At the same time that Cao Ying was forced to move from Zaoyang County due to the situation, the return camp of Tang County also suffered a catastrophe. On the second day of the first month of September, Xiong Wencan, Zuo Liangyu, and Zhang Renxue's officers and troops launched a fierce offensive, breaking through the 36 villages of Tang County's Huiying. At this time, the shortcomings of the officer-army's ability to coordinate operations were exposed, and the various units did not give in to each other and fought on their own, although they did not give up their previous achievements, but the entire siege front was full of omissions and was in vain, so that Ma Shouying and other giants took the opportunity to get out and completely encircled and annihilate the attempt to return to the camp after all.

After returning to the camp and defeating, he did not dare to go to Zaoyang, but drove straight into the hinterland of Xiangyang Mansion through Xinye. Chen Hongfan and other troops were all focused on Cao Ying, who was close to the left, but they did not expect that the Henan official army would have such a major omission, and they could not be dispatched, so they were able to plunder the northern area of Xiangyang Prefecture for a while, and then march west into Gucheng.

Zhang Xianzhong, who was stationed in Gucheng, even passed on the good news, but said that "there are many thieves who have returned to the camp", but in fact, he calmly crossed the danger all the way back to the camp, and within three days, he successfully hid in the steep mountains around Junzhou and Yunxian. Not only that, after Cao Ying was defeated, he also turned to the northwest, and the two official troops of Long Zaitian and Chen Hongfan pursued them, killing and wounding a lot, but it was difficult to stop their military momentum. Luo Rucai recruited the ownerless group along the road, and when he arrived in Baokang County, southeast of Yunyang Prefecture, more than 10,000 people gathered. Cao Ying burned, killed, and plundered in Baokang for several days, and also plunged into the deep mountains of Fangxian, Zhushan and other counties, and died down. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the relationship between Zhang Xianzhong and Hui Ying and Cao Ying is still ambiguous, and there are even rumors that Xiying also "counted Yin to help him" during the joint attack on Zaoyang by Hui and Cao Erying, and almost overthrew Zhao Ying. But these are just speculations, no one can come up with conclusive evidence, and Xiying, which has always been calm, has not been out of the way.

From the beginning of August to the beginning of September, the encirclement and suppression of the bandits in Huguang and Henan, headed by the Hui and Cao Erying, basically came to an end. In the end, although Ma Shouying, Luo Rucai and other giants were not completely eradicated, they also greatly damaged their vitality, which can be called a rare victory in recent years.

Xiong Wencan's two achievements at the same time, quite praised by the government and the opposition, proud of the spring breeze, and the spirit came from Xiangyang, the town of Ye County, to deter the people in Chu, Henan and other places. As soon as Xiong Wencan arrived, how could Chen Hongfan, who was a snake and a partner in half of the land, be indifferent, and immediately sent out a group of Cambodians, inviting dozens of civil and military officials with heads and faces in Chu and Yu to have a banquet, clearly calling it "celebrating the grand occasion of exterminating thieves", and secretly fighting for Xiong Wencan's idea of picking up the wind and washing the dust. Considering that the officers and soldiers of all departments need to return to the division for rectification, Chen Hongfan, who is quite "considerate", set the date of the banquet on the Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of the ninth month of September - "The garden is full of flowers and chrysanthemums are golden, and I think of my relatives every festival", which is the title of his invitation.

At this time, Zhao Dangshi, as one of the invitees, must of course prepare well for his performance. However, the war is not on the side, and the affairs to be dealt with in the army are huge, and before going to the banquet, he still has a few things to sort out before he can feel at ease.

The first thing to do is to deal with the surrender.

