Positioning is a science, especially positioning oneself. If it is low, it is inferior and self-inferior, and if it is high, it is arrogant and rude.

Mao Wenlong has thought about this visit repeatedly. The proportions and scales of mastery have a mature belly case.

He knew very well in his heart that in terms of official position, he was just a town commander. Whether it is Xiong Tingbi's Liaodong governor or Yuan Keli's Liaodong governor, they are definitely higher than him.

In terms of qualifications, Xiong Tingbi was at the same level as Wang Huazhen, and Mao Wenlong was just a capital secretary at that time; Not to mention Yuan Keli, the emperor, the Jiecheng and Shang Fang swords, are his top bosses.

Moreover, both of these people were born as Jinshi. Although the emperor had improved the status of his military in recent years, the habit of emphasizing civility over military force could not be reversed so easily.

Therefore, Mao Wenlong put his figure relatively low, and he couldn't talk about flattery, but the etiquette of bowing down was impeccable.

Of course, the emperor's painstaking efforts to mediate the two, Mao Wenlong also had to show it. Gou Zhenhuai, the deputy general of Dongjiang Town, came with him, this is also a guy with the right to play secretly, how can Mao Wenlong not know?

"Lord Xiong's recital and evaluation have all been known below, and I am really ashamed." Mao Wenlong jumped off the horse from afar, came to Xiong Tingbi, greeted him, and examined himself first, "Although I never believe in the gossip outside, I have never expressed my heart, which makes the world misunderstand, and it is all the fault of the next." ”

Xiong Tingbi laughed and said politely: "Those who are clear are self-purifying, the rumors are false after all, how can they last long?" Mao Shuai's shameful mistake is really excessive, excessive! ”

As he spoke, Lao Xiong stretched out his hand to Gou Zhenhuai, who Shi Li had seen, and said with a smile: "General Gou doesn't have to be polite, he fought side by side when he was in Guangning, and he is also an old acquaintance." ”

Gou Zhenhuai smiled and nodded, and after a few cold words, he retreated to Mao Wenlong's head.

Xiong Tingbi stretched out his hand, "Lord Yuan will wait in the city tower, you and I will go up to meet first." ”

"Lord Xiong, please." How dare Mao Wenlong compete for the first place and stretch out his hand to invite.

"Mao Shuai, please." Xiong Tingbi was humble again, and after some prevarication, the two of them climbed the city tower together.

Yuan Keli, as the governor of Liaodong, holds the sword of Jiecheng and Shangfang, which is equivalent to acting on behalf of the Son of Heaven and holding the power of life and death. Although he can't kill people for no reason, dismissal and dismissal are only a matter of his words.

Seeing Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong coming together with a smile, it seemed that they had given up their previous suspicions, Yuan Keli was also relieved, and got up to greet each other with a smile.

"The last general (Xia Guan) pays a visit to Lord Yuan." Xiong Tingbi and the others hurriedly stepped forward to pay respects.

"No need to be polite." Yuan Keli smiled and raised his hand to support him, looked at Mao Wenlong, and said: "I haven't seen you for a few years, Mao Shuai's demeanor has not diminished, and the official is very pleased." ”

"Lord Yuan is in good health, and the last general is also very happy." Mao Wenlong raised his head and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you again for several years since I met my lord in Dengzhou. ”

"yes!" Yuan Keli stroked his beard, bowed his head slightly, looked very emotional, and turned his gaze to Gou Zhenhuai.

"The last general, Gou Zhenhuai, the deputy general of Dongjiang Town." Gou Zhenhuai bowed and bowed.

Yuan Keli stretched out his hand to help, although he had never seen it, he still understood Gou Zhenhuai's qualifications, and said with a smile: "General Gou doesn't need to be polite, from the Battle of Guangning to now, it has been several years, and General Gou is also an old soldier." ”

Gou Zhenhuai said with a smile: "In the next halfway, I became a monk halfway, and I changed from the Zhenfu Division to the army, but I don't dare to call myself an old soldier." ”

"General Gou governs the army well, and his headquarters is also a first-class strong army in Dongjiang Town." Mao Wenlong said with a smile on the side, raising his subordinates is also raising himself.

