Chapter 156
Sun Chengzong had lived for sixty-seven years, and this was the first time that someone dared to draw a sword in front of him without saying anything. Looking at Cheng Shijie's posture, it seemed that he would chop it down if he disagreed.
Theoretically speaking, no one in the Ming Dynasty dared to be so presumptuous in front of him, but the problem was that Sun Chengzong did not dare to gamble.
The older one is in the arena, the less courageous he becomes.
Cheng Shijie's rise was too fast, and Sun Chengzong, who had already left the center, didn't know much about Cheng Shijie. What he knew about Cheng Shijie was only reflected in the banknotes in Tang Bao Di. As a newly-rising general in the military, Cheng Shijie appeared frequently in newspapers.
It is difficult for the names of countless ministers to appear on this list in their lifetime, but Cheng Shijie appeared five times in just one year. The first time was when he served as a guard of Ning Haijun. As a fourth-rank military attache of the imperial court, Cheng Shijie had the opportunity to appear for the first time. In this regard, the second time was for suppressing Kong Youde's rebellion, and the third time was for sealing the general and controlling the Dongjiang Army. The fourth time was the great victory at Jinshishan, and the fifth time was the great victory at Haizhou.
In just one year, Cheng Shijie's name appeared in the newspaper as many as five times. It was difficult for Sun Chengzong not to pay attention to Cheng Shijie, but when he actually met Cheng Shijie, he turned on the knife.
In fact, Sun Chengzong was really not afraid of death, nor was he afraid of being threatened by Cheng Shijie. As a prince's young master who had spent his whole life in official circles, a former minister of the Ministry of War, a bachelor of Dongge University, and a bachelor of Wenhua Palace, when Cheng Shijie appeared in front of him In front of you, it itself represents the attitude of the palace.
Sun Chengzong knew that there was no order to invite him to come out, which showed that there were still many people in the imperial court who opposed his coming out, so he could only compromise and let Cheng Shijie use his private identity.
Cheng Shijie's personal identity also represents Chongzhen's attitude.
Therefore, Cheng Shijie is playing the role of a lawless and reckless man, while Sun Chengzong goes along with the situation and pretends to be threatened by Cheng Shijie. Sun Chengzong quickly changed his tune.
Cheng Shijie immediately held the Tang straight sword to Sun Chengzong with both hands and said: "Master Sun of Sun Pavilion, I will give you a precious sword as a gift. What do you think?"
"What a great sword, truly a peerless weapon!"
Sun Chengzong was obviously a discerning person, and he could see the difference in this sword at a glance. Of course, just from the appearance, apart from being able to chop and chop, the most different thing from ordinary knives is that it can stab. .
The handle of the Tang straight sword is wider at both ends and slightly thinner in the middle. It has excellent penetration effect. The heavy armor can defend against the slashing of the horizontal sword, effectively reducing the killing effect by 60% or even 70%, but it is not effective in defending against direct stabs. .
Using this kind of knife, apart from being unable to directly and effectively kill white-armored soldiers who build slaves, the killing effect on red-armored soldiers or armored slaves will be very good.
"Come here, serve tea!"
Only then did Cheng Shijie deliver the three carts of gifts he had given.
The three carts of gifts were similar to those Cheng Shijie sent to the palace, except that the portions were much smaller. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn each weighed one hundred kilograms. Beef jerky, milk pimples, dried fruits, etc. were all the same as ten kilograms. Cloths were also included. Not many.
Sun Chengzong has always been like this, and it is his advantage. He has always been very lenient with capable people, and he can tolerate them no matter how big their shortcomings are.
Yuan Chonghuan relied on his talent and arrogance, Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang formed a clique for personal gain, Man Gui was reckless and rough, Mao Wenlong was unruly, and even Qin Liangyu contradicted them in person, he tolerated them and reused them, because these people were all outstanding talents of the Ming Dynasty.
Although Cheng Shijie drew his sword in front of Sun Chengzong, he was not too presumptuous. Compared with Cheng Shijie's ability, this was nothing worth mentioning.
Sun Chengzong said with a smile: "I have known your name for a long time. Some people say that you are brave enough that no one can be worthy of you. Some people say that you dare to take risks. I also admire you very much, but I am busy with chores and have never been able to find a chance to meet you. You met me once, but I didn’t expect to meet you here today.”
Cheng Shijie didn't feel embarrassed, as if he was not the one who threatened Sun Chengzong with a knife just now.
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "Thank you Mr. Ge for your appreciation!"
"No need to be polite!"
Sun Chengzong waved his hand and said: "Don't say any polite words. I have never promoted you, I just think you have talent. If I can hear your name as soon as possible, maybe Dalinghe..."
The Battle of Daling River was an eternal regret in Sun Chengzong's heart. Not only did he bear the blame for the defeat, but at the same time, he also recognized the reality. He had lost influence on the Guan Ning Army, an army he had personally formed.
