In Liaoyang City, Yuan Yingtai stood on the tower and watched the people coming in and out of the city. Everyone was buying new year's goods, with expectations for life on their faces.
This was what he wanted to see. The people were no longer nervous, their acceptance of guest soldiers gradually increased, and the Liao people and Mongolians were gradually united by him.
People praised themselves as good managers, praised themselves as benevolent, just, and honest, and the court also trusted them.
However, it consumes a lot of money and food in the customs. The military pay issued by Emperor Taichang will only be used until next year. Donglin Qunxian can still get another year of money and food for himself.
Therefore, next summer will be the time to launch a massive offensive and crush the Jian slaves.
"Report!"
The scribe came to Yuan Yingtai and reported: "News came from the Shenyang front line. Not only the grassland, but also the Jiannu side suffered from drought. Many refugees fled from the Jiannu area. He Zongbing, Sun Guerrilla and others thought it was okay. Accept it and spy on the enemy's intelligence. But Lieutenant General You felt it was inappropriate..."
"Approved! General He is the number one general in Liaodong, and Sun Qing is a local general. They are more familiar with the situation than You Shigong."
"Yes. There is one more thing. The Southern Army stationed on the south bank of the Hun River proposed to secretly screen the refugees to prevent them from being mixed with spies."
"Hmm..." Yuan Yingtai thought for a moment. His decision to accept refugees was strongly opposed by Zhang Quan, Tong Zhongkui and others, and the relationship was once very tense.
This time, the Yuan Army proposed to do some secret screening, which could be considered as a way for both sides to get off the ground.
Anyway, it doesn’t count as preventing refugees from entering, and how to screen is also very difficult to operate. Since they proposed it, let them go to the trouble.
"This economic strategy has been approved. I and Inspector Zhang Quan will be in charge of this matter in Liaoyang, Governor Xue Guoyong will be in charge of Guangning, General He will be in charge of Shenyang City... Outside Shenyang City, it will be handed over to Chen Ce of the Southern Army. Let them."
"yes."
The clerk turned around and left to write documents and deliver orders.
"Wait a minute," Yuan Yingtai called to the clerk, and after thinking for a while, he said, "I would like to add that the screening of refugee spies must not disrupt logistics, troop training, and next year's expedition."
"yes."
We agreed to this matter just to give each other a leg up, and we didn't really want to spend so much effort screening refugees. After all, we couldn't miss the important event of ending slavery next year.
…
"As my third brother expected, Yuan Jinglue agreed to the request of the Southern Army, but only gave us the right to secretly investigate spies outside Shenyang City."
This matter was of course planned by Wang Hongyu and promoted by Zhou Dunji and the generals of the Southern Army. Some results have been achieved, but the actual power is not great.
Wang Hongyu smiled, as Yuan Yingtai is a veteran in officialdom, he is very good~
In terms of face, he was given a step down, but he didn't feel wronged at all. In fact, he didn't have any rights in his heart.
Today, the Mongolian refugees in Shenyang are different from other places. Most of the 30,000 people who left behind were recruited into the army, and a small number are their family members, and they are all in Shenyang city.
This person is responsible for outside the city and has very limited real power...
However, this was already expected, and it was exactly the result I wanted. Because the area outside the city is very large, it is convenient to prepare for the battle next year~
Zhou Dunji said: "Yuan Yingtai did this. If something happens later, he can be impeached. If the third brother helps, there is a way to get rid of him, right?"
The eldest brother's eyes were full of determination. I'm afraid he had been holding back these words for a long time, but he finally said them today.
Hehe, this is also the third brother’s original intention.
"It should be like this, but the situation in the capital is delicate. Even if Yuan Yingtai is driven away, they will go after others from the Donglin lineage. Forced impeachment will not only expose our intentions and tear the situation apart, but the results may also exceed expectations and become difficult to control.
direction."
The eldest brother said it from the bottom of his heart, so he doesn't need to be so secretive.
Wanli had already made arrangements, and Taichang also continued this arrangement.
However, the Donglin Party, which has British public support and has taken control of Tianqi, is almost overturning the table.
They would rather oppress the emperor, rather have internal discord, and would rather get Yuan Yingtai back for the sake of poverty.
Because the British Duke in the capital was only their ally after all, the Donglin Party, which had tasted the sweetness of military power this time, wanted to let its own people hold military power no matter what.
Liaodong naturally bears the brunt.
Therefore, no matter the cost, Yuan Yingtai, who was newly recruited into the group, should be allowed to be the manager of Liaodong, while Yang Lian, on the other hand, would complain about Xiong Tingbi's injustice and use gentleness to win over him.
If we persist, my uncle and Eunuch Wei will immediately become Donglin's mortal enemies, and may even put His Majesty in danger.
"Your Majesty the British... the head of the military generals mixes with civil servants and still does nothing on this issue. It is really disappointing."
Although Zhou Dunji's political struggle was not strong, he had heard a lot about the affairs in the court, so he could see where the key issues lay.
He hoped that his third brother would one day be able to restore the title of Marquis of Dingyuan and revive the decline of martial arts since Saerhu in the Ming Dynasty.
"In fact, if there are substitutions, except for a few candidates such as Xiong Jinglue, the others may not be as good as Yuan Yingtai."
"It's true. Although Yuan Jinglue doesn't know much about military affairs, he is an expert in logistics. He currently has enough food, weapons, and winter clothes for each of his troops."
