The late Ming Dynasty in the living room

Chapter 163: The Governor of Baoding Farewell (Part )

It was forbidden to bring private servants into the army, but the old lady at home was worried and still sent a few servants to wait in Laishui County.

The leading old servant had just finished arranging matters in the back hall. When he heard that the master had finished the military meeting, he hurried out to greet him. However, he suddenly met Yang Wenyue who was in a hurry. His face was pale and he seemed to be a little... panicked?
"Master, what's going on?"

The old servant stood frozen on the spot, feeling confused and filled with fear.

Just now he heard that the military meeting in the front hall went very smoothly, the generals were very enthusiastic, and many children from wealthy families came to serve (serving in the army was the best way to gain experience before passing the imperial examination). Everyone in the back hall was talking about it, saying that the court was going to win the war this time! He was also very happy to hear this, and was planning to bring the news back to the city to make the old lady at home happy, but the master...

The old servant suppressed his fear and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Yang Wenyue: "Where is Yang Guang? Has he come back? Has he seen Fang Shenzi?"

"...I haven't seen him. People in Xincheng said...Fang Shenzi is very busy and can't take a break for the time being."

"Ah! Is that really the case?"

After getting the answer, Yang Wenyue staggered, as if he had been hit hard.

Yang Guang was a servant he sent to Xincheng to seek an audience with Fang Shenzi. In fact, this was the second time he had asked for an audience.

As early as five days ago, when he was still on the road, he had sent an express horse to Xincheng to deliver a business card, but there was no response. He knew at that time that something was wrong. Today, when he arrived in Laishui County, he still hoped for a lucky farewell and asked for a meeting again, but "Master Fang is busy for the time being" shattered his fantasy.

Why did Yang Wenyue want to see Fang Shen Zi so much? Of course, he wanted to ask for help.

He is a family man who knows his own business. He knows that the soldiers under his command are not capable of fighting a tough battle. He also knows that the troops from Baoding, Tongzhou, Shanxi, Sichuan... were gathered together with multiple orders. They were forced to go to Henan by the imperial order. None of them had even the slightest desire to fight, and each of them wanted to preserve their strength.

If Fang Shenzi had not descended to the earth, he would have had no choice but to lead the Baoding tribe to Henan to face a battle for national destiny whose outcome was extremely unpredictable. If he won, the Ming Dynasty could live a few more years, but if he lost... it would be the end of everything. (This is what happened in history, and the result was of course a loss, a very miserable loss)
However, Fang Shenzi came to the world after all. Not only was he willing to gather refugees, he also gave Sun Chuanting 2000 million taels of silver. At that time, Li Zicheng's army had already surrounded Kaifeng, and Yang Wenyue and the Baoding generals had been ordered to go to Henan for rescue. Yang Wenyue was originally full of sorrow, because in the first month of last year, he led the Baoding troops to Henan once (Li Zicheng's second siege of Kaifeng), and that time he suffered a great defeat and lost the governor of Sanbian, Fu Zonglong. I think this time he will not have a good ending.

After learning the news that Fang Shenzi had descended to the earth, he was so happy that he couldn't sleep for several days and nights. He immediately ran to Zijingguan Guard Station, ostensibly to gather troops, but in fact to curry favor with Fang Shenzi by suppressing bandits. He didn't dare to hope to get 2000 million taels of silver, but only hoped that the wealthy Fang Shenzi could give him a little... Even if he only got one million taels? Even if he only got dan of grain? It would be great for him and the Baoding tribe!
Because he had food in his hands, he was not in a hurry to fight the main force of the bandits. Although Chongzhen had emptied the national treasury and even gave up the ginseng of Emperor Wanli, the military expenditure was still stretched to support long-term combat. He could station troops outside Kaifeng City, build fortifications, and tie down Li Zicheng's army, making it impossible for Li Zicheng to attack the city with all his strength. This would also achieve the goal of saving Kaifeng City.

What happens next? Then we wait until Sun Chuanting's 300,000 field troops are trained and march south.

