Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

One of the official documents was the last report of merit sent by the Taiyuan Left Guard.

During this large-scale invasion by the right-wing Mongols, only three units dared to engage the Mongols in open battle outside the city.

Due to the vast disparity in troop strength, Ding Zhang, the deputy commander-in-chief of Shanxi, and Zhou Yu, the guerrilla commander of the Three Passes, were both defeated and killed in battle. Their troops were almost completely wiped out, with only a few fleeing soldiers escaping back.

Only Zhang Yin, the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, not only volunteered to send troops to rescue Pingding Prefecture after Altan Khan attacked it, but also led several thousand guards to fight Altan Khan's Tumed cavalry in Pingding Prefecture many times and achieved many victories.

During this period, messengers from Taiyuan Left Guard kept coming to Shuozhou with battle reports and heads captured. Fan Jizu was overjoyed and ordered the battle reports to be forwarded to various Ming army units in Shanxi.

By the time the Mongols retreated to the grasslands, Zhang Yin had sent over four hundred Mongol heads.

The rest of the Ming army in Shanxi combined had less than two hundred heads, while the Taiyuan Left Guard accounted for almost 70% of the heads captured!

The Mongols were all cavalrymen, and they also had a custom of retrieving the bodies of those who died in battle.

Whether it was the Ming army marching beyond the Great Wall or the Mongols invading, it was already extremely rare to be able to take the heads of thirty to fifty Mongols in a single battle.

Battles in which more than three hundred heads were taken in a single operation have been extremely rare since the Chenghua era, occurring only a handful of times.

These four hundred Mongol heads, though the result of Zhang Yin's more than ten battles with Altan Khan, were still an unimaginable achievement.

According to the military merit regulations established in the fourteenth year of the Chenghua reign, such a large number of victories would be enough to grant a garrison commander the highest honor of being promoted three ranks.

Moreover, for each northern enemy head captured, the imperial court would award an additional thirty taels of silver.

These four hundred heads are worth twelve thousand taels of silver.

Zhang Yin has made such a great contribution that Fan Jizu has already submitted a memorial to the court requesting a reward for him. Judging by the time, he may have already reached the cabinet by now.

As for Zhang Yin's report that the Taiyuan Left Guard suffered over a thousand casualties and its weapons and equipment were severely damaged and needed to be replenished, this was naturally a very reasonable request.

Fan Jizu has ordered the allocation of military supplies to replenish the losses of the Taiyuan Left Guard, and at the same time, he has given generous compensation to the fallen soldiers.

However, just yesterday, the governor's office received another official document, which stated that Zhang Yin had secretly made a deal with Anda to buy the head of a barbarian and claim credit for it!

Taiyuan Left Guard never actually fought against Anda; they were just putting on an act.

This official document was sent by Ouyang, a commander of the Imperial Guard in Taiyuan, saying that someone had delivered an anonymous letter of denunciation to the commander's office.

The matter was of great importance. While sending people to secretly investigate the Taiyuan Left Guard, Commander Ouyang also sent a report to the Northern Garrison Command and copied it to the Xuanda Governor-General's Office.

The Mongol heads sent by Taiyuan Left Guard were all carefully examined by specialists, who checked their ears, noses, hair, and knife marks. They were all genuine Mongols, not the result of killing innocent people to claim credit.

It was precisely because of this that Fan Jizu believed that Zhang Yin had indeed fought more than ten bloody battles with Anda's Tumed cavalry.

Is this report true, or is it a false accusation?

Zhang Yin's achievements this time were too outstanding, so it's understandable that his colleagues would be jealous. Moreover, the Jinyiwei commander in Taiyuan received an anonymous letter of complaint, so the possibility of a false accusation is not small.

But what if it's true?

Reporting Zhang Yin's achievements to the court on his behalf became a huge joke!

Ouyang Qianhu has already reported this to the Northern Garrison Command. Lu Bing will definitely send someone to investigate this matter. If the Northern Garrison Command verifies this, then I, as the Governor-General of Xuanda and Shanxi, will be in a very passive position.

