Liu Heng looked at the map in front of him.
This map covers the grassland, Daemuan Island, and Jeju Island. It is more detailed than the map Zhou Peigong presented to Mazi, and the place where the Tiger Flag is located only occupies a small part of the map.
"Mr. Hong, does he know how significant it is to win Huguang?" Liu Heng said looking at the map in front of him.
Every time he saw the location of Huguang on the map, he wanted to take Huguang into his arms immediately. Shaanxi and Shanxi were really short of food.
"My subordinates can understand," Hong Chengchou said, "If we capture Huguang, Huguang will become the granary of the Tiger Flag. Without Huguang as the granary, the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed faster."
Liu Heng walked back to the table, reached out and picked up the tea jar on the table, and said: "The situation in Shaanxi is not optimistic. Even if the Tiger Flag has tried its best to transport food, the situation in Shaanxi will not be relieved in two or three years. This is because the weather is getting better. If the weather remains as unpredictable as it has been in recent years, the situation in Shaanxi will only get worse. Shanxi has many mountains and forests, and the food produced is limited. In addition, it is also affected by the weather. We need a granary like Huguang.”
After saying this, Rang picked up the teapot and took a sip of water.
"Hasn't my lord already made arrangements to promote high-yielding grains in various places?" Hong Chengchou frowned slightly.
After hearing this, Liu Heng waved his hand and said: "It's far from enough."
"On the grassland? The Tiger Flag has opened up a lot of fields on the grassland over the years. It is the harvest time in the past two years. Isn't it enough to have the food support from the grassland?" Hong Chengchou saw many fertile fields on the grassland.
These were all wastelands reclaimed after the Tiger Character Banner defeated the Tumote coalition forces. After careful care in the past few years, all the once wastelands have been turned into fertile farmland.
Liu Heng walked back to the table and sat down, raised his hand and said, "Sit down too."
"The weather can't always be bad. It has been hard for so long. I think it will get better in the next year or two." Hong Chengchou walked to the bench opposite the table and sat down.
Liu Heng said: "We can't all rely on the weather. We have to prepare ourselves for the worst. Moreover, although a lot of wasteland has been reclaimed on the grassland, the grain seeds planted on the grassland every year are only one ripe, or at most two. We can only barely support Shaanxi, but if we add Henan, life will only be even more difficult."
"The situation in Henan is much better, and it can be regarded as a granary. In the past two years, life has been difficult due to bad weather, but it is much better than Shaanxi. I think there should be no big problem in being self-sufficient. After the Tiger Character Banner occupied Henan, By promoting the high-yielding grains here, maybe Henan can become another pillar of the Tiger Flag." Hong Chengchou analyzed the benefits of occupying Henan for Liu Heng.
Liu Heng tapped his fingers lightly on the table, looking thoughtful.
The Tiger Character Banner has already captured parts of Shanxi and Northern Zhili. Once it attacks Henan, the Ming Dynasty will definitely choose to fight back desperately as long as they are not stupid.
Otherwise, after the Tiger Banner takes over Henan, it will then take over several state capitals in the east, west and north of Shandong, and North Zhili will become a place of death.
"Lord, we cannot attack Huguang." Hong Chengchou saw that Liu Heng was silent and continued to persuade, "I believe that with the strength of our tiger-character flag, it will not be a problem to win Huguang. But after we win, we will be surrounded by enemies on all sides. If we want to It’s not that easy to gain a foothold, but Henan is different. After taking Henan, all the places in the Tiger Flag will be connected, making it a hundred times easier to defend.”
Liu Heng took a long breath and said, "Henan is not that easy to get."
"It is much easier to attack Henan than Huguang." Hong Chengchou said.
Liu Heng reluctantly moved his eyes away from Huguang on the map and said, "Let's let the two plans be analyzed by the entourage to see whether it is better to attack Huguang or to capture Henan first."
"My lord is wise." Hong Chengchou stood up and bowed to Liu Heng.
He was most afraid of Liu Heng going his own way and insisting on his own opinions.
Now Liu Heng took a step back and left the matter to the entourage team for analysis, which was equivalent to giving up the plan to attack Huguang. With the ability of the entourage team, the plan that will be finalized will definitely choose to attack Henan.
The news of Chahar's defeat spread among the various ministries on the grassland and soon reached Puppet Gold through Horqin.
This battle also established the powerful status of the Tiger Flag on the grassland, which cannot be shaken by the Chahar tribe. This caused more and more tribes living on the grassland to begin to waver and choose to get close to the Tiger Flag.
Advocating for the strong is the most straightforward expression on the grassland.
When the False Gold showed its strength, some tribes living in Horqin and the surrounding areas chose to form an alliance with the False Gold to resist the pressure brought by the Chahar tribe.
Now another Tiger-Character Banner has risen in the west, which also shows great strength. In order to resist the annexation of the Chahar tribe, it began to seek the protection of the Tiger-Character Banner.
