Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 704: People in the scene

Qianqing Palace, front hall.

Seeing that Huai En agreed with his point of view, Zhu Youtang smiled and said happily: "Since Li Zisheng can lead the troops to victory once, I should give him another chance.

"Huai Daban, do you think that giving Li Zi the position of governor of the province will make the generals around Shanxi obey his orders and act according to his instructions?"

Huai En was stunned at first.

Then he realized that the emperor had no doubt that Li Zisheng could continue to bring victory.

They were just worried that some people would be jealous of or look down on Li Zisheng and refuse to carry out the orders issued by Li Zisheng, thus leading to their failure to win in the end.

Huai En said: "Although Piantou Pass is an important defense point for Shanxi, the Shanxi Governor's Office is located in Taiyuan, making it difficult for Shanxi to transfer money, grain and other supplies to the border. Taiyuan is also an important grain storage area in the northwest. In the past few years, it has been a place for the salt administration to exchange for grain..."

Zhu Youtang asked, "If the money and grain from the capital cannot be transferred in time, we have to transfer money and grain from Taiyuan to Pianguan... Is this what you mean?"

"Correct."

Huai En said, "But the procedures are extremely complicated. After all, Taiyuan is not only hoarding money and grain from its own town, but also money and grain from Yansui, Gansu and other places. They are just temporarily stored there. If too much money and grain is dispatched for this war, it will lead to..."

Zhu Youtang interrupted him and said, "Before the New Year, there was not enough food to survive the winter. The capital needs to raise funds. How much food can be left in Taiyuan to support the situation?"

Huai En was speechless for a moment.

Think about it, years ago, there was a shortage of money and food in various parts of the Northwest, and Zhang Luan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, had to go out to raise funds among the people.

Now they are saying that Taiyuan’s stored grain should be reserved for use by towns in the northwest?
It would be great if we could solve the problem of military supplies dispatch at Piantou Pass!
Zhu Youtang seemed to have thought of something and ordered, "Huai Daban, my father-in-law is seriously ill and bedridden. I don't want him to be involved in too many court affairs. Let him be for now."

"Your Majesty, shouldn't we ask Zhang Guozhang to come forward and raise more money and food at this time? Perhaps only by relying on his face can we raise the money. It would be beyond the ability of others to do so."

Huai En meant that Zhang Luan should not be let off easily.

Perhaps Zhang Luan pretended to be sick in order to avoid working for the court.

We can't be fooled by him.

Zhu Youtang said helplessly: "Since I became the emperor, my father-in-law has done too many things. If I have to rely on him for everything, what is the point of having ministers in the court? When the court encounters problems, can't it rely on one or two people to solve the troubles?"

Huai En didn't know what to say for a moment.

I thought to myself, this is the truth.

But if your father-in-law can't do those things, then why does the court want him? If he is just eating and waiting to die, anyone can be replaced. Why must he gradually gain power and threaten the imperial power step by step?
And let those civil officials who came from the orthodox imperial examination system struggle to survive in the cracks?
Zhu Youtang said: "Give Li Zisheng 100,000 salt permits and let him raise money and food for the war in Shanxi. If there is still a shortfall, let the local Shanxi authorities do their best to raise it... This battle must be carried out from beginning to end, without any mistakes."

Huai En said, "Then we can transfer another batch of reserve money and grain from Xuanfu and Datong. Moreover... we can use the money and grain that Duke Baoguo transported to the northwest for the battle at Piantou Pass... What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Zhu Youtang thought about it carefully and nodded, saying, "Then let the military garrisons west of Piantou Pass wait for a while. After this battle is over, we can collect money, food, military uniforms and other supplies from the capital and transport them to the northwest, so as not to let the soldiers suffer."

……

……

The imperial edict promoting Li Zisheng as the governor of Shanxi reached Piantou Pass on the 22nd day of the first lunar month, which was the sixth day after the end of the previous battle.

Li Zisheng was in high spirits.

