The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 152: Wang Xin, the Guardian of Yanmen Pass

Wang Xin led his army to set out at the end of April, heading west along the Nine Borders Line, passing Xuanfu and entering Datong. The Nine Borders were established based on the Great Wall, which was equivalent to nine military bases, each responsible for a section of the Great Wall.

The Great Wall is not just a wall, it is a complete military system that also includes the transportation of troops and supplies.

Because Zhang Can had served in Datong before, although he suffered from marginalization, he was very familiar with the situation in Datong, which greatly helped Wang Xin deepen his understanding of Datong.

The easternmost Liaodong Town guarded the Liaodong border, followed by Ji Town and Xuanfu Town guarding the northern border of the capital, and then Datong Town guarding the northwestern border of Shanxi. The scope of Datong included most of the land north of the Great Wall, as well as the land south of the Great Wall, all the way to Yanmen Pass.

Needless to say, the land south of the Great Wall was well defended by various military cities, which also provided support for most of the border residents.

It is difficult to say about the land north of the Great Wall.

The Hu tribe lives a nomadic life, constantly moving. You may even see this tribe this year, but not for many years to come. You may even think they have disappeared, but suddenly one day, they will come back as nomads.

A land of ironwork and a nomadic tribe.

The untrained tribes were the targets of strict defense by the military garrisons and were often driven away. Only the trained tribes were allowed to graze and trade with the border towns, each obtaining what it needed.

These familiar tribes exist in the directory of border towns. The generals in the border areas know each other and the leaders of the familiar tribes. Because of the rules, the caravans dare to do business in these familiar tribes.

Some poor young people from Shu tribes would even join the border army. The living environment of the Hu people made them good at riding and shooting since childhood, and the border army liked these young people very much, so the nine borders were filled with Hu cavalry.

Only the larger tribes would receive titles from the imperial court and be recorded in the Ministry of War, but even these larger tribes might disappear after three to five years, or even ten to twenty years.

They may have found more fertile pastures, or come into conflict with a certain tribe, or continue to migrate, perhaps to a place thousands of miles away.

In short, in stark contrast to the stability of the inland areas, these border areas are full of disorder.

It is precisely because of the endless disorder and chaos that the boundless and barren land can never bring any benefits, but only destruction, so the Great Zhou can only spend a huge price to establish the Nine Frontiers.

This is relative to the imperial court. As for individuals, many people were enriched by border trade.

The court gave a month's time limit, and Wang Xin strictly adhered to the army's daily marching speed of thirty miles. In fact, it could be faster, and marching is also a kind of training, especially for the multi-functional vehicle camp that he wanted to form, so he was also training along the way.

On the 26th day, we arrived at Yanmen Pass in the morning.

Before the Early Ming Dynasty, Yanmen Pass played a very important role and was a famous pass since ancient times. In the Early Ming Dynasty, with the establishment of the Nine Frontiers, the role of Yanmen Pass as a frontier fortress was no longer as significant as before.

But this is Yanmen Pass.

Wang Xin stood on the gate tower of Yanmen Pass. Local generals and his subordinates surrounded him. Wang Xin looked at the dangerous mountains and rivers in the distance, as if he saw history.

"I am at Yanmen Pass, and you are a guest at Emei Mountain. My heart is thousands of miles away, and my shadow is stuck between the two places. The long sword returns, and we meet on the streets of Luoyang. The hustle and bustle on the streets makes my heart restless."

"Dark clouds are pressing down on the city, and the city is about to be destroyed. The armor's light opens towards the golden scales of the sun. The sound of the horn fills the autumn sky, and the swallow's fat condenses the night purple. A half-rolled red flag faces the Yishui, and the frost is heavy and the cold drum can't make any sound. Repay the king with gold The purpose of the stage is to guide the Jade Dragon to die for you."

I never thought that one day I would become the defender of Yanmen Pass. This feeling is really wonderful.

Daizhou.

The prefectural government office.

"Has the Beijing Army reached Yanmen Pass?"

Upon hearing the news brought by his subordinates, the prefect's expression was complicated. Thinking of some things, he couldn't help but shudder in his heart and felt confused about the future.

The governor was quite polite to him, but too polite, which showed that he didn't want to take care of it.

The subordinates seem obedient, but in fact they are afraid of getting into trouble, so they do things in a disciplined manner. If they make trouble in the future, only the prefect will have to take the blame, because he has no background.

Sighing, Wu Hong gathered his thoughts and quickly set off to visit the newly arrived general at Yanmen Pass in the north.

Wang Xin was still handing over the power to the local generals.

The two thousand troops he brought were, of course, not only to guard Yanmen Pass. He was also responsible for the dozens of miles of defense line from Taihe Ridge to Ruyuekou, as well as the manpower in various dangerous military forts and the placement of local soldiers, such as Yebushou and Duntaidun Army.

Although he had just arrived at Yanmen Pass, Wang Xin had received news from all sides.

Datong was a place that was harassed by Hu people on the border. Basically, there would be invasions by Hu people every year. Sometimes they were blocked outside by the Datong military town, and sometimes they were not discovered by the Datong military town and secretly invaded the interior, looted and then rode away.

Therefore, the Datong Military Town asked the court for food and money every year to build the Great Wall and military forts. The court defaulted on the payment every year, and the little military funds that Datong could squeeze out by scraping together were still not enough to fill Datong's stomach.

In short, Datong is like a sieve. It is not that the Datong army did not work hard, but it is really impossible to defend against it. There is no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days.

Therefore, the border residents in northern Shanxi were worried about their own safety and built many civilian forts. With the civilian forts, they had the confidence to not pay taxes. The local government found it increasingly difficult to collect grain taxes, forming a vicious cycle.

