I was living at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and I dealt a brutal blow to the Eight Banners!

After seeing off Zheng Zhilong and the other two, Zhang Jingchuan did not rest. Instead, he led two banners of troops to transport the grain and supplies that had just arrived from within the pass to Songshan City.

Zhang Jingchuan did not choose to go to Jinzhou because Ma Shaoyu and Li Ruolian were in Songshan City.

With Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui absent, he could take the opportunity to have a chat with Ma Shaoyu.

After all, Ma Shaoyu was a confidant of Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War. Befriending such a person would give him a powerful backer in the court.

In this way, he wouldn't have to put all his eggs in one basket with Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui. If those two made a mistake in Jinzhou, he would be in a passive position.

As for Li Ruolian, Zhang Jingchuan had a rather high opinion of this Imperial Guard commander in Liaodong.

This collaboration with Zheng Zhilong to plunder Qing territory was made possible by the support of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Although the Jinyiwei's power is far less than it was during the Hongwu era, even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse, and it is believed that the Jinyiwei must have planted spies and informants in Gaizhou and Fuzhou.

In raids like this, which strike deep into enemy territory, intelligence gathering is of paramount importance.

After arriving at Songshan Castle,

After arranging the handover, Zhang Jingchuan went to the city gate tower to pay his respects to Ma Shaoyu.

"This humble servant, Zhang Jingchuan, greets the Commander!" Zhang Jingchuan stood outside the hall and bowed respectfully.

"Huai'an!" Upon seeing Zhang Jingchuan, Ma Shaoyu quickly put down the memorial in his hand, laughed heartily, and stood up to greet him: "Quickly, come in and sit down!"

Zhang Jingchuan exchanged pleasantries with Ma Shaoyu with a smile for a while, and then reported on some of the situations at Donghai Fort.

Although Ma Shaoyu was not Zhang Jingchuan's direct superior, he still reported on some of his work at Donghai Fort, which could be considered as expressing his attitude to Zhang to some extent.

Ma Shaoyu was able to become Chen Xinjia's confidant and be placed by him to work for Hong Chengchou, not only because of his own abilities, but also because he was very adept at interpersonal relationships.

Ma Shaoyu could easily understand Zhang Jingchuan's attitude and overtures.

He then laughed heartily and said, "Among all the young people in Liaodong, you are the one I admire the most. Your future is limitless!"

Since you, Zhang Jingchuan, are so sensible, then as an elder, I naturally have to show my respect as well.

Whether it's for maximizing profits or for winning over allies and forming alliances, a two-way approach is necessary.

Ma Shaoyu pulled Zhang Jingchuan to sit down, but instead of taking the seat of honor, he chose to sit next to Zhang Jingchuan and said with a smile, "The imperial reward will arrive in a day or two, so I must congratulate you in advance."

Ma Shaoyu's words were an implication to Zhang Jingchuan that his name was on the list of merits for the recapture of Jinzhou. As for why he knew the court would reward him, he said, "Think about it carefully."

Zhang Jingchuan understood Ma Shaoyu's deeper meaning perfectly, and immediately rose to express his gratitude.

“Hey, we’re all family. By age, you, Huai’an, are the same age as my nephew. As an elder, it’s natural for me to take care of you, the younger generation.” Ma Shaoyu pulled Zhang Jingchuan’s hand and made him sit down again.

"Then thank you very much, Uncle!"

Ma Shaoyu has already given such a hint. If Zhang Jingchuan still doesn't know what to do, then he has truly wasted his two lifetimes.

Seeing Zhang Jingchuan's understanding nature, Ma Shaoyu felt quite pleased. He then smiled and asked in a low voice, "The matter of escorting grain and supplies can be handled by the subordinates. You, the garrison commander of this fort, came here personally not just to see your uncle, but also, right?"

Zhang Jingchuan pursed his lips, pretending to have been exposed.

"It's alright, we're family, so feel free to speak your mind!" Ma Shaoyu said with a slight smile.

"I have indeed come here because of something I'm unsure about, and I would like to ask you, Uncle, to take a look," Zhang Jingchuan said hesitantly.

