The generals of Dongjiang asked Wang Degui about the purpose of Zhang Chu's trip, and Wang Degui said perfunctorily like Zhang Chu that he was just coming around. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Of course, Mao Chengzuo didn't believe it, but he didn't ask deeply, but continued to talk with Wang Degui about Shandong's reaction after the loss of Lushun.

After the loss of Lushun, the imperial court was shocked, and later the governor of Denglai, Lord Xie Lian, proposed a plan to counterattack Lushun, and the emperor Longxin was happy, and allocated a million taels of silver to Lord Xie to build warships to train the army, and prepared to recover Lushun at the right time. The most powerful general under Master Xie is General Zhang, so he handed over the million taels of silver to General Zhang," Wang Degui said proudly.

"The emperor gave Denglai a million taels of silver?" Mao Chengzuo was surprised, he understood the current financial situation of the imperial court, if the emperor took out millions of taels of silver, it could only mean that the emperor suddenly changed his temper and was no longer so stingy, which was almost impossible.

"There is nothing strange about this, because before this the emperor got the sweetness of taking out the silver, he gave us a total of more than 100,000 taels of silver, and we killed more than 2,000 Tatars for the emperor." Wang Degui is still very excited when he thinks of Zhang Chu's achievements in Liaodong now.

"Killed more than 2,000 Tatars, why haven't we heard of this great victory?" Mao Chengzuo was a little skeptical about the authenticity of this record.

Wang Degui personally participated in the operation in Liaodong with Zhang Chu, and of course no one was allowed to doubt their results, so he opened his mouth and preached their battle in Liaodong again.

"It's as simple as that? You didn't even have a single casualty. Mao Chengzuo listened to him say it so easily, he couldn't help but ask.

"The Tatars were killed by us from a distance with muskets, and of course they could not hurt us. Zhang Zongbing said that only by surviving on the battlefield can he fight better, so the casualties of the security army have always been very few when fighting. Wang Degui is now glad that he has a good coach, and Zhang Chu rarely fights for the lives of soldiers.

"You Mr. Zhang have made a fortune now, otherwise how would he have the leisure to play around." Mao Chengzuo said a little sourly.

"Mr. Zhang is not short of money, he can't look down on this bit of silver, the factory and business name he owns are getting silver every day, even if the court doesn't give food, our security army can't starve." Wang Degui bragged for Zhang Chu.

Hearing Wang Degui say that Zhang Chu was not short of silver, Mao Chengzuo's eyes couldn't help but light up, and asked Wang Degui tentatively: "Since Zhang Zongbing is so rich, can we borrow some food from him?" ”

"I can't be the master of this, and the food and salary security army of tens of thousands of people in Liaodong can still be taken. However, as an old man in Liaodong, I still have to say one more thing, Zhang Zongbing's favorite sentence is that if you don't work, you can't eat, which means that there is no silver that you don't work for, and I'm afraid it will be more difficult for you to borrow silver from him. "Being a soldier under Zhang Chu can't feel Zhang Chu's wealth obsession, but Zhang Chu doesn't give people money in vain, but everyone in the security army knows it.

Mao Chengzuo knew that he couldn't ask too many things, so he chatted with Wang Degui again, and Wang Degui said goodbye and left.

Wang Degui returned to the security army and immediately reported the meeting to Zhang Chu.

Zhang Chu said: "Don't worry, wait and see what Mao Chengzuo will do next." ”

On the Dongjiang side, Mao Chengzuo also continued to discuss the situation provided by Wang Degui with his subordinates, and everyone felt that this Wang Degui was not reliable, maybe his words were all compiled under Zhang Chu's instructions, and in the end they did not come to a unified conclusion.

"You send someone to contact the uncles of the other Sanxie and ask them to come over to discuss the matter, and I will go to see Zhang Chu again and find out his tone." Mao Chengzuo felt that he had to talk to Zhang Chu face-to-face, otherwise other people would not be able to call the shots.

The next day, Mao Chengzuo took some wine and meat and came to Zhang Chu's army to comfort the security army, so he saw Zhang Chu again.

