The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 162 The Man Behind the Horse Thief
The great hero Ning Longxiong died suddenly, and the captured bandits didn't know much about the news. One of the captured leaders only knew that someone had contacted Ning Longxiong, but he didn't know who contacted him or for what purpose.

According to the information collected so far, the biggest suspect is Dabansheng.

Dozens of war horses were given to the cavalry, and some were killed to obtain horse meat as military rations.

The Hexi Camp is not short of supplies. It has its own caravan of several hundred animals. If it really runs out of food, it can kill animals to satisfy its hunger.

Before leaving the Great Wall, they had to eat some grass and fodder carried by the caravan when they were inside the pass. When they arrived at the grassland outside the pass, which was the most fertile Hetao area, of course they had to eat as they went.

With hundreds of livestock and more than a hundred war horses, the grass became noticeably thinner wherever they passed. The one or two herdsmen they met in the past few days looked dissatisfied but did not dare to say much.

The grasslands lack supplies, such as wood for making fires, so the military camps have detailed regulations for the water sources in the grasslands, and they must check whether the water sources have been poisoned, such as by rotting animal carcasses.

Many military books handed down from generation to generation also contain warnings and coping methods, but many soldiers lacked patience and were lazy in their daily lives, and were unable to do these meticulous work, which led to many soldiers being infected with diseases on the grassland.

The Hetao region has abundant water resources, and you can often meet herders asking for water, so water resources are not a big problem.

No one knows exactly how many people there are in the Dabansheng area, but it should be around 20,000 to 30,000. The largest forces are Mo Bisheng, Ou Yanhu, and Darong.

Mo Bisheng has the highest prestige, Ou Yanhu has the worst temper, Da Rong has the deepest trade with the interior, and then there are some leaders, big and small. They are not a unified force and are wary of each other, but they can be united in facing the outside world when it comes to the affairs of the Great Zhou.

Overall, other forces will agree with Mo Bisheng's attitude towards the Great Zhou.

The Dabansheng area is far away from the interior of the country and is also the northernmost part of the Hetao region. The further north you go, the more Gobi deserts you will see. The further north you go, the more desolate it will become, until there is endless ice and no trace of human beings.

The distance was too far and the situation was complicated, so the court's attitude towards Dabansheng was mainly to win him over and maintain stability.

Mo Bisheng, Ou Yanhu, Da Rong and others all held positions in the Great Zhou. All three were commanders, and the leaders under them were officials such as Tongzhi and Qianshi.

Zhao Tao ran away.

Zhai Wen did not leave and chose to stay.

Zhai Wen had seen how the Hexi Camp eliminated that group of horse thieves. If the horse thieves were easy to eliminate, it would not have been the turn of this Beijing Camp to make merit over the years. Its combat effectiveness was truly terrifying.

Zhao Tao was Feng Yong's subordinate and was rooted in Datong, but he himself was an official of the imperial court and would not stay in Datong forever.

Since he is a censor, there is a high possibility that he will return to the Inspectorate or the Six Ministries next. With this person's background and connections, maybe in a few years, we will all be serving as officials in the capital, and what if he gains military merit?

Compared with before, Zhai Wen has changed his attitude.

Of course Wang Xin welcomes them. As for friends, the more the better.

"The reason why no one in Datong opposes Feng Jiedu is not only because he has suppressed dissidents and promoted his close associates for many years, so no one dares to offend him, but also because Datong cannot do without him."

Zhai Wen knew Datong very well, and he introduced not only the area outside the Great Wall but also the area inside the Great Wall.

Wang Xin listened carefully and understood what Zhai Wen meant.

Just like Li Chengliang in the original time and space, Li Chengliang was domineering and arrogant in Liaodong, acting like a local emperor in Liaodong. Didn't the court know about this? There were so many imperial censors and civil servants in Liaodong, how could the cabinet not know about this?

But what does it matter if you know?

It's like a general keeping servants who become his private soldiers. When the imperial army's soldiers are rotten, the imperial court can only rely on the generals to lead their servants to fight. Not only can the imperial court accept it, but it also has to pay military salaries and supplies to the generals' servants.

Originally, the imperial court issued military pay and supplies to support the imperial army, but eventually it became the imperial court issuing military pay and supplies to help generals support their own private soldiers.

Why did the situation become like this?

It is not the court's own fault. The accumulated problems are difficult to reverse and the deficits are serious. These are all forced by the situation and the general trend, not driven by a certain person.

