"Villain Zuo Changhao, meet General Chen." A young man knelt in the tent and said loudly.

Chen Xin said kindly: "Mr. Zuo, please get up." ”

When Zuo Changhao got up and sat down, Chen Xin asked his soldiers to serve tea, leaving only Nie Hong and Liu Minyou in the tent. Liu Minyou took a closer look at this Zuo Changhao, this person had a young face, but he had a beard like everyone else, and he showed a maturity.

Chen Xin smiled and said: "Mr. Zuo went all the way north from Fuzhou, but it was hard work, and now the soldiers in Beizhili are in chaos, and it must be very difficult for Mr. to find the location of my Wendeng camp." ”

Zuo Changhao replied calmly: "Lord Lao bothered, in fact, it is not difficult, the villain set off from Fuzhou in March, and caught up with the Wang army sent by Xiong Duye halfway, because of the relationship between Lord Xu, there is some affection in the generals, and he entered Beijing together, I waited until Tongzhou, Jiannu had already retreated, and the deputy chief soldier learned that the soldier and Sun Shufu were in Yongping, and sent someone to ask for instructions, and the villain came over together, and it didn't take much effort to find the adult. ”

Chen Xin nodded and said, "I see, has Mr. Zuo ever been to the north?" ”

"Never came."

"Then this time, Mr. will definitely stay in the Northland for a few more days, see the scenery of the Northland, and have a good trip."

Zuo Changhao bowed slightly and said, "Lord Xie." ”

After the two exchanged a few words, Chen Xin turned to the topic and asked: "Master Xu is far away in Fujian, and he sent Mr. Zuo to come here thousands of miles away, what is the matter?" ”

Zuo Changhao took out a letter from his arms and handed it to him, Nie Hong took it and gave it to Chen Xin, who opened it and read it. It was written by Li Guozhu, and the content was to introduce Xu Xinsu to Chen Xin, telling him that Xu Xinsu was the friend in Fujian.

Now it has been two years since Chen Xin and Li Guozhu proposed to make friends with the friend in Fujian, Li Guozhu may have already told Xu Xinsu, but Xu Xinsu didn't fancy himself at that time, Zuo Changhao set off from Fujian in March, judging from the time. It should be that after the news of Gu'an's victory reached Fujian, Xu Xinsu raised his evaluation of Chen Xin's strength before he sent someone to make friends.

Chen Xin has always pretended not to know who Xu Xinsu is. Waiting for Li Guozhu to pull the strings, now that he finally has eyebrows, he immediately puts on a respectful appearance. stood up and arched his hand: "It turned out to be a friend of Li Gongzi, and he was very lazy and rude." ”

Zuo Changhao did not doubt him, and returned the salute: "Lord Xu received a letter from Li Gongzi last year, and learned that General Chen had reminded Zheng Yiguan of the possible recruitment of an army a few years ago, and Li Gongzi's servant Xinyou Weimen also mentioned the general's talent many times. It has not been possible to make the trip, and when I thought of it in March, I sent the villain to come here first, bringing some light gifts to show my heart. ”

After Zuo Changhao finished speaking, he handed over a gift list, and Chen Xin had also received gifts from others many times. After taking a little look, it was written that there were ten Nanzhu, one red coral, one hundred taels of gold, and the price gap between the different qualities of coral and Nanzhu was huge, but in terms of Xu Xinsu's identity. It shouldn't be bad, plus a hundred taels of gold is worth at least a thousand taels of silver.

Chen Xin was envious in his heart, for such an ordinary military general as he had never seen before, his shot was more than a thousand taels, and he was really the demeanor of a sea merchant.

Chen Xin didn't shirk it, and thanked him. Zuo Changhao never mentioned the matter of Gu'an's great victory at this time, so as not to appear too pretentious, Chen Xin did not break it, Liu Minyou was confused, he didn't hear Chen Xin say anything about Fujian, and he didn't understand why he suddenly drilled a Xu guerrilla out to give gifts, Chen Xin also discussed the business plan with Liu Minyou before meeting this person, which made him even more confused.

