Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui came out of the ancestral birthday room, and when they arrived outside the governor's mansion, Wu Sangui got on the horse and said with a hideous face: "Father, my uncle has been injured so badly, how can we swallow this evil breath!" ”

Wu Xiang frowned and said, "Uncle, what do you want to do?" ”

Wu Sangui laughed strangely, "Killing people to pay for their lives, paying off debts, this is a matter of course, Xu Liang injured his uncle, we have to give him some blood." Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Wu Xiang's face changed, "Uncle Chang, don't mess around, Xu Liang is the governor of Liaodong!" ”

"Who recognized him as the governor of Liaodong?" Wu Sangui said disdainfully, looking at Wu Xiang's solemn expression, Wu Sangui comforted Wu Xiang and said: "Father, don't worry, the child knows how to measure." ”

Wu Xiang groaned and nodded, "It's good to teach him a lesson!" Let him know who is in charge of Liaodong! ”

After the two finished talking, they slapped away in silence.

Not long after Wu Xiang and his son left, Sun Chengzong, a cabinet minister and governor of Jiliao, walked into Zu Dashou's ward.

"General Zu!" Sun Ge Lao moved a stool and sat in front of Zu Dashou's bed, and his voice was low: "The old man originally just wanted you to kill Xu Liang's prestige, but in the end, it became like this, and the old man really didn't expect it. ”

Zu Dashou coughed lightly, and smiled at Sun Ge Laoqiang: "Xu Liang's strength is so strong, the last general is also extremely shocked. Although he took advantage of the sharp weapon in his hand, when it comes to fighting alone, the last general is indeed not his opponent. ”

"Well," Sun Ge said: "Back then, Yuhuatian, the former governor of Dongchang, once bribed the top killer in the rivers and lakes, Tiansha, to assassinate Xu Liang in Tulupan, but he returned in vain, and even Tianzhui himself and Yuhuatian were folded in Shaanxi!" Xu Liang's strength can be seen. ”

Sun Ge's old face was worried, the stronger Xu Liang's strength, the more difficult it was for him, the governor of Jiliao, to control.

Zu Dashou said: "Not only Xu Liang himself, but also the chief soldier Dai Feng beside him, his combat power is on par with He Kegang!" Elder Ge should pay more attention. ”

Sun Ge Lao's face was solemn, he sighed lightly for a long time, and said helplessly: "Now it seems that if you want to control Xu Liang, it will not be possible to come hard." However, fortunately, Xu Liang has no foundation in Liaodong, and the money and grain in Liaodong are controlled by the Governor's Palace, as long as the food and salary supply of the 30,000 Liang troops under Xu Liang is choked, Xu Liang can be somewhat restricted. ”

Involving Sun Ge Lao's arrangement, Zu Dashou was not very interested in these tricks, so he listened with a light face and did not interject.

Elder Sun Ge got up, stared at Zu Dashou, and instructed: "General Zu is recuperating from his injuries in the mansion, and the matter of repairing the Great Linghe Fort will be handed over to He Kegang for the time being." ”

Zu Dashou nodded, and saw that Sun Ge Lao was about to walk out, so he called and said, "Sun Ge Lao! ”

"How?"

Zu Dashou hesitated for a moment and said softly: "Uncle Chang's mood is not quite right, and the last general is worried that he will do something impulsive." ”

"Oh?" When Sun Ge heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched, and then he said lightly nonchalantly: "Young people, it's okay to be impulsive occasionally!" As long as he doesn't pierce the sky, the old man will keep him safe. ”

Belch? Zu Dashou looked at Sun Ge Lao in a daze, his expression relaxed, and he arched his hand at Sun Ge Lao: "Thank you Ge Lao." ”

Ningyuan Chengdong Governor Yamen, a new day has begun again.

After the careful training of Niu Er and others, the newly recruited 120 officials of the governor's yamen were already decent. Xu Liang immediately appointed Niu Er as the leader of these officials, and the other three as deputies. Due to the addition of Xu Changqing and Ling Qing, Xu Liang first issued an official document in the name of the governor of Liaodong, Yamen, to revoke Ling Qing's arrest warrant.

After some conversation between Xu Liang and Ling Qing, he decided to appoint Ling Qing as the staff officer of the Ningyuan Governor's Yamen, presiding over the daily affairs of the Ningyuan Governor's Yamen, so that he could grow up as soon as possible.

As for Xu Changqing's identity, Xu Liang does not have a good solution for the time being, and it is indeed not safe to leave Xu Changqing in Ningyuan, under the nose of Liaodong Jinyiwei. Xu Liang considered that Xu Changqing was born in a thousand households in Jinyiwei, and his kung fu was not weak, and he had been active in Liaodong for a long time in recent years, and he was very clear about the situation in Liaodong, so Xu Liang decided to take Xu Changqing back to Juehua Island and let him follow Dai Feng to lead the soldiers and horses.

Now that the signboard of the Ningyuan Governor's Yamen had been hung up, Xu Liang decided to spend a few more days summoning the prefects of the Liaodong Prefectures to the Governor's Yamen for a face-to-face exchange.

