Han ride

Chapter 344
"That's right, this time is the best time to capture Horqin." Huang Taiji's eyes lit up, he laughed and said, "If we don't seize Horqin at this time, should we wait until Li Xin recovers? At that time, Li Xin will completely take Lin Danhan's power into his pocket, and his troops will be strong and strong. If we fight against him again, there will be more casualties. I don't believe it, he can't see Li Xin's wolf ambition as a child of Chongzhen Come on, it is still the same as before, support him as always, if you are so weak, I will bow down."

"Even if Emperor Chongzhen is willing to agree, his courtiers will not agree. Because it does not conform to the rules of literati in power." Fan Wencheng knew the reality of the Ming Dynasty very well, and said sharply: "I heard that Li Xin and the Ming Dynasty Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant minister, has a bad relationship. His father's death has a lot to do with Zhou Yanru, and he himself has been questioned by Zhou Yanru several times. Zhou Yanru is the last person who does not want to see Li Xin rise. We made a move, and Zhou Yanru has already done everything for us."

"When I mentioned Zhou Yanru, I thought of one person." Huang Taiji was silent for a while, and then suddenly said: "In the past, we had Shanxi Shanxi merchants, and the eight great families worked for us. Our furs and other things could be transported to The Central Plains, to obtain the food, grass, ironware and other things we want, the current seven great families have already taken refuge in Li Xin. We can still obtain these food and grass and other things through North Korea, but it is difficult for us to get news from the Central Plains. Therefore, we must Find new candidates in the Central Plains and help us get all the information about the Central Plains."

Fan Wencheng and others were also silent for a while. Huang Taiji was right. The reason why Jiannu was able to win many battles against the Ming Dynasty and approach Beijing was not only because of the strength of the cavalry, but also because of the decay of the Ming Dynasty army. What's more, Jiannu knew the reality of the Central Plains.Where there are elite soldiers defending, where there are loopholes, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, avoiding the powerful Ming army, and easily attacking the Central Plains, these all depend on the information passed by the Han people in the Central Plains. Now the seven great families serve Li Xin. Not only did Jian Nu not receive any subsidy, but he became deaf and blind, and could not get any news from the Central Plains. This is the most important thing.

"Khan, what are you afraid of? Most Han people in the Central Plains are greedy. Can't we find someone to help us send information?" Obai said loudly.He despises the Han people very much, which is very popular among the high-level Jiannu people, and his words have won the approval of many Manchurians.Even though Fan Wencheng was upset after hearing these words, he still nodded.

"Your Majesty, I think what General Obai said is very reasonable." Fan Wencheng nodded and said: "In the Ming Dynasty, the officialdom was corrupt and there were countless people who took bribes. I heard that Emperor Chongzhen's dragon robe was torn and Mending, mending and wearing, he has ordered several times to reduce his own meals, but his ministers are living a life of rich clothes and rich food, extremely decadent. Hehe, this is really ironic. Such a court, the emperor It would be extremely easy to find someone to deliver the news for us."

After hearing this, Huang Taiji nodded, and finally sighed: "After listening to what Mr. Fan said, I feel sympathy for this Emperor Chongzhen. He is a good emperor. If he lived in a peaceful era, he would be considered his grandfather. I'm afraid there is no such thing as our Dajin Kingdom." From Huang Taiji's point of view, a person like Emperor Chongzhen, who is resolute and decisive, might really be able to rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty during the Taiping period. Naturally, there is no such thing as Huang Taiji. It's a pity that Emperor Chongzhen lived in the last years of the Ming Dynasty. There were internal and external troubles, and there were no courtiers who could assist him in the court.Of course, what Huang Taiji didn't know was that he was not the only one who sympathized with Emperor Chongzhen.Another one is Li Xin, his most powerful enemy.

But Emperor Chongzhen, who was far away in the capital, didn't know that his enemies and the enemies hiding in the dark were sympathetic to him in his heart, and even if he knew, he would probably just sneer while being moved.He is sitting on the dragon chair at the moment, watching the memorial.The memorial was sent from Jinzhou, and Zu Dashou expedited it to Beijing in six hundred miles.And Emperor Chongzhen was most concerned about Liaodong's affairs. Not only Liaodong's food and military pay were given priority, even if it was a memorial presented by Liaodong, even if he fell asleep, Wang Chengen had to deliver it to him as quickly as possible.

