Arriving in Beijing at about the same time as the victory memorials of Fang Zhenghua and Mao Wenlong, there was also a secret letter from Guo Dajing to He Guizhong and others.
He Guizhong and others had made a lot of preparations on how to arouse public opinion. After receiving the secret letter, they immediately sorted it out and began to spread it quietly in restaurants and other places.
Just as the imperial court began to publicize the victory of Jinzhou, news about Liaodong and Dongjiang Town spread quickly and became one of the hot topics for people to talk about after dinner.
"Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiliao, is exchanging letters with Huang Taiji, pleading to negotiate peace with the rebels in order to realize his five-year plan to pacify Liao and avoid being punished for bullying the emperor?"
A drinker's eyes widened, he reached for the chopsticks to hold the meat in the hot pot and stopped. He looked at the opposite side in disbelief and said, "Where did this rumor come from? Brother Zhang, don't just talk nonsense based on hearsay!"
"This is not hearsay, it is true. In order to negotiate for peace, Yuan Chonghuan cut off Dongjiang Town's food and salary, and also banned the sea in Denglai. This is to suppress and weaken Dongjiang Town to prevent Dongjiang Town from becoming an obstacle to his negotiation for peace."
"Nine times out of ten, the officers and soldiers of Dongjiang Town have a deep hatred for the Jianlu, and they will definitely fight to the death with the traitors. How could they agree to negotiate for peace? Just for this reason, Yuan Chonghuan wanted to subdue Dongjiang Town, pave the way for peace talks, and save his life.
"
The drinker opposite was chatting away, attracting the attention of the people at the table, looking very energetic.
He Guizhong stood at the counter, thinking in his hands, but his ears were listening attentively, and his eyes were observing the expressions of other drinkers.
These two drinkers are espionage officers from Dongjiang Town. They have said this story several times and they seem very skilled and natural.
You know, they had been to several teahouses and restaurants, and took advantage of the crowds to spread the information without showing off.
In addition to them, there are two other groups of people who are also doing the same work, but with separate work areas in the capital.
Having said this here, the rest of the restatement and dissemination will be left to our store clerk or someone else.
Once spread to ten, or from ten to hundreds, the news will spread like wildfire, and the speed of spread is quite astonishing.
However, it is difficult for He Guizhong to determine what new things will be added to the news as it spreads. What it will look like and how many versions it will have.
"What, Jianlu wants to spend money to buy back the remains or heads of those who died in the war?" The drinker at the table next to him looked surprised. He picked up the slices of cooked mutton and forgot to put them in his mouth.
One of the drinkers shook his head disapprovingly and said, "I'm afraid that's not true. The imperial court has reward money for meritorious service. How can Dongjiang Town despise the imperial court just to get more money?"
Dongjiang's spy was not in a hurry, he smiled and said: "The truth and falsehood will soon be known. The good news has been sent to the court. Next, we will see if there are any heads escorted to the capital. There are more than 8,000 heads, but there is a war with Jianlu."
The greatest victory since then. The imperial court will definitely hold a ceremony, and maybe build another Jingguan."
"No matter what, Dongjiang Town has won great victories in the past two years, and there are thousands of people alone." He Guizhong pretended to be casual, shook his abacus vigorously, and said with a smile: "But over there in western Liaoning, there is another
There was a great victory this way, and then there was a great victory that way, but nothing was achieved."
This sentence is very crucial. The victory reports are so impressive, but if there are not many heads, the people will think it is unreliable.
The drinkers were silent for a long time, and then started discussing again. When He Guizhong saw that his goal was achieved, he kept silent and began to calculate again, looking like a miser.
The dozen or so drinkers in the store are just a dozen chatterboxes. This kind of news can not only show one's knowledge, but also be used as a source of conversation after dinner.
Once passed down to ten, it won't take long for the news to spread like wildfire and even turn into a more exciting story.
In ancient times, the speed of word-of-mouth transmission was not slow, and sometimes it even spread at an astonishing speed and distance.
Spreading the news and letting the news go so smoothly was all thanks to Chongzhen. Even Guo Dajing wanted to say thank you!
After overthrowing Eunuch Wei, Chongzhen also greatly reduced Dongchang and Jinyiwei. Dongchang existed in name only, and Jinyiwei almost became royal security guards.
The ears and eyes were completely useless, and the intelligence role of the factory guards was greatly reduced. The Donglin Party praised Ming Jun, and Chongzhen was also proud of it. However, he did not know that without the factory guard system that could supervise all officials, the Donglin Party would become the biggest disaster.
