Chapter 1149: Shifting the blame
"What do you mean, Mr. Liao, let the matter of Fushan Copper Mine just go away?" Zheng Fan became a little anxious when he heard this statement. He paid for the military to send troops to deal with the Haihan people, not for charity, but because he wanted to He seizes the copper mines to obtain rewards. Now that he sees that the Ming army is showing signs of quitting and the cost has not yet been recovered, he is naturally unwilling to let go.
"Why can't the matter be ignored?" Liao Jie said with a serious face: "The Haihan people disobeyed the government's orders first, killed and injured the government soldiers later, occupied the government-run mines, and trafficked the people of the Ming Dynasty. These are all serious crimes of beheading, and they will not be killed if they are not killed." How can the capture and severe punishment of the bandit leader calm the hearts of people in Dengzhou? However, it can be seen from this battle that the opponent is not weak in combat and is also prepared for our military's actions. Acting rashly may not necessarily lead to victory. It must be carefully planned. Only then can we send troops to suppress it again.”
Zheng Fan felt a little relieved after hearing Liao Jie's statement. However, the prefect Chen Zhongsheng had been involved in official circles for a long time, but he could tell that most of Liao Jie's statements were just official talk. He accused the Haihan people of so many crimes, but he did not mention that they would be wiped out or expelled from Dengzhou. He only mentioned a small goal of "capturing the bandit leader", which Chen Zhongsheng thought was insignificant. It's not convincing. When the time comes and I really can't deal with the Haihan people, I just grab a few scapegoats from Dengzhou Prison and chop their heads. This will fool outsiders like Zheng Fan.
"Master Liao, if I understand correctly, you mean to wait until spring before taking action?" Chen Zhongsheng asked unhurriedly.
Liao Jie nodded and responded: "Now that winter is approaching, Fushan County is very short of supplies and food, making it difficult to support a large army in combat. If we send a large army to conquer Haihan, it will be more troublesome if there is snow during the battle. I think that we will wait until The risk will be much smaller if we start after spring.”
"Then if the Haihan people take the opportunity to cause trouble in the local area, does Mr. Liao have any countermeasures?" Chen Zhongsheng became a little angry when he heard that Liao Jie's words were full of excuses. When Liao Jie came to persuade him to take action, he patted his chest and vowed that he could deal with his opponent quickly and would not cause other troubles. But now the situation in Fushan County is obviously out of control, and the military plans to Leave this mess aside for now. If something bad happened next, it would be him, the local official, who would be unlucky first, not Liao Jie, who was temporarily transferred to Dengzhou to assume military command.
Liao Jie said seriously: "Mr. Chen, the government offices and garrison troops in Fushan County are still there, and they have not asked for help from Dengzhou City. This shows that the local situation has not deteriorated to the point of being uncontrollable, so why are you so anxious?" ? If Haihan really wants to cause trouble locally, it won’t be too late for us to try to rescue him. ”
Chen Zhongsheng listened to him going around and around, but he couldn't come up with a practical plan. He had no interest in continuing the discussion at the moment, so he snorted coldly and served tea to see the guests off. After Zheng Fan came forward to send Liao Jie and Guo Xingning away, he quickly returned to the study and asked Chen Zhongsheng for advice.
"Eight of Liao Jie's ten sentences are unreliable. How could you ask him to cooperate?" Chen Zhongsheng was furious when he saw his brother-in-law. He pointed at Zheng Fan and cursed: "Now you have implicated me in this." , do you know how big the trouble is?”
Zheng Fan did not dare to refute at the moment. He also knew that the matter was already in trouble. Liao Jie's promise beforehand had not been fulfilled, and all the money and materials he had invested before had been wasted. inside. Now that the military has suffered this loss and cannot come up with an effective response, it also puts Chen Zhongsheng, the prefect, in a very embarrassing situation.
Zheng Fan responded cautiously: "Although the Haihan people have a tough attitude, judging from their past words and deeds, they are not extremely evil people. Maybe there is room for maneuver in this matter."
Chen Zhongsheng didn't listen to this consolation. He couldn't help but slapped the table when he heard it: "Guo Xingning's troops were killed in half in Fushan County. Isn't this heinous enough? Do you know how many soldiers died in the year after the rebellion in Dengzhou was put down?" ? Less than one-tenth of those who died in Fushan County this time! The Haihan people have already set up a trap in Fushan County for Liao Jie and others to step into. Do you still think they have good intentions?"
Zheng Fan murmured: "Didn't Master Guo say that he also killed many Haihan people? I guess the defeat was just because of his command error before the battle, right?"
