Daosheng is Captain Lian Zhen, which Qi Ning did not expect.
He had a lot of contact with the Shenhou Mansion, and the daughter of the Shenhou Mansion was his wife. But today he really knew how pervasive the Shenhou Mansion was. This Lian Zhen Colonel not only penetrated into the Northern Han Dynasty, but also established a secret service in the Northwest Zhenxi General Mansion. After lurking for several years and even gaining Qu Manbao's trust, the Shenhou Mansion was so impressive that Qining was really eye-opening today.
What made Qining even more emotional was that the Chu State had planned a strategy to attack Xianyang several years ago.
He had always thought that this military plan was only figured out by Jin Dao Hou in recent years. Who knew that not only had this been planned for a long time, but that the former emperor and God Hou Ximen Wuhen were already aware of it and had even made arrangements for it in advance.
Daosheng is Lieutenant Lian Zhen, so all the strange things before make sense.
Daosheng was Qu Manbao's confidant, so he naturally knew Qu Manbao's whereabouts very well, and he also knew Xianyang's defense pattern very clearly. Shenhou Mansion was not the only internal agent in the northwest, and Daosheng also directly admitted that there was also Shenhou Mansion in the northwest. Many spies were deployed, with Daosheng as the center, forming an underground intelligence network in the northwest. It was the efforts of these dark spies for several years that played a huge role in this military operation.
Qi Ning had to admit that Daosheng persuaded Qu Manbao to go to Tongguan. This single action was an outstanding achievement. If not for this, it is really unknown whether the Chu army's operation would succeed.
Qining handed the sign in his hand back to Hongmendao. Hongmendao took it with both hands and put it away. Qining raised his hand and said: "Get up and talk."
Daosheng stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Sir, you and your junior sister are getting married. I am not here to celebrate, so please forgive me." He took out a document from his sleeve and handed it over, "This is a gift from me. A congratulatory gift from your lordship and junior sister."
Qi Ning's expression calmed down, and he thought that Hongmendao was one of the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper in the Shenhou Mansion. According to the order, he should be the fifth senior brother. He stood up, cupped his hands and said: "Thank you, the fifth senior brother!" It was not rude to be rude at this time, so he took the article with both hands. I was curious about the gift, and I didn’t know what the gift was.
He opened it and glanced at it, thinking it was a gift list, but when he took a closer look, he saw that there were many names written on it, and official positions were listed at the back.
He was a little strange. Hong Mendao said seriously: "Sir, this is a list of officials in the northwest. We have also carefully checked the officials in the northwest over the years. The officials registered on this list are more or less There are unreliable reasons. Among them, those with a red line behind their names are people who cannot be trusted. If they are left in the northwest, something will happen. For officials who are not on the roster, the Lord can safely appoint them. People just get their salary and work as officials. Now that our army has arrived in the northwest, as long as their lives are guaranteed, they will definitely serve me in Chu."
Qi Ning's eyebrows spread.
He certainly knows the importance of this roster.
Although the Chu army controls Xianyang, it is still unknown whether it can control the entire northwest.
The folk customs in the northwest are fierce, and Qi Ning has no way of knowing whether the people here will accept the arrival of the Chu Kingdom. If there is a rebellion in the northwest, Qi Ning will not be surprised at all.
Because of this, he immediately summoned the northwest wealthy families and gave them excellent treatment. Moreover, before reporting to the court, he had promised to the northwest wealthy families that he would reopen the trade road between the north and the south. In the final analysis, he wanted to take advantage of The wealthy families in the northwest came to stabilize the situation in the northwest.
He naturally knows the influence of wealthy families in various places. As long as the wealthy families can have a good impression of the Chu State and even assist the Chu State, there will definitely be no major turmoil.
In addition to the wealthy families, the officials in the northwest are of course also an extremely important part. Therefore, he summoned the officials today to stabilize the minds of these people. These officials know that their lives are not in danger and they can still serve as officials in the northwest. Naturally, they do not There will be backlash.
In fact, it is impossible for Qi Ning to attack the officials in the northwest at present. The northwest is a vast land. If these officials are dealt with, the land will not be in chaos. If they can be reassured and abide by their duties, naturally there will be no such thing. What a mess.
But after all, the northwest has been under the rule of the Northern Han Dynasty for decades. After so many years, the Northern Han Dynasty will inevitably penetrate a large number of court forces into the northwest. Qining looks at all the officials from the northwest, but what are the backgrounds of these people and what are their characteristics? It is impossible for Qi Ning to know in a short time which people are really willing to be used by Chu State, or who are at risk of provoking unrest.
Now that we have this roster, we have a very clear judgment on the position of northwest officials.
"The last page of this list is for the officials with outstanding talents in the northwest." Hongmendao said solemnly: "Half of these people can be reused. They are all useful talents who can stand alone. If we can let them work for us, It is indeed a blessing to have Chu Jingli. Among the other half, some can be won over, but there are a small number of people who, although they have outstanding talents, cannot be entrusted with important tasks. As for how to deal with them, everything depends on the judgment of the Lord."
Qi Ning looked through it, carefully put it away, and said with a smile: "Fifth Senior Brother, your contribution this time is far greater than ours. I will write a report and submit it to the court today. Your contribution, I...!"
