The Yamen of the Ministry of War.

Xie Qian came in a hurry and went directly to the inner hall to meet Ma Wensheng alone.

Ma Wensheng handed over a copy of Liaodong's official affairs to Xie Qian, Xie Qian held it in his hand, and when he saw that it was a thick stack, he couldn't help frowning.

"There is news about the conscription horses." Marven ascended.

Xie Qianben was still going to look at the song, and when he heard this, he raised his head and showed a very surprised look: "The news has arrived?" That...... Shouldn't it be good news, right? ”

In Xie Qian's opinion, this time the emperor has not made any movement, and the battle report has been delayed for so many days, if it is good news, it would have spread a long time ago, so why wait for Ma Wensheng to call him, a scholar and secretary of the military department, to secretly say it when he is discussing in the inner court?

"It's not clear." Ma Wensheng said, "It's the night of Yizhou spying on the military situation, and the intelligence is found from the grassland, and then reported by the Yizhou locality, and this passerby does not go to Yizhou." Everything must be subject to the report of the person who led the troops. ”

Xie Qian smiled dumbly.

Ma Wensheng pointed to Xie Qian's collation of local affairs in Liaodong, and said: "The cost of this battle is listed above, and I still want to transfer the local government in Jizhou, but there is no movement yet. The closer the place, the more difficult it is for the military headquarters to intervene. ”

"Hmm."

Xie Qian nodded in understanding.

Jizhou is at the foot of the Son of Heaven in the end, and any military situation in this place is very important, if the Ministry of War wants Jizhou to do some military affairs to sort out and report, it must follow the rules, the closer to Gyeonggi, the greater the military affairs involved.

"Is that a win or a loss? Or is it nothing? Brother Negative Figure, you are also a battle-hardened battle, at this time, if you want to estimate the results, you should be able to achieve nine out of ten, right? ”

Xie Qian insisted on getting an answer from Ma Wensheng's side.

As he spoke, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Ma Wensheng commanded.

Immediately, Yang Mi, the right attendant of the military department, came in.

"Xie Ge Lao, Ma Butang." Yang Mi gave gifts.

"You're welcome." Xie Qian said with a smile, "This military department is really a good place now, I used to feel very calm, but now I still feel that this place has become a tiger's den in Longtan?" ”

Ma Wensheng glanced over and asked, "You mean, because the military department has an extra left servant who is also the governor of the capital?" ”

"Huh." Xie Qian's gags are first-class, but he doesn't break the words.

Yang Mi said: "I went to check it specially, what Yizhou reported was the soldiers from Jizhou and Liaozhen, and it was from Huangshui all the way to the east, and the destination was Shenyang Zhongwei, and there was no trace of a large number of Tatar people along the way." Nowadays, the snow has not piled up on the grasslands, and after the snow melts, the climate is very cold, and the roads are muddy and difficult to walk. ”

"The result?" Xie Qian was waiting for a result, not only did Ma Wensheng not analyze it, but now Yang Mi seemed to be playing sloppy with him.

Yang Mi said helplessly: "There is no result. ”

Xie Qian stood up and said angrily: "I have never seen such a march and fight, do you mean that Lu Wan and Wang Xian don't understand the rules?" Governing the army and marching to fight, no matter what the result is, when you don't ask about the gains and losses, once you delay, there will be reluctance, but if one person doesn't understand this rule, forget it, and the two don't understand it? There are lieutenants in the army, why aren't they in a hurry to report? ”

Yang Mi does not need to hide and not express his position like Ma Wensheng, he said: "Or the result is not satisfactory." ”

Xie Qian said: "Whether it is defeat, or there are heavy losses, or there is no merit, do you still need to hide it?" ”

Yang Mi looked at Ma Wensheng, and seeing that Ma Wensheng did not analyze, he continued: "It is precisely because the results are unsatisfactory that there is a need to be reluctant. ”

"Huh."

Xie Qian seemed to understand.

Yang Yao seemed to be analyzing why Wang Xian and Lu Wan had not reported the results of the battle, but in fact, he was suggesting that the people recommended by Zhang Zhou wanted to hide the results because they were afraid that they would not get the credit and be attacked by the Chinese officials, or because they could not meet the emperor's expectations.

Xie Qian said with a smile: "You mean, they want to beat rabbits with grass on the way back to Shenyang, and see if they can kill a few border people's heads to make meritorious contributions, so as to get the court's commendation?" ”

Yang Mi said: "It's not that there is no such possibility. ”

Ma Wensheng finally spoke: "With such a big fanfare, the number of people and horses on both sides is more than 40,000, and the mobilization of grain and grass is not counted, if they want to obtain military merits in such a way, I am afraid it is not reasonable." ”

"What do you think about the negative picture?" Xie Qian was a little angry.

