Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 127 Going to Liaodong
Although it is already April, the weather in Liaodong is already terribly cold.

This place is always snowy and cold. When winter comes, people don't want to go out. If the cold wind in Beijing cuts off your ears, then the wind in Liaodong kills you.

In Fushun City, located in the northwest corner of Liaodong Regional Military Commission, the sky was low and cloudy, and there were few pedestrians on the streets. Only two taverns along the street were flying flags.

Inside, Han San sat in a side room with a few followers, drinking strong liquor and eating delicious food to vent the depression of recent days.

However, in March, he received a secret letter from Zhang Yunxiu, who was going to execute a barbarian named Nurhaci.

After receiving the order, he rushed to Liaodong happily.

After some twists and turns, he found Nurhaci's younger brother, Harshuqi. After some provocation, the second-in-command of Jianzhou Zuowei had evil intentions, and the two hit it off.

In the end, Nurhaci was burned to death in his residence.

He thought that the mission was completed and he could go back happily to claim his reward, but a letter from Zhang Yunxiu shattered his beautiful fantasy.

You want to see people when you are alive, and you want to see corpses when you die.

They've all been burned to charcoal and buried underground. Where can he find the bodies?

Besides, he was the commander of a guard, and on the surface he was still obedient to the Ming Dynasty. There must be a reason for killing someone, and killing a court official without reason was a serious crime.

It took him a lot of effort to get rid of this man without anyone noticing.

Han San was complaining in his heart when the sharp-faced man beside him raised his head and asked in a low voice, "Boss, what should we do now? The higher-ups said that if he's alive, we need to see his body. If he's dead, we need to see his body. Where can we get that thing?"

"You ask me, who should I ask?" Han San was already in a bad mood, and when he was asked this question, he immediately became furious.

The man with the sharp face smiled awkwardly, lowered his head and said nothing.

At this time, the little flag on Han San's left hand suddenly had an idea, and pointed at Han San and suggested: "Boss, why don't we kill another barbarian, burn him to charcoal, and then take him back."

Although Han San was tempted, he was still worried: "What if I get discovered?"

"Boss, the young master grew up in Jiangling and has never been to Liaodong. He definitely has never seen these barbarians. Besides, the barbarians in Jianzhou all look the same, making it difficult to distinguish them." Xiaoqi said confidently.

"Well, that's an idea." Han San stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Well, go to the Fushun prison and bring out a barbarian who has committed a capital crime and kill him."

"Okay." The two smiled and turned to leave.

After some casual arrangements, the officers were wary of the identities of Han San and others, so they gave them a savage who had committed a capital crime.

After some quick work, the man looked like burnt charcoal.

That night, Han San came closer to take a look.

All I saw was a dark corpse, and I couldn't make out its appearance at all.

Han Sanxi's eyebrows were raised, and his voice became a little excited: "Okay, quickly put him in the coffin, put some ice in it, and we will quickly transport it back for you to see."

"Yes." Several people clasped their fists and quickly put the body into the coffin.

The group rested for a night and prepared to set sail the next day.

Early the next morning, Han San was half asleep and half awake when he suddenly heard the sound of armor clashing coming from the hotel where he was staying.

He became alert, opened his eyes suddenly, grabbed the steel knife, and jumped up from the bed.

When he came to the window, he saw a group of fully armed soldiers downstairs. He thought to himself: Why are so many soldiers here? Could it be that the boss here is in collusion with thieves?
Just as he was thinking about it, Han San's door was kicked open by someone.

"Who the hell dares to kick my door?!" Han San turned around and cursed. After seeing who was coming, he was startled and said flatteringly, "Hey, why are you here, sir? I was just about to return to tell you the news."

The person who came was none other than Zhang Yunxiu.

He knew that the matter was of great importance and was afraid that Han San would fool him, so after sending the letter, he rushed to Liaodong that same day.

"There's no need to look at the person anymore. Come with me to see Li Rubai." Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand, called Han San and walked out. Han San nodded in response and quickly followed Zhang Yunxiu.

The group quickly arrived at the official hall of Fushun City.

The garrison commander here was called Li Rubai, the son of Li Chengliang, the general of Liaodong.

The group walked into the government hall and reported their identities. Immediately, someone came to report to Li Rubai, saying that Zhang Yunxiu wanted to see him.

Although Li Rubai was suspicious, he did not dare to neglect him as he was the son of the Prime Minister.

He raised his head and ordered the soldier, "Invite them to the hall quickly and entertain them well. I will change my clothes before meeting the guests."

The soldier followed Nuo's lead and took Zhang Yunxiu and Han San to the hall to sit down.

After waiting for about half a quarter of an hour, Zhang Yunxiu suddenly heard a laugh coming from outside the hall: "This is a cold and bitter place, and we don't have much to offer Zhang Sicheng. Please forgive me if there is any inadequacy in our hospitality."

Zhang Yunxiu and Han San turned sideways to look.

A sleek man walked in.

He was about thirty-one or thirty-two years old, tall and slightly fat, with a pair of yellow eyes the size of soybeans under a pair of thick eyebrows.

He was wearing a black warrior suit with gold threads, a gold medal on his waist, and black leather boots with gold edges.

Standing on the ground, it looks quite impressive.

"Captain Li." Zhang Yunxiu and Han San bowed and called out at the same time.

Li Rubai waved his hand, walked straight to the main seat and sat down, then asked curiously: "Zhang Sicheng, our Liaodong is a bitter cold place, why don't you stay in the capital and come here?"

