Xu Yongzhen never expected that even talking about family ties with Jiang Wan would be so thrilling.

Jiang Wan's nonchalant "less than two thousand..." continued until the reception banquet was over, when he and Xu Renzhi returned to the residence arranged for him by Jiang Wan, still feeling a little dizzy.

He was very sure that it was definitely not because he had a few drinks at the reception banquet.

The reception banquet was a family banquet. Apart from the two Korean maids who served Jiang Wan, there was also a subordinate named Gao Xingsheng. However, according to Xu Renzhi, this person was Jiang Wan's right-hand man in the capital of Liaodong. Although his official position was not

He was tall, but quite powerful. Jiang Wan asked this person to accompany him, and it was obvious that he regarded this person as his confidant.

Since he is a confidant, he should naturally know many things about Jiang Wan.

Xu Yongzhen was wondering whether he should ask Xu Renzhi and the other party to inquire about the Zhenjiang Fort. It would be impossible for Jiang Wan to have such an outsider come to the family dinner for their brother for no reason.

He felt that this should be some kind of hint from Jiang Wan.

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with letting Xu Renzhi chat with the other party. If he really can't find out anything, he won't suffer any loss. Then Gao Sheng is Jiang Wan's confidant, and as a Xu family brother, there is no way he can directly give it to him.

They are embarrassed.

Xu Renzhi left drunk, but within an hour he came back with bright eyes.

"How's it going?" Xu Yongzhen asked anxiously: "So, is Xing Sheng still easy to talk to?"

"What's so hard to talk about!" Xu Renzhi said with a smile: "I knew him before, but I didn't have much contact with him. This guy was with Jiang Wan, and he was doing the work of spying on intelligence and cleaning up spies. I was always around him.

I feel a little cold and don’t like to talk to him very much!”

"Let's get down to business!" Xu Yongzhen glared at him: "Have you asked about Jiang Wan's strength and the details of this Gushan victory that I asked you to inquire about?"

"In terms of strength, I feel that it is not much different from before I went to Guangning. There are only so many people!" Xu Renzhi pondered for a moment: "In fact, there is no need to ask about these. This is what the Liaodong Capital Secretary said openly.

s things!"

"Say, stop talking nonsense!" Xu Yongzhen said coldly.

"Currently, there are four legions under the command of Liaodong Dusi. According to their division, they are the middle leg, the west leg, the east leg and the main legion. This is their main force regulation. Each legion ranges from several thousand to ten or twenty thousand people.

, In addition to this, there are some troops and horses directly under the Liaodong Dusi Military and Political Office, such as artillery battalions, cavalry camps, etc. These are relatively precious troops and horses, and Jiang Wan must be in his own hands!"

"So many soldiers and horses? Isn't this almost one hundred thousand soldiers and horses? How is it possible, unless all the people in Liaodong Dusi have almost all the soldiers!" Xu Yongzhen frowned, feeling that this was a bit outrageous.

"That's right. When I left last time, I only had 30,000 to 40,000 troops. I don't know why he suddenly had so many troops!" Xu Renzhi was also a little puzzled. He was now leading the army.

Those who are soldiers naturally know that an army is not just a bunch of heads thrown together to form an army.

In particular, Jiang Wan's soldiers and horses still carried the Tatars and defeated them, let alone that kind of mob.

"go on……"

"The territory currently controlled by Liaodong Dusi extends to Kaizhou near Liaoyang in the west, to Pi Island in the south, and to the east covers Ping'an and Xianjing of North Korea. As for the north, it is Gushan Fort where a big battle just happened.

, I heard that fighting is still going on over there, and there are quite a few troops stationed there!"

"Such a big territory?" Xu Yongzhen felt his mouth feel a little dry.

He walked all the way from Beijing to Liaoyang and then to Zhenjiang Fort. Naturally, he knew how big the place his brother just mentioned was and how many people it could feed. And Jiang Wan had nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses in his hands. He could do it without any hesitation.

