Ming politicians

The biggest change that everyone expected appeared at the end of September.

On this day, Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng were worried about the many leaders. Although these leaders had lost their command and had no status, the influence of the people was still there.

This was a tense meeting. Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai were incompatible with each other. It seemed that the opinions were torn apart. The event that happened at the end of the meeting was beyond everyone's expectations. Several of Luo Rucai's men turned their backs at a critical moment At the meeting, Luo Ru was captured.

Seeing that the conflict was about to break out, Luo Rucai's soldiers had drawn their steel knives and were ready to go to war. Li Zicheng took out Gao Yingxiang's autographed letter and read it out calmly.

It was because of this letter that the bloody battle within the rebel army was avoided.

In the letter, Gao Yingxiang clearly designated Li Zicheng as the successor, and analyzed the advantages and disadvantages between Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai. Gao Yingxiang believed that Luo Rucai was a general who could lead troops to fight, but Li Zicheng was handsome and the leader was the most suitable Therefore, the leaders of the rebel army and all the sergeants must obey Li Zicheng's command.

But for more than half a month, Li Zicheng unified the command of the rebel army without bloodshed, and firmly grasped the 20 army. He established the capital, guard, office, thousand households, Baihu, Zongqi, Xiaoqi, etc., his trusted soldiers, began to serve as commanders at all levels. As for Luo Rucai and others, they were all put under house arrest. Li Zicheng would not kill them. impression.

During this period of time, Su Tiancheng has been very busy, Gao Yingxiang has been escorted to the capital, followed by Li Yichuan and Liu Guoneng, for these two people.His attitude is very clear, Jiang Ning camp will not keep the two of them, it is best for the imperial court to raise them up, without giving any real power, and put them in the capital.

Su Tiancheng has already written the secret document and presented it to the emperor.Of course, he did not forget to write a letter to Sun Chengzong, the second assistant of the cabinet, explaining all the circumstances in detail.

As for the 2 sergeants who surrendered, after careful selection, they were guarded on the spot. Those who can enter the Jiangning camp must be of innocent origin, or at least they can be educated.The selection work has ended, 3 people have entered the Jiangning camp, and the remaining [-] people will be dismissed on the spot when the situation calms down a little.

Su Tiancheng's main energy has been transferred to many things in Shaanxi Province, and the government at all levels has received the notice from the governor's office.Do not take the opportunity to blackmail the people, and try to ease the antagonism between the people and the government.

Hong Chengchou represented the Jiangning camp.He has gone to the capital, so Su Tiancheng still needs to spend some energy on Jiangning battalion matters, especially in the face of the [-] sergeants who have recently entered Jiangning battalion, he must strengthen training and education.

The biggest problem is money and food.This was a headache for Su Tiancheng all the time. Song Sijun had worked very hard, but with the increase in the number of soldiers, this kind of pressure was bound to increase, and the money could not come out of thin air.We must find a good way. Today's imperial court is still poor and sad, and it is impossible to solve a lot of military pay. The big head still has to find a way by himself.

Just when Su Tiancheng was considering adjusting many prefect candidates, news came from a dark thread, about the rogues.

Qu Qingze happily took the information and entered the governor's office.

"My lord, good news. There was internal strife among the bandits. He Yilong and Ma Jinzhong were killed by Li Zicheng..."

Su Tiancheng picked up the information and looked it over carefully.

On the side, Qu Qingze gradually restrained his smile, and he found that Su Tiancheng's expression became more and more serious, obviously Su Tiancheng's thinking was different from his.

Su Tiancheng finally finished reading the information and raised his head.

"Old Qu, why are you so happy, tell me your reasons."

"My lord, it must be a good thing that the rogues have internal strife. The Jiangning camp wiped out [-] rogue troops this time, and captured Gao Yingxiang alive, which already frightened the rogues. Under such circumstances, there are naturally problems within the rogues. Gao Yingxiang It used to be the leader of the rogues on the surface. The leader was captured. Of course, they will fight for the command. Everyone wants to be the leader. It is normal for internal struggles to occur. Such struggles between them can only weaken the strength and benefit us. of."

Su Tiancheng shook his head lightly.

"Old Qu, your analysis is wrong this time. Li Zicheng is really powerful. He grasped the key point. To put it bluntly, after this internal strife, the power of the rogues has begun to grow stronger."

"Why do adults know this way?"

"The rogues used to fight on their own. There were dozens of leaders, big and small. Starting from Wang Jiayin, to Zijinliang, to Gao Yingxiang, there was no real leader. The so-called leaders were just in name. They really fought. Sometimes, they still take care of each other, and sometimes, even in order to preserve their own strength, they respond passively, but the rogues have always been at a disadvantage, and this situation is not obvious."

