Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 314: Going with the flow
Wei Zhongxian strode towards the Qianqing Palace with a happy look on his face.

After the Spring Festival in the fourth year of Tianqi, there were many happy events.

The happy event today is that the war in Fujian has finally ended. After Emperor Tianqi issued an imperial edict to reprimand Nan Juyi a year ago, Nan Juyi was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat after receiving the edict. He never expected that every move in Fujian was under the watchful eyes of Emperor Tianqi. He originally planned to use the previous small victory to make Emperor Tianqi happy, and then find a way to slowly resolve the war problem.

But he didn't expect that this flattery would actually backfire. In the imperial edict of Emperor Tianqi, instead of praising Nan Juyi, he scolded him and told him not to try to be clever anymore, but to prepare for the war with the red-haired barbarians honestly, resolve the war in Fujian as soon as possible, and drive the red-haired barbarians out of Penghu completely.

Wiping a cold sweat, Nan Juyi knew that he could not delay any longer. The previous strategy not only failed to work, but made the original war situation more complicated. If he could not win this battle as soon as possible, Emperor Tianqi would be furious and settle all the old and new accounts together. Nan Juyi would then have no place to cry.

Nan Juyi gritted his teeth and made up his mind to have a good fight with the Dutch. He had to win the battle no matter what, otherwise it would be better for him to die in battle.

After receiving the imperial edict, Nan Juyi began to mobilize troops and prepare for war. In early January, Nan Juyi personally led more than 10,000 people and more than 200 warships to officially declare war on the Netherlands. Fujian General Yu Zigao and Garrison Wang Mengxiong served as the vanguard, crossing the sea and heading straight for Penghu. The Ming army landed on Baisha Island and engaged in a fierce battle with the Dutch.

The Dutch relied on their sturdy fortresses and huge cannons and warships to deal with the Ming army. Although the Ming army was much stronger than the Dutch, with a personnel ratio of basically ten to one, facing the Dutch warships and cannons, the Ming side, which was basically composed of the land army, was far behind in weapons and equipment and warships, and the battle fell into a stalemate.

Faced with such a situation, Nan Juyi took the risk. He ordered his troops to land by force, used chariots filled with sand and stones to resist the Dutch cannons, and gradually advanced the siege of the Dutch fortress.

At the same time, more than 200 small warships blockaded the Dutch giant ships in the strait. Although the Dutch giant ships had fierce firepower, the Ming army's warships adopted a flexible and maneuverable tactic and adopted a close-range fire attack strategy, causing the Dutch giant ships to suffer certain losses.

After besieging the Dutch fortress in Penghu, Nan Juyi still failed to capture it. He was so anxious that he directly transferred a large number of muskets from Fujian to use against the Dutch in the fortress. The two sides fought fiercely for more than a month, and the Dutch suffered heavy losses. In addition, the number of Dutch troops was not as large as that of the Ming Dynasty. If one person died in the battle in Penghu, one less person would be lost. It seemed that if they continued to fight like this, the whole army would be annihilated.

On the other hand, after cutting off the Dutch's retreat at sea, the Ming army had support from muskets, and Nan Juyi issued an order that if Penghu was not conquered, military law would be enforced. The morale of the Ming army was greatly boosted, and they launched a frenzied attack on the Dutch fortress. The commander of the Dutch fortress was shot and killed while commanding the battle. Seeing the bad situation, the new commander judged that the fortress could not be defended, and decided to surrender in desperation.

In this way, the Battle of Penghu ended with the victory of the Ming army, the Dutch defender Gao Wenlu and others were all captured, and the war in Fujian ended.

Wei Zhongxian had just received the news from Fujian in the Imperial Household Department. He could no longer sit still and hurried to find Emperor Tianqi to report the good news with the victory report.

When he arrived at the Qianqing Palace, Wei Zhongxian slowed down his pace, straightened his clothes and hat, and then stepped into the hall.

"Eunuch Wei..." Seeing Wei Zhongxian coming, the young eunuch serving the emperor hurried forward to salute.

"Is the emperor in the side hall?"

"It's in the side hall. If you want to see the emperor, I'll go and inform him right away." The young eunuch replied hurriedly. Wei Zhongxian nodded and asked the young eunuch to go and inform him immediately, and he followed behind to the side hall.

After a moment, the eunuch who had informed Wei Zhongxian in advance led him into the side hall. When he entered the side hall, he saw Emperor Tianqi in cloth clothes pulling a large saw. There were all kinds of woodworking tools and several already formed wooden boards placed on the side.

