Conquering Hetuala was a great achievement, and even Wei Liangqing, who was still not very good at it, arrived here in a hurry.
Not surprisingly, Hetuala did not have much wealth left.
Previously, Huang Taiji evacuated the family members of the Zhenghuang and Zhengbai banners to North Korea, taking away a small amount of silver.
Now the entire inner city of Hetuala is in ruins!
This result was also expected by Li Xianzhong. After all, it had been almost two years since he officially launched the Wanli Fourth Conquest in July 48th of Wanli with the "Request for Construction of Captives".
During this period, the wealth that the Tatars had plundered from the Ming Dynasty and North Korea over the years had long since flowed back to Li Xianzhong through trade.
From the initial 100,000 taels of sweet potatoes, Li Xianzhong earned 500,000 taels of Tatar silver at once.
Nowadays, Hetuala is like a "cash machine" that has been emptied, and naturally it has little value if it is kept!
If Xu Xianchun had not seen it with his own eyes, it would be unimaginable that only a few thousand taels of silver were found in Hetuala, the capital of the Tatars.
This is the reason why Li Xianzhong recruited them to Liaodong, otherwise Wei Zhongxian must have thought that he made a lot of money by capturing Hetuala!
Li Xianzhong said: "In the two years since I vowed to send troops, I have been short of food, wages and weapons. As a result, my troops have been approaching the city several times and failed to conquer Hetuala."
"This time, Supervisor Wei's army personally escorted the troops to support the battle. The morale of our army was greatly boosted, so we conquered the city in one fell swoop. This was actually the first achievement in breaking the city!"
No matter how stupid Wei Liangqing is, he still knows that Li Xianzhong intends to get him a title for his meritorious service.
Although he got a slap in the face, he once felt a little resentful towards Li Xianzhong.
But compared to the title he is about to receive, this meal is nothing.
He said: "The capture of Hetuala this time was all due to Uncle Ning Yuan's planning. The soldiers of Liaodong were brave and not afraid of death. The good minister only transported some grain and grass and did not dare to take credit!"
"Uncle Ning Yuan, don't worry. If you have made such an unparalleled contribution to the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court will definitely reward you greatly."
Li Xianzhong quickly handed over his hands and said: "The Donglin Party members only know how to fight for power and gain all day long. If not for Prime Minister Wei's strong support, I don't know when Jianzhou will be able to be settled?"
"Li will definitely go to the capital in person to express his gratitude to Wei Xiang someday!"
To put it bluntly, Wei Liangqing came to Liaodong to plate gold and get some credit. Now that Hetuala has been captured, the main forces of the two Tatar banners have also been annihilated.
Naturally, he was eager to go back to receive his merits, so Li Xianzhong asked him to take Burhachi's ashes and Huang Taiji's head to Beijing to announce the good news.
Don't worry about which girl this second-generation ancestor brought harm to in Liaodong.
At this moment, Wei Liangqing only felt that he had received a huge favor from Li Xianzhong, but Sun Chuanting on the side saw clearly that Ning Yuanbo's concession seemed to be to curry favor with Wei Zhongxian, but in fact he was avoiding trouble.
Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty emphasizes culture over military affairs. Although Jianzhou is still not pacified at this moment, if Ning Yuanbo continues to monopolize the great achievements, even if he can get a higher title, he will definitely end up with a bird's nest.
Not only did he curry favor with Wei Zhongxian, but he also allowed others to share his achievements naturally, thus preventing him from becoming a target of the imperial court.
Uncle Ning Yuan's clever methods are really impressive.
No wonder the imperial court had nothing to do with Liaodong.
Afterwards, Li Xianzhong summoned Sun Chuanting alone.
Li Xianzhong said: "I heard that County Magistrate Sun had criticized Eunuch Wei before, so he resigned angrily. Is this possible?"
Sun Chuanting said angrily: "Wei eunuch harmed loyal people, formed cliques for selfish interests, harmed the country and the people, and brought the court into a state of chaos. It's okay if Sun doesn't serve as such an official."
Li Xianzhong said with a smile: "County Magistrate Sun is quite hostile to Eunuch Wei. In your opinion, I am also an accomplice of Wei Eunuch?"
In the eyes of the people, Li Xianzhong was the hero who stabilized Liaodong and severely damaged the Tatars. However, due to the long-term smear campaign by the Donglin Party, his reputation among officials was not good.
He was first labeled as a "treacherous concubine's gang member", saying that he colluded with Concubine Zheng.
