I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 302: Tongliao City in Western Liaoning

At the confluence of the Laoha River and the Huang River, there is a mountain called Buertu Mountain. The mountain is not high, only about fifty feet, which is more than one hundred and fifty meters in the new system.

In this flat area with only low hills gently undulating, there is a dangerous place. In addition, it has an excellent location, right at the confluence of Laoha River and Huang River, overlooking the upper reaches of Laoha River and Huang River.

Laoha River is Tu River.

Tuhe River is the main stream of the upper reaches of Laoha River. On the western grassland, there are more than a dozen small rivers that flow into Tuhe River and integrate into Laoha River.

On the Buertu Mountain, there is a half-built castle.

The outer wall is made of wood. Inside, they are building a wall, using blue bricks on the outside and rammed earth on the inside, which has reached a height of three meters.

The four-gate towers are beginning to take shape.

Further inside, watchtowers, government offices, warehouses, shops, residences and other buildings are neatly arranged. Of some, only the foundation can be seen, some are half-walled, and some have begun to be roofed and tiled.

Thousands of craftsmen and laborers were busy everywhere in the city, and thousands of Ming soldiers were patrolling and on duty on the outer walls.

This is Tongliao City, one of the important nodes of the Ming Dynasty’s Liaohe Hetao Iron Chain Plan.

Why is it called Tongliao City?
After the Huanghe River and the Laoha River converge here, they continue to flow eastward and become the Xiliao River.

On the streets of the city, two people wearing helmets, light armor, and robes were walking slowly. Behind them, there were more than a dozen military officers, leading war horses, following not too close or too far.

The taller one on the left is Li Chengliang, the general of Liaodong, with the courtesy name Ruqi. The shorter one on the left is his third brother Li Chengcai, with the courtesy name Chengwu.

Li Chengliang had four brothers, and he was the eldest son.

The second brother Li Chengshi, styled Chenglong, and the fourth brother Li Chenglin, styled Chenghai, were both mediocre. Only Li Chengcai was outstanding in both literary and military skills, and became Li Chengliang's right-hand man, but now he was transferred to Liaoxi Town as a lieutenant general.

"Brother, the original Liaodong Town has been divided into two, Liaodong and Liaoxi. You are the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town, but you are leading troops to fight in Liaoxi, which means you are a guest general.

This arrangement is not reasonable.”

Li Chengcai complained softly.

Li Chengliang turned his head and glanced at the military school following behind him, and said softly: "Stop complaining here! This military order came from Xiyuan."

"The order from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"As long as you know!"

Li Chengcai immediately avoided the topic, "Brother, a group of Chahar cavalry rushed to Balin City, and Liaoxi Town General Xiao Wenkui sent his deputy general Dong Yikui to lead troops to help. Could this be a trick by Tumen Khan to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

"What's the plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

"At present, Jizhou Town has gathered 40,000 infantry and 26,000 cavalry in the three cities of Luanhe River; 51,000 cavalry and 27,000 infantry in Liaoxi. Guangning and Liaoyang also have tens of thousands of reserve troops.

Third brother, it's not just one tiger, it's a group of tigers. If you take one away, there will be another group. How did Tumen Khan lure the tiger away from the mountain? "

Li Chengcai nodded and sighed, "Yes, the imperial court really spent a lot of money this time, and mobilized hundreds of thousands of elite cavalry and infantry.

The four armies of Xiaoqi, Baotao, Wusheng and Shenwei, which were reorganized from the strategic reserve forces of Ji and Liao, were fully deployed; the three armies of Yunqi, Yingyang and Wuxiang, which were reorganized from the strategic reserve forces of Shanxi, Datong and Xuanfu, were all transferred over.

Part of the three armies of Huoqi, Feixiong and Fengxiang, which were reorganized from the strategic reserve forces of the three towns of Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu, were also transferred here.

The four armies of Yulin, Tiance, Longxiang and Huben, which were reorganized from the New Army Camp, the Four Guards Camp and other Beijing camps, were known as four of the six direct armies, and a part of them were also transferred here.

I heard that the remaining two armies of the Shangzhiliu Army, the Konghe Army and the Yingyang Army, may also be transferred here. This time, Xiyuan wants to do its best to complete this feat with the Chahar Army."

Li Chengliang said with his hands behind his back: "It's good that you know. Last time, we attacked the Kharchin tribe, destroyed Xinai Huang Taiji, and conferred two titles of lord. The Chahar tribe has 400,000 to 500,000 people and 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers, which is several times that of the Kharchin tribe. Tumen Khan is even more of a hero in the south of the desert, on par with Altan Khan.

