Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1026 Suicide and meritorious deeds (two in one)
Liaodong Deputy Commander-in-Chief, this position is to some extent the most special deputy commander-in-chief in the Zhubian Town of the Ming Dynasty. In most cases, he has to be alone in charge of a large area of ​​defense east of the Liaohe River. In terms of area, its defense area is even larger than the western Liaoning area that the Liaodong General Soldier is usually in charge of.

Moreover, the deputy chief soldier was in the same city as the governor and guarding eunuch. In a sense, he was also responsible for protecting the governor and guarding eunuch.On the contrary, the Liaodong General Army was stationed alone in Guangning. There was neither a governor, nor a governor, nor a guarding eunuch on his head. In most cases, his responsibility was to deal with the Mongols.

Of course, if there is a major war in the east of the Liaohe River, the general soldier will still take care of it, but it is usually not the first person responsible.

Therefore, if Gao Yushi, the new governor, wants to be safe, and even wants to sleep peacefully, it is best for the deputy commander-in-chief to ensure that he obeys his orders.

Make sure to obey orders, this is the first premise, but it is not enough, you must have the ability to be the deputy commander.

It is not easy to generalize such things as ability, but in this era, there is one thing that must be paid attention to, and that is the number of armed servants.

In roughly the same era, Gao Yushi recognized the world's two major military strategists, one is Qi Jiguang of Ming Dynasty, and the other is Morris of the Netherlands, and these two military masters have the same or very similar military ideas. The point is to emphasize the army itself, instead of overemphasizing the role of strategy as in classical military thought.

Of course, in the original history, since Morris was the core figure in the rule of the Netherlands, he could reform the military system of the Netherlands without looking at others, and after achieving results, he could put his military ideas into the military academy for others to use. Study further.

But Qi Jiguang is different. Under the political system of Ming Dynasty, once Qi Jiguang loses the support and protection of civil servants, he can't even control his own destiny, let alone whether his military ideas can be spread.

Although Qi Jiguang's military books "Ji Xiao Xin Shu" and "Records of Military Training" were reprinted again and again in the future, and were highly praised by a large number of generals in the late Ming Dynasty, the army he dreamed of never really appeared.

This is the biggest regret.

What is the most distinguishable part of Qi Jiguang's military thought from classical military thought?

In Qi Jiguang's own words: "For several years, I have inherited the lack of eastern Zhejiang, and I know Sun Wu's method. The program is so subtle that it is second to none of the detailed programs under his command."

In fact, not only "Sun Tzu", it should be said that from "Seven Books of Wu Jing" to "Zong Yao of Wu Jing" did not completely solve this big problem - most of the past military thoughts focused on strategy, but did not form a comprehensive and systematic " Combat power composition", simply put it is lame.

Qi Jiguang, on the other hand, believes that the combat effectiveness of the army is composed of soldiers, generals, military equipment, logistics and other aspects, which must be developed in an all-round way and cannot be dispensed with.

The reason why the armed guards became the real core force of the border towns in this era is that the armed guards were almost born with advantages in the three aspects of soldiers, armaments, and logistics, and almost only the generals were lacking. .

In fact, due to the characteristics of the servant army, the commander of the army has far more control over the troops than other troops, that is to say, the leader can do whatever he wants with his own servant army, as long as he does not make too stupid mistakes , The combat effectiveness of such troops is completely guaranteed.

Therefore, the new deputy commander needs to have a not-weak servant force, which is something that must be considered by the high-level pragmatists now.

Right now, Gao Yushi doesn't have such a candidate in his hands. For example, Ma Dong, the servants he brought with him are about a thousand riders, and their combat effectiveness is good, but the number is too small. Besides, Ma Dong's reward has not yet come down. Even if he does, he will be alone " "Outsiders" suddenly overwhelmed a large number of local generals in Liaodong, and directly became the deputy commander-in-chief, which in itself is likely to cause antagonism.

In addition, the relationship between Gao Wuzhen and Li Chengliang, the core figure of the local faction general, is obviously not right. If Ma Dong is forced to recommend, I am afraid that factional struggles will be staged from top to bottom in the Liaodong Army.

Factional struggles are actually unavoidable, but they must be controlled at a certain level and within a certain range. It is not a big problem if there are some struggles at the top, but if the entire Liaodong local army puts General Xuan and even General Xuan in the tie If the servants who came were to be their opponents for grabbing food, then the trouble would be big.

Since Ma Dong can't do it, Ma Chengen and Zhang Wanbang don't even think about it, because the level difference is too much.They are not highly pragmatic, and they do not have so many political resources to back them up. Even if they are highly pragmatic, they must be promoted step by step.

