Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"Hong Jinglie, you are old and in poor health. You can't withstand the hardship of an expedition. In my opinion, you should stay in Changsha." When Tunqi saw Hong Chengchou's pale face, he advised him to stay in Changsha.

"I cannot repay the emperor's kindness even if my life is torn into pieces. Now the state affairs are in a state of chaos. I have been ordered by the emperor to govern five provinces and serve as the deputy general of the Northern Expedition. How can I not go to the front line in person? Cough~ cough~" Hong Chengchou struggled to speak, and before he finished his words he started coughing violently again.

"It is for the sake of the emperor and the Qing Dynasty that you should take care of your health. Please stay in Changsha to recuperate. This is a military order," Tun Qi ordered firmly. Hong Shiming's eyes turned red when he saw this.

"Alas! In this case, I can only obey your orders," Hong Chengchou said solemnly. Finally, he mentioned the topic and ordered his son Hong Shiming to bring a letter. "This is a letter I wrote to Hu Maozhen to persuade him to surrender. Hu Maozhen used to be a general under my command, and we have some friendship with each other."

Tunqi shook his head indifferently after hearing this. "The Hu bandit killed the Wei State that Zhang Duxian surrendered to, and was also granted the title of First Rank Earl by the Wei State. How could he be willing and dare to surrender to the Qing State again?"

"I also think that Hu will not surrender to the Qing Dynasty," Hong Chengchou suddenly smiled, "General, you just need to find a way to have this letter intercepted by the subordinates of the pseudo-King of Qin."

"You mean the counter-espionage tactic?" Tunqi understood.

"That's right. Hu Maozhen was originally a general under Li Zicheng. He surrendered to the Ming Dynasty first, then to the Qing Dynasty, and finally to the Wei Kingdom. How can the pseudo-King of Qin trust such a traitor? He will surely become suspicious after seeing the letter of persuasion I wrote. If I can stir up internal discord among them, wouldn't it be a good thing for the Qing Dynasty?" At this point, Hong Chengchou retracted his smile and started coughing violently again.

"What a great idea!" Tunqi kept saying it was great.

Hong Chengchou ordered his son to fetch another letter, "This letter is written to Feng Duo, the general of Shanhaiguan. In the past, Feng Duo's brother Feng Quan advised the late emperor to threaten the pseudo Khan with the life of the pseudo Hami princess, which touched the pseudo Khan's reverse scale. He deliberately sent him to Xuanfu, causing his sudden death. He also transferred Feng Duo away from the important military town of Shanhaiguan on the pretext of joining the expedition. Feng Duo should understand all this, how can he not be afraid? When I was in Beijing in the past, I had an old relationship with the Feng brothers. I wrote a letter to recruit him. There is still hope that Feng Duo will defect."

"Oh, if this is the case, our army's chances of winning will be three times greater!" Tunqi became more and more happy.

"However, this letter will only be effective if it is delivered by someone who is familiar with Feng Duo. I have an aide named Zhu Yingsheng who knows Feng Duo and can take on this task," Hong Chengchou proposed the candidate for delivery of the letter.

"I'm naturally confident in the people chosen by General Hong," Tunqi nodded in agreement. He had heard of Zhu Yingsheng, who was already over sixty years old and was Hong Chengchou's top strategist. He had come up with many brilliant ideas for him and was known as the "Zhuge of the Army."

"There is one more thing. The general must be on guard against the Thirteen Families of Kuidong taking advantage of the battle between our army and the Wei army to seize Jingzhou and Shizhou Wei." Hong Chengchou said another worrying thing. Hearing this, Tunqi's face suddenly changed. Most of the Thirteen Families of Kuidong were the remnants of Li Chuang. They were very powerful. Although the Qing Dynasty suppressed them in Kuidong for many years, it was difficult to completely eliminate them. If they formed an alliance with the Wei army, Jingzhou might really be lost under the attack from both sides!
"Please give me some advice," he sincerely asked Hong Dazhong for advice.

"Now Wei is strong while Qing and Ming are weak. You can take the example of Sun Wu joining forces to fight against Cao and send envoys to form an alliance with Kuidong. If they are willing to form an alliance to fight against Wei, it would be great. If they refuse, you might as well give Jingzhou to Kuidong. When the Wei army sees that these local bandits have occupied Jingzhou, they will surely be angry and raise troops to seize it. Once the two sides fight, our army can reap the benefits. This is called driving the tiger to swallow the wolf."

