Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 939 General Senate
Wu Xiang finally left. Although he was reluctant, he had to go.

As one of the leaders of the Liaodong generals, Wu Xiang coveted his real power in Liaodong, but he was also a minister of the Ming Dynasty. Wu Xiang never planned to establish his own regime, nor did he have any other ambitions. All he wanted was wealth and glory.

Now the imperial court not only promised his Wu family the grace of two titles for one family, but more importantly, let Wu Sangui succeed him as the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan. The aging Wu Xiang also realized that he would not be able to continue to hold this position after all. Instead of giving it to someone else in the end, it would be better to give it to Wu Sangui now. After all, Wu Sangui was his most valued son and the next head of the Wu family.

With his old wife and other children, Wu Xiang set out on the journey to the capital. The road from Shanhaiguan to the capital was not far, and a fast horse could arrive there in two or three days. Although Wu Xiang and his party walked slowly, they arrived in the capital after ten days.

A residence in the capital was already available, which Zhu Shenzui had specially prepared for Wu Xiang in advance.

Previously, the Jiangnan case involved the capital, so more than a dozen officials were dismissed. After these people were dealt with, their property was naturally confiscated, including several mansions, and Wu Xiang’s Earl’s Mansion was one of them. Both its location in the capital and its scale were considered very good.

On the day he arrived in the capital, Wu Xiang submitted a letter of thanks to the palace. The palace sent a message asking Wu Xiang to rest for a few days. After all, his family had just arrived in the capital after a long journey by boat and horse, and they had to settle down first. After the family was settled, the emperor would meet Wu Xiang again.

Two days later, Wu Xiang submitted a memorial to the palace again. This time, Zhu Shenzui told Wu Xiang that he would enter the palace the next day. Wu Xiang was relieved. The next day, Wu Xiang, dressed neatly, arrived at the palace gate early, and was then taken into the palace and came to the side hall of the Qianqing Palace.

When he met the emperor here, Wu Xiang paid homage to him and called him "Your Majesty, Wu Xiang".

Zhu Shencui kindly asked Wu Xiang to stand up and offered him a seat. After Wu Xiang sat down, Zhu Shencui carefully looked at this famous general.

Wu Xiang was born in the 20th year of the Wanli reign. He is now over 50 years old, but he is vigorous and looks younger than his actual age due to years of martial arts training. He is tall and handsome, and he sits there with his back straight, looking quite like a soldier.

"My dear Wu!"

"Chen is here!"

"I heard that you are a military scholar?"

"Your Majesty, I was a military scholar in the second year of the Tianqi reign. I was lucky enough to pass the exam and was noticed by Lord Sun. Later, Lord Sun was appointed as the governor of Ji-Liao and presided over the war in Liaodong. I was transferred to Liaodong to serve. I first served as a commander under his command, and later I was promoted to commander-in-chief, governor-general, deputy general, and general of Shanhaiguan based on my merits." Wu Xiang replied.

Zhu Shenzui nodded slightly. He had long been aware of what Wu Xiang had said. He also knew the reason why Wu Xiang was so successful in Liaodong, rising from a military scholar to a commander in a few years, and then rising step by step to become a well-known figure in the Liaodong military garrison. Whether in terms of official position or the military power in his hands, he was the best in Liaodong. In addition to Sun Chengzong's support, his personal ability was indeed good. There was another key reason, which was that Wu Xiang married a good wife.

For the Liaodong generals, Wu Xiang was not a Liao person. His native place was Gaoyou, Yangzhou. That's right! Gaoyou is the place where salted duck eggs are produced. As an outsider serving as an official in Liaodong, and a military general, he should have been excluded under the circumstances at that time. However, Wu Xiang was not only favored by Sun Chengzong, but also by Zu Chengxun, who directly betrothed his daughter to Wu Xiang, which led to Wu Xiang's subsequent rapid rise.

Zu Chengxun was one of the veteran generals in Liaodong, the son of Zuo Ren, the left governor-general. He himself was also the deputy general-in-chief and governor-general of the left army. Moreover, Zu Chengxun was a trusted subordinate of Li Chengliang. When Li Rusong fought against the Japanese invaders and aided Korea, Zu Chengxun was his deputy.

