The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

When Zhang Fan came to the county government office, the government officials welcomed him in without stopping him when they saw him.Zhang Fan asked where Ma County Magistrate was, and the yamen servant told him that Ma County Magistrate was handling official business in the back hall, and was about to send someone to look for Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan came to Magistrate Ma's study and saw that he was writing something.Ma County Magistrate saw Zhang Fan coming, told him to sit down, hurriedly finished writing the letter, and sent it to Qingyang government office immediately.Only then did he turn around and talk to Zhang Fan.

"My nephew is here, do you know what's going on outside?" Magistrate Ma asked.

"The late student knows that I came here for this purpose. My mother has taken in many people at home and made some porridge and rice to satisfy their hunger." Zhang Fan said, "What's going on?"

"Lingtang really has the heart of a Bodhisattva!" County Magistrate Ma sighed, and then continued, "I don't know the specific situation very well, I only know that the Tartars gathered tens of thousands of people last night, and took advantage of my Yan'an Prefecture's two city patrols to change defenses. At the same time, the Yan'an Mansion and the three counties below it were robbed, and an estimated 2 people were homeless, and the number of casualties is unknown."

"The Tartars haven't seen anything for so many years, why did they suddenly come to robbery this time?" Zhang Fan asked hastily when he heard the serious situation.

County Magistrate Ma sighed, and said, "You know that as a civil servant, I would never be the county magistrate of this frontier county. Throughout the Ming Dynasty, almost all county magistrates in northern Xinjiang were born in warriors. The harassment is getting less and less, and only the county magistrates in northern Xinjiang have civil servants to do it."

"Did the Tartars notice the movement here, so they plan to resume their old business?" Zhang Fan asked.

"This old man thinks so too," Ma County Magistrate said.

"Did you notice anything strange?" Zhang Fan asked.

"My nephew has also noticed it!" County Magistrate Ma said, "The timing of the Tatars' robbery this time is so coincidental, if it's just a pure coincidence, then that's all."

"Your Excellency, are you afraid that someone will tip off the news?" Zhang Fan said with some uncertainty.

"That's why I'm so worried." Magistrate Ma looked very anxious when he said this. "If it's just some small soldiers who were bribed, that's okay. If some officials report the news to the Tartars, it will be a big deal." Trouble."

"No, if the Tartars knew that the patrol officers of the two cities of Yan'an Mansion were going to switch defenses, it must have been leaked to them by someone of some status," Zhang Fan said.

"Why did my nephew say that?" Magistrate Ma asked.

"Your Excellency, I don't know. A woman who escaped from Yan'an Mansion was taken in by my mother and said that her husband was serving as a soldier at the Inspectorate of the Two Cities of Yan'an Mansion. The news of the change of defense was yesterday. It is impossible to gather tens of thousands of people within half a day." Zhang Fan analyzed.

"Then... it's really troublesome!" Magistrate Ma frowned when he heard the news.

While the two were sitting opposite each other in silence, a yamen servant ran in in a panic, holding a letter in his hand, handed it to Ma County Magistrate, and said, "My lord, this is the letter sent by the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province to all the counties. urgent."

After hearing this, Ma County Magistrate immediately took the letter and opened it to read.Zhang Fan looked at magistrate Ma's frown and followed the letter from right to left, and the frown became deeper and deeper.

After a while, County Magistrate Ma finished reading the letter and sat on the chair without saying a word. Zhang Fan was so anxious that he could only ask, "My lord, what did you say in the letter?"

"Look for yourself." Ma County Magistrate handed the letter to Zhang Fan.Originally, the Chief Secretary's dispatch was not allowed to be viewed by others, but Zhang Fan is also a candidate now, and County Magistrate Ma thought it would be okay for him to have a look.

Zhang Fan took the letter and read it, only then did he realize that not only Yan'an Mansion was robbed yesterday, the Tartars returned to Hetao with a large army, even Datong Mansion, Jizhou Mansion, and Ningxia Mansion were in total emergency.The Tazi's attack this time can be said to be of a huge scale. Except for Ningxia Governor Wang Chonggu who led his troops to resist the Tazi's attack, the other three regions were not spared.

