stubborn thief

Chapter 463

Noon on March fourteenth.

To the south of Suzhou City, the marshal army camped ten miles away.

Liu Chengzong looked at the most powerful city in the Hexi Corridor from a distance. Even through the city wall, he could still see the eight-foot-high Bell and Drum Tower in the center of the city.

Suzhou is the largest city in Hexi. During the day and night, the city has changed its flag three times. First, it was the flag of the Ming army, and then it was pulled out by the rebel army of the Sanjiehui, and replaced with the three-petal white lotus flag with an indigo background. .

But now, Gao Yingdeng's department was welcomed into the city to take over Suzhou's defense, the Bailian Beidou flag was also replaced, and his Sifang Marshal's flag was flying on the top of the city.

Not far away from the Huben camp, Zhang Zhen, the chief bee tail needle, came on a gallop. After the announcement, he walked to the front of the tent, saluted and reported: "Master, the military households in the city and those who believe in Bailian are safe; There are all our soldiers, and we guarantee that nothing will go wrong; General Han has cleaned up Wei Ya, and the handsome man can sleep well."

Liu Chengzong rubbed his neck. The bee-tail needle sounds fine at first glance, but when he thinks about it carefully, the 'places that will be ambushed and assassinated' he said were obviously inspected by Ma Ke... the Marshal's Mansion is the only one A general with experience in assassination.

"There is no rush to enter the city." Liu Shizi waved his hands and asked, "You mean the military households and the Sanjiehui, aren't they the same group?"

As soon as he entered Jiayuguan, he had already received Gao Yingdeng's information about the Sanjie congregation's uprising in Suzhou City.

Strictly speaking, Suzhou is two cities, one is the ancient Jiuquan city, and the other is the Suzhou city expanded during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. According to the gossip layout.

The Bell and Drum Tower in the center is the east gate of the ancient Jiuquan city, and the half of the city that spreads to the east is the result of the expansion in Hongwu year.

It's not that Liu Shizi is a country bumpkin who has never seen a big city. Lanzhou City and Pingliang City are both very large. Most of those two giant cities are occupied by the palace. There are not many soldiers and people in the city, so the difficulty of attacking the city is not as great as it seems.

Suzhou is different. Seventy percent of the residents in this city are military families. Once the residents resist tenaciously, they will inevitably pay a heavy price.

It was a surprise to him that the Marshal's Mansion took down Suzhou without bloodshed when the congregation of the Three Tribulations rebelled.

But at this time, the bee tail who came out of the city implied that the congregation of the Three Tribulations and the military households were not of the same mind.

Bee Tail Needle couldn't help laughing, then restrained his smile, and said: "The commander-in-chief doesn't know, those who believe in Bailian in the city have already prepared to start an incident, and those lotus flags were made in advance, but for some reason, it should have taken two days Suokang, the leader who presided over the uprising in Qianjin City, did not come, so the uprising was shelved."

"Isn't their leader the one named Song Xian?"

"No, those who believe in Bailian will go through three calamities. The commander-in-chief doesn't know that there are four streets in Suzhou City, nine large crosses and eighteen small crosses."

Bee Tail Needle spoke with envy in his tone, shaking his head and said: "Song Shangjia has his own shop and business name on the three big crosses and six small crosses, and he wants to eat and drink. How can a person like him There are three calamities."

The southeast, north, and west of Suzhou City are built in a very correct orientation. The only irregularity of this city is that it is slightly longer from east to west and slightly shorter from north to south. It is generally rectangular. This is because Suzhou in the Ming Dynasty was actually put together by two cities.

Its old city is from the west gate to the Bell and Drum Tower, which was built in the Jin Dynasty. The Bell and Drum Tower is based on the east gate gate tower of the ancient Jiuquan City, and a three-story building was built on it, forming a height of nearly 30 meters. majestic.

During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Jiuquan City was expanded, the east city wall was demolished, and half of the city was planned eastward, forming the current Suzhou City.

