When Hong Chengchou was overwhelmed by this, Yang Guozhu sent someone to Ningyuan on a fast horse to find Hong Chengchou, and told him that Xiao Tianjian, the thief chief of the Xingtian Army, issued an order to inform them that he was willing to provide 20,000 stone of grain from Shanxi for the Guanning Army to be used by all departments of the Guanning Army, and once this matter was spread, everyone in the Guanning area knew about it, and the generals were also very much looking forward to it.

And this news, before Yang Guozhu sent someone to Ningyuan, Hong Chengchou learned in advance, someone directly submitted a letter to Hong Chengchou's mansion, and informed Hong Chengchou of Xiao Tianjian's decision, Hong Chengchou heard that his head was as big as a fight, this Xiao Tianjian is really a guy who does not play cards according to common sense, obviously they are hostile now, but he actually announced to the world that he was willing to provide 20,000 stone of grain for the Guanning army, and everyone knew about the noise!

It is a fact that he is short of food at the moment, but can he ask for the food that the Heavenly Torture Army has given them? If he did, he would undoubtedly let the ministers in the court say that he colluded with the thief army and plotted against him, and his reputation as a loyal minister would be ruined! Therefore, accepting the food given to them by the Xingtian Army was obviously not suitable for him.

But if he doesn't, can the imperial court give him 20,000 stone of grain? Not to mention 20,000 stone grain, now the court of Jingshi is not even able to provide them with 2,000 stone of grain, these tens of thousands of soldiers and horses are all screaming and waiting for the rice to go to the pot, there is no food to eat, there is no strength to fight with the Jiannu army, it is impossible to hold the first line of Shanhaiguan, now Jinzhou is cut, Ningyuan is now also in danger, only the last line of defense of Shanhaiguan is left in the north of Jingshi, once Shanhaiguan is lost again, the Jiannu army can gallop to the city of Jingshi, hundreds of thousands of Jiannu army, he dare not reach that time, can the Ming Dynasty still exist?

Xiao Tianjian's loud announcement of providing him with 20,000 stone of grain was clearly telling him that the Ming Dynasty and their Guanning army could not be counted on, and they would either accept the Xingtian Army to become their master, or they would give up this opportunity, and finally collapse in starvation and become the ghost of the Jiannu army.

How to decide? Hong Chengchou's head suddenly became as big as a fight, and he didn't know how to decide for a while! If you want it, you will be disloyal to the Ming Dynasty, and if you don't want it, you will kill yourself! In short, there is no third way to go! (Of course, he could also choose to surrender to the Jiannu side, but at this time, Hong Chengchou did not make such a consideration!) ）

Without waiting for Hong Chengchou to figure out what to do, the soldiers in the palace informed Hong Chengchou that the generals of Guan Ning asked to see him outside the mansion.

Not long after, a group of Liaodong generals led by Zu Dashou were brought into the lobby of Hong Chengchou's mansion, and the generals bowed down to Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou sat behind the handsome case and slowly glanced at the generals who came to see him today, only to see that the leader was the Jinzhou general soldier Zu Dashou, Zu Dashou has been sitting in Jinzhou for so many years, but last year because of the peace negotiations of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jinzhou was ceded to Jiannu, Zu Dashou was quite indignant about this matter, and after retreating to Ningyuan, he couldn't get sick for a long time.

You must know that Zu Dashou is a very contradictory person, but in terms of loyalty to Daming, at least there is nothing to say at this time, although Chongzhen Huang Taiji led the troops to surround the Daling River in the fourth year, Zu Dashou once surrendered to Jiannu, but he later deceived Huang Taiji, ran back to Jinzhou City and immediately turned back against the water again, leading the troops to fight the Jiannu army, so that surrender, he was completely a fraud, and he didn't really want to surrender Jiannu at all.

And he has been stationed in Jinzhou for nearly ten years, and he has fought more than dozens of battles with Jiannu, and has worked hard to defend Jinzhou City, but he didn't think that the court would make a peace agreement, so he gave Jinzhou to Jiannu, so that his hard work and the price paid for more than ten years were in vain, and no one would feel comfortable.

Now the Jiannu army once again pressed the border, approaching Ningyuan City, the people of Ningyuan had to once again abandon their land in large numbers and flee to the Guannei, on the road between Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan, a large number of refugees pushed and squeezed and trampled on the dead and injured Chen, I don't know how many people were on the road of fleeing outside the Guan, this situation made Zu Dashou very resentful, he was in his military camp all day, he couldn't get sick, and he didn't see Hong Chengchou at all.

But today, Hong Chengchou didn't expect Zu Dashou to personally bring Zhu Yuan to him Hong Chengchou, although he hadn't asked them for their purpose yet, but Hong Chengchou also guessed a little bit of their intentions.

In addition to Zu Dashou, there were also Cao Bianjiao, the chief military officer of the East Asian Association, Wang Tingchen, the general soldier of Liaodong, Li Fuming, the deputy general of Shanxi, Zu Dale, the deputy general of Jinzhou, and even Qiu Minyang, the former soldier of Ningqian, also came with the generals, and everyone's face looked rough, during this time they were transferred repeatedly, and there were constant accidents in the army, which made everyone look a little tired, and each face had an anxious look.

