Daming Yinghua

Chapter 457 Gathering in Liaoyang

A few days later, Zheng Haizhu and Ma Xianglin arrived at the banks of the Xibe River.

When Su Taifu saw He Zhuo also following, she was delighted and said to Zheng Haizhu, "You are really cautious. You want to act as if it is 120% real."

Zheng Haizhu said, "Because I am like Fu Jin. Although I hate the old chief of Jianzhou and his bloodthirsty sons, I also know that they are the best hunters and will place scouts and spies everywhere, both inside and outside the pass."

Su Tai nodded: "Don't worry, I know what's going on. There are always merchants or herdsmen fighting for summer pastures in the small tribes near the Chahanhot Royal City that are secretly friendly with Khorchin. Before the war on your side, General Ma and I discussed with Ligdan Khan and spread the news that General Ma's troops would join forces with our Chahar and fight westward."

Ma Xianglin listened quietly at the side.

He did not worry too much about whether Lindan Khan would be furious when Su Tai revealed the actual military plans of the Ming people to him one day.

As the mother of the eldest son of Ligdan Khan, Su Tai led the richest Ordowanhu and was the most powerful concubine in Chahar. Moreover, she and Zheng Haizhu had already discussed the caliber. When Ma Xianglin needed to suddenly pass through Chahar territory, cross the Liaohe River to the east and go directly to the south of Tieling, Su Tai's argument to Ligdan Khan was that taking advantage of the sudden opportunity to give Nurhaci a fatal blow first would be more conducive to Ligdan Khan's grand plan to unify Mongolia in the south of the desert.

After Zheng Haizhu and Su Tai discussed some details of the disguise, Ma Xianglin asked directly: "From Chahanhot to the west bank of the Liaohe River, if there is no baggage, and one person rides two horses in turn, how long will it take to march?"

Su Tai and He Zhuo recalled the experience of the Mongolian cavalry and said, "Four hundred miles, three days of travel, two nights of stay, we should be able to reach the west bank of the Liao River."

Ma Xianglin looked at the map and estimated, "It's a pity that it's not winter, and there's no ice on the river. It will take some time to cross the Liao River. That means it will take five or six days for our Sichuan Army to finally gather in the north of Shenyang."

Zheng Haizhu was confident that he would "pay attention to the enemy tactically, but despise the enemy strategically". "There is enough time. Believe me, Huang Taiji is determined to succeed the Khanate. For the sake of military merit, he will not be conservative in fighting. He will show his ability to besiege cities and attack reinforcements in Kaiyuan and Tieling. Even if he suddenly finds that Tieling and Kaiyuan are as solid as a rock, he will definitely persuade Nurhaci not to retreat to Hetuala so quickly."

Su Tai agreed, "Madam Zheng is right. This year, my people also managed to return to the vicinity of the old city of Yehe to inquire about the movements of the Jianzhou tribe. The more severe the famine there was, the more Nurhaci wanted to capture more Ming cities and snatch more Ming people to farm and offer grain. Huang Taiji had ambitions to become a Khan, so he naturally followed his father's thoughts and spread rumors that the Ming emperor withheld military pay, Liaodong generals were fighting among themselves, and the Ming army could only barely resist the Eight Banners with firearms. Once the Jianzhou people had their own firearms, it would be easy to capture the Ming military fortresses."

A hint of a smile flashed across Ma Xianglin's lips, then quickly disappeared.

This was an expression he perhaps wasn't even aware of.

After Zheng Haizhu noticed this, he did not hide his longing and said to Ma Xianglin: "It's been six years, and you can fight Huang Taiji again."

In the next few days, Zhang Mingshi, who was proficient in firearms, also came to the Xibe River from Xuanda Town.

After completing the disguise of the carriages and personnel, Zheng Haizhu left He Zhuo and his bodyguard leader Cai Feng to create the illusion that Ming officials were still lingering in Chahar.

She, Zhang Mingshi, and about a hundred soldiers from the Daning Camp disguised themselves as merchants common in the grasslands outside the pass at this time of year. They carried four-pound cannons and other firearms for field use, and first went east along the Daling River, passing Guangning under the rule of the Ming army, and arrived in Liaoyang. Yang Lian had already returned from the capital, and Xiong Tingbi was with him in Liaoyang.

To this day, Xiong Tingbi's attitude towards Zheng Haizhu has not changed from arrogant to respectful, but at least he is no longer suspicious of Zheng Haizhu's abilities and intentions as he was when he first took over the Ministry of War. After all, she has the ability to raise military pay and deploy troops, and her own young and strong men in the Zheng Camp will also join the war.

Yang Lian's attitude was more complicated. Last year, when Xiong Tingbi came to Liaodong and told the emperor about the over-the-top strategy and asked Yang Lian to have a secret talk with Liaodong general Li Rubai to arrange the salary dispute, Yang Lian, who was determined to fulfill his mission of pacifying Liaodong, obeyed without hesitation.

But when he returned to Beijing at the beginning of this year and performed a fake play about disagreement with the Ministry of War, Yang Lian was shocked by another true story.

That is, the leader of our sect, Zhao Nanxing, actually put the importance of building the palace and the prince's wedding before the military pay at the border.

Although Yang Lian was different from Zuo Guangdou who was kept in the dark, he knew that the emperor had deliberately hooked the leader of the Donglin Alliance. But that also showed that Zhao Nanxing's understanding of "state affairs and world affairs" was distorted.

Even if it is for the purpose of increasing the emperor's favor for Donglin and preventing the Qi, Chu and Zhejiang factions from making a comeback, how can we treat the border threat of the Ming Dynasty as a joke?

There was also Qian Qianyi, who was regarded by Donglin as a possible replacement for Sun Chengzong and the royal penman. He did not produce much in the Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong, but instead was busy formulating the "Records of the Four Evils" for Zhao Nanxing, writing articles in a fluent manner, as if he wished he could drown political enemies such as Qi Shijiao with his pen and ink.

Yang Lian suddenly felt annoyed by this.

He did not even go to Heting Tower to attend a Donglin School gathering, and hurried back to Liaoyang, as if this could temporarily relieve him of the burden of confusion and disappointment about his own school's traditions.

Now, facing Zheng Haizhu, the person whom he had once followed Zhao Nanxing's instructions to attack and expel, Yang Lian felt somewhat awkward.

But Xiong Tingbi and Zheng Haizhu went straight into the military discussion and quickly pulled Yang Lian back to his duties as a provincial governor.

Xiong Tingbi was officially promoted to the Minister of War in early March.

As the commander-in-chief who was going to be stationed in Liaoyang, he completely put aside the prejudices of gender differences and party disputes to his two deputies Zheng and Yang, and said frankly: "In the next few months, we are like sailors on a ship. Not to mention that we failed to capture Sarhu and attack Hetuala, even if we can't produce one or two thousand heads of Jiannu soldiers, there is no need for the censors who have figured out the whole story to write impeachments. The emperor and several ministers will first hold the three of us accountable."

Zheng Haizhu's eyes were not filled with fear and impatience, nor was she filled with shallow excitement. She only stared at the Liaodong map hanging on the wall and said, "Your Majesty has played out all the scenes he can act out. Xiong Benbing and General Yang still have one more scene to perform. When Xiong Benbing goes to Mao Wenlong in Zhenjiang, and General Yang scares the merchants and wealthy families in Liaoyang and Shenyang for a while, Nurhaci will definitely make the decision we want him to make."

Yang Lian asked, "Will he really send out troops at the turn of spring and summer?"

"Yes, the more these barbarians who think they are heroes and wise, the more impatient they are to go on a quest when they are old."