Qu Qingze understood a little.

"My lord, what do you mean, the internal strife among the rogues this time is actually a unified command."

"Yes, if the 20 troops were to fight on their own, think about what would happen if the dragons had no leader, but the 20 people's thoughts and actions were unified, and the explosive power should not be underestimated. Li Zicheng was able to fight in a short period of time. In more than ten days, he subdued all the little bosses, and even killed individual bosses, which shows that he has extraordinary courage, and such a person is our real opponent."

"My lord, I think you should take advantage of this opportunity to launch a full-scale attack on the rogues."

A wry smile appeared on Su Tiancheng's face.

"It's easy to say. We have just arrived in Shaanxi, and we are not familiar with everything. The simplest one is that we are not familiar with the terrain, let alone other aspects. During this time, haven't you noticed that the people here, and Are all the government opposed to each other? The government regards most of the common people as thugs and mobs, who may join the ranks of rogues at any time. Here, there is no reaction at all."

"The occurrence of such a situation shows that the common people do not support us at all. If we continue to launch large-scale attacks on the bandits, what will happen, God knows."

Qu Qingze opened his mouth, thinking about what to say, but he didn't say it.

"It's not a good time to think about attacking the rogues now. We must use our greatest strength to pay attention to the issues of people's livelihood. We must let the people settle down, let the people have food, and resolve the conflict between the government and the people. Otherwise, the Jiangning camp may There will be real failure."

"My lord, it's not that serious."

Su Tiancheng glared at Qu Qingze.

"What are you talking about? Can we use the lives of Jiangning battalion soldiers to do things we can't control? You also know the situation in various parts of Shaanxi. There are no big merchants in the province, and most of the gentry and wealthy households have moved away. In such a poor place, what is the first problem we need to solve? Do you want me to say more? You will soon be the magistrate If you don’t have such an understanding, how can you do things.”

"My lord, what I mean by the official is that the Jiangning camp is not afraid of difficulties, even in the most difficult situation, the Jiangning camp can win."

"Don't say these things. Now everyone is bragging about the Jiangning Camp. It seems that the Jiangning Camp is truly invincible. In fact, the Jiangning Camp is not that powerful. It is impossible to pull out the current 7 soldiers. After completely defeating the Golden Tatars, besides, you and I are aware of the difficulties Jiangning battalion is facing. The military salary has risen sharply. When I was in Jiangning County, I could think of a way to solve it, even in Henan Prefecture. Shaanxi, there is no other way.”

Qu Qingze nodded. This is the truth. Shaanxi is too poor to support the army. Look at the guard soldiers stationed in Shaanxi. They are dressed like beggars. Most of them are old, weak, sick and disabled. It is impossible for these guard soldiers to To deal with rogues.

"My lord, Li Zicheng has unified the command, and the subordinates thought that they must always find a way to deal with it. Could it be that the rogues will grow stronger again?"

"This is also a question that I need to consider carefully. Under the current circumstances, it is definitely inappropriate to continue to attack the rogues. The underdogs will win, and the rogues have suffered a major blow. At this time, if we continue to attack, it may The rogues are driven to a dead end, they have no way out, they can only resist desperately, even if the Jiangning Battalion wins, they will pay a heavy price, not to mention the Houjin Tartars are watching."

Qu Qingze scratched his head, not knowing what to do.

"Old Qu, I still mean the same thing. In Jiangning County and Henan Prefecture, we are all concerned about people's livelihood, so that the people's life will be better, at least the people can have enough to eat. Under such circumstances, the people will never think of rebellion. Doing so is tantamount to drawing salary from the bottom of the pot, cutting off the escape route of the rogues, and the rogues will not get the support of the common people, and they cannot last long."

"My lord's meaning, I understand, but I don't know if the imperial court approves such a measure. I feel that Jiangning battalion wiped out [-] bandits this time. Some adults in the imperial court may wish that Jiangning battalion launched an attack immediately. In the shortest possible time, wipe out the bandits."

"Yeah, so, as you said, internal strife broke out among the rogues, but their internal strife made them stronger. Will there also be internal strife among us?"

Qu Qingze's body trembled, he understood the meaning of Su Tiancheng's words.

"Forget it, don't think so much, Lao Qu, you have to be prepared and ready to take office at any time. During this time, take a look and think about what to do next. Only when Shaanxi is well established can we It is possible to truly wipe out the rogues." (To be continued...)