Then because Wei Zhongxian defended Li Xianzhong many times, he was said to be a "member of the eunuch party."
Sun Chuanting said: "If Ning Yuanbo must be labeled as a party, then Ning Yuanbo should represent the nobles of the capital rather than the eunuch party."
Li Xianzhong said: "In the eyes of this uncle, there is not much difference between the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party. They are both fighting against differences and using power for personal gain. The Donglin Party is not much more noble than the Eunuch Party?"
"It is true that Eunuch Wei formed a clique for personal gain and promoted and reused his cronies."
“Isn’t it the same with the Donglin Party?”
"If it weren't for the Donglin Party members who used their power for personal gain, how could Yuan Yingtai, Wang Huazhen, and Zhang Minghe become governors-general of Liaodong Economic Strategy and North Korea?"
"If these people hadn't disrupted the situation and caused countless Ming soldiers to die in vain, why would Hetuala have been delayed until today before we could conquer it?"
"How did Li Sancai, who was hailed as an upright official by many Donglin bosses, accumulate a fortune of more than 4 million taels of silver?"
"If we have to say there is any difference between the two, it's just that one is a real villain and the other is a hypocrite. The Donglin Party just has one more cover than Wei Zhongxian to care about the country and the people!"
Originally, Sun Chuanting felt that the Donglin Party members were all modest gentlemen, while the Eunuch Party was a group of villains who had no bottom line in doing things. How could the two be confused?
Now that Li Xianzhong said this, this is really what happened.
Seeing the confused Sun Chuanting, Li Xianzhong continued: "I am not a member of Eunuch Wei's party, but he was accused of being an eunuch by the Donglin Party members. Likewise, Magistrate Sun just couldn't stand the eunuchs framing Yang Lian and others, and they were also accused by Jin Yiwei. I think it’s the Donglin Party.”
"Once they get involved in 'party disputes,' they will first see the interests of the party, not the merits of right and wrong."
"Old Ye Ge's personal ethics have not been greatly compromised, but he ignored the Ming Dynasty's Liaodong for the benefit of the Donglin Party."
"Eunuch Wei is indeed a villain, but they can firmly support me in destroying Jianzhou."
"The Donglin Party, which is concerned about the country and the people, is doing everything possible to deprive Liaodong of wages, money, and weapons. However, the greedy Eunuch Wei can ensure that the Liaodong frontline has sufficient food and wages, and the soldiers can receive silver rewards."
"The Donglin Party, which keeps shouting for the people all day long, keeps increasing taxes on the people, making the people all over the world miserable."
"It is true that Eunuch Wei made the court a mess, but he never increased the burden on ordinary people. He only levied commercial taxes on those wealthy businessmen!"
"In my opinion, the Donglin Party members are really inferior to Wei Zhongxian in some aspects!"
"But just now Magistrate Sun said that this official position is inappropriate, but I disagree. You and I are not officials for Wei Zhongxian, nor for the Donglin Party, but for the common people of this world."
"No matter who is in power, my uncle, the people of Liaodong under my rule must live and work in peace and contentment. Foreign invasion will never be allowed in Liaodong during the Ming Dynasty."
Li Xianzhong's words shocked Sun Chuanting greatly. He had never thought about these issues before.
But there is one thing that he, like Li Xianzhong, is unwilling to become a vassal of these two parties.
He said: "Uncle Ning Yuan is a righteous man. Sun admires him and is willing to work for Uncle Ning Yuan!"
Li Xianzhong brought Sun Chuanting to a map he drew, and then gave Sun Chuanting a burst of encouragement, encouraging him to open up territory for the Ming Dynasty.
In the end, he successfully deceived Sun Chuanting into leading 2,000 reservists from the Pinglu Guards, as well as tens of thousands of Fujianese people recruited by Zheng Zhilong in southern Fujian, and 5,000 Korean laborers to go to Tamsui and Keelung Port in northern Taiwan to open up new strongholds.
As for Hetuala, it is naturally impossible to return it to the hands of the Tatars or the Yehe tribe.
In the past, when the Ming Dynasty occupied these remote areas, it was difficult to garrison them. Instead, it chose to destroy the city or retreat after a wave of massacres.
If this does not solve the fundamental problem, it will not take many years for those alien races to rise again and occupy this place.
Then use this place as the foundation to continuously advance to the borders of the Ming Dynasty.
The only way to completely solve this problem is to turn this place into the direct territory of Ming Dynasty.
