"Lord Fu Shuai, the garrison of Qinghe is barely enough, if you divide the troops out of the city again, the city will be empty, and I am afraid that it will cause the army's heart to waver. Moreover, the tens of thousands of bandits under Nurhachi's banner, if the Mongolian tribes collude with them, they are afraid that the number of troops will be close to 100,000. He has been widely spying in various parts of Liaodong all the year round, and most of the wealthy families and merchants in various places have unclear relations with him, and the truth of the officers and soldiers has long been known, and how can he be frightened by more than 10,000 officers and soldiers? Now that the conquest army has not yet been assembled, and our strength is not enough, we should try to avoid conflict with it, otherwise it will not be possible to make Jianyu come without intention, but he will be provoked by our actions to come, and it will be counterproductive. ”

In the yamen of the Qinghe Imperial Office, Yue Xiang was making fierce remarks to Yang Hao. After discussing with Zou Chuxian and other generals, he left home and went straight to the yamen. He doesn't have as many concerns as Zou Chuxian, and the relationship between him and Yang Ho is quite delicate, so he gets straight to the point.

"General Yue, what do you mean by that? Could it be that cowardice can't be done? ”

Yang Hao was originally in a good mood, thinking that his clever trick could achieve the effect of killing birds with one stone, but not long after he came back, someone came to the door to openly contradict him, and it was Yue Xiang, who had just received his subordinates. Although he did appreciate Yue Xiang's talent and courage from the bottom of his heart, as a person with a stubborn temperament, he accepted his subordinates to cheer him on, not to oppose him.

The defeat of Ulsan ruined his originally thriving career, and made him memorize the reputation of "Ma Tan" and "Zhao Kuo" for many years, and now he has finally made a comeback, he is actually very sensitive in his heart, eager to make some achievements to re-establish his prestige, and he instinctively feels unhappy with those who dare to give him advice. Not to mention that these opinions did not sound reasonable to him.

"Although there are many soldiers and horses, who are there compared to my Ming soldiers? Moreover, although the traitors are fierce but brave and unstrategic, they do not pay attention to the art of war, they only know how to rely on cavalry and archery brute force, the officers and soldiers have firearms to help, and when the cannon goes off, all the sons fire together, and the mountains collapse and the ground cracks. Moreover, after Jian's capture of Fushun a few days ago, he defeated Zhang Chengyin again, and his army was in full swing, and he did not dare to take advantage of the victory to attack the hinterland of Liaodong at that time, and there was no reason to come at this time. From this, it can be seen that the people who are planning to build a captivity are just money and people, and when they have grabbed enough, they will retreat and refuse to hold on, preparing to deal with the advance and suppression of the officers and soldiers of the brigade, how dare they take the initiative to attack? ”

Yang Ho was not unprepared, and it could be heard from what he said that he had actually put in a lot of effort.

"Most of these barbarians outside the Saiwai do not know etiquette and law, they only know that the winner is the king, and the strong are respected, and dealing with them is like sailing against the current. The more conservative you are, the more he thinks you are weak and deceitful, and if you don't show strength, he will come and fight you. Therefore, at this time, we must not show weakness, maintain appropriate pressure on them, and let them know that the officers and soldiers are not easy to mess with, so that they can have scruples. Besides, it takes time for the army to assemble, and we are the papier-mâché King Kong Arhats who must also prop up this shelf first, otherwise Jianyu can see that the officials and soldiers are small and outnumbered without spies, so what's the difference!? ”

"Besides, Ben Shuai had already made up his mind earlier, why didn't you say it to your face? Now they are running to talk nonsense, what is the reason? ”

Yang Hao's words burst out like a cannon, and Yue Xiang just felt a breeze blowing when he heard it, and he didn't care at all.

"My lord, the reason why the lower official didn't bring it up in front of everyone was because he didn't want to refute the adult's face. When the adult first arrived in Liaodong, it was the time to establish his prestige, and if the lower official was just a thousand generals, wouldn't it make the prestige of the adult ruined? When the time comes, how can you lead the army and serve the people? It's just that adults can't tell me how to do it, so for adults to remember, I can't say these words to my face, and I ask your forgiveness. ”

"You! …… Daring! Do you really think that Ben Shuai will not dare to kill you? You are a talent, but the court has never been short of talents! If you are too presumptuous, Ben Shuai will let you know what is called a catastrophe with a touch of your fingers! ”

Yue Xiang's words were too straightforward, which made Yang Hao's face a little unbearable, and he was immediately furious.

