stubborn thief

Chapter 210
On the first day of August, under the city of Ningzhou.

The dusty governor of the three sides, Yang He, reined in his horse at the foot of the city, and the official robe of the peacock bun with scarlet dark stripes was stained with thick dust. He raised his whip and shouted to the top of the city, "Open the door and set up a porridge factory!"

Behind him, hundreds of people in Ningzhou cowered, not daring to come within range of the city wall.

They were terrified, they had never seen a high official wearing scarlet official uniforms in their entire life, they were led by Wu Bian on horseback to pull them out of the hole, and drove them to the city of Ningzhou, no one knew what was waiting for them.

Soon, a big pot was set up under the city to boil golden millet soup. For half an hour, Yang He stood under the city without saying a word.

When the rice soup was ready, he filled a bowl and took a sip before beckoning to the hungry people. Seeing that he couldn't be bothered, he sent Ma Bian to call again. Finally, someone came over to test it, took the soup bowl regardless of the boiling heat, and poured it into his belly. .

"Drink slowly, don't burn yourself."

Yang He frowned, compassion and helplessness whipped his heart like whips, but he couldn't do anything else.

In the past few days, he has not been idle, and led his horse to walk around the city of Ningzhou several times, and he has a very clear understanding of the lack of clothing and food.

Yang He took the risk to go out to observe the people's sentiments, not because of compassion, but because of Liu Chengzong's conditions.

He had expected Liu Chengzong's conditions, which must be higher than what he could give for the official position of the garrison to the general.

In fact, in his heart, Yang He didn't expect this recruiting to succeed once, and he prepared two official positions for Liu Chengzong in his heart.

Either give the establishment of a battalion, you don't need to participate in the suppression of thieves, but you have to guard the Great Wall as a general.

Or the establishment of the same battalion, promoted to the deputy commander-in-chief, as the governor-general and the commander-in-chief of the battalion, deal with those thieves who failed to appease and stubbornly resisted.

These two official positions mainly depend on what kind of person Liu Chengzong is.

But the news brought back by Qiang on Sunday still broke through Yang He's imagination.

Qinghai Propaganda Envoy.

Yang He himself is from Wuling. He also visited Guizhou and specialized in sorting out the chieftain's land, household registration, tribute, leader, order, master's name, succession and other affairs. He has a good understanding of the chieftain system.

He couldn't figure out how the thousands of Han soldiers came to Qinghai to serve as consolation envoys.

Not to mention that there are no consolation envoys in Qinghai, they were consolation envoys that had to subdue the natives in the past.

The point is that this is completely degrading yourself, let alone the consolation envoy, so what about King Shunyi, the third lady is not the court ordering her to marry her son, so she must marry her son, and if she wants her to marry her grandson, she must marry her grandson.

Nanman, Beidi, Dongyi and Xirong, officials of the Central Dynasty, were born to stand at the top of the world's discrimination chain.

Uzang is full of gods, Buddhas and Dharma protectors, and his quality of life is not as good as that of a rich man in the south of the Yangtze River.

After the appeasement, Liu Chengzong was also an official, equivalent to the deputy commander of the theater in front of him, but this person asked for a Gambian guerrilla captain.

This matter made the second monk Yang Hezhang puzzled.

Yang He pondered that Liu Chengzong was born as a scholar, and he was considered uneducated. Didn't he know that he wanted to be the governor of Qinghai?
Zhou Riqiang said it very seriously, and he had to report it to the court for the emperor to make a decision, otherwise Yang He might not be able to bear the blame.

If it weren't for Liu Chengzong's shaving head, Yang He even wanted to ask Liu Chengzong to ask a Nurgan propaganda envoy to do it, and send him to the outside of the pass to start the Huangtaiji battle.

Because he didn't think about this question clearly, Yang He observed the people's sentiments around him, saw what kind of person Zhou Riqiang was, and then considered his words.

After some inspections, Sunday Qiang was an inaction official.

Inaction is a compliment in the land of Ningzhou.

