I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 232 Jianlu’s Dilemma (Please subscribe)
The stables in the backyard of Yue Tuo Mansion.

Zhang Shun never dreamed that he would be able to work in Yue Tuo Mansion. Ever since he came to Jianlu, he had been separated from Zhang Anning. He had not received any news before, so he thought Zhang Anning had died long ago.So I resigned myself to fate and thought of lurking in secret before making other plans.

It's just that the days of lurking were much more miserable than Zhang Anning's. As soon as he came here, he was sent to Zhenghongqi to work as a wrapper, ostensibly an escaped slave.He also had little use value, so he lived an extremely miserable life. He was forced to work shouting and yelling every day, with very few days of rest.

If Yue Tuan hadn't brought him over from Zhenghongqi a few days ago, he might have died of exhaustion there.

"Zhang Shun, Zhang Shun."

Zhang Shun, who was washing Yue Tuo's horse, heard someone calling him and immediately went out to see the stable steward coming with Zhang Anning.

"Stop wiping it. Manager Zhang is looking for you. Remember to wipe the horse clean and fill it with fodder after you finish your work later. Don't neglect it."

"Okay, don't worry."

The stable steward had a big head, a round face, and a small braid on top of his head, which made him look ridiculous.As a manchurian, he naturally looked down upon Zhang Anning, a dog slave. If Yue Tuo hadn't trusted Zhang Anning now, he would never have given him such a look.

"Thank you, Manager Wu, I'm really sorry for bothering you."

Zhang Anning took out two silver knots from his sleeves as he spoke, and quietly handed them to the steward's hand. Steward Wu pretended to refuse, but quickly took the silver knots over with a slip of his hand, and weighed the silver knots in his hand. Then he smiled happily and pretended not to care and said:

"Seeing that you are still a sensible person and understand the rules. Mr. Yue Tuo has personally told you that you have something important to do with this Zhang Shun. I will not disturb our discussion. You can take him back to your room for the time being. But his life But you can’t pull it down!”

"Okay, thank you, Manager Wu."

After Wu Guanshi finished speaking, he ignored the two of them, put the silver knot into his sleeves, pulled up his leather jacket, and walked out proudly.

Looking at Zhang Shun, who was holding a hairbrush, his fingers were red from the cold, and his face was exhausted, Zhang Anning couldn't help but sigh, in comparison, his life was pretty good.

"Master!"

When Zhang Shun saw Zhang Anning wearing a long robe, cotton-padded jacket and mink hat, he understood that Zhang Anning was living a very comfortable life. Although he had a lot to say in his heart, he still suppressed his curiosity and excitement and bowed down to fight. Say hello.

"It's been a hard time for you, come with me."

Zhang Anning saw how miserable the big man who was supposed to protect him was, so he suppressed his excitement and asked him to follow her.

Zhang Shun, led by Zhang Anning, left the stable and walked to the west courtyard. Along the way, servants kept saying hello to Zhang Anning. They knew that this young Han man was a popular figure in front of the Yue Tuan banner leader, so they naturally wanted to curry favor with him.

However, Zhang Anning also knew the etiquette, and he returned the courtesy with sufficient etiquette. This made Zhang Shun who was following him secretly surprised, thinking that Zhang Anning's status in Yue Tuo's mansion was so high.

After a while, the two stopped by a small two-bay house in the west courtyard. Zhang Anning opened the door and let Zhang Shun in.

Zhang Shun entered the room and saw that although it was simple, it was quite clean. There were pens, ink, paper and inkstones on the table at the entrance, which showed that the owner of the room often wrote ink here.

"Why are you at Yue Tuo's house? What happened?"

Zhang Anning closed the door, cleared the pen and ink on the table, and said to him:
"This is the room Yue Tuo gave me. There aren't many people in Yue Tuo's house, and there aren't many people around here, so don't be restrained."

After hearing this, Zhang Shun's tense heart finally relaxed a little, and then he picked up the tea on the table and drank heavily.But he still didn't dare to be careless and said in a low voice:

"I didn't expect Jin State to be so strict with us. I haven't seen you since I came here last year. I just wonder how you live so well."

Zhang Anning then told how he had raided Shenyang and rescued Yue Tuo from the rebel army. Zhang Shun was amazed and lamented that Zhang Anning's fate was really great.

"Although I saved his life, Yue Tuo now trusts me quite a lot, but I am a Han after all, and the people in this house are very wary and jealous of me. If Yue Tuo hadn't asked for something this time, I wouldn't have been able to use it. I'll call you here."

"Oh~ It's a blessing that you can find me, otherwise I would really die from exhaustion under this bastard's red flag. But then again, what on earth is Yue Tuo going to do?"

Seeing that they were talking about business, Zhang Anning looked serious and lowered his voice. "The imperial court won a great victory over the Hunhe River some time ago, and the captives suffered heavy losses. After seeing the power of the imperial firearms, they started to learn how to forge firearms. Now in the Eight Banners, Huang Taiji and the surrendered general Li Yongfang have summoned Han craftsmen to start making them.