Because of the lack of population in Hexi in the early Ming Dynasty, Suzhou City was not like other cities that naturally expanded due to the large population, but Shaanxi planned to solve the resettlement of the Suzhou Guard Banner Army, so the pattern of streets and alleys was particularly clear, even if outsiders entered the city , No matter how you turn, it is difficult to lose your sense of direction.

With the Drum Tower as the center, the four streets in the southeast and northwest are separated, and each street has two large intersections. Counting the Bell and Drum Towers with the cross piercing through the heart, they are called nine large crosses.

Four streets and nine crosses are divided into nine small streets, eighteen small crosses, and 36 half-cut alleys, forming the layout of the entire Suzhou city.

Bee Wei explained to Liu Shizi: "The commanders in the city, Hu Zhishen and Wang Yanming, wanted Song Xian to pay for food and soldiers, but Song Xian refused. The manager of his pawn shop is the land of Sanjiehui in Suzhou, and he knew the slogan of the uprising. , Song Xian shouted out while burning the IOUs to recruit soldiers, and the commander Wang Yanming was killed on the spot, and Song Xian took Suzhou City easily."

Liu Chengzong narrowed his eyes, saying so, the time for them to enter the customs was just right, two days earlier, this city of Suzhou would not be easy to fight;

It's all right now, Gao Yingdeng's army has stabilized the street, and can avoid the destruction of the second war in the city to the greatest extent.

As the bee tail needle said, he saw the south gate of Suzhou not far away, two columns of soldiers surrounded several people out of the city, and the horse team from the marshal's mansion was guarding the left and right.

You Tangqi came over first and reported: "Commander, General Gao said that Hu Zhishen, the former commander of the Suzhou Guard in the city, and Song Xian, a merchant, came to greet him."

Liu Chengzong raised his horsewhip and smiled at the bee-tailed needle: "Seeing that I don't enter the city, they are still in a hurry. Just in time, they will meet the one who took Suzhou."

In any case, this command of surrender made Hu Zhishen and Song Xian, who instigated the uprising, all credited to the Marshal's Mansion. The flag was raised and lowered along with the city of Suzhou, and the entire Jiayuguan fortress defense system collapsed, giving the Marshal's Mansion a huge military advantage. .

According to the news sent back by Wei Qian'er, who rushed to the surrounding piers in three ways, the vanguard army ran all the way and surrendered.

The nearby defenders all looked forward to the wind and descended. Right now, the only remaining strongholds in the Jiuquan oasis are Jiayuguan behind them, and Linshui post on the other side of the Beida River in front of them.

The defenders of the two fortresses were few and far between. Although they were defending the city, it would be difficult for the army besieged by the commander-in-chief to win quickly, but they did not have the ability to go out of the city to attack, so they could only hide in the city and wait for the food supply to run out.

Not far away, two teams with different uniforms came slowly. The left side of the dozen or so people each wore military uniforms, which seemed to be surrendered troops from Suzhou City; The Big Dipper Flag is obviously a congregation of the Sanjiehui.

Liu Chengzong thinks this flag is very beautiful. The white flag has been dyed blue, leaving only the white mark of the upper lotus and the lower Beidou. La.

He was about to boast a few words about the flag to his subordinates when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Bee Tail Needle looked at the congregation of Sanjie with a complicated expression, frowning with a bit of disgust in his eyes.

To be honest, Liu Chengzong also underestimated the Sanjiehui in his heart, because no one in this world understands the war potential of the Sanjiehui as an independent sect better than him.

In this regard, Wang Ziyong, the leader of the Three Tribulations Association, is not as good as him, because Wang Ziyong is capable, but not innovative. A set of folk exercises.

That set of tools was used by the Liu family under the specific environment of Yan'an Mansion, and a small Qi family army could be trained in a year or so, but in Wang Ziyong's hands, a group of grass bandits could be regarded as a good leader.

It's not because Liu Chengzong is strong and Wang Ziyong is weak. The key is that Liu Chengzong wrote the set of things according to his own situation. There are only things about military training on it. There is no reasonable organizational structure and no local management and construction. , It was done for him in Yan'an Mansion, so it doesn't need to be compiled into textbooks.

