Chapter 1149: Shifting the blame

"What do you mean, Mr. Liao, let the matter of Fushan Copper Mine just go away?" Zheng Fan became a little anxious when he heard this statement. He paid for the military to send troops to deal with the Haihan people, not for charity, but because he wanted to

He seizes the copper mines to obtain rewards, but now that he sees that the Ming army is showing signs of giving up and the cost has not yet been recovered, he is naturally unwilling to let go.

"Why can't we let it go?" Liao Jie said with a serious face: "The Haihan people disobeyed the government's orders first, killed and wounded the officers and soldiers later, occupied the government-run mines, and trafficked the people of the Ming Dynasty. These are all serious crimes of beheading. If they are not killed,

How can it calm the hearts of people in Dengzhou if the bandit leader is captured and brought to justice and severely punished? However, from this confrontation, it can be seen that the opponent's combat power is not weak, and he is also prepared for our military's actions. Acting rashly may not necessarily lead to victory. You must plan carefully

Only then can we send out troops to suppress it again.”

Zheng Fan felt a little relieved after hearing Liao Jie's statement. However, the prefect Chen Zhongsheng had been in the officialdom for a long time, but he could tell that most of Liao Jie's statement was just official. He had been deducted so much by the Haihan people.

There were many charges on his head, but there was no mention of wiping them all out or expelling them from Dengzhou. He only mentioned a small goal of "capturing the bandit leader". This goal was not very convincing in Chen Zhongsheng's view.

If you can't deal with the Haihan people, you can grab a few scapegoats from Dengzhou Prison and have their heads chopped off. You can also fool outsiders like Zheng Fan.

"Master Liao, if I understand correctly, you mean to wait until spring before taking action?" Chen Zhongsheng asked unhurriedly.

Liao Jie nodded and responded: "Now that winter is approaching, Fushan County is very short of supplies and food, making it difficult to support a large army in combat. If we send a large army to conquer Haihan, it will be more troublesome if there is snow during the battle. I think that we will wait for a while.

If we start after spring, the risk will be much smaller than at this time."

"Then if the Haihan people take the opportunity to cause trouble in the local area, does Mr. Liao have any countermeasures?" Chen Zhongsheng heard that Liao Jie's words were full of excuses, and he was a little angry at the moment. When Liao Jie came to persuade him to take action, but

They patted their chests and swore that they could deal with their opponents quickly and not cause any extra trouble. But now the situation in Fushan County is obviously out of control, and the military plans to put this mess aside for now. What will happen next?

If something bad happened, he, the local official, would be the first to be unlucky, not Liao Jie, who was temporarily transferred to Dengzhou to assume military command.

Liao Jie said seriously: "Mr. Chen, the government offices and garrison troops in Fushan County are still there, and they have not asked for help from Dengzhou City. This shows that the local situation has not deteriorated to the point of being uncontrollable, so why are you so anxious?"

?If Haihan really wants to cause trouble in the local area, it will not be too late for us to try to rescue him."

Chen Zhongsheng listened to him going around and around, but couldn't come up with a practical plan. He had no interest in continuing the discussion at the moment, so he snorted and served tea to see the guests away. After Zheng Fan came forward to send Liao Jie and Guo Xingning away,

He quickly returned to the study and asked Chen Zhongsheng for advice.

"Eight of Liao Jie's ten sentences are unreliable. How could you ask him to cooperate?" Chen Zhongsheng was furious when he saw his brother-in-law. He pointed at Zheng Fan and cursed: "Now you have implicated me in this."

, do you know how big the trouble is?"

Zheng Fan did not dare to refute at the moment. He also knew that the matter was already in trouble. Liao Jie's promise beforehand had not been fulfilled, and all the money and materials he had invested before had been lost.

Here. Now that the military has suffered this loss, it cannot come up with an effective response, which also puts Chen Zhongsheng, the prefect, in a very embarrassing situation.

Zheng Fan responded cautiously: "Although the Haihan people have a tough attitude, judging from their past words and deeds, they are not extremely evil people. Maybe there is room for maneuver in this matter."

Chen Zhongsheng didn't listen to this consolation. When he heard it, he couldn't help but slapped the table: "Guo Xingning's troops were killed in half in Fushan County. Isn't this atrocious enough? Do you know how many soldiers died in the year after Dengzhou put down the rebellion?"

?Less than one-tenth of those who died in Fushan County this time! The Haihan people have already set up a trap in Fushan County waiting for Liao Jie and others to step into it. Do you still think they have good intentions?"

Zheng Fan murmured: "Didn't Lord Guo say that he also killed many Haihan people? I guess the defeat was just because of his command error before the battle, right?"

