"County Zun, Hong Chengchou's words don't seem to be false, County Zun is worried that he will join the enemy, I'm afraid he is too worried."

Bai Shoumin said cautiously on the side at this time, as the intelligence leader of the secret spy department, he naturally received this information as soon as possible, so he also saw the information conveyed by Hong Chengchou to Li Chaosheng for the first time.

Li Chaosheng looked at Bai Shoumin and said: "People sometimes change, especially when faith collapses, I sent an envoy this time to stabilize Hong Chengchou's heart." ”

Li Chaosheng has seen some records of Hong Chengchou in historical materials, first of all, before Hong Chengchou surrendered, he did fight to the death for the Ming Dynasty, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he died for the Ming Dynasty once, and secondly, Chongzhen's practice also made Hong Chengchou feel cold.

Originally, although the attack of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was dangerous, the grain and grass in Songcheng at that time could support at least half a year, and Huang Taiji besieged the area of Songcheng and Jinzhou without attacking, obviously preparing to encircle the point and send reinforcements.

And this intention is too obvious, Hong Chengchou can see through it almost at a glance, so his report to Chongzhen means to fight a protracted war with the Qing army.

The Qing army will definitely not be able to hold on, and when the time comes, we can attack and defend in different positions, easily solve this crisis, and ensure the safety of the Songjin defense line.

I have to say that if Hong Chengchou's policy of 'defensible and then combatable' can be strictly implemented, then the outcome of this battle is really unknown, but the more important it is, the more blind our Emperor Chongzhen will be.

Seeing that the front line was tight, Emperor Chongzhen immediately summoned Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department at that time, but Chen Xinjia did not discuss a pessimistic military report with the senior members of the court and the central government on paper, which made Chongzhen feel that if it dragged on like this, he would have no chance of winning this battle, so he issued an order and ordered Hong Chengchou to immediately divide his troops and attack the Manchu army on many sides, but Hong Chengchou knew that he would definitely die a miserable death if he did so.

So he wrote again and again, hoping that Chongzhen would think about it carefully, and not to fall into the enemy's trap in a hurry, but this was contrary to Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the Ministry of War, so Chen repeatedly encouraged the emperor, and after Chen's continuous agitation, Chongzhen, who had soft ears, went directly from hesitation to decisiveness.

Directly issued a secret edict ordering Hong Chengchou to fight quickly without delay, and the words were very resolute, saying: Immediately enter the army, and Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, also sent a letter to Hong Chengchou, calculated the economic account, saying that Hong Chengchou spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this march, if he can't fight quickly, the cost will increase, when the time comes, the money is spent, the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not run away, his sin will be great, I am sorry for the emperor, I am sorry for the people of Limin, it is better to commit suicide and apologize.

Hong couldn't bear the pressure from all sides of the imperial court, so he sent troops to fight the Qing army, and the result can be imagined, Hong Chengchou was defeated miserably, and finally defected.

It can be seen that Hong Chengchou's policy Chongzhen has never really listened to it, but the demagogic words of Chen Xinjia and others have been heard clearly, which eventually led to a catastrophe.

What's even more ridiculous is that after Chongzhen learned that Hong Chengchou was defeated, he didn't verify it carefully, so he hurriedly opened the memorial service, and finally a few years later, when he learned that Hong Chengchou turned around and beat himself, he almost died of anger.

It can be said that Chongzhen is extremely stupid in this matter, and an emperor is simply stupid when he does not listen to the words of the insider, but listens to the words of the layman.

The reason why Li Chaosheng has always actively wanted to accept Hong Chengchou is that Hong Chengchou is indeed capable, whether it is military or political, his ability can be regarded as the top level of the Ming Dynasty.

Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, the last three capable ministers of the Ming Dynasty are put together, if the character Lu Xiangsheng is the first, Sun Chuanting is the second, and Hong Chengchou is the worst.

But if you talk about ability, Hong Chengchou should be above Lu Xiangsheng, and the order should be Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangsheng, and Sun Chuanting.

Hong Chengchou is a capable person, Li Chaosheng doesn't want him to fall into the hands of the Tartars, you must know that a capable person may not be able to exert his ability in the Ming Dynasty, but he can't in the Manchu Dynasty.

During the Southern Ming Dynasty, when Li Dingguo and the two famous kings had already beaten the Manchu Qing Dynasty and wanted to rule the region, it was Hong Chengchou who excluded public opinion and insisted on fighting, otherwise the Manchu Qing would not have made up their minds to fight Li Dingguo.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou really chose to surrender to the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the end, Li Chaosheng will definitely not hesitate to send the secret spy department to assassinate Hong Chengchou at any cost, Hong Chengchou's talent is much stronger than Fan Wencheng and others, so such a person can't stay.

