July 24.

Early in the morning, the ministers entered the palace and waited to see the emperor.

On that day, there were many discussions among the civil and military officials, because they had learned the news from different channels earlier, and in the past few days, various passes in Xuanfu had been attacked and harassed by Tatars, and sporadic wars broke out, which happened to be in line with the previous emperor's proposal in the court that it was necessary to strengthen the vigilance in Xuanfu.

「…… Zhongtang, no one expected that the Tatars' target was really not on the three sides, but directly towards Xuanfu and Datong, with the current battle report, the White Aries Pass was lost and regained, and the outbreak of a war of no less than a thousand people was the first time that our Daming Pass experienced such a fierce impact after the Battle of Yingzhou."

Peng Ze, as the secretary of the military department, encountered the emergency military situation in the northwest, and was the first to bear the brunt, and he had to explain to the emperor at the court meeting.

But before that, he had to ask Yang Tinghe's opinion.

Yang Tinghe's face was grim.

Now it is actually said by the little emperor that the focus of the Tatar raids is not on the three sides but on Xuanda?

How did the little emperor judge it?

Blind cat meets dead mouse?

Or is it from Zang Feng, the governor of Xuanda, or someone else?

With a lot of incomprehension, with the arrival of the court, Yang Tinghe walked at the top of the Wenchen row and strode into the Fengtian Palace.

……

……

The court will not be alarmed.

Regarding the situation on the front line of Xuanda, Zhu Si took the lead, because he had tried his best to overcome public opinion and ordered the same line of Xuanfu to strengthen its vigilance, so that this border pass coped with the impact of the Tatars and behaved with ease, and the officials and the people did not suffer big losses.

Of course, prevention is better than prevention, and there is no credit if there is no fault, although Zhu Si has earned a reputation as a god, but it has not helped him to control the court.

At this court meeting, basically the people from the Ministry of War were explaining the situation, and Peng Ze and Li Kun, the right attendant of the Ministry of War, explained very carefully, and few others participated in the topic.

In the end, the court took out about 50,000 taels of money and grain and transferred it to Xuanda to deal with it on the front line, plus the household department had allocated about 70,000 taels worth of money and grain to Xuanda and the three sides respectively, which is equivalent to saying that Xuanda's side received as many as 120,000 taels of war materials in the summer alone.

This is not counting Zhu Hao's self-financing.

The court meeting ended in an eerie atmosphere.

Yang Tinghe came out of the Fengtian Palace, and his face was not very good-looking, because this time not only the little emperor had a long face, but even Zang Feng, who was not controlled by him, became the sweetheart of the imperial court.

On the way, Jiang Mian mentioned it intentionally or unintentionally: "The details of the battle in Baiyangkou have not been transmitted to the capital until now, only that they will be lost and recovered, but what is the state of the enemy and us now, and how many casualties are there in each, are all mysteries. Why is there no concrete news about the matter in the past three days?"

"Huh!?"

Yang Tinghe heard the key to the problem.

Although Baiyangkou belongs to the pass that extends from Xuanda to Yansui, and it is some distance from the capital, if you talk about the battle report, the news should be transmitted to the capital within two days if you expedite the 800 miles.

Why did there be no war report for three days?

However, the grapevine spread rapidly, and now people are saying that the Aries Pass has fought a tragic battle, and has completed a fierce battle from the loss to the recapture, which is supposed to be extremely tragic......

There's no news now, so it's just a flag-waving and shouting through the motions?

Suspicious!

"It depends."

Yang Tinghe said thoughtfully.

……

……

It was not until the afternoon of the same day that the specific situation of the fighting at Baiyangkou was reported.

It was personally reported by Zang Feng, the governor of Xuanda.

After Yang Tinghe got the battle report, he first looked at the scale of the battle in Baiyangkou, the Ming sent more than 1,800 troops, and the Tatars who committed the border had seven or eight hundred...... First of all, the defenders of Baiyangkou were covered with fog and the situation was unknown, and they encountered a fierce attack by the Tatars, and took the initiative to withdraw from the pass after 16 people died.

