Shu Chen

Chapter 60
In the second month of mid-spring, Pingyi County.

On the gentle slopes of the low hills outside the city, the voices were full of people.

The soldiers who lost their armor and Li Shu were young and strong, wielding hoes vigorously, planing low hills, opening ditches, and ramming fields.

Old people and women, some bowed their waists in the mountains and forests, wielding short blades to sweep and mow the grass; some bowed their heads in the fields, carefully caring the rice seeds into the soil.

The happiest are the children.

Groups of three or five, giggling, together holding a large pile of broken grass, after bringing the composting place from the mountains and forests, the soldiers who will be guarded here will be rewarded with a small handful of steamed wheat grains.

The wheat grains are a little hard, with a slight fragrance and a chewy texture.

One for you, one for me, and one for him. They take turns to share the food with each other, throw them into their mouths and chew slowly, and they can't help but frown.

Although they exchanged a few times, they were gone, but the satisfied laughter of the children did not stop.

Not only is there no wheat in Nanzhong, but they have tasted novelty, but also because there have never been officials or big families and other nobles who will give them favors to these natives and barbarians.

The only one, Zheng Langjun, who walks around the low hill every day.

I heard from my father that he once defeated Zhu Bao, who had suffered thousands of knives. He also established a system of receiving food rations after working hard. He was the savior of the family.

And my mother said that the juvenile hog that was imprisoned by the wood at home was sent by him.

When they are grown up, they can kill and eat meat, or go to exchange money and pull a few feet of cloth to come back and make new clothes for themselves.

Therefore, when you see Zheng Langjun, remember to greet him with a smile.

The ignorant child is not very clear about the difference between thanks and greetings.

But they all know that they have eaten and drank recently, and the strong soldiers have not robbed things or burned houses.This kind of life makes them feel very happy, and they no longer miss their former home in the col.

Zheng Pu, who frequently walks on low hills and gentle slopes, also feels that living like this is quite peaceful.

In recent days, he has inspected minor officials, urged his soldiers and Li Shu to open up terraced fields, and tried his best to make these Li Shu feel the benevolence and righteousness of the court from the bottom of their hearts.

It's not the "he who wins people's hearts wins the world".

It was to disintegrate the support of Zhu Bao by the barbarians in the counties of Yeong County through word of mouth.

The reason is that recently, both the Wang family and Yelangzhu family in Tuxian County sent people to send letters to meet Ma Zhong.

Ma Zhong also sent someone to send the letter to him for a look.

The things written by the two books are much the same.

First, he praised the imperial court for feeding the hungry.

In order to show his loyalty to the court, he was extremely generous.

After reading those words, Zheng Pu couldn't help but wonder: the thief Zhu Bao raised the flag of treason for two years, and they have never heard of the evil? !

After continuing to look down, I finally have something to say.

It's about the latest move of the thief Zhu Bao.

He had to hear that the imperial court had newly appointed a prefect, and that he was leading troops, so he moved himself and the clan and family members of his confidants to Juding County in the south for resettlement.He himself will be three thousand soldiers, garrisoned in the narrow between Guangtan County and Qielan County.Moreover, the general will give all the wealth stored in the treasury and the family to the elders of the barbarian tribes in each county, vowing to share wealth with them.

In the end, it was the Wang family and Yelangzhu surnames in Tuxian County, who all expressed their indignation, claiming that if Ma Zhong marched into Qielan, they would definitely follow the private army and swear to do their best to suppress the rebellion by the imperial court, etc.

After Zheng Pu finished reading it, Xun even ignored the last paragraph.

Because of Jufu, who was stationed in the siege recently, he also frequently sent scouts back to get news.

It also tells the reason why the Wang family and Yelangzhu surname in Tuxian County wanted to serve the court: Zhu Bao, the thief, went to Juding County by cooperating with the wealthy and prominent family with his troops.

