Zhu Shiyang and Lu Wenyuan were shocked for a while, the uprising of the displaced people was not a trivial matter, and many dynasties had been ruined here. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, except for the northwest border troubles, there has never been such a big variable. After all, Zhu Shiyang was young, and he panicked at the moment and said: "How can this be? How is this good?" paused, but became resentful, gritted his teeth and said: "It's all a good thing done by Fan Zhefu and Chen Jincheng!

Lu Wenyuan hurriedly stopped him and said, "The matter is urgent, the emperor will leave them alone." It is important to resolve the immediate crisis as soon as possible. ”

Zhu Shiyang said anxiously: "Then quickly send troops to suppress the displaced people, and they must not be allowed to set foot in the capital." ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "The displaced people are all unarmed people, and they are also suffering from drought, how can they be suppressed with soldiers? I am afraid that this will arouse the anger of the people and attract greater variables." ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "There are only a few homeless people, I will send troops to kill some of them first, as long as the rest are willing to surrender, I will not embarrass them." ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "Since ancient times, the people have been afraid of soldiers, and when the two sides fight, the soldiers are red-eyed, and the homeless people are forced to a desperate situation to resist, is it said that they can stop if they stop?"

Zhu Shiyang said hatefully: "Then kill them all, my world is so big, there are still so many displaced people, and it will save me money for disaster relief." ”

Lu Wenyuan said solemnly: "The emperor is angry again. The people are the foundation of the society, how can they kill at will, is this what Ming Jun should do?"

Zhu Shiyang said angrily: "This doesn't work, that doesn't work, so what do you say?"

Lu Wenyuan said: "This matter is not trivial, I am afraid that I will have to gather the ministers as much as possible......"

Yan Yong interrupted him and said: "I'm afraid it's too late, those displaced people are about to reach Taiyuan, Shanxi at this time, once they continue to break through Zhending to the north, they will drive straight into the capital and be in danger at that time." If there is a court meeting, it will take a day to say the least, and then we will start arranging, and I don't know how much time we will have to delay to get in, and now what we lack most is time, and we must stop it before the displaced people march to Taiyuan, and we really can't afford to delay it for a while. ”

Lu Wenyuan was also at a loss for a while, but after a while, he lowered his head and pondered. Zhu Shiyang saw that he didn't speak, so he asked Yan Yong about the uprising of the displaced people. The two were talking, but they heard Lu Wenyuan suddenly speak: "If the emperor and Lord Yan can trust the ministers, it is better for the ministers to lead the troops to stop them." ”

Zhu Shiyang and Yan Yong were taken aback when they heard this, and Zhu Shiyang said: "Of course I can trust you, but you are a civil official, and you can handle government affairs well, and I am afraid that it will be ...... to lead troops to fight."

Lu Wenyuan said with a smile: "Who said that the minister is going to lead the troops to fight." The emperor only needs to send 5,000 elite soldiers to his ministers just in case, and immediately send people to exchange the disaster relief silver taels for rice noodles as much as possible. The rest will be handed over to the ministers. ”

Zhu Shiyang hesitated and said: "I will arrange it, but you ......"

Lu Wenyuan said with a smile: "The emperor doesn't have to worry, just believe in the ministers again this time." It's just that when the minister is not in Beijing, the situation in the capital depends entirely on Lord Yan, and Lord Yan also needs to be fully prepared in case the minister misses, so he can deal with it. Fu Qian and Shen Wenbin, the servants of the Ministry of Officials, and Zhao Yongning, the waiter of the Criminal Department, are all people who can be entrusted with great responsibilities, and Lord Yan can be sent with confidence. ”

Yan Yong nodded in agreement, and went separately to prepare for a while. After an all-night and an afternoon, everything was finally ready. In the afternoon, Lu Wenyuan said goodbye to the emperor outside the imperial city, led 5,000 elite soldiers and dozens of carts of rice noodles, and hurried to Shanxi.

Taiyuan is located in the middle of Shanxi Province, and has prospered since ancient times. However, Lu Wenyuan led troops all the way here, but everything he saw along the way was desolate.

Ten out of ten houses in the city are dilapidated, the doors are wide open, and the people who used to live here have been fleeing from their homes for a long time. The streets littered with the bodies of the victims, causing flocks of crows to hover and scream in mid-air. Only a small number of surviving people saw the arrival of the officers and soldiers, and they walked out of the dilapidated portal in twos and threes, all of them skinny, with vegetable faces and dull eyes, obviously suffering from the disaster.

When the soldiers and horses marched to the city gate, Lu Wenyuan looked up and saw that the city wall was tall and solid, majestic and magnificent, and its momentum was easy to defend and not easy to attack. It seems that this time to quell the uprising of the displaced people, as long as he can hold the city and pacify the displaced people, there should not be too much of a problem. At that moment, he ordered the officers and soldiers to set up camp in the city and put themselves in order for the time being.

