There are several luxurious houses in Jinzhou City that cover a large area and are lined with houses, which belong to the three brothers of the left governor, the general of Jinzhou, Zu Dashou, deputy general of Jinzhou, Zu Dale, and Ningyuan general of Zu Dabi, as well as their brother-in-law, Wu Xiang, General of Shanhaiguan.

Zu Dashou's mansion is located in the middle of several luxury houses. Its structure is grand, its wide area and its ornate decoration are even better than the other houses.

In the study room of the back home owner's courtyard, Zu Dashou was meeting with Li Rutai who was secretly coming, and his eldest son Zu Zerun stood behind his father.

Under the match between Jiang Xin, who was captured in the battle of the Daling River, who was surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Li Rutai spent a lot of money to bribe several generals before he was received by Zu Dashou.

Zu Dashou was not tall, but burly and strong. Sitting on a chair covered with tiger skin was like a hill, his narrow eyes shining everywhere, and he glanced at Li Lutai, who was sitting at the lower head from time to time.

Since he was besieged in Dalinghe City for several months in the fourth year of Chongzhen and had no choice but to surrender due to long-term food cuts, Zu Dashou, who fled back on the grounds of seizing Jinzhou, had never seen the envoy of Jiannu again.

Although Huang Taiji sent secret envoys to come with letters, urging Zu Dashou not to break his promise and to offer Jinzhou as soon as possible, Zu Dashou did not see him, and only used various excuses to shirk responsibility, he still stood on the front line of Jinzhou and refused to offer the city.

The reason why I met Li Lutai this time was because my close confidant generals around me made several suggestions and requests. Zu Dashou, who did not want to refute everyone's face, reluctantly agreed.

He knew in his heart that these grandsons didn't know how much property they had eaten from Jiannu, so they took turns to speak frequently for the secret envoys.

The outdoors were already dripping water turned into ice, but the fire walls on both sides made the interior warm as spring. Li Lutai, wearing fur, was already sweating on his forehead and felt extremely hot all over.

After he picked up the tea from the short table beside him and drank it, the feeling of irritability and vomiting was slightly worse.

Zu Dashou, wearing a silk robe, spoke in a deep voice: "What's the matter with you, Hong Tai? I'm busy with business, so I'll tell you quickly if you have something to do!"

Li Rutai stretched out his sleeves and wiped the sweat from his forehead, bowed and said, "If you go back to the general system, my emperor ordered me to come this time to reconcile the friendship with the general system and plan a future path, and also ordered me to bring the general system to repay the general system for helping me for the Qing Dynasty for many years!"

Zu Dashou snorted coldly: "If you have something to say, just say it, let it go! I have a relationship with Hong Tai? You are the local man in Jianzhou, and you will be the Qing Dynasty! How can you and I have a common path!"

Li Ruitailuo's expression looked awkward, but since he denied having friendship with Jianzhou and asked him to tell the purpose of the trip, he had no choice but to stop going around.

He took out a letter from his arms, got up and wanted to hand it forward to Zu Dashou's hand. Who knew that Zu Dashou waved his hand and said impatiently: "If you have something to say it! I won't have time to read this letter!"

Li Ruitai had to sit back on the chair, put the letter on the short table and spoke: "General Zu, I am asking for help on behalf of my emperor! Now my Qing Dynasty is in a temporary trap. I hope General Zu will lend a helping hand to help me. My Qing Dynasty will be grateful!"

Zu Dashou looked at Li Shutai with his forehead squinted, and grinned: "Hehe! What a strange thing! Your master is known as wise and powerful, and he is omnipotent. He was defeated by his hands back then. Why did he suddenly come to our door? Come on, tell us what happened to Hong Tai? Is there food or something else?"

Li Rutai had no time to pay attention to Zu Dashou's sarcastic words and said that after cutting off the business journey, Jianzhou was in a dilemma of shortage of supplies and asked Zu Dashou to help at this critical moment.

After hearing this, Zu Dashou burst into laughter, and Zu Zerun also looked sarcastic.

