Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 203

In [-] A.D., on the second day of the twelfth lunar month in the seventh year of the Great Ming Dynasty, the long-suspended battle for the new Xuanda governor was finally settled. He was once the most favored by the civil and military officials of the court, and then the least favored by the court and the public. Zhang Haogu, the young master Zhang, stood out unexpectedly and as expected, and was finally promoted to the third grade, and was appointed by the Ming court as the governor of Xuanda, and also the left deputy capital Yushi Zai, the minister of Taichang Temple and the young master of Zizhi. Yin, Jiawu Qingbo, bestowing python-robed jade belt monk Fang Baojian—this is the result of Wei Zhongxian's promotion of talents and avoiding relatives to suppress in public, so the speed of the promotion of Young Master Zhang's official position has been suppressed again and again!Otherwise, with Young Master Zhang's meritorious record, jump directly to the first rank or the first rank, and there will never be a second person in the court to complain!

At the same time, Man Gui, the main assistant of Young Master Zhang, was also awarded by the imperial court. The big defense area went to help the young master Zhang to abuse; the two important accomplices Hei Yunlong and Ma Dengyun of Mangui were also promoted to the generals of Xuanfu and Zhenwu (Daizhou) respectively, and they were appointed generals of the guard army. In addition, Lu Xiangsheng, Wu Liuqi, Zhao Suilun and Wu Sangui also received awards and continued to serve in Xuanda territory under the rule of Young Master Zhang.The rest of the meritorious soldiers also received some rewards more or less. Zhang Shitou won the title of General Wu Yi and was promoted to Deputy Qianhu. Zhang Dapao, who had already broken an arm, was also awarded the title of Wu Yi because of his meritorious service in military training. General De, with the title of Qianhu, still stays under the command of Young Master Zhang.

After finally finishing the cumbersome bestowing etiquette, Young Master Zhang has officially become the long-awaited Xuanda Governor, and he is only short of taking office to succeed him.But what made Young Master Zhang depressed and all the civil and military officials in the court dumbfounded was that the news that Young Master Zhang was appointed as the governor of Xuanda had just been published, and the Tatar tribes north of Xuanda who originally planned to join hands to come to the Central Plains to borrow money for the New Year turned out to be They scattered with a bang, and ran for hundreds of miles in one breath, fearing that they would offend Young Master Zhang, the god of plague, and recruit Young Master Zhang to kill and set fire on the Mongolian grasslands—the loudest shout ever, forcing Daming The imperial court rewarded money, food, and cloth, and if they failed to succeed, they would attack Changsheng Fort and Ningjiang Fort (in today's Chicheng County, Hebei). At the same time, it was submitted to the Ming Dynasty to take the initiative to plead guilty, hoping that the Emperor of Ming Dynasty would not care about their previous wild words.After Mao Qitan's voluntary plea was sent to the capital, the officials of the Manchu Dynasty were in an uproar, saying that Wei Zhongxian had used the right person this time, and that Master Zhang's name of mad dog was indeed very good for the Tatar tribe who likes to bully the weak and fear the hard. Effect.Only Young Master Zhang snorted with great regret: "Unfortunately, the good start is gone."

The peasant uprising army in Shaanxi was also frightened. After learning that Master Zhang was about to take charge of Shanxi, the main force of the uprising army who originally planned to go all out to Shanxi to avoid Sun Chengzong's pursuit immediately gave up their eastward plan and turned south to fight Hanzhong, preferring to go to Shanxi. Fighting to the death with Qin Liangyu's white-armed soldiers or continuing to flee from Shaanxi to Gansu, and unwilling to go east to provoke the murderous Young Master Zhang.When the Tang report was delivered to the capital, Manchu Wenwu, Wei Zhongxian, and Ming Xizong were all very happy. They all said that next year they would no longer have to worry about the war in Xuanda and the safety of the capital.But there were also some who were not happy, at least the governor of Liaodong overturned the table on the spot when he heard that he had no hope of promotion, and Feng Quan, the Minister of the Ministry of household affairs, fainted from fright on the spot because he heard that the Tunu army planned to expand its army three times, and woke up. The first thing I did when I came here was to shout, "It's over! Next year's treasury is over!" In fact, the unhappiness of Feng Quan and the governor of Liaodong is actually quite light. The eight major locust merchants in Zhangjiakou are not only more unhappy than them, but also have a It was extremely frightening, and at the same time, because Wang Dengku and Zhai Ying were suspected of betraying the locust merchant group, the eight locust merchants were arguing again...

