Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 598: Morality and Virtue
Fan Wencheng had heard about the fact that the Fan family compound in Jiexiu was completely looted and Fan Yongdou suffered heavy losses.

However, he only knew part of the specific situation. It happened that Fan Yongdou came this time, so Fan Wencheng asked him a few questions.

Fan Yongdou did not hide anything from him and roughly told him what he knew. After listening, Fan Wencheng frowned and asked directly, "Is there no other news from the Ming government?"

"What other news could there be?" When it came to this, Fan Yongdou's heart was furious. His Fan family had spent a lot of money on bribes over the years, but such a big thing happened in Jiexiu, but after investigating again and again, he could not find any results. There was only a reply that it was suspected to be the work of bandits.

What kind of answer is this? Could it be that this was really done by bandits? Fan Yongdou just couldn't believe it. As mentioned before, the Fan family has done a lot of things over the years, using a lot of dirty tricks, and has so many enemies that even Fan Yongdou himself can't count them.

Although Fan Yongdou suspected that this was done by his enemy, the problem was that he could not find out who did it.

"The Ming government is full of good-for-nothings!" Fan Wencheng chimed in, "Brother Fan, you have been giving a lot of gifts over the years. The government took your money, but found out this result without giving you an explanation. It's really unbelievable! I'm not bragging, but if this happened here, there would be no need for the Khan to explain. The people below would have already helped Brother Fan to investigate it clearly. How could there be the current situation?"

"Master Fan is right, isn't it so?" When mentioning the Ming government, Fan Yongdou was extremely angry. As the saying goes, if you feed a dog for so many years, it would have become tamed. But the Ming government was so good. He spent so much money, but they used such a result to evade him. This situation can't be described as a drunkard at all. It's simply unimaginable.

If this happened in Huang Taiji's territory in Liaodong, I'm afraid it would have been thoroughly investigated and even the culprit would have been caught. Compared with the two, the Ming Dynasty is a pile of shit. How can it compare to the Manchus?

Fan Yongdou has been interacting with the Jiannu for many years, initially for profit, but later his ideas gradually changed. Now Fan Yongdou does these things not only for money, but also because he identifies with Huang Taiji's regime.

Especially since Huang Taiji led his troops across Shanhaiguan and directly attacked the capital, the Ming Dynasty was completely powerless to do anything about it. In the end, it was Huang Taiji who retreated, which resolved the danger to the capital.

After this incident, Fan Yongdou's mentality changed completely. In his opinion, Huang Taiji and the entire Houjin had a great chance of conquering the world in the future. On the one hand, there was the Ming Dynasty, which was in decline and had internal and external troubles, and on the other hand, there was the Houjin, which was thriving and becoming stronger. What was the right choice? Moreover, Fan Yongdou had a very good relationship with the Houjin. The two sides had cooperated for many years and had become family members. If Huang Taiji entered the pass again and directly captured the capital, then conquering the world would be just around the corner.

So although Fan Yongdou is a Ming Dynasty citizen on the surface, he is actually no different from Fan Wencheng, a "slave", in his bones.

Fan Yongdou shook his head and said, "The Ming Dynasty is in such a state. It is really the end of its fate. I now hope that the Khan can accomplish his mission soon and restore peace to the world! If the world was ruled by the Khan, the people like us would be able to live and work in peace. How could such a horrific thing happen?"

"That's right!" Fan Wencheng nodded and said, "Brother, I think so too. The Ming Dynasty is in dire straits under the rule of Emperor Zhu. Rebellions are raging everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, and the people are displaced. Although the Khan is in Liaodong, he is concerned about the world and is often worried. He can't even eat or sleep well."

"In the Khan's opinion, the world is in this state because of Emperor Zhu's immorality. As the saying goes, those who are righteous will have many supporters, while those who are unrighteous will have few. The Ming Dynasty is doomed to fail."

"The world belongs to the virtuous. Hasn't it been like this for thousands of years? The Qin Dynasty lost its empire because of its second emperor's immorality. Emperor Gaozu of Han was virtuous and became Emperor Gaozu. Emperor Yang of Sui was immoral and was eventually replaced by the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Minghuang of Tang was immoral, which led to the An-Shi Rebellion. The Song Dynasty was immoral, which led to the Jingkang Incident. The Yuan Dynasty was immoral, which led to Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition, which led to the Ming Dynasty today."

"For thousands of years, dynasties have changed, all because of the immorality of the rulers. Now the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has lost his virtue, and great changes are imminent. The former Khan raised an army out of ten great hatreds, and after two generations of Khans worked hard to govern the country, he occupied Liaodong and looked down on the world. It is his duty to save the people of the world from the water and fire."

"The Khan is a man of great talent and vision, wise and brave. How can a mere child like Chongzhen be compared to him? If the Khan leads a million troops into the pass, clears the world, and cleanses the Central Plains, wouldn't it be a blessing to gain this world?"

"Mr. Fan, what you said is very good!" Fan Yongdou clapped his hands and cheered, looking very excited.

