stubborn thief

Outside the border of Yunzhou in April.

Vultures circle over the Yanshan Mountains, occasionally casting huge shadows onto the grassland.

In the wild camp, Fu Renxi, wearing a scarlet round-collared official uniform, stood outside the camp gate surrounded by more than a dozen servants and clerks.

Looking at the Grand Marshal Liu Chengzong who came out of the gate to greet him not far away, Fu Renxi felt itchy all over, and his hands in his sleeves were clutching a black scarf to cover his face.

He didn't know why, but psychologically he always felt that he should wear a mask when meeting Liu Chengzong.

However, this meeting was a public one, as he was sent by Governor Liang Tingdong, so there was no need to hide or dodge.

Liu Chengzong came out of the camp to greet them, but he didn't seem very enthusiastic. He just did his job in a businesslike manner and asked someone to put away the gifts that Fu Renxi brought.

Jiao Fu Renxi was a little surprised and thought to himself, why don't you just reminisce about the past?
But after a moment, Liu Chengzong sent someone to invite him into the tent.

After entering the general's tent, Liu Shizi's expression became lively. He patted Fu Renxi and said with a smile: "This official uniform is nice. You are wearing a scarlet robe. It was not strange to be outside just now. I don't know how many of the servants and clerks behind you are the governor's men. I am worried that it will cause trouble to you."

"That's it..."

Fu Renxi didn't take it seriously at first. He thought to himself, which Ming general these days doesn't have some problems?

He, Fu Renxi, has elite troops under his command in the three towns of Shanxi, Zhongsanbian. It can be predicted that they will be the number one generals in the coming year.

Not to mention that he was just familiar with Liu Chengzong, even if he was Liu Chengzong's old subordinate, the court, especially Governor Liang Tingdong, would not do anything to him.

However, Fu Renxi didn't say the big words even though they were on his lips. He smiled embarrassedly and said with a cupped hand, "Thank you for your consideration, Marshal."

He smiled and said, "Governor Liang thinks too much. It's not a problem for me. It's just that the servants are all old Taishan's family soldiers. He doesn't understand the Marshal's character."

Liu Chengzong had heard from Gao Xian that Fu Renxi had married a daughter of the Sun family. He nodded and smiled, "Why, now instead of training firearms soldiers, you are using the landlords' militia? Marshal Fu is really versatile."

The two of them chatted and laughed for a while, and the unfamiliarity from not seeing each other for years disappeared, and Fu Renxi felt at ease.

He looked like he didn't understand, and said seriously, "I came here on the orders of Governor Liang. I hope you can tell me the truth. Are the tens of thousands of troops stationed outside the Great Wall going to attack Shanxi?"

"I'm going to attack Shanxi?"

Liu Chengzong looked at Fu Renxi as if he was a fool: "If you want to fight, you should have started long ago. The border wall can't even stop the Eastern Tartars, how can it stop me?"

After hearing this, Fu Renxi felt completely relieved.

He actually believed this sentence more than Liu Chengzong.

Liu Shizi was thinking that everyone has their own expertise. The border wall could not stop the Eastern Tartars, but maybe it could really stop him.

The Eight Banners Army specialized in attacking city walls. Each person was equipped with a machete, an axe, an iron hook, four steel chisels, and forty ropes for climbing and wall-climbing. Our Marshal's Army was not prepared for this.

What we practiced was riding a horse and crossing mountains and rivers as if it were flat ground, so the Great Wall was completely out of the consideration of the imaginary enemy.

Even when Liu Chengzong was in Shaanxi, the two border walls built by the Ming Dynasty once helped him hinder the movements of border troops.

What kind of hero would spend all day thinking about digging up the city wall built by his ancestors? What? Should I go out?
Even though Liu Shizi is now outside the Great Wall, he doesn't feel from the bottom of his heart that the Great Wall is blocking him. In fact, after staying in the wild for a long time, he will feel a sense of security when he sees the Great Wall from afar.

Home is over there.

When you see the Great Wall, you know you are not far from home.

As for Fu Renxi, his visit this time was actually a response to Liu Chengzong's previous message to Liang Tingdong, asking for the court newspaper in the name of Shunyi King Yang Qi.