Then Tian Chengwei commanded Jia Qin and his son Jia Ruyang, father and son, led more than 1,500 troops, united with Baiyangkou to withdraw soldiers and horses, and recaptured Baiyangkou.

He slew six Tatar heads, and obtained fourteen horses, and a number of ordnance......

Yang Ting and Ben were going to leave the cabinet room, and after getting this battle report, they couldn't say anything in their hearts.

If you want to talk about the record, it is not bad, I killed and injured sixteen people...... And that's not counting the casualties in the second counteroffensive...... By the way, the casualties of the second counteroffensive were not mentioned at all?

The final result was the killing of six Tatars, which did not seem to be a big gain.

This is the case with the current situation in the northwest, where the war is usually thunderous and rainy, and it is more like a kind of military operation that goes back and forth to see-saw, rob, and prevent robbery, and it is difficult to see a situation in which hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of horses are killed or injured at once like the change in the civil fort.

"Husband, the matter is very important, and it should be reported in the morning."

Jiang Mian came over to remind.

Yang Tinghe said: "With such a lot of effort, it is said that the Xuanfu and the same line are all soldiers, but the result is just a war of this scale, is it worth it?"

With Yang Tinghe's meaning, I can understand the thunder and rain, but the results of the battle are so small, isn't it too bad to give the court face?

In the summer, the imperial court also dispatched more than 100,000 taels of silver to Xuanfu and Datong, and the result is what it looks like now, so I am embarrassed to show my merits?

Who knows if the heads of the six Tatars were killed by the herdsmen outside the pass?

Jiang Mian smiled and did not answer.

In Jiang Mian's opinion, as long as Xuanfu and Datong are okay and ensure that the customs are safe, no matter what happens to him, a few days of stability in the capital are more important than anything else.

……

……

The next morning, the battle report was published in the court.

Zhu Si wanted to capture Zang Feng, so he praised Zang Feng's performance in this defensive battle, although Zang Feng did not participate in the front-line battle, but at least so far, the Tatars have not made a big mess, but the situation in the mouth of the white sheep has been quickly resolved.

"I want to add Zang Qing's family as the imperial history of the right capital, and reuse it after returning to Beijing."

Zhu Si happily announced.

Zang Feng went to the Xuanfu as the right attendant of the Criminal Department and the right servant of the imperial history, and the general system of Xuanda military affairs, which is the rule of the general squire level to move to the border, because the strategic significance of Xuanda in the Ming border has always been inferior to the three sides, and Zang Feng did not get preferential treatment in official positions.

Before Zang Feng was transferred to the governor of Xuanda, he was in charge of the governor's transportation for many years, and his rank was lower than this.

If it is the imperial envoy who moved to the right capital because of merit this time, it is equivalent to the title of leading the secretary and leading the military affairs of the northwest.

The emperor just wants to rely on such a small merit of killing six enemies, he will be promoted to Zang Feng's official, and when he returns to the dynasty in the future, I am afraid that he will be appointed with six Shangshu, which is obviously the rhythm of cultivating Zang Feng as the successor of the Sun family.

Yang Tinghe thought so in his heart.

Because of the emperor's recent admiration for Zang Feng, no matter how you look at it, he wants to use Zang Feng and his Xuanda local soldiers and horses for the emperor's use, which used to be the sphere of influence of Jiang Bin, Xu Tai and others, and now these people are ancient, and the little emperor wants to take advantage of the weakness?

Hum!

Now that we know your heart, how can it be as you wish?

Yang Tinghe said, "Your Majesty, the battle report of Baiyangkou is not complete, and it may need to be checked separately...... False reports of military exploits have occurred frequently in the northwest region, and if such merits are to be rewarded with a large amount, I am afraid that the officers and men of the border army will be slack."

That's right.