"Oh?" Ma Shaoyu asked with slight surprise, "What could be so uncertain about for you, Zhang Huai'an?"

“I heard from the grain transport fleet inside the pass that their grain and supplies are almost gone, and the imperial court has been slow to allocate funds. I’m afraid we will face a food shortage next month,” Zhang Jingchuan paused, then continued, “So I plan to take the sea route to attack Gaizhou Guard and Fuzhou Guard and seize some grain and supplies.”

“Gaizhou Guard and Fuzhou Guard?” Ma Shaoyu raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Donghai Fort has so many ships?”

"This humble servant intends to cooperate with Zheng Zhilong, a merchant from the coast, to borrow his ships, and then split the looted grain and supplies in half as payment for the ships," Zhang Jingchuan replied.

"You want to take half?" Ma Shaoyu's face darkened, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes: "That was something our soldiers risked their lives for!"

Zhang Jingchuan feigned a sense of loss and said, "But if we don't do this, our troops in Jinzhou will run out of food!"

"Alas!" Ma Shaoyu sighed helplessly, "If our Ming Dynasty navy were more capable, why would we need to cooperate with those merchants!"

Zhang Jingchuan looked at Ma Shaoyu without saying a word.

After a moment's thought, Ma Shaoyu asked, "How many troops does your Donghai Fort have now?"

Zhang Jingchuan pretended to ponder and said, "Including the surrendered soldiers from the past few days, there are about two thousand infantrymen."

On this point, Zhang Jingchuan felt there was no need to hide it from Ma Shaoyu. After all, the more troops he had under his command, the more important he would be in Ma Shaoyu's heart.

After all, it was wartime, and it was common for troops to be overstaffed. Being honest about this would leave a good impression on Ma Shaoyu.

“The surrendered soldiers are not worth relying on,” Ma Shaoyu said after a moment’s thought. “I will give you a thousand elite troops to assist you. As for the grain and supplies we seized…”

“Send them all to Songshan!” Zhang Jingchuan said knowingly.

Zhang Jingchuan knew exactly what Ma Shaoyu was planning.

If the Ming army runs out of food, Ma Shaoyu can use these supplies to win over the hearts of the people. As for the thousand elite soldiers he gives them, it serves two purposes: firstly, as an investment, and secondly, as a form of supervision.

Before leaving, Ma Shaoyu wrote a military order for Zhang Jingchuan to send troops.

Thus, Zhang Jingchuan's decision to lead troops out to sea was given a name; otherwise, if Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui had asked about it later, Zhang Jingchuan would have had this military order as proof.

Hong Chengchou stationed the main force of the Ming army in Jinzhou and handed over all military and political affairs in Songshan City to Ma Shaoyu. Therefore, Ma Shaoyu had the authority to make temporary decisions. Moreover, he only mobilized one or two thousand people, which was not considered an overreach of authority.

After bidding farewell to Ma Shaoyu,

Zhang Jingchuan approached Li Ruolian, asking him to provide intelligence support under the pretext that Ma Shaoyu had ordered him to send troops to Gaizhou and Fuzhou.

Li Ruolian was always fair and just, and Zhang Jingchuan had the military orders of Lieutenant General Ma Shaoyu, so providing him with some intelligence support was not against the rules. Besides, Li Ruolian genuinely admired Zhang Jingchuan.

Therefore, Li Ruolian readily agreed.

Li Ruolian took something out of the cabinet and handed it to Zhang Jingchuan.

Zhang Jingchuan took it and saw that it was a sandalwood token with the three large characters "Jinyiwei" engraved on the front and two lines of smaller characters on the left and right sides, namely "Duweifu" and "Beizhenfusi".

Turn it over, and the back reads "Liaodong Left Thousand Household Office Hundred Households".

"A hundred households?" Zhang Jingchuan asked in surprise.

Li Ruolian smiled slightly and said, "As the Liaodong Garrison Commander, I still have the authority to promote someone to the rank of a centurion."

"This..." Zhang Jingchuan asked in surprise, "Is this... appropriate?"

According to Li Ruolian, this meant that he wanted to be given a position as a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

I... have suddenly become a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

……