After Zuo Changhao sat down, the atmosphere was already a lot more harmonious, and Chen Xin said with a smile: "Lord Xu is too polite, Brother Zuo is returning to the south, and the official also has some local products from the north to ask Brother Zuo to bring to Lord Xu." When he was in Wudao the year before last, he heard that Li Gongzi's friend was spared in the battle of Zhongzuo, and he was very happy for Li Gongzi. ”

Zuo Changhao showed a hint of pride, and replied: "General Chen Mingjian, that Zheng Yiguan is indeed like this now, Li Kuiqi went to the year and then rebelled, and Zheng Yiguan turned his face, Zheng Yiguan was repeatedly attacked by Li Kuiqi, and suffered heavy losses, and finally defeated Li Kuiqi once, how do you know that Li Kuiqi went to Guangdong to get a batch of big black ships, far more than Zheng Yiguan's lucky boats, so that Zheng Yiguan did not dare to go to sea, Lord Xiong was quite dissatisfied with Zheng Yiguan, Li Kuiqi gained power, and colluded with the Dutch, ready to make goods for the Dutch to make money. Zheng Yiguan originally wanted to ask Lord Xiong to ban goods to go to sea, cutting off Li Kuiqi's financial route, and he would definitely be in chaos, but how could Lord Xiong believe in him as a sea coward, because he did not promise, and now Li Kuiqi is still in Penghu and Beigang. ”

Chen Xin's face was abrupt, Zuo Changhao said easily, it didn't seem to be about Xu Xinsu's business, but Chen Xin could completely guess that the driving force behind Zheng Yiguan's predicament must be Xu Xinsu, he was originally doing resale trade with the Dutch, and he was familiar with the way, and now Li Kuiqi can give Zheng Yiguan a deflated, and he already has the strength of the first in the Taiwan Strait, Xu Xinsu will naturally use his network to provide Li Kuiqi with a source of goods, he can not only make money, but also clean up Zheng Yiguan, why not.

Zheng Yiguan made Li Kuiqi dare not show his head, the attitude of Fujian officialdom towards him is changing, and Xu Xinsu has put a lot of bad medicine in the back, Zheng Yiguan's situation is much worse than the original history, and he has not been able to get official support to restore his strength, which makes the southeast shape shì has deviated from the original history, Li Kuiqi has a solid source of wealth, and Zhong Bin under him has not rebelled, with the support of the Dutch, Li Kuiqi temporarily became the overlord of the Fujian Sea.

Chen Xin didn't know that history had changed so much, but he saw Xu Xinsu's energy from it, he had an official position, money, a business network, and inextricable connections with pirates from all walks of life, the only difference was that he didn't have his own reliable force, which may be the reason why he contacted Chen Xin.

Chen Xin and Liu Minyou did not interject, waiting for Zuo Changhao's next words, Zuo Changhao took a sip of tea and continued: "Zheng Yiguan is now a dragon trapped in the shallows, Li Gongzi arrived in Fuzhou at the end of February, to see how Zheng Yiguan ends." ”

When Chen Xin heard this, he knew that Li Guozhu was here to take charge, and he must want to fish in troubled waters when the hearts of Zheng Yiguan's subordinates were fluctuating, and he might even command someone to assassinate Zheng Yiguan. Shaking his head, he said: "Li Gongzi still has to be careful, Zheng Yiguan is so young to get to this point, it is definitely not idle, Li Gongzi must pay attention." ”

Zuo Changhao thanked him and said: "When I arrived in Tongzhou this time, I learned that Lord Chen had made such a great achievement, and Li Gongzi said this time that General Chen planned to do some southern goods business, and Lord Xu was also interested. ”

Chen Xin finally heard what he wanted to hear the most. But on the surface, he was very calm, and said lightly: "This official does have this intention, I don't know that Lord Xu originally had a trade route in the north." ”

