After completing the handover procedures, Lu Xiangsheng went to replace Tang Hui to patrol Huguang. During the march, Deputy General Li Chongzhen said strangely: "Lord Lu has been promoted, why don't you see joy, but have a lot of worries?" ”

Lu Xiangsheng sighed and said: "If the promotion is for his own selfish interests, he will naturally be overjoyed and carried away, but Xiangsheng is not that kind of person, Xiangsheng only thinks about making contributions to the emperor and the court, and after being promoted, the responsibility is greater, what is there to be happy about?" ”

The deputy general Lei Shi answered puzzledly: "Even if you only think about making contributions to the emperor and the imperial court, the greater the power of the official, and wouldn't the meritorious deeds be greater?" ”

Lu Xiangsheng thought for a while and said, "It can be said that way, but this is not the case. After speaking, he saw Li Chongzhen and Lei Shisheng looking at him together, and said: "There is a problem with the strategy of the imperial court, and it is difficult to make contributions." ”

Li Chongzhen sighed with emotion: "Yes, the imperial court is always slow to do things, when the thieves are just rising, no one cares, and only after the rampant does they remember to send troops, and then send more troops when the disaster occurs." How can this work? ”

Lei Shisheng continued: "It is always the army that goes to the battlefield and then discusses the supply of military salaries, and the various ministries will make peace and then apply for food and salary, how can this be in time?" Moreover, the food and salary invited are often insufficient, and the soldiers have no choice but to follow and rob, what is the difference between them and the rogues? ”

Li Chongzhen said: "In the long run, there can only be more and more rogues, how can it be possible to exterminate the rogues?" ”

Lu Xiangsheng said: "This is exactly what Xiangsheng is worried about, but there is no way, the treasury is empty, and there are natural disasters for many years, so the imperial court has to do this."

In addition, although the governor system was adopted, the governor did not have special troops and special salaries, and the division between the governors was not clear, for example, the troops of Xianning, Gansu, and Guyuan were transferred to the governor, and the troops of Jizhou, Liaoyang, Shanhaiguan, and Ningyuan were under the command of the prime minister.

The governors of the provinces who are responsible for the heavy task of the frontier will ask others for reinforcements and transfer troops as soon as there are thieves and policemen, and if they don't respond to him, everyone should be in the same boat and go everywhere to meet him, how can the troops keep up?

These are not terrible, the most terrible thing is that those ministers who admonish Taiwan, regardless of the difficulty of the matter, regardless of the life or death of the soldiers, are there to talk long and short, seeking full blame, even if they have great ability, how can they show it? ”

Lei Shisheng said: "Didn't Chen Qiyu die in the hands of those Taiwanese ministers? It is said that the emperor didn't want to pursue it anymore, and blamed these people for constantly fanning the flames. ”

Li Chongzhen said: "Yes, although Chen Qiyu is a little selfish and public, he still has strategy and drive, and his death can hurt the hearts of many people." ”

Lu Xiangsheng thought so, thinking of his identity, he felt that it was not good to follow along, so he just shook his head and said nothing.

Lei Shisheng said again: "The governor now has direct power, and he should make it clear to the imperial court." ”

Lu Xiangsheng said: "That's exactly what I mean. ”

As soon as the words fell, the Chinese army handed over the report on the battle situation, Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but be shocked, and the report slipped out of his hand unconsciously.

Li Chongzhen and Lei Shisheng were very strange, and they hurriedly picked it up and saw that it was the news of the destruction of the Fengyang Emperor's Mausoleum, the death of Ai Wannian and Cao Wenzhao, and the defeat of You Shiwei! The two of them were also panicked and couldn't help but look at Lu Xiangsheng.

Lu Xiangsheng muttered: "These things have happened for a long time, I believe that there will be news from the imperial court soon." ”

Li Chongzhen said: "It should be soon, how should we act?" ”

Lu Xiangsheng said: "Let's sweep the snow in front of the door first, and stabilize Huguang." ”

said, sighed, and said: "The emperor is right, if every place can sweep the snow in front of the door, why can't the rogue be destroyed?" If you think about it, it's not easy to sweep the snow in front of your door now.

