All officials in the Yuan Dynasty who were promoted to two ranks or below were decided by Zhang Hongdao. What does this mean?
For example, Shi Qi, the fourth son of the Zhending Mansion, is now in the Council of the Fourth Rank Zhongshu to save trouble, and Zhang Hongdao can promise to give Shi Qi an official position in the New Tang Dynasty of the third rank.
Of course, it is not possible for everyone to receive such preferential treatment. Zhang Hongdao will obviously make appointments based on his strength, talent, character and other factors.
When it comes time to implement it, I'm afraid the number of people who can be promoted to two ranks can be counted on one hand.
As for hereditary local military and civilian power, the core power of the princes, there is still no room for negotiation.
Compared with the conditions for recruitment and surrender in Mongolia at that time, they were still harsh.
But Li Xia has always been so strict, which is why he has been unable to attract the loyalty of the noble princes in the north for many years.
Having suffered from the shortcomings of this policy for many years, now, with only a slight relaxation, the northerners can feel that this is a rare moment for Li Xia to be generous.
At least that's what Shi Bang thought.
He could even imagine that as long as he had a good relationship with Zhang Hongdao, how many people would flock to fawn on him as soon as he arrived at Zhending Mansion.
As for Zhang Hongdao, he frowned after hearing this and took Li Xia's handwritten letter and read it carefully.
What he thought was that the reason why Li Xia delegated power must be that the situation had changed, and it was not good news.
Sure enough, what the letter said was that Zhang Hongfan had integrated the troops and horses in Hetao and was about to return to Hebei to aid.
Zhang Hongdao licked his lips and felt a little irritated for no reason. He was a little scared.
Are you afraid that you will lose to Goro again if you face your ninth brother?
Zhang Shuai?
When he came back to his senses, he saw Shi Gang looking at him with burning eyes, with a hint of flattery in his approach.
This look actually made Zhang Hongdao feel a lot more confident.
He took a few steps, held his hands on the wall, and looked towards the south at Mengjindu Wharf.
It will still take several days for the following troops, horses, and baggage to cross the river, and the enemy to the north is obviously also scrambling for time.
I will go to Qinyang in person. Zhang Hongdao suddenly responded like this.
Dong Wenyong immediately felt sorry for himself and asked: The commander-in-chief wants to recruit Zheng Ding to surrender? But is it too risky to go in person?
No. Zhang Hongdao has regained his decisive look. Instead of waiting for the army to press the border and coerce him, it is better to persuade him sincerely now, lest the Shanxi soldiers and horses have passed through Taihangxing by then.
So proceed with caution and bring more people.
Zhang Hongdao nodded and greeted Shi Gang, saying: Come with me.
~~
A few dozen riders are heading north. Do you know the Zheng family in Qinyang?
Ha, that kind of little prince. Shi Ganglang laughed and said: At the end of the Jin Dynasty, Zheng Gao gathered the villagers to protect themselves, so the Jin Kingdom won him over and promoted him to be a military commander. Later, he advanced to Zhongchang Military Festival.
Du Tongzhi. When the Mongolian army moved south, he surrendered to Muhuali and was appointed as the military governor of Zhongchang Army.
Well, when Zheng Gao died, I was about seventeen or eighteen years old, and I came to express my condolences on my father's behalf. Zhang Hongdao said lightly: I remember that Zheng Gao's son Zheng Ding came to the throne and was appointed as the Wanhu Prefecture in Qinyang and the Military Guard's Pro-Army Capital.
Commander.
It sounds prominent, Shi Gang said, but it's just a small Qinyang.
Zhang Hongdao didn't speak anymore, patting his hand on the saddle lightly, thinking about it.
It is true that Li Xia delegated power to him, which represented trust. And it was impossible for him to promise Zheng Ding to continue to serve in Qinyang Wanhu Mansion.
Only in the Great Mongolia can there be so many messy official positions, each one a country within a country.
In today's Tang Dynasty, after the military power was taken away, Zheng Ding was at best the only one who knew Qinyang County.
A magistrate of a lower county, even if he is promoted to two ranks, is no more than a seventh-rank Cheng Yilang or Yunqi Wei.
