"Xiong Tingbi, the lower official, pays homage to Uncle Ning Yuan."

Also in early March, Xiong Tingbi arrived in Liaoyang and met Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong who dominated Liaodong.

Unlike Liu Wei, Li Chengliang had a title. Therefore, although the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty suppressed military generals very much. But when facing a military general with a title, Xiong Tingbi had to behave politely to him no matter how bad his temper was.

Li Chengliang salutes.

"Oh, isn't this Mr. Xiong, whom my loyal family always praises and admires every time he writes to me? You're welcome, sir. Please sit down, sir."

"Xiaguan was entrusted by the emperor to explain the Ming Dynasty Law to Taisun. Chunzhong, as Taisun's accompaniment, had listened to Xiaguan's lectures, but the two parties did not formally perform the ceremony of apprenticeship."

Smelly old man, don’t think I can’t understand what you meant by what you just said. Am I your grandchild’s teacher? Am I a generation younger than you? Am I your teacher? Humph! If I weren’t a genius like Xiong Tingbi, I would

Because your grandson is studying with his great-grandson, can he listen to my teachings?

As soon as the two sides met, they started to compete. However, after all, Li Chengliang was a monster that had matured with age, and this city was much deeper, so after receiving such a tough argument from Xiong Tingbi, he only paused for a moment, and then laughed and said: "Xiong Tingbi."

Your Excellency is coming to Liaodong this time, but what mission does your grandson have?"

To be honest, Lao Li has lived for such a long time and has seen through everything. There are only two things that are always on his mind: First, when I was in Liaodong, Liaodong must not be in chaos, and I cannot ruin my great reputation. Second, no matter what,

It may be that the descendants of the Li family will have a good end, that is, they will not be as high and powerful as Lao Tzu, but at least they will not be able to remain silent in the Ming Dynasty for decades to come, and they will not be able to harm their descendants because of Lao Tzu's downfall.

To achieve these two goals, Li Chengliang's strategy is also very simple: First, support Nurhachi and use Nurhaci to suppress other alien races in Liaodong - I can control this piece of wild boar skin anyway. Second, make every effort to move closer to the grandson, who will ensure the future.

The glory of the Li family.

However, now there is a fierce conflict between these two items!

On the one hand, Nurhaci is becoming more and more powerful and has shown a strong desire to expand eastward. If he insists on guarding Kuandian Six Forts, sooner or later, it will lead to military conflicts between Jianzhou Jurchen and Liaodong Town. But Li Chengliang knows very well that before he

In the later period of the first Liaodong Commander-in-Chief's appointment, the combat effectiveness of the Liaodong soldiers had begun to decline. By the time he was idle in Beijing for ten years and was sent back to Liaodong again, the entire Liaodong was already lax in armament and military style was rotten...

Therefore, the current Liaodong is just a paper tiger supported by Li Chengliang's early fame. It is better not to over-stimulate the Jianzhou Jurchens.

If you directly use military means to deal with Jianzhou, you can still win, but what happens after you win? Will Ye He rise without the suppression of Jianzhou? What about the Dong E tribe behind Kuandian Liubao? Also, eliminate the Jurchens in Jianzhou,

Even if it is a victory, it will definitely be a tragic victory. After Liaodong Town is greatly weakened, what will Mongolia do in the north? What will happen when the losses are too great and the officials in the capital swarm in all kinds of impeachments?

Therefore, Jianzhou cannot be fought. It can only be divided and weakened by other means. For example, supporting the little brother Shuerhaqi of the wild boar skin...

But what Li Chengliang didn't expect was that His Highness Taisun's reaction was so strong that Li Shizhong came over overnight and issued an ultimatum: If Kuandian is abandoned, Xinghua Palace will be completely separated from Ningyuan Bo Mansion!

This makes the best of both worlds that Li Chengliang strives for come to naught.

After a night of painful struggle, Li Chengliang made a choice that is natural for Chinese people of his era: for the happiness of his children and grandchildren, he should work harder.

He very frankly lowered his face and wrote a reply to Zhu Youdong. In the letter, he conducted a profound review of his own stupidity, and attached extremely disgusting praise for His Highness Taisun's far-sightedness. Then he stood up and expressed his position: His Highness said that Kuandian Six

The fort must be defended, so I will definitely do my best to defend it. If you have money and soldiers, you must defend it. If you don’t have money and soldiers, you must find a way to defend it. As for formally submitting a report to the court to abandon the Six Kuandian Forts, that will never happen again.

Sent to the General Affairs Department.

Not only that, he also purchased 500 skilled craftsmen from the King of Korea at an extremely fast speed. Then he also recruited a group of craftsmen in Liaodong Town and sent elite servants, led by Li Shizhong himself, to Beijing to deliver people to Honghe Village.

