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

Chapter 938 General
Shanhaiguan General's Mansion.

Wu Xiang, the general of Shanhaiguan, was explaining things to his son Wu Sangui. In fact, Wu Xiang had already said many things a few days ago. Before leaving, Wu Xiang still couldn't help but hold Wu Sangui's hand and repeatedly reminded him, saying it over and over again.

Wu Sangui didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his father's attitude. This wasn't a matter of life or death, so why did he have to act like a woman? Fortunately, Wu Xiang was also a famous general with great reputation and prestige in Liaodong, but today he acted like a woman.

However, as a son, Wu Sangui still put on an attitude of listening humbly, not daring to express any dissatisfaction. Seeing Wu Sangui like this, Wu Xiang was relieved and said a few more words before stopping.

Wu Xiang left Liaodong for the capital this time. In fact, he didn't want to leave Liaodong. After all, as one of the generals of Liaodong, Wu Xiang's roots were here. Although the capital was good, it was not his hometown. Moreover, in Liaodong, Wu Xiang had power and connections, but what would he have in the capital? Apart from the first-class earldom given by the court, what was the difference between Wu Xiang and ordinary nobles?

But the problem was that Wu Xiang had to leave because the court asked him to go to the capital and hand over his military power.

Faced with such a situation, Wu Xiang had no choice. Moreover, if the person who talked to Wu Xiang about this matter was someone else, it would have been fine, but Wu Xiang had to offend this person, not to mention he dared not even say a word of opposition, because the other party was Sun Chengzong, the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao at that time, who held the military and political power of Liaodong.

After Sun Chengzong dealt with the Jiangnan case, as people in Jiangnan and the capital were successively brought down, Sun Chengzong handed the matter over to others to follow up, and he went to Liaodong in person according to Zhu Shenzhu's instructions.

In name, Sun Chengzong was an imperial envoy who inspected the situation on the Liaodong front on behalf of Zhu Shenzhui, but in fact, Sun Chengzong's real purpose of going to Liaodong was to make Wu Xiang give up his military power in Liaodong and live in the capital, and this task had to be completed without any compromise.

The current situation in Liaodong is much better than before. Since the end of the Battle of Jinzhou, there has been no major war in Liaodong. Although the retreating Eight Banners Army has been making small-scale attempts, the Ming Army has already made preparations. Under the arrangements of Wu Xiang, Zu Dashou and others, the Ming Army did not give the Qing Army any chance and has been firmly guarding its own territory.

Moreover, after Zhu Shenzhui entered Beijing, the court also made corresponding changes to many of its arrangements in Liaodong, especially abolishing many policies originally adopted during the Yuan Chonghuan period, including the military farming policy in Liaodong that Yuan Chonghuan vigorously promoted.

Yuan Chonghuan was just a man who only knew how to talk about war on paper. Wasn't it a joke that he was setting up military farms on the front line? Since he started to set up military farms on the front line in Liaodong, not only has there been no harvest in these years, but the military farms have been constantly destroyed by the Eight Banners, and many Liao people and Ming soldiers who participated in the military farms were abducted by the Eight Banners, causing the Ming Dynasty to suffer heavy losses in this regard, further increasing the heavy burden on Liaodong.

The military farming policy depends on the occasion, area and time. Yuan Chonghuan's decision to implement the military farming policy without considering the actual situation was bound to fail. Therefore, after Zhu Shenzhu took control of the government, he gradually cancelled many of Yuan Chonghuan's policies in Liaodong, including the military farming policy.

Now there are no more military farms in Liaodong, because without them the Liaodong army can concentrate more on guarding various places, and there is no need to work hard to protect the Liao people who are engaged in military farms.

The army should do its job. The army's most important task is to fight, especially on the front lines like Liaodong, rather than doing those meaningless things.

Moreover, as the economic situation of the Ming Dynasty gradually improved under Zhu Shenzhui's rule, the situation of the Ming army in Liaodong also improved a lot. Although some military pay was still withheld (in arrears) and food was not completely sufficient, the Ming army, which had been suffering all the time, was now very satisfied compared to the previous situation. At least every month they could not only get their pay but also have enough food to eat. And as time went on, the situation got better and better.

