The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

The 8,000 Korean soldiers under Tang Yin were stationed outside Fushun City. In order to prevent these troops from having any ill intentions, Zhang Yong specially discussed and divided them into two camps, north and south, on the grounds that there was not enough open space outside the city.

But in fact, if Zhang Yong walked around a little longer, he would find that this passerby really did not pose any threat at all.

A group of people who can't even get enough food, their weapons are so outdated that they are rusted, and the soldiers don't even have armor. Any Ming army can come out and easily deal with them... It's a waste of talent to guard against them.

Tang Yin was able to be transferred into the city.

From this time on, he was no longer the governor of Ji and Liao. After all, this position was newly created. In addition, there was not much trouble in Liaodong during the Hongzhi period, so naturally no one took it too seriously.

But the situation was different for the Three Frontier Commander. Everyone knew that he was the most powerful military general on the front line of the Ming Dynasty. Although Tang Yin was not a young man, he was only in his thirties after all. He rose to a high position in one go. Even the generals in Fushun City wanted to curry favor with him.

Tang Yin stayed in the city that night. Although he had spent more than a month of hard fighting, he still couldn't sleep. He simply asked someone to pack up and then submitted a memorial to the court to reject the order from the Three Border General.

He felt that he was not up to the task.

Because he had revealed this idea to Zhang Yong and others at the dinner party in advance, Zhang Yong brought Cui Yuan with him that night to persuade Tang Yin to "be sensible about the overall situation."

"Eunuch Zhang, Marquis Jingshan, why are you two here?" Tang Yin was still a little confused when he saw Zhang Yong and Cui Yuan.

Everything that needs to be said has been said at the dinner table. Anything said in private would appear to be a confusion between public and private matters.

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "Aren't you here to see if the Tang army can provide us with anything else? If you don't live well, it will affect your rest, which is not good for the battle situation."

Tang Yin said, "My own affairs are minor, but the affairs of the soldiers are major. Now that food and grass are running out, the army lacks the necessary supplies. In addition to resigning from the overall command of the three border military affairs, I will also ask Your Majesty to allocate more food and supplies."

While Zhang Yong and Cui Yuan were talking, they had already entered the room.

After the two of them sat down, Tang Yin picked up the teapot on the table, only to find that there was no hot water.

"Someone, change the tea." Tang Yin said loudly.

"No need." Zhang Yong said, "I came to visit you late at night to say something that is not convenient to say in public. And to prevent people from saying that this is a conspiracy, I also asked Jingshan Hou to be a witness. We all serve the court, so we must avoid suspicion."

Tang Yin sat down and said, "Please tell me what you want to say."

Zhang Yong said: "The food and grass problem that the Tang army is worried about has actually been solved. Earlier, Yang Zhongcheng sent someone to tell me that a batch of food has been transferred from Shenyang Zhongwei and is on the way. Together with the food stored locally, it should be enough."

Tang Yin frowned and said, "How long can an army of tens of thousands survive with just this little food?"

Cui Yuan hurriedly said, "We will send another batch from the port in western Liaoning. It should be a large batch. The Ministry of War has issued an official document asking us to establish military farms in southern Liaoning and other places to ensure the expenses of eastern Liaoning."

"No more war?" Tang Yin frowned.

Zhang Yong asked curiously, "General Tang, when you were ordered to go to war, didn't you know the hidden story behind it?"

Tang Yin was completely confused.

I am leading troops in battle, what secrets do I need to know? Are you kidding me?

Zhang Yong saw that Tang Yin's reaction didn't seem to be fake, so he explained, "It seems that the original intention of the court was to intensify the conflict between the Jurchens and the Koreans. This time, Yang Zhongcheng led his troops into the heartland of the Jianzhou Jurchens and then withdrew for this reason."

Tang Yin said, "I don't know what Eunuch Zhang is talking about."

Zhang Yong laughed and said, "It seems that General Tang is pretending to be confused."

Tang Yin was a little angry. I was feeling very uneasy and confused about my future, but you said I was pretending to be confused?
I was really confused. No one told me what the strategic purpose of this expedition was. I only knew to lead the troops to the battle. If I knew that the purpose of the battle was not to annihilate the Jurchens, I would have led the troops to retreat long ago. Why did I come back in such an embarrassing situation and almost lose in the Jurchens' territory?

Zhang Yong said: "Although the Jurchens are few in number, they are brave and good at fighting. They are good at cavalry combat and are interspersed in various places in the mountains and forests. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, they have sent troops to suppress them several times. Except for the battle two years ago, when Tang Junmen and Xinjian Bo led troops into their hinterland and broke through their camps one by one, causing great damage to their vitality, the rest of the battles have had little effect."