However, Wang Ziyong did not have these things. The organizational structure was the loose White Lotus Sect, and military households relied on military households to pry the corners of the empire's walls. Without the power to control the place, it is equivalent to fighting the landlord with three cards left and only one two two three in hand.

Either petty theft, or only riots, the limitations are very large, the most embarrassing thing is that even if the city is captured, there is no ability to govern the place.

Even if the originally fierce and brave frontier soldiers entered the Sanjiehui, they would have to become soft-legged shrimps under this organizational form. Originally, soldiers had [-]% of their abilities. Two achievements are good.

They are incomparable with the regular army.

Therefore, in Liu Chengzong's heart, the position of the congregation of Sanjie is that of the irregular army's local brave bandits. It is not surprising that the officers of the Marshal's Mansion would despise Sanjie, but it is not right to despise Sanjie.

This guy was also a grassroots bandit. In the past, he teamed up with Zhao Keke to lead the army, and was despised by the veterans to the toes. He won the honorary title of being the first soldier in the Marshal's Mansion to be dismissed from the battlefield. Why should he look down on the Three Tribulations?

Just as Liu Shizi was wondering, Beetail Needle spoke up: "Commander, the group of people who believe in Bailian are no good. They don't have the ability to obey. Eight out of ten robberies in the city are believed in Bailian. It's not enough to make things happen. If there is more, then Song Xian still has some skills."

In fact, what he said has been very restrained.

The officers and soldiers of the Marshal’s Mansion outside the city would have a great impression of Sanjie. On the one hand, they thought they were their own people, and on the other hand, they felt that they helped the Marshal take Suzhou City. In the hearts of the soldiers, their attitude towards the Three Tribulations Society took a drastic turn, and they were directly ashamed to be with them.

On the morning when Gao Yingdeng entered the city, Suzhou City was nominally under the control of the Sanjiehui, but in fact only the two cross streets in the south of the city were under the control of Song Xian, and other places were not controlled at all. Smash, rob, fight, kill.

To a certain extent, their congregations are very simple, and bullying of ordinary people rarely happens in Suzhou City, but there are countless people cutting themselves off during the robbery, because after the city is broken-everyone is a Sanjiehui, The dragons have no leader.

Beetail Needle's change of thought actually all came from Gao Yingdeng. When he first entered the city, he didn't feel that the situation of random robbery was bad, until Gao Yingdeng taught him a lesson.

Gao Yingdeng was a fierce general Liu Chengzong borrowed from Yan'an Weiqin King in exchange for [-] horses. When chasing He Huchen's rout, he chased himself into the enemy's rout. Only then did the pursuing army catch up with him and captured him again.

All the ideological education he received came from Liu Chengzong, so random robbery is the least likely to happen.

When the bee tail needle entered the city, Gao Yingdeng called him over to stabilize the order, and he was given a set of dimension-reducing blows from the point of view of the regular army against the grass bandits on the spot.

"General Gao said that looting is not a problem. Marshal's Mansion organized looting. The purpose of the Marshal is to equalize the rich and the poor, so that people can live a better life; they rob privately, so they are naturally our enemies. "

Bee Tail Needle spoke logically about this, and said to Liu Chengzong: "I didn't understand why when the humble staff entered the city, but later I figured it out. They robbed the big households to keep money and food for themselves, so they became big households. He is the enemy of the commander-in-chief."

Beetail Needle never dreamed that what he said could in turn inspire Liu Chengzong.

His words made Liu Chengzong aware of another shortcoming of the generals in the Marshal's Mansion. Most generals are not familiar with cooperating with friendly forces. friendly forces.

Only a few people in the Marshal's Mansion have this experience, such as him, elder brother, Chengyun, Cao Yao, etc. After that, they sent troops to Qinghai, and they never fought with friendly troops again.

But now the marshal's army entered the customs again and cooperated with all the friendly forces, which was inevitable in Liu Chengzong's eyes.