The road was built in a remote location. Originally for the convenience of transporting military supplies, Li Xianzhong had also built a road from Fushun Pass to the southeast, connecting Sarhu, Jiefan City, Gule Village and Mardun Village.
As long as we continue to move forward for 30 miles, we will reach Hetuala. Once the roads are clear, these border areas can be better controlled.
Li Xianzhong has asked Yan Mingtai, the governor of Jiliao, to jointly submit a letter with him to rename the place Pinglu County and directly station troops.
There is still some cultivated land around Hetuala. Now the Ming Dynasty is full of disaster victims. As long as the court allows the court to move another 10,000 or 20,000 households from the interior, this place will become the territory of the Ming Dynasty in the future.
The first magistrate of Pinglu County was Lu Xiangsheng, who was still observing politics.
However, considering the special location of Pinglu County, Li Xianzhong still left three thousand defenders here.
After solving Hetuala, the next thing to solve is the Six Forts of Kuandian.
Unlike Hetuala, Kuandian was originally the territory of the Ming Dynasty. It was still occupied by Azig, so naturally the Jianzhou Jurchens could not be completely pacified.
However, everyone opposed the continued use of troops in the Kuandian area.
Yan Mingtai said: "Now that we have captured Hetuala, we can explain it to the court. The supervisor Wei Liangqing has returned to Beijing to report the victory. I don't think there is a need to rush to recover the Kuandian area."
"Although Ye Xianggao is no longer here, the chief assistant Han Xu is still a member of the Donglin Party. I'm afraid they will still do the same thing when the time comes!"
"As for the excuse, it's easy. Although our army suffered a small loss in troops in the Battle of Hetuala, the loss of artillery shells was huge. Let's delay it for a few months."
Yan Mingtai's opinion quickly gained everyone's support.
Li Sanshun said: "With the capture of Hetuala this time, my uncle will inevitably be promoted to a noble title. I'm afraid that after returning to the capital, the imperial court will make a secret promotion and trap my uncle in the capital!"
Li Xianzhong also understood that the generals' worries were justified.
He said: "In fact, the threat to statehood is no longer great. Ajigen's tens of thousands of people can't make any big waves at all. If the court wants to hide everything, it has nothing to worry about!"
"So the factor that determines whether the imperial court will take action against Ben Bo is not whether Azig in Kuandian has been eliminated, but the attitude of 'Nine Thousand Years Old' Wei Zhongxian!"
Yan Mingtai said with a smile: "Uncle Ning Yuan made Wei Liangqing the supervisor of the Liaodong Army. This is really a good move. In this way, Wei Zhongxian will definitely take credit for us. The greater the credit of the Liaodong Army, the higher Wei Liangqing's title will be."
Li Xianzhong said: "So I think Hetuala's contribution alone is not enough. We must completely pacify Liaodong!"
"If I were to be granted the title of Marquis or even Duke, I would be qualified based on my current achievements! But this is not my ambition."
Li Xianzhong's words left everyone confused. Did he even look down on the Duke?
Li Sanshun said softly: "But there is no precedent for naming a king with a different surname in the Ming Dynasty?"
Li Xianzhong rolled his eyes at Li Sanshun!
Please give me a different surname?
Then I might as well just raise the flag and rebel.
Even if Emperor Tianqi continues to ignore government affairs, it is impossible for him to create a king with a different surname.
This is equivalent to the current government directly naming Wei Zhongxian "Nine Thousand Years Old"!
He said: "There is definitely no precedent for being crowned king, but there is a precedent in this dynasty for the Duke of Guizhou to conquer Yunnan!"
When Li Xianzhong said this, Yan Mingtai was also shocked.
"Forever in Liaodong", Ning Yuanbo's appetite is really big, but now Wei Zhongxian and the Hakka family control the government, and Emperor Tianqi basically does nothing.
As long as the price is paid in place, this thing may really be possible. After all, there is a precedent in Ming Dynasty.
After resting for a few days, the Ming army began to conquer again.
Soon Li Xianzhong led 8,000 civilian guards and 6,000 "imperial auxiliary troops" southward from Crow Falcon Pass, heading towards the nearest Changdian Fort!
In order to doubt Azig, Li Sanshun also led 3,000 Liaodong cavalry south from Hetuala to threaten the east side of Kuandian Fort.
In order to prevent Azig's people from escaping into North Korea, the Liaodong Navy led by Deng Gang directly blocked the Yalu River.