Li Chengliang and Li Rusong died one after another, leaving no one to inherit the Li family. Zu Chengxun became the leader of the Liaodong generals. Because he valued Wu Xiang and married his daughter to him, Wu Xiang became the son-in-law of Zu's family and was accepted by the Liaodong generals.

It was precisely because of these reasons that Wu Xiang was able to thrive in Liaodong later on. With the support of Sun Chengzong and the care of his brother-in-law Zu Dashou, Wu Xiang step by step reached his current position and together with Zu Dashou controlled most of the Liao army.

Zhu Shenzui was very kind to Wu Xiang. He not only talked to him about his past as a military scholar, but also took the opportunity to talk about Wu Xiang's experience of leading the army in Liaodong later. Then, taking this opportunity to talk about the many battles between the Ming Dynasty and the Jiannu in Liaodong in recent years. Wu Xiang had experienced most of these battles personally, and in some of them he had participated as a reinforcement or a detachment. He was very familiar with them and was very knowledgeable about the details.

Especially when talking about the battle of Juehua Island, Wu Xiang was full of emotion. At that time, Ningyuan was besieged, and Nurhaci could not capture it after a long siege, so he turned around and attacked Juehua Island. Originally, the battle of Juehua Island could have been avoided. If Yuan Chonghuan had been more vigilant and made arrangements in advance, Juehua Island would never have fallen, let alone such tragic consequences.

Unfortunately, Yuan Chonghuan was too conceited. He thought that Nurhaci would be safe as long as he could not take Ningyuan City. But he forgot that Juehua Island was near Ningyuan, and the two places were only a dozen miles away. With such a short distance, plus Juehua Island was an important logistics and grain storage base of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong at that time, the island not only stored a large amount of food, weapons, utensils and other materials, but also had 15,000 soldiers and civilians and 2,000 ships, which was extremely important.

Just like the Battle of Guandu at the end of the Han Dynasty, the reason why Cao Cao was able to defeat Yuan Shao was because Cao Cao suddenly captured Wuchao, which was Yuan Shao’s grain storage area. Most of the food and grass supply for Yuan Shao’s army came from Wuchao.

Wuchao was occupied, and Yuan Shao's army was cut off from food supply and unstable for a moment. Coupled with Cao Cao's excellent command and Yuan Shao's indecisiveness, Cao Cao was finally able to defeat the strong with the weak and the many with the few, winning this crucial victory. Although Nurhachi was not well educated, he was familiar with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and many people in the Eight Banners even studied this book repeatedly as a military book. So when Nurhachi found that he could not take Ningyuan, he decisively followed the example of Cao Cao's raid on Wuchao in the book and adopted the tactic of raiding Juehua Island. At that time, Yuan Chonghuan did not consider the safety of Juehua Island at all. He thought that Juehua Island was on the sea and Jiannu could not go to the island without warships. But he forgot the weather. At that time, water in Liaodong was frozen in winter. Although Juehua Island was an island, it was not far from the coast. After the sea surface froze, there was no need for ships to step on the ice and go directly to the island.

In addition, when the battle of Ningyuan broke out, Yuan Chonghuan did not send anyone to order Juehua Island to prepare for defense in advance, or he simply forgot about Juehua Island. When the defenders of Juehua Island found that Nurhaci was attacking, they rushed to fight. However, without the advantage of terrain, how could these Ming troops stop the fierce Jiannu? In the end, the Juehua Island Massacre broke out. The soldiers and civilians of Juehua Island were almost massacred by the Jiannu. Most of the stored food and supplies were robbed, and the rest were burned by Nurhaci. Even the 2,000 ships did not escape and were all reduced to ashes.

Although Nurhaci still failed to capture Ningyuan afterwards and had to lead his troops to retreat, with the successful defense of Ningyuan, this battle turned into a "Ningyuan victory", which is extremely ironic.

As a party involved, Wu Xiang certainly understood that the so-called Ningyuan victory was just a lip service. In fact, it was a complete defeat. It was true that Ningyuan was defended, but because of the loss of Juehua Island, the Ming Dynasty not only lost 15,000 soldiers and civilians, but also suffered extremely heavy losses in terms of supplies. And what about Nurhaci? On the contrary, it was a great victory.