However, if Hong Chengchou did not choose the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the end, Li Chaosheng was still willing to give him a chance, after all, it is unforgivable for Hong Chengchou to betray the Ming Dynasty, but his experience is worthy of sympathy.

Li Chaosheng put the information aside and looked at Bai Shoumin and said: "Increase the surveillance of Hong Chengchou, and use some means when necessary. ”

"Yes."

Bai Shoumin should be, followed by Li Chaosheng and looked at Bai Shoumin and said, "By the way, apart from Hong Chengchou, is there any other information?" ”

Bai Shoumin took out a notebook from his body at this time and said: "County Zun, at present, the major forces are quite stable, Sun Chuanting has built a new defense line in Xuanfu, and strengthened the city wall, and placed a military order to our Lantian, hoping that we can sell them some firearms." ”

Li Chaosheng nodded and said: "I know about this, I originally refused, but then Lu Xiangsheng found me, and said that those who are big things must have the world in mind, and the future of Daming must be Lantian, Sun Chuanting bought firearms to protect Daming, and also to protect Lantian in the future, we should sell them some firearms." ”

"So the county is sold?"

Bai Shoumin looked at Li Chaosheng and asked, Li Chaosheng smiled and said: "Lu Xiangsheng's face still needs to be given a little, so I sold Sun Chuanting a thousand flintlock pistols that we eliminated at a high price, as well as 20,000 catties of gunpowder." ”

Bai Shoumin was stunned when he heard this, looked at Li Chaosheng and said, "It's all because of Lu Xiangsheng?" ”

Li Chaosheng smiled: "Hehehe...... Not exactly. ”

"What do you mean?"

Bai Shoumin continued to ask, and Li Chaosheng said with a smile: "Five percent is because of Lu Xiangsheng, and the remaining ninety-five percent is because Sun Chuanting's Qin army is generally our Lantian people, and the Tartars are so dangerous, we also have to give these brothers some weapons to defend themselves, and the batch of muskets that Sun Chuanting bought back will give priority to equipping our Lantian people."

Bai Shoumin gave a thumbs up and said: "High, the county is really high, we make money like this, and the things are still used by our Lantian people, so we don't lose anything." ”

Gu Zi listened on the side: "I haven't figured it out, with Sun Chuanting's wisdom, it is impossible not to see the plan of the county honor, but why is he willing to cooperate, still honestly pay money to buy firearms, and go back to equip the Lantian people?" Isn't this a clear loss? ”

Li Chaosheng smiled when he heard this: "Suffer? He Sun Chuanting is not the one who suffers, in fact, he sees very clearly that his Qin army has basically been hollowed out by our Lantian people, but in the case of our Lantian not intervening, he still has the right to command, and the purpose of his purchase of this batch of firearms is to prevent Jiannu. ”

"And for Jiannu, the attitude of our Lantian people is also that they are not of our race, and their hearts will be different, and there is no forgiveness for killing, so as long as he Sun Chuanting does not turn his gun and fight us, he has control over the Qin army under his hand, and this batch of firearms is also under his control, as for turning around and hitting Lantian, there is no need for those Lantian people under them to make trouble, even if they fight head-on, we can easily eliminate this Qin army in Sun Chuanting's hands."

"So whether there is this batch of firearms or not, for us, the Qin army is still a dish, and for the Tartars, with this batch of firearms, the combat effectiveness of the Qin army is close to Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong army."

Hearing this, Bai Shoumin nodded and said: "What the county lord said is extremely true, as long as he Sun Chuanting is not stupid to deal with our Lantian, he will earn this batch of firearms even if he buys it." ”

"With the blessing of our firearms and without the blessing of our firearms, the Qin army under Sun Chuanting is two different armies, Sun Chuanting serves as the governor of Xuanda, and he has to face the iron hooves of Jiannu, at this time, he doesn't take some risks to buy some firearms from us, he, the governor of Xuanda, is really not easy to do."

Li Chaosheng said with a smile: "Sun Chuanting is a smart man, so when his old servant came to Lantian and said that he wanted to buy firearms, his old servant directly said to buy firearms to equip their Biaozi battalion, this is actually Sun Chuanting handed me a message, what is the Biaozi battalion, Biaozi Battalion is the earliest old army of his Sun Chuanting, 80% of which are our Lantian people, so Sun Chuanting told us that the purpose of equipping the Biaozi battalion is to tell me that this batch of weapons is to buy back for the Lantian people, so I will sell them a thousand flintlock pistols and 20,000 catties of gunpowder." Otherwise, it would be nice if I could sell them a hundred. ”

After Li Chaosheng said this, Gu Zi and Bai Shoumin nodded in unison, there is still such thinking in it.

"Any other news?"