After Hong Chengchou cleared his throat, he asked the generals: "You are not in the army to supervise the deployment of the army, and suddenly come to this governor with you, what is the matter?" ”

After the generals looked at each other, it was Zu Dashou, who had the highest status and the oldest qualifications here, who came forward and replied: "Lord Qiqi Governor! Now all the departments have withdrawn to inside and outside the Guan, and have begun to deploy defenses, but the DPRK and China have not seen a grain or grass allocated for a long time, and there is no money allocated to the army, and the last generals want to command the troops. That's why I came to the Governor to ask when the imperial court will be able to allocate grain? Since ancient times, there has been a saying that the emperor does not send hungry soldiers, and now the Jiannu army is about to attack, and we have no food and no pay, how can we lead the troops to resist it? Today, I would like to ask the Governor to give an explanation to the last general! ”

After Hong Chengchou heard this, his heart was sure enough, this gang of soldiers is here to force the palace! These Liaodong generals are all arrogant generals, and they have never been so obedient to the imperial court, and the imperial court has invested most of the financial revenue in the Liaodong area, so many years, it has fueled the arrogance of these generals, and they feel that the Ming Dynasty will not leave them, and gradually form their respective warlord groups, although some people in the DPRK have long begun to worry about this, but there is a threat of Jiannu outside He Nai Pass, but it cannot change this situation.

And this ancestor Dashou is probably the most difficult to control among the generals in Liaodong, he was a general brought out by Yuan Chonghuan at the beginning, and even surrendered to Jiannu in the battle of Dalinghe, although he ran back, but the court did not hold him accountable, or entrusted him with a heavy responsibility.

When Yuan Chonghuan was finally arrested and questioned by the imperial court, it turned out that Yuan Chonghuan single-handedly raised these proud soldiers and fierce generals when they were scattered as birds and beasts, and there was no concept of the imperial court in their hearts, and Zu Dashou simply did not fight with the Jiannu army in Beijing, and directly withdrew to Shanhaiguan, which shows that Zu Dashou and their generals of the Guanning army did not put the imperial court in their eyes at all, it's even harder to control them.

Although Hong Chengchou has the Shang Fang sword given to him by the emperor in his hand, he can nominally cut the generals below the general army who disobey the military order, but this Shang Fang sword has now become an ornament, and it can't scare these fierce generals at all! Today, Zu Dashou and others came to ask about the salary, in fact, it was just to make it clear that he wanted to make a decision.

But Hong Chengchou really doesn't have a good way, and his personal charm is no longer good at this time, so he sighed with an embarrassed face and replied: "You all know that the court is now being cut off because of Cao's luck, and it is very nervous!" Today, the saints are busy with this every day, and it is estimated that the next batch of food will be allocated to be delivered in the near future!

At present, we still have some grain reserves, which can still be supported for a period of time, and this official is also trying his best to find a way to raise food and salary, and will definitely solve some food and salary problems in the near future. ”

After listening to Hong Chengchou's words, the generals all looked at each other again, and their faces showed disbelief, and Zu Dashou immediately shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince the public with this statement!" You must know that since October last year, the DPRK and China have not allocated any grain and salary to be shipped to Guanning, and the armies have relied on the grain and straw stored before to support them in the past few months, or they have solved part of the food and salary by themselves.

We have been asking for food and pay from the adults, and the adults have repeatedly said that they can solve it immediately, but to this day the imperial court still has not allocated a penny of food and salary, and we are waiting for the court to guard the border, although it is a matter of division, but it can not always go on like this, and now because of the lack of food and salary, the army has long been full of complaints and the army's heart is floating, although the last generals are trying their best to suppress, but there will still be a large number of deserters in the army every day! If this continues, I am afraid that before Jiannu comes to attack, the army will collapse on its own!

Good! Even if the military salary is put aside for the time being, the court is in a difficult situation, and the last generals can understand it, so let's not talk about it for the time being! But you can't afford to give it! Otherwise, so many soldiers and generals are waiting to eat with their mouths open, and every day people eat horses and chew a large number, and now the rations of the armies have been halved for more than half a while, and the soldiers can't eat enough, how can they have the strength to fight? If the adults are still so perfunctory to the last generals, then the last generals will die here today! Otherwise, I won't be able to explain to my subordinates when I go back! ”

Zu Dashou is a rough man, and he is from a generational military family, and he is deeply rooted in Liaodong, when he really doesn't give Hong Chengchou face, Hong Chengchou really has nothing to do with him.

After listening to Zu Dashou's words, the generals also nodded one after another, and successively agreed with Zu Dashou's words, today Hong Chengchou has to give them an explanation for the matter of food and salary no matter what, otherwise they will not be able to explain to their subordinates when they go back, only Cao Bianjiao, as a general who has been following Hong Chengchou in recent years, chose to be silent, but his silence also represents an attitude, that is, he also wants this food.