Because of Zhang Yi's recommendation, Lu Xiangsheng did not underestimate Sun Chuanting at all, and was very polite, which is inconsistent with Lu Xiangsheng's usual temperament, since Lu Xiangsheng became an official, he has always given people the feeling that he has always been arrogant, not only because of his character, but also because although he is a civil official, he is more like a military general.

Sun Chuanting has heard of this. Therefore, he has no bottom in his heart about the first cooperation between the two, but judging from the situation in the past few days, Lu Xiangsheng takes himself very seriously.

At this time, the servants brought tea, but Lu Xiangsheng did not serve the tea, but gently wiped the tea foam inside with the lid of the teacup, and asked with a smile: "This official first wants to congratulate General Sun on his promotion, in fact, this position is too low for you." It's just that because General Sun's original official position was not high, the emperor was not too unusual. ”

Sun Chuanting smiled indifferently: "This is already an exceptional promotion, and Sun will definitely live up to the trust of the saint." ”

Lu Xiangsheng nodded: "Very good, very good, let's gossip less, the Holy Lord commissioned me to supervise and suppress the Central Plains Liukou, but the current situation General Sun also knows that Henan is full of thieves, hundreds of thousands, and our army is insufficient, I have more than 20,000 people under my command, General Sun's subordinates, only thousands, Henan locals, have not trained for a long time, self-protection is still not possible, this point of people, if you want to destroy the thieves, it is very difficult, I don't know what General Sun has to do?" ”

Sun Chuanting glanced at Zhang Yi, still a little uneasy, Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said: "Mr. Zhang is here alone, I take good care of him, he is his own person, and the general does not need to be suspicious." ”

He said something in his words, first saying that Zhang Yi was alone here, that there was no one else to deliver news for Zhang Yi, and that he took good care of Zhang Yi, and that Zhang Yi was always guarded by his side, and that he would be fine.

Sun Chuanting couldn't hear it, so he said: "Henan is full of thieves, this is the truth, if you want to exterminate them one by one, it is absolutely impossible." These thieves have no fixed dwelling, and after attacking the government and breaking the county, they plunder, and then burn the city and leave, coming and going like the wind, and if our army pursues them, they will divide their forces and flee, one is quick, and the other is so that I cannot destroy them all. This is a common trick used by thieves for several years, and it is very effective. ”

Lu Xiangsheng nodded again and again, when he first saw Sun Chuanting, he felt that this person was extraordinary, and now he heard him be reasonable, and he admired it even more.

Sun Chuanting saw Lu Xiangsheng smiling and listening, so he also came to his senses and continued: "But things in the world are like two sides of a blade, there must be advantages and disadvantages. ”

Lu Xiangsheng asked unconsciously: "How do you say this?" ”

Sun Chuanting said: "Harmony is the heart of the people, and the rear base. The thieves plundered everywhere, but there was no solid rear, so a group of thieves could be wiped out with just one battle. Just imagine, if the thieves can really be like Han Gaozu, there is a stable Guanzhong as the foundation, no matter how many people die or how many weapons are lost, they can always be replenished quickly, and it will be extremely difficult to exterminate. ”

Lu Xiangsheng nodded: "Go on." ”

Sun Chuanting took a sip of tea and continued: "Our army occupies the people, this is strategy, as for the tactical aspect, we must not be aimless, meet the thief and kill the thief, but have a goal, hit the thief's vital point, just like two people fighting, cut off their hand, and the other hand, cut off one foot, and the other foot, but as long as the head is cut off, other places will be surrendered together." ”

Lu Xiangsheng said: "What does General Sun mean by capturing thieves and capturing kings? ”

Sun Chuanting said: "Exactly, the strongest among the thieves in Henan right now is none other than Gao Yingxiang." If you destroy him, the rest of the thieves will come down to the wind. ”

Lu Xiangsheng frowned, it was not that he didn't take this problem into account, but that it was too difficult to implement.

Who doesn't know that Gao Yingxiang is known as the king of Chuang, and after entering Henan, his subordinates have expanded to seventy or eighty thousand horses, and there are six or seven thousand cavalry alone, including three thousand heavy armored cavalry, which even ordinary officers and soldiers cannot afford to equip. Whenever there is a battle array, Gao Yingxiang will let the heavy cavalry play the vanguard, and the mountains and seas will be overwhelming, so he is invincible. It is easier said than done to destroy him.

