The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 40: Three Great Clans
After three days of fierce fighting at Gubeikou, reinforcements from Jizhou Town finally arrived.

At this time, the entire pass had more than 60,000 troops defending it, and there were also 30,000 craftsmen for logistics.

They had a rough idea of ​​the enemy's situation. The Tuman had about 40,000 cavalrymen acting as archers, attacking from a distance from the rear, while 60,000 to 70,000 young and strong men were carrying ladders and taking turns to attack the city.

It is said that if you know yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.

If the Tuman cavalry did not participate in the siege, the number of attackers would be almost the same as the number of defenders.

Moreover, their Beijing Camp, Jinyiwei, Imperial Guards and Border Troops are all elite troops, while the young and strong native barbarians are just young and strong, not trained infantrymen.

In this case, Gubeikou is likely to be breached.

Wanli was relieved, so he ordered Qi Jiguang to command the Beijing camp, Shan Sinan to command the Jinyiwei and the imperial guards, and Dong Yiyuan to command the border troops. They were divided into three groups, and they took turns carrying iron shields to garrison at the front line.

In this way, the soldiers can not only get enough rest, but also accumulate combat experience.

I wonder what Tumen Khan would think if he knew that his army had become a tool for Wanli to train his troops.

This time, he was badly tricked by Zhang Siwei.

Zhang Siwei actually used him to scare Wanli in order to facilitate the subsequent conspiracy.

Who would have thought that instead of being frightened and fleeing back to the capital, Wanli personally led his troops to guard Gubeikou.

Moreover, Zhang Siwei's move completely angered Wanli.

Wanli has decided that, regardless of other corrupt officials, he must first deal with Gao Gong's faction and the three major powerful families in Puzhou.

He had ordered Luo Sigong to leave all other officials behind and thoroughly investigate Gao Gong's faction and the three major powerful families in Puzhou.

At about 4 p.m. that day, the sun was shining brightly in the sky and a fierce battle was raging on the front lines of Gubeikou. Suddenly, a rider came flying down the mountain road from the rear and rode straight towards the pass.

Not long after, Li Xuancheng came quickly with an envelope in his hand, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is a secret letter from Luo Sigong."

Wanli took the envelope, took out the thick stack of manuscript paper inside and unfolded it, and was stunned.

What a long list of names!
The Wang family of Puzhou originated from the Hedong Salt Field. Wang Chonggu's brothers Wang Chongwen and Wang Chongjiao were both big salt merchants in Hedong. Most of the salt permits in the Hedong Salt Field were monopolized by them by relying on their power.

Wang Chonggu's cousin Wang Chongya became a Jinshi in the 29th year of Jiajing, and served as Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department in Shaanxi, in charge of horse affairs.

Wang Chonggu's eldest son, Wang Qian, became a Jinshi in the fifth year of Longqing's reign and served as Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department, in charge of horse affairs.

Wang Chonggu's second son, Wang Yi, was a student of the Imperial College and was appointed as a Deputy Director of the Ministry of Justice.

Wang Chonggu's eldest grandson Wang Zhizhen was a military Jinshi, and his other grandsons Wang Zhizhu and Wang Zhicai had already passed the Juren exam.

The Zhang family of Puzhou originated from the Changlu Salt Field. Zhang Siwei's father Zhang Yunling and his uncle Zhang Xialing were both big salt merchants in Changlu. Most of the salt permits in the Changlu Salt Field were monopolized by them by virtue of their power.

Zhang Siwei's younger brother, Zhang Siduan, was a juren in the first year of the Longqing reign and is currently serving as a Langzhong in the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhang Siwei's eldest son, Zhang Jiazheng, was a juren in the tenth year of the Wanli reign and was studying at the Imperial College.

Zhang Siwei's second son, Zhang Taizheng, was a Jinshi in the eighth year of Wanli and served as the Inspector General of Shaanxi.

The Puzhou Yang family originated from Yang Zhan, the father of Yang Bo. Yang Zhan was a juren in the 14th year of Zhengde. He served as the magistrate of Fufeng County in Shaanxi Province and the assistant censor of Sichuan Province.

Yang Bo's eldest son, Yang Junmin, was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Jiajing. He served as the Director of the Ministry of Revenue, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites, and the Shaoqing of the Imperial Household Department. He is currently the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and the Governor of Shandong.

Yang Bo's second son, Yang Junshi, was a Jinshi in the second year of the Wanli reign and is currently serving as the magistrate of Fengxiang Prefecture in Shaanxi Province.

Yang Bo's third son, Yang Junyan, was admitted as a student at the Imperial College.

Yang Junqing, the fourth son of Yang Bo, was the top military scholar in the second year of the Longqing reign and served as the deputy governor of the Five Military Commandery.

Yang Junchen, the fifth son of Yang Bo, was a juren in the seventh year of the Wanli reign.

The three major wealthy families in Puzhou were all relatives by marriage. Zhang Siwei's mother was Wang Chonggu's sister, and Wang Chonggu's wife Zhang was Zhang Siwei's aunt. The daughter of Wang Chonggu and Zhang married Yang Bo's son Yang Junqing, and Yang Bo's two granddaughters married Zhang Siwei's sons Zhang Dingzheng and Zhang Jiazheng respectively.

The three great families of Puzhou are incredible. There are so many of their immediate relatives serving as officials in the court, and how many of their in-laws and disciples are there.

Two days later, around 3:00 PM, Luo Sigong's secret letter arrived again.

