Wu Dui suddenly sighed: "Before I returned to Beijing this time, Ma Lanxi came to see me, and he really insisted on quitting."
Gao pragmatically raised his chopsticks in the air, was stunned for a moment, took back his hand, and sighed: "Mr. Ma has been fighting for his whole life, maybe he is really tired."
"It's not that he is tired, but bored." Wu Dui said with a bitter smile: "When he fought every three days, he was in good health. Later, he was awarded 10% of the tribute. Although Tumut still had Xin Ai, this guy did it from time to time. There were some troubles, but they were suppressed by An Da. There has been no war in the Xuanda front line for a long time. It was okay for one or two years, but as time went by, Ma Lanxi couldn't stand it anymore. In his own words, there was no war for a year. The bones will itch; if there is no fighting for two years, the bones will ache; if there is no fighting for three years, the whole body will ache.”
Gao Pragmatic could only smile bitterly. After a while, he whispered: "Maybe it's not just Ma Zongrong, but also Liu Zongrong from Sichuan."
"Which General Liu?" Wu Dui has been serving in the northern border town. He is a new soldier and is not particularly familiar with the military arrangements in the south.
"Liu Xian, Liu Weiming, the commander-in-chief of Sichuan." Gao pragmatically said, "That's the Liu from 'Yu Long, Qi Hu, North Horse, South Liu'."
"Oh, it's him. He also has bone pain?" Wu Dui asked with a smile.
Gao Pragmatic didn't smile, but felt a little sad: "He has also asked for resignation several times. I guess he really wants to quit."
Wu Dui's smile slowly faded, and he frowned and said: "After I took office, I found out that Yu Xujiang asked to retire three times last year, but the court refused. As a result, he died of illness at the end of the year. The court posthumously awarded him the posthumous title of Governor Zuo. Wu Xiang."
Gao Pragmatic smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, I think these four can all be knighted."
Wu Dui shook his head and said: "This is very rare. The imperial court does not attach great importance to the military merits of the Japanese pirates and rebel parties. Only those who have made great achievements in beheading the Mongols can be easily awarded a title. For example, Li Chengliang of Liaodong, who fought in dozens of battles , and after several sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, he was awarded the title of Ning Yuanbo. However, even so, it was only a temporary title and could not be hereditary. The rest, even Qi Jiguang, could not have a title because he had not enough heads of northern captives beheaded."
Gao pragmatic shook his head and said: "Actually, I have always felt that the imperial court is a bit biased in that it only recognizes the head."
Wu Dui smiled bitterly and said: "Ma Lanxi and Liu Weiming definitely have no chance. Apart from them... you want to knight Qinantang? If you really want to do this, I can have a fight with the Military Selection and Cleaning Department of the Ministry of War. Hello, but Qi Jiguang has to exchange thousands of Tartar heads so that I can talk. Besides, unless Mr. Guo Ge nods to the cabinet, it will be useless for me to mention it."
"Thousands of Tartar heads?" It was Gao Pangshi's turn to smile bitterly: "Qi Zongrong has guarded Ji in these years, and Tuman (left-wing Mongolia) and Duoyan have tried many times, and they have been beaten every time. The squirrels scurry around, no longer considering the area under the jurisdiction of Ji Town as the main target for looting, but changed their overall strategy and began to head eastward with all their strength.
In this way, Li Chengliang's Liaodong has become the main battlefield. Ji Zhen can basically only watch the show. Where can he get these thousands of Tartar heads? Besides, Li Chengliang's troops are strong in Liaodong Jingqi and Qi Jiguang's side. However, his cavalry is somewhat lacking, and is mainly composed of infantry, horse-mounted infantry and artillery battalions. It may not be difficult for him to defeat the barbarians, but it will be a bit difficult for him to obtain many Tartar heads."
Wu Dui spread his hands and said: "So Li Chengliang is very lucky. Now among the towns in Jiubian, there is still a chance to take the initiative, and he is the only one left in Liaodong."
Wu Dui's words reminded Gao Pragmatic of the fact that later generations jokingly said that Li Chengliang was actually the "Qing Emperor".
This starts with the situation in Liaodong at that time. In the original history, during the 276 years of the Ming Dynasty's reign, the Mongolians in the north and the Jurchens in the northeast were intruding from time to time, which always put national security and the stability of the border areas at risk. Since the Gao period in the Longqing period, During the Gonghe and Wanli years, Zhang Juzheng was in power, rectifying military equipment and strengthening border defenses, which effectively ensured the stability of the northern border. It was at this time that Li Chengliang was appointed as the commander-in-chief and stationed in Liaodong in the early period.
