The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 89 Comfortable Position

As the saying goes, "One general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers." This time, the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition seemed to have driven out the Yuan army like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, but the Ming army also suffered heavy casualties.

Sun Xingzu, who defended Beiping last year to stop the Yuan emperor's harassment, died in battle this year at the age of 35. Feng Sheng returned to the army without authorization last year, resulting in the tragic death of General Yu Guang by Wang Baobao, who chopped off his hands and feet under the city of Lanzhou.

Before this, when Xu Da and Wang Baobao were fighting fiercely, Hu Dahai's adopted son Hu Deji was panicked when his camp was attacked, and the army was in chaos when he responded poorly.

Zhu Yuanzhang and others had long been accustomed to this. Since they joined the army, many of their brothers and sisters had died on the battlefield. Even those generals who had once been famous and skilled in martial arts could not escape such a fate.

After finishing the immediate memorial ceremony for the dead soldiers, Zhu Yuanzhang convened a military meeting.

"Emperor Yuan and Wang Baobao have joined forces in Helin. The area beyond the Great Wall is vast. I think we will have to fight sooner or later." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the generals and said, "But this battle will have to wait."

Others had no objection. Emperor Yuan and Wang Baobao would definitely continue to fight, but the current problem was to pacify the southwest.

Mingsheng in Sichuan, King Liang and the Duan family who occupy Yunnan are the next targets. We must start preparing for military action this year and try to take them down in one or two years.

At that time, we will gather heavy troops to deal with Emperor Yuan outside the Great Wall.

At this stage, Zhu Yuanzhang would not consider a defensive strategy. He is now pursuing the small Yuan Dynasty court relentlessly and not giving them any chance to breathe.

At this time, Ma Xun only needed to stand in the military tent and basically could not participate in the topics of such military meetings because he was too much of an outsider.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Xu Da and asked, "Who do you think should be the general when the imperial court goes to attack Ming Xia?"

Xu Da immediately said, "Your Majesty, I think Tang He should be the general."

Others were not in a position to say anything. Mingxia was basically a small court. Theoretically, it could be destroyed by sending a general to lead an army. By then, with the merit of destroying a country, everything would be fine, and Tang He could be granted the title of Duke.

Ma Xun had a strange look on his face. Tang and Tang Dazui had good military talents, but they were not considered good enough among the founding generals of the Ming army.

In history, Zhu Yuanzhang arranged a large number of elite soldiers and generals for Tang He, and arranged a detailed route for him to march, etc. As a result, Tang He was slow in using his troops, and Fu Youde, who was in a small army, made the first contribution.

The most embarrassing thing was that Fu Youde and Liao Yongzhong had surrendered voluntarily after fighting Mingxia to their death, but Tang He had not yet arrived in Chongqing.

The farce was that Mingsheng surrendered, but Liao Yongzhong refused to agree. Since Tang He had not arrived, only Tang He could accept the surrender.

It was clearly a battle arranged for Tang He to be granted the title of Duke, but Tang He messed it up and failed to capture a single city. In this battle, Fu Youde emerged as a dark horse.

So sometimes, even if you have an opportunity, you may not be able to seize it. Even if you have the credit at your fingertips, you may spit it out.

Seeing that Ma Xun had been silent, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say anything either. Mainly because he knew that Ma Xun could not participate in any of these topics, so he didn't want to force him.

After the others left, Zhu Yuanzhang kept Ma Xun and asked, "Why did you insist on coming to Beiping? What are you going to do?"

Ma Xun said immediately, "I am going to visit the Great Wall. I have also asked people to collect information about the culture and customs of this place these days. I am preparing to collect good materials, etc. Who knows, it may come in handy someday."

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a long time before he said, "What you did was the right thing, but others just couldn't see your contribution."

These things that Ma Xun did were of course very necessary, as they laid the foundation for future governance. However, these things really did not bring about obvious merits.

Zhu Yuanzhang then said, "People are being sent to reinforce the Great Wall, so you don't need to go and see more."

The Great Wall is an iconic building that has been under continuous construction since the Western Zhou Dynasty. Especially since Qin Shihuang, almost every dynasty that ruled the Central Plains region built the Great Wall.

The current situation is that the remnants of the Mongolian nobles have retreated to the outside of the Great Wall, still claiming to be the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, competing with the Ming Dynasty and frequently harassing the Ming's borders.

However, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the country was relatively strong and controlled many military strongholds in Inner Mongolia.

The main ones include Jilin Shipyard, Yijinai Old City, Daning Wei of Dongmeng, and Kaiping Wei of Yuanshangdu as the forward base. Dongsheng, located in the back of the Yellow River, is a strategic place to enter the Hetao area. It can be said that the three important towns form a triangle.

The Yuan Dynasty now only had the Lingbei Province left, and it had to face the Ming Dynasty, which was taking advantage of the terrain in the south of the desert to cultivate land and raise horses to supplement military supplies in an attempt to launch a counterattack.

