Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 244
"Uncle, since the farewell in northern Shaanxi, I once thought that it would be difficult for you and me to meet each other, but I never thought that we would meet again by chance! It is a pity that after the handover of money and food is completed, I will have to follow you." Hong Gong went far outside the customs, and before leaving, I have some things to tell you, but I don’t care how you choose or not!"

After the maid poured tea for the two of them and exited, Shen Shiyu sat on the head seat, stared at Wu Sangui with bright eyes, and spoke bluntly.

"During the two years in Shanxi, Lord Shen treated Sangui like a nephew. Lord Shen has something to say, but it's okay. Sangui listens quietly!"

Wu Sangui, who was sitting in the guest seat, got up and saluted.

Shen Shiyu waved him to sit down and continued: "A certain person is a little older than Changbo, and has experienced more things in half his life than you; the reason why this person values ​​you is because you are both civil and military, Changbo You are a rare general! If you let go of your actions in the future, your future is limitless! It's a pity that you are only the rank of deputy commander, even though you have a whole body of abilities, there is no place to display them!"

There was regret in Shen Shiyu's tone.

Shen Shiyu admired Wu Sangui from the bottom of his heart for Wen Neng who can splash ink and Wu Neng to charge into battle.

There is no shortage of generals in the Ming Dynasty, but a man like Wu Sangui who is both civil and military is extremely rare among generals who are generally illiterate.Because of this, Shen Shiyu cherished his talents, and just now under the instruction of Hong Chengchou, he deepened his relationship with Wu Sangui.

After saying that, Shen Shiyu got up, walked to the door, looked outside, closed the door, returned to his seat, and said in a low voice: "Uncle, there is something confidential to tell, this matter is of great importance, the choice is up to you Sincerely!"

Seeing this, Wu Sangui leaned forward quickly, and Shen Shiyu continued: "Before Hong Gong left Beijing, he was summoned by the Holy Majesty. According to what Hong Gong told a certain person, when the bandits were wiped out, the people in the territory became more and more stable, the court tax was abundant, and the officers and soldiers were elected. When the success of training a few strong soldiers, the Holy One intends to take Hong Gong as his commander and use a large number of troops against Jianzhou next year, striving to wipe out a large number of Jianzhou's vital forces and destroy their survival foundation, so as to completely eliminate the Liaodong border troubles that have plagued our dynasty for many years. !"

Wu Sangui was shocked when he heard the words, and he understood the implication in a flash: if the imperial court's attack on Jianzhou is successful in the coming year, the good days of Liaodong generals raising their own thieves will be gone forever.

This matter concerns the future and fate of Guan Zu, Wu's family and countless officials and generals who depend on him to survive. If he informs his uncle's family of this top-secret news, it will definitely cause an uproar in Liaodong. Hong Chengchou and Shen Shiyu who are about to take office I am afraid that I will face a very dangerous situation.For those who want to smash their own jobs, some people can do anything.

From the perspective of family affection and interests, I should pass the news to Jinzhou as soon as possible so that my uncle can make plans and preparations early; Hong Chengchou, the deputy general.No matter how he decides on this matter, it will hurt the one who has favored himself. After Wu Sangui figured it out, his heart was flustered, his face was cloudy and his heart was even more tangled.

"Uncle, I know what you think in your heart; after I heard this letter that day, I struggled and entangled in my heart for a long time. When I was thinking about it in private, I also thought about hiding this matter from you, but this matter concerns you. The future of my family, if I hide it from you, the future of the Wu family may be extremely bleak after next year. Even if I want to help, I am afraid that I will be powerless; so I made up my mind to tell you about this matter, but in the end, I didn’t go Think about it, I just want peace of mind, and when I meet you, I can be open-minded!"

Shen Shiyu looked at the silent Wu Sangui and spoke softly.

He understands Wu Sangui's mood, and also understands the difficulty of making a choice.The reason why he chose to tell Wu Sangui about this matter was also a decision he made after discussing with Hong Chengchou.

Zu and Wu are the real kings of Liaodong. If Hong Chengchou wants to make some achievements that others can't match, it is impossible to rely on power alone.

It is difficult for a strong dragon to overwhelm a snake. If the Wu family can be won over from the generals of Liaodong, or the two can be separated, it will be extremely beneficial to Hong Chengchou's management of Liaodong.

Most of Shen Shiyu's words came from the heart, but the purpose was not all for the sake of the Wu family.From the bottom of his heart, he really valued Wu Sangui very much, but when it came to Dong Weng and his family's future, the friendship between him and Wu Sangui became a bargaining chip that could be used.

"Duke Shen loves me so much, I really can't repay you! It's just that this matter is so important, after all, I have too little experience, and now I'm in a dilemma! I'm not talented, so I hope Mr. Shen can give me some advice!"

Shen Shiyu's frank attitude moved Wu Sangui, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke.

"Uncle, if you want to have a happy situation in this matter, the difficulty lies in the choice of words; Zu and Wu have guarded Liaodong for many years, although they have made great achievements in preventing Jianzhou from breaking through. But everyone knows that the two families have also gained huge benefits from it; in terms of official rank alone, as far as I know, the lowest official rank of the descendants of the ancestral family is also a guerrilla, but anyone who can wear armor and go into battle is above the rank of general Military rank; it can be said that there are tens of thousands of Guanning iron cavalry. Has there been any victory in the confrontation with Jianlu for many years? Since the reign of Tianqi, 700% of the imperial court's annual revenue has been allocated to Liaodong, and the annual consumption of food and salaries is as high as 10,000 million taels. But these Whose treasury does all the money and food fall into? How many of the [-]+ Ning Jin soldiers can still wear armor and fight against the enemy? Originally, the imperial court had no available soldiers, so they had to rely on the Jin Jin army to prevent the thieves from breaking through. Now, at the moment when millions of thieves are destroyed and the imperial court holds a few powerful troops, the whole Liaodong is still unrestrained, and does not know how to advance and retreat. Isn’t this the way to kill? People’s greed is really endless! If the imperial court in the future Gathering heavy troops to the east of Liaodong, how can the case of attacking Guo by false routes be far away? How dare the whole Liaodong be against the imperial court? If that day really comes, how will the elder uncle deal with himself?"

Seeing that Wu Sangui's mind had loosened, Shen Shiyu went a step further, directly exposing Liaodong's greedy face, and also revealed another possibility that the imperial court would send troops to come next year.

Shen Shiyu's sharp words touched Wu Sangui's heart greatly.

My family knows their own affairs. The so-called Guanning iron cavalry has no chance of winning the field battle against the same number of slaves. In the castle, they could barely maintain a delicate balance with Jianzhou.

If the imperial court really used the excuse of attacking Jianzhou to mobilize heavy troops to attack the Ning Jin army, then there would be no need to divide the troops, as long as Jinzhou, the old nest of the ancestor's family, was captured, Zu Dashou and others would be captured, and the Ning Jin army would lose its backbone Disintegration and defeat are a foregone conclusion.

With his father's character, he would not have the courage to gather troops to fight against the imperial court at that time, not to mention that the imperial court might have cleaned up their father and son first.

"According to what Shen Gong said, the Holy Majesty and the imperial court must drive the ancestors and the Wu family to exterminate them before giving up? But my two families have been loyal to Ming Dynasty for generations, and they have no intention of betraying Ming Dynasty?!"

Although Shen Shiyu's words were reasonable, Wu Sangui still felt uncomfortable in his heart; now that he had already believed Shen Shiyu's threatening words, he even faintly felt that the purpose of the imperial court's gathering of troops next year was actually to target Liaodong generals.

(End of this chapter)