But at this moment, waves in his heart were churning, and his resolute and tired face twitched sharply, because the news recorded in the memorial sent by Zu Dashou was so terrifying.Jiannu Dorgon led more than 3 people to attack Pidao, and the general soldier of Dongjiang Town Pidao Huanglong was killed by an arrow.If it was only because of this news, Emperor Chongzhen would only issue an imperial decree to mourn for one or two days, and then ask the Ministry of Rites to give Huanglong a posthumous title to shadow his descendants.But the news inside at this moment made Chongzhen shudder a little, and even felt a little bit of betrayal.Li Xin's general Zhao Guang was in Phi Island, leading five thousand cavalry, and after Huang Long's death, he was elected by the generals as the general of Xingdongjiang Town. .That is to say, Li Xin is in charge of Dongjiang Town now.When did Li Xin take control of Phi Island? Although he knew that Li Xin had used Phi Island to break into Jiannu's rear, he thought it was just using it. What he didn't expect was that the other party didn't use it at all, but directly occupied it. It exceeded Chongzhen's bottom line.

Just as Huang Taiji said, Phi Island is of great importance. It is not only the rear of Jiannu, but also the Phi Island navy can attack the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty and threaten the fertile land in the south of the Ming Dynasty.From Chongzhen's point of view, Li Xin can conquer the grassland, sweep the desert, and dominate the grassland. Chongzhen doesn't care about this, because from Chongzhen's point of view, the Central Plains is his own territory. It's fine for Li Xin to occupy the barren land, but if Li Xin wants to intervene in the Central Plains, that's something he doesn't want to see.

"Li Xin is really brave enough to occupy Phi Island. When did Phi Island become his territory? It's really abominable." Emperor Chongzhen snorted coldly: "If it wasn't for the news that Zu Dashou got by chance, I wouldn't have I don’t know that Li Xin acted so boldly to occupy Pidao. Such a wolfish ambition is really abominable. Didn’t you Dongchang and Jinyiwei get the news?” Emperor Chongzhen snorted coldly to Wang Chengen who was on the side.Obviously very dissatisfied with Wang Chengen's lagging news.

"Your Majesty, this servant thought that Li Xin occupied Phi Island by accident. The general soldier of Huanglong is loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and loyal to His Majesty. He sits alone on Phi Island. How can such a person take refuge in Li Xin?" Wang Chengen thought for a while. Bitter, his Jinyiwei and Dongchang are full of spies, monitoring all civil and military officials, but Wang Chengen doesn't care about Pidao, a place that is so isolated from birds, and there are not many spies even in Jiannu.Dongchang and Jinyiwei still played a lot of roles in the early Ming Dynasty, but in the later period, they mainly targeted only civil and military officials.It's a pity that a well-known intelligence agency has not played its due role.

"Then tell me, what should we do now?" Emperor Chongzhen was still angry, and said coldly: "Is it impossible to let Li Xin occupy Pidao like this? This damn Huanglong, his subordinates, Li Weiluan and Sun Yinglong The others have already obeyed the order of Zhao Guang who came out of nowhere, and they don't pay attention to the court at all. There is also Shang Kexi, who has already taken refuge in Li Xin. The letter is used, is it true that I am forced to bow to Li Xin?"

"The servant thinks, it's better to let Wu Xiang be the commander-in-chief of Pidao as Zu Dashou said." Wang Chengen finally sighed.

"Can this Zhao Guang win over?" Emperor Chongzhen said sinisterly, implying that he didn't want Wu Xiang to be the general soldier of Pidao. , that is, let Zu Dashou control Pidao, which is also not what Emperor Chongzhen wanted to see.

"I'm afraid I can't." Wang Cheng'en said in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, this Zhao Guang and Li Xin met in Jinzhou, and later became the brother-in-law of Li Xin's wife Dong Xiaowan, and he was extremely loyal to Li Xin."