In his opinion, Huang Taiji's entry into the Central Plains was just a matter of time. At present, the Ming Dynasty was just lingering on. As internal and external troubles became more serious, the Ming Dynasty was beyond salvation. Moreover, Fan Yongdou knew very well how capable the Eight Banners soldiers under Huang Taiji were. As long as he found the right opportunity and took advantage of the opportunity, the world would definitely be in his hands. By then, wouldn't his wealth and glory be within his reach?
For a while, the two of them chatted enthusiastically. Fan Yongdou had even seen the day when Huang Taiji entered the Central Plains and sat on the throne of the emperor in the capital. As a person who defected to the Later Jin Dynasty when Nurhaci did, Fan Yongdou thought that he had made great contributions. At least he should be given an official position when that time came. The more he thought about it, the happier he was. Fan Yongdou was so happy that his teeth came out. It was a pity that he was not a Manchu, but a Ming. Even if he had defected for a long time, he was afraid that he would never have the title in his life. Thinking of this, Fan Yongdou couldn't help but hate himself for not being a Manchu. It would be great if he had the blood of the Manchus! If he could become a Manchu, Fan Yongdou would immediately abandon his name and change his surname. He would no longer be called Fan Yongdou in the future. Even if he changed his name to Sachima Yongdou, Fan Yongdou would not frown at all, and would even be honored.

Seeing that the conversation was almost heated, Fan Wencheng gradually brought the topic back. He did not talk to Fan Yongdou for these reasons, but because he had something for Fan Yongdou to do.

Previously, Dorgon and his brothers were defeated on the grassland and the Eight Banners suffered heavy losses. This matter has not yet been resolved.

Although Fan Wencheng had channels with the Ming Dynasty, there were also officials in the capital who were secretly flirting with Liaodong. Fan Wencheng originally thought that it should not be difficult to investigate this matter. As long as he passed the news and sent someone to verify it, he would be able to find out who the Zhejiang army was under and who was backing the Tengger army.

It is unlikely that it was the Ming Dynasty court. Fan Wencheng and Huang Taiji felt so from the beginning, but they still had to investigate, just in case there was such a possibility.

But unexpectedly, after so much time had passed, the Ming Dynasty had not found out anything at all, as if the Zhejiang Army had just appeared out of thin air. When the officials of the Ming Dynasty heard that Liaodong was inquiring about the situation of the newly trained Zhejiang Army in the Ming Dynasty, those officials even thought that Fan Wencheng was confused.

Because everyone knew that the Zhejiang Army had disappeared after the Battle of Hunhe. Although the imperial court later intended to reorganize the Zhejiang Army, the people in Yiwu ignored the imperial court and directly drove away the people sent by the emperor, saying that the elders of Yiwu would never work for the imperial court again, so the formation of the Zhejiang Army ended in failure.

If the Ming Dynasty had such an army, why wouldn't they use it? Who doesn't know that the Zhejiang Army is very powerful? They would have been sent to Liaodong to fight the Jiannu long ago. Why would they keep it hidden?

However, because of Fan Wencheng's promise, the Ming Dynasty still sent people to investigate, but no matter whether they were sent to Yiwu to inquire or to the Nine Borders to investigate, they all said that there was no such thing. Yiwu had not sent young and strong men to form any troops since the Battle of Hunhe, not to mention the border troops of the Nine Borders. At present, the Ming Dynasty was in financial difficulties, and the military expenditures to maintain Liaodong were insufficient. The various departments of the Nine Borders were seriously in arrears, and some places were even almost unable to get enough food.

The cost of maintaining a Zhejiang army was extremely high. Even during the heyday of the Zhejiang army, which was during the Qi Jiguang era, the number of Zhejiang troops never exceeded 10,000. Moreover, the Zhejiang army was different from the ordinary Ming army in that it implemented a recruitment system. Not to mention the equipment and training costs of the Zhejiang army, the salary of ordinary soldiers in the Zhejiang army was several times that of the border army. Once a war broke out, the expenses would be even greater. Under the current circumstances, the border army simply did not have the ability to do these things.

Besides, how could the border troops support the tribes in the grasslands? Wouldn't it be better to use the money to support the servants? Even if they didn't support the servants, wouldn't it be better to hide the money and spend it on themselves?

As time went by, Fan Wencheng, who originally thought he had captured the person easily, couldn't help but get anxious. Moreover, Huang Taiji had always remembered this matter and kept asking him about his progress. If there was no solid news, he would have no way to explain to Huang Taiji.

Fan Wencheng has been thinking about this matter these days. At first, he thought that his previous judgment was wrong, but after thinking about it, he felt that even if the judgment was wrong, the general direction would not be a problem.

Firstly, it is impossible for this Zhejiang army to come from a far distance on the grassland, because it is difficult to conceal the whereabouts of a long-distance march, and the pressure of logistics is not small. Therefore, Fan Wencheng concluded that this Zhejiang army came from the Nine Borders, and from the location of Tumed, the most likely direction is Xuanda, although it is also possible from Shaanxi, but now Shaanxi is in trouble with bandits, so it is unlikely.

As for the second point, which is the equipment of the Tengger tribe, judging from the feedback from the Dorgon brothers, the Tengger tribe definitely received a lot of assistance. Otherwise, how could the poor Mongolian cavalry have armor and weapons that are no less than those of the elite Eight Banners?

Finally, there are the artillery pieces owned by the Tengger tribe. There are nearly a hundred Portuguese cannons and tiger squat cannons. This is not a small number. Without a strong force and sufficient wealth, it would be impossible to get them.

In summary, Fan Wencheng believed that there was nothing wrong with his direction, but the problem was that the people from the Ming Dynasty did not investigate the facts, or overlooked something. Since the officials of the Ming Dynasty were unreliable, he could start from other places, and Fan Yongdou happened to be a suitable candidate.

(End of this chapter)