Chapter 1150 Everyone does his own thing

Zheng Fan couldn't react for a while: "Brother, didn't you just say that we would try to expel the Haihan people from Dengzhou, so why do we need to negotiate with them again?"

Chen Zhongsheng said: "Now that Fushan County has fallen under the control of Haihan, Liao Jie and his gang will not take action until spring begins. In the next few months, they must find some way to stabilize the Haihan people. If they really want to board the

If there is chaos in the state, your brother and I will be the first to suffer!"

Zheng Fan thought it was reasonable, and then asked: "Then if the Haihan people put forward some unreasonable conditions, such as the ownership of the Fushan Copper Mine, how should we deal with it?"

Chen Zhongsheng hesitated for a moment before responding: "You can explore the possibility of cooperation with him in your private capacity, but you cannot make any commitments to him on behalf of the government!"

Zheng Fan understood as soon as he heard that Chen Zhongsheng wanted to stabilize the Haihan people while leaving a foreshadowing for the future rebellion. Let him stabilize the Haihan people in his own name. When the time is right, he can announce it openly with an official document.

Nationalize the copper mines. Of course, this time the official document was sent out and it didn't work at all. Whether this measure can have the desired effect next time will ultimately depend on whether the Ming army performs well.

But it is not as easy as Chen Zhongsheng said to handle this kind of thing in detail. You can talk at the top and break your legs at the bottom. To handle this matter well, you not only have to break your legs, but you also have to cross the sea to Dongjiang Town and get there.

Dealing with the Ming army, which was not very constrained by the Ming Dynasty, would even require subsequent contact with the Haihan people. These matters were too involved, and Zheng Fan could not trust his subordinates to handle them, so he had to take action himself.

If it were someone else, there would probably be a chance to give up the job. At worst, the money invested earlier would be wasted. But Zheng Fan had no choice. The main reason why he was able to prosper in Dengzhou was that he had

His elder brother-in-law, Chen Zhongsheng, is the prefect's backer. If Dengzhou falls into chaos again due to the arrival of the Haihan people, and Chen Zhongsheng's official position is affected, then Zheng Fan will no longer be able to easily control various business resources in the future.

Of course, Zheng Fan is not the most difficult person in Dengzhou City currently. The Dengzhou garrison had just suffered a defeat and now they still have to deal with the headache of cleaning up the mess.

After checking and counting, Guo Xingning's troops lost a total of 473 people in the two-day battle with the Haihan people, including dead, wounded and captured personnel who were unable to withdraw with the army to Dengzhou City, including ten officers at all levels.

After Kong Youde defected to Liaodong, this was the military operation with the most serious losses for the Dengzhou garrison.

As the commander of the Shandong Dusi stationed in Dengzhou, the operation planned by Liao Jie was a complete failure. Not only did it fail to achieve the military objectives set in advance, but it also resulted in the loss of troops and generals. If Guo Xingning hadn't seen the opportunity early and acted decisively,

If you choose to evacuate the battlefield, the consequences may be even more disastrous.

Regarding this operation, Liao Jie did not report to the Shandong Dusi in advance because he was too big. Unexpectedly, he was severely tricked by the Haihan people. Now he has to cover the lid tightly for his opponent, and he cannot let the defeated

If the news spreads, otherwise the superiors will investigate the matter, he will inevitably be charged with "unwanted use of weapons and incompetent command". Therefore, Guo Xingning's troops were defeated and fled back to Dengzhou City. Instead of being punished, he was in the name of "paying a fee and making a triumphant return".

Entering the city gloriously.

But the disaster this time was not something that could be completely covered up by just making a superficial show when entering the city. Guo Xingning's men actually killed hundreds of people, and almost all the ordnance and supplies that his troops carried when they went on an expedition were lost in the process of escaping.

Abandoned, in order to retain the establishment of this army, it is necessary to replenish the manpower and prepare all the required ordnance. While doing these things, we must also issue a silence order to the group of people who have successfully escaped from the battlefield.

, providing compensation to those who died in battle and those who were captured can effectively block the news and prevent the matter from getting too big to end.

Whether it is manpower, ordnance or pensions, it is impossible to fall from the sky, but to spend real money to be effective. As for who will pay for the money, this is a huge problem for the Dengzhou garrison.

"Sir, it will take at least 20,000 taels of silver to clean up the follow-up. What...what should we do?" After Guo Xingning made some calculations, he informed Liao Jie of the result with a gloomy face.

