Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 066 Northeast Horn Company Camp (I)
"Your humble servant Xiong Tingbi pays respects to the Earl of Ningyuan."
Also in early March, Xiong Tingbi arrived in Liaoyang and met Li Chengliang, the Liaodong general who had absolute power in Liaodong.
Unlike Liu Jing, Li Chengliang had a title. So, although the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty suppressed the military generals, Xiong Tingbi had to pay respect to Li Chengliang in a proper manner when facing a military general with a title, no matter how bad his temper was.
"Oh, isn't this Mr. Xiong, the man my son Chunzhong always praises and admires in his letters? You are welcome, sir. Please take a seat."
"I was asked by the Emperor to explain the laws of the Ming Dynasty to the Crown Prince. As the Crown Prince's companion, Chunzhong had listened to my lectures, but the two sides had not formally performed the ceremony of becoming his apprentice."
You old man, don't think I didn't understand what you said just now. Am I the teacher of your grandchildren? Am I a generation younger than you? Am I your family's teacher? Humph! If it weren't for the fact that your grandson was the companion of the crown prince, would a genius like me, Xiong Tingbi, be able to hear my teachings?
As soon as the two sides met, they began to compete. However, Li Chengliang was an old and cunning demon, and his scheming was much , so after receiving Xiong Tingbi's hard attack, he only paused for a moment, and then laughed and said: "Master Xiong came to my Liaodong this time, but what does the grandson want?"
To be honest, Lao Li has lived to such an old age that he has seen through everything. He has two things in mind: First, Liaodong must not be in chaos while Laozi is in Liaodong, so as not to ruin Laozi's reputation. Second, he wants to make the descendants of the Li family have a good ending, that is, they cannot be as powerful as Laozi, but at least they cannot be silent in the Ming Dynasty court for the next few decades, and they cannot bring disaster to the descendants because of Laozi's downfall.
To achieve these two goals, Li Chengliang's strategy was very simple: First, support Nurhaci and use him to suppress other ethnic minorities in Liaodong - I can control this wild boar skin anyway. Second, do my best to get close to the crown prince, and let the crown prince guarantee the future prosperity of the Li family.
However, now there is a violent conflict between these two!
On the one hand, Nurhaci's power was growing stronger and stronger, and he showed a strong desire to expand eastward. Insisting on guarding the six forts in Kuandian would sooner or later lead to military conflicts between the Jianzhou Jurchens and the Liaodong Town. However, Li Chengliang knew very well that in the later period of his first term as the general of Liaodong, the combat effectiveness of the Liaodong soldiers had begun to decline. When he was idle in Beijing for ten years and was sent back to Liaodong again, the entire Liaodong had already been lax in military preparations and the military spirit was corrupt...
Therefore, the current Liaodong is nothing more than a paper tiger supported by Li Chengliang's early reputation. It is better not to over-stimulate the Jianzhou Jurchens.
If we use military means to deal with Jianzhou directly, we can still win, but what happens after we win? Will Yehe rise up without Jianzhou's suppression? What about the Dong'e tribe behind the six forts in Kuandian? In addition, even if we eliminate the Jianzhou Jurchens, it will be a pyrrhic victory. After Liaodong Town is greatly weakened, what will happen to the Mongols in the north? What if the losses are too great and the censors in the capital rush to impeach them?
Therefore, Jianzhou cannot be attacked. It can only be divided and weakened by other means. For example, supporting the younger brother of the wild boar skin, Shuerhazi, or something like that...
But what Li Chengliang did not expect was that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's reaction was so strong that Li Shizhong came over overnight and issued an ultimatum: if he gave up Kuandian, Xinghua Palace would be completely severed from Ningyuan Earl's Mansion!
This made Li Chengliang's pursuit of the best of both worlds come to nothing.
After a night of painful struggle, Li Chengliang made the choice that was taken for granted by the Chinese of his time: to work harder for the happiness of his children and grandchildren.
He wrote a reply to Zhu Youdong very frankly, in which he reflected deeply on his own stupidity and gave extremely disgusting compliments to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for his foresight. Then he stood at attention and stated: Your Highness said that the six forts in Kuandian must be defended , so I will definitely do my best to defend them. If there is money and soldiers, we must defend them. If there is no money and soldiers, I will find a way to defend them. As for formally submitting a report to the court to abandon the six forts in Kuandian, it will definitely not be sent to the Tongzhengsi again.
Not only that, he also quickly purchased 500 skilled craftsmen from the King of Korea, and then recruited a group of craftsmen in Liaodong Town, and sent elite servants, led by Li Shizhong himself, to Beijing to deliver people to Honghezhuang. Just when Xiong Tingbi arrived, this team of nearly a thousand people had already set out from Liaoyang.
