Chapter 539: The Little Elder Runs to Qi Shuai on a Moonlit Night
"Am I a young minister?"

"This was not in the plan!"

The court has been very efficient recently. The latest decree of reward was sent to Changping on the same day and was held in Yan Shaoting's hands.

But his face was full of surprise.

No one expected that Zhu Zaigui would go against the plan and create an extra position for himself as the Cabinet's Vice Minister.

Xu Wei took the imperial edict and compared it with the latest news sent from the capital in his hand.

Finally, he smiled and nodded, "Hu Butang was appointed as the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, Gao Yi was appointed as the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, and Minister Yan was promoted to the Minister of Punishment and the Prince's Guardian. Bie was promoted to the Hanlin Academician, the Chancellor of the Chancellery and the Imperial College Priest, and was appointed as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War to assist in the military affairs of the Beijing Camp and the Minister of the Cabinet. The post of the Left Vice-Chief Censor of the Censorate remained unchanged, and there was no mistake in the news."

After finishing speaking.

Xu Wei also smiled with a rare smile: "So, from now on, it is not wrong for officials in the court to call guests "Little Elder".

After saying this, even Xu Wei couldn't help laughing.

Only Yan Shaoting had a dark face.

He could probably guess a little about the thoughts of the new emperor Zhu Zaigui.

"It's nothing more than using my Yan family to check and balance the court."

Yan Shaoting had a dark face and spoke casually.

Xu Wei nodded in agreement: "The Yan family is now the hereditary Earl of Changping, and logically should not be among the civil officials in the court. But when the late emperor granted the title, the Grand Tutor, the Minister, and you, the guest, and even the Second Master and the Young Master, all had official positions, so they can continue to serve in the court. But when the Young Master grows up and has children, I'm afraid he will have to follow the rules. But because of this, both the late emperor and the new emperor wanted to use the Changping Earl's Mansion to check and balance the court officials."

This is the crux of the matter.

Yan Shaoting also agreed with this.

Because the Yan family now has a hereditary title of Earl of Changping, the descendants of the Yan family after Yan Wuyou must not be able to be civil officials. This is the rule. They can still be free from the restrictions of the rules because they were officials before the Yan family obtained the title, but the descendants of the Yan family in the future can only abide by the rules.

This way.

This fundamentally prevented the Yan family from holding power in the court for generations, while the royal family could use the Yan family to check and balance the officials in the court with ease.

Yan Shaoting had to smile and shake his head: "The late emperor really made a good move at the beginning."

Even at this time, Yan Shaoting had to admire the old Taoist priest from the bottom of his heart.

The art of political intrigue was really used to the extreme in the hands of the old Taoist priest.

Xu Wei smiled and said, "No matter what, I'm afraid that guests will inevitably be called Little Minister in the future, and you will have to bear this title."

Although he didn't want to admit it, Yan Shaoting knew that Xu Wei was right.

Even if he wanted to stop it, he could not change the fact that he would become the new generation of Ming Dynasty's little cabinet minister.

He shook his head vigorously.

Yan Shaoting changed the subject and said, "These are all irrelevant at the moment. Our new king wants me to go and reorganize the Beijing camp with Marquis Gu. There are many things involved. I'm afraid it will be a headache when the time comes."

Seeing the newly appointed Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty, he started to talk about business.

Xu Wei also immediately put away the teasing look on his face, nodded and said: "To rectify the Beijing camp, there are only two things to do: to dismiss the wounded old soldiers and to dismiss the generals without merit. The Beijing camp has been in the capital for so many years, and the shortage of soldiers in the camp is huge. In addition, there are a group of old soldiers in the camp who are no longer able to take on the task of fighting. These people must be dismissed."

In fact, this is also the impact of the current military system problems in the Ming Dynasty.

The Beijing Army had always been staffed with soldiers selected from the garrisons of various places, and these people were all from the military households of the garrisons. When they were first selected, those soldiers might have been at the prime age of fighting, but after so many years, they had aged.

