Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 178 Xuanfu Ma Fang (Part [-])
In the inner study of the Xuanfu Zongbing Yamen, Ma Fang and Ma Zongrong, who was only 53 years old but already full of white hair, paced anxiously, while an old servant stood cautiously at the door.

This old servant is the steward of Ma Fang's inner house, and has served Ma Fang for many years. He was a soldier of his family in the early years. Later, because of a lumbar injury, he was unable to fight anymore, so he was changed to a servant, and Ma Fang trusted him.At this time, he saw that his master was anxious, so he couldn't help persuading him: "Master, since Mr. Gao Ge sent a letter to explain the situation, why is the master still so worried? Now that Mr. Gao Ge has made the decision to exchange the two generals of the Xuan University, he wants to come to Zhao Dazhou It's impossible for that guy to really stick his hand in our Xuan Da, this old slave thought that the master can change his defense with peace of mind."

Ma Fang's complexion was still not good, and he said in a deep voice: "Zhao Zhenji, you can only play tricks, I declare that the second town of Da'an is the door of the capital, how important it is! He is lucky. He insisted on changing Xing'an Gong as soon as he joined the cabinet a few years ago. Fortunately, Mr. Gao Ge returned to the court in time, so he protected Mr. Xing'an, ordered him to temporarily assist in the military administration of the Beijing camp, and transferred Mr. Jianchuan from the three sides of Shaanxi to replace him. What a big deal! If there is another Geng Shu change, my military official surnamed Ma, it would be a pity to die, but Zhao Dazhou will be able to save his life, right?"

The Duke Xing'an in Ma Fang's mouth refers to Chen Qixue, the former governor of Xuanda, and Duke Jianchuan is of course Wang Chonggu.Xing'an and Jianchuan are the nicknames of Chen Qixue and Wang Chonggu respectively.

The old steward smiled wryly and said: "At present, the assistant ministers who know Rong's political affairs are nothing more than Gao and Zhang. Zhao Dazhou is just a guy who has been educated. How does he know what's going on? What's going on right now... is it It's getting harder and harder!"

Ma Fang became even angrier when she heard this, and said: "If this trash knows about border affairs, he will think that Chen Butang is guilty? Will he think that Zhao Zongrong is afraid of the enemy? As for the situation on the Nine Frontiers, the situation has been getting worse and worse these years, I'm afraid it's just standing in front of him Explain to him, but he can’t even understand! I have been in Ming Dynasty for 200 years, and the overall situation in the north is getting tighter and tighter. Xuanda’s defense is the most important thing, but now it is more and more like an empty shelf, and it can really fight How many soldiers are left? Just like this situation, he still wants to withdraw Zhao Ke! Withdraw Zhao Ke, not to mention the empty battalion in Datong, I am afraid that even the defense of Shanxi will be opened! Can you hold the three towns? Damn, I have three heads and six arms?"

No wonder Ma Fang was furious. It turns out that since Bingzi last September, I dared to violate Datong and plundered Shanyin, Yingzhou, Huairen, and Hunyuan. The military officer Zhao Ke defeated the merits of my answer at Hongci Fort. It is not that Chen Qixue, the Governor of Xuanda, and Zhao Ke, the General Soldier of Datong, feared the enemy like a tiger and wanted to take them down.In fact, from the deployment of the troops of the two of them at that time, it can be seen that they were obviously afraid that Ida's army would harass the imperial tomb, and later saw that Ida wanted to leave after looting, so the two of them immediately attacked and tried to chase and kill them, but they couldn't help it. The infantry couldn't outrun the cavalry, and only caught three or two big cats and kittens, but they were caught by Zhao Zhenji. Thanks to Gao Gong's timely return to the court, the two were saved.Even so, Chen Qixue still lost his position as governor of Xuanda, and was temporarily called back to the capital by Gao Gong.