With the support of the Central Committee, he gave full play to his military talents and established a brave and capable Li family army, which enabled the Ming Dynasty border soldiers, who had always been despised by the Mongolian army, to "reinforce their military voice." , the team that marches forward bravely "is bound to achieve great success and is extremely powerful", and has achieved brilliant results time and time again.
The biography of "History of the Ming Dynasty" records: Li Chengliang "controlled the Liao Dynasty for twenty-two years, and achieved ten great victories one after another." His task of garrisoning in Liaodong was to prevent the Mongolian tribes from entering the border and plundering, and to use force to ensure that the imperial court exercised effective jurisdiction over the Jurchen tribes.
It should be affirmed that during the 30 years of guarding the Liao Dynasty, he performed his duties outstandingly. In countless battles, he gave a powerful blow to the Mongolian cavalry that invaded the border, and successfully blocked the Mongolian cavalry at the border wall. In addition, it also effectively controlled the Jurchens who were seeking internal unity and strength, ensuring the stability of the Liaodong region for a period of time.
But in this process, why did Nurhaci gradually rise? How did Li Chengliang lose control of the Jurchens?
Gao Jingshi secretly learned something about the Jurchens at that time during his "Observation of Government". At this time, the Jurchens were divided into three major divisions, Jianzhou, Haixi and Donghai (also known as Yeren), and each division included several smaller divisions. But no matter whether they are large or small, they are not subordinate to each other. They are in the heroic age of conquering each other and competing for the throne.
The Ming Dynasty's ruling policy towards them was to "divide and rule", granting their ministers the titles of Qianhu, Wanhu, Commander, and Governor respectively to prevent them from unifying and forming a powerful force that was difficult to control.
If a certain tribe is powerful and refuses to obey the constraints of the imperial court, in order to prevent it from annexing other tribes, the official army will send troops to conquer and weaken it. In fact, until now, Gao Pragmatic felt that Li Chengliang, as the highest military commander guarding Liaodong, This strategy of the imperial court was faithfully implemented.
For example, Wang Gao, the chief of the Jianzhou tribe, was the lord of the Jurchen tribes in Jianzhou. He was unruly and unruly. During the Jiajing period, he "repeatedly stole the border" and killed dozens of Ming army generals below the deputy commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief.
In July of the second year of Wanli, his subordinate Xia Lihong had a conflict with the border officers and soldiers while pursuing the fugitives, and the officers and soldiers guarding Pei Chengzu and others were killed. The imperial court ordered him to hand over the murderer, but he refused to listen. Zhang Xueyan, the governor of Liaodong, petitioned the imperial court to stop the tribute market, and the imperial court agreed.
So Wang Gao united with some Mongolian Tumote tribes and Taining tribes to plot a large-scale invasion of the Liaoshen area. Li Chengliang detected his movements, sent troops to defeat his troops at Wuweizichong, and then broke through his stronghold. The next year, he captured them. Captured and executed.
After Wang Gao, Wang Wutang's power in the Jianzhou Department rose and he continued to invade the border and plunder. Li Chengliang had just gone to the court some time ago and asked for permission to go and annihilate him.
It can be seen that at least at this time, Li Chengliang did not have any "consciousness" of the "Qing Emperor". He was still the Liaodong God of War who wholeheartedly implemented the court's decisions. For the Jurchens, Li Chengliang was the Damocles above them. Sword of Si.
Therefore, even though Gao Pragmatic has always been worried about Li Chengliang's thinking going astray due to the history of his previous life, he can't do anything now.
Gao pragmatic frowned slightly and said: "Li Chengliang is fifty-four this year. As a military general, he will be old and decrepit after a few more years. It is still unclear who Liaodong will use by then."
Wu Dui didn't understand the meaning of Gao Pragmatic's words for a moment, and hesitated: "I didn't hear that he is not in good health. He should be able to use it for a few more years, right?"
Gao Pragmatic couldn't say it clearly, so he smiled and said: "It's good to be useful, but the court always promotes and trains some young generals to avoid being left without successors."
Wu Dui does not object to this. After all, military generals are different from civilian officials. It does not matter if a civilian official is too old to walk, as long as his thinking is clear, it will be fine. But if a military general is too old to ride a horse, then what troops will he lead?
However, Wu Dui still misunderstood what Gao Pragmatic meant, thinking that he wanted to promote someone, so he asked in a half-joking tone: "Junior brother, do you have any good generals and talents from the younger generation to recommend? If so, Brother Yu will definitely investigate carefully, but you can't Teach pearls to be covered with dust."