So this Yue Tuan had just become independent and wanted to get some credit and show his face in front of the old slaves. Therefore, he asked me if I could use the Zhang family's connections to go to Liaodong to recruit some craftsmen. After thinking about it, I thought this was to send a message to the court. opportunity, so I thought of you. "

Zhang Shun was born in Jinyiwei. As soon as he heard Zhang An's plan, he knew the stakes involved. It seemed that he was asking him to go to Liaodong to recruit craftsmen. This was indeed a good opportunity to secretly pass on information.

"That's very good. This way we can get on the line with Mr. Yang and the others, and it's not in vain that we have worked so hard to lurk for so long. It seems that your cover identity is still very useful."

"This is true. Even Jianlu, a long-established Zhang family in Liaodong, has heard about it. This trip to Liaodong is just the right time to tell Mr. Yang about the current situation of Jianlu and see what the next step will be.

In addition, from the news I learned from Yue Tuo, the purpose of Jianlu's last attack on Shenyang was to plunder land and grain. However, after being repulsed by the imperial court, although the old slave's remaining power was still there, no one dared to make a mistake. But the food and grass can only last three or four months at most.

Now I don’t know who leaked the news. Everyone in the Eight Banners knows about this. In order to obtain more food and grass, Jianlu is preparing to attack the Han people in Jianlu. Now they have begun to ask the Han bannermen to hand over their rations. I think If this continues, I'm afraid we won't force the Han bannermen to rebel and kill them all in one fell swoop, so that fewer people will open their mouths to eat. "

As Zhang Anning spoke, he handed the tax increase document that Yue Tuo asked him to write and handed it to Zhang Shun for him to read.Zhang Shun was originally the lowest-level servant, and he knew Hou Jin's attitude towards them best.

Since their defeat this year, their rations have been drastically reduced. They used to be able to barely feed themselves, but now they are only half full. However, they are forced to work every day, and many of them starve to death or die from exhaustion. So while reading the document, he sighed with emotion. .

"I have a deep understanding of this. I think there are actually not many Han people in Jianlu. They drink poison to quench their thirst. Not only is it ineffective, but it may also cause a backlash. This matter may be an opportunity. If these Han people are dissatisfied with Jianlu, they will It can be used by us.”

"It makes sense. Now that the imperial court has won a great victory, Jianlu is even more wary of the Han people. We can also take the opportunity to contact the Han people. If we can pass on the news, or even secretly rebel and reform, it will be a great achievement. But I usually It’s just a red flag event, we can’t go to other places at all, so we can only think about it in the long term.”

Zhang Shun felt that the matter was not urgent and that it must be discussed in a long-term and careful manner.

"Take your time. If I really go to Liaodong, I will try to get in touch with Mr. Yang and take the opportunity to recruit a few craftsmen. Then I will naturally contact other Han craftsmen. It will not be too late to worry about it then."

Zhang Shun nodded, haste makes waste, this matter must be done from all sides.

"Last time Mr. Lu told us that if it doesn't work, we can go to Chen Liangce, a member of the Han army. Now we have been looking for a long time and can't find him. If we can find him then, just ask him to contact us secretly. This time you go to Liaodong , it’s best to ask how we should contact him, so we can make plans in advance.”

"I understand this. Don't worry for now. It's just that the Jianlu were defeated for the first time. Now that they are short of men and food, they are forced to not only attack the Han people in the country, but also continue to go north to plunder the savage Jurchens and expand The population still needs to be plundered and plundered in the direction of Mongolia and Shenyang.”

Zhang Anning sneered when she heard this, feeling that Zhang Shun was completely over-worrying.

"Don't worry about this for now. When you go to Liaodong, you will have to make it clear. Jianlu is currently very busy and has many internal problems.

Last year, the old slave deposed Daishan as the crown prince. Daishan and Zheng Hongqi had long been dissatisfied with him. Originally, the old slave was suppressing him, but there was nothing he could do.

However, in the Battle of Hunhe, Daishan failed to attack Shenyang and was a blessing in disguise. Among the Eight Banners, his Zhenghong Banner, Yue Tuo's Xianghong Banner, and Huang Taiji's Zhengbai Banner suffered the least losses.

He was originally a domineering character, and now he is even more arrogant in the city. He does not dare to deal with the old slave, but he dares to deal with his son Yue Tuan and his younger brother Mang Gurtai. They dare not be angry with him. It is said that the old slave also has a headache.

Now it is not only internal strife, but I also heard that Hou Jin was at odds with Mongolia. Mongolian Lindan Khan was preparing to take the lead in the Inner Kalkha tribe. Now the Nekal Kazarut tribe is relying on the support of Lin Dan Khan.

He detained Jianlu's envoy to Horqin and demanded that the old slave must release the previously imprisoned Zasai Taiji before he could give up. This made the old slave angry and angered him, and if he could not save it, there would be another war. "

Zhang Shun was Daishan's official red flag before and only knew a little about Daishan. Now after hearing Zhang Anning's words, he had some concerns in his mind.

It is true that when a wall falls and everyone pushes down, a tree falls and the hozens scatter. Once defeated, all kinds of troubles will follow. This trouble will give the old slave a headache, but it also gives the court time to prepare and deploy troops. .

So he thought for a while and immediately gave Zhang Anning instructions.

"Then you need to inquire further. It would be best if you can grasp the time when Lao Nu will send troops. At that time, the court can also support Inner Khalkha, and the Jianlu will not be allowed to succeed."

"Don't worry, I understand very well."

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(End of this chapter)