Tang Yin nodded and said, "I know that the Jurchens have never engaged us head-on. One reason is that they have a small number of soldiers and horses, which does not allow them to engage in large-scale warfare. The other reason is that they are good at taking advantage of terrain. Haixi and Jianzhou are places where they are good at fighting. They can waste time with us and make us retreat."

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "You are a general, so you naturally know more than us."

Tang Yin shook his head and said, "I don't deserve it. If I were really familiar with tactics, I wouldn't be like this until now... Alas!"

Speaking of this, Tang Yin still felt a little regretful.

He invaded the Jurchen territory twice. The first time, he was a coward in Duobi City and had no chance to show his abilities during the entire war.

The second time he led his troops in, he returned in defeat again. Fortunately, only the Korean troops were lost, while the Ming troops were threatened. His losses in this battle alone were enough to make him bear the blame and infamy. Not to mention promotion, he would probably have been brought to justice by now.

Zhang Yong said: "The court intends to fight a war of attrition with the Jurchens. In the next year, these troops will not withdraw. They will reclaim wasteland in Liaodong and plant new crops. When the Jurchens reclaim land and plant crops, we will lead our troops to charge in and burn their food, making it difficult for them to survive."

Tang Yin stood up in shock and asked, "Who said that?"

Cui Yuan asked curiously, "Minister Tang has no idea about this?"

Tang Yin didn't know what to say.

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "Tang army, please be patient and tell me, is this tactic feasible?"

"This……"

Tang Yin sat down again, feeling somewhat puzzled. After thinking for a while, he said, "There is nothing wrong with the tactics. The Tatars are good at frontal combat. Even so, they have to avoid the sharp edge of our soldiers in the past two years. As for the Jurchens, they have no ability to engage in frontal combat. As long as we take appropriate measures, when our troops enter their garrison, they will retreat to the mountains and forests as usual and not fight with us. It will not be difficult to destroy their crops."

Zhang Yong said with a smile: "In that case, isn't this a very good tactic?"

Tang Yin said: "But..."

"General Tang, just say whatever you want to say. You are the governor-general of Ji-Liao, and you should be responsible for these matters. Now that you have been promoted, what do you think? Can the local military generals in Ji-Liao, including ours, not obey your orders?" Zhang Yongke said very politely.

Knowing that Tang Yin now had powerful backers, both the emperor and Zhang Zhou, he was promoted directly to the position of General Governor of the Three Borders without being well-known.

Although the Three Border General System during the Hongzhi period was not a permanent one and its status was inferior to that of the Three Border Governors who came later, it was no problem for him to coordinate the military affairs of the Northwest. One person was equivalent to the highest military commander on the front line of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Yong is also in the military, so he has to give face to Tang Yin no matter what.

Tang Yin frowned and said, "This way, the war will be prolonged. My Great Ming must leave many soldiers in Liaodong to ensure that the Jurchens will not rob us. But this way, our own food and baggage supply will become a problem."

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "The Tang army has far-sighted views, which is a blessing for the Ming soldiers. Your Majesty has already allowed the soldiers to be self-reliant in Liaodong."

"That's not very realistic," Tang Yin said. "Let's not talk about reclaiming wasteland and growing crops here. Such hard work may not produce any results. Even if there are results, the harvest will only come in autumn. How will we supply food and grass for the next six months? Will we rely on the local people in Liaodong to tighten their belts? Or will we rely on transporting food from the south? This will be a waste of money and effort."

Zhang Yong said: "I still have to rely on you, Minister Tang."

Tang Yin was speechless for a moment.

It seems that you, Zhang Yong, have bad intentions. You know that I was promoted to the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and it is a full-time position. The allocation of money and grain in the Ministry of Revenue is largely under my control, so you came to see me. Not to discuss military and administrative matters with me, but just to ask me for food?

Cui Yuan asked: "Is it really too late to plant crops now?"

Tang Yin said: "There are precedents for using soldiers to settle in the army, but there are military settlements everywhere in the northwest. How can they be self-sufficient? The land of Liaodong is even more different from the northwest. A lot of it is wasteland. It takes several years to turn virgin land into cultivated land. With such land, how can we ensure the food supply for the soldiers in the army?"

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "Aren't there new crops? Duke Cai said before that with the new crops, the soldiers won't have to starve."

Tang Yin frowned and said, "You can't trust everything Duke Cai says, right?"

After these words were spoken, Zhang Yong and Cui Yuan looked a little embarrassed.

