fuss about it. He just pretended not to hear and said calmly: "If you plan to stop being the boss, this little bit of bravery is not useless."
Ma Chengzhao did not understand the meaning of these words for a moment, and said in astonishment: "But it is the commander who is kind to the last general." After saying this, he came to his senses, and quickly added: "The last general does not rely on bravery to fight, but
After all, this bravery is the foundation of being a general. The former commander-in-chief was..."
"Okay, no need to brag." Ma Gui interrupted him and asked calmly: "What's important in Jiubian recently?"
"Nine sides?" Ma Chengzhao thought his father would ask him about Datong's city defense or border defense, but he didn't expect the question to be so big, and he immediately asked him about nine sides.
Ma Gui didn't say anything more. Ma Chengzhao could only quickly recall the Di newspaper he had read recently, and then said: "There are two major events in Jiubian. One is that Gansu Town lost Xining City, and the other is that Gao Gongbao also served as the manager of the seven towns.
."
Ma Gui nodded and asked, "What do you think of these two things?"
"Ah, I am the last general..." Ma Chengzhao originally wanted to say that these two things are too far away from me. What can I say?
He quietly looked at his father, but saw that Ma Gui had gently closed his eyes, as if he was waiting for him to think about it slowly before answering.
Ma Chengzhao felt relieved. It would be better to give him time to think about it. He just thought he was asked to answer immediately.
After thinking for a moment, Ma Chengzhao replied: "The loss of Xining is too far away from our Datong, and it is not a place where our Ma family often moves. And looking at the future, Gao Gongbao will have no influence on our Ma family."
The generals are all used in Xuanda and Jiliao, which shows that this matter has little to do with our Ma family."
Ma Gui was noncommittal and just said "hmm" without further explanation. Ma Chengzhao had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue: "As for Gao Gongbao concurrently serving as the manager of the seven towns, I thought it was because the imperial court was preparing to attack Tumen."
Let’s take action.”
He analyzed: "Gaogong has a great reputation as the leader of the south and the north, and he is the emperor's most trusted minister. In addition, with the support of the three Yuan Fu, he has a lot of help in the court, which is to 'destroy the Yuan Dynasty'."
The voice of the first choice has always been very high. Now that the emperor has appointed him to concurrently serve as the manager of the seven towns, I am afraid that it is also an early step. It will not only allow him to make some preliminary preparations for the pacification of Chahar, but also prevent other people from temporarily intervening.
The possibilities.”
Ma Gui closed his eyes and asked softly: "Do you think the destruction of Yuan is almost over?"
Ma Chengzhao nodded and said: "Yes, I think it will be soon."
"How long is too soon?" Ma Gui continued to ask.
"Well... if we do it this year, it should be quick." Ma Chengzhao thought for a while and added: "But Gao Gongbao wants to do spring exercises first, and I always feel a little strange, because in this way, if he still
If we want to launch an attack this year, the time seems to be a little tight."
Ma Gui nodded. Although he still did not open his eyes, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then said: "You can see that it is not convenient to send troops this year, so you have used your brain."
Ma Chengzhao said in surprise: "Is it really not this year?"
"No." Ma Gui waved his hand and said: "The main focus of the imperial court now is to open the vassal ban. The key to opening the vassal ban is to deal with the future of many clans. Although my father is not a civil servant of the Ministry of Revenue, he knows what's going on here after thinking about it.
The amount of money that needs to be spent must be at least several million taels. Under such a situation, it is already commendable that the imperial court has not sent more troops so far, so how can it take the initiative to send troops to Chahar?"
"But if that's the case, why did the emperor let Gao Gongbao concurrently serve as the manager of the seven towns so early?" Ma Chengzhao didn't understand. Isn't it the custom of the imperial court to appoint generals temporarily only when there is a war?
Ma Gui knew what his son meant. He was saying that Gao Gongbao was the military minister and the manager of the seven towns. He already had great military power. If the war went on for a long time, wouldn't the court be afraid that all the people under his command would become real?
Winning over? You must know that the reason why the highest military commander in the Ming Dynasty was only a general soldier, and the actual military strength under his command was generally very limited, was because he was afraid that excessive military power would be concentrated in the hands of one person for a long time.
But Ma Gui had his own opinion and said calmly: "Gao Gongbao is a civil servant and is deeply trusted by the emperor. He is not something we can compare with. In addition, if my father's expectations are correct, Gao Gongbao's so-called general strategy
The idea of setting up his headquarters in Daning is probably just a bluff to deceive others. He will not go to Daning at all, or even go too far from the capital."
Ma Chengzhao was speechless, and after thinking for a long time, he suddenly said: "Oh, he wants to scare Tumen? But why is that?"
"Because the Loop is restless." Ma Gui said: "Given Tumen's current situation, it would be wishful thinking for him to conquer the Ming Dynasty with his current strength. Therefore, if he wants to reverse the decline, the only way out is to unify Mongolia first -
- Even if we don’t mention Oara first, we must at least unify the Tatars first. Only in this way will he be able to fight the war to destroy the Yuan that Ming Dynasty will launch.
However, is it easy to unify the Tatars? The right-wing Mongolia has been suppressing the left wing for many years since the rise of Anda. Otherwise, how could Chahar move eastward to avoid the attack of Anda? Tumen finally survived because of their age.
Dead Anda was about to find a way to reach out to the right wing, but Gao Gongbao cut off his wrist with a knife. He had to retreat to his lair to lick his wounds. However, it was precisely because of this that he was determined to take back Tumut.
The stronger it becomes.
But how to recapture it? Not only can the Tumote headquarters be as powerful as the Chahar tribe, but it also has the support of the Hetao Ordos tribe. In the early years, it also included the Qinghai Tumote tribe, etc., let alone Chahar.
