Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1054 Brother Ruqi, are you safe?

Li Chengliang was going to Liaoyang to visit Gao Yushi, but unfortunately, when he sent someone to Liaoyang to report the itinerary, Gao Yushi had already left Liaoyang and boarded a boat and traveled by water, so he didn't receive any news at all.

And Li Chengliang himself obviously couldn't go faster than the messenger. He took five hundred family members by land and arrived at Niuzhuang Horse Station this afternoon. Only then did he know that Gao Wushi settled at Dongchang Fort twenty miles to the northwest—Gao Pragmatically, the boat got off at the Sanchahe Wharf (Jinghua's water village), which is very close to Dongchang Fort.

Li Chengliang was surprised at first, because he didn't know that Gao Yushi was asked by Zhu Yijun to return to Beijing to report on his work.

After the Yicheng of Niuzhuang Mayi took out the official document of Gao Futai ordering Li Chengliang to control the military affairs in western Liaoning, Li Chengliang couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, and secretly said: Fortunately, I didn't miss it. thing.

Then after thinking about it, I suddenly thought of a big question: Didn't Gao Yushi just take up his new post, why was he immediately called back to Beijing to report on his work?He has only been in office for two or three months, what is there to say?Could it be that the imperial court didn't understand something about Gao Yushi's last "market plan" and had to ask him to explain it himself?

But this is not right either!Ye He is only part of the Jurchen branch, with less than [-] soldiers, and is not ranked in the eyes of the court. Even if the two chiefs of Ye He are killed, it is not a big deal. You servant, that's just because the beheading exceeded two thousand...so the court shouldn't have called Gao Yushi back to Beijing for this matter.

Li Chengliang stroked his beard and thought about it. He always felt that this matter was weird. After a while, he expanded the scope of his thinking from Liaodong, and thought to himself: Could it be because of the war in Yunnan?
But Gao Wushi has nothing to do with the war in Yunnan. He has been a patrol in Guangxi and also pacified Annan, but although Yunnan and Guangxi are adjacent provinces, the situation is quite different. Even if the emperor trusts this classmate very much and wants to Asking Ce, this is also asking Yu Blind!
The similarity between Yunnan and Guangxi is that they both have a lot of chieftains, but comparatively speaking, Guangxi is "simpler" than Yunnan, because Guangxi chieftains are all within the family, and there are two giants, Cen and Huang, as long as If you can grasp the Cen and Huang families, the chieftain in Guangxi will be able to grasp it.

Yunnan is different, the situation is more complicated.First of all, the chieftains in Yunnan are divided into internal subordination and external attachment (note: in the "Yunnan Zhi" in the Zhengde period, they are called "belly" and "outside"), and the triangular relationship between internal subordination, external attachment and the court is intricate , the most troublesome chieftain of Luchuan in the early Ming Dynasty.

Secondly, the imperial court organization in Yunnan is also quite special, the main special point is the existence of the Mu Palace. "Mu Wang's Mansion" is a common name among the people, and the official name of the court is Qianguo Gong's Mansion. Because the Mu family has been in Yunnan for a long time, the authority is very heavy, and "respect for the proposed prince", so the people in Yunnan are commensurate with Mu Wang's Mansion.

The Mu family guarded Yunnan, and their official job was to guard Yunnan as the general army officer. It stands to reason that the troops under their jurisdiction were nothing more than local guards and local chieftains.However, the imperial court has a franchise, and it is an ancestral franchise. The Mu family can transfer troops from neighboring provinces (Sichuan and Guizhou) in case of emergency.

And even if the reason for "emergency" is not used to transfer troops from neighboring provinces, the fact that the Mu family can mobilize the chieftains is also very powerful, because the Mu family is based in Yunnan, and the relationship with the chieftains is obviously a hundred times closer than that of the governors and other officials of the imperial court. Therefore, those chieftains who obeyed the orders of the imperial court actually obeyed the orders of the Mu family.

To put it another way, it would be "I only know Lord Mu, but I don't know Emperor Zhu".In this situation, the situation in Yunnan is even more complicated, and the governor of Yunnan may also be the governor with the worst ability to suppress the general army of the province among all the governors of Ming Dynasty, even worse than that of Liaodong.

So Li Chengliang doesn't think the emperor's recall of Gao Yushi to Beijing has anything to do with the situation in Yunnan. , now even I, Li Chengliang, can't bear it, but can I bear the real local emperor Yunnan Mufu?
If Gao Wushi really went to Yunnan, it would be too late to make an agreement with the Mu Mansion, and there would have to be a big battle between the strong dragon and the local snake, which the court absolutely didn't want to see at this moment.

But if it wasn't because of the strategy of the city circle, nor because of the battle in Yunnan, then why did the emperor ask him to return to Beijing?It can't be said that we haven't seen each other for more than half a year. The emperor just put aside all the court rules because he missed his classmate too much!
If this is the case, don't even think about negotiating with Gao Wushi. When you go to see him tonight, just kowtow and beg for mercy.