"This Chahar is such a waste. The 80,000 cavalry were defeated by an army with only 10,000 infantry and cavalry." Huang Taiji cursed the Chahar tribe.
Fan Wencheng, who was standing at the bottom, said: "Khutuktu Khan can still use 80,000 cavalry to deal with the Tiger Banner that occupied Qingcheng. It seems that the Chahar tribe took advantage of the five Khalkha tribes. "
"It's only called 80,000 cavalry, but in fact there are only more than 20,000." Huang Taiji said.
There are no secrets on the grassland. How many soldiers and horses Chahar sent out could not be hidden from the Horqin tribe who had been paying attention to him.
Due to the alliance between the Horqin Tribe and the Puppet Jin, any news from the Chahar Tribe would be immediately sent to Shengjing, which was once Shenyang, by the Horqin Tribe.
Fan Wencheng frowned slightly and said: "More than 20,000 cavalry is quite a lot. The fact that Tiger Banner can defeat more than 20,000 Chahar cavalry head-on on the grassland shows that Tiger Banner's strength is not weak. We, Daikin, are potential rivals who want to take over the Central Plains.”
"I have always underestimated this tiger-character flag. I didn't expect that a mere businessman could build such a big business. It's a pity that this person cannot be used by me." Huang Taiji said with emotion.
There are not many people who can become Daikin's rivals. In his mind, Liu Heng is one of them, and he is ranked in front of Lindan Batur of Chahar.
The Tiger Character Banner occupies the Tumut Grassland in Monan, and Dajin also intends to capture Mongolia in Monan. The grassland has become a battle of interests between him and Liu Heng.
Fan Wencheng nodded his forehead in agreement and said: "There are only a handful of merchants like Liu Heng in history. If this person is not eliminated, he will definitely become a stepping stone for us, Dajin, to unite the world."
"Mr. Fan, is there any good way to teach Ben Khan?" Huang Taiji asked Fan Wencheng.
After Fan Wencheng thought for a while, he said: "There are three strategies to deal with this slave: the upper, middle and lower."
He stretched out three fingers and gestured in front of Huang Taiji.
"What three strategies?" Huang Taiji knew that scholars all have this problem. They always make a tips bag or come up with several ideas for people to choose from.
As long as it is beneficial to Dai Jin, he does not mind these minor problems of scholars at all and is willing to cooperate with them.
Fan Wencheng said: "The best strategy is that I, Dajin, can use the help of the Ming Dynasty to find a way to solve the tiger-character flag. In this way, I, Dajin, can sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and gain the advantage of being a fisherman."
"What about Zhongce?" Huang Taiji stroked his beard and asked about Zhongce again.
Fan Wencheng continued: "The slaves and thieves heard that Liu Heng has not accepted the marriage and has no heirs left, so the slave's best strategy is to send people to Datong to assassinate Liu Heng. As long as this person is killed, the tiger-character flag will be in chaos."
"The internal fighting within the Tiger Character Banner is indeed no longer a threat to me, Daikin." Huang Taiji nodded in agreement, and then asked, "Then what is the next step?"
Fan Wencheng twirled his beard with his hand and said: "The next best thing is for me, Dai Jin, to take action directly, defeat the Tiger Flag from the front, break the crest of the Tiger Flag, and make it afraid to be the enemy of Dai Jin. .”
As soon as San Ce finished speaking, he looked at Huang Taiji in his seat.
In his opinion, these three strategies can solve the problem of Tiger Flag.
Huang Taiji pondered for a moment and said: "In Ben Khan's opinion, there is a fourth option, which can also solve the problem of the Tiger Flag, and can also win over the Tiger Flag's power."
"The Great Khan also has a plan? I wonder what the Great Khan's plan is? He can actually get the Tiger Flag." Fan Wencheng looked surprised.
He didn't expect that Huang Taiji had a better way to deal with Tiger Flag.
Seeing Fan Wencheng's defeat, Huang Taiji laughed proudly and said, "Mr. Fan only thought about getting rid of the Tiger Flag or Liu Heng, but he never thought about winning over Liu Heng, so it is normal to not think of this strategy."
"But Dajin tried to win over this person many times, but they all ended in failure." Fan Wencheng said doubtfully.
Huang Taiji smiled and said: "In the past, the failure was because Dajin did not give enough things to the other party. If Ben Khan married a princess to Liu Heng and was willing to share the Ming Dynasty with him, do you think he would agree?"
"You must not sweat profusely!" Fan Wencheng immediately knelt down and said, "The tiger-character flag occupies the mountains and Shaanxi, and also occupies the Tumut grassland. It has long been capable of becoming a king, but it has always called itself a general. It can be seen that this man is ambitious and wants to learn the trick of accumulating food and slowly becoming king like Taizu of Ming Dynasty."
