The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 216: The Martial Arts Examination is also a mess

Wanli started beating again.

The cavalry from Jizhou Town, Xuanfu Town and Datong Town were running around like crazy on the grasslands outside the Great Wall.

The Chahar tribe and the three Doyan guards were almost annoyed to death by them.

The Tumed tribe was so scared that they were about to run away.

It seems that the four armies of Jingying, Yansui Town, Guyuan Town and Haibai are about to surround them.

Do they dare to be surrounded by these four groups of people?
The four groups of troops together number hundreds of thousands. Once they are surrounded, it will be the end of us.

Sanniangzi and Chelike were so frightened that they kept an eye on the movements of the Ming troops all the time, fearing that they would be surrounded by mistake.

When the battle was in full swing on the grasslands outside the Great Wall, Liang Menglong, the Minister of War, suddenly submitted a memorial, which was sent to Longchengwei along with all the other memorials at an urgent speed of 800 miles.

At the end of August, the heat wave in the capital had not yet dissipated, but there was a cool breeze outside the Great Wall, which was extremely cool.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, Wanli, as usual, took Li Xuancheng, Sun Hai and Ke Yong to the big tent decorated like a study, to prepare to review memorials.

After a while, a horseman from the post station with an urgent flag came galloping over, and a large bundle of memorials was quickly delivered to the big tent that looked like a study.

This was a memorial submitted three days ago. The distance from the capital to Datong Town is more than 800 miles, and they advanced nearly 1,000 miles north from Datong Town, which adds up to nearly 2,000 miles.

Li Xuancheng deftly untied the ropes that bound the memorials and presented a thin stack of memorials wrapped in oil paper. Then, holding the remaining large bundle, he knelt down with Sun Hai and Ke Yong, looking miserable, and began to review them.

Wanli opened the oil paper, took out the first memorial from it and took a look at it. He couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and smiled evilly to himself.

Minister of War Liang Menglong reported that the military examination was about to begin, and many candidates had already come to the capital.

The question is, the Nanyuan Parade Ground is empty, there are no soldiers from the Beijing Army at all. Will this year's military examination be held as scheduled?

This guy finally made a report, and he also had a reason to temporarily "cease fighting".

He hurriedly put aside the other ten or so important memorials and then announced loudly, "General Shan, send someone to convey my oral order. I order Yuan Jing, Du Tong, Xiao Rulan, and Hai Bai to withdraw their troops immediately and return to their respective bases to rest and await further orders."

what?
We haven't even fought a real battle with the Tumed tribe, and you're withdrawing your troops to rest?

Li Xuancheng was puzzled when he heard this.

Wanli picked up a brush, dipped it in red ink, and wrote quickly on the memorial of Liang Menglong, the Minister of War.

He actually ordered the Minister of War Liang Menglong to arrange for all the martial arts candidates to take the grain carts from Jizhou Town to Datong Town, and then take the grain carts from Shenjiying to Longchengwei. He wanted to hold the joint martial arts examination and the palace examination in Longchengwei!

As soon as the news reached the capital, the court was in an uproar again.

The little emperor started messing around again.

The military examination and the palace examination were not held in the capital, but outside the Great Wall!
This is totally against the rules.

Both the provincial examination and the palace examination were held in the capital, regardless of whether they were civil or military examinations.

The Ming Dynasty lasted for more than two hundred years, and the provincial and palace examinations had never been held outside the capital.

It was ridiculous that the young emperor actually asked the military candidates to go to the frontier to take the joint examination and the palace examination.

Let’s not talk about the provincial examination, let’s talk about the palace examination.

Can there be a palace outside the Great Wall?
Can you call that a palace examination?
The problem was that the young emperor was not in the capital, so they had no way to "persuade" him even if they wanted to.

As for causing trouble, they didn't dare to go outside the Great Wall to cause trouble for the little emperor, who was accompanied by hundreds of thousands of troops.

Moreover, this kid is very rebellious and will hack people at any time. When he gets angry, he will hack them all to death, and they will lose their lives in vain.

Therefore, they had no way to deal with such a ridiculous and bizarre thing and could only let the little emperor do whatever he wanted.

Upon hearing the news, the martial arts candidates who were taking part in the imperial examination were extremely excited.

To put it simply, they came to take part in the military examination in order to lead troops into battle and achieve great achievements.

The rewards for military merit nowadays are enormous. As long as you can lead troops to the battlefield, you will have the opportunity to be granted a title of nobility.

At this moment, the soldiers of the Imperial Army and the Border Army were engaged in a fierce battle with the Northern Tartars outside the Great Wall. Perhaps after the Imperial and Palace Examinations, they would be able to lead their troops to great success and even be granted titles. The military candidates were all excited and boarded the grain carts from Jizhou Town, heading straight for Datong Town.

