The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde's motorcade set off on the same day as Ma Fang, Zhang Heng and others from Baoan Prefecture. However, due to the distance between the two places, Wei Guangde arrived in Huailai County one day earlier than Ma Fang and others.

Wei Guangde and the others had a smooth journey along the way, except for the fact that they encountered several groups of Tatar scouts. In addition to the group that was deliberately let in, there was also a group of Tatar scouts that broke through the Jizhen cavalry blockade.

Wei Guangde didn't take it seriously.

Arriving at Huailai County, four war horses brought two messengers to Huailai County in the evening, and were then brought to Wei Guangde by Dong Yiyuan. This was the third and final team of messengers he sent out.

The messenger soldiers retrieved by the two teams previously explained the general situation of Baoan Prefecture to Wei Guangde. The people planned to be sent to Baoan Prefecture are the troops led by the guerrilla general Ma Fang, as well as the guardsmen led by Zhang Heng and Liu Mo. , a total of more than 2,000 people came to Huailai County to join them.

The arrival of the third team of messengers allowed Wei Guangde to confirm the action taken by Baoan Prefecture.

Ma Fang and more than a thousand cavalrymen from his headquarters all went to Huailai County. However, the other two named in the third official document, Dong Yikui, were not transferred to Baoan Prefecture, so they were not in the army and could not be transferred in the short term. And Liu Huan The headquarters and the Anda Division were in a stalemate. Although there was no fighting, the confrontation was fierce and they could not withdraw for the time being.

"You guys go down and rest first."

Wei Guangde waved his hand and told the order soldiers who had been running around for several days to go back to the barracks to rest first. After they walked out, Wei Guangde said to Dong Yiyuan: "It seems that Liu Huan is really good at fighting, otherwise Liu Dazhang of Baoan Prefecture would not let him stay." Down."

Dong Yiyuan nodded hurriedly. He had only seen Liu Huan's name in letters with his eldest brother, and there was this person in the military town newspaper, so he guessed that he might be very capable. Ma Fang's situation was similar.

His father Dong Yang died in the battle when our troops invaded Dishui Cliff in the 28th year of Jiajing. After that, he went to Jizhen and did not return to Xuanfu for more than five years.

If it hadn't been for the team sent out to protect the border patrol minister, I don't know when I would be able to return here.

"When you go down, ask Commander Li to prepare the barracks in advance."

Wei Guangde ordered Dong Yiyuan, and while he was talking, he picked up the reply letter from Baoan Prefecture on the desk and read it.

Commander Li was the commander of the Huailai Guards and was sent to Huailai County to command the defense. After all, there were now two thousand-household guard soldiers here. Without a commander, they were afraid that the two thousand-households would be at a loss.

After Dong Yiyuan left, Wei Guangde slapped the reply letter in his hand heavily on the desk.

Since leaving the capital, no matter what level of military commanders he met, they all treated Wei Guangde with great respect and would never dare to neglect him in the slightest.

This time he sent an official letter to Baoan Prefecture to transfer Ma Fang and others. Even if Dong Yikui was not here, Liu Huan could not be transferred. Wei Guangde felt that Liu Dazhang, the chief military officer of the Xuanfu, did not take him seriously.

The three teams of soldiers who returned from Baoan Prefecture have already said that the camps of the Xuanfu Army and the Anda Division are more than ten miles apart, and there is no situation where they cannot be mobilized. The excuses given are completely perfunctory.

Maybe he was really a little carried away. At first, Wei Guangde knew that he was just reviewing the Hanlin Academy, so he was still cautious when speaking and doing things outside.

However, after receiving the order from the capital and being authorized to "counselor military affairs", Wei Guangde felt that perhaps because of his origins in Jiujiang Wei, Emperor Jiajing looked at him differently, so he continued to be promoted and promoted again and again.

Why do you say that people like Wei Guangde, who have hereditary military positions in their families, followed the ancestors of the Zhu family to conquer the country.

Later generations often thought that military households were miserable, but this was actually only for soldiers. For those with hereditary official positions, as long as they held real power, there was still plenty of money.

Of course, this rich wealth cannot be brought to the table.

In the afternoon of the next day, billowing smoke and dust appeared in the west of Huailai County, and an army was arriving.

In the distance to the north, there was also smoke and dust billowing, and it seemed that there were troops approaching Huailai County.

Wei Guangde already knew from Tan Ma's mouth that Ma Fang and Zhang Heng and Liu Mo were approaching Huailai County at noon, so he was not worried about the scene outside the city.

The Ming army just marched towards Huailai County. The nearly 2,000 Anda troops behind them just followed from a distance and did not dare to come close to challenge.

After Ma Fang led his troops into the city and met Commander Li and Dong Yiyuan of the Huailai Guards, he naturally went to see Wei Guangde to give orders.

