Ping An Biography

On the 22nd day of the first lunar month of the second year of Xuande, there was loud drumming outside Zhu Yong's tent of the Chinese army, and dozens of generals in armor lined up and entered the tent one by one.Zhu Yong has completed the preliminary preparations for the war against the Miao people. Nearly [-] soldiers are preparing to march eastward.

Zhu Yong is bound to win this battle.His 6000 men in Luxi, together with the defenders in Chenzhou Prefecture and more than 2000 horses in Longtou Temple, nearly 1 people actually participated in the attack and defense of this battle, and the number of troops was no less than that of the Miao rebels. .However, the official army has a high rate of armor equipment, excellent weapons, and is equipped with a large number of heavy weapons and firearms. It basically makes up for the disadvantages of insufficient training of guard soldiers and high escape rate, which leads to the reduction of mobilizable troops in various places.

Zhu Yong asked someone to hang a large picture in the center. Although the drawing is relatively crude, such a picture is enough for his way of deploying troops.After many days of discussions between his staff and the generals, he has formulated a battle plan, and today he called the generals to start dispatching troops; he has written the plan into an official document and submitted it to the Ministry of War.

Roughly, the army first divided into six groups and spread out from north to south, approaching east to drive away the Miao people.If the Miao people gather troops from various ministries in Chenzhou, the officers and soldiers will also mobilize the troops of the six routes to fight head-on with the Miao people. On the relatively flat Chenzhou battlefield, Zhu Yong is [-]% sure to defeat the Miao army head-on; The people are unwilling to fight decisively, so they are bound to be divided and scattered, and they are constantly squeezed eastward. The eastern part is the Dongting Lake area, and the Han people's towns are densely populated. Losing most of the troops, such a result is exactly Zhu Yong's expectation.

The sound of the drum stopped, and dozens of military generals were already standing in the tent on both sides. When Zhu Yong stepped up to his seat in a grand manner, all the generals knelt down on one knee and greeted Duke Cheng with their fists cupped.Zhu Yong said "Excuse me", and sat on the commander's seat with his head held high. His face was red and he was in good spirits.The generals all felt the belief that the leader Zhu Yong will win, and everyone's morale was high. [

Unexpectedly, at this moment, that eunuch Cao Shan hurried in again, followed by an eunuch whom he had never seen before.I saw that the new eunuch had an ugly face, with a sharp mouth, monkey cheeks, left and right eyes of different sizes, it was very ugly.When Zhu Yong saw it, he had a bad feeling in his heart. This eunuch seemed to be the person next to Wang Gou'er, the chief inspector of ceremonies, so why did he come to Huguang?

Cao Shan cupped his hands in a slight salute, then walked up to Zhu Yong, bowed his head and whispered a few words beside him.Zhu Yong's expression was uneasy, but he still got up and said: "The generals will wait for a while, and I will come as soon as I go."

Immediately, he and his confidants standing on one side and two eunuchs lifted the curtain and went to the back.The generals looked at each other and had to wait.

Behind the big tent, Cao Shan led the new ugly eunuch to Zhu Yong: "This is Wang Zhenwang, the eunuch of the supervisor of rites." Wang Zhen had an ugly face, and his etiquette was not bad.

"It turned out to be Prince Wang. I should have met him when I was in the capital." Zhu Yong's words were not all polite. He has seen ugly people before, but it is easy to leave an impression when he is so ugly.

Wang Zhendao: "Duke Cheng raised the tent, is this ready to send troops to fight against the Miao people? Fortunately, I came quickly. If it is a day or two late, when Cheng Guogong's clear signs are dispatched, wouldn't it be a big disaster?"

Zhu Yong frowned and asked, "How do you say this? How bad is it?"

Wang Zhendao: "The emperor sent Eunuch Cao to accompany the army, didn't you make it clear? Duke Cheng's main battle in Huguang this time is to deal with the Jianwen rebel party, followed by the Miao people's rebellion. Isn't it easy to distinguish between the primary and secondary? Why is it now? In such a situation, the Jianwen Rebel Party occupied three prefectures and counties, and swaggered in Chen Bing in the prefectural and county government; Cheng Guogong's large force was actually here with the Miao people, why is this?"

Although Zhu Yong didn't want to yell at the eunuch, he looked down on it from the bottom of his heart. When he heard Wang Zhen questioning himself, he felt very unhappy, but considering that he might be speaking for the emperor, Zhu Yong swallowed it. Well, he explained in a nice way: "There are only a few hundred soldiers in the rebellious party. I have sent deputy general Tan Yousheng to mobilize the guards of Yuezhou Prefecture to attack; and Chenzhou Prefecture is surrounded by the Miao army. As a The commander-in-chief has to be rescued, and besides, I have asked someone to write an official document and submit the entire planning details to the Governor's Office of the Five Armies and the Ministry of War."

"When did you report it? If Eunuch Cao hadn't reported this in time, the emperor would still not know the situation in Huguang. If Duke Cheng and the Miao people were to fight, how long would this battle be? Could it be that you just sit back and watch?" The party grows stronger?" Wang Zhen said in a bad tone.

When Zhu Yong heard this, he knew that Cao Shan had made a small report a long time ago, so he gave this guy an angry look.Originally thought Cao Shan, a fat and white eunuch, was more pleasing to the eye than other eunuchs, but unexpectedly he was also as black as a crow in the world.Cao Shan was stared at, but he didn't try to defend himself. Instead, he looked apologetic...for a while, Duke Cheng felt relieved.