The Wang family and Yelangzhu surnames in Tuxian County were naturally unwilling to go, so they were both extorted a lot of money and food.
However, Ju Fu did not find out that Zhu Bao connected with the barbarian tribes in various counties.

Well, Zhu Bao's approach is very wise.

It is the most common and most troublesome coping strategy of the Nanzhong tribe: drag!

The purpose of guarding the narrow places with elite troops is to have the opportunity to retreat and regroup when the imperial army cannot resist the front.

It is not like being trapped in Qielan County, the county seat, and besieged by the imperial court.

And he took the soldiers and the family members of the big surnames away. One was to deter them from betraying them, and the other was to use the vertical and horizontal terrain of the mountains to increase the difficulty of the imperial crusade.

For example, when the supply of food and grain is difficult to transfer, and the soldiers are not satisfied with the savage conditions of the South, the court will not continue to pursue the south in a short period of time after weighing the pros and cons, so that he can correct his life.

Moreover, doing so requires a layer of consideration.

Juding County is a county in the southwest corner of Hengjun County. The terrain is very complicated. I don't know Wang Hua's life is very large, and the people are poor and evil.

Going southeast can go to Jiaozhou, and westward can reach Yizhou County. If the court is relentless in pursuit, he can go to Jiaozhou to occupy the mountain as king, or go to Yizhou to defect to Yongkai.

There is no shortage of ways to live.

As for wanton liaison with barbarian tribes, of course, it was for them to secretly make trouble for the imperial crusade.

Such as digging roads and breaking bridges, poisoning water sources, and artificially creating disease-promoting foundations.

What's more, even relying on their familiarity with the terrain, they secretly harassed the people in the rear, aroused public outcry, and attacked the grain transport team.

It doesn't take a lot of manpower to be weak, and the court can make the crusade of the army so exhausted that it can't be bothered to pursue the south.

This is also the reason why Ma Zhong passed the book and Zheng Pu.

Recently, the prime minister of Chengdu, Zhuge Liang, has frequently mobilized the troops and horses of various counties to gather, and will soon go south to seek out ministers.Since Ma Zhong had already been appointed as the prefect, killing Zhu Bao, the thief, was a matter of his own, so he naturally had to plan ahead.

Moreover, Zheng Pu had the responsibility of joining the military, and he should plan for it.

However, Zheng Pu was at a loss at this time.

Not without advice.

For the thief Zhu Bao's method, if you want to break it, it is as easy as the palm of your hand.

As long as it takes a step by step, the imperial court's anti-rebel army recaptures a county, then stops to rest, appeases and urges the people's livelihood to recover in this county, and then sends troops to the next county.

Going forward step by step, Zhu Bao will naturally fall into the dilemma of having nowhere to hide.

However, this strategy will take a lot of time, and even after three or five years of poor efforts, it may not be possible to completely pacify the vast territory of the county.

Moreover, with such an obvious countermeasure, how could Ma Zhong not think evil?
Since he sent people to ask for strategies, he naturally did not want to use this old-fashioned plan to seek the country.

Even the Prime Minister would not want to use this method.

For the Han court today, the Northern Expedition against Wei and the restoration of the Central Plains is a national policy that cannot wait!It will not spend a lot of time and war potential in the south-central counties, which are known as barren land.

Alas, sorrow!
Zheng Pu's face was like the spring breeze, his steps were slow, and he patrolled between the soldiers in the field and the head of Qian.

Of course, every time he stopped for a short break, he couldn't help but look at Yu Nan with worry in his eyes.

How to deal with Zhu Bao's strategy, Ma Zhong did not limit his planning time.Just to be informed, the Prime Minister Zhuge Liang has come with a secret letter, claiming that there is a military force of more than [-] people, and will be dispatched by Ma Zhong in Heng County in a few days.

In other words, the prime minister wanted Ma Zhong to take back the county seat of Qilan County as soon as possible to promote the authority of the imperial court.

For Zheng Pu, the time does not wait for me.