This time the list was even more frightening. Wang Chonggu's son Wang Qian's wife, Feng, was the daughter of Feng Shunyu, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate and the Governor of Yansui.

Pei, the wife of Yang Junshi, the son of Yang Bo, was the daughter of Pei Shen, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate and the Governor of Shaanxi.

Wang, the wife of Yang Bo's son Yang Junyan, was the daughter of Wang Lun, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate and the Governor of Gansu.

The wife of Zhang Yuanzheng, the son of Zhang Siwei, was surnamed Yang, the daughter of Yang Xiang, the deputy envoy of the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, who was in charge of the right military route of Shandong.

Zhang Siwei's eldest son-in-law, Ma Zhun, was the son of Ma Ziqiang, the former second assistant minister of the cabinet.

Zhang Siwei's second son-in-law is Yang Bo's grandson-in-law, Han Yu, who ranked first in the Shanxi provincial examination in the tenth year of Wanli. His father, Han Ji, was a Jinshi in the forty-fourth year of Jiajing and is currently the right Tongzheng of the Tongzhengshisi.

There were also Wang Chonggu's son-in-law Zhang Xun, Yang Bo's son-in-law Feng Lun, Zhang Siwei's third son-in-law Yang Xuan, etc., who all passed the imperial examination in the early Wanli period and were preparing to take part in the imperial examination.

In addition, Zhang Siwei's wife Wang, his second brother Zhang Siduan's wife Li, his third brother Zhang Sijiao's wife Liang, his fourth brother Zhang Sishi's wife Fan, his fifth brother Zhang Sixiang's wife Wang, and his seventh brother Zhang Sishu's wife Shen all came from wealthy Shanxi merchant families.

Yang Bo also had fourteen daughters, but only one of them was found to be related by marriage.

There are also rumors that Gao Gong's family came from the Jiezhou Gao family, and that the Puzhou Yang family and the Jiezhou Gao family had an intermarriage, and Yang Bo and Gao Gong were distant cousins.

There are also rumors that Wang Chonggu and Zhang Siwei's families are related by marriage to the former Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War Wang Daokun, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Wang Weizhong, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Li Kaixian, and the Doctor of the Ministry of Personnel Huangfu Xi, but these remain to be verified.

The in-laws of the three great families in Puzhou are simply overwhelming!

The key point is that they also stationed many officials at the border. The three borders of Shaanxi and the town of Gansu are almost occupied by their in-laws!
In addition, Wang Chonggu, Yang Bo, Fang Fengshi, and Wu Duina have all served as governors of Xuanda and Shanxi. It is estimated that Xuanda and Pianguan Town were almost under their control!

Of the nine border towns of the Ming Dynasty, Xuanda and Pianguan towns, three towns in Shaanxi and one town in Gansu, seven border towns were under the control of the three major families in Puzhou, leaving only Jizhou town and Liaodong town that were not under their control!
After reading it, Wanli couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

We haven't found out who their followers are yet. The three powerful families in Puzhou are too scary. No wonder Zhang Juzheng didn't dare to touch them.

The three great families of Puzhou are really terrifying. In terms of money, they are rich enough to rival a country. In terms of people, they control the border troops of seven towns. In terms of power, Zhang Siwei, the chief minister of the cabinet, has more power than him as the emperor!

They even selected the next batch of people.

Han Yu was a veteran of the Donglin clan. He had served in the cabinet during the Taichang, Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties, and had twice served as the chief minister of the cabinet. This shows how powerful the three major families in Puzhou were.

Historically, their people were still in power until the Ming Dynasty was about to perish!
He had originally planned to take action next year when the 50,000 troops of the Beijing Camp had completed their training, but now it seems that he underestimated the enemy.

If we really train this number of troops and take action, it is still unknown who will win.

In other words, he had no chance of winning at all.

Zhang Siwei could even summon Tumen Khan’s army!
There is also Altan Khan's army, which is probably ready to come at any time.

And what does he have?
Now, almost all the troops he could mobilize were transferred to Gubeikou. Even so, Tumen Khan was on the attacking side and although the terrain was obviously unfavorable, they were still able to fight him back and forth.

Who else could he count on?

Li Chengliang from Liaodong Regional Command?
That guy is a warlord!

Moreover, in history, Li Chengliang's family had an unclear relationship with the Zhejiang Party, and the defeat at Sarhu had a lot to do with this group of guys.

In other words, this guy can be bribed with benefits, so he doesn't have to count on him at all.

All he could mobilize were the Beijing Camp, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Imperial Guards, and 30,000 troops from Jizhou Town.

At this moment, he is still far behind Zhang Siwei.

It seems that he has to pretend to be an ignorant and rebellious teenager to paralyze Zhang Siwei. At least, the Beijing camp must fill the eight major regiments and have 200,000 to 300,000 troops before he can take action.

Otherwise, Zhang Siwei would not have had to mobilize the border troops to purge the court. Even if this guy had let Tumen Khan and Altan Khan's troops in, he would not have been able to defeat him.

There is no doubt about this. Xianning Hou Qiu Luan was willing to lead Altan Khan's army to the capital just for a little benefit.

If he takes action to deal with the three major powerful families in Puzhou, they will have a falling out and fight to the death.

Under such circumstances, it would be strange if these traitors did not send in the armies of Tumen Khan and Altan Khan to deal with him.

If he acts rashly because he is not strong enough, the Ming Dynasty will probably be finished!
(End of this chapter)