"Yes, yes! Dongjiang Town is a strong army, and the official is very relieved. Yuan Keli praised it, stretched out his hand and said, "Everyone, please sit down, before the formal military meeting, and cook wine and talk in this city, you can speak freely." ”

After thanking everyone, they sat down one by one. Only Liu Xingzuo, who was standing beside Yuan Keli, was still standing there, arousing everyone's curious eyes.

Yuan Keli laughed, stretched out his finger and said: "This is Liu Xingzuo, the commander of the Flying Cavalry Shengzi Battalion, Fuzhou is brave anyway, long live praising it for having the style of Li Xianzhong of the Great Song Dynasty." ”

"It turned out to be General Liu." Mao Wenlong and Gou Zhenhuai stood up.

Liu Xingzuo hurriedly paid a big salute, "The last general has seen Mao Shuai and Deputy Marshal Gou." ”

After Liu Xingzuo returned to the Ming Dynasty in history, Yuan Keli left at that time, and he was not taken seriously in western and eastern Liaoning.

In view of this, Zhu Youxiao specially explained to Yuan Keli and gave him the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, demonstrating the emperor's wisdom in knowing people.

Therefore, Yuan Keli transferred the flying cavalry Shengzi battalion led by Liu Xingzuo, and specially introduced Xiong Tingbi and Mao Wenlong to show his attention.

If you want Liu Xingzuo to make contributions on the battlefield, you can't stay by your side, and you can only use it as a guard team. Therefore, whether it is Xiong Tingbi or Mao Wenlong, it must always be under one of the leaders.

Move out the emperor, the great god, and raise Liu Xingzuo, so that Xiong and Mao will not despise and despise him, and give him a place to use.

After the cold hustle and bustle was over, everyone sat down again, and the soldiers served tea, and then began to talk casually.

It is more easy-going to speak in this way, and you can say as much as you can about the strategic ideas in your heart, so as not to be overwhelmed during the formal military meeting.

Although the overall strategy of Pingliao was basically determined, the siege on all sides made it difficult for Jiannu to concentrate on coping with it.

However, in terms of specific operations, it has still not been finalized. For now, it is to launch from southern Liaoning and attack Liaoshen all the way; Or concentrate on Jianzhou and end the old nest of Jiannu, the so-called land of Longxing.

"Xiong Jingluo, the arrangement of Haizhou Wei has been completed, and he can launch an attack at any time, right?" Yuan Keli turned to Xiong Tingbi and asked.

Xiong Tingbi nodded and said: "The Han army is shrinking into the city, and the two red flags of Jiannu are swimming outside the city, but they are no longer able to stop our army from attacking the city. The officer waited for more troops and supplies to be abundant, so that he could surround him on all sides, so that none of the enemies in the city could escape. ”

"What about Jiannu's troops again?" Yuan Keli pondered for a moment and said: "This official thinks that the Han and Mongolian coalition forces can be launched first, and Horqin will enter Anle Prefecture and Liaohaiwei, attack Kaiyuan and Tieling, and contain Jiannu. ”

Seeing Lord Yuan's gaze, Mao Wenlong hurriedly said: "I, Dongjiang Town, can also launch an operation to contain Jiannu, so as to help Lord Xiong break through Haizhou Wei and go straight to Liaoshen." ”

Lord Yuan's eyes were smiling, and he had the meaning of inquiry, Xiong Tingbi's eyes were also watching, Mao Wenlong pondered for a while, knowing that he had to make a supplementary explanation.

Arching his hand to the west, Mao Wenlong spoke: "Long live Pingliao is extremely concerned about Pingliao, and supports this war with the strength of the whole country. Under the attention of the government and the opposition, a certain person believes that if it is not to recover Liaoshen, it is not enough to boost the morale of the people and not enough to call it a great victory. ”

The analysis is correct, and the conclusion is correct. Although he was a little surprised, Yuan Keli still showed appreciation.

