weaving

Chapter 1516 A Huge Event!
When the Ming Dynasty first established the garrison commander in Xuanfu, in order to strengthen the defense of the Great Wall in Xuanfu, in the ninth year of Jiajing, the Great Wall defense line, which stretched from Juyong Pass in the east to Yongningwei in the north and from Xiyang and Nanshantai and Datong Tianchengwei in the west, a total of 1,973 li, was divided into five routes: central, western, southern, eastern and northern, and each route was guarded by a deputy commander.

Xuanfu Town gradually evolved into a defensive system consisting of towns, roads, forts, and passes.

At that time, the northern route's city was located at Dushikou City, with fourteen castles under its jurisdiction; the central route's city was located at Geyubao, with eight castles under its jurisdiction; the western route's city was located at Wanquan Right Guard City, with thirteen castles under its jurisdiction; the southern route's city was located at Shunshengchuan West City, with seven castles under its jurisdiction; and the eastern route's city was located at Yongning City, with seven castles under its jurisdiction.

The military general who guarded the entire Xuanfu Town was called the Garrison Commander-in-Chief, the military general who guarded a route was called the Assistant Commander, and the military general who guarded a city or a fortress was called the Garrison Commander, Assistant Garrison Commander, Defender, or Commander.

In the 45th year of the Jiajing reign, the western route was divided into the upper western route and the lower western route, and the southern mountain route was added; then in the 18th year of the Wanli reign, the northern route was once again divided into the upper northern route and the lower northern route.

In this way, Xuanfu Town changed from five routes to eight routes.

The Eastern Route was located in Yongning City, with seven castles under its jurisdiction; the Lower Northern Route was located in Longmensuo, with six castles under its jurisdiction; the Upper Northern Route was located in Dushikou, with eight castles under its jurisdiction; the Central Route was located in Longmenwei, with eight castles under its jurisdiction; the Upper Western Route was located in Wanquan Right Guard City, with seven castles under its jurisdiction; the Lower Western Route was located in Chaigoubao, with six castles under its jurisdiction; the Southern Route was located in Shunsheng West City, with seven castles under its jurisdiction; and the Southern Mountain Route was located in Liugou City, with three castles under its jurisdiction.

…………

Now, of the eight routes under Xuanfu's jurisdiction, the Upper and Lower North Routes, the Middle Routes, the East Routes, and the Upper West Routes are directly controlled by the Earl of Yongning, and the town of Xuanfu is also firmly under Zhang Cheng's control.

Although there are still three routes, namely Xiaxi Road, Nanlu Road, and Nanshan Road, Xiaxi Road and Nanlu Road are sandwiched between Xuanzhen and Datong Town. They are deterred by the fierce Yongyi Army inside and restrained by Wang Pu's Datong Army outside, so they cannot cause any trouble.

Even though Li Jian'e and Yang Tianfu were related to Lai Tianlu by marriage, they had received a guarantee from the Earl of Yongning that, for their own benefit, they would never stand up for Lai Tianlu again.

As for Xiong Tingrui, the military commander of Nanshan Road, although he was also called a "Route", he was the weakest military commander of the Route. His Route was mainly set up to protect Juyong Pass and Changping. It only had three castles under its jurisdiction and even its food and pay had to be supplied by the East Route. What else could it do?
In the main hall of the Zhen Shuo General's mansion in Xuanfu, the Earl of Yongning was discussing matters of defending the emperor with his civil and military officials.

"General, we have just received the proclamation. If we do not send troops to defend the capital, we fear we will displease the Emperor," Liu Minshen reminded him from the side.

Hu Yiwen chimed in, "Indeed, according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, troops should be mobilized to defend the city the day the proclamation arrives. Commander, this matter cannot be delayed."

The older generation, such as Liu Minshen, who remained in Xuanzhen, still habitually addressed Zhang Cheng as "Jue Shuai" (爵帅), unlike Hu Yiwen and others who had already changed their address to "Du Shuai" (督帅).