Isn't there a saying before? If the Eight Banners are less than 10,000, they are invincible if they are more than 10,000? In fact, in Zhu Shenzhu's opinion, there is another saying that is more true, that is, if the Ming army is not fully paid, it is invincible if it is fully paid!

The reason why the Ming army was so weak was not that the Ming army could not fight, but that the Ming army simply did not have the strength to fight. Although the army belonged to the court, the treatment of the Ming army was extremely low before. Not to mention the military pay, they could not even guarantee two meals a day.

Except for the retainers of the military leaders who were treated well and had decent combat effectiveness, the ordinary soldiers were no different from beggars. They were wearing tattered clothes and the same was true of the weapons in their hands. They were pale and thin due to hunger, and they were staggering as they stood there. How could such an army fight a war?
Once these problems were solved, the Ming army's combat effectiveness naturally rose sharply, and they were not afraid of the so-called Eight Banners elite soldiers at all. Zhu Shenzhui knew this very well. You have to know that the new army was trained by him personally. The equipment and treatment of the new army were the best in this era. It was precisely because of these, coupled with strict training, that the new army had such a strong strength. Even if they faced the Eight Banners elite soldiers with the same number of troops, they could beat them and make them flee in panic.

The border troops of the Ming Dynasty all had the above problems, among which the problem of Liaodong was the most serious. Moreover, Yuan Chonghuan's mess in Liaodong in the past also made the power of Liaodong's generals continue to increase. The most representative figures among them were Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang. Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang basically controlled most of the Liao army, especially the most capable Guanning Iron Cavalry was in the hands of the latter. Although both of them were very loyal to the Ming Dynasty, it cannot be denied that they each had their own little thoughts. This is actually the same as Li Chengliang back then. If Li Chengliang had not raised the enemy and respected himself, there would be no later rise of Nurhaci, and Liaodong would not have evolved to the current situation.

It was impossible to mobilize two people at once, which would damage the overall situation in Liaodong. Therefore, Zhu Shenzhu had to mobilize Wu Xiang first if he wanted to mobilize Liaodong. The reason for mobilizing Wu Xiang was that he was the general of Shanhaiguan, and his defense area was in the Shanhaiguan area, while Zu Dashou's defense area was in Ningjin. Zu Dashou was directly facing the threat and attack of Jiannu. Changing generals before a battle was a taboo. Moreover, Zu Dashou had performed well in recent years. Although he was beaten badly by Huang Taiji every time, he always insisted on fighting and tried his best to deal with the opponent.

Therefore, Zu Dashou cannot be moved. If Zu Dashou is at the front line, the Ningjin defense line can be stabilized. However, there is no such problem if Wu Xiang is moved. He is at Shanhaiguan, which is far away from the battlefield compared to the Ningjin defense line. Unless Zu Dashou's defense line collapses, Shanhaiguan will be exposed to the enemy.

In addition to Wu Xiang, there is also Wu Sangui. As the most outstanding general of the younger generation in Liaodong, Wu Sangui has been in the limelight in recent years. Moreover, in the battle of the Great Wall, Wu Sangui was highly regarded by Wang Jinwu. After the war, he not only recommended Wu Sangui for credit, but also strongly recommended Wu Sangui in front of Zhu Shenzhui, praising him as a young hero.

Zhu Shenzhu knew Wu Sangui better than anyone else. Wu Sangui had a bad reputation in history, but after all, it was impossible to blame Wu Sangui for something that had not happened yet. Moreover, Wu Sangui's loyalty to the Ming Dynasty was real. Compared with Wu Xiang, who was full of ulterior motives, Wu Sangui was more loyal to the Ming Dynasty, more pure, and had the passion of a young man to serve his country.

