Chigutai went to fight in the Mongolian steppe, and Zhao Quanzhong took over as commander of the Northern Military Region. The two most promising candidates for the governor of Liaodong have their own arrangements, and the seat of the governor of Liaodong is vacant.

Moreover, the scope of this Liaodong governor is far beyond the previous one, including Liaodong, Liaoxi, the eastern part of the Mongolian steppe, and even the affairs of the Korean state. The scope of Li Chengliang's jurisdiction is broader than that of those years, and it can be said that he is a veritable king of the Northeast.

The candidate for the governor of Liaodong, Fang Yuan's favorite is Hong Chengchou, who has always been left and not used. But whether Hong Chengchou can use this person or not, Fang Yuan is still quite entangled.

He thought about it for five or six days, and decided to test Hong Chengchou first before drawing conclusions.

Fang Yuan summoned Hong Chengchou to come to the meeting hall, and as soon as Hong Chengchou entered the lobby, he saw Fang Yuan sitting in the right position with a gloomy face.

Hong Chengchou was clear in his heart, Fang Yuan would never summon him to see him for no reason, there must be something important to discuss with him.

Although Hong Chengchou kept saying that he didn't care about his official position, he even asked to return to his hometown. But he is not yet 60 years old, and it is the time to exert the residual heat of life. There is a world in my heart, where will I be willing to return to my hometown like this? Since Fang Yuan was willing to communicate with him, it proved that there was an idea of reusing him, and he still didn't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He relied on the etiquette of Prince Daming, and Chong Fangyuan saluted respectfully, "Regent, dare to ask what is the matter with summoning the old minister?" ”

Fang Yuan saw that he was respectful, and he knew that he had guessed the reason by this old fritter again, and said with a cold smile, "Elder Hong Ge, I have discussed with Your Majesty, although you have repeatedly rebelled, you are always a capable minister. The Ming Dynasty has just been unified, and all kinds of waste are waiting to be revived, which is the time to employ people. Your Majesty has granted mercy, and there are two official positions for you to choose. ”

"One is the governor of Liaodong, and the other is the governor of Zhejiang, you choose!"

Hong Chengchou looked straight at Fang Yuan for a while, and Fang Yuan's words clearly showed that he was tempting.

The Jurchens had just been annexed, the Mongols were in civil war again, and Liaodong was an eventful time. The governor of Liaodong is a position that stabilizes the government affairs of Liaodong and really does practical things; And Zhejiang has been peaceful for a long time, there is neither war nor economic planning, and this governor is actually a pension position.

Of course, for Hong Chengchou, a man who had surrendered to the Manchus, the governor of Liaodong was a rather sensitive position. If he does not do well in this position, and even the Jurchens and Mongols have a mess, rumors will inevitably spread in the court, thinking that he colluded with the Jurchens and plotted against him. On the contrary, it was a place where the governor of Zhejiang was far away from the right and wrong of the war, and it was easier to avoid suspicion.

The two choices given by Fang Yuan were to let Hong Chengchou decide for himself, whether he was willing to risk losing his official position and gossiping after the public, stay in Liaodong to do practical things, and take care of Liaodong government affairs for Daming; Or go to Zhejiang Haven for retirement.

Although he intends to reuse Hong Chengchou, Hong Chengchou's own ideas are also very important. If Hong Chengchou himself is unwilling to bear this burden and is willing to go to Zhejiang to retire, Fang Yuan will not rush ducks to the shelves.

Fang Yuan and Hong Chengchou are two fritters who are familiar with officialdom, and they know the meaning of elegance when they hear the sound, and they can understand each other's thoughts without saying much.

Hong Chengchou didn't hesitate too much, and said categorically, "Regent, the old minister is willing to choose the governor of Liaodong." ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Hong Hengjiu, with your talent, it is also suitable to govern Liaodong." However, behind the scenes, some people are worried that you have already colluded with the Jurchens, and leaving you in Liaodong is afraid that there will be endless troubles! ”

Hong Chengchou has a bad reputation for himself, and Fang Yuan's scruples about this kind of gossip are common, but Fang Yuan's name for him has changed from Hong Ge Lao, who was sneering before, to now officially calling him by his name, it can be seen that Fang Yuan's opinion of him is also changing.

