Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Yulin Town, also known as Yansui Town, is named because the soil is particularly suitable for the growth of elm and willow trees.

It is located in the northernmost part of Shaanxi Province in the Ming Dynasty, adjacent to Shanxi Town, and is also part of Hetao.

Outside the Great Wall of Yulin Town is the endless Mu Us Desert. The climatic conditions here are harsh, especially when the north wind blows. The yellow sand outside the Great Wall forms dust, and the entire Yulin city will be filled with yellow sand.

When Zhang Shikang arrived in Yulin City, it was already early March. Although the temperature had begun to warm up, due to the dry climate, Zhang Shikang had to eat a lot of sand along the way.

Before leaving Xuanfu Town, he specifically asked the Embroidered Uniform Guard to convey the Marshal's order, ordering the border towns west of Xuanfu Town, and the generals and deputy generals of the three towns of Ningxia, Guyuan and Gansu to go to Yansui Town for discussions.

Among many border towns, Guanningjin is the place with the most serious warlordism. After solving the problem of Guanningjin, it will set an example for other border towns. He plans to solve the hidden dangers of several other border towns at one time.

The reason why Yulin Town was chosen was that it was located in the middle of the Ming Dynasty's northern defense line, making it convenient to mobilize troops if any problems arose.

Secondly, the Ma family, which guards the Yansui defense line, is the area with the most serious aristocratic family influence besides Guanningjin.

However, those who can become members of a military family are not fools, especially after learning what happened to Guan Ningjin.

To be on the safe side, Zhang Shikang specially put Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting on alert before leaving Xuanfu Town.

Especially Sun Chuanting, the entire northwest defense line is almost located exactly on the Shaanxi border.

With 50,000 Qin soldiers directly under the command of Sun Chuanting, the governor-general of the three borders of Shaanxi, and 40,000 Tianxiong troops directly under the command of Lu Xiangsheng, the governor-general of Xuanda, Zhang Shikang could be said to have nothing to fear.

It was already dark when Zhang Shikang arrived at Yulin City, but Ma Chengzhao, the commander-in-chief of Yansui, still led all the Ma family troops out of the city to welcome him.

They were extremely respectful to Zhang Shikang. Not only did they give up the Yulin General's Mansion for Zhang Shikang to live in alone, they also immediately expressed their willingness to accept all of Zhang Shikang's transfer orders.

Ma family’s ancestor, Ma Lu, served as the lieutenant general of Datong, which was the beginning of the Ma family’s prosperity.

The real highlight of the Ma family was Ma Gui, the son of Ma Lu. Ma Gui not only participated in the suppression of bandits, but also made many contributions in guarding the border. He was also a famous general in the anti-Japanese war recorded in history, and served as a general.

By the time of Ma Chengzhao, it was already the third generation.

The generals currently in office of the Ma family are Ma Chengzhao, Ma Chengen, Ma Chengxun, Ma Chengxuan and Ma Chengzong, and their official positions are all above that of lieutenant general.

Yansui Town was in charge of the Great Wall defense line that started from Huangpuchuanbao in the east and ended at Huamachi in the west, with a total length of more than 1,600 miles, but the total force was only more than 40,000.

But even so, Yansui Town has never been captured by the Tatars north of the Great Wall in the past twenty years.

Therefore, although Zhang Shikang had to solve the problem of the generals' family becoming a family of his own, he was still polite to the people of the Ma family.

Now that the Ma family had expressed their attitude, Zhang Shikang naturally felt much more at ease.

As a result, he had some free time. The next day, under the guidance of Ma Chengzhao, Zhang Shikang inspected the Yulinwei section of the Great Wall.

Because this place is in the desert, the situation is very different from that in Guanningjin.

Standing on the Great Wall and looking north, all you can see is yellow sand, mixed with a lot of it in the dry and cold wind. Zhang Shikang had to squint his eyes to prevent the sand from blinding him.

