Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 23
Mrs. Xing was originally Li Zicheng's concubine. She was very shrewd and capable in managing the accounts of the camp for the Chuang army. Later, because Li Zicheng was away fighting all the year round, she fell in love with Gao Jie, who was in charge of the Chuang army's logistics at that time, and defected to the Chuang camp with him. Daming.

Mrs. Xing is not only beautiful, but also very intelligent. She has always been Gao Jie's virtuous helper. Shi Kefa was able to persuade Gao Jie to lead the army to the west, and she was a part of the credit.

When Gao Jie was newly mourned, Huang Degong led the troops to annex Gao Jie's army and territory. Mrs. Xing knew that it was impossible to keep Gao Jie's inheritance with their orphans and widows alone, so she invited Shi Kefa to make the decision.

As Huang Degong's army approached Xuzhou, Gao Jie's men, who were originally fighting with each other, also realized that the real threat came from outside, so they temporarily gave up their entanglements with each other and chose to unite to the outside world.

Mrs. Xing took the opportunity to gather everyone together to discuss countermeasures.

Mrs. Xing and Gao Yuanzhao sat at the top of Xingping Bofu in Xuzhou City, followed by Shi Kefa. The rest were Gao Jie's main followers, Li Benshen, Li Chengdong, Hu Maozhen and others. side.

"Shi Ge Department, Huang Degong ignored his concubine's husband's new funeral and sent troops here to bully his concubine's orphans and widowed mothers. You have to decide for us!" Mrs. Xing covered her face and sobbed, making people feel that she was really wronged.

Shi Kefa was depressed because of the complete failure of his western expedition plan. He was in his 40s, his head was covered with white silk, and there was a trace of bitterness on his thin face. "Uncle Xingping died because of me, so I will naturally be the master for your mother and son. If Huang Jingnan comes, I will personally go and tell him to return to the south!"

Although Shi Kefa can't command the four towns, he must be the supervisor in the Ming Dynasty and the Jiangbei town official of the Ming Dynasty. Huang Degong should give some face.Hearing that he was willing to persuade, Mrs. Xing felt relieved.

In fact, among the four towns, Gao Jie's troops were the strongest. Although Gao Jie died, his soldiers and horses were not lost. As long as everyone is united, they will not be afraid of Huang Degong coming.

It's just that Gao Yuanzhao is young and lacks prestige, so Mrs. Xing has to rely on Shi Kefa, but even if Huang Degong retires this time, what should he do in the future?

"My concubine thanked the Ministry of Justice for upholding justice!" Mrs. Xing stood up and gave Shi Kefa a slight salute, and then said: "However, my concubine's husband died early, what should happen to Xingping uncle's mansion in the future, what should Xuzhou and Sizhou do? How about it, the cabinet has the will of the court."

Shi Kefa has always advocated the strategy of uniting the captives and destroying the thieves, and made peace with the Qing court. Now the peace has been shattered, but he has no way to deal with it.

"I will invite the imperial court to make Yuanzhao the son of Xingping." Shi Kefa had no choice but to comfort him: "Li Benshen can be the admiral, Hu Maozhen will be the standard of the Zhongjun Pavilion, and Li Chengdong will be the general soldier of Xuzhou. You can return to your duties , to protect peace in Xuzhou."

Li Chengdong and others originally wanted to compete for the seat left by Gao Jie, but among the several commanders, most of them were evenly matched, and no one could persuade the other.

Now that they heard about Shi Kefa's arrangement, they had no choice but to acquiesce, and they didn't raise any objections immediately. Of course, they would not feel any gratitude, because this is what they have now, and Shi Kefa just finalized his name.

According to Shi Kefa, everything is business as usual, and there are no new changes, but the rights left by Gao Jie after his death are distributed.

This made Mrs. Xing, who was worried that Gao Yuanzhao was young and unable to subdue many veterans, very worried, and could not help frowning.

Wang Yan stood aside and listened to the conversations of the people, observed the faces of the people, and at the same time considered the current situation.

He suddenly discovered that with Gao Jie's death, it actually provided Shi Kefa with an opportunity to change the situation of mercenaries in the four towns in Jiangbei who respected themselves and disrespected orders.

If Shi Kefa can be helped to gain the support of Gao Jie's department, and if he can command more than 5 elite soldiers of Gao Jie's department, he can command the other three towns with force, then Shi Kefa's name of Jiangbei governor will be worthy of his name in no time.

At this time, the possibility of talking with the Qing court has been cut off. Shi Kefa can only change his strategy to fight against the Qing. He can get a town of soldiers and horses as his backing.

At this time, Wang Yan saw Mrs. Xing's worried face again, and after a little thought, he understood her concerns. Wang Yan couldn't help but have a plan in his heart, which can help Shi Kefa control the army, and also make Gao Jie's troops feel at ease, and continue to serve Daming .

"Gebu, Mrs. Xing!" Wang Yan got a good idea, excited in his heart, immediately walked from the side to the middle of the living room, bowed to everyone sitting in the hall, and then said: "The general has an idea in his mind, I don't know what to do. Improper speaking!"

"Who are you?" Shi Kefa obviously disliked Wang Yan's abruptness, and frowned slightly.

"This is the hero who killed Xu thief, Wang Yan, Wang Shiheng!" Mrs. Xing had a good impression of Wang Yan, and immediately said: "Shiheng, you can speak directly if you have something to say."

Xu Dingguo ruined Shi Kefa's important event, Shi Kefa hated him deeply, and heard that Wang Yan defeated Xu Jun and punished Xu Dingguo's people, so he didn't say anything at the moment.