Just when Xiong Tingbi arrived, this team of nearly a thousand people had already set off from Liaoyang.

Therefore, although Xiong Tingbi has a bad mouth and never wants to be at a disadvantage with anyone in terms of words. But after all, he saw the team marching to Beijing before entering the city, and he was still satisfied with Li Chengliang's attitude. Therefore, in

After Li Chengliang called him Lord Xiong, he didn't want to be too aggressive.

"Uncle Ning Yuan, the emperor appointed Xiaguan as the censor of Liaodong, Kuandian Bingbei Road. However, Xiaguan, the censor, does not have the title of governor of Liaodong, so Xiaguan's actual duty is to serve as Kuandian Bingbei Road.

Its mission is also very clear, which is to guard Kuandian and protect the more than 100,000 local Han people. This matter can only be accomplished without the strong support of Uncle Ning Yuan."

"Easy to say, easy to say. I am deeply favored by the Emperor. As long as it is something decided by the Emperor, I will do my best to accomplish it."

As a border area, Liaodong is different from other places in the Ming Dynasty in terms of administrative structure. The most special thing is that, as a place where the whole territory implements the guard system, Liaodong has no chief envoys or inspectors. All civil affairs officials

, is actually managed by the Chief Secretary of Shandong. Therefore, in terms of official status, Xiong Tingbi's official position at the Military Beidao is actually the Chief Secretary of Shandong, Kuandian Military Beidao. Because of this, when Xiong Tingbi came to Liaodong, at this time

When the governor of Liaodong had no actual officials, there was no superior civil affairs officer to report to. If he wanted to do anything, he had to go to Li Chengliang.

"I would like to ask Uncle Ning Yuan, how many people are there in the Six Forts of Kuandian now? How much farmland are there?"

"This place was founded by the general himself, and he has been paying close attention to it for many years. Since the fort was established in the first year of Wanli, and now in the thirty-fourth year of Wanli, there are now more than 63,000 households in Kuandian Liubao. As for the specific number of households,

Well, adult men and women can't work for less than 150,000. Liubao has a total of 3.23 million acres of registered fields. However, it is bitterly cold in Liaodong and we can only harvest one season of spring wheat every year, so this output is really not too much. Ah, speaking of this

, this year, in accordance with the instructions of the imperial court, the general has asked various regions to set aside part of the land for planting sweet potatoes, corn and other crops. However, this is the first year of trial planting, and the military households below are not willing, so the area is not very large. Specific details

Kuandian is about less than 10,000 acres."

"Uncle Ning Yuan has learned a lot and remembers it well, and the lower officials admire it. It seems that the population and output of Kuandian Liubao are no less than that of a small county in the mainland. Uncle Ning Yuan has worked hard these years."

"Everywhere you go, you're all doing things for the imperial court. It's not hard work. What else do you need, Mr. Xiong?"

"If a lower official wants to take charge of Kuandian, he must have soldiers and generals, right? For this, he must ask Uncle Ning Yuan to mobilize him."

"Hey~~ Well, Lord Xiong, this is really not easy to deal with. The military salary owed by the imperial court to Liaodong has reached as much as two hundred thousand taels of silver in recent years. The reason why I have thought of giving up Kuandian is

There is a reason for this. Kuandian is an isolated place on the west bank of the Yalu River, surrounded by Jurchens. General generals and soldiers are not willing to garrison there. In the past, the Liaodong army had sufficient pay, and the general could offer high silver rewards, but

Now……"

"The lower official did not hide it from Uncle Ning Yuan. This time he came to Liaodong. With the emperor's permission, the grandson directly transferred one hundred thousand taels of silver from Xinghua Palace. He also specifically stated that the money was earmarked for special use. All this money would be used for the defense of Kuandian Six Forts.

,So, Uncle Ning Yuan doesn’t have to worry about money."

"...His Highness is really courageous. In this way, I have nothing to worry about. Well, there are still a lot of generals under my command who can do things, but many of them are already old and have been comfortable for many years. It is really not easy to

Suitable for doing such a difficult thing.

The person who will accompany Mr. Xiong in Kuandian is best suited to young people. I recommend two people. One is Li Yongfang, who is twenty-five years old this year and belongs to a hundred households in Fushun. His family background is very innocent and he has always been

The military household in Liaodong has the most reliable position. The other one was recommended by Master Yin Shen (Shen Guangzuo) of Shuntian Prefecture last year. This man is called Mao Wenlong, who is just thirty years old this year. His ancestors were merchants and his father was a supervisor. This son

In addition to his good poetry and prose, he also has extraordinary martial arts skills. He got sixth in the Liaodong martial arts examination last year. The general appointed him as the 100th household of Anshan Institute. These two people, one is familiar with our military household in Liaodong, and the other is a wise man.

Flexible in both civil and military skills, he should be a good helper for Lord Xiong."
Chapter completed!