263: Wang Zhi!

"Wait!" Lin Yue suddenly reacted and asked, "What did you say your name was?"

"This humble general Wei Liang!" Wei Liang replied, looking puzzled.

"I wasn't talking about you," Lin Yue said, then turned to the handsome young Eunuch and asked, "Are you Wang Zhi?"

"Precisely," Wang Zhi replied, a little confused.

"name: Wang Zhi

Identity: Great Wall Legion Supervisor

Martial Power: 83

Intelligence: 80

Command: 92

Politics: 91

Charm: 86"

A Eunuch who is a Third-rate Military General?

Lin Yue was greatly surprised. Now he could be sure, this was Wang Zhi, Wang Zhi, one of the Four Great Eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, along with Wang Zhen, Liu Jin, and Wei Zhongxian!

His life was even more legendary. At the age of sixteen, he became the Grand Coordinator of the Western Depot. With irrefutable evidence, he arrested Yang Rong's grandson, who had committed evil in the local area. At that time, Wang Zhi could directly arrest high-ranking officials of the third rank or above, and the officials in the capital were all on edge.

Subsequently, Wang Zhi shone even brighter in another place!

In the fourteenth year of Chenghua, at the tender age of seventeen, Wang Zhi was ordered to oversee military affairs and heavily defeated the Jianzhou Jurchen who were encroaching on the border. The following year, Wang Zhi became the Governor-General of the Twelve Regiments, initiating the precedent of Ming Dynasty Eunuchs controlling the imperial guards.

In the sixteenth year of Chenghua, at the age of nineteen, Wang Zhi defended against the Mongol in the Ordos Loop region. He and Wang Yue, one a Eunuch and the other a civil official, advanced deep into enemy territory with a lone force of twenty thousand men, marching into Weininghai, enduring bitter winds and heavy snow, and captured the Mongol royal court.

In the seventeenth year of Chenghua, the Tatars invaded the Ordos Loop. Twenty-year-old Wang Zhi supervised the army in Datong. Facing the invading Tatar tribes, he achieved a great victory, pushing them all the way back to Heishiya.

In the eighteenth year of Chenghua, twenty-one-year-old Wang Zhi, in Yansui, once again divided his forces with the scholarly general Wang Yue to resist invading bandits, achieving a great victory. Historical records state, "From then on, the north dared not invade."

At the same time, Wang Zhi also continuously offered suggestions to Emperor Xianzong of Ming. For example, Wang Zhi petitioned for military examinations to also be implemented, selecting candidates using a method similar to the three-tiered system for jinshi, and improving the treatment of military candidates to better recruit talent for the country.

During his time in the border army, he also submitted numerous remonstrances addressing issues such as desertion, grain transportation for the imperial guards, local dike construction, public security in the capital region, horse administration, border army provisions, border army rewards, border army personnel, and border defense.

What was even more commendable was that the Six Ministries largely approved his well-reasoned memorials.

Even for what people at the time considered a minor issue, such as the border guards lacking warm clothing due to the cold, he submitted a memorial requesting an extra set of clothes and shoes for each Soldier.

At the same time, he repeatedly took action against corruption in the border army, gradually replacing border army Generals with Emperor Xianzong's "own people"!

If Wang Zhi had been a civil official instead of a Eunuch, he would have been a model official, a figure praised by countless upright scholars!

Unfortunately, as a Eunuch, his brilliance was destined to be tarnished.

Subsequently, Wang Zhi was appointed Governor-General of the Xuanfu and Datong garrisons, commanding over a hundred thousand elite troops in the northwest. At the same time, he also controlled the Ming Dynasty's largest Intelligence agency and was in charge of the imperial palace guards, truly wielding immense power!

Even Yin Min, the Minister of Personnel, would kneel to pay his respects upon seeing Wang Zhi.

However, precisely because of Wang Zhi's increasingly arrogant and overbearing demeanor and the fear of court officials, in the nineteenth year of Chenghua, at the age of twenty-two, Wang Zhi was recalled to Beijing under constant attack from court officials and due to his prolonged stay on the frontier, which led to his growing estrangement from Emperor Xianzong.

He was then demoted to Nanjing, retiring at the Imperial Horse Bureau at just twenty-three years old. Subsequently, like a tiger fallen into a plain, he was repeatedly impeached for minor offenses, demoted from the Grand Eunuch in charge of seals to a sixth-rank Palace Attendant, and finally dismissed from his post, stripped of his salary, and relegated to an idle person.

From then on, at the age of twenty-five, Wang Zhi suddenly disappeared from historical records.

What was even more surprising was that fifteen years later, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming remembered him and summoned him to Beijing. This single act caused panic among the officials, and some even resigned in anger, threatening to die, which shows Wang Zhi's formidable reputation.

At that time, the Southern faction of civil officials, led by the Grand Secretary, desperately impeached him, while the Northern faction of civil officials and military nobles held a different attitude towards Wang Zhi.

But the final outcome was that the court officials and border army Generals who were on good terms with Wang Zhi were either demoted or reduced to commoners.

However, historical records state that Wang Zhi "died a good death"!

Meaning he lived peacefully to old age.

The three words "died a good death" also reveal the indignation and surprise of the court officials. When the news reached the capital, the entire court was in an uproar. They could not believe that a person like Wang Zhi could have a good end. But in the end, Emperor Xiaozong decreed a lavish funeral and sent people to guard his tomb.

He was also the only one of the Four Great Eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty who had a good end. The reason for this was that although he was arrogant and overbearing, his bottom line was much higher than the other three. This can be seen from his stories with Yang Jizong, Qin Hong, and Wang Lin, among others. He was more tolerant than the other three.

But the deepest reason, perhaps, was that as Emperor Xianzong's "white glove," Emperor Xianzong used him to strike down officials and then transferred him to the border army to control military power. Wang Zhi did all of these things very well.

But when all this ended, Wang Zhi lost his usefulness.

This also led to Emperor Xiaozong, after ascending the throne, thinking of Wang Zhi when facing the suppression of civil official power, but in the end, Emperor Xiaozong could not resist the pressure.

Facing such a double-castrated version of Huo Qubing, Lin Yue was naturally ecstatic!

Having him was no less than having a Second-Rate Military General!

Moreover, he was a Supervisor, a Supervisor who was well-versed in military strategy and had a bold combat style! This perfectly matched Lin Yue!

Facing the two men's bewildered looks, Lin Yue suddenly smiled and said, "It's nothing."

He then summoned the Generals and laughed, "Come, come and meet Colonel Wei Liang and Supervisor Wang Zhi!"

As the Generals paid their respects, Lin Yue secretly pondered. The historical Wang Zhi was arrogant and overbearing, but now he was far from having the power he had historically. What kind of personality would he have now?

And how should he treat him?

After they finished, Lin Yue smiled and said, "You two have come a long way, I presume you haven't eaten yet?"

"The General makes fun of us, This humble general's stomach is already growling," Wei Liang said with a smile, and the atmosphere became much livelier.

"It's my oversight. Someone, serve the banquet!

Tell the cooks, the entire army eats!" Lin Yue shouted.

"Yes!" the Generals laughed.