Zhang Cheng did not speak. His gaze swept over the generals Guo Yingxian and Liu Guangwu, and finally stopped on Liu Minshen before he said, "Shenzhi, I did not say that we would not send troops to guard the capital. It's just that we have important things to do right now, so the matter of guarding the capital needs to be discussed in detail."

"A major matter?" Liu Minshen hesitated upon hearing this, and said, "Does the Commander-in-Chief mean...?"

Liu Minshen was not the only one surprised by this; everyone else was as well. They really couldn't understand what important matter required such long-term planning, apart from joining the guards to protect the emperor.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Marquis Yongning Zhang Cheng spoke up: "Although the Jurchens have invaded the capital region again, their isolated army has penetrated deep into our territory. They have neither reinforcements nor heavy artillery to rely on, so they will not rashly attack the capital. Therefore, the capital is safe."

"Our brave and resolute army, having just finished the campaign to suppress the bandits, is exhausted and needs rest. Furthermore, we are unprepared for supplies. Rashly dispatching a large army to defend the capital risks plunging us into a state of food and pay shortages, thus repeating the mistakes of eleven years ago."

"But what if the army that enters the capital is late, and the Emperor blames us?" Liu Minshen was still worried.

Zhang Cheng naturally knew that he was also doing it for his own good, and said to him with a smile, "I only said that we should not rashly send a large army to guard the city, but I did not say that we should not send a single soldier." Wu Zhizhong replied, "At present, the Yulin and Huwei of Weiyuan Camp, together with Chen De's thousand elite cavalry, plus Guangda's Zhuque Camp are all suppressing bandits in southern Shanxi and cannot return for the time being."

Furthermore, Li Jiyu's Xuanwu Battalion has been reinforced with too many new soldiers and needs rest and training, so it is not suitable for battle for the time being. Therefore, only Zhi Ce's Tengshe Battalion and He Zhenxiong's Zhenbiao Battalion are barely capable of fighting.

At this moment, Guo Yingxian, the deputy commander of Xuanzhen, blurted out, "How about I lead the auxiliary battalion into the city first to avoid the court's wrath? After the main army has rested, the commander can then lead his troops into the city to defend the emperor. What do you think?"

Zhang Cheng smiled at Guo Yingxian and said, "You can't go. I have important matters to entrust to you."

"What? What's the big deal? Bigger than... even bigger than the loyalist campaign?" Guo Yingxian was both surprised and somewhat excited.

"This is a huge deal!"

"What is it? Tell me quickly... Lord, you know I'm straightforward, I can't guess riddles."

Zhang Cheng did not answer him, but turned to Liu Chengzhu and said: "Liu Chengzhu, in the name of Zhenshuo Prefecture, write a troop mobilization order, ordering Xiong Tingrui, the military commander of Nanshan Road, to lead two thousand troops of the Qibing Battalion to set off immediately to guard the capital region."

At the same time, another military order was issued to Lin Dengyou, the deputy commander-in-chief stationed in the eastern route, ordering him to lead 3,000 troops of the auxiliary battalion to set off ahead of time to guard the capital region.

In your command, you instructed the two of them to avoid launching any preemptive attacks after entering the garrison. They must rely on fortified cities or advantageous terrain for defensive warfare, and absolutely must not engage in direct combat with the enemy before my main army arrives.

"Yes, sir!" Liu Chengzhu responded loudly, then turned and went to write the commander's order.

"Marshal, what about me?" Guo Yingxian asked anxiously, unable to contain himself.

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng turned around, looked at him, and asked, "Old Guo, I'm asking you to go and fight the Jurchen Tartars in Guihua City. Do you dare?"

Guo Yingxian was taken aback upon hearing this...

It wasn't out of fear, but rather because he never expected Zhang Cheng's move would actually target Guihua City.

"Sure, I've wanted to beat him up for a long time."

But Guo Yingxian quickly realized what was going on and said hesitantly, "It's just... it's a bit far to attack from here."

Zhang Cheng smiled and said, "Then... what if we attack Guihua City from the Tiger's Mouth?"

"Hehe...that's great!"