"How many times have I said it?" Zhai Ying slapped the table madly and shouted: "That little mad dog Zhang Haogu tricked us into the old eunuch Wei's house, and also lied to the old eunuch Wei that we sent The 20 taels of silver that went to him was for him to buy Governor Xuan Da, and we never had a chance to say a word from the beginning to the end, let alone betray you!"

"Then you won't deny it on the spot? Expose Zhang Haogu's little mad dog's trick? Explain to the old eunuch Wei that we bought the position of Xuanda governor for the governor of Liaodong?" Wang Dayu asked confidently.When Wang Dengku next to him was furious, he jumped up and shouted: "Wang Dayu, what you said was easy. How dare you say such a thing in front of old eunuch Wei? Later, when you met old eunuch Wei, why didn't you dare to act like that?" Said to his face, we spent money to buy officials for the Governor of Liaodong?"

Wang Dayu was at a loss for words. At that time, the Eight Locust Merchants did have the opportunity to explain the real situation to Wei Zhongxian, but no one had the guts to waste this last chance.At this moment, Huang Yunlong yelled unconvinced, "That little mad dog Zhang Haogu, why did you ask the old eunuch Wei to let you do the grain business of the Ministry of War? If you don't have collusion with Zhang Haogu little mad dog, Zhang Haogu The little mad dog will be so kind to you? The grain and grass business of the Ministry of War has always been dominated by water transport merchants in Tongzhou. If you don’t give Zhang Haogu the benefit of the little mad dog, he will take the risk of offending the Tongzhou merchants and let the business go to you?"

"That's Zhang Haogu's little mad dog deliberately sowing dissension, trying to let you misunderstand me and Master Zhai, and divert the conflict!" Wang Dengku is not stupid, and he can see the sinister intentions of Young Master Zhang at a glance.It's a pity that the other six locust merchants were already jealous and their eyes were red like wolves. Knowing that what Wang Dengku said was probably true, they still shouted unconvinced: "That sounds good, Zhang Haogu, the little mad dog wants to Sow discord, then why didn't he ask the old eunuch Wei to give us the business of the Ministry of War?" "Yes, why didn't Zhang Haogu give us the grain business of the Ministry of War and sow discord between us and you?" "Damn it, 12 shi of grain business! Low prices come in and high prices go out, big buckets go in and small buckets go out, you two have made a lot of money!"

"Stop arguing!" Fan Yongdou, the actual boss of the Eight Great Locust Merchants, finally spoke, and with a livid face, stopped several locust merchants who were almost mad with jealousy, and shouted: "It's done, now you guys are arguing, what's the point? In my opinion, this matter is likely to be a trick of Zhang Haogu, a little mad dog. He knew that we were buying an official for the governor of Liaodong, and he was worried that we would not be able to compete with the governor of Liaodong. Buying an official for him, that's why today's situation has arisen."

"Yes, what Shopkeeper Fan Da said is right, we were wronged." Wang Dengku and Zhai Ying, who were devastated, nodded together.Never thought that Fan Yongdou would stare at them again, and shouted: "You still have the face to say that you have been wronged? If you hadn't begged Zhang Haogu to make a mess of the little mad dog in order to prevent the money spent on Qin Shiwen's son from being wasted, Will Zhang Haogu, Little Mad Dog, seize the opportunity to make a comeback?"

Wang Dengku and Zhai Ying knew that Fan Yongdou was right, so they didn't dare to refute. They just shrank their heads and stopped talking.Fortunately, Fan Yongdou did not continue to pursue their responsibilities, but said with a livid face: "In the current situation, unless we buy assassins to get rid of Zhang Haogu's little mad dog, otherwise it is impossible to stop Zhang Haogu's little mad dog from running away." It's time for Xuanda to bite someone. So I think the first thing we should figure out now is what kind of attitude Zhang Haogu, the little mad dog, has towards Zhangjiakou and us? Does he want to join forces with us to make a fortune? Or does he want to knock us off?" Speaking of this, Fan Yongdou paused, and said darkly: "Or, like Ma Shiying in Datong, he wants to touch us?"