"You have talents and abilities, so you should be reused. You have done a good job. In less than a year, you have turned the barbaric land of southern Liaoning into a lush land where merchants gather and granaries are full. You have supported dozens of military households, and Thousands of slaves were wiped out in one battle, which is truly jaw-dropping."
"Xiaguan has not done enough, far from it. Now even Jinzhou looks decent, Gaizhou, Fuzhou and Haizhou are still almost deserted!"
Cheng Shijie continued: "To be honest with Mr. Ge, the victory of Haizhou was not actually the result of Cheng and Ning Haijun. It was just the slaves who did not know the weather. A sudden late spring cold killed tens of thousands of slaves. Cheng was just By luck, I missed it, and achieved this great achievement and victory, just to cheer up the people of the Ming Dynasty, and it does not reflect Ning Haijun's strong combat effectiveness!"
Sun Chengzong nodded.
The victory report of Haizhou Victory was written in a colorful and colorful manner, but the details failed to withstand scrutiny. This was what was strange about Sun Chengzong. Listening to Cheng Shijie, the person involved, he finally understood the real reason.
Sun Chengzong picked up the tea cup and took a sip, savoring it carefully and said: "You have done a good job. Being too eager is not a good thing!"
It was only then that Cheng Shijie took a serious look at this famous official in the late Ming Dynasty and the founder of the famous Guanning Defense Line. Sun Chengzong is quite tall, with snow-like beard and hair, his face is covered with wrinkles, and his cheekbones are protruding, carving out hard and sharp contours.
He is sixty-seven years old. "Sixties are rare in life." In this era when the average life expectancy is less than forty years old, sixty-seven is already an extremely old age. He should be at home entertaining his grandchildren and enjoying peace and happiness, but he is still worried. Focus on the Ming Dynasty, an empire that is on fire everywhere.
Decades of battles and court battles have tempered his mentality to be extremely tough and strong, like an ancient pine tree that can stand tall despite the wind and rain, unfazed by honor or disgrace.
If no miracle happened, he would have completed his legendary life in Gaoyang Gucheng in the eleventh year of Chongzhen.
In this time and space, such regrets will no longer exist.
Sun Chengzong said: "I am old, what can I do for General Cheng?"
"An old house where a treasure!"
Cheng Shijie said: "I am a latecomer, I would like to take you as my teacher, and I hope you will not dislike Shijie for being stupid!"
Sun Chengzong understood.
Cheng Shijie talks nice, but in fact he is using his tiger skin as a banner and using his old guy to protect himself from the wind and rain. As long as he goes to Liaonan, everyone will look at him, but Cheng Shijie can Taking advantage of the darkness under the lamp, he continued to do his thing.
In fact, Sun Chengzong was not willing to be lonely.
Sun Chengzong carefully studied Cheng Shijie's approach in southern Liaoning. Cheng Shijie built more than 30 forts in southern Liaoning, and rebuilt the four acropolises of Haizhou, Fuzhou, Gaizhou, and Jinzhou. In southern Liaoning, a road was built from north to south, with the acropolis as the fulcrum and the town fort as the contact point.
It is exactly the same as his fortress strategy back then. If there is a difference, it is that the Ning Navy is not like the Guan Ning Army. The Guan Ning Army does not dare to fight in the wild with Jiannu, but the Ning Navy officers are not afraid of Jiannu.
Sun Chengzong is old-minded, and he still wants to see how far Cheng Shijie's fortress tactics can go.
The Sun family in Gaoyang held a great migration. Sun Chengzong's five sons, six grandsons, two nephews, and eight grandnephews, plus his wives and concubines, a total of forty-one people, followed Cheng Shijie to southern Liaoning.
…
After half a month of investigation in Shenyang City, it was found that at the end of September, nearly 100,000 troops from the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, the Left and Right Battalions of Mongolia, and the Han Army Banners gathered in Shenyang City. Fan Yongdou's thousands of cattle and horses in Liao Zhongwei territory were robbed. case, the investigation results finally came out.
"Report to King Khan, the matter has been investigated clearly!"
"Who did it?"
Huang Taiji was actually very angry. These bastards under his command were too short-sighted. If they robbed the caravan, they could not guarantee the safety of the merchants. Will they do business with them in the future?
Although these merchants are very annoying at the moment and are simply greedy. Huang Taiji himself wanted to strangle these greedy Shanxi merchants, but the question was, if there were no huge profits, who would deliver supplies to them?
How could Jiannu live in Liaodong without supplies?
For the nomads, whether they can obtain additional supplies from the farming areas is a matter of life and death. Whether they are obtained through hard robbery or through mutual trade, they must be obtained, otherwise the situation of the entire group will become extremely difficult.
Before the Ning Navy came to Liaonan, it was not difficult for them to obtain such supplies. Guangning, Jinzhou, Datong, Yulin, Yinchuan... these areas have become their fixed pastures, and when they see the harvest is good, they will kill and grab it. One ticket.