Even the people of Ningzhou dug burrows in the mountains and lived like little wild cats and dogs, but they didn't rebel, largely because of Riqiang's inaction.

Dry firewood and strong oil are only short of a spark, and local officials played a role in extinguishing the spark at the expense of their own future.

So Yang He attached great importance to Zhou Riqiang's words, thought carefully, pondered the taste, what Liu Chengzong valued was not the official position of the consolation envoy with low social status, but the power of the consolation envoy Tuwang.

In other words, these people don't want to join, this is just an agreement to negotiate a truce.

Then things are different.

And it also involved a problem, because the defeat of Huanglongshan He Huchen was concealed.

Yang He knew how powerful Liu Chengzong was, but the court didn't know.

Just when he was hesitating, everyone's love for Yang He came.

Lian Guoshi, governor of Shaanxi, led the generals Zhang Quanchang and Zhao Dayin to arrive in Ningzhou with more than a thousand soldiers. They stationed troops in the west of Ningzhou and set up two camps.

Immediately after Yansui Governor Hong Chengchou also sent a letter, and dispatched guerrilla Zuo Guangxian to lead [-] troops from Yansui Town to Huanxian County to help.

This news made Yang He very excited. If he wants to recruit others, he must defeat them at least once, otherwise the condition offered is this kind of Qinghai Consolation Envoy, which is an armistice agreement based on war to promote peace.

In the Ningzhou yamen, he talked about the affairs of Qinghai Xuanwei envoy and Lian Guoshi, but he didn't expect that Lian Guoshi thought it was okay.

"Junmen, right now the chaos in Shaanxi is all about lack of food, and it is also troublesome to turn down and turn to rebel. Sending him to Qinghai, just wrestling with the local bandits in the West Sea will exhaust his energy."

Lian Guoshi said: "Earlier, the army also wrote a letter for the emperor, saying that since Liaozuo, Guizhou, and Sichuan were defeated and out of control, the frontiers lost their vitality; In the event of a severe drought, it is precisely when there is no spare power that it will cause small disturbances at night."

"A few years later, the severe drought will pass, and the imperial court will regain its vitality. When Liu Chengzong will rely on the imperial court to fight against the pirates behind the land of the West Sea, how will he turn his back and cut off his fortune?"

Having said that, Yang He is not optimistic about the future development of the situation. He shook his head and said: "If the drought continues and the national strength is exhausted, Zhao Chongguo in the Han Dynasty once set up Xihai County to farm outside Xining. How about it?"

Lian Guoshi clicked his tongue, shook his head and waved his hands: "The military sect thinks too far, now it's time to resign to fate, the drought has stopped, rest and recuperate, and all major affairs in the world can be solved, the drought continues, the court keeps collecting grain, and the people have no harvest. It’s hard to save the gods.”

"Is it possible that the military sect still expects this situation to last for 20 years?"

Hearing this, Yang He laughed, and said to Lian Guoshi: "The situation may not be so bad, but if you want to recruit Liu Chengzong, I think you must at least besiege the city, or besiege the Great Plateau, so that there is no way to go to the sky and enter the earth." There is no way, let’s talk about surrender.”

"Accommodating is the virtue of good life in heaven. Your Majesty loves the heart of a child, and cannot bear to die in a war. Now that he has not won the first battle, he is lightly appeasing. I am afraid that it will make him despise the court even more."

Unexpectedly, when the situation was getting better, Hong Chengchou wrote another letter.

Yang He took a look, his complexion became ugly, and said to Lian Guoshi: "Cao Wenzhao is not coming."

"Ah?" Lian Guoshi asked, "Why?"

They relied heavily on this Guanning Army for no other reason than Cao Wenzhao. Cao Wenzhao was just a guerrilla from Shanxi before, so he was not a veteran on the battlefield.

The only reason is that the Guan Ning Army is a skilled soldier that the imperial court can mobilize now, and Mali is one of the few who can have enough food.

This alone can form a dimensionality reduction blow to the entire army in Shaanxi.