"I'm really sorry that you still offer wine and meat to comfort us in such a difficult situation." Zhang Chu said politely.

"Zhang Dashuai came from afar, and we should do our best to be the landlord." Mao Chengzuo had no choice but to slap his swollen face and become fat.

"It's really heartbreaking to see that your life is so hard, don't you think that General Mao's life in Shidongjiang was very prosperous?" Zhang Chu is sincerely lamenting that the Dongjiang Military Town is not what it used to be. After Mao Wenlong's death, not only did the Ming Dynasty fall into passivity militarily, but the life of the Dongjiang people and a large number of Han people in Liaodong became more and more miserable.

Mao Chengzuo heard Zhang Chu mention his father, and fell silent for a while.

Zhang Chu saw that he poked Mao Chengzuo's sore spot, so he quickly changed the topic: "You and I are about the same age, I came to Dongjiang to accept General Mao's warm reception, maybe we can become friends in the future." Then I'll say a few more words, in fact, Dongjiang is a good place, if you want to, you can live a good life. “

"What should we do?" Mao Chengzuo asked. He knew that maybe Zhang Chu would tell his true purpose at this time.

"You can resume the previous trade, buy animal skins, ginseng and other items in the hands of the Han people in Liaodong, and exchange with us for the grain urgently needed in Liaodong, now Zhangjiakou and other places in Shanxi have basically cut off trade with the Houjin people, and the northeast region is very short of grain, this business is very profitable, and Dongjiang will not worry about food and salary at that time." Zhang Chu knew that there were originally four or five million Han people living in the northeast, and after the rise of the Jurchens, Nurhachi carried out a brutal genocide massacre of the Han people in the northeast, and the Han people in the northeast were killed only more than one million people now, and these people's lives were even more miserable, and they had to always guard against the robbery and killing of the Houjin people.

"I also know this, but now our strength is not as strong as before, and it is very difficult to leave the island to move on land, and it is very difficult to do this business." With the strength of the Later Jin, the army of the Dongjiang River has been compressed to a few small islands along the coast, not to mention trade, it is difficult to obtain some supplies.

"It seems that the Dongjiang Army will have to undergo a major change in order to survive. I also came here to see if the Dongjiang Army could help me in recovering Lushun, and it seems that the current situation of the Dongjiang Army will not play a big role. Zhang Chu didn't take Mao Chengzuo's face into account and told the truth.

Mao Chengzuo was very clear about the current situation of Dongjiang Military Town, so he didn't react much to Zhang Chu's words, he really wanted to find a way out for the Dongjiang people. So he gritted his teeth and said: "Lord Zhang, you and I don't have to test each other, Dongjiang is really difficult now, and Lord Zhang won't really come here just to see." If you have any thoughts about Dongjiang, you might as well say it directly. ”

Zhang Chu didn't expect Mao Chengzuo to directly pick out his words, which seemed to be Zhang Chu's conspiracy here. However, what he is here to engage in is not a conspiracy but a conspiracy, and he wants to come up with an ending that is beneficial to both parties.

"The Dongjiang Army has been reorganized and transformed into a strong army like the Security Army, and the generals of the Dongjiang River who are willing to stay should study, and those who do not want to stay can take the money and leave, and become a rich man in the place where they are willing to go."

"You want to annex the Dongjiang Army." Mao Chengzuo said angrily.

"I have no interest in the Dongjiang Army, I only care about the Dongjiang region being able to contain Houjin. The generals of the Dongjiang Army have their own concerns, and the soldiers are also full of fear of the Houjin people, and it is useless to annex such a team. I'm here to see if you can make a final decision. If it doesn't work, I can only wait for the Houjin people to occupy the Dongjiang River, and then I will bring my troops back. It's not good for you or me. Zhang Chu calmly told Mao Chengzuo his true thoughts.

"I'm going to go back and negotiate with the other three to weigh it. Mao Chengzuo knew that this matter involved the entire Dongjiang Military Town, and he couldn't be the master, and he already knew what Zhang Chu was going to do, so he decided to go back and discuss what to do with the leaders of the other three associations. (To be continued.) )