Chapter 286: B-word troubles
Yulin City.
“Congratulations, general!” You Shikong led his two younger brothers, You Shiwei and You Shilu, to give him a fist-waving gift and gave him his congratulatory gift.
Feng Tang's face was filled with joy and smile, and he waved his hand, "Shi Gong, you three brothers don't need to be more polite."
"Well, the general said that, my brother is wrong. It is an honor for me and other children from the border town to be the second-class Jinshi in high school. I should congratulate you. I am afraid that my brother will have to take on important responsibilities in the future, which will also be good for me and other border soldiers."
You Shigong has been promoted to the post of General of the Yulin Town Middle Road under Feng Tang's recommendation. He is responsible for the garrison of the Yulin Town Middle Road and is stationed at Boluo Fort. His second brother You Shiwei has also taken over the garrison.
His three brothers quickly defected to Feng Tang after Feng Tang took over the post of Yulin Town's garrison commander. Feng Tang also used his three brothers to intentionally make good friends with the local generals in Yulin and achieved very good results. In addition, Yulin Town itself also had people from Datong. The generals transferred from the town were familiar with the generals, so Feng Tang had firmly controlled Yulin Town in a relatively short period of time.
It was under such circumstances that Feng Tang dared to take a series of actions, taking actions against some wealthy merchant families in the town who were flirting with the Tatars outside the Great Wall, and gained a lot.
However, Feng Tang also knew very well that he was still an outsider in Yulin, and he was far from being able to do as well as he could in Datong. He also needed to have a good relationship with local snakes like the You brothers.
Therefore, he was extremely generous in the rewards of military supplies and silver he received after several settlements. He hardly took any of them himself, but gave them all to his subordinates to participate in the generals and defenses. This also won the great favor of the generals below. .
This Yulin Town has always been poor, and every time the newly appointed garrison commander from other places would go to the capital city to bribe Shangguan with the hope of making a big profit so that he could be transferred out of this Yulin Town as soon as possible. The generals who actually came to this position looked at Datong, He went to the general garrison position in Xuanfu, Jizhen, and Shanxi.
Among the Nine Borders, Yulin Town is only slightly better than Ningxia and Gansu, and even not as good as Guyuan. Although Guyuan is poor, it is in the rear and will not directly face the Tatar cavalry.
“Haha, I would like to thank you for your kind words.” Feng Tang was in a very good mood.
The news of passing the Jinshi and Second-A Jinshi exams came almost immediately. Feng Tang was quite satisfied with passing the Jinshi exam before. Unexpectedly, he actually performed better in the palace examination and suddenly broke into the ninth place of the Second-A. , which simply made Feng Tang overjoyed.
After learning that the legitimate son of the guarding military officer had passed the second-level Jinshi examination, all the generals below came to congratulate him and gave him generous gifts.
However, Feng Tang is a little different now than in the past. Especially after learning that his son won the Jinshi, he became more cautious. His son's future future will definitely be more than just a guard general like him. He will have great opportunities to be a senior official in Liubu Hall and even join the cabinet. So now he has a choice about gifts that he originally accepted with peace of mind.
When he learned that these subordinates were coming to congratulate him, he repeatedly warned them not to give generous gifts. If he refused to accept the gifts, he would find a way to return the gifts, even if they were not good.
However, Feng Tang also knew that if he didn't accept any gifts, he was afraid that he would not be able to survive in Yulin Town, so he controlled a certain degree very well, and he would never measure the merits of his subordinates by the amount of gifts he received. Military officers are promoted based on several factors such as performance, prestige, control over the army, and loyalty to oneself.
The You brothers are a typical example. They have a record of success, high prestige, and strong control over their own headquarters. In addition, they have this connection, so they spare no effort to recommend them, and even use some of their personal connections. You Shigong was quickly promoted to General of the West Road, and You Shiwei was promoted to garrison. This also made the You brothers follow Feng Tang wholeheartedly.
Of course, the good reputation of the Feng family in Datong is also one aspect. Without this factor, these poor generals in Yulin Town would not have accepted Feng Tang so quickly.
Feng Tang naturally wanted to thank everyone for their congratulations, and held a banquet to entertain the generals.
"You said Ningxia Wei is not peaceful?" After hearing this, Feng Tang, who was still a little drunk, immediately woke up, "Why do you say that?"
He Shixian, the general of the West Route who came to report, was also a local military commander in Yulin. He had always been familiar with Feng Tang's old subordinate Cao Wenzhao in Datong and had a close relationship. He was also the first to join Feng Tang after he served as the chief military officer of the Yulin garrison. Tang's, even earlier than the You brothers.
Feng Tang also intended to let him serve as the deputy commander-in-chief of the cooperative defense to help him coordinate the defense of his town and neighboring towns. However, this deputy commander-in-chief was already a third-grade military general. It was not something that Feng Tang could easily operate. He also needed to A lot of tricks.
But this is already a rare opportunity for He Shixian. He never thought that he could still hope to climb to the level of deputy commander-in-chief. You must know that there is only a thin line between the deputy commander-in-chief and the senior military commanders such as commander-in-chief. Therefore, he was also grateful to Feng Tang and almost swore to show his loyalty.
