Daming wolf ride

Tongguan, Shaanxi.

After learning that Lu Xiangsheng defeated Gao Yingxiang in Xinyang, and Hou Xun returned from Tangyin, Hong Chengchou could no longer sit still. He led Gansu General Yang Jiamo, Ningxia General He Huchen, and the new Aid Soldier Zuo Guang to lead 18000 elite troops. When Luonan rushed to Tongguan, he wanted to join You Shiwei's troops out of Tongguan to send Lu's soldiers, and joined forces with Hou Xun's troops to attack the bandits Luo Rucai and Guo Dacheng who were entrenched in the Zhending area.Unexpectedly, Shi Dayong, the commander-in-chief of Lushun, sent a letter to Hong Chengchou, telling him that Gao Yingxiang might go south to Huguang and cross the Han River to attack Hanzhong.

Hearing this news, Hong Chengchou was shocked, and even sent scouts to thoroughly investigate Gao Yingxiang's movements after Xinyang's defeat. Sure enough, news came that more than [-] people from Gao's bandits had fled into Huguang and were marching towards Hanshui.

Although Hong Chengchou was timid in his bones, he was scheming after all, so he immediately believed Shi Dayong's words that Gao Yingxiang wanted to cross the Han River to attack Hanzhong, and then seize Xi'an while the main force of the army was in the east.

Compared with the gains and losses in Xi'an, the two thieves Na Luo and Guo are not worth mentioning. Moreover, the Liaodong Army has trapped them in Zhending. It is a great credit.Gao Yingxiang's bandit is called "Chuang Wang", a real bandit, if he can capture and kill this person, not only will he defeat the bandits, but he will also become famous all over the world and move the court.At that moment, Hong Chengchou changed his mind and no longer sent troops out of the Lu clan, but immediately ordered General Ge Wanhao to lead three thousand Hong soldiers to Hanzhong to garrison. Gao Yingxiang was in Hanshui.

Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi who was inspecting the area in Huaxian County, had to report to the governor of the five provinces that Master Hong was in Tongguan, and immediately rushed to Tongguan to pay a visit to Hong Chengchou. This was the first time he met Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces, as the governor of Shaanxi.Before that, he had a relationship with Hong Chengchou in the second year of Tianqi, but at that time, he was appointed as the head of the Ministry of Officials by the county magistrate of Shangqiu, and Hong Chengchou had been transferred from the doctor of the Ministry of Justice to the minister of education in Zhejiang, and the two did not have much contact.

Knowing that Sun Chuanting, governor of Shaanxi, was coming, You Shiwei, who was stationed in Tongguan, went to greet him in person, and then led Sun Chuanting to see Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou was not wearing an official uniform, but a casual one, but his beard was neatly groomed, and his face was engraved with calmness, sophistication, and fortitude. When Chuanting saw it, he couldn't help but bowed down. He took a step forward, cupped his fists and said, "Daddy!" Handsome, Sun Chuanting is at your service."

Hong Chengchou held Sun Chuanting's hand and said with a smile, "Bo Ya, you came at the right time. Are you and I the same age?"

"Yes, but your lord passed the court three years ago to be admitted as a senior."

Hong Chengchou waved his hand and said: "On the way to take office, you chased and killed King Qiqi in Shangluo. You are no worse than my senior, but the governor heard that you went to the post alone, but I don't know how to kill that king Qiqi?"

Chuan Ting said: "Yes, I have recruited soldiers all the way, and now I have earned [-]. The King of Qi is nothing more than a thief. It is not difficult to break him with a little trick."

"The talents of liberal arts will be famous in the future!" Sun Chuanting said modestly, but Hong Chengchou knew the danger inside.

"The commander-in-chief has said it before, and the ability to pass on to the court is not half as good as the commander-in-chief. I just want to follow the commander-in-chief, suppress demons and eliminate evil, report to the court, and caress the people. This wish is enough!"

Sun Chuanting spoke earnestly, Hong Chengchou couldn't help being moved, nodded slightly, and said: "Very good! Let's not talk about this, you go and eat something first, sleep, and discuss things later in the afternoon."

"Commander," Sun Chuanting hesitated for a while, and said, "I'm not busy for dinner, please sit down, Commander, I have something to ask for my advice."