However, it doesn't work anymore. The damn Ning Navy has guarded the long border in southern Liaoning like an iron wall, and even used its naval forces to cut off smuggling operations at sea. What's even more disgusting is that Ning Haijun's scouts often cross the border wall and run to the grassland to collect people's heads. They beat them to death every time they violated the border. It's really abominable!
The only way they can obtain supplies now is from Shanxi merchants. The eight Shanxi merchant families, plus Cao Sanxi's family, are considered the nine major families. These nine major families have always advanced and retreated together. Fan Yongdou's cattle and horses were robbed, and other Shanxi merchants also Will wait and see, or even withdraw from Shenyang. This matter is really fatal for Daikin.
"King Khan, this thing really wasn't done by our people!"
"Impossible, this group of slaves, King Ben Khan knows about them!"
Huang Taiji was too clear about the urinary nature of the Jurchen nobles under his command. If he expected them to look at the fat meat and not eat it, it would be better to hope that the sun would rise from the west and that the roosters would lay eggs.
"Not only was it not our people who did it, many of our tribes were plundered, especially the pastures in the Heliao grassland that were burned for hundreds of miles, causing heavy losses!"
"really?"
This was Su Wannayan's impulsive behavior, and it was the only flaw. Even if the Jiannu soldiers and horses robbed Fan Yongdou's cattle and horses, they would not set fire to the pasture. Once the pasture was burned and the grass was gone, what would happen to their Jiannu soldiers this winter? Very difficult.
Huang Taiji's face became extremely gloomy: "So, we have all been fooled!"
Fan Wencheng nodded: "It's very possible that we were deceived. This guy Cheng Shijie came up and deliberately acted very greedy to paralyze us and make us think that he was a very weak coward."
Huang Taiji sighed: "He was at his weakest around the autumn harvest. We wanted to use Cheng Shijie's people to harvest the crops in the fields so that we could pick up the ready-made crops. He took advantage of our ideas and made a plan to sell the grain. Now Liaonan's autumn grain has been put into storage, and his Ning navy is also training day and night, I'm afraid they are waiting for us to attack Haizhou at this moment!"
"We have to fight now!"
"Yes, I have to fight!"
On the grassland outside Shenyang City, the pasture has long been gnawed away by cattle and sheep, exposing the bare soil. Under the trampling of thousands of troops and horses, the dust is flying.
Flags were flying, people were shouting and horses were neighing, it was a spectacular sight. The elites of the Jurchen Eight Banners, the Mongolian left and right battalions, and the Han military flags all gathered here, and their military appearance was unprecedented.
When Huang Taiji left Shenyang City on his war horse, countless soldiers of the Eight Banners raised their arms and shouted: "King Khan, King Khan!"
The cheers of tens of thousands of people came from far away, like a surging tsunami, drowning out all sounds. Those coated slaves were prostrate in the dust, not even daring to raise their heads. They were not qualified to cheer and pay tribute to this Jurchen nobleman.
Huang Taiji coughed, asking everyone to quiet down, and said in a deep voice: "I know that everyone has been waiting for this battle for too long..."
"Long live King Khan!"
Huang Taiji inspected his troops, laughed loudly, and shouted: "My warriors, Zhu Ming has no way, he has lost the favor of God, the decline of Ming Dynasty and the rise of Jin are irreversible! Hold on to your swords and guns, follow My battle flag entered southern Liaoning, turning the cities of the Han people into a sea of blood, plundering their wealth, wives and daughters, killing all their warriors, and making them kneel in front of us and beg for mercy and become our slaves!"
"Go south, go south!"
The soldiers of the Eight Banners were so excited that they shouted at the top of their lungs: "Go south, go south..."
…
In Qianshan Town, about a hundred miles southwest of Anshan City in later generations, dozens of horses greedily gnawed dry grass on the grass. Fifty Ning navy scouts were divided into four teams, one after another. A fire was lit, and iron pots were hung on the bonfire.
The water was boiling in the iron pot, and there were several pieces of beef jerky, salted fish, and horse meat floating in the water. Sitting in front of the campfire, the Ning naval scouts looked at the red lady dressed as a man and said, "Soup, there are some good ones." Stop hiding things!"
The Red Lady has successfully been promoted to the rank of Sentinel Commander during normal training. Her identity has not yet been discovered. Ning Haijun's scouts will be rewarded with dried meat and dried fruits for good performance during normal training.
The red lady raised the bag in her hand and said: "It's gone, it's really gone. Today is the last day of our mission. We have to stand at the last post. If you want to eat meat, let's go back and eat it!"
At this moment, Ning Haijun's scout cavalry who was on sentry duty in the distance said: "Tangtou, there's something going on!"
The red lady hurriedly stood up and took a look, only to see smoke and dust billowing in the distance, and a large number of Jiannu cavalry swarming in.
On September 28, the fifth year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji led nearly 100,000 elite slaves and marched southward in a mighty manner. The main force of the army was still in Shenyang, and the forward scouts had already dispersed near Qianshan.
"Quick, report quickly, Jiannu is here!"
(End of chapter)