What makes Zhang Hongdao embarrassed is how to tell a Qinyang household that I will take away your military power and promote you to be the chief minister.
It's easy to say when the army is pressing down on the border, but if you come to your doorstep like this to persuade you to surrender, your confidence will be much lower.
Especially with his own character, being practical
The work is fine, but the words are not very good.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have killed Eri Dunbari directly with a single blow. Maybe I could have thought of how to fool him.
After all, he is not a big talker like Wang Xuan. Shi Bang.
After Zhang Hongdao thought for a while, he suddenly said: It's up to you to persuade Zheng Ding to surrender.
Shi Gang was stunned and couldn't help but be overjoyed.
Don't worry, the commander is just trying to convince a country bumpkin.
As the military and civilian commander of a single town, Zheng Ding is by no means a country bumpkin.
Regardless of his strength, like Shi Tianze and Zhang Rou, he is a Han official who protects his neighbors and works hard to restore the vitality of the Central Plains.
He diverted the Fen River and irrigated more than a thousand hectares of people's fields. During disaster years, he personally entered people's houses, comforted the disabled, and provided food, grass and cloth.
All in all, under the governance of the Zheng family, the Qinyang area gradually regained its aura of fireworks over the past thirty years.
After entering Qinyang, walking along the official road, you can see green wheat fields on the roadside.
Zhang Hongdao looked at the wheat field with a look of contemplation in his eyes. The county seat could be seen in the distance in front of him.
Suddenly, the sound of horse hoofbeats was heard, and after a while, more than two hundred horsemen arrived and lined up with their bows drawn.
Who is coming? Dare to enter our Qinyang territory!
When Shi Gang heard this, he sneered and said to himself: Who is this? You ask knowingly. You are a bluff.
He bowed his hand to Zhang Hongdao and drove his horse forward.
Zhang Hongdao, the marshal of the North Route of the Northern Expeditionary Army of Fengtian in the Tang Dynasty, came to see Zheng Ding.
Although the Yuan soldiers on the opposite side drew their bows, they did not fire their arrows. Rong Shigang came closer.
They obviously knew long ago that it was Zhang Hongdao.
However, a rather surprising call came from the array. Shi Sanlang?! Brother Rou Ming?!
The cavalry formations separated, and a general rode out.
Shi Gang took a closer look and saw that this man looked about seventeen or eighteen years old. He was wearing bright armor and had thin skin and tender flesh. He did look familiar.
Brother Rouming, do you still remember your younger brother? Zheng Zhiyi, courtesy name Shouzhi. You and I met five times when we were in Yanjing.
Shi Gang then remembered and was surprised that he and Zheng Zhiyi had gotten together five times, and it was difficult for the other party to remember clearly.
He was used to being able to cope with such situations, and his tone became more and more arrogant.
It turns out that you have come back, weren't you originally a proton by Kublai Khan's side?
Zheng Zhiyi was stunned for a moment, and was a little shocked because Shi Gang directly called Kublai Khan by his name.
But Shi Gang had already waved his hand and said with a chuckle: What are you doing standing there in a daze? Why don't you come over and help Brother Wei off the horse?
···
Over there, Zhang Hongdao and his party were still standing on their horses, watching this scene from a distance.
Wulang and Shen Kai lowered their gazebos and said, "Is it okay for Shi Gang to be so dismissive?"
Let him be arrogant. If the pros and cons are stated soberly and the Zheng family has to make a clear-headed judgment, but they have to think over and over again and put forward many conditions, it is better to let Shi Gang use his arrogance to suppress it.
Zhang Hongdao's expression was deep, and at the end, he added: People's admiration for power sometimes makes them blindly obey. Shen Kai felt that it was unfathomable and couldn't help but nodded. After a while, Shi Gang came back.
That was Zheng Ding's son Zheng Zhiyi. I took the initiative to tell him how about going to the city to talk to Zheng Ding?
Zheng Zhiyi? It’s a good name to adapt to local conditions~~
Qinyang County.
Zheng Ding, wearing armor and standing at the top of the city, listened to the soldiers sent back by Zheng Zhiyi and said a few words.