Do you think that what Yang Mi and I analyzed is wrong, but you yourself can't say why, are you adding to our blockage?

Ma Wensheng sighed: "I can't say it yet, but I always feel that there will be things happening outside the battlefield, Liaodong and Jizhou two ways of soldiers and horses attacking, no matter what the results are, in the aftermath, whether it is about meritorious deeds or decorations, there will always be a lot of prevarication and perfunctory." ”

Xie Qian said with emotion: "That's right, Jizhen and Liaozhen send troops on two roads, if you lead the troops with the general system, or send a military squire to go, one person to coordinate the two sides, or there are not so many things." I have to send troops separately, the purpose is the same, but the errand is different, I don't know if this Zhang Bingkuan is new to officialdom and doesn't understand? Or did he do it on purpose? ”

Marven said: "That's the way it is. If there is anything else, someone will inform you of it. ”

"Don't." Xie Qianyi raised his hand and said, "Don't come to inform me, report it normally, if you feel that there are some things that are inconvenient for others to know." Then play it on the silver platform, and I'll go back first. ”

……

……

Cabinet duty.

Liu Jian and Li Dongyang read the Liaodong local military affairs report brought back by Xie Qian, and the two of them seemed to be in deep thought.

Xie Qian smiled: "Do you say it's rare? The whereabouts of this road were actually found out by the scouts who went out to explore the enemy in Yizhou, and the soldiers and horses were almost entering the border of Daming, but the results of the battle had not moved. Binzhi, you have always been resourceful, you said? ”

"That's winning." Li Dongyang said.

"Huh?" The smile on Xie Qian's face froze, and he frowned, "If you win, you won't report it?" ”

Li Dongyang sighed and said: "It is precisely because they are not losing, nor are they returning in vain, that they are not in a hurry to report, if it is the first two, they will not change the result if they report early or late, why do they have to delay?" ”

"Hey, why did the words come to your Li Binzhi's mouth, and they all changed their taste?" Xie Qian obviously didn't want to agree with Li Dongyang's statement.

But it seems that what Li Dongyang said also has some truth.

Liu Jian asked with a smile: "Actually, the speculation of the military department is not unreasonable, or because the results of the battle are not satisfactory, they want to kill the good and risk the merit on the way back." ”

Li Dongyang said: "No, such a big movement, if it is just for a few heads, but you have to bear the fault of delaying the report of the war, even if Wang Xian doesn't care, but the governor of Liaodong and the lieutenant guard of Liaodong will definitely not accept it." They still want to operate in Liaodong for a long time, how can they cause trouble for themselves? ”

Xie Qian shook his head: "Binzhi, I don't think so, I think it's more likely that they will return in vain." ”

At this time, Xie Qian still seemed very stubborn.

Finally, there was an opportunity to suppress Zhang Zhou, or an opportunity to hit Zhang Zhou's "invincible" reputation, Xie Qian felt that he could not miss it, nor could he lose hope in this regard and add to his blockage.

Li Dongyang didn't know how to explain to Xie Qian, so he didn't explain, and only said his thoughts: "It is precisely because they have huge military merits as the foundation, but there is a problem in the division of merits, that they will report late, in my opinion, it is probably that the soldiers of Liaozhen did not achieve much merit, but were obtained by the soldiers and horses of Jizhen who were ambushed, so Lu Wan, the governor of Liaodong, Zhang Yong, the lieutenant officer of the town guard, and Shou Ninghou, the chief military officer of Liaodong, wanted to use their close relationship with His Majesty and Zhang Bingkuan to suppress Jizhen in credit." ”

"Huh?"

After Xie Qian heard this, he was a little stunned for a moment.

Liu Jian said: "By Binzhi, it seems that everything can be explained." ”

Xie Qian glanced over and said, "Won't Elder Liu Ge also think that Bin Zhi is right?" ”

Liu Jian put down the previous Liaodong border affairs and said: "This time the troops were dispatched, and the Ming Dynasty dispatched so many soldiers and horses, but there was no movement after the war, not because they were ignorant of the world, but because they knew the rules too well, and knew the division of military merits in the past. However, this war was a battle between Liaodong and Jizhou, and the Liaodong side was far greater than that of Jizhou in terms of the number of troops, the imperial history, the lieutenant officers and the chief military officers who led the troops, so there would be irreconcilable contradictions after the war. will postpone the reporting of combat exploits. ”

"Really?" Although Xie Qian didn't want to admit it, after some analysis by Li Dongyang and Liu Jian, he seemed to feel that what the two said was very reasonable.