Although the Marshal's Mansion is strong, Liu Chengzong is not arrogant enough to think that he can sweep the world with his own strength, and fighting with friendly forces is a lesson that the generals of the Marshal's Mansion must learn.

Realizing this, Liu Chengzong laughed in front of the bee tail needle.

Half a day of chaos is not a good situation for the city of Suzhou, but it is an excellent learning opportunity for the generals for the future development of the Marshal's Mansion. After all, there will be no leader in the Three Tribulations in Suzhou. If Ying Deng doesn't handle it well, it won't cause internal strife.

Before he could understand, the bee-tailed needle in the room asked questions. Not far away, Song Xian and the commander Hu Zhishen had already approached. After being notified by the guards, the two stepped forward to bow down and salute.

Liu Chengzong stepped forward to help the two of them up, and said with a smile: "Suzhou Yiqi, you two are meritorious persons in the Marshal's Mansion, so don't salute."

Song Xian declined, but Hu Zhishen on the other side quickly replied: "Report to the King of Han that Yi Qi is all thanks to Mr. Song, and the villain dare not take the credit."

Liu Chengzong actually had no impression of Hu Zhishen at first.

But among his many titles, he likes others to call him the King of Han. He realized the shortcomings of the Marshal’s Mansion, which made him feel good. He was even happier when he heard Hu Zhishen calling him the King of Han, and he immediately smiled and said: "I This person is very easy to get along with, as long as you oppose the Ming at home and gold at the outside, you are all brothers and sisters of my Liu Chengzong."

Hu Zhishen said, this anti-Ming and anti-gold has nothing to do with me. At most, I don’t oppose the Marshal’s Mansion, and I just want to enjoy life as a commander who eats and waits to die.

He knew that there was no shortage of such people in the Marshal's Mansion, and many capable generals were in a state of eating and waiting to die, so a person with little ability...should be able to eat and wait to die, right?

Hu Zhishen spent so many years in Daming lying on his ancestor's merit book, and he never felt that it was a shame to make a fool of himself.

But Liu Chengzong didn't think so, he waved his big hand and said, "I see it this way, Mr. Song has made meritorious deeds for the city, and he is also talented, so he will temporarily take the post of Commander of Suzhou Guards, in charge of seals, and in charge of Suzhou Guards."

Song Xian's face immediately showed ecstasy, most of this joy was feigned, but part of his true feelings were also revealed. As the first person in Hexi to open the city and surrender, he had expected Liu Chengzong's promotion of him as an official.

It's just that the official position he estimated in his heart was Qianhu.

"As for General Hu, I will appoint you as the general of Suzhou, and I will give you the establishment of the Suzhou battalion. I will temporarily send you food and grass for one month to persuade you to surrender and recruit troops. After one month, you will go to the front line, and your meritorious service will be reused."

Hu Zhishen was about to cry, what did he agree to eat and die?He bowed down and said: "The villain is very grateful to the King of Han for his great kindness in promoting him, but the villain has no real talent and learning, so I hope..."

Liu Chengzong narrowed his eyes: "Huh?"

Hu Zhishen was frightened, and quickly retreated and said: "I also hope that the king can send Dong Ju, the suzhou teacher, and Yan Zhi, the righteous husband, to the camp, and send another general who is good at fighting to assist the villain in managing the camp."

Liu Chengzong couldn't understand Hu Zhishen's positioning of himself as a waste snack at all, he just thought it was a modest remark and avoided suspicion, and said in his heart that General Hu was quite sensible, so he glanced at the bee-tail needle, waved his hand and said: "In that case, Zhang Zhen, You will be a deputy general in the Suzhou camp first, and you will fight for General Hu."

After all, he looked at Hu Zhishen and said, "However, General Hu, your deputy, you have to rely on yourself to recruit the surrender. There is a guerrilla Ding Guodong in Jiayuguan, and there is a Qianzongmi stamp in Linshuiyi City. Which one can you surrender?" , it depends on your ability."

　good afternoon!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)