Sun Chuanting saw Lu Xiangsheng's concerns, so he explained: "Although Gao Yingxiang's department has a large number of people and strong soldiers, it is not in order, there are many family members of displaced people in the team, and there are less than 30,000 people who can really fight. ”

Lu Xiangsheng was silent. After a while, he asked, "According to what the general said, how many men should we send into Henan?" ”

Sun Chuanting said: "As many people as there are, send as many people." ”

Lu Xiangsheng frowned: "All gone?" What about Shanxi? ”

Sun Chuanting said: "Shanxi is not to worry, as long as there is one person here, it is more than enough to defend Shanxi." Lu Xiangsheng became a little excited: "Who is it?" Sun Chuanting said slowly: "Chen Qiyu." ”

For Zhang Yi, this is an unfamiliar name, but Lu Xiangsheng knew it, and he was greatly surprised: "Chen Qiyu, the governor of Yansui? ”

Sun Chuanting nodded: "That's the person." ”

Lu Xiangsheng said: "He...... He is a civil official, can he take on this great responsibility? ”

Sun Chuanting said: "When I was in Shaanxi, I dealt with this person and saw his ability, I dare to guarantee that he will be able to ensure that he will be able to protect the whole territory without worry." ”

Lu Xiangsheng was a little uneasy: "What is this person's ability?" ”

Sun Chuanting said: "When he first served as the governor of Yansui, there were tens of thousands of thieves in the territory, but in his hands, there were less than 3,000 people, but in less than a year, he had 10,000 horses in his hands, and none of the tens of thousands of thieves remained. ”

Lu Xiangsheng's eyes radiated brilliance: "Could it be that he is also a Confucian general like Hong Hengjiu?" ”

Sun Chuanting shook his head: "He never goes into battle, but he can know the stakes clearly, where he can attack urgently, where he can slow down the attack, and where he can't attack, he can calculate clearly, like a good medicine, the priority is urgent, and the disadvantages are to the point." Therefore, I think that it may be difficult for him to let him go out to suppress thieves, but if he is allowed to defend the land and the people, there is no problem. ”

Lu Xiangsheng listened, stood up, and thanked Sun Chuanting: "Baigu's words have solved my worries." I will ask for an order to let Chen Qiyu come to guard Shanxi, and you and I will immediately lead troops into Henan to eliminate the thieves. ”

Sun Chuanting also stood up and gave up his hand: "Everything is according to the orders of the adults, and Chuanting is willing to sacrifice his life to fight." ”

Then he looked at Zhang Yi: "Master Lu, I wonder if Mr. Zhang will go with us?" ”

Lu Xiangsheng smiled: "Mr. Zhang is naturally going too." I'm gone, he's staying here, it's not safe. ”

Zhang Yi arched his hand again and again: "Exactly, Lord Lu is thoughtful and thoughtful......"

So Lu Xiangsheng immediately wrote a table and recommended Chen Qiyu as the governor of Shanxi, and together with Sun Chuanting, he led the army into Henan to suppress the thieves.

After the watch was sent, Lu Xiangsheng did not delay for half a moment, and immediately reorganized the army and horses, ready to go to battle, he knew that Gao Yingxiang was powerful, so he ordered someone to build firearms and crossbows, and ordered that within ten days, 3,000 firearms and 1,000 crossbows should be made.

The strong crossbow he made was different from that of the Qin army, his crossbow was pulled by a car, with a range of four or five hundred steps, specially used to deal with cavalry, and at the same time of building military weapons, he ordered Sun Chuanting to continue to recruit troops, the army lacked money and food, Lu Xiangsheng was also a ruthless character, he specially set up a big banquet, invited the gentry and rich families in Taiyuan City to eat and drink, saying that it was for him.

There were only four cold dishes and a pot of light wine on the wine table, and after everyone sat down, Lu Xiangsheng was not polite, and went straight in, saying that there was a lack of money and food in the army, and the soldiers were not paid, so they could not go out to fight, so the gentry present generously helped.

Only then did the gentry know that Lord Lu was setting up a Hongmen banquet. So he trembled and wrote down notes, some donated 500 taels, some donated 300 taels, and some gritted their teeth and donated 100 taels.

Lu Xiangsheng took a look at the notes, sneered, tore up the notes one by one, and then asked the sergeant to send the notes written in advance according to the person's name.

When these gentry looked at it, they were almost stunned, and on the note in front of each of them, there were more than five thousand taels, and as little as three thousand taels, and there was nothing lower. Underneath the note, there are also the crimes they have committed, such as embezzling acres of land, evading military service, falsely reporting the heads of tenants, and even lynching and injuring people.

They know that at the moment, this Lord Lu is the feudal official of the governor's provinces, the emperor's red man, and his status cannot be compared with others.

Therefore, for the sake of their lives, the gentry had no choice but to instruct their servants to go home and get money and food.

Lu Xiangsheng is not a cool official, and the silver grain he asks for is not a broken amount for each family, so those people suffer losses, and they will not fight hard. As a result, his army immediately had 100,000 taels of silver and thousands of grains.

With money and food, they have confidence, and the sergeants have no worries, so Lu Xiangsheng led the army out of Shanxi and into Henan ten days later. Sun Chuanting was his vanguard, Zhang Yi was his strategist, and the morale of the whole army was high, and he came to Henan for a decisive battle.