Two months passed in a blink of an eye, and on this afternoon, Wang Qiang had just finished his lecture and walked out of the door of the classroom, and when he raised his eyes, he saw two people, it was actually Lan Ting, the daughter of Suzhou businessman Zhang Xiaoping and Zhang Xiaodong, who came! Zhang Xiaoping is still dressed as a businessman, but Lan Ting is dressed as a man, like a son. Wang Qiang was overjoyed, took Zhang Xiaoping's hand and said, "Oh, why are you here?" ”

"Hehe, Lord Wang, don't come unharmed!" Zhang Xiaoping greeted.

Lan Ting also clasped his fists and saluted, "Lan Ting greets my uncle." ”

"Hahahaha, you're here, great! Go inside and talk. Wang Qiang led Zhang Xiaoping and them to their residence, and served tea from someone, and Zhang Xiaoping explained the reason for this in detail.

It turned out that in order to strengthen the defense of the Northeast, Hong Chengchou asked the imperial court to buy a batch of artillery and muskets, Chongzhen asked the Ministry of War to handle it, and this matter finally fell to Zhang Xiaoping, this time Zhang Xiaoping and the officials of the Ministry of War escorted the arms to Jinzhou, and by the way came to visit Wang Qiang, Lan Ting knew that Wang Qiang was also in the Northeast, and heard that he had run a military school, and he thought it was fun, so he followed. During Lan Ting's residence in the Special Economic Zone, he has become good friends with Cai Ling'er, the two are of the same age, and they are both happy people, although they are aunts and nephews, they are like sisters, often chatting and shopping together, Wang Qiang was later transferred back to the capital, Lan Ting simply moved to Wang Qiang's house in Tongzhou, and lived with Cai Ling'er, until Cai Ling'er also moved back to the capital, the two were reluctant to separate.

Zhang Xiaoping took out a letter from his bag, which was written by Tian Jingming to Wang Qiang. In his letter, Tian Jingming described the situation of the SEZs, saying that since Wang stressed his departure from the SAR, Tian Jingming has been in charge of the affairs of the trade market and money banks in the SEZ in the capacity of a household servant, and his prestige is much worse than that of Wang Qiang, and those bigwigs of the DPRK and China, local governors, and river customs have not bought Tian Jingming's account, and they have been hampered everywhere to reap benefits from it, and the situation of the SEZ has deteriorated greatly from what it used to be, but fortunately, the foundation laid in the previous two years is relatively thick and can barely be maintained. With the development of the war in the northwest, the imperial court's military expenditure was huge, but the tax source was shrinking, and the financial hole was getting bigger and bigger, and the deficit could only be filled by printing more silver bills. Tian Jingming also said in the letter that he will continue to work hard to maintain this situation, so that Wang Qiang can run the school with peace of mind, and there is no need to worry about funding.

Seeing this, Wang Qiang couldn't help sighing, he could imagine how much effort and effort Tian Jingming had to put in to maintain this mess, this guy must have added several wrinkles to his face. couldn't help but say to himself: "Lao Tian is not easy! ”

Zhang Xiaoping looked at Wang Qiang's expression, guessed the content of the letter, and said: "Yes, after you leave, Lord Tian's situation will be difficult, we drank and chatted together, he mentioned many times that if it wasn't for the gratitude of your acquaintance, he would have returned to the mountains and forests a long time ago and went to be a Taoweng." ”

Wang Qiang smiled bitterly: "The building will collapse, and there will be no eggs under the nest. ”

"Is it because the adults are running the school to turn the tide?" Zhang Xiaoping asked cautiously.

