Wang Zaijin saw that Sun Chengzong wanted to answer Tianqi's inquiry by himself, and said without prevarication: "Your Majesty, the minister also thinks that General Mao is much better in Jinzhou than in Phi Island. Presumably the emperor has also heard that since the governor Wu Zhiwang of that year, some people have always said that General Mao has been guilty of not listening to dispatches, deducting military salaries, and privately negotiating peace, and the minister has not found such a thing after being the overseer of the Bohai Naval Region. It is not that the minister protects Mao's general soldiers, but the minister means that after he moved from Phi Island to Jinzhou, it is not only convenient for support but also convenient for investigation. ”

Of course, Tianqi has heard a lot of words slandering Mao Wenlong, but he didn't really just let the Military Intelligence Department investigate more, in the past, Jinyi Wei stationed people on Phi Island, and later after the establishment of the Military Intelligence Department, although he did not have a fixed residence, he also went to the island from time to time to check the accounts and the number of soldiers. There can be another understanding from those who say that he is charged, that if he does not listen to the dispatch, it is because the place is too far away, and it is certainly inconvenient for one to be dispatched in Dengzhou and the other abroad; Deducting military salaries is a common trend in the Ming army, and officers who do not deduct military salaries will not be promoted, as long as they do not cause mutiny, there is nothing to do.

Only discussing peace in private is a big crime, as a military general, negotiating peace with the enemy in private means that you want to betray, Mao Wenlong understands this, he has discussed with Nurhachi and Huang Taiji several times and has reported it, these are not any tricks. However, all this has not been clarified, and it is understandable that some people in the DPRK and China have misunderstood and doubted, and Wang Zaijin said that Mao Wenlong's convenient investigation in Jinzhou is also an attitude, so as not to say that others have accepted Mao Wenlong's benefits.

Tianqi listened to Wang Zaijin's words and asked, "Do you have any other opinions on whether Mao Wenlong was stationed on the spot or organized an evacuation?" ”

Both the Overseers and the Overseers expressed their support for Mao Wenlong to take root on the spot, and the others did not have other ideas, so they said they had no objections. Only Sun Chengzong said: "Since they all think that General Mao should hold on to Jinzhou, then he should send people and transport materials to support, General Mao said that it is best to let Zhao Shujiao take someone to help him repair and build a house, does the emperor agree to General Mao's request?" ”

Tianqi thought for a while and shook his head and said: "After Zhao Shujiao went to Nanjing, he set up a school to teach how to build houses and post roads and rivers, and neighboring provinces such as Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangxi, and Huguang constantly took turns to send troops to study, and Shaanxi, Fujian and other distant countries also came to invite people to teach skills. Now his old people are all working as teachers, and the rest are some of the nephews, whose skills and hard-working spirit are greatly inferior, even if they want to be sent, they will have to wait for the snow to melt in the spring, and the construction in the winter is not strong, since it is decided to stay for a long time, they must repair some strong and durable. ”

Sun Chengzong nodded and said, "In that case, let Lord Hou go on a trip in person, bring some emergency clothes and cannons to Mao Wenlong, and tell him the decision of the imperial court so that he can make up his mind to stick to it." ”

Hou Sui agreed, and then Tianqi continued: "After the matter of Jinzhou is finished, let's talk about the matter of Jinzhou, who of you will talk about the opinion?" ”

Huang Daozhou is the supervisor of the Northeast Military Region, he saw that Hou Sui was the first to say, and he was also a supervisor and was embarrassed to wait for others to come, so he said: "Your Majesty, the situation in Jinzhou is more complicated, and you can only find another way to attack Jinzhou. I am afraid that this battle in Jinzhou will not be able to achieve results in a short period of time, everything must be planned for the worst, according to the minister's analysis of the number of Jurchens, the minister believes that the army should be increased to Jinzhou. ”

Tianqi said: "It's December, it seems that the soldiers in front can't go home for the New Year this year, they are too hard, and it's not good to let them bleed more, so let's abolish the idea of storming first." Lord Huang said that you have a specific analysis of the strength of the Jurchens, so how many people do you think Huang Taiji will take to flank our army? ”

Huang Daozhou said: "Aside from the Mongols who returned to the past and the Han people who worked hard for the Jurchens, the total number of Jurchens who could fight did not exceed 120,000. The people who besieged Huining City were all the original Mongols, there were 20,000 Jurchens in Jinzhou City, and there were at most 60,000 people in the hands of Huang Taiji, if he still had to guard the central areas such as Shenyang and Liaoyang, the maximum number that could be used to flank us might reach 50,000, and we had a total of 50,000 and they had 70,000 troops, and we did not have an advantage. ”

Apocalypse nodded and said, "Then where should you send people over if you want to increase your troops?" ”

Huang Daozhou said: "The people of Huining can't move, the defenders in the Jizhou area and the defenders of Ningyuan can't move either, just in case, only 20,000 people who just came from Guizhou can be used, Wu Xiang's 7,000 cavalry can also be pulled to Jinzhou, the Jurchens are now defending rather than attacking, and they will not be needed at the border wall in a short time." ”

Tianqi thought for a while and said: "Wu Xiang's seven thousand cavalry should be no problem pulling out, it is said that Yuan Chonghuan values these people very much, and they must have some combat effectiveness, but the people from Guizhou have not been around for less than a month, maybe they have just adapted to the harsh climate in Liaodong, can pulling them to the front line play a role?" ”