"The big man is in charge of the territory, and it is naturally easy to clean up my nominal little Qian. But adults look at the big picture and naturally know which is more important. My Yue Xiang is dead, killing me is just like crushing an ant, but if it breaks the strategic layout of the adult, it will be a big loss because of a small one. The adults scooped the soldiers of Qinghe to go up to the top tank, maybe they didn't have the meaning of scooping them as dead ghosts to attract the attention of Jianyu, so that the adults had the opportunity to play and dig up treasures, right? The adults are still counting on scooping Gao Huai's Tibetan gold for military expenses to transfer troops. ”

"Hmph, don't pretend to be not afraid of death, Ben Shuai has already seen through you." In fact, the two have been dealing with each other for a long time, and both sides have already scooped each other's respective lives, and similar wrestling has been carried out a few times, in fact, both of them know that before it is time to tear their faces, the outcome of this argument is naturally doomed.

"That's natural, the future and life of the last general are held in the palm of the adult's hand, how can he be willing to die now. So now there is no one, we all know what is going on with us, and we don't need to pretend to be any bosses and subordinates, we are open to each other. There were many collisions in the next words just now, but every sentence was sincere, and I hope that the adult Haihan. ”

Yue Xiang pretended to be soft and paid a salute, Yang Hao couldn't scoop him at this time, in the face of such hob meat, he didn't seem to care about anything, he didn't eat hard and soft at all, and he couldn't even threaten the lives of his wife and parents, he really didn't have any tricks.

"Hmph, forgive you for not really pleading, but I don't have time for you to waste your tongue on this, the plan designed by Ben Shuai is all from the field investigation, what do you say?"

Since there is no trick, he can't stop him what Yue Xiang says. Besides, he still attached more importance to Yue Xiang's opinion, although he felt that what Yue Xiang had just said was nonsense, but he still wanted to know how Yue Xiang would deal with it after he put forward this big truth. Since power could not overpower him, they overwhelmed him in reason.

"As my lord said, it is really good to put it on the Mongols, but at this time, we are facing the Jurchens, how can we apply the previous experience. The Mongols are nomadic people, and the place where they live is inseparable from water and grass, so they have mainly plundered in the south of Koubian, and they still retreated to the steppe after grabbing enough. And Jianyu is not a pure herdsman, they are also farming, the adults have forgotten that the main one of the so-called seven hatreds of Jianyu is to talk about the cultivation of land in the area of Hongwu Laobian, such as Chaihe, Fu'an, and Sanchaer. The Jurchens were different from the Mongols in that they wanted food, money, men and horses, and even more land. ”

"As you said, why did Jianyu retreat to his lair after the last Fushun and no longer come out lightly? At that time, Wang's division was defeated in a row, the elite army of Liaodong was annihilated, the morale of the officers and soldiers was destroyed, and the hearts of the soldiers and the people in various places were in turmoil. At that time, the army could get twice the result with half the effort, not to mention a few pieces of farmland, even the big city of Weisu may not be able to keep it. Why did Jianyu not see any movement for a long time, and he had to wait until the imperial court came back to his senses and strengthened his vigilance before he came to gnaw on this hard bone, could it be that Nurhachi was a fool? I don't know how to pick it up if it's cheap. ”

"No, if Nurhachi is a fool, how can he control the army of tigers and wolves under his command? How to conquer the Jurchen tribes? How to defeat the officers and soldiers and break through Fushun? It's not that he doesn't pick it up if he has a bargain, but he wants to pick it up but can't. ”

"What's the explanation?"

"Attacking Fushun is a move to test the imperial court, my Ming army, bravely pushed the border army, and the prestige of the border army first pushed Datong, Jizhen, Liaodong, and my Liaodong officers and soldiers to fight, you can directly test the combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers of the foreign dynasty, and at the same time can test the speed of the court's response. Jian Yu was intended to be tentative, but was not ready to march in a big way. And the abundance obtained by Zifushun is unexpected, no one can eat a big fat man in one bite, and Jianyu also needs time to digest. ”

"Are you saying that Jianyu is sweeping the border this time, and it will take time to digest what he has stolen and transform it into his own strength?"

"It is precisely that the cities of Fushun, Dongzhou, and Magendan have not only obtained a large amount of property, but also expanded more than 200 miles to the west, and the population has surged, and the total number of surrendered and plundered people, plus the original household registration, has exceeded 500,000. Among them, the increase in population is mainly our Han people, which not only has the problem of strengthening the general rule, but more importantly, the theme of conquering the hearts of the Han people. ”

Speaking of this, Yue Xiang's face was gloomy, and his feelings were very complicated for those Han people who surrendered.