It is said that Jiang Wan's Liaodong Dusi has become the Ming Dynasty's largest force outside the customs.

On this point, I think the Tartars and he should be able to reach a consensus.

"So, brother, your errand is not going to be easy!" Xu Renzhi also stopped smiling: "In addition to persuading Jiang Wan to return to Beijing willingly, any other method will not work.

Yes, Jiang Wan’s current strength can make him stand up straight and speak!”

"And these soldiers, horses, and territory didn't cost the imperial court a single tael of silver!" Xu Renzhi's voice lowered: "To put it bluntly, the imperial court really can't hold his neck. If he says he won't pay the imperial court's account, he won't buy it.

Got it!"

"I had no intention of forcing it!" Xu Yongzhen shook his head: "I didn't even intend to use coaxing methods to trick him into returning to Beijing. He already has a large number of troops and dominates one side. If he really uses these methods, it will only lead to annihilation.

The affection between our Xu family and him, without my Xu family to mediate between him and the imperial court, would really be a big deal!"

"Brother, how are you going to tell him about this? It's hard to say!"

"Let me think about it, let me think about it again..." Xu Yongzhen waved his hand: "In the past few days, if you have nothing to do, you should interact with that Gao Xingsheng more and walk around the city more. I have to have a minor illness to delay it for a while!"

"Everything follows the arrangements of big brother!"

In Jiang Wan's courtyard, Jiang Wan and Gao Xingsheng were also talking about today's events, and Gao Xingsheng almost waited for Xu Renzhi to leave before he immediately came to Jiang Wan to report.

"Second Master Xu asked a lot of questions, and my subordinates followed the commander's instructions and answered his questions without any concealment!"

"Well, we have nothing to hide!" Jiang Wan nodded: "Tell them whatever they want to know, and show them whatever they want to see. They are envoys of the imperial court, but they are also my family members.

If I can’t trust any of my own people, then I will really have no one in the court who can trust me!”

"But Marshal, you just said that there must be a reason why they chose this time to come and why they came so quickly. Moreover, the madam and the young master did not come with them. My subordinates feel that their intentions in coming are not good!

"

"So, let's wait for them to tell us their purpose. When they come to us at this time, they represent not only themselves, but also the meaning of the person in the Jinluan Palace. However, this time the person is much more subtle and does not directly

Let’s do the Secret Edict thing!”

Gao Xingsheng laughed: "That's the one who knows that his secret decree will not have much effect on the commander!"

"Okay, let's not talk about it anymore. It's not a bad thing for them to come, it's the bad thing over at Gushan Castle!" Jiang Wan waved her hand: "Has Wei Qi set off?"

"Already set off, but he seems very reluctant!" Gao Sheng nodded: "Originally, I wanted him to go directly to Shengjing, but he threatened to die, so his subordinates did not dare to go too far. I guess

He feels that after meeting Abatai, he can still come back alive, but after meeting Huang Taiji, there will be no return!"

"If you don't go, you won't go. It's not like we can't hold a banquet without his sweet potato!" Jiang Wan smiled: "Let Zhou Jue pick people to form a mission to Shengjing. Your Military Intelligence Department will also send

There are several elite soldiers and generals among them, let's let Huang Taiji see that our Liaodong Dusi is not without talents!"

"My subordinates recommend someone to the commander-in-chief!" Gao Xingsheng nodded: "The official envoy will be someone from our Civil Affairs Office, but as deputy envoy, I feel that Li Sizhong, who joined the Central Route Army, can be used. During the war, this person performed outstandingly.

He is impeccable in his actions, and as a surrendered general, this person is eager to prove himself in front of the commander-in-chief."

"Li Sizhong!" Jiang Wan thought for a moment: "I remember that he is a descendant of Li Chengliang. There are many reasons for this person to devote himself to his posthumous wealth. However, if our Ming Dynasty becomes stronger and this person's heart to serve the Ming Dynasty is revived,

That’s understandable!”

