Yanping Mansion, Fujian.

Zhang Kai, the imperial envoy of the capital, saw that Deng Mao's seven thieves were powerful, all the way like a bamboo, rampant everywhere, and all the officials and soldiers could not resist, at this time Yanping Mansion City was surrounded by the main force of 100,000 thieves, and had no choice but to go to the imperial court, asking the military department to increase troops as soon as possible.

After that, the Ming army in Yanping Mansion and even the entire Fujian Province took a defensive position, after all, at this time, the Ming army in all parts of Fujian was dominated by guards, not only low combat effectiveness, but also lack of food and clothing, insufficient troops, and was unable to take the initiative to attack, so they could only defend the city to protect themselves, and almost everyone was waiting for the arrival of imperial reinforcements.

And Deng Maoqi took advantage of this advantageous opportunity to lead 20,000 thieves to continue to besiege Yanping Fucheng, and at the same time sent his subordinates Deng Maoba, Jiang Fucheng, and Landlong to divide their troops south, and the three of them each led 20,000 or 30,000 thieves to run rampant in more than 20 prefectures and counties such as Haining and Quanzhou, and the thieves once entered the territory of Haiyang County, Guangdong!

In a short period of more than half a month, everywhere the thieves went, villages, towns, and countryside were all suffering, and countless villagers and ordinary people were taken captive, ruined and killed, and used as cannon fodder, and the entire southeastern provinces were shaken.

The thieves under Deng Maoqi also expanded dramatically in the past half a month, and the number of troops reached more than 800,000 almost instantly.

As a result, Deng Maoqi continued to increase the number of troops in Yanping Mansion City, regathered 100,000 troops to besiege the city, and prepared to take the entire Yanping Mansion in one fell swoop, while ordering Ye Zongliu Department, Deng Maoba, Jiang Fucheng, and Landlong to lead troops and horses to attack the city, and several people led the army of thieves to attack from all sides, in a short period of time, not only controlled most of Fujian, but also broke through Jiangxi Shicheng, Ruijin, Guangchang and other places, for a time Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong three provinces were shaken, Ming Yingzong was also furious after hearing the news, and urgently ordered the military department to mobilize a large army to suppress.

However, although the hundreds of thousands of thieves of Deng Mao's seven divisions captured many states and counties, they did not have the ability to gain a foothold in these states and counties, and most of the cities were looted and withdrawn after being defeated, and continued to rush to the surrounding states and counties, and only a few cities with greater strategic value were still occupied by the army of thieves.

In their opinion, only by constantly occupying the city, steadily expanding the territory and enriching the population, can the army have continuous combat power and start a life-and-death battle with the upcoming Ming army.

Like Deng Maoqi, adopting the general tactics of a rogue, although it seems to be huge and unstoppable, but with the passage of time, it is destined to have no stamina, and defeat is a matter of time!

Ye Zongliu and Wang Neng continued to attack the territory, and discussed it at the same time, and decided to remind Deng Maoqi to occupy the cities that had been attacked as much as possible, try to stand still, and not continue to wander around.

Deng Maoqi also understands this truth, but his subordinates do not have the talents who can govern the place, and if the army of hundreds of thousands of thieves does not continue to flow, where can they raise a huge amount of money and food?

Therefore, Deng Maoqi could only be pushed by hundreds of thousands of mouths waiting for dinner, hundreds of thousands of hands reaching out for money, constantly repeating the process of attacking cities, plundering places, and then continuing to sweep places.

Ye Zongliu and Wang Neng were also worried when they saw this, after all, at this time, the relationship between the two and Deng Maoqi was cold.

There was no way, Ye Zongliu and Wang Neng could only continue to expand their troops and horses, and at the same time try to occupy some cities by themselves to prevent the Ming army from attacking.

At the same time, after being reprimanded by Ming Yingzong, the officials of the military department were like ants on a hot pot, and began to deploy frantically to recruit soldiers and horses.

In the space of more than ten days, the Ministry of War successively issued orders to the garrisons in Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other places to send troops to suppress the thieves, and at the same time requisitioned a large number of Mongolian cavalry and the Beijing camp guards, and mobilized a total of more than 50,000 Ming troops, preparing to divide the troops into two routes to Fujian to suppress the thieves of Deng Mao's seven divisions.

On the fifteenth day of the first month of the fifteenth year of orthodoxy, Yushan Town.

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month, also known as the Shangyuan Festival, was a much more lively festival in the Ming Dynasty than Chinese New Year's Eve, and people everywhere were lighting up lanterns, lighting lanterns, and gathering all night to enjoy lanterns and parades, which was very lively.

That night, Liu Juntao did not go out to enjoy the lanterns, but accompanied Guo Yongzhong, Guo Muying and his son Liu Guodong at home to drink tea and admire the moon.

The family sat in a gazebo in the courtyard, with two blazing braziers next to them.

On the stone table, a pot of tea is on a small stove, constantly steaming, and a few delicate side dishes and desserts are placed in turn.

This kind of family atmosphere and nourishment of family affection made Liu Juntao's heart warm, and even his eyes were a little red, and he had the urge to cry with happiness.

"Husband, you've had a hard time this year. You don't know, the villagers are still discussing how to pool money to build a shrine for you! ”

After speaking, Guo Muying laughed, and Guo Yongzhong also laughed.

Liu Juntao said: "The ancestral hall is still exempt, as if I am a lot older." If anyone mentions this matter again, tell them: Don't build a shrine, just buy me some wine and meat. ”

Guo Muying and Guo Yongzhong looked at Liu Juntao pretending to be salivating, and they were all smiling from ear to ear, and even their son Liu Guodong was laughing, looking happy.

Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door, Liu Juntao couldn't help frowning slightly, and asked the maid to take a look.

Guo Muying whispered: "Husband, is something wrong?" ”

"I don