Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 166 Qi Long and Yu Hu, cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron!
Nine borders and nine towns.

From east to west, it stretches for thousands of miles, forming the most unique defense system in the world.

They are Liaodong Town, Jizhou Town, Xuanfu Town, Datong Town, Taiyuan Town, Yansui Town, Ningxia Town, Guyuan Town and Gansu Town.

Liaodong Town, starting from Fenghuang City in the east and ending at Shanhaiguan in the west, is 1,950 miles long. It was the front line of the Ming Dynasty's northeastern defense against the Jianzhou Jurchens, the Tatar left-wing prince tribe, and the vassal state of the Goryeo Dynasty.

The existence of Liaodong Town has enabled the vast Liaodong region to form a complete land and sea defense system.

The geographical location is special and important.

same.

Gansu Town starts from the Yellow River bank of Jingtai County in the east, and another branch starts from the north bank of the river in Lanzhou. It meets the northwest border of Jingtai County in the north and forms a line, which goes diagonally northwest, passes through Minqin, Yongchang, Shandan, Zhangye, Gaotai, and Jiuquan counties, bypasses Jiayuguan and goes south to the northern foot of Qilian Mountain. It is more than 1,600 miles long.

The existence of Gansu Town controls the Western Regions in the west, separates the Qiang and Rong tribes in the south, and blocks the Hu Lu tribes in the north. It not only resists attacks from the grasslands and isolates the Qiang and Rong tribes, but also connects the Western Regions.

It played an incomparable role and irreplaceable function in the Ming Dynasty's defense system and foreign trade compared to other border towns.

Although Gansu Town is far away from the capital and does not directly affect the stability and safety of Beijing like Xuanfu and Datong towns, it is still closely related to the stability and safety of the capital.

The Hui merchants corrupted the Liaodong and Gansu towns, obviously for the sake of doing business. Through the Liaodong town, the Hui merchants' goods could go directly to the grasslands, the Goryeo Dynasty, and even the Japan Kingdom on the sea.

Through Gansu Town, Hui merchants' goods went even further, leaving traces of Hui merchants in the grasslands in the north, the Qiang people in the south, and the entire Western Regions.

The three major business groups in the Ming Dynasty were Jin, Hui and Chao.

Shanxi merchants focused on domestic banknotes, money houses, salt, tea, and smuggling with the Tatars.

Chaozhou merchants focus on maritime smuggling.

As for the Huizhou merchants, they carried out domestic and foreign trade in parallel during the Ming Dynasty. At a time when maritime smuggling was rife, they were quietly following the old path of their predecessors and retracing the Silk Road.

Selling the Ming Dynasty's goods to the Western Regions and to the far west, we developed steadily, step by step.

This terrified Zhang Juzheng's cabinet. The tentacles and footprints of the Huizhou merchants had touched and stepped on too many places. They had to admit that they had thought too simply of the Huizhou merchants before and designed the plan to destroy them too simply.

I thought that since the Jin merchants were the leaders of the three major business groups in the Ming Dynasty, it would be easy for the Jinyiwei to deal with them, and it would be even easier to deal with the Hui merchants.

However, people didn’t expect that the Huizhou merchants were the biggest monsters in the Ming Dynasty, terrifying monsters that combined power, money and military.

If the snake is not killed, there will be endless troubles.

This is why Zhang Juzheng immediately set out to prepare for an audience with the emperor, to ask His Majesty whether the plan to destroy the Huizhou merchants should be suspended.

"Yuanfu, wait for me." Hu Zongxian followed.

He is the one who knows Huizhou merchants best. If the emperor asks questions, it would be better if he is present to answer.

……

Ok Hee Palace.

The two ministers came to meet the emperor.

Huang Jin, the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department, brought two embroidered cushions for Zhang Juzheng and Hu Zongxian to sit on. "Your Majesty, please leave the attendants behind!" Zhang Juzheng said respectfully.

Zhu Houcong nodded.

Huang Jin led all the eunuchs and palace maids out of the hall, ordered the palace guards to retreat a hundred steps, and then stood alone in front of the hall gate.

"Your Majesty, a major change has occurred in the Huizhou merchants. Xie Chaoen, the general of Liaodong Town, and Zheng Yin, the general of Gansu Town, have deep ties with the Huizhou merchants..."