Liang Tingdong knew that it was Liu Chengzong who delivered the message, and Liu Chengzong also knew that Liang Tingdong would know it was him.

Using Yang Qi's name is an excuse that makes both parties feel comfortable.

But Liang Tingdong not only prepared a bunch of newspapers such as Tangbao and Dibao to catch up with Liu Chengzong who had been cut off from news, he also sent Fu Renxi along.

Just to see whether Liu Chengzong can be trusted and whether he has any intention of attacking Shanxi.

There is no best.

If there is, let him take food, silver, and medicinal materials. Don't do anything. Just come in and provide disaster relief.

"You don't know, Marshal. Not to mention the immovable border wall, even the moving border troops cannot be stopped."

Fu Renxi's words sounded a bit flattering, but Liu Shizi's tone was more of a sorrowful one: "The pimple plague has caused great harm to the three towns in Zhongsan and Shanxi."

Currently, Xuanfu, Datong and Yunzhou have a total of 24 mobile battalions. Fu Renxi's Du Biao Battalion ranks among the top three in terms of troop strength. Because of its large number of soldiers, it is called the "big camp".

However, his "large camp" actually had a full strength of only 2,440 men.

In terms of combat effectiveness, the Du Biao Battalion that he had gathered from the landlord militia he obtained from his father-in-law and other gentry in Daizhou was the best among the three towns, because they had been well fed and had plenty of strength in the past year.

As for the remaining battalions, nearly twenty battalions were reduced to 1,500 people due to shortages. Even so, there were still more than a dozen battalions that were not complete, with a shortage of forty to fifty soldiers at the least and a shortage of three to four hundred soldiers at the most.

The mounts must include mules and camels to make up the number of seven steps and three horses.

Compared with those camps, Fu Renxi's Du Biao Camp had both veteran soldiers who had lived a life of luxury with him and soldiers from the Daizhou gentry regiment. It had a staff of more than 2,400 people, more than 1,000 muskets, and 1,400 war horses alone. If mules were included, each man would have one horse.

Just based on this, it is certainly the leader among the three towns.

This was not because he was strong, but because others did not have the support of the landlords and gentry. Because of the plague, supplies could not keep up and everything was in chaos.

In fact, according to his estimation, at this moment, let alone Liu Chengzong, even if any random person could gather 3,000 people, he could dominate Shanxi.

Fu Renxi was worried and sighed: "The north is in chaos, the south is also doomed, Pingyang and Lu'an Prefectures are in chaos again with the White Lotus Sect..."

White Lotus Sect?
Liu Chengzong raised his eyelids unconsciously. It sounded like he was responsible for the chaos in Shanxi.

Upon hearing this, he asked with a complicated expression, "Is the pimple epidemic in Shanxi not over yet?"

He thought that shouldn't be the case. Tongguan is a checkpoint, so the situation should be more serious than other places. But even so, around the New Year, the plague inside and outside the pass gradually subsided.

According to Zhang Tianlin's observation, the flea plague disappeared on the plateau east of Tongguan, not because the flea plague was afraid of spring, but because the fleas, rats, and humans infected with the disease basically did not move around the New Year.

Those who haven't moved are dead, and those who are alive don't run around before and after the New Year. It's very cold outside, and there are bandits and robbers running around, so everyone stays in the fort. The source of infection is gone, and the disease is gone.

The situation in Shanxi should be similar.

“It’s over, but last year’s land is barren.”

Fu Renxi spread his hands and said, "The landlords, gentry, and even tenants are all in the manor and fort. It all depends on the management in the past. If the management was good in the past, they can still make a living now; if the management was not good, they can't make a living anymore."

"But the farmers who own their own land ..."

Fu Renxi shook his head. "Last month, Governor Wu reported to the court that many counties were reporting cannibalism, hoping that the emperor would allocate funds for disaster relief. The emperor just allocated 35,000 taels, and it hasn't even arrived yet, and the Eastern Tartar invaded the border."

Listening to his narration, Liu Chengzong frowned and asked, "Is the governor Wu Shen?"