"It's a pity that such a person does not serve the court, but is used by Li Xin." After Emperor Chongzhen heard about it, he sighed, and his eyes were filled with disappointment. As the owner of righteousness, the imperial court not only did not get many elite soldiers and generals, but even fell behind in repeated wars.This made Chongzhen very disappointed.

"Don't worry, your majesty, you will see people's hearts over time. These people are only temporarily deceived by Li Xin and others. After a long time, they will naturally understand that submitting to the court is the right way." Wang Chengen persuaded.

"Wu Xiang, is this person reliable?" Emperor Chongzhen suddenly asked, there was nothing he could do, Li Xin's influence had already made Emperor Chongzhen feel a little dangerous.Phi Island must not fall into the hands of Li Xin. This is the bottom line of Emperor Chongzhen. If Wu Xiang is really available, Emperor Chongzhen would not mind using him.

"He has a son named Wu Sangui. When the emperor had just ascended the throne, he went to Beijing to escort him. When Wu Xiang was fighting Jiannu, he was besieged by a large army. Wu Sangui once led hundreds of family members into the siege and rescued Wu Xiang. " Wang Chengen said hastily.

"It turned out to be him." Emperor Chongzhen was stunned when he heard the words, finally nodded, and said: "To be able to produce such a filial son, I don't think he is a treacherous person. Wu Xiang's family education is also trustworthy. Such a person should You can use it."

"Your Majesty, let Li Xin know about this. Is it inevitable?" Wang Chengen said worriedly.

"When will it be someone else's turn to talk about my country?" Emperor Chongzhen's face was gloomy, and he snorted coldly, "Can he, Li Xin, be the master?"

"Li Xin is just a courtier, so he naturally has such rights, but the emperor, Pi Dao is Li Xin's people. If the emperor rashly sends someone to replace Zhao Guang, the servant is worried that Pi Dao will change." Wang Chengen is still a The face is cautious, but there is worry in the voice.This is Wang Chengen, Emperor Chongzhen is headstrong, once a decision is made, no one dares to refute it, and only Wang Chengen can say a few words.

"What can Phi Island do?" Emperor Chongzhen said with some dissatisfaction: "Could it be that Zhao Guang would still seek refuge in Jianlao? If that's the case, I'm afraid neither I nor Li Xin will be able to forgive this person."

"Li Xin will naturally not spare others, but the emperor, it is not known whether the newly appointed Wu Xiang can withstand the attack of Jiannu. The slave has read Zu Dashou's memorial, which can judge the current Pidao It’s not the old Phi Island. Li Xin once obtained a lot of food and grass from Dasuo gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. Some of these food and grass were used outside Shandong, and some were left on Phi Island. That’s why Phi Island can support so many people. Li Xin can feed so many people with these grains and grasses, but what about the imperial court? There will be so many burdens. Can Liaodong support them?" Wang Chengen analyzed.

"Then what do you think we should do? Pidao must not be occupied by Li Xin." Emperor Chongzhen's face was gloomy, and he clenched his fists tightly. Isn't it because of money and food that he cut down on food and clothing?Disaster relief needs money, and war needs money, but Emperor Chongzhen doesn't have these in his hands.Sometimes, when he thought of Li Xin's methods, he also thought about learning from Li Xin, and also came to the world to ask those gentry to hand over their money and food.Unfortunately, he is the emperor, he can't.

"The emperor can let Wu Xiang be the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town, and Zhao Guang can be the deputy." Wang Chengen said with some pride: "Zhao Guang is not a general picked by Li Xin at random, even if he is Li Xin's brother-in-law, he is just a general." Ordinary people, the emperor's promotion of an ordinary person to be a deputy commander is already a great grace, whether it is Zhao Guang or Li Xin, they should all be grateful to Dade, how can they object?"

"Can Wu Xiang suppress those generals in Dongjiang Town?" Chongzhen was a little suspicious.

"Naturally, it will gradually divide." Wang Chengen didn't care about this point. Wu Xiang might not be able to fight, but he still had many ways to deal with his own people. On this point, Wang Chengen believed that many people in the civil and military circles of the Manchu Dynasty could do this.

