As the governor of Jiliao, Wu Yingxiong had been deliberately trying to annex Liaodong Town, but he had never imagined that he could control Jizhen.
Among the nine border towns in the Ming Dynasty, Ji Town is the most special one. Its geographical location is extremely critical. It surrounds the center of the capital from the east, west and north. The defense area under its jurisdiction is far away from the gate of the capital.
The nearest place is less than fifty miles away.
It can be said that the emergence of Jizhen from the beginning was to defend the center, prevent rebellion, and contain the other eight border towns and the Beijing camp. The successive commander-in-chief of Jizhen had always been the most trusted military attache of the Ming Dynasty emperor, and Jizhen had always
These were all forbidden by the Ming Dynasty emperors, and after Emperor Deqing came to the throne, this situation was strengthened again.
As for Zhang Su, the current commander-in-chief of Jizhen, he was already a guard of the East Palace before Emperor Deqing ascended the throne. He is also known to be loyal, stubborn and serious, and his personality is like a stone in a pit, smelly and hard. Except for Deqing
No one except the emperor would give him face.
An incident that best reflected Zhang Su's character was that ten years ago, after he accidentally heard Emperor Deqing complaining that Zhou Shangjing was monopolizing power and being difficult to govern, he became angry that Zhou Shangjing had embarrassed Emperor Deqing, so he planned something without authorization.
There was an assassination plan against Zhou Shangjing. In the end, Emperor Deqing himself noticed the signs in time and took action to stop Zhang Su's assassination at the critical moment. Otherwise, Zhou Shangjing might have died long ago.
However, this assassination plan was eventually exposed. Although no conclusive evidence was found, it still caused shock in the government and the public, and made hundreds of officials angry. Emperor Deqing spent a lot of effort to finally settle the turmoil.
Because of this, although Zhang Su and Liang Fuchen were both Emperor Deqing's most trusted confidants, compared to Liang Fuchen's rapid rise to the top, from general to prime minister, Zhang Su is still only a general in Jizhen. Apart from Zhang Su,
His talents and methods were indeed inferior to Liang Fuchen's, and he was also affected by this incident.
All in all, although the combat effectiveness of Ji Town's army is obviously not as good as that of Liaodong Town, and Zhang Su's ability to lead troops in combat is not that outstanding, Zhang Su is deeply trusted by Emperor Deqing and is a stubborn character who does not compromise on means and does not care about the consequences.
generation, so compared to He Yu, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, Wu Yingxiong was more afraid of Zhang Su, the commander-in-chief of Ji Town.
At this time, after seeing the contents of Zhao Junchen's secret message, Wu Yingxiong was immediately shocked.
After seeing the change in Wu Yingxiong's expression, Zhao Junchen sneered and said: "Governor Wu, you also know the temperament of the old general Zhang Su. He has always been loyal and loyal. He has always been meticulous and devoted all his strength when executing His Majesty's will...
I won’t hide it from you, before the conflict with Liaodong Town, I had contacted General Zhang Su in advance and reached an agreement with him! If nothing else happens, General Zhang Su has already moved his camp to Fuzhou, near Shanhaiguan.
Ning Wei! If this secret letter from this pavilion cannot be delivered to Funing within ten days, General Zhang Su will immediately lead his army to Liaodong!
This old general Zhang Su is not as easy to talk to as I am. He must not tolerate anyone disrupting His Majesty's layout in Liaodong. Once he leads his army into Liaodong, he will probably do his best to thwart Governor Wu's follow-up plan.
This is equivalent to letting His Majesty notice the changes in the situation in Liaodong in advance... Governor Wu, are you really willing to see these changes occur?"
Hearing Zhao Junchen's naked threat, Wu Yingxiong's expression gradually turned gloomy. He changed his previous friendly attitude and asked in the same cold voice: "Is Zhao Junchen threatening the governor?"
Zhao Junchen shook his head in denial and said: "I still want to maintain a harmonious relationship with Governor Wu, but I don't want Governor Wu to underestimate my role and take my sincerity and goodwill as nothing!"
After Wu Yingxiong was silent for a moment again, he asked again: "Did Minister Zhao really reach such an agreement with General Zhang Su? Why do I think the minister is bluffing me?"
Zhao Junchen asked back: "If Governor Wu thinks that I am bluffing you, how about I tear up this secret letter now so that General Zhang Su will never receive a reply from me?"
In fact, Zhao Junchen was bluffing Wu Yingxiong. He never contacted or communicated with Zhang Su from beginning to end.
After all, once Zhang Su led the Jizhen army into Liaodong territory, it would be equivalent to Emperor Deqing personally participating in the changes in the situation in Liaodong, and it would also completely destroy Zhao Junchen's own plans for Liaodong Town.