General Xuan is not suitable, so we have to consider the Liaodong local faction, and when considering the Liaodong local faction, try to avoid the influence of Li Chengliang.

This is obviously difficult.

Gao Pragmatic thought it over and over again, and the only person who "may" meet the conditions is probably the former Liaodong Deputy General Cao Yu who was dismissed and interrogated last year.

The reason why "possible" is added here is that Cao Yu's promotion in his early years was very synchronized with that of Li Chengliang, and he himself is also a member of the Cao family of Wuqingtang in Northern Liaoning.

In other words, he and Li Chengliang are not only fellows from northern Liaoning, but also should have been close comrades-in-arms in the early years.

By the way, a digression: The Cao family in Wuqingtang is the heir of Cao Xueqin's family. Later, in the third year of the Tianming of the Houjin Dynasty (1618), Nurhachi launched an army to attack the Ming Dynasty, and the fate of the Li and Cao families changed accordingly.

In April of that year, Nurhachi conquered Fushun, and Li Sizhong, Li Chengliang's grandson, surrendered.In May of that year, Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather, Cao Zhenyan, was captured and "returned to the flag" during the battle of the 20th Fort in the southeast of Tieling City and became a coat.In the second year, Nurhachi led the army to attack Tieling. Li Ruyu (chān, nephew of Li Chengliang), Li Ruzi (Li Ruzi's younger brother), Li Cunzhong (Li Sizhong's second brother) and others stood up to resist. [-] people were martyred. , the Li family and the Cao family collapsed.

After the capital was established in Liaoyang, Nurhachi ordered Li Sizhong to search for members of the Li clan to serve Houjin.At this time, Cao Zhenyan, who was incorporated into Zhengbai Banner, came to settle in Liaoyang.

In addition, both the Li and Cao clans and other tribes descended to the Qing Dynasty one after another, and the two families got along well during the Tartar Qing Dynasty.For example, Cao Zhenyan made many military exploits, and Tian Cong was promoted to Niulu Zhangjing in his early years, and he was a fourth-rank official.

In the early days of Tiancong, there were only more than 40 Jiala and more than 200 Niulu in the Eight Banners, plus Baylor, the Minister of State, and officials from the Six Ministries and the Three Courts, a total of more than 500 people.Cao Zhenyan, who became Niulu Zhangjing, is already a member of the more than 500 backbones, marking the entry of the Cao family into the circle of the post-gold upper class.

Li Sizhong was even more successful. He made outstanding military achievements in subsequent battles. He served successively as Niu Lu Ezhen, second-class general, deputy governor of Xi'an garrison, commander-in-chief of Shaanxi admiral and officer of the Four Banners Han Army Ang Bangzhangjing (general) and other positions. , nearly 30 of his descendants held important positions in the court from Shunzhi to Kangxi.

But there is a very miraculous thing, that is, the record of Cao Yu by the Cao family of Wuqingtang seems to have been lost.

What is unusual about this incident is that Cao Yu was originally second only to Li Chengliang among Liaodong generals in the early years of Wanli. Why is there no record of such an important figure?
He himself will definitely not survive the anti-Qing period, so the biggest possibility is that his descendants participated in the anti-Qing war, and even played a significant role in it, making the Qing Dynasty hate him deeply, so according to the tradition of the Qing Dynasty , Simply erase the traces of his branch from history.

Of course, whether or not to participate in the Anti-Qing Qing Dynasty cannot be regarded as the key to judge whether a general is available in a highly pragmatic manner, because it is a bit naive to expect that all the generals of this era should pay attention to the righteousness of the family and the country. Instead of asking those generals, it is better to ask the civilians— It can be said that military generals don't understand righteousness because they don't read much, so don't you civil servants also read less?

Moreover, before the rise of nationalism and nationalism, there were very few people with the mentality of dying for the country. Even some generals who died in battle, most of them were "loyal to the emperor"-this kind of loyalty comes from the brainwashing of feudal foolish loyalty , rather than from the identity of the country and nation.

Those who refuse to "dedicate their allegiance to the emperor" are nothing more than insufficient brainwashing.Those who can sublimate themselves to fight for the country and the nation are probably rare.

Closer to home, since Cao Yu is from Liaobei (Kaiyuan Sanwanwei, next door to Tieling), and his early promotion was quite in sync with Li Chengliang, why does Gao Yushi think that this person can be considered?
The key lies in Li Chengliang's attitude towards Cao Yu after the First Battle of Chang'an Fort.

In the battle of Chang'an Fort, the Ming army lost a thousand generals and a general general, 310 and seven officers and soldiers were killed, 460 and four horses were killed, 290 and eight men and women were captured, and hundreds of livestock and rice were taken away.