"Oh? Okay." Seeing that the court seemed to have something important to do, Hong Chengchou sat down immediately and signaled to the court, "You sit too." He also asked You Shiwei and Yang Jiamo in the tent to sit down.

After Sun Chuanting took his seat, he sighed softly and said: "Chuanting has been walking all the way, and the fields everywhere are barren. There are no people farming, only refugees covering the way, so Chuanting can easily recruit tens of thousands of people. Although it is a natural disaster, there are also temptations. Chuan Ting believes that if there is no solution to the root cause, if you just pounce left and right to block, the thieves will also rise one after another, and it will be insoluble in the end."

Hong Chengchou nodded, deeply convinced, and sighed: "Natural disasters are suicide."

"how do I say this?"

"In the past few years, natural disasters have spread, and the water conservancy has fallen into disrepair. I made a rule early on that the Yellow River should be dredged regularly, with a small dredging every three years and a big dredging every five years. Taicang and the local government shared the cost. But after Wanli, Taicang ran into a deficit and no longer If the money is paid, the land will not be taken, and the water conservancy cannot be maintained. The river bed is silted up, and the river embankment often bursts. Therefore, the disasters in the mountains, Shaanxi, and Henan are particularly severe, and the same is true in the south of the Yangtze River. Yeah. When I came to the throne today, Beijing Yunyin alone had been in arrears with the towns and borders for 18 years, with a total of more than 900 million taels. Guyuan, Yansui, and Ningxia towns often have no payment for years or even several years No payment. Now except for Liaodong’s payment, it can still be paid on time, and even our payment can be delayed. Not only that, but the royal family’s royal family, don’t they also owe it? Qingwang’s mansion only received the 26th year of Wanli two years ago Zong Lu. Dai Wang’s mansion has not received Lumi for eight years, and King Lingqiu has not received part of Lumi for 50 years.”

"50?!"

Chuan Ting was not only surprised, but Yang Jiamo and You Shiwei were inconceivable when they heard it. The majestic vassal king hadn't received Lumi for 50 years. To what extent does the national treasury have to be short for this to happen!

Yang Jiamo was a little lost: "What's wrong with the court?"

Hong Chengchou narrowed his eyes and spit out six words: "Natural disasters, border troubles, corruption!"

Hearing these six words, Sun Chuanting slapped his thigh and said, "Your Excellency is right! Because of the border troubles, the dispatch is increased; because of the increase, corruption is encouraged. Years of famines are also the punishment of God."

Hong Chengchou got up and walked with his hands behind his back, saying: "The heart of the sage is like a mirror. At the beginning of his ascension, he said: 'The sign of the addition of the faction is inevitable. Recently, some officials beat the bone and sucked the marrow to prove it!" But since Wanli, the salary is not enough to support the family. , if you are an upright official, you must be poor, so why not be greedy?"

Sun Chuanting also got up, "Before I left, I went to the Ministry of War to check the account books. There should be [-] troops stationed in Xi'an, but there are less than half of them? Sigh..."

Of course, Hong Chengchou knew the real situation of the army stationed in Xi'an. Seeing Sun Chuanting's desolate expression, he didn't want to talk about it any more. Of!"

Hearing the Master Superintendent calling him, Zuo Guang, the new aid commander, hurried in. He is the younger brother of Zuo Guangdou who was killed by the eunuchs during the Tianqi period. famous.After Ai Wannian and Cao Wenzhao died in battle one after another, Zuo Guangxian was favored by Hong Chengchou to take over the post of aid and suppression general.

Hong Chengchou told Zuo Guangxian: "Go and arrange a room for Mr. Sun to rest and discuss matters in the afternoon."

"Yes, Supervisor!...Master Sun, please!"

Zuo Guang first made a "please" gesture to Sun Chuanting, and Sun Chuanting clasped his fists to Hong Chengchou, turned around and followed Zuo Guang out first.

Hong Chengchou wandered back to the inner room, shut the door and didn't eat lunch, just trying to figure out how to wipe out Gao Yingxiang's troops. When he finally made up his mind, it was past the end of the day, and he was about to pass on to Sun Chuanting, Zuo Guangxian, You Shiwei, Yang Jiamo and the others came, but the six-hundred-mile speeding pond report arrived.

