"Go back to the general. The person who told me this was a servant of Tudan Hamu's family under the Eight Banners of Manchuria?" Li Ling replied without daring to hide anything.
Listening to Li Ling's words, Li Shiyao suddenly felt that he should not believe what he said before.
However, looking at Li Ling's natural and calm appearance at the moment. Li Shiyao felt that he should trust him again.
So, Li Shiyao looked at Li Ling and asked, "How could a slave know this? What is your relationship with him? How could he tell you this?"
"General, because Tudan Hamu also participated in that battlefield. As his slave, Li Maocao naturally needed to carry weapons and armor for his master Tudan Hamu. Therefore, Li Maocao knew through his master. These circumstances." When Li Ling heard that Li Shiyao was questioning him, he quickly knelt down and said
"My slave is related to Li Maocao. Before he came to Guangzhou with his master, we often played and talked in our free time. That's why he talked to me about these things."
After Li Shiyao heard what Li Ling said, he believed what Li Ling said. Then he said to Li Ling who was kneeling on the ground: "Stop kneeling, get up and answer!"
"Yes, thank you, General." Li Ling finished his reply and slowly stood up again.
Li Shiyao did not look at Li Ling at this time, but continued: "Since he is on the battlefield, he should also know the specific situation?"
"Yes, I know a little bit." Li Ling replied
"Tell me what you know." Li Shiyao said curiously
"Yes, General. Governor Yang and the others were defeated because they were ambushed and directly bombarded by artillery. This is the key."
"It is said that there were a lot of artillery shells at that time, sweeping them one after another. Many people died at that time. When everyone was beaten, their musketeers approached and fired continuously." Li Ling recalled Li Maocao What I said to him at that time, and then I thought about it and described it.
"Big artillery bombardment? You mean that Zhang Rui also has cannons? There are quite a few?" Li Shiyao felt incredible again when he heard this, and at the same time he also realized the seriousness of the matter.
At this time in the Qing Dynasty, building cannons was not a simple matter. I don’t know how many processes, how much time, how much money it costs, and how many failures it takes to make a good cannon.
If this Zhang Rui was just simply suppressing bandits before, why are there so many cannons? This shows that he was definitely not a simple organizer of troops to suppress bandits before.
"It seems that the emperor is really a sage and farsighted, and this Zhang Rui is really a traitor. And behind the scenes, he may be mixed with those who 'anti-Qing and restore the Ming'. Otherwise, how could he have so many cannons?" Li Shiyao thought in shock.
"It seems that this matter must be reported to the Holy One. Otherwise, if he is allowed to continue to develop, it will definitely be a cancer. I will not take the blame for Sitku and Yang Yingju." Li Shiyao thought to himself.
"Yes, that's what Li Maocao said. He said that he saw a cannonball hit an Aha next to him in two. He will never forget that scene in his life." Li Ling answered Li Shiyao's question.
"Even so, we only lost once. Sitku has no reason to be afraid of that Zhang Rui! It's not like Guangdong and Guangxi don't have troops. He can definitely organize his troops to fight that Zhang Rui again!" Li Shiyao was a little angry that Sitku refused. Responsibility, fear of battlefield behavior. Said angrily
"It is said that General Sitku also sent people to fight Zhang Rui again, but he was still defeated." Li Ling didn't know whether to accept Li Shiyao's words, so he had to say
"What's going on?" Li Shiyao suddenly felt surprised and felt a little sorry for Sitku.
It's like a person always thinks that another person is a bad person in his mind, but suddenly someone tells him that he has actually always done good things.
"Li Maocao said that they were all captured by the Sixth Brother at that time. Then Zhang Rui asked Governor Yang and General Sitku to redeem them with money." Li Ling continued to tell the news he had learned.
"Sixth brother? Why, Yang Yingju and Sitku are still preparing to become enemies?" Li Shiyao raised the doubts in Li Ling's words. In his mind, those soldiers who were defeated and captured were considered dead. How could he get money to redeem them? What is that if it's not capitalizing on the enemy?
After Li Ling heard Li Shiyao's words of "befriending the enemy", he couldn't help but feel that his master was a bit cold-blooded. But he didn't dare to say anything or show any expression.
When Li Shiyao repeated the words "Sixth Brother", Li Ling suddenly felt a little scared. I thought to myself: "It's better not to cause trouble for a relative of mine. Otherwise, I would really have sinned."
Therefore, Li Ling pretended not to hear Li Shiyao's question. He changed the topic and reminded himself to pay more attention to his words. Then he continued:
"Governor Yang and General Sitku did use money to redeem the Manchurian Eight Banners and Green Camp soldiers who were captured by Zhang Rui. However, General Sitku just thought of a 'delay strategy'. As soon as the prisoners came back, he sent people to Get the money back."
Li Shiyao listened to what Li Ling said and didn't know what he was thinking. However, he was not prepared to point it out. After all, he also realized that the "enemies" mentioned earlier were indeed inappropriate.
Not to mention that the two of them brought the soldier to surround and suppress Zhang Rui. Just don’t redeem those Green Camp soldiers, but how can you not redeem those Manchu Eight Banners disciples?
Thinking about it from another perspective, if he was in Sitku's position at that time, he could only find money to redeem those Manchu Eight Banners disciples. Otherwise, why wouldn’t the family members of those Manchu Eight Banners disciples come over and eat him alive?
Especially now that Li Shiyao has just taken over the position of Guangzhou Garrison General. If the rumor that he had just "capitalized the enemy" was spread, who else would listen to his orders in the future?
Therefore, Li Shiyao also chose to be like Li Ling and prepared to put aside the idea of "benefiting the enemy".
"In this case, it is reasonable for Governor Yang and Sitku to redeem the captured people. Moreover, their idea is good. They will snatch the money back after the people come back. How can such a thing be considered as favoring the enemy? Li Shiyao said defensively.
"Yes, the general is wise. That's true." Li Ling also understood what Li Shiyao meant and quickly rode his donkey downhill and replied.
Li Shiyao saw Li Ling say this and understood what Li Ling meant. I was very pleased that this slave was so kind.
"Well, that's it." Li Shiyao brushed his short beard around his mouth and said, as if he was speaking to Li Ling again.
"So, how did they fail in robbing the captives of the money?"
