"There is no taboo between you and me? Just talk about it!"
Wu Lin replied, holding up two documents: "The things mentioned in this document are certainly worth worrying about. But in the final analysis, the reason why the messenger is so anxious is because Hebei is too desolate and it is difficult to recover. From this, it becomes even more so. What Ding Haijun did in one month is simply shocking."
Pusan Anzhen sighed, still looking up at the tent roof:
"Guo Ning and I met in Binzhou just a month ago. In this month, I didn't waste a day, and then I recruited more than 3,000 refugees in Jingzhou and organized and trained more than 2,000 troops. Two new military camps were established, a fort was built, more than two hundred sets of armor were prepared, and a horse farm was arranged. On this matter, I tried my best! Wu Lin replied, what about you? "
"Me? Of course I tried my best."
"Then why can Guo Ning do so many things? I don't understand!"
Pusan Anzhen yelled a little rudely: "It's only been a month!"
He stood up suddenly, grabbed the document from Wu Linda's hand, and waved it loudly:
"With more than one million people and more than ten military states, he firmly controlled it in just one month! Then he expanded the army to such a scale! Not to mention his headquarters, he established two new military governors, both of whom were With more than 10,000 people! What a living ghost! How many household registration books are there for more than one million people? How complicated are the origins and ownership of these people? Do you know? "
"I know."
"We now have firm control over the five prefectures of Jing, Ji, Xian, Qing, and Cang. But if we want to clarify the household registration of these five prefectures, it will take us two years, right? But Guo Ning, facing the entire Shandong East Road , it only took a month! Why is this? Do you know?"
"I know."
"This is just... hmm? You know?"
Wu Lin replied and sighed: "Envoy, who doesn't know the answer to this kind of question? Do you really not know? Don't understand?"
The two were silent for a long time, sighing together.
What is holding them back is naturally the local forces, those subordinate officials, powerful clans, all kinds of powerful conspirators, and even the Central Capital who have been entangled in one place for decades since the founding of the Jin Dynasty. Nobles.
Obviously, the last time the Mongolian army went south, it crushed the entire Hebei into pieces, but the more chaotic the situation, the more intense the thoughts of those characters to seize profits, and the more unscrupulous their methods.
They scrambled to gather money wherever Pusan Anzhen thought of, and tried their best to dig out the foundation of Dajin, but Pusan Anzhen had no way to deal with them, all because he himself was the representative of the nobles and the best among these people.
Guo Ning had no such scruples.
Guo Ning's supporters were initially the defeated troops in Hebei who left their hometowns, and later joined the common people in Zhongdu who were forced to sign the army and their families were destroyed. Later, they were the poor people in Shandong and the savages in Liaodong. These people had already lost everything before joining Guo Ning's camp. As long as they had a little bit of sweetness, they were willing to do anything for Guo Ning.
As for the local officials, local tyrants, nobles and Jurchen fierce Anmuke in Shandong, they were brutally killed by the rebel bandits as early as the Taihe period; after the Mongols came, they were brutally killed again; Yang An'er's red coat army They raised their troops again, captured the Jurchens and retaliated brutally.
In the end, there were not many remnants left, and in the last month, Guo Ning killed them all in the name of being comrades in the Red Coat Army.
"The document makes it very clear. The envoy..."
Wu Lin replied by holding down the document and turning it to a certain page:
"Guo Ning's general Li Ting killed more than 400 people at one time in Juzhou. After Binzhou Yinchang surrendered to Guo Ning, he was moved to Jinan, and the Binzhou city where he originally occupied was immediately filled with blood! And like this This incident didn’t just happen in Juzhou and Binzhou?”
Having said this, Wu Linda subconsciously raised his voice, which made Pusan Anzhen's ears buzz:
"After all the local forces were wiped out, Guo Ning used the land as bait to turn all the people on Shandong East Road into shelters for his soldiers, and filled the military state with his own trusted petty officials. Since Anyone who could hinder him was killed. With his tens of thousands of troops and thousands of officials, he counted the household registration numbers and then divided the acres equally... Is that difficult? It's not difficult at all! He can create He has killed all the people who are in trouble, so how can there be any trouble at all?"
In fact, it was still difficult. Wu Lin replied that he had obviously never been a local official before, so he thought wrong.
However, this is true.
Pusan Anzhen is proficient in Han'er classics and history, and many thoughts flash through his mind.
He smiled bitterly and couldn't help but curse a few words:
"When I left Zhongdu earlier, the emperor told me that Guo Ning was a rebellious official and a traitor, and I had to be on guard with all my strength. I originally thought that he valued his position in the court so much that he wanted to be Wang Mang, Cao Cao, or Gao Ning. Huan, Yu Wentai and his like, but according to your statement... he actually followed the path of Huang Jin and Huang Chao? This, this is not..."
