The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 80 Ma Gui Enters the Capital
The influence of the three major families in Puzhou is already deeply rooted in the seven border towns.

The governors and provincial governors sent by Wanli were unable to control the overall situation.

How can this be good?

Wanli directly issued an edict, ordering Governor Chen Rui to send Ma Gui, the deputy commander of the Shaanxi Provincial Military Commission, to Beijing!

Ma Gui is a famous person in history. During the three major expeditions of Emperor Wanli, he was the deputy general in the Ningxia Campaign and the general in the Korean War.

However, Ma Gui was extremely unlucky at this moment.

As for why, Wanli had secretly asked Luo Sigong to send secret guards to investigate.

He had long been paying attention to this famous general who had left his name in history.

After he asked Luo Sigong to check Ma Gui's situation, he pretended not to know about such a person.

Because Ma Gui’s unfortunate experience had a lot to do with the three major families in Puzhou.

Ma Gui was from the side army garrison and was a member of the Datong Right Guard Army.

His father Malu had accumulated military merits and was promoted to deputy general.

In addition, his brother Ma Jin also accumulated military merits and was promoted to deputy general.

Ma Gui also accumulated military merits and was promoted to deputy general!

However, for a border garrison like his family with no background or support, the position of deputy general seemed to be the end of the road.

After Ma Gui accumulated military merits and was promoted to deputy general, he was inexplicably transferred to Shaanxi and became the deputy commander, in charge of the Ningxia border garrison!

The deputy commander was only a third-rank garrison officer, which was simply a sinecure.

The deputy general is a real general of the second rank who can lead troops in battle.

The reason for this adjustment is the same as that of Qi Jiguang, that is, this guy is too good at fighting and the Northern Tartars can't defeat him at all.

Therefore, it was transferred to Shaanxi Dusi and left idle.

It is obvious that this is the work of the three major wealthy families in Puzhou.

This is not a joke. Historically, Ma Gui was quite miserable before he became famous.

Before Ma Gui led his troops to participate in the Ningxia campaign, he was dismissed from his post and investigated because of the impeachment of the censor!
This is the same as the ending of Qi Jiguang in history.

However, in history, Qi Jiguang did not survive and died in poverty in the first ten years of the Wanli reign.

Ma Gui survived and was still alive in the 20th year of the Wanli reign.

Therefore, after the battle of Ningxia, the Ming court could no longer bear it and had to appoint this border army general who was good at fighting. Only then did he catch the attention of Emperor Wanli and had his chance to come to prominence.

Of course, he wouldn't be so miserable now.

The reason why Wanli never transferred Ma Gui to the Beijing camp was actually to prepare for the time when he would have to compete with the three major families of Puzhou for the military power of the seven border towns.

Now is the time.

Ma Gui was inexplicably sent to the capital by Governor Chen Rui.

Governor Chen Rui also ordered him to ride his horse as fast as possible to reach the capital.

Although he didn't understand why, he kept changing horses at the post stations along the way, traveling day and night as if he was traveling at an 800-mile hurricane, and finally arrived at the capital.

At about 5 p.m. that afternoon, the sun set and the sky was filled with red clouds.

To the west of the capital, outside Fucheng Gate, a horseman suddenly came galloping from the official road in the west, seemingly on some urgent matter.

However, no matter how urgent it is, we cannot ride our horses straight into the capital.

The cavalry was still dozens of steps away when the commander of the Beijing garrison, who was guarding the city gate, stepped forward, raised his hand, and shouted, "Stop! Dismount! What are you doing?"

Ma Gui quickly reined in his warhorse, dismounted, and said, "Ma Gui, the deputy commander of the Shaanxi Provincial Commandery, is here to enter the capital on the orders of Governor-General Chen Rui."

In fact, he didn't know why Chen Rui asked him to come to the capital.

So, that's all he could say.

Upon hearing this, the commander of the Beijing camp immediately bowed and said, "Oh, it's General Ma. My apologies. General Ma, please follow me."

After saying this, he ordered his men to bring the warhorse and galloped with Ma Gui all the way to the palace.

Wanli had already told Qi Jiguang that after Ma Gui arrived in the capital, he would be brought directly to the palace for an audience, so Qi Jiguang arranged for his trusted officers to wait at each gate of the west gate of the imperial city.

At this moment, Wanli was preparing to go to Kunning Palace to have dinner with Queen Wang and Concubine Wang Gong.