"When Jianjun captured Fushun, Nurhachi released sixteen merchants from eight provinces, each of whom was given a passage fee so that they could return to their hometown. This practice can at least play a propaganda role in Houjin's non-killing of prisoners. After Zhang Chengyin's entire army was annihilated, among all the captured officers and soldiers, all the southerners, Nurhachi took the initiative to put them back and gave them three taels of silver as a reward. All those who surrendered were given generous treatment, and were given a wife's room, and a dog, two chickens, two geese, a cow, a basket, and four cloths, and a bucket of rice per month. This practice played a role in encircling Han officials and buying the hearts of the Han people. At the same time, in the villages along the way to the Ming Border, Nurhachi ordered to set up elite troops to garrison, communicate with each other, and strictly guard them, so as to show deterrence by force, so that the officers and soldiers would not dare to easily send troops to retaliate. All these measures are measures to stabilize the interior. If the officers and soldiers could send a large army to attack at that time, the chances of victory would be much higher than now, but unfortunately, the imperial court did not seize this opportunity. ”

"Since Jianyu is busy stabilizing the interior, doesn't it show that he is powerless to look outside now."

"My lord, if Nurhachi is really powerless to take care of it, what is the explanation for the fact that Jianyu is carrying out the forts in Yanbian in Hebei a few days ago? Adults don't think that Nurhachi really sent thousands of troops to catch and scoop in order to be alone in the lower district, right? There is only one person in the next, and it is enough to scoop up a team of elite soldiers and a fierce general, so why do you need to mobilize the army? ”

"Are you saying that Jianyu has stabilized the interior and is now starting to reach out again?"

"Exactly! What a character like Nurhachi, who has spent his entire life in the army on the battlefield. The army is his lifeblood, how can he ignore the actual situation? If the reality does not allow him to send so many soldiers, he will never send them. This time, he sent nearly 10,000 troops and horses in one go, which shows that his problem has been solved, and he has begun to encroach on our border land step by step, and the subordinate is just a target he has piggybacked. Therefore, Nurhachi is not waiting for Mount Tai to dominate in the turtle's nest at this time, he is just cautious, while delaying the army for the imperial court, while trying to expand his strength. ”

"A delaying tactic?"

"That's right, or what seven hatreds he declares? Why don't he put back the four Dongchang officials waiting for Zhang Rushen? On the way back from Zhang Rushen and others, the Jurchen soldiers were strictly fortified, and many elite soldiers were set up in various villages along the way, many of them amounted to more than 1,000 people, and they were in contact with each other and facing each other on the roads. Nurhachi had already figured out the psychology of the court that they didn't want to fight, and that more was better than less, and used Zhang Rushen to propagandize. As a result, as soon as these people publicized, the courtiers were even more discouraged, and they knew what the result would be by looking at the speed of the current troop transfer, not to mention that the conquest was even more far away. ”

Yang Hao was silent when he heard this, Zhang Rushen and the others were sent back to Jingshi by his order, but now in Yue Xiang's mouth, he has fallen into Nurhachi's calculations, how to listen to it is not a taste. But what Yue Xiang said was true, and he couldn't refute anything.

At the same time, he was shocked that Nurhachi actually pacified the interior so quickly, and those who were arrested were all Han Chinese! actually accepted the appeasement of the Jurchens, could it be that the people's support of the government has been lost to such a point?

Yang Hao found that he now regarded Yue Xiang more and more as a mourning star, because when he opened his mouth, he would only bring words that made him unhappy, and the good situation was worthless by him.

"And the barbarians mentioned by the adults are all respected by the strong, which is not bad. But what is a strong person is a fight, not a place to see. The barbarians are so aggressive, and the process of building a captivity is thirty years of continuous iron-blooded conquest, and the adults think that placing 10,000 soldiers in the Raven Pass can deter the Jurchens, but the Jurchens think that if they don't fight with you, how do they know if you are really as powerful as you seem? Do you dare to guarantee that today's officers and soldiers will win the battle once they really fight? In case of defeat at Yahu Pass, Qinghe City will undoubtedly be lost. ”

"Bastard!" Yang Hao was furious, "How can you dare to conclude that this battle will be lost before the battle is fought?" Qinghe's soldiers and horses are all elite, and the army is majestic, so I don't think it's necessarily weaker than that Jianyu. If you make such a disturbing remark to disturb the morale of the army again, even if you have the secret of Gao Huai's hidden gold, I will not allow you to survive! ”

