Chapter 159 Killing two birds with one stone

He fought for half his life and also hid from Huang Taiji for half his life. His wife, tribesmen and conquered territories all became Huang Taiji's wedding dress. It is no wonder that people in later generations regarded Lin Danhan as a stupid, crazy and mad dog.

Thanks to Ligdan Khan's crazy biting, the Qing Dynasty encountered almost no decent resistance when it conquered Mongolia in history.

After listening to Yuan Chonghuan's analysis, Zhao Lujiao found the blind spot and said, "In that case, if Lin Danhan is really hopelessly stupid, we can join forces with Tumed to get rid of him, and then join hands with Bu Shitu to attack the right wing of Mongolia and fight against Jiannu!"

Yuan Chonghuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "In principle, it is best to form an alliance with Ligdan Khan. After all, Tumed is a little farther away and not as strong as them. But... it is indeed possible."

After discussing the possibility of an alliance, Yuan Chonghuan stroked his chin and said, "Our emperor shouldn't be so wise! Could it be that there is an expert guiding him..."

It is no wonder that Yuan Chonghuan had such doubts. After all, he had talked with Chongzhen face to face for an entire afternoon, and he could tell how much evidence Chongzhen had.

Unless Chongzhen deliberately pretended to be a pig to eat the tiger, there is no reason for Yuan Chonghuan to make a misjudgment.

However, whether Chongzhen has experts around him or how much talent he has is not what they should worry about now. After all, the emperor's wisdom is a good thing for their ministers. At least he can understand their intentions in many actions and avoid many troubles.

The most important thing now is who to send to negotiate an alliance with Ligdan Khan.

After all, Lin Danhan is required to send troops, and the two sides must truly join forces to fight a battle. The envoy's status cannot be low, otherwise it will not be sincere enough and will not be able to control the situation.

After a long while, Yuan Chonghuan sighed and said, "If you two hadn't caused that incident, I wouldn't be so entangled."

When Zhao Lujiao heard this, he knew clearly that the "you two" Yuan Chonghuan was referring to were himself and Man Gui.

At the beginning, he and Man Gui were like brothers, and both were capable generals under Yuan Chonghuan.

However, the Battle of Ningyuan broke out later, and the situation in Ningyuan, where Man Gui was stationed, was precarious facing the Jiannu army, and reinforcements were urgently needed.

At that time, Zhao Lushi only sent four garrisons with a small number of troops to provide support, which made Man Gui resentful. In the end, they broke up completely because of a dispute over credit.

Man Gui climbed up the ranks from a lowly soldier to the position of general step by step through his military merits. Unlike the generals who came from military families, he did not have the slightest hypocritical bureaucratic air, but instead attached great importance to brotherhood.

In his opinion, he and Zhao Lujiao were like brothers. When he was in danger, Zhao Lujiao should have led a team to rescue him without saying a word. However, not only did Zhao Lujiao not come, he also only sent four small guards!
Man Gui directly refused these so-called "reinforcements" from entering the city at that time. No matter how dangerous Ningyuan was, it would not lack these two or three little cats.

Later, Man Gui went out of the city and fought a fierce battle with the Jiannu in the wild. He even personally captured the enemy's head and resolved the Ningyuan crisis.

When reporting his achievements, Zhao Lujiao felt that he had also sent out reinforcements and should have a share of the credit.

But the upright boy Man Gui started cursing and accused Zhao Lujiao of disregarding brotherhood. Not only did he not lead troops to rescue in person, but he also never used the few useless people he sent out. How could he have a share of the credit for the victory?

Yuan Chonghuan saw his two trusted generals quarreling, so he wanted to step in to resolve the situation. Unexpectedly, he was scolded by Man Gui who was angry.

Our Grand Commander Yuan is most particular about his appearance. Can he tolerate being scolded by his subordinates?

Of course not!
Yuan Chonghuan not only insisted on reporting the merits to Zhao Lujiao, but also accused Man Gui of being arrogant and abusing his colleagues in a memorial to the court, and requested that Man Gui be transferred from Liaodong. Later, the commander-in-chief Wang Zhichen and Yuan Chonghuan had a disagreement because of this. Wang Zhichen wanted to protect Man Gui and disagreed with Yuan Chonghuan's transfer of Man Gui, while Yuan Chonghuan insisted on transferring Man Gui.

As a result, Wang Zhichen and Man Gui were on one side, and Yuan Chonghuan and Zhao Lujiao were on the other side, and the two sides were like water and fire.

Now the three of them were silent when they met. Chongzhen originally intended to transfer Man Gui from Liaodong and return him to the Five Military Commandery to take up his post.

Historically, Man Gui was indeed transferred away. Later, when Qu Jiazhen, the general of Datong, resigned, Man Gui took over as the general of Datong.

However, Chongzhen once learned from a casual chat with Wang An that Man Gui was a rare and brave general who died on the battlefield for the Ming Dynasty. Chongzhen could not bear to see such a loyal minister die, so he did not transfer Man Gui. Instead, he hoped that Man Gui could make peace with Yuan Chonghuan and Zhao Lushi and reconcile their old ties.

Zhao Lujiao lowered his head and said nothing. According to normal practice, Zhao Lujiao should have expressed his willingness to admit his mistake to Man Gui for the sake of the governor's plan.

After all, Man Gui is not a petty person. As long as the apology is sincere, he will not bear a grudge.

But Man Gui's scolding was too harsh at the beginning, and Zhao Lujiao couldn't swallow it. After all, everyone has a different personality and everyone has a temper.

Man Gui himself has Mongolian ancestry and is also a general. Logically speaking, he is the most suitable person to contact Ligdan Khan.

Now Zhao Lushi is unwilling to take on Yuan Chonghuan's words, but Yuan Chonghuan can't go and admit his mistake in person!
The two were silent for a long time, and Zhao Lujiao suddenly said, "I heard that Lin Danhan is now near Guihua City. It is only 320 miles from Datong Town. It will take at least three days to get there with two horses. It is better to report to the court and ask Datong General Qu Jiazhen to discuss the matter of joining forces."

Yuan Chonghuan's eyes suddenly lit up, but he quickly shook his head and said, "Qu Jiazhen is a cowardly man and cannot be used in important positions."

Historically, there is a reason why Qu Jiazhen resigned and was succeeded by Man Gui as the general of Datong.

Just shortly before the New Year, according to history, Lindan Khan sent his son-in-law to Datong to demand a reward, but he was killed by a lieutenant general, which led to Lindan Khan allowing his troops to plunder.

However, Qu Jiazhen, the general of Datong, stayed indoors and did not dare to send troops to rescue the people outside the city, resulting in the killing of tens of thousands of people. Qu Jiazhen was held accountable and dismissed from his post.

Although this incident did not happen because of Wang An's appearance.

However, when Lin Danhan attacked Datong, the Datong general still did not appear, and the person in charge was actually just a small lieutenant general Fang Zikun.

So even though the massacre did not occur, Qu Jiazhen was still held accountable by Chongzhen, but he was not dismissed immediately.

Just imagine that Qu Jiazhen was so scared by Lin Danhan that he dared not go out. Now he is asked to negotiate with Lin Danhan. Wouldn’t he be controlled by the other party’s momentum as soon as he comes on the stage!

Zhao Lujiao laughed and said, "If that's the case, why don't you suggest that Your Majesty dismiss Qu Jiazhen and transfer Man Gui to take over?"

"Anyway, Qu Jiazhen is no longer useful in your majesty's eyes."

(End of this chapter)