Li Dongyang said: "Then Liu Ge Lao thinks that before this, did Zhang Bingkuan expect today's situation?" ”

This time, Liu Jian shook his head after thinking about it: "Whether it is the people who use troops in Liaodong or the generals who lead troops in Jizhou, they are all recommended by him, why does he need to let the two people quarrel?" ”

"Wait." Xie Qian stretched out his hand to interrupt the two people who were talking, and analyzed by himself, "Even if what you said is reasonable, because of the dispute over military merits, and the report was delayed, then now that they have passed so long on the way back to the army, from the place where the war took place to the range that can be found in Yizhou at night, they have experienced at least seven or eight days before and after, no matter how difficult it is to determine the military merits, there should be a conclusion now, right?" ”

At this time, it was Li Dongyang's turn to shake his head: "It is precisely because of the small number of troops sent by Jizhou that it is impossible for them to come to the road, through the grassland and desert, to Daning, and then from Daning to Jizhou, they have to retreat to Shenyang Zhongwei with a small number of men and horses with Liaozhen, and they will not be able to calculate because of military achievements on the way." ”

"People are under the roof." Liu Jian said.

"Hmm." Li Dongyang nodded, "But Wang Weigang supervised the background of the imperial history and has an upright personality, even if he knows that he does not have an advantage when discussing merits, he will not give in easily, and the two sides have not discussed and reached a conclusion for a long time." ”

Xie Qian smiled bitterly: "You actually think that it is because of the military merits, but because of the uneven distribution of merits, what happened today is possible?" Is...... Alas! I've served you! ”

Liu Jian asked, "Na Binzhi, do you think that next, they will reach an agreement?" ”

"No, it won't." Li Dongyang said, "If I were Wang Weigang, I would not let the people of Liaozhen report the merits, he might take the credit in advance, and unite with Ma Yongcheng, a lieutenant in the army, to repay the credit." ”

"Listen to the heavens?" Liu Jian frowned.

"No, no matter from the relationship between relatives and relatives, Ma Yongcheng, Wang Weigang and Peng Quan can't be compared with the three in Liaozhen, if he has to take the road of self-reporting, he will definitely make trouble in advance to the government and the opposition, so that the follow-up people in Liaozhen are meaningless when reporting their merits."

Li Dongyang seems to be very aware of Wang Xian's temperament.

Xie Qian said: "Binzhi, you said that Wang Xian would report in advance, wouldn't the Liaodong side report in advance?" Lu Wan, Zhang Yong and Zhang Heling, the three of them have a close relationship with Zhang Bingkuan, and they are all His Majesty's people, what do they say, will Your Majesty and Zhang Bingkuan believe it? ”

Li Dongyang didn't answer this time, Liu Jian shook his head first and said: "Such a big credit, any party to report, must get the other party's joint signature, unless, as Bin Zhi said, the government and the opposition know about it, and publicize the matter first, then it doesn't matter whether the other party's consent is needed." And this kind of credit, the party with less credit, that is, the party who loses, is actually very passive. ”

"Why be passive?" Xie Qian asked.

Liu Jian sighed: "They must first pass the level of supervising the imperial history, and if they don't reach an agreement with the other side, the result is contrary, Your Majesty will definitely investigate." Then we must bear the fault of falsely reporting our military exploits. ”

"Oh. You are saying that Wang Xian reported it on his own, because his military exploits were originally obtained by his Jizhou side, so he was not worried about falsely reporting his military exploits, and he was not afraid of investigation. That's what it means, right? Xie Qian said, and looked at Li Dongyang on the side.

Neither Liu Jian nor Li Dongyang answered him.

Liu Jian said: "So Binzhi, you think that Zhang Bingkuan may have known in advance that there would be today's situation, and deliberately set it up like this?" ”

Li Dongyang shook his head: "In fact, it doesn't matter how it is set up, the ambush must be the Jizhen Department that secretly dispatches troops and horses, and the one who contributes and works must be the Liaodong side, and the ambush side has a greater chance of achieving military success than the one pursuing on the surface." Now we should think about whether we should help Jizhen or Liaozhen. ”

"It's early, isn't it?" Xie Qiandao.

