prosperous age

Chapter 362 361 Vulnerability
Xuanfu Town is one of the Jiubian Towns established in the early Ming Dynasty. It got its name because the town's chief soldier was stationed in Xuanhua Mansion, and it is also called "Xuan Town" for short.

The side wall under its jurisdiction starts from Juyongguan in the east, and reaches in the west the Xiyang River in Yanggao County in the northeast corner of Shanxi Province, with a total length of nearly a thousand miles.

Xuanfu Town has always been a battleground for military strategists, and its strategic position is very important. Especially after the Ming Dynasty established Beijing as the capital, Xuanfu Town was the place to defend the capital and defend the throat of the Mongols going south.

During the Longqing period of later generations, Cheng Daosheng said in the "Nine Borders Map Research": "The disputes over the mountains and rivers of Xuanfu, the land is dangerous and narrow, and the construction of sub-tunnels will be twice that of other towns. Therefore, it is known as easy to defend because of its complete momentum, but it is not four hundred to go to the capital. Here, where the key is sent, the key can be known."

The status of Datong adjacent to it is also the same, which is why the Ming Dynasty set up the position of Governor Xuanda, and also incorporated Shanxi behind Xuanda into the scope of Governor Xuanda's management.

Why it became the throat of Mongolia going south is actually very easy to understand.

On weekdays, the place where Altan Khan resides for a long time is Bansheng City, which is the city of Hohhot in later generations.

Draw a straight line between Hohhot and Beijing, and the line will pass between Xuanfu and Datong.

Well, the shortest distance.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang specially entrusted Dai Wang Zhu Gui and Gu Wang Zhu Wei to guard Datong and Xuanfu respectively, and Yan Wang Zhu Di to sit in Beijing. The purpose was also to ensure the safety of the "Yuan Dadu".

In the fifth year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty, Tan Guang, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu Town, "please set up the commander and envoy of the capital, and divide it into Zhili and Shanxi." He was approved by the court.

The commander of the capital in Xuanfu town where the government is located is named Wanquan, borrowing the name of Wanquanwei, but the scale is much larger.

When the Wanquandu Command and Envoy Division was established, it had jurisdiction over the front, left, and right guards of Xuanfu, the left and right guards of Wanquan, Huai'an Guard, Security Guard, Weizhou Guard, Yongning Guard, Huailai Guard, and Kaiping Guard, a total of 11 guards. There are 7 thousands of households in Shouyu, Meiyu, Guangchang, Sihaiye, Chang'anling, Yunzhou, and Longmen.

The Wanquandu Division was the last provincial-level military institution set up by the Ming Dynasty. It only set up the Commanding Envoy Division, but did not set up the corresponding Envoy Division for Proclamation and Prosecution. There was only one case in Liaodong Town before.

At this time, on the winding mountain road of Dasong Mountain, dozens of knights in armor suddenly appeared from the previous corner. They vigorously urged their horses to run forward desperately, as if they were followed by some wild beasts.

Not long after they passed by, the ground began to tremble slightly, accompanied by a gradually amplified bang, like the sound of the ground when the earth dragon turned over.

Just as densely packed knights wearing all kinds of leather armor poured out from that corner, among them were a small number of knights wearing iron armor. Obviously they were not low-ranking members of the cavalry. The tremors on the ground and the roar came The sound had a source, it was the cavalry of the brigade advancing.

Non-uniform military uniforms, this is the standard equipment of prairie cavalry.

Unlike the Ming Dynasty army in the pass, although the Mongols also have military uniforms, they are more made according to their own strength. The rich will consider using expensive iron armor, while ordinary Mongols from ordinary families will Use leather armor for protection.

Those with uniform equipment may only be treated like the Khan and the guards around the nobles.

Although the clothes are messy and the weapons are various, the morale of the whole team is very high. During the run, many people have relaxed smiles on their faces, and they are talking and laughing with the comrades beside them. It seems that they are just gathering together. General hunting.

In the distance, one can faintly see the Guancheng built of stones at the end of the mountain road, and there are various flags flying on the wall.

Seeing this, many people were laughing and pointing to their companions, and speaking Mongolian loudly.

The previous team of cavalry had rushed into the Guancheng in front, and the suspension bridge of the Guancheng had been lifted, the city gate was closed tightly, and many red figures appeared on the city wall.

A general in full armor in front of the group of cavalry suddenly pointed at the stone fort in front and shouted to the soldiers behind him: "Take down the Dragon Gate Pass, and the contents inside will be yours."

"Huru, Huru"

After he finished speaking, more than a dozen knights behind him raised their weapons and began to shout loudly. Following their shouts, the cavalry behind also raised their weapons to join in the shouting, and at the same time urged their horses to speed up. .

