The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 221 A Tragic Story

At around 5 p.m., the sun sets in the west, and the setting sun looks like blood.

In the former site of the Beijing Xingdusi, in the east-central part, the grassland where the fierce battle took place was in ruins.

The chariot formation of the Shenji Camp was completely destroyed, and the area around it was littered with corpses of men and horses and broken weapons.

At this time, the thundering sound of horse hooves gradually subsided, and the faint shouts and sounds of weapons colliding also disappeared. The battle of the day was finally over.

Qin Bangping, deputy general of the Shenwu front camp, and You Shigong, deputy general of the Shenwu rear camp, had both returned with tens of thousands of cavalrymen escorting the prisoners.

Doctors and craftsmen also came driving their carriages.

Wanli had already ordered his men to set up camp in the ruined chariot formation.

This battle was really fierce.

In the general's tent where the map was placed, the faces of the generals were rather heavy.

They were the main force that almost wiped out the three guards of Doyan, but the casualties among the soldiers of the Beijing camp were also quite heavy.

Thousands of soldiers from the Shenwu Camp and the Shenji Camp were killed in action, and the number of injured totaled as many as 20,000 to 30,000.

Wanli looked at the battle report in his hand, his face looking a little heavy.

Qi Jiguang, upon seeing this, hastened to offer his comfort, "Your Majesty, although we suffered heavy casualties in this battle, the Three Doyan Guards have been defeated and are now powerless to fight again. We will have no problem retaking the former territory of the Northern Xingdu Commandery."

Yes, all three guards of Doyan were crippled.

They estimated that there were only so many troops in total, with more than 40,000 cavalry, of which only a few thousand fled, and more than 50,000 infantry, who were either killed or captured.

Now there will be no problem for them to take over the former headquarters of the Beijing Xingdusi.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, after this battle, the three guards of Doyan have almost no resistance left. We can send the cavalry of the Shenwu Battalion to spread out to the area over 200 miles to the south to wipe out their tribe."

Qi Jiguang then cautiously suggested, "Your Majesty, how about we have the Shenji Camp's food carts follow behind and advance about a hundred miles south? That way it would be easier to collect the prisoners, cattle, sheep, and horses."

Wanli nodded slightly, then pondered, "The other seven divisions are easy to deal with, but Shengwu's division has suffered heavy casualties. We need to think of a solution for the area they are responsible for."

what?
Does this mean that we should dispatch other troops? If we don't join the battle, we will lose the military merits in the future. I'm afraid the soldiers will get angry.

Upon hearing this, Liu Jing hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it's all right. The total number of my cavalry killed or seriously injured is less than 3,000. The lightly wounded can be bandaged and sent back to battle. If I don't get the military merit later, I'm afraid the morale of my soldiers will be affected."

Are you guys so reckless?

This military merit reward was indeed very tempting to the soldiers who participated in the war. One head of the Northern Tartar was worth fifty taels, and if the total number exceeded a hundred, one could be granted a title of nobility.

If someone has killed more than 90 people and is suddenly not allowed to go online, he will probably be so anxious that he goes crazy.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then nodded slightly and said, "Okay, let's rest here for a day tomorrow. You can let the soldiers with minor injuries take good care of themselves. I will also recruit all the martial arts candidates who participated in the joint examination to fill in for you.

There should be about 4,000 to 5,000 cavalry left in the Three Doyan Guards. If you lead 7,000 wounded soldiers, you'll probably be at a disadvantage if you encounter them. Let the military candidates ride the captured warhorses and join you."

With the addition of 5,000 martial arts candidates, wouldn’t my strength along the way be the strongest?
Not to mention that every martial arts candidate can fight ten troops, but if every one of them can fight five troops, there is definitely no problem. Five thousand martial arts candidates are equivalent to twenty or thirty thousand troops!
Liu Jing quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

Wanli nodded slightly, then picked up the military merit book that recorded the number of enemies killed and took a look at it. He was shocked.

Wow, this person who killed the most enemies actually killed more than 300 Northern Tartars. If he kills more than 100 more, he will be promoted to earl!

This man is also a famous general, Cao Wenzhao, the most powerful general in the late Ming Dynasty!
Liu Jing, the most powerful general in the late Ming Dynasty, was ranked second, but he also killed enough people. This guy killed more than two hundred northern barbarians.

There was also Yu Dayou's son Yu Zigao, who also killed more than 200 northern barbarians, only slightly less than Liu Jing, ranking third.

Qin Bangping is so powerful, but he is only ranked fourth. Maybe this guy came too late. When they rushed over, the troops of the three guards of Doyan were quickly defeated.

There were even more people who killed hundreds of enemies alone, but most of them were soldiers from the Shenwu Camp. There were not many soldiers from the Shenji Camp. There seemed to be only one military candidate, and this He Shixian seemed to be a little famous.

He flipped through the military merit book of the leading officers and was stunned again.