Depending on the level of the military, the pensions for these more than 400 to 500 people will cost nearly 10,000 taels of silver, and the sealing fees for the remaining few hundred people will total 2,000 to 3,000 taels. In addition, the army will be recruited again and weapons, armors and other ordnance will be distributed.

, no matter how much you save, you still need to spend ten thousand taels of silver. The twenty thousand taels Guo Xingning said is already a very conservative amount. In actual practice, it is estimated that 25,000 taels will not be enough.

Liao Jie said with a dark face: "Ask me, who can I ask? Are you going to report to the Dusi Yamen that the Dengzhou garrison was defeated by a group of foreign merchants? I'm afraid that if the money doesn't come back, our official positions will be ruined."

Just throw it away first! You should try your best to put down the required amount of silver first, and then you can slowly think of a solution later!"

What Liao Jie said about finding a way is to gradually extract this part of the money from military expenditures in the future through over-reporting, false reporting, short-term pay, etc. In theory, as long as Guo Xingning's establishment is still there, sooner or later it will be possible

This cost was recovered.

However, Guo Xingning did not agree with the method proposed by Liao Jie, and still complained: "Master Liao, twenty thousand taels of silver is not a small amount, how can I raise it in a short time!"

Liao Jie picked up the tea cup on the table, took a sip slowly, and said calmly: "Mr. Guo, you have gained a lot of benefits from the place during the more than a year since you were transferred to Dengzhou. Now you can use it properly."

When it comes to money, you won’t be too stingy!”

Ming troops like Guo Xingning who were transferred from other places during the Denglai Rebellion were not much worse than Kong Youde's rebels in plundering the place after the war. More than half of the people who chose to flee south after the war were actually

It was because they couldn't stand the oppression of these foreign Ming troops and were disappointed with the government's performance after putting down the rebellion that they left their homes. Liao Jie, Guo Xingning, and Shangguanye, a group of officers who were assigned to garrison in Dengzhou, more or less

In this way, a fortune was extracted from the people.

Guo Xingning saw that Liao Jie had said everything, so he had no choice but to complain: "A humble job can only get you five thousand taels of silver."

Liao Jie coughed dryly and said: "Five thousand taels of silver? It's not even enough to pay a pension... How about this? After this matter is over, you can go to Chengshan Guard or Weihai Guard to garrison. Those border guards are short of major generals.

You can just go and strengthen the local defense against Haihan."

When Guo Xingning heard this, he cursed secretly in his heart. Wasn't this the plan to send him the same way as Shangguanye? Shangguanye's troops suffered heavy casualties in the battle to attack Dengzhou, and they never obtained enough military spending after the war.

To carry out reconstruction, although Shangguanye holds the title of general, the troops at his disposal can only be maintained at the general level.

Liao Jie sent Shangguan Ye to Qishan Qianhu Station for two main reasons. The first was because his official position was high enough and he could control the situation by stationing there. The second was that the troops he led were not strong enough.

If there are many, stationing there will not add too much burden to Qishan, nor will it cause too strong a reaction from the Haihan people. But now Guo Xingning's situation is similar to that of Shangguanye. The strength of his troops has been reduced by half, and his morale is even worse.

He was deeply shocked. If Liao Jie wanted to send him to a remote guard station for a long time, there would be no need to think about turning around.

"Then... I am willing to pay eight thousand taels for this humble position!" Guo Xingning knew that his future was at stake, and he did not dare to continue to be stingy, so he could only grit his teeth and increase the amount.

Liao Jie scolded: "How can such a petty person achieve great things? Let's do this, you pay ten thousand taels, and I will find a way to slowly deduct the rest from the military expenses allocated by the capital. You first comfort your subordinates.

, don’t let things get out of hand. As for other things, we will discuss it in the long term!”

These words made Guo Xingning's mentality explode again, and he silently gave Liao Jie a warning in his heart. In order to come up with this money, he not only had to drain his entire family fortune, but also had to raise additional debts. As for Liao Jie,

Guo Xingning now has a hard time believing the rest of the solution. He thinks Liao Jie's rhetoric is just to force him to pay to keep his mouth shut, and to cover up the defeat first to avoid being held responsible by the superiors. He has no real plan.

Spend additional money to reorganize the army under your command.

When Liao Jie decided to send troops to Fushan County to expel the Haihan people by force, Guo Xingning did not fully agree with this plan, but in the end he had to follow the order. After the defeat, Guo Xingning believed that although he had failed to command before the battle, he proposed

Liao Jie should also bear part of the responsibility for this action plan. However, judging from Liao Jie's reaction at the time, apart from trying his best to cover up the situation and reduce the negative impact of the defeat, he did not show any intention to share the responsibility.