"That's right!" Gao Xingsheng said with a smile: "Li Chengliang was so famous in Liaodong back then. Even Nurhachi was once his slave. Before the rise of the Tartars, the Li family was their supreme emperor. Li Sizhong committed himself to the Tartars.

, If Li Chengliang knew that his descendants were so embarrassed, he would be so angry that he would crawl out of the coffin and point his nose at this guy and curse him!"

"This should be what Li Sizhong cares about most, that's why he behaves like this!" Jiang Wan nodded: "Okay, you can find a time for him to come over, and I will see him with my own eyes. If this person is available, he will be the deputy envoy."

!”

The conversation between the two reached a stage, and at this time, Gao Sheng should have raised his eyebrows and resigned. However, Jiang Wan suddenly felt a little strange when she saw the way he hesitated to speak.

"Anything else to report?"

"There seems to be some clues about the flood!" Gao Xingsheng said in a low voice, "It's just that this thing is a bit unbelievable. My subordinates haven't verified it, so I'm not sure whether it is true or not!"

"Tell me what you found!" When Jiang Wan heard this, he immediately felt no longer tired.

He personally handed over this matter to Gao Xingsheng's Military Intelligence Department. He did not expect that Gao Xingsheng would be able to find out the matter clearly in such a short period of time. After all, all traces had been washed away by the flood that day.

It had to be done cleanly. No matter how capable Gao Sheng was, he felt that it would take at least some time to produce results.

"Actually, this matter has something to do with the fact that I just mentioned General Li Sizhong to the commander-in-chief!"

Gao Xingsheng said: "He said that a group of soldiers surrendered under the Han Army Banner recently found him and wanted to surrender to us. Our Military Intelligence Department has always done the screening of surrendered generals and surrendered soldiers, but the people I sent told him

It seems that many people in this group of soldiers have concealed the news of their return..."

"Let's talk about the results directly. I believe in the ability of your Military Intelligence Department!" Jiang Wan said, "There is no need to explain the specific process of how to know the information they concealed!"

"This surrendered soldier was suspected to be sent by Abatai to us to cause sabotage. Later, for some unknown reason, the leading general named Li Nan did not come directly to our Phoenix City. Instead, he led

After they dug a dike along the river and caused a flood, they went directly to Li Sizhong to surrender!"

"Li Sizhong doesn't seem to know about this!" Gao Xingsheng said: "Commander, could it be that they got the instructions from the Tartars to first cause floods to submerge our army, and then pretend to surrender and wait for an opportunity to destroy it?"

Jiang Wan thought for a while and slowly shook his head: "It's just that Li Sizhong didn't know. For such a big thing, both our army and the Tartars suffered heavy casualties and countless losses of weapons, food and fodder. Regardless of whether the Tartars ordered them to do it or not,

They definitely wouldn't dare tell Li Sizhong..."

A strange smile appeared on his face: "If this is the case, they seem to have a reason to surrender to us. The Tartars ordered them to divert the flood, and they flooded the Gushan Fort with their own hands. If they go back, they are afraid that they will not get any good fruits. The Tartars

The captives’ losses are greater than ours!”

Gao Xingsheng nodded in agreement, thinking that this might be very big.

"Of course, this is all my guess. You should handle this matter yourself. You must find out exactly what happened. Whether it was intentional or not, those soldiers who died in the flood need an explanation.

!”

Gao Xingsheng nodded. This time, he really had nothing to report and was ready to resign.

"Work with Li Sizhong!" Jiang Wan suddenly said: "Let's see how he handles this matter, but no matter what your opinions are, it will be reported to me in the end for my decision!"

"I understand, my subordinates are resigning. Commander, please take a rest early!"

The courtyard became quiet again, but Jiang Wan was no longer tired at all due to the last thing.

Li Sizhong, Li Yongfang, Zu Zehong, etc., now there are more and more demoted generals in Liaodong Dusi. These people are still in important positions. If you don't count these generals, they go down to guerrilla generals and the like.

, then the number is even greater.
To be continued...