No one in this world can resist a well-equipped field army of 300,000 with ample food and fodder, not even Li Zicheng and the Qing Tartars combined!
(1. In the 30th century, no country had a 16-man field army. In the Battle of Sarhu, the Ming army + the Korean army + the garrison troops totaled 8.6, but the actual field army was only 8.6. It was precisely because of the loss of these precious field troops that the Ming Dynasty no longer had the ability to fight a large-scale direct attack against the Qing Dynasty and Li Zicheng's old camp.)
(2. Sun Chuanting was not rich to train 2000 troops with 30 million taels, because there was no military land to distribute to the soldiers. The cost of training troops in the late Ming Dynasty can be referred to the draft of the training memorial submitted by Xu Guangqi, the second assistant of the cabinet, to Emperor Tianqi, and the book on pacifying Liao written by Yuan Chonghuan in the second year of Chongzhen. The data showed that 14 old troops + 1.2 new soldiers in Jizhen + 8 mules and horses cost 285 million taels of silver for food alone in a year. By the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the cost of food had more than doubled. Sun Chuanting dared to train 30 new troops because Fang Yu provided him with cheap food and materials, and Laishui County was very close to Yizhou, with low transportation costs. Of course, the cost of going out to fight will increase several times in the future, and Sun Chuanting is likely to request an increase... After all, Fang Yu did not understand the real cost of training troops, and did not know the good calculations of old Sun: this new army is about to be trained, but it is still not enough to go out to fight. Fang Shenzi, you should not add more, you can't give up halfway, right?)

In short, Fang Shen Zi is unwilling to meet Yang Wen Yue now, which completely shatters Yang Wen Yue's plan.

With Sun Chuanting's 30 new troops as a backup, the Ming Dynasty would not have perished. Even if Kaifeng was lost this time, or even if the capital was lost in the future, as long as the new troops could be successfully trained, they would always be able to take it back... However, Yang Wenyue himself and his Baoding soldiers would probably have to be buried in a foreign land.

Yang Wenyue's mind went blank.

The loyal old servant was still reporting in front of him, "The master is away at war, and the old lady is always worried at home. She just sent another letter from home. There is also something I want to let the master know. Two cousins ​​came to my hometown in Sichuan. I heard that they want to ask the master to let them serve in the army so that they can earn a future..."

Yang Wenyue didn't know whether he heard what was said or not. He just stood there in a daze for a long time, then walked slowly to the back hall.

……

At the same time, in Xincheng, Fang Yu and Teacher Pan were also discussing Yang Wenyue’s matter.

"So, did Yang Wenyue die in Kaifeng?"

Fang Yu searched his memory and nodded, "He was indeed dead, but he did not die in Kaifeng, but in the nearby Runing City. He fled to Runing City after the defeat in Zhuxian Town. He could have escaped, but there was a vassal king in Runing City. He did not dare to run away even though the vassal king could not escape. Then, he waited and waited until he was surrounded by Li Zicheng's army."

Teacher Pan asked in confusion, "Why didn't he dare to run when he knew he would be surrounded? According to what you said, Yang Wenyue is also very good at running away, much better than at fighting."

"In ancient times, killing a prince was called treason, and treason was a capital crime. Even if he ran away, Chongzhen would not let him go." "Why didn't he take the prince with him? That wouldn't be treason."

"The prince cannot leave his fiefdom without an imperial decree, otherwise it would be a serious crime. I remember that after the prince was surrounded, he wanted to surrender, but Yang Wenyue led his soldiers into the palace, put a knife to his neck, and refused to let him surrender."

Teacher Pan was a little confused after listening to this. She felt that Yang Wenyue was afraid of death and yet was unwilling to let the prince surrender. He seemed to be suffering from schizophrenia.

"Did Yang Wenyue die in battle? Or did he secretly surrender and then be killed by Li Zicheng?"

"Neither. He was captured after the city was captured. Yang Wenyue was a high-ranking official and was very useful. Li Zicheng said a lot of good things to get him to surrender, but he refused. Not only did he curse Li Zicheng, he also praised Wang Qiaonian..."

"Wang Qiaonian seems to be a governor as well?" Teacher Pan had some impression of this name.

Fang Yu nodded, "Not only was he the governor-general, he was also the governor-general of three borders. He took over Fu Zonglong's position. After Fu Zonglong died, Wang Qiaonian took over. Wang Qiaonian had a grudge against Li Zicheng. He couldn't defeat Li Zicheng in a war, so he went to Shaanxi and dug up Li Zicheng's ancestral tomb... Yang Wenyue praised Wang Qiaonian in front of Li Zicheng, saying that Wang Qiaonian did the right thing. Li Zicheng got angry, tied him to a wooden board, stood him up, and fired a cannon at him, and he was killed."

"Alas, he is really seeking death." Teacher Pan sighed.