Huang Daozhou saw that Tianqi questioned the ability of the Guizhou soldiers and did not speak, Sun Chengzong said at this time: "Those 20,000 people have fought in Guizhou for many years, and I am afraid that they have more combat experience than others except for climatic reasons. I think that Qin Liangyu led her men and horses to Liaodong back then, and they were not taken seriously at that time, but after the battle with Nurhachi, they showed super combat effectiveness, which was impressive, and these Guizhou troops could let them grow up in battle even if they lacked ability. ”

Tianqi said: "In this way, our army has 50,000 infantry and nearly 30,000 cavalry, even if Huang Taiji comes to attack with all his strength, he is not afraid of him, not to mention that he can't do it desperately, what does Mr. think should be done in the deployment of troops?" Is there any good way to attack without attacking? ”

Sun Chengzong said: "If you don't attack strongly, then you can only defend instead of attacking, and the minister means that you will first build soil and ice as a wall in Dalinghe Fort and Youtun like Jinzhou, and use this as a defense to block Huang Taiji's reinforcements, and the infantry and cavalry should not be a big problem if they each send 20,000 to hold on." There are nearly 40,000 people left to find a way to take Jinzhou, and it is difficult to say what way the minister has not seen the specific situation, it is better to let Chen Qiyu and Zhang Xiangan go to see it in person, and then say, it is better for young people to go to the field to observe than to sit in the house and think about it. ”

Chen Qiyu and Zhang Xiangan immediately expressed their willingness to go to Jinzhou for on-the-spot observation when they saw Sun Chengzong, and at this time, Xiong Tingbi, the overseer of the Northeast Military Region, said: "Your Majesty, the minister also wants to go to Jinzhou for on-the-spot observation, originally the emperor ordered us to be in Beijing, not that the minister wants to go to the command but wants to take a look at the two rebel generals Sun Degong and Li Yongfang." ”

Tianqi knew that Xiong Tingbi was still holding a grudge against Sun Degong and Li Yongfang, but he didn't like Xiong Tingbi to go now, for fear that he would affect the command of the general army.

Wang Zaijin said at this time: "Lord Xiong doesn't need to go now, what is the situation that the two of us still have tall people to discuss, who will we discuss with when you leave?" Do you have to worry about everything? As long as you take Jinzhou City, arrest those two traitors, let you vent your anger first, what do you think? Gao Di saw that Wang Zaijin said this, and persuaded everyone to be in Beijing.

Tianqi knew that Wang Zaijin and Gao Di persuaded Xiong Tingbi because they didn't want to go to the front line, and he didn't want to worry about it, so he wandered his gaze around, and finally landed on Ni Yuanlu's head, seeing Ni Yuanlu bowing his head and saying nothing, Tianqi said: "Everyone is talking, Ni Yuanlu, why don't you have anything to say?" ”

Ni Yuanlu immediately raised his head when he saw the apocalypse roll call and said, "The minister doesn't speak, he is waiting for the emperor's summons." ”

Tianqi smiled: "It seems that you are confident, so it shouldn't be a problem for you to take Jinzhou now, right?" ”

Ni Yuanlu said: "As long as the enemy dogs in Jinzhou City can be restrained from jumping out of the city to hurt people, the minister has a way to take Jinzhou within half a month." ”

Sun Chengzong asked strangely, "What new equipment does Yuanlu have?" Could it be that you have developed a flowering cannon on your bar? ”

Ni Yuanlu said: "I disappointed my teacher, the flowering cannon has not yet been developed, but when developing the flowering cannon, the students found an unexpected discovery, that is, the front of the cannonball can be pointed to hit farther." On this basis, the students dared to say that they could take Jinzhou, because when their cannons hit us, we could hit him, and it is not known if they were unprepared and fired the cannons in the city to the ground. ”

Sun Chengzong frowned and said: "I also thought about the idea of making the cannon shell pointed, but the effect is not good, the range is not as far as the round shell, and the careful observation finds that the pointed shell will turn over in the air and affect the range, how did you overcome this problem?" ”

Ni Yuanlu said: "It's very simple, the front pointed part is weighted and a few pieces of iron are added to the back, which is equivalent to growing a few wings for the cannonball, and it will fly very smoothly and shoot far." ”

Seeing that Ni Yuanlu was very calm on the surface but his eyes were full of smug light, Tianqi snorted and said: "It's just that the mule is pulled out to slip away, tomorrow you will go to Jinzhou with Zhang Jing'an and them, Zhang Jing'an and Chen Qiyu will solve the problem of besieging the Jinzhou defenders and preventing them from going out of the city to make trouble, and Ni Yuanlu is responsible for pulling out your long-range cannon and firing it." But first of all, I have to say that if I can win Jinzhou, I will reward each of you with a year's salary, and before the New Year, I will give each person a year-and-a-half-year reward, and if you can't take it, you won't be punished, and you will go together to get the flowering cannon out, otherwise you won't be allowed to go home to see your wife. ”

For Zhang Jing'an and these people, the annual salary is only a few hundred taels, and the punishment is actually a trivial matter, and the punishment will be punished, but it is a big problem that he is not allowed to go home to see his wife when he is young and vigorous. Zhang Jing'an and Chen Qiyu both looked at Ni Yuanlu coldly, although they didn't speak, they also showed doubts and dissatisfaction, Ni Yuanlu blinked his eyes and said that everything was under control.