Although Wang Qiang and Zhang Xiaoping have a good relationship, it is not to the extent of exchanging their lives, so they only smiled and said: "That's not enough, I can't talk about it, I want to make a little contribution to the court, but I just want to protect myself." ”

"Oh." Zhang Xiaoping no longer asked deeply,

Wang Qiang changed the topic and asked, "How long do you plan to stay in the Northeast this time?" ”

Zhang Xiaoping said with a smile: "This is not good, I came to Tashan, and found that the materials and specialties here are very rich, especially leather goods, medicinal materials, these things are cheap and good, they are all in demand in the south, I plan to investigate, set up a business here, specializing in leather goods and medicinal materials business." ”

"Okay!" Wang Qiang said: "If you run a business house here, I will naturally take care of it." I'd also like to ask you to tell my students about the way to do business. ”

Zhang Xiaoping said respectfully: "Since it is sent by an adult, Zhang should serve himself, but I am afraid that his knowledge is shallow and he will not be able to satisfy the adult." ”

"Huh! Your Zhang family has been in business for generations, and the family business style alone is enough to benefit these students, plus the world you have seen from the south to the north, it is enough. I'm just afraid that it will delay your business and make you rich. Hehe. Wang Qiang said with a smile.

The two of them chatted lively, and inevitably snubbed Lan Ting, she pouted and looked around boredly, seeing that Wang Qiang's residence was very simple, and said in her heart: "It seems that this northeast is much poorer than the capital, and such a big official as my uncle actually lives here, which is far worse than when I was in Tongzhou." He didn't go to fight the Qing soldiers, but he hid here to run a library, I really don't know what he thinks. ”

That night, Wang Qiang gave Zhang Xiaoping and Lan Ting a pick-up, and invited Gu Yanwu to accompany him, talking and laughing was lively, and he heard someone shouting outside the door: "Lord Qiyu, someone from the Jinzhou base camp is here, urgently ask to see you!" ”

"Oh! Please come to the living room. Wang Qiang responded, hugged his fist at everyone, and turned around and went to the living room.

One of the soldiers under Hong Chengchou arrived in the living room and forcibly saluted the king, Wang Qiang asked: "You came to see me so late, is it the Qing army that has come to attack?" ”

Joining the army clasped his fists and said: "Lord Qiqi, the emperor issued a gold medal holy decree to urgently summon Marshal Hong to Beijing, and he has to leave early tomorrow morning, so the marshal asked the Lord of the Prison Army to go to the base camp overnight to discuss matters." ”

"Oh? It seems that something happened to the DPRK! Okay, I'll make a little arrangement, and I'll go. Wang Qiang returned to the cafeteria to explain the situation to Zhang Xiaoping and others, and handed over the affairs of the school to Gu Yanwu to be responsible, and then followed the army back to the Jinzhou base camp overnight.

In the lobby of the Chinese army, the pine candles are shining high, the lights are bright, Hong Chengchou is sitting in the center behind the handsome case, with a serious face, the generals of each battalion are standing on both sides, and on the side of the handsome case, there is also a bookcase, which is prepared for Wang Qiang.

Wang Qiang came in and saluted Hong Chengchou with his fists, Hong Chengchou nodded and stretched out his hand, and Wang Qiang sat in his seat. Hong Chengchou coughed and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, now that the military situation in the northwest has changed, the emperor has specially summoned me to the court to discuss matters, and I will leave early tomorrow morning." The incident happened suddenly, so I convened you overnight to discuss contingency measures. He turned his head to look at Wang Qiang, and then said: "During the period when the commander left, the affairs of the army were temporarily presided over by Lord Wang, the supervisor of the army, and the soldiers and horses of all battalions and towns were also temporarily controlled by Lord Wang. Lord Wang is the chief army of the Qin Order, and he is an important minister in the court, the emperor personally gave Shang Fang the sword, and has the right to cut first and then play, and all the generals must obey the dispatch of Lord Wang, and there must be no mistakes. Hear me all! ”

"Obey!" The generals replied with a bang.

Wang Qiang knew what was going on, and he was secretly surprised in his heart: he had never participated in the affairs of the army, and he couldn't even recognize the generals, Hong Chengchou actually handed over such a big mess to himself, but it was too sudden.

