As for Zhang Degui and Shen Zhixiang, their faces were full of solemnity for a moment.

The two of them also roughly guessed Yang Zhen's intention, and knew that Yang Zhen could no longer bear it and was preparing for the Northern Expedition to clear the captives.

However, they were not at all surprised or excited about the massive use of troops against the Qing captives in April or May next year.

In their view, the Qinglu were not from the imperial court, nor were the Qinglu the Japanese slaves. The Qinglu were strong and not easy to fight.

Although the strength of both sides has been ebbing and flowing in the past two years, Qinglu's strength is no longer as good as before, and Jinhaizhen's strength has increased significantly, but if they really have to face a head-on confrontation, they can't help but worry about what might happen.

Because in the past ten years of fighting against the Qing Dynasty, they could hardly find a few true head-on victories.

In the previous battles against the Qing Dynasty, Yang Zhen did win several times, but every victory was a type of avoiding the real and attacking the weak, and it was either a sneak attack or an ambush. Basically, he had never defeated the two armies against each other.

array.

The two limited head-to-head confrontations, such as the Songshan Defense Battle and the Zhenjiang Fort Defense Battle, were both of a type where the enemy attacked and we defended, and our own army used solid fortifications to defend.

There is a big difference between offense and defense. When the army is defending, there are fortifications to rely on, so the morale of the army is naturally different.

Once the self-army changes roles and becomes the attacking party, and the Qingqi becomes the defensive party, it is difficult to predict what the outcome will be.

At least in the eyes of Zhang Degui and Shen Zhixiang, who have spent half their lives in the military, the outcome is still unknown.

"As for the large-scale use of troops in April and May next year, I would like to ask the governor to think twice before proceeding!"

Zhang Degui and Shen Zhixiang hesitated for a moment, looked at each other, and finally stood up together, bowed and clasped their fists at Yang Zhen and said so.

Especially Zhang Degui, after finishing these words, he went further and said:

"In the past two years, under the command of the governor, our Jinhai Town has expanded the land, divided the fields, and recruited people to settle the land. Now we have no worries about food and grass, and our strength has greatly increased. It is indeed different from what it used to be.

"But the strength of the Qing captives is not comparable to that of the Chao people or the Japanese slaves. As the saying goes, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. If there is a sudden decisive battle, if there is a mistake, all the previous achievements will be wasted."

"Haha, don't worry. Of course I will think twice about the Northern Expedition to clear out the captives. If I am not sure of victory, I will never easily send troops to the north."

Everyone's reaction just now naturally fell in Yang Zhen's eyes.

Yang Zhen can naturally imagine the things behind each person's different performances.

The current situation in Jinhai Town, such as the western Liaoning area, is even better than many areas within the pass.

By expanding the land, dividing the fields, and recruiting people for farming, Jinhai Town not only achieved a strong source of soldiers and generals, but also achieved self-sufficiency and no worries about food and grass.

Such a good situation is not easy to come by, so we must cherish it and never lose everything because of one careless move.

And the more someone cherishes the hard-won good situation in front of him, the less he wants Yang Zhen to take any risks.

He can completely understand this.

However, as of today, the situation within the customs is corrupt, and he has already returned from the Eastern Expedition. If he simply lives on, he won't be able to survive.

At first, he felt very guilty.

Secondly, Emperor Chongzhen would not let him stay in Jinhai Town.

By the fifteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, Yang Zhen had to either take the initiative or be passive to expedition to the north to suppress the Qing bandits, or he had to take the initiative or be passive to go south to suppress the bandits.

In Yang Zhen's opinion, one of the two must be one.

Because by the fifteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, the Ming Dynasty could be said to have reached a critical moment of life and death, and there was no way for him to completely stay out of the matter and sit back and watch the fight between tigers and tigers.

In fact, he began to think seriously about these things on the sea voyage back to Yingzhou Island from Yindu Island.

For him, if he had to make a choice between the northern expedition against the Qing captives and the southward pursuit of the rebels, he would prefer the northern expedition to the northern Qing captives rather than leading his troops across the sea to go south to pursue the southern rebels.

Because once he led his army across the sea and went south to chase down the bandits, no matter whether the bandits could be wiped out or not, he would first give the Qing captives a chance to breathe, or even another opportunity for the snipe and the clam to compete with each other for profit.

This is an ending that Yang Zhen never wants to see.

In the past, Yang Zhen didn't want to see the Songjin decisive battle take place as scheduled in history because he was not strong enough.

Once it goes on as scheduled, he can't change the outcome of the Songjin decisive battle at all.

But now, the situation is completely different, and Yang Zhen is no longer worried about the decisive battle between Song and Jin.

Moreover, he firmly believed that even if he personally triggered the decisive battle of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the trend of this decisive battle would never be the same as in history.

Because of the strength of his Jinhai Town and the Denglai Town of the rear area that he also commanded, the original balance of power between the two sides in the Ming and Qing decisive battles in history has been changed.

Under this new situation, Yang Zhen no longer worried about the all-round frontal hardening with the Qing Dynasty in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen.

Of course, even so, Yang Zhen also knows the importance of strategy.

Therefore, facing the doubts of Zhang Degui, Shen Zhixiang and others, Yang Zhen continued what he had said before:

"Aren't you just worried that our Jinhai Town's strength alone won't be able to shake the Eight Banners of the Qinglu on our own? Don't worry, once the Northern Expedition begins, we in Jinhai Town will never fight alone. This governor will not let such a thing happen."