What made Ma Fang even more angry was that judging from Zhao Zhenji's actions, he had no idea of ​​the tight defense situation in Xuanda and even Shanxi, and he was just messing around.Recently, Gao Gong sent him a letter, saying that Zhao Zhenji still refused to let the matter go, and insisted that Zhao Ke could not continue to serve as the general of Datong.Gao Gong didn't want to argue with this person about this matter, so he decided to give him a little face by asking Ma Fang and Zhao Ke to switch defense zones.

Ma Fang could understand Gao Gong's reaction. After all, he had just returned to court, and it was not easy to keep Chen Qixue and Zhao Ke alive. There was nothing wrong with making a little concession to save the face of a certain elder.It's just that Ma Fang knows that this move between herself and Zhao Ke will probably make An Da think badly again, and it will be another disaster at that time.

What he thought was not unfounded worry, but was determined by the balance of power between Ming and Mongolia in the north, and by the strategic situation of the two sides.

In the early Ming Dynasty, under the careful management of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, the northern frontier defense line of the Ming Dynasty was pushed to the north of the Great Wall from Liaodong, Daning, Kaiping, Dongsheng to Jiayuguan.At that time, Datong and Xuanfu governed a large area outside the mouth, and the pressure of defense was not obvious.After Zhu Di ascended the throne, the capital moved to the north, Daning and Wuliangha were bordered, the east was victorious and the interior was moved, and the peace was also abolished. The northern defense line moved southward for hundreds of miles.

During the Xuande period, the northern frontier defense line further shrunk, especially when Kaiping moved inland to Dushi, which reduced the area of ​​Xuan and Daer towns to the borderlands. It was inevitable that the second frontier defense line would become the first frontier defense line, which became the key to curbing Mongolia's southward movement.In this regard, in addition to strengthening the defense of the second town, the Ming court also continued to improve the defense system in this area.In order to solve the disadvantages of different powers among guarding officials, mutual restraint, and mutual evasion and failure to cope with enemies in neighboring towns, the governor of Xuanda was specially appointed to strengthen coordination, which led to the establishment of the Xuanda Defense Zone, which became the middle and late Ming Dynasty. An important part of the northern defense system.

With the repeated southward movement of the northern frontier defense line in the Ming Dynasty, the strategic importance of the Xuanda area increased day by day, and the defense pressure increased.

"The heart and heart of the people in the capital, the backs of Xuan and Daxiang, the limbs of Yan and Ning, and the heels and feet of Gansu."

"If you look at the weight of the land, all the borders are important, but Jizhou, Xuan, Da, and Shanxi are especially important. How can you guard the mausoleum and set the Shenjing at the bottom? Xuan and Da are like shoulders and backs, and Ji and Jin are like elbows and armpits."

Especially after Hetao was abandoned during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, the Mongolian tribes "go out of Hetao to invade Xuanfu, Datong, and Sanguan to help Zhenji; enter Hetao to invade Yansui, Ningxia, Gansu, and Guyuan to disturb Guanzhong." pose a great threat.

In addition, most of the Xuanda area was "ruled by dividing the land, not governed by each other, and there were many constraints in dispatching emergency aid", and the troops were scattered, while Mongolia was not the case. It often concentrated various ministries to take advantage of the emptiness and specialize in a town.In this case, the soldiers of one town can't resist at all, and neighboring towns need to rescue each other.However, the governor generals of each town have no right to mobilize troops from other towns. Neighboring towns are in trouble, and they often sit idly by and do nothing. I also wait and see more, and often miss the opportunity", resulting in a situation where self-protection is difficult to protect.

"If there is an order to violate the Xuanfu, it is urgent for Datong to help; Mistakes will not be avoided.”

In view of this, in order to unify the military power of Xuan and Da Erzhen, and strengthen the unified leadership and coordinated actions between the two towns, it is necessary to appoint important ministers to control them. Therefore, the Ming court appointed Xuanda Governor to unify the two towns during the Jingtai period.After the Xuanda Governor was established, it was not changed regularly, and it was not changed until the 21st year of Jiajing.

After the establishment of Governor Xuanda, in addition to commanding the town soldiers to coordinate the actions of the two towns, he also obtained the right to manage food and pay in the 21st year of Jiajing.

