late at night

Shanhaiguan Acropolis

Wu Sangui sat alone in the lobby, looking at the hanging map, dazed.

The fiasco of the White Day Covenant gave him the most vivid military lesson. The power of the tanks of the Xuanjia Army far exceeded his estimates, and one tank, even if it was fought alone, was enough to contain two or three hundred Guanning troops. If fifteen tanks charge together, and the firing holes cover each other, it is estimated that the five thousand Guanning iron cavalry will be difficult to resist. If it is combined with the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry Charge, the power will be doubled, and the Guanning Iron Cavalry will only be wiped out.

Before, he thought that the battlefield relied on the fight of real swords and real guns, but now it seems that how can the fight of flesh and blood compare to the impact of the torrent of steel? Moreover, the speed at which this tank advanced and retreated was quite fast, and it was not much slower than that of cavalry on flat ground. What's even more terrifying is that there is no manpower, horsepower drive, and it is completely self-motivated, what kind of magic is this?!

Although Wu Sangui couldn't see through the details of the Xuanjia Army, he knew that there were tanks of the Xuanjia Army, and the Guanning Iron Cavalry would be killed if they went out of the city to fight in the field, and the combat power of the Xuanjia Army was at least above the Eight Banners of the Manchu Dynasty.

Which side is most in the interests of the Guan Ning army to surrender, Wu Sangui fell into deep contemplation, and after a long time, he finally opened his mouth and called Zhou Jian.

Zhou Jian was also on the battlefield today, and he saw the horror of the Xuanjia Army's tanks, and he was secretly glad that he surrendered to Fang Yuan earlier, and even more glad that his niece became Fang Yuan's princess. Otherwise, no matter how strong the city's defense is, how can it withstand the onslaught of the Xuanjia Army?!

Zhou Jian arrived at the lobby of the General Soldier's Mansion and met Wu Sangui, after today's battle, he persuaded him to surrender and had enough confidence, which was no different from the previous cowering, "Wu Dudu, the battle is over, although the Guanning army is heroic on the battlefield, it still loses!" What is the meaning of the gamble between the governor and the regent? ”

Wu Sangui muttered noncommittally, "General Zhou, Guan Ningjun is loyal to the Ming Dynasty and His Majesty, Ling Zun can surrender, and the Governor of Pontus is grateful to His Majesty, how can he betray?" ”

Zhou Jian secretly sneered when he heard this, Chongzhen transferred the Guanning army to Shandong, and the Guanning army disobeyed; ordered the Guanning army to rescue the capital, but the Guanning army still disobeyed; even asked the Guanning army to get out of the way and let the Xuanjia army go out of Shanhaiguan, but the Guanning army still disobeyed.

said that the Guanning Army is not a warlord who supports the army and respects himself, and no one in the capital will believe it, at this time, Wu Sangui came to talk about loyalty and patriotism, which is pretending to be a big-tailed wolf!

Zhou Jian smiled and said, "Wu Dudu, your words are wrong. My father did not surrender to the regent, but obeyed His Majesty's arrangement, and the governor was the king's army. The Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were menacing, and Shanhaiguan was a Gyeonggi fortress, so my father sent me to support the Xuanjia Army, and the Guanning Army was also a strong force of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Wu Sangui couldn't help but sneer when he saw that he was starting to talk serious nonsense, "General Zhou, it turns out that there is such a thing as surrendering. Well, as long as His Majesty personally sends an edict to let the Guanning army in Shanhaiguan return to the horses, the governor of Pontus will never say anything. ”

Zhou Jian saw that this Wu Sangui was already planning to surrender, and he was still a dead duck with a hard mouth, so naturally when negotiating, Bo had a more favorable condition, and he also smiled and said, "Your Majesty and the regent are close relatives, and when the regent passed by Gyeonggi before, he also sent 200,000 taels of silver to the palace to settle the arrears of the palace for His Majesty." It is the same whether the Guanning army is dispatched by the regent, or by His Majesty, or even by his father. I'm afraid, Wu Dudu has other thoughts, and he doesn't want to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty and His Majesty! ”

Wu Sangui pretended to be upright and said, "Mr. Zhou, what you say is bloody!" The Wu family has been a gate for generations, and their loyalty can be learned! ”

Zhou Jian said unhurriedly, "Since Governor Wu is loyal to His Majesty and the Ming Dynasty, why is there still a Manchu envoy in Shanhaiguan, Fan Yongdou and his party?!" ”

Wu Sangui was slightly stunned, Fan Yongdou was indeed still in Shanhaiguan, but he didn't expect Zhou Jian to get the news so quickly, which shows that there are still eyeliners in Guan Ning's army who collude with him.

Wu Sangui muttered, "General Zhou should not misunderstand, before Your Majesty was in the court, and also discussed the proposal of borrowing troops from the Manchu Qing to repel the invasion of the Xuanjia Army, and I left Fan Yongdou in Shanhaiguan to prepare for emergencies and wait for Your Majesty's dispatch." ”

Zhou Jian said in a deep voice, "Okay, since Wu Dudu is loyal, and the decree of my father and the regent is that Fan Yongdou is a traitor who colluded with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and he should have been in Shanxi to correct the law as early as nine years ago, but now it is the sky net that has been restored and not leaked, and Fan Yongdou and all the Manchu envoys will be immediately escorted to Laolongtou Haicheng to be detained, and then punished according to the law of the Ming Dynasty after the war!" ”

If Wu Sangui handed over Fan Yongdou, it would be a complete face-to-face with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and there would be no room for maneuver, so he couldn't help but hesitate a little and muttered.

