The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 100 How to Play the Northwest Game

The Haibai Rebellion broke out ahead of schedule!
Wanli felt so regretful.

He had known for a long time that Haibai might rebel.

Moreover, Ma Gui had reminded him that the three major powerful families in Puzhou seemed to be trying to force Haobai to rebel.

He actually issued an imperial decree and then forgot about this matter!
Why is Dang Xin still the Ningxia Circuit Inspector so long after he issued the imperial edict?
Wanli looked at the trembling Jinyiwei captain lying on the ground and quickly ordered the people on both sides to help him up. Then he said with a serious face: "Why did Minister Chen send you back from thousands of miles away?"

It's winter now, people might freeze to death.

The captain of the Jinyiwei still trembled a little and said, "Your Majesty, the Governor said that there might be a problem with the post road, because he has already sent you an 800-mile express message.

Many generals from Ningxia Town were sent to complain to the Governor-General. They all said that Dang Xin withheld food and wages and deliberately did not distribute winter clothes, and that they would not be able to survive this winter.

The Governor-General ordered him to be dismissed and investigated, but no one carried out the order. Moreover, the Governor-General sent you several express dispatches over 800 miles, but there was no response.

In this case, there must be something wrong with the post road, and the Governor had no choice but to order me to rush back from Shaanxi under the pretext of returning home to attend a funeral."

Yes, there must be something wrong with the post road.

He wanted to dismiss Dang Xin from his post, investigate him, and bring him back to the capital for trial. This would be beneficial to Shen Shixing, so Shen Shixing would definitely not object.

However, both imperial edicts and cabinet documents had to pass through Shanxi before being transmitted to Shaanxi.

The three powerful families in Puzhou could easily control any of the post stations in the middle and block his imperial edicts and cabinet documents.

It is very likely that the three major families in Puzhou control more than one post station. All the post stations west of Datong Town, including those in Shaanxi, are probably controlled by them!
He really didn't expect these guys to play this trick.

Wanli looked at the frozen Jinyiwei captain, patted his shoulder and said in praise: "Thank you for your hard work. You have made great contributions this time. I will promote you to a thousand-man commander."

After saying this, he turned to Duke Cheng, Zhu Yingzhen, and said, "Yingzhen, take him to the bedroom next to the Imperial Study where I take my nap. Have the Imperial Kitchen prepare him a good meal. After he finishes eating, let him take a nap there and take good care of himself before returning. Remember, promote him to the rank of Qian Hu."

Upon hearing this, Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen hurriedly bowed and said, "I obey your command."

The captain of the Jinyiwei trembled with excitement and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Wanli waved his hand slightly and then handed the urgent report in his hand to Qi Jiguang.

When Qi Jiguang took the urgent report and read it, he couldn't help but show a look of horror.

As soon as he saw the captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard frozen to that state, he knew that something big must have happened in the northwest.

Xi'an Prefecture is more than two thousand miles away from the capital, and it is freezing and snowy outside. It must be a big deal to risk one's life to travel more than two thousand miles in the ice and snow to get back.

When he heard that Dang Xin had withheld food and wages and deliberately refused to distribute winter clothes, he thought that there had been a mutiny in Ningxia Town.

Who knew that it was Ningxia Town Deputy General Haobai and Vanguard Battalion Commander Liu Dongyang who killed Inspector Dang Xin and General Yang Siwei and rebelled, and the entire Ningxia Town had already been lost!

Haibai's clan was exterminated by Altan Khan, and he hated the Tatars. Anyone familiar with the situation in the Nine Frontiers knows this.

Therefore, Haibai was able to be promoted to the deputy general of Ningxia Town due to his Tatar origin and his accumulated military merits.

Everyone knew that if he wanted revenge he could only rely on the Ming Dynasty and it was impossible for him to rebel.

Who knew that he would rebel after all.

Qi Jiguang frowned and pondered for a while, then suddenly realized, "This Dang Xin is from one of the three great families in Puzhou, right?"

Wanli nodded slightly and sighed: "Yes, he is Zhang Siwei's disciple."

This makes sense, Dang Xin was deliberately forcing Haobai to rebel!

Haibai killed the Tatars without hesitation to avenge the genocide of his clan. This was beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, but it was not beneficial to the three major families of Puzhou.

Altan Khan was an ally of the three major families in Puzhou, and the six major Tatar tribes were all the gods of wealth of the three major families in Puzhou.

Haobai caught their God of Wealth and killed him so crazily, it would be strange if the three major families in Puzhou did not deal with Haobai.

The reason why the three powerful families in Puzhou forced Haobai to rebel was that they wanted to use the court's troops to deal with Haobai. In this way, they not only did not have to spend a penny, but also could make a fortune by taking advantage of the opportunity to mobilize food and supplies.

As for the chaos at the border, the Ming border troops suffered heavy casualties and the Ming court spent countless amounts of food and money. These had nothing to do with them. They only cared about making money.