"Hey, hey, my lord should not be annoyed, there is a way of loyalty against the ear. If the adults want to listen to the whiskers and horses, the lower officials will naturally say it, but what is the use of saying that? The soldiers of Qinghe are not as powerful as adults see, it is just because they come to Qinghe to sharpen their guns. In fact, in recent years, the imperial court has not had enough food, and the soldiers and generals have long been forced to train for a living, and they are just eating in the camp. The adults are counting on them to go into battle and play with the Jurchens, it is a dog fighting mastiff, the odds of winning are not impossible, but they are too small. ”

"What? Start to prepare at the last moment? Yang Hao was startled at first, and then hit him angrily. Yue Xiang is a person from this city, and he knows the inside story, so what he said should be true.

"Your Excellency should know that what the lower official said is true." Yue Xiang's expression made Yang Hao realize that now was not the time to settle the account, so he shook his head and began to refute again.

"Huh, so what? , I don't believe that I won't fight without this Qinghe soldier? I am rich in the Ming Dynasty, with a population of hundreds of millions, how much appetite do I have, and I also want to shake the great power of the Heavenly Empire? One drowned them with a mouthful of foam. ”

"My lord said that compared with the national dynasty, the number of soldiers and horses is not enough to fear. However, fighting a war is not just about the number of people, otherwise how can there be so many examples of winning more with less in the history books? During the Song Dynasty, the Liaodong Jurchens finished the Yan Department, and there were not many soldiers and horses at the beginning, but in the end, didn't they also develop into a hegemony in the north with millions of armor? Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses are built and captured, which seems to be a cause for concern compared with the 1.8 million claimed by the dynasty, but these tens of thousands of soldiers and horses are all elite soldiers of a hundred battles tempered by decades of bloody battles, and among the officers and soldiers, how many people and horses can be found to have such an elite soldier as Jianyu who is not afraid of death? ”

Yang Hao was silent again, he didn't have to lie to himself, the quality of the officers and soldiers now is really different from when he fought the Japanese in the past, it has not been more than ten years, and the degeneration is too fast.

"However, the officers and soldiers have firearms to help, although the soldiers and horses are brave and brave, but after all, they are flesh and blood, and the artillery cracks the earth and rocks with a single shot, and hits out a mile or two away, can the bow and arrow shoot so far? As long as there are a few more layers of armor, the fine iron arrow cluster can still withstand it. However, in front of the cannon, it is useless to wear a hundred layers of armor, and if you eat one shot, you will be crushed. Moreover, the field battle is the length of the cavalry, the terrain of the Yahu Pass is dangerous, the cliffs are steep, and the cavalry cannot show their strengths, and there is still a fight to fight. ”

"Firearms, hum, firearms are indeed offensive and defensive weapons. However, the lower officials are only uneducated, and they have not heard of any battles that were won purely by firearms in the past. Firearms, although they are good, also need people to operate them. If it is not used properly, it is better to put it in the hand than to burn the stick. Zhang Chengyin's more than 10,000 military horses carried a lot of firearms, why was it defeated? This is a lesson from the past! ”

This is said to be powerful, Zhang Chengyin was surrounded and defeated by Jianyu's superior forces because he took the initiative to attack, and the troops he brought happened to be in the early 10,000s, which seemed to indicate that the prospects of Yang Hao's plan also seemed to be a little bleak.

"Hmph, I'm afraid you've been thinking about it for a long time, according to your temperament, your father and mother don't care about life or death, and you won't take care of the fate of Qinghe City. I'm afraid that someone else will be a lobbyist. How many people in this city don't want to fight? Zou Chuxian came to you after returning to the city, did he mean the same thing? ”

"Hehe, what the adults expected is not bad, but they are not hidden, not only Zou Chuxian, but also Zhang Jing, Zhang Yuncheng and others also think like this. It can be said that all the generals in the city nowadays, from officials to soldiers, have the same thoughts. It's just that they didn't dare to say it, so they came to me to advise the adults. ”

"Damn! This Zou Chuxian is so shameless, Ben Shuai beheaded him! Yang Hao slapped the table angrily.

"My lord, Zou Chuxian is the head of the local generals, if he is beheaded, I am afraid that others will ...... in their hearts."

"How, could it be that they still dare to rebel? Ben Shuai beheaded them all, so redundant soldiers, it's useless to ask for it, so he should make an example of chickens and monkeys! ”

"My lord has beheaded the official, who will lead the soldier? The soldiers in this city will immediately mutiniate and disperse, and who will defend the city at that time? ”