Wei Guangde met Ma Fang, Zhang Heng and Liu Mo at a large house requisitioned in Huailai. Although Huailai County was under military control at this time, the civil affairs in the city were still in charge of the Huailai County magistrate, and Wei Guangde had no right to interfere in local affairs.

When he first saw Ma Fang, Wei Guangde had the impression that he looked like a military attache, because in his eyes this middle-aged man had rough and dark skin, which was obviously caused by traveling outside for a long time, and his physique also looked very strong, much better than his own. Dad and uncle are much stronger.

They all did not relax and exercise, which was rare among the Southern Army.

Seeing the people, Wei Guangde believed Dong Yiyuan's words now, so he enthusiastically asked people to sit down and asked about the comparison of the combat power of Ma Fang's troops and An Da's troops.

As for Commander Li, who brought the people here, he wisely left here early on the grounds of patrolling the city defense.

Regarding Wei Guangde's questions, others such as Dong Yiyuan, Zhang Heng and Liu Mo who followed this time were unable to answer. After all, they were not their own soldiers, and even if Wei Guangde asked, they would not know what to do. answer.

"If the cavalry under Altan's banner are ordinary cavalry, they can easily defeat four to five thousand of them. If they are elite cavalry, three thousand of them may not be able to defeat me."

Ma Fang answered Wei Guangde's question with a slightly arrogant expression. When he entered the door and saw the so-called Mr. Wei, Ma Fang was shocked. The chief official sent by the imperial court was actually a baby.

Looking at Wei Guangde's childish face, Ma Fang felt that when he was this age, he was still herding animals in Mongolia.

Ma Fang was born in the 13th year of Zhengde of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty. He was born in a peasant family. He was kidnapped by the Mongols at the age of eight and became a slave of the Anda tribe. In the 16th year of Jiajing, Ma Fang followed Anda Khan to the outskirts of Datong, which was near the border town of the Ming Dynasty. Taking advantage of a hunting opportunity, he escaped by stealing a horse at night and fled to the Datong military camp overnight. He was nineteen years old that year.

"Tanma reports that there are about 2,000 Tatars under surveillance behind you. Do your troops dare to go up and destroy them?"

Wei Guangde asked with a smile on his face when he saw Ma Fang's expression.

Ao, I will let you Ao. If you go out of the city and kill people, you have Ao's capital.

Okay, this way my plan will be achieved.

When Wei Guangde learned about the situation before, he knew from Ma Fang that the troops he led only had more than 1,300 cavalry. According to what he learned from Dong Yiyuan and other Ming army commanders, Ma Fang's more than 1,000 people were definitely They can't defeat the two thousand Tatars outside the city.

"Master Wei, take it seriously."

Unexpectedly, as soon as Wei Guangde finished speaking, Ma Fang stood up excitedly.

Seeing Ma Fang's reaction, Wei Guangde felt something was wrong. Don't really send these more than a thousand cavalry into the tiger's mouth. This is his own way of survival.

It's just that at this moment, he really couldn't say anything, after all, he just said that.

However, Zhang Heng who was following saw that the situation was not good and immediately got up and grabbed Ma Fang. He smiled at Wei Guangde and said, "Master Wei, don't be like him. General Ma's nickname in Xuan Mansion is 'Mad Man Ma'" "You dare to fight against a thousand-man Tatar brigade with just a few hundred men in your hands. You must ignore him. All you have to do is give the military orders. We will never dare to neglect them."

With Zhang Heng's buffer, Wei Guangde got off the slope and said with a smile: "That's right, you just arrived today, let's rest for a night."

Ma Fang still wanted to speak, but was pulled by Zhang Heng to sit down again.

Wei Guangde was a little curious now. Ma Fang looked like a fierce general, but why was the situation in Baoan Prefecture really calm?

"General Ma is very courageous. Wei admires him, but since General Ma can fight and dares to fight, why has Baoan Prefecture not seen any reports of the battle with the Anda tribe?"

On the first day they met, Wei Guangde didn't want to pretend to be serious and just said whatever came to his mind. Since he saw that Ma Fang seemed a bit belligerent, he asked immediately.

Among the middle and senior military attachés of the Ming Army, most of them like the officialdom, but for the middle and low-level generals, they like to be straightforward.

Wei Guangde was born in a guard house, and there are only a few warriors in the house now, so Wei Guangde doesn't use the title of "Official".

Let yourself appear more friendly to the people. After all, my age is a flaw. I just have the advantage of being a civil servant and can suppress these warriors.

"It's not that I don't want to fight, it's because General Liu doesn't allow us to fight. If we had to follow my wishes, the whole army would go straight to the Altan camp, and the Tatars would have been beaten away long ago."

Ma Fang was eager and spoke the truth directly.

The words had already been spoken, even Zhang Heng and Liu Mo on the side could only hold their foreheads, what else could they say.

Even if you are dissatisfied with Commander-in-Chief Liu Dazhang, there are some things you cannot say in front of outsiders. They are all internal affairs of the Xuan Mansion. Even if you file a complaint, you should go to the governor or the governor.

