On November 15 of the first year of Chongzhen, on the Yanshan Mountain Road in the direction of Xuanhua to Beijing, a team winding more than ten miles was slowly moving towards Beijing.

It's a different kind of noise than it was a few months ago when the troops passed by. Now this troop of nearly 10,000 people has always remained silent during the march, except for the sound of some officers giving orders, only the rustle of countless people as they walk.

The soldiers in the procession, in addition to carrying some light weapons, carried only a leather bag made of deerskin, which stored their carry-on luggage. As for some of the bulky weapons, they were placed on the wagons behind each small unit.

Although these soldiers were not very neat when they walked, they all maintained the same speed to advance, so from the side, the whole army basically maintained its own formation when it was marching.

Each soldier with his bag kept his mouth tightly closed, and they looked down at the back of their comrade in front of them, allowing their feet to keep up with their companion's footsteps. This kind of preoccupied look finally made their temperament change a little, even Zuo Liangyu, who had been paying attention to the changes in his troops, felt a little incredible.

As the chariot battalion that was transferred from Liaodong to Jizhou and then to Datong, Zuo Liangyu was very aware of the past of this army. Most of the soldiers in this army were veterans who had fought against the Jurchens. Although they have combat effectiveness, they have little discipline, which is almost a common problem of the Liaodong army.

On the battlefield of Liaodong, every time he fought with the Jurchens, he walked around in front of the Ghost Gate. According to the military system of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to senior military attachés, ordinary sergeants and junior officers must be stationed in a front-line position forever unless they die in battle.

With the exception of a handful of famous generals, you can't expect a group of soldiers who can't see their future to maintain any discipline when they go into battle. Acquiescing to these soldiers who were brutally suppressed by Shangguan on weekdays, venting well when they go out on the expedition is the only way to control the army.

As the chief general of this cavalry battalion, Zuo Liangyu, who can also be regarded as a rising star in the Liaodong Army, also recognizes this default unspoken rule in the army. In fact, he even believes that an army can only be effective if it retains some bestial nature. The best examples of this are the Jurchens.

However, when he and his chariot battalion were transferred to Datong, and the emperor inserted fifty or sixty graduates of the military academy into his troops, he underwent an incomprehensible change in his troops.

Zuo Liangyu didn't care about the emperor's placement of people in this army. Although he was the commander of the cavalry battalion, the cavalry battalion was not his inheritance.

Zuo Liangyu did not have much to do with the Liaoxi Generals, his family background was just an ordinary military background, and he was completely promoted by fighting against Jiannu. When the cavalry battalion under his command was in Liaodong, he only obeyed the orders of those generals from Liaoxi.

Therefore, it is a good thing for the emperor to want to reshuffle his own troops, and he can take this opportunity to promote a few of his own people and strengthen his control over this army.

Moreover, the emperor not only installed manpower in the chariot camp, but also greatly improved the living conditions and material supplies of this unit, which also greatly strengthened the combat effectiveness of this unit in his hands.

He was not surprised by all this, thinking that this was just the emperor's desire to win over the border army and install trustworthy people in the border army, which might allow him to enter the emperor's field of vision.

But when these military academy graduates entered the army, began literacy education and various cohort training for soldiers, and took military records seriously, he was a little puzzled.

If Your Majesty wants to win over the border troops, he shouldn't be so strict with these soldiers, from dressing and eating to marching and fighting, he must pay attention to discipline, he is not afraid that those soldiers will not be able to stand the control and make mutinies.

What's more, after a soldier goes to the battlefield tomorrow, whether he can survive or not is a question, why is there any need to learn words that are not useful on weekdays? What's more, soldiers can only be easier to manage if they are ignorant and honest, and they will be braver when they go to the battlefield.

However, as time passed, none of Zuo Liangyu's worries appeared. But the soldiers under his command, who had been rude and scattered, were now quiet and disciplined.

The changes that happened to the soldiers made Zuo Liangyu happy and worried at the same time. He was happy that the unit in his hand now, after a few months of training and a real battle with the Mongols, began to faintly show the demeanor of a strong army, just like the army that was originally trained by Qi Jiguang in Jizhou Town.

For a general, the stronger the army in his hands, of course, the better, which is what makes him happy. But in the same way, most of the soldiers in this army now identify with those military academy graduates, which makes him worry about being hollowed out.

Of course, what made this cavalry battalion glow with such momentum was not only because of the training of military academy graduates and their victory over the Mongols, but also because of the imposing first cavalry wing in front of the cavalry battalion.

Originally obscure, it was just this cavalry unit that had just been formed. At first, everyone thought that this was an expensive plaything made by His Majesty the Emperor. But their performance on the battlefield finally made those who criticized them for wasting money and food shut their mouths.

Although the soldiers of the Liaodong Che Cavalry Battalion recognized the outstanding achievements of the First Cavalry Wing in this war, they were also inspired to be proud of themselves. These soldiers were unwilling, and even the march was overwhelmed by this newly formed army, and they did not think that they who had fought with the Jurchens would be weaker than the other side.

Just as Zuo Liangyu was on the march, facing the gains and losses of the army around him, several officials in the wartime base camp walking in the middle of this army were also talking with Sun Chengzong, the commander of this army.

