Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 069 Northeast Horn Company (Part 4)
Hiss~~ I've long heard that Jianzhou Wei is extremely respectful to our Ming Dynasty, but I didn't expect that they are respectful to this extent!
With a slight roll of his eyes, Xiong Tingbi squeezed his horse's belly and stepped out from the crowd: "I am Xiong Tingbi!"
"Oh! It's really an honor for Master Guan to come. The people of Jianzhou are deeply honored." After saying this, Nurhaci took the lead, and more than a hundred Jianzhou Jurchen cavalrymen knelt on the ground in unison: "We pay our respects to Master Guan!"
With a cold twitch of his lips, Xiong Tingbi did not dismount, but instead urged the reins, moved the horse's hoof directly in front of Nurhaci's crawling golden rat tail, and said condescendingly: "Are you Nurhaci?"
"Yes, I am Nurhaci, your servant, and I am honored to meet Master Xiong Guancha." The sturdy man continued to kneel and kowtow respectfully, and his answer was extremely respectful.
"We met today, was it a coincidence? Was it premeditated?"
"How dare I have a premeditated plan, but many of my subordinates were doing business in Liaoyang. When they saw the Observer Master leaving the city and heading east, they quickly notified me. After receiving the report, I hurried out to greet him in person."
"So you came prepared? What's the reason?"
"Nothing! Nothing much! I heard that Master Guancha came from the capital, so I wanted to ask Master Guancha, how are you?"
"Well, it's a thoughtful person. May your Majesty be with you."
"Your Majesty's good health is the greatest wish of tens of thousands of people in Jianzhou. Master, my stationed place Hetuala is only more than 30 miles away from here. Would you be so kind as to come to my house to rest?"
"Oh, I really want to go, but my schedule is not convenient. Now, seeing Lord Beile is like going to Hetuala."
"If the master's time is not convenient, then I dare not force it, but the master has come all the way from the prosperous capital to take up the post in the cold Liaodong, and has worked hard for us barbarians. I am really grateful. The Jianzhou Guard that I lead is located in a wild place, and there is nothing good. Only some oriental pearls and ginseng are presentable... So, please observe the master and don't despise him."
"Oh!" After hearing Nurhaci's words of bribery, Xiong Tingbi, who was originally sitting proudly on the horse's back, rolled off the horse at lightning speed: "General Longhu, please stand up quickly. You are a second-rank official in the court, and I am only a fifth-rank official. You are really embarrassing me by doing this! This... hehe... tsk tsk, I am of low rank and have never seen what a real Dongzhu looks like..."
…
"Father Khan, Father Khan, the southern barbarians have gone far away."
"Hmph~~!" A deep baritone voice sounded, Nurhaci stood up quickly, and then spat fiercely in the direction of Xiong Tingbi and others.
"Greedy and shameless southern barbarians, one day, I will return all the humiliation I have suffered over the years to you double!"
"Pah!" Nurhaci's eldest son Chu Ying also spat fiercely towards the south and said, "Father Khan, the official sent by the southern barbarians this time is ten thousand times more shameless than the previous officials!"
"Hmph~~" Nurhaci said with a cold smile, "My spies in Liaoyang have already heard that old man Li Chengliang is ready to give up the six forts in Kuandian. I didn't expect that there is an expert in Beijing who would send someone directly to be the military governor of Kuandian. It seems that the strategy for the East China Sea will be affected to some extent."
"Father Khan." The second son Daishan, who was also tall and straight, brave and good at fighting, stepped forward and said, "But no matter how powerful the people in Beijing are, they can't stand the corruption in the Ming Dynasty. Look at that bear barbarian just now. He was very arrogant at the beginning, but when Father Khan mentioned Dongzhu and ginseng, his face changed so quickly! If such a greedy and shameless villain comes to guard Kuandian, I'm afraid we don't need to fight ourselves, the barbarians in Kuandian will take the initiative to surrender to us and become our bondsers!"
"Well~~ Daishan, you have to remember that what a person is like is not determined by what he says, but by what he does. The civil servants of the Southern Barbarians are generally greedy and shameless inside, but appear to be extremely noble on the surface. This Xiong Manzi is different from the civil servants that my father has met before. His shamelessness is too obvious. So, we have to observe carefully what kind of person this guy is! In short, I must take Liubao, Kuandian, as soon as possible!"
