Pinglu City in the Ming Dynasty, later known as Pingluo County in Ningxia, has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. There are ancient books that say: "If Pinglu is lost, there will be no Ningxia. Without Ningxia, there will be no Ping (Pingliang), Gu (Guyuan). There will be no Ping."
, the turmoil in Guanzhong will gradually spread to the inland, and the trouble will be immeasurable." It is actually the gateway to the northern border of Ningxia and "the natural chasm in Shuofang".
Each dynasty set up important military institutions here and sent heavy troops to guard it. Historically, there were frequent wars in the Pinglu territory. The Han Dynasty fought against Xianbei, the Tang Dynasty fought against Turks, Tubo, Dangxiang's invasion, Song Dynasty Dangxiang defeated Weiyuan, Xixia and Liao
From the wars in the Song Dynasty, Genghis Khan's destruction of Xixia, to the Ming Dynasty's resistance to the Tatars, and even the "Three Horses to Reject Sun" wars in the northwest during the Republic of China, fierce battles were fought in this hot land.
Under the Helan Mountain, the formations are like clouds, and you can hear feathers flying around each other day and night. This scene of subway horses, jingos and swords, and the shadows of swords and swords, only gradually disappeared after the establishment of the Red Dynasty.
The current guard of Pinglu City is named Xiao Ruxun, also named Ji Xin, from Yan'an Guards. He comes from a family of military generals. His grandfather Xiao Han served as deputy general of Liangzhou Army and the governor of Qianshi. His father Xiao Wenkui once served as deputy general of Beijing Camp.
, Commander-in-Chief Tongzhi. His brother Ru Lan is currently the deputy commander-in-chief of Shaanxi Province and the commander-in-chief Qianshi; Ruhui, historically served as the chief military officer of Ningxia and the governor-general Tongzhi; Ruzhi, historically served as the admiral of the Nanjing Teaching Field.
Governor Qianshi.
The family status of such a family of military commanders is naturally not bad. At least in Yan'an, they are truly famous. How famous is it? To the point where they are qualified to marry top civil servants.
Xiao Ruxun's wife, Yang, was the daughter of former Shangshu Yang Zhao. She understood the righteousness and supported her husband's defense. She prepared beef and fine wine to reward the soldiers every day.
One thing is very important here. Yang Zhao, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was still in office not long ago. He had just become ill and begged for leave. Everyone was still in the capital. This kind of thing happened in Ningxia. He was extremely anxious at the time. Until a few days ago,
When Gao Jingshi took command of the Western Expedition, he felt a little relieved and paid a visit to Gao Jingshi overnight.
In fact, Yang Zhao has been briefly introduced in the previous article (see Chapter 003 of this volume, New Cabinet, New Seven Ministers). This man himself is from Yan'an, Shaanxi Province. He was a gold medalist in the 35th year of Jiajing and once served as Jiliao
Governor, Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing and other positions.
He was not originally from the Practical School, but more like a person without party affiliation. However, later the top leaders of the two parties in Shaanxi and Shanxi joined forces, and he gradually became friends with Zhang Siwei. Therefore, his Nanjing Minister of War was Zhang Siwei who later gave him to Guo Pu when he was in power.
He fought for it. Later, Ding You retired, and Zhang Siwei, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, revived him, so there is no problem in being at least half of the real school.
During his tenure as Minister of the Ministry of Industry, he cooperated with Gao Pragmatism, mainly in the major projects carried out by the Ministry of Industry, and fully advocated the use of Jinghua's various cements to replace the ancient methods such as rammed earth and glutinous rice that were commonly used in the past.
Of course, this in itself is beneficial to both parties, because although rammed earth is cheap, it requires annual maintenance, which is not cost-effective when including subsequent costs; and using glutinous rice as an adhesive directly costs a lot of money - more expensive than building a city with cement.
It also costs money. After all, glutinous rice itself is not a staple food, and the output is not high, so it needs to be purchased at a high price.