The imperial court could not possibly expect a group of veteran soldiers in their forties and fifties to compete with strong soldiers in their twenties and thirties.

Yan Shaoting frowned, "It's easy to clear out the old soldiers. It's nothing more than expelling them from the Beijing camp and placing them in the local military farms. To tidy up the Beijing camp, it's better to do what Wen Chang said about dismissing the generals who have no merits. Once this is done, it will offend people."

Xu Wei looked solemn.

Without him.

Because the Beijing Camp is stationed in the capital, it is filled with many sons of nobles and meritorious officials who occupy general positions at various levels. However, everyone knows how capable these people are.

It is easy to dismiss old soldiers.

It will be difficult to stop and dismiss the general.

This is often the biggest problem the imperial court encounters when it wants to reorganize the Beijing camp.

Xu Wei turned his eyes and said, "However... there is an opportunity right now. Perhaps the guests can eliminate those meritorious generals in the Beijing camp without bloodshed."

There was a deep look on Xu Wenchang's face and a gleam in his eyes.

Yan Shaoting took a look and immediately understood.

"Qi Yuanjing."

Xu Wei smiled and nodded: "It's Qi Shuai!"

After he finished speaking, he explained, "During the time of the previous emperor, last year, the leader of the Altan tribe, Huang Taiji, led 100,000 troops to attack the border areas of Xuanda. At that time, the border towns were in urgent need of help, so the previous emperor ordered General Qi and the Shanzi Battalion to go north to Beijing to guard the border areas. Now, according to the date, they should arrive in Beijing. When the time comes, General Qi and the Shanzi Battalion will be stationed in the capital, and you can go to reorganize the Beijing camp, which will naturally be twice the result with half the effort."

After saying this, a cunning look appeared on Xu Wei's face.

Yan Shaoting burst into laughter.

"Yes, yes!"

"Wen Da is so talented!"

"Use Qi Shuai, the time is right!"

After a burst of laughter.

Yan Shaoting finally calmed down, his eyes gleaming with a dim light: "The late emperor's will ordered me to expel Altan Khan and recover Hetao. The troops of the Nine Borders will bear the brunt of the attack, but the Nine Borders must also guard the border walls. There are 100,000 bandits stationed in Hetao. If we want to fight them, we must have more soldiers than the bandits, so the Beijing camp will naturally need to draw troops to the front line."

Xu Wei nodded in agreement and said, "Before the Beijing Camp goes to the border, it must be reorganized and trained for several months in advance. It just so happens that General Qi and the Shanzi Camp have been ordered to go to the capital to wait for orders. You can go to the court with Marquis Gu to request an order to make General Qi the coach of the Beijing Camp and train the generals and soldiers of the Beijing Camp vigorously. Then, gather the meritorious generals in the camp and go out to attack the bandits in Hetao soon. In this way, those who are afraid of General Qi's training will ask to resign, and those who are afraid of fighting and death will persuade the generals and soldiers to leave the camp. Even if there are meritorious generals who stay in the camp, when you are the commander, the rest of them will not be a concern. If they fight bravely, they will be rewarded. If they are cowardly, they will be beheaded. Military orders are like mountains and military laws are like fire. No one can interfere!"

The two of them said what they were thinking, and then looked at each other.

Instantly in cahoots...

No, no.

An atmosphere of like-mindedness instantly emerged.

How could people in the world not know that Qi Jiguang was good at training troops? The civil and military officials in the court knew even better that Qi Jiguang was ruthless in training troops.

At the beginning, Zhu Shitai, Xu Wenbi and Zhang Yuangong, the three princes of the dukedom, were punished by the late emperor to serve under Qi Jiguang, but they were severely trained by the latter and even led the charge into the battlefield themselves, fighting with their lives to achieve many military exploits. This made everyone in the capital take notice of them, instead of mocking them as being born to enjoy wealth and glory and waiting to inherit the title of duke.