Although he had only received the imperial edict for the time being, and official documents and other credentials were still on the way, he was in a very good mood. He could finally walk with his back straight inside the pass, because suddenly he had transformed from a passer-by here into the master.

Qin Chang came in to congratulate him, smiling and flattering him: "Li Zhongcheng, how else can you say that you have won the trust of His Majesty? You were promoted at a critical moment... With your ability, you only need to wait for the Tatars to come and harvest the military merits. This morning, there were more than a dozen waves of local officials and gentry who came to pay a visit, and they were all stopped outside... Do you want to meet them?"

Li Zisheng said, "First, go and invite the guerrilla general Xu Bao who is guarding the pass. I have to ask him carefully whether I need to send someone to investigate the activities of the Tatars. Otherwise, why haven't they told me yet? If there is anything else that he hasn't told me, let him report it clearly this time, otherwise he will be severely punished!"

Tan Chang walked out happily and said with a smile: "I'll pass the message to you right away!"

……

……

Just when Li Zi Province sent the guard commander Xu Bao, who was in charge of garrisoning Piantou Pass and was also a guerrilla general, to come and question him.

The other end.

Duke Baoguo Zhu Yong also led his troops towards Piantou Pass, preparing to meet up with Li Zisheng.

It was noon.

Zhu Yong's troops were advancing along Guanhe River.

Zhu Hui did not understand his father's behavior and asked, "Father, you knew that His Majesty might appoint Li Daochang as the Governor-General of Shanxi, so why did you embarrass him before?
"We just received the news that he was promoted to the position of Governor and Minister. Wouldn't it be too much for you to lead the troops to the pass immediately..."

"Too much power, isn't it?"

Zhu Yong asked in a calm tone while riding on his horse.

Zhu Hui didn't say anything, which was tantamount to his agreement.

Zhu Yong looked up and asked, "Father, let me ask you, do you know where the main force of the Tatars is now?"

Zhu Hui shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"The Tatars have suffered a new setback and are now approaching the pass, heading for Piantou Pass for sure," Zhu Yong said firmly.

"What do you mean?" Zhu Hui frowned and asked, "Father, what is the basis for your speculation? I am stupid and can't figure it out."

Zhu Yong said: "The Tatars also want to save face. No matter if it was the Tatar prince's main force or a detachment that suffered setbacks, the Tatar tribes have a tradition of being united with the Ming when fighting. If one side encounters setbacks, all tribes must support it."

"This……"

Zhu Hui seemed very confused.

He was thinking, what you told me, does it have anything to do with the question I raised?

Zhu Yong asked: "But which tribe would want to sacrifice its own troops just to save face for others?"

Zhu Hui suddenly realized, "I understand. They were just shouting loudly and pretending to be powerful. In fact, they just came to the front of the pass and then retreated in a hurry. This way, they saved face... Unfortunately, they were unable to make any substantial progress. In the end, we got the upper hand."

"That's it."

Zhu Yong seemed satisfied that his son could understand this, and did not dare to ask for more. "If you want to increase your prestige, the best way is to break into Piantou Pass. Before that, you must make a strong attack posture."

Zhu Hui asked again: "Why don't the Tatars attack from other weakly defended passes, drive straight in, plunder a little, and then leave?"

Zhu Yong said: "Because their whereabouts have been exposed, and the Ming Dynasty has already responded. With Master Li and our troops coming from the capital to help, if they still break through the pass and seek benefits in the Ming Dynasty as before... Aren't they afraid of being divided and annihilated by us?"

"But... the problem is that we don't seem to have that much strength. The weakness of Shanxi's ground defense is simply shocking. If it were Datong, Xuanfu, or Yansui Town, the situation would be much better. Even the area around Piantou Pass... it's just as bleak as this."

Zhu Hui shook his head.