Therefore, the Great Wall is only slightly repaired now, and there is no need to spend too much manpower and material resources. When Zhu Zhanji takes the initiative to withdraw from the south of the desert and give up Kaiping and other places, the Ming Dynasty will need to increase the intensity of building the Great Wall.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's current plan, the first line of defense is the southern part of the desert. The second line of defense is the border defense of the king of the frontier, and the third line of defense is to build the Great Wall in Juyongguan, Gubeikou, Xifengkou and other places.

Ma Xun continued, "I didn't come here last time. I was planning to ask someone about the local specialties and mineral deposits."

"These will be handled by the local government, and the Beiping Provincial Administration Office will also handle them." Zhu Yuanzhang had a headache, "Brother, you are doing the right things, and I am happy to hear that. But please focus and look at the affairs of the court."

Ma Xun also had a headache, "Brother-in-law, I may not be able to see clearly those things in the court even if I stay out of it. I'd better not get involved too much. What I am doing now is also a big deal!" Zhu Yuanzhang hoped that Ma Xun could help him control the military power, control the Secretariat, and even let Ma Xun keep an eye on the world's culture and education, because these were big things no matter how you look at it.

However, other people may not think that what Ma Xun is doing now is very important, but he knows that what he is doing now is very important, and it may have a far-reaching impact on the future of the entire Ming Dynasty.

At least now he has laid some foundation and is trying to sow some seeds that will have a chance to blossom and bear fruit in the future.

If he doesn't do these things, it is even more impossible for others to do them.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not try to persuade him any more, mainly because it was useless to persuade him.

In his opinion, some things should be left to nature. When they reach a certain level, one's mindset will slowly change.

When I went to Haozhou to join the army, it was just to survive. After I got married, I just wanted to repay my adoptive father for his kindness.

After being excluded and suspected repeatedly, and after Guo Zixing died of illness, Zhu Yuanzhang only thought about protecting himself. But when he captured Jinling and Zhu Biao was born, his ambitions began to change.

He felt that Ma Xun should be the same. He was not interested in court affairs now, but with more experience and familiarity, he would naturally be less averse.

Ma Xun, who was in a good mood, returned to his tent. Li Wenzhong came running over and said, "Uncle, the emperor will definitely reward me after I return to the capital this time. I am really blessed by the emperor. Please help me to plead for mercy."

Others are worried that the official positions they are given are not high enough or the rewards they receive are not enough, so they beg for more.

But Li Wenzhong was different. He felt that he had gotten too much and was begging for less.

Ma Xun said quickly, "I'm still wondering when I can take on less duties. When I return to the capital, I will ask His Majesty to let me off the job at the Grand Commandery. What do you think?"

Li Wenzhong said without thinking, "That's definitely not possible. I'm alone in the Grand Commandery, and I have to stand together with my uncle."

The roles of Ma Xun and Li Wenzhong in the Grand Marshal's Office are very obvious. They are relatives of the emperor and their military power is supervised by the emperor.

Li Wenzhong's military achievements were sufficient, but his seniority was low.

Although Ma Xun did not have enough military merit, he had a high enough seniority, and he did not have many contacts with most of the nobles, so he did not have to worry about offending anyone. This was an advantage that Li Wenzhong did not have, and they complemented each other.

Ma Xun immediately said, "You like reading and are very knowledgeable. So I will quit my job at the Imperial College and you can take over?"

Li Wenzhong immediately refused, saying, "Uncle, I still have to fight. I don't have time to manage the Imperial Academy!"

Look, this guy is also a sly guy, he doesn't want to take on more tasks at all.

Even though everyone knows that those tasks are just for supervision and won't consume too much energy, they still don't want to interfere.

Ma Xun looked at Li Wenzhong and said, "It's fine if you can confer the title of Duke on me later, but why are you trying to help me turn down the job at the Secretariat?"

Li Wenzhong thought about it carefully and said, "Uncle, if His Majesty and the Queen allow it, I will naturally go and advise you."

Ma Xun was relieved. He and Li Wenzhong were actually true "allies". Their positions and identities were the same, so they could really advance and retreat together.

Now Li Wenzhong no longer feels that he is "alone and powerless". Whether in the military or in the Secretariat, he has someone to consult with.

Even in some matters, he doesn't need to take the lead now, but Ma Xun, the king's brother-in-law, can come forward, and the effect will be better.

Ma Xun and Li Wenzhong were not trying to protect themselves. What they were doing was just to put themselves in a more comfortable position. For them, it is a good thing not to fight for some power.

They don't need to worry about power at all. If they are willing, they can get it easily.

Having multiple roles is not a good thing, because whether it is Ma Xun or Li Wenzhong, they all have their own pursuits and things they want to do.

It would be great if they had someone to share the burden with, so they can do what they love.

Zhu Yuanzhang led a group of generals to inspect the northern defense line and arrange the layout of some guards and fortresses, while Ma Xun led a team of people to record local customs, minerals or folk legends.

He is now very busy checking water conservancy, analyzing soil and fields, etc.

No matter what others say, Ma Xun feels that what he does are serious matters, and they are all related to important things in the future.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t see results in the short term. Just do the thing first, and you may see unexpected results in the future.

The most important thing is that these things have been done and he can have a clear conscience. After all, he is trying to change some things!
(End of this chapter)