This move is truly vicious.

Historically, that's what they did.

They were making so much money at that time that the Ming court spent more than two million taels of silver on food and wages alone to quell the Haobai Rebellion.

However, it seemed their actions weren't simply aimed at getting the court to deal with Haobai or simply to make money. Qi Jiguang frowned and pondered for a moment before sighing softly, "It's a shame that the Yuanfu passed away before this game of chess in the northwest was even finished."

Yeah, the Northwest is like a giant chessboard.

Zhang Juzheng originally wanted to play a big game of chess with the three major families of Puzhou in the northwest, and Haobai was an important chess piece, a chess piece to deal with Altan Khan and the three major families of Puzhou.

Perhaps, according to Zhang Juzheng's plan, Haibai would eventually defeat the agents of the three major families in Puzhou, become the general of Ningxia Town, and then lead his troops into Hetao to take revenge.

As long as Haibai leads his troops to charge in, the game will come alive, and Zhang Juzheng will be able to mobilize troops from all over to provide support.

If this is true, it would not be impossible to recapture Hetao and even deal with the three major families in Puzhou.

Unfortunately, Zhang Juzheng missed the target by one move and died inexplicably.

Historically, the game of chess in the northwest was played by only the three major powerful families of Puzhou. It is easy to imagine what the final outcome of Haobai, the chess piece placed by Zhang Juzheng, would be.

It's different now.

Wanli was going to take over this game and continue playing.

How to play this game of chess in the Northwest?

He had never expected that the three great families of Puzhou would resort to the tactic of cutting off the post roads.

This is equivalent to cutting off the border between Chu and Han, and the chess pieces that have crossed the river cannot be kept.

How else can he play?
Originally, he wanted to use generals from Yan'an Guard and Yulin Guard, such as Xiao Ruxun, You Shigong and Du Song, to take control of Yansui Town.

Fortunately, he did not rush to make this move, otherwise, these chess pieces might have been eaten by the three major families in Puzhou.

He thought about it carefully, then couldn't help but sigh, "I've actually known about Dang Xin's chess piece for a long time. General Ma mentioned it to me in August, and I also ordered Dang Xin to be dismissed from office and brought to the capital for trial.

Who knew that they would actually block the post road, and my imperial edicts and letters from the cabinet could not reach Shaanxi at all.

However, even if we go to Shaanxi, it will probably be useless because that place is their world.

How do we break this situation now?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang shook his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, Dang Xin is a discarded pawn. If you force him to rebel against Haobai, he will surely die. The three great families of Puzhou will definitely not reveal such a big flaw for you to seize."

Yes, Dang Xin will surely kill anyone who rebels against Haobai.

There is no way that the three powerful families in Puzhou will let Dang Xin fall into their hands.

Wanli nodded slowly, then asked, "What about Yang Siwei? I just randomly transferred this man to Ningxia Town. Is he also a pawn in the hands of the three great families in Puzhou?"

Qi Jiguang nodded slightly and said, "Yes, Yang Siwei has not achieved any success. He dared not even attack the northern barbarian invaders. If such a person can be promoted to general, he must be a chess piece."

Yang Siwei was indeed a pawn of the three major families in Puzhou. Historically, after Qi Jiguang was transferred to the south and left idle, he took over the position of the general of Jizhou Town.

As a result, the 30,000 elite border troops trained by Qi Jiguang in Jizhou Town were wasted!

Historically, the Ming Dynasty after Zhang Juzheng's death was so strange that generals with outstanding military achievements such as Qi Jiguang, Ma Gui, and Dong Yikui were transferred to idle positions, or even dismissed and investigated on trumped-up charges.

Generals who were not good at fighting, such as Yang Siwei and Zhang Weizhong, were promoted to generals of border towns.

This is not a joke.

For example, during the Korean War, one of the three major expeditions of Emperor Wanli, the generals who led the troops were Ma Gui, Li Rusong, Deng Zilong, and Liu Jing.

Among them, Ma Gui had been dismissed from his post and investigated long ago, and was only reinstated when the Haibai Rebellion was quelled.

Deng Zilong had been dismissed from his post and investigated long ago, and was only appointed before the expedition to Korea.

Liu Jing had been dismissed from his post and investigated long ago. He was only appointed as a guerrilla general when the Luo Xiong Rebellion was quelled, and his position as deputy general was restored before the expedition to Korea.

Only Li Rusong was safe because he had his father Li Chengliang to protect him.

If we look at it from this perspective, it is no wonder that Li Chengliang, as a warlord, kept his own private army.

If he doesn't stop being a warlord and raise his own soldiers, not only will he be in trouble, but his whole family will be in trouble too!
Of course, this is not the time to think about this.

Now that Haobai has rebelled in advance, how should we play this game in the northwest?

Wanli looked at the snowflakes outside the window and fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)