Despite this, it managed to maintain a certain degree of stability.

The Hu people were afraid of the Datong army and played hide-and-seek. Although they often went south to plunder, they did not dare to expand the scale or bring too much supplies, because too much supplies would slow down their speed and make it easy for the Datong army to catch up.

The Datong military garrison needed defense, so the imperial court didn't dare delay paying Datong's military pay too much. Instead, the neighboring Xuanfu and Yulin were severely delayed. While the general situation was stable, there was unrest in some areas, and many people were implicated.

For example, some time ago, a state was plundered and the governor was imprisoned afterwards.

Although it is said that the military is controlled by civil officials, in reality the court did not dare to oppress the military officials excessively. Instead, it was the civil officials who were arrested and imprisoned at will, and often became scapegoats.

But no one should say that anyone else is wronged. We all have crotches covered in yellow mud, and no one is clean.

In short, environment determines everything.

Since the border troops are unreliable, local officials naturally want to control their own military force, and civil officials also understand the importance of guns. They are not novices, just like Zhang Jifu who knew how to capture the Yingtian Camp.

The combat effectiveness of Yingtian Camp is not good enough among the border troops, but it is still an army, and it can still deal with the people and petty thieves and bandits.

Wang Xin also heard some of the current news.

For example, the governor of Shanxi wanted to rebuild the garrison troops in the north. The local government provided land, which was managed by the gentry. This attracted some refugees to cultivate the land. In normal times, they would farm and train in their spare time. When war broke out, the local government would provide food and money. In the name of defending their hometown, they won the support of the local gentry.

In fact, they are similar to the local militia in the mainland, but they are more formal.

However, this kind of local army is doomed to be useless from the root. The slogans seem useless because the people who use them are useless, not because the slogans are useless.

Slogans represent ideas. What kind of ideas form what kind of team and determine the upper limit of this team.

Just like Zheng Zhilong in history, he was essentially a maritime merchant, so no matter how large the scale, how advanced the technology, or how strong the strength, facing the feudal military forces, even though he had many advantages, he could not persist for long and chose to surrender.

Therefore, the core of this kind of team established by gentry is to control the territory. Wang Xin does not think highly of it at all. Of course, it does not mean that their combat effectiveness is not good. Sometimes they inspire the fighting spirit to defend their hometown and their combat effectiveness is amazing.

Just as Wang Xin was getting to know the surrounding situation, the governor of Daizhou arrived.

Wang Xin invited them in, they bowed to each other, and then they sat down.

Although the prefect Wu Hong heard that the general was very young, he was still surprised and felt a little uneasy.

Wang Xin was also a little surprised. Civil officials are always arrogant, but the prefect in front of him looked troubled and had no confidence at all. Doesn't he lack the "civil servant's character"?

The two exchanged pleasantries for a moment before Wu Hong got straight to the point. "Every year in June or July, or August or September, the Hu people invade the pass, with Daizhou bearing the brunt. General, do you have any plans?"

Being an official in the interior was easy. Peace had lasted a hundred years, and there were no troubles. At most, there would be a few troublemakers, and the government would handle them on their own. Therefore, military generals were useless, a mere waste of food. They were easily able to resort to violence by relying on their troops, but they were only harmful and had no benefit. Naturally, they had to be severely suppressed to prevent them from causing harm to the people.

The border towns are maintained by the military and supervised by civilian officials, so there is no problem.

Only today's Daizhou.

It's neither the inland nor a border town. Once something goes wrong, the military generals will take it easy, but the civil officials will have to take the blame. Wu Hong endured for several years and was never transferred, fearing that one day he would not only lose his official hat, but also his head.

But he was reluctant to leave, so he became more and more haggard and regarded the new Beijing camp as his life-saving straw.

"Tighten up defenses everywhere, strengthen communications with the surrounding areas, and don't let a single Hu person go. Does Governor Wu have a better idea?" Wang Xin noticed Wu Hong's expression and asked tentatively.

Wu Hong forced a smile and said hesitantly, "General Wang, would you be willing to bring more soldiers?"

"What do you say?" Wang Xin asked with a smile.

Wu Hong was a little hesitant because the general in front of him was too young.

If it were a few years earlier, before coming to Daizhou, Wu Hong would never have thought that he would cooperate with the military generals, or even beg them. But the situation was beyond his control, and he had already seen it clearly.

The governor of Shanxi also knew that Daizhou was a trouble, so he only set up garrisons in other places, but gave up Daizhou, treating it as a burden, even throwing it away like a bone, deliberately attracting vicious dogs and wolves to prevent it from causing harm to other places and reducing the burden on various places.

The same is true for the Datong military town. As long as they are not the ones causing trouble, it's fine. Datong's military and political power are mostly military forts. The Hu people know that there is nothing to rob and will not rob Datong. The two sides have formed a "tacit understanding".

Under this tacit understanding, Datong sometimes turns a blind eye to the Hu people.

The only unlucky one is Daizhou.

I originally thought that the court would transfer troops from the capital to guard the local areas in rotation. I heard that this time they were indeed mobilizing elite troops. The court really wanted to stabilize the local areas this time, and the new Minister of War could still do something practical.

Although the arrears were not resolved and the local problems remained the same, rotating a group of elite troops trained in the Beijing camp to guard the local areas to plug the loopholes, like patching up clothes, was also a way to solve the problem.

In this case, Wu Hong thought of cooperating with the elite soldiers of the Beijing camp who had arrived. Daizhou fully supported the army, and the army blocked the Hu people for Daizhou.

It seems quite passive, but in fact Wu Hong has no other choice.

With this mentality, Wu Hong was worried that Wang Xin was too young, so he could only tell him the truth and express his plan.

(End of this chapter)