On the seventh day of the first month of this month, Xu Hui, who was in the northern part of Fangyuan and was negotiating with Wang Guangen and other ministries, received a letter from Zhao Dangshi, in which he was resolute and marked the conditions for the surrender of Wang Guangen and other ministries. One of the conditions is the number of soldiers that each ministry is allowed to keep. Chang Guoan has the most, 800 people; The Wang brothers followed, five hundred; Wang Guoning again, three hundred people. The rest of Yang Youxian, Xu Chang, Hu Keshou and others are scattered with one or two hundred or even dozens of people. In this way, the total number of soldiers who can remain in the old battalion will not exceed 2,000, or eight out of ten. Of course, the remaining 8,000 people were not directly dismissed. Considering the urgent need for labor and the replenishment of vacant soldiers for the subsequent expansion of the scale of the tuntian, these 8,000 need to be screened layer by layer to determine their whereabouts, and only those who are really unusable will be given severance pay.

To tell the truth, Chang Guoan, Wang Guangen and others did not strongly resist the matter of reorganization. The first reason is that in the face of Zhao Ying's continuous pressure, the camps that looked up to people had to back down after weighing it repeatedly. The chips on both sides are not equal, and even if they show their teeth and claws, it will not help. The second reason is that because the facts are there, if you don't accept Zhao Ying's surrender, you have to bear the consequences of defeat. All the battalions were short of food, and it was only because of the successive victories and captures that they snowballed in strength earlier. Once money and food are scarce, downsizing is a normal thing for the rogue. Even if there is no Zhao battalion, the battalions will judge the situation and temporarily reduce their troops. In the final analysis, satisfying the hardcore backbone of the army is just what is needed, and with the backbone there, the strength will soon expand again in the harvest year. Whether it is Chang Guoan or Wang Guangen and other departments, excluding the surplus, none of the main forces that really take the shot can exceed 1,000 people - Luo Rucai can become one of the few giants with 3,000 iron horses, not to mention them. Zhao Ying did not force the battalions to give up the old main force, 8,000 soldiers seemed to be many, but they were only superficial, far from hurting their muscles and bones. Obtaining an official status is a huge temptation for most rogues, especially in the hostile combat environment. With Chang Guoan as an example, as long as Zhao Ying's official wish is in place, the resistance is not as big as imagined. This matter is entrusted to Xu Hui to be fully responsible.

The second thing is to arrange the temporary leadership team of Zaoyang County.

Due to Cao Ying's entry into the city, the core official system of Zaoyang County was almost completely destroyed. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grasp the real power of the county, and Zhao Dangshi will certainly not be indifferent.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the positions were divided into officials, bureaucrats, and officials. The official is the main position, and the bureaucrat is the deputy position, all of which have the rank of the imperial court, called "quality officials". The status of officials is far below the two, there is no rank, "not into the stream", and the bureaucrats themselves are "called", strictly speaking, they are actually ordinary people working in the yamen. Even officials have systems of evaluation, promotion, and dismissal, but it involves many aspects such as bureaucratic mechanism, background quality, and nature of work, and it is quite difficult to turn officials into officials. For example, Yang Guo, a magistrate of Fei County in Wanli Nian, was appointed as the magistrate of Fei County, and for a while "the government and the opposition were in an uproar, and public opinion was in a hurry", and everyone criticized the officials on the grounds that they could not serve as "official officials".

Although the bureaucrats appointed by the imperial court held great power, the operation of local government affairs depended to a large extent on the "servants" and "officials" who did not have official titles. Servants are local servants who serve in accordance with the tax service law, and they are mostly used as guards, catchers, jailers, etc., and their status is still low. There are many officials, most of them are scholars who can't find a background, and they do "the ability of the knife and pen", so they are also called "knife and pen officials". And if a person has been an official, then this person will be forever deprived of the qualification to enter the Shike assessment, and the road to becoming an official is completely stuck, which is based on the saying that "one day is an official and a lifetime is an official". The officials basically hired local experienced people to fill the posts, and many posts lacked successors, and even some were still conscientious in their old age, and a few important posts were filled by the staff brought by the officials. The bureaucrats of the yamen in Zaoyang County died, and none of them were spared, and most of the officials survived. This is a benefit, which means that as long as people are installed at a few key points, the entire county center can still function in an orderly manner.

