Wu Yingxiong couldn't help but become more and more curious. He didn't know how Ximen Sheng offended Zhao Junchen and aroused such strong hostility from Zhao Junchen.
But in the end, Wu Yingxiong just remained silent and had no intention of stopping Zhao Junchen from continuing to make things difficult for Ximen Sheng, because Wu Yingxiong believed that such a situation would inevitably intensify the conflict between Zhao Junchen and Liaodong Town, which would be conducive to his subsequent calculations.
Just as Wu Yingxiong expected, all the generals in Liaodong Town couldn't bear to see Zhao Junchen humiliating Ximen Sheng and forcing Ximen Sheng to die.
They can tolerate Wu Yingxiong's temporary house arrest of Ximen Sheng, because after Ximen Sheng was put under house arrest by Wu Yingxiong and seized power, there would be one less person to compete with them for their interests and benefits, and there would be no one to hinder them from seeking more personal gains, but the Liaodong townspeople would never watch idly.
Zhao Junchen humiliating Ximen Sheng and forcing Ximen Sheng to death are completely different things.
Especially Xu He, he is now acting commander in chief and must stand out.
Therefore, before Ximen Sheng responded angrily, Xu He said loudly: "Zhao Gechen has learned a lesson! During the Fushun War, General Ximen Sheng has been sitting in the rear camp, coordinating the actions of the armies, organizing logistics supplies, and there are not many who personally lead the troops on the battlefield.
Opportunity, so I didn’t record many military exploits, but the military exploits of all the officers and soldiers were inseparable from his assistance... In short, General Ximen is definitely not afraid of the enemy and is afraid of fighting. I also hope that Zhao Gechen will not listen to the slander and misunderstand.
General Ximen."
Xu He used the term "listening to slander", which was considered a very solemn statement in the officialdom.
Next, Gan Cheng also frowned and advised: "Zhao Gechen, with the strength of the North Road defenders alone, it is impossible to pose much threat to Jianzhou Jurchens. It is no different to let Ximen Shenjun lead the North Road defenders to pursue Jianzhou Jurchens alone.
So fighting against a stone will only increase the casualties of the soldiers... Recently, the soldiers of all armies have suffered serious casualties. If a large number of North Road defenders are allowed to take the initiative to die, I am afraid it will affect the morale and morale of the army."
Gan Cheng's statement is also a very serious statement.
In the end, it was Li Zehe who played the role of peacemaker: "Zhao Gechen, you have finally reached an armistice agreement with the Jianzhou Jurchens. If you just want to vent your anger on the people of Jiubing Town and force General Ximen to lead the army,
If the war starts again, wouldn't all the previous efforts be wasted? If the Jurchens in Jianzhou take revenge after the incident, more innocent people will inevitably suffer. Wouldn't it be a small gain but a big gain..."
Seeing that the generals in Liaodong Town were speaking out for him, Ximen Sheng's expression finally softened a little.
Zhao Junchen's attitude finally softened slightly, but after he lowered his head and glanced at the surviving people of the rescue town who were still kneeling in front of him, he still had a cold expression and hummed softly: "But I have always loved the people like my own children and been considerate.
How can the common people remain indifferent now that they have seen with their own eyes the miserable plight of the common people in Jiuxing Town? If this cabinet ignores the cries and grievances of the people, how should the world evaluate this cabinet?"
After Xu He noticed that Zhao Junchen's attitude had relaxed a little, he quickly patted his chest and assured: "Minister, don't worry! Liaodong Town will immediately provide a sum of money and food for the people in the reinforcement town, and these people will never let them suffer from lack of food.
And if they starve to death, they will be given some seeds and farm tools to help them rebuild their homes."
After saying that, Xu He shouted loudly to the people in the reinforcement town: "Now Zhao Gechen has done justice for you. Not only has he helped you overcome the current difficulties and made up for your loss of money and food, but he will also serve you sooner or later."
To take revenge, why don’t you quickly thank Zhao Gechen for his kindness!”
The common people just saw with their own eyes Zhao Junchen, Wu Yingxiong, Ximen Sheng and other big figures. Conflict broke out because of their tragic situation. They were a little panicked at first. Coupled with Xu He's various promises, they finally stopped arguing and crying.
, one after another followed Xu He's request and thanked Zhao Junchen in a messy manner for his great kindness.
After seeing that the people in Jiubing Town stopped crying and entangled, Xu He was worried that things would change again, so he quickly ordered his soldiers to drive these people away.
But after Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, he suddenly raised his hand to stop and said: "Wait a minute!"