"What does the governor mean?"

When Yang Zhen said this, Zhang Degui immediately asked. Fang Guangchen, Shen Zhixiang and others also looked at Yang Zhen attentively, waiting for him to continue.

"Haha, Commander Hong and the others have been stationing troops in the Ningjin area in western Liaoning for more than a year. So how long do you think the current Holy Emperor can tolerate them in the Ningjin area in western Liaoning, wasting food and salary and doing nothing?"

Hearing what Yang Zhen said, Fang Guangchen, who had already understood Yang Zhen's intentions, immediately took over the conversation, squinted his eyes, smiled, shook a folding fan, and said leisurely:

"Yes, if we had left it to the past, in order to protect the peace of the capital and prevent it from being invaded by the Qing Dynasty, the Holy Emperor might still be able to tolerate Zu Dashou, Governor Hong and the others and continue to stand still.

"But now, the Li Qingshan Rebellion in Shandong has cut off the water transportation from Jiangnan to the capital. The price of rice has soared in the capital and Shuntianfu and other places. Money and food from Jiangnan cannot enter the capital. The money and food of the imperial court are cut off. It will no longer be able to support the bottomless pit in western Liaoning.

"Therefore, by next spring at the latest, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in western Liaoning must make a choice, either to enter the pass and go south to suppress the bandits, or to go north to attack the Qing captives. No matter what, the imperial court cannot continue to tolerate their inaction!"

After returning to Lushunkou this time, Yang Zhen never took the time to summon Fang Guangchen. However, when he saw that Fang Guangchen had been involved in the Li Qingshan Rebellion in Shandong Province, he could think of the imperial court's water transportation being cut off and money and food depleted, so he nodded heavily to him.

"Fang Wenyi is right. Today, the Ming Dynasty's limited financial resources rely entirely on Jiangnan. Once the water transportation from Jiangnan to the capital is cut off, the impact will be significant. Fang Wenyi knows that autumn is coming when a leaf falls. He is indeed thoughtful.

Extraordinary experience!”

"No matter where you are, in the final analysis, the governor stands high and sees far away. The humble position is just inspired by the governor, inspired by the governor!"

In response to Yang Zhen's public praise, Fang Guangchen quickly smiled and gave in.

But the smile on his face had already shown that he was very grateful for Yang Zhen's affirmation.

In the past, when Yang Zhen was in his early years, Fang Guangchen and Yang Zhen were on equal terms with each other, and were even vaguely superior to Yang Zhen.

Later, Yang Zhen became the commander-in-chief, and he became a consultant in Yang Zhen's military headquarters. In peacetime, they were still on equal terms with each other.

Even at the beginning of Jinhaizhen's rise, Yang Zhen was very close to him and generally treated him like a brother.

But now, the situation is different. Although Yang Zhen's title has not changed and he is still Jin Haibo, his strength and status are far beyond the past. Even Fang Guangchen does not dare to discuss Yang Zhen's peers with his past identity.

Handed over.

In particular, Yang Zhendong did not take him with him when he conquered the Wonu Kingdom, and he did not follow him when he was besieged at Zhenjiang Fort. As a result, he missed two significant battles in succession, and his status continued to decline.

After Yang Zhen came back this time, he did not summon him immediately as before, which made him even more worried about his status in front of Yang Zhen.

Although he was still the head of the civil service committee and civilian officials of Jinhai General Town, this had not changed, but compared to the past, Fang Guangchen felt that his status in Yang Zhen's mind had been seriously reduced.

Therefore, when he heard Yang Zhen praising his opinion in public, he felt extremely happy, and his originally uneasy heart instantly calmed down.

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However, at this moment, Li Ji, who had been silent all this time, suddenly stood up, bowed to Yang Zhen and said:

"Captain, I have just received some information, saying that the army will suppress the bandit rebellion in Li Qingshan, Shandong. They just won several victories not long ago and have surrounded the bandit army.

"There is also news that Li Qingshan and his bandit leaders have sent people to contact the government and the army, and are very likely to accept recruitment from the imperial court in the near future."

"oh?"

Faced with the two pieces of news revealed by Li Ji, the expressions of everyone present changed. Only Zhang Degui remained expressionless, apparently knowing it in advance.

And as the general manager of the assistant camp affairs office of the main town government, he really should know this information.

"Is the news reliable?"

"reliable."

"Um."

When Yang Zhen heard what Li Ji said, he didn't ask further.

After all, there were many people present, and Yang Zhen didn't want to force Li Ji to put him out and expose him.

Therefore, Yang Zhen just hummed, pursed his lips, thought for a while, and searched for Li Qingshan's death method from his past life memories. He had some idea in his mind, and finally asked:

"Who is the official who presided over the suppression of the rebellion in Shandong?"

"When I came back to the governor, it was Zhang Guowei, the right servant of the Ministry of War! It is said that Zhang Shilang followed the wishes of his chief assistant, Mr. Zhou Ge, and advocated for the recruitment."

"Haha, call for peace, call for peace. Civil servants like to call for peace, but they are worried that their generals will become powerful because of their military exploits. However, the civil and military affairs of the country have been at odds for a long time. Mr. Zhang Shilang wants to recruit peace, but he can't think of using weapons. However, his generals,
Chapter completed!