In addition, when Yang Zhao took control of the Ministry of Industry, he also cooperated with the highly pragmatic restructuring of the Beijing camp. As mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Industry used to recruit soldiers from the Beijing camp for free, and the two key points of the Gao pragmatic restructuring were
One of the points was that the Production and Construction Corps had to charge for "taking jobs". If the Ministry of Works insisted on disagreeing, even the emperor would have to consider the feelings of the Ministry of Works.
However, Yang Zhao agreed and put forward almost no conditions. Instead, Shangshu said that the changes in the capital camp were unsuccessful and that all ministers should do their best for this and did not dare to think of it as a threat. In short, the emperor was very happy and not only issued the decree
The praise was comforting, and Chen Han wrote in his own handwriting "Gong Zhong Ti Guo" as a gift. Gao Pragmatic also reciprocated the favor, saying that the Production and Construction Corps would always accept projects from the Ministry of Industry at a 10% discount in the future, which was the second largest discount.
In repairing the imperial mausoleum.
All in all, the relationship between the two parties is very harmonious and the friendship is quite good.
After the Ningxia Incident, Yang Zhao heard that the entire town of Ningxia had been lost, and that only his daughter and son-in-law were guarding the lonely city. He was both proud and worried. He didn't care that he had resigned, and was supposedly "already gone", so he visited Gao personally.
Gao Jingshi asked him to rescue his daughter and son-in-law if conditions allowed, but Gao Jingshi agreed without thinking.
Because this couple, in Gao Pragmatic's view, it is completely necessary to save each other with all their strength.
Xiao Ruxun himself is a leader among the northwest generals. Logically speaking, he is also a branch of the generals of his real school. He is considered one of his own, so there is no reason not to save him. What's more, he is still young himself, and his performance this time is impressive enough, so he can be regarded as one of his own in the future.
The key training targets of the Northwest "Military Region".
And Yang Zhao's daughter is even more famous this time. If it weren't for her support, the morale of the soldiers in Pinglu City would not be so high, and they would still be as safe as a rock even when they are surrounded by enemies. Therefore, Gao Pragmatic not only agreed to Prime Minister
To save her, he also personally asked for an imperial edict to praise Mrs. Yang, and also asked for a royal decree for her.
Although Gao Pangshi himself came with a large army, he arrived not too slowly, but after all, it was not as fast as flying on horseback. The news that the emperor had praised Xiao Ruxun and his wife had been received in Pinglu City, but he missed the imperial edict - because Pinglu City was still in mourning.
Surrounded by the rebels, some news could only be obtained by sending letters via flying pigeons from the distant Lingwu Horse Station.
Xiao Ruxun and his wife in Pinglu City didn't know where Gao Jingshi's army had arrived, but Xiao Ruxun thought about it and estimated that Gao Jingshi could only rescue him from three directions: Yan'an, Qingyang or Guyuan.
However, these three places are all located in the south of Ningxia, distributed from east to west, while Pinglu City is in the north of Ningxia. In other words, the high-pragmatic army must first conquer Ningxia, and then the siege of Pinglu City will be incomprehensible.
Explanation. In other words, he can only continue to defend Pinglu. He will not be safe until Gao pragmatically puts down the Kuaibai rebellion and recaptures the city of Ningxia.
But Xiao Ruxun was a little unwilling.
Although he was a military general and would definitely not dare to compete with the future party leader of the Real School for credit, he always felt that he still had a chance to gain greater military exploits and fame in this war, especially after receiving that the emperor had promoted him to the post.
In the case of Ningxia's deputy commander-in-chief, he is already a deputy commander, so the commander-in-chief can't compete?
You must know that the newly replaced commander-in-chief Li Rusong is from Liaodong. According to the rules and habits of the Ming Dynasty, he will have to return to Liaodong sooner or later. And his father Li Chengliang is not too young. He may not be young for a few years.
He is about to retire, and Li Rusong will definitely go back to take over as the Commander-in-Chief of Liaodong. So isn't he very promising for the position of Commander-in-Chief of Ningxia? If you want to have greater hope, the simplest and most reliable way is to continue to perform meritorious service.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun actively prepared. As soon as Gao Jingshi's army launched a general offensive in southern Ningxia, he planned to break the siege, fight out of the city, and go straight to Ningxia to join Gao Jingshi, striving to not only build an iron wall but also an indestructible one.