"Your Majesty..."

"Wei Banban is here, you've come just in time, come and help me." Emperor Tianqi raised his eyes and saw Wei Zhongxian coming, and without saying a word, he called Wei Zhongxian to come and help.

Wei Zhongxian quickly took off his outer clothes, put on his inner clothes and went forward to help the emperor pull the big saw. It's worth mentioning that although Wei Zhongxian was not a carpenter, he had learned a few tricks from accompanying Emperor Tianqi over the years. Putting aside other things for now, he did a good job of pulling the big saw. With his cooperation, Emperor Tianqi quickly finished a piece of board.

"In this palace, only Wei Banban can help me do this job. Others don't have this skill." Lifting the wooden board with one hand, tilting his head and squinting to look at the lines on the board, Emperor Tianqi said with satisfaction.

"If it weren't for the emperor's guidance, I wouldn't have this ability. This is all because of the emperor's cultivation." Wei Zhongxian said with a smile.

Emperor Tianqi burst into laughter, nodded happily, took a plane and started to repair the wooden board, while asking Wei Zhongxian what he came for.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! Great victory in Fujian, great victory in Penghu!"

"Nan Juyi won?"

"We won! And a big victory!" "Bring the victory report to me." Upon hearing the news, Emperor Tianqi put the planer in his hand aside and reached out to Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian hurriedly handed over the victory report. Emperor Tianqi opened it without saying a word and read it. After a few glances, an expression of joy appeared on his face. When he read to the end, he couldn't help but exclaimed.

"This Nan Juyi is quite capable." Emperor Tianqi praised.

Wei Zhongxian said, "Nan Juyi was brave after knowing shame. If it weren't for the emperor's scolding and reprimand, how could he have achieved such great success today? In my opinion, the emperor is the real hero in this battle. Nan Juyi was just following the strategy set by the emperor."

"Hahaha, you." Emperor Tianqi laughed and pointed at Wei Zhongxian. He naturally knew that Wei Zhongxian was deliberately flattering him, but Wei Zhongxian was not wrong. If he had not issued an imperial edict to Nan Juyi and severely reprimanded Nan Juyi, telling him not to be clever and start a war immediately, the war in Fujian would not have ended like this.

At present, all the Dutch who occupied Penghu have surrendered, and the Dutch warships have fled far away, and this battle has been a great victory. Although it was Nan Juyi who fought the war, it was the Emperor Tianqi who formulated the strategy. Wei Zhongxian's words are not unreasonable, not to mention that everyone likes to hear good words, and the Emperor Tianqi is the same.

Happy in his heart, Emperor Tianqi spoke more and immediately sat down to chat with Wei Zhongxian about the war in Fujian. They also discussed the plan for dealing with the captured Dutch generals mentioned by Nan Juyi in the victory report.

After the war, Nan Juyi not only sent a report of victory to the imperial court, but also escorted the Dutch garrison commander Gao Wenlu and twelve others to Beijing as prisoners of war.

This decision was very much to the liking of Emperor Tianqi. In the past few years, the Ming Dynasty had been defeated repeatedly in battles with the Jiannu, and the court had lost face in Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty needed a victory that could inspire people, and the victory in the Battle of Penghu in Fujian came at the right time.

Although the captives were Dutch, these red-haired barbarians were essentially the same as the Jiannu, all of them foreigners. Offering the Dutch captives could not only boost the morale of the Ming Dynasty and let the world see the martial arts of the Ming Dynasty, but also be used to deter all directions.

At the suggestion of Wei Zhongxian, Emperor Tianqi agreed to behead all the Dutch after they surrendered as prisoners, and then send their heads to the nine borders as a warning to others.

After deciding on this matter, Emperor Tianqi handed the subsequent arrangements to Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian patted his chest on the spot and guaranteed that this matter would be handled properly. He would definitely use the heads of the Dutch to let the whole world see that those who dared to offend the Ming Dynasty would not have a good ending.

Then, Wei Zhongxian took the opportunity to talk about the Liaodong War, and once again implicitly expressed his dissatisfaction with the progress of the Liaodong War. He believed that since Fujian could achieve such a great victory, while the powerful Liaodong side had been in a stalemate, Sun Chengzong's step-by-step tactics were stable, but too stable. If this continued, when would they be able to completely destroy the Jiannu?