After conquering the Chahar tribe and Tumen Khan, two or three marquises and four or five earls will not be able to escape. "

Li Chengcai leaned close to Li Chengliang's ear and whispered, "Brother will definitely become a marquis, I don't have to think about it. It's hateful that there are too many people trying to steal the credit.

Xiao Wenkui from Ningxia Town, the brothers Dong Yikui and Dong Yiyuan from Datong Town, and the brothers Malu and Magui from Xuanfu Town were all transferred in. There was also the famous Shaanxi general Niu Bingzhong, who was staying in Chengde City.

Not to mention Chen Dalong, Guo Hu, Fu Yingjia, Hu Shouren and other generals, all of whom were brought up from the southeast by Hu Bingbu and Qi Dashuai, and they are all well-known in Xiyuan. "

Li Chengliang glared at Li Chengcai and said, "It's good that you know. The most taboo in Xiyuan is for military officers and soldiers to abuse their power. You have been trying to train 3,000 cavalry with your family servants. Stop it now."

Li Chengcai smacked his lips and said, "Brother, if three thousand cavalrymen are trained, my Li family will be very proud of it."

"My Li family is finished!"

Li Chengliang interrupted him rudely, "Third brother, I know what you are thinking, but this is absolutely not possible. Xiyuan has spies all over the army. If what you said and what we did were discovered by the East Factory, what do you think will be the consequences?"

Li Chengcai said unwillingly: "My family has been generals for generations, guarding Liaodong for the court, working hard."

"That's all bullshit! Do you think Xiyuan can't leave our Li family?
In recent years, Xiyuan has selected a large number of generals in the southeast and northwest through Hu Bingbu, Qi Shuai, Jianchuan Gong and others. Each of them has fought with swords and guns and crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Which one of them is worse than our Li family?
If the East Factory really finds out about your secret activities, our Li family will be executed immediately!"

"No way!"

"Won't?"

"During the last military reform, the elite troops of each border army and each garrison were organized into 26 armies. Zhang Chilin of Fushun Garrison, Liang Sheng of Liaohai Garrison, and Qi Ji of Guangning Right Garrison were reluctant to hand over the garrison troops that had been passed down from generation to generation. They pretended to obey but secretly disobeyed, hid their names on the rolls, and tried to be clever. What was their end?"

Li Chengcai's face turned pale, his Adam's apple kept shaking up and down, and he squeezed out a few words with difficulty, "The whole family will be executed, and the family members will be exiled to Shazhou, Gansu."

"These are all from Liaodong. We can see and hear them. Didn't you read the court newspapers and government reports? In the three border towns of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia, as well as Henan, Huguang, and Yunchuan, there were also garrison commanders who were reluctant to hand over their military power, but they were all arrested by the East Factory and the Pacification Office, and their entire families were executed and their families were exiled.

Third brother, one of the tricks to figuring out the master's intentions is to understand clearly that in Xiyuan's mind, those things are deadlines, and if they are crossed, the whole family will die.

"Private soldiers abusing their power is the death line for us generals! Do you understand?"

Li Chengcai was unwilling to give in, but he responded helplessly: "Remember!"

Li Chengliang saw a group of people hurriedly entering the unrepaired South City Gate. He saw the leader clearly and pushed Li Chengcai. "Censor Ye is here. Cheer up. Remember, don't say the wrong thing. This person is a close official of the Western Garden!"

In addition, Ye Mengxiong was the most trusted and powerful deputy of Liaoxi Governor Guo Qian. When Li Chengliang and Li Chengcai saw him, they had to be on high alert.

Li Chengcai immediately perked up, straightened his back and raised his head.

Li Chengliang stepped forward, bowed and asked with a smile: "Censor Ye, are you back from your inspection?"

The visitor was Ye Mengxiong, the Chief Inspector of the Liaoxi Governor's Inspection Office.

Seeing Li Chengliang take the initiative to greet him, he also bowed and said: "General, Lieutenant General Li, I just went out to take a look. The weather is getting colder and colder. The last three batches of food and supplies are being transported from Guangning. I will go and see if the transportation is normal."

Food and supplies were related to the survival of the entire army. Li Chengliang's face became serious and he asked, "Is everything in order, Censor Ye?"

(End of this chapter)