Guo Xingning felt that although Liao Jie did not regard him as an abandoned son yet, it was obvious that this defeat had greatly reduced Liao Jie's trust in him, and he was even unwilling to devote too many resources to support his comeback.

If he is more pessimistic, Guo Xingning believes that there is a high probability that he will not have the opportunity to participate in the actions against the Haihan people after next spring. The sad thing is that he does not have enough power to resist this seemingly unfair treatment.

He had to follow Liao Jie's instructions. After all, if he wanted to keep his official position, he could not do without the protection provided by Liao Jie.

Compared with the Dengzhou government, which was completely passive after the defeat, Haihan's current situation can be said to be easy. After defeating the incoming Ming army, Haihan did not deliberately hide the news.

It was known one after another that a Ming army from Dengzhou had suffered heavy losses in the county and had withdrawn in despair.

Because Dengzhou Prefecture had previously issued an official document, Fushan County Government and Qishan Office also knew that the purpose of this Ming army coming to the local area was to expel the Haihan people. However, the result was that the local officials were greatly disappointed. The Ming army coming from Dengzhou

Instead of driving Haihan away from this place, he kicked Haihan so hard on the iron plate that he became lame.

Afterwards, Haihan sent someone to bring a message to the county magistrate Zhang Pucheng, asking him to relax. The conflict between Haihan and the Dengzhou Ming Army would not affect the stability of the county. Of course, the premise was that the Fushan County Government did not involve himself in the drama. Zhang Pucheng

After receiving this news, he finally put his heart in his throat back into his stomach. He was originally worried that after the conflict intensified, Haihan would seize the county seat as a stronghold to fight against the Ming army, but now judging from the actual battle results, the Ming army

The army could not even take over the mining area that Haihan had just started building in the wild. The gap in combat power between the two sides was so large that Haihan did not need to move the battlefield to Fushan County to solve the problem.

Although this result can temporarily protect the safety of the county, it can't help but make Zhang Pucheng feel a little sad. The safety of Fushan County is not due to the protection of the Ming army, but because the Haihan people do not want to bother with this matter. And the county

The outside world is no longer something that I, the county magistrate, can make decisions about.

Shangguan Ye and Feng Fei in Qishansuo City also received greetings from Haihan's envoys. As long as Qishansuo does not take the initiative to cause trouble, the two sides can still coexist peacefully. However, from now on, more than a hundred people from Qishansuo will be dispatched.

Haihan must be notified of his actions in advance to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. In addition, Haihan also hoped that Qishan could abandon the Yantai Mountain pier on the south bank of Zhifu Bay and withdraw the Ming troops stationed there.

Shangguanye and Feng Fei had no ability to resist what seemed like suggestions but were actually irrefutable notices. The strength of the garrison at Qishansuo was not as good as that of the Ming army that fell into the hands of Haihan this time. If they wanted to take action, they would naturally have to first

Weigh to see if your portion is enough.

Shangguan was frightened and could not help but think of Guo Xingning's current situation. Liao Jie had sent a secret order in advance, asking him to choose an opportunity to cooperate with Guo Xingning's actions in Fushan County. For example, when the Haihan people were dealing with Guo Xingning, he led troops to attack

Enter Zhifu Island. However, this kind of war plan on paper has no chance to be implemented. Qishan Institute has not even received news that the Ming army has entered Fushan County, and Guo Xingning's troops over there have been defeated and fled.

With such a useless record, Shangguanye knew that Liao Jie would definitely try to cover it up and not report it to the superiors. As the commander, Guo Xingning was probably going to be in trouble this time. It seemed that the information that had been sent back to Dengzhou City was completely wrong.

It didn't attract enough attention from Liao Jie, otherwise how could it have failed so quickly.

The Haihan people have proven their determination and strength against the Ming army with actions. Although Shangguanye was unwilling, he could only comply with the Haihan people's request and withdraw the garrison from the pier of Yantai Mountain to show cooperation. He was really not sure

Will the opponent create an excuse to attack Qishansuo City? This is a risk that can be avoided. It is better not to provoke the opponent as much as possible.

At least the situation that should be investigated has been almost covered in the past few days - Shangguan Ye comforted himself.

However, Shangguanye never expected that on the second day after he ordered the withdrawal of the garrison at the pier, a huge fleet quietly left Zhifu Bay and sailed toward the northeast.
Chapter completed!