However, Ling Qing sent the notice of the governor's yamen, and after three or four days, he didn't see a single Liaodong prefect appear in the governor's yamen. Instead, I received letters from several prefects, putting out a bunch of reasons why I could not answer the call.

On the fifth day, the senior engineer of the prefect of Ningyuan Prefecture was late. Xu Liang talked to him for a few words, and the Kochi Mansion was restless and excused himself to leave!

Bang! Xu Liang was so angry that he slammed his fist on the desk, shaking the whole room as if it were shaking. Dai Feng, Xu Changqing, Ling Qing and others heard the movement, and quickly walked over, seeing Xu Liang's face blue and angry expression, Xu Changqing sighed lightly and arched his hand: "My lord, stop being angry!" We have long expected the attitude of Liaodong's civil and military forces, so why be angry. ”

Xu Liang sneered, "These bastard prefects really only have Sun Chengzong in their eyes!" Wait, one day, I want these bastards to kneel in front of their officials one by one and kowtow and beg for mercy! ”

Xu Changqing said: "My lord, Sun Ge's prestige here is too high, and it is difficult for my lord to develop here." ”

Xu Liang got up, walked around the room irritably, waved his hand at Xu Changqing and said, "I have already discussed this issue with Huang Daozhou, and our future development direction was not here. This time, a few prefects were summoned to come, and it was just for show to the civil and military forces of Liaodong. There is no need for us to stay in Ningyuan any longer, Changqing, arrange it, and we will return to Juehua Island in the afternoon. ”

Xu Changqing arched his hand and said, "Yes." ”

Ling Qing went out to arrange lunch, and Xu Liang, Dai Feng, Xu Changqing and the others sat together to discuss things. After a while, Ling Qing walked in with a strange expression, and arched his hand towards Xu Liang and said, "My lord, Fan Zhiwan of Ningyuan Mansion asked to see him outside the door. ”

"Huh?" Xu Liang looked up in shock, thought for a while, and said, "Let him in." ”

When Ling Qing heard this, he went out to pick up Fan Zhiwan.

Dai Feng chuckled: "This is interesting, not long after the Kochi Mansion left, the experience official came to the door." ”

Xu Changqing said: "My lord, this Fan Zhiwan's subordinates know a little, this person is a Jinshi of Chongzhen for four years, and he has served in Liaodong for more than two years, and his political performance has been mediocre. However, I have never heard of any bad deeds of this man. I heard that this person is not quite on the right path with the prefect's senior engineer, and has been suppressed by the prefect's government. If the adults are interested, they can win over and install an eyeliner in Ningyuan Mansion. ”

Xu Liang groaned, "Let's listen to Fan Zhiwan's intentions first." ”

Fan Zhiwan came in in a nervous mood, and saw that in addition to Xu Liang and Dai Feng in the house, there was actually a middle-aged man, the middle-aged man stared at him with sharp eyes, Fan Zhiwan actually had a feeling of palpitations.

"Xiaguan Ningyuan Mansion experienced Fan Zhiwan to meet the governor, General Dai." Fan Zhiwan lowered his head and said respectfully.

Xu Liang also had the intention of wooing Fan Zhiwan, and his tone was very kind, and he beckoned: "Lord Fan doesn't have to be polite. Have a seat. ”

Fan Zhiwan was flattered, and hurriedly lowered his head and said, "The lower officials don't dare." ”

Xu Liang was not reluctant, looked at Fan Zhiwan with a smile, and said, "Your Ningyuan Mansion has just left the governor's yamen for a long time, but what did the Governor Mansion forget to say, and you want Lord Fan to come back and report it?" ”

Fan Zhiwan shook his head, he hid outside the governor's yamen, he watched the prefect leave from the governor's yamen, and he deliberately waited for a while before raising his feet to enter the governor's yamen, in order to avoid the prefect's mansion.

"The governor has misunderstood, and the official is here, and it has nothing to do with the Kozhi Mansion." Fan Zhiwan said: "The lower officials are here, there is an extremely important matter to report to the governor. ”

Xu Liang was interested, looked at Fan Zhiwan with interest, leaned forward, and asked excitedly, "Something important?" Let's hear it. ”

Fan Zhiwan looked at Xu Changqing, whom he didn't know, with a hesitant expression.

Xu Liang waved his hand and said: "All the people in the room are the henchmen of this official, so there is no need to shy away from it." ”

Fan Zhiwan listened, thought for a while, and then arched his hand towards Xu Liang with a solemn expression: "Lord Governor, the matter reported by the lower officials this time is related to the dozens of fortresses built along the Guanning Defense Line......

Xu Liang, Dai Feng, and Xu Changqing exchanged glances, they were all extremely surprised, and listened carefully to Fan Zhiwan's report.

Sun Ge was the governor of Jiliao, and after the prime minister of Liaodong military affairs, in view of the strong combat power of the Qing army's iron cavalry, and the more than 100,000 troops in Liaodong, only a few thousand Guanning iron cavalry could compete head-on with the Qing cavalry. The rest of the infantry, fighting against the Qing army, ended mostly in a one-sided slaughter.

