Chapter 1143
Chapter 1143
Chapter 1143 Dilemma
Guo Xingning sat on the horse with a gloomy expression, looking at the gray-clothed riders standing on the slope in the distance.These gray-clothed men have been haunting the troops since the Ming army he led arrived in Jijia Town, apparently monitoring their own movements.According to the information we have, these people should belong to the Haihan army stationed in Fushan County. It is not an exaggeration to describe them as unscrupulous if they dared to appear in front of the Ming army in broad daylight.Even the Wanjia army who used to be the local tyrant in this area would usually stay away from the Ming army when they saw the Ming army dispatching, so how could they dare to make such a provocative move so easily.
Guo Xingning also ordered his cavalry to drive away the horses several times, but the effect was not good. As soon as the cavalry came out, Haihan Tanma turned around and retreated, and the two sides were separated by two or three miles, so it was difficult to catch up with each other.But as soon as his side retreated, Haihan Tanma would appear within sight again, which really made him sick.
Guo Xingning also tried to quietly separate out some of the scouts before setting off early in the morning, and stay away from the brigade, in order to force Haihan's scouts to go further.But the opponents gather and disperse from time to time, often gathering suddenly at a certain node, forcing the scouts they sent back.Marching from Dengzhou City to Fushan County, the two sides have been fighting in the air, but the Haihan people obviously have the upper hand, because the Ming army really has no way to completely block the opponent's reconnaissance measures. exposed in advance.
For this trip to Fushan County, if Liao Jie hadn't insisted on sending troops, Guo Xingning actually didn't want to go to this muddy water at this point in time.Although the three of them previously agreed to deal with the Haihan people who settled down in Fushan County, after Shangguanye arrived at Qishan Qianhu Station, the news he sent back showed that the difficulty of this matter was far from what they had imagined. It's that simple and easy.
Before Shangguanye went to Fushan County, almost all their understanding of Haihan came from the few words passed by Liao Jie's brother Liao Xun from Zhejiang through letters, although Liao Xun also mentioned in the letter that "Haihan Army The boats are strong and the guns are powerful, and they are invincible", "the southern border has been campaigned for several years, and there has never been a defeat", but Liao Xun's news also came from hearsay, and he did not confront the Haihan army on the battlefield. experience, so the military information he provided is hardly convincing.
However, the three members of the Dengzhou military are very concerned about how the Haihan people are good at collecting money and how they spend money like water.They subconsciously regarded Haihan as a fat sheep that could be slaughtered for a fortune, but intentionally or unintentionally ignored that Haihan still had a powerful army piled up with money.They had never seen the battle of the Haihan Army, nor did they think that the descriptions Liao Xun mentioned at the beginning were true. They only believed that Haihan used money to open the way so that they could move unimpeded in the southern coastal states.So at the beginning Liao Jie sent Shangguanye to Qishan Qianhu to sit in town, and did not provide him with many troops. As a result, Shangguanye was dumbfounded when he arrived there. Haihan had at least a thousand armed men stationed in Zhifu Bay. He would not even think about going up to Zhifu Island with this group of people, there was no way to start.
After the information collected by Shangguanye from Fushan County was sent back to Dengzhou City one after another, Liao Jie still insisted that the Haihan people were just bluffing. It should not be against the government.But Guo Xingning felt that things were not that simple. Haihan deployed both land and water armies in Zhifu Bay, and they assumed that they would not suffer losses, and they might not be willing to submit to the threat of direct use of force.
Guo Xingning suggested that Liao Jie find another way, first contact the Haihan people to see if there is another way to let Haihan take the initiative to pay for the right to settle in Dengzhou.This avoids direct conflict between the two sides, and can also benefit from the Haihan people, which should be an acceptable result for both parties.But at this juncture, the news that Haihan had discovered a copper mine in Fushan County happened to spread.
It stands to reason that it is inconvenient for local troops to intervene in government affairs, not to mention that Liao Jie, Guo Xingning and others were transferred to Dengzhou from other places during the Denglai Rebellion, and they were not from the local area, and it is not easy to come out and dictate these matters.But coincidentally, Zheng Fan, who is most interested in this matter, has friendship with civil and military officials. He believes that this matter must be guaranteed by the military, so that he can successfully take over the Fushan Copper Mine from the Haihan people, so he came to find Liao Jie discussed the matter.