Now, if Qi Jiguang were to lead the Shanzi Camp and charge head-on into the Beijing Camp, with him as the coach to train the officers and soldiers of the Beijing Camp, those meritorious generals who only wanted to occupy positions and draw empty salaries would probably find connections to escape from the Beijing Camp after hearing the news.

Even if there are some stubborn ones, when the Beijing army sets out in the future, Yan Shaoting will just wave his hand and these people will have to continue charging forward.

Ever since.

Yan Shaoting immediately turned his head to look at the figure outside the house.

"Come in."

"Okay brother-in-law!"

Lu Yi, who had been staying outside the house, came in happily with a flattering smile on his face.

Yan Shaoting rolled his eyes and looked at his brother-in-law. He didn't know how this guy had offended his sister recently, and he had been scolded several times, from the beginning of the year to now.

I’ll teach you a lesson every time I see you.

Now she is being so flattering, probably because she wants to let her brother-in-law exert the power of pillow talk.

Yan Shaoting said with a straight face: "You Jinyiwei know where Qi Jiguang and his men went, right?"

Lu Yi nodded quickly: "I know. They received the order from the late emperor a few years ago and began to reorganize the troops and horses, build carriages, and set out north with all the belongings of the Shanzi Camp. According to the news a few days ago, they have passed Hexi Posthouse and are approaching Hehe Posthouse."

Yan Shaoting raised his eyebrows.

Xu Wei said, "So they entered the capital from Tianjin. After Heheyi, only Luheyi and Tongzhou are left. Calculating the distance, they are probably almost to Tongzhou now."

Yan Shaoting quickly looked at the sky outside.

At this time, the sun was still hanging in the west, but it was not far from evening.

But he had already stood up: "Brother Wen, are you willing to join me in welcoming the Shanzi Camp into the capital?"

Xu Wei stood up happily: "That's what I wish for."

Lu Yi hesitated and said, "Brother-in-law, Mr. Xu, you are central government officials. Is it taboo to go to Yingshanzi Camp at this time?"

Yan Shaoting didn't expect that his brother-in-law would suddenly become so steady.

He had a smile on his face.

Xu Wei explained, "You have just been appointed by the Emperor as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War to assist in the administration of the Beijing Camp. Whether it is Qi Jiguang or the Shanzi Camp, you have sufficient reasons to meet them as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War to assist in the administration of the Beijing Camp. It is not considered a violation of taboos or regulations."

Lu Yi heaved a sigh of relief: "Then I'll bring my people with you."

Yan Shaoting waved his hand.

"Go and get the horse."

This end.

Yan Shaoting led everyone and set out from Changping.

And in the direction of Tongzhou.

The long army was also advancing silently towards the capital.

The entire army consisted of no less than 10,000 people. Even in the capital area where there were heavy garrisons, they never slacked off. They marched in a conquest formation throughout the entire process, with two teams of cavalry on the left and right. The front army led the way, the rear army escorted the baggage, and the central army had two troops on each side for guarding.

Within a ten-mile radius around the army, there were also small teams patrolling back and forth on horseback to keep vigilant.

Although the New Year has passed in the north, the weather is still freezing cold. However, in the entire army, except for the messengers who occasionally delivered military orders, there was only the neighing of war horses and pack horses, and few officers and soldiers spoke.

Just by looking at them from a distance, you can tell that this army is an elite force.

In the center of the army, a general wearing a crimson cloak, old iron armor, with a yellow-brown complexion and a beard was surrounded by many generals wearing iron helmets with feathers, each riding a horse forward.

The person being surrounded was none other than Qi Jiguang, the current deputy commander-in-chief of the Zhejiang Military Command and deputy general.

The eldest son of the Duke of Yingzhou, Zhang Yuangong, now a guerrilla general and officer of the Shanzi Camp, was wearing armor and riding a horse, sitting close to Qi Jiguang.