"Your Majesty, you don't have to be like this." Before Qi Ning could finish speaking, Hong Mendao immediately said: "These things are what we should do. Whether to report to the court or not requires the personal consent of the Lord God, so...!"
Qining immediately understood that the Shenhou Mansion was a dark government office after all. Officials in the imperial court never mentioned the Shenhou Mansion in their excerpts. It would be inappropriate for him to ask for credit for Hongmen Dao in his excerpts. He nodded slightly. Said: "I understand, your merits will be rewarded by the God himself. That's right, now that Xianyang is in our hands, where will Fifth Brother plan to go in the future?"
"My mission in the northwest has been completed. I have arranged some things here in the past few days, and then I will return to Jianye." Hongmendao smiled and said: "It has been almost ten years since I left Jianye, and I don't know what God has in store for him and my brothers. How are we? Yes, there is also the junior sister. She was just a child when we left, but now she has left the cabinet...!" At this point, he fell silent.
Qi Ning can certainly understand Hong Mendao's mood.
As an important intelligence bureau of the empire, the Shenhou Mansion not only strictly controls the domestic political forces, but also the movements of domestic officials are under the surveillance of the Shenhou Mansion. In addition, the collection of intelligence from enemy countries is of course also an important matter for the Shenhou Mansion. One of the responsibilities.
Although Qi Ning has become the son-in-law of the Shenhou Mansion, even he cannot tell how many people there are in the Shenhou Mansion.
Naturally, many people know about the Big Dipper in the Shenhou Mansion on the surface, but under the Big Dipper, no one can tell clearly how many officials of the Shenhou Mansion are lurking in the world.
It's fine to stay in their own country, but many officials of the Shenhou Mansion are far away from their homeland and lurking in the enemy's territory, and they stay lurking for several years or even ten years.
During the incubation period, dangers are always around, and no one knows even if they die.
Hong Mendao was assigned by the Shenhou Mansion to lurk in the Northern Han Dynasty. I am afraid no one knows how many dangers he encountered in the process.
Qi Ning knew that the attack on Xianyang was so successful this time, Hongmen Dao took the greatest credit, but it took several years of hard work for Hongmen Dao to be able to provide this information.
Lurking next to the enemy naturally means turning yourself into another person and acting out day and night. This kind of psychological pressure is probably not something ordinary people can bear.
"Actually, Zhan Ying and the others have also been thinking about the fifth senior brother." Qi Ning said warmly: "On the day of the wedding, Zhan Ying also told me that if the fifth senior brother was here, he would definitely wrap a big gift for us."
Hong Mendao showed a trace of warmth in his brows and said with a smile: "Yes, when we go back to Jianye, we have to prepare a special gift for my junior sister. Otherwise, if Kong Shou sees her, I'm afraid she will never talk to me again in her life." Xiang Qining cupped his hands and said: "Sir, you are busy with official duties, so I won't disturb you too much. I will handle the matters at hand these days and then say goodbye to your lord. If your lord has anything to do with me these days, please feel free to do so." Time dictates.”
After Hong Mendao retreated, Duan Canghai, who had been silent until now, came forward and exclaimed: "Sir, I didn't expect that we were so successful this time, but people from the Shenhou Mansion secretly helped."
"He helped us a lot. After returning to Jianye, I really want to express my gratitude to the god."
Duan Canghai pondered for a moment and then said: "Sir, I'm afraid you won't be able to leave Northwest in a short time."
"oh?"
"Although we have captured Xianyang and controlled Tongguan, it will not be possible to completely surrender the northwest to our great Chu." Duan Canghai whispered: "Those are indispensable to manage the government and stabilize the people. , and Qu Yuangu lost the northwest, and he would definitely be thinking about Jiangxi being recaptured. With the Duke sitting here, it is impossible for the court to send someone else to guard the northwest, and there is no one in the civil and military officials of the dynasty who is qualified to replace the Duke. , I estimate that Sir Alex will stay here for a year and a half."
Qi Ning said with a grimace: "A year and a half?"
"This is just an estimate at the moment, and it may take longer." Duan Canghai said: "By seizing the northwest, our country, Chu, will have an absolute advantage over the Northern Han Dynasty in the military. If our country, Chu, cannot win the victory this time, Luoyang, then the northwest will definitely become the flank of the empire in the future. I estimate that the emperor will issue a decree for us to pass through the northwest. Not only must we stabilize the northwest, but we must also accumulate strength. When the time is right, we can cooperate with the Qinhuai Army from the flank to attack the Northern Han Dynasty. Launch a full-scale attack.”
Qi Ning nodded slightly. In Tantai Huang's military strategy, taking the northwest was originally to serve as a flank to cooperate with the main force of the Qinhuai Army. Now that Chu State has the ability to launch an offensive against the Northern Han Dynasty from two fronts, the threat to the Northern Han Dynasty is extremely huge. .
Even if there is no action, the Northern Han Dynasty only needed to defend the Chu State along the Qinhuai line. Now it not only has to defend against the enemies in the south, but also spends huge financial and manpower to deal with threats from the northwest. In this way, the consumption of the Northern Han Dynasty is also Unprecedentedly huge.