"Your Majesty, I forgive you for being stupid. I really don't know why this move can win a chance for Duke An Guo. Please enlighten me!"
Gong Yonggu pondered for a while, but failed to understand the key, so he asked Zhu Yuanzhang for advice.
Seeing that he was so honest with him, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded secretly, and then said: "During the war, blood and flesh were everywhere, and corpses were everywhere. Most of them could only be identified by prisoners or clothing, accessories and other items."
"Previously, the reason why the rebels spread the news that An Guogong died in battle was based on this. However, the rebels must have discovered something later and could not confirm the identity of An Guogong, so what happened today happened."
"So now not only us, but also the rebels don't know whether An Guogong is alive or dead. If you deny it today and bury the body in a dignified manner, it will only speed up the rebels' pursuit of An Guogong, and it will not be conducive to the internal fighting among the rebels."
"Because according to Zhang Dabiao, it was Niu Jinxing's son Niu Quan who identified An Guogong, but his real purpose was not An Guogong, but wanted to take the opportunity to attack Li Yan."
"If you make the rebels think that An Guogong is dead, the generals will become closer to Li Yan and his prestige will be higher. Although this will make Li Yan dissatisfied with him, Li Yan also has the power of the city. People will never deal with him at this moment.”
"And Niu Jinxing and others have lost power after the battle at Juyongguan. If they are defeated again, even if Li Thief secretly supports them, they may not be able to compete with Li Yan."
"Once Li Yan gains power, with his character and talent, he will intensify his pursuit of An Guogong. Wouldn't this be more dangerous than when they fight internally?"
Hearing this, Gong Yonggu finally understood and bowed: "Thank you for your advice, I understand. I will definitely remember your Majesty's teachings and no longer be swayed by emotions."
Seeing that the resentment in his heart had dissipated, Zhu Yuanzhang breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, the reason why he said so much just now was that in addition to the flaws in Gong Yonggu's disposal plan, the more important reason was that he was worried that after Jin Xuan impersonated Liu Wenbing happened in the future, Gong Yonggu would alienate him because of today's incident.
And the generals he currently commands are all Gong Yonggu's colleagues, and they have a life-long friendship.
Once these people have prejudices against him, the situation will become even more passive.
Therefore, he took this opportunity to give some advice to Gong Yonggu as a precautionary measure.
"Your Majesty, when I denied the body just now, not only Gao Jie, Ma Jinzhong and others stood up to support it, but Wu Guogui also admitted the matter. Only Wang Yuncheng was hesitant, but finally took a stand."
"It seems that although they have their own plans, they have already succumbed to the general trend. Should we strike while the iron is hot and launch an attack on the rebels?"
After Gong Yonggu cleared the negative emotions in his heart, he was full of fighting spirit again and suggested to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "This time they are just bait soldiers, and they can barely be used now. However, the matter of An Guogong makes us feel that we might as well start from within the rebels first, so as not to alleviate their conflicts by feigning attacks."
Hearing this, Gong Yonggu said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, since the last battle in the capital, Thief Li has known that Niu Jinxing and others are unreliable."
"Now the war is imminent. Even if we don't attack, Li Thief will never deal with Li Yan. Judging from Niu Quan's temporary change of words, it can be seen that Niu Jinxing is not Li Yan's opponent."
"If Your Majesty wants to provoke an internal fight between Niu and Li, I'm afraid it won't be easy in the short term. If you wait for Zuo Liangyu to arrive, the situation will be even more passive. Your Majesty, please think twice!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Yes, Niu Jinxing is showing weakness now and is unwilling to fight with Li Yan in order to preserve his strength. But if he is forced to a dead end, what do you think he will do?"
Gong Yonggu frowned and said: "Although Niu Jinxing has lost power now, it is still a false appearance. Moreover, Li Yan is also a person who has the overall situation. He will never pursue Niu Jinxing at this moment. How can he be forced to a dead end? ?”
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and told the story about Niu Jinxing's previous estrangement.
He also pointed out that Li Yan should have grasped the handle of Niu Jinxing, and this handle was most likely Niu Jinxing's affair with the Jurchen.
Niu Jinxing had already surrendered, but Niu Quan suddenly appeared and attacked Li Yan. In addition, Fan Beidou and others who were related to the Jurchens were all in Taiyuan, so Niu Quan should be the contact person.
Because the people in the north were deeply ravaged by the Jurchens, if they used this to spread rumors that Niu Quan was having an affair with the Jurchens, the public would be furious.
At that time, not only could Li Zicheng be forced to express his position and stop his thoughts of colluding with the Jurchens, but it would also bring Niu Jinxing into disrepute.
If Niu Jinxing is reluctant to part with his glory and wealth, he will definitely prove his innocence, and then he will fight to the death against Li Yan.
After listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's story, Gong Yonggu nodded repeatedly, and then asked Zhu Yuanzhang for advice on some of the details.
At this time, Zhang Dabiao walked in with a solemn expression.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned when he saw this, and asked in a deep voice: "Da Biao, has the matter of Wang Yuncheng come to an end?"
Zhang Dabiao shook his head and said: "The general has just received news that the grain transported from Nanjing to the capital has been robbed by pirates!"
"What, the food was robbed?"
Hearing this, Gong Yonggu shouted in a panic.
Zhang Dabiao nodded and said: "Yes, according to Wu Tongzhi's news, because the Minister of History led his army to the north, and the Zheng family is about to send troops, the force escorting the third batch of southern grain is weaker than before."
"I didn't expect that the food would be robbed by pirates only half a day after leaving the port, and they threatened to pay a ransom of three million taels before returning the food!"
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was silent, Gong Yonggu asked again: "Do you know the origin of these pirates?"
Zhang Dabiao shook his head and said: "According to the surviving soldiers, the pirates had strange clothes and different skin colors. They should be Westerners from the east. As for which country they are from, it is impossible to tell."
Gong Yonggu couldn't help but frowned when he heard this.
"Ping Xihou, how long can your army's salary last?"
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly asked.
Gong Yonggu thought for a while and said: "It can last for about half a month, but Zuo Liangyu's army of hundreds of thousands is approaching, and they also need to provide food and wages. Calculated this way, I am afraid it will only be enough for six or seven days at most."
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a while and said: "If everything goes well, the food and salary will be enough for you to capture the entire Shanxi Province. As for Zuo Liangyu's military salary, you don't need to worry about it, we will find a way to solve it."
After that, he looked at Zhang Dabiao and said, "Send someone back to Beijing quickly and ask Shen Zhanran to draft an edict to commend Zheng Sen for his loyalty and bravery, and make Zheng Zhilong the Marquis of Jinghai on the grounds that he has taught his son well."
"At the same time, send someone to contact Zhao Erhu and ask him to pay close attention to Zheng Sen's actions. If there is any abnormality, he can be killed directly. If nothing can be done, there is no need to attack Pidao and return directly to the army!"
Zhang Dabiao was shocked when he heard this. He opened his mouth several times to speak, but finally closed it.
