Chapter 42: There will never be any prisoners coming
In the eyes of Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of the Ningyuan regiment, was the one he had the highest hopes for.
Although Cao Bianjiao under his command is the most brave, has made many meritorious deeds, and is loyal, in his eyes, he is still a little less strategic. He may be a good general in the world, but he is not a commander who can stand alone. .
But Wu Sangui was indeed different. He came from a family of generals in western Liaoning, and many of his family members and relatives were famous generals outside the country.
What is even more rare is that this man is extremely smart and studious. Although he is only in his thirties, he is not only outstanding in martial arts, but also good at foot combat, riding, and archery. He is also calm, steady, resourceful, and has outstanding military strategy.
If he stays by his side and teaches him carefully over the years so that he can serve the court loyally, he can lead many generals from the general family in western Liaoning to follow suit.
What's more, Hong Chengchou has always wanted to integrate the power of the general families in western Liaoning and use it for the imperial court. Wu Sangui is definitely the best candidate. The nearly 20,000 new troops he trained in Ningyuan are extremely powerful.
Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou asked warmly: "How is your health these days, your lord? Do you often get books?"
Wu Sangui leaned forward on his horse and clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, Governor, for your concern. Recently, thanks to the emperor's kindness, my family has been able to live leisurely in the capital and travel in the woods. Although I am nearly sixty years old, I am still in good health."
Yesterday, another letter came, saying that it was important to rescue Jinzhou. The emperor was worried about this matter. When he went to court, he often asked about the military situation outside the customs. He sighed every time and was very worried.'
When Hong Chengchou heard this, his heart felt heavy, and he heard Zhang Ruoqi, the commander-in-chief, interjecting at this time: "Your Majesty is worried about Liao affairs day and night. He wears clothes and eats at night. How can we, as ministers, sit back and watch? We should command Songjin. To relieve the worries of the Sacred Heart.”
Hong Chengchou ignored what Zhang Ruoqi said. He kept his expression and continued to ask Wu Sangui with a smile: "What news is there in the capital?" Wu Sangui sat on his horse and replied with a respectful expression: "My lord also mentioned that because of Luoyang, The fall of Xiangyang, the loss of two feudal vassals, and Yang Wuling's suicide in Shashi made the emperor moody for a month or two. The ministers were fearful when they went to court, but they have gradually recovered in recent days.
These situations have long been known to the governor and are not news.
Hong Chengchou nodded frequently and asked Zhang Cheng, who was riding his horse to follow him on the other side: "General Zhongchen, are you sure which battalion you want to leave to garrison Changling Mountain?"
Zhang Chengce stood on his horse, cupped his fists and said: "Reporting to the governor, the general plans to leave more than 3,000 soldiers of Zhang Guodong's department to garrison Changling Mountain, and assign part of the carriage to his camp to enhance the power of the camp's firearms and ensure that there is no fire in Xingshan." lose."
Hong Chengchou said nothing and rode his horse slowly towards Ningyuan City.
Since the beginning of June, when Zhang Cheng led his army to Ningyuan, he has become more and more interested in it. Several military meetings have always made shocking remarks, from proposing to investigate the reality of slave thieves, to advocating joint training of reinforcements from various towns, to yesterday Debating food road safety.
Although some of his suggestions seem to be contrary to his own military strategy, after careful consideration now, most of the suggestions he proposed are correct and have no other purposes mixed with them. It can be seen that Zhang Cheng is still loyal to the country.
Of course, in Hong Chengchou's heart, he still valued Wu Sangui more. After all, he was now his student. If he put in some effort to train him, he would not only educate talents for the country, but his own family might also benefit from it. .
But he always felt that although Zhang Cheng had no family roots, for some reason he always had the upper hand over Wu Sangui.
After thinking about it, he felt that maybe it was because Zhang Cheng had no family roots that he was able to have no worries and make decisions based on his own ideas, while Wu Sangui had to think a lot and take into account the thoughts of many people, such as his uncle and ancestors.
Dashou, his father Wu Xiang and others.
The generals of Western Liaoning were intertwined and internally the most complicated. Many things were intertwined. Even with the support of Governor Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui could only train the new army but could not completely integrate the generals of Western Liaoning.
The crowd had only been able to travel two miles on horseback. Hong Chengchou suddenly stopped by the road. He looked to the right for a while at a beach covered with reeds about three miles away. He raised his hand and pointed there with his riding crop, and said to Wu Sangui: "General Chang Bo, please send
People must not be careless when burning all the reeds.'
Wu Sangui responded: "Yes, Governor, I will order people to burn that piece of reed at the end of the day.'
Wu Sangui turned around and ordered a follower from the primary school to lead people to burn the reeds. However, Hong Chengchou did not move forward, but stopped here and waited.
Commander-in-Chief Zhang Ruoqi smiled at Hong Chengchou again and said: "Director Hong has been in the army for a long time, so he is naturally cautious in everything. But judging from his humble position, this place is far away from the slaves and thieves, and there will definitely be no captives coming."
What's more, there is no large army food and fodder stored near this beach. Even if the cavalry comes, they will not go to the reed beach." Hong Chengchou shook his head and said: "In military matters, you must be more careful. On the one hand, you must beware of slave thieves.
Come here to burn my grain, and secondly, be on guard against any changes in the war situation.
We still need to talk about being prepared for danger in times of peace, let alone the word 'safe' today."
Everyone waited until the fire smoke started to rise from several places on the reed beach before Hong Chengchou led a group of people towards Ningyuan City. When they were about to enter the city gate, Wu Sangui slowed down his horse and turned to Xie Sixin behind Hong Chengchou.
Li Song and Liu Zizheng cupped their hands and said, "Sangui has prepared a little wine. Please come to my humble residence for a chat. Are the teachers willing to honor me?"
Several people were Hong Chengchou's close aides, so naturally they knew about his relationship with Wu Sangui, so they all agreed with a smile. Only Liu Zizheng declined a little, and after some persuasion, he happily agreed.
Wu Sangui clasped his fists at Zhang Cheng again and said with a smile: "General Zhongchen, how about I also ask you to come over and have a brief talk?"
Zhang Cheng had been getting along well with Wu Sangui during this period, not to mention that he had already said hello earlier, but now he was just showing off, so he happily agreed.
Zhang Ruoqi had already received Wu Sangui's invitation before. He turned around and said, "We are all going to General Wu's residence to make trouble. We just took this opportunity to discuss military affairs with the two generals, and also to pay homage to some old gentlemen.
What a blessing!"
The time to march into Songjin has been decided, and Zhang Ruoqi is in a very good mood, not as young, impetuous and aggressive as before.
Although Wu Sangui came from a family of generals, he studied under famous teachers when he was young, and became more arty as an adult, so his study room is very spacious and bright.
It makes people feel that there is more than enough luxury but not enough elegance.
He also placed a piano and a sword in his study, but at a glance, it was clear that they were just pretending to be elegant. As a study, it is natural that there are all kinds of books, but some books were covered with dust, showing that they had not been turned over for a long time.
On one side there is a crystal mountain on an antique shelf. It contains a water bladder, and it flows crystal clear. It is indeed rare to find such a crystal mountain with water bladder naturally formed.
Several famous calligraphy and paintings are hung on the wall, including paintings by Tang Yin and Wang Mian, as well as Dong Qichang's calligraphy. At that time, Dong Qichang's calligraphy was the most popular.
There is a couplet that does not look like the work of a famous artist:
"The shadow of the sword is left in front of the flowers in the deep courtyard
The sound of books scattering under the lamp in the secluded room"
While everyone was waiting for their comments, Ma Shaoyu arrived late to join the army.