Night has fallen, and the lights have been lit in the General Military Mansion.
The winter sun rises in the east and sets in the west every day. Once the night falls, the warmth brought by winter completely disappears. At night in Zhenjiang Fort, coldness is still the eternal theme.
But in this room in the General Military Mansion, no matter how cold the wind is outside, it cannot bring in the slightest bit of cold air. In the corner of the room, several basins of charcoal fires are distributing heat unscrupulously, even if there is cold air lifting the cloth
The moment he slipped into the room with the curtain closed, he was instantly assimilated and annihilated by the warmth in the room. Even for the two people who were having a drink in the room, the cold air was somewhat refreshing.
Occasionally, the brazier made a soft crackling sound. One of the two pretty-faced maids standing in the corner walked over, gently fiddled with the brazier, picked out the smoking charcoal, and placed it next to it.
The water basin was put out so that no trace of charcoal smoke would disturb their master and his guests.
"This charcoal is not very good!"
Wang Chengen gently took a sip of the hot water and wine in front of him: "You are also a second-rank official in the imperial court now, and you still have to have the dignity you should have. That is me. If others saw it, they would think
You are pretending to be poor!"
He pursed his lips and smiled: "I said, you didn't really mean it!"
Jiang Wan burst into laughter: "There is no need to pretend to be poor. It is all charcoal made from trees cut down near Zhenjiang Fort. The wood is good and the people who burn it are good. This is already good. My lord, in this bitter cold day
The earth, but the palace is incomparable! There are also these food and drinks, even if I try my best to entertain you, the prince, the only thing I can get is these vulgar game!"
"I really didn't know that my father-in-law would come in person. If I had known that my father-in-law would come in person, I would have gone to the port of Xiaoshan Village early in the morning to greet my father-in-law's ship!"
Wang Chengen shook his head with a smile and pointed at him: "You are still the same Jiang Wan who was in the palace back then. You haven't changed at all, and your words are still so comfortable!"
"Did the prince come with His Majesty's will?" Jiang Wan asked tentatively. He had finished recounting the past and it was time to get down to business.
"No!" Wang Chengen raised his head with a half-smile: "I don't know what happened to the last person who came to Dongjiang Town with a decree. Anyway, if His Majesty asked me to come and announce the decree to you, I wouldn't even kill him.
Coming!"
He smiled a bit slyly and said: "It's definitely impossible to pretend to be sick, but if I break my leg cruelly to save my life, I probably can still do it!"
"No, no..." Jiang Wan laughed: "What kind of friendship do I have with Eunuch Wang? That Song Jian who appeared out of nowhere has no friendship at all with me!"
"You didn't kill him, did you?" Wang Chengen looked at him sideways, with a smile on his face.
"Of course not!" Jiang Wan said calmly: "He is the supervisor assigned to me by His Majesty. He can die in battle or from illness, but he must not be killed by me!"
"Don't beat around the bush, I'm just asking, is he still alive?" Wang Chengen picked up the wine glass again and took a whiff, then put it down.
"Alive!"
"When I leave, can I be taken away?" Wang Chengen said slowly: "Your Majesty has given you a governor of Liaodong, so there is no need for this supervisor. As long as he does not die here, the palace's face will be saved.
When he returns to the palace, no one will care whether he is dead or alive!"
Jiang Wan pondered for a moment: "Is this your Majesty's intention?"
"No, this is what I mean!" Wang Chengen said without concealment: "Someone came to me for help, and Song Jian's return to the capital was just a normal dispatch and recall from the palace. There are some things that I can take care of for Your Majesty.
, I won’t let Your Majesty bother you anymore!”
"I, Jiang Wan, will definitely give you the face of the prince!" Jiang Wan laughed: "The palace will not send anyone over again, and the Ministry of War will not send anyone like Zhang Jian or Li Jian again.
Come here, there is another person who is holding a big banner and making a tiger skin. He will ruin the affairs of our Liaodong Governor. If he ruins the major anti-Tatar affairs, then it will be difficult for me to handle!"
"You even dare to stand up to the people sent by His Majesty. Should you be afraid of those people from the Ministry of War?"
Wang Chengen gave Jiang Wan a strange look: "Besides, your current Liaodong capital is only a palm-sized area like Dongjiang Town. Even if some greedy guys want to come to pick peaches from you, they have to weigh whether they can do it themselves.
What about going back?"