Luo Yangxing, the newly appointed commander of the Jinyiwei, is a guy who "only protects and upholds good people, and is appreciated by gentlemen." He has been praised by the Donglin Party, which shows that he can play an important role for Chongzhen.
Because of this, the taboo against talking about state affairs is getting lighter and lighter. The association of literati is also becoming more and more prosperous, which will form a huge power of public opinion in society.
Fushe, which was established not long ago, has already shown extraordinary momentum. In the future, Fushe will become even more powerful. It can use public opinion to compete with the chief minister, influence the appointment of officials, etc.
Therefore, in spreading news and using public opinion, Guo Dajing was not too worried that the spy sent out would be guilty of what he said. Instead, he was worried that the narcissistic Chongzhen in the palace would not hear it.
He watched the two spies pretend to talk for a while, then stood up to discuss their accounts and left. He Guizhong smiled lightly and returned to the backyard.
As a member of Dongjiang Town, He Guizhong was excited and happy about the great victory at Nanguan. He also tried his best to complete the orders sent by Guo Dajing.
He Guizhong also had a rough guess about Guo Dajing's layout in Gyeonggi, but he did not understand the more detailed situation.
To be on the safe side, Guo Dajing ordered the intelligence department to set up two new intelligence lines, one based on Qinhuangdao and the other based on Tianjin.
Including the one with He Guizhong in the capital, three independent lines of intelligence spying and communication were formed. They did not interfere with each other and avoided the possibility of being ganged up on.
After repelling Jianlu's massive attack, Guo Dajing's main focus was on Operation Qinwang. In addition to the intelligence front, his preparations were also carried out with increasing intensity.
He Guizhong returned to his room, took out a pen and paper, and thought about writing a secret letter to his boss, the Intelligence Department of Dalian.
Before he could finish writing, there was a gentle knock on the door. After getting He Guizhong's permission, Cui'er entered the house with tea in hand.
"Boss, Zhao Xiaozhu has sent a cart of coal and two loads of firewood. I have already paid for them and had them transported into the woodshed." Cui'er put down the tea and reported respectfully, "It's just that the sheep you mentioned haven't been delivered yet.
Delivered."
He Guizhong nodded and said: "Maybe the sheep from outside have not arrived yet. I will ask the clerk to ask about it without delaying the matter."
After glancing at Cui'er, he added: "I asked you to do all the sewing, washing, and even help in the front hall. It's really hard work. Starting from this month, I will give you a commission of one tael of silver per month."
Cui'er hurriedly bowed and said: "Boss, you don't need to pay commission. As long as you take care of food and housing, we siblings can do any job."
He Guizhong smiled, waved his hand and said: "That's it, you go down first!"
Cui'er opened her mouth, but still didn't say anything. She bowed and stepped back. Seeing that there was paper and pen on He Guizhong's desk, she wanted to beg for help, but this was obviously too rude.
After gently closing the door, Cui'er grinned. One tael of silver a month was already a good reward. Many people worked hard, but it wasn't much higher.
In other words, one tael of silver is enough to support her and her younger brother. Of course, this requires a place to live, and accommodation is free.
Even so, Cui'er was extremely happy and trotted to the woodshed, eager to tell her little brother the good news.
Outside the woodshed, Xiaolong used an ax to cut the firewood into regular lengths, and carefully stacked it inside the woodshed. He worked so hard that white steam came out of his head.
Xiaocui ran over and said hurriedly: "Why don't I let you do it? Give me the ax. My sister will do this work."
Xiaolong chuckled and said: "Sister, I told you that my illness is all cured, and I feel strong! I sweat a little, feel warm, and feel good."
Xiaocui didn't grab the axe, but when she saw that there was only a little bit of firewood left to chop, her younger brother was in a good state of mind, so he no longer forced himself and bent down to help clean it up.
"Boss He is very happy. From now on, he will give his sister one tael of silver as his salary every month." Xiaocui told her younger brother the good news with a smile on her face, "When the salary is paid, I will buy whatever you want to eat."
Xiaolong grinned, the ax went down harder, and he said with a smile: "What about me, will you give me wages in the future?"
Xiaocui blinked, feeling that this was not a good idea. One cannot be greedy, but she was afraid of hurting her brother's self-esteem.
Xiaolong laughed and said: "Sister, I'm just teasing you. I'm in charge of food, food and housing, but I can still be ignorant and so greedy."