.
However, what he never expected was that on that day, he suddenly received a detailed report saying that the main force of Boshu Ketu, who was originally wandering east of Pinglu City outside the pass, as a support force for Kuaibai, suddenly withdrew to the southeast.
And he walked in an extremely hurry.
This news made Xiao Ruxun fall into doubt.
Pinglu City's military strength is not small, with three thousand soldiers and horses, a total of three thousand generals and six generals. In addition, there are about five hundred of his own servants, and their combat effectiveness is quite impressive. However, his three thousand five hundred
The people faced an army of five thousand sent by Kuaibai outside the city. The leading general was Liu Chuanbai at first, but in the first two days it seemed that he had been replaced by Tu Wenxiu.
The strength of these five thousand troops is not weak. They were originally the main force of the Ningxia Guard. Tu Wenxiu seemed to have brought his own servants with him when he came this time. The number is unclear, but the strength has been strengthened again.
It is indeed difficult for more than 5,000 people to take over Xiao Ruxun's united Pinglu City, but Tu Wenxiu is a more resourceful person in the Yibai army, and he is not as reckless as Yiyun at the beginning. He wants to besiege Pinglu for a long time.
If Xiao Ruxun's main force is not allowed to break out of the city, this can still be basically done.
At this time, at first glance, it seems that Bo Shuo Ketu's main force does not need to stay nearby - they also have a mission. Once Xiao Ruxun really breaks out, they can easily catch up and kill him. However, Bo Shuo Ketu
The main force of Ketu has another more important task, which is to serve as reinforcements for the entire Ningxia and mobilize reinforcements everywhere.
So, why did Bosho Ketu suddenly leave at this time?
From Xiao Ruxun's point of view, his first thought was of course to "lead the tiger away from the mountain". In other words, he would deceive Xiao Ruxun out of the impregnable Pinglu City, ambush him in the wild, or directly defeat and kill him.
This is very possible, because according to his understanding, the main force of Boshu Ketu originally had more than 30,000 people. Later, it was stationed in part near Huamachi. Now it should be with 20,000 or more. 20,000 Mongolians.
There is no doubt that the cavalry plus Tu Wenxiu's 5,000 Ningxia main force can beat him in the wild.
After all, the main force under his command is roughly the same as the Ningxia Guard, and his servants are only about 500 people. As long as Boshu Ketu is willing to spend his money, it is impossible to lose. Is Boshu Ketu willing to spend his money? In order to worship the promised
Huamachi, he would definitely be willing to give it up.
Not only are there good pastures near Huamachi, but the land is fertile. Even if you follow Tumut's example and open up farmland, it would be great. Not to mention that Huamachi itself is a salt lake, rich in high-quality salt, so it is even more of a cornucopia.
It was impossible for Boshoketu not to take the bait.
However, even so, Xiao Ruxun still felt that something was not right: Why didn't Boshu Ketu leave earlier and later? He left immediately when he heard that Gao Jinglue was leading troops from Shanxi to help?
Did he go to snipe Gao Jinglue, or did he run away because he was afraid of Gao Jinglue's attack? Xiao Ruxun couldn't decide for the moment.
It is possible to snipe Gao Jinglue's reinforcements. Although Gao Jinglue is famous all over the world, after all, Boshu Ketu's men are Mongolian cavalry. If they can't be beaten, they can still run away. He can just ignore the situation and go up to harass
It might not be a bad idea to try out the quality of these Shanxi reinforcements.
But it is not impossible to escape in fear of Gao Jinglue's troops. After all, Xiao Ruxun also knows Boshuoketu's situation, and Huang Taiji will definitely not agree with him acting so randomly. Previously, Boshuoketu took advantage of Qieji's serious illness
Killed him, it may be that Chejin was slow to react when he was ill. Who knows if he has reacted now, and what means he used to ask Boshu Ketu to return to Yijinhuoluo immediately?
As long as Qie Jin is not dead, he should have the ability and prestige to do this.