"General Ma, the north is windy. I've heard that the desert can move. I see there's no sand piled up under the city wall. Have you asked someone to clear it?"

Zhang Shikang only said a few words when he suddenly felt his mouth filled with the fishy taste of earth.

Ma Chengzhao seemed to have gotten used to this kind of climate. He answered truthfully:

“General, please understand. Compared with the northern barbarians, the quicksand is the biggest problem I face. Almost every month, I have to recruit the city’s strong men to help dig the sand.

If the frequency of sandstorms is too high and the militia cannot complete the task in time, the local garrison will also have to get involved.

Otherwise, if the sand piles up too much, it will be level with the border wall, and the enemy cavalry will be able to enter and exit as easily as walking on flat ground."

Ma Chengzhao talked about calmness because he had been guarding this place for many years and had become accustomed to it.

But Zhang Shikang knew the hardships involved. At that time, there were no large-scale machinery and sand digging had to rely entirely on manpower.

The base is over a thousand miles long and needs to be dug every month. It’s not easy and it’s daunting just to think about it.

"Hold on for a few more years. Once I have completely solved the threat from the north, you won't have to work so hard anymore." Zhang Shikang looked at the yellow sand all over the sky and said calmly to Ma Chengzhao.

The sand removal project of the Great Wall has always been the most important project in the Yulin section of the Great Wall, and this behavior continued until the middle of the seventeenth century.

Because at that time, the Ming Dynasty had already perished, and the Qing Dynasty almost stopped using the Great Wall.

Although Zhang Shikang wanted to destroy the Qing Dynasty, this was just a case of the butt dictating the head. From the perspective of later generations, the Qing Dynasty's rule over the Mongols was very successful.

The problem of nomadic looting, which started with the Xiongnu before Christ and continued throughout the Ming Dynasty, was completely ended in the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, the Qing Dynasty did end the problem of nomadic peoples, but it did not solve another one, which was the Russians.

One of the reasons why the Qing Dynasty was able to make the Mongols surrender was in large part due to the threat from the West, which can be seen from the later migration of the Torghut Mongols across thousands of miles to the east.

In any case, between Slavic culture and Chinese culture, these descendants of the Golden Family spread across the grasslands have a stronger sense of belonging to Chinese culture than the Russians.

As long as Zhang Shikang was around, it would be impossible for the Qing Dynasty to enter the pass, and the great cause of ruling and even protecting the nomadic peoples in the entire northern border was destined to fall on Zhang Shikang's head.

Zhang Shikang did not deny that the Great Wall had played a very positive role in the country over a long period of time, but he always believed that it was a defensive behavior that was counterproductive, extremely inefficient and extremely lossy.

Zhang Shikang believes that offense is the best defense.

"If I could see that day, I would definitely go home and tell my father about it." Ma Chengzhao also murmured while looking at the yellow sand.

Ma Chengzhao obviously just took Zhang Shikang's words as a consolation. After all, for more than a thousand years, the Central Plains dynasties before him had never solved the threat from the north.

But no matter what, as a marshal who holds military power in the Ming Dynasty, it is better to have this ideal than to have nothing at all.

"You'll see." Zhang Shikang was not thinking about persuading anyone. The key is to do, not to say.

As he descended the city wall, he said to Ma Chengzhao:

"Military towns must solve the problem of aristocratic families. You should understand that this is the general trend.

However, I will not do such a thing as abandoning the donkey after it has done its work. Your Majesty will not forget the contribution of the Ma family to the court, and you will still guard Yansui for the court.

The other generals of the Ma family will be transferred to the Yongning Army within the Great Wall, and their official positions will remain unchanged.

I will also ask His Majesty for credit for you and confer a title on you.

In the past, border towns had no crimes such as leaving vacancies, occupying labor service, and supporting household servants, but they were not allowed to commit the same offenses again.

From now on, within two months, I want you to complete the restructuring of Yansui Town.

You should understand what I mean."

……