According to the military establishment of the Shanzi Battalion after its expansion and reorganization, the entire Shanzi Battalion, in addition to the firearms battalion with more than a thousand people directly under Qi Jiguang, has four combat battalions with 2,697 people. Zhang Yuangong, the prince of the Duke of Yingzhou, is the commander of one of the four combat battalions of the Shanzi Battalion.

But we have to admit that the reason why Zhang Yuangong became one of the four battalion generals under Qi Jiguang was not only because he was brave and daring, and always charged at the front in every battle in the southeast in recent years, but also partly because he was born in the Duke of Ying's Mansion.

There is nothing wrong with admitting this.

The imperial court was also more willing to use these experienced and capable sons of nobles as military generals.

I could see that Tongzhou City was gradually being left behind.

Zhang Yuangong couldn't help but take a deep breath and looked towards the direction of Beijing City which had not yet appeared in his sight. It seemed that he could already see the big city which he had not seen for many years.

The prince of the Duke's Mansion, one of the four battalion officers of the Shanzi Battalion, skillfully controlled the warhorse under him, glanced at the calm Qi Jiguang, and said with a smile: "Tomorrow, General Qi will be able to see Beijing. According to General Qi's military merits in suppressing the Japanese in the southeast this time, General Qi will be promoted to another level."

According to Zhang Yuangong's understanding of the imperial court in the capital, Qi Jiguang would probably be promoted to the Five Military Commandery this time, and he might even be appointed as the second-rank deputy commander-in-chief.

In this way, when Qi Jiguang leads the Shanzi Battalion to win a few great victories in the future, he will most likely become the Third Master and the Third Young Master, and he may even get the title of Marquis.

In Zhang Yuangong's heart, he also hoped that Qi Jiguang could be awarded a title for his merits.

After all, after following Qi Jiguang for several years, Zhang Yuangong had a clear understanding of Qi Jiguang's character and abilities.

however.

Qi Jiguang didn't seem to be very interested in the promotion. He just said silently: "I was thinking that this time we were ordered by the late emperor to go north to deal with the border bandits. If the court wants to use our Shanzi Battalion to defend the border and kill the enemy, the Shanzi Battalion will probably need more war horses and more firearms. After all, the north is different from the southeast. In the end, we still have to fight the Mongolian bandits head-on."

Zhang Yuangong was stunned.

However, he also clearly noticed that Qi Shuai's deep gaze was already fixed on him.

The prince of the Duke of England could not help but shrink his head and smile foolishly.

Qi Jiguang smiled and shook his head, saying, "If the Duke's Mansion can help the court and help our Shanzi Camp replenish its war horses, I will credit you with your merit. As for the firearms, I will look for them elsewhere."

Zhang Yuangong lowered his head and curled his lips.

I knew that my own Qi Shuai had already made up his mind.

But no way.

Qi Shuai is really amazing.

Zhang Yuangong secretly complained in his heart, but he said willingly: "Don't worry, General Qi! If my father doesn't agree, I will block him at home and prevent him from leaving the house! No matter what, we must make up for the shortage of horses in our Shanzi Camp!"

Seeing that his younger brother agreed readily, Qi Jiguang felt relieved and waved his hand to a sheltered place in front of him.

"Order the entire army to set up camp here today, cook and eat, and move into the capital tomorrow."

Following Qi Jiguang's order, the messengers in the army began to ride on their horses and pass the order down one level at a time.

Not long after.

The scattered troops outside began to gather and prepare to set up camp on the spot.

The sky gradually darkened.

The Shanzi Camp, which had its own baggage, also began to light firewood, and wisps of smoke rose up.

And on the other side.

Yan Shaoting was leading his men along the official road towards the Shanzi Camp of Qi Jiguang's troops.

When night covers the earth.

The night sky is cloudless and the bright moonlight shines on the world.

Go around a big bend.

Under the hazy and gentle moonlight, Yan Shaoting finally saw the Shanzi Camp with flames ablaze.

…………

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(End of this chapter)