"It seems that the situation is serious!" Zhang Fan also sighed after reading the letter, "Then who is the governor of Ningxia Wang Chonggu?"

"Hehe, this Governor Wang is not simple." Speaking of this person, Ma County Magistrate had a smile on his face, "He is from Shanxi, a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing. He was the head of the Criminal Department. The deputy envoy of military preparation, defended against Japanese pirates in Xiagang. In Jiajing 34, he was promoted to the censor of Youqian capital and governor of Ningxia. It is thanks to him that the northern border of the Ming Dynasty can have a safe life in these years. He led the troops to defeat the invasion of the Mongolian noble army many times. "

"From this point of view, Governor Wang can be regarded as a general!" Zhang Fan said.

"Haha, he likes to hear your words the most." Ma County Magistrate said, "Although he was born as a Jinshi, he likes to discuss military affairs the most, and he is familiar with the frontiers and fortresses. He has often predicted the enemy's opportunities , and disintegrated the Tartars' repeated attempts to gather and rob our frontier fortresses in their infancy."

"Looking at it this way, the situation is even more serious!" Zhang Fan said.

"Hmm... what do you mean?" Magistrate Ma asked.

"The Tatars didn't make any movement this time, and the governor Wang found out, and they committed the crime while the frontier defenders were changing their defenses..." Zhang Fan said.

"Is it true that an official or general tipped off the news?" Ma County magistrate clapped the case!

"My lord, don't get angry. No matter how hard you are angry with that traitor, he won't be mad at you to death. If the anger turns out to be good or bad, that person won't know how happy he will be!" Zhang Fan looked at the magistrate's angry face , Hastily persuaded.

"My nephew is right. I must never let that villain succeed." The county magistrate calmed down and sat down again. "I still have to think about how to deal with it now. I have ordered the opening of warehouses to release grain and help the people, but I have no choice." There is really not much stock in the granary in this county, I just sent someone to Qingyang Mansion to deliver a letter, asking Governor Li to send some grain to meet the urgent need."

Hearing this, Zhang Fan immediately walked up to Ma County Magistrate, bowed deeply to him, and said, "Your Excellency really cares about trustworthiness. Without official documents from the court, it is a felony to open a storehouse to distribute grain without permission. Your Excellency does it for the common people." It is admirable to take such a risk!"

"Nephew is too famous!" Ma County Magistrate said, "Now that I am nearly seventy years old, I don't care about fame and wealth anymore! If I can do something for the people and accumulate some virtue, I don't think I have spent this time in vain. .As for the imperial court remembering my crimes, I don't care."

Zhang Fan was a little sad when he saw what Magistrate Ma said, and he didn't know how to comfort him.

Just when the two were thinking about their own thoughts, another yamen servant sent a letter, and Ma County Magistrate hurriedly took the letter and read it.When Zhang Fan saw Magistrate Ma's expression this time, it was the opposite of what he saw when he read the letter just now. At the end, Magistrate Ma's brows were already relaxed!

"The frontier report was on the road yesterday and arrived in the capital in the middle of the night. The Holy Majesty summoned the cabinet overnight for discussion, and now he has made a decision and dispatched it." Magistrate Ma said happily.

"What did the higher authorities say?" Zhang Fan was also eager to know what decision the court had made.

"The imperial court wanted Wang Chonggu to supervise the military affairs of Shaanxi, Yanning, and Gansu provinces. He was asked to send troops into Hetao to surprise the main force of the Tartars." Ma County magistrate was a little elated this time, "However, there is another piece of news that is neither good nor bad. Tell your nephew."

"It's a good thing that the imperial court is willing to send troops there! What else is there?" Zhang Fan asked.

"Wang Chonggu has already started to mobilize the army, but there is no leader in the army. The original man was injured. So Wang Chonggu recruited people from the surrounding prefectures to replace them. Ningxia is extremely short of manpower, and the closest ones are Yan'an Mansion and We are in Qingyang Mansion. Yan’an Mansion is no longer available, so we are left with Qingyang Mansion. And the Lord Fu Ya recommended you.” County magistrate Ma stopped and took a breath, “Nephew, go home and get ready. , you are going to the battlefield!"