By the same token, the army camp in Datong border town used to be able to intimidate both the inside and outside, but now it can't even support itself, let alone intimidate both the inside and outside. Instead, Feng Yong and his servants have replaced them, and Datong can only rely on Feng Yong.

Historically, the border trade policies from the Jiajing to Wanli periods stabilized the Hetao region.

This stability is terrifying.

The people on both sides gained a rare peace, and trade between them even prospered. However, the military became rotten, and the Mongolian cavalry that had tormented the Ming Dynasty in the north for more than a hundred years was wiped out.

Seeing that his old nest was rotten to the point of being completely ruined, Altan Khan's grandson would rather give up his old nest. Finally, he found a reason and immediately took his remaining troops and reluctantly followed him to Qinghai, which was at the horizon.

This kind of farming stability is poison to herders.

Mobility and instability are the strengths of nomadism, but stability is their undoing.

In short, the Altan tribe, which had once frightened the Mongol Khan into fleeing eastward, remained stable for less than three generations and then disappeared without a doubt, leaving whoever came next to be the master.

Although the Great Zhou was influenced by the inertia of the environment, it did not reach the level of the Great Ming.

Because the Shanyu tribe and the Dabansheng area did not have a unified Khan, but were wary of and competed with each other, although they began to stabilize, they still maintained a certain military strength, which led to Datong relying on Feng Yong.

It’s similar to the reason why Liaodong needs Li Chengliang.

It’s not that the Ming court was unaware of Li Chengliang’s tactics of nurturing enemies and strengthening himself, but if Li Chengliang was replaced, who could the Ming court use?

No matter how Zhuge Liang inferred afterwards, the fact is that after the Ming court removed Li Chengliang, the situation in Liaodong collapsed within a few years and eventually became the gravedigger of the Ming Dynasty. In the eyes of people at that time, this meant that Liaodong could not do without Li Chengliang.

Fearing Wang Xin might not understand, Zhai Wen tried to explain, "Wang Ziteng wanted to replace Feng Yong, but he had no troops, so how could the court trust him? This is why Wang Ziteng lost to Feng Yong."

Wang Xin rode on his horse, listening quietly, with his own thoughts in mind.

Zhai Wen's attitude towards Wang Xin has been changing along the way, from neglect at the beginning to winning him over now. Thinking of their mutual support in the capital in the future, he is increasingly unwilling to see Wang Xin act rashly.

"So I want to defeat Fatty Feng, unless I can reassure the imperial court and Datong that there is no threat outside the Great Wall?" Wang Xin said with a smile.

Zhai Wen fell silent.

Wang Xin couldn't help but wonder, isn't that the case?

"Mr. Zhai was promoted by Lord Zhou, wasn't he?" Wang Xin suddenly asked. Zhai Wen looked surprised and couldn't help but ask, "How could I be qualified to be promoted by Lord Zhou himself?" Coming to his senses, he quickly covered up and asked, "General, why do you have such doubts?"

Wang Xin was certain that this person was indeed from the line of the retired emperor.

"The old emperor used civil officials to control the military, suppressing the nobles, promoting military generals, and prioritizing civil officials. The current system of nine frontier governors was created by the old emperor.

Fatty Feng was a military general, Zhai Gong was a censor, and Wang Ziteng was a nobleman. As far as I know, Wang Ziteng was good friends with Prince Zhongshun, who was the emperor's uncle.

So it's only natural that Zhai Gong stands on Fatty Feng's side. These things are not difficult to guess; there is a clear logic to follow."

Zhai Wen had to take a serious look at the young general beside him. Although he knew that unlike his youthful appearance, this man had a calm personality and great wisdom, he still couldn't help but marvel at it.

Wang Xin took the initiative to say: "It is fate. I don't know what I have done to catch the eye of Zhang Butai. He was reluctant to let me go back to Yangzhou. If it weren't for Zhang Butai, I wouldn't have come to Datong."

There was indeed a factional struggle in the court, with some supporting the retired emperor, some supporting the emperor, some betting on both sides, some being neutral, and some sitting on the fence.

In fact, people at Zhai Wen's level are more likely to be unaware of their position. They are just doing things according to orders from their superiors. They have no qualifications and cannot say that they belong to anyone. They are just ordinary people.

Since Wang Xin was frank, Zhai Wen naturally knew who Zhang Butai was, so he no longer concealed it.

"The Emperor doesn't necessarily want complete peace outside the Great Wall."

"Why?"

"Ugh."

Zhai Wen sighed and said with emotion, "If the old emperor wasn't so selfish, with his wisdom and methods, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a sage monarch."

