Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 319: Using people’s money to eliminate disasters for others
Before the Guanning Army came to file a complaint, Fang Yizao had just received a group of visitors at the governor's office.

He believed that he had not taken any bribes from officials or generals, and repeatedly stated that he would refuse to accept any.

However, these people rushed to give him gifts, and he couldn't refuse their strong enthusiasm, so he had to accept them reluctantly.

Just a few days after he arrived in Liaoyang, he had several banquets with various civil and military officials, and received a lot of "gifts" both openly and secretly.

He couldn't remember who gave what gift, but he knew clearly who didn't come to give a gift.

Apart from those petty officials who had no real benefits, only the Beiwei Army and some former Liaodong generals did not hand over a penny of silver.

Fang Yizao thought to himself, this Beiwei Army is so ignorant. I didn't hint at giving gifts, so are you really not going to give any gifts at all?
Besides, did he accept the gift money? It was the bribe for the high-ranking officials in the court.

If he doesn't take it, how can the big men above him take it? If the big men don't take it, how can they persuade the upper bureaucracy to give the Beiwei Army promotions and rewards?

Originally, the Beiwei Army's unauthorized dispatch of troops to Korea was a stain on its reputation, but if the Beiwei Army had been more sensible and decisively paid out tens of thousands of taels of silver to bribe the enemy, he would have guaranteed to submit a memorial to the higher authorities to speak well of Marshal Zhang.

If a few big guys make another effort to influence the Emperor's decision, the Beiwei Army may be able to turn disaster into blessing, get promoted smoothly, and the matter of the Korean yangban's lawsuit can be easily slid away.

It's a pity that this guy doesn't understand the ways of the world and doesn't even offer a penny.

Fang Yizao thought to himself that although he wanted to help the Beiwei Army solve their problems, he could not do anything without the necessary resources, so he could only "handle the matter impartially" this time.

Those who do not build interpersonal relationships in officialdom will either be left out in the cold or wait for death.

Although Xiong Tingbi was well versed in Liao affairs, he had a stubborn temper, which led to extremely poor interpersonal relationships. In the end, when he was sentenced to beheading for the fall of Guangning, few officials spoke up for him.

Fang Yizao had only been in Liaodong for a few days, and he didn't have many trivial political affairs to deal with. He settled refugees, organized settlements, provided relief, and built barracks and houses for the people...

These minor government affairs were all carried out by a team of middle-level officials, and he also had private staff to advise him. He only needed to nod occasionally and sign official documents.

Therefore, he was still quite relaxed at this time.

Bored, he turned his head and caught a glimpse of a stack of papers left on the table, which reminded him of the folk newspapers that the visitor had mentioned to him.

I heard that it was a popular publication "spontaneously" founded by several Liaodong merchants. It was somewhat similar to the Ming Dynasty's Dibao, but its carrier form and target audience were different from those of the Dibao.

The court gazette was like a book or magazine, disseminating official announcements and policy developments, and was mainly circulated among upper-level officials and gentry.

But this so-called People's Daily is actually several large sheets of paper stacked together.

Both sides of the newspaper were densely covered with text. Looking at the top of the newspaper, there were four big characters "Liaodong Evening News" written on it, and a time mark: March 28, the 13th year of Chongzhen.

The layouts of the following areas are clearly divided, some large and some small. Although the fonts of all the detailed contents are very small, they are clear and square, with almost no ink stains.

Fang Yizao brought the newspaper close to him and could still smell a unique scent of ink.

He glanced at it briefly. It seemed that the newspapers were all about current affairs and rumors, some of which were accompanied by vivid pictures.

"The Beiwei Army won a complete victory in the battle against Joseon. The King of Joseon collected one million dan of grain as a token of gratitude."

"The warriors who entered North Korea arrived at the Taizi River the day before yesterday. Let us wish the warriors of the Beiwei Army peace and safety, and wish General Zhang eternal health."

"The Beiwei Army has recaptured the Liaobei Guards and destroyed the Tartar's lair. This is another major victory since the recovery of Liaodong."