Hong Chengchou said solemnly, "Your Majesty has the grace of knowing the old minister, the regent has the grace of reinvention to the old minister, what kind of kindness do the Jurchens have for the old minister?" Before, the Jurchens were powerful, and the old ministers had no choice but to surrender. Now that the Ming Dynasty is prosperous and thriving, why should the old minister turn his back on the Lord and seek glory and collude with the Jurchens? Your Majesty and the Regent, please! ”

Fang Yuan said with an unmoved face, "Hong Hengjiu, how do you want to govern Liaodong and what governance policies do you implement?!" ”

This is also Fang Yuan interviewing Hong Chengchou to see if his strategy for governing Liaodong can secretly match his own thoughts. The so-called different ways do not conspire with each other, and what Fang Yuan wanted to adopt in Liaodong was a strategy of expansion. If Hong Chengchou only wants to keep it, then everything is the opposite.

Hong Chengchou has already had a deep understanding of the situation in Liaodong over the years, and he has his own plan in his heart. Moreover, these days, he was also secretly observing what Fang Yuan was doing, so as to judge what plan he wanted to implement in Liaodong in Fang Yuan's mind.

He had already made a bamboo in his chest, and said loudly, "Regent, the old minister's plan in Liaodong is just eight words, the west expedition to Mongolia, and the south to North Korea." ”

"The so-called western conquest of Mongolia and the war in the steppes require a large cavalry corps to fight. The Han people in Guannai are not good at riding horses, so they have to build a cavalry corps, which is laborious. Before that, the regent also mainly relied on the Mongols, and the Han people inside and outside the Great Wall in northern Xinjiang as the main cavalry. ”

"However, with the large number of Mongols used to conquer Mongolia, the morale of the army is unknown, and if the Mongols change, the consequences will be unimaginable. What the old minister wanted was to train a lot of Liao knights. The Liao people are not only my Han blood, but also deeply accustomed to horse nature, so they can just select elite people among the Liao people and form a cavalry corps belonging to my Ming Dynasty. ”

Fang Yuan nodded again and again when he heard this, I have to say that Hong Chengchou was really like a torch, and he had done enough homework beforehand, and he found the key point at once.

Although Fang Yuan appointed Chigutai to fight against Mongolia, at least most of the cavalry corps in the Northern Military Region were Mongols, or Han Chinese from the border town of Xuanda, which was adjacent to the Mongols. Even if Chigutai himself was loyal, the Mongols were not necessarily loyal, especially when the sword was aimed at the Mongols.

Therefore, Fang Yuan handed over the first batch of 30,000 cavalry to Chigutai, and sent a large number of Han cavalry + a small number of Mongolian cavalry. 30,000 cavalry, with the support of other Mongol tribes, should be more than enough to defeat the Korqin tribe. But to conquer the Mongolian steppe, it is clearly far from enough.

What Hong Chengchou said was in one sentence, he just wanted to limit the number of Mongolian cavalry in the Northern Military Region, and instead increase the number of Han people in Liaodong to create a cavalry corps belonging to the Ming Dynasty.

Hong Chengchou saw that this suggestion was affirmed by Fang Yuan, and continued with confidence, "Nanping Korea, in fact, the Korean state is insignificant, and it is the Japanese state that should really be swept away. The people of Wadao sat in the well and watched the sky, and Yelang was arrogant, and dared to raise troops without authorization to annex my Ming Dynasty. This kind of stubborn, uncivilized barbarian should be completely conquered. Otherwise, it will be a great trouble for me in the future. ”

"Going from Shandong to conquer the Japanese country, the wind and waves are strong, and it is easy to have unknown changes, and Meng Yuan suffered a defeat in this way. Incorporate the Korean State into the territory of our Ming Dynasty and attack the Japanese State from the southern tip of the Korean State, the transportation line will be greatly shortened, and the result will be twice the result with half the effort, and it will definitely be able to achieve success in one fell swoop! ”

Fang Yuan smiled slightly when he heard this, Hong Chengchou even had a plan to conquer the Wa Kingdom, which showed that he really understood what Fang Yuan was thinking.

With such a capable minister, what else did Fang Yuan have to say? got up and laughed and said, "Governor Hong, I will hand over the government affairs of Liaodong to you, you must not disappoint me or Your Majesty!" ”

Hong Chengchou knelt down and bowed in the tunnel, "The regent knows the grace of the encounter, and the old minister will never be disappointed!" ”