Wang Xin nodded. He had heard a little about the affairs of the retired emperor, and objectively speaking, it was indeed true.

Given the situation at the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the deep power of the nobles, the Battle of Tumu in the former Ming Dynasty resulted in the annihilation of hundreds of thousands of field troops, which led to the decline of the nobles.

The power of the founding nobles of the Great Zhou was even greater, but they were able to achieve a stable transfer of power under the layout of the retired emperor. Just from this one thing, those who understand will understand how powerful it is.

Zhai Wen's subsequent analysis impressed Wang Xin.

The prestige of the imperial court is not as high as before, and various places are gradually out of control. Civil officials and wealthy families are the biggest threat. The imperial court cannot collect taxes, but has no way to deal with them. They are more harmful than military officials.

If the threat from outside the Great Wall is gone, Datong will no longer need military officers. I am afraid that civil servants and wealthy families will become more powerful. It will be unlike today. Although Datong is the territory of Fatty Feng, the court can still use it.

To put it bluntly, what is the difference between those regions that have been in arrears with taxes and grain for ten years and those who rebel and declare themselves kings?

They are just waving the banner of the Great Zhou. This banner is used by local tycoons to shift the blame and tell the people below that it is the fault of the Great Zhou court, not the exploitation of local tycoons, that makes their lives miserable.

Therefore, the common people hated the imperial court which was far away, but they were of the same mind as the wealthy families around them and regarded them as their backbone.
Wang Xin's impression of Zhai Wen changed greatly.

Just based on this knowledge, Zhai Wen is very remarkable.

The pen is controlled by scholars, who only talk about how military generals are out of control and how civil officials must be used to control the military, but never about how scholars are out of control. Since the rise of the imperial examination system, in most cases, it was the scholars who lost control first, which led to the collapse of the country.

When civil servants are in power, there has always been a situation where civil servants lose control and local governments lose balance, which leads to the tragic situation of the country being destroyed and families being ruined.

The loss of control by military generals is tangible, while the loss of control by intellectuals is intangible and more difficult to prevent.

Wang Xin had to think about a question.

The emperor now controls the court, with the cabinet managing daily affairs. According to what Zhai Wen said, why did they transfer him to Datong? Wang Ziteng's failure showed that they supported Feng Yong.

He was transferred to Datong again. Wang Xin looked at Zhai Wen, who seemed to know something.

"I don't know, but as the general said before, everything has its own thread, it's just a little obscure." Zhai Wen smiled confidently.

There are so many smart people in the world.

Wang Xin couldn't help but sigh.

Sometimes there are just too many smart people in this land, and they all know what to do to benefit themselves the most, so they work hard without regard for their lives, and each generation is more hardworking than the previous one. However, for oneself, it is beneficial to be able to attract more smart people.

Wang Xin also guessed it.

Since the Emperor was so powerful and knew how to maintain regional balance, and Fatty Feng was becoming increasingly powerful, even disregarding court discipline. On the other hand, he had a small army, was self-sufficient, and could be employed by the court. Most importantly, he could fight, and the forces behind him were at odds with Fatty Feng. Who better to be his opponent than him?

So it was the idea of ​​the retired emperor to transfer himself to Datong.

Sure enough, he said that the style did not look like Zhang Jifu's, and he even suspected it was Zhou Daofeng, who turned out to be the retired emperor.

However, the emperor was really smart, and his ideas coincided with his own.

The Dabansheng area should not be destroyed, but should become a place that complements the interior of the country to achieve a balance, so that there can be long-term stability. As for the fact that it has rotted to the root due to long-term peace, it is the loss of control of the civil officials and wealthy families, not the fault of the army.

The wealthy civil servants control every aspect of government, have a terrible governance, and even put the blame on the military. They are truly rotten to the core.

So what are your own benefits?

You can't work for nothing.

My subordinates are defending the country and fighting for the country. I am their general and I cannot let their efforts go to waste. They must get the credit they deserve, so we cannot fight wars randomly.

Also, since the emperor is so experienced, what arrangements has he made for himself?
He wanted me to check and balance Feng Yong, but Feng Yong went too far. I couldn't just endure it. Was that bandit really from the Dabansheng area? It was too coincidental. What was Feng Yong's trick?
The key is to figure out whether the horse thieves were instigated by Dabansheng, which will affect your next choice.

All conspiracies and intrigues are based on strength, just like those ridiculous officials in the late Ming Dynasty who tried to persuade Ligdan Khan with empty words and use other people's military power.

It's because he has been a termite for too many years that he has become stupid and clear-headed.

(End of this chapter)