Chapter 371: Volume C: People look at the people’s hearts, and the king’s kindness is what he wants

"Only this time!" Feng Tang and Feng Ziying, father and son, sat opposite each other, and Feng Tang expressed his attitude seriously.

"The reason why I agreed to let you go to the grassland before was because I was too careless. I thought I could control the situation. However, there are indeed too many unexpected factors. But dad also thought that sooner or later you would have to experience military affairs once or twice. This time, it is still under dad's control. Within the scope, Dad knows that you have great ambitions, and I am worried that you will encounter such situations and take risks in the future, so you might as well experience it yourself. I didn’t expect you to dare to go directly to Ganzhou. Feng Zuo is not long either. Heart…"

"Dad, I don't blame Uncle Zuo for this. In fact, when we crossed the grassland, we were escorted by Bu Shitu and Wulu Duer Taiji. There was no danger. I just didn't expect that the situation in Gansu Town was so bad. Ma Xia actually ran away. , I encountered this situation, and I had no choice but to..."

Feng Ziying quickly explained that Feng Zuo had saved himself several times along the way, and if he still had to be punished for it, he would be too upset.

"Ziying, that's not what you said. The task I gave Feng Zuo is to ensure your safety. When you see this situation in Ganzhou, you should abandon Ganzhou decisively. It will be easy for you guys to escape with your lives. Just flee north and return to the grassland. Fortunately, Liu Baichuan has no intention of rebelling. Otherwise, what would you do if they captured Ganzhou?"

Feng Tang showed no mercy.

"If that doesn't work out, I can still accept being a prisoner. As long as I can escape with my life and keep the mountains, I don't have to worry about running out of firewood. I believe Liu Dongyang wouldn't be so unwise. It would be pointless to kill me." Feng Ziying was very calm. typical.

"Well, these words are quite acceptable. In a word, as long as you can save your life, it's easy to say." Feng Tang nodded with satisfaction. He was afraid that his son's blood would get the better of him. If your loyalty is based on history, it will be really troublesome.

"Dad, what are you going to do now?" Feng Ziying asked: "Neither the Henan soldiers nor the Sichuan soldiers have come over. Even You Shigong and the others are stationed in Liangzhou and Zhuanglang. Don't Master Chai and the others plan to fight? "

Feng Tang snorted coldly in his nose, "A fight? What to fight with? How many days can we survive with the little food in Ganzhou? There are only 30,000 people in the city now. To capture Suzhou and Gaotai, at least 30,000 more troops will be needed. People, You Shigong's Ministry is going to come over. In addition, Henan soldiers and Sichuan soldiers need to come at least 10,000 to 20,000. Can the court afford it? Previously, Yang He was still fighting with me for the little pension money, tens of thousands of taels of silver. They are all picking on me, and they still want to fight? If we don’t honor the pensions and rewards of these brothers, who will work for the imperial court? "

“What do you mean by that, Master Chai and the others are not going to fight, that’s all?” Feng Ziying didn’t believe it.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. If we keep Suzhou and don't take it back, Chai Ke and Yang He won't be able to live well. The censors' saliva will drown them both." Feng Tang spread his hands indifferently: "That's not what dad should do. As for the things I have to worry about, I only care that the rewards and pensions for my soldiers cannot be less than one tael of silver. They say that if they want to fight, they can increase the number of troops. .”

Feng Ziying smiled bitterly in her heart. This is the difference in mentality between military generals and civil servants. His father didn't care about that at all. He only thought that his subordinates should get rewards and pensions, otherwise he would not be able to sit still. But that's right, he is only the commander-in-chief. An official, not a governor, not a minister of the Ministry of War, it is not his turn to intervene in these matters.

"Dad, what do you think we should do now?" Feng Ziying made up his mind. Although he had some ideas, he still had to ask his father whether it was feasible or not. After all, he had no experience in this area.

"If we fight, we'll spend money on adding more troops. If we don't fight, we'll recruit them." Seeing his son's interest, Feng Tang shook his head: "But recruiting is troublesome. After recruiting, what will we do with the 20,000 soldiers? Liu Dongyang, Tu Wenxiu How to arrange these people? Should they continue to stay in Gansu or return to Ningxia? Should their subordinates be dispersed and reorganized? It is all a problem. If you are not careful, it will lead to a rebellion, which is difficult to handle. And can Liu Dongyang and the others trust the imperial court's recruitment? ? Maybe he will put forward a condition of maintaining semi-independence, which is the current state, and guarding the western border for the imperial court. Do you agree or not? "

"Of course it's impossible to agree. If you agree to Master Chai and Master Yang, they will go to jail if they go back." Feng Ziying shook her head decisively.

"Well, Brother Keng, you also understand this. How can Chai Ke and Yang He not understand it? Even if Yang He is the censor of the capital procuratorate, he still can't convince those officials, and neither can your teacher. No one dares to agree to this condition. This is no different from the former Tang vassal town. It is the same loss of land." Feng Tang curled his lips.

"Actually, there is still a workaround..." Before Feng Ziying could finish her words, she was interrupted by her father: "What workaround? Isn't it just a way to drive the tiger and devour the wolf, hurting both sides? Let Liu Dongyang leave Hami in the west. How can running the Kansai Seven Guards be that simple?"

