weaving

Chapter 1236: What the Lord said hits the mark

In Xinchengji, more than ten miles southwest of Kaifeng city, at the headquarters of Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng, the newly appointed Governor-General of the Three Borders, Sun Chuanting, tried his best to turn the topic to Shaanxi's military and political affairs when drinking with Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng. The implication was that he asked Zhang Cheng to give strong support.

However, Shaanxi's military and political affairs cannot be separated from the bandits, so after talking about this and that, the topic finally came back to the bandits.

Zhang Cheng said: "Suppressing bandits is not a simple military matter. In fact, it is a combination of military, politics, commerce and agriculture. Without a strong army and strong soldiers, it is impossible to suppress them. However, if the political situation is unstable, the army will be unstable. Merchants can help the army and keep the people safe by transporting food and grass. If the land is recovered but the farmers are not diligent in farming and cultivation is restored, the people will be uneasy and will rise up again to become bandits after a long time."

After hearing what Earl Yongning said, Sun Chuanting was so shocked that all his movements came to a complete stop. If it weren't for the breath flowing in and out of his nose, he would have been no different from a sculpture.

Zhang Cheng didn't care about his expression and continued, "Just like when you, Governor Sun, took up your post in Shaanxi, without your own soldiers and generals, you would be like a tiger without teeth. Even if you were facing a group of lambs, you would be helpless without tiger teeth.

In addition to the soldiers and generals, you also need a group of officials who only obey your orders. Otherwise, no matter how good the policy is, it will be difficult to implement it. If it is not implemented properly, those good policies to comfort the people and encourage farming may even backfire and become the last flame that devours you. "

…………

Beads of sweat the size of beans dripped down Sun Chuanting's forehead. What Zhang Cheng just said was exactly what worried him the most on this trip. Originally, he kept these things in his heart and had not told anyone, not even to his most trusted aides.

This time he insisted on taking a detour from Henan to Shaanxi to take up his post. Although he told the outside world that he wanted to take the opportunity to investigate the bandits, in fact he came to ask for help from the Earl of Yongning.

Although before leaving for Shanhaiguan, the Governor of Ji-Liao, Hong Chengchou, promised to order his deputy general Zuo Xian to lead the remaining 1,000 old Shaanxi soldiers back to Shaanxi to help him.

But Sun Chuanting knew that the Shaanxi soldiers brought out from Shaanxi that year numbered more than 20,000. Although there was a camp riot later and some of them ran back, there were still more than 10,000 Shaanxi soldiers who entered Liaodong. But now there are only more than 1,000 left.

Not only was he unable to face this tragic result, he also didn't know how to deal with the remaining 1,000 Shaanxi soldiers. They had already been completely wiped out, so how could he get them to fight for him again?

What's more, Sun Chuanting couldn't come up with enough money to make them happy. Not to mention driving them to work hard again, he couldn't even give them some rewards!

Therefore, there is only one way left for Sun Chuanting now - borrow troops!

He not only wanted to borrow the Yongning Earl's brave soldiers to command himself, but more importantly, he wanted to use the Yongning Earl's murderous aura and reputation to intimidate the officials, gentry and wealthy families in Xi'an and even the whole of Shaanxi.

However, Zhang Cheng had already seen through his little thoughts, so he did not completely refuse in words, always leaving a glimmer of hope for Sun Chuanting, while constantly talking about his current difficulties. Isn't this a negotiation skill?

It can be said that Earl Yongning completely grasped Sun Chuanting's pain points and weaknesses, constantly undermining Sun Chuanting's expectations while constantly improving his own value, with the aim of gaining more bargaining chips.

…………

As expected, Sun Chuanting has now been completely guided by Zhang Cheng, and his belief in borrowing troops has become even stronger. He seemed to have forgotten to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and with slightly trembling hands he picked up the wine jug and filled it for Zhang Cheng.

At the same time, he asked, "What Lord Bo said hits the mark exactly."