"The militias and civilians from all guards are actively participating in military training. If the Tartars dare to come again, they will be wiped out."

"A bumper potato harvest across Liaoning"

"As of that day, 70% of the refugees returning to Liaodong had been resettled. Go home, go home. My home is in Liaodong, on the Liaohe Plain."

"Good news! The first group of explorers arrived in the New World and reunited with the Shang people."

"Dragon Slaying Heroes Chapter 18: Young Hero Lu rushes to save his senior sister in a rage, while the Dragon brothers fight a desperate battle to save their lives."

……

The front of the newspaper is filled with current affairs news, some trivial things that have happened in Liaodong in recent days, and some mysterious and martial arts novels with pictures and texts.

But the newspaper was full of "treasonous" content, and even dared to publish content that was not allowed by the court.

"The Guanning Army is causing chaos among the people of Liaodong, but the new officials are turning a blind eye."

"Now that the Tartars have been eliminated, why does the Liao army continue to provide funds? Where does the people's blood and sweat go?"

"Bandits are rampant in the interior, taxes are increasing year after year, corrupt officials are rampant, and the princes are becoming increasingly wealthy. I can't help but ask, what happened to the Ming Dynasty?"

"What nonsense!"

Fang Yizao was so angry that he slammed the table and yelled.

Although he did not think he was a corrupt official, he subconsciously identified himself with the category.

These newspapers are simply pointing fingers at the Ming officials and cursing them, saying that it is you insects who have messed up the world.

When did ordinary people become qualified to comment on the conduct of officials?
He studied hard for decades and worked hard for more than ten years before he became the governor of Liaodong. Is this just to be told what to do by these insignificant people?
Why!
These treacherous villains spread rumors that defame the court and slander officials all day long. They are despicable!
No wonder when he entered Liaoyang, the people from all over the country had a lukewarm reaction, without even a symbolic welcome ceremony. It turned out that they were misled by the newspapers and thought he was a bug who came specifically to embezzle and accept bribes.

Fang Yizao immediately decided to investigate and confiscate these illegal businessmen.

However, before he called his staff to discuss the confiscation of newspapers, he received news from the doorman.

Several generals of the Guanning Army wanted to see him for something.

Fang Yizao thought that this was a good opportunity to test these soldiers and see how much of the rumor in the newspaper was true...

Unexpectedly, when these soldiers met, they cried out in injustice, "That Beiwei Army guy is really going too far!"

Several familiar generals knelt in front of the governor, including Zu Dabi, Zu Dacheng, and some generals of the Guanning Army who were not from the Zu family.

Several of the soldiers lifted up their clothes to reveal glaring scars.

The soldier cried about his miserable experience, turning around from time to time to show the scars on his head and back to the governor's staff around him.

The Guanning Army claimed that the Beiwei Army had no regard for the law, killed innocent people to gain credit, raped and looted, killed their comrades, spoke wildly, and had no respect for their superiors...

In short, any serious crimes will be blamed on the Beiwei Army. Then the Guanning Army hopes that the governor will summon the generals of the Beiwei Army as soon as possible to punish them for the serious crime of lax military discipline and give justice to the Guanning Army.

Fang Yizao appeared calm on the surface, but in his heart he was shouting in surprise.

He thought that this group of arrogant Guanning soldiers actually bowed their heads and begged for mercy. They knelt on the ground, crying and howling, completely different from their previous arrogance and domineering behavior.

Back when Fang Yizao was in charge of Shanhaiguan, the various Guanning Army units only regarded him as an official seal.

The Guanning Army relied on its strong military power to constantly bully friendly forces and embezzle money and food. They embezzled most of the annual Liao salary and broke almost all the taboos, but Fang Yizhao did not dare to punish them severely.

Whenever he gave the order to rectify military discipline, the soldiers under him would start making noise.