The destruction of slaves in Pingliao is, of course, the best result, but things on the battlefield are unpredictable, and they may not go so smoothly.

If Liaoyang and Shenyang can be recovered, even if Pingliao does not compete for full success, it is enough to explain to the emperor and give the Ming Dynasty a shot in the arm.

In fact, Mao Wenlong's thinking cannot be called a change, but proceeds from reality and considers the overall situation.

Western Liaoning and southern Liaoning are basically connected, and the troops are the strongest; The emperor sent the Beijing camp flying cavalry again, which was temporarily assigned to western and southern Liaoning, and the meaning was already quite obvious.

If he insists on increasing his troops, taking the attack on Jianzhou as the main goal, and then gathering and annihilating Jiannu in Liaoshen, I am afraid that it will be contrary to the will of Banzai.

Therefore, Mao Wenlong first said that he took the initiative to cooperate, which was more beautiful than Yuan Keli's request. At the same time, it is also a sign of giving up the past. Long live knowing it, it must be gratifying.

Of course, it would be wrong to say that Mao Wenlong was not selfish. He thought about the future, and felt that not fighting for merit now would be of great benefit to the future.

Political considerations, although not so accurate, are also based on evidence, not speculation.

Yuan Keli and Sun Chengzong, the two emperors, are going to enter the cabinet nine times out of ten; The position of the secretary of the military department should be no one who surpasses Xiong Tingbi in terms of qualifications.

In this way, he will be the leader after Liaodong. Thought that everything would be fine in Pingliao, and Ma Fang Nanshan? Mao Wenlong didn't think so.

What kind of Mekong Province, Mao Wenlong has never heard of it, he only knows that it is overseas. The emperor sent people to go there to occupy the land, and he could still forget the inherent slaves of the Ming Dynasty?

As expected, the emperor is going to embark on the road of expansion of Chengzu, which is Mao Wenlong's analysis and judgment.

From another point of view, there are already more than 100,000 troops in Liaodong alone, and most of them have to be resettled on the spot, and this can be concluded from the promise of giving a large amount of land to retired officers and soldiers.

If you add the Liao people who have returned to their hometowns, the amount of land needed is not small.

Emigrating to the East, to Mekong, to Hainan, the emperor seems to have found a solution to the contradiction of more people and less land. Will the vast Liaodong be let go?

Regarding Mao Wenlong's statement, Yuan Keli was quite relieved and satisfied, and Xiong Tingbi was also very happy.

"Jianzhou is regarded as the land of Longxing by Jianyu, and it must not be easily abandoned." Xiong Tingbi kindly reminded: "Mao Shuai must be contained, and he must also prevent Jianyu from increasing troops to counterattack." ”

Mao Wenlong arched his hand, expressed his gratitude, and said: "Our army is well defended, and if we want to attack, we will have to pay a heavy price. According to Jianyu's current strength, I am afraid that he cannot bear it. ”

When it comes to positional defense, it is indeed the strength of the Ming army. The breastwork trench, coupled with the sharp musket artillery, Jiannu has suffered several losses, but there is no way to crack it.

The most important thing is that the manpower of Jiannu is too small, and in the current situation, it is even more afraid of the Ming army's tactical play of replacing people with people.

"But I don't have mobile troops in Dongjiang Town." Mao Wenlong's words changed sharply, and he began to ask for conditions, "Especially the flying cavalry, attacking Jianzhou, is very important." ”

Yuan Keli and Xiong Tingbi glanced at each other, because there had been such speculations before, but there was not much hesitation in the eyes of the two.

There were 12,000 flying horses in Beijing, which were divided into two groups in southern and western Liaoning, which were led by Cao Wenzhao and Zhou Yuji.

And Dongjiang Town is not assigned, which is also the emperor's intention, but it is not that it cannot be changed, Yuan Keli has full power and can be flexibly arranged.