But Zhao Junchen believed that with Wu Yingxiong's stable character, he might be lucky and bet that the Jurchens in Jianzhou would not take the opportunity to invade, but he was absolutely unwilling to bear the risk of Zhang Su sending troops to disrupt the situation - the former still had room for redress, after all.
The Liaoshen defense line in Liaodong Town has been in operation for many years, and it will not be easy for the Jianzhou Jurchens to break through, but the latter will definitely put the ambitions of the Wu family in Shanhaiguan to waste.
Sure enough, after Wu Yingxiong was silent for a long time, he asked again: "Zhao Gechen, what do you want?"
Zhao Junchen shook his head and said: "I just hope that Governor Wu can seriously consider the three suggestions put forward by this cabinet... In fact, the several suggestions put forward by this cabinet are all beneficial to Governor Wu.
, all out of sincerity, if Governor Wu ignores it, my cabinet will naturally not be willing to cooperate with Governor Wu anymore... The prerequisite for cooperation in such things is that everyone gets what they need and has equal status, right?"
Zhao Junchen made three suggestions to Wu Yingxiong. The first was to advise Wu Yingxiong not to annex Liaodong Town for the time being, but to integrate all the armies in Hujiazhuang as soon as possible and then send troops to the north to aid; the second was to ask the Wu family in Shanhaiguan to show more sincerity.
Buy yourself off and form an alliance of interests with yourself, so that both parties can carve up the power in Liaodong together; thirdly, you want Wu Yingxiong to leave Ximen Sheng under your care.
Among these three proposals, the latter two were unacceptable to Wu Yingxiong.
Therefore, Wu Yingxiong could only seriously consider sending troops to help the north.
After pondering again for a long time, Wu Yingxiong asked: "Zhao Gechen, you said that the prerequisite for cooperation between the two parties is to each get what they need, but you don't know what benefit it will bring to Zhao Gechen that the governor will lead the army to help the north?"
Zhao Junchen sighed softly and said: "In the eyes of many people, I am just a corrupt official and a traitor. Therefore, if I say that I have repeatedly urged Governor Wu to lead troops to the north, it is out of a public spirit that takes the overall situation into consideration and is unwilling to do so."
I'm afraid Governor Wu doesn't want to believe that the border areas of the imperial court are in danger of falling, so... Governor Wu just thinks that I just want to take this opportunity to gain more military glory for myself!"
Wu Yingxiong was slightly startled when he heard Zhao Junchen's answer, but after thinking about Zhao Junchen's various performances in recent years, he slightly believed in Zhao Junchen's "public heart" theory.
Therefore, Wu Yingxiong replied seriously: "Since you, Zhao Gechen, are so public-spirited, I will definitely seriously consider sending troops to the north! Please rest assured, Zhao Gechen, this time the governor is not trying to prevaricate or delay time, but is just sending troops to the north."
The matter of aid is of great importance, and there are many details that must be thought through clearly, and it will take some time to integrate the armies of all parties in Hujiazhuang... Therefore, tomorrow afternoon at the latest, the governor will give Zhao Gechen an accurate answer."
Seeing that Wu Yingxiong had given him an accurate time limit, Zhao Junchen stopped pestering him and nodded: "If this is the case, it is naturally the best."
Next, the atmosphere between Wu Yingxiong and Zhao Junchen soon fell into an awkward and cold atmosphere, and was no longer as harmonious and cordial as before.
After all, no matter how much Zhao Junchen denied it, he had just threatened Wu Yingxiong. This approach naturally destroyed the seemingly harmonious relationship between the two parties.
As a result, Wu Yingxiong quickly got up and left, while Zhao Junchen got up in person and sent him outside the camp.
Watching Wu Yingxiong's figure gradually disappear, Zhao Junchen looked helpless, shook his head and said to himself: "This Wu Yingxiong is more cautious than expected, and it is far more difficult to convince him than expected. This time
In order to persuade him to lead troops to the north to help, I had to use pressure, tearing both sides apart. I am afraid that Wu Yingxiong has realized my hostility towards the Wu family in Shanhaiguan... Therefore, it will be difficult to continue to pretend to be kind.
Let him relax his guard!"
Having said this, Zhao Junchen turned to Jiang Quan and ordered: "Inform the generals in Liaodong Town so that they can implement the follow-up plan."
At the same time, when Wu Yingxiong left Zhao Junchen's station quickly, he turned to his close associates and ordered: "Immediately send a fast horse back to Shanhaiguan to investigate the army movements in Ji Town... Also, get Mr. Fang and Ying Lin as soon as possible."
, Shilin and others are summoned, I have important matters to discuss with them!"
After passing the order, Wu Yingxiong's expression became gloomy again, and he said slowly to himself: "This Zhao Junchen seems to want to cooperate, but he is too ambitious, the gap is difficult to fill, and he is too assertive and too strong... For me, Wu
As far as I'm concerned, I'm afraid we are enemies rather than friends!"