Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 253 Troubled
Fang Yizao was very displeased with Shen Shiyu's repeated questions.But he knew that although the other party was still in vain, he was interrogating Hong Chengchou's confidant on behalf of his master. If he reprimanded him, it would refute Hong Chengchou's face.

So he suppressed the displeasure in his heart, and said lightly: "Most of the cavalry sent to the inland by the former imperial court were the family members of the leading generals, Ding's cronies, and they were treated favorably by their own generals every day. The supply is extremely rich, and they will naturally work hard when they go to battle, and their combat power is of course considerable. Moreover, all the thieves in the pass are from reckless backgrounds. The army is equal to each other, and the comparison between the two shows that the official army is tyrannical. But as far as I know, the same number of official army cavalry is far from the opponent of Jianlu. Since the Battle of Sarhu, the frontier army outside the pass has rarely fought against it. There are victories! The tens of thousands of cavalry teams created by Yuan Yuanyuan have already been scattered under the names of dozens of generals, and it is difficult to assemble a large cavalry army to fight, so there is a saying that the young master should not fight! As for the fighting spirit, hehe , maybe, maybe not!"

"I'm a bit tired, so I'm going to stop here today. Tomorrow, Ziyuan and I will go to various fortresses and villages in Jinzhou to inspect, and then I will report what I have seen and heard to the Holy Majesty, so that the Holy Majesty can make a decision!"

After Hong Chengchou finished speaking, he got up and left his seat, turned behind the screen and went back to his room to rest.

Fang Yizao stood up and straightened his clothes, ignored Shen Shiyu and Zhang Dou, stepped out of the second hall with his hands behind his back, passed through the hall, joined the soldiers waiting outside the yamen, mounted his horse and returned to Jinzhou.

After Zhang Dou got up and watched the two academicians leave, he was about to turn around and leave, but was stopped by Shen Shiyu: "The supervising army is slow, Hong Gongyou invites the supervising army to the backyard for discussion!"

In the study of Jinzhou City Ancestor Dashou's mansion, Wu Sangui kowtowed to his uncle and got up immediately.

"Elder Uncle, please sit down. Have you ever seen your mother? How are the two rings doing? Why did you come here this time? I heard that the imperial court intends to promote you as the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan. Commanding the army general, it is a matter of great joy and congratulations!"

Zu Dashou, who was dressed in a loose casual robe, sat on the top chair and looked at Wu Sangui standing in front of him with a smile, his eyes were full of unconcealed appreciation.He had already received a report about Wu Sangui leading troops out of customs, but he didn't think too much about it.

Although there are many sons in my family, none of them can compare with this nephew in terms of culture and military strategy.I, Wu Xiang, and my two cousins ​​are all in their fifties, and it's time to consider successors.Looking around, Wu Sangui is the only one who can be made among the younger generations. The wealth and glory of the ancestors and Wu's family in the next few decades are entrusted to him.

"Returning to uncle, the child has already seen his mother. His father has been in poor health recently, and he often talks about his mother on the sick bed; the position of Ningyuan Commander-in-Chief Hong Dushi himself said, and said that the court wanted to reward the child for suppressing thieves. Thanks to this, the imperial edict is already on the way from the capital to the outside of the customs. The child can show up today because he entrusted his uncle to take care of him, and the uncle's kindness to the Wu family is too much for the child to repay!"

After Wu Sangui saluted, he sat on the side chair, and the maid brought tea and turned to leave.

"How can the two rings look like a general in command! They are as sick as women all day long! You see that a certain uncle and your two uncles, who ride horses and practice martial arts all day long, and drink wine and beautiful women, sometimes get sick? Let me know later. Your cousin took you to the warehouse, picked a few century-old wild ginseng, and sent it to your father in Ji Town, where all diseases will be cured! Your mother has been close to a certain one since childhood, and a certain one is not willing to let her go away!"

Zu Dashou said disapprovingly.

Although Wu Sangui didn't directly say that he wanted to take his family members into the customs, he only said that his father missed his mother, but Zu Dashou immediately understood the meaning behind the words.Reminiscent of the court's promotion of Wu Sangui, who had already been promoted to the position of deputy commander in chief for suppressing thieves, Zu Dashou immediately realized that there must be something wrong, so he calmly refuted Wu Sangui's temptation.

Seeing Zu Dashou's attitude, Wu Sangui could only refrain from mentioning the relocation of relatives for the time being, so as not to upset his uncle.

"Uncle, when you entered the pass to suppress the bandits, you had listened to orders under Hong Hengjiu for a long time, and you should know a lot about his life. How is this person compared to Mr. Sun Ge and Yuan Dushi? This person has long been famous in the imperial court. I'm afraid Jin will be disadvantageous to our two families! I don't know if there are any factory guards around him!"

Zu Dashou had heard of Hong Chengchou's name a long time ago, but the two had never dealt with each other.After learning that Hong Chengchou had arrived in Songshan, Zu Dashou was afraid that Hong Chengchou might have factory guards lurking around him, and he would be arrested if he went to meet him hastily, so he didn't go to Songshan to greet him.

Since Yuan Chonghuan was arrested by Jinyi during the Yisi Incident in the second year of Chongzhen, Zu Dashou has been afraid to stay away from Jinzhou City since he was afraid of being implicated and leading his troops back outside the pass.During this period, Chongzhen issued three imperial edicts to allow him to come to Beijing to meet His Majesty, but they were all thrown aside by Zu Dashou.