"You believe whatever he says, and you deserve to be deceived by them!" Chen Zhongsheng pointed out to Zheng Fan with hatred: "Guo Xingning's men abandoned their helmets and armor when they came back. Many people fled back empty-handed. Guo Xingning

He lost all his mounts, flags, and sidearms. He waited outside the city for someone to send him out before he regrouped and entered the city. Guo Xingning himself was not injured. Do you believe that he fought to the death with the Haihan people?

Field, are you stupid?"

This information was reported to Chen Zhongsheng, but Zheng Fan did not know all of it. However, he also went to the city gate to greet the Ming army who had returned "triumphantly" after performing the task of suppressing bandits, so he took Guo Xingning's situation into account.

Now that I think about it carefully, Guo Xingning looks a little embarrassed and mentally exhausted, but he does not have any injuries on his body. If it is really like what he said, after a hard battle with the Haihan people, he only lost his strength because of his military strength.

If the situation is insufficient and the situation is withdrawn, perhaps it should be reflected in more details. However, Guo Xingning's appearance in Dengzhou City obviously did not handle these details well.

Zheng Fan can make a fortune by doing business, and his mind is naturally not bad. Once he woke up, he quickly recalled many details that he had not noticed before. Of course, what kind of situation Guo Xingning's department encountered in Fushan County was of great significance to Zheng Fan.

It was not a secret that was difficult to find out. He only had to go back and send people to Guo Xingning's soldiers to find out the truth. But after listening to the advice from his brother-in-law Chen Zhongsheng, Zheng Fan actually believed it.

It's seventy or eighty percent done.

"Does Mr. Liao just want to regret it and just give up?" Zheng Fan asked hurriedly. Although he had already asked Liao Jie this question in person once, now he knew that the military was not the same as him and Chen Zhongsheng.

It's not all one-minded. At the moment, I'm also worried that my investment will be lost.

"That's not necessarily the case..." Chen Zhongsheng responded, twisting his beard: "If we can seize that copper mine, it will be of great benefit to Liao Jie and the others. Although they lost some people this time, they can still cover the lid.

As long as we don't cause trouble in Dusi, Shandong, there won't be any trouble. Another point is that I think Liao Jie seems to have an old grudge against the Haihan people. He told me many times before this happened that the Haihan people settling in Dengzhou is a hidden danger.

We need to expel them as soon as possible, but at that time, the Haihan people had just assisted the government in catching the bandit leader Wan Meng, so I did not see through their true colors for a while and allowed them to settle down on Zhifu Island."

Zheng Fandao: "I know a little bit about the old grudge between Liao Jie and the Haihan people. Liao Jie had mentioned to me before that he had an elder brother who was on duty in Zhejiang, and he also didn't get along well with the Haihan people. This year he was in Hangzhou city

A whole family of children and adults disappeared without any reason, and Liao Jie always suspected that the matter was related to the Haihan people."

"That's it!" Chen Zhongsheng nodded and said: "Liao Jie had earlier opposed allowing the Haihan people to enter Dengzhou, which makes sense. But since there is an old grudge, he probably won't let it go. He said before that he would wait until spring.

It's not unreasonable to take action, but there are many untruths in his words, I'm afraid he doesn't have much confidence in expelling Haihan."

Zheng Fan asked again: "Then if Master Liao is going to send troops to attack Haihan after the spring, should I still participate in it?"

Chen Zhongsheng raised his head and stared at Zheng Fan. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Letting this Haihan stay in Fushan County is a hidden danger after all. Even if there is no copper mine, we have to find a way to expel him from Dengzhou. If Liao Jie

We still need to take the next step, and you can provide some appropriate funding, but don’t invest too much... Anyway, I’m not very optimistic about him taking the lead in this matter."

Zheng Fan quickly asked: "But is there any inside information?"

Chen Zhongsheng shook his head and said: "I can't tell you the inside information... In fact, you should have said that the Haihan people have already established a connection with Dongjiang Town."

Zheng Fan responded: "I heard that people from Dongjiang Town have come to Qishan Qianhu to work as lobbyists for the Haihan people, hoping to persuade Lord Shangguan to evacuate the place."

Chen Zhongsheng asked: "Then have you ever thought about it, Dongjiang Town is clearly under the jurisdiction of Shandong Capital, why does it not cooperate with me in Dengzhou, but instead colludes with the Haihan people?"

Zheng Fan guessed: "Could it be that... the conditions that the Haihan people can provide to Dongjiang Town are far better than those of Dengzhou Prefecture?"

Chen Zhongsheng nodded slightly and said, "Then do you know what Dongjiang Town needs most right now?"

"Well, of course I know this!" Zheng Fan immediately responded: "This year, more than half of the military rations raised by Dongjiang Town in the Jiaodong Peninsula were handled by me. It's just that the demand in Dongjiang Town is huge, and

I can't get enough money, so I can only buy some old brown rice and bran, which is an unprofitable business. In addition, I heard that cloth, iron materials, and medicinal materials are also in great demand in Dongjiang Town."