Although he knew that 30% to 40% of the Liao salary would be eaten up by various bigwigs as soon as it was released, the generals of the Guanning Army were no less worried. They guarded hundreds of thousands of acres of military land in western Liaoning and had to exploit the blood of their soldiers.

Now that the Beiwei Army, this tiger and wolf, had suppressed the Guanning Army, this vicious dog, Fang Yizao felt very happy. If it weren't for the Guanning Army generals in front of him, he would really want to dance for fun.

He listened to the complaints of the Guanning Army and nodded to himself, but did not give a timely reply.

Based on the attitudes of the people along the way and his understanding of the Guanning Army, he has concluded that these so-called crimes were mostly committed by the Guanning Army themselves.

Although he did not like the "cold and hard" style of the Beiwei Army, he had to admit that the Beiwei Army's military discipline was as strong as steel.

The officials in charge of examining the heads all said that as long as the heads were sent over by the Beiwei Army, there would be almost no mistakes.

The Beiwei Army is a rare and good army that can fight well but will not kill innocent people for the sake of taking credit. Everyone who has used it speaks highly of it.

However, Fang Yizao knew what these generals were up to.

They wanted to use him to weaken the military power of the Beiwei Army and then take over the vacant lucrative positions. This was simply wishful thinking.

Who is the Beiwei Army? He is one of the great contributors to the recovery of Liaodong.

If the Beiwei Army was forced to mutiny, he, as the Governor of Liaodong, would definitely be in trouble.

Moreover, the Guanning Army had committed many evil deeds and had brought disaster to the people along the way. The newspapers also said that the people in various places were outraged, and everyone hated the Guanning Army, and even hated the other officials, and cursed the court.

He didn't know what the situation at the grassroots level was like, but since the newspaper said so, he believed it to a certain extent.

"You are causing trouble for the people, and you still want me to deceive you and help the evil. You are simply lawless. Someone come!"

At the governor's command, more than a hundred neatly-armored soldiers rushed into the hall, their armor plates swaying and making sounds with their rapid steps.

"Get it for me!"

Upon hearing the noise, the soldiers rushed towards Zu Dacheng and his group and pinned them to the ground.

With their cheeks pressed tightly against the ground to rub the dust off, Zu Dacheng and the others were all shocked. They never expected that the governor would play such a trick. They thought they could get help, but unexpectedly they would walk into a trap.

A cold sweat suddenly broke out on Zu Dacheng's back. His heart seemed to be pulled to his lower abdomen by a big hand, and a strong feeling of falling surged into his heart.

The second brother Zu Dabi was still struggling, but Zu Dacheng discovered something.

Although the governor summoned soldiers to apprehend them, he did not issue an order to take them away. Instead, he stood there and continued to criticize them, boasting about how upright he was and how he would never aid evildoers.

Zu Dacheng suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of a way to escape. He took advantage of the moment when the soldiers were relaxed and broke free from the restraints.

"Fang Futai, please allow me to report!"

Zu Dacheng shook off the additional suppression from the soldiers, lowered his head, approached the governor, and carefully handed over a piece of paper.

Fang Yizao took it skillfully and took a look. It turned out to be a silver note from Tongfu Money House, with a total of three thousand taels of silver.

Fang Yizao knew Tongfu Money House.

It was said to be a bank jointly opened by several merchants in southern Shandong. In recent years, with the support of the armed forces known as the "Kun Gang," it has rapidly expanded in southern and western Shandong. It has subsequently expanded its business in trade, transportation, and banking to western Liaoning.

But how could a mere three thousand taels possibly move his righteous heart for the country and the people?
He immediately expressed his irreconcilability with evil, but his right hand tightly grasped the banknotes and slowly reached into the pocket deep in his sleeve.

Upon hearing this, Zu Dacheng stuffed over another silver note worth three thousand taels.

Fang Yizao's expression changed immediately. He skillfully put the ticket into his sleeve and then ordered the soldiers to retreat in a gentle tone. He said that he had acted a little arbitrarily just now, but now he has come to his senses.