After hesitating for a long time, Xiao Ruxun was still unable to make a conclusion, so he simply returned to the mansion after a hasty inspection and asked his wife Yang to come out and check the details for him.
Although Yang is a female, she has a rich family background and has a unique perspective on problems. Xiao Ruxun often discusses these matters with her, and Yang can always give him correct advice.
At this time, Mrs. Yang listened to his words, thought carefully, and asked: "I heard that the Shanxi reinforcements were divided into two routes to aid Shaanxi: the north and south routes. The south route was led by Li Zongrong (Li Rusong), and the north route was led by Li Zongrong.
Is it true that Gao Shutai personally commanded him?"
Xiao Ruxun said: "Indeed, I have received reports about this matter. General Li's Taiyuan Guard reinforcements came from Fenzhou Prefecture, and should have gone to Yan'an Prefecture first; Gao Shutai's main force came from Datong.
Come...I think I should go to Yulin (Wei) first."
"Gaoshu Tower is so powerful in Monan, why does Xunlang think that he only goes through the pass?" Yang thought thoughtfully: "I thought that Gaoshu Tower might go straight through the Hetao!"
Xiao Ruxun opened his eyes wide: "Crossing directly through the Loop? Impossible, Ordos is not Tumote. Without his Anda, how dangerous would it be to cross directly? If one accidentally loses food and grass by Boshu Ketu, how can this be done?
More than 20,000 troops are about to be surrendered. With Gao Shutai's caution in using troops, I don't think he will take such a risk."
Seeing that he didn't believe it, Mrs. Yang still said: "What your husband said is indeed reasonable. However, at this moment, I thought that Gao Shutai might have a last resort and had to do this this time."
"Oh?" Xiao Ruxun frowned and said, "What's the reason for letting him take such a big risk?"
"The court has no money." As the daughter of Yang Zhao, Yang may not know the extent to which the court is short of money, but she is certainly aware of the situation of the court's "lack of money." Therefore, she analyzed: "It is precisely because of the lack of money that the emperor
He had no choice but to let Gao Shutai temporarily lead the troops on the expedition without relinquishing all his duties..."
"Wait a minute, is there anything special about this?" Xiao Ruxun, as a young general in his twenties, was obviously not as clear about the twists and turns of these high-level officials as Yang was, so he was a little confused.
Yang knew that this matter could not be explained in a few words, so he simply said: "The meaning is that the emperor needs Gao Shutai to personally go out and fight this battle as quickly as possible, because the faster we fight, the more money we will save."
After he paused for a moment, he added: "If you look at it from the emperor's perspective, although there are Dukes Gonggun in the court at this time, who is more likely to successfully complete this task than Gao Shutai?"
Xiao Ruxun roughly understood it now. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly said: "So Gao Shutai is very pressed for time now and has no time to take a detour south to fight from Weizhou and Lingzhou all the way north to Ningxia. He can only go through the Hetao
, go straight to Ningxia, go straight to the Huanglong, and the black tiger will take out your heart?"
Yang said happily: "I think this is exactly the case."
But Xiao Ruxun became nervous and said: "That's too bad. The more than 20,000 cavalrymen in Boshuoketu's place are all elites. They were the lucky bag in the past. The foundation for Ji Neng and his son to securely hold the position of helping farmers. He now leads
As these fine knights suddenly left, I'm afraid they were going to intercept Gaoshu Tower! No, I have to find a way to break out and catch up with Boshu Ketu..."
Yang's red lips opened slightly, but she stopped talking.
Xiao Ruxun immediately noticed her reaction, stopped and asked: "Why, Madam, don't you think so?"
Yang hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "Boshu Ketu may indeed want to do this, but I think that all this should be within Gao Shutai's expectation."
Xiao Ruxun was stunned for a moment, frowned and said: "You mean you don't have to save your husband?"
Unexpectedly, Ms. Yang shook her head and said: "No, if your husband can ensure your own safety, then I think that you should go. Not only should you go, but you must go."
Xiao Ruxun said in surprise: "Why is this?"
Yang looked at him tenderly and said quietly: "If the Xiao family wants to be as famous as Dong Li Xima, the only person in the world who can rely on it is Gao Shutai."
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