"Ziying, the key is not the Tumuts or the Ordos, or even Fengzhou Bailian. I think it's still the Shaanxi rebels." Qi Yongtai mused: "As long as the Shaanxi rebels can be calmed down, Fengzhou Bailian can't rise. With their strength, Datong Town and Shanxi Town are not so weak that they were defeated by Fengzhou Bailian, right?"
Qi Yongtai asked the last sentence without feeling confident, and looked at Zhang Huaichang with an inquiring tone.
Everyone's eyes fell on Zhang Huaichang again. Zhang Huaichang's face was a little bitter, and he subconsciously rubbed the armrest of the chair. After a while, he said: "Chai Guozhu's Shanxi Town was taken away by Su Shengdu. Most of them were lost in the first battle. Now the remaining troops are incorporated into Ji Town." The army was handed over to Sun Chengzong. Chai Guozhu wrote several times to this end, asking for immediate recruitment and reorganization of Shanxi Town. The situation in Datong Town was similar. Sun Shaozu took away half of the elite of Datong Town, and the defense area of Datong Town was wider. Yang Yuan They are also complaining endlessly. If there is an uprising in Fengzhou White Lotus, they must cooperate with each other inside and outside. I remember when Ziying was in Yongping Mansion, he noticed that there were many White Lotus believers in the Jizhen army. This is also a huge hidden danger..."
Everyone understands that if there is really an uprising in Fengzhou Bailian, and if there is cooperation between the inside and the outside, and if the sergeants in this town also have White Lotus followers, then Shanxi Town and Datong Town may really be broken through.
Zhang Huaichang's worry made everyone's hearts sink. He was the Minister of the Ministry of War, and he was naturally the most familiar with the situation in the army. It was probably not optimistic to make such a judgment.
Feng Ziying felt that the scene had really become a bit ugly. Originally, she came to celebrate the recovery of Linqing happily, but now she was worried about the situation in Shanxi. But before she went to Shaanxi, everyone lost confidence. So what's the point of going by yourself?
Moreover, there is no room for loss in Shanxi and Shaanxi. If the situation in Shanxi and Shaanxi really collapses, even if the imperial court pacifies Jiangnan, it will not be able to sustain it. Imagine the story of Li Zicheng in the late Ming Dynasty in the previous life. There was no chaos in Jiangnan and Huguang, but Li Zicheng still led the army in The Northern Territory fought vertically and horizontally, and finally captured the capital in one fell swoop.
The current situation may be more controlled by the imperial court than in the late Ming Dynasty, but the situation in Jiangnan and Huguang is even worse. The Mongols and Jurchens outside the border wall, and the White Lotus cultists inside the border wall, are all in danger. If Shanxi and Shaanxi are not solved, The situation will definitely develop towards a situation of great chaos like that in the late Ming Dynasty.
"I agree with Master Qi's point of view. The key to defeating the situation in Shanxi is still in Shanxi. As long as the rebellion in Shaanxi is suppressed, Shanxi will not be able to achieve anything. Even if Fengzhou Bailian breaks the border wall, it will not affect the overall situation." Feng Ziying said Put on a calm and calm attitude.
"Oh? Ziying, are you so sure?" Qiao Yingjia said in surprise, and Zhang Huaichang also turned his eyes.
"Fengzhou Bailian, my father has been in contact with her since Datong."
As soon as Feng Ziying said this, everyone looked at him with suspicion, but then they felt it was natural.
Military generals will be as particular as civil servants. As long as they can defend the border town and win the victory, they will not dare to do anything or use any means. Even if they bribe and assassinate their opponents, they will be just as confident.
Outside the city wall of Datong is Fengzhou Bansheng, where Fengzhou Bailian gathers. If Feng Tang wanted to be the general of Datong, how could he not deal with these people?
"Fengzhou Bailian seems to have been increasing in number over the years, but Zhao Quan and Li Zixin died successively. Fengzhou Bailian has actually been divided into several groups. Zhao Quan's descendants and Li Zixin's descendants each have a group of people. In addition, these The White Lotus cultists who came from within 10 or 20 years ago also had a party, so they were not harmonious. Zhao Chongwu, Zhao Quan's grandson, was nominally the leader, but Li Zixin's grandnephew Li Feiren was also quite powerful, plus Qiu Jianyi who followed him. The gang is actually three groups of forces, and it is hard to say whether Zhao Chongwu can order the other two groups."
Feng Ziying nodded, "Bu Shitu supports Li Feiren, Su Nang supports Zhao Chongwu, and Qiu Jian has close contacts with the Ordos people."
Zhang Huaichang breathed a sigh of relief, "If this is the case, there is room for maneuver in this situation."
"What Duke Huaichang said is true. Fengzhou Bailian will not gather together so easily. Even if they do, we can find wedges to drive them in to make it difficult for them to gather into a group. This is nothing more than using the court's righteousness and interests to bribe them."
Feng Ziying spoke in an understatement, but all the princes nodded with satisfaction. It is necessary to have these means to patrol the border areas, otherwise it will be difficult to be competent.
The princes are also thinking that although Yang Yuan and Chai Guozhu can be regarded as veteran generals and may be good at fighting, they do not have the network foundation accumulated by three generations like the Feng family.