"No wonder the emperor asked me to listen to your opinions more when encountering problems. You really have unpredictable talent! I will send someone to Kuidong now," Tun Qi was full of admiration.

"In a hurry, I could only come up with these three strategies, just for the general's consideration. Cough~cough~" Hong Chengchou coughed again.

"You are not feeling well and are recuperating in Changsha. I will write to you from time to time in Jingzhou to ask for your advice," Tunqi said hurriedly.

"In that case, I will wish the general a triumphant return in Changsha," Hong Chengchou said breathlessly.
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In Fang County, Yunyang Prefecture, Huguang, an unexpected guest suddenly came to the camp of Hao Yongzhong, Duke of Yiguo of the Ming Dynasty: Xu Huapu, Deputy Envoy of Huguang Censorship of the Great Kingdom of Datong, and Liu Guoqin, a doctor of the Ministry of Rites. Xu Huapu was a famous scholar and a righteous man who participated in the Datong Uprising. He was promoted step by step because of his outstanding political achievements; Liu Guoqin was originally a tax official stationed in Shahukou of the Qing Dynasty. Because he was good at flattery, he also had a prosperous career after surrendering to the Wei. He first served as the co-magistrate of Datong Prefecture and later transferred to the Ministry of Rites as a doctor. The Great Khan of Lotus, who believed that diplomacy is strength, took a fancy to the rebel forces entrenched in Kuidong and sent two envoys to ask them to jointly attack Jingzhou. In another time and space, these rebels had been wiped out by the Qing army a year ago. In this time and space, because the Wei army pinned down the main force of the Qing army in Huguang, this rebel army not only did not fail, but grew stronger.

In fact, the Great Khan also sent officials to Taiwan by sea, hoping to contact the Zheng family in Taiwan to send troops to attack coastal areas such as Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and contain the Qing army in coastal provinces. Unexpectedly, Zheng Jing was very smooth. While bargaining with Weiguo, he also used this opportunity to put pressure on the coastal princes and governors and ask for benefits. Fortunately, Sultan was also a master who would not release the eagle until he saw the rabbit. He saw through Zheng Jing's little tricks. No matter what title Zheng wanted, even if he was listed as two countries, he would agree, but he was reluctant to spend a penny of gold, silver, jewelry, food, supplies, firearms and weapons. After a long talk, there was no significant effect. Zheng's army did not really harass the sea borders and robbed a lot, but just did not send a large army to land and fight. Despite this, some Qing troops were still contained, which was considered to be part of the Great Khan's strategic goal.

It is said that the most powerful leader of the Thirteen Families of Kuidong was Li Laiheng, the Duke of Minglin, who used Maolu Mountain as his base and built his headquarters in Jiulianping. However, although Hao Yongzhong was born as an illiterate flag bearer, he had great foresight and took in the Ming Dynasty royal family members Zhu Jingli, the King of Han, Zhu Shengluo, the King of Dong'an, and Zhu Yunxun, the King of Tongshan. After the death of Emperor Yongli, Zhu Jingli, the King of Han, nominally became the "Regent" supported by the Thirteen Families. Xu Huapu was a great Confucian scholar who put etiquette first and strength second. Despite Liu Guoqin's opposition, he insisted on going to Fang County first. This made Hao Yongzhong very happy, thinking that the emperor of the Great Kingdom respected him. However, he did not dare to negotiate with the Wei State alone. Instead, he entertained the Wei envoys with good wine and food, and sent people to report to other rebel leaders including Li Laiheng, Duke of Lin, Liu Tichun, Duke of Wan, Yuan Zongde, Duke of Jing, Wang Guangxing, Ta Tianbao, Marquis of Yidu, Ma Tengyun, Marquis of Tongcheng, Dang Shousu, Marquis of Xingping, He Daoning, Marquis of Fuping, and Liu Rukui, the mighty general.

"Duke Yiguo, Duke Linguo asks you to bring the guards to Jiulianping," Li Laiheng quickly sent someone to pass on the message.

"You report back to the Duke of Lin, and I will take my people on the journey." Seeing that the envoy was someone he knew well, Hao Yongzhong grinned, patted him on the shoulder and asked, "Do you know what Little Tiger (Li Laiheng's nickname) is planning?"

"How can I know what Duke Lin is thinking? But I heard that the Pseudo-Qing Dynasty has also sent officials here." The messenger laughed and said something that made Hao Yongzhong stunned. (End of this chapter)