"Okay, you can take him away!" Jiang Wan readily agreed: "If you have any other instructions for me, please tell me! My father-in-law came to Liaodong with a cloak and snow, so he wouldn't have to deal with such a trivial matter.
I'm afraid Song Jian doesn't have this kind of face!"
"Your Majesty doesn't care how you mess with Dongjiang Town!" Wang Chengen said slowly: "However, the seat of Liaodong Dusi must be in Liaoyang, and the seat of Liaodong Governor must also be in Liaoyang!"
"This, I'll try my best!" Jiang Wan was slightly startled, and immediately understood the meaning of Wang Chengen's words.
"The capital of Liaodong is still under the control of the Chief Envoy of Shandong. In the future, if anything happens to the capital of Liaodong, just report it to him at all levels. Don't go to the capital for three days or two to send any good news or sacrifice any prisoners. If it is not a last resort, your majesty does not want to do it again.
I saw your memorial!"
Jiang Wan's expression slowly became serious: "What does Your Majesty mean...?"
"You know very well what His Majesty means!" Wang Chengen sighed: "Just take care of yourself!"
Jiang Wan felt a slight bitterness in his mouth. He knew that since the rebellion, he must have turned against Zhu Youjian at some point, but he did not expect that Wang Chengen came to Zhenjiang Fort in person to tell him the news.
For a moment, it was difficult for him to tell how he felt, whether he was a little relieved, a little regretful, or a little lost.
Zhu Youjian is telling him that from now on, Zhu Youjian and Jiang Wan will be just simple monarchs and ministers, and the relationship between the two will no longer be mixed with other emotions.
"Also, you, the Liaodong Governor, raise your own food and salary, so naturally you don't have to bear the imperial court's responsibility. However, every year, you, the Liaodong Governor, deport the 400,000 taels of silver to the inner treasury. One tael cannot be less. If it is the agreed date, there will be no silver taels sent by your Liaodong Governor."
, then, no matter how you fight with the Tatars in Liaodong, you are still a traitor to the imperial court! You are a traitor to the Ming Dynasty!"
Wang Chengen said softly: "Your Majesty said this, and based on my understanding of Your Majesty, this is the greatest tolerance His Majesty has shown to you, Jiang Wan. With your actions of disobeying His Majesty's will and tampering with the court regulations,
Even if His Majesty kills you, no one will cry out for you!"
Jiang Wan nodded slightly, but did not answer Wang Chengen's words.
"Is it worth it?" Wang Cheng'en sighed: "Even if you want to make great contributions to defeat the Tatars, and want to make a king or a marquis, but you disobey His Majesty's will and make His Majesty unhappy, then no matter how much you do, it doesn't matter.
What’s the use?”
He shook his head: "Your Majesty is the God of all of us. You don't even care about the sky. What on earth do you want to do?"
Jiang Wan picked up the wine glass in front of him and took a big sip. He really didn't know how to explain his thoughts to Wang Chengen. From Wang Chengen's perspective, he was indeed right, but from Jiang Chengen's perspective, he was right.
From his own perspective, he felt that he was right.
It’s just this era that’s wrong!
Wang Chengen did not come with Zhu Youjian's imperial edict, but his presence here actually represented Zhu Youjian's will. Jiang Wan knew that tonight was when the result of his choice would come. From now on, he would never come back again.
It will not affect anything about Zhu Youjian, and he himself will probably never change in the position of commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Capital Division given by Zhu Youjian.
From now on, he will have to rely entirely on himself. Daming can only be his support in name and will never give him any support again.
Later, Wang Chengen talked a lot, but Jiang Wan only remembered drinking one glass after another with him. Both of them seemed to know that this was probably the last time that they and each other could talk and drink without any barriers at night.
Already.
By midnight, they were both drunk as expected.
After staying in Zhenjiang Fort for only one day, Wang Chengen returned along the same route. Jiang Wan personally sent someone to take him to the port of Xiaoshan Village and put him on the official ship that had been waiting there. From then on, the two of them never saw each other again for the rest of their lives.
Pass the meeting.
"Then what should I do?"
After learning that Wang Chengen had left and returned to Beijing, Xu Renzhi was dumbfounded: "Brother-in-law, the road from Zhenjiang Fort to Guangning is not easy!"
“It’s not that hard to walk!”
Jiang Wan looked at his brother-in-law who had been blinded, and when he saw him coming to see her angrily, he suddenly felt much better.