"You believe whatever he says. You deserve to be deceived by them!" Chen Zhongsheng pointed out to Zheng Fan with hatred: "Guo Xingning's men abandoned their helmets and armor when they came back. Many people fled back empty-handed. Guo Xingning He lost all his mounts, flags, and sidearms. He waited outside the city for someone to send him out before regrouping and entering the city. Guo Xingning himself was not injured. You still believe that he fought to the death with the Haihan people. Field, are you stupid?”
This information was reported to Chen Zhongsheng, but Zheng Fan did not know all of it. However, he also went to the city gate to greet the Ming army who had returned "triumphantly" after carrying out the task of suppressing bandits, so he took Guo Xingning's situation into account. Now that I think about it carefully, I can see that apart from Guo Xingning looking a little embarrassed and mentally exhausted, there is indeed no injury on his body. If it was true, as he said, that he retreated due to lack of troops after a hard battle with the Haihan people, then perhaps it should be reflected in more details. When Guo Xingning appeared in Dengzhou City, he obviously did not handle these details well.
Zheng Fan was able to make a fortune by doing business, and his mind was naturally not bad. Once he woke up, he quickly recalled many details that he had not noticed before. Of course, what kind of situation Guo Xingning's troops encountered in Fushan County is not a difficult secret for Zheng Fan. He only needs to go back and send people to find Guo Xingning's soldiers and spend money to find out. The truth is revealed. However, after listening to the advice from his brother-in-law Chen Zhongsheng, Zheng Fan actually believed it.
"Does Master Liao just want to regret it and just let it go?" Zheng Fan asked hurriedly. Although he had asked Liao Jie this question in person just now, he now knew that the military was not entirely on the same page as him and Chen Zhongsheng, and he was now a little worried that his investment would be lost.
"That's not necessarily the case..." Chen Zhongsheng responded, twisting his beard: "If we can seize that copper mine, it will be of great benefit to Liao Jie and the others. Although they lost some people this time, they can still cover the lid. As long as there is no trouble in Shandong Dusi, there will be no trouble. Another point is that I think Liao Jie seems to have an old grudge against the Haihan people. He has mentioned it to me many times before this incident, saying that the Haihan people settling in Dengzhou is a hidden danger. It was necessary to expel them as soon as possible, but at that time, the Haihan people had just assisted the government in catching the bandit leader Wan Meng, which prevented me from seeing their true identity for a while and allowed them to settle down on Zhifu Island. "
Zheng Fan said: "I know a little bit about the old grudge between Liao Jie and the Haihan people. Liao Jie had mentioned to me before that he had an elder brother who was on duty in Zhejiang, and he didn't get along well with the Haihan people. This year he was in Hangzhou city A whole family of children disappeared for no reason, and Liao Jie always suspected that the matter was related to the Haihan people."
"That's it!" Chen Zhongsheng nodded and said: "Liao Jie had objected to allowing the Haihan people to enter Dengzhou earlier, which makes sense. But since there is an old grudge, he probably won't let it go. He said before that he would wait until spring. It's not unreasonable to take action, but there are many untruths in his words. I'm afraid he doesn't have much confidence in expelling Haihan."
Zheng Fan asked again: "Then if Lord Liao will send troops to attack Haihan after the spring, should I still participate?"
Chen Zhongsheng raised his head and stared at Zheng Fan. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Letting this Haihan stay in Fushan County is a hidden danger after all. Even if there is no copper mine, we have to find a way to expel him from Dengzhou. If Liao Jie We still need to take the next step, and you can also provide some appropriate funding, but don’t invest too much... In short, I am not very optimistic about his leadership in this matter.”
Zheng Fan quickly asked: "But what's the inside information?" Chen Zhongsheng shook his head and said: "I can't tell you the inside information... In fact, you should have said that the Haihan people have already connected with Dongjiang Town."
Zheng Fan responded: "I heard that people came from Dongjiang Town and went to Qishan Qianhu to work as lobbyists for the Haihan people, hoping to persuade Lord Shangguan to evacuate the place."
Chen Zhongsheng asked: "Then have you ever thought about it, Dongjiang Town is clearly under the jurisdiction of Shandong Capital, why does it not cooperate with me in Dengzhou Prefecture, but instead colludes with the Haihan people?"
Zheng Fan guessed: "Could it be that... the conditions that the Haihan people can provide to Dongjiang Town are far better than those of Dengzhou Prefecture?"
Chen Zhongsheng nodded slightly and said, "Then do you know what Dongjiang Town needs most right now?"
"Well, of course I know this!" Zheng Fan immediately responded: "This year, more than half of the military rations raised by Dongjiang Town in the Jiaodong Peninsula were handled by me. It's just that the demand in Dongjiang Town is huge, and I can’t get enough money, so I can only buy some old brown rice bran, which is an unprofitable business. I heard that cloth, iron materials, and medicinal materials are also in great demand in Dongjiang Town.”