Even with the same rations for soldiers, Guan Ning, who has always been able to eat enough, is more effective than the Western Army who has been hungry for three or four years and has just eaten two full meals.

Yang He pointed to the letter and sighed: "Hong Hengjiu said in the letter that Wang Jiayin of Fugu had not been defeated yet, and he did not know what method he had used to collude with thousands of Mongolian soldiers to invade from all over the Yansui side wall. Yansui Town had to withdraw Zuo Guang first came to help with this group of people."

"The other soldiers will have to go back and defend the side walls of the fortress. Fugu will also rely on Cao Wenzhao's army to continue the siege, and there is no spare power to help us."

When Lian Guoshi heard this, his face was very ugly. The total strength of the army suddenly changed from [-] to [-], and the situation was reversed in an instant.

He said: "Junmen, if it doesn't work, I should send a memorial to the emperor and tell Liu Chengzong's conditions, and please His Majesty make a decision."

"This matter will naturally be judged by His Majesty."

But Yang He's hesitation was not because he was hesitant to tell the emperor about it, but because he was hesitant about how to write the memorial.

In his early years, his son Yang Sichang compiled his experience of participating in financial management in the Ministry of Households into "The Collection of Local Officials". The emperor read the book and liked it very much.

Because the emperor had a very good relationship with his son, Yang Sichang told him that the emperor had a strong integrity and valued etiquette, and the same matter in the memorial, how to write the memorial was related to whether the matter could be allowed by the emperor.

According to Liu Chengzong's thinking, Zhou Qiang's expression to Yang He was completely condescending to promote peace through war, and even implied that he was full of contempt for giving the court a step down.

When it was reported to the imperial court in this way, let alone Liu Chengzong's thousands of troops across northern Shaanxi, even if he had tens of thousands to 10 horses, the emperor would not bow to violence even if he attacked the city of Beijing.

Not in line with etiquette.

It is impossible to fight.

Yang He knew how to write the memorial, but before writing the memorial, he had to meet Liu Chengzong first.

With this mentality, he sent Sunday Qiang's envoy back to convey his intentions to Liu Chengzong, and asked him to meet and talk near Ningzhou City.

The distance from Ningzhou City to Liu Chengzong's camp was only a few tens of miles. He should be able to come back the next day, but he didn't come back for two days.

The one who came back first was Zuo Guangxian who came from Huan County and beat Han Chaozai on the plateau.

Zuo Guerrilla was very happy when he saw the governor Junmen prostrating and saluting: "The humble officer is late, the siege of Ningzhou has been relieved at this time, please give the order from the military gate, where will the humble officer fight next?"

Yang He was stunned, looking at Zuo Guang, who was big and thick, he could not close his mouth from ear to ear: "You defeated Liu Chengzong's more than 1 people?"

My God, this is not a guerrilla general, but a god of war!

Zuo Guang first had a question mark on his face. He didn't understand what was going on, and he didn't dare to take the credit for himself. He said doubtfully, "Liu, Liu Chengzong? There are more than [-] troops stationed in the military gate, and it seems that the leader of the bandit is called Han Chaozai."

Yang He was also dumbfounded, Han Chaozai?
Zuo Guangxian had just released the captives, and then sent troops to chase them out. After capturing the two captives and interrogating them, he found out that there were only 800 people from Liu Chengzong's tribe in the plateau, and the chief was Wang Wenxiu; Sanzuo waited for more than [-] soldiers.

Seeing them, Wang Wenxiu led the army to retreat westward. The Han and Korean Zaibu moved a little slower, so they joined the battle, and then retreated after a small defeat.

Make Yang He anxious like an ant on a hot pot, what about Liu Chengzong?
Zuo Guangxian led his troops to search for two days on the plateau but failed to find it. Zhou Riqiang's emissary came back: "Junmen, the thief Liu captured Zhenyuan County, robbed more than [-] horses from Pingyuan, plundered wealthy families, and distributed their wealth to help the poor." , Zhang officials set up officials to distribute millet to relieve the hunger, and now they are going to Guyuan again!"