Liu Jian nodded and said, "It's also a little early." Everything is still inconclusive, what if the Jizhou side didn't want the ministers of the DPRK and China to be involved? The credit is not shallow, no matter how it is divided, Zhang Bingkuan's credit has long been remembered in His Majesty's heart, what is the point of fighting for it? ”

Li Dongyang said: "Then keep an eye on the stagecoach coming from Liaodong, if Wang Weigang really wants to show his merits, then this is his last chance." ”

……

……

Palace.

Zhu Youzhu was also waiting for news from Liaodong, but it was Xiao Jing who appeared with Zhang Zhou after he went to see Zhang Zhou and brought the latest news.

"Your Majesty, it turned out." Xiao Jing said in surprise.

Zhu Youzhu saw Xiao Jing's reaction, his face instantly turned ruddy, and asked, "Won?" ”

Xiao Jing looked at Zhang Zhou, meaning to let Zhang Zhou speak.

Zhang Zhou looked much more indifferent than Xiao Jing: "Huangshui set up an ambush, and killed Taining and Duoyan and the two guards were defeated, not counting the explosions, the captured and cut off heads, as well as the left and right ears combined, there are nearly three thousand." ”

"Good, good!" Zhu Youzhu was extremely excited.

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty is not in a hurry to be happy, there is something wrong, it seems to be unexpected." ”

"What's the matter?" Zhu Youji's face was a little embarrassed.

Winning all wins, is it because the loss of the Ming side is greater than that of the other party?

Zhang Zhou seemed to be a roundworm in Zhu Youji's stomach, and said: "Your Majesty, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have suffered very few losses, not even a hundred. ”

"Oh. Hehe, Bingkuan, you elaborate. When Zhu Youzhu heard it, it was beautiful.

The battle damage ratio is so good, so what is there to worry about?

Zhang Zhoudao: "This battle was mainly won by the ambushed Jizhou side, and most of the heads and ears, as well as prisoners, were obtained by him. ”

Zhu Youzhi nodded and said, "Is it a division of military merits?" Alas! They all contributed the same way, and Liaodong tossed for so many days, all of which had merit, and they should be equal. ”

"Your Majesty, it's okay if it's really equal, but the problem is that three days after the end of this battle, the governor of Liaodong reported that the previous discussions with the Jizhou side about military merits ended in vain, and both sides had their own opinions." Zhang Zhoudao.

Zhu Youzhu said: "This is the reason why they have not reported the results of this battle for a long time? ”

Xiao Jing hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is angry. ”

"I'm not angry, it's easy to discuss if I win, I'm afraid that these soldiers pay more attention to military merits than those soldiers, and they all serve the Ming Dynasty, why do you need to be so clear? Will I treat them badly? ”

Zhu Youzhu looks very fair and fair.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Lu Wan's joint names Zhang Yong and Zhang Heling, and the generals who participated in the impeachment of Jizhou delayed their trips in order to snatch the merits, so they missed the fighter plane, and caused the men and horses of Duoyan Sanwei on the North Road to escape from the encirclement. ”

"Alas!"

When Zhu Youzhu heard this, he was a little anxious.

The results were satisfactory, but it was after the war...... And then the trouble came out.

Wang Xian thought that he was the first to strike, but in fact, Lu Wan was not stupid, and while discussing military merits with you, he actually played a part secretly, mainly because the Jizhou people who participated in the impeachment of Wang Xian wanted to grab the heads of those killed Tartars on the edge of Huangshui, regardless of the overall strategy, so that the 10,000 Duoyan Sanwei men and horses on the northern front escaped from the encirclement and fled westward smoothly.

Lu Wan is not the kind of person who can't walk after seeing military exploits.

He made Wang Xian think that he was for military merit, but in fact, he was just to sue in advance.

In order to gain Zhang Zhou's trust, Lu Wan naturally wanted to say that his side was hard-working, but in the end, because Jizhou missed the fighter in order to grab merit.

Who gets the military merit may not matter in Lu Wan's opinion, but it is even more important to gain the trust of Zhang Zhou and the emperor.

If you Wang Xian like to fight, you should fight, it's best to make things bigger, so that the emperor and Zhang Zhou know that you will do whatever it takes for that little military merit, then even if you have great merit, the emperor will press you when rewarding, and it will be impossible for the emperor and Zhang Zhou to pay attention to a person like you who only lives with military merit in the future.

You Wang Xian has a good plan, and I Lu Wan has also been through the wall ladder.

Of course.

Zhang Heling couldn't perceive Lu Wan's intentions, and even Zhang Yong might not be able to perceive it.

Both Zhang Heling and Zhang Yong only pay attention to the military merits in front of them, and it doesn't matter whether they will be valued in the future.

Zhang Zhou sighed: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's a little difficult to determine." ”

(End of chapter)