"Prepare the sedan and enter the palace."
With the good news from Xuanfu, Yang Bo felt that he was doing well again at this moment.
Although he was hit hard in the past two days, especially Sun Bin's defeat and death, he was under tremendous pressure.
Not to mention His Majesty and the courtiers, even he himself has no confidence in himself and feels that he is not qualified for the position of Minister of War.
His Majesty must see this good news as soon as possible so that he can regain his trust in himself.
"Sir, it's so late, Your Majesty should rest."
Ge Jin didn't know what he meant, so he quickly reminded him.
"Then go to Wuyi Hall first and hand it over to the elder."
In the past few days, the two cabinet ministers and the Minister of Rites have been staying in Xiyuan, ready to accept His Majesty's orders at any time. For more information.
The emperor fell asleep, but the news still had to be sent in to ensure that His Majesty would know about it as soon as he woke up.
When he reached an official position like his, it was actually only up to the emperor to decide whether to stay or leave.
However, after sitting in the sedan chair, he thought about more.
The Tatars have fled north, and the next step is to clean up the mess. Those who deserve rewards must be rewarded, and those who deserve punishment must be punished.
Although the capital implements a night ban at night, it depends on who is walking on the street.
On the way to Xiyuan, Yang Bo's sedan met several waves of Jin Yiwei and officers and soldiers of the Military and Horse Division on night patrol. However, when the other party saw the mark on the lantern in front of the sedan, they immediately and decisively moved to both sides of the street and blocked them. I have no intention of cross-examining.
Shaking and swaying, the sedan quickly arrived outside the gate of Xiyuan.
When we get here, it is already a forbidden area in the imperial city, so naturally it is impossible to enter directly without any obstruction.
Yang Bo was not in a hurry to get off the sedan. Naturally, some of his men knocked on the door, woke up the eunuch on duty, and then made an announcement.
It is really not easy to open this door.
But fortunately, Yang Bo's status was unusual. Although the servants guarding the door were very happy, they still had smiles on their faces, and there was no trace of impatience at all.
No surprise, the news that Yang Bo was going to Xiyuan finally reached Huang Jin's ears.
"Yang Bo? Why is he here so late?"
Huang Jin is old, and he is not very willing to get up from lying down, let alone take care of things.
But Yang Bo wants to enter Xiyuan, which is actually a bit against the rules.
No matter how big the deal is, can’t it be left to tomorrow?
Thinking that something big might happen, Huang Jin had no choice but to get up, get dressed and go out under the service of several eunuchs, and go to the gate of Xiyuan to check.
However, along the way, he was still worried, fearing that Yang Bo would bring big bad news, which would be difficult for him, the eunuch admiral, to handle.
Yes, if there is really bad news, can you not wake up Your Majesty and tell him?
His old arms and legs cannot afford to delay a big event.
Moreover, Emperor Jiajing's temper has been very bad these two days, because the Ming army suffered a huge loss this time.
Within half a year, the general soldiers of two towns were killed in succession, from Liaodong to Jizhen.
The night before yesterday, the emperor took a long time to fall asleep, but he couldn't fall asleep because he had something on his mind.
I feel a little better today, but if something big happens again, I’m afraid it will be tonight
I don’t dare to think about it, I really don’t dare to think about it.
Huang Jin arrived at the gate of Xiyuan as quickly as possible. The door was not open. Without him, the great admiral, who would dare to open the lock.
"Who is outside the door?"
Huang Jin arrived at the door and asked loudly.
"The young one is Yang Bo and Yang Shangshu's attendant. Who is he?"
Yang Bo knew that the door was not that easy to open, so he did not have a sedan chair, but waited. Listen to the announcement outside.
Soon, a voice came from outside the sedan chair.
"Master, Eunuch Huang Jinhuang is here."
"Yes, I understand."
Yang Bo just stood up, and the curtain of the sedan chair had been gently lifted from the outside, and he took advantage of it. Get out of the sedan chair.
The two lanterns in front illuminated the way, and Yang Bo soon arrived outside the gate of Xiyuan Palace.
“Eunuch Huang, I am Wei Yue.”
Yang Bo rushed to the door and spoke.
"Master Yang, if you come to the palace so late, let's first tell you whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. If it is bad news, I advise you to come back to the palace tomorrow.
The emperor has spent these two nights I haven't had a good rest, and you and I can't afford to disturb his rest."
Huang Jin didn't dare to ask directly what was going on, because he was worried that Yang Bo would kick the ball to him. , who will he find to reason with when the time comes?
Now is no different than before. After all, it involves war, so carelessness is not allowed.
However, Yang Bo had a good impression on him, so I would like to mention a few words.
Whether Yang Bo can continue to serve as Minister of War or not, it is not a bad thing to form a good relationship first.
At this point, there is actually no room for improvement ahead of him, and at his age, he just wants to live out these few years peacefully.
Yang Bo didn’t know the meaning of Huang Jin’s words and said hurriedly: “It’s a good thing, it’s a great thing. I entered the palace this time because I knew that His Majesty was not worried because of the unfavorable war in the past two days. Get some rest. I will report the good news as soon as possible.