He knew how much trouble he had caused. If he was ordered to return to Beijing, he would definitely be executed. In extreme cases, he might be tortured like Yuan Chonghuan.

"Uncle, don't worry, there are only a few hundred guards and a few staff members beside Governor Hong, and there are no suspicious people! In terms of ability, Governor Hong has been in the battlefield for a long time, and his wisdom is deep. Elder Sun Ge and Governor Yuan are afraid." It can't be compared with it! But when it comes to treating your subordinate You Rong, Sun Gelao and Yuan Dushi are much better than them. Although Hong Dushi is not strict with his subordinates, when it comes to public affairs, he is not sympathetic at all. Said!"

After Wu Sangui sat down, he picked up the tea on the low table beside him and took a sip. Hearing Zu Dashou's question, he couldn't help laughing inwardly: My uncle is usually not afraid of anyone, but the factory guard is like a tiger.Once a new face appeared in Jinzhou City, my uncle would definitely send someone to inquire about the details, always fearing that the other party was a spy of the factory guard.

"Well, in the eyes of the Holy Majesty and the courtiers, a certain is an unfaithful and disrespectful minister. Supporting soldiers is self-respecting, raising enemies to enrich themselves, and disobeying the orders of the court. Don't you know that a certain supporter avoided living in Jinzhou because Governor Yuan was arrested and thus Fear of the majesty of the royal family. Zu Mou received the emperor's favor and lived and died for Daming for several generations, which can be regarded as a little contribution. If he was really killed by the court, it is really unjust! It’s more self-interested, but it’s not abolishing the government because of personal interests! I’m afraid that the court will misjudge Ning Jin’s situation, so I dispatched Hong Hengjiu to use force to suppress people, making it difficult to control Ning Jin’s situation! I’ve thought about it , even if you put down your military power now, and want to go to Beijing to be an apartment with no position and no power, I'm afraid it's not possible. The Holy One has tolerated me for many years, how can he spare me from Liaoxi?"

Zu Dashou leaned back, smiled wryly and sighed.

Although eight years have passed, the scene of Jin Yiwei's intrusion into the army and the arrest of Lieutenant General Yuan Chonghuan is still vivid in my mind.Yuan Chonghuan, who was powerful in Liaodong with a heavy army in his hand, did not dare to resist at all in the face of the wolf-like Jinyiwei, and obediently bound his hands. Zu Dashou and his generals who were present were trembling with fright.After Yuan Chonghuan was interrogated, Zu Dashou disregarded the threat of the safety of the capital gathered by the large number of Jianlu troops, and immediately led his troops to move the camp in the direction of Shanhaiguan, and finally destroyed the pass and fled.

The arrival of Hong Chengchou made Zu Dashou feel inexplicable pressure.He knew that the emperor's dispatch of Hong Chengchou to the outside of the pass was only the first step, and there must be corresponding measures in the future, the purpose of which was to weaken or even destroy the generals of western Liaoning.With the demise of the thieves, the imperial court will definitely free up its hands to deal with Jianzhou.And the Ningjin Group headed by him is a gateway in front of Jianzhou, and it is also a hurdle that the court can't get around.

Although Zu Dashou was aware of all this, he had no good plan to deal with the next possible series of actions of the imperial court. A year of doom was always lingering in his mind.

Although Liaoxi generals usually flirt with Jianzhou, and many captured generals and soldiers surrendered to Jianzhou after the two armies fought, Zu Dashou has no intention of surrendering to the Qing Dynasty. The current situation between the two sides is actually more like taking advantage of each other.

His family knew his own affairs, and Zu Dashou knew that Ning Jin’s army was nominally 10,000+, but there were only tens of thousands of people capable of fighting, and most of them were concentrated around Jinzhou City.And the only ones who can compete with Jianlu are the servants of various generals with varying numbers of subordinates.The rest of the soldiers mainly focus on farming on weekdays. They have neither drills nor armor, and they are no different from farmers.

He was afraid that Hong Chengchou would act recklessly without knowing the facts and destroy the fragile balance between the current state and Jianzhou.

"My boy, I think my uncle may be overthinking it! During the period of suppressing thieves in the pass, Hai'er also had contacts with many civil servants and generals in the pass, and heard a lot of things that he had never heard outside the pass. After summarizing the main points, Hai'er came to a conclusion Conclusion: Eight years after Chongzhen, today's temperament seems to have changed a lot! He has changed from being impatient, irritable, and sinners at every turn, and has become generous and kind! My uncle also knows that I have changed since Yuan Dushi was convicted until Chongzhen Eight years ago, the senior ministers of the imperial court and the local governors were frequently replaced. Anyone who was unfavorable in suppressing bandits or offending Tian Yan would be dismissed from office at least, or decapitated at worst; Few of the important officials of the imperial court were severely punished, let alone those who died because of this, and the elders of the court had not been replaced for several years. If no one else mentioned it, Wu Aheng, the former governor of Jiliao, should be well known to his uncle. He has made no achievements in the border affairs. If he had followed the way the Holy Majesty behaved in the past, this person would have been sentenced to prison for his crimes, but today he was only dismissed from his post and returned home, but not sent to prison. All kinds of incidents show that the Holy Majesty's behavior has changed from before. It's like two different people! My son is very aware of what my uncle is worried about, but now my son dares to say that my uncle has shown his loyalty to the court, and the Holy One will never settle accounts!"

(End of this chapter)