"Yes! Father Khan, when I return, I will send a capable servant to Kuandian to investigate."
"In addition to Kuandian, we also need to send people to Liaoyang. The armor of the southern barbarians just now was too sophisticated. When did Liaodong have such sophisticated armor? It is so luxurious that even ordinary soldiers can wear it? We must find out more about this! "
And on the other side.
Lord Xiong openly accepted the gift from the Jianzhou people in public. This was a very low moral standard. So after the two teams separated, the atmosphere in the Ming army detachment that continued to move south was a bit strange.
Li Yongfang, who had been serving Xiong Tingbi very well since he started from Liaoyang, was still as diligent as ever. But he was a young man of 25 years old after all, and there was a hint of envy in his eyes that could not be concealed no matter how hard he tried.
The most strange thing was Mao Wenlong. He had never been very friendly to Xiong Tingbi. He should have at least shown some displeasure after Xiong Tingbi accepted the bribe, even if he didn't say anything bad to him. But the strange thing was that Mao Wenlong not only didn't look embarrassed, but was even more polite to Xiong Tingbi.
As for Xiong Tingbi himself, he was actually reflecting on himself at this moment: I had a smooth life in the interior of the Ming Dynasty before, and my acting skills were really lacking. My acting just now was too fake, even the friendly army members with some brains saw the clues. Nurhaci was such a tyrant, I'm afraid it's impossible to hide it, right? However, if it can't be hidden, it can't be hidden. Anyway, I am just like this, and I still took your 100 oriental pearls and 10 old ginsengs, which are worth nearly 1,000 taels of silver.
Well, I will sell the beads to the accompanying Jinyiwei later, and take some cash to replenish my pocket: It is not easy for the prince to make money, and he has to supply the southwest and northeast at the same time. As a minister, I can save as much as I can. As for ginseng, of course the prince doesn't need it at his age, but the prince. Alas, thinking of this, Xiong Tingbi couldn't help shaking his head: The reputation of this prince, the little bee, is almost spread all over Beijing!
As the group was thinking about their own things, Xiong Tingbi and his party arrived at Kuandian Fort on the first day of April.
"I am Xiao Bozhi, the commander of Kuandian Fort, Yang Ruda, the garrison commander of Changdian Fort, and Yang Qin, the garrison commander of Dadian Fort... I am here to greet Lord Xiong."
"Please excuse me, Commander Xiao, and all the garrisons. I have been ordered by the Emperor to go to Kuandian Liubao. I will be working with you from now on. I hope you will help me. "
"I dare not do that. I hope you will take care of me in the future, Master Xiong ."
After a brief exchange of words, the group entered Kuandian Fort, and Xiong Tingbi naturally took the seat of host.
"Captain Xiao, how many people are there in Liubao now? If a war breaks out, how many people can be armed? How long can the food stored in the fort last?"
"Sir Xiong, please allow me to report that there are actually 63,325 households in Liubao, with 154,800 adult men and women. If children under the age of 16 are included, the population is close to 200,000. If there is a war, Liubao has 1,200 sets of leather armor, more than 2,000 waist knives, more than 1,300 long swords, 1,020 spear heads, 100 bird guns, 300 bows and crossbows, and 20,000 bows and arrows. But Sir Xiong , to be honest, these weapons are only on paper. In fact, many things have been in disrepair for a long time and are mostly rotten. In short, if a war breaks out, the weapons of Liubao can only arm more than 1,000 soldiers at most.
In addition, in recent years, Liaodong has suffered from drought and land production has been severely reduced. Currently, the grain reserves in Liubao are less than 1,000 dan..."
"Hmm..." After twirling his beard and thinking for a while, Xiong Tingbi slapped the armrest of the chair heavily and said, "Everyone, I was sent here by the emperor to prepare for war! From now on, all work in Liubao must be carried out in accordance with preparations for war. As for the weapons, armor, food and so on you mentioned, I will find a way to solve them for you. What you have to do is to effectively organize the people of Liubao and prepare for war ! If you do well, I will guarantee you promotion and wealth. If you do not do well, I have no choice but to tie you up and send you to General Li! Do you understand everything?"
"...Yes, we will obey the orders of Master Xiong!"
"Okay, come on, pass the order down, all six forts in Kuandian, blow the horns at noon tomorrow, let the surrounding Jurchen barbarians know that these six forts are under the protection of the Ming Dynasty!"