Chen Zhongsheng said: "The area under the jurisdiction of Dongjiang Town does not have many products, and many things have to be supplied by Shandong. The imperial court has always wanted to abolish the establishment of Dongjiang Town, so they will not be given much relief in terms of military expenditures. The imperial court has allocated only a few

The cost of a thousand soldiers, but Dongjiang Town also supports tens of thousands of people who escaped from Liaodong, how do you think they can get enough money to buy food and supplies?"

Zheng Fan sighed for a few words, then suddenly realized: "So they hooked up with the Haihan people because the Haihan people can provide them with food and supplies?"

Chen Zhongsheng said: "Although there is no concrete evidence yet, the facts should not be too different. Think about it, the Haihan people are based in the south, and they are actually able to build a stronghold in Dengzhou, and they also recruit a large number of refugees in Fushan County.

Effectiveness. I have been in Dengzhou for more than two months and I have never heard of them purchasing large quantities of food and other supplies locally. What does this mean? This shows that they are fully capable of transporting food and supplies from the south to supply them in Dengzhou.

He came to Dongjiang Town to take advantage of the benefits given by Haihan, so he came forward to negotiate with Qishan Qianhu."

Zheng Fan wondered: "But Dongjiang Town does not have enough financial resources to buy what they need. Haihan people are also businessmen. Are they so bold to sell to Dongjiang Town on credit?"

"You also know that they are businessmen, but when businessmen do business, do they get cash in return?" Chen Zhongsheng pointed out: "The business you and Liao Jie discussed is the same."

Zheng Fan suddenly realized: "Presumably Dongjiang Town also promised Haihan some shady conditions in exchange for the food and materials provided by Haihan. But in this case, isn't Dongjiang Town's move the same as treason?"

Chen Zhongsheng sneered and said: "Although Dongjiang Town is under the jurisdiction of Shandong Capital, it has long been its own group and does not listen to the orders here. Apart from asking for money, food and soldiers, what else have they done? Last year, the Kong thieves were defeated and defected.

In Liaodong, Dongjiang Town failed to intercept the rebels at Lushunkou and let them escape to the Jiannu territory. That was fine. Later, the rebels led troops south to capture Lushun. Even the commander-in-chief Huang Long was defeated and committed suicide. This

How incompetent! Last year, Shang Kexi, the deputy general of Dongjiang Town, took more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians under his command, took all the warships, ordnance and supplies, and crossed the sea to defect to the slaves. How many people do you think are still available in Dongjiang Town?

It would be better to disband him as soon as possible if he is left overseas to waste the imperial court's money and food!"

Zheng Fan didn't have an official position and didn't dare to discuss political affairs. At the moment, he could only follow Chen Zhongsheng's wishes, but he was a little unclear in his heart. He thought that the Ming army in Dongjiang Town couldn't even eat enough.

He still has the ability to fight against the Jiannu. But I don’t know what is there about Dongjiang Town that attracts the Haihan people to make them willing to spend their own money to assist Dongjiang Town.

Chen Zhongsheng continued: "Dongjiang Town is now headed by Shen Shikui. This man is also a merchant. He values ​​profits over justice. It is hard to say whether he will betray the Ming Dynasty in order to protect himself. Since you have had business dealings with Dongjiang Town, you should find a way

Go to Dongjiang Town, explore the details there, and try to find out what the Haihan people are planning to do in collusion with them."

Zheng Fan said with a bitter face: "Isn't this... I'm afraid it's not appropriate? I heard Master Liao earlier that the Haihan people are so powerful at sea. If they find out, I, Zheng's Ship Company, will probably not be able to go to sea with a single sail in the future."

"

Chen Zhongsheng scolded: "Are you stupid for thinking that the Haihan people are stupid? I can't find out your details? Guo Xingning's soldiers and horses were spotted by the Haihan people before they left the city. If there were no Haihan spies in Dengzhou City, I would have my head chopped off.

Come down here and let me serve as a stool for you! The fact that you paid to send troops has probably reached the ears of the Haihan people, so don’t have any more luck!"

Zheng Fan complained endlessly: "If this is the case, wouldn't it be very dangerous to go to Dongjiang Town to inquire about information? Brother, don't push the younger brother into the pit of fire!"

"I'm convinced that your brain can actually do business!" Chen Zhongsheng could only teach him patiently: "Everyone in Haihan can negotiate terms with Dongjiang Town, but you can't negotiate? Even if you can't reach an agreement with Dongjiang Town, you can't change it.

Does the target talk to the Haihan people directly?"
Chapter completed!