Fu Renxi nodded. "It's difficult. Back then, he asked for 100,000 taels of silver to provide disaster relief in Shaanxi, but it was divided up as soon as it was distributed to the locals... But even a drop in the bucket has to be provided, and it's a good thing if a stone of grain falls into the mouths of the hungry people."

Liu Chengzong was quite familiar with Wu Shen's work in disaster relief in Shaanxi five years ago and knew that he was a capable official.

But the disaster in Shaanxi that year could not be solved by 100,000 taels of silver.

To put it bluntly, although drought is serious, it is something that can be solved by humans.

What really made Shaanxi's situation worse was these mutinous and hungry troops, who smashed Shaanxi to pieces.

Even out of Wu Shen's 100,000 taels, 4,000 taels were specifically used to repair the post station that was destroyed by Liu Chengzong. However, although Liu Chengzong left, Gao Yingxiang came out of Shizigou and destroyed the post station again.

Fu Renxi was about to say something when Liu Chengzong asked, "What's the price of Shanxi's grain?"

"In Taiyuan City, one bushel of millet costs seven coins of silver."

One stone is seven taels.

Five thousand shi of grain, based on the relief amount of three dou for large-mouthed people and one dou and five liters for small-mouthed people, is enough to feed twenty thousand hungry people for a month.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Fu Renxi didn't take these words seriously, he just shook his head and said, "Originally it was one dou and five coins, but when the news of the Eastern Tartars breaking through the border came out, the grain price skyrocketed, they didn't even look at what was there to rob in Shanxi, the Eastern Tartars didn't even want to rob, yet they still raised the grain price."

"From what you said, Ajige didn't plunder Shanxi after he broke through?"

He remembered Ajige.

This guy threatened him outside the border and then ran inside. Liu Shizi really wanted to catch him.

"They looted. They entered the border from Yunzhou. The countryside along the way was devastated. They didn't get anything."

"They attacked Yunzhou, Chicheng, Yangtian, and Changzhongdi but failed to take them down, except for Diao'e Fort."

Fu Renxi shook his head: "Many people were killed by the artillery fire. The Eastern Tartars were furious. They attacked from three sides, set fire to the city tower, looted the refugees, used carts to chisel the walls, took the opportunity to climb the city, and slaughtered the inhabitants."

"Eagle Castle?"

Liu Chengzong had never heard of this name. He turned around and looked for it on the map in the tent. He arranged the locations of the fortresses mentioned by Fu Renxi and asked, "Does the Eastern Tartar want to enter Huailai?"

Diao'e Fort is located on the west side of Longmenchuan, guarding the northeast gate of Huailai and also controlling the only way from Yanqing to Xuanfu.

"Maybe they wanted to go to Weizhou, Shanxi via Xuanfu, but they were hurt. After they captured Diao'e Fort, they burned the bodies under the city, put the ashes in their pockets, and turned east to Yanqing."

"Use a bag to hold the ashes?"

Liu Shizi thought to himself that this bag used for robbery has many uses.

Fu Renxi nodded, not knowing why Liu Chengzong was so surprised by this. He just said, "They lost someone and didn't want the government troops to get their heads, so they burned the bodies on the spot and divided the ashes into bags for each of them to take back."

"I heard that if the battle situation is urgent and there is no time to burn the bodies, the Eastern Tartars will cut off the heads of the dead soldiers and take them away."

Fu Renxi shook his head, with a complex expression of wanting to laugh but not being able to, and said, "Wang Pu told me that they won a small victory before, and the Eastern Tartars took the bodies away and ran away. He chased them to the camp, leaving only dozens of headless bodies. When the Ministry of War recorded the merits, they saw that there were no clothes and heads, and said that he killed innocent people to take credit."

"Whether it was killing innocent people to gain credit, or the Eastern Tartars cut off their own heads, those headless people can't speak anyway, only Wang Pu himself knows."

As he spoke, General Fu sighed and suddenly asked, "I heard that the Marshal doesn't care about the merit of taking heads, so how do you assess the merits of officers and soldiers?"

"It's different. I've been expanding my team, and recording my skills mainly depends on... making do." Liu Shizi thought about it, choosing words, and couldn't think of a good one: "As long as we can win."