..........

"A division of [-] captives from the East invaded the capital in three ways. The Holy Majesty wants to serve the king everywhere, but he doesn't want me, Hong Chengchou, what do you think?" Hong Chengchou's face was serious.

You Shiwei said: "The distant water cannot save the nearby fire. Perhaps the Holy One knew that we would not be able to catch up, so he didn't ask Master Supervisor to help."

Hearing You Shiwei's words, Sun Chuanting shook his head and said: "No, the lower officials think that the emperor values ​​the supervisor, and he doesn't want to spoil the supervisor's plan to defeat the invaders because of the Eastern captives."

"I think so." Hong Chengchou nodded and stood up, "Forget it, since the Holy Majesty wants me, Hong Chengchou, to calm down the invaders, then I, Hong Chengchou, will give the Holy Majesty a great news."

"Happy news?" Everyone was startled, not understanding what good news Governor Hong was referring to.

Hong Chengchou smiled and waved his hands: "You follow me."

The crowd followed Hong Chengchou to the desk. Hong Chengchou smiled and stretched out his right index finger. He waved it lightly, poked at the map on the table, and said in a deep voice, "The encirclement and annihilation of Gao Yingxiang is the good news from this governor to the court and to the Holy Majesty." !"

"Encircle and wipe out Gao Yingxiang?" Zuo Guang, the general of the aid and suppression army, was puzzled after hearing this, "10,000+ high-ranking bandits cross the Han River, and we only have [-], how can we encircle and wipe out?"

"Bo Ya's [-] recruits killed King Qi. Are we still short of [-] elite?" Hong Chengchou turned to Sun Chuanting and asked him, "Have you read the memorial to Chang Ziyu from the Military Division?"

"Is it the memorial of 'Dozens of Rogue Qukui, the Strongest No Chuang Wang'? I have seen it."

"The governor of Shuzhong and Lu Xiangsheng were afraid of the king of Chuang and did not dare to fight. They only took some small units from other battalions to report victory. Xiang Sheng proved that he was not afraid of the enemy. He chased the king of Chuang and fought from Chuzhou to Yuzhou and indeed Shan and Xinyang, although Xinyang was victorious, they fought very hard, and their troops suffered heavy losses, and they did not wipe out the main force of the high-ranking bandits. The rogues naturally disintegrated. In the past, the governor had never had a chance. Now, the opportunity has come. You see," Hong Chengchou pointed to the map, "if I am not mistaken, after the high thieves cross the Han River, they will deploy their troops in Wugong, Fufeng, In the triangle area of ​​Liquan, he must have thought that we must put the main force in front of this triangle area to prevent him from breaking through. When we do what he wants, this high-ranking thief will definitely come out of here with a feint!" Speaking of this, Hong Chengchou pointed to the location of Yulu County in the right corner of the triangle on the map,

Zuo Guang first understood what Governor Hong meant, "The commander-in-chief's idea is to move the troops to the south, and use the plan?"

"The mountains in southern Shaanxi are full of barren mountains and wild ridges, and there is nowhere to look for food. The bandits were driven from southern Henan to Huguang by Xiang Sheng, and they fled all the way. They must be starving. In order to confuse me, the number of soldiers going south will not exceed [-]." " Hong Chengchou looked confident, "Gao Yingxiang wants to go to Xi'an, but he wants to take this road by surprise." He pointed to a point on the map with his finger, "here——Heishuiyu!"

"Heishuiyu?" Yang Jiamo couldn't believe that Gao Yingxiang would take this dead end. He shook his head and said, "When you go to Heishuiyu, you must enter Ziwu Valley. It's even steeper than that carriage gorge, the high thief suffered a loss once, how can he suffer again?"

"That's right. Back then when Wei Yan offered his plan to attack Chang'an by taking Ziwu Valley, Zhuge Liang didn't agree because the road was too dangerous. But if Gao Yingxiang didn't take this road, it would be even more dangerous! In front of me, Hong Chengchou, with Huguang chasing soldiers on the side, like the ancestor of Shengbu Kuan Ye is coming. If he has self-knowledge, even if he fights with many against few, he will not be sure of winning. If we are surrounded on three sides, he will not be able to escape even if he has wings. Therefore, he must take this risk!"