"Renwu, promoted and rectified Northern Zhili, Shanxi, Henan, the censor of Youqian capital, Zhai Peng, the right servant of the Ministry of war, and also the censor of Zuoqian capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the governor of Xuan, the military affairs, and the food and salary."

Later, the defense situation became more and more severe, so the power of the Governor-General was increased. Except for those related to confidentiality, the rest of the soldiers, horses, money and food were allowed to be cheap, and the news was announced later. "Records of Shizong" contains: "Hu Ke gave the matter to Liu Huizuo: "The northern captives invaded the south, and your majesty specially ordered Zhai Peng, the minister of the Ministry of War, to supervise the military affairs. Haste, the opportunity is not fixed, this is not the reason for the special responsibility, but Tu Maogong also asks your majesty to be the full-time Zhai Peng from now on, and all the troops, horses, money and food can be cheap to do it.' The above is the same, that is, Zhai Peng is ordered to remove the matter and keep it secret Those who are not allowed to specialize on their own, their soldiers, horses, money and food can be cheap to engage in, and they should be heard first before they are heard."

In fact, starting from the 21st year of Jiajing, Governor Xuan Da has been standing permanently, and the scope of jurisdiction and powers have been expanded. "Zhai Pengling also supervises Shandong and Henan. Below the governor, all listen to restraint, and things will be peaceful as before."

In the 23rd year of Jiajing, the governor was ordered to order all the soldiers' salaries.In the 24th year of Jiajing, the power of Governor Xuanda was further increased. Those who are governors and chief soldiers who do military affairs must be related to Governor Bai. It should be published first and heard later, so there should be no suspicion of each other."

In the 29th year of Jiajing), Governor Xuanda decided to govern Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi, and it has not changed since then.

Facts have proved that the Xuanda Governor's establishment in Xuanda's defense is quite effective.In the 28th year of Jiajing, Mongolia entered Luexuan Mansion. At that time, Xuan Mansion "made mediocre soldiers weak, and captives were easy to deal with." Governor Weng Wanda immediately exercised his powers and transferred Zhou Shangwen, the commander-in-chief of Datong, to Xuan Mansion to defend against the enemy. Shuai Zhou Shangwen led the elite to temporarily act as the commander of the Xuanfu to curb the rush, and transferred the letters to the assistant ministers and the soldiers, saying that the captives must go back and test in depth, saying that the head of the Xuanfu will not be able to entrust the Datong soldiers to pay for his lieutenants Shuai, and urged Zhou Shangwen to act. Therefore, Shangwen traveled day and night to Caojiazhuang, and the captives had already entered the dangerous place. Unexpectedly, Shangwen's sudden arrival, the war was fought on March night, and the siege was repeatedly solved. The public (Weng Wanda) bowed to the armored supervisor Thousands of soldiers came to help the captives, and they were shocked and said: "General Weng's soldiers are here. He broke through the siege at night and fled. The public then supervised Shangwen and chased them out of the country. The protection was more than the beheading."

After the establishment of the Governor of Xuanda, he gradually obtained the right to dispatch troops and horses, manage money and food, supervise and sponsor, and later obtained the right to establish a government and serve as counselors, which marked that Xuanda area had a central dispatch and control The organization of the supporting forces contributed to the establishment of the Xuanda Defense Zone.

That is to say, Xuanda and Shanxi are a defense unit, and the whole body can be affected by a single move. Now, because of the great situation and difficulty of my answer, Xuanda is under great pressure, and is basically in a passive situation.Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhenji not only withdrew Chen Qixue, but also took down Zhao Ke. As a result, Gao Gong was forced to transfer Wang Chonggu to stabilize the situation, and he had to exchange positions between Zhao Ke and his Ma Fang.

Ma Fang has a strong premonition that when the two of them swap, I will definitely not turn a deaf ear to it—the person who knows you best is often not yourself, but your enemy or opponent.

Therefore, Ma Fang sent someone to Beijing to inquire about the court's movements.And today, according to the agreement, it should be the day to come back and report the situation in Beijing to himself.

(End of this chapter)