The incident of Ajige's defeat in the border area and returning to Jianzhou had long been heard by the Liaodong generals. While Zu Dashou was gloating, he was also surprised by the sudden appearance of such a strong army in the court.

The Guanning Army has always been defeated repeatedly with the Later Jin Dynasty, but they have always believed that they were the most elite armed forces of the Ming Dynasty. The reason why they were defeated by Jiannu repeatedly was because their opponents were too strong. As long as the Guanning Army could not defeat, it would be useless if anyone came to them.

Didn't you see the thieves who were repeatedly suppressed in the pass, and they quickly perished after the imperial court dispatched a few Liaodong cavalry? This proves that the Guanning army was the last reliance of the court, so it was natural to ask for money from the court.

This kind of arrogant mentality is common among the Liaodong generals, so the Liaodong generals still disbelief that Ajige, who is known for his bravery, was defeated by the government army in Changping and suffered a considerable loss. Later, news about the various parties about this battle came one after another, and the Liaodong generals finally believed that the imperial court had an armed force that was stronger than the Guanning Army.

Before Zu Dashou and others could consider how to get along with the court in the future, Li Lutai came.

Seeing that the arrogant Jiannu was defeated one after another, would Zu Dashou be unhappy?

Li Lutai had long expected Zu Dashou's reaction. After Zu Dashou finished laughing, he bowed calmly and said, "General Zu, you only see the continuous damage of my Qing Dynasty, but you have never thought that in the long run, what will happen to the Zu family after the Qing Dynasty declines day by day? An old saying goes: Birds are gone, good bows are hidden; cunning rabbits die, and lackeys are cooked! If there is really a day when my Qing Zhen has something that I can't bear to say, how can the Zu family survive? For many years, the Liaodong generals despise the Ming court and have countless things to ignore! Does General Zu think that the Ming court has no complaints about the Liaodong generals' actions over the years? The day when the Qing Dynasty overturns is the time when the Zu family is defeated!"

Li Lutai was smart and studious since childhood. When he was five years old, his father Li Yongfang invited an old local scholar from Liaodong to enlighten him. After he was chéng    rén, he spent a lot of money to invite well-educated people from Liaodong to know his knowledge. Although Li Lutai was unable to participate in the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty, after many years of extensive knowledge and strong memory, Li Lutai not only gave him verbal words, but also his knowledge was definitely the best in the Later Jin Dynasty. If he had good luck in the Ming Dynasty, he could also pass the imperial examination.

After Li Ruitai said this, Zu Dashou was furious. He pointed at Li Ruitai and shouted sternly: "You servant want to talk nonsense again! I chop you up with one knife! I have been guarding Liaodong for the court since my ancestors, and made countless contributions during this period! Several great men from my ancestors were stained with blood! By this generation, father and son and brothers joined forces to fight with your master! In order to defend Liaodong for the court, you will not let you wait for the savages to harm the people of the Ming Dynasty! My ancestors have always been loyal to the Ming Dynasty! You slaves dare to alienate our Liaodong generals and the court! You are really blind to your dog! If it weren't for the sake of your late father, I would have chopped you up and fed you to the dog now!"

Zu Zerun also glared at Li Lutai, but his body was not moving at all.

Before Li Yongfang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he served as the guerrilla guerrilla in Fushun. He had a good relationship with Zu Dashou's father and Zu Chengxun, who was then the deputy general of Liaodong. If he had not been rebellious early, Zu Dashou and Li Rutai should have been in the same family friendship, and both sides should be called brothers.

Li Rutai didn't care about Zu Dashou's threats. He knew in his heart that if Zu Dashou wanted to kill him, he wouldn't say much nonsense, and he would have been dragged down and beheaded.

Zu Dashou's words of harsh words just now were more like words of self-comfort and self-reliance than to tell him.

This shows that his words have touched the weakest part of Zu Dashou's heart. It is also a realistic problem that Zu Dashou once considered but never dared to face.