"General Liu refused to go into battle because he was worried that the soldiers would suffer too many casualties."

Wei Guangde just casually tested it.

Seeing Zhang Heng trying to steal the conversation again, Wei Guangde stared at him fiercely.

Wei Guangde didn't know whether his eyes contained murderous intent, but Zhang Heng, who wanted to open his mouth, shut his mouth obediently. Apparently he sensed Wei Guangde's displeasure.

"Maybe there is this reason, but my department has never suffered a loss. Even if there is a loss, the Tatars' loss is several times that of mine."

Or talking about what he was unhappy about recently, Ma Fang was a little bit arrogant at the moment and continued: "Actually, the main thing is that he is afraid of losing the war and being blamed by the court, so he blindly avoids the war. The result is that the Tatars' arrogance becomes more and more arrogant. If Governor Zhou was still there, it would be his turn to act so arrogantly."

"Altan?"

Wei Guangde asked strangely. He had heard him mention this name several times before.

"Lord Wei, you don't know something. We usually name Mongolians by using similar Chinese characters according to their pronunciation. The name Ada Khan written in our court documents is actually pronounced Altan, which is closer to his pronunciation."

Ma Fang hurriedly explained.

Wei Guangde nodded, and then asked: "You speak Mongolian and are familiar with it?"

"Sir, I was captured by the Tatars and worked as a slave when I was a child. I escaped when I was nineteen years old. After that, I joined the army camp of General Zhou as a soldier."

Ma Fang hurriedly explained that if he couldn't tell clearly, Wei Guangde might suspect him of being a Tatar spy, but he couldn't be careless.

"Who is General Zhou? And who is that Governor Zhou you mentioned first?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Captain Zhou Shangwen, when I came back, he was the chief military officer of Datong. At Xuanda University at that time, although our troops invaded the border for many years, they could not get any favor at all, let alone enter the customs. "

Ma Fang said with pride again.

"Zhou Shangwen?"

Hearing Ma Fang say his name, Wei Guangde naturally knew this person. He used to read the Ming Dynasty residence newspaper and saw his name frequently in the Jiajing years of more than ten to twenty years. He was regarded as one of the most famous generals in the Jiajing Dynasty.

In Wei Guangde's impression, not to mention the military generals who founded the country and settled the country, those who were rewarded solely for their military merits were "the chief military officer plus the three princes, only a scholar."

"Is he gone?"

Wei Guangde asked hesitantly.

"He was gone in the 28th year of Jiajing, otherwise there would be no Tatar raid on the capital."

Ma Fang said with a hint of sadness in his tone.

Ma Fang had said before that he joined the army to serve under Zhou Shangwen. Calculating the time, it has only been twenty years since he escaped from the desert and took up the position of guerrilla general. Ma Fang's promotion speed is not slow.

For most people, a 20-year-old soldier might not even know where they died, but Ma Fang was not only active and active, but also promoted step by step. This shows that this person is also a person with great luck.

In recent years, I have invaded the border every year, and many soldiers have died.

Wei Guangde couldn't help but pay attention to this middle-aged man named Ma Fang. He was a guerrilla general, equivalent to the command level of the guard station. If someone recommended him, it would not be impossible to get him as a staff general.

It seems that Xu Lun will repay Ma Fang's merits. Once the battle is over, he may become a general after the decree from the capital comes down.

Went there in the 28th year of Jiajing reign. Wei Guangde couldn't help but feel a little emotional when he thought that his troops broke out outside Beijing the following year and became a major event that shocked the world.

Judging from Ma Fang's words, when Zhou Shangwen was still alive, the Anda tribe was just making small fuss on the side wall. Once Zhou Shangwen died, they dared to march straight in.

And Dong Yiyuan, it seems that his father died that year.

It seems that Zhou Shangwen's death really stimulated the Mongolian Tatars, and with the looting of the capital, they became more courageous.

"You have been in the Anta tribe, so you are familiar with the situation there. You said before that if they are ordinary Tatars, your troops can fight four to five thousand people. If they are elite troops, you can hold off two to three thousand people, right? ?”

Wei Guangde wanted to know the details of the Mongolian Anta Division. Unexpectedly, he only wanted to find a life-saving charm, but unexpectedly found a Mongolian passer. Naturally, he could not let go of this opportunity to learn information.

"Yes, my lord."

Ma Fang now calmed down again. When she heard Wei Guangde's question, she immediately answered.

"Then tell me, how many troops are there in the Anda tribe? How many elite soldiers are there?"

Wei Guangde asked immediately.

The previous battle report mentioned that the Anda tribe invaded the country with 20,000 troops this time. Weng Pu did not dare to mobilize the Jizhen army out of the customs to participate in the extermination. He was worried that the Anda troops outside the customs would raid the Great Wall of Jizhen and force Beijing again. city.

"In the hands of Altan"