After Li Chaosheng finished talking about Sun Chuanting, he looked at Bai Shoumin, he needed to grasp the dynamics of the world at this time, and after hearing this, Bai Shoumin said: "There is also the Jiangnan side, the Jiangnan Fushe held a large-scale poetry meeting, and invited Jiangnan scholars, and held it in the painting boat of the Qinhuai River, it is said that the scene was grand at that time, and there was a beautiful woman on the Qinhuai River to perform, so that a group of talented people were fascinated by it, and named the eight most outstanding beauties Qinhuai Bayan. ”

"Bayan?"

Hearing Bai Shoumin's words, Gu Zi on the side became interested, who doesn't love beauties?

And Li Chaosheng didn't have any idea, just sighed: "The merchant girl doesn't know the hatred of the country, she still sings the backyard flowers across the river, the land south of the Yangtze River, the fat powder is too heavy, and it can't be a big deal." ”

Gu Zi heard this: "What the county zun said is very true, but it is a pity for such a beautiful woman to be put in the south of the Yangtze River, so it is better to send it to Lantian and dance for the county zun." ”

The idea of millet is very simple, that is, all good things should be tasted by our county first, our county has not tasted it, you eat it first, that is, you are wrong.

Li Chaosheng waved his hand and said: "Forget it, it's just a few poor women, I have two stunning beauties in my family, how can I have time to talk to them, beauty is a steel knife that scrapes bones, and it can best consume people's will, and your county still wants to take advantage of being young to do more practical things for the people and seek benefits for the people." ”

After Li Chaosheng said this, Gu Zi shut up, and Bai Shoumin continued: "In addition to the south of the Yangtze River, there is also Zheng Zhilong on the sea, Zheng Zhilong is still active at sea, and this year has increased the trade volume with Japan, and brought back a large amount of silver from Japan, which has caused the price of silver to plummet in the southeast coast, but it has not affected our Lantian at present. ”

Li Chaosheng looked at Bai Shoumin when he heard this: "Well, Zheng Zhilong is a problem, by the way, are the assassins I asked you to arrange ready?" I don't want Zheng Zhilong to continue to live. ”

Bai Shoumin heard this and said: "Infiltration is currently underway, but Zheng Zhilong is very strictly protected, but we have found Zheng Zhilong's Achilles heel, give us a little more time, and we will definitely be able to infiltrate it." ”

Li Chaosheng thought for a while when he heard this: "Zheng Zhilong has been a pirate for many years, and it is difficult to infiltrate his core team, but I think you can contact Zheng Zhibao, this person is Zheng Zhilong's third brother, and he is currently the second-in-command of the entire Zheng Group, but the current position is also a little unstable, Zheng Zhilong's son, Zheng Sen, Zheng Chenggong has grown up, and is ambitious, he is a capable person, Zheng Zhibao's ability is low, and it is inevitable to be overtaken by his eldest nephew." ”

"Thinking about it, Zheng Zhibao was ridden by the neck little by little, it should be very uncomfortable, just use this as a breakthrough, it may not be impossible to pry open the Zheng family's strong fortress and complete the assassination."

Li Chaosheng looked at Bai Shoumin and analyzed, Bai Shoumin's eyes lit up when he heard this: "What the county zun said is very true, by the way, the county zun, I think of one thing, Zheng Zhibao came to the mainland to purchase gunpowder on the order of Zheng Zhilong some time ago, he once asked our merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, the price of gunpowder, the county zun thinks that can we take this opportunity to take the line of Zheng Zhibao?" ”

Li Chaosheng's eyes narrowed when he heard this: "Gunpowder, very good, this is indeed a good excuse, so you tell the merchants in Jiangnan, if there is any news of Zheng Zhibao, you can tell him that Lantian has good gunpowder and is willing to sell it to them, but if the amount is large, you need to go to Lantian for an interview." ”

When Bai Shoumin heard this, he said: "The county is going to contact Zheng Zhibao in person?" ”

Li Chaosheng said with a smile: "If the bait is not enough, that stupid leopard will not be easily fooled." ”

Gu Zi patted his ass when he heard the words on the side and said: "The county is out of the horse, and that stupid leopard will definitely be easily taken down." ”

Li Chaosheng glanced at Gu Zi and said: "Your kid's sycophants have been getting more and more explicit recently, I look at you, you have to learn badly." ”

Gu Zi smiled when he heard this: "What the county respects criticizes is that I will try to be as hidden as possible next time." ”

"Fuck off."

Li Chaosheng scolded with a smile, then looked up at Bai Shoumin and said, "By the way, isn't there any movement on Li Zicheng's side?" ”

Hearing this, Bai Shoumin said: "Back to the county, Li Zicheng has been honestly staying in Shanxi recently, but all his subordinates have been sent to Henan, and it seems that they are planning something big." ”

"Henan?"

Li Chaosheng's eyes narrowed, and four words appeared in his mind: Flood Kaifeng!