Is this failure serious?It depends on how it compares.

Speaking separately, this defeat is quite serious, especially the death of thousands of horses and nearly [-] horses. feel angry.

But the problem is that this battle is not a separate battle. It has prerequisites. First, the Mongolian left-wing Black Carboniferous Division invaded Liaoyang.Then Cao Yu took advantage of the victory and pursued, and entered Chang'an Fort (now west of Liaoyang, Liaoning) to be ambushed. As a result, the Ming army was surrounded by enemies.

That is to say, there are two possibilities for this battle: one is that the Black Carboniferous Division failed to attack Liaoyang, and was chased by Cao Yu, and the Black Carboniferous Division counterattacked and defeated Cao Yu; Cao Yu, so he pretended to be defeated and left, leading Cao Yu to pursue him, and then defeated Cao Yu.

Which could be the truth?The first one is because after the Black Charcoal Department defeated Cao Yu, they did not turn around and continue to plunder the Daming territory, but turned back to Mongolia.

Just imagine, Cao Yu's department is the core of the Ming army's field operations in Liaodong. Since he has been severely injured, if the Black Carboniferous Department still has spare strength, how could it not seize the opportunity to grab a wave near Liaoyang, but just capture the people Three hundred people, hundreds of livestock and rice?
Therefore, looking at the entire battle in conjunction, Cao Yu can only be regarded as winning first and then losing, and although the loss is not small, the opponent's loss is not necessarily serious-at least the opponent dare not continue to stay in Daming territory.

That being the case, even if Cao Yu should be punished in this battle, it does not seem to be as serious as losing his official position directly, not to mention that he has an elite family army second only to Li Chengliang.

It is not nonsense to say that Li Chengliang may have secretly framed Cao Yu. After all, there is no evidence, but Li Chengliang obviously did not rescue him.

If the two of them were really old comrades-in-arms and iron buddies, as long as Li Chengliang went up to Shu and said a few nice words for him, at least Cao Yan would not end up in the fate of "dismissing the post and asking the censor to ask questions".

In addition, after Cao Yuge was imprisoned, his younger brother Cao Jian painstakingly maintained the team of servants left behind by Cao Yu. He was extremely poor, but Li Chengliang did not have the slightest intention to lend a hand to help.

Gao Wushi had to think that Li Chengliang was dismissing these people after Cao Jian couldn't support them, and then took over these servants himself to strengthen himself.

In the face of self-interest, what is the friendship of comrades-in-arms?If you are still talking about friendship in arms, it is nothing more than that the benefits are not big enough.

Gao Yushi is not very clear about how Cao Yu, who is in prison in Shandong, thinks about this matter, but Cao Jian, the commander of the Jinzhou Guard, was Gao Yu's subordinate when he was in southern Liaoning. He didn't have a good impression of Li Chengliang. clearly.

Presumably, if Cao Yu knew that Li Chengliang was targeting his family, he would not have a good face. The family itself is the basis for his "contributing crimes and meritorious service". As long as the family is still there, Cao Xuan or the Cao family still has hope. , if the family is scattered, then Cao Yu is really finished.

Therefore, Gao Wushi felt that reactivating Cao Yu as the deputy general of Liaodong was the best choice under the current circumstances.He has a useful armed servant and a local general in Liaodong. He has been a deputy commander in chief for many years, and his prestige is enough. In addition, it is difficult for him not to resent Li Chengliang now. Employment standards.

However, Cao Yu is currently in prison in Shandong, and the specific situation needs to be understood. After Gao Wushi sent Han Guang away, he personally wrote a letter to An Zhizhi in Shandong, asking him about Cao Yu's current situation, and at the same time revealed a little bit about his intention to return The meaning of enabling Cao Yu.

The high-practical letter can be sent by sea or water, and it only took less than ten days to arrive in Jinan. An Zhizhi's reply was also very fast. The letter stated that he had already talked with Cao Yu alone. He understands, and swears to God, as long as he can recover, everything will be in order. Futai said that he will chase the chicken, but he will never chase the dog.

An Zhizhi said at the same time that when Cao Yu learned that Li Chengliang had no idea to save him, and even waited indifferently for the Cao family to be dismissed on their own, he was stunned for a while, then cursed, and even said, "I regard him as a Elder brother, he treats me like nothing!" Then he tore off his sleeves and threw them under his feet.

Does circumcision mean justice?hehe……

After receiving An Zhizhi's reply letter, Gao Yushi no longer hesitated, and immediately began to write a memorial, requesting the recovery of Cao Yu, and made a contribution to the crime.
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(End of this chapter)