Both of them were thinking, only you, Tang Yin, who claims to be a fellow student of Duke Cai, dares to say such things. Who among us dares to say such things?

Even if we say it, and it is the truth, will the court listen to us? Or will the emperor listen to us?

If you have any opinions, why don’t you go and tell the emperor? There is nothing we can do about it.

We can only carry out the orders from above, especially for such a major policy direction. Do I, Zhang, have the qualifications to obstruct it?

Tang Yin said: "So, Liaodong doesn't need me anymore. After losing more than half of their men, can the Korean soldiers be considered to have completed their mission?"

Cui Yuan quickly said, "Minister Tang, those are Koreans. They are not of our race and their hearts must be different. We don't need to feel sad for their loss."

Tang Yin said angrily: "After all, they are also the people of the upper state. They also respect His Majesty the Great Ming. Since they are fighting for the Great Ming, why should they be divided against each other? What is the meaning of such a battle?"

Perhaps after knowing the truth, Tang Yin couldn't accept it and was about to cry.

The grief and indignation in their hearts made Zhang Yong and Cui Yuan wonder if this guy had betrayed them.

Zhang Yong said: "I can understand that the Tang army and the Korean soldiers have been fighting together for several months and have developed a bond, but the overall situation is still there. The Jurchens have been attacked repeatedly by us and have been under high military pressure. They will definitely seek to replenish their food and grass, and they dare not enter Liaodong, so they will definitely send troops to Korea."

Tang Yin shook his head helplessly and said, "It turns out that everything is just a fight between the snipe and the clam."

"Haha." Zhang Yong laughed, "Isn't it better to be a fisherman? The Koreans are fickle. Have they made any offerings to the court in recent years? In the war with the Jurchens, they just worked but didn't put in any effort. This time, we are helping them."

Cui Yuan also hurriedly said: "Yes. As long as the Jurchens enter the Korean territory and the Koreans can't stand it, we will still help them. In the final analysis, we are trying to solve the hidden dangers of the Jurchens, and the methods are not that important."

Tang Yin said, "You two, there is no need to explain this to me. I will be transferred to the northwest immediately. I can put the things here aside."

"You... won't refuse His Majesty?" Zhang Yong asked curiously.

Of course Tang Yin did not refuse.

He realized that Liaodong really didn't need him anymore. He had already completed his mission, which was to rely on his identity as the "Father of Korea" to make the Koreans fearful and they must allocate troops to him. He would lead the troops to take a tour of the Jurchen hinterland to complete the mission, and the following conspiracies and plots would have nothing to do with him.

Tang Yin said: "I am ordered to go to the northwest, which can be regarded as fulfilling my loyalty to the court."

"Haha." Zhang Yong smiled, "It's good that you didn't refuse. According to our estimation, the Jurchens will have a very hard time in the future. We may not be able to do anything to them on the battlefield, but their food and grass will definitely not be replenished. In the next few months, the frequency of fighting will probably be only two or three times a month."

Tang Yin said: "It would be much easier for Ming troops to enter the Jurchens' territory than for Korean troops."

"This is natural." Zhang Yong also has confidence.

He was actually also making fun of Tang Yin.

Look at the kind of soldiers you brought with you, they are all losers. You brought 20,000 soldiers in, but when they came out, not even half of them are left?
This person is in big trouble.

Although our Ming soldiers may not all be elite, it is still very easy for us to enter and exit the Jurchen territory, and the Jurchens do not dare to confront us head-on.

Tang Yin said: "So, we have to rely on new crops to feed the Liaodong soldiers in the future? Do we have a way to get food and grass? Weapons, ammunition, and supplies for attacking the enemy can also be built locally?"

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "There is no need for the Tang army to worry about this. Liaodong is now thriving. In fact, thanks to the success of the previous battle of Jianzhouwei, more and more people have been transferred from all over the north to Liaodong in the past two years. There are many policies here to provide conditions for ordinary people to reclaim wasteland. This place is not a bitter and cold place now. From soldiers to civilians, they can regard it as their home."

Tang Yin nodded and said, "Then after I left Liaodong, when did you start harassing the Jurchens?"

"That depends on Marquis Jingshan." Zhang Yong looked at Cui Yuan, who seemed to be fine, and said, "Two battles a month is the basis. After the battle, we will reclaim the land and plant crops. The troops from all walks of life will take turns to fight. This will fully guarantee that the soldiers of our three armies will take turns to rest, and we don't have to toss too much. As for when the Jurchens will fight the Koreans, that is beyond our control. As for those Koreans outside the city, they can't go back for the time being. Let them help with farming here and let them have something to eat. Isn't that good?" (End of this chapter)