Although the attitude of the court is that of the emperor, the emperor's attitude most often depends on the cabinet's views. As the chief minister of the cabinet, Shen Shixing fully understands how the cabinet usually considers this matter. Wang Xijue wants to confuse Li Chengliang's matter. The nature of it is difficult.
It’s not that there are no understanding people in the court, and there are even more talented people in the cabinet. The reason why the court can turn a blind eye to Chahar’s acquisition of materials through resale trade and pretend to be confused is because resale trade will increase Chahar’s cost of obtaining supplies. . In the case where it is impossible to eliminate all the surrounding forces that are trading with it, this situation can be temporarily tolerated, which can be regarded as a temporary measure.
But if resale trade ceases to exist, then the Ming Dynasty's "trade sanctions" on Chahar will become meaningless. Chahar can obtain what it needs at an affordable price. This is intolerable.
What's more, Li Chengliang's problem this time is that the product being traded is too sensitive, and it is gunpowder that is expressly prohibited by the imperial court. This is a typical military material - no one would believe that Chahar bought gunpowder with the intention of making fireworks.
Shen Shixing expressed his worries, and then said: "Zhang Xinzhai was the governor of Liao Dynasty, and Wu Huanzhou was in charge of the military department for a long time. How could these two people not know the pros and cons? What's more, Gao Qiuzhen returned to the capital only more than a year ago, and Liaodong He knows what the situation is, and once it is found out that Li Yincheng is responsible for this matter, it will probably be difficult for him to avoid being concerned about it."
Not long after Wang Xijue returned to Beijing, he heard that the matter was so complicated. He couldn't help frowning. After thinking for a while, he said: "If this is the case, then we can only start the Liao Dynasty from Li Yincheng for eighteen years. The Liao affairs cannot be left alone for a day." Let’s make a fuss.”
It is hard to say whether the Liao affair was indispensable without Li Chengliang. At least Shen Shixing felt that Gao Pragmatic would not think so. However, Shen Shixing guessed that Wang Xijue's words actually meant something else: It might not matter whether the person who suppressed Liao was Li Chengliang. After all, the Shi School had a lot of famous generals. Even if Li Chengliang resigned, Gao Pragmatic could still send him over.
If nothing else, couldn't Ma Gui be the commander-in-chief of Liaodong? Even if most of the Liaodong general troops come from this town, Cao Yun can also take over.
What is truly irreplaceable about Li Chengliang is not his identity as a famous general, but the 40,000 cavalry under his command. Even if Li Rusong brought 5,000 troops with him when he took office as the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Province, there would still be 35,000 troops left in Liaodong.
These 35,000 cavalry are what Li Chengliang needs to settle down and live in peace, and they are the real reason why he is "irreplaceable".
Not only is the ability of these 35,000 cavalry to intimidate and fight external forces irreplaceable, but more importantly, how to deal with these 30,000 people if Li Chengliang is moved. If one of them fails, there may be a mutiny.
It was common for soldiers in the Ming Dynasty to quarrel over pay, and it was also common for soldiers to engage in "riots in such and such camp" at every turn. A few years ago, the riots in Zhenwu Camp in Nanjing almost scared Xu Pengju, the then Duke of Wei, to the point of peeing. They also happened to Li Rusong two years ago when he went to Taiyuan to take office. However, Li Rusong had 5,000 elite servants at his disposal and was able to suppress them. Easy.
But this kind of commotion was caused by the guardsmen, and it was different from the elite servants causing trouble. There is a recent example of the elite servants causing trouble: to some extent, the rebellion in the northwest is related to the elite servants of Kuaibai causing trouble.
The real elite of Kuaibai's Cangtou Army only has three to four thousand people, and an incident can lead to an army of tens of thousands. What would happen if Li Chengliang was replaced by the Liaodong Cavalry? The 100,000-strong army in western Liaoning may have to change its banner tomorrow.
If this happens, who can afford it?
Therefore, the reason why Li Chengliang is irreplaceable is not that no one in the Ming Dynasty can control Liao, but that more than half of the Liaodong army of 170,000 to 80,000 are bound to him. Many of his cronies have already "supported the city", making it difficult to control the situation. Li Pinghu, Li Ning, Li Xing, Qin Deyi, Sun Shoulian and others each had their own affairs.
With such a force in Liaodong, how could the imperial court not consider it if it wanted to move him? The unfinished meaning in Wang Xijue's words probably refers to this point.
But Shen Shixing felt that this was wrong and unsafe. Although Li Chengliang is powerful, the authority of the imperial court has not wavered at the moment. If it were just a matter of raising wages, the 100,000 troops in western Liaoning might move under Li Chengliang's orders, but really let them cause trouble in the name of rebellion. , I’m afraid the situation will be quite different.
