Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 708: Kill first and tell later
Turn your head off.

After Li Zisheng took office as the governor of Shanxi, he became much busier. In addition to sending letters to the various government offices under the governor's jurisdiction to contact him, he trained troops day and night and sent out a large number of scouts to spread out inside and outside the pass to deal with the Tatar army that might invade the border at any time.

Correspondingly, the number of Ming officials appearing in Piantou Pass increased significantly.

The seat of Shanxi Town was not originally in Piantou Pass. With Li Zisheng taking office in Piantou Pass, many administrative personnel of Shanxi Town were transferred here from Taiyuan Prefecture. For example, the six military preparations of Yanping, Hedong, etc., the four prefectures of Taiyuan, Pingyang, etc., the three prefectures of Liaozhou, Qinzhou, etc., and the nine guards and nine forts of Shanxi Military Commission all sent contact personnel.

Among them, the inspector who had the greatest dissatisfaction with Li Zisheng arrived the fastest and was ready to monitor the entire process of Shanxi Town's use of troops.

As the new eunuch guarding Shanxi, Qin Chang was somewhat dissatisfied with Li Zisheng's busy receiving officials from all parties every day.

That afternoon, Qin Chang personally went to the temporary governor's office and saw all kinds of people coming in and out. He immediately became angry and quickly sent someone in to pass on the message.

After a while, Li Zisheng came out to greet them personally.

The two walked into the government office together. Qin Chang seemed very anxious and advised: "General Li, it is not right for you to do this. Right now the Tatar army is approaching, the war has not made any progress, and your food shortage problem has not been fundamentally solved. Do you still have the mind to deal with the local officials in Shanxi?

"Don't talk about negotiating with local officials about taxes and other matters. We have already inquired about it, and none of them are in charge of food."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "The army is short of food, no matter what time it is, especially this year... But at least so far, the soldiers are not starving, right? Now I have to sort out the affairs of the governor's office, at least I don't want this experience to become a stain on my life."

Qin Chang asked with concern, "I wonder how long the food in the city can last?"

"Ten days or half a month is not a problem."

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "I have a perfect plan. As long as we appease the local officials and generals, the next thing will be a natural outcome."

The muscles on Qin Chang's face twitched and he asked, "How did it come about?"

Li Zisheng smiled and did not answer him directly.

After inviting the people to the main hall and dismissing all the other people, Li Zisheng whispered, "Eunuch Tan, I have a guest here, who came from the capital... On the way to Piantou Pass, he stopped by the Tatar camp."

"Are you kidding me?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Chang stood up suddenly, stamped his feet, and said angrily, "How foolish, Li Junmen, you are having an affair with the Tatars, which is a serious taboo!"

Li Zisheng said with a smile: "Eunuch Tan, please be patient and listen to me... The purpose of the Tatars approaching the pass is actually very simple. They want to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, but they have no way to do so. So they want to take the initiative to provoke a war to attract the attention of the court. In the end, they ran into us head-on and suffered a defeat.

"Now that they have repented and are preparing to send a team of envoys to the capital to pay tribute, why not have me send someone to contact them and ask about their sincerity?"

"Um!?"

Qin Chang stood there, stunned for a long time, and still couldn't figure out the key.

"Eunuch Tan?"

Li Zisheng tried to call out softly.

Qin Chang came back to his senses and asked, "General Li, do you know what you are doing?"

Li Zisheng shrugged and replied, "Of course I know. Could it be that Eunuch Tan feels that this is inappropriate?"

"It's more than inappropriate!"

Qin Chang said with a serious face, "Let's not talk about whether the Tatars are sincere in coming to pay tribute. Even if they are sincere, it is not appropriate now... The outcome of the battlefield has not yet been decided. If we accept their tribute now, who will be the winner?"

Upon hearing this, Li Zisheng couldn't help but reveal a secretive smile and asked, "Eunuch Tan, what do you want this war to end like?"

Qin Chang didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"We won the battle in Guanbei. It seemed easy and could be perfectly replicated, but it is actually very difficult to make further progress."

Li Zisheng carefully analyzed the pros and cons. "But the people in the court are dissatisfied with us. My people in the capital found that after we won the battle in Guanbei, the number of memorials impeaching us in the court was even higher than before the war... What do you think is the reason?"

Tan Chang smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Your Majesty will be able to distinguish right from wrong."

Li Zisheng said, "Let me ask Eunuch Tan, if we want to gain more in this battle, how should we fight? Not to mention that we are far from having enough soldiers and food, even if we have sufficient supplies, will the local troops obey my orders and unite to fight the enemy? And even if they obey my orders and gather to fight, can we really defeat the Tatar cavalry on the front battlefield?"