Zhou Jian was so powerful that he continued to squeeze Wu Sangui and said, "Of course, Governor Wu can also escort me to the Manchu military camp outside the Guan, and then lead the Manchu Qing into the Guan!" However, Wu Dudu can think clearly, Qin Hui is still kneeling by the West Lake after five hundred years. If Wu Dudu wants to make a pair with Qin Hui, my life will be fulfilled Wu Dudu! ”

The big hat of a traitor is exactly what Wu Sangui deeply scruples about, if there is a choice, who wants to be a traitor? Qin Hui just presided over a peace talk, killed Yue Fei, and before he led the Jin soldiers across the river, he knelt by the West Lake for five or six hundred years. His behavior led the Manchu Qing Dynasty into the customs, and the nature was worse than that of Qin Hui.

What's more, the conditions that the Manchu Qing could give him were nothing more than empty checks, and the so-called land and children all needed to be taken by the Guanning army on the bloody battlefield.

Fighting against the Manchu coalition forces, maybe in Gyeonggi can temporarily retreat Fangwon, and the front advances to Shandong? What about Henan? With the combat power of the Xuanjia Army in today's battle, how much territory can he expect the Guanning Army to snatch food from the Xuanjia Army's tiger mouth? Bearing the name of a traitor, the benefits in exchange are minimal, and it is not cost-effective.

Wu Sangui weighed the pros and cons again and again, and the heavenly scales in his heart were already biased towards Fang Yuan's side, his tone finally softened, and he shook his hand at Zhou Jian again and again, "This, General Zhou Bing, I have no idea of attracting the Manchu Qing Dynasty into the customs!" It's just that the Ming people don't say secret words, the regent's persuasion conditions are too harsh, and if you want to adapt, I'm worried that the officers and soldiers of the Guanning Army will not accept it. ”

"My idea is that if we can continue to retain the establishment of 50,000 people in the Guanning Army, the salary standard can be compromised, 3 taels of silver per sergeant per month. If the regent agrees, Guan Ning's army is willing to go out to fight the Manchus! ”

Zhou Jian secretly sneered, Fang Yuan gave the adaptation conditions of 5 taels of silver/month, but Wu Sangui still refused, preferring to choose 3 taels of silver/month, it can be seen that at least half of the 50,000 people in the Guan Ning Army are paid empty salaries. Moreover, the standard of 3 taels of silver per month is adopted, and 50% of the empty salary is beneficial to middle and high-level officers, who can enrich their own pockets from it. The standard of 5 taels of silver per month was adopted, and after the number of troops was adjusted and verified, the number was distributed in full, which was only beneficial to ordinary officers and men, and it was difficult for middle and high-level officers to fill their own pockets.

The doorways in these armies are the unwritten unspoken rules of the Ming army, and Zhou Jian is even more clear, and most of the 80,000 Ming troops in the Gyeonggi garrison are actually paid empty salaries. Don't look at Zhou Jian wandering around with the nominal 40,000 Ming troops, in fact, he really has to count next to each other, only less than 20,000, and some of them are temporarily requisitioned to make up the number.

Wu Sangui continued to persuade, "General Zhou Bing, why do you have to look at everything so sharply, count the Guan Ning army, and then Ling Zun's garrison Ming army will not be counted the same?!" ”

His hint is quite clear, that is, everyone should not expose it, and take advantage of the great opportunity of the Manchu invasion to put pressure on Fang Yuan and strive to negotiate a good condition, hello, hello, hello, everyone. At least half of the empty salary is eaten, and there is an explanation for the officers under him.

If it is replaced by Chongzhen, Zhou Jian will follow Wu Sangui's idea and go back to continue to deal with Chongzhen. But this time the target was Fang Yuan, and Zhou Jian couldn't figure out Fang Yuan's temper and temperament, where did he dare to make a ghost under Fang Yuan's nose?

What's more, Princess Kunxing is also his niece, and the Zhou family is also a relative of the emperor, and there is a difference between relatives and relatives.

Zhou Jian said in a difficult way, "Governor Wu, you haven't made an inch of merit now, it's too early to negotiate conditions with the regent!" If the governor of Wu can cooperate with the regent, repel the Manchus together, and make great contributions, I will speak well for the governor of Wu in front of the regent! ”

Wu Sangui looked at the candlelight of the candle with both eyes, pondered for a long time, and finally spoke, "I will immediately send Tang Tong to Laolongtou Haicheng to discuss with the regent and join forces to fight." ”

Zhou Jian smiled and said, "Won't Governor Wu go in person?!" ”

Wu Sangui didn't go to meet Fang Yuan in person, how to show the sincerity of surrender, and suddenly said, "Okay, I'll go in person, and escort Fan Yongdou and his Manchu envoys to go together." ”