That's what he said, but Li Chengliang still didn't think the relationship between the pair of classmates could be so good.

After all, there are differences between monarchs and ministers, and the emperor is in power for the first time, and he doesn't seem to be as evasive as Wu Zong was back then, so it shouldn't be so unreasonable.

This doubt immediately became another thorn in Li Chengliang's heart. After thinking about it, he actually became suspicious and thought: Could it be that Kaiyuan was really found out by Gao Wushi, so he went back to Beijing Under the guise of reporting on the job, it is actually going to sue the imperial court in person, right?

This thought shocked Li Chengliang himself. Uncle Ning Yuan, who had been calm and composed in the face of tens of thousands of Mongolian cavalry for ten years, felt his heart thumping wildly.

Li Chengliang knew in his heart that he must have a shitty ass in Kaiyuan, and how far beyond Kaiyuan?Tieling, Kaiyuan, Guangning, Liaoyang, Kuandian, Ningyuan, these few places are just the key points. In fact, in the whole Liaodong, where is there no property of his Li family?Gao Yushi happens to be the owner of this monster, Jinghua, so how can he keep Jinghua from the business?As long as Gao Yushi is willing to investigate, there is no reason why he cannot find out.

However, it stands to reason which general in the world does not make money?Generals who don’t make money are already fucking dead—you have no servants if you don’t have money, and if you don’t have servants, you will die if you go to the battlefield, no matter how powerful you are, it’s useless.

Qi Jiguang didn't have many servants at the beginning of the battle. If he hadn't relied on his own skill to shoot and kill the leader of the Japanese pirates with one arrow, this marshal who has been famous for decades would probably be defeated in the first battle.

Who isn't the current famous general or so-called general who is trying to make money?As for whether to support the family or spend it on your own after making money, it's just a different treatment. There is no difference in the matter of making money.

Of course, making money is the same as fighting wars. There are differences in levels and costs.People like Liu Xian, although capable, but his background is low, and the target of the battle is "worthless", so making money is naturally not good.

Ma Fang's conditions are actually better than Liu Xian's. Although his background is also low, he has a good position. He is the key point of a border town close to Gyeonggi like Xuanda, and he also controls cavalry. It was originally a good place to make money, but From Li Chengliang's point of view, this time the old man was not very smart, and the money he earned could only support a few cavalry, and the remaining money was always spent on Jianhui Temple, which was a waste.

When Li Chengliang was still the deputy commander in the early years, he thought that if Ma Fang was replaced by him, the cavalry under his command would be at least ten thousand during the Geng Shu change.

But what Li Chengliang is most worried about now is that so far he still can't figure out the reason why Gao Yushi has always targeted him. The last time the family discussed this matter, there was no result.

Now that Gao Wushi is going to return to Beijing suddenly, this worry is even more serious: since all the generals in the world are making money, and although I make a little more, considering my past military achievements and strength at hand, the emperor should not be afraid of it because of This reason is self-destruction of the Great Wall, so if Gao Yushi wants to bring me down, it is unlikely that he will only look for evidence from making money...

Could it be...he wants to slander me for plotting against others?

Li Chengliang suddenly shuddered.

In all fairness, Li Chengliang really didn't have the idea of ​​plotting to do something wrong.Don't say anything else, just say one thing: just because Liaodong can't support his [-] family members at all, he won't be stupid to "plot evil".

Liaodong is poor. In fact, it is still possible to feed [-] cavalry, but there is a prerequisite, that is, Li Chengliang must contribute the money himself-now he also contributes the money, but the method is different.

The current Li family army is paid by the imperial court, but the Li family army is not only relying on the military salary for food, because the standard of the military salary is obviously not high enough, in fact it only accounts for about [-]% of the normal expenditure.

The Li family's army also has three major sources of income: one is the court's military rewards; the other is the looting in the war; the third is the "subsidy" given by Li Chengliang.

The proportions of these three major financial resources are not fixed. Generally speaking, the highest reward is the imperial court's reward for military exploits, and this amount of money is relatively stable.

The most unstable thing is looting. When fighting Mongolia, you can usually only grab some horses, cattle and sheep. The cattle and sheep are basically directly used as rewards, and they are digested internally. Most of the horses are used to replenish war damage or expand the stock of stables. It is difficult to "export" for money;
On the contrary, when fighting Jurchen, it is more profitable to plunder this area, because Jurchen are not considered nomads, but fishing and hunting, and some even have started farming. These tribes have stockades, and there are more or less stocks in the stockade, fur, ginseng , Antler, Dongzhu, etc., can be exchanged for money.

However, there is a difference between Jurchen and Mongolia. Mongolia can fight as they say, but Jurchen can't. Most of them obey the imperial court and can't beat others indiscriminately. This limits the income of Li Jiajun...