After he put down the wine pot, he immediately picked up the wine cup and said to Zhang Cheng: "Your humble official respects the Lord, and I hope you can teach me about Shaanxi."

Zhang Cheng raised the cup and drank it all with him, saying: "Shaanxi's affairs cannot be accomplished overnight, and the suppression of bandits cannot be accomplished in one battle. The first priority is to gain a firm foothold. Only after the foundation is established can we start to deal with those parasites!"

Sun Chuanting picked up the wine pot again and poured wine, saying at the same time: "I have thought of what Lord Bo said, but Chuanting currently lacks a direct descendant, so I am afraid it will be difficult to quickly establish a foundation."

After he put down the wine pot, he said with emotion: "If I had a strong army, I would kill all these parasites in the country."

Zhang Cheng said, "Governor Sun, if it is not necessary, it is better to kill less people and only punish the main culprits to deter the villains. The key to thunderous means is to catch them by surprise and attack them when they are unprepared. As long as you are bold and bloody enough, those parasites will be scared paralyzed.

You know, there are many parasites in this world, and you can't kill them all by killing them. If you want to use them for your own benefit, it will be good enough as long as it is beneficial to Shaanxi and the suppression of bandits. "

Sun Chuanting smiled, as if he had suddenly realized something, and said, "My Lord, you are right. I will learn from your teaching."

Zhang Cheng smiled and said, "The local officials and gentry are like a group of interest groups. If you want to accomplish anything after entering Shaanxi, you must touch their vested interests. If you drag your feet, they will inevitably counterattack. Therefore, you must be 'quiet as a virgin, and quick as a rabbit'. If you don't move, you will die. If you move, you will die. You must not give them a chance to counterattack."

Sun Chuanting nodded, looking thoughtful. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Zhang Cheng say, "Moreover, these families have been in Shaanxi for a long time and have been operating for more than a hundred years. They have formed alliances through marriage and other things. They are deeply rooted and it is impossible to completely eradicate them overnight.

Therefore, if you want to succeed, you must resolutely eliminate the few major families that take the lead, and hold on to the less radical families, or even relax policies towards them appropriately to reduce resistance. As for the rest, they are almost all fence-sitters.

Now that the troublemakers are gone, they will naturally stop stirring up trouble and join the side of Governor Sun!"

Sun Chuanting kept nodding his head, his expression changing rapidly, sometimes excited, sometimes thoughtful...

Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng took one last look at Sun Chuanting and sighed, "I strongly support Sun Du to take up the post of Shaanxi Governor. I mentioned Sun Du to the Emperor when I was in Beijing. However, this trip is very dangerous. I hope Sun Du can successfully retrain the new army and enter Henan to suppress the bandits as soon as possible."

Sun Chuanting said: "I hope you can help me on my trip to Shaanxi!"

Zhang Cheng did not reply, but raised his glass and said, "Let's just drink today. I will discuss the matter of assistance with my officers and generals tomorrow and then report back to Governor Sun."

"In that case, here comes Lord Robert."

  "Come, drink!

…………

On the second day, just after dawn, all the officers and generals of the Yongyi Army stationed in Xinchengji had gathered in the central military tent of the Earl of Yongning.

The specific contents of Sun Chuanting's request for assistance from the Earl of Yongning were all written in the document, which involved military supplies such as men, horses, armor and weapons, muskets, chariots and carts, as well as huge amounts of silver, money, food and other supplies.

  The document was circulated among the participants. The first feeling of everyone was that "Sun Chuanting's appetite is too big", and the second was that "it can't be given to him for free"!

Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, was leaning back in his big tiger-skin chair, lighting a cigarette of the best quality, puffing away at a leisurely pace, quietly watching his civil and military officials reading documents.

After a while, he asked, "Everyone has read the document, tell me what you think." Chen Zhong was the first to speak, "I think we can't just help him for nothing. Our military supplies and food didn't come from the wind."