"Treasurer Fan Da is right. We should first find out what attitude Zhang Haogu's little mad dog has?" Jin Liangyu agreed, and then said: "I suggest that we can use an excuse to congratulate that little mad dog Zhang Haogu on his promotion. Governor, test his attitude."

"This trick is useless." Fan Yongdou shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "Have you forgotten how Sibeile evaluated Zhang Haogu's little mad dog? Crazier than a mad dog, more cunning than a fox, more insidious than a poisonous snake, and he Dealing head-on and probing with words, not only is it absolutely impossible to find out his true intentions, but you will be caught in his schemes and tricks, and you will never be able to stand up!"

"Then what should we do to find out the real intention of Zhang Haogu's little mad dog?" Huang Yunlong asked.Fan Yongdou pondered and said: "I haven't thought of a specific good solution yet, but we have greatly offended the little mad dog Zhang Haogu by supporting the governor of Liaodong to be promoted to the governor of Xuanda. And the virtue of retribution, in all likelihood, they will hate us and want to cause trouble for us, at least they will hit us hard, and at worst they will frame us, ransack our home and destroy us! So I think we should be very careful now As a matter of fact, all business contacts with Dajin Kingdom are suspended, and the sale of prohibited materials without salt quotation approval documents will also be stopped, so that the little crazy dog ​​Zhang Haogu will not catch us, and then slowly figure out the little crazy dog ​​Zhang Haogu true attitude."

"Shopkeeper Fan Da, the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and all these businesses have stopped, so we won't lose too much?" Tian Shenglan asked timidly.Fan Yongdou glared at him, and sternly shouted: "Money is more important or life is more important? Do you think Zhang Haogu's little mad dog is Zhang Pu, knowing that we are smuggling prohibited goods, and dare not lay hands on us? Zhang Haogu, little mad dog But with the backing of the old eunuch Wei and Shang Fang’s sword in hand, it’s easier to kill a few of us than to crush a few ants! It’s hard to see that those businesses must stop, and anyone who dares to stop will be caught by the little mad dog Zhang Haogu If something goes wrong, I will fight it alone!" After speaking, Fan Yongdou made a special statement, "Also, you must take care of the general ledger books of each family. It is the ironclad proof to kill us!"

Although one thousand were reluctant and ten thousand were unwilling, but for the sake of their heads, the eight locust merchants unanimously passed Fan Yongdou's proposal to temporarily stop all illegal trade, such as illegal salt, grain, tea and cloth weapons. The materials are sealed up, and they dare not resell them out of the mouth unscrupulously. The goods placed in the store are also official salt and tea bricks that have been taxed and have official documents.Lieutenant General Sun Shangzhi of Xuanfu and General Shi Tianlin of Zhangjiakou, who basically wore the same trousers as the eight major locust merchants, also uncharacteristically attached importance to smuggling inspections, dispatched a large number of troops to strictly guard the closed gate, and strictly checked all kinds of goods entering and leaving Zhangjiakou closed gate in a decent manner. , I caught some poor people who carried forty or fifty catties of private salt in exchange for life-saving food, and prepared to give it to Young Master Zhang as a meeting gift.But it's a pity that Young Master Zhang had anticipated this and prepared a way to deal with it...

………………

Almost at the same time when the Eight Great Locust Merchants made their decision to restrain themselves, Wei Zhongxian listened to Young Master Zhang’s suggestion and made two major adjustments to Ningyuan’s officialdom. He was transferred back to the capital to take up his post. Song and Jin's godson Wang Minzheng succeeded him. At the same time, he was also transferred to Liaodong Governor's important assistant Ning Qiandao Censor Liu Zhao. His successor was the first in history to shoot at the Liaodong Governor. Li Yingjian, the censor of Henan Province.As soon as the two transfer orders came out, Ningqian was shaken. Fan Yongdou and Huang Yunlong's semicolon in Ningyuan had no choice but to learn the general name of Zhangjiakou, and temporarily stopped all shady transactions. cut off.