Behind them, the dark Mongolian cavalry kept waving their weapons, and the deafening shouts resounded across the field, making the Ming army on the Shiguan city wall in the distance tremble.

Five piles of fireworks had already been lit on the beacon tower on the right side of the Chengguan, and five huge streams of thick smoke rose up, conveying the message of enemy attack to the distance.

And on the hillside farther away, there were also bursts of thick smoke.

Beacon fires, also known as beacons, are a measure of ancient military alarms. When the enemy attacks, smoke is burned during the day and ignited at night, and the visible smoke and light are used to alert all parties and superiors.

Beacon towers usually choose high hills that are easy to look out for each other. They are built on hills and mounds. On the platform are watch houses and equipment for burning smoke and setting fire.

The distance between beacon towers is generally about ten miles. They are usually built on high hills and hills that are easy to see each other. Subsequently, the enemy's situation can be quickly transmitted to the military central department.

The news of the attack on Longmenguan was quickly spread to all directions through the beacon tower, and the shop soldiers also quickly passed on more detailed information to the Xuanfu, but they relied on two legs, so of course they couldn't catch up with the distant beacon smoke. Come quickly.

"I Da Khan chose to attack Longmenguan Fort?"

At this time in the Xuan Mansion, Ge Jin, the governor of Xuan Da, who was sitting here, heard that his subordinates reported that there was an attack in the direction of Longmenguan.

Xuanfu, in terms of terrain, is more similar to a double peak, so it is divided into two parts, east and west.

The east is the Yanshan Mountains, and the main pass is Dushikou. After breaking through Dushikou, you can go south along the river valley, reach Yanqing, and then attack Juyongguan.

In the 35th year of Jiajing's invasion, although Alda's troops did not attack Dushikou, they chose Wafanggou to break the Longmen Station, that is, the broken side wall in the valley, and then went along the valley to the vicinity of Yanqing.

This place has always been the defense focus of the Xuan Mansion.

In the west, it is on the two wings of Yehuling. Afterwards, Wanquan City is where Ma Fang is now stationed.

It is famous for the crucial battle between Mongolia and the Kingdom of Jin. The Mongolian army led by Genghis Khan annihilated the Jin army led by Wanyan Chengyu here, clearing the biggest obstacle on the way to attack the Kingdom of Jin.

The defeat of the Kingdom of Jin in the Battle of Yehuling left the central capital open and threatened, so that the Kingdom of Jin had to abandon the central capital and move its capital to Bianliang four years later.

Because of the importance of the place, Xuanfu sent Ma Fang, the most capable general, to garrison here to command Wanquan's left, right and Huai'an guards, which was also one of the defense points of Xuanfu Town.

However, this time the Alda Department's attack unexpectedly neither attacked the west nor the east, but shot at the combination of the east and the west. Breaking through here, the distance between the Alda Department and Xuanhua City is very close, obviously. The spearhead of the attack was aimed at the three guards of the Xuanfu.

Governor Ge Jin of Xuanda also saw that something was wrong at this time, and immediately ordered: "Notify the general officer of the Xuanfu to come here to discuss matters, send a military order to the general soldier Ma, gather three guards in the left guard of Wanquan, and rescue Xuanhua City at any time." .

Send a military order to Liu Han of Datong, and quickly lead the Datong army to advance eastward along the Sanggan River Valley to support Xuanfu. Shanxi soldiers and horses gather in Weizhou, ready to help at any time.

It is extremely urgent to send military newspapers to the capital. "

Before Baobing could send more accurate and detailed information, Ge Jin gave orders to his staff.

These military orders and battle reports will be drafted by the master he hired and others, and they can be issued after he reviews them.

Soon, everyone in the room took action, and several people had already started writing official documents.

In the Wenyuan Pavilion in the capital, Yan Song and Xu Jie, the cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty, sat in the upper seat of the hall, and Yang Bo, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Gao Gong, Minister of Taichang Temple, sat below.

Although what Wei Guangde said in front of Gao Gong was very simple, when he actually started to write, he was entangled endlessly, the main of which was calculation.

He needs to calculate the time required for message transmission, the speed of the Ming army and the speed of the Alda cavalry, etc., but it is not calculated in a relatively small battlefield space in Baoan, Huailai, and Yanqing. Thousands of miles of huge battlefield.

A slight mistake in the calculations may cause the Ming army in Yansui and Ningxia to be wiped out, so Wei Guangde spent several days traveling to and from the Ministry of War, looking for relevant information.

After Gao Gong learned more about what Wei Guangde was doing, he didn't urge him loudly. He just ran to Wei Guangde's duty room in the Imperial Academy every day. Wei Guangde felt pressured by his silent actions.

Finally, today's data has been calculated. Although there may be errors, the error should be within an acceptable range, so Wei Guangde handed in the paper to Gao Gong.