The key is, even if the 100,000 troops in western Liaoning are really in chaos, is it really impossible for the imperial court to deal with them? not necessarily.
Gao pragmatism is still working as his chief secretary in the capital. Since he is "the best literary commander in the world", Xuan Da San Town, Ji Town and Liaodong Cao Yun and other departments cannot be afraid of western Liaoning.
Cao Yu's tribe in Liaodong may only be on the defensive when facing Li Chengliang, but the four towns of Xuanfu, Datong, Taiyuan, and Jizhou have a total of 600,000 troops. In addition to Ji Town, they also face the threat of Chahar, and Xuan Dasan The town can completely mobilize a large number of troops to march eastward to Pingliao. As a last resort, an army of 200,000 can be mobilized. What should Gao Pragmatic be afraid of?
Regardless of the fact that Li Rusong was temporarily transferred to serve as the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi after the Northwest War, I felt that Shaanxi would also be unstable. Shaanxi had just finished fighting the Northwest War, and was also in a state of gathering elite troops. After all, Li Rusong's servants only had 5,000 people, and he was unfamiliar with the place in Shaanxi. It was impossible for him to cooperate with Li Chengliang in the northwest. What's more, given his character, it's hard to say whether he would be a traitor or not.
Of course, the imperial court had its own problems, and the problem was lack of money. But counterinsurgency matters are above all else, just like this year's counterinsurgency in the northwest. If you have money, you have to fight, and if you don't have money, you have to fight. If Liaodong is really in chaos, at worst, the vassal ban will be reopened later, or the expected three years will be extended to ten or eight years, etc., wouldn't this be okay?
Shen Shixing explained this, and then said to Wang Xijue: "Although it is not clear why Gao Qiuzhen is so anxious to solve the Chahar issue, brother Yuan Yu must also know that given the age of the Holy Lord and Gao Qiuzhen, this matter should not be necessary. I'm anxious. If Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty built the Grand Canal and it took fifteen years to complete it according to the suggestions given to him at the time, how could the Sui Dynasty fall in two generations?"
In fact, the Sui Dynasty did not die in the second generation, but it can be regarded as the death of the second generation, so Shen Shixing said this.
His metaphor was actually a bit taboo, but Wang Xijue obviously would not argue with him. Instead, he smiled contemptuously and said, "Can't Yuan Fu see it? Gao Qiuzhen is a man who is eager for quick success. I'm afraid he is thinking about it again." After the battle of Chahar, it will be enough for me to serve in the imperial palace."
After a pause, Wang Xijue narrowed his eyes slightly and continued: "So, he will not let anything affect the battle against Chahar. For this battle, he took the initiative to take risks and go straight into the river during the northwest battle. Therefore, we can temporarily tolerate what Li Yincheng did."
This sounds reasonable, and Shen Shixing also felt that during the Northwest Battle, he was so pragmatic that he went straight to the interior of the Loop, which was a bit risky and unlike his previous fighting style. Originally Shen Shixing just thought that Gao Pragmatic did this because the court did not give him enough time, so he had to do this. But after Wang Xijue explained this, he discovered that Gao Pragmatic might really be because he refused to delay the battle against Chahar.
After all, no one can say for sure what will happen on the battlefield. It is said that the rebellion can be suppressed in a month or two, but it is not impossible to delay it a little. As long as the battle situation is under control, and with his high and pragmatic holy family, the emperor will not be able to treat him for this. get angry.
So, Gao Pragmatism is really "eager for quick success" and eager to make huge achievements as soon as possible so that he can join the cabinet. That's why he has taken this series of recent actions?
Shen Shixing became a little shaken and asked thoughtfully: "Brother Yuan Yu means that before Chahar is defeated, Gao Qiuzhen will not do anything to provoke changes in Liaodong?"
Wang Xijue said firmly: "Not bad."
Shen Shixing asked again: "Then how do you explain Cao Yu's spreading the matter? If Gao Qiuzhen intended to keep things quiet, but Cao Yu jumped out and leaked the news, wouldn't it cause trouble for Gao Qiuzhen?"
Wang Xijue shook his head and said: "There are two possibilities for this matter. The first is that he is so obsessed with seeking real profits that although he intends to settle the matter, he still can't help but extort money; the second is that Cao Yu did not ask for high demands in advance. Really agree."
Shen Shixing frowned: "Cao Yun dared to do this without Gao Qiuzhen's consent?"
"It's hard to say." Wang Xijue shook his head again: "Cao Yu is a martial artist. Don't think Yuan Fu is too clever. He may not even realize that doing so is against Gao Qiuzhen's wishes. Cao Yu may even feel that he is so Holding the pipa and half-hiding your face is quite smart, you can advance or retreat."