Four 800-ton ships and six 680-ton battleships under the Liaodong Navy headed for the Yalu River.
In addition, the North Korean navy also dispatched 20 lucky ships to cooperate with the blockade of the river.
Currently, Yingkou Shipyard and Lushun Shipyard each have four large shipyards, which can build eight warships at the same time.
The keels of the two largest 1,200-ton new light Galen sailing ships have been laid, but it will take nearly a year to complete.
The updated sailing battleship was temporarily stranded because the drawings drawn by Li Xianzhong were not very professional, the shipyard did not have enough construction tonnage, and the 18-pound ship-borne artillery was still under development.
The shipyard in Incheon has even built eight medium-sized docks to continuously produce commercial ships.
The two docks of Ryukyu Shipyard have just been built and are currently mainly used for ship repair and modification. The construction of new ships has not yet begun.
However, although the current size of the Liaodong Navy fleet is not as large as its opponents, its battleships can already compete with the Portuguese and Dutch battleships in East Asia.
I believe that in another 1-2 years, we will be able to compete with the Netherlands for sea control in East Asia. Of course, the premise is that the Dutch East India Company does not use its main battleships in Batavia to come to East Asia for support!
Facing the Ming army's pressing pressure, Azig was completely panicked.
The Xianglan and Xianghuang banners under his command only have 11,000 troops, which is the smallest number of troops.
Originally, his advantage was that he could advance and retreat freely. If he couldn't defeat him, he could run to North Korea.
Unexpectedly, the Ming navy actually blocked the Yalu River directly. As a result, they could not retreat to North Korea, and Daishan's reinforcements could not cross the river to support them.
Responsible for guarding Chang Dien Fort are a thousand yellow flags.
These Niu Lu were transferred from Zhenghuang Banner to Xianghuang Banner, so they still have a strong will to fight.
Faced with the "Imperial Association Army"'s persuasion to surrender, Jia La E Zhen Talo responded directly with bows and arrows.
Seeing that they failed to persuade them to surrender, the Ming army became unceremonious. Dozens of 12-pound Hongyi cannons directly fired at Changdian Fort. Coupled with the suppression of Lumi gunfire, the Tatars in the city were soon beaten to the point where they could not even lift their heads. Come!
However, the city wall of Chang Dien Fort is still very strong, and the Ming army's artillery will not be able to destroy the city wall for a while.
So Li Xianzhong decided to use mortars to attack the city.
I saw the Ming army holding their shields high, and a dozen gunners behind them pushing large-caliber mortars toward the city.
The yellow flags on the city were completely suppressed by the Ming army's Lumi guns, and they did not dare to show their heads at all.
They can only use bows and arrows to shoot down the city.
Although they knew that the Ming army must have an intention, they were unable to stop it at this time.
Soon the eight mortars were pushed to a distance of 20 steps from the city. When the Eight Banners soldiers saw the huge caliber of the large mortars, they were dumbfounded.
If the Hongyi cannon's bombardment had a lot of luck, the parabola of the mortar cannon would almost certainly hit the city wall.
The Tatars on the city only felt the ground shaking for a while, and then a piece of the city was blown down.
Just one volley killed hundreds of people in the city.
After another round of shelling, the "Imperial Association Army" directly set up ladders and attacked the city.
Since they had previously refused to persuade them to surrender, Li Xianzhong ordered that no one be left behind.
After occupying Chang Dien Fort, the Ming army marched straight in and came to Kuandian Fort.
At this time, Azig still had 10,000 people in his hands. He left 2,000 people at Sumian Fort, which is closest to the Yalu River, and the remaining 8,000 people were all reduced to Kuandian Fort to defend.
Although Kuandian Fort's city wall is taller, fully 8 meters high, it is equipped with complete defenses such as trenches and turrets.
However, the rapid fall of Chang Dien Fort still had a great impact on the morale of the defenders.
In order to boost morale, young Azig came to the city in person!
He shouted: "Kuandian Fort is difficult to conquer. Previously, Obai and others blocked the Ming army's attack with only 3,000 troops. Now that we have 8,000 men and sufficient food in the fort, the Ming army can only come Die!"
It's a pity that the news of the Ming army's blockade of the Yalu River has already spread like wildfire. The blue flags on the city all know that the North Korean reinforcements cannot get through at all, so Azig's encouragement has no effect at all!
