Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 341 The Envoy's Entry to Beijing and Border Affairs

In front of Zhengyang Gate, the sun is shining brightly.

A team dressed in Mongolian costumes slowly stopped in front of the main entrance.

The leader rode in a carriage, dressed luxuriously, had a strong figure, and was full of beards. Under the service of two maids, he got off the carriage, with a humble expression, and said.

"Under the tent of the Great Khan of Mongolia, Borjijin Mandulu, by the order of the Great Khan, came to Daming to fulfill the covenant with the emperor of your country."

After the Zhennan King's case was over, Chen Mao and others certainly kept their titles, but civil servants like Xue Xuan and Yang Shan didn't have such good luck. They were cut off from their official positions and sent back to their hometowns.

Fortunately, Honglu Temple is not as frequent as Dali Temple, and there are still people who can replace it.

This time, Shaoqing Qi Zheng, who is in charge of the affairs of Honglu Temple, and Wang Yining, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, are responsible for coming to greet him.

Hearing this, the two of them were a little confused.

The news that Tuotuobuhua sent a mission to Beijing had spread to Honglu Temple long ago, but they had never heard of any agreement.

One side was stupefied, and on the other side, an eunuch in a servant's robe stepped forward with a smile and said.

"I have seen your envoy. Wang Cheng, the eunuch with the palm seal of our family's imperial supervisor, is here to welcome you by the order of my majesty. I don't know your envoy, but did you bring a letter from your ministry?"

The Mongolian nobleman saluted, took a box from the attendant, and said.

"This is a letter from the Great Khan to the emperor of your country. In addition, I, Chahar, Tumet, Horqin, Aso, and Ordos, the leaders of the five tribes, all wrote to your Majesty the emperor. Please, please pass it on to His Majesty the Emperor of your country."

The two elders looked at each other, watching Wang Cheng and the Mongolian special envoy talking and laughing, the smiles on their faces could not help but stiffen.

If I remember correctly, they are the officials sent by the imperial court to be responsible for the reception...

But while they were listening, they also noticed something was wrong.

As officials in charge of receiving the mission, Qi Zheng and Wang Yining naturally had a detailed understanding of the Mongolian nobles and the list of the mission.

Among other things, the envoy this time, that is, the Mongolian noble adorned with gold and jade in front of them, has an unusual status.

He is the youngest son of Azhai Taiji, the former Great Khan of Tatar, and the younger brother of Tuotuobuhua. It can be said that in Tatar, his status is second only to Tuotuobuhua himself.

This time he came here in person, which shows that Tuotuobuhua attaches great importance to this mission.

What's more, the tribes he just mentioned, if I remember correctly, are just a few large tribes with more than [-] people under the Tatar account.

All of a sudden, the two elders exchanged glances at the same time, which further raised the importance of this reception in their hearts.

It was just a polite greeting, and it didn't take much time. After exchanging pleasantries, Qi Zheng and a few others led the Mongolian mission into Honglu Temple.

At the same time, the news that Mongolia sent envoys to seek peace with Daming quickly followed the envoys into Beijing and spread like wildfire in the capital...

In the Hall of Martial Arts.

Zhu Qiyu stood with his hands behind his back. In front of him was a big border defense map.

Behind him stood several ministers, namely Yu Qian, Minister of the Ministry of War, Shen Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Households, Wang Ao, Chief Assistant of the Cabinet, and Yu Shiyue, a scholar of the Hall of Martial Arts.

In addition, there are two other people dressed in first-grade military officer robes, one with white hair and wrinkles on his face like knives and axes, which makes people awe-inspiring when he looks at them, and the other is in his prime, capable and resolute.

These two people are none other than Changping Marquis Yang Hong and Jingyuan Bo Fan Guang who have just returned to Beijing.

Several people were lined up according to their ranks, but Yu Qian stood a little closer, pointing to the border defense map and speaking.

"In the battle of Wala, although our army won, it also exposed many problems in our border defense. Summarized, there are about three points."

"One of them is that the farms are abandoned and the military discipline is lax."

"The second is that the frontier troops fled, and the vacancy is serious."

"The third is that there are many passes, each is in charge, the troops are scattered, and mutual assistance is insufficient."

"If these three issues can be resolved, then our Daming border defense will be safe."

Although since the beginning of the new year, Yu Qian has suffered a series of blows such as fines, grounds, etc., but not only did he not become decadent because of this, but his condition has improved a lot, and he is full of energy.

Now that Yang Hong has returned to Beijing, he has completely relinquished his errands in the Beijing camp, and his eyes and energy have quickly focused on the border defense.

After all, the defeat in the civil engineering battle shocked the imperial court greatly, so how to rectify the frontier defense became the top priority for him, Minister of the Ministry of War.

After hearing Yu Qian's words, Zhu Qiyu's eyes flashed with satisfaction.

Putting aside other embarrassing things, Yu Qian's familiarity with military affairs is definitely one of the best in the court.

The few problems he raised were all urgent and fundamental problems that needed to be solved. As he said, once these problems were solved, Ming's border defense would be stabilized again.

Waving his hand, Zhu Qiyu spoke.

"All of you are familiar with military affairs, so you can speak freely about the few issues Yu Shangshu mentioned."

Among the ministers in the palace today, apart from Shen Yi, Yu Qian himself is the Secretary of the Ministry of War, Yu Shiyue patrolled the border many times in the Metropolitan Procuratorate in his early years, and Wang Ao even served as admiral in Liaodong for several years and personally went to the battlefield.

On the military commander's side, Yang Hong and Fan Guang are even more familiar with Jiuli Bianzhen.

Of course, the problems mentioned by Yu Qian involved a lot and were not so easy to solve, so everyone didn't speak up immediately.

So Zhu Qiyu had no choice but to ask someone: "Shoufu, you were in charge of military affairs in Liaodong before, so you must know a lot about border affairs, so let's talk about your own views."

With such an interval, Wang Ao had almost sorted out his thoughts, cupped his hands, and spoke.

"Your Majesty, I believe that among the three points Yu Shangshu mentioned, the first two are actually a causal relationship."

"At the time of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu used local military households and criminals who guarded the border to often town the border, open up farmland, supplemented by the Chinese salt law, and strengthened the border army without wasting the court's material resources, so that no one could go north. Grab the edge of our army lightly."

"After Yongle, Emperor Taizong made many expeditions to the north, and the mobilization of frontier troops and troops from various places became more and more frequent. After that, Emperor Taizong used the frontier army to control a place for a long time, which was passed down from generation to generation. Fearing the disaster of the late Tang Dynasty, he ordered the troops from all over the country to take turns. Adjust the frontier."

"Traveling long distances on the frontier by rotation is extremely hard work. Therefore, most of the frontier troops fled, and because of the frequent transfer of frontier troops, when they were stationed in the fields, most of the soldiers refused to put their minds to it, and the fields began to be neglected."

"In addition, the frontier troops take turns to guard, but the frontier generals often stay in town for several years. Therefore, the soldiers under them are often treated harshly and oppressed, withholding military pay, occupying military settlements as private fields, and misappropriating officers and soldiers without authorization. All of them, and in turn increased the number of fleeing frontier troops, and if things go on like this, the situation on the border has deteriorated to this point."

As expected of a minister who has stayed at the border for so long, Wang Ao's analysis was so profound that Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but shine.

But what he said caused a person's dissatisfaction.

With a dark face, Yang Hong said, "My lord Wang's words are unavoidably biased. How can the border generals be blamed for the current situation on the border?"

(End of this chapter)