"Let me tell you, the barbarians here don't know etiquette, no matter who you are." "We came here for this reason." Zhang Yunxiu did not hide anything, and directly took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Li Rubai, "This is a letter from your father, please take a look, Li Shoubei."

Li Rubai took it and glanced at it.

His face trembled immediately, and he looked at Zhang Yunxiu suddenly, and couldn't help but said in a lost voice: "Destroy the entire Jianzhou Guard? Zhang Sicheng, this is a big deal. Besides, a small Fushun City may not be able to mobilize so many troops."

"You are not worthy to say this. Li Shoubei's elder brother is already on the road with his troops." Zhang Yunxiu signaled him to be patient, and then said, "We came first to let you find an excuse."

"What's the reason?" Li Rubai asked without hesitation.

"A reason to destroy Jianzhou Wei." Zhang Yunxiu narrowed his eyes and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth.

"You mean, let's send troops to provoke first?" Li Rubai asked tentatively.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled but said nothing, and Li Rubai became troubled.

In the letter, his father did ask him to assist Zhang Yunxiu, but destroying a tribe for no reason was a big deal.

Logically speaking, such a major event should have been ordered by the imperial court.

Now the imperial court has not issued an order. If he makes a mistake in exterminating the wrong people and causes a counterattack from the other indigenous peoples of Liaodong, he will be in big trouble.

After thinking this through, Li Rubai mustered up his courage and asked, "Zhang Sicheng, you also know that mobilizing the army has always required the court's regulations. I wonder if Zhang Sicheng has any?"

"Didn't your father write you a letter? Could it be that the Liaodong General can't command you?" Zhang Yunxiu asked calmly.

"There is no father and son in the army. This is a family letter, but it does not have the general's seal." Li Rubai said stubbornly.

In a nutshell, bring the imperial order and we will send troops immediately.

If you can’t take it out, then just waste it.

Zhang Yunxiu didn't expect this guy to be so cowardly. He frowned and threatened and lured him, "Captain Li, I just asked you to send a small group of people to provoke trouble. As long as you find a reason, are you afraid that there is no court rule?"

"We are following the emperor's orders. You should know the importance of this."

"The emperor gave the order? Huh?" Li Rubai was startled.

"Yes, otherwise we can stay in Beijing just fine, why would we come to this damn place? We are just full and have nothing to do, and our assholes are itchy, right?" Zhang Yunxiu saw that this banner was effective and immediately stepped up his offensive.

"The emperor had a dream a month ago. He dreamed that there was a wild boar in Liaodong, with its fangs poking at his chest. After waking up from the dream, the emperor was sweating profusely, and he secretly gave me this order."

"Nurhaci, whose father and brother died, appears to respect the Ming Dynasty, but in reality he has evil intentions. This is exactly what the emperor's dream has come true."

Zhang Yunxiu's description was so vivid that Li Rubai was stunned by him.

Logically speaking, Nurhaci was just a minor figure in Liaodong. How could the emperor and Zhang Yunxiu, who were far away in the capital, pay attention to him?

False and true, true and false.

Li Rubai believed it about 70%.

The fat on his face trembled, and he said flatteringly: "Zhang Sicheng, since it is the emperor's secret order, I naturally dare not disobey it. I hope Zhang Sicheng can say a few good words for me in front of the emperor after he returns."

"Li Shoubei is loyal to the country and understands military affairs. He will surely be the pillar of the country in the future."

The two men exchanged a few polite words, and Li Rubai immediately secretly dispatched a team of servants to Hetuala to provoke trouble.

Zhang Yunxiu was tired from the journey, so he found an excuse and went down to rest.

After leaving the garrison hall, Han San stared at Zhang Yunxiu for a while and couldn't help asking, "Sir, has the emperor really issued an order to start a fight against the Jianzhou Guards?"

"Didn't he say that we are not allowed to touch Jianzhou Guard?" Zhang Yunxiu smiled freely.

First of all, what he conveyed was just an oral instruction, without any basis.

Even if the father and son of the Li family went to ask the emperor, he could just deny it, and they would still be the ones who suffered. Moreover, according to Li Chengliang's shrewdness, he must have guessed that he did not have the imperial decree in his hand.

However, to him, Jianzhou Wei was just an ant-like existence.

As long as we find a reason, we can easily kill them.

He only cares about how much benefit he can get from it.

When Zhang Yunxiu promised to go to Liaodong to do business with goods worth 100,000 taels of silver and to open up a trade route, the old fox Li Chengliang immediately agreed.

So he wrote a letter personally and asked Li Rubai to go to the border to provoke trouble first.

This is to ensure the legality of their military deployment.

Later, Li Rusong led the Liaodong Army and headed straight for Hetuala.

By the way, you can also accumulate military merits for your son, which is really a great thing that kills two birds with one stone.

Zhang Yunxiu was full of thoughts, while Han San beside him was nervous.

Judging from the tone of the young master, the emperor's edict is definitely gone. To falsely convey the edict is a crime punishable by the death penalty.

He glanced at the excited Zhang Yunxiu, shook his head, and finally chose to remain silent.

When the two returned to the hotel, Han San remembered his mission and smiled and reported: "Sir, we have brought back the body of Nurhaci you mentioned."

"It doesn't matter anymore. Once Li Rusong's army arrives, it won't matter whether Nurhaci is dead or alive." Zhang Yunxiu grinned.

(End of this chapter)