Seeing that Gao Heng still didn't speak, the envoy knew that he must have had an idea in his heart, and now he still lacked some weight. The envoy said: "Master Ruan also said that it is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish. In our land, The shipbuilding industry is more developed than in the north, and has absorbed some Western technology, and there are also some Chinese shipbuilders. Lord Ruan is willing to hand over these Chinese workers to the general, so that the general can build his own ships."
Gao Heng swallowed. This condition was too tempting. It was even more tempting than real money and silver. If he could have a port, shipbuilding, and a fleet, wouldn't he be able to flex his muscles? Gao Heng's mind had already followed the envoy's words. Flying away to the sky.
A gust of wind blew through the gap in the door, causing the light of the candle to sway. Only then did Gao Heng wake up and asked, "What are your conditions?"
The envoy said: "There is only one condition. We hope that the general will join forces with us to attack the Zheng family. The general has already achieved such a status here. It should be impossible for him to return to the Ming army as a junior officer. Why not just join the army?" Build a country overseas, be the leader of the country, and be respected by thousands of people. Once the Zheng family is eliminated, the two families will divide the territory."
Sure enough, after all, I still want to use myself as the vanguard. It is best if I can contain a lot of Zheng's energy, so that Lord Ruan can take advantage of it. In a word, it is like a snipe and a clam fighting for the fishermen's victory. Profit, Lord Ruan will be this fisherman. But Gao Heng shook his head in his heart. This guy still thought of himself too simply. They might have thought that he was just a low-level officer of the Ming Army. He achieved this achievement by chance. That is to say, his knowledge was not If they draw a big pie, they will bite it in one bite, but unfortunately, they will be disappointed in the end, because they come from four hundred years later.
Gao Heng thought: "Who is the hunter, who is the hunter is still uncertain."
But on the surface, he still said: "I will seriously consider what you said, but it is unrealistic for us to attack the port now. The top priority is to complete the hostage exchange first."
The envoy nodded and said: "We understand this. General, don't be impatient. We will always pay attention to the situation here. Also, when the general attacks the port, the Ruan fleet will also help you."
Gao Heng stretched out his hand and said, "Okay, it's a deal." "It's a deal!" The messenger high-fived Gao Heng as an oath.
"Great, great, this is an incredible achievement!" Early in the morning at the Governor's Yamen in Nanning, Guangxi, there was a burst of exclamation from the backyard. Several principals of the Governor's Yamen and the soldiers guarding the gate were not Knowing what happened, they all looked in the direction of the sound.
Gong Ye, the prefect of Nanning, brought a group of officials to the gate of the governor's office early in the morning, as if waiting for the governor's summons.
With a creak, the door of the governor's office opened, and an official walked down the steps and said to Gong Ye: "Sir, the governor, please come in." Hearing this, Gong Ye quietly slipped out a piece of silver from his sleeve and stuffed it. In the hands of officials, Youdao is a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister. In the governor's office, no one can underestimate him. It is always good to have a good relationship.
The man's face was as usual, but he could feel his joy. He immediately made a gesture of invitation and said: "Please come with me, sir."
It was still early and it was not office hours yet, but Gong Ye seemed to know that the governor would definitely look for him, so he brought people to the door in advance. Gong Ye followed the official, walked through several courtyards, and came to the backyard where the governor lived. He saw an old man wearing a white shorts standing in the courtyard, about sixty years old.
At the end of September, the weather in Nanning is still hot, and the latitude of this area is similar to that of Annan, so the climate is basically similar. Even though it was early in the morning, there was still a feeling of dampness and heat in the air, and the clothes felt a bit sticky on the body, which made people uncomfortable.
Gong Ye was a fat man, and he was out of breath while walking. He was already sweating profusely after just a few steps. However, when he saw the old man, Gong Ye did not dare to show his impatience at all, and his expression was quite respectful.
The old man walked over quickly, waving the letter in his hand, with a smile on his face, "Haha, Master Gong, you are here." The old man was none other than the governor of Guangxi, Fang Zhenru.
Fang Zhenru is fifty-eight years old this year, which was considered a long life in the Ming Dynasty. He will be in his sixties in two years. However, judging from his appearance, he is much older than fifty-eight years old. Perhaps it is because he usually devotes himself to the country and takes care of the country. The situation in the Ming Dynasty collapsed. Although the main battlefields are all north of the Yangtze River, it has not yet affected the vast south of the Yangtze River. However, since Zhang Xianzhong entered Sichuan in the 13th year of Chongzhen and Li Zicheng began to attack Huguang, the pressure on Guangdong and Guangxi has increased sharply, and many refugees have begun to flee to Guangdong and Guangxi.
