Chapter Seventy-Eight: Sun Chengzong's Policy of Guarding Liao (Asking for a Monthly Pass Collection)

Huang Liji continued: "Your Majesty, to get back to this case, whether the mastermind is the academic government of the three provinces or the central government, the impact on the people is completely different.

If the three provinces are the mastermind, in the eyes of the people, it is the emperor who is far away, and the corrupt officials have a bad heart, and if the central officials are also implicated, it is the dishonesty of the imperial court.

And how much of a wave His Majesty's next three wills will stir up, the old minister does not know.

But the old minister knows that he can't make extraneous branches at this moment!"

After Zhu Youzhen heard the other party mention the three wills, his face softened and said: "Huang Shoufu is old man and seeks the country, so let's do it." ”

Huang Liji hurriedly said: "Your Majesty has an overreputation, Your Majesty's idea must have been considered in your heart for a long time, otherwise how could you allow the minister to say this?"

Your Majesty is wise and wise, even if there are no ministers' words, you will definitely be able to deal with the fraud case in the three provinces. ”

It's the middle of the first month, and the north is still freezing and snowy thousands of miles away.

At the beginning of the Yin period, the flower hall in the backyard of the Ningyuan General Soldier's Mansion was brightly lit, and beautiful maids were shuttling back and forth with cups, plates, saucers and bowls containing various delicacies.

The spacious flower hall is surrounded by several large red candles, and in the center is a rosewood square table filled with various delicacies;

Directly above the wine table hangs a square lantern made of white satin, embroidered with hairpins of ladies on the outside, and several smaller candles fixed inside, shrouding the people who are laughing and feasting.

There were four people at the wine table: Sun Chengzong, Wu Xiang and his son.

Sun Chengzong sat on the main seat, Wu Xiang sat opposite him, Wu Sangui was accompanied by each other, and in front of each of them was a delicate wine bowl made of white jade, and in the bowl was an amber-colored aged daughter red.

After the wine and food were served, Wu Xiang waved his hand, and all the maids withdrew and stayed away from the flower hall.

"The humble function is all the cultivation of the superintendent today, and the superintendent is the pillar of the Ming Dynasty, and the humble position is admired, so that Wu Xiang respects the superintendent three cups. ”

Wu Xiang, who was dressed in black straight-fitting civilian clothes, stood up and raised his glass with both hands, bowed his head and greeted Sun Chengzong.

"Zuo Dudu is too polite, you can have today's achievements all by yourself and the battle formation, back then the official was just playing according to the facts, and the court was rewarded for meritorious deeds;

As for the title of the Optimus Pillar of the Ming Dynasty, this official has the right to laugh and talk after drinking as the governor of Zuodu, and don't mention it again in the future! Come! This official proposes that the three of us raise a glass together to congratulate our emperor on his imminent prosperity!"

Sun Chengzong smiled and raised the wine bowl to take a sip and then put it down, Wu Xiang and his son hurriedly got up and drank all the wine in the bowl.

After all, Sun Chengzong is old and old, so his taste is light, he only picked up a few plates of green vegetables and a plate of shredded bamboo shoots and chicken and tasted a few bites, and then put down the silver chopsticks and praised: "The cooking skills of the Zuodu Governor's Mansion are good!"

These vegetables are quite in line with the official's taste, but the official would like to remind the chief uncle that those who practice martial arts must not be greedy for appetite, and they should still read military books and battle strategies diligently every day, and learn more about battle formations, so as to prepare for future needs!"

Wu Sangui, who was personally pouring wine for Sun Chengzong, hurriedly put down the wine jug and bowed his hand and said, "The boy respectfully obeys the teachings of the superintendent!"

Over the years, the boy has been urging his soldiers to practice martial arts, and he has never relaxed for a day!

Now that the demon clan is getting stronger and stronger, it has become a decisive enemy, and the kid is willing to follow the superintendent one day and lead a large army to destroy this dynasty to relieve my emperor's worries!"

Sun Chengzong sneered in his heart, but praised loudly on his face: "Okay! The great husband's fame should be taken immediately! The eldest uncle has this ambition, and the official is very relieved!"

This statement and this trip can be a model for my Ming officials! Come, this official proposes, a toast to a young handsome man like the Ming Dynasty!"

After Wu Sangui poured a full wine for Sun Chengzong and Wu Xiang, he picked up the wine bowl and drank it all, and the three of them drank the wine in the bowl one after another.

After three rounds of drinking, Sun Chengzong smiled and said, "Governor Zuo, this official has left Beijing this time

Before, the Holy Lord specially issued an order to the Ministry of War, according to the number of soldiers in Jizhen Town, to allocate three months' food and salary, a total of 108,000 spirit stones, more than 24,000 spirit food, tomorrow also ask the Zuodu Governor to check and issue a receipt, so that the military department officials can return to Beijing to pay the errand!"

Wu Xiang hurriedly thanked him.

He knew in his heart that the Ministry of War still allocated money and food according to the heads reported by Jizhen in the past, and did not mention the matter of verifying the number of soldiers, thinking that it was already the great goodwill of the imperial court to Jizhen.

In fact, the Wu family has been in Liaodong for many years, and has already made a lot of wealth through smuggling, empty salary, business and other means.

Despite this, his Wu family still owes the court affection after all.

"Wu has been guarding Liaodong for many years, and the commanders and generals of Liaodong are very familiar, this time the superintendent went to work outside the Guan, after all, it is a life of people and land, and the officials and generals of Liaodong are all several generations of guards, among which there are inevitably rude people;

If the supervisor is in trouble, even if he speaks, most of Wu's face, Liaodong officials, will still give it!"

Sun Chengzong is shrewd and sophisticated, how can he not hear the meaning of Wu Xiang's words, it is nothing more than that he will not be able to play without their support in Liaodong!

