The famous ones who have been granted the title of Duke of Lai since ancient times are undoubtedly Du Ruhui and Kou Zhun. Both of them are examples of literary and military talents.
Dai Yi and others understood that this reflected the emperor's expectations for Zhang Zhou, which was to make Zhang Zhou a general and prime minister and help the Ming Dynasty to rejuvenate.
When Zhu Youtang went to see Empress Dowager Zhou and his wife to inform his relatives about the matter, Dai Yi and others did not accompany him.
The four eunuchs in charge of rituals were followed by several young eunuchs in the study room of the eunuchs in charge of rituals, and the four of them walked closely.
"I'm afraid it won't be easy for Your Majesty to regard Mr. Zhang as the Duke of the country."
Wei Bin followed and asked.
Wei Bin had some objections to Zhang Zhou about what happened in Liaodong before, but with the end of the Battle of Liaodong, his direct descendant, Ren Liang, the eunuch who guarded Liaodong, was not punished, and even the censor of the capital was not punished. Zhang Yudu was just punished and served. Now he is just more concerned about how much impact Zhang Zhou's rise will have on his interests.
After all, Wei Bin has more contacts with the guarding eunuchs in various places.
Dai Yidao said, "With the current merits, what if we give him a prince?"
Xiao Jing also raised doubts on the side, "It's just that Mr. Zhang didn't go into battle in person, so he was afraid that civil servants would There will be gossip over there."
Dai Yi suddenly stopped. The eunuchs around him were stunned and stopped too, wondering what kind of medicine Dai Yi was selling in his gourd.
"You guys are just too lazy to worry about how your Majesty will reward Mr. Zhang. Your Majesty has his own arrangements. This time, he didn't even summon the cabinet ministers, people from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites, so he didn't explain. Your Majesty may have felt that if the matter is told tomorrow, even if there is opposition, it will not cause any problems."
Dai Yi is now more angry that he has been suspected and criticized. challenge.
With his old age, he seems to be less favored by the emperor.
In Kunning Palace.
Zhu Youtang was explaining to his wife that Zhang Zhou had fought a hearty victory for the Ming Dynasty in front of his son, or in his eyes full of urgency.
Neither Queen Zhang nor Zhu Houzhao seemed to care whether Zhang Zhou personally participated in the war. In their eyes, Wang Shouren and Ma Yi, who actually led the troops, were transparent and meaningless.
Of course, the mother and son have different concerns.
Empress Zhang asked, "Your Majesty, what about Heling? Did he go too?"
"I didn't go to Weininghai, but I followed Bingkuan to Maoerzhuang to welcome the surprise attack on Weininghai." The soldiers have returned to the pass. They are still retreating south. The once arrogant Huo Si doesn't even dare to draw troops close. I believe they have withdrawn to the pass, but the news has not yet been sent back to the capital." Zhu Youtang said with a smile. "As the deputy commander-in-chief, He Ling can be considered a meritorious minister. I will reward him properly."
"That's good."
When Queen Zhang heard this, her face changed. There was also a smile.
She doesn’t care whether the northwest is victorious or not. As a "women's family", she cares more about ZhangWhat can the family gain from this matter.
Zhu Houzhao asked eagerly, "Then why didn't Bingkuan lead his troops to fight the fire screen, and why he had to withdraw to the pass? He didn't want to extinguish the fire screen in one go."
Zhu Youtang Hearing this, he glanced at his son and said, "Bingkuan is also what you should call me."
"Father, why do you still care about the title at this time? You just know that you are talking about Mr. Zhang." Zhu Houzhao said. Face annoyed.
You didn’t answer the key question, but you actually cared about how I called Zhang Zhou
Don’t you usually call him “Bingkuan”
Zhu Youtang said: The way to use troops does not depend on the gains and losses on the battlefield at one moment or another, but on the overall consideration. Now the situation in the grassland is turbulent. It is a time of internal division and cannibalism. The Ming Dynasty's intention in this war has been achieved, and there is no need to fight again. We can go to war and clean up the mess after the situation on the grassland is clear."
"Hey, if you don't go into battle, let others do it. If you don't work and wait to clean up the mess, I'll have to wait for him to destroy the grassland every day. ”
Zhu Houzhao muttered in a low voice, somewhat dissatisfied.
"What did you say?" Zhu Youtang couldn't help but get angry when he saw that his son now likes to act like a woman and brought his little calculations to light.
"It's okay. My son is saying that Mr. Zhang is very powerful and I will rely on him to level the grassland in the future." Zhu Houzhao curled his lips, somewhat dissatisfied.