And precisely because of the instability of plundering income, the amount of subsidy Li Chengliang himself needs cannot be stabilized. In financial terms, the amount of plundering income and Li Chengliang’s subsidy amount can be regarded as "negative correlation": the more robbing, the less subsidy is needed ; If you grab less, you need more subsidies.

If Li Chengliang really planned to do something wrong and planned to separatize Liaodong, first of all, there would be no hope of the imperial court's military salary and rewards, and these two sums of money were originally the bulk.Secondly, it is impossible to plunder at will. Relying on a corner of Liaodong, without the support of the imperial court, it is necessary to burn incense to be able to hold on to the homeland, and even go out to rob.

But if there is no court military pay and rewards, and no way to go out to plunder, how will the army of more than 4 Canadians who have fed money out of it be raised?Li Chengliang could only post all of it himself, but in that case, the entire family property of the Li family would be taken into account, and how Liaodong alone could gain a firm foothold was something that had to be considered.

Therefore, there is really no "conspiracy". Li Chengliang was just poor and afraid back then, and he deeply understood the importance of status and money, so he continued to expand his strength to improve his status in the court and Liaodong, and he continued to accumulate wealth. To ensure that this wealth can last for a long time.

It wasn't until Gao Yushi began to "target everywhere" that he became alert and began to constantly ponder Gao Yushi's motives, so that now he is paranoid, almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Fortunately, he has decided to find out the reason tonight.

When Li Chengliang came to visit Gao Yushi, he was very polite, far from the grand ostentation of his usual travels. He himself only brought five hundred family guards with him when he went to Liaoyang. More than 20 personal guards were recruited.

Standing in Dongchang Fort, surrounded by seemingly polite members of Zhang Wanbang's family, Li Chengliang tried his best to maintain his demeanor as a Liaodong commander, majestic but not arrogant, outstanding but not domineering, standing with hands behind his back, eyes closed and rested.

Until Zhang Wanbang came back in a hurry, he said politely: "Marshal, please take care of the platform."

Although Zhang Wanbang is a direct descendant of high pragmatism, after all, Li Chengliang is the general of Liaodong, so according to the system, Zhang Wanbang is his subordinate general, and it is completely reasonable to call him the commander-in-chief.

However, Li Chengliang always felt that Zhang Wanbang's call of "General" was very insincere. Although it seemed polite, it clearly showed a kind of alienation, which was far less natural than that of a local general in Liaodong.

But Li Chengliang didn't care about Zhang Wanbang's thoughts now, he just opened his eyes and glanced at him, nodded slightly, and then started to untie the tie of the cloak. (Note: The cloak of the Ming Dynasty is different from the cloak. The cloak has sleeves, a straight collar, and slits on both sides. However, the style of the cloak is more in line with the modern concept of "cloak".)
Although Li Pinghu behind him was withdrawn and arrogant when facing others, he took the initiative to take Li Chengliang's cloak and asked, "Commander, wait..."

"Wait." Li Chengliang was not polite and told them to wait here.Li Pinghu was not dissatisfied, and after taking the order, he took two steps back and stood still.

Li Chengliang himself said to Zhang Wanbang: "Sanxi, please lead the way."

Although Zhang Wanbang didn't have much respect for Li Chengliang, but after all, as a subordinate, at least he had to respect his face. Hearing this, he hurriedly said: "You are welcome, Commander, please follow the humble position."

So Zhang Wanbang led Li Chengliang to the courtyard where Gao Yushi lived temporarily. At this time, Gao Yushi's Fubiao soldiers guarded the courtyard inside and outside, not to mention the three floors inside and the three floors outside. abnormal.

Li Chengliang was a little surprised when he saw him, and couldn't help asking Zhang Wanbang: "Recently, the security around Dongchang Fort is not stable? Why is it like facing a big enemy?"

In fact, what Li Chengliang was worried about was that Gao Yushi had become so suspicious of him that he had to strengthen his defense even when he met him?If that's the case, the problem is not so serious.

However, Zhang Wanbang grinned and said, "The commander-in-chief is joking. How can there be any unrest in Dongchang Fort? Although there are a few gangsters in Liaodong, the most horizontal gangsters can't beat the Tartars. How could they come?" Something happened in Dongchang Castle?"

After a slight pause, he continued: "As for Futai, as far as I know, it has always been so tightly guarded. After all, you also know that Jinghua..."

Li Chengliang was stunned at this moment, no longer asked any more questions, nodded slightly to Zhang Wanbang, and went straight forward, but at the same time reached out to take off his black gauze hat, and put one hand on his chest.

Entering the courtyard, there are naturally soldiers who care for the bid to lead the way.Li Chengliang originally thought that Gao Yushi was the youngest Futai, so at this time, he might put on airs and sit in the hall waiting for him to see him.

Unexpectedly, the two bodyguards led him to the side of the flower hall, and as soon as he turned into the side courtyard, he found Gao Yushi in a royal blue Taoist robe standing outside the flower hall, looking at him with a smile.

"Brother Ru Qi, are you safe?"
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(End of this chapter)