Hehe, the mountains don't turn around, and the coming days are long!

And Sun Chengzong also knew that although the Zu and Wu families had the same interests, they had always advanced and retreated together in major and small matters, and made the same trade-offs;

However, Wu Xiang has no great ambitions, and he is quite satisfied with the current wealth and glory, and he even has the relationship of going through the important ministers of the imperial court, and returning to Beijing to seek a vacant position and enjoy the idea of wealth and prosperity.

However, people are in the rivers and lakes, and you can't help yourself, you Wu Xiang has been tied to a boat by your ancestors, and it is not easy to get out.

"Hehe! Zuo Dudu has a kind intention, and the old man understands it!

The old man is not talented, the sea has been up and down for decades, during which he has seen countless heavy generals, thieves and villains, and has been mixed in the sea of corpses and blood for many years, and the old man thinks that he has no lack of courage and insight;

Liaodong is still the land of the Ming Dynasty after all, and the generals of Liaodong are also the officials and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

After the old man left Beijing, he also thought about this, and when the four seas were peaceful and the official army was strong, who would dare to disobey the mandate of heaven in the Ming Dynasty!"

Sun Chengzong finished speaking, picked up the wine bowl and raised his head to drink dry.

He knew Wu Xiang's overtures, but as the Governor of the Ming Dynasty, how could he show weakness?

At the end of the banquet and the unitary time, Wu Xiang and his son sent Sun Chengzong back to the guest room to rest.

......

Zhu Youzhen once clearly pointed out when he played against Sun Chengzong: Ningjin's army was not guarding Liaodong, but the Liaoxi Corridor;

Sun Chengzong agreed with this very much, he thought of the battle of Liaoshen in the first year of the Apocalypse, after the Golden Demon Clan conquered Shenyang and Liaoyang one after another, and the Ming fortress north of Liaoxi was only left in Guangning.

In the battle of Guangning in the second year of the Apocalypse, the 60,000 new army formed by Wang Huazhen, the governor of Liaodong, spent a huge amount of food and salary, and was slightly defeated in the battle with the demons.

Xiong Tingbi, who took over, took a simple and rude approach, directly withdrawing hundreds of thousands of Liaodong soldiers and civilians into Shanhaiguan, and abandoning all the fortresses and fortresses built in the entire Liaoxi Corridor.

Thankfully, the strength of the Houjin Demon Clan at that time was not very strong.

The leader of the demon clan, Nurhachi, also led his subordinates to conquer various tribes adjacent to the demon clan, and plundered the population and materials in order to expand his power.

Neither has the ability nor the intention to occupy the entire Western Liaoning Corridor, let alone the ambition to enter Shanhaiguan and compete with the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, after successive victories against the Ming army, the demon clan just ordered to dismantle all the fortresses built by the Ming army in the western Liaoning corridor, and moved those bricks, stones, and timbers back to Moyang and other places in batches.

Of course, the people who didn't have time to evacuate became the clothed slaves of the demon clan, and the Liaoxi Corridor temporarily became a vacuum.

After the Battle of Quang Ninh, Mao Wenlong's troops took some small-scale harassment against Jianyu and also established several strongholds at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, but Mao Wenlong was not enough to threaten Jianzhou's military operations, and the defense of Liaoxi was still a top priority.

At that time, he and Wang Zaijin, as Wenchen who were familiar with the border affairs of Liaodong, had proposed two different solutions:

He advocated strengthening defense in depth and rebuilding the western Liaoning corridor;

That is, build more defensive fortresses and camps, and then station suitable soldiers in the camps and forts, defend when there is an enemy, and tuntian when there is no enemy, and support each other between the camps and forts to push the defense line farther away.

Although this plan was supported by the majority of the courtiers, the amount of money and food consumed was too staggering to bear for the already depleted court.

However, Wang Zaijin advocated shrinking the defense and building a heavy city outside the Shanhaiguan Pass to consolidate the Shanhaiguan; if the Jianguan attacked and the two sides went to war, the Shanhaiguan would not be opened, and the defenders outside the Guanguan would have to fight to the death.

The advantage of this plan is that it can save a lot of money, and the burden on the court will be greatly reduced, but the disadvantages are:

As long as Jianzhou becomes strong and pushes the battle line to the vicinity of Shanhaiguan, then the Beijing division will not want to be stable, and the generals guarding the customs will have to wait for it.

In addition, this plan has the meaning of adding to the snake.

Shanhaiguan is originally a dangerous pass, and the guards are also very sufficient, so what is the use of painting snakes to build a big city outside the gate?

After the discussion between Tianqi and the courtiers, Sun Chengzong's plan finally won, and Wang Zaijin was sent to Nanjing to retire.

The reason why Sun Chengzong's plan was approved by most of the important ministers and the emperor was due to several reasons:

First, the reconquest of lost land occupies the name of righteousness, and now that there are no civil and military generals who have opened up the territory, it should be no problem to recover the lost land, right?

Second, the farther the battlefield between the Ming and the demons was pushed away from the Jingshi, the safer the emperor and courtiers felt, and Wang Zaijin's plan could not give the emperor enough security.

Third, the demons in Jianzhou did not take advantage of the victory to occupy the western Liaoning corridor, which made the government and the opposition have the mentality of underestimating the enemy, thinking that Jianzhou does not have the strength to match the Ming Dynasty, as long as the defense is strengthened, the demons will never be able to beat the capital.

As for the need for huge amounts of money and grain, then it would be better to levy more liao salaries. So there was a later increase of 6 million Liao rings per year.

On the whole, Sun Chengzong's plan is more in line with the interests of the government and the opposition, and it is more positive, so it is inevitable that he will win;