The middle-aged man smiled proudly and said, "I have also been a soldier in Liaodong for a few years, and I have been to the mansion of these two a few times, and I seem to vaguely remember the appearance of Wu Gongzi, so I guessed a random sentence, but I didn't expect to be guessed by me." ”

Wu Sangui said: "Maybe I have also met my predecessors, but I was too young and careless at the time, so I forgot about it." ”

The two of them were talking without saying a word, but the "fifth master" laughed and said, "Since it is an old man, please come over and talk about it." ”

Wu Sangui thought about it, finally got up and walked over, and said to everyone: "Sangui is polite. ”

Seeing that Wu Sangui was only fifteen or sixteen years old, but he was burly and quite polite, they naturally had a good impression in their hearts, so they each returned the salute to him and gave up their seats.

Without waiting for Wu Sangui to sit firmly, the fifth master asked: "I just heard that Wu Gongzi said that the Jurchens outside the Guanwai are powerful, but I don't know how to do it?" ”

As soon as the Jurchens were mentioned, Wu Sangui's face was immediately covered with a haze, and he said: "The Jurchens fought immediately, and they came and went without a trace, and their field combat ability was extremely strong. Since the death of Nurhachi, Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, and changed the previous policy of expelling the Han people, wantonly collected the border Han people, bribed traitors, and now outside Shanhaiguan, except for a few cities and the Phi Island of Mao Wenlong's general army are still in the hands of the imperial court, the rest of the land is in the hands of the Jurchens. Alas! The situation outside the customs is already difficult to control! ”

The fifth master frowned and said: "Is there no way to recover the lost land, is it really time to make up your mind to give up the Guanwai?" ”

The old man said, "That's not going to work. Nurhachi may not have much ambition, but Huang Taiji is not an ordinary person, and the bitter cold place outside the gate may not be his long-term residence. Although it is not easy to maintain the cities outside the gate now, it is a constraint on Huang Taiji. If all of them are withdrawn, then Huang Taiji will inevitably move south, and when the time comes, he will block the Jurchen Iron Cavalry with a thin mountain pass, and if something goes wrong, the Jingshi will be exposed to the enemy chieftain. ”

Wu Sangui immediately answered: "What this old gentleman said is extremely true, but it is a pity that Yuan Chonghuan and Yuan Inspector won a great victory in Ningyuan, and killed the enemy chief Nurhachi with artillery on the spot, which was a good opportunity to march in a big way and plough the court and sweep the caves; However, the traitors in the DPRK and China not only did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, but withdrew Inspector Yuan, and finally caused the current uncontrollable situation. ”

When the fifth master heard this, he showed an expression of righteous indignation on his face, and said, "It's all because Wei Zhongxian deceived the emperor at that time and lost a good opportunity. But I don't think things really get out of hand. If you want to regain the lost territory, I wonder what a few good strategies you have? ”

Wu Sangui didn't think about it and said: "The Jurchens are not good men and women, this group of people are very cunning and cunning, if they want to spit out the land, the city, and the population, they can only rely on force. ”

The old man said, "But this time is different from the past. Now that the Jurchens have gained a foothold outside the gates, it is not easy to expel them. I'm afraid it's hard to do it with just those armies outside the border, right? ”

Wu Sangui said: "Of course, there are not enough people outside the gate. However, as long as I recruit another 100,000 or 200,000 new soldiers and horses, train them diligently, and then have the right people in command, gradually encroach on the Jurchen territory, and wait for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle or two with them, and then win the victory, the big thing will be decided. ”

The fifth master heard this, his face was bright, and he asked again: "Then the appropriate person for the commander in your mouth must be Yuan Chonghuan - Yuan Inspector, right?" ”

Wu Sangui's childish face was full of serious expressions, and he said: "Although Inspector Yuan is good, he is only the second choice. ”

"And what about the first choice?" The fifth master asked.

"It's Sun Chengzong—Old Inspector Sun!" Wu Sangui replied immediately.

The fifth master couldn't help but laugh dumbly when he heard this: "Who else should I be, Elder Sun Ge is indeed the most suitable person, probably more suitable than Inspector Yuan." However, his old man is now sixty-four years old, and if he is let go outside the customs, I am afraid that the emperor will be a little unbearable! ”

Ji Qingwen, who was on the side, listened to their lively conversation, and his heart was also very excited, and suddenly remembered the saying of "Ming does not die in Jurchen, but in Liukou" in later generations, so he said: "If the Ming court is compared to an adult, the Jurchen people are just skin wounds on their hands and feet, as long as they recuperate with peace of mind, they will definitely heal one day." I'm afraid that there will be other henchmen......"