"Ningxia Town has changed its guards too frequently in the past few years, and many town generals have become old and retired. The new town generals are either from Gansu Town or Guyuan Town, so their local town generals The general is not in a high mood. The general should know that there are many Mongolian generals in Ningxia Town. They are different from the troops here. They raise a large number of private soldiers and have constant contacts with the Tatars in Hetao. …”
"You mean these Mongolians and Hetao Tatars are cooperating with each other on purpose?" Feng Tang was shocked. He really didn't know much about the situation in Ningxia Town. At this time, He Shixian said this and was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat.
Ningxia Town and Yulinwei are closely related. Once something happens, the entire northwest front will collapse. Even if the Mongolian tribes in Hetao are still in the breathing stage, if they really encounter such an opportunity, they will definitely come in and make a profit.
"Well, that's not the case. I just feel that the Mongolian generals in Ningxia Town are arrogant, and the military generals in this town have no intention of military service. Moreover, due to the lack of pay for many years, there are many deserters in this town. In contrast, the Mongolian generals have accumulated a large number of slave soldiers. , I think this kind of Tai Ah's backlash is a bit..."
He Shixian couldn't describe this feeling.
Feng Tang stabilized his mind and pondered for a long time before saying, "Did Shi Guangjue notice it?"
"My Lord Guanshi has no intention of staying in Ningxia Town for a long time, so..." He Shixian shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Shi Guangjue is a descendant of the Shi family of Duke Yu, and is a cousin of Shi Guangzhu. After Feng Tangmou came to Yulin Town to lead the army, the Shi family is said to have spent no less than one hundred thousand taels of silver to get this Ningxia for Shi Guangjue. The position of guarding the general soldier.
However, Shi Guangjue had only been in the Beijing camp before and had never been in the frontier army. This also aroused the firm opposition of Zhang Jingqiu, the left minister of the Ministry of War, but Xiao Daheng firmly supported it, and the emperor's intention was inside, and finally Shi Guangjue finally I finally got this position.
It cost one hundred thousand taels to get this location, so naturally he had to do everything possible to get it back. Ningxia Town was a place that was even colder than Yulin Town, and it was bordering the Tatars, so Shi Guangjue also wanted to get it back. Money does not care about means, Feng Tang has long heard of this.
This is a bit tricky.
Shi Guangjue is only interested in making money now and doesn't care about anything else, but maybe he will leave next year, and the mess he will leave behind will only be shared by his successor.
The key point is that this kind of mess cannot be cleared up in a short while. If a slightly weaker general is replaced, the fire may be burned on this successor.
The problem is that Ningxia Town and Yulin Town are closely interdependent. Once something goes wrong, Yulin Town will never be able to escape.
Just what to do now? Write a letter to remind Shi Guangjue? I am afraid that not only will it not be accepted, but it will also cause trouble. You, Feng Tang, are not the governor of the three sides. What qualifications do you have to inquire about the affairs of neighboring towns?
Write a letter to the Ministry of War to report? Xiao Daheng is still serving as the Minister of the Ministry of War. Even though everyone knows that he should have been dismissed as the Minister of the Ministry of War, but he has not been dismissed yet, then he is the Minister. Writing letters at this time will only attract small shoes.
"Shixian, how serious is the situation over there now? If there is going to be trouble, when do you think it will happen?" Feng Tang also knew that his question was a bit excessive, but he had to ask it.
I'm afraid it's difficult for the outside world to judge how serious the internal problems in Ningxia Town are, and when trouble breaks out, it's inevitable that there must be an accidental factor, or a trigger, before it can break out.
Maybe it won’t break out in the next month, maybe in two or three years, but once it breaks out, it may be uncontrollable.
"General, this kind of thing cannot be said. According to my subordinates' understanding, if there are no other major accidents, it is estimated that it can be delayed for two or three years. But I am afraid of any accidents, such as the Tatars, or the Encountering food shortage,..." He Shixian was not sure.
Feng Tang stood up and walked around the hall twice, and finally made up his mind. I'm afraid he still needs to make the necessary preparations. Otherwise, if a situation arises, he will be the first to bear the brunt. He hopes that Gansu Town and Guyuan Town might as well rely on themselves to feel more at ease. .
"Shixian, when you go back, send more spies to Ningxia Town to investigate. In addition, you can withdraw part of your troops to Tianshui Fort and Sanshan Fort to take precautions. I will arrange for people to pay attention to the Hetao side. In addition, I will ask Shi Gong to The troops and horses in the middle route are concentrated towards Xinxing Fort and Yongji Fort to reduce the pressure on your north..."
He Shixian was taken aback, "Sir, the middle road in Shigong is open, just in case the Tatars invade from the south..."
"I pushed the troops on the east route to the front lines of Baoning Fort, Weiwu Fort, and Yuhe Fort to help Shi Gong stabilize the situation. I started to build momentum. In addition, I asked Shanxi Town to provide support at Laoniu Bay and Luoquan Fort. It's not a big problem." Feng Tang's connections will be revealed at this time, and he can coordinate with Shanxi Town to help share the pressure.
(End of this chapter)