The Later Jin and Liaodong fought for many years, and they knew each other well and knew very well about the domineering behavior of Liaodong generals to treat the Ming court on a daily basis.

After the second year of Chongzhen, Zu Dashou led his army to evacuate after the Jin attacked the capital in the second year of Chongzhen. Since then, Huang Taiji and others believed that Zu Dashou had a second thought, so they released him in Dalinghe City, hoping to win the army without fighting without fighting.

But the Later Jin Dynasty was not strong enough to the present level. Zu Dashou thought about it and felt that there was no future with the Later Jin Dynasty, so he pretended to surrender and returned.

After bowing, Li Rutai said earnestly: "General Zu, my despised words are not alarmist just now. General and Major General might as well think carefully: Generals should have heard of the defeat of Wuying County Prince Wuying several months ago. Liaodong had been fighting with our Qing Dynasty for many years. Generals should know the fierceness of our Eight Banners and the bravery of Wuying County Prince Wuying! But even such a brave general was defeated in Changping, that is to say, the Ming court already had enough force to compete with our Qing Dynasty! Although it is normal that our Eight Banners occasionally suffered defeats, this Ming army has been listed as a destruction army by our emperor, but the Ming emperor and the court officials will believe that they have new forces that can replace the generals in Liaodong! From then on, they will no longer obey the generals. If the general asks for money and goods from your court, I am afraid that they will not be so so before?!"

Zu Dashou and Zu Zerun were both silent.

Li Shutai's words pointed to the key points. Since the ninth year of Chongzhen, the money and materials allocated by the imperial court to Liaodong have gradually decreased. In addition, the new Minister of War Yang Sichang also wrote to Liaodong several times, angrily criticizing the generals of Liaodong for false reporting of their troops and taking empty wages. They have been stationed in heavy troops for a long time but have done nothing, which has never been done before.

Seeing this scene, Li Rutai further increased his weight: "General Zu, Major General, our Qing Dynasty has no intention to enter the pass and invade Ming Kingdom. Our emperor only wants to protect Liaodong, a bitter and cold land with the Zu family. It is enough for the two families to share wealth and honor for generations! For others and yourself, please help General Zu!"

Li Shutai's words completely inspired Zu Dashou.

As long as the status quo can be maintained, Jianzhou will always put pressure on the court in Liaodong, and the court will have to accept the unreasonable demands of the Liaodong generals in order to protect the border and defend the territory.

In fact, this was not the first move of the Zu family. Before the Jianzhou Jurchens rose, Mongolian tribes took turns to detain borders. The military leaders of Xuanda, Yansui and Ningxia were the same. They used various excuses to ask the court for money and materials to maintain their own family and their subordinates' glory and wealth.

It would be even better if Jianzhou could find an opportunity to severely damage Changping, the Ming army would be. From then on, the court would not have a strong army, and in the end it would have to only look at Liaodong.

Zu Dashou pondered for a while and said, "I will know what the things you lack in your family, but I will be a minister of the Ming Dynasty. You must not do too much work! I will make a charter today: The materials you need to establish a state of affairs this time, pig iron cannot exceed ten thousand kilograms, huǒ    yào cannot exceed ten thousand kilograms of grain, and a family also lacks food, only five hundred s! The rest will be handled by Zerun at his discretion! I have something to say first, only this time, and no next time! This matter must not be known to anyone else! After you go back, you will tell Mr. Hong and let him do it yourself!"

After saying that, Zu Dashou stood up and left, Zu Zerun stayed and discussed with Li Lutai on specific matters of how to operate.

Li Lutai felt relieved. The materials Zu Dashou promised to sell them this time were much less than expected, but he finally solved the urgent needs of the Later Jin Dynasty and could have an explanation when he went back. With these iron materials, he could make more arrows and repair more weapons, so as to make full preparations for the Western Expedition in the Spring Festival next year.

Although Zu Dashou said it was only this time, as long as you use a lot of money to open up the road and regularly rebuild the original small-scale smuggling activities. When other ways are found next year, Jianzhou will slowly overcome this difficulty.
Chapter completed!