Although the rank of the bureaucrats in the county is not large, they are all officials of the imperial court, and they are strongly endorsed by the laws of the dynasty, and Zhao Ying is at the mercy of them, and the operating space and flexibility are undoubtedly much smaller. But the officials are very different, the foundation is shallow, as long as there is not too much movement, Zhao Ying's forces are there, and the worries of coercion and temptation are almost negligible.

Zaoyang County is known as the county governor and the warden, to be more precise, it is a Yantang of Chu Xidi, who was once a warden. It's easier to do this way, just send a place to replace Chu Xidi, and just take over. Zhao Dangshi thinks that this candidate is no more suitable than Qin Qigong. Compared with other civil and military forces in Zhao Yingzhong, Qin Qigong had political experience when he was in the Zhonglu Xuanfu Division, and was widely involved in the political army, which can be described as a talent who "governs the army on the horse and governs the people on the horse". Looking at Zhao Ying's top and bottom, there are very few people who can surpass him in terms of comprehensive quality, and Zhao Dangshi is a hundred at ease.

There are many things to plan in Zaoyang County, and there are three preliminary tasks that Zhao Dangshi handed over to Qin Qigong. First, in order to win over the people's hearts, appease the people, and stabilize the panic and turmoil caused by Cao Ying's poisoning. expose the despicable deeds of Zhu Yuncheng and Chu Xidi, and at the same time promote the glorious and righteous image of Zhao Ying and Zhao Dangshi himself. The second is to rectify the rule of officials, which in general terms is to "crack down on dissidents and install people." There are many officials in Zaoyang County, with different thoughts, and it is the top priority to determine those who are willing to cooperate with Zhao Ying and eliminate those who share the same bed and different dreams. In addition, as soon as the Chu family fell, a large number of key positions were vacant, and Zhao Yingzhong also needed to arrange his own people to fill them in time. Third, in order to re-examine the land, the military disasters brought by Cao Ying led to the destruction of many large households in the county, including the Chu family, and countless fertile fields suddenly became borderless. These Zhao camps are in charge, and they have to take over. In addition to the fields, other fish, minerals, salt and other industries are also included.

These three tasks seem simple, but they lay the foundation for a series of measures that Zhao Ying is about to embark on. Such a heavy responsibility, in Zhao Dangshi's view, only Qin Qigong has the ability to bear it. To Zhao Dangshi's relief, Qin Qigong agreed to his appointment without any excuse, and between his words, he was quite firm and confident. With his attitude, Zhao Dangshi has no worries.

The third thing is to plan a new round of military reform.

After two hard battles between Huiying and Cao Ying, although Zhao Ying won the final victory, the price was not small. Hui Dengxiang, Jing Keqin, Song Houzhen, Lian Buxin and other officers were arrested and killed, their posts were vacant, and they urgently needed to be replaced, and nearly 2,000 soldiers were wounded or killed, which should also be replenished. In addition, Wang Guangen and other departments were newly attached, and the soldiers and horses entered the battle and entered the Tuntian soldiers had to be transferred, and thousands of horses were captured, and the military funds were not planned. None of these things can be sorted out in a day. Zhao was entangled in all kinds of things, and decided to hand over the work of this military reform to Hou Dagui, Wang Laixing, and He Kewei, with Chang Zeyu and Mu Gongchun as advisers, and he only participated in some major decisions. This is the first time since Zhao Yingcheng became an army that he has not presided over the whole process of military reform, but with the experience accumulated in the past, Zhao Dangshi still has considerable confidence in their ability and enthusiasm.

After the above three things have been done, there is still one last thing. On the seventh day of the ninth month, as soon as dawn broke, Zhao Dangshi, who had only lived in Zaoyang County for one night, traveled lightly, stepped out of the city through the fog, and drove his horse to Fanhe City.