"In this case, let's make an order!" Emperor Chongzhen thought for a while, and then said: "I heard that Li Xin left hundreds of thousands of grains in Phi Island, which is only a small Phi Island. With so much grain and grass, after Wu Xiang arrived at Phi Island, let him transport 30 shi of grain and grass to the capital to support the bandits in Shaanxi and Shanxi."

Wang Chengen was stunned after hearing this, but he didn't dare to speak, so he could only respond.He sighed in his heart, he had also heard of the 50 shi of grain on Phi Island, which Li Xin got from Jiangnan, but can Li Xin agree to such a thing?There are other Liaodong generals who will not agree. These Liaodong generals themselves are extremely xenophobic. Li Xin gave them 50 shi of grain, so that everyone on Pidao respected him. Li Xin also controlled Pidao because of this, Chongzhen The emperor asked Wu Xiang to transport so much grain and grass to the capital as soon as he took office, not to mention whether Wu Xiang could do it, even if he did, it would arouse opposition from the Liaodong generals.Can the imperial court really get Phi Island?But Chongzhen is the emperor, how can the emperor let people say that he agrees or disagrees with what he does.

"I heard that Wu Sangui, Wu Xiang's son, is now in Shanhaiguan?" Emperor Chongzhen suddenly thought of something, and said, "This man is a talent, Cheng En, I really want to meet this man."

"The slave will arrange for Wu Sangui to have an audience with the emperor when he turns around." Wang Chengen's heart moved when he heard the words, and he said hastily.

"Then go down and draft the imperial decree!" Emperor Chongzhen waved his hands and sighed deeply. He felt tired for a while. Although the emperor is good and lofty, it is a tiring job, especially in the Ming Dynasty. That's the case, Emperor Chongzhen is a diligent lord, he has to make decisions on big and small matters, which is extremely hard.

Emperor Chongzhen's imperial decree was issued very quickly, and it was sent to Wuxiang's mansion at high speed. There was a burst of laughter in Wuxiang's mansion in an instant.Although Wu Xiang gained credit for his conquest of Kong Youde and became the commander-in-chief again, such a commander-in-chief only controls the local troops and has very little power.Where is it the same as the general soldier of Dongjiang Town, he has elite soldiers and strong generals in his hands. It is interesting to be such a general soldier.

"Father, although the general soldier of Pidao is good, it is a troublesome thing." Unlike others, Wu Sangui has a different opinion.

"The emperor's kindness is great, I, Wu Xiang, can still return to Liaodong, my son should be happy, why are you talking like this." Wu Xiang looked at the seal of the chief soldier in his hand, and said slightly dissatisfied.

"Who is Zhao Guang? That's Li Xin's brother-in-law, and Zhang Cai is his powerful adviser. He put such a person on Phi Island, which shows that he attaches great importance to Phi Island. Father's trip this time is a tiger's mouth. How could Li Xin agree to the food?" Wu Sangui shook his head and said, "What's more, there are food and grass, Li Xin has offended the entire Jiangnan gentry because of these food and grass, how can people like Zhao Guang willingly hand over the food and grass?"

Wu Xiang was also taken aback when she heard the words, the little joy just now disappeared without a trace, Li Xin was naturally cunning and vicious, from the incident with Huang Taiji, it can be seen that this person has a strong desire for revenge, and he became the chief soldier himself Although it was Chongzhen who issued the imperial edict, Li Xin did not dare to blame Chongzhen, but in the end it fell into his own hands.Just as Wu Sangui said, for that batch of grain and grass, Li Xin offended many Jiangnan gentry, and finally got it. Now it is a year of catastrophe, and the grain and grass are extremely precious. Where will these grains be sent to the capital?
As soon as Wu Xiang took office now, he had to face two things, one was the hostility towards him from Phi Dao soldiers, and the other was the problem of food and grass.The imperial decree of Emperor Chongzhen clearly stated that 30 shi of grain was needed, and Wu Xiang was really robbed of food.At this time, Wu Xiang realized that he had got a hot potato, the kind that he couldn't throw away even if he wanted to.

(End of this chapter)