So although Xiong Tingbi was always foul-mouthed, he never wanted to be outdone by anyone in words. But after all, he saw the team heading to Beijing before entering the city, and he was satisfied with Li Chengliang's attitude. Therefore, after Li Chengliang called him "Master Xiong", he did not want to be too aggressive.
"Marquis Ningyuan, the emperor has appointed me as the Imperial Censor of Liaodong and Military Governor of Kuandian. However, as an Imperial Censor, I do not have the title of Governor of Liaodong, so my actual position is Military Governor of Kuandian. My mission is also very clear, to guard Kuandian and protect the more than 100,000 Han people there. This matter can only be accomplished with the strong support of Marquis Ningyuan."
"Of course, of course. I am deeply indebted to the Emperor. As long as the Emperor has decided on something, I will do my best to accomplish it."
As a border area, Liaodong's administrative structure is different from other places in the Ming Dynasty. The most special thing is that as a place where the Weisuo system is implemented throughout the territory, Liaodong has no governor or censor. All civil officials are actually managed by the Shandong Provincial Administration. Therefore, Xiong Tingbi's military preparation official position, in terms of official records, is actually the Kuandian Military Preparation Official of the Shandong Provincial Administration. Because of this, when Xiong Tingbi came to Liaodong, at this time when the Liaodong Governor had no actual officials, there was no superior civil official to report to, and he had to find Li Chengliang to do anything.
"May I ask Earl Ningyuan, how many people are there in Kuandian Liubao now? How much arable land is there?"
"This place was created by me personally, and I have been paying close attention to it for many years. Since the establishment of the fort in the first year of the Wanli reign, to 34th year of the Wanli reign, there are now more than 63,000 households in the six forts of Kuandian. As for the specific number of people, well, there should be no less than 150,000 adult men and women. The six forts have a total of 3.23 million mu of registered farmland, but Liaodong is bitterly cold, and we can only harvest one season of spring wheat every year, so the output is indeed not too much. Ah, speaking of this, this year I have followed the instructions of the court and asked various places to set aside some land to plant sweet potatoes, corn and other crops. However, this is the first year of trial planting, and the military households below are not very willing, so the area is not very large. Specifically in Kuandian, it is about less than 10,000 mu."
"Ningyuan Earl is well-informed and has a good memory. I admire him. It seems that the population and output of Liubao in Kuandian are no less than that of a small county in the interior. Ningyuan Earl has worked hard these years."
"No, we are all working for the court, so it's not hard at all. Is there anything else you need, Lord Xiong?"
"If I want to stay in Kuandian, I must have soldiers and generals, right? For this, I have to ask Earl Ningyuan to allocate them."
"Hiss~~ Well, Lord Xiong, this is really not easy to deal with. The court owes Liaodong military pay, which has reached as much as 200,000 taels of silver in recent years. The reason why I have the idea of giving up Kuandian is also for a reason. Kuandian is a place isolated on the west bank of the Yalu River, surrounded by Jurchens. Most generals and soldiers are unwilling to garrison there. In the past, Liaodong had sufficient military pay, and I could offer a high reward, but now..."
"I will not hide it from Earl Ningyuan. This time, with the Emperor's approval, the Crown Prince directly allocated 100,000 taels of silver from Xinghua Palace to Liaodong. He also specifically stated that the money should be used for a specific purpose. All of this silver will be used for the defense of the six forts in Kuandian. Therefore, Earl Ningyuan does not need to worry about the silver."
"…Your Highness is indeed very courageous. In this case, I have nothing to worry about. Let me put it this way. I still have many capable generals under my command, but many of them are already old and have lived in comfort for many years. They are really not suitable for doing such difficult tasks.
It would be better if young people were to accompany Lord Xiong to Kuandian. I would recommend two people. One is Li Yongfang, who is 25 years old this year and is a centurion of Fushun. His family background is very clean and he has always been a military household in Liaodong. His position is the most reliable. The other one was recommended by Lord Shen (Shen Guangzuo), the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture last year. His name is Mao Wenlong, who is just 30 years old this year. His ancestors were merchants and his father was a student. In addition to his good poetry and prose, this boy is also an extraordinary martial artist. He ranked sixth in the Liaodong military examination last year. I will appoint him as a centurion of Anshan. These two people, one is a military household familiar with Liaodong, and the other is a smart and versatile person, should be good helpers for Lord Xiong.”
"If Earl Ning Yuan thinks that these people are good, then there should be no problem. Then Earl Ning Yuan, please let these two report to me as soon as possible."