Young Master Zhang’s methods are called ruthless. Jianu was already in a food shortage, so it’s fine for Young Master Zhang to be gloating and secretly laughing. He actually cut off two important food supply channels of his family at once. The prefecture and county towns are too miserable.The price of grain, which was already ridiculously high, suddenly rose to be more expensive than gold, and there was no market for it. The Jiannu Eight Banners who harvested grain in Jinzhou panicked. Even Nurhachi, who was dying, sat up from the hospital bed and discussed countermeasures with his sons and confidantes.

"How many months can the army's grain and grass last? There is also folk grain, is there any hope of collecting some?" Nurhachi asked with a cough.The regent Dabeile Daishan frowned and replied: "I can only last for three or four months at most when I go back to Ama. As for the folk food, except for some of our coated Aha's family, there is still some food in stock. The homes of the barbarians They've basically run out of food."

"Three or four months?" Nuerhachi's old face, which had become much thinner, suddenly pulled down, and murmured: "It's the twelfth lunar month, which means that our grain can't last until next year's grain in Youtun, Jinzhou. "

"Ama, let's send troops to fight Jinzhou and Ningyuan, grab food and cross the famine." Mang Gurtai suggested.Before the words fell, Huang Taiji, who had returned to Liaodong to take up an official position, jumped up, and screamed with a pale face: "Ama, you can't kill the chicken to get the eggs. There are many people in the barbarian court who advocate abandoning Jinzhou and not letting us There is food available, which was saved by the governor of Liaodong. If we break through Jinzhou and seize food at this time, the barbarian court will completely abandon Jinzhou, our granary! By then, we can still go to the city every year How about harvesting food? This is the long-term plan.”

"Old Ba, who doesn't understand what you're saying?" Mang Gurtai shouted angrily: "But our current grain can't last until next year when Jinzhou's grain is ripe. If you don't go to Jinzhou to get grain, you want us to Did the Eight Banners troops all starve to death?"

"That's right, I also think Jinzhou should be attacked." Big Baylor Daishan said: "We can just grab the grain from Youtun, Dalinghe and outside Jinzhou City like last year. In this way, we can keep Jinzhou's granary and The food shortage can be solved.”

"Brother, this trick is useless." Huang Taiji said with a wry smile: "I have received accurate information. Since the beginning of this year, the barbarian Xiong Tingbi has listened to the suggestion of Zhang Haogu's little mad dog and transferred the military rations of Jinzhou Youtun from three to three. The monthly delivery was changed to once a month, and Manzi officials were sent to carefully count the population of Jinzhou Youtun, and they did not give a single grain. This time, after the Xiong Tingbi Manzi attacked Haizhou without success, he supplied food to the front line They didn’t stay in Jinzhou and Youtun any more, and brought all of them back to Shanhaiguan, so there wasn’t much food in Youtun, Dalinghe, and outside Jinzhou City, and even if we got them all, it definitely wouldn’t be enough for the army to march.”

"Zhang Haogu? Little mad dog?" Nuerhachi muttered, his cloudy old eyes shot out again, he sat up straight and murmured: "I'm waiting for you, before I fight you, I won't die, no I will die..." After repeating a few words, Nuerhachi turned to Huang Taiji and asked energetically, "Old Ba, you are familiar with the situation of barbarians, tell me, what method should we use to get through this food shortage?"

"Three ways!" Huang Taiji stretched out three fingers, and said darkly: "First, order the Fan Yongdou Branch and Huang Yunlong Company in Ningyuan to restore the food supply at all costs, and use our hole cards if necessary Second, send envoys to Zhangjiakou, promise a lot of profits to the eight major companies, and force them to re-open the food supply channels of the Mongolian grasslands, and send food, weapons and salt to our Dajin."