Mao Yuanyi, who was riding a white horse and half a horse's head behind Sun Chengzong, was turning his head to Sun Chengzong in front of him on the right and whispered: "Chief Lord, we haven't passed Xuanhua yet, and the two gentlemen Han and Yuan and many officials in the court have already written several letters to you, what are you planning in your heart?" ”

Sun Chengzong's face sank like water, and after being silent for a long time, he replied to this close subordinate, "Even if we are lucky enough to defeat the Chahar Ministry, will the grassland outside Datong Pass be peaceful?"

My Daming is now an eventful season, and it is not easy to stabilize the foreign enemy in the north, why can't they let Daming take a breath, and they want to set off a party struggle in the DPRK? I'd rather go back and resign to Your Majesty and go back to my hometown to retire than see a river of blood flowing in the court again. ”

Mao Yuanyi suddenly became a little anxious, and he hurriedly persuaded him: "Why should the chief be so disheartened, this Mr. Han and they are also dissatisfied with those shameless people filling the court and covering the sky with one hand. Besides, isn't Mr. Yuan also dissuading you, Chief Executive, from intervening in this turmoil.

Now that the Holy Son of Heaven is in power, even if His Majesty is blinded by those villains for a while, there will always be a day when the clouds will see the light of day. If the chief minister is unwilling to go along with Mr. Han's proposal, it is better to wait and see what will change for the better, and there is no need to take the initiative to seek it, so that the DPRK and China will be less upright. ”

Sun Chengzong looked back at him, but made up his mind and said: "Before this war, I told Your Majesty that I am already old and frail, and I have often felt tinnitus and dizziness in recent days, and my energy is not as good as before.

Last year, I was summoned to Beijing, and that was because His Majesty had just ascended the throne, and I wanted to be brave for His Majesty, not because the old man still had any greed for power.

Now that His Majesty has ascended the throne for a year, the DPRK and China have become firmly established. In the year since the establishment of the General Staff, it has gradually embarked on the track, and even if the old man is not there, there is nothing to worry about.

Han Xiangyun wrote a letter to the old man, which was counting on the old man's coercion to return to Beijing to force His Majesty to deal with those with different political views in the court.

Let's not say that this is against the norm, even if the old man didn't receive these letters, Huang Zhongwu would believe that the old man didn't intend to start a party struggle again?

If the old man didn't immediately ask His Majesty to return to his hometown after returning to Beijing, how could Huang Zhongwu and them sleep well? When the time comes, I can't say that even you will be implicated in this turmoil by the old man. ”

Sun Chengzong's words made Mao Yuanyi speechless for a while. In the party struggle that began at the end of Wanli, there was no right or wrong, only the position of the party.

Although the party struggle was fierce in the last years of Wanli, the officials who failed in the political struggle were at most driven out of the court and returned to their hometowns to live in the crown and be rich idlers.

But five years after the Apocalypse, the party struggle between the DPRK and China became extremely bloody, and the loser was ruined. Mao Yuanyi also shuddered a little when she thought of this scene.

Rao is known as the handsome man of the General Staff, and he also feels powerless about the current situation. The beginning of everything was a letter from Han Xiangyun half a month ago.

The letter said that Huang Zhongwu, the first assistant, was planning to instigate the official to propose that when he gave Sun Chengzong a meritorious service, he would follow the old practice of Xinjian Bo and give Sun Chengzong a knighthood.

This proposal looks good, but according to the political tradition of the Ming Dynasty, this is to divide Sun Chengzong from the civil official to the circle of nobles. In order to prevent Sun Chengzong from being appreciated by the emperor because of this military exploit, he would gain a greater say in the court.

After Wang Shouren was crowned a new uncle, he could no longer enter the center of the imperial court and issued his own opinions on the political affairs of the Ming Dynasty. Because the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty will not let a noble intervene in the supreme decision-making power of the civil officials, thus setting a precedent for the political system of the Ming Dynasty.

Now that Huang Zhongwu has already made a move against Sun Chengzong, he will no longer be allowed to stay in the court and give him a chance to turn over. Whether Sun Chengzong wants it or not, he has to react.

And Han Xiangyun advocated that Sun Chengzong should make a preemptive strike, and after returning to Beijing, Huang Zhongwu would be impeached first, and he and the Donglin Party would run for it.

Both the Donglin Party and Han Xiangyun in the court believe that now His Majesty and the imperial court are vigorously publicizing the achievements of the Ming army in defeating Lin Dan Khan, trying to cover up everything that has not gone well in the first year of Chongzhen, and appease the uneasiness of the people in the world.

Because of this, Sun Chengzong, who commanded the army to defeat Lin Dan Khan, has now become a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty in the hearts of the people of the world. With his current high reputation, after returning to Beijing, he will immediately impeach Huang Zhongwu and other eunuch remnants, even if Chongzhen is unwilling, Huang Zhongwu will immediately ask for a crown.

After all, for Huang Zhongwu, only by preserving his reputation can he retreat from the court. Otherwise, once he is accused by the people of the world and ruined his reputation, then when he leaves the cabinet, it will be the time of political liquidation.