Those martial arts candidates had just boarded the grain carts from Jizhou Town and set off when Qi Jiguang had already led the soldiers of the Shenwu Camp and the Shenshu Camp back to Longchengwei.

He didn't advance very far. Wanli asked him to push as slowly as possible to delay time. In more than half a month, he only advanced four or five hundred miles, so it was naturally very convenient for him to come back.

On the first day of September, at about the hour of You, a thunderous sound of horse hooves was heard from the west of Longchengwei.

Tens of thousands of cavalrymen from the Shenwu Camp and over ten thousand chariots from the Shenshu Camp formed three long lines and came in a winding manner. The large flag with the word "Qi" in it was in the front, flying high in the wind, looking truly majestic.

On the gate tower of the north gate of Longchengwei, Wanli held up a telescope and looked at the neat formation of cavalry and charioteers, and nodded secretly.

Qi Jiguang was really good at leading troops, especially in arranging their battle formations. Even when they were on the march, they were all in perfect order, without any disorder.

Not long after, Qi Jiguang walked quickly up to the city gate tower.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli said solemnly, "Yuan Jing, the time for the military examination is approaching, and it's time for us to attack."

This seems a bit contradictory.

The military examination is coming soon. Why should we attack instead of holding the examination here?

When Qi Jiguang heard this, he was stunned.

This expedition will not be completed in ten days or half a month. The former territory of the Beijing Xingdu Division is more than a thousand miles long and wide. It would be considered fast if they could take it over in a month.

He thought for a moment, then said carefully, "Your Majesty, are we not going to hold the martial arts exam this time?"

Wanli smiled faintly and said, "Go ahead. We want to make it a grand and lively event. Instruct the soldiers of the Divine Pivot Camp to place silk banners inside and outside Longchengwei tomorrow, and set up a venue for the military examination in Beiwei City."

This one.

Qi Jiguang was a little puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, when will we attack?"

You just don't understand.

Wanli explained in detail: "We will attack tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, you will lead the soldiers of the Shenwu Camp to Jining Lake under the pretext of herding horses and set up camp outside the valley leading to the basin of Yuanxinghe.

You can take the soldiers of the Shenwu Camp to rest there and prepare dry food, such as beef jerky, mutton jerky, and flatbreads, which should be enough to last for half a month.

About five days later, those martial arts candidates will arrive in Yunzhongwei on the food carts of the Shenji Camp. As soon as they arrive in Yunzhongwei, you will lead the cavalry of the Shenwu Camp and set off along the path that General Ma and Yikui have opened for us, and head straight for the south bank of the Lamulun River.

After you arrive there with your army, order the Shenwu Camp cavalry to deploy horizontally, stationing 10,000 men every hundred miles or so. Send out scouts to patrol back and forth, preventing anyone from crossing the river and blocking the escape route of the three Doyan guards to the north.

The north of the Beijing Xingdusi is actually very easy to block, because the northwest part is a desert with a radius of hundreds of miles, which is difficult for people and animals to pass through. Then there is the Lamulun River, which borders the territory of Tumen Khan.

As long as they could prevent people from building a pontoon bridge to cross the river, the people of Duo Yan Sanwei would have no way to escape to the north.

In this situation, the people of the three guards of Doyan had no choice but to flee in the east, west and south directions.

Yanshan Mountain is located to the south of the former Beijing Xingdusi. Now the citadels in all the river valleys of Yanshan Mountain have been built, so they definitely cannot get through.

To the east is Liaodong Town, and there is only one passage through the Daling River Valley. The entrance of the Daling River into Liaodong Town is the Yizhou Guard of Liaodong Town. At this moment, Liaodong Town is fully deployed for defense, and the people of the Three Guards of Doyan will definitely not be able to kill their way through.

It seemed that the people of the Three Guards of Doyan had no choice but to flee westward.

Qi Jiguang thought about it carefully, then said cautiously: "Your Majesty, the mountains west of the former Beijing Xingdusi are not very high, and there are many valleys. If they flee westward, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to stop them."

I have my own arrangements for this.

Wanli further explained: "There are actually only a few valleys over there that can accommodate cattle, sheep and horses. I have already asked Yikui to prepare to block them. When the time comes, General Ma will also lead the Datong Town cavalry to help block them.

Furthermore, after you set off, I will follow with half of the Shenshu Camp's chariots and all of the Shenji Camp's grain carts. Then, the Shenshu Camp's chariots will go over to help block the enemy, and the three Duoyan guards will be unable to break out."

what?
Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang was surprised and asked, "Your Majesty, aren't you presiding over the military examinations and the palace examinations here?"

Wanli smiled slightly and said, "The military examination and the palace examination don't necessarily have to be held in fixed locations or at fixed times. We need military commanders who can lead troops into battle, not civil servants who sit in government offices. This is a good opportunity to let them test themselves on the battlefield. Then their military achievements will also count as a result of the military examination."

Uh, can the martial arts examination be conducted like this?
(End of this chapter)