"Start from here, pass through Kaizhou, go to Lianshan Fort, and then to Yaozhou. If you are lucky, you can follow Zhenwu Fort to Zhenyuan Fort. After Zhenyuan Fort, you will reach your Guangning Guard!"
"Isn't everything around Liaoyang fallen?" Xu Renzhi swallowed with some difficulty: "These are all Tatar territories! I'll go there like this. I'm afraid I'll be overrun by the Tatars before I get there.
Dead!"
"Not entirely!" Jiang Wan looked at him seriously: "After the Tatars occupied Liaoyang, although they broke through Xiguan, if they want to advance westward, they have to break through Zhenwu Fort, which is the gateway to Jinzhou. If you
Once we get to Zhenwu, everything should be fine!"
"If I don't go, I will die!"
Xu Renzhi shook his head like a rattle: "For hundreds of miles, there are Tatars everywhere. Not to mention the dozens of people I brought, even if you give me a few hundred more people, I'm afraid they won't survive to Zhenwu!"
He looked at Jiang Wan with a smile on his face: "How about, brother-in-law, please send a troop of troops to escort me there!"
"In this weather, will we send a troop of troops to escort you to take office?" Jiang Wan looked at him with a smile on her lips, which only made Xu Renzhi laugh sarcastically.
"If it's inconvenient, you can take me to Juehua Island when there are ships all over the world!" Xu Renzhi scratched his head and said timidly: "I'll go around the Tatars by water, so that's fine!
"
"Don't ask me about this, ask your sister!" Jiang Wan waved her hand: "Your sister is taking care of everything in the world. I have no say in the comings and goings of this fleet!"
Xu Renzhi suddenly became bitter: "My sister has gone to Guangdong. What must I do to see her? I shouldn't have agreed to this errand!"
"Don't worry!" Jiang Wan patted him on the shoulder gently: "The appointment from the imperial court has been made, but even if you can't take office, the imperial court will not accuse you. If you send Wang Chengen here, His Majesty will definitely
He knew it, and I will never hold you accountable for this!"
"That's true!" Xu Renzhi felt a little more at ease.
"Just stay with me with peace of mind!" Jiang Wan said: "When the weather warms up, whether by land or water, I will always send you to Guangning!"
"That's all we can do!" Xu Renzhi nodded with a bitter face: "Hey..."
"I heard that you and Wang Chengen went shopping when you entered the city the day before yesterday?" Jiang Wan asked with a smile: "Although there are not many places to play in Zhenjiang Fort, there are still many things to do if you really want to kill time. No.
It’ll bore you!”
"It's boring!" Xu Renzhi curled his lips: "The city is full of your people, and everything they do is under your eyes. It's not interesting at all. The prince still wants to go to the Civil Affairs Office to have a look.
The person who wants you is waiting for him at the yamen gate, and he came directly to you, what does he think in his heart? "
"It doesn't matter what he thinks!" Jiang Wan shook her head.
"He is His Majesty's eyes and ears. Whatever he thinks, His Majesty will most likely think?" Xu Renzhi glanced at Jiang Wan and asked tentatively.
He didn't know what Wang Chengen and Jiang Wan talked about, but in his heart, he still expected the best result.
"It doesn't matter what your Majesty thinks!" Jiang Wan turned her head and looked outside: "In the entire Liaodong Dusi, what matters is what I think!"
Xu Renzhi glanced at Jiang Wan, lowered his head and stopped talking.
"I want to go to Tieshan. It's more interesting to be at Mei Xiaofei's place than here!" He lowered his head and said, "Also, brother-in-law, can you lend me the igniter and bring it with me when I leave?"
Go to Guangning Guard!"
"Go!" Jiang Wan nodded: "I will send someone to take you there. As for when you get to Tieshan City, you must first learn how to use those firearms, and then talk about whether to borrow them or not. The newly built firearms in Zhenjiang Fort are different from those you used to make.
The ones I saw are very different. If you ask for a bunch of firearms back home, it will be in vain if you don’t know how to use them!"
"Then you agreed?" Xu Renzhi felt a little better after hearing this.
"I can give you some, but I have to pay for it personally. Otherwise, you can go all over the world and apply for assistance from the Military and Political Yamen of Liaodong Dusi. No matter how much you want, as long as the Military and Political Yamen approves it, I will definitely
Batch!"
"It's not just a matter of your words, but you have to make so many twists and turns!" Xu Renzhi curled his lips: "Brother-in-law, you have changed. You are not the brother-in-law I knew. Forget it, I won't tell you anymore.