Pusan Anzhen hesitated for a moment and lowered her voice: "Isn't it difficult to give up something easy?"
Pusan Anzhen was one of those who witnessed the incident in Zhongdu that day. He knew that before and after that night, Guo Ning had the only candidate for the throne, King Wanyan Xun, and the force to suppress Zhongdu.
If Guo Ning was really ambitious, he would be able to do appalling things at that time.
But why did Guo Ning give up the great opportunity in Zhongdu and then ran to Shandong and started killing people all the way and starting over?
Although this approach gave Guo Ning a huge power like an arm and a finger, how could this be compared with the central power that was so close at hand during the Zhongdu Incident?
Wu Lin replied as if he had guessed what Pusan Anzhen was thinking.
He put another document back on the desk: "At this time, what is the central power worth? What is the imperial court worth? Envoy, the weather is getting colder, and the Mongolian army is coming again."
This document tells about the successive movements of the Mongolian general Muhuali's troops in the direction of Beijing Road, which may merge with the troops of Ghis Khan and move south again.
There is no doubt that this will be the beginning of a new nightmare.
That's why Anzhen, the servant of Shicai, lamented that there was not enough time, and he was afraid that he would not be able to spend the New Year's Eve peacefully.
At that time, Wu Lindayu was so shocked that he broke into a cold sweat when he first saw the news. At this moment, he brought out the news again, which suddenly made Pusan Anzhen realize it.
Last year and the year before that, the Mongols had to find a way to cross the many dangerous passes in Yanshan Mountain before they could enter the Central Plains. But now, with the change of hands on the Beijing Road, the Mongolian army and Zhongdu City are only separated by the Liaoxi Corridor. What does this obstacle mean to the Mongols?
In this situation, what is the value of central authority?
What is the Zhongdu court worth?
Who among the people in power in Zhongdu is not in a state of distress?
It makes sense for Guo Ning to abandon the central capital and occupy Shandong. Under this situation, Shandong is really a treasure place. As for Guo Ning's thoughts, it is easy to speculate.
From the beginning, this man wanted to put the Dajin court on the front line against the Mongols. If the court wanted to deal with the Mongols, it could not do without the grain and supplies he imported from Shandong, so it had to turn a blind eye to his countless willful actions.
As a result, he was able to calmly establish himself in Shandong, start from scratch on a white ground, and create a brand new force out of thin air! This force is getting stronger every day!
Guo Ning is obviously just a pawn from Changzhou, how can he be so sinister and vicious!
"I understand..." Pusan Anzhen murmured: "But so what if I understand? This guy is basically invincible! How can I possibly compete with him?"
Wu Lin replied softly: "It's not necessarily a chance."
"How to say it?" Pusan Anzhen perked up: "You just said that you don't know whether to say something or not. It's not necessarily about Guo Ning? What on earth can my brother teach me?"
Pusan Anzhen is an arrogant person at heart. He usually calls people by their first names, and at most he has a job title. However, he is also very smart. Now he realizes that Wu Lin Dao probably has something in his belly, so he immediately lifts him up. Became an older brother.
In the dark tent, the lights flickered, reflecting the uncertainty on Wu Lin's face. He grinned, showing his somewhat sharp teeth, and chuckled slowly.
"These days, nothing is better than having soldiers in hand and people under rule. And the most straightforward way to get soldiers and people is like Guo Ning. So, what Guo Ning can do, why can't we do it?"
Pusan Anzhen was immediately disappointed. He shook his head and said, "That fellow Guo Ning relies on defeated soldiers and homeless people, and is following the path of rebelling against thieves! He wants to shake things up! How can I do what he does? Wu Lin replied , what you just said..."
Wu Lin replied and suddenly stopped talking:
"Aren't you relying on the Jurchens' Meng'an Mouqiu in Hebei Province for your envoy? Aren't the many petty officials and wealthy people in Hebei Province just like silverfish to us! Guo Ning can kill us. Can't be killed? Guo Ning, just a pawn with a rash background, dares to just look at the results without any scruples; Xuan Envoy, as a pillar of Dajin and a Jurchen nobleman, why do you have to look forward and backward?"
The murderous intent in these words made Pusan Anzhen's hair stand on end.
He stood up in panic, walked to the door of the central army's tent, looked outside again, and then strode back.
"Brother, please continue talking. What do you want to do?"
"Let's start with the five prefectures of Jing, Ji, Xian, Qing, and Cang that are firmly under our control. There were 300,000 households in these five prefectures during the Taihe period. Now we will search carefully and kill a group of silverfish. At least Can squeeze out 60,000 to 70,000 households!"