Zhang Juzheng told the emperor in detail about the underestimation of Huizhou merchants and the impact that any mistakes made by Liaodong and Gansu towns would have on the Ming Dynasty. He was so thirsty that he said, "Your Majesty, there are constant frictions between Liaodong Town and Jianzhou Jurchens, and Gansu Town is responsible for controlling the west, isolating the Qiang, and blocking the barbarians. We cannot afford to make any mistakes. I ask that you temporarily postpone the destruction of Huizhou merchants, and after mobilizing Xie Chaoen and Zheng Yin, we can slowly make plans."

Out of consideration for the safety of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng and Hu Zongxian discussed the matter on their way into the palace.

First, transfer Xie Chaoen and Zheng Yin from the positions of General of Liaodong Town and General of Gansu Town, and it would be best if they could be invited to the capital.

However, others might not understand what happened due to the sudden transfer of border generals, but the Huizhou merchants would definitely notice it.

Fortunately, the national policy of separation of military and politics proposed by Hu Zongxian came in handy, and the opportunity could be taken to adjust the commanders-in-chief of the nine borders and nine towns.

The general commanders of Xuanfu Town and Datong Town are under the supervision of Wang Chonggu, the governor of Xuanda. There is no big problem and they do not need to be transferred.

However, there will be a major adjustment for the generals of the other seven towns. First of all, Tong Deng, the general of Jizhou Town, is old and has submitted resignations several times, so his resignation can be approved.

Hu Zongxian suggested that Qi Jiguang be transferred to the vacant position of General of Jizhou Town.

Jizhou Town is different from other border towns. It is closer to the Central Plains. The main purpose of setting up a town in Ji County is not to defend against foreign races, but to strengthen the military defense from the northeast to the northwest of the capital.

Of course, we can put it more clearly. Jizhou Town is for defending Liaodong Town!

Liaodong Town was too close to foreign tribes, and successive emperors were worried about the possibility of its fall. In case Liaodong Town fell or rebelled, Jizhou Town would close Shanhaiguan, and among other things, foreign tribes and rebels would not be able to enter the Central Plains in a short period of time.

Now that the southeast of the Ming Dynasty is calm, it would be a pity to leave two great generals of the Ming Dynasty, Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, there to enjoy the sea breeze.

Just as the Liaodong Town was in danger, Qi Jiguang was transferred to take charge. Even if something went wrong, with Qi Jiguang's ability and the 85,000 troops in Jizhou Town, they could give the Ming Dynasty, the emperor, and the court sufficient time to react.

The father of Lu Jing, the general commander of Guyuan Town, passed away not long ago. According to the court rules, Lu Jing had to return to his hometown to observe mourning for three years. Lu Jing's son, Xiaowen, had already been sent to Yuxi Palace. The palace and the cabinet naturally would not try to seize his love, so it was only a matter of time before they agreed.

After Lu Jing left, Yu Dayou was just the right person to take the vacant position of the general of Guyuan Town.

Gansu Town "is related to the movement of the whole Shaanxi, and the safety of the Three Jins. The safety of the Three Jins is related to the order and chaos of the world."

On the contrary, Guyuan Town is the first town to defend against the chaos in Gansu Town. In many cases, the role of Guyuan Town, like that of Jizhou Town, is to guard against friendly forces.

After listening to the joint response of Zhang Juzheng and Hu Zongxian, Zhu Houcong said, "The Xuanfu and Datong Garrisons will remain unchanged. The commander-in-chief of Jizhou Garrison will be replaced by Qi Jiguang, and the commander-in-chief of Guyuan Garrison will be replaced by Yu Dayou. Let the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Garrison, Xie Chaoen, and the commander-in-chief of Gansu Garrison, Zheng Yin, be promoted to the court, and let the deputy commanders-in-chief of the two towns take over. The commanders-in-chief of the remaining three towns will be swapped. In this way, will the nine towns belong to me or to the cabinet?"

There is no need to say much about Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, they were former subordinates of Hu Zongxian.

Wang Chonggu, the governor of Xuanda who controlled the two towns of Xuanfu and Datong, had close contacts with Zhang Juzheng, while the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town was Li Chengliang, who was promoted by Zhang Juzheng.

If what Zhang Juzheng and Hu Zongxian said was true, of the nine frontiers and nine towns, Zhang Juzheng and Hu Zongxian would control five of them.

"It's His Majesty's Nine Towns!" Zhang Juzheng and Hu Zongxian said in unison.

(End of this chapter)