Shen Shixing couldn't help but snorted: "These people can't lead troops to fight honestly, and they have to get involved in things they don't understand at all." However, after a pause, he said: "Cao Yu may have done it himself. He advocated that he did something wrong, but judging from his high-minded approach to action, we cannot rule out the possibility that he made a mistake and really intended to use it to extort money. We need to make preparations in advance."
Wang Xijue hesitated for a moment and said unhappily: "Actually, what if we are not subject to his blackmail? His bottom line is there. As long as he dare not provoke unrest in Liaodong, we can ignore his blackmail."
Shen Shixing shook his head and said: "Brother Yuan Yu, don't say angry words. No one wants to see a situation where everything is broken. Besides, Gao Qiuzhen doesn't have other ways to deal with Li Chengliang."
Wang Xijue frowned slightly: "What can he do?"
Shen Shixing said calmly: "Li Yincheng is sixty-two this year. Logically speaking, he can become an official. And his eldest son Li Rusong has just made great achievements in the northwest this year. It is logical to call back to Liao Town to succeed his father."
Wang Xijue was slightly suffocated, but immediately said: "But the Tieling Li family was originally composed of father and son, and now one person is missing for nothing, isn't it still being suppressed?"
Shen Shixing shook his head and said: "What's so difficult about this? Li Rubai is not dead, he is also a senior general. Give him the position of deputy commander and let him see the hope of the commander. By then, will others have anything to say? Who can It cannot be said that the imperial court has treated their Li family badly."
Now Wang Xijue really has nothing to say. Li Rubai definitely cannot compare with Li Rusong in terms of military exploits. It can even be said that he is far behind. If Li Rusong is allowed to take over Liao Town and Li Rubai is promoted to deputy commander-in-chief, everyone in the world can see it. The emperor's care for their Tieling Li family was revealed.
In addition, Li Chengliang himself had a previous experience, so this treatment was completely reasonable and even showed the emperor's generosity and nostalgia.
Wang Xijue frowned and said: "Since there is such a way... Yuan Fu, do you think Gao Qiuzhen will just fake it and do it for real, so as to get rid of Li Yincheng and cut off my arm in Liaodong?"
"This is what worries me, and because of this, I feel that even if Gao Qiu really wants to blackmail him, it's not impossible to talk about it. The key now is that we don't know what Gao Qiu really wants, and we have to wait for him to make a move. That’s all.”
Wang Xijue frowned and said, "If Gao Pragmatic doesn't intend to cause turmoil in Liaodong and doesn't even consider letting Li Rusong replace Li Yincheng, I think this matter will probably fall to this Beijing inspection."
Shen Shixing frowned and said, "If we exchange Li Yincheng for Jingchazhong, why should we give in to him?" As he said this, he felt that it made sense. He couldn't help but hesitate and said, "It depends on how he wants to exchange."
Wang Xijue said calmly: "The specific details are still unknown, but if I am not mistaken, the focus of the real school should be on the southern inspection rather than the northern inspection this time."
Shen Shixing was surprised and said: "How can you see it?"
"You can't use a bull's knife to kill a chicken." Wang Xijue sneered: "This time, the Nancha, even Haigang Peak was sacrificed, which is obviously not a trivial matter. As for the Beikan, they push one level at a time, and in the end the person in charge is just a rootless person. Gu Xiancheng - Yuan Fu, haven't you noticed that the entire staff has been silent recently, and only Gu Xiancheng is jumping up and down. If this is not intentional by the Shi School, what is it? Who is he, Gu Xiancheng, he can still observe in Beijing? To sing a solo role?"
Gu Xiancheng cannot be said to be nothing, but it is indeed nothing in front of Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue. Wang Xijue despised him so much, not only because of his status and reputation, but also because of Gu Xiancheng's always critical mentality.
But no matter what, Shen Shixing couldn't object to his view. Gu Xian was originally not even a supervisor, but because the supervisor of the Practical School was "sick", he actually became the principal of such an important Beijing investigation. Man, is there no problem or conspiracy?
Regardless of whether others believe it or not, Wang Xijue believes it. Now it seems that Shen Shixing also believes it.
Shen Shixing took a deep breath and muttered: "Nancha... Gao Qiuzhen has been obsessed with Jiangnan for a long time. I wonder if he can't help but take action this time."
Wang Xijue sneered and said: "Of course I can't help it. He is invincible in the world, but he can't do it in Jiangnan. With all the success he has had over the years, how can he swallow this? Why don't we take this opportunity to hurry up?" What are you waiting for to take action?"
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Thanks to book friends "ASolaF", "Long Disrepairnn", "Book Friends 20200121063749702", "Xuan Youming", "Book Friends 20200121063749702" for their support, thank you!