Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 155 Suppressing Bandits in Shandong

After hovering in the capital for four days, Wang Daoqiu received the silver armor and went to Wanping to recruit more than 3000 miners.Four days later, Wang Daoqiu took Ma Fang's 3000 cavalry, more than 6000 miners he recruited, as well as [-] craftsmen assigned by the Ministry of War to make armor and equipment, and [-] Jinyi captains assigned by the Jinyiwei. More than [-] people sailed south in a mighty way.

Because this time we have to recruit troops on both sides of the Huaihe River, and we have to ensure that the bandit power cannot spread to the main sources of Ming's taxes, southern Zhili and Zhejiang.Therefore, Wang Daoqiu went south and placed his general headquarters in Xuzhou, the most important military town in the Central Plains.

This time Emperor Jiajing and the court gave Wang Daoqiu a large amount of territory. The Governor of the Central Plains also served as the governor of Shandong, with overall jurisdiction over the military and political affairs of South Zhili, north of the Yangtze River, and Shandong and Henan provinces.

As soon as he arrived in Xuzhou, Wang Daoqiu asked Ma Fang to take the money and go to the Huaixi area where Zhu Yuanzhang started his career to recruit [-] soldiers according to the standard of elite soldiers.Then he himself held the first joint meeting of the Suppression General in Xuzhou.

At the beginning of the meeting, there were too many big bosses in South Zhili, and their forces were intertwined. The military in this area had always listened to the sky and was not as powerful as Beijing.And Wang Daoqiu knew that Yingtian also had a complete set of central agencies. Yingtian had all the yamen in Beijing.

Moreover, the other so-called central agencies in Yingtian may be talking nonsense every day at tea parties, but he has real power in the Nanjing Military Department. The military power in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River under his jurisdiction is almost like a large military region in later generations.Therefore, since Zhu Di moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, the Nanjing Military Department has been responsible for daily management of the army in Southern Zhili. Beijing is too far away for them and everyone is unfamiliar with it.

Precisely because they know that the army in Southern Zhili will not listen to themselves, their purpose here is to be sent by the Nanjing Ministry of War to guard the Huaihe River and prevent Shandong mobs from rushing into their hinterland of Southern Zhili and harming them.

Similarly, the purpose of the troops sent over from Henan is to guard the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and prevent Shandong mobs from rushing across the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and entering Henan to eat them.

We know that the purpose of sending troops from South Zhili and Henan provinces is just to "defend the enemy from outside" and will not care whether Shandong is in chaos or not.Therefore, at the general meeting to suppress the General Assembly, Wang Daoqiu didn't bother to talk to the commander-in-chief of the two provinces, and asked them to guard the Huaihe River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and sent them away.

After the people from Nanzhili and Henan left, Wang Daoqiu said to Li Guodong, the commander in chief of Denglai, who is currently in charge of the bandit suppression work in Shandong, "There are no outsiders now, Mr. Li, tell me, what is the banditry in Shandong now?" situation, and how you plan to counter the rebellion next."

When Wang Daoqiu called him by name, Denglai General Li Guodong immediately stood up, clasped his fists and replied: "It's your Excellency! To be honest with you, the Imperial Envoy, those victims rose up to make trouble. Judging from the situation we have now, Prince Lu's Mansion is only one of the main reasons, and the other is the main reason. It is the White Lotus Sect. Before the founding of our dynasty, the White Lotus Sect had a large number of followers on both sides of the Yellow River and a huge power. To be disrespectful, Taizu also relied on the power of the White Lotus Sect to unify the world. Later, Taizu Since I own the world, he defines the White Lotus Sect as a cult and suppresses it with all his strength."

"However, since the founding of our country, the White Lotus Sect has been spreading secretly among the people, especially in the areas on both sides of the Yellow River that have experienced nine disasters in ten years. In this area, their power has always been very strong. Every time there is a disaster, the government will provide disaster relief. If something inappropriate aroused public indignation, they would incite the victims to make trouble. It was the same this time. After King Nalu did all kinds of ridiculous things to the victims, causing public resentment to boil, the White Lotus cult members lurked among the victims. , and encouraged the victims to rise up in rebellion. At the same time, the local Bailian cult in Yanzhou also took advantage of the situation to instigate the local poor people in Yanzhou who were dissatisfied with King Lu and the government to rise up in rebellion."