Feng Ziying's grandfather had friendship with Amada Khan and Dalaisun of Chahar, and this friendship continued until Feng Zi's uncle Feng Qin Feng Han and Amada Khan's son Huang Taiji and his grandsons Chelik and Dalaison's son Bu extend this generation.
Perhaps this is the confidence that the Feng family has established in Datong. No wonder Feng Ziying dares to go deep into the grassland to negotiate with Bu Shitu, and also dares to negotiate with Zai Sai, the leader of the Inner Kalkha people. People are willing to believe him. If it were anyone else, who would dare to go? Who will believe you if you go?
"So I say the key is to solve the rebellion in Shaanxi. If we solve them, Shanxi will be safe. If we can't solve it, the chaos it brings may even spread to the north of Shanxi and even Henan. That is the real big trouble."
Perhaps everyone here just thought that these rebels would only disrupt Shanxi, but they did not expect that Li Zicheng's rebel army in the late Ming Dynasty could sweep across the entire Northland and reach the capital. However, Feng Ziying knew very well that these hungry people who wanted to fill their bellies had to fight for survival in order to survive. I really can't imagine how strong the fighting power will be, especially if it absorbs those eliminated border troops who are dissatisfied with the imperial court.
Discussions about the current situation continued into the evening, but the celebration of Linqing's recovery was put aside.
Of course, there must be a massive propaganda campaign both inside and outside the government. This is an important measure to boost the morale of the people and make the entire Gyeonggi people full of hope for the future. Even "Today's News" will have a long headline on the front page to analyze the importance of regaining Linqing. significance.
Feng Ziying left last. Qi Yongtai kept him for a while.
"Sit down." Qi Yongtai looked a little tired, and Feng Ziying quickly delivered the tea to Qi Yongtai.
"The problem with Prime Minister Ye and Prime Minister Fang is not big." Qi Yongtai said to himself: "It is definitely inappropriate to suddenly promote you to the position of Minister of the Ministry of War. The censor of Qiandu is already very good, this will definitely attract Criticism and criticism, but the two of them will support it. This is not for personal gain. If you cannot interfere in military affairs, no matter how well connected you are, the border town general will not easily listen to you, and it will inevitably delay the war opportunity."
Feng Ziying nodded silently.
Qi Yongtai pondered for a moment, "The imperial court is planning to remove your father from the post of governor of the three sides. Of course, this will have to wait until Shandong is recovered. You and your son should be mentally prepared for this."
Feng Ziying's heart trembled, came so quickly? Where is the Northwest Army?
"The Governor of Ji Liao will remain, but the Commander-in-Chief of Liaodong, if Cao Wenzhao does well in the war against the Jianzhou Jurchens, let him succeed him."
Qi Yongtai raised his eyelids and seemed to be thinking about other things. He didn't pay much attention to these things, and maybe he didn't think there was anything wrong.
Feng Ziying could only keep silent. Cao Wenzhao could be regarded as his father's direct descendant. It was reasonable to succeed him as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong instead of letting his father hold the concurrent post. His father had nothing to say.
"Ziying, you are a civil servant. It is a good thing and an advantage for a civil servant to understand military affairs, but if you indulge in it too much, like Sun Chengzong\Xiong Tingbi did, it is not a good thing. Yang He is much smarter..."
If Feng Ziying realizes something, could it be that Yang He voluntarily resigned from his post as governor of Yunyang and commander-in-chief of Jingxiang Town? If so, Yang He is really clever.
"Student understands." Feng Ziying responded respectfully.
"The chaos in the northwest begins with the lack of governance and the hardship of the people. You have to be clear about this. Don't have too much hope for the officials below..." Qi Yongtai sighed, "Sometimes I am with Ye Fang. Discuss how to solve the problem of combining local government and civil affairs. Those with a little talent are either greedy and lawless, harsh and cruel, or eager for quick success, while others are mediocre and muddle along. They are like monks hitting the clock every day. How can a scholar like this find a way to find leisure and wealth to govern a country?"
Feng Ziying laughed, and the imperial court finally realized the impact of this administrative problem on the entire Zhou Dynasty, "Qi Shi, it is not so unbearable, but these problems do exist to varying degrees in various places, but I think the root cause is still in the imperial court. "
"Oh? In the imperial court? What do you mean?" Qi Yongtai was stunned and slightly interested. He knew that his disciple was a thoughtful person, but government affairs were no more important than other matters. Feng Ziying had been in office for too short a time and had almost no accumulation. Speaking out with enough background and experience will only make people laugh.
"Whether it's greedy or harsh, in my opinion, this is a minor issue. This disciple can only tell you this, Master Qi. I don't dare to admit it when I go out. I think the key lies in whether you dare to do something or not. Eager for quick success and instant benefit is a kind of praise in a sense. At least they want to do things for the people. On the contrary, I think those mediocre people are the biggest problem, especially the assessment mechanism of our Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. We are most lenient to these people. If we don’t do anything, we won’t offend others. Who doesn’t understand this? The local gentry praises, the subordinates flatter, and the superiors can’t say anything. Hello, I’m okay, everyone. Most of them will go well. They may even get a good review or even get a promotion, but what benefit do they bring to the place? They may even bring trouble to one party, or even cause a catastrophe in the event of a disaster..."
Qi Yongtai remained silent. Once this topic was brought up, it would become a systemic issue, not even limited to the official department.