She originally thought that Yang Wenyue was a coward who could only run away. Fang Yu said that he abandoned the commander Fu Zonglong and ran away during the second Kaifeng Relief Battle last year. In the upcoming third Kaifeng Relief Battle (also known as the Battle of Zhuxian Town), he abandoned the commander Ding Qirui and ran away first, causing Ding Qirui to lose all his commander's flag, imperial sword, seal, etc. Who would have thought that such a person would resolutely refuse to surrender when facing Li Zicheng, and could do such a deed that would be recorded in the biography of heroes?
Fang Yu explained: "In fact, he didn't run away on his own. He was probably coerced by his subordinates, namely Yang Dezheng, the general of Baoding, and Liu... Liu, the deputy general. They were afraid that they would have a hard time explaining themselves if they lost their commander. As for why Wang Qiaonian and Fu Zonglong were killed, it was because they only had the title of commander-in-chief, but actually had no troops under their command, and no general or deputy general was directly responsible to them, so naturally no one was willing to coerce them."

"That's right. If he was really a coward, Sun Chuanting wouldn't have bothered to recommend him." Teacher Pan seemed to be talking to himself, and then asked Fang Yu: "So are you going to save Yang Wenyue or not? He's already begging you for help."

"Of course we have to save him, even if not for his own sake. He still has 40,000 troops under his command, and another 100,000 on the way. They will lose miserably this time, with 100,000 deaths being the minimum." Fang Yu answered with certainty.

"There are still hundreds of thousands of people in Kaifeng city..." Teacher Pan also reminded softly.

"Ah."

The mother and son were silent for a while. Fang Yu knew that Teacher Pan couldn't bear it, so he finally said in a mad voice, "But this matter is a bit troublesome!"

"You know, Mr. Sun actually sponsored Yang Wenyue with one million taels of silver, but how much did Yang Wenyue get in the end? Only 150,000 taels! He was so stingy that he even bought a few matchlock rifles from us. He originally ordered 4,000 matchlock rifles from the Ministry of Weapons, but later changed it to 1,000, and exchanged the rest for pig iron and food. Where did the other 850,000 taels go? The other troops going to Kaifeng should also be able to get some, but it must be pitiful! At least more than half of it was just 'lost'. We can indeed provide a lot of silver and food to sponsor them, but we are afraid that these things will not reach the hands of the soldiers. Maybe the soldiers will still starve, and the war will still be lost, and only the civil and military officials above will get a lot of money."

Teacher Pan suggested, "Why don't we just give food instead of silver?"

Fang Yu shook his head: "No, they can sell you the food. I heard Pang Tiande tell me that they not only dare to sell the army's food, but also artillery, armor and other things. When it comes to counting, they will use wooden cannons instead, cotton armor without iron plates, or even paper armor to make up the amount. As long as the benefits are enough, the officials who check the count will pretend not to know."

Teacher Pan was shocked when he heard this.

She had been prepared for the corruption of officials in the late Ming Dynasty, but she never thought it would reach this level. Cannons and armor were all used for war. How could they win the war if they sold them? If they couldn't win, their country would be destroyed. It would not be good for them to lose their country. At least they would be threatened with death. And could they really keep the money they earned?

"Wasn't that silver given to Yang Wenyue by Sun Chuanting? Yang Wenyue didn't keep it for his own military funds, so how could someone else take away so much of it?"

After being stunned, Teacher Pan thought about this question again.

"Sun Chuanting is different from Yang Wenyue. Sun Chuanting recruits and trains his own soldiers. How he spends the money is his own business. Chongzhen is unhappy, but he will not break up with him. After all, Sun Chuanting has trained the new soldiers well and saved the world of his Zhu family. Of course, there is another reason. He may also be afraid that Sun Chuanting will rebel if he is forced into a corner... Of course, those people in the court want to share the money, but Sun Chuanting refuses to hand the money over to the treasury. They have no other choice but to talk nonsense and curse him.
Yang Wenyue was different. The soldiers under his command were directly under the imperial court. The distribution of money and grain had to go through the Ministry of War (the Five Military Commandery still had some supervisory power or profit sharing power), and then distributed from the Ministry of War to the local treasury. This process had already gone through several levels of exploitation. Yang Wenyue could not control the money himself, and he did not dare to! Otherwise, his position as the Governor of Baoding would be over. As a governor, he had the power to command and train troops, but his say in the distribution of money and grain was not high, and his words might not be as effective as those of a military supervisor. "

"This is not the only trouble I'm talking about."

Fang Yu scratched his hair and said in confusion, "Even if these officials changed their personalities overnight and became Hai Rui or moral role models, I still wouldn't feel comfortable handing the money over to them."

(End of this chapter)