weaving

Chapter 767 What is your intention?
In Songshan Fort City, in the official hall of Governor Ji Liao's Xingyuan Hall, Hong Chengchou's face was as calm as before, he watched the generals below discussing, and did not say anything to stop it.

Zhang Ruoqi is the commander of the army, and his duty in Liaodong is to urge the war. Even if he is driven by profit, he already has other ideas in his mind, but on the surface he does not dare to violate the will of his soldier Chen Xinjia.

"Cough cough..."

He coughed a few times at first, but the commanding officer's majesty was still very strong, and the hall fell silent in an instant.

Zhang Ruoqi was very satisfied with this. He pretended to be majestic and glanced at the generals in the hall, but couldn't help but look proud, raised his eyebrows slightly, and said in a deep voice: "The generals have been fighting hard for days, and the army is exhausted. This prison is also aware of it, but today At that time, the Ministry of War urged the war, and the princes of the court were very concerned about the Songjin war.

In particular, there is a statement in the Ministry of War's proclamation that when the war is over, the imperial court will reward the generals for their merits, and will never let the generals' merits be buried. .

The supervisory army also knows the difficulties of the generals, but it is difficult for the generals, and it is even more difficult for the soldiers. The financial resources are exhausted, and it is difficult to raise money and food. Now what we eat here is all Chen Benbing begged from various yamen. "

He then sighed, and said: "The current strategy is to take advantage of the victory and march forward bravely, with one effort, to relieve the siege of brocade, and to comfort the Sacred Heart!"

After Zhang Ruoqi finished speaking, he stopped looking at the generals below, and turned his gaze to Hong Chengchou, Governor of Jiliao, who was seated in the middle, and asked, "What do you think, Governor Hong?"

Hong Chengchou didn't want to express his opinion so early. He turned a blind eye to Zhang Ruoqi's question and acted as if he hadn't heard it. His face was as elegant as ever, with a slight smile on his face.

Governor of Liaodong Qiu Min sat facing Zhang Ruoqi, seeing Hong Chengchou's reluctance to talk to Zhang Ruoqi, he hurriedly reminded him: "Minister, the captives have increased their troops recently, and it is even rumored that the chieftain Hong Tai is here, don't underestimate the enemy!"

His words once again aroused the discussion among the officials and generals in the palace. After all, the name of the chieftain, Hongtai, was much more famous in the Ming Dynasty than Dorgon and Jierhalang.

Hearing that Mrs. Hong was coming, all the officials and generals in the hall couldn't help but wondered how many troops had been increased since Mrs. Hong had come to the captives.

"Mr. Hong is here, Jinzhou is in danger!"

Sure enough, there was a sigh between the generals' seats, but it was Zu Dale who had a worried expression on his face, and said worriedly.

Wu Sangui also missed his uncle in Jinzhou City, and pleaded: "Minister, Jinzhou must be rescued immediately. If we don't rescue him now, when the army of captives arrives, we will be surrounded by death and death. The fall of the city will only happen overnight!"

Hong Chengchou's eyebrows stretched a little, but he still didn't mean to say anything. His eyes circled around the hall and suddenly stopped on Zhang Cheng.

But at this time, although Zhang Cheng was sitting firmly in the chair like an old monk in meditation, he was watching all directions and listening to all directions, and the behavior of many people in the hall was recorded by him.

Seeing Hong Chengchou looking at him at this moment, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said lightly: "The governor, the sentry cavalry under the command of the last general risked their lives to find out. A new battalion was set up on the north side of Shimen Mountain, surrounded by yellow curtains inside. The guards are strict, and there is a big banner of the dragon flag, which is bigger than that used by Dorgon and other slaves."

Zhang Cheng was also cunning, he saw Hong Chengchou looking at him, but he didn't talk about the use of military strategies, but only talked about the results of military intelligence.

Hong Chengchou didn't want to let Zhang Cheng go, so he suddenly asked: "From this point of view, it is likely that Hong Tai, the chieftain, has arrived in front of the Jinzhou army. According to Zhang Zongbing, how should the Jinzhou war be carried out?"

Zhang Cheng and Hong Chengchou looked at each other, and the eyes of other people in the hall were also focused on Zhang Cheng, including Zhang Ruoqi's expectation, Wu Sangui's prayer, and the eyes of other officials full of jealousy...

"Minister, according to the opinion of the last general, it is the best policy to fight with the captives and thieves for consumption."

Hong Chengchou looked at Zhang Cheng and continued to ask, "How to spell it? I would like to hear the details."

Zhang Cheng clasped his fists in salute, and said: "The captive chieftain Hong Tai came here personally, and he will definitely bring a lot of soldiers and horses. According to the sentinels, there are nearly [-] to [-] soldiers and horses in the camp outside Jinzhou City.

And there were more than [-] captives in the camps at Shimen Mountain, Huangtuling, Zijing Mountain, and Mopan Mountain, and in the military forts such as Liushui Fort, Jinchang Fort, Shahe Fort, and Dasheng Fort.

At the same time, there were 15 to [-] captive cavalry on the banks of the Daughter River in the west of Jinzhou City, stationed there. In this way, it is conservatively estimated that there are about [-] captive cavalry between Songjin and Jinzhou.