No, even if Zhang Yin really colluded with Anda and bought off a barbarian leader to claim credit, it must be investigated by our own governor-general!

"Someone come here!"

Fan Jizu summoned a personal guard.

"Go to Taiyuan immediately and convey my order: summon Zhang Yin, the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, to Shuozhou to report on his duties!"

. . .

Pingding Prefecture, Black Cliff.

"Your subordinate greets Protector Zhao and Elder Bai."

In the council chamber, a member of the Maitreya sect knelt on one knee and reported to the two people seated at the head of the table.

"The two survivors have already confessed that they were night scouts sent by Pan Bingyi, the commander of the Zhen Ding Guard."

The group that attempted to sneak up Blackwood Cliff last night was not entirely from Zhending Guard; there were also elite troops drawn from Baoding Right Guard and Dingzhou Guard.

The number of people killed on the spot, plus the two captured alive, did not match the total number of people on their mission; four were missing.

Several hours have passed; we can't catch up now.

"More than 5,000 men from Zhen Ding Wei, Bao Ding You Wei, and Ding Zhou Wei were stationed at Jingxing Pass, less than 100 li from Heimu Cliff."

Bai Sheng sighed.

"If the four who escaped had someone to meet them and changed horses along the way, they would probably be close to Jingxing Pass by now."

With the sect leader and the left protector absent, and faced with such a major event, Bai Sheng, as the only elder of the Maitreya sect remaining at Blackwood Cliff, naturally had to discuss countermeasures with the right protector, Zhao Xixian.

Even if we catch up, it will only buy us a little more time!

After a moment of silence, Zhao Xixian stood up.

"It's impossible for three visiting military commanders to send out elite troops to scout out an ordinary bandit stronghold."

Since Pan Bingyi and his men sent an elite team of night scouts to spy on Blackwood Cliff, they must have some suspicions about the place.

Even if we didn't let a single person escape last night, they can still be sure there's something wrong with Blackwood Cliff since the scouts haven't returned yet.

In two or three days at most, the five thousand troops of the Three Guards will march toward Blackwood Cliff.

We must immediately send someone to Taiyuan overnight to report this matter to the leader, and at the same time conduct war mobilization at Blackwood Cliff to prepare for the Ming army's attack!

Now that the secret has been leaked, our sect has no other choice but to launch an immediate uprising!

. . .

Taiyuan, Li Residence.

"Young Master, this is an extremely urgent matter."

A Maitreya religious follower knelt on one knee before Li Tong.

"When leaving Blackwood Cliff, Protector Zhao and Elder Bai gave a strict order, instructing their subordinates to deliver this letter to the sect leader as soon as possible."

Since neither the sect leader nor the left protector are in Taiyuan City, I can only ask you, young master, to open and read this!

"My grandfather is the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard. What urgent matter could possibly be happening in Taiyuan?"

Li Tong casually took the envelope.

"It's one thing for Zhao Xixian to make a mountain out of a molehill, but why is Elder Bai joining in his nonsense?"

After opening the envelope, Li Tong only glanced at it twice before suddenly standing up from his chair, his hand holding the letter trembling.

The teacup that was originally placed beside her was knocked over by her sleeve and fell to the ground.

"My lord, what has caused you such panic?"

Hearing the sound of the teacup shattering, Chu Nanyin stepped out from behind the screen and went to help Li Tong.

"Nanyin, something's happened!"

Li Tong hugged Chu Nanyin tightly.

"The imperial court has its eyes on my grandfather. The governor of Xuanda summoned my grandfather to Shuozhou, which is a trap!"

The day after my grandfather set off, the Ming army at Jingxing Pass sent scouts to sneak up to Blackwood Cliff in the middle of the night. This was a diversionary tactic!

Fan Jizu ordered his grandfather to travel light and quickly to Shuozhou. Even if we wanted to send someone to chase after them, it would be too late.