Then, Zhao Junchen stared at Ximen Sheng again, his expression still full of hostility and targeting.
But this time, Zhao Junchen did not make too harsh demands, and just said slowly: "In any case, Ximen Sheng is the commander-in-chief of the North Road Defense Area after all, and he cannot escape his dereliction of duty in guarding the land and protecting the people... Therefore, the medical expenses of rescuing troops and suppressing the dead and injured people must be paid."
How about you, Ximen Sheng, take full responsibility for the funeral and funeral expenses?"
Ximen Sheng said expressionlessly: "Okay!"
Zhao Junchen added: "At the same time, the Jianzhou Jurchens are withdrawing their troops one after another. In order to prevent the Jianzhou Jurchens from plundering the people again when they retreat, you will personally lead the troops to monitor and follow them, and by the way, you will regain the lost ground... You won't just
You don’t even have the guts to do that?”
Hearing that Zhao Junchen was humiliating himself again, Ximen Sheng's eyes were about to burst into flames, and he wished he could tear Zhao Junchen to pieces on the spot. If Xu He and Gan Cheng hadn't tried their best to stop him, he would have had a more intense conflict with Zhao Junchen.
But because of the obstruction of Xu He and Gan Cheng, Ximen Sheng finally suppressed his anger and gritted his teeth and said: "I obey my orders!"
Zhao Junchen turned to look at Jiang Quan, a hundred households of the Forbidden Army, and ordered: "Jiang Baihu, you follow Ximen Sheng to act together to prevent him from concealing the truth later."
After Ximen Sheng heard this, he couldn't bear it any longer. He immediately turned his horse's head around, waved his whip fiercely, and quickly left the scene.
After Jiang Quan saw this, he immediately whipped up his horse and chased after Ximen Sheng. While chasing, he shouted: "General Ximen Sheng, please wait a moment. Zhao Gechen ordered me to act with you. You can't leave first!"
In fact, Jiang Quan can probably guess Zhao Junchen's true thoughts and his real mission, so he is not worried at all that he will be angered and vented by Ximen Sheng in the future.
Just like that, Ximen Sheng and Jiang Quan quickly disappeared from everyone's sight as they rushed.
Zhao Junchen looked at Ximen Sheng's quickly retreating figure, with a hint of stratagem flashing in his eyes.
*
Zhao Junchen did not deliberately make things difficult for Ximen Sheng for no reason.
In fact, this is Zhao Junchen's plan to kill three birds with one stone.
First, it is to prevent Wu Yingxiong from finding a reason to talk, to promote public opinion, and to take the opportunity to show to the world that he cares about the people and values public opinion. The armistice agreement with the Jianzhou Jurchens is not an attempt to negotiate peace and appeasement, so as to silence the world's Youyou.
.
The only criticism of Zhao Junchen's performance just now is that he forced Ximen Sheng to lead his troops to pursue the Jianzhou Jurchens, which almost ruined the armistice agreement and almost caused another border conflict.
But Wu Yingxiong cannot use this reason to promote public opinion at all, because during the feudal dynasty, civil servants were mostly war-fighters who stood up and spoke without pain. After all, they could gain prestige after winning a battle and claim a great victory.
It was all due to his own main battle, and he was able to escape unscathed after a defeat, indicating that the defeat was entirely due to the incompetence of the leading military attache.
In comparison, Zhao Junchen's approach seems radical, but it is not unusual in the long history.
If Wu Yingxiong wanted to use this reason to promote public opinion and cause trouble for Zhao Junchen, he would not have many civil servants and scholars to support him. Otherwise, it would be equivalent to directly denying the "great achievements" of many famous officials and Confucian officials in the past dynasties.
After losing the support of civil servants and scholars, it was impossible for Wu Yingxiong to promote public opinion and stir up trouble.
The second is to force Liaodong Town to take the initiative to promise to spend money and food to aid and reinforce the people of the town.
To be honest, the money, food and materials needed by the people in Jiubing Town were not much. Zhao Junchen could easily come up with it himself, so there was no need to force Liaodong Town to promise assistance.
But this kind of precedent must not be set. If Zhao Junchen used money and food to help the people, he would certainly receive a lot of praise at first, but it would soon spread all over the world. In the future, no matter where the people encounter difficulties, they will find a way to find them.
Zhao Junchen cried and complained about his difficulties in front of Zhao Junchen. Zhao Junchen had neither the energy to save him nor the energy to pay attention to him.