Facing Wei Zhongxian's attempt to deceive Mr. Sun again, Emperor Tianqi smiled in his heart, but he didn't care. He knew very well why Wei Zhongxian did this, and he also knew the contradiction between Wei Zhongxian and Mr. Sun. But although Emperor Tianqi trusted Wei Zhongxian, he was not stupid. Liaodong was not Fujian, and the Jiannu were not the Dutch. The two were simply incomparable. If the Jiannu were so easy to fight, the Ming Dynasty would not have suffered losses in Liaodong so many times over the years. The battlefield in Liaodong was of great importance, and we must not be impulsive. Stability has its advantages. Even if it costs more money, it is worth it as long as the Jiannu can be trapped to death.

Seeing that Emperor Tianqi did not comment, Wei Zhongxian felt a little disappointed, as he knew that the eye drops had not been applied today.

With a turn of his eyes, Wei Zhongxian changed the topic and discussed the contributions of the Fujian generals this time. He especially praised the Fujian General Yu Zigao and the garrison commander Wang Mengxiong who served as the vanguard, and suggested that the court could give them appropriate rewards.

Emperor Tianqi did not object to this. After thinking about it, he agreed to Wei Zhongxian's suggestion. After Wei Zhongxian finished speaking, he once again turned the topic back to Liaodong and talked about the generals in Liaodong. After a while, he mentioned Yuan Chonghuan who was guarding Ningyuan.

Wei Zhongxian highly respected Yuan Chonghuan. He not only told Emperor Tianqi about Yuan Chonghuan's situation, but also mentioned that before Yuan Chonghuan went to Liaodong, he had visited Xiong Tingbi in prison and asked Xiong Tingbi about the past war in Liaodong.

After hearing this, Emperor Tianqi felt that the name sounded familiar and couldn't help but become interested. With Wei Zhongxian's reminder, he remembered that when Sun Chengzong decided to build a city in Ningyuan, he had written a memorial to him, in which Yuan Chonghuan was mentioned and it was proposed that he be in charge of the military affairs on the Ningyuan front line.

At that time, Emperor Tianqi became very interested in Yuan Chonghuan and asked Wei Zhongxian to find the memorials of Mr. Sun. When he opened them, he found Yuan Chonghuan's name. In the memorials, Mr. Sun valued Yuan Chonghuan very much and wanted to cultivate him. He even praised Yuan Chonghuan for his ability in both civil and military affairs and his patriotic spirit. If he could be carefully cultivated, he would be of great use to the country in the future.

Now Wei Zhongxian also recommended Yuan Chonghuan to him, and the Tianqi Emperor was slightly moved. Although he valued Sun Chengzong, he knew that his teacher was too deeply involved with the Donglin Party. As his political opponent, the Donglin Party must be eliminated by the Tianqi Emperor. To completely solve the Donglin Party problem, Sun Chengzong had to be considered.

Emperor Tianqi was an emperor who valued friendship and loyalty. Although he had the coldness and decisiveness of an emperor, he also had the character of an ordinary person, one of which was friendship and loyalty.

This can be seen from the way Emperor Tianqi treated Li Xianshi (now Li Kangfei), his wet nurse Keshi, and Wei Zhongxian. Sun Chengzong was the teacher of Emperor Tianqi. Although Emperor Tianqi knew that this teacher was both civil and military and loyal, he was a member of the Donglin Party. If he wanted to move the Donglin Party, he had to move Sun Chengzong. However, he would never treat Sun Chengzong like other Donglin Party members. It would be the best choice to let Sun Chengzong return to his hometown to retire at an appropriate time. But what would happen if Sun Chengzong left Liaodong? Therefore, Emperor Tianqi had been looking for a suitable candidate to replace Sun Chengzong.

Today, Wei Zhongxian suddenly mentioned Yuan Chonghuan, and the Emperor Tianqi saw the praise for Yuan Chonghuan from Sun Chengzong, which made the Emperor Tianqi have another idea. He thought about it and asked about Yuan Chonghuan's current position. After learning that Yuan Chonghuan was only temporarily serving as the Deputy Envoy of Military Preparations, he paused for a moment and immediately said that Yuan Chonghuan could be appointed as the Deputy Envoy of Military Preparations, a fourth-rank official, and then promoted to the third-rank Right Counselor of Shandong Provincial Administration, and concurrently the Assistant of the Censorate.

(End of this chapter)