When the Tatar Uketu Khan was reorganizing his strength on the steppe, Emperor Tianshun was also busy in the court.

First of all, Emperor Tianshun began to work on the reward of Liu Juntao, the governor of Shanxi, and other generals, at this time, Emperor Tianshun also wanted Liu Juntao to send troops north to burn the wasteland, but first of all, he had to deal with the matter of rewarding first, otherwise he would snub the heart of the soldiers of the Tiance Army to serve the country.

More importantly, it is already the beginning of spring, time waits for no one, if it is delayed any longer, this year's burning will have to wait until autumn, when the Tatar war horses are fat and strong, and the strength will rise sharply, it will be another vicious battle.

So at the court meeting, Emperor Tianshun in front of the Manchu Dynasty civil and military, the governor of Shanxi Liu Juntao led the army to resist the invasion of the Tatars south, and directly set the tone, this war is a big victory, Shanxi province from the governor Liu Juntao down, are all meritorious soldiers, the court must be rewarded as soon as possible!

Originally, there were some voices in the DPRK and China, thinking that tens of thousands of Tatar iron cavalry in this war actually broke through to Yanmen Pass, almost allowing tens of thousands of Tatar iron cavalry to break through the pass and enter Beijing, and this battle also led to the annihilation of 20,000 Gyeonggi soldiers and horses.

Although this voice is not the majority, it also occupies a place in the court and has caused a lot of controversy in the court.

But today, as Emperor Tianshun set the tone, the voice of controversy in the court disappeared in an instant, and the original voices of discussion about Liu Juntao, the governor of Shanxi, and Tiance Jun were not mentioned again, and the ministers of the court and the central government quickly reached an agreement under the supervision of Emperor Tianshun, and under the joint auspices of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Officials, the imperial court soon came up with a proposal to reward the meritorious soldiers of Shanxi.

Emperor Tianshun reviewed it on the spot, and it didn't take long for him to become angry.

In this motion, it is proposed that Liu Juntao, the governor of Shanxi, be named the military commander of the second rank, and the general of Zhenguo, and the following generals of Liu Juntao will be rewarded, and the soldiers of the Tiance Army stationed in Shanxi will be rewarded with money.

At this time, Liu Juntao was the governor of Shanxi, the highest military attache in Shanxi Province, and his rank was the second grade, and he was also the Ningbei Bo who was sealed by Emperor Tianshun himself, which was already honorable.

But the imperial court came and discussed it, and even rewarded Liu Juntao's martial arts and loose rank as the second grade, isn't this a fair and honest slap in the face of Emperor Tianshun?

At this time, Emperor Tianshun said with a gloomy face: "Liu Juntao, the governor of Shanxi, led the army to fight for a long time, defeated the 150,000 Tatar iron cavalry army, and kept the Yanmen Pass. ”

Seeing this, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty bowed their heads and were silent, and Li Xian, the secretary of the military department, immediately said: "Your Majesty, although this battle is a big victory, but in the process of fierce battle, Ning Beibo also has some helpless mistakes, so the court proposed to set the reward as the second grade, which is also the protection of Ning Beibo!" ”

Emperor Tianshun sneered when he heard this, and said: "Such a reward for the soldiers' heart to serve the country is still to protect Ning Beibo?" Hum! It's unheard of! ”

Li Xian was also a little embarrassed when he heard this, and his temper also came up, so he wanted to argue with Emperor Tianshun, and the Hubu Shangshu next to him secretly tugged on the hem of Li Xian's clothes and shook his head slightly at Li Xian.

Seeing this, Li Xian knew that the ministers of the court and the central government would not recommend Emperor Tianshun to him, and the anger of controversy in his heart was also vented in an instant.

Emperor Tianshun saw that all the courtiers were silent, so he said loudly: "In this battle, Liu Juntao, the governor of Shanxi, and the soldiers of the Tiance Army have contributed to the country. ”

As soon as these words came out, the ministers of the DPRK and China immediately began to discuss, and Li Xian, the secretary of the Ministry of War, said directly and loudly: "Your Majesty's intention is inappropriate!" ”

Emperor Tianshun frowned and asked, "What's wrong!" ”

Li Xian said: "Your Majesty intends to reward Ning Beibo as a second-grade martial artist and a loose rank, this is nothing, and Ning Beibo's military exploits are also deserved......"

Emperor Tianshun was about to smile and nod when he heard this, but he heard Li Xian continue: "But this martial arts rank rewarded by His Majesty is very problematic!" ”

"Say! What's the problem! ”

Seeing that Emperor Tianshun was already angry, all the courtiers were silent, only Li Xian, the secretary of the military department, still said loudly: "Your Majesty! According to the imperial court system, the second rank of Wusan was awarded the hussar general at the beginning, promoted to the general of Jinwu, and the general of the dragon and tiger. His Majesty directly named Ning Beibo as the general of the dragon and tiger this time, which is not in line with the economic system of the imperial court. ”

Emperor Tianshun listened to the words of Li Xian, the secretary of the military department, and his face was also angry, but he still couldn't help but not have a seizure.

Emperor Tianshun knew that Li Xian, the secretary of the Ministry of War, was a capable minister, a cadre, and a loyal minister, but his brain was too stubborn, and he didn't know how to be flexible in many things, and he really couldn't punish Li Xian for this matter, so as not to hurt the loyalty of the courtiers.