Liu Jing is worthy of being the most powerful general in the late Ming Dynasty. He led 20,000 troops and destroyed more than 20,000 enemy troops!

He was stunned for a moment, then encouraged: "Shengwu, keep going. If I remember correctly, you have led your army to kill more than 30,000 enemies. If you can kill another 10,000, you can be promoted to Duke."

Oh, there's hope for a Duke title. To be honest, leading an army to kill tens of thousands of enemies in a war like this isn't difficult; the key is luck.

This time his luck was extremely good. The three guards of Doyan actually gathered all their troops to attack him!
Unfortunately, there were too many of them, causing heavy casualties among his soldiers.

Upon hearing this, Liu Jing bowed and said, "I will lead the army and fight bravely against the enemy."

Wanli nodded slightly and ordered, "Tonight, slaughter some of the cattle and sheep you picked up on the road and have a celebration banquet. At the same time, give the injured soldiers some nourishment. Anyway, we have a rest tomorrow, so it doesn't matter if we rest later."

As night fell, bonfires were everywhere inside and outside the hastily repaired convoy, as if lighting up the entire sky.

A celebration banquet after such a fierce battle was also a morale booster. The soldiers ate with their mouths full and enjoyed themselves to the fullest.

Wanli accompanied Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, Qi Jiguang, Qin Bangping and others for a meal, and suddenly remembered that he had not yet met Yu Dayou's son.

It would have been fine if he didn't know he was coming, but knowing that he was coming, he had to see him anyway. After all, Yu Dayou's fame in the Ming army was no less than that of Qi Jiguang.

He thought for a moment, then raised his hand and said, "General Shan, send for the military candidates Yu Zigao, Cao Wenzhao, and He Shixian to come to the court."

Yu Zigao, Cao Wenzhao and He Shixian had never expected that the current emperor would summon them at this time. The three of them were extremely excited.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli said cordially, "Kemai, I heard from Yuan Jing that he knows you quite well. Why didn't you tell Yuan Jing that you were going to take the military examination?"

This cannot deceive the king.

Yu Zigao said frankly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. My father once taught his students to rely on their true abilities and avoid taking shortcuts."

Well, Yu Dayou is indeed famous for his honesty and straightforwardness.

Wanli couldn't help but jokingly said, "Yuan Jing, how come this has become a crooked way?"

This kid.

Qi Jiguang smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, Kemai is just a fool. Don't listen to his nonsense."

Am I stupid?

Upon hearing this, Yu Zigao couldn't help but scratch the back of his head.

Wanli smiled slightly, and then encouraged: "Wen Zhao, Shi Xian, you are both good, work hard, I am optimistic about you."

This is winning them over. He knows without even looking that these two are both capable of being generals.

In fact, they all had a very tragic history.

Cao Wenzhao was originally a member of the Datong Guard. Historically, due to the heavy casualties suffered by the Liaodong border garrison, he was transferred there more than ten years after the Wanli reign.

However, he wasted more than twenty years in Liaodong Town, and was not reused until the end of the Wanli period when Xiong Tingbi was in charge of Liaodong.

After that, he fought in battles for more than ten years and was finally promoted to general. However, when he led a few thousand troops to pursue the rebels, he was recognized by the common people and was besieged and killed by tens of thousands of rebels.

Yu Zigao's life was even more tragic, because his father was suppressed and excluded by civil officials and died in depression. Historically, he did not inherit his father's military position until he passed the military examination in the 30th year of Wanli.

Later, he accumulated military merits with great difficulty and was promoted to General of Fujian and Zhejiang. He led the navy to defeat the fleet of the Dutch, the maritime overlord at that time. When he was about to become famous in the sea, the imperial court suddenly wanted to wipe out the pirate Zheng Zhilong who was willing to accept the amnesty.

This is simply overestimating one's own abilities.

At the peak of his power, Zheng Zhilong had more than 3,000 warships and more than 200,000 troops. After the Ming Dynasty navy had been abandoned for more than 200 years, Fujian and Zhejiang could not even produce a thousand small boats in total, and had less than 20,000 troops. How could he possibly defeat Zheng Zhilong?

As a result, he was sentenced to death after his defeat!

He Shixian's story was even more tragic. In history, when this guy led his troops to defend Shenyang, he was too fierce and kept going out of the city to hunt down the Jiannu. He was accidentally ambushed by the Jiannu. In addition, there were spies bribed by the eight imperial merchants in Shenyang.

As a result, after he chased out of the city, the spies in the city cut off the drawbridge for him, and he was shot like a hedgehog by the Jiannu outside the city he was guarding!
Fortunately, his luck has changed now.

The imperial examination hadn't even begun yet, but they had already accumulated enough military merit to be awarded the title of nobility.

More importantly, they were favored by the young emperor.

They will definitely have a bright future from now on.

(End of this chapter)