"This……"

Qin Chang's face turned ugly.

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "We have already won, why should we give the Tatars a chance to make amends? As the Celestial Empire, the Tatars are just our vassals, so we just need to teach them a lesson! Even if we win next time, what will happen? Can we lead our troops out of the border again, deep into the barren grasslands, and fight the enemy across the border for thousands of miles like Wang Weining did? To occupy the Tatars' territory and actually rule it? Is it possible?"

Qin Chang pondered it carefully, sat down again, and sighed, "Alas, if you send someone to negotiate peace, and the people in the court know about it, there will be more people impeaching you."

Li Zisheng asked, "Who said I went to negotiate peace?"

"you……"

Qin Chang pointed at Li Zisheng, speechless.

Li Zisheng emphasized: "Eunuch Tan, I sent people to monitor their sincerity in paying tribute, not to negotiate peace with them...

"Paying tribute requires sincerity. The new emperor ascended the throne, but the Tatars not only did not abide by the rules of subjection, but also led troops to attack. It is clear that they do not respect our Ming Dynasty! Now we have led troops to teach them a lesson, and they have also admitted their mistakes and are paying tribute to the court again. Is it wrong?"

Tan Chang said: "You can't say that..."

Li Zisheng interrupted Tan Chang and continued, "Now it's basically done. My aide has sent back news that in two days, the Tatars, led by the little prince, will personally lead people to Piantou Pass to pay respect to our Ming border guards. At the same time, I plan to host a banquet outside the city to entertain them!"

"Cough cough cough..."

Qin Chang suddenly felt that his brain was not enough. He took a deep breath and tried his best to calm down. Then he asked, "Why didn't you discuss such an important matter with our family in advance?"

Li Zisheng said with a smile: "Eunuch Tan, let's not talk about anything else. If it were a year ago, you and I would be the most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty. No one would dare to refute this, right?"

Tan Chang was silent for a moment.

A year ago... one of them was the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, and the other was the uncrowned Minister of Personnel, both of whom were deeply trusted by the emperor... The two of them could be said to be the key figures in controlling the government.

But now they are like two brothers in distress, trapped in such a desolate place as Piantouguan, staring at each other in confusion and sulking.

Li Zisheng said, "You should know what the late emperor's attitude was towards the Tatars' tribute, right?"

Qin Chang said: "During the time of the previous emperor, the court fought several wars with the Tatars. The hatred between the two sides was quite deep, and the previous emperor didn't care about the little tribute they paid... Besides, was it tribute? Every time, he used the tribute as an excuse to grab generous rewards from the court, and he never tired of it."

"That's true. Every time foreign nations come to pay tribute, the imperial court loses a large amount of money. No one can bear it for a long time. It's better to just beat them up!"

Li Zisheng agreed at first, then said: "The late emperor had his reasons for doing so. At that time, our Great Ming army was so powerful that the barbarians were in awe of us! But times have changed. With the weakening of the Great Ming at the end of the late emperor's reign, the deterrence against the foreign countries has been greatly weakened. Especially our Majesty, who is kind and benevolent, as a minister, can we not understand his intentions?"

Qin Chang fell silent again after hearing this.

Li Zisheng said: "If we start a war now, let alone whether it will succeed, it will be difficult to defeat the enemy and win the battle because we are new here, unfamiliar with the place, and the people are divided. So I think it would be best to let the Tatars take the initiative to apologize and pay tribute."

Qin Chang raised his head and asked, "Aren't you afraid that the people in the court will make things difficult for you?"

Li Zisheng sneered, "I demonstrated the power of the Ming Dynasty and made the foreigners submit, but it's my fault? Those civil officials can make things difficult for me if they want. Don't they make things difficult for me in the past? I don't mind this one more thing."

"Master Li is really..."

Qin Chang wanted to make some sarcastic remarks, but he also felt that this spirit of actively resisting lightning was rare in the world.

Li Zisheng said: "Now that things have come to this, does Eunuch Tan want to stand with me, or does he want to draw a clear line with me?"

Tan Chang asked, "I wonder what the meaning of this is?"

Li Zisheng smiled and said, "Come with me. In a few days, we will go to welcome the little prince of Tartar and host him at a banquet. If you are dissatisfied with me or want a double insurance, you can impeach me and have no part in anything I do."

"You mean to let us stay out of this? Humph, you are clearly acting without authorization and forcing us to get on board your pirate ship, right?" Qin Chang said angrily.

Li Zisheng said, "Don't say such harsh words. What a pirate ship! I don't think it's wrong to accept the tribute from the Tatars and witness them come to apologize in person."