The Ningyuan victory report said that 269 people were beheaded, but this is also highly exaggerated. In fact, these 269 heads were not the credit of Yuan Chonghuan at all, but the credit of Man Gui. Yuan Chonghuan fought a defensive battle, relying on the cannons and bows on the top of the city to resist the enemy. Even if he killed the Eight Banners soldiers attacking the city, he couldn't run outside the city to cut the heads!

Man Gui cooperated with Yuan Chonghuan in the war at that time and achieved considerable success in several attacks. However, in the end, because Yuan Chonghuan was a civil servant, the credit went to Yuan Chonghuan, and no one mentioned Man Gui's contribution.

This also laid the root of Man Gui's extreme dissatisfaction with Yuan Chonghuan. In addition, Man Gui had been at loggerheads with Yuan Chonghuan before and was dissatisfied with Yuan Chonghuan's blind command. Finally, not long after the battle, in order to ensure his power in Liaodong, Yuan Chonghuan wrote to the court to transfer Man Gui from Liaodong, thus completely taking control of the military and political power in Liaodong.

As for the claim that Nurhaci was seriously injured by Yuan Chonghuan's artillery fire under the city of Ningyuan, it was even more absurd. Others could be fooled, so how could Wu Xiang not know about it? So when talking about this past event, Wu Xiang acted a little uncomfortable, and from time to time he glanced at the emperor, looking a little guilty.

Zhu Shenzhui saw the change in his expression clearly and found it funny. He had no intention of blaming Wu Xiang. Besides, Wu Xiang was not the main general at that time, and Yuan Chonghuan had already been skinned alive by Emperor Chongzhen, so there was no need to mention the matter again.

Shifting the topic to the present, Zhu Shenzhui asked Wu Xiang how he was settling into his home in the capital and whether he was satisfied with the residence.

Wu Xiang gratefully told the emperor that his family had been settled, and he was very satisfied with the mansion given to him. If the emperor had not cared about him and specially given it to him, how could he have such a good residence right after arriving in Beijing?

"This is what you deserve, Wu Qing." Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile, "Wu Qing has fought for the country for many years and has made great contributions to the country. What does a mere mansion mean to you?"

"Your Majesty has shown such great kindness that I cannot repay you with my life..."

"Okay, okay, you are a general who fights in wars, so don't say such things. I only consider the intentions of people when I employ them, and don't consider other things. Just work hard in the future, there is no need to act like this."

Wu Xiang quickly said yes, and in his heart he was even more in awe of Zhu Shencui. He had seen Emperor Tianqi and Emperor Chongzhen, but today was the first time he had seen the current emperor. He had always heard that the emperor was extraordinary, and today he had experienced it. Although his words were gentle, the demeanor and pressure shown by Zhu Shencui made him dare not underestimate him at all.

"By the way, Wu Qing, what are your thoughts after coming to Beijing this time?"

"I have received the imperial decree to return to the capital, so naturally I will follow your Majesty's arrangements. I will do whatever your Majesty tells me to do." Wu Xiang replied respectfully.

Zhu Shenzhui was very satisfied with this answer. He thought for a moment and said, "You have been a soldier all your life. Now you are old. I cannot bear to let you lead the army. You should stay in Beijing and serve as the right commander-in-chief of the Central Military Commandery. In addition, the court will set up a general council office directly under the Five Military Commandery in the near future. You can be the right general councilor, which is equivalent to the left and right commanders, and a first-rank military position."

"In addition, I plan to build a martial arts school in the capital, and I will personally serve as the dean of the school. Mr. Wu has outstanding military achievements and is good at using troops. He can serve as the dean of the martial arts school and also serve as a doctor to teach. Is that okay?"

Wu Xiang was slightly stunned. His mind was a little confused by this series of official positions. He knew the right commander of the Central Army, but he had no idea what the General Council and the Right General Council were. As for martial arts, he also knew about it. After all, he was a military scholar, but the martial arts structure mentioned by the emperor seemed to be quite different from what he knew. Instead, it was similar to the Imperial Academy, which was a bit strange.

But no matter what, since the emperor had instructed him to do so, Wu Xiang could not refuse. Besides, having a formal official position was much better than being an idler in the capital. Wu Xiang agreed immediately. Seeing this, Zhu Shenzhu was very happy. He encouraged him a few words and ended the meeting.

(End of this chapter)