In response to this, Sun Ge Lao gave full play to his decades of experience in leading troops and put forward the military idea of "using Liao people to defend Liao land and Liao people to raise Liao people". Liaodong people were requisitioned into the army, and every piece of land laid down was issued to those meritorious soldiers according to their military merits, so as to enhance the military morale and combat effectiveness of the Liaodong Army.

In addition, the most prominent thing that Sun Ge Lao did was to build dozens and hundreds of fortresses in various important places along the Guanning line, so as to consolidate the Guanning defense line. These forts were used to live in peacetime, and once the Qing army attacked, the Liaodong soldiers guarding them entered the fort and relied on the fort to hold on.

After Sun Gelao's idea was implemented, the effect was quite obvious at first. The Liaodong Army relied on these forts, step by step, slowly encroaching on the land occupied by the Qing army, and once extended the Guanning defense line to Jinzhou. This time, Sun Ge Lao proposed to repair the Dalinghe Fort, and the main purpose was to consolidate the defense of Jinzhou.

All of the above is what Xu Liang saw from the official newspapers of the imperial court, and Xu Liang once believed that although these newspapers were somewhat mixed with water, the general facts should be true.

However, as Fan Zhiwan narrated, Xu Liang and the others gradually showed shocked expressions.

According to Fan Zhiwan, Sun Gelao's idea of building these fortresses was quite limited in hindering the Qing army's attack, but it was quite laborious and costly to implement. The imperial court spends three or four million taels of military expenditure in Liaodong every year, most of which is spent on these forts.

Xu Liang calculated in his heart that according to this calculation, the amount of silver taels distributed to each fortress every year would be as much as thirty or forty thousand taels.

"Are these fortifications built by iron walls? Why does it cost so much? Xu Liang asked in astonishment, on the way from Shanhaiguan to Ningyuan, Xu Liang had also observed several fortresses at close range, most of which were the size of a walled house, and hundreds or thousands of people could be squeezed into them.

Moreover, Xu Liang saw with his own eyes that the materials used in these fortresses were no different from ordinary county city walls, so why did they cost so much?

Fan Zhiwan hated it, and angrily explained to Xu Liang: "Lord Governor, this is what the lower officials want to report, the place where this move is hard and costly, these fortresses are built one by one, and each one must be stockpiled up according to the requirements of enough grain and grass to support a month, and a sufficient amount of ordnance to defend the city, plus the salary of the guard sergeant, the consumption is not small in a year. More importantly, the vast majority of the fortresses built by the court spent a lot of silver taels under the attack of the Qing army, and often did not last long before they were breached, and the soldiers in the fortress were killed, and the grain and grass and weapons stored in it became the trophies of the Qing army. ”

Xu Liang was stunned, Dai Feng's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "How come? Those fortresses were built higher than the walls of ordinary county towns, and the Qing army was good at riding and shooting, but they were not good at attacking cities! If the army inside the fortress holds on, it should be enough to hold out until reinforcements arrive! ”

Fan Zhiwan sneered and mocked, "This is to ask the officials at all levels who are responsible for building the fortress!" The governor didn't look at how tall and thick these fortresses were, but in fact, many of them were showy and superficial. Xia Guan saw with his own eyes that a year ago, the Qing army besieged a fortress outside Jinzhou City, and when two or three rounds of logs collided, the seemingly tall fortress wall was washed out of a hole! The Qing army cheered and slaughtered through the mouth of the cave, washing the entire fortress in blood. ”

Xu Liang clenched his fists, his face was also filled with anger, and he said in a deep voice: "You mean, the money spent by the court to repair the fortress was not completely spent on the fortress?" ”

Fan Zhiwan nodded sadly, "After Sun Ge Lao's idea of building a fortress was approved by the court, it was really implemented, from the Beijing division to the Liaodong region, the first-level officials were all aiming at this fat gap, and the military expenses of the court were pulled over, and the officials at all levels were up and down, layer by layer, and the military expenses had not yet been shipped out of the capital, so they were less than two percent!" When he arrived in Liaodong, the military generals who handled it were a little more greedy, took a little, and finally really fell on the military expenditure on the construction project, which was less than 30% of the original budget! If the silver is not enough, the person in charge of the construction can only cut corners and shoddy, and it is really normal for the fortress to be built like that! ”

"What's more, in fact, he doesn't even have the appearance of a fortress, but he declares his military expenses to the court with the number of forts that have been repaired, and fills his own pocket!"

Xu Liang frowned and asked: "In this case, won't the Imperial Court Household Department, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of War, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate take care of it?" ”

Fan Zhiwan smiled bitterly, spread his hands and said helplessly: "How to care?" Once the court sent someone down to investigate and found that the accounts did not match, these officials in Liaodong would be full of accusations on the head of the Qing army, and said lightly: Let the Qing army burn it after it falls! The officials investigating had no temper at all, did they dare to go to Huang Taiji to ask for verification? (To be continued.) )