Not many people knew about the fact that Liao Wenguang came to Datong Town to recruit Liu Heng. Even in Taiyuan, only a few people knew about it.
The decision to recruit Liu Heng was not made privately by Taiyuan, but was sent by a big shot in the capital to test Liu Heng.
When Liao Wenguang returned to Taiyuan, he saw Liu Heng's story compiled into writing and sent to the capital by Kuaiqi.
In the capital city.
From officials to common people, everyone was immersed in the joy of Jinzhou's victory.
This was the first time that the Ming Dynasty defeated an army of slave thieves head-on. This made many people in the capital full of confidence in the imperial court to defeat the slave thieves.
Since the chief minister of the cabinet was replaced by Gu Bingqian, the capital has begun to change. The Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party attacked each other. In the end, the Eunuch Party won the victory. Several important figures in the Donglin Party died, and the returnees returned to their hometowns. The other Donglin Party members were either cleared out of the court or became members of the Eunuch Party.
Up and down the court, Wei Zhongxian was in great power, and for a time he was unparalleled.
Normally, Wei Zhongxian rarely lives in the palace. He usually lives in his own house outside the palace. If anything happens in the palace, someone will tell him as soon as possible.
"Godfather, Mr. Gu Ge is here."
Zhang Shun, the housekeeper in the house, came to the room to report to Wei Zhongxian.
Wei Zhongxian, who was lying on the bed, turned sideways and said lightly: "He shouldn't be in the palace at this time, so why is he here at our house? Go and invite people in for our house."
Zhang Shun bowed and left the room.
After a short time, Zhang Shun took Gu Bingqian back to the house.
"Sir Wei." When Gu Bingqian saw Wei Zhongxian, he cupped his fists and cupped his hands.
Wei Zhongxian lay on his side on the bed and did not move. Instead, he raised his eyelids and took a look and said, "Mr. Gu Ge is not in the palace at this time. How come you have time to come to our place?"
"There's news from over there." Gu Bingqian said.
Wei Zhongxian's eyes flashed when he heard this, and he immediately sat up and said to the servants and maids in the room: "You all get out."
Several servants and maids slowly left the room.
"You also go out and don't let anyone get even half a step closer to the room." Wei Zhongxian told Zhang Shun again.
Zhang Shun exited the room and closed the door behind his back.
Only Wei Zhongxian and Gu Bingqian were left in the room.
"As soon as I received the letter from Taiyuan Mansion, I rushed out of the palace." Gu Bingqian took out a letter from his sleeve and held it in his hand.
Wei Zhongxian glanced at the letter in his hand and did not reach out to get it. Instead, he said, "Tell me, what does the letter say?"
Gu Bingqian reached out and took out the letter from the envelope. After opening it, he read in his mouth: "It mentioned that the Liu thief from Datong did not refuse the recruitment, but put forward two conditions. As long as the imperial court agrees, he will accept the imperial court's recruitment."
"What conditions?" Wei Zhongxian asked curiously.
Gu Bingqian pursed his lips and said: "The first condition is that Liu Thief and his men must stay in Xuanda, and the court cannot transfer them for any reason."
"Although this condition is a little more troublesome, it is not impossible to agree to it. Let's talk about the second condition." Wei Zhongxian touched his smooth and hairless chin.
Gu Bingqian hesitated for a moment and said: "The second condition is that the imperial court is not allowed to send any officials to Xuanda. From now on, Xuanda will be governed by the Tiger-Character Banner."
Snapped!
"This is absolutely impossible." Wei Zhongxian slapped the bed.
Gu Bingqian said: "I don't think I can agree to this. Even if it passes the cabinet, I'm afraid the Holy Father will not agree to it."
"It is absolutely impossible for the emperor to agree to this. If he really does this, Xuanda will become the territory of his traitor Liu. In the future, other military generals in border towns will follow this example. How can the imperial court appoint those generals?" Wei Zhongxian said angrily. explain.
Gu Bingqian nodded and continued: "By doing this, Thief Liu completely turned Xuanda into a vassal town. The court cannot set this precedent, and the Ming Dynasty must not follow the lessons learned in the late Tang Dynasty."
"What you said will not move our family, but we know that the emperor will never agree to such conditions." Wei Zhongxian said, "otherwise, you ask people from Taiyuan Mansion to ask and ask Thief Liu to change the conditions. Even if you reward me with more gold and silver, it’s not impossible.”
Hearing this, Gu Bingqian shook his head with a wry smile and said: "Judging from the two conditions put forward by Thief Liu, he has great ambitions. Ordinary gold and silver may not be able to satisfy his appetite."
"Then send troops to suppress it. Didn't Jinzhou just have a great victory? Since we can beat the slave thieves, wouldn't it be easy to deal with a Liu thieves?" Wei Zhongxian said coldly.
After hearing this, Gu Bingqian's face became even more bitter.
"You are the chief minister of the cabinet. It is up to your cabinet to come forward and send a troop of troops from Liaodong to suppress the rebellion. Don't just send more than 10,000 troops to do the job like last time." Wei Zhongxian said.
Gu Bingqian said with a bitter look on his face: "Official Wei may not know something. The so-called great victory in Jinzhou is just a whitewashed achievement in Liaodong. In fact, it is not a great victory at all."
"Didn't you say that we defeated an army of 100,000 slaves and bandits in Jinzhou?" Wei Zhongxian raised his eyebrows.
Gu Bingqian said with a bitter look on his face: "The slave thieves indeed surrounded Jinzhou with a large army. They only tried it out for a while and then withdrew. I am afraid that the defenders in Jinzhou City did not even have a hundred people to kill the enemy."
"Aren't you fooling the emperor? The officials in Liaodong are so brave. They actually deceived the court into killing everyone who deserved it." Wei Zhongxian had a look of hatred on his face.
He himself thought that Liaodong had really achieved a great victory, but he did not expect that the so-called victory of Jinzhou was completely a false claim of military exploits from all over Liaodong and did not exist at all.
Gu Bingqian said: "It cannot be said that it is a completely false report of military exploits. The army of slaves and thieves indeed besieged Jinzhou City, and they did not break through Jinzhou City and retreated. It can only be said that it is an exaggeration, and there is some discrepancy in the number of enemies killed."
"Hmph, one exaggeration actually made the imperial court generously award rewards. It's really a good trick." Wei Zhongxian said bitterly.
Zhao Yutu, who was sitting opposite Liao Wenguang, stood up at this time, looked at Liao Wenguang and said: "Counsellor Liao, I think you should go back. If you continue to stay, no one will care about your food. Why don't you go back early and discuss with the people behind you whether you want to or not?" Agree to our terms.”
"Mr. Zhao, you are also a scholar. You should understand what loyalty to the emperor and patriotism means. I hope you can persuade General Liu to turn back early and not go further down the wrong path." Liao Wenguang saw that he could not persuade Liu Heng, so he continued I want to persuade Zhao Yutu as a scholar.
Zhao Yutu shook his head with a chuckle and walked out.
When he was about to reach the door, he turned around and said to Zhao Wu: "The general town office is an important military location, and it is not suitable for outsiders to stay for too long."
After saying that, he walked out the door and left directly.
"Counsellor Liao, you heard it too, please, don't force me to do anything, it will make my face look bad." Zhao Wu said threateningly.
Liao Wenguang, who was kicked out, shook his sleeves and robe angrily, but he could only leave.