It was such a fun thing to go to the grassland to fight, but they didn’t take me there
They even didn’t even write me a letter and asked me to guard "Wangfu Cliff"
Zhu Youtang said, "I also plan to confer Bingkuan as the Duke of Lai. I will mention it to the court tomorrow, but it may have to wait until the results of the battle come out. I still have to tell the imperial grandmother about this news, so I won't be there. Let’s have dinner here."
"Your Majesty"
"Queen, please rest more. I have been busy with state affairs recently. I will come to spend more time with you after a few days of leisure."
While Zhu Youtang was comforting his wife, he seemed to be like a husband who always went out to ghost on the pretext of being busy with work, so he left his wife and children behind and left first on the pretext of seeing his grandmother.
Queen Zhang was naturally a little dissatisfied.
Because she has spent less and less time with the emperor recently, Zhu Youtang often even "stays up at night". She doesn't even know where her husband is, and she can't even investigate.
She seems to be the Lord of the Sixth Palace, but she is still a little inferior to Wan Guifei and others, because she has no one in Dongchang and Jinyiwei, and the so-called queen can only control the palace. To maintain dignity, she used to rely on the Zhang brothers for everything, but now her two brothers are in the northwest, one in Yansui and the other in Datong.
It is now difficult for her to find someone to check her husband's whereabouts.
Beyond the head-turning barrier.
Zhu Feng personally led his troops out of the fortress and arrived at Tumaochuan, a tributary of the Yellow River, as agreed. He did not cross the river, but after finding that he did not encounter any enemy conditions, he gradually withdrew his troops to Pianguan Town. The city gate outside.
After he returned to Shuiquan Yingbao, he met Wang Qiong who had brought troops over, and learned from Wang Qiong the results of the battles between Weininghai and Tushan.
"Brother Zhang is indeed capable of taking on the important task of defense in the northwest."
Zhu Feng did not feel disappointed, but felt very relieved.
With Zhang Zhou here, I can finally think about how to live a happy life after returning to the capital or Nanjing.
Wang Qiong asked, "Zhang Zhitai didn't use you in this battle. Don't you feel sorry for your contribution? If it were you, I believe you can achieve such results."
"No." Zhu Feng said, "I don't have the strategizing skills of the king, nor the courage of the horse commander. If I lead the troops to attack Weininghai, after a small victory, I want to return to the Ming Dynasty Pass. , and I will never escort so many prisoners and livestock. In terms of talent, I am not as good as them."
Wang Qiong smiled bitterly and shook his head.
I have seen people belittle themselves, but I have never seen anyone belittle themselves like this.
You have obtained the title of Marquis of Anbian by virtue of military merit, but you actually think that you are not capable of fighting a seemingly logical surprise attack
This war is obviously more difficult to plan than to use troops. Only with Zhang Zhou's courage and the solid military morale brought by Zhang Zhou's prayers for rain in Xuan Mansion can he be qualified to talk about a surprise attack. On the contrary, the surprise attack does not seem to be very difficult
This is probably the same as, coach It's like the soul of a team.
You can still play a game well without playing.
But you, Zhu Zhijie, devalued yourself and thought you were incompetent. Wang Qiong thought to himself, no wonder Zhang Bingkuan didn't use you to lead the troops to attack Weininghai. It really makes sense.
But why don’t you let me go
Compared with Zhu Feng’s open-mindedness, Wang Qiong cannot be indifferent to favors and humiliations. Just as Zhang Zhou used his reasons, he Wang Qiong He is capable and good at ingratiating himself, but he also has the disadvantage that such a person should have, which is his narrow-mindedness.
Wang Yue is also very capable, but he also has many tricks to squeeze out his colleagues.
Can he, Wang Qiong, compare himself to a saint and remain indifferent in the face of the second surprise attack on Weininghai?
"I don't understand Zhang Zhitai's use of Wang Bo'an." "Wang Qiong commented on the matter in front of Zhu Feng, "With a person who has never set foot on the battlefield, he makes one mistake and loses everything. Is he gambling, or does he really know people well?"
Zhu Feng seemed indifferent and said, "Bo'an is not in the Yanwu Hall, so he probably thinks that he can take advantage of others."
Zhu Feng was not impressed by Zhang Zhou's use of Wang Shouren.
"Then Zhijie, how much do you know about Bo'an's abilities? Do you think he can achieve great things?" Wang Qiong asked rhetorically.
"This"
How could Zhu Feng answer such a question?
He wanted to say that I was just hanging around in the Yanwu Hall, and with those People rarely interact with each other, let alone pay attention to who is capable and who is a coward.
Aren’t you Wang Qiong also from the Yanwu Hall? Don’t you know Wang Bo’an well?
