Chen Tingyang smiled faintly and said, "You can see far, sir, if you hadn't tried your best to convince the emperor to take the daughter of Zuo as a concubine that day, this would be a lot of trouble. Now, even if Zuo Hou died of illness, General Xiao Zuo would inherit his marquis and hold the honor of the country's uncle. I think he would definitely help the court defend Wuchang with all his might."

Du Yinxi shook his head and said, "Before I came to Nanjing, I visited Zuo Hou and had contact with General Xiao Zuo. Unlike Zuo Hou, Xiao Zuo has low abilities and a timid personality. He is far inferior to Zuo Hou in terms of prestige and qualifications. Even if he is determined, he may not be able to subdue his generals. If Li Zicheng had full force to attack Wuchang, with his talent, he would probably be difficult to defend for a long time."

Huang Fei frowned and said, "Governor Du is rushing to Wuchang now. Is it to help Zuo Menggeng defend Wuchang?"

Du Yinxi shook his head again and said, "Yes, not. Wuchang must be held firm, but I went here more to try to use the military power of Wuchang for the court. Xiao Zuo was incompetent, but the generals under Zuo Hou, such as Jin Shenghuan, Ma Jinzhong, Li Guoying, Xu Yong, Zhang Yong, etc., were all inappropriate. The danger of the court was that the border commander showed his soldiers to be his private soldiers, not the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, whenever the court was in a critical situation, the first thing they thought was not to be loyal to the country, but to protect the troops in their hands. I went this time to correct this trend and let the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty be truly used by the court."

Speaking of this, Du Yinxi paused and his forehead twisted into the character "Chuan". "But this is not easy. First, we must stabilize Xiao Zuo, divide and win over the generals under Zuo Hou, and at the same time block Li Zicheng's attack. I have no idea yet, so I can only go to Wuchang first and then move according to the situation."

Hearing this, Huang Fei hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth: "Maybe there is someone who can help Lord Du complete this."

Seeing that the three of them looked at him, Huang Fei smiled faintly and said, "Do you know about Wang Shizhong?"

Du Yinxi showed confusion on his face and shook his head gently. He had never heard of this person.

Huang Fei said: "Mr. Du has been in the southern region for a long time and may not know much about the situation in the northern region. Wang Shizhong, whose real name is Kebaku, is the second son of Menggebulu, the chief of the Hada tribe of Haixi. At the same time, he is also the nephew of Jin Taiji of the Yehe tribe of Jurchens, and his sister also married Lindan Khan of the Chahar tribe of Mongolia as his wife."

Du Yinxi suddenly realized, "It turned out to be him! I remember that the late emperor appointed him as a worshiper of Hada when he was there, and used his identity to dismantle and instigate the Manchu tribes. I heard that the results were very good at that time."

Huang Fei nodded and said, "Later, Manchus have gained a complete foothold in Liaodong, and Wang Shizhong's role gradually weakened. He was reported by the Censorate because of his greed. Although the former emperor thought of his old achievements and did not pursue his crimes, he just dismissed him from office. However, Wang Shizhong was adopted by Emperor Wanli a long time ago. He grew up in the palace and spent money like water. He was destined not to be a sedate person. He later ran to Shandong and said that he could help General Zhou dismantle Manchus, and only asked for a lot of money."

Du Yinxi didn't know that Wang Shizhong had such experiences, so he asked curiously: "Then what!"

Huang Fei laughed and said, "Mr. Zhou really agreed to him at that time and gave him a certain degree of autonomy. It can be said that some of the prisoners of Hada and Yehe's Yehe tribe were willing to surrender, but he had made contributions. But his mistake was that when he surrendered some of the prisoners of Jurchens, he took a high opinion of himself and collected those people in an attempt to form a self-esteem. This move angered General Zhou, and later sent Wang Shizhong back to the capital with the famous general who sent congratulations to the late emperor, and dispersed all his soldiers and reorganized them."

Zhang Huangyan frowned slightly and said, "Before the Liaodong ruler Xiong Tingbi was alive, Liu Guojin, the head of the Ministry of War, proposed the strategy of 'the Liao people defending Liaodong' and the other Jurchen tribes resisting Nurhaci. From the current perspective, this strategy is undoubtedly the best solution that the court can adopt. Wang Shizhong was originally a Jurchen person, and his prestige and influence were great among the Manchus. He ordered him to be a general and unified the army alone. If he was not right, he could win over some Jurchen tribes who were dissatisfied with the Manchus and make them chaotic inside? Why did Zhou Xian do this? Did Wang Shizhong still have the intention to rebel?"

Huang Fei shook his head, "You are too proud of Wang Shizhong, how dare he? The crux of this matter lies in the commander Zhou Governor General. Zhou Governor General Zhou Governor General was a great enemy a long time ago, intending to regain Liaodong, but the regain in his heart was similar to the kind of regaining Emperor Yongle. He occupied his land, captured his people, and stationed his troops for a long time. He could generously appoint foreign rifles as generals, such as Lin Qingye, Jimu, and Zalari. One of them was a famous general of Korea, the other was the Yi people in Sichuan, and the other was the Xibe people in Liaodong, and they were all given important tasks by the commander Zhou Governor General. But he would never allow an army that was completely foreign rifles, especially after pacifying Liaodong, another Jurchen tribe would replace the Haixi Jurchens and occupy Liaodong."

Zhang Huangyan lowered his head and thoughtful, and did not speak.

Du Yinxi sighed, his tone full of praise: "Generals are generals, soldiers are soldiers, and soldiers are separated. Even if the generals are foreigners, if the soldiers are all Han soldiers, how can they completely obey their orders? This is a long-term plan, no wonder they expel Wang Shizhong."

Seeing Huang Fei suddenly appear embarrassed, Du Yinxi was a little surprised, but he quickly reacted and clasped his fists and said, "Du said truthfully, don't care about Huang Zuotu."

Huang Fei waved his hand, "You don't have to do this. I, Huang Fei, have been kind to the court in the past, and I have no regrets. When I left the governor Zhou, I only brought thousands of soldiers and generals. There is indeed this reason. General Zhou governor Zhou relied on his personal prestige and ability to control generals, and relied on favors and interests and righteousness to control soldiers. Outside, he worked together to fight the enemy; inside, the soldiers and generals were separated, and it was impossible for everyone to cause trouble at the same time. It was a bit beyond my expectations to be able to bring out thousands of soldiers and generals that day."

Du Yinxi nodded softly, not wanting to worry about this anymore, and asked, "Huang Zuodu, you have said so much just now, and I also have a general understanding of it. Wang Shizhong may be of some use in the north, but in Wuchang, how can he assist me in completing this important task!"

Huang Fei gathered his thoughts and smiled faintly: "In fact, Wang Shizhong has another identity. His daughter is Zuo Menggeng's wife, and he is Xiao Zuo's Lord Taishan."

Du Yinxi was stunned in the local area, "Take it serious?"

Huang Fei nodded.

Du Yinxi frowned slightly and was silent for a long time, "Does Huang Zuodu and Wang Shizhong have an old friend?"
Chapter completed!