"In early May, Zhao Muyun, the captain of the Suppressing Enemy Army, led his troops to Feihu Ridge and annihilated 5,000 members of the Northern Di Chanyu's imperial guard, Jochi, and captured their chief commander, the Silver Armored Thousand Commander Jochi, alive!"
"In late May, Zhao Muyun led over 5,000 troops from Yin, Shuo, and Yan prefectures to lure the Tatar leader, King Loufan, to Shuozhou. He then instigated a mountain torrent to annihilate the enemy, beheading over 3,000 of them and seizing countless weapons, horses, armor, and flags!"
"The Tartar leader of the Xichuan grasslands, King Zhelan, fled in panic back to Yunzhou. The siege of Weizhou was lifted, and Weizhou Commandant Tong Gu and over 3,000 others survived."
“…”
Dayin Imperial City, inside Hanzhang Palace.
Emperor Yongchang was overjoyed when he received the victory report from Weizhou. He immediately summoned the heads of the six ministries of the cabinet, the Censorate, and the Imperial Household Department to a meeting.
The corners of the mouth of Yang Dingguo, the Minister of War, were harder to suppress than AK at this moment.
The Minister of Rites Su Yayan and the Minister of Revenue Cui Kaiji showed professional smiles on their faces.
Leng Chunfang from the Ministry of Justice, Lu Bingjun from the Ministry of Personnel, and Shi Kaitai from the Ministry of Works remained calm, as if the victory in the Shuozhou battle had nothing to do with them.
Perhaps because the distribution of tax silver for the first half of this year has not yet been finalized, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Works, two departments in urgent need of silver, have focused on obtaining more tax silver.
Lu Chunfang, the chief inspector of the Seal Supervisory Office, had a calm expression on his face as he aloud the victory report sent jointly by Zhao Muyun and Yin Ji.
Cao Chunfeng, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, had dead fish eyes that seemed motionless, but out of the corner of his eye he had already noticed the expressions of the emperor and everyone present.
Perhaps when the emperor asks him questions later, he can adapt to the situation and say appropriate words to put himself in an unshakable position.
Apart from these people, only the Imperial Censor Gu Dingming had a look of uneasiness in his eyes.
He sent the censor Song Liu, who was known for his unreasonableness and trouble-making, to Zhao Muyun's army. He took advantage of the rumor that had spread to the capital and took the opportunity to monitor the military situation.
However, after Song Liu went to Weizhou, before he could send any memorial, Zhao Muyun took the lead and sent the good news.
Moreover, Zhao Muyun defeated the strong with his weak strength and achieved such a great victory.
This was the first time in the hundred years of war between Dayin and the Tatars that Dayin had won such a great victory.
Zhao Muyun, with an army of 5,000, defeated two Tatar cavalry commanders of 10,000 men and one commander of 1,000 men by both strategy and force!
Now even if Song Liu really dug out some dirty information from Zhao Muyun's army, it was too late.
Emperor Yongchang, who had preconceived ideas, naturally would not care about the details of Zhao Muyun's military management.
As for the military advisor colluding with Li Jingang, no one would believe such nonsense.
"My lords, Captain Zhao has performed such a great service, truly standing as the iron wall of our Great Yin Northern Kingdom! How should I reward him?"
As soon as Lu Chunfang finished reading, Emperor Yongchang leaned back and glared at the important officials on his left and right, his imperial dominance radiating out.
There is no doubt that Zhao Muyun's victory in this battle made Emperor Yongchang proud, and all the frustration he had suffered from the Tartars harassing the border for several months was swept away.
In the 39th year of Yongchang, many major events troubled the imperial master who was over 60 years old.
Japanese pirates in the southeast, plague in the south, flooding of the Central Plains rivers, locust plagues in the northwest, fiscal deficits...
These are nothing. The northern Di Tartars invading the border of Hedong Road and Li Jingang causing chaos in Guannei Road are the two biggest headaches for him!
It even made the aging emperor think about abdicating, which made many people secretly happy.
However, in the end, he, who was greedy for power, proposed the idea of scraping the bone to heal the wound, which disappointed many court officials and caused panic.
"Your Majesty, Captain Zhao's achievements are unprecedented and must be highly commended."
Upon hearing the emperor's tone, Yang Dingguo, unable to contain himself, spoke out immediately.
Yang Dingguo was recommended by the former Minister of War Li Dao, but few people know that when he served as the Jiedushi of Jiangnan Road, he had a close personal relationship with the former Vice Minister of War Fan Nan.
When Fan Nan was demoted due to the defeat in the Battle of Shuozhou, he mentioned Zhao Muyun to Yang Dingguo.
Yang Dingguo had already memorized Zhao Muyun's name.
At a time when military preparations of various military governors were generally in disarray and their combat effectiveness was low, Zhao Muyun emerged as a rising star and won battle after battle.
This not only earned him military merit, but also brought honor to the Minister of War.
"Minister Yang, what title do you think should be given to him?" Emperor Yongchang asked with a smile.
"Your Majesty, I suggest you appoint him as the General of the Central Guards in the North, and continue to command the troops of Guannei Road and several northern prefectures of Hedong Road to fight against the Tartars! He has already severely weakened the Tartars in several battles. With time, you can order him to march out of Xichuan, recapture Yun, Sheng, and Feng, and push Dayin's northern defenses back to the Daqing Mountains."
"In this way, the northern part of Dayin will be at peace!"
Yang Dingguo looked excited.
Recovering the three states of Yun, Sheng and Feng is the dream of every Minister of War.
If it is realized during his term, it will also go down in history.
Emperor Yongchang was also moved when he heard this!
These three states had been lost in the hands of his father for a hundred years. It would be a disaster if he could take them back.
After his death, he might be given the posthumous title of "Wu".
Cui Kaiji gestured towards Su Yayan, who nodded slightly and immediately stood up and played loudly:
"Your Majesty, I heard you say that Zhao Muyun is still young and needs to cultivate his mindset and settle down. His contributions are certainly recognized, but promoting him to the rank of General of the Central Army may be difficult to convince the people! Please reconsider, Your Majesty!"
"Yes, the rank of Lieutenant General in our dynasty is already the top rank in the army. Now that Zhao Muyun is promoted to Lieutenant General, if he makes more meritorious deeds in the future, won't he be able to receive the highest rank?" Imperial Censor Gu Dingming echoed.
In Dayin’s local military system, the Zhechou Duwei was the chief military officer of a prefecture, and above him was the Jiedushi, who was often a civil official.
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