Let's talk about Hubei, although most of the Liukou went to Shaanxi, but in the event of a famine, the officers and soldiers were short of salary, and they were panicked, so they had to try to stabilize themselves first, and then go to exterminate the Liukou. ”

The two said, "What the governor said," and turned to go their separate ways.

Obviously, these two have not gone far, and Chongzhen's holy decree for their promotion has arrived.

After receiving the holy decree, he couldn't help but think: "This is the emperor's trust, since we are trusted by the emperor, we should give us a righteous and straightforward advice, so that the court can correct the fallacy in time and stabilize the overall situation as soon as possible." ”

made up his mind, and hurriedly wrote down what he saw, heard, thought, and thought, and ordered to play the court immediately.

As soon as the fast horse left, the Chinese army came in and said, "Lord Qiyu, You Shiwei is here." ”

You Shiwei, Yulin Weiren, and his elder brother Shigong and younger brother Shilu are all famous for their bravery. The accumulated qualifications were promoted to the governor of Zuodu, and because of the ineffectiveness of rushing to the aid of Xuanfu with Wu Xiang, the chief military officer of Ningyuan, he was dismissed from office and sentenced to military exile. Before leaving, Qialiu Kou gathered in Henan, and the imperial court ordered Shiwei to serve as an official, and the deputy general Zhang Waijia led the 5,000 iron horsemen who closed the Shanhaiguan to suppress the thieves.

As soon as he got the news of his defeat, he heard that he was coming, Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but be stunned, and immediately asked, "No, who did you say is coming?" ”

Zhongjun said: "You Shiwei, You Shiwei who just suffered defeat." ”

Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly said "Please", but stood up again and greeted him in person.

You Shiwei fell to his knees with a thud and cried bitterly.

Lu Xiangsheng stepped forward to help him up, took him into his arms, and let him finish crying before letting him sit down, and asked, "Tell me, what's going on?" ”

You Shiwei calmed down his emotions and said: "After Liukou captured Fengyang, Shiwei was ordered to lead the cavalry to go, and when he arrived in Bozhou, Hong Chengchou, the governor stationed in Xinyang, ordered Shiwei to rush to Ruzhou.

Just two days after arriving, because the Liukou had run to Guanzhong, Hong Chengchou planned to enter the customs to conquer, and ordered the generals to guard the key points in Ruzhou and Yunan. Because Shiwei led all the elite soldiers and strong generals, Shiwei and the general Xu Laichao were stationed in the mountains around Yongning and Lushi respectively, so as to guard the natural danger of Lancaochuan and Zhuyang Pass in Nanan.

After Hong Chengchou entered the customs, the Liukou avoided him and fled southward, and fled from Lantian to Lushi, and after being intercepted by Shiwei, he fled into the mountains around Shangzhou and Yunan.

The 3,000 soldiers led by Xu Laichao refused to enter the mountain, making a lot of noise, and after the thieves came, Xu Laichao fled, and the troops he led were all wiped out.

The troops led by Shiwei were stationed in the field for a long time, and the soldiers all suffered from serious diseases, and lost the battle with the rogue, and Shiwei and the guerrillas Liu Zhaoji and Luo Dai were seriously wounded. As a result, the Liukou crossed the Lu clan and went straight to Yongning.

Who would have thought that the official would report this matter to the imperial court, and the imperial court asked that the governor Hong Chengchou was actually afraid of taking the responsibility of using the wrong Xu Laichao, so he put all the responsibility on Shiwei, and the imperial court dismissed Shiwei from his position, so he came to vote for the prime minister. ”

When Lu Xiangsheng heard this, because of the implication of Hong Chengchou in this matter, it was inconvenient to say more, so he came over and patted You Shiwei lightly on the shoulder, and said: "Shiwei is good at appeasing soldiers and knows military affairs, but it is only because of his thousands of guest soldiers who have been guarding the barren mountains for a long time and the epidemic has occurred that he lost the battle. Now is the time to use soldiers, and it is a pity not to use him. ”

After speaking, he stared at You Shiwei and said, "How can I play the imperial court like this?" Seeing You Shiwei nodded gratefully, he said, "Shiwei follow me and wait for news from the imperial court." ”