The late spring and March are approaching, and the time for the prime minister's troops to head south has already entered the countdown.

At that time, the imperial crusade marched on the oath, and troops and horses came to help Ma Zhong again. When Zhu Bao learned the news, he was afraid that he would even give up guarding the dangerous pass between Guangtan County and Qielan County, and directly escaped to hide in the old forest in the deep mountains. In the middle, temporarily avoid the edge and wait for the imperial court to retreat.

After all, considering only the supply of grain, the imperial court could not have kept so many soldiers and horses stationed in the county for too long.

However, relying solely on Ma Zhong's direct headquarters, and garrisoning the city, it is still difficult to grasp the shoulders.

From then on, how can there be Ning Rixie in the county?

Moreover, if the crusade against the unscrupulous ministers is futile, in terms of the overall situation, it is because the imperial troops cannot deter the barbarians, which will make countless natives and barbarians have second thoughts, and the contempt of the king will be turned into dust.

In terms of individuals, Ma Zhong, Ju Fu, Liu Yin and him will all be transferred to other positions because it is unfavorable to suppress the rebellion.

Although they won't move to the left, they should at least hide in the ice for a few years before they can be granted military power again.

For the public and private, this result is not what Zheng Pu wished.

If not, would it be dangerous to follow the example of "If you don't enter a tiger's den, how can you get a tiger's son"?

Stopping under the shade of the tree, Zheng Pu lowered his eyebrows and half-closed his eyes.

Yes, he thought hard for a few days, but he felt that the loneliness would go deep and kill Zhu Bao in one fell swoop to resolve the situation.

Zhu Bao, who seeks a way out before fighting, and sticks to the heart of a deadly fight, is bound to be insufficient!
At that time, as soon as Ma Zhong's follow-up troops and horses arrived and attacked, he would definitely have the thought of preserving his strength when he was defending against it, and he would lead his troops to retreat to the southern part of the city.

And this is the opportunity that Zheng Pu thought!

Send an elite group of soldiers first, go deep behind the enemy, set up an ambush halfway, and kill Zhu Bao on the way to retreat!
If one strike is successful, and Zhu Bao is passed on to the southern counties, everything will be pacified!
Let me ask, now that the chief evil has been executed, the rebel army is gone, and the court will not proclaim the past, who would want to do it in vain?
Even if there are some stubborn people who want to resist, how many people swear to die and be buried with them?

Of course, this strategy can fix the world in one fell swoop, and it is also dangerous and unusual.

In other words, the probability of success is less than [-]%!

Because of the mountain range of Pengjun County, the natives and barbarians live in a mess, no one can predict that where there will be people living and lingering, secretly sending a lonely army to go deep, it is very likely that they will be discovered and then known by Zhu Bao.

In particular, Zhu Bao had already exhausted his treasury and his family wealth, colluded with the barbarians, and vowed to share wealth and honor.

The second is that I am outnumbered by troops.

The army sent secretly, in order to hide their traces, there is absolutely no large army.

And when Zhu Bao retreated from the army, it was impossible to return with a crippled force. Although it was an ambush, it was easier said than done if he wanted to break in and kill the main general of the army.
More likely, it will fall short.

The third is the consequences, which Zheng Pu cannot bear.

In other words, Ma Zhong can't take responsibility either.

The lone army penetrated deep behind the enemy's rear, and if it didn't do much, the whole army was wiped out.

As the weakest branch of the rebel army in the three counties, the imperial court sent troops to attack it, and even the halberds were smashed into the sand. How could its impact be a matter of one county?
The Nanzhong rebellion has been going on for two years, and Yizhou County and Yueqi County are full of snakes and mice.

If they saw the county of Henggao, which is known for its hardships, the imperial court was still unfavorable in its crusade, how could they not be reckless and join forces with Yongkai and Gaoding, the king of Yueyi?

Isn't this messing up the prime minister's crusade?
(End of this chapter)