Zhu Yong sighed, "The Tatars don't know our true situation... They just encountered a snowstorm, and a large number of their tribe's livestock died. They couldn't survive the cold winter, so they came to the border area to hunt. Their main targets of plunder are still those small tribes... My Ming Dynasty does not open border markets, and they don't pay tribute. We haven't exchanged what we have for many years. Why dare they come here in this cold winter?"

Zhu Hui seemed to be thinking, "This winter, they have been making more small moves. They haven't been doing this in the past few years. Could it be that they think that Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and the situation in the northwest is unstable, so they want to take advantage of the situation and rob us?"

"Correct."

Zhu Yong nodded and said, "It's like a family in the market holding a funeral at home. Those petty thieves like to come to the door and take advantage of the opportunity."

"Then this has something to do with us going to Pianguan..."

Zhu Hui couldn't help but ask.

Zhu Yong said: "My son, you need to know our position in this battle."

"I just don't quite understand. Please teach me, father."

Zhu Hui said sincerely.

Zhu Yong sighed, "Nominally, we should assist Taoist Li in this battle, and we should lead the troops to gain military merit... Do you know why His Majesty asked me to come, and why I brought you with me? This is the first battle after the new emperor ascended the throne, and it is the basis for us to compete with the Duke of Ying. But unfortunately, the military merit was divided up by Taoist Li's men, and we father and son had nothing to do with it."

Zhu Hui said: "The kid feels even more that he shouldn't have offended Li Zisheng before."

"hehe."

Zhu Yong smiled and said, "You have to let Taoist Li know our value... If we go to him so easily, will he still think we are important, respect us, or even entrust us with important tasks?"

"what?"

Zhu Hui felt that his brain was not enough.

Zhu Yong said, "To put it bluntly, even if we sell my father and me to Taoist Li, we have to mark a good price. We have to let him know that we have our own opinions on matters such as warfare. We don't have to curry favor with him and obey his orders. We also don't want to share the credit with others, letting them eat the meat while we don't even get a sip of soup."

Zhu Hui asked, "Father, are you angry? Because Taoist Li started the battle without waiting for us?"

"You can't blame anyone else. The opportunity to fight doesn't wait for anyone!"

Zhu Yong's face was grim. "It's just that we came too late. That battle was a battle of favorable timing, favorable location and favorable people. We didn't get to enjoy that battle. It was bad luck. But as long as we are here, no matter how many troops we have, I am the general commander of Shanxi Town. The first share of military merit must belong to my Baoguogong Mansion."

"I'm just afraid of him..."

Zhu Hui originally wanted to say, Father, don’t you take yourself too seriously?

They didn’t use you last time, why should they use you this time?

You wanted to price yourself high, but ended up offending people. Li Zisheng will be even less likely to value you. How could he give the opportunity to gain military merit to you, a military hero who is not on good terms with him?
Zhu Yong suddenly smiled and said, "Son, when you are doing things in the court, you must know how to prescribe the right medicine for the right person."

"The child doesn't understand."

Zhu Hui really felt that his father had gone a little too far this time.

Zhu Yong said: "This trick may not work on others, but who is Taoist Li? He is the most powerful official in the Ming Dynasty! We just need to show our attitude, and he will understand what we are thinking and respect our choice. Because he knows very well that our positions and interests are the same as his."

Zhu Hui had a look of surprise on his face. "Father, what you said makes sense. Li Zisheng is now at the end of his rope. There are many criticisms against him in the court. I'm afraid he won't last long if he just relies on Zhang Guozhang to protect him. Moreover, when he was imprisoned before, Zhang Guozhang didn't seem to help much... If he wants to gain military merit, he has to win over all parties and can't easily make enemies."

Zhu Yong nodded and said, "So, we are qualified to sell at a high price. If you encounter this kind of thing again after a hundred years, you must distinguish the occasion and choose the right person! It doesn't work every time."

Zhu Hui smiled and said, "I understand now. Thank you for your teachings, father. I will definitely live up to your expectations in the future."

(End of this chapter)