After hearing this, Huang Taiji shook his head slightly and said: "I don't know what Mr. Fan said. However, right now, the Ming Dynasty is our biggest enemy, and it is also the biggest enemy of his Tiger Flag. The Ming Kingdom was overthrown in one day, and I don’t mind competing with him for the world to see whether he, Liu Heng, sits on the Dragon Court, or I, Liu Heng, sits on the dragon chair.”
"This!" Fan Wencheng wanted to persuade again.
However, considering Huang Taiji's temperament, no one can dissuade him from what he has decided to do. Unless banner leaders like Daishan come forward to stop him, he is just a slave, learning from Wei Zheng during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. He is not far away from being alienated by Huang Taiji. .
In the end, he chose to keep silent.
Huang Taiji, who was sitting on the main seat, smiled and said: "Mr. Fan, please get up. I know your good intentions. If the marriage fails, it will not be too late to follow Mr. Fan's three strategies to deal with the Tiger Flag."
"I wonder who the Great Khan is going to marry to Liu Heng of the Tiger Flag." Fan Wencheng, who stood up, followed Huang Taiji's words and asked.
And he knew that although Huang Taiji had two talents, they were both too young, only a few years old, and were not suitable candidates for marriage.
Hong Chengchou hesitated for a moment and said: "If the slave thieves want to use troops against the Chahar tribe, Hutuktu Khan may move his tribe once he knows that he is no match for the slave thieves."
"That's right, and the Chahar tribe will most likely choose to move westward, and then they will directly face the Tiger Flag." Liu Heng said while looking at the map.
Historically, the Chahar tribe moved westward and occupied Qingcheng under the threat of slave thieves. He believed that Hutuktu Khan would definitely choose to move westward, otherwise the Chahar tribe would have to stay in Baicheng to deal with the invading slaves alone. thief.
Caught between the Tiger Banner and the slave thieves, the Chahar tribe can only choose one of them as its opponent.
Hong Chengchou raised his head and looked at Liu Heng and said, "Since my lord has anticipated the possibility of the Chahar tribe moving westward, he must have been prepared to deal with it?"
"There might be a way for Chahar's troops to survive when they go to Mobei. If they dare to come to Qingcheng, they will be hit hard." Liu Heng smiled at Hong Chengchou.
As early as a few years ago, Huzi Banner had received news that the Chahar tribe intended to move westward, so how could he not make preparations in advance.
Hong Chengchou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Having decided to submit to the Tiger-Character Flag, we naturally don’t want anything to happen to the Tiger-Character Flag.
"After the slave thieves captured Inner Khalkha and drove the Chahar tribe away from Baicheng, the slave thieves could bypass Shanhaiguan and enter the Ming Dynasty to plunder." Liu Heng said, "The Ming army in Shanhaiguan already belongs to the Ming Dynasty. If they are elite, the Ming army in other places may not be able to resist the incoming army of slave thieves."
He knew that what he was talking about was what actually happened in history.
All the elite soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty gathered in Liaodong. The old and weak soldiers left in other towns could not stop the army of slaves and thieves. Facing the army of slaves and thieves plundering all parts of the Ming Dynasty, there was no way at all.
Cold sweat broke out on Hong Chengchou's forehead.
He himself is a person who understands military affairs, and also understands internal affairs. He deeply knows that once the army of slave thieves crosses Shanhaiguan, Ming's defense line will become useless in front of the slave thieves.
More importantly, after the slave thieves plundered and destroyed the territory of Ming Dynasty, the originally weak Ming Dynasty became even weaker.
"It seems that Mr. Hong can also guess what the Ming Dynasty will face next?" Liu Heng looked at the sweat on Hong Chengchou's forehead and believed that the other party had already believed that the slave thieves would enter the Ming Dynasty by bypassing Shanhaiguan.
Hong Chengchou raised his right arm, gently wiped the cold sweat on his forehead with his sleeve, and said in his mouth: "The slave thieves are a group of robbers. Once they are allowed to enter the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty people will probably live in empty houses wherever they go. Corpses litter the fields.”
"If the Ming Dynasty is incompetent, the people will naturally be affected." Liu Heng sighed lightly.
When a country weakens, its people will naturally fall into war and be oppressed by foreigners abroad. This has been the case since ancient times.
"Can you prevent slave thieves from entering the Ming Dynasty? The Zhu family dynasty may be destroyed, but the people are innocent." Hong Chengchou stared at Liu Heng with bright eyes.
He has not yet become a traitor, but he still retains a conscience towards the Han people and does not want to see the Han people bullied by foreigners.
Liu Heng said: "If we want to prevent the slave thieves from bypassing the mountains and seas and entering the territory of the Ming Dynasty, either the Chahar tribe can withstand the army of slave thieves, or the Ming Dynasty itself will send more elites to the important towns on all sides, especially if the slave thieves are likely to enter the territory of the Ming Dynasty." Several places must be guarded by heavy troops in advance."