It was busy until noon, when the city was full of barracks, and the officers and soldiers in the various tents began to bury pots and cook food, and in a short time, smoke rose everywhere. Lu Wenyuan looked at the city for a while, and then saw the deputy general Shi Shouye go up to the city tower, came to his side and said, "My lord, there will be something to report at the end." ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "You say." Shi Shouye said: "Just now I was inspecting the tent, and I saw that the people in the city were attracted by the aroma of the soldiers burying the pot and cooking, and they all gathered around the military tent and refused to leave. Some soldiers rushed forward to drive away, and in a hurry, it caused the dissatisfaction of the people, and several tents were already scolded, but fortunately they were bumped into by the last general, and they were pulled away. Since ancient times, the militia did not agree, and the last general was afraid that they would fight with the victims in the city before the displaced people came to rebel. Adults have to think of a way to ease the relationship between the soldiers and the people. ”

Lu Wenyuan lowered his head and secretly thought, the people in this city are scattered everywhere, I am afraid it will be difficult to gather them together in a short period of time to unify relief, and now that they have seen the soldiers making food, they are afraid that they are not willing to go far and near. So, what should we do?

Lu Wenyuan thought hard, but he didn't see Shi Shouye staring at him playfully on the side. It turned out that this Shi Shouye was the actual general of these 5,000 elite soldiers, and as a military general, he had to obey the orders of a civilian official, so he was naturally a little unconvinced. saw that Lu Wenyuan was born thin and weak, and he was bookish, so he was only bullied. came to him to report the matter, wanting to take the opportunity to make things difficult for him. In fact, these 5,000 elite soldiers have always been led by Shi Shouye, as long as he orders the soldiers not to drive the people, the problem can be easily solved. But he deliberately refused to do it, just to test Lu Wenyuan's ability to see if he was worthy of his life. As soon as Shi Shouye thought of this, he kept an eye on Lu Wenyuan even more.

Lu Wenyuan pondered for a while, he already had a plan in his heart, raised his head and said, "General Shi, please order the trumpeters to blow the trumpets and gather the soldiers immediately." ”

Shi Shouye was stunned when he heard this: "But the soldiers have just eaten, Lord Lu is ......"

Lu Wenyuan said: "General Shi just did it." ”

Shi Shouye saw that his face was expressionless, and he couldn't guess what he wanted for a while, so he had to take the order. Suddenly, a low and deep trumpet sounded on the head of the city, and the soldiers were ordered, and hurriedly put down the rice bowls they had just picked up, and assembled in the open space in the city.

Lu Wenyuan came down from the city, stood on a high platform in front of the army, and looked at the army, only to see that the soldiers were all confused, obviously not understanding why he wanted to interrupt them to eat. Some people even secretly turned their heads to look at the camp tent where they came, where the people who had gathered around the camp saw the officers and soldiers leaving, and rushed to the rice pot to gobble up.

Lu Wenyuan knew that they were afraid that the people would snatch up the food, so he immediately spoke: "All the strong men came here after a long journey, and they were interrupted by me as soon as they finished eating, and they were unhappy when they thought about it. I know you're hungry, but the people of the city will only be more hungry than you. We have only seen some of you drive them away and rebuke them, but if they were your wives and children, your parents and brothers, would you still do the same to them?"

He spoke in earnest terms, neither in an official tone, nor in the same obscure language as ordinary civil officials. The soldiers understood, so they pricked up their ears and waited for the next words. Shi Shouye also put aside his doubts for the time being, and saw how he would think about it next.

I heard Lu Wenyuan continue: "I only ask you to treat them like your own wives and children, parents and brothers. I will let you go back to eat now, but when you have returned to your tents, do not drive out the people who come to eat, but get to know each other with them, and take them with you the next time you eat. And I see that there are not many people left in this city, and that they are divided equally among the tents, only two or three. Whether you like it or not, this is a military order. Later, I will go to the tent with General Shi to inspect the tent, and if I find that there are people who mistreat the people, or if there are still people who have not been contained, all the soldiers in the tent will be dealt with by military law. Disband. ”

When the soldiers returned to their tents, the people who had been devouring the pot were frightened and scattered, but they refused to go far, and they all probed their brains nearby. The soldiers had Lu Wenyuan's military order, and they didn't dare to slack off, so they hurriedly pulled the fleeing people back into their tents and gave them food one by one. The people were shocked and suspicious at first, but when they saw that the soldiers were really friendly, they finally swallowed it with peace of mind, and when they heard the soldiers say that they could eat every meal in the future, they were even more happy, and the atmosphere in the military tent gradually eased.

Shi Shouye accompanied Lu Wenyuan to review the various accounts, and saw that he had solved the contradictions between the military and the people in a moment, and it was more effective than simply scolding the soldiers, and he couldn't help but be impressed by him for a while. Shi Shouye's military generals are temperamental, straightforward and bold, and once they identify a person, they will treat each other sincerely. Since then, he has eliminated his prejudices against Lu Wenyuan and followed him wholeheartedly.