He originally wanted to find a place in the imperial palace to build a new palace for Concubine Wang Gong, but Concubine Wang Gong said it was a waste of money and refused to do so. Coincidentally, Queen Wang often brought Princess Rongchang to the Qianqing Palace to play with the eldest prince Zhu Changluo, and the two had a close relationship like sisters. So Concubine Wang Gong simply moved to Kunning Palace to live with Queen Wang.

Now it is convenient for him. Both of his children are together and he doesn't have to run back and forth.

He was just thinking about what to eat for dinner, but unexpectedly, as soon as he walked out of the imperial study, he heard the sound of horse hooves outside.

Who would be so anxious to enter the palace so late at night?
He couldn't help but look outside the door with curiosity.

Soon, the two riders stopped outside the gate, and a captain of the Beijing camp and a strong man wearing the uniform of a border garrison officer walked quickly in and headed towards the imperial study.

This is Ma Gui coming!

As soon as he saw the burly man with dust all over his head and face that he hadn't even brushed off, he knew that this man was Ma Gui, whom he had been waiting for for several days.

This guy came so fast.

Ningxia Town is more than two thousand miles away from the capital. For an average person, it would be considered good if he could ride three or four hundred miles a day on horseback.

It was obvious that Ma Gui traveled more than three or four hundred miles in a day.

Ma Gui is different from Qi Jiguang. Qi Jiguang is somewhat elegant, but Ma Gui has a square face, a face full of steel whiskers, and a body full of muscles, making him extremely powerful.

Moreover, this famous general was not very old at the time. He seemed to be only in his forties, in the prime of his life, without any sign of old age.

Ma Gui had just found out that it was the Emperor who summoned him to the capital, not a transfer order from the Ministry of War.

As soon as he entered the Qianqing Palace, he saw a young man in a dragon robe standing in the corridor, looking at him with interest.

This must be the Emperor.

He hurried forward, prostrated himself on the ground, and said respectfully, "I, Ma Gui, the Deputy Commander of the Shaanxi Commandery, pay my respects to His Majesty."

It’s Ma Gui indeed.

Wanli quickly stepped forward, bowed, took Ma Gui's arm and lifted it up, saying, "General Ma, there is no need for such a grand ceremony. Please stand up quickly."

This is real help!
Ma Gui quickly stood up and said with a look of emotion, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Wanli turned around and said, "Uncle, send someone to tell Xier and Xiaotao that I have something else to do. Let them eat first."

After that, he took Ma Gui's arm and said, "General Ma, let's go inside and talk."

Ma Gui was a little confused.

At that time, he was not yet the famous general in history who commanded the imperial army to fight against the Japanese pirates in Korea.

He was just an ordinary border army general, and an idle one at that.

Why does the current emperor think so highly of him?

He really couldn't understand it. Ordinary civil officials were not so polite when meeting them. The governors and provincial governors-general were even more arrogant and domineering when meeting these border army generals.

Wanli, however, pulled him into the imperial study with a warm expression, invited him to sit down on either side of the tea table for guests, and ordered someone to serve fragrant tea. Then he said solemnly, "General Ma, I'm sorry to have wronged you."

what?
Is this what you call injustice?
Why is His Majesty so good to me?
What do I have?
Apart from leading troops in battle, I don't know anything else.

His Majesty is so good to me, he must be impressed by my ability to lead troops and fight.

In other words, His Majesty wanted to train trusted generals to lead troops into battle.

Such a good opportunity cannot be missed!
Ma Gui was flattered and quickly expressed his loyalty, saying, "Your Majesty, since you hold me in such high esteem, I will serve you till death, sacrificing my life for you."

This is a smart man and he reacted immediately.

It seems that the title of a famous general is not in vain, at least he has a sharp mind.

Not bad.

Wanli took the opportunity to win him over and said, "I heard that a talent like General Ma was buried, and I felt very sad, so I ordered Chen Aiqing to send you to Beijing to serve."

Sure enough, His Majesty was impressed by my ability to lead troops in battle.

His Majesty is in a hurry to summon me to Beijing, so he must have something important for me to do.

Ma Gui said without hesitation, "Your Majesty, if you need me to do anything, just tell me. I won't even frown even if it means going through fire and water."

Although this time it’s not a mountain of swords and a pot of oil, it’s almost the same.

If you help me seize the military power of the border town, the three major families in Puzhou will probably try their best to kill you!

(End of this chapter)