Chen Zhongsheng said: "The area under the jurisdiction of Dongjiang Town does not have many products, and many things have to be supplied by Shandong. The imperial court has always wanted to abolish the establishment of Dongjiang Town, so they will not be given much relief in terms of military expenditures. The imperial court has allocated only a few The cost of a thousand soldiers, but Dongjiang Town also supports tens of thousands of people who escaped from Liaodong. How do you think they can get enough money to buy food and supplies? "
Zheng Fan sighed and then suddenly realized: "So they hooked up with the Haihan people because the Haihan people could provide them with food and supplies?"
Chen Zhongsheng said: "Although there is no concrete evidence yet, the facts should not be too different. If you think about it, the Haihan people are based in the south. They are actually able to build a stronghold in Dengzhou and recruit a large number of refugees in Fushan County. Effective. I have been in Dengzhou for more than two months, and I have never heard of them buying large quantities of food and other supplies from the local area. What does this mean? This means that they are fully capable of transporting food and supplies from the south to supply them in Dengzhou. He came to Dongjiang Town to take advantage of the benefits given by Haihan, so he came forward to negotiate with Qishan Qianhu.”
Zheng Fan wondered: "But Dongjiang Town does not have enough financial resources to buy what they need. Haihan people are also businessmen. Are they so bold to sell to Dongjiang Town on credit?"
"You also know that they are businessmen, but when businessmen do business, do they get all the rewards in cash?" Chen Zhongsheng pointed out: "The business you and Liao Jie discussed is the same."
Zheng Fan suddenly realized: "Presumably Dongjiang Town also promised Haihan some shady conditions in exchange for the food and materials provided by Haihan. But in this case, isn't Dongjiang Town's move the same as treason?"
Chen Zhongsheng sneered and said: "Although Dongjiang Town is under the jurisdiction of the Shandong Capital Division, it has long been its own group and does not listen to the orders here at all. Apart from asking for money, food and soldiers, what else have they done? Last year, the Kong thieves were defeated and defected. In Liaodong, Dongjiang Town failed to intercept the rebels at Lushunkou and let them escape to the slave territory. That was fine. Later, the rebels led troops south to capture Lushun. Even the commander-in-chief Huang Long was defeated and committed suicide. This How incompetent! Last year, Shang Kexi, the deputy general of Dongjiang Town, took more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians under his command, and took all the warships, ordnance and supplies across the sea to defect to Jiannu. How many people do you think are still available in Dongjiang Town? It would be better to get rid of him as soon as possible if he is left overseas to waste the imperial money and money!”
Zheng Fan didn't have an official position and didn't dare to discuss political affairs. At the moment, he could only follow Chen Zhongsheng's wishes, but he was a little confused in his heart. He thought that the Ming army in Dongjiang Town didn't even have enough to eat. He still has the ability to fight against Jiannu. I just don’t know what is there about Dongjiang Town that attracts the Haihan people, so that they are willing to spend their own money to assist Dongjiang Town.
Chen Zhongsheng continued: "Dongjiang Town is now headed by Shen Shikui. This man is also a merchant. He values profit over justice. It is hard to say whether he will betray the Ming Dynasty in order to protect himself. Since you have had business dealings with Dongjiang Town, you should find a way Go to Dongjiang Town, explore the details there, and try to find out what the Haihan people are planning to do in collusion with them.”
Zheng Fan said with a grimace: "Isn't this... I'm afraid it's not appropriate? I heard Master Liao earlier that the Haihan people are so powerful at sea. If they find out, I, Zheng's Ship Company, will probably not be able to sail out to sea in the future." ”
Chen Zhongsheng scolded: "You think Haihan people are stupid, can't they find out your details? Guo Xingning's soldiers and horses were spotted by Haihan people before they left the city. If there were no Haihan spies in Dengzhou city, I would have my head chopped off. Come down and use it as a stool for you! The fact that you paid to send troops has probably reached the ears of the Haihan people. Don’t have any more luck!”
Zheng Fan complained endlessly: "If this is the case, wouldn't it be very dangerous to go to Dongjiang Town to inquire about information? Brother, don't push the younger brother into the pit of fire!"
"You can actually do business with your brain, I'm convinced!" Chen Zhongsheng could only teach him patiently: "Everyone in Haihan can negotiate terms with Dongjiang Town, can't you go and negotiate? Even if you can't reach an agreement with Dongjiang Town, you can't change it. Should the target talk to the Haihan people directly? ”
(End of chapter)