Cheng Guogong's impression of Wang Zhen is getting worse and worse. He is usually very polite to the civil servants and eunuchs of the dynasty, but it doesn't mean that he is inferior to those who are more expensive than those people.He immediately asked: "What is the emperor's will, the prince has an imperial order?"

After hearing this, Wang Zhen sneered, and said in a low voice: "Duke Cheng also said just now that Chenzhou Mansion was surrounded and had to be rescued. If the troops were withdrawn from Luxi, the officials and people of Chenzhou Mansion would have to scold someone to vent their anger...... What does the Duke mean, this infamy must be borne by the Emperor?"

Zhu Yong paused for a moment, but unexpectedly the ugly eunuch opened his mouth so well that he was dumbfounded when he spoke.He didn't know, this Wang Zhen was a raw student before he was eunuched into the palace, and his essays and tongues may be more experienced than Cheng Guogong, who has experienced many battles, because he has a specialization in art.

After Wang Zhen said this, Zhu Yong could no longer ask him for the imperial edict.People don't even pass on oral instructions, that's what they mean, you can figure it out.

Not only Zhu Yong was helpless, but even the literati and staff next to him were at a loss. This is what it means to put it bluntly: Duke Cheng must give up the fat in his mouth and go north to fight "mosquitoes"; The notoriety must be borne by oneself, or someone else can be found to take the blame, anyway, it can't be the emperor's intention... The problem is, the military power is in Zhu Yong's hands, and if he wants to withdraw the army, where can he find someone to take the scapegoat?

Wang Zhendao: "When Cheng Guogong took the post of Wuling General Military Officer, he already knew what the primary and secondary are. Now that it has become like this, you can do it yourself. You are the pillar of the country that the emperor trusts and reuses. Understand the importance of it... Since you are a sensible person, our family doesn't want to say too much."

It's not that Zhu Yong didn't understand the emperor's thoughts: Miao people poured out from the mountains in the west of Huguang, what can they do to take down Chenzhou?But there are several Chenzhous in the world; and the purpose of the Jianwen rebel party's uprising could not be more obvious, which is to seize the country.Therefore, the severity of Wang Zhen's hint is not the meaning of this.

"Oh." Zhu Yong inadvertently sighed slightly disappointed. Anyone who fights the battle to this point will waste all his previous efforts, and the depression in his heart can be imagined.He said casually, "Although there are many wars and disasters in the world, there is no great chaos yet. The chaotic party is only a few hundred people. Between the fingers of extermination, we may think highly of them."

Wang Zhen said with some sarcasm in his tone: "In the eyes of a famous general like you, fighting is like a game of chess. It is more interesting to meet your opponent? But national affairs are not a game of chess. Why wait until others are strong enough to match their opponents before going to fight with them?" A showdown?"

……

Zhu Yong in Huguang had already prepared for the war, but he had to stop it; while the main force of the imperial court in Xuzhou was also ready for the war. The difference was that no one had the power to stop the war here.

According to the suggestion of the British Duke Zhang Fu, the strategy of the court officials and army is to take Huai'an Mansion first, and then take Yangzhou.

Many people, based on the elite combat effectiveness and military superiority of the Beijing camp, suggested that the campaigns to attack the two places should be carried out together to save time.However, Emperor Zhu Zhanji rejected most people's suggestions and insisted on ordering that all the main forces attack Huai'an Prefecture.

Zhu Zhanji is good at admonishing, but he is definitely not a person who does not have his own opinions.When he was dealing with the memorials in the army, he found that there were still people who wrote a letter suggesting the strategy of splitting the two places. He thought it was a waste of his office time and made him spend a lot of time on meaningless nonsense. Now he is writing a memorial Approval: Demotion to three ranks.

He just wanted to use this method to implement his intentions, but he didn't want to clearly explain his thinking: it would be bad if people could see through the emperor's thoughts.He made such a decision based on two considerations: first, the King of Han invaded Nanjing, and this war could not be resolved quickly, so it was not meaningful to divide the troops to save time; For the first large-scale confrontation, he not only demanded victory, but also showed momentum to gain an advantage and initiative in public opinion.War itself is not an end, the end is another high-level need.

When the famous general Zhang Fuzhi proposed a pertinent war strategy, Zhu Zhanji needed to have greater considerations of his own and let those wise combat strategies serve him, not just follow the advice of the famous generals but how to win a battle.

Zhu Zhanji flipped through the reports sent by officials from various ministries, almost all of his attention was on the upcoming battle of Huai'an.But during the tea break, he relaxed and became distracted, and some chaotic thoughts flashed through his mind, including the counter-insurgency in Huguang.

At the beginning, he planned to ask the Ministry of War to send people to supervise, but Wang Gou'er pointed out that Chenzhou was besieged, and the sudden withdrawal of troops would cause dissatisfaction among local officials and people.Zhu Zhanji immediately thought that what Wang Gou'er said was right, so he asked him what to do; Wang Gou'er proposed to send eunuchs to meet secretly, so that the effect could be achieved without saying too clearly, and he was merged.

A slave like Wang Gou'er is becoming more and more attractive.But Zhu Zhanji doesn't trust this eunuch very much in his heart. If things go on like this, Wang Gou'er's power among eunuchs will become more and more powerful... Haitao, who is guarding the mausoleum in Fengyang, maybe he should find a chance to let him come out for activities ;This servant is indeed hated, but in terms of qualifications and abilities, he is indeed the person who checks and balances Wang Gou'er.

Back then, Haitao suffered such a complete defeat that he committed a heinous crime, but the emperor did not kill him.This is also something that Wang Gou'er has never understood, let alone how this "heinous" person could still have a chance to recover...