However, recently a large number of Liaoxi troops have entered Liaodong. Perhaps there really are veteran soldiers under the banner of the Guanning Army looting everywhere. It is the duty of the official army to suppress the bandits. Both sides should just clear up the misunderstanding.

I accidentally killed a few pawns and just paid some money as compensation, which was fine.

Zu Dacheng closed his eyes, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and took out another silver note and handed it over, still three thousand taels.

"Alas, I was mistaken. You are all regular military officers of the Ming Dynasty, soldiers who receive annual Liao tribute to fight against the invaders. How could you be bandits who murder the people? I think the Beiwei Army thinks they are the best in the world for recovering Liaodong, so they don't take our allies seriously, treating them like pigs and dogs, and regard human lives as worthless. It's time for me to uphold justice!"

Shaking the three silver bills in his sleeves, Fang Yizao was so excited that he could hardly suppress the smile on his face.

The Beiwei Army never gave him a penny of gift money, so how could he stand on the side of the Beiwei Army to punish the Guanning Army?

Of course, he had to unite with the relatively weak Guanning Army and severely weaken the "local snake" Beiwei Army in order to gain a firm foothold. This is called the art of checks and balances.

He just wanted to use the excuse of "harming the people" to criticize the Guanning Army, and now he has squeezed out 9,000 taels of profit right away.

Without the carrot and stick approach, how can we generate huge revenue?
To make money, you have to use your brain, not your blood.

If the Guanning Army had his "money-making" mindset, and once they had established themselves in Liaodong, they would have allocated a large amount of military land. Then the commander would have had the final say on how to collect food from the military households and how much to collect. How could they have caused unrest among the people?

Now that the two sides have formed a temporary alliance, they must think about how to punish the Beiwei Army.

The soldiers had a simple idea. They called the generals of the Beiwei Army and beat them with dozens of military sticks.

Fang Yizao immediately rejected this idea, glanced around with disdain, and cursed the stinky soldier for not using his brain and being a soldier all his life.

Fang Yizao said that he had heard for a long time that there was only one commander-in-chief of the Beiwei Army and no second-in-command. At most, there was He Lusi (He Lusi), who lacked prestige and could barely be called a second-in-command and a half. However, there were a lot of deputy commanders, equivalent to one deputy commander for every hundreds or thousands of people.

The Beiwei Army has expanded to tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. It is estimated that there are at least a hundred deputy commanders. When military meetings are held, a large group of people are crowded together, which is a mess.

The disadvantage of having too many deputy generals is that the soldiers' loyalty is tied to Zhang Xianzhong alone.

Once the leader encounters an accident or is forcibly transferred by the court, the chain of loyalty will be broken, and the remaining deputy generals will "go their own way" and split into several semi-independent groups that are not subordinate to each other.

Just like Dongjiang Town split into several factions after Mao Wenlong's death.

Then Zhang Xianzhong himself became the key to weakening the Beiwei Army.

Killing him directly is not an option. Fang Yizao does not have the courage like Yuan Chonghuan to kill a general, and Zhang Xianzhong has not committed any capital crime.

However, he did have the courage to find a reason to invite Zhang Xianzhong to a banquet, and then put him under "house arrest" and send him to the capital, and it was quite courageous, which could also help him complete the task entrusted by the court.

Fang Yizao asked Zu Dabi to apologize and ask Zhang Xianzhong to kneel down to attend the banquet.

In name, Yizao was just a "middleman" who mediated the conflict between the two parties.

So the idea of ​​treating everyone to a meal came into being.

A group of staff members were on the side revising various details of the plan to ensure that Zhang Xianzhong would "voluntarily" come to Beijing.

……

One day in the spring breeze, Zhang Xianzhong led his army to the military fort outside Liaoyang City.

A group of soldiers originally from Liaodong had been waiting here for a long time.

As soon as Chen Jinghe saw the strange-looking battle flags of the Beiwei Army, he shouted excitedly, then kicked the warhorse under his crotch and rushed forward in a hurry.

(End of this chapter)