Won. Therefore, if Tumen wants to at least not be at a disadvantage in the fight with Tumut, they must at least meet one condition, that is, no one can help King Shunyi except Tumut's headquarters.
Hannaji.”
Ma Chengzhao seemed to have thought of something, but felt that the key was still not grasped, so he could only hesitate and said: "So Gao Gongbao felt that Tumen might take advantage of the civil unrest in Hetao and the opportunity of King Shunyi to send troops to sneak attack and naturalize, so
Are you just bluffing in the hope of scaring the Tumen?"
Ma Gui said happily: "Do you understand? Okay, okay."
"In fact, the general doesn't understand everything..." Ma Chengzhao still frowned and asked: "The military advisor under Tumen shouldn't be able to see that the court is short of money? Since the court is short of money, Gao
Even if Gongbao is also the manager of the seven towns, he can't send out troops, so why should the Tumen be afraid?"
Ma Gui laughed, raised his chin slightly, and said: "This is why Gao Gongbao can only serve as the manager of these seven towns."
"Oh?" Ma Chengzhao said in surprise: "Why is this?"
"Because only Gao Gongbao's famous name can make people suspicious." Ma Gui said with a smile: "If anyone else were to do this seven-town strategy, the court would say there was no money, and the strategy would just stare at it.
There is no way. But if it is Gao Gongbao, this matter may not be possible.
At least in Tumen's view, Gao Gongbao can turn gold out of stones. Even if the court does not seem to be able to come up with silver, Gao Gongbao may not be unable to raise money. Therefore, this is a foolproof plan.
Tumen will definitely not dare to act rashly... At least, if Gao Gongbao is still near the capital or on the Jiliao line, he will not dare to leave Chahanhot."
Ma Chengzhao finally understood it completely. He patted his thigh and praised: "This is the saying of 'one body has traveled three thousand miles, one sword has served as a million divisions'. The ancients do not deceive me - a true man should be like this!"
Ma Gui smiled and said: "My father saw the power of Gao Gongbao more than ten years ago...but I won't mention it today." He paused, raised a letter in his hand, and said: "This is
Gao Gongbao sent a private letter, I don’t think anyone in the world can guess what he said in the letter.”
Ma Chengzhao suddenly became interested and asked: "Father, handsome, the content of this letter...can you disclose it?"
"Since you are my eldest son and also my general, there is no need to hide this letter from you." Ma Gui said, "Gao Gongbao asked me to be prepared. There may be a war after the spring exercises."
Ma Chengzhao was stunned when he heard this, and said inexplicably: "Didn't you just say that the imperial court has no money to go on an expedition?"
Ma Gui's smile was a bit mysterious: "We definitely don't have money to go to the north of Saibei, but if there is civil strife, how can we not fight this war? If the court really has no money, the emperor will have no choice but to use internal funds to advance it."
"Civil strife? How could there be civil strife?" Ma Chengzhao was shocked: "Is it because the military pay has been cut too hard this year? We in Datong should not be in chaos, right?"
After all, the Ji Liao, Xuanda and Da lines were the focus of the imperial court and the gateway to the capital, so the military pay cuts in Datong were relatively small. This was the reason why Ma Chengzhao asked just now.
However, Ma Gui shook his head and said: "Gao Gongbao didn't say clearly where there would be chaos, but I just thought about it and found that he hinted that this place was where I had been out of town..."
"That's terrible!" Ma Chengzhao exclaimed in shock: "My father has been working in the third town of Xuanda over the years. Xuanda didn't cut much this year, but Taiyuan seems to have cut a little more, and Taiyuan is a prosperous land.
If you are too cruel, I'm afraid the trouble below will also be fierce... Could it be that Gao Gongbao is hinting that something is going to happen in Taiyuan?"
Ma Guidao: "My father also thought about this just now, but I'm afraid it's not the case." He pursed his lips slightly and hummed: "Although Taiyuan has those conditions as you said, you must not forget Taiyuan today.
Who is the commander-in-chief—Li Rusong! This guy brought 5,000 Liaodong cavalry to Taiyuan to take up his post. He was truly a fierce dragon crossing the river.
Although there are 60,000 to 70,000 troops in Shanxi Town now, there are only more than 10,000 soldiers in Taiyuan City. I am afraid that these few people are not enough for the Liaodong Cavalry to fight - all those 5,000 people are his servants of the Li family, so in a real fight
There is no suspense."
"Damn, the Li family in Tieling is really rich." Ma Chengzhao muttered unhappily, and then said: "If it's not Taiyuan, then it's only Xuanda, but Datong has a father, and I don't think anyone has this.
Are you brave? Could it be that brother Chengen from the Xuan Mansion can't control it?"
Ma Chengen was recommended by Gao Pragmatic some time ago to replace Wang Guoxun as the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu. However, Wang Guoxun resigned because of old age, and the problem with Ma Chengen was that he was too young. As his cousin, Ma Chengzhao had this problem
It’s not surprising to be worried.
But Ma Gui didn't want to judge his nephew behind his back, but reminded his son: "You have forgotten one thing - where did my father get transferred back to Datong?"
Ma Chengzhao was startled for a moment and opened his eyes suddenly: "General Soldier of Ningxia!" Then he was shocked: "Although Zhang Weizhong is loyal, his father has said before that he lacks courage. If something happens to his subordinates...
…”
Ma Gui nodded solemnly and spread another letter, saying: "This is from Cheng'en. Gao Gongbao also sent him a letter, also asking him to prepare for war. In addition, give me and
In the letter to him, Gao Gongbao also mentioned that he had also sent a letter to Zhang Weizhong, asking Zhang Weizhong to be careful about changes in his subordinates... Now we can only hope that Zhang Weizhong will listen."
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