So, Emperor Tianshun suppressed his anger and said: "Liu Juntao, the governor of Shanxi, has fought several battles against the Tartars and made great achievements, but the imperial court is very mean to his reward for many reasons, so I intend to increase it on the Wusan rank this time. Although it can't offset the previous events, it can somewhat comfort the heart of loyal ministers and good generals to serve the country. Li Shangshu, can these intentions of mine be feasible? ”

Li Xian, the secretary of the military department, is stubborn and inflexible, but he is by no means pedantic, stubborn, and not stupid, so when he heard Emperor Tianshun say this, he bowed down and said: "Your Majesty loves the minister, this is my blessing, minister, no opinion!" ”

"That's right!"

Emperor Tianshun secretly said in his heart, and then ordered the order, and after ordering everything, he retreated.

When Liu Juntao received the reward decree from Emperor Tianshun, the expression on his face was extremely rich.

In the holy decree, there was no problem with the imperial court's rewards for the Tiance Army and the meritorious soldiers in Shanxi, the bereavement of the dead and wounded soldiers, and the promotion and reward of generals at all levels.

Liu Juntao is already the governor of Shanxi, and he can't be promoted in his official position, and even the generals of the Tiance Army have not been promoted to official positions, Liu Juntao and others have no opinion on this, after all, the official position does not have much significance for everyone.

At this time, the strength and authority of any guerrilla general of the Tiance Army were already stronger than the commanders of other places, or even the governors.

But when Liu Juntao heard that Emperor Tianshun had given him a martial arts rank of a dragon and tiger general, he was immediately stunned, and his heart was even more awkward, and it could even be said that he was a little disgusting.

In the Wanli period of later generations, Nurhachi, the chief of Jiannunu, was named the general of the dragon and tiger, and he led his troops to fight for a long time, and in the end he was on the same level as the wild boar skin, which is really ironic!

But these are all details, and Liu Juntao doesn't care very much, but he just feels very unhappy in his heart.

Next, Liu Juntao began to be busy with some finishing matters after the war, the first of which was to pay tribute to the soldiers who died in the battle.

Liu Juntao built a cemetery in Baishan Mountain, north of Datong Town, and buried all the soldiers who died in the battle, and then led the generals of Shanxi, as well as the generals of the Tiance Army, the officials of the Shanxi Governor's Office, and thousands of people near the town of Datong to the Baishan Cemetery to pay respects.

Zhu Shiyi, the acting king of Datong Town, and the prefect of Datong Prefecture also hurriedly sent people to participate in the inquiry, and sent rich sacrifices.

On the same day, Liu Juntao mobilized a section of the Longxiang Army and a section of the Changshui Army, a total of 10,000 soldiers lined up outside the cemetery, and displayed flags and ironclad forests in the wilderness, which was spectacular.

Thousands of people, thousands of officials, and gentry who participated in the public sacrifice were all boiling, rejoicing at the prestige of the Ming Dynasty and excited by the strong force of the Tiance Army.

"Wearing iron armor and carrying a long knife. The battle with the son is long. Fight with the enemy, die and live together. Fight with your son, and your heart will not be slack. Step on the swallow and chase the beard. Fight with the son, and sing fearlessly. ”

Under the guidance of 10,000 soldiers of the Tiance Army, nearly 20,000 people sang the battle song of the Tiance Army loudly, in fact, this song was "copied ~ copied" by Liu Juntao to the triumphant song made by Qi Jiguang in later generations.

At this time, 20,000 people sang in unison in the cemetery, which immediately made everyone feel their blood boiling, and the atmosphere of the entire cemetery changed.

After that, everyone sang the song of the great wind composed by Han Gaozu again.

"The wind is blowing and the clouds are flying, Weijia is returning to his hometown, and the warriors are guarding the Quartet!"

In just three sentences, under the continuous singing of 20,000 people, the momentum is very strong, and the majestic wind of the big man is rushing towards him, and everyone's hearts are stirring with strong pride.

Even many officials and gentry burst into tears in the majestic Han song, and many people knelt on the ground and shouted "Long live the emperor"!

After the end of the public sacrifice on this day, the entire Datong town and city were sung: the nursery rhyme of Ningbei Bogong sacrificing the heroic soul and the Han army defending China, which made Liu Juntao's prestige reach a peak.

Subsequently, the public sacrifice on this day also spread throughout Shanxi, and even the entire Ming Dynasty, and everyone who heard the news praised it.

After hearing this, Yan Shenggong said to Mr. Shan with a smile; "Ning Beibo is really a pillar of the country, this is the blessing of the Ming Dynasty!"

Hu Dexing, the chief military officer of Shandong Town, and Zhang Xiaojun, the deputy chief soldier, were also excited to inquire, and the two also held a memorial ceremony in Jinan Mansion, after all, among the soldiers of the Tiance Army stationed in Shanxi, most of the families were in Shandong, and after the two paid tribute to the soldiers who died in battle, they sent a pension silver to the families of these soldiers in the name of Shandong Town.

When these things came to an end, Liu Juntao also began to rectify the soldiers and horses and hoard grain and grass.

At this time, the order to burn the wasteland issued by Emperor Tianshun has been sent for a while, but the further battle order has not yet come to fruition, and Liu Juntao is also anxious in his heart, so he can only take the first step to prepare for the matter.

At the same time, Liu Juntao also ordered the Intelligence Department, the Military Department, and the Inspection Department to mobilize forces to fully monitor the movements of the Tatar Ministry in case of emergency.