Xiaocui nodded with a smile and said, "That's the right way to think about it. We are lucky enough to meet Boss He. How about——"
As if she didn't want to mention the painful and sad things in the past, Xiaocui changed the topic and said: "I heard from the drinkers that Dongjiang Town won a great victory, and Jiannu alone had seven or eight thousand heads chopped off!
"
Xiaolong looked surprised and said, "So many?"
Xiaocui nodded vigorously and said: "I also heard that Jiannu wanted to use money to buy the head back for burial. I am sending someone to negotiate with Dongjiang Town!"
"How much silver is a human head worth?" Xiaolong asked doubtfully, "Is it very expensive?"
Xiaocui thought for a moment and said, "I heard from a drinker that if a person's head is escorted to Beijing, the imperial court's reward is fifty taels for each head."
Wow! So valuable!
Xiaolong's eyes lit up. He couldn't imagine how bloody this was. The child who was used to suffering could only think about the vain money.
With fifty taels, or even one hundred taels, you can have a small house in the countryside, and have a few acres of land, and live peacefully without letting your sister endure hardships anymore!
Although Liaodong was once their hometown, neither Xiaocui nor Xiaolong had ever thought about when they could return.
The same is true for the Liao people who escaped from Liaodong.
I once fantasized about pacifying Liao and exterminating the captives, and returning to my hometown, but now, it has become a vague, or very distant, and no longer hopeful thing.
No one has an exact timetable, except Governor Yuan who wants to "pacify the Liao Dynasty in five years", and Emperor Chongzhen who firmly believes in it.
No one knows that the seemingly unattainable fantasy is just a small goal set by Guo Dajing. His life and his ideals are far from what Liaodong can satisfy.
………………
The fortification construction at Luangu Pass has begun to take shape. The most important thing is that the arrival of a large amount of food, ammunition, weapons and equipment made the defenders more confident in their defense.
The key to this speed lies in the innovation and change of defense facilities.
Instead of relying on tall city walls, we relied on trench parapets and barbed wire-like fences to resist horses. This not only increased the speed, but also greatly reduced the cost.
After the fierce battle at Nanguan, although it was a great victory, Guo Dajing still followed the old rules and presided over a post-war summary meeting.
There is no perfect battle, there will always be some shortcomings that can be improved and lessons learned.
For example, in order to deal with the carts, in addition to direct destruction by cannons, there are also trenches to block them, as well as uneven terrain and low wooden stake arrays that do not affect shooting.
As for the heavy armored troops, the Dongjiang Army, which possesses heavy muskets and Fran cannons, no longer takes them seriously in defense.
What's more, Jianlu didn't have many heavy armored troops, and the losses were huge, making it difficult to recover in a short period of time. Moreover, Jianlu probably understood that heavy armored troops were no longer relied upon, and would use them more cautiously.
"No matter whether the Jianlu will come to attack or not, we must make sure nothing goes wrong." Guo Dajing watched as the mortars that had just arrived were placed at the top of the city and reminded the generals around him, "We must especially guard against traitors. If you escape, do not enter the prison. This is a death order, and you must not violate it out of soft-heartedness."
The fortress is easiest to break from the inside. If it is only attacked from the outside, the defenders can defeat one against three, five against five, or even more. But the role of the traitor is far greater than this.
Guo Dajing had long since formulated and implemented various measures to prevent spies and traitors, from Guanglu Island to Jinzhou.
For example, ships are strictly controlled on the islands, and the same is true in Jinzhou. Immigrants are also screened to determine where and which village they will live in based on whether they have family members, length of stay, etc.
The results were remarkable, as evidenced by the great victory at Nanguan. Jianlu's lack of sufficient understanding of the situation in Jinzhou was also one of the reasons for their disastrous defeat.
It is not ruled out that there are still spies lurking in Jinzhou, but they are no different from dead spies. Information cannot be sent out and orders cannot be received. All they can do is be good people.
In response to Guo Dajing's reminder, Zhang Pan nodded repeatedly, pointed to a small camp outside the city, and said: "According to the general's instructions, that place is where the Liao people will be received. After a temporary rest, they will be sent away immediately."
The Liao people who were sent away would not be resettled in North Jinzhou, but in the farther and deeper South Jinzhou. They were usually dispersed and resettled, and they would not be resettled near the sea.
Regardless of whether the spies and traitors were coerced by the rebels or willing to work for the rebels, they had no chance to send out information and little room for action.
As time goes by, they will give up. When the Jianlu wars become more and more weak and the hearts of the people no longer exist, these spies and traitors who once had a mission will try their best to forget their mission.
Guo Dajing believes that this kind of cold treatment using time is better and more stable than large-scale rape suppression.