"I dare not hide it from the Imperial Envoy. The banditry in Shandong is obvious now. Although we have only lost the capital of Yanzhou, the seven counties east of the canal under the jurisdiction of Yanzhou, and the four neighboring counties of Jinan and Qingzhou. But in fact, Jinan Most of the rural areas under the jurisdiction of the Qingzhou Prefecture and Qingzhou Prefecture have fallen into the hands of thieves. Even in the villages under the jurisdiction of Laizhou and Dengzhou, the White Lotus cult has been found to be inciting the local people to rebel. Sir, I will tell you this. Well, now in Shandong, we have followed the White Lotus Cult, and there are no less than 20 people in rebellion. There are at least millions of Shandong people who may follow the White Lotus Cult in rebellion at any time. Sir, the situation in Shandong is very embarrassing now! Now I only dare to let my troops guard the county town and traffic arteries, but do not dare to attack the mob."

The White Lotus Sect, a religion that has been circulating in the flower-growing land for thousands of years, had a number of powerful followers such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Futong at its peak. It could be said to be the number one force in flower-growing at that time.It was just that after Zhu Yuanzhang seized the world, he was afraid that someone in the future would use the White Lotus Sect to rebel against him and his descendants.So he used state machinery to severely crack down on the White Lotus Sect.

But everyone knows about ideology, especially religion.As long as you don't kill all his followers, your so-called "ban" will be superficial and temporary at best.

For example, in that era of a certain big country, the suppression of religion in those years was extremely cruel, right?It was really a river of blood and heads rolling in. The number of people who were tortured to death must be at least millions.But once that person dies and the new king and new policies come into being, what will happen to that big country?Aren’t Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, and churches springing up all over the country, and hundreds of millions of people going to pay homage to them?Therefore, it is useless to simply rely on violence to "ban" things like religion.

Knowing that this riot was led by a cult, Wang Daoqiu felt confident.So after listening to Li Guodong's introduction, he asked: "Since this riot is led by a cult organization, how should we deal with it next? Does General Li have any good strategies for this?"

"Yes, sir! The general believes that the White Lotus Sect has been flourishing in the Central Plains for hundreds of years. It is very powerful and has a large number of private secret sects. As for our various military bases in Shandong, after Cheng Zu Jingnan, in addition to a few coastal guards, there are still occasional Fighting against Japanese pirates, I have actual combat experience and have seen blood. Those guard soldiers in the mainland are just farmers in military uniforms who have never seen blood. It is okay to let them defend the city, but it is absolutely impossible to let them go out of the city to fight in the field. It is vulnerable to a single blow and can be defeated thousands of miles away.”

"Among the local people in Shandong, there are too many secret followers of the White Lotus Sect and they are unreliable. The local guard army in Shandong is too weak to fight. Therefore, your lord, Weijiang would like to ask for orders to recruit troops in Liaodong. To be honest, lord, Weijiang is He was born in the military household of Liaodong Tieling Guards and was a hereditary commander. He fought against Tatars and Jurchens in Liaodong for many years. He was later promoted to the rank of Commander of the Guards and deputy general of Liaodong Dusi due to his military merits. Three years ago, due to the serious Japanese invasion along the coast of Shandong, he was The general was transferred to Shandong by the imperial court and served as the commander-in-chief of Denglai."

"Sir, Weijiang grew up in Tielingwei, Liaodong. He joined the army at the age of 17. At the age of 25, he inherited his father's position as the commander of Tielingwei. Weijiang fought in Liaodong for 22 years and served as the deputy general of Liaodong Dusi. The situation in Liaodong, Weijiang can't I am very familiar with it. I can assure you, sir, that the young men in Liaodong are far more powerful than those in Shandong. They are rare and powerful soldiers. Sir, do you think so?"