Lin Fangping said, "I think we can borrow it, but like General Chen said, we can't borrow it for free. Even if it's a private loan, he still has to pay some interest, right?"

Zhang Cheng looked at Sun Shixiang and asked for his opinion. Sun Shixiang smiled and said, "I support the opinions of General Chen and General Lin. You can borrow it, but you can't borrow it for free."

He went on to say, "Moreover, the amount of supplies requested in Sun Baigu's letter is too large. We are still fighting the bandits here, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to provide them for the time being."

Hu Yiwen also spoke up, "Although my army is currently fighting the bandits, we still have some spare strength. It's not that we can't lend them the troops, but the number of troops we want to borrow still needs to be carefully discussed.

Another thing is how to pay the soldiers' food and wages, who will be in charge of the command, and when to return them. All these must be worked out in advance. Otherwise, it may be easy to lend these soldiers out, but it will not be so easy to get them back when the time comes."

Chen Zhong's face turned grim, and he said in a deep voice: "He dares? If he dares to occupy our troops, I will lead my troops to Shaanxi and occupy his Shaanxi."

Lin Fangping, who was standing by, hurriedly grabbed him and said softly, "Be careful with your words, be careful with your words!"

Everyone spoke freely, and in a word, everyone was very cautious about borrowing soldiers, but had no major objection to borrowing money and food. They just didn't want to lend them out for nothing.

However, as for armor, weapons, muskets, cannons, chariots and other military equipment and supplies, everyone's opinion is that they should be sold. It is not good to lend out new ones, and what is the use of taking back the old ones later?

Seeing that He Biao didn't say a word, Zhang Cheng asked him, "My pacification officer, what do you think?"

He Biao said expressionlessly: "I only know how to comfort the soldiers and reward the meritorious and punish the delinquent. This topic is not within my responsibility and authority, so I dare not speak."

As soon as he said this, everyone's expressions became awkward, and everyone's eyes instantly focused on Earl Yongning, to see how he would react.

Zhang Cheng smiled slightly, as if he didn't mind it, and said: "He Zhenfu, I know what you mean. You think we are raising the price here and have no intention of serving the country, so you don't want to get involved. Right?"

He Biao looked calm and didn't seem embarrassed at all. He said bluntly, "My Lord, what you said is wrong. I just feel that the soldiers of the Yongyi Army are all my brothers and sisters, but you are discussing the sale of our soldiers here. This is completely treating them as commodities. I... I really can't stand it."

Zhang Cheng laughed and said, "You are such a blockhead."

He then said to everyone: "Although He Zhenfu always looks fierce to the soldiers, he actually loves his soldiers more than we do."

Zhang Cheng's face tensed, and he said to He Biao: "My chief governor, I am not going to sell the soldiers to Sun Chuanting, but I want to use this opportunity to send troops into Shaanxi and extend the influence of my Yongyi Army into Shaanxi."

He Biao replied with a puzzled look on his face: "My Lord, without the imperial edict to mobilize troops, you sent troops into Shaanxi without authorization. This is a taboo for the imperial court and is a capital crime!"

Zhang Cheng smiled and said nonchalantly, "The death penalty is Sun Chuanting's business. My troops were allocated to him, so how he reports it to the court is his business. What does it have to do with me?"

He Biao's expression remained unchanged, but his tone relaxed: "In this case... I have nothing to say. However, whether it is sending troops or borrowing troops, the military pacification officer must be appointed by our Yongyi Army."

"Of course!"

Zhang Cheng looked at everyone and said, "Sun Chuanting will never accomplish anything if he goes to Shaanxi alone. Borrowing troops is the key to success for him, but it is a godsend opportunity for me."

As a military adviser, Hu Yiwen had always wanted to show his ability. At this moment, he continued with the words of the Earl of Yongning and said, "As the Earl said, lending troops to Sun Chuanting is indeed a good opportunity for me. At present, most of the bandits are in Henan. They can attack Shanxi in the north, Shaanxi in the west, and Shandong and Jinan in the east.