Since the beginning of summer, the entire Ming Dynasty has not received a good news. Although it is on the southwest border, Fang Zhenru is also very concerned about national affairs. It is a must-read in every issue of Di Bao. To this day, the worst news for Fang Zhenru is that Li Zicheng's troops have besieged Kaifeng. Kaifeng has been besieged for half a year. It is estimated that the governor Gao Mingheng has run out of ammunition and food.
If Fang Zhenru had wings, he would really like to fly over and take a look, or personally lead troops to rescue him, but Guangxi's soldiers and horses are not very effective in combat, unless they recruit the chieftain's troops and horses, but the wolf soldiers have also degraded a bit in recent years, and the chieftain The army is capable of fighting, at least much stronger than the guardsmen under his command, but these chieftains are all elites. Seeing the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, everyone is waiting and watching, and they are very concerned about the military power in their hands. Yes, even if the imperial court orders them to go north to attack the bandits, they probably won't take action.
This made Fang Zhenru very worried. He was in Guangxi and could not help much. He also had to be prepared for the possibility that Li Zicheng might go south from Huguang at any time and attack Guangdong and Guangxi. At this time, the southwest border was also unstable. The Annan people took the courage of a bear and took the initiative to attack Zhennanguan, which caused a headache for him. Fang Zhenru was not worried about a large-scale invasion of Guangxi by the Annan people. Even if they came in, It is estimated that the chieftains will not sit still and wait for death. The Zheng family is still fighting fiercely with the Ruan family in the south, and there are not so many troops for a full-scale invasion.
But even so, the Annan people chose this time to start the war, which restrained a large amount of the Ming army's strength and energy. The soldiers and horses in Guangxi were nailed to the spot and could not move. If Li Zicheng went south at this time, Fang Zhenru would be stretched thin. You can't tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall. Just when Fang Zhenru was anxious about this, not thinking about food and food, and having insomnia and dreams, a battle report was handed into his hands, which made Fang Zhenru, who had just woken up, raise his hands and cheer.
Fang Zhenru did not expect that the frontier troops at Zhennanguan would actually achieve such results. Zuo Bin had been at Zhennanguan for a long time and had always been quiet. Who would have thought that he would achieve such results as soon as he came up? Nice counter attack. As the highest military and political officer in Guangxi, Fang Zhenru is of course concerned about the border situation. Fang Zhenru is familiar with the basic situation in Zheng's country. Of course, he understands Zheng Guang's status in Annan. He was actually The Zhennanguan garrison was killed. Not only that, Zuo Bin also took the initiative and raided Yuanxian County, destroying Zheng Guang's vanguard army in one fell swoop and annihilating two thousand enemies. This achievement was too dazzling.
"Master Gong, Master Gong, look, look, who said I have no one in Guangxi? Isn't there still talent? This Zuo Bin, I think he is very good. You and I both know the situation in Zhennanguan , a mere thousand defenders actually dared to go deep into the tiger's den and take the initiative to attack and eliminate so many Annan people. Okay, I will polish the memorial carefully and send it to heaven to hear it. It will also make His Majesty happy. This is probably the best news this year. Got it." Fang Zhenru said as he handed the letter in his hand to Gong Ye.
Gong Ye had actually known this for a long time. Although Nanning Prefecture was the capital of Guangxi's Chief Envoy and the governor's office was stationed here, after all, it was still the territory of the prefect of Nanning Prefecture. If Fang Zhenru was a powerful Long, then Gong Ye is a real local snake. He has been serving as an official in Guangxi. He just took office as the prefect of Nanning the year before last. In normal times, this would be a great official position. However, now that the Ming Dynasty is in turmoil, he, the prefect of Nanning, also has the same feeling in his heart. Up and down.
People who escaped from the north said that whether it was the Dashun Army or the Daxi Army, they destroyed the local area wherever they went. All the people were recruited into the army as hungry soldiers, and all food and supplies were naturally looted. The worst thing was that the local officials ransacked their homes one by one, exterminated their families, skinned and stuffed them with straw, and many of their heads were hung on the city gates for display to the passing soldiers and civilians.
Gong Ye didn't want to end up like this. After three years of clearing the prefecture, he earned a hundred thousand snowflakes of silver. Gong Ye was not a good official. Tens of thousands of family properties and wealth are not enough to describe his wealth. The entire Nanning Mansion has been controlled by him for a long time, and all aspects are his people.