"Huh? Troubles with henchmen? The fifth master shrugged his eyebrows when he heard this, and asked, "Now that Wei Zhongxian's party has been eliminated in the court, and now everyone is in the court, and the top and bottom are working together, it is the time to make great efforts, how can there be any trouble?" ”

Li Yan smiled and said, "Zhongzheng Yingchao? I don't think so, right? I don't know who the examiner is? Is it a member of the eunuch party? ”

The fifth master looked embarrassed and said: "The main exam of this subject is Feng Quan, a university scholar, and his main exam is still set before Wei Zhongxian's bad thing, and it is not easy to change it for a while. However, I heard that although there are still many eunuchs who are officials in the imperial court, the emperor no longer trusts them, and when the situation in the DPRK and China becomes more stable, he will liquidate the evil deeds of the eunuchs......"

As he spoke, he turned his head to the two people around him and said, "The next time I enter the palace to see the emperor, you remember to remind me that if you want to persuade the emperor, you must ask Feng Quan to be dismissed." ”

As soon as he said this, Ji Qingwen, Li Yan, and Wu Sangui were all surprised.

I only heard Li Yan say: "It turns out that the fifth master is still a person who can speak in front of the emperor, and he is disrespectful." I only hope that when the fifth master faces the saint, remember to persuade the emperor to 'pro-virtuous ministers and distant villains', which is the plan for long-term peace and stability. ”

The fifth master hurriedly said: "This is the words in Zhuge Liang's "Teacher Table", I ...... I guess the emperor has already memorized it. ”

Ji Qingwen was interrupted just now, but now he finally grabbed the conversation and said, "I heard that the new emperor is wise and wise, not ......."

He originally wanted to say that Chongzhen was not the "king of the dead country", but when the words came to his mouth, he felt that it was too unlucky to say this, so he swallowed it back raw, and then said: "It's not the kind of mediocre lord...... But that's not what I mean when I talk about confidants. ”

The fifth master's eyebrows twitched twice, and he said, "Then what do you mean?" Rather, ask for advice. ”

Ji Qingwen said: "The trouble of the Ming Dynasty's henchmen lies in the people's uprising. I was born in a family of Shaanxi businessmen, and I know that in recent years, Shaanxi has encountered major disasters and famines, and the lives of the small people are becoming more and more difficult. I came all the way from Shaanxi to the capital, and when I saw that most of the situation in the north was like this, I was afraid that if it went on like this, it would provoke a civil uprising. ”

The fifth master lowered his head and pondered for a while, and said: "It is a fact that the harvest has not been good in the past few years, but the life of the people can barely survive. In addition, the south of the Yangtze River is still quite rich, in case it is a year of catastrophe, when the time comes, the money and grain from the south will be transferred to the disaster victims through Cao Yun, and I am afraid that there will be no civil revolt. ”

Ji Qingwen said: "The fifth master should be the one who can often see the emperor's golden face." Listening to the meaning of the fifth master, the emperor wants to march on a large scale and recover the lost territory outside the border. But in order to recover the lost territory, it is necessary to increase troops and repair the city. Once the army is increased and the city is repaired, it will inevitably increase the financial expenditure of the imperial court, and now that the treasury is empty, these expenditures are ......"

"It's a lot easier to spend on them." The fifth master said, "I have more than 11 million hectares of land in the court, and as long as I add two coins of silver for each hectare of cultivated land, I can increase the income of the court by more than 2 million taels." As long as all this silver is invested in the Liaodong campaign, within three or five years, it will definitely be able to recover the lost territory outside the border in one fell swoop. When the time comes, we will be able to reduce taxes and rest with the people, and we will be able to rejuvenate the society and create a prosperous ...... that is not inferior to Hongwu and Yongle."

Ji Qingwen listened to the "five masters" speak impassionedly, but his heart was extremely clear, knowing that the Ming Dynasty was such a dead country, so he hurriedly said: "This is drinking to quench your thirst." The life of the common people is already very difficult, and by increasing the burden in this way, is it not the government forcing the people to rebel? ”

"You!" When the fifth master heard this, he suddenly became angry, "The small people are all the people of the court, and if the court is in difficulty, they should naturally support it." Besides, two cents of silver are added per hectare of land, and only two cents of silver are added per acre of land, and two cents of silver is twenty copper plates, which is less than the cost of a pot of wine, and what is the great deal about drinking one pot of wine a year? ”