Gao Gong got Wei Guangde's memorial and immediately rushed to the cabinet to meet Yan Song, elder Yan Ge.

After Yan Song learned from Gao Gongkou that Wei Guangde had made a plan for a possible war in Xuanfu, he was a little surprised at first, but when he learned that Wei Guangde actually had the idea of ​​playing Hetao, there was an unclear emotion in his eyes.

It's a pity that although Wei Guangde had the idea there, he only sent two towns to carry out a plunder, instead of intending to stay there for a long time and bring Hetao back into Daming's territory.

Although he was a little disappointed in his heart, Yan Song concealed this very well and was not discovered by Gao Gong.

"Elder Xu Ge, there are six more"

Yan Song did not directly veto, but spoke, but was interrupted by Gao Gong's deep bow before he finished speaking.

"Elder Ge, this battle is of great importance. The lower officials think that we should be cautious. We only need to call Elder Xu and Minister of the Ministry of War to participate."

Seeing Yan Song frowning slightly, Gao Gong hastily added: "According to Guangde's plan, our army's consumption can be much less than the previous plan. The most important thing is that the courtiers are now scattered in various workshops in the capital, and there are often reports of government affairs that are known to the whole city. Happening.

Before, Jin Yiwei had captured Bailian believers, and they specialized in collecting news about the capital, and there were many religious bandits who were wanted by the court around Altan Khan, so we had to guard against them. "

Hearing Gao Gong's concerns, Yan Song's eyes flickered, but he nodded quickly, "Then call Cunzhai and Weiyue to discuss it first. If they have no objection, we will go to Xiyuan to see His Majesty."

Xu Jie was the first one to arrive. In fact, Gao Gong already knew about it when he walked into Wenyuan Pavilion. Although he was surprised that he would go directly to Mr. Yan Ge, he hadn't heard of any major incidents in the Imperial College recently.

After the clerk came to ask Xu Jie to move to Yan Song's house, Xu Jie put down his work and came over. He also wanted to know why Gao Gong came here.

Soon, Wei Guangde's memorial was handed over to him by Yan Song. Xu Jie sat on the side and began to look carefully. He made a noise.

For Wei Guangde's memorial, fortune and misfortune are unpredictable, and he doesn't even understand what Gao Gong is thinking.

If Gao Gong went to look for him as soon as he arrived in the cabinet, he would definitely stop the matter. Now that it is in Yan Song's hands first, there is nothing he can do to help.

It should be said that Wei Guangde's strategy is somewhat reasonable, but what he is worried about is not whether the strategy is good or not, but the attitude of that Xiyuan.

Not long after, Yang Bo, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, walked into Yan Song's room on duty. Xu Jie handed Yang Bo the memorial in his hand, and said, "Let's have a look, this is Zuochunfang Zuozhongyun Wei Guangde of Zhan Shifu. The memorial discusses the battle of the Xuanfu."

After saying this, Xu Jie shut up and stopped talking. From entering here to now, Xu Jie has never looked at Gao Gong directly. I don't know if he is avoiding suspicion or feeling upset.

When Yang Bo entered the room, Xu Jie handed him a memorial, so he had to smile wryly, then bowed to everyone in the room, sat down at the next seat, and carefully read Wei Guangde's memorial.

It's just that as he looked down, Yang Bo's face became more dignified. If you observe carefully, you can find that he didn't read the entire plan in one go, but jumped to the front from time to time and started to read again, so many times over and over again.

Finally, Yang Bo should have finished reading Wei Guangde's memorial, and put it lightly on the coffee table beside him, closing his eyes and thinking, completely ignoring the questioning eyes cast by Yan Song and Xu Jie from above.

Gao Gong on the opposite side has nothing to do about it, this Yang Bo is a bit of a bully, even a big guy like Yan Song, he is usually not a bird, and he once served as the governor, he is decisive and decisive, he seems to have a bit of murderous aura , is a very special existence in the court.

It took a long time for Yang Bo to open his eyes, look at Yan Song and Xu Jie above, and at Gao Gong sitting across from him. He knew what they were waiting for, so he said bluntly, "This strategy is feasible." '

However, after saying these four words, before Gao Gong on the other side could react, he got up, picked up the memorial on the coffee table, walked to Yan Song and Xu Jie and said, "The only loophole is that if I answer The Ministry remained unmoved, and continued to attack the Xuan Mansion with all its strength. Once the Xuan Army was defeated, only Jizhen soldiers and horses would be left.

You must know that from Xuanfu to Hetao, it is thousands of miles away, and it takes more than ten days for the cavalry to reach it with all their strength.

Once Altan Khan chooses to give up the rescue of Hetao, the risk of this strategy will be great, and it will almost make the capital face the Tartar soldiers."

(End of this chapter)