As for Shandong and Jinnan, we are far away from them and have no chance. However, Shanxi is now closely related to us and is basically under the control of our Yongyi Army. If we can extend our army further into Shaanxi, we will block the bandits' way back to Shaanxi and ensure that the western part of Shanxi is safe."

He went on to say: "From another perspective, if our army does not lend troops to Sun Chuanting, we will not be able to expand our forces into Shaanxi. However, once the bandits fail in Henan Province and flee back to Shaanxi, it will be difficult to eliminate them.

Therefore, Shaanxi is best controlled by our Yongyi Army. Even if our Yongyi Army cannot control Shaanxi, we cannot let it fall into the hands of bandits. From this point of view alone, supporting Sun Chuanting to quickly rebuild the Shaanxi Army is a must! "

  Sun Shixiang suddenly said, "My Lord, it is good for our army to be able to penetrate into Shaanxi. But Sun Baigu is no ordinary man. How can our army control Shaanxi?

Another point is, if we help him rebuild the Shaanxi Army, will he become a threat and oppose our Yongyi Army in the future?"

After Sun Shixiang raised this new question, everyone in the central military tent fell into deep thought.

Zhang Chengfang, the military officer of the Earl of Yongning, usually participated in military meetings but rarely spoke at them. But today, when everyone was in deep thought, he spoke up.

He said at this time: "The current priority is to stabilize the situation in Shaanxi. Everything we do has its pros and cons. We can't be afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind. What's the point of doing that?"

He went on to say: "We lent troops to Sun Chuanting, and the command power is in his hands, but the people in charge of the army are under the command of the Yongyi Army. Sun Chuanting can only command, but has no power to appoint or dismiss officers.

When they rebuild the Shaanxi Army, it is possible that our army will send instructors to assist them in training the new army. In this way, their new army will surely become close to our Yongyi Army. This is one reason.

Since Shaanxi cannot do without our support, we can take advantage of this opportunity to extend our military's intelligence tentacles deep into Shaanxi. At the same time, we can let our Xuanfu trading companies and merchants close to us in Xuanfu and Dazhou take the opportunity to enter Shaanxi to do business, so as to extend our military's tentacles. This is the second point.

In addition, our army lent money and grain and sold weapons to Sun Chuanting. He has something to mortgage, which is nothing more than the money and grain tax revenue in Shaanxi. We can also use this as an opportunity to send observers to supervise the tax revenue in Shaanxi and extend our tentacles into the civil affairs of Shaanxi. This is the third point. "

  While everyone was surprised, Zhang Chengfang continued, "For example, in Datong and Shanxi, the two generals Wang Pu and Li Fuming are on good terms with our Yongyi Army, but their core combat power is already under the control of our Yongyi Army. Even if they want to be enemies with us, will their subordinates be willing?

Besides, this war is actually fought for money and food. Even if Sun Chuanting has a Shaanxi army in his hands in the future, its money, food, weapons, and other aspects all have the shadow of our Yongyi Army. Can he escape from the Five Fingers Mountain of our Yongyi Army?"

Chen Zhong was the first to agree: "Yes, Xiao Chengfang has grown up. I agree with this view. Our Yongyi Army is unique, especially our spirit, which others cannot learn.

No matter how much Sun Chuanting struggles in Shaanxi, he is nothing more than an ugly imitator. How can he compare to our authentic Xi ​​Shi? At most, he can only end up drawing a tiger but end up drawing a cat instead! "

After hearing his words, everyone in the central military tent burst into laughter. From then on, all the generals in the Yongyi Army looked at Zhang Chengfang with admiration, and no one regarded him as a child around the Earl of Yongning anymore.

In the end, it was Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng who made the final decision: "Borrowing soldiers, selling armor and weapons, guns and chariots, borrowing food and money, these are settled. As for the specific details and related conditions, you can discuss them in detail, draft a document, and report it to me."