Zheng Fan's understanding of Haihan is far less than that of Liao Jie and others. He simply thinks that Haihan people are just a group of foreign armed maritime merchants, so the plan he gave is simple and rude. If the other party refuses to obey the copper mine, the military will come forward to expel the Haihan people by force and recover the mining area.
Chen Zhongsheng, the current prefect of Dengzhou, is Zheng Fan's brother-in-law, so it is not too difficult for him to settle the government. Zheng Fan wants to recruit the military, just to add an extra insurance to this plan.Of course, this dirty work is not for nothing. Zheng Fan made a promise to Liao Jie that as long as the military is willing to participate, he will persuade Chen Zhongsheng to give the military a share of the profits from this copper mine after the matter is completed. share.
Liao Jie was still very cautious at the beginning, because no one knew the prospect of mining the copper mine. If he found out that the copper mine was buried in such a shallow layer after he snatched it, the mining investment was more than the profit. The military is busy for nothing.But Zheng Fan patted his chest and assured that the copper mine that the Haihan people were exploring was not a small vein, because he had sent people into the construction site a few days ago, and confirmed that the Haihan people's big fanfare in the local area was not fake, but Yes, a large ore vein was indeed discovered.In order to mine this place, the Haihan people have even organized hundreds of laborers to start building roads and building houses in the local area, preparing to open a mine.With the shrewdness shown by the Haihan people in the past, it is obviously impossible to do such a big loss-making business with a dull head.
At the same time, Zheng Fan also expressed that he could use the name of donation to advance part of the military expenses and materials needed for military operations, so that even if the subsequent mining of the mine does not go smoothly, at least the military will not pay back.
Liao Jie was soon persuaded by Zheng Fan that this method of profit distribution is equivalent to taking shares in the mine. If the operation is good, there will be stable income in the next few years.The task that the military needs to undertake is probably just to send troops to expel the Haihan people from this area. In Liao Jie's opinion, this should not be too difficult a job, and he didn't even really realize the challenges that such an operation would face. risks of.
But Guo Xingning had already smelled something bad before he set off, because at the same time as the news of the Fushan Copper Mine broke out, there was another rumor that sounded less exciting in Dengzhou City, that is, the Haihan Army The leader of the Wanjia Army who escaped before was captured in the mountainous area of Fushan County, and the rest of the party has been wiped out. The location of the fighting is said to be very close to the location of the Fushan Copper Mine.
What Guo Xingning cares about is not the resolute determination of the Haihan army to wipe out the remnants of the bandits, but the purpose of their labor and mobilization to do this.Based on Haihan's businessman nature, Guo Xingning was convinced that their actions must have a deeper purpose that was beneficial to themselves besides maintaining local law and order.And this battle site is very close to the Fushan Copper Mine, combined with the timing of these two seemingly irrelevant events, Guo Xingning believes that this is not a coincidence, but that Haihan deliberately cleared the last for the mining of this copper mine. obstacle.
How did the Haihan people know that there were copper mines in the area controlled by the Wanjia Army? Guo Xingning believed that this might be a secret used by the bandits captured by Haihan to save their lives.The response of the Haihan people to drive and kill the Wanjia army seems to be able to reflect the value of this copper mine and Haihan's determination to mine this vein from the side.There was no response to the official documents sent by the Dengzhou government. Guo Xingning believed that the silence of the Haihan people had already shown a negative attitude. Even sending troops to Fushan may not be able to force Haihan to back down. The situation got out of hand.
Guo Xingning informed Liao Jie of his thoughts and expressed his concerns, but he could not provide any evidence for these conjectures, nor could he prove that the Haihan people planned to fight with force, so Liao Jie did not believe him in the end. statement.Now that winter is approaching, if no action is taken, roads will be blocked by heavy snow in winter, and it will be inconvenient for troops to go out. This delay may have to be delayed until the beginning of next spring.