"The last general heard that there is no son in the cabinet, so why not accept the son as a adopted son, so as to comfort the army!" Wang Yan saluted Shi Kefa again, expressing his thoughts.

Mrs. Xing was overjoyed when she heard that, the faction of the Ming Dynasty was fierce, if no one took care of it, Uncle Xingping's mansion would be subject to many constraints in the future, if Gao Yuan could recognize Shi Kefa as foster father, then his mother and son would have a happy life in the court Rely on, and can rely on Shi Kefa's identity to persuade Li Chengdong and others.

After hearing this, many high-level generals secretly felt that it was reasonable.

Gao Jie's death made Xuzhou Town a fat in the eyes of others. Naturally, everyone was unwilling, and other forces entered Xuzhou to rob them of their interests.

Now that the Shi Ge Department has established Gao Yuanzhao as the eldest son, it is difficult for them to fight anymore. The internal problem has been solved, but the external problem is still there.

If Shi Gebu could become the adoptive father of their lord, then the other three towns would not dare to bother them again, so as to ensure that their interests would not be violated. Li Chengdong and others could not wait to applaud Wang Yan's plan immediately.

Seeing that everyone showed more or less approval on their faces, Wang Yan couldn't help but feel that his strategy was recognized, and he was also very happy at the moment.

"Although this pavilion is the governor of Jiangbei, sooner or later he will have to re-enter the court, and he must not tie up with foreign ministers. I don't think it's right! It's not right!" Just when Wang Yan thought it was a plan, Shi Kefa did not expect Shi Kefa to evade. .

Wang Yan and everyone couldn't help but be taken aback when they heard this!No matter how you look at it, this is a great thing that is beneficial to both families. Couldn't Shi Kefa see that this is the best time for him to seize military power?

Wang Yan hadn't recovered from his astonishment, but Shi Kefa said something even more jaw-dropping.

"Although I can't make it, I can let Yuan Zhao worship Gao Qi as his adopted son." Shi Kefa probably felt that his refusal would make Gao Bu feel bad, so he wanted to comfort him.

Who is High Dive?Admiral, the eunuch who supervises Jiangbei's soldiers and horses!

Wang Yan's face turned pale when he heard this. Many high-level generals in the living room reacted and were filled with righteous indignation.

The generals have followed Gao Jie for many years, and they have a brotherly relationship with Gao Jie. They are Gao Yuanzhao's uncles and uncles, but now Gao Yuanzhao has inherited Gao Jie's position and has become the nominal lord of everyone.

It's fine if Shi Kefa doesn't want to, but let Gao Yuanzhao worship a eunuch as his adoptive father. Isn't this scolding all the high-ranking officers and soldiers?This is simply a naked humiliation!

Just because Gao Jie's family was a thief, your Shi Ge's family looked down on everyone so much, and everyone in Gao Jie's family in the living room was extremely chilled.

With a sound of "Pa!", Li Chengdong stood up abruptly, smashed the teacup beside the table into pieces, then glared at Shi Kefa and Wang Yan fiercely, left his seat angrily, and walked out of the living room.

The other generals in the living room followed suit and left angrily.

Mrs. Xing's face turned frosty when she heard this, and she didn't say a word.

In the originally crowded living room, only Mrs. Xing, Gao Yuanzhao, Shi Kefa and Wang Yan were left in an instant.

Wang Yan would never have imagined that things would turn out like this. Shi Kefa's words completely offended Gao Jie's troops, and Wang Yan, who had gradually integrated into Gao Jie's army, was even hated by the high officials. I couldn't help but sigh in my heart.

The angrily leaving of Gao Jie's generals also made Shi Kefa realize that he had slipped his words, but the matter has come to this point, and the water is hard to recover, and there is no point in staying, so he got up and left.

Mrs. Xing originally respected Shi Kefa very much, but now she was unwilling to even give it away, and took Gao Yuanzhao back to the back room indifferently.

Not many days later, Huang Degong's army had arrived in Xuzhou. Shi Kefa persuaded him, but he ignored it. It was not easy, so he led his troops back to the south.

After the turmoil calmed down, Shi Kefa was disheartened. Gao Jie's followers changed their attitude towards Shi Kefa, which made him unable to stay in Xuzhou, so Wang Yan led his troops to escort him south to Suqian.

Seeing that Shi Kefa was determined to return to the south, Wang Yan couldn't help feeling very anxious.At this time, there were rebels in Caozhou and other places insisting on resisting the Qing Dynasty, and there were many scholar-bureaucrats in Shandong and Henan who were interested in Daming. In addition, the main force of the Qing army was in Shaanxi, so Daming could definitely make a difference!
In February, Wang Yan and Shi Kefa arrived in Suqian, but Shi Kefa had no intention of stopping and insisted on going back to Yangzhou. Wang Yan was very anxious, so he couldn't help persuading him: "The cabinet can cross the river and return to Shandong!"

Shi Kefa didn't listen.

Wang Yan persuaded again: "That can be conquered from the west and restore Henan!"

Shi Kefa didn't listen again.

Wang Yan had no choice but to settle for the next best thing, "Don't be in a hurry to return to the south, but leave Xuzhou for a while."

Shi Kefa didn't listen again, and hurried southward with the best policy of surrendering Yangzhou.

Outside the city of Suqian, watching Shi Kefa's team returning from the south slowly disappearing into the sky, Wang Yan felt a chill in his heart.

"There were rumors from left and right that made the public fearful, so they withdrew their camp and retreated to Yangzhou. The righteous men in Lianghe were disheartened, and wept that Panyuan Gong would not stay here!"

　Please have the audacity to comment, comment, comment, and say important things three times.

　　The author is a bit confused about the direction and needs everyone's advice.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)