What's more, if Zhao Junchen directly funded the war-torn people, it would be a proxy for the imperial court, and for Emperor Deqing, it would be to win over the people, which would be absolutely thankless.
The third is to directly bypass Wu Yingxiong's opinions and take the opportunity to let Ximen Sheng escape from house arrest and restore military power. He can personally lead the troops to monitor the Jurchen withdrawal from Jianzhou.
Zhao Junchen had already reached an agreement with Xuan Ye, the Great Khan of Jianzhou Jurchen. When Ximen Sheng led his army to follow and monitor, Xuan Ye would pretend to have a fight with Ximen Sheng, and then deliberately retreat, and then kill some seriously injured soldiers.
Leave it to Ximen Sheng, let Ximen Sheng gain a great military exploit!
After this impressive military exploit, Ximen Sheng will have a great chance of being promoted to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of Liaodong Town.
And what Zhao Junchen did just now to deliberately target Ximen Sheng will undoubtedly further improve Ximen Sheng's chances of being promoted to the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town - when Emperor Deqing heard about the fierce conflict between Zhao Junchen and Ximen Sheng, he would definitely become more and more angry.
I tend to let Ximen Sheng serve as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town.
The most important thing is that this approach can also stimulate Ximen Sheng's gratitude to Zhao Junchen to the greatest extent!
There are natural flaws in the structure of the human brain. The two completely opposite emotions of love and hate are actually two sides of the same relationship, and they will always switch easily during ups and downs.
When Ximen Sheng suddenly discovered that all Zhao Junchen's actions were to help him ascend to the position of commander-in-chief, the more he resented Zhao Junchen's humiliation at this time, the more grateful he would be to Zhao Junchen's good intentions afterwards.
But if Zhao Junchen directly expresses his support to him, considering the past conflicts between the two, Ximen Shanda will probably be suspicious, but he may not be so grateful to Zhao Junchen.
Zhao Junchen specifically ordered Jiang Quan to "monitor" Ximen Sheng, believing that Jiang Quan would soon tell Ximen Sheng the secret in detail, allowing Ximen Sheng to quickly complete his emotional transformation.
All in all, Wu Yingxiong deliberately set up a trap to embarrass Zhao Junchen in public, but his plan was still to make a wedding dress for Zhao Junchen, allowing Zhao Junchen to better realize his planned plan.
*
But he said that after Ximen Sheng and Jiang Quan left one after another, the atmosphere between Zhao Junchen and the generals quickly returned to normal, and everyone pretended that they had not seen the embarrassment and conflict just now.
Zhao Junchen returned to his usual seriousness and gentleness. He first asked the military generals carefully about the details of the battlefield, then praised the generals for their heroic performance, and finally announced his decision, saying that he would assist Wu Yingxiong and Wu Yingxiong.
The Liaodong townspeople will properly handle post-war matters, and when the situation in Liaodong gradually stabilizes, they will end their inspection schedule and return to the center of the capital as soon as possible.
After hearing Zhao Junchen's decision, Wu Yingxiong and the generals of Liaodong Town naturally had their own ideas and calculations, but Zhao Junchen ignored it at all and just took the lead in riding north, hoping to reach Fushun Pass as soon as possible.
Next, I just hurried on as hard as I could without talking the whole time.
By the evening of that day, Zhao Junchen, Wu Yingxiong and the generals of Liaodong Town finally arrived at Qingjian Valley. This valley was a temporary garrison for reinforcements from all walks of life.
Because the withdrawal of Jianzhou Jurchen troops has not yet ended, many Jianzhou Jurchen troops are still stranded near Fushun Pass. Zhao Junchen, Wu Yingxiong and others did not lead their troops into Fushun Pass overnight just in case, but decided to stay in Qing Dynasty.
Stay one night in Jiangu.
That night, Zhao Junchen secretly made an appointment with Wu Yingxiong without telling the generals of Liaodong Town.
After Wu Yingxiong appeared, Zhao Junchen took out a stack of paper and handed it over with a smile, saying: "These contents... are some of my rough thoughts on the reform of Liao's pay. Of course, we need to consider the attitude of the Ministry of War, but I
The government would like to take the lead in consulting Governor Wu for his opinion."
Wu Yingxiong couldn't help but be stunned. He didn't expect Zhao Junchen to value his opinion so much.
However, the matter of Liao's salary reform was of great importance. Wu Yingxiong couldn't care less about being polite for a moment, and immediately reached out to take the stack of papers and read them carefully.
After reading it for a while, Wu Yingxiong's expression changed.