It is comparable to my aid to the troops and horses of the Liao King's division. "

Amidst the astonishment of everyone in the store, Zhang Cheng changed the subject and said: "Duchen, Director Zhang, my lords, just imagine that I am supporting the Liao king's division of 6 to [-] horses, and the daily consumption of money and food is incalculable.

From Ningyuan to Songshan, granaries are widely spread along the way, and the grain transport convoys are constantly running day and night, and they also take advantage of the waterway. Many grains are transported directly to the mouth of Xiaoling River. "

He paused for a moment, and then continued: "Everyone, please think about it, with the power of the captives and the people, even with the help of Mongolia and North Korea, how can they compare with my Ming Dynasty.

In the same way, how long can the troops be stationed in Songjin, and the captives and thieves come from the whole country, as long as they persist, the slaves will collapse.

At that time, our army will go forward, chase the enemy with cavalry at the tail, and then advance slowly with infantry battalion. If it goes well, we may recover Yizhou in one fell swoop to the north, take Shisanshan post and Panshan post in the east, and then threaten Guangning.

It's not impossible! "

"Hey hey hey..."

Ma Ke, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, sneered, and said: "Yes, yes, really good. It's a good one to fight with the slaves. The thieves and slaves besieged Commander Zu day and night, but we waited to stand still. If Jinzhou City is broken and falls into the hands of slaves, this Who should bear the responsibility?"

After he finished speaking, he poked his head out again, glanced sideways at Zhang Cheng, and continued, "I think Zong Bing Zhang is happy to shoulder this responsibility!"

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng frowned, and couldn't help turning his head to look at Ma Ke. His face was gloomy, and he was not angry, but Ma Ke unconsciously looked away and looked elsewhere.

Later, he felt that as a veteran of Liaodong, he should not show weakness to Zhang Cheng. He turned around and looked at Zhang Cheng again, but unexpectedly Zhang Cheng no longer paid attention to him, which made Ma Ke feel sad. Annoyed.

Zhang Cheng doesn't care about Ma Ke, but it doesn't mean that others are the same.

In recent days, Wang Pu has always regarded himself as the big brother, and now he jumped out to stand up for Zhang Cheng.

He slightly raised his voice and said: "Hmph, your feet are growing on your body. If you need rescue, you can go to rescue them at any time. Don't tell me I'm still stopping you!"

Chen Jiugao also echoed the yin and yang strangely: "Yes, soldiers are fierce and dangerous, and there are clear instructions in ancient times. This soldier... soldier... is an ominous... weapon. It is not a gentleman's weapon. It must be used as a last resort!
We must proceed with caution, not to be reckless, and not to speak rashly. If I make mistakes in aiding the Liao army, whose responsibility is it? "

Hong Chengchou quietly watched the quarrel in the hall, his face remained expressionless, as if he didn't care about it.

He kept his eyes on Zhang Cheng, and said slowly: "The head of the evil slave chief came and besieged Jinzhou heavily, the whole city is desperate for help, Fengjiang City is in danger.

It is Jincheng's only hope to help Liao Wangshi. We should be careful not to fight lightly, otherwise Jincheng will collapse without help.

General Zhongchen, what do you think? "

Hong Chengchou didn't ask anyone else, but only caught Zhang Cheng asking non-stop. His intention was obvious, that was to use Zhang Cheng's mouth to block Zhang Ruoqi's mouth.

Zhang Cheng didn't know his intention, it was just for the sake of Liao's affairs, and he could only cater to him by performing a good-looking double-reed play.

"The captive soldiers besieged Jinzhou, and their intention was with me, not Jinzhou!"

A light flashed in Hong Chengchou's eyes, and he continued to ask with a smile on his face: "Oh, I'm the intention of the captive? General Zhongchen, can you tell me in detail."

The eyes of all the officials and generals in the palace once again focused on Zhang Cheng, especially Ma Ke, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan. His eyes were full of jealousy, and he hoped that what Zhang Cheng was about to say would make him embarrassing in public.

But Zhang Ruoqi's eyes looking at Zhang Cheng are rather complicated, and there are several hidden meanings in it, including resentment, admiration, and even a hint of surprise.

When he first met Zhang Cheng, he was already a doctor in the Ministry of War. At that time, Zhang Cheng was promoted to a general. He had to go to Beijing to thank the emperor for his kindness.

At that time, Chen Xinjia was still the governor of Xuanda, and the minister of the Ministry of War was still the cabinet minister Yang Sichang. They tried their best to win over Zhang Cheng, and even the current emperor can be regarded as Zhang Cheng's nobles.

Zhang Ruoqi saw that Zhang Cheng was extremely favored by both the cabinet ministers and the border ministers, and that he had won the trust of Emperor Chongzhen, so Zhang Ruoqi couldn't help but became friends with Zhang Cheng, and even connected with Zhang Cheng at one point.

But this time when he was supervising the Liaodong army, he was also a little flustered, and seeing Zhang Cheng restricting himself everywhere, he couldn't help feeling resentful for a while, but as time went by, his desire to fight was not as eager as before.