At this time, Azig could only turn to his "wisdom star" for help. He looked at Fan Wencai with sincere eyes and asked: "Mr. Fan, what should we do now?"
As the ace spy of the Intelligence Department, Fan Wencai has been lurking in Jianzhou for nearly three years. He has successfully deceived Nurhaci and Huang Taiji and sent them to the West.
Now that the Ming army did not choose to drive Azig across the Yalu River, he knew that his mission was about to be completed.
Although there is uncontrollable excitement in his heart, he still needs to stand on the last duty at this time.
He said: "I'm telling you, Erbeile, although Kuandian can hold on, we are now a lone army. As the saying goes, if we defend for a long time, we will lose. I think we might as well surrender as soon as possible!"
Azig originally had great expectations for Fan Wencai, but when he heard the word "surrender", he was extremely disappointed.
He also wanted to surrender, but the Ming army never left Jianzhou's own people alive.
Surrender, aren't you going to die?
Fan Wencai said: "Er Beile, don't worry, Fan is willing to go out of the city to negotiate with the Ming army in person, and he will ensure your personal safety!"
Azig is only 17 years old now, how can he deal with such a complicated situation? When I heard that Fan Wencai was willing to go out of the city to negotiate with the Ming army, it was like grabbing a life-saving straw!
He said excitedly: "There are still 200,000 taels of silver in the city. Mr. Fan should take it directly to the Ming Army camp."
Fan Wencai looked at Azig and thought: This Erbeile is really innocent and cute. When the Ming army breaks through the city, won't the money belong to others? Can Ning Yuanbo let you go because of this little money?
Of course, his attitude is still good. Now that he is finally able to retire, I wonder if I can get a commission from the 200,000 taels?
Jinnaji, who was wearing a blue flag, said: "Master Baylor, Fan Wencai is a Han Chinese. Even if we have to negotiate, we can't let him go?"
"If he takes the money and surrenders directly to the Ming army, then the morale of our army will be even lower?"
It seems that there are still sensible people among the Tatars!
Indeed, this is what Fan Wencai thinks in his heart, but this cannot be regarded as surrender, it can only be said that he is returning to the organization.
At this time, he must find a way to leave this place of right and wrong. The Ming army's artillery didn't have eyes, so he couldn't fall before dawn!
Fan Wencai said: "This slave made suggestions for Dajin and did so many things that betrayed the Han people. Even if I go to the Ming army camp, I will have a narrow escape!"
"If the situation is not extremely critical, I would not be willing to put myself in danger! If Erbeile can't believe it, of course I can send others!"
Azig gave a helpless smile and said: "As the saying goes, 'Don't trust those who employ them, do not use those who are suspicious'. Benbeile trusts Mr. Fan, so please take care of him along the way!"
Soon after, Fan Wencai walked out of Kuandian Fort with the silver.
He was so excited that he finally escaped and ascended to heaven and could return to the organization!
But when he saw the concubine Abahai nestled in Li Xianzhong's arms, he never expected that Uncle Ning Yuan would accept Abahai directly.
At this time, Abahai's face was rosy and he seemed to feel younger than before. It seemed that his life should be very nourishing.
Li Xianzhong said: "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Fan, but I have to trouble you to continue returning to Azig!"
Although Fan Wencai felt a little disappointed, he still took Abahai into Kuandian Fort.
Azig was really excited. Mr. Fan did not disappoint him. He not only brought back the good news that the Ming army was willing to accept his surrender.
He even brought back his mother-in-law.
Soon the mother and son were hugging each other and crying.
Azig soon asked about the whereabouts of his two brothers.
Of course, Abahai couldn't say that they were sent to the Ming Palace as eunuchs by Li Xianzhong, so he could only cry: "That day, Daishan's men kidnapped E Niang and your two brothers out of Hetuala."
"When they walked outside the city, the man coveted Eniang's beauty and wanted to force Eniang. Your two brothers stepped forward to stop them, but they were killed by them. The noise was too loud and alerted the spies of the Ming army. , E Niang just saved her life by luck!"
After finishing speaking, Abahai cried even more sadly!
At this time, Azig hated Daishan even more. If it weren't for him, how could they be separated from each other?
Afterwards, the concubine Abahai told everyone with the blue flag the "truth" that Daishan had kidnapped her and betrayed the Great Khan!
Then it was announced that the position of Great Khan of Daishan would be abolished and Azig would succeed him instead!
In this way, Azig asked the Ming army to surrender in the name of Dajin Khan!
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(End of chapter)