Historically it was WangQiong recommended Wang Shouren, but that was based on the premise that identity and status were completely unequal. As a teacher and senior, Wang Qiong was willing to recommend Wang Shouren.
But in history, Wang Qiong and Peng Yue would still fight to the death for military power in the northwest, criticizing each other and even avenging private revenge
The Wang Shouren in front of him was not recommended by Wang Qiong. After this battle, Wang Shouren has obviously become a figure who is almost on an equal footing with Wang Qiong. How can Wang Qiong still treat Wang Shouren with the mentality of supporting his juniors?
"Wang Zhongcheng, then Should we send troops to assist Datong Town? The next step is to attack Datong." Zhu Feng is still warm-hearted.
A surprise attack on Weininghai is too dangerous, so I won’t do it.
But if we send troops to Datong Town to assist Brother Zhang in garrisoning Datong, I have nothing to fear.
Wang Qiong said, "No, the situation in Pianguan is more dangerous than that in Datong Town. With Zhang Zhitai here, Datong Town can be sure to have peace of mind, and I think Huo Si has lost the qualification to compete for supremacy on the grassland. If He also wanted to preserve the strength of his clan, and the only way to do this was to assess the situation and submit to the Ming Dynasty."
"No way"
Zhu Feng didn't understand politics very well.
In his opinion, half a year ago Huo Si was still an evil spirit that everyone was afraid of. His cavalry came and went without a trace on the front line of Xuanda University. He was so fearful that he would join the Ming Dynasty in half a year.
Are those guys in the grassland who claim to be the sons of the eagle so spineless? They are not even as good as me.
Wang Qiong shook his head and sighed, "How many tribesmen of the Mengoljin tribe in Huoshan could be killed and 20,000 captured at one time? This is not counting the losses in the past six months. He still wants to fight stubbornly." , He wants to destroy him on the grassland. Even if the Ming Dynasty can let his people go, the little Tatar prince will not let him go."
"Zhang Zhitai's move is undoubtedly to help the little Tatar people. The prince solved the big trouble of the Mongolian right wing, which may not be a good thing in the long run."
Zhu Feng said in surprise, "This is not a good thing."
Wang Qiong sighed, "Knowing the truth, Don't always think about doing things half-heartedly. You have the ability, the backing and the background, and have won the trust of His Majesty and Zhang Zhitai. You should know the facts about border affairs, and you should know the reasons why. Recently, the border passes have been strengthened. You have to pay attention to the patrol of the fortress."
"Oh."
In Wang Qiong's eyes, Zhu Fengzhen is like a helpless Adou.
Wang Qiong sometimes hates her for not fighting, but this character is what Wang Qiong admires.
Not fighting means that others will not regard you as an enemy. If you just pretend not to fight, others will be more careful. But if you really don’t want to fight, then you have the greatest advantage. You can guard the northwest. You, Zhu Zhijie, are almost invincible.
The court meeting.
In Fengtian Hall, the expressions of the civil servants and generals present were relatively complicated, because before they came, they had heard about the advancement of the northwest war.
ButThe news about Zhang Zhou's withdrawal into the pass has not yet come, so there is no way to know the exact outcome of this war.
"With more than 16,000 captives and tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, it will be difficult for them to travel ten miles in a day. It is really hard to say whether they can enter the customs."
Some people are also bad-mouthing.
This argument is more in line with the expectations of civil servants.
Only the civil servants pay more attention to seniority. Zhang Zhou belongs to the new rich. If Zhang Zhou causes such a big incident and retreats from the grassland, it will have the greatest impact on the interests of the civil servants.
As for the Wu Xun, only Zhang Mao had a tense expression that day, because it seemed that the rise of Zhang Zhou had the greatest impact on him. As for the other Wu Xun, they were all happy to see the rise of the Ming Dynasty's military. , this will also mean that they will not be able to survive.
As for who is the admiral in charge of the capital, does it make such a big difference to ordinary nobles like us?
Anyway, it is not Zhang Zhou, but also the old man Zhang Mao, and it is probably the same generation. Passed down from generation to generation.
With Zhang Zhou disrupting the situation, it will have an impact on the layout of the Dudu Mansion. Maybe we will have a chance to take over.
Zhu Youtang came very late that day.
However, the emperor did not summon any ministers in advance, and no one asked for leave or rest that day, because they also knew that today was a special day, and there was likely to be a request for rewards in the court, even if they did not want to be there. Witnesses don’t want to hide their faces at such a big meeting.
Whoever doesn’t come means not giving the emperor face.
"Mr. Liu Ge, what should I say if it involves discussing merit today?"