"Originally, there were some. The sales are all brocade and the like, which are delivered in the southern section of the canal, and they are shipped to the north on their own. Most of the purchases are from the north and Shandong cotton. The merchant is a big merchant from Henan and Beijing, and the delivery is in the northern section, and we ship it to Jiangnan, but I don't know what General Chen plans to do? ”

Chen Xin looked at Liu Minyou, Liu Minyou now figured out what this Xu Xinsu was doing, cleared his throat and said: "Brother Zuo, my surname is Liu, I am General Chen's attendant, I thought of a way with General Chen, and I just proposed to discuss with Brother Zuo." See if it's possible. ”

"Mr. Liu, please speak."

"We wanted to buy some goods from the South, including silk, cotton, bamboo, paint, sugar, tea."

Zuo Changhao said: "If this is the case, the villain can make the decision and agree, and only the two of them need to decide on the convenient place of delivery." ”

"In addition to buying goods from the south, Lord Xu needs goods in the north. We can purchase it on our behalf and transport it to the southern section of the canal to you, and only one person needs to submit the list and keep it for Lord Xu. It also saves Mr. Zuo the pain of your travel and fatigue. ”

Zuo Changhao is a little difficult to decide, Liu Min mentioned that he is basically Xu Xinsu's commercial agent in the north, not just a transaction. So it's beyond his authority.

"There is another thing, Lord Xu is used to doing big business, and this money bank must also have it."

Zuo Changhao hesitated for a moment before replying: "Yes, they are all in Jiangnan and Fujian. ”

Liu Min said: "It's so good, I also want to cooperate with Lord Xu in the money village......"——

In the Yangxin Palace, Emperor Chongzhen was listening to the report of the two ministers who returned from Yongping, and the Jin army was driven out of the pass, but the Ming army still reflected a certain combat effectiveness, which reassured Chongzhen a lot, but he was not happy, Liu Xingzhi came to the Dongjiang River.

Liang Tingdong was reporting: "Your Majesty, Lord Sun sent his deputy general Zhou Wenyu to Changshan Island to tell him that Zunyong was victorious, and with Liu Xingzhi's brain, he should know how to advance and retreat." ”

Chongzhen asked, "Is Liu Xingzuo's matter verified?" ”

"Back to the emperor, it has been verified that he died in battle, and the corpse was broken before Jiannu was sent to the slave chieftain, because it has not been found before."

"Then let the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials implement the reward as soon as possible, this person is loyal and courageous, and he has gone through all the hardships and dangers to return to my Ming, and he died in battle, so he must be given preferential compensation."

Liang Tingdong slandered, and he didn't know what to do, Liu Xingzuo had no heirs in Dongjiang, only two younger brothers, Liu Xingzhi was so domineering, how could he dare to be superior, he just agreed perfunctorily at the moment.

Wen Tiren stepped forward and said softly: "Your Majesty, since the crime governor killed Mao Shuai, the Dongjiang River has almost fallen apart. Dongjiang is mostly Liaomin, quite good at fighting, if it is not handled properly, I am afraid that it will become another strong man outside the Ministry of Construction. ”

Chongzhen said: "What Wen Qing said is extremely true, the current courtiers and imperial history have the main suppression and the main caressing, each has its own reason, and I have not yet reached a conclusion. Wen Qing has never led a leader, but he is quite talented, and he doesn't know what to think of Liu Xingzhi's affairs. ”

"Your Majesty, no matter what reason Liu Xingzhi has, he should not kill the general under the pretense of the center's order, not to mention Chen Jisheng, who is in charge of the Dongjiang River, and now he has captured Changshan, Lushun and Denglai are all soldiers, and I am a soldier in Jinggi of the Ming Dynasty, and the northern land has been fighting for half a year, and it is really powerless to start the war again, so the minister also agrees to appease."

Chongzhen nodded slightly and did not speak.