Zhang Wulang and Shi Sanlang came to visit them as old friends. They only talked about private matters and did not care about state affairs.
Even so, everyone understood the meaning. Zheng Ding thought for a moment and said: Let's go back to the house to receive him.
The first thing he did when he returned home was to take off his armor and put on a pair of civilian clothes.
He paid special attention and found that his clothes were hidden to the right.
Soon a servant came to report. Zheng Zhiyi took Zhang Hongdao and Shi Bang.
Although Zheng Ding was prepared to entertain him, he didn't expect them to dare to
Entering the city, I couldn't help but admire his courage.
If he gave the order at this time, he could chop off the heads of these two people and report his merits to Kublai Khan.
However, Zheng Ding just adjusted his expression, squeezed a smile from the corner of his mouth with his fingers, and strode out to greet him.
The layout of the lobby of Zheng's family is very beautiful, simple yet elegant, and the word Jiaze is written on the plaque.
Zheng Dinglang greeted him with a smile. Although he was older, he was talking about Zhang Hongdao and Shi Bang, and he was talking about friendship with their peers.
Zheng Zhiyi's seniority was reduced by one generation at that time.
The host and guest sat down, exchanged a few words with each other over tea, and then Zheng Ding hesitantly opened his mouth to propose some conditions for surrender.
His requirements are not high. The Zheng family has been in Qinyang for a long time. If they can continue to guard this landscape and the people for generations in the future, it will be enough.
If only Zhang Hongdao were here today, he would definitely have refused sternly, and then he would have stated his interests and concerns in a serious manner.
Huh, what?
However, Shi Gang had already sneered, with a contemptuous tone, and added: The Zhang family of Shuntian, the Shi family of Zhending, and the Dong family of Gaocheng have never put forward such conditions for their submission to the Tang Dynasty. The Zheng family of Qinyang is so grand.
Zhang Hongdao would never say that, and he would never represent the Shuntian Zhang family.
For a long time, even in his own heart, Zhang Liulang and Zhang Jiulang were the successors of the Shuntian Zhang family.
When Shi Gang said this, Zheng Ding's expression changed.
Brother Rouming and uncle said something serious. Zheng Zhiyi smiled awkwardly and hurriedly came out to rescue him.
But Shi Gang stood up quickly and said: It's not my fault. Out of my loyalty and friendship with you, I begged Wu Lang to come in person to protect the young and old of your clan. I didn't expect you to be better than Boyan.
, I want to use this small number of rural soldiers to fight against the king's army alone.
Don't dare, don't dare. My father just wants to mention something
What conditions can you propose? Even if Kublai Khan wants to seize the power of a world leader, even I, the historian, dare not mention guarding one side for generations, how can you propose one?
Shi Gang obviously knew how to bully others, his voice was not loud, but his tone was arrogant.
Let me tell you, now that the king's army is sweeping across Liuhe, those who helped the barbarians torment the family in the past can save the lives of the whole family and become a gentry and wealthy family, and they can secretly enjoy it.
Zheng Ding looked over and met Shang Shi Bang's eyes.
He could see that Shi Gang was not intimidating him, but that he did not take Qinyang Ten Thousand Households seriously.
Compared with the invisible military strength, this contempt destroyed his confidence faster.
~~
That evening, the big flag on the top of Qinyang City slowly lowered and the city gate opened wide.
Zhang Hongdao rode out and looked back. Shi Bang still understood these young princes.
In the eyes of the general, it was Wu Lang who used people well. Shen Kaice immediately stepped forward and joked: Wu Lang didn't let the general persuade Zheng Ding.
Zhang Hongdao then smiled and said: You don't have that kind of confidence.
Without years of wealth, who can be as arrogant as Shi Sanlang? Shen Kai said with a smile, but in the eyes of the general, Wu Lang is deep in heart, calm and measured, and is more capable than them.
Maybe.
Really, Jiulang is just better at poetry and getting along well with people, so he always gets praise from people. Wulang is the one who really contributes to his family and the people.
Stop talking nonsense, let's go, go back to Mengzhou as soon as possible to mobilize troops, there are many cities to be conquered from here to Baozhou.
They all know that if they take Qinyang and head north from there, more and more cities will be lost.