Chapter 121 Believe in the wisdom of future generations
No matter how good Weng Wanda is, the water is still far away, so in order to fight the fire close by, it is the right way to use the people around you who can be picked up and used.
Therefore, no matter how anxious Emperor Jiajing was, he could not let Weng Wanda immediately travel from his hometown in Lingnan to the capital, thousands of miles away, to report.
After all, the Ming Dynasty did not have airplanes and high-speed trains, so it relied on boats, carts and two-legged means of transportation. Even after thousands of years of transportation development, today’s transportation conditions are several times better than those in the Han and Tang Dynasties. The monthly schedule was shortened to about a month, but it could not meet the current needs.
And the current situation is such a crisis. Even if the imperial court rushes six hundred miles to order Wang Wengda to enter the capital, the edict will have to be on the road for ten days and a half. When the edict is delivered to Weng Wanda, Even if Weng Wanda set off immediately, traveling at a top speed of two to three hundred miles a day, it would still be almost two months before he actually arrived.
In these two months, neither Emperor Jiajing himself nor the court, nor the border troops in Xuanda and Da towns and the suffering local people could afford to wait.
So, at this time, Emperor Jiajing could only ignore the "final rule" of Minister Ding You's filial piety, and urgently ordered Weng Wanda to return to the border as quickly as possible to take over his important task of governor.
On the one hand, we still have to discuss with the Ministry of War of the Cabinet on the temporary announcement of the generals.
So another faction recommended Qiu Luan, Marquis of Xianning. Qiu Luan was the grandson of Qiu Yue, Marquis of Xianning, a famous general in the Zhengde Dynasty.
Speaking of Qiu Yue, he can be regarded as a legendary figure with great luck. He was born in the Chenghua period. He was initially just a "mercenary" of the General Military Mansion of Ningxia, but he was highly trusted by the General Soldier for his cautious character. and preference.
As a result, he got a lot of opportunities to display his abilities and talents, and was appreciated by Qiu Li, the commander of Du Qianshi. The reason why Qiu Li appreciated Qiu Yue was also very simple, because he had no son and did not want to have a career of his own. He was cut off, so Qiu Yue pretended to be his son, allowing him to inherit the hereditary position and become the commander of the Ningxia avant-garde.
After inheriting the military position through inheritance, Qiu Yue lived up to the lintel of the Qiu family and made great progress all the way.
At that time, the Japanese invaders invaded Ningxia and started fighting in the Shigou area. As a vanguard, Qiu Yue personally killed one of the Japanese pirates and was promoted to the commander.
In the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, the bandits invaded on a large scale. Qiu Yue once again served as a vanguard and fought in the Hongsi. He beheaded six levels and was promoted to the commander of the capital for his achievements in breaking thieves.
In the second year of Zhengde, Qiu Yue was promoted to Ningxia guerrilla general due to the recommendation of the commander-in-chief Yang Yiqing.
Later, he encountered an idiot named Zhu Chixiu, the king of Anhua, who joined forces with the capital commanders He Jin, Zhou Ang, and commander Ding Guang to rebel and send him a gift package of experience. Qiu Yue planned to capture Zhu Chixiu, and he was promoted to the governor Qianshi for meritorious service, served as the chief military officer of Ningxia, and was granted the title of Xianningbo . In the winter of the following year, he summoned three thousand battalions and became a very popular figure at that time.
In the seventh year of Zhengde, he was appointed general of Pingtai, suppressing the uprising of Liu Hui and Zhao Sui in Henan, and then moved to Huiluwan to suppress Liu Qi's uprising in Jiangbei. After the war, the imperial court awarded him "the rank of Xi Xun for generations to be a military official who promotes sincerity and Xuanli", and he was promoted to the rank of Ronglu doctor and Zhuguo, with an annual salary of one thousand dan. He was also awarded a hereditary title, which allowed his title to be hereditary and irreplaceable.
In the eighth year of Zhengde, a young Tatar prince invaded Datong and served as a general officer. Qiu Yue led the Beijing army to attack him. At that time, the bandits invaded Wanquan Shahe River. Qiu Yue led his army to attack and killed three people, causing the bandits to retreat.
But although he also received a reward for this battle, he was ridiculed by the courtiers, who believed that his achievements and the rewards he received were not worthy of the name.
This shows how difficult it was to be a military attaché doing things during the Ming Dynasty.
It is your duty to fight well. If you don't fight well, you will be beheaded. If you fight half well, you will be ridiculed. If it weren't for the hereditary function of military officers, these generals would have given up their careers long ago.
Although Qiu Yue is indeed very fierce, his achievements along the way are all based on actual results, apart from luck. Therefore, after his death, Emperor Jiajing, who had just ascended the throne, also ordered The Ministry of Works gave him a "thin coffin" and tools to handle the funeral. He also ordered the Ministry of Rites to perform sacrifices thirteen times, presented him with fasting food and cloth, and gave him the posthumous title "Wuxiang".
It can be said that with such a past and present, Qiu Yue's life can be considered a complete one.
But sometimes life likes to joke. Qiu Yue's son died early, so after his death, his title naturally fell into the hands of his good grandson Qiu Luan.
In addition to inheriting Qiu Yue's title and honor, Qiu Luan didn't seem to inherit any of Qiu Yue's ability to lead troops in battle.
But because the military positions in the Ming Dynasty were so messed up and almost all military positions were hereditary, the court sometimes let the children of these hereditary military positions hold important positions in order to be lazy in training generals.
Therefore, the level of officers and generals in the Ming Dynasty was generally not high. In the early and middle periods, the behemoth of the imperial court suppressed these hereditary officers. However, after the middle and late periods, these hereditary officers could not make any waves. He will seize the opportunity to place all his children in important positions.
For example, Li Chengliang of the Wanli Dynasty. Except for his eldest son Li Rusong, who was pretty good, his remaining sons were able to hold the post of general commander. In fact, they all benefited from me, and the Ming Dynasty did not have a systematic training of officers. A loophole in the system.
This led to the emergence of this type of military leaders who looked like warlords at the end of the Ming Dynasty, but were actually just powerful external forces. This made the military system of the Ming Dynasty even more collapsed. In the end, it was even more fragile to the point of collapse at the first touch, making it impossible to suppress internal forces. Rebellion, external inability to defeat powerful enemies.
Therefore, it is simply a fool's dream to count on the current military system of the Ming Dynasty and to compete with Anda on the grassland.
The best we can do now is to stick to the status quo and hang on for a while.
As for change, it’s not that I don’t want to, but that I can’t.
Because the accumulated abuses of two hundred years are so profound that they have become irreversible.
If there is no clear and feasible reform plan, relying on the emperor and a bunch of pampered courtiers and civil servants to dream of reforms will only lead to more reforms and more failure.
So after reaching this point, whether it is the emperor himself or the central cabinet ministers, the best way they can think of is to cover up the problem. As long as their generation can cover up the problem, then their mission will be completed.
As for what future generations will do, we must believe in the wisdom of future generations.
However, future generations may not necessarily be more wise than them. After all, they are all educated by the same education system and ideological system. It is also foolish to expect that such latecomers can have much ability to change the status quo. .
So now, regardless of whether Emperor Jiajing wants it or not, he can only grit his teeth and stamp his feet and hand over the most critical task to Qiu Luan, the descendant of the famous family, and hope that he can also create the miracles of his ancestors. Contribute to the Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)