"The Mongolian tribes in Harqin and Horqin have already been frightened by Zhang Haogu. Is it easy to reopen the food supply channels?" Nurhachi asked interrupted.Huang Taiji replied in a dark voice: "Ama, the Mongolian tribe was scared by Zhang Haogu's little mad dog, but they were also robbed by Zhang Haogu's little mad dog. Cattle, sheep, and horses were gold and silver. Zhang Haogu's little mad dog was in the grassland. The tribes are also living in a very difficult situation. They can only survive by trading the taxed and high-priced food with the barbarian court. Ordinary people can dig wild vegetables and drink gruel to survive. If the eight major merchants in Zhangjiakou promise to give them enough benefits to resell the low-priced grain that has not been taxed for huge profits, will they not be tempted? So my son thinks that as long as we It is still very hopeful that the merchants in Zhangjiakou and those in Zhangjiakou will bring out enough benefits to reopen the grassland grain road."

"Old man, we don't have much silver anymore." Dai Shan reminded: "In the five years since the apocalypse, we robbed all the silver obtained by the barbarians in Liaodong, as well as the gold, silver and jewels accumulated by many years of fighting everywhere. That little mad dog in Gu stole everything when he raided Shengjing, and now the money we have left may not be able to fill the stomachs of those Zhangjiakou merchants. If we can’t fill their stomachs, what else do we have to make them work for us?"

"It doesn't matter, we can owe it first." Huang Taiji said without hesitation: "Let the envoy bring evidence of the collusion between the eight major companies in Zhangjiakou and us to threaten them, and force them to pay us. Afterwards, we will take North Korea's gold Silver jewelry to pay the debt!"

"North Korea's gold, silver and jewelry?" Nurhachi and his sons all exclaimed.Huang Taiji nodded, and said in a deep voice: "Yes, this is also my third solution to the food shortage problem! Zhang Haogu's little mad dog's tactics on the Mongolian grassland reminded me that the reason why he was able to conquer Karaqin in one fell swoop And the Horqin Grassland, the key is that he acted too suddenly. No one thought that after defeating the Mongolian coalition army, he would immediately launch a counterattack and kill everyone including us by surprise! Also, the speed of his army’s advancement, also It has far exceeded our imagination. Regardless of the food road and the back road, it is just a light cavalry raid. The Mongolian tribe has not yet done a good job of defense, and our Dajin army has not had time to send reinforcements. It has entered the Horqin Grassland like lightning, cutting off our right-hand man Horqin Oba on the Mongolian Grassland in one fell swoop."

Speaking of this, Huang Taiji sighed, and said: "I have to admit that this little mad dog Zhang Haogu is indeed a formidable enemy that we have never seen before, and his lightning tactics have also made us proud of the Eight Banners of Dajin." The iron cavalry is dwarfed by comparison—but we can learn from him and use his hand to deal with North Korea, which is weaker than the Mongolian army, and seize North Korea’s money, food and materials to solve our food problem.”

"How to do it specifically?" Nuerhachi's old eyes lit up.Huang Taiji replied in a deep voice: "First of all, we must learn from Zhang Haogu's sudden attack by the little mad dog, break up the army into pieces, and quietly lurk to Dingliao to assemble, so that North Korea and Maowenlong barbarians in Pidao will not be noticed. After the army was ready, they suddenly rushed out of Dingliao City, carrying no luggage and only a small amount of siege weapons, and launched a surprise attack! Taking advantage of the freezing of the Yalu River and Datong River, they suddenly rushed into North Korea, and went all the way to Wangjing. Divide troops all the way to Tieling, and block the Mao Wenlong barbarians who come ashore for reinforcements! As long as we are fast enough to capture Pyongyang and Seoul before the barbarian navy reinforces North Korea, we can force North Korea to surrender to us and provide us with much-needed food, grass, money and food!"

"Even if the progress goes smoothly, it will take at least 20 days." After calculation, Nurhachi said: "In 20 days, the barbarian's navy can reach North Korea from Shandong. Our old opponent Xiong Tingbi Manzi will give us the 20 days." God?"

"Ama, we're lucky." Huang Taiji said with a smile, "Xiong Tingbi didn't listen to Zhang Haogu's little mad dog's advice, and completely took back the right to control Mao Wenlong in the eastern town of Shanhaiguan. Turn one hand."

"Oh, I really forgot about that." Nuerhachi slapped his forehead with a smile, stood up and said, "Okay, just do as you say, although it's a bit risky, but our current situation is critical, don't take risks." This risk is gone.”

(End of this chapter)