In the early morning, as soon as the city gate of Nanning Prefecture opened, the battle report came directly into the city. Logically speaking, the battle report was submitted directly to the governor's Yamen by Zuo Bin, and the messengers should go straight to the governor's Yamen. However, he was stopped by the general who was guarding the city. He threatened and lured him, and finally used five taels of silver to pry open the messenger's mouth. After learning about the battle ahead, he asked the messenger to go to the governor's office as usual. Report the news, and on the other hand, urgently send someone to the government office to contact Gong Ye.
When Gong Ye heard the news, he felt bad. There was a great victory ahead, and the court would definitely not be able to allocate money. However, Fang Zhenru came from Jiangxi to manage Guangxi on behalf of the court. He was an upright and honest man who dedicated himself to serving the country, so the court would not give him any money. , he will definitely raise some gold and silver supplies in Guangxi and send them to the frontline workers to show God's great grace.
But the top opens its mouth, and the bottom runs and breaks its legs. It's okay to ask Gong Ye to say some nice words, but Gong Ye is 10,000 unwilling to spend real money and money to work on the front line. Apart from anything else, there was some money in Nanning's treasury, but Gong Ye had long regarded these gold and silver treasures as his own personal property. How could he let Fang Zhenru take the money away.
As for food, it is even worse. In the era of war and chaos, food is hard currency, and it is also the lifeblood of Gong Ye. With food, he is not afraid of trouble in the place. Without food, both soldiers and people will rebel, otherwise Li Zicheng How could he and Zhang Xianzhong be so virtuous and able to pull out an army of millions?
Gong Ye accepted the letter from Fang Zhenru. Although he already knew what was going on, he still showed no expression on his face and pretended to be happy: "Oh, this is really great, gratifying, gratifying. Congratulations, the bravery of the soldiers at the front just shows that Your Majesty is blessed with great blessings and that our Ming Dynasty is expected to revive. Of course, this is all the result of your lord's strategizing at the rear, and the one who deserves the most praise should be your lord."
Fang Zhenru frowned. Ever since he came to Guangxi, he had been quite unhappy with Gong Ye. As a governor, of course he had heard a lot of rumors about Gong Ye, and some even said what Gong Ye's famous saying was. , If you don’t get rich if you become an official, you won’t even come to invite me. With such a person in charge of Nanning Prefecture, will the lives of the people be easy?
But Fang Zhenru can't touch Gong Ye yet. On the one hand, he has just arrived in Guangxi, and one year is not long. He has no foundation in Guangxi, and Nanning Mansion is controlled by Gong Ye. He just wants to find evidence. Also hard to find. On the other hand, in this day and age, although officials don't say it, everyone knows in their hearts that the imperial court in the capital is in danger. To the north are the captives and to the south are the bandits. What will happen if the imperial court is gone? Now you just hand over some memorials about official corruption, and no one in the court cares about it. Everyone's energy is focused on the wars all over the Ming Dynasty.
If the battle is won, the Ming Dynasty will be here. If the battle is not won, the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed. What's the use of dealing with a few corrupt officials?
Fang Zhenru suppressed his unhappiness, cleared his throat, and returned to the topic: "Haha, Lord Gong, there is no need to praise me so much. I have no credit at all from behind. The soldiers at the front sacrificed their lives in the battle, especially the attack on Zheng Guang." Although these soldiers are not mentioned by name, in my heart, they are all first-class heroes. I am not allowed to write to Zuo Bin and report the names of the meritorious soldiers. I will reward them if they deserve it. I can't let the soldiers in front be cold. heart."
"That's right, that's right, what you said makes sense, makes sense." Gong Ye nodded and bowed.
"Ahem, Mr. Gong, I came to you today just for this matter. Since you want a reward, you can't just talk about it. Now the treasury is in short supply and the war ahead is not going well. Money is used everywhere, even if it is handed over in discount, even if I have money, but I still don’t know if it can be transferred to Guangxi in the Year of the Monkey, Horse and Month. What’s more, the journey is far away and blocked by thieves. It’s still unclear whether it can be delivered. So I thought about using Guangxi’s silver to reward Guangxi’s soldiers. What do you think of the exile?" Fang Zhenru glanced at Gong Ye and asked.
"Damn it, whatever you think about comes, it turns out to be this." Gong Ye thought to himself.