Feng Ziying didn’t expect that her father would see through the “wonderful strategy” she had painstakingly devised, and she was shocked.

"Brother Keng, Chai Ke and Yang He can think of what Dad can think of, but the Qiwei of Guanxi is a vast territory with a sparse population, and most of them are foreigners. Even when the Ming Dynasty was established, they were only reluctantly restrained. Later, It was lost quickly. Now you want Liu Dongyang and his gang to die, how could they go?" Feng Tang shook his head repeatedly.

"Dad, what you said makes some sense, but it's not entirely right." Feng Ziying calmed down, "As far as I know, there were many reasons why the Seven Guards of Guanxi gave up in the Ming Dynasty. In fact, if I hadn't raised the army in the first place, Perhaps the former Ming Dynasty at least recovered the Hami Guard and the Shazhou Guard. Unfortunately, when we established our dynasty, we also followed the example of the previous Ming Dynasty and established Jinling as the capital, so we had no time to take care of the northwest. At that time, there was civil strife in Turpan, so we had a good chance of recovering the Hami Guard and the Shazhou Guard. , and then there was no chance..."

"You mean there is a chance now?" Feng Tang did not expect that his son had already taken the path of a civil servant, so why was he so interested in military affairs here, and actually knew so much about the situation in the northwest grasslands.

He had noticed this since Feng Ziying was willing to go to the grassland before, which made Feng Tang very puzzled.

"The news my son has received is that the Mughals who currently control Turpan are in a state of separatist civil strife. They are focusing more on fighting for control of Turpan. The Seven Guards of Guanxi are actually controlled by some small tribes. , especially along the line from Hami to Shazhou, bandits were rampant, which directly caused this trade route to be almost cut off. If Liu Dongyang really had the courage and had enough control over his subordinates, then he might not be allowed to go west first. I don’t think it’s difficult to capture Shazhou Guard, but I’m afraid Hami Guard needs careful consideration...”

Feng Ziying's words failed to convince Feng Tang, and Feng Tang shook his head: "Brother Keng, let's not say whether Liu Dongyang's men are willing to follow him west out of Jiayuguan. Even if they are willing, let me ask you how to provide food and grass supplies for these more than 10,000 soldiers? Hami The Gaza Prefecture Guard estimates that the entire population combined is not much larger than Liu Dongyang and his gang of rebels, do you want them to eat sand?"

"Dad, I know that food and grass are the biggest problem, but to go west it is impossible to require so many soldiers. Half of the troops and horses are enough. Secondly, don't Suzhou and Jiayuguan also rely on the supply of food and grass from the mainland?" Feng Ziying was not discouraged. .

“The imperial court has exhausted its supply of grain and grass to support Gansu Town. Do you still have to support the Shazhou and Hami guards?” Feng Tang asked, “Do you think the imperial court will agree?”

"But what if we have no choice?" Feng Ziying also asked: "Liu Dongyang's tribe is entrenched in Suzhou and Gaotai. If we want to fight, how much will it cost? If we don't fight, let them go west to occupy Shazhou Guard and Hami Guard. At least in name it is expanding territory for the country. Dad, do you think the emperor and the cabinet will feel that such a battle can be a better explanation to the government and the public? Especially since the emperor is in this situation now, do you think he will refuse? ?”

Feng Ziying’s words stopped Feng Tang.

Especially the last question from my son, it goes straight into people’s hearts.

 Will the emperor refuse? Can you refuse? For the current emperor, what is his most urgent need and what makes his heart beat the most?

 Certainly the improvement of reputation and prestige.

Even Feng Tang in Yulin was equally aware that the Emperor's ambiguous attitude and Prince Yi Zhong's unscrupulous methods of wooing scholars put great pressure on the Emperor.

The rebellion in Ningxia Town gave many people an opportunity to take advantage of it. They criticized the imperial court for failing to appease the three sides and four towns, which led to the mutiny. These mistakes were undoubtedly the fault of Emperor Yonglong, and he almost Let him write a book of sin against himself.

Even if the rebellion is successfully suppressed, it will still be far less than the huge fame and prestige that can be obtained by recovering the lost territory of the Ming Dynasty.

In terms of familiarity and understanding of border military affairs, Feng Ziying knew that she could not compare with her father. Even though he got a lot of information from He Zhisheng and other soldiers from Ganzhou, as well as officials from Shaanxi Xingdu Division, his military strength and The logistical supply difficulties are there. If possible, the imperial court will definitely not be willing to take another step westward.

But when it comes to people's hearts, especially his grasp of the thoughts of Emperor Yonglong and the two civil servants Chai Ke and Yang He, my father is inferior to himself.

Does Chai Ke just want to stay here and be the governor of the three sides? Wouldn't it be nice to go back and take over as the Left Minister of the Ministry of War?

Does Yang He always want to sit on the border and be a nameless deputy commander in the name of Youqiandu Yushi? Shaanxi has rich places like Zhejiang, Nanzhili or Shandong, right?

 The big battle has been fought. If there is no chance for them to gain something, no one is willing to stay here.

"Dad, think about it carefully, people's support is probably more important to the emperor than anything else." Feng Ziying said calmly: "I believe that Mr. Chai Yang can also understand the emperor's difficulties."

 (End of this chapter)