Things changed later, neither Liao Jie nor Zheng Fan had the patience to wait any longer.So Liao Jie still insisted on his own opinion, and handed over the task of going to Fushan to expel the Haihan people to Guo Xingning.He hoped that Guo Xingning would fight against the Haihan people in person, and use the facts to overthrow his wrong thoughts.
Guo Xingning was not willing to take this task, but he also knew that the people Liao Jie trusted most were him and Shangguanye.Now Shangguanye has been stationed in Fushan County for more than half a month, and has tried his best to scout Haihan's deployment and movements. Now it's time to do something. If Guo Xingning can't go up, who else can go up, no matter how reluctant he is, he can only insist On the scalp.
Liao Jie's request to Guo Xingning is to fight quickly and try not to drag the war until winter. As long as the Haihan people give up the mine and return to Zhifu Island obediently, there is no need to kill them all.Keep this fat sheep, and you can slowly think of other tricks to extract oil and water in the future.Guo Xingning could only take chances, hoping that his previous thoughts were just a misjudgment, and that the Haihan people would not have the courage to confront the imperial army head-on.
But after marching into Fushan County, Guo Xingning realized that this luck would probably come to naught. The Haihan people were probably ready to fight before the Ming army left Dengzhou City.Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why the Ming army had not long since moved out of the garrison, and Haihan Tanma appeared in the area near the army.Haihan was not unprepared for the arrival of the Ming army. It is conceivable that they should have made corresponding arrangements in the area where the copper mine is located. It may be difficult for him to complete this errand smoothly.
However, Guo Xingning did not panic because of this. Although he believed that the Haihan people would not easily follow the order of the Dengzhou government to give up the copper mine, he did not really think that the strength of the Haihan army could compete with the Ming army.From the beginning to the end, he thought that this was just a group of armed sea merchants, and he did not regard the Haihan Army as a real professional army.
The troops Guo Xingning led were all his direct descendants brought over from Yanzhou Mansion. They had participated in the anti-insurgency war in Dengzhou before, and they were all veterans who had experienced battle experience.This time he dispatched troops to Fushan County, Liao Jie also specially assigned a few conveniently transportable Francophone cannons to Guo Xingning. With the addition of nearly one-third of the musketeers in the original battalion, Guo Xingning was quite confident in defeating Haihan.
It's just that Haihan's expedition is like a fly that can't be chased away, which is really annoying. Guo Xingning can't help but worry that if the Haihan army is as slick as the Wanjia army and refuses to fight head-on, it will be very troublesome to deal with. .In the past, the Dengzhou garrison did not want to be involved in a very troublesome security battle, so they turned a blind eye to the existence of the Wanjia army.The Haihan army is only stronger than the Wanjia army. If a similar situation occurs, it will become a big trouble.
But Guo Xingning didn't realize that, in fact, his troubles had already started from the moment he stepped into the boundary of Fushan County.When there were still about ten miles away from the destination, Guo Xingning received a report from the heirs, saying that an unknown number of Haihan armed men suddenly appeared in the area east of Guxian Town, and blocked the road leading to Dengzhou City with roadblocks. official way.
The Haihan people didn't attack early, they didn't attack until the Ming army passed Guxian Town. This kind of action obviously wanted to cut off Guo Xingning's retreat, and it was already showing full hostility.Although the official road between this place and Dengzhou City is not the only one that can pass through, the combat supplies needed by the Ming army need to be transported through the official road. Now this transportation route is cut off by the Haihan army. and radius are also significantly affected by this.
It is reasonable to say that marching and fighting would not be unprepared for this kind of thing, but Guo Xingning had never regarded the opponent as a real army before, and naturally did not think that the opponent would take any measures to counter him. Before starting the war, cut off your own back road first.
As a result, the situation of Guo Xingning's troops is a bit embarrassing. If you continue to march forward, the Haihan people may have already deployed a defense line in front and wait for you to hit them. If you turn around and deal with the Haihan people in the back road, then this is very likely. It will turn into another farce of chasing flies, and they will evacuate before the Ming army arrives.Guo Xingning's troops were limited, and he didn't dare to divide his troops easily in the wild, so he was caught in a dilemma.