Wen Tiren continued: "However, only appeasement is not enough to prevent the gradual gradual development, since the last year Jiannu entered the Kou, first the Guanning army fled to the outside of the Guan, Shanxi Qinwang army collapsed in Gyeonggi, Jizhen Pass and the suburbs of Gyeonggi City, more than ten cities who looked at the wind and surrendered, and how much did they abandon the city and flee, and it was more like Bai Yangcui and the like, the report of the country's soldiers, as for Si. Now if Liu Xingzhi rebels, it is an expedient measure to appease him for a while, and it is difficult to ensure that this person has no other thoughts in the future, and he is afraid that other people with different aspirations will follow suit, and the minister thinks that he should be well prepared in Denglai and set up a strong army to deter Liu Xingzhi and his ilk. ”

Chongzhen sat up straight slightly, he knew that what Wen Tiren said was that Guan Ningjun and Dongjiang Town were unstable, Zu Dashou and Liu Xingzhi had set two bad examples respectively, and they were not punished, so they really needed to be guarded against, and thought for a while: "Wen Qing means that Wendeng camp is still staying in Wendeng?" ”

"The emperor Mingjian, Wendeng camp Qin Wang, killed more than 1,000 Jiannu, this time also captured more than 100, powerful Quartet, loyalty and righteousness, the minister also heard some time ago that there was a mention of the matter to transfer Wendeng camp to Guanning, but the minister is really difficult to agree, a Wendeng camp is mostly Dengzhou mountain people and fishermen, there are fields and families in Wendeng, so that they leave their hometowns, money and food are expensive, not to mention, General Chen and Guanning officials are quite suspicious, will be squeezed out, and the military heart is also unstable. The second is to guard against Jiannu not Guanning, Weihai can go to Lushun in two or three days, and then a few days to the Dongjiang River, more than ten days to Juehua, Jinmen, even if to aid the Beijing Division, as this time, 20 days can arrive, with the Wendeng camp this strong army as the strength of the towns, far better than staying in Guanning. The three can also deter Liu Xingzhi and his ilk. ”

Chongzhen's eyes flashed, Chen Xin's lawsuit to help Wu Zimian had reached him, and the contradiction between Wendeng Ying and Guan Ningjun was sharp, which he was willing to see, and finally smiled when he thought of this, "Wen Qing is old and seeks the country, it is indeed not comparable to the likes of soldiers on paper, this soldier is in charge of military affairs, what is his opinion on what Wen Qing said." ”

Liang Tingdong has also been favored by the emperor recently, originally some people said that he was promoted too quickly, with a minister's ear and suddenly a supervisor and a soldier, but there is no performance in each position, now Zunyong is a great victory, killing more than a thousand Jiannu, immediately sealed the mouth of all the imperial history, he himself knows that it all depends on the Wendeng camp as the sharp, and the others are all following the wind and fighting, plus Chen Xin is very good at things, so Chen Xin's requirements are almost universal.

He replied immediately: "Lord Wen's opinion, the minister has always admired, the military department will consult, and it is agreed to build a reinforcement battalion with Wendeng, which still belongs to Dengzhou Town, and coincides with Lord Wen." There is only one article to add slightly, Wendeng faces the sea on three sides, regardless of Guanning, Jinmen, Denglai, and Dongjiang, all of them are based on sea transportation, and it is proposed to set up a coastal defense guerrilla one, a battalion of the naval division, which belongs to the Wendeng battalion. ”

Chongzhen stroked his palms and smiled: "This soldier lives up to the reputation of being a frontier talent, so arranged, it is very appropriate, the two of you can call General Chen to Beijing and teach him in person, and he will understand the key to this." ”

"Your Majesty, because of Liu Xingzhi's incident, yesterday the Ministry of War has transferred all the troops of Wendeng Camp to return to Wendeng, but I am afraid that the order will be ......changed overnight."

Chongzhen sighed and said: "Then let's stop, General Chen has not rested for half a year, and he has achieved earth-shattering achievements with an unpaid army, which is indeed unparalleled in loyalty and righteousness. ”