Why did Wang Daoqiu think of that otaku with thick eyebrows and big eyes and serious social anxiety when he talked about recruiting veterans from Northeast China to join the battle?It's a pity that I followed the wrong person and spent half my life helping others do evil.

The combat power of the Northeastern Army has withstood the test of history in the entire history of China, except for the fact that they were in a mess under Zhang Xiaoliuzi.So now that Li Guodong mentioned going to Liaodong to form the Siberian Tigers, Wang Daoqiu was immediately moved.

He said to Li Guodong: "Mr. Li's proposal is very good. I will go to the court today and ask the court to allow you to recruit troops in Liaodong. Once the court's holy will comes, Mr. Li, you will take 30 taels of silver and go to Liaodong." Recruit [-] elite soldiers. In addition, General Li, if you go to Liaodong, who do you plan to recommend as a temporary replacement for the military affairs in Shandong?"

Upon hearing that Wang Daoqiu was so willing to give him money to recruit troops in Liaodong, it was still 30 taels of silver to recruit 60, which equaled [-] taels of silver to recruit one soldier.If you can afford this price, then you can’t help but choose the great guy from Liaodong?

Thinking of this, Li Guodong felt very happy, and he also felt very fond of Wang Daoqiu.So facing Wang Daoqiu's question, Li Guodong also blurted out: "While Wei Jiang is going to Liaodong, who will temporarily take over the military affairs in Shandong? There are two candidates for Wei General. The safest way is to let Wei General's deputy general take over temporarily. This When a person is older and has higher qualifications, he can have the dignity to make the people below him listen to him."

"But this person has old ideas. He doesn't seek merit but seeks no faults. He just wants to get by with anything. He is the kind of person who has neither the ability nor the courage to make decisions. He can only act as a subordinate and obey the orders of his superiors. That kind of person. The advantage of letting this person take over temporarily is stability, but the disadvantage is that in case of emergency and major changes, he will be in a hurry and unable to stabilize the overall situation. Therefore, Wei Jiang does not recommend that your Excellency, use Wei Jiang's lieutenant, in While Wei Jiang is going to Liaodong, he will take charge of military affairs in Shandong for the time being."

"Wei Jiang's second recommended candidate is a young hero. His name is Qi Jiguang, with the courtesy name Yuanjing. His ancestor Qi Xiang was once a personal soldier of Taizu. In the 14th year of Hongwu, Fu Youde and Lan Yu went on an expedition to Yunnan. He was killed in battle. Later, Grandpa Taizu posthumously awarded him the title of General Mingwei, and arranged for Qi Xiang's descendants to go to Dengzhou, Shandong. Hereditary Qi Xiang was given the title of General Mingwei and appointed as the commander of the Dengzhou Guard. Qi Jiguang was in the 23rd year of Jiajing. He was 16 The Dengzhou Guard who invaded when he was young was in command of Qian Shi, and he has been working in the Dengzhou Guard while guarding the fields while guarding against Japanese pirates coming from the sea."

"Although this Qi Jiguang is young, he is flexible in the use of troops. He can also share joys and sorrows with his soldiers and do things fairly. Therefore, his troops will win every battle against Japanese pirates. Wei will go to Dengzhou Guard to inspect military affairs last year. I met him at that time, and after a long conversation with him, Wei Jiang felt that this young genius would definitely become a famous general in the future. Therefore, Wei Jiang recommended to the Ministry of War that Qi Jiguang be promoted to the commander of the Dengzhou Guard, but there was nothing he could do. The Ministry of War never gave a reply."

"When the civil unrest broke out this time, General Wei also asked Qi Jiguang to organize soldiers from the Dengzhou Guards Station and come to Yanzhou to put down the rebellion. Sir, although this Qi Jiguang is young and his prestige is not enough to convince the people, his ability to lead troops and fight in battles is great. Definitely better than General Wei. Therefore, General Wei recommended Qi Jiguang to temporarily take charge of military affairs in Shandong while Wei General goes to Liaodong to recruit troops."

(End of this chapter)