Xuanda has not had many wars on the front line, and Xuanfu is mostly used as a place for the northwest military grain reserves, even if it is located in a strategic point, but it is rare to encounter wars all year round, but the three sides are attacked and disturbed every year, which is the top priority of the northwest defense of the Ming Dynasty.

Now because of a little merit in Xuanda, you want to get a reward?

Obviously favoritism!

What does this make the trilateral soldiers think?

Moreover, in the battle of Baiyangkou, it is clear that it is reasonable to abandon the pass and flee first, and then take it back...... From the beginning, he didn't fight to the end, and he wanted to show his merit when he took it back?

Where is it so easy!

The bigger reason is that Yang Tinghe doesn't want the little emperor to take over Zang Feng because of this, and he doesn't want Zang Feng to become the successor of Hubu Shangshu.

Zhu Sidao: "The battle report is detailed, I really can't think of anything wrong, as for the false report of war exploits...... Only killed six people, as for it? ‘

Yang Tinghe glared at the emperor.

You also know that only six people were killed?

If I kill sixty ***s, I won't say that!

"In that case, let's find out first, now that all parts of the Xuanfu are being attacked and harassed by the Tatars, and the war has not really ended, just wait for the final result to come out."

Zhu Si was not in a hurry, and when he saw Yang Tinghe's opposition, he retreated without forcing it again.

……

……

Although Zhu Si didn't fight with Yang Ting, he was always a little unhappy.

In the afternoon, I went out of the palace to see Zhu Hao.

Zhu Hao is using the sand table to deduce the situation in the northwest, and from time to time take out the battle reports of the three sides, Xuanda and other places, and conduct some simulations and deductions against the terrain and landforms.

"Zhu Hao, what are you doing here? I want to play too."

Zhu Sixing rushed over.

But at this moment, a delicate voice came from the side: "Don't disturb him, he said, no one is allowed to talk to him."

is rude and willful, at this time, he is crossing his waist, pouting his mouth, and glaring at Zhu Hao's eldest princess Zhu San.

Zhu Si raised his head and glared at his sister, as if to say, how can a woman like you come in with a heavy military plane?

Zhu Hao said, "Your Majesty, don't listen to her nonsense, I'm calculating where the Tatars will attack next."

Zhu Si sighed: "I was about to talk about this, today I said according to what you said, to reward Zang Feng to no result, I met with great resistance, if it weren't for the fact that I didn't have the same knowledge as them, otherwise...... I have to give Zang Feng the credit back."

"I can't fight for it."

Zhu Hao shook his head and said.

"What do you mean?"

Zhu Si was puzzled.

Zhu Hao glanced up at Zhu San, Zhu San was immediately unhappy, this was disgusted that he was in the way here, and he was about to lose his princess temper, but Zhu Si was not used to her, and ordered Zhang Zuo to step forward and take Zhu San out of the room.

Even if Zhu San was unhappy, he couldn't openly disobey the emperor's younger brother, snorted, turned around and left, so that only Zhu Hao and Zhu Si were left in the room.

Zhu Hao didn't care about it, and said directly: "This time to publicize the local merit, it is obviously a false report."

"What?"

Zhu Sisi was taken aback.

Falsely reported the merits of the war, and you still let me show the merits to the deceived people?

If this is a joke...... Isn't it as good as the wish of the surname Yang?

"Xuanda frontline, I haven't encountered a decent war in the past few years, plus the emperor was resident in Xuanfu, harassing many places, causing the people's livelihood to wither, and the Tatars have nothing to rob...... Jiang Bin's cronyism, a group of wine bags and rice bags are stationed everywhere, and it is not uncommon for them to falsely report their military exploits." Zhu Hao said.

Zhu Siyi laughed when he heard this: "That is to say, your plan is not to fight for Zang Feng's military merits? Why is that? Tell me about it!"

Zhu Hao no longer stared at the sand table, and looked back at Zhu Si: "I just want to make this matter as Yang Ge Lao's wish, so that he has a reason to replace Zang Feng."