"Then what?"
"Then, all these 60,000 to 70,000 households were assigned as shade households and drivers, given acres of land, and supervised farming, and then distributed them to the soldiers of Meng'an's army. This was an unprecedented reward, and the morale of the soldiers was bound to rise. Great promotion! Then, based on this, we will continue to expand and copy, and we can also select those who are good at fighting among Yi and Han'er to join the army until it covers both the east and west of Hebei! What Guo Ning did, we will do the same; if Guo Ning dares to kill, We dare too; then what Guo Ning has, we will also have!"
In an instant, Pusan Anzhen was almost moved by Wu Lin's answer, and instantly thought of the glorious scene of his family occupying the whole of Hebei, with one hundred thousand Jurchen elite soldiers. But he calmed down immediately: "It's difficult! It's difficult!"
Wu Lin replied in shock: "Why is it so difficult?"
"Your plan looks good, but unfortunately, it's like fishing for the moon in the water."
Pusan Anzhen sighed and rubbed his face with both hands:
"Not to mention the reaction of the imperial court. Meng'an's army has been idle for a long time. Although it has been trained, it is not as fierce and neat as Guo Ning's army. The same thing can be done by Ding Haijun in a month. I'm afraid my subordinates This group of people... will take three to five months, or even a year and a half, to achieve results. The Mongols can go south at any time, so how can they give me the time to calmly organize the local military affairs? I don't even have enough time to prepare for the Mongols!"
"Envoy, why do you want to fight Mongolia?"
Wu Lin replied in response: "That is a matter for the Zhongdu imperial court to worry about!"
The murderous intent in these two sentences was ten times stronger than when he had just persuaded servant Anzhen to let go of the killing. For a moment, the light in the tent seemed to be a bit darker. A cold wind came in from nowhere and blew on Pusan Anzhen. It was heavy and moist, making him shiver.
"What?"
"The Mongols went south last year and plundered all four roads in Hebei and Hedong. They are going out again this time, and their target will only be Zhongdu. Then, please ask the Zhongdu court to resist."
"But... what if I can't resist it in the end?" Pusan Anzhen asked in a trembling voice.
"The Mongols have never been good at attacking cities. How can the imperial court not be able to withstand the attack even though they are guarding the city? Impossible! Even if they can't withstand it..."
Wu Lin replied with a sneer: "Zhongdu City is a big city with a million households and a hundred years of accumulation. It is enough to feed the Mongols until they are full. After they are full and full, do they still have the intention to attack us? Naturally withdraw the troops. Go back to the grassland and enjoy it!”
"It only lasts for one year! If the Mongols come again next year..."
"One year later, your control over Hebei will be the same as Guo Ning's control over Shandong. You will have hundreds of thousands of Meng'an soldiers in your hands who have undergone rigorous training. What about the imperial court is another matter. So. With Xuanshi's ability to use troops and his conditions, is he still afraid of those black Tatars?"
"I'm just afraid that Guo Ning..."
"The threat from the Mongolian army is still there, so why would Guo Ning reach out to Hebei? Does he want to face the Mongols so much?"
Pusan Anzhen remained silent.
After half an hour, several lights in the tent were extinguished, and Anzhen's scattered figure gradually disappeared into the darkness.
Wu Lin coughed twice in reply: "Envoy, what can we do if this is not the case? Our country has Mongolia in the north and Guoning in the south. It is getting stronger day by day. Neither side is a good thing! And Sui Wang, he has already started a new business on Nanjing Road!"
"The emperor believed in me and valued me, so he appointed me as the governor of Hebei Province. If I did this, I would be sorry to the emperor."
"There are ten Xuanfu envoys! The killer Pu Xianwannu in Liaodong is also a Xuanfu envoy! Guo Ning is also a Xuanfu envoy!"
Wu Lin replied and couldn't help shouting.
When he was about to persuade him again, Anzhen sighed deeply and raised her hand to stop him.
The two of them didn't actually talk much, but time passed too quickly. Suddenly, the last candle went out.
The thick felt cloth blocked the outside light, and the interior of the military tent was as dark as ink, making it impossible to see even one's fingers.
Pusan Anzhen seemed to feel much more relaxed all of a sudden.
He said in a low voice: "Everything will be done if it is heeded, and will be ruined if it is not hesitated. It is all for the future of Daikin. It is always right to make more preparations."
Wu Lin replied and wanted to applaud, but he held it back and lowered his head and said, "Yes."
"Let's prepare the plan you mentioned. Prepare the details as soon as possible and show them to me."
"yes."