If His Majesty has already rested, then the report will be reported tomorrow. However, the battle report still needs to be delivered to the palace, and it will be delivered to Wuyi Palace. It’s okay to give it to Mr. Xu Ge.”
"A good thing? Where did you win the battle?"
Hearing that it was a good thing, Huang Jin became interested and asked.
“The Xuanfu Ma Fang Department intercepted the Tatar army north of Pinggu. After a fierce battle, they beheaded more than a thousand people, snatched back three carts of looted property, and rescued more than 2,000 captive people.”< br>
Yang Bo explained the general content of Ma Fang’s battle report outside the door.
Ma Fang led his army to pursue them all the way. Seeing that the momentum was wrong, the Tatars not only gave up the slow-moving cart, but also ignored the young men and women they escorted, who planned to take them back to the grassland as slaves. .
The cavalry charge was so powerful that no one dared to block it.
No one would stay on the road stupidly and wait to be trampled by thousands of horses. They all ran to both sides of the road alertly, leaving the road open for the passage of the army.
It was not until the Ming army defeated the Tatars and cleaned the battlefield on their return that the people hiding on both sides slowly came back and followed the Ming army back.
“Oh, that’s really a big victory.”
Huang Jin felt relieved now.
Although he is in the inner court, he is in charge of the East Factory after all, and any report from Jin Yiwei, as long as it is not a secret letter, must go through his hands.
He knows more or less everything about the outside world.
Hearing that Ma Fang beheaded a thousand people and rescued the captive people, then this victory should be more credible.
By now, Huang Jin knew why Yang Bo was so eager to report the news.
Actually, he had felt two days earlier that Emperor Jiajing was somewhat dissatisfied with the progress of the war.
Although the reasons are complicated, especially the serious mistakes made by Governor Ji Liao, the Ministry of War cannot escape the blame.
In any case, the Ministry of War failed to predict the Tatars' southward movement, which was a dereliction of duty.
The Tatars fought all the way to the outskirts of the capital, which was a serious mistake.
However, the war is still going on, and Emperor Jiajing will certainly not commit the stupid thing of changing generals before the battle.
If there is an emergency substitution and the war worsens, the face will be even worse.
With these concerns, I have been holding back. In fact, Huang Jin knew in his heart that as long as the Tatars withdrew from the Great Wall, Jizhen and even the Ministry of War might be held accountable by the emperor.
Just to see who is unlucky in the end.
Yang Xuan will definitely not be able to escape. It just depends on the emperor’s decision in the end.
With the victory of the Xuanfu Army, Yang Bo may be taken out.
"Congratulations to Yang Shangshu. This time the war department has conducted well, and your majesty will definitely receive a reward."
Huang Jin said cheerfully at the door.
He had already known about the north-south pincer attack strategy planned by the Ministry of War two days ago, and was afraid that it would abort, but he did not expect that the Ministry of War would be so decisive in giving Ma Fang an order to intercept it, and Xuanfu Ma Fang would be so proactive. He actually dared to go directly eastward and took the initiative to fight the Tatar Huang Taiji.
The Ministry of War did not know about Wei Guangde's letter to Ma Fang.
Actually, Yang Bo was also thinking about this on the way, but he thought it was Ma Fangsa's sentry cavalry who discovered the Tatars' movements, so he took the initiative to attack.
But at the gate of the palace, he would naturally not expose his shortcomings.
As his family knows his own affairs, Yang Bo certainly knows that there are major flaws in the war situation deduced by the Ministry of War.
This major flaw was naturally due to the fact that the Jizhen cavalry led by Sun Bin was defeated by the Tatars so quickly, and he himself died on the battlefield.
In fact, the information obtained by the Ministry of War is similar to the information obtained by Wei Guangde, but the time is slightly earlier.
The Ministry of War's prediction for the battle at Zhengguantun is that the two sides may fall into a stalemate, believing that even if Sun Bin cannot defeat the Tatars, it is still possible to get entangled.
After all, there is the Miyun Army led by Hu Zhen in the north to assist in the battle, so the Ming Army will not be at a disadvantage.
Under such circumstances, the first consideration of the Ministry of War was to close the western passage to prevent the Tatars from turning west and fighting back to Xuanfu.
As for the eastward march, the Jizhen army was coming in a steady stream at this time. Yang Bo predicted that Huang Taiji would not take the initiative to fight against the Jizhen army, which would only make him trapped in a tight siege.
Similar strategies are actually practiced by the Mongols.
Continuously kill two or three border town defense areas in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, and then cross the Great Wall and return to the grassland.
Unexpectedly, the cavalry led by Sun Bin was so incompetent that they were ambushed by the Tatars and completely defeated in the first battle.
"Master Yang, please pass the battle report in. When the emperor gets up tomorrow, I will ask your Majesty to read it as soon as possible. I believe he will be very happy."
Huang Jin said at the door. .