Looking back and thinking about it, I found that Zhang Cheng's words hit the point every time. His military strategy seems to be superior to the generals in Liaodong.

Because of this, his mind became alive again, thinking about how he should get along with Zhang Cheng, whether he still respected him as before, and it didn't even matter if he fawned on him occasionally.

At this time, I heard Zhang Cheng say eloquently: "The captives have been besieging Jin for more than a year, but they haven't broken the city. They have to break it, but they don't want to break it! At the beginning of the month, when we were fighting with the slaves, their guns roared. There are tens of thousands of troops, and only Chen Zongbing's Shenji Battalion can suppress them, as you all have seen.

Now, on the opposite side of our army, there are tens of thousands of captives stationed. If they are just trying to plot Jinzhou City, why wait until today? "

He took a cursory glance at the people in the hall, saw that most of them looked like they were in deep thought, and then continued: "Everyone didn't see you, but now I know that my master Wang has arrived in Songshan, not only the captive chieftain Hong Taiqin, but also the whole country mobilized All men over the age of 15 gathered around Jinzhou.

It can be seen from this that the plan of the captives is not the commander-in-chief of Jinzhou ancestors, but their intention is to help the king of Liao. From now on, there is no power to stop his iron hooves. "

He went on to say: "Judging from the current situation, as long as our army is still there, the captives will not really attack Jinzhou, and they will keep Jinzhou as bait to hang my tens of thousands of troops on the front line of Songjin." .

And if we are defeated by the captives and there is no reinforcements to restrain us, not to mention that Jinzhou will be destroyed overnight, even the pine, apricot, high, and pagoda castles behind us will not be spared!

At that time, there was no danger to defend the land outside the pass, and our Ming defense line had to retreat to Shanhaiguan. "

In the main hall of Governor Xingyuan, all the officials and generals looked at Zhang Cheng and talked about it, and what he said was all insightful, and they couldn't help but show admiration.

It seems that Zhang Cheng was able to rise rapidly from a small general manager to where he is today. Now it seems that it is by no means a fluke. Only Ma Ke, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, saw that Zhang Cheng was once again in the limelight, and his jealousy soared.

At this time, Zhang Cheng said again: "All the signs are already obvious. The thieves used the strategy of besieging the city and fighting for reinforcements. Now that our army is standing still, the thieves dare not really attack Jinzhou City.

And if our army advances in a hurry, the captives will even pretend to be defeated in order to lure us to pursue, so as to find a gap to intercept and kill our army, or take advantage of the opportunity of defense to attack our army's rear with surprise soldiers. "

"If this is the case, our army is in danger!"

Wu Sangui exclaimed: "The captives are really vicious!"

Zhang Cheng said with a smile: "General Chang Bo has been in Liao Town for a long time, so I know the captive chieftain Hong Tai far better than Cheng. Do you think what I said makes sense?"

Wu Sangui was asked such a question by Zhang Cheng, and he answered immediately: "The captives are always treacherous and cunning, what General Zhang said, you really have to worry about it!"

After hearing Wu Sangui's answer, everyone was stunned, and no one spoke, Ma Ke couldn't help but sneered again: "What is Zhang Zongbing doing to entertain me?
According to what you said, is it possible that we can break the siege of Jinzhou by sitting outside Songshan City and eating free food all day long? "

He giggled and said, "Could it be that Zongbing Zhang thinks that the 10,000+ army in Songshan are all private soldiers of Erxuan Mansion, but they can't be manipulated by you?
If Jinzhou falls into the hands of thieves because of this, can you bear this heavy responsibility? "

Zhang Cheng was furious immediately, and shouted violently: "Presumptuous!"

He came out more and more, raised his finger to Ma Ke's nose, and shouted angrily: "I, Zhang Cheng, plan for the country with all my heart, how can I allow you, a treacherous villain, to slander at will?"

His eyes were cold, and he said in a cold tone: "Several times, cynicism, against me, Ma Zongbing, what do you want to do?"

Zhang Cheng's sudden outburst caught Ma Ke by surprise, and Zhang Cheng's merciless questioning made him unable to get off the stage in front of everyone.

Ma Ke's face turned blue for a while, and turned pale for a while. It was only at this moment that he suddenly realized that what he had done just now was really a big mistake. It’s just a matter of fact.”

"A matter of fact? Is this the attitude of a matter of fact?"

With one hand on his back, Zhang Cheng pressed towards Ma Ke step by step, and asked coldly: "I know, you have been dissatisfied with me for a long time. Is it because you stole Rufeng Mountain but failed to win the first prize, and even repeatedly The work has not yet been determined, so you are jealous of us?
You see that I am temporarily serving as the chief soldier of the Xuan Mansion, and you envy me for taking charge of the soldiers and horses of Xuan Town, but you have not gained anything, so you feel resentful, don't you? "

Zhang Cheng forced him to take a step forward, and Ma Ke took a step back. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, and the cold murderous aura on Zhang Cheng's body made him almost out of breath.

"Today's military discussion, everyone should speak freely. You don't have a strategy, but you talk sarcasticly and ridicule me many times. What is your intention?"

(End of this chapter)