Brother is thinking the same as me. This time we are given the power to investigate spies outside Shenyang City, so that we can do some interesting things.
"Brother, let's build a temporary fortress prison on the south bank of the Hun River~"
"Fortress prison?" Zhou Dunji was a little confused, but he quickly smiled and said: "You really have it, but the scale cannot be too big, otherwise Yuan Yingtai and He Shixian will find it a bit strange even if they are not smart."
"The scale doesn't have to be big, it just needs to follow this shape." Wang Hongyu drew a star-shaped pattern on the sand table.
"This fortress prison is so weird, I'm afraid it's not easy to build, right?"
"It doesn't matter, I have the blueprints. Let's build a small bastion according to the blueprints."
“Very good~”
The more Zhou Dunji looked at his third brother, the more he felt that it was the future hope of warriors: "This fortress is called a prison to the outside world, but it should also have a real name, right?"
Wang Hongyu wrote four big characters on the sand table:
Hunhe Bastion.
…
Seeing the soldiers and civilians building this kind of civil structure fortress prison with a wall height equivalent to 3 meters in later generations and a circumference of 600 meters, the generals of the Southern Army always felt that it had a strange shape, not too high, and relatively limited strength.
"It's a prison after all~"
Wang Hongyu said that this bastion is about the same size as a football field. The height of the wall is only equivalent to 3 meters in later generations, and those with dexterity can climb it directly.
The most important thing is that it only uses civil structures, so it is easy to build with local materials and is relatively easy to damage.
What is important is that it is easier to damage~
Tong Zhongkui, the deputy commander of the Southern Army, sighed and said in a rather excited tone: "We are only responsible for the spies outside Shenyang City. If we don't arrest people randomly, we won't be able to catch many."
"Don't worry, Deputy Commander. You can put some gunpowder, grain, grass and ordnance in this prison first. It can be used as a warehouse for our Confederate army temporarily."
Hearing what Wang Hongyu said, Tong Zhongkui was even more confused. Isn't it possible for the prisoners in the prison to steal the weapons and break out of the prison directly?
"Hehe~ It's designed like this, so you don't have to keep spies~"
Chen Ce finally understood that this prison had no intention of letting the captured spies survive. The walls were relatively short, and these materials were placed there. If the captured spies were real spies, they would definitely want to escape or sabotage.
Just in time to fish and kill...
Chen Ce ordered: "The next step is to arrange the screening and capture of spies. All ministries will set up checkpoints in the direction of Mongolia to establish slaves. All personnel will be strictly investigated. Suspicious persons will be temporarily concentrated on the north bank of the Hun River to identify them. Those who have problems can be released, and those who have problems will be detained first."
"yes!"
Zhou Dunji arranged the patrol on the east side, returned to the bastion under construction, and said to Wang Hongyu: "We can start now."
"Well, the point is not the Mongolian refugees, but the Liaodong smugglers and military spies." Wang Hongyu smiled warmly, because the spies were about to suffer.
…
Fan Wencheng and his brother Fan Wencai walked slowly toward Shenyang with a group pretending to be business travelers, mixed in with a large group of Mongolian and Han refugees.
Half of the Han people were wearing hats like them. Careful observation revealed that they all had their hair cut off, leaving it with a small tuft in the middle and three pigtails at the back.
In fact, he knew very well that except for the two of them, most of the other prisoners in the team had their families detained in Hetunala.
But only the two of them have identities and missions, and those in charge don't know about them at all.
After leaving the mountains and walking to the plains around Shenyang, the group of refugees saw the fortresses surrounding Shenyang from a distance, and felt quite complicated in their hearts.
The Hou Jin Dynasty is very powerful, and the Ming Dynasty is also gathering field armies across the country. There will be a big war next year. But the refugees like duckweed can't think so much. They need to survive this winter first.
Houjin's coat is not that easy to work as, but Yuan Jinglue of Liaodong preached about benevolence and righteousness, so refugees of all ethnic groups fled here.
We could see the city of Shenyang from a distance, but suddenly a group of Ming troops came on the road and intercepted them all, preventing them from continuing to Shenyang.
The person who stopped them was Zhao Hannian, the commander-in-chief of the Zhejiang Army.
"Stop! You can't enter the city directly, you have to wait for us to carefully screen you!"
ah!
The refugees were shocked. The previous batches had not encountered this kind of situation. Why did it suddenly change now?
"Where are you from? Where are you going? Have you interacted with Jiannu?" Zhejiang soldiers stepped forward and shouted.
"Sir, I am a farmer who used to live in the countryside. I was robbed by slaves and hid in the mountains. Now I really can't live anymore." A group of farmers who were hunched over and speaking in the original language immediately replied.
"I am a Mongolian, I have a relationship with the Jiannu slaves, and I have a brother-killing grudge against them!" replied a Mongolian man who looked very reckless.
"I have no dealings with the Jiannu slaves. I just fled normally..." a dark and thin Han man replied.
Brother Fan Wencheng didn't say anything. They all looked at the thin black man who spoke last. His name was Song Yuan. He was a slave with a white flag. Huang Taiji specially placed him here to provide them with cover...
At first glance, the Zhejiang soldiers felt that there was an intersection with the Mongolian and they seemed to need to pay more attention to it, but they suddenly realized that the person who spoke in the end was wrong.