"Then I'll have to thank Eunuch Huang."
Huang Jin didn't want to open the door, and Yang Bo couldn't, so he had to send the battle report through the crack in the door, and then turned around and returned to the sedan chair. Return to the Ministry of War.
Huang Jin got the battle report, asked someone to take some oil lamps, and opened them for himself.
What was written in the battle report was exactly the same as what Yang Bo said, and then there was a happy smile on his face.
"Go to Wuyi Hall and see if Mr. Xu Ge and the others are resting."
Huang Jin said after thinking about it.
In the early morning, the dark clouds of many days were swept away, and the long-lost sunshine was released from the sky, shining on the capital of Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Jiajing got up early, not because he didn't want to sleep, but because he couldn't sleep.
How could he continue to sleep peacefully after being slapped in the face by the Tatars again.
More than ten years ago, when he was still dreaming about the great tomorrow, he was severely slapped in the face by Ada Khan.
More than ten years later, he was severely slapped in the face again by the son of Ada Khan.
He really couldn't bear this tone.
Sitting in front of the bronze mirror, with an attendant combing his hair behind him, he stared blankly at his face in the bronze mirror. Although it was a little blurry, he could feel the haggardness on his face.
"Your Majesty, good news, great news."
After getting up at night, Huang Jin didn't get a good rest. After all, he was getting older, so he lay down again because of his emotional excitement. I couldn't fall asleep for a long time, and this accidentally delayed my time.
But fortunately, he still has the good news sent by the Ministry of War.
“What good news.”
Emperor Jiajing did not move and just asked casually.
"Good news, good news sent by the Ministry of War. Ma Fang, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, intercepted the Mongolian Huangtai Ji tribe to the north of Pinggu and bordering Miyun. After a fierce battle, the captive cavalry was defeated and the Xuanfu army beheaded more than a thousand people. , rescue the captive people"
Huang Jin was still talking there, Emperor Jiajing had turned back suddenly, even though his hair was pulled a little painful due to his actions, he couldn't care less.
Before he could react to the servant behind him, Emperor Jiajing had already stretched out his right hand towards Huang Jin.
Immediately, a battle report fell into his hands.
He quickly unfolded it to watch, and then his face showed a hint of joy.
Finally there is a general who can relieve the king's worries.
Finally regained some face.
As the emperor, can he be unhappy?
Browsing through it twice quickly to make sure that no detail was missed, this time he put the battle report on the table, sat upright again, closed his eyes slightly, and asked the chamberlain behind him to continue his previous actions.
However, the sitting time was a bit long. Even though he had combed his hair, he did not get up.
When he opened his eyes again, he was still motionless, but between opening and closing his mouth, a decree had been sent out.
"When something happened in Jizhen, we must investigate the merits and crimes. We ordered Yang Bo from the Ministry of War and Huang Guangsheng from the Ministry of Justice to join the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple to investigate the case and determine the crimes. We also asked the Ministry of War to report the list of those who had meritorious service as soon as possible."< br>
This time the Tatars ravaged the capital again. Although the Ming Dynasty suffered heavy losses, fortunately no city was lost. These are all meritorious people. Now that the Tatars are fleeing north, they will naturally be rewarded based on their merits.
However, let Yang Bo participate in the investigation of the Justice Department first to avoid any mistakes. Don't be considered guilty by the Three Justice Division and appear on the merit list of the Ministry of War. That would not look good.
But because of this, Yang Bo's matter is basically over.
At the beginning, if Emperor Jiajing could support Yang Bo, such a situation would not have occurred. At least in Shunyi, the Jizhen army would have been able to block the Tatars and avoid causing more trouble.
Waiting for Huang Jin to receive the order, Emperor Jiajing continued to issue an order: "Order the Ministry of War to pass on the edict, and all the troops will return to town immediately without delay."
Huang Jin heard that Emperor Jiajing He was just slightly stunned, and then immediately went down to deliver the order.
With the Tatars fleeing to the north, the capital naturally does not need rescue. However, such a strict order for all ministries to return to the town will inevitably give people an inhumane feeling.
But Huang Jin would not say these words.
The news that Ma Fang led the Xuanfu army to win the battle spread quickly in the capital in the early morning.
If the news hadn’t arrived in Beijing late at night, it would have spread throughout the capital.
When Wei Guangde was having breakfast, he heard Zhang Ji talking about the news that was circulating outside.
"Ma Fang intercepted Huang Taiji and beheaded more than a thousand people, haha"
Wei Guangde chuckled while eating, his face seemed very happy, but there was still a little pity in his heart.
The first achievement this time should have been labor and management.
Wei Guangde could only think about this in his heart, and he didn’t know if the omnipotent Dongchang would find out his merits and report them to Emperor Jiajing.
However, it is best not to report it, because it seems that doing so will bring danger to yourself.
At the same time, Huang Jin, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, returned here and arranged for the chamberlain to go out to deliver the order, while he returned to the house and took down a box from the bookshelf.
Open it, find a note, and throw it into the brazier on the side without hesitation.