Yang He felt dizzy, leaned on the corner of the table and almost fainted, pointed at the messenger and opened his mouth again and again, before saying: "He, he lied to me?"

The envoy cupped his hands and said, "Zhou Zhizhou said that thief Liu saw through the plan of the army to delay the time to recruit Cao Jun. He is not afraid of General Cao, but he is afraid that General Cao will fight others. Come."

"How is this possible? Zhenyuan is a fortified city. It's only been a few days. Could it be that the magistrate surrendered?"

The envoy said: "Junmen, the county magistrate of Zhenyuan is guarding the city, but there are too few troops, and the Liu thief has not yet besieged the city. The city was already trapped on the day of the siege after five days."

Yang He was about to be pissed off by Liu Chengzong, he only had one thought in his mind, call Cao Wenzhao and clean up Liu Chengzong!

On the same day, Yang He not only wrote to Hong Chengchou, explaining the seriousness of the loss of contact between the east and the west of Longshan after Guyuan was captured, requiring him to dispatch Cao Wenzhao to aid the suppression, but also sent another letter to Liu Chengzong.

In the letter, he asked Liu Chengzong to stop his actions immediately, lead his army back to Ningzhou, and never attack Guyuan City.

At the same time, I promised that the matter of Qinghai Xuanweisi will be reported to the emperor immediately, but you broke the city when you reported this matter, which is very impolite. I am afraid the emperor will not agree. Come to Ningzhou to make a confession, and we will discuss how to make a report Write.

When Liu Chengzong received this letter, he was already in Guyuan Prefecture.

Since the incident, he has never been so happy. He crossed Liupan Mountain and entered the Qingshui River Valley. The troops galloped north and south of Guyuan City, and the hungry soldiers guarding the fort watched the wind and surrendered.

Sanyingbao and Heishuiyuan in the north of Zhoucheng even sent people directly to ask him if he had any food, and replied that on the day there was food, two generals from Sanyingbao came with their horses.

Even if the remaining fortresses did not surrender, they would stay behind closed doors, and there were even hungry soldiers who came to beg for food.

There is only one Yanglang Fort, and the veterans and regiments from the nearby Mujiaying and Mujiatan areas have formed formations to guard them.

Liu Chengzong accepted Yang Yao's suggestion and ignored these people.

In the past, a large area of ​​land in Guyuan was the fiefdom of Muying. During the Longqing period, due to the need for border payment, the emperor took over the fiefdom of the Mu family in the north, leaving only [-] hectares of land. Muying's descendants in the north built Yanglangbao.

The city god in that castle is Mu Ying.

Liu Chengzong was very happy to rob horses in the north and south of Guyuan Prefecture, and he was even happier when he saw Yang He's letter to Zhou Riqiang.

He took the letter to find Mr. Yang, and asked, "Sir, Governor Yang said that the conditions I offered were not proper, and the emperor would not agree. What do you mean? They all rebelled, so why is it considered proper?"

Yang Dingrui thought for a while and said: "This is indeed a problem. I understand Yang He's meaning... It's okay, lion, the teacher will write you a memorial. The etiquette is for monarchs and ministers, father and son, equalizing the land is for eliminating violence and peace, and attacking cities is for destroying corrupt officials. , Resisting the official army is to suppress the soldiers and calm the people."

After all, Yang Dingrui looked at Liu Chengzong and said, "Anyway, I didn't intend to attack Guyuan. Since Yang He said that we won't let it be fought, we will not attack Guyuan. But I think it is not enough to go to Qinghai , you still have to save King Han.”

What Yang Dingrui said was too jumpy, Liu Chengzong couldn't react for a while: "Save King Han?"

"Yes, Guyuan is very chaotic now. There is a Guyuan army leader named Jin Chanzi who will attack Pingliang City and besiege Han Wangfu after the city is broken."

Yang Dingrui squinted his eyes, looking like a great prophet: "Liu Shizi, who was raising war horses, just received the news and expelled him to save Han Fan from the fire and water. Zhou Zhizhou was present when this happened."

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)