The Marshal's Office records the general's achievements through victory, while for the grassroots soldiers, the three chief officers of their squad are responsible.

This crude method of recording merits is actually not as scientific as the merit of headshots.

The existence of the term "killing innocent people and taking credit for it" itself shows that there are systems, laws, investigations and punishments.

The Marshal's Office was different. They had a system to ensure the efficiency of the army's looting.

After all, the environment and situations they faced were different. If the Ming Dynasty used their methods, it would fall apart immediately, and if they used the Ming Dynasty's methods, they would also be doomed.

Fu Renxi seemed to be quite touched by this and asked, "What if we can't win?"

"Why fight a battle you can't win? Just don't fight, run away, or if that doesn't work, just wander around."

Liu Chengzong was open-minded about this matter. After all, he still had the confidence to control the army. The confidence came not only from his own physical strength and prestige, but also from the constant threats from outside the Marshal's army.

Fu Renxi was amused when he heard this, and said with a cupped hand: "Haha, the commander-in-chief is quick to speak and does not fight a battle that is difficult to win. This is similar to the tactics of Wang Pu, the general of Datong."

Liu Chengzong was taking down the map to speculate on the direction of the Jin army's advance when he asked casually, "Are you familiar with Wang Pu?"

"To be honest, he was the officer I most wanted to serve before."

"Oh?"

Liu Chengzong was surprised: "I haven't heard that Wang Pu is anything special. It seems that he has not made any great achievements."

Fu Renxi disagreed and explained, "He is also from the same hometown, Suidewei. His father was Wang Wei, the general of Datong during the Wanli period. He joined the army to fight against the northern barbarians when he was young. In the Tianqi period, he was already in the Shanxi regular army camp. Later, he went to Liaodong and Beijing camp. He didn't fight in Shaanxi. It's normal that the Marshal is not familiar with him."

"This man is very good at fighting and is hardworking. He goes wherever the court directs him to go."

Liu Shizi laughed and said, "Isn't this Cao Wenzhao?"

"Different."

Fu Renxi was also amused, and shook his head and said, "Neither of them was on the road to deliberately delay time, but Cao Wenzhao would fight wherever he arrived, while Wang Pu would go to the place to take a look first, and only fight the battles he could fight. If the chances of winning were slim, he would take the blame and avoid the battle, and would withdraw when there was a chance, waiting for another opportunity to fight."

What he didn't say was that this bad habit was actually developed after Wang Pu took charge of the Beijing Camp.

Because there were so many nobles in the camp, those soldiers were not killed, and even if they ran away or retreated, there would be ten thousand aunts and six uncles pleading for them.

What if half of them die in the war? Will they be able to return to the capital?
"So it's comfortable to be his soldier. You can endure the hardships of marching, but you don't have to worry about losing your life in vain."

Of course, Fu Renxi and Wang Pu are colleagues now, and he no longer likes Wang Pu that much.

He preferred to have colleagues like Cao Wenzhao, Deng Qi and Zuo Liangyu, ruthless characters who would rush forward and fight, and die if they couldn't win.

Liu Chengzong made marks on the map and looked up and said, "He will be skinned alive sooner or later if he does this. He has no say on how to fight. He is courting death... Don't learn from him."

After that, he pointed at the map and said, "The Eastern Tartars have entered Yanqing, so they will attack Juyongguan next and enter the capital. They will most likely not exit from Xuanda. I will also move my troops to the east."

"You Shanxi troops should all be transferred to the capital to defend the king. Go back and tell Governor Liang that I have no intention of attacking Shanxi. Let him concentrate on defending against the invaders. Also."

Liu Shizi tapped the table with his hand and said, "Go back and send someone to find the Shanxi Governor Wu Shen for me. He is an effective disaster relief official. Ask him to give me a Shanxi disaster relief charter, or send a disaster relief affairs compilation book to Hancheng and have Zuo Maodi give it to me."

"In exchange, if Shanxi needs disaster relief, you can ask him to send a fleet to Hancheng to buy grain. Disaster relief is a good deed. Although I don't have much grain, 30,000 to 50,000 dan, I can spare it. Three... Never mind, I'll just take two liang per dan." (End of this chapter)