Qin Chang said, "Humph! Minister Li, let me be frank. How could the Tatars surrender so easily? What conditions did you secretly agree to? But did you do something that humiliated the court and His Majesty?"

"How can it be!"

Li Zisheng shook his head and said, "I just told them that I agreed to let them pay tribute and get rewards from the court. I didn't even promise them whether I could open a border market.

"But I think if the Tatars really had the opportunity to open a border market and obtain supplies legally, there would be no reason for them to continue invading the south, right?"

Tan Chang said: "You should ask His Majesty for instructions on this matter."

Li Zisheng said, "Don't you want to wait for Eunuch Tan to come and make a petition together? This matter is very particular... Eunuch Tan, don't you think that when we won a battle and had been preparing for a long time and were about to gather local troops to annihilate the Tatars in one fell swoop, the Tatars took the initiative to admit defeat, sent people to ask for peace, and expressed their willingness to pay tribute?"

"This……"

Qin Chang had to consider the issue according to Li Zisheng's idea.

Li Zisheng continued, "We were originally prepared to annihilate the foreign invaders, but when the Tatars showed that they were not coming to invade our country, but were passing through here to pay tribute, we felt that if we annihilated them, it would damage the dignity of the common lord of the world, so we gave them a chance, let them come to Piantou Pass, hosted a banquet for them, and then sent them to the capital to pay tribute. Do you think this will work?"

Qin Chang's eyes lit up and he praised, "Minister Li, you are really a master at playing with people's hearts."

"Hey, don't say that. You're just playing with people's hearts."

Li Zilue said with a hint of dissatisfaction, "Let's just talk about the facts. Isn't what I said the truth?"

"Yes Yes Yes."

Qin Chang agreed at first, then questioned, "But do you think people in the court will believe this nonsense?"

Li Zisheng stiffened his neck and said, "Why don't you believe it? We won the battle first and taught the Tatars a lesson. Isn't that true? I am actively preparing for war, and all the troops are here. Isn't that true? The Tatars took the initiative to come and pay tribute, which means they are surrendering, which is also wrong?
"Must we say that it is our Great Ming that suffered humiliation in this battle? That would be more in line with the thinking of those people in the court who are as fragile and hypocritical as glass?"

Tan Chang said: "Then...what if Your Majesty doesn't agree to their tribute?"

Li Zisheng said, "Eunuch Tan, you are just nitpicking. Tribute... why would we refuse? The worst that can happen is that we won't reward them, and let their tribute team run into a wall in the capital, and finally leave in disgrace. It won't be too late to fight them then.

"Only those who are dissatisfied with us in the court will find fault with today's incident. Even those who are just watching from the sidelines will not be able to find any fault. Besides, our emperor is a wise ruler who will not sit idly by and watch others slander us!"

……

……

Pang Qing successfully completed his mission.

Because he was going to Tatar on a diplomatic mission under the personal order of Li Zisheng, he entered Piantou Pass as a merchant this time. The host and guest met again after more than a month.

Li Zisheng seemed even more excited than Pang Qing. He pulled Pang Qing into the study and asked about his well-being: "How are you? Is the journey tough? I've asked someone to boil some hot water for you to wash off the dust on your body."

Pang Qing said: "Master Dao, you really arranged a good job for me. You actually let me walk to the gates of hell..."

Li Zisheng wanted to show the good qualities of a good boss who cares for his subordinates, but when he heard this, his expression changed instantly, and even his tone changed, he frowned and said:
"What's the matter? I asked you to do something, but you're still complaining? What did you hire you for? Just tell me, how much money have you made over the years? Can't you handle the slightest bit of danger? After all, when two armies are at war, they don't kill the messengers. Why do you say you're sending you to the gates of hell?"

Pang Qing asked in surprise, "I just said one sentence, and you said so much?"

"Hey, who complained first?"

Li Zisheng said, "I care about your hard work, but you complain to me? Don't I know that this journey is dangerous? Do you think I am the kind of ungrateful person? How can I not give you a benefit?"

Pang Qing waved his hand and said, "I don't dare to ask for any benefits. I just hope that next time there is such a thing, don't let me do it again."

"Alright, alright, do you really think this is a good thing? I'll send you on diplomatic missions to foreign vassal states every day? You don't even have an official position, so I'll use you. If it were someone else... sit down and tell me how you got here! Don't give me a cold shoulder. If you don't tell me nicely, I'll have someone pour cold water on your head! Let's see who can't stand it!"

Li Zisheng scolded Pang Qing angrily, and it seemed to work. Pang Qing became much more obedient.

(End of this chapter)