(End of this chapter)
Guo Xingning sat on the horse with a gloomy expression, looking at the gray-clothed riders standing on the slope in the distance.These gray-clothed men have been haunting the troops since the Ming army he led arrived in Jijia Town, apparently monitoring their own movements.According to the information we have, these people should belong to the Haihan army stationed in Fushan County. It is not an exaggeration to describe them as unscrupulous if they dared to appear in front of the Ming army in broad daylight.Even the Wanjia army who used to be the local tyrant in this area would usually stay away from the Ming army when they saw the Ming army dispatching, so how could they dare to make such a provocative move so easily.
Guo Xingning also ordered his cavalry to drive away the horses several times, but the effect was not good. As soon as the cavalry came out, Haihan Tanma turned around and retreated, and the two sides were separated by two or three miles, so it was difficult to catch up with each other.But as soon as his side retreated, Haihan Tanma would appear within sight again, which really made him sick.
Guo Xingning also tried to quietly separate out some of the scouts before setting off early in the morning, and stay away from the brigade, in order to force Haihan's scouts to go further.But the opponents gather and disperse from time to time, often gathering suddenly at a certain node, forcing the scouts they sent back.Marching from Dengzhou City to Fushan County, the two sides have been fighting in the air, but the Haihan people obviously have the upper hand, because the Ming army really has no way to completely block the opponent's reconnaissance measures. exposed in advance.
For this trip to Fushan County, if Liao Jie hadn't insisted on sending troops, Guo Xingning actually didn't want to go to this muddy water at this point in time.Although the three of them previously agreed to deal with the Haihan people who settled down in Fushan County, after Shangguanye arrived at Qishan Qianhu Station, the news he sent back showed that the difficulty of this matter was far from what they had imagined. It's that simple and easy.
Before Shangguanye went to Fushan County, almost all their understanding of Haihan came from the few words passed by Liao Jie's brother Liao Xun from Zhejiang through letters, although Liao Xun also mentioned in the letter that "Haihan Army The boats are strong and the guns are powerful, and they are invincible", "the southern border has been campaigned for several years, and there has never been a defeat", but Liao Xun's news also came from hearsay, and he did not confront the Haihan army on the battlefield. experience, so the military information he provided is hardly convincing.
However, the three members of the Dengzhou military are very concerned about how the Haihan people are good at collecting money and how they spend money like water.They subconsciously regarded Haihan as a fat sheep that could be slaughtered for a fortune, but intentionally or unintentionally ignored that Haihan still had a powerful army piled up with money.They had never seen the battle of the Haihan Army, nor did they think that the descriptions Liao Xun mentioned at the beginning were true. They only believed that Haihan used money to open the way so that they could move unimpeded in the southern coastal states.So at the beginning Liao Jie sent Shangguanye to Qishan Qianhu to sit in town, and did not provide him with many troops. As a result, Shangguanye was dumbfounded when he arrived there. Haihan had at least a thousand armed men stationed in Zhifu Bay. He would not even think about going up to Zhifu Island with this group of people, there was no way to start.
After the information collected by Shangguanye from Fushan County was sent back to Dengzhou City one after another, Liao Jie still insisted that the Haihan people were just bluffing. It should not be against the government.But Guo Xingning felt that things were not that simple. Haihan deployed both land and water armies in Zhifu Bay, and they assumed that they would not suffer losses, and they might not be willing to submit to the threat of direct use of force.
Guo Xingning suggested that Liao Jie find another way, first contact the Haihan people to see if there is another way to let Haihan take the initiative to pay for the right to settle in Dengzhou.This avoids direct conflict between the two sides, and can also benefit from the Haihan people, which should be an acceptable result for both parties.But at this juncture, the news that Haihan had discovered a copper mine in Fushan County happened to spread.
It stands to reason that it is inconvenient for local troops to intervene in government affairs, not to mention that Liao Jie, Guo Xingning and others were transferred to Dengzhou from other places during the Denglai Rebellion, and they were not from the local area, and it is not easy to come out and dictate these matters.But coincidentally, Zheng Fan, who is most interested in this matter, has friendship with civil and military officials. He believes that this matter must be guaranteed by the military, so that he can successfully take over the Fushan Copper Mine from the Haihan people, so he came to find Liao Jie discussed the matter.