Liu Jian was still whispering something to Li Dongyang, but it was Xu Qiong who came to him. come over.
Only Xu Qiong, a relatively neutral figure among civil servants, would ask such a sensitive topic at this time.
When it comes to rewards based on merit, the three people involved all have more or less "problems".
Needless to say Zhang Zhou, and Wang Shouren was also a new scholar. It seems that such a great contribution must be given a knighthood, but there are particularities in how to give it. No matter how great Wang Shouren's contribution is, can it be He wanted to become a gang with Zhang Zhou, which was also not tolerated by the mainstream civil servants in the court
As for Ma Yi, he was a corrupt official impeached by the orthodox civil servant Ma Zhongxi. It took several times to be beheaded, let alone the credit for overall command.
As the former chief military officer of Xuanfu, it seems easier to be directly promoted to earl than to Wang Shouren.
Three difficult problems came up at once, no wonder Xu Qiong came to ask first.
Otherwise, the Ministry of Rites really doesn’t know how to evaluate this matter.
Xie Qian smiled and said, "We are not in a hurry to discuss merits before the results of the war are over. If the war is not over, we should first think about rewards based on merits. Don't be afraid that extreme happiness will lead to sorrow."
Tong The political envoy Yuan Shouzhi interrupted and said, "I heard that Huoshii has withdrawn with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and wants to fight to the death with Zhang. Zhang only has a few soldiers and horses on hand. Does he dare to fight?"
"Oh, Yuan Yintai, you must calm down." Xie Qian said with a smile, "Even if you want to use the method of provoking generals, it is not appropriate to say it here. Wang Bo'an has the courage to fight, but Zhang Bingkuan may not. , otherwise why didn't he, Zhang Bingkuan, personally lead the troops to attack Weininghai? He is different from Wang Shichang."
Xie Qian followed the idea originally proposed by Li Dongyang yesterday and used Wang Shouren's contribution to suppress Zhang Zhou.
Once the credit is shared by different people, one of them can be highlighted to offset others, which is exactly what the other means.
One merit is equal to the other. Since you, Zhang Zhou, did not personally lead the army, you are too embarrassed to take the responsibility of leading the army from the generals you recommended.
Zhang Mao walked over with a deep look in his eyes. With a reserved face, he said with a deep smile, "Being able to fight thousands of miles away is a model for famous generals throughout the ages. I heard that the mighty gunpowder played an extremely important role in this battle. It was also because the artillery was hard to slack off, and it was just with some light weapons." The cannons were all ineffective."
It seemed that Zhang Mao was speaking for Zhang Zhou, but he also reminded those present that it was actually the yellow gunpowder that was responsible.
Even if Zhang Zhou is the inventor, he cannot be credited every time he uses yellow gunpowder to win.
When the Ming Dynasty won before, it was not necessary to build it. Weapons makers, or those who invented gunpowder and fire blunderbuss, took the credit, let alone promoted them to nobility.
Xie Qian said, "We can't deny that Zhang Bingkuan is the god of military use, but he is still too He is too afraid of trouble, and even if he leads the troops to the west, it goes against the original intention of conducting artillery exercises around Xuan Mansion. This is considered using troops without permission."
"Yes, yes" someone nearby agreed.
Finally, I caught Zhang Zhou’s pigtails.
Li Dongyang said, "Yu Qiao, stop talking."
Xie Qian naturally said this because he was angry. His so-called anger was not from the Ming Dynasty's point of view, it was purely Standing in the position of a civil servant or himself.
But he still followed his words and did not comment further.
Ma Wensheng said, "How to discuss merit and rewards should be based on reality. There should be precedents to support it. If there are no precedents to cite, it also depends on your Majesty's intentions. As for the Xuanfu and the dispatch of troops from various towns , the Ministry of War knew about it in advance, but it was not mentioned in the court meeting."
Ma Wensheng was actually here to refute Xie Qian.
The emperor summoned your cabinet ministers in advance, and the Ministry of War also knew everything about it. Why should we pour cold water on Zhang Zhou after Zhang Zhou won a great victory, making His Majesty displeased?
< p>Isn't it wrong to seek truth from facts?Liu Jian nodded, "That's right. When discussing merits, the actual situation should come first."
Say this, it actually sets a tone. , it is not Xie Qian who represents the cabinet, but I, Liu.
Don’t step on Zhang Zhou because of what Xie Yuqiao said. Today we are just going to follow the emperor’s wishes. If we can’t resist Zhang Zhou’s rise, we must first learn to hold back. Please remember to bookmark the website, the latest, fastest and free to read without anti-theftRead