Hong Chengchou asked Wang Qiang to preside over the affairs of the army as a last resort, considering that after he left, there must be someone in the army to preside, but most of the generals of each battalion in the army are of the same grade, and they do not subordinate each other, and none of them can serve the public, and the chief military officers of each town are not subordinate to anyone. In addition to himself, Wang Qiang's official position is the largest, and he has the status of a messenger, so everyone who appointed him has nothing to say. However, he also has worries about appointing Wang Qiang, after all, this kid is too young and has not really led soldiers, although he killed the Qing army in the first battle of the Special Administrative Region, it was somewhat by luck, relying on the lives of several subordinate generals, so that such a little eunuch could lead more than 200,000 soldiers and horses at the border pass, as calm as now, if there is a big war, he will not be able to play. It is said that this kid is still a stunned young man, and if he does it recklessly, it will be a big problem. Thinking of this, he added: "Concentrating troops and holding on to the city is a strategy formulated by this commander against the enemy, and during my absence, everyone must abide by this policy, and must not go into battle lightly." The day-to-day affairs of the army are entrusted to Lord Wang, but major military operations can only be carried out after being approved by the commander-in-chief. In addition, the military situation here must be reported once a day, and 800 miles must be rushed to the capital, without delay! ”

"Obey!" The generals replied, and Wang Qiang also responded. The meaning of Hong Chengchou's words is obvious, Wang Qiang can handle the general affairs of the army, and the military operation still needs Hong Chengchou to preside over it remotely, Wang Qiang has no intention of taking charge of the army, so he doesn't care.

Hong Chengchou continued: "The Qing army has a lot of reports in the city, once they learn the news of my return to Beijing, they are likely to take this opportunity to attack, but our army has a strong city and sufficient food and grass, as long as the soldiers work together to hold on, the Qing army will not be able to hold on for a long time." The Qing people have always been treacherous, and they are afraid that they will find ways to lure our army out of the city to meet the battle, and consume our army in the field battle. ”

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After everyone dispersed, Hong Chengchou invited Wang Qiang to the back hall, the two sat down, Hong Chengchou said with a melancholy face: "Lord Wang, I don't know how long it will take me to return to the capital, everything here is up to you." ”

Wang Qiang clenched his fists and said: "Don't worry, Dashuai, I will definitely follow your deployment and order all armies to strictly guard the city and prevent the Qing army from succeeding." ”

"Well, I'm relieved." Hong Chengchou nodded and said, he sighed, and then said: "Alas, but the overall situation in the northwest is chaotic, and the bandits have become bigger, what can I do when I go back!" ”

Wang Qiang has been immersed in running the school, and he has not paid much attention to the recent changes in the domestic situation, so he asked: "Dashuai, I only heard that the official army has fought a few defeats in the northwest and southwest, and the bandits and Zhang Xianzhong's forces have expanded, is the situation really bad?" ”

Hong Chengchou sighed and said, "It's just very bad, it's already difficult to clean up!" In the past few months, the officers and troops in the northwest have lost their troops and lost their power and territory, and the bandits have taken control of the entire territory of Shaanxi and most of Shanxi and Henan, and are marching towards Gansu and Hubei. Zhang Xianzhong occupied southern Sichuan, had already marched into Hunan, and would attack Xiangyang. Now the forces of the bandits and the bandits have been connected, and the strength of the troops has surpassed the officers and troops in the northwest! The offensive and defensive trends are mutually changing, and Sun Chuanting is misleading the country! Alas! As he spoke, his brows furrowed together.

Wang Qiang also gasped when he heard this, he didn't expect that in just a few months, the situation had changed so much, and he couldn't help but ask worriedly: "Dashuai, the northwest and southwest have eroded so much, will the emperor transfer you back to the northwest to clean up the situation?" ”

Hong Chengchou has also thought of this, he sees the domestic situation very clearly, now the Ming Court is already the general trend, no one is powerless to return to the sky, and Chongzhen is a narrow-minded person, and he can't tolerate capable ministers in his eyes, so he is unwilling to take over the mess anyway, but Wang Qiang is a close minister of the emperor, and he can't say it directly, he stroked his head and sighed deeply and said: "I'm old, my body is not good, and now the country is in danger, I can only barely support it, and I'm afraid I can't clean up the situation in the northwest." ”

Wang Qiang can understand Hong Chengchou's thoughts, it seems that these front-line generals are also thinking about their own way out, but they don't know how Hong Chengchou plans his retreat.