After meeting Wu Xiang, Sun Chengzong directly informed him of the arrangement for him to go to the capital, and proposed that Wu Sangui would take over his post as the general of Shanhaiguan after he left Liaodong. In addition, Sun Chengzong also brought Wu Xiang an imperial edict from Zhu Shenzhui, which not only praised Wu Xiang's contributions to the country over the years and gave him high praise, but also specially changed Wu Xiang's title to hereditary, that is, Wu Xiang's first-class earl title could be passed on to Wu Sangui in the future. At the same time, Wu Sangui also had the second-class viscount title previously granted by the court. This title would not be taken back by the court and could still be passed on to his son.

In this way, the Wu family had two titles, which was extremely rare among the nobles. This shows the generous treatment Zhu Shenzui gave to Wu Xiang.

Faced with such a situation, and the one who brought this up was Sun Chengzong, Wu Xiang had no intention of refusing. Although Sun Chengzong had been away from the court for so long, his prestige in Liaodong was unmatched, not to mention himself, even Yuan Chonghuan couldn't match him. Sun Chengzong's eyes could make Wu Xiang tremble with fear. Now that the court had made an exception for him and given him such a generous gift, Wu Xiang would be courting humiliation if he didn't know how to behave.

In this way, Wu Xiang agreed after only one day of consideration, and was willing to hand over the military power to Wu Sangui and go to the capital at the same time.

Sun Chengzong was very satisfied with Wu Xiang's understanding. He comforted him with a few words and asked him to prepare as soon as possible. Since he had already agreed to this matter, it would be better for him to go to the capital as soon as possible.

As for Wu Sangui, he was not dissatisfied because his father Wu Xiang went to the capital. Instead, he was very happy.

It turned out that long before Sun Chengzong arrived in Liaodong, Wang Jinwu had privately sent someone to deliver a letter to Wu Sangui. In the letter, Wang Jinwu said a lot to Wu Sangui, especially praising Wu Sangui's ability to fight and his loyalty to the court. At the same time, he also expressed some regret that such a young and promising general like Wu Sangui still could not lead the army alone.

Wang Jinwu even expressed his intention to recruit Wu Sangui to the new army, and mentioned that if Wu Sangui was willing to join the new army, he could directly give him a position as a general. After reading this letter, Wu Sangui felt both happy and regretful. Although he was tempted by the new army, as a rising star in Liaodong, he also understood that Liaodong was his foundation. Once he joined the new army alone, he might not be as comfortable as in Liaodong.

Moreover, Liaodong is currently the front line, and Wu Sangui feels that he can play a better role in Liaodong. If one day he can completely pacify Liaodong for the court and solve the problem of Jiannu, then he, Wu Sangui, will not only be able to leave his name in history, but also become a real famous general in the Ming army and be famous all over the world.

Soon after receiving the letter, Sun Chengzong arrived in Liaodong, and Wu Xiang understood Sun Chengzong's intention. Afterwards, Wu Xiang consulted with Wu Sangui, wanting to ask his son's opinion on this matter. Unexpectedly, Wu Sangui was ecstatic when he heard the news, because once his father left, the general of Shanhaiguan would be his, and the Guanning Iron Cavalry, including the elite Liao army controlled by Wu Xiang, would also be his. Isn't this what he has always dreamed of?

So Wu Sangui immediately expressed his support for the court's request, and from the perspective of the Wu family, he persuaded Wu Xiang, saying that the Wu family had two titles, which was an unprecedented favor, and that their Wu family was a military family and had never planned to rebel. It was the Wu family's duty to be loyal to the country. In this case, Wu Xiang would enjoy happiness and not suffer in the capital, so why not go? The court gave the Wu family face and showed such sincerity, so they must not be ungrateful!

After Wu Sangui's persuasion, Wu Xiang finally made the decision to agree to go to the capital. Today, Wu Xiang was about to leave, and Wu Sangui was even more excited. As soon as his father left, Shanhaiguan would be his. Then he could do his best here, establish immortal merits, and pacify Liaodong for the Ming Dynasty and the court.

(End of this chapter)