Zheng Fan's understanding of Haihan is far less than that of Liao Jie and others. He simply thinks that Haihan people are just a group of foreign armed maritime merchants, so the plan he gave is simple and rude. If the other party refuses to obey the copper mine, the military will come forward to expel the Haihan people by force and recover the mining area.
Chen Zhongsheng, the current prefect of Dengzhou, is Zheng Fan's brother-in-law, so it is not too difficult for him to settle the government. Zheng Fan wants to recruit the military, just to add an extra insurance to this plan.Of course, this dirty work is not for nothing. Zheng Fan made a promise to Liao Jie that as long as the military is willing to participate, he will persuade Chen Zhongsheng to give the military a share of the profits from this copper mine after the matter is completed. share.
Liao Jie was still very cautious at the beginning, because no one knew the prospect of mining the copper mine. If he found out that the copper mine was buried in such a shallow layer after he snatched it, the mining investment was more than the profit. The military is busy for nothing.But Zheng Fan patted his chest and assured that the copper mine that the Haihan people were exploring was not a small vein, because he had sent people into the construction site a few days ago, and confirmed that the Haihan people's big fanfare in the local area was not fake, but Yes, a large ore vein was indeed discovered.In order to mine this place, the Haihan people have even organized hundreds of laborers to start building roads and building houses in the local area, preparing to open a mine.With the shrewdness shown by the Haihan people in the past, it is obviously impossible to do such a big loss-making business with a dull head.
At the same time, Zheng Fan also expressed that he could use the name of donation to advance part of the military expenses and materials needed for military operations, so that even if the subsequent mining of the mine does not go smoothly, at least the military will not pay back.
Liao Jie was soon persuaded by Zheng Fan that this method of profit distribution is equivalent to taking shares in the mine. If the operation is good, there will be stable income in the next few years.The task that the military needs to undertake is probably just to send troops to expel the Haihan people from this area. In Liao Jie's opinion, this should not be too difficult a job, and he didn't even really realize the challenges that such an operation would face. risks of.
But Guo Xingning had already smelled something bad before he set off, because at the same time as the news of the Fushan Copper Mine broke out, there was another rumor that sounded less exciting in Dengzhou City, that is, the Haihan Army The leader of the Wanjia Army who escaped before was captured in the mountainous area of Fushan County, and the rest of the party has been wiped out. The location of the fighting is said to be very close to the location of the Fushan Copper Mine.
What Guo Xingning cares about is not the resolute determination of the Haihan army to wipe out the remnants of the bandits, but the purpose of their labor and mobilization to do this.Based on Haihan's businessman nature, Guo Xingning was convinced that their actions must have a deeper purpose that was beneficial to themselves besides maintaining local law and order.And this battle site is very close to the Fushan Copper Mine, combined with the timing of these two seemingly irrelevant events, Guo Xingning believes that this is not a coincidence, but that Haihan deliberately cleared the last for the mining of this copper mine. obstacle.
How did the Haihan people know that there were copper mines in the area controlled by the Wanjia Army? Guo Xingning believed that this might be a secret used by the bandits captured by Haihan to save their lives.The response of the Haihan people to drive and kill the Wanjia army seems to be able to reflect the value of this copper mine and Haihan's determination to mine this vein from the side.There was no response to the official documents sent by the Dengzhou government. Guo Xingning believed that the silence of the Haihan people had already shown a negative attitude. Even sending troops to Fushan may not be able to force Haihan to back down. The situation got out of hand.
Guo Xingning informed Liao Jie of his thoughts and expressed his concerns, but he could not provide any evidence for these conjectures, nor could he prove that the Haihan people planned to fight with force, so Liao Jie did not believe him in the end. statement.Now that winter is approaching, if no action is taken, roads will be blocked by heavy snow in winter, and it will be inconvenient for troops to go out. This delay may have to be delayed until the beginning of next spring.
Things changed later, neither Liao Jie nor Zheng Fan had the patience to wait any longer.So Liao Jie still insisted on his own opinion, and handed over the task of going to Fushan to expel the Haihan people to Guo Xingning.He hoped that Guo Xingning would fight against the Haihan people in person, and use the facts to overthrow his wrong thoughts.
Guo Xingning was not willing to take this task, but he also knew that the people Liao Jie trusted most were him and Shangguanye.Now Shangguanye has been stationed in Fushan County for more than half a month, and has tried his best to scout Haihan's deployment and movements. Now it's time to do something. If Guo Xingning can't go up, who else can go up, no matter how reluctant he is, he can only insist On the scalp.
Liao Jie's request to Guo Xingning is to fight quickly and try not to drag the war until winter. As long as the Haihan people give up the mine and return to Zhifu Island obediently, there is no need to kill them all.Keep this fat sheep, and you can slowly think of other tricks to extract oil and water in the future.Guo Xingning could only take chances, hoping that his previous thoughts were just a misjudgment, and that the Haihan people would not have the courage to confront the imperial army head-on.
But after marching into Fushan County, Guo Xingning realized that this luck would probably come to naught. The Haihan people were probably ready to fight before the Ming army left Dengzhou City.Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why the Ming army had not long since moved out of the garrison, and Haihan Tanma appeared in the area near the army.Haihan was not unprepared for the arrival of the Ming army. It is conceivable that they should have made corresponding arrangements in the area where the copper mine is located. It may be difficult for him to complete this errand smoothly.
However, Guo Xingning did not panic because of this. Although he believed that the Haihan people would not easily follow the order of the Dengzhou government to give up the copper mine, he did not really think that the strength of the Haihan army could compete with the Ming army.From the beginning to the end, he thought that this was just a group of armed sea merchants, and he did not regard the Haihan Army as a real professional army.
The troops Guo Xingning led were all his direct descendants brought over from Yanzhou Mansion. They had participated in the anti-insurgency war in Dengzhou before, and they were all veterans who had experienced battle experience.This time he dispatched troops to Fushan County, Liao Jie also specially assigned a few conveniently transportable Francophone cannons to Guo Xingning. With the addition of nearly one-third of the musketeers in the original battalion, Guo Xingning was quite confident in defeating Haihan.
It's just that Haihan's expedition is like a fly that can't be chased away, which is really annoying. Guo Xingning can't help but worry that if the Haihan army is as slick as the Wanjia army and refuses to fight head-on, it will be very troublesome to deal with. .In the past, the Dengzhou garrison did not want to be involved in a very troublesome security battle, so they turned a blind eye to the existence of the Wanjia army.The Haihan army is only stronger than the Wanjia army. If a similar situation occurs, it will become a big trouble.
But Guo Xingning didn't realize that, in fact, his troubles had already started from the moment he stepped into the boundary of Fushan County.When there were still about ten miles away from the destination, Guo Xingning received a report from the heirs, saying that an unknown number of Haihan armed men suddenly appeared in the area east of Guxian Town, and blocked the road leading to Dengzhou City with roadblocks. official way.
The Haihan people didn't attack early, they didn't attack until the Ming army passed Guxian Town. This kind of action obviously wanted to cut off Guo Xingning's retreat, and it was already showing full hostility.Although the official road between this place and Dengzhou City is not the only one that can pass through, the combat supplies needed by the Ming army need to be transported through the official road. Now this transportation route is cut off by the Haihan army. and radius are also significantly affected by this.
It is reasonable to say that marching and fighting would not be unprepared for this kind of thing, but Guo Xingning had never regarded the opponent as a real army before, and naturally did not think that the opponent would take any measures to counter him. Before starting the war, cut off your own back road first.
As a result, the situation of Guo Xingning's troops is a bit embarrassing. If you continue to march forward, the Haihan people may have already deployed a defense line in front and wait for you to hit them. If you turn around and deal with the Haihan people in the back road, then this is very likely. It will turn into another farce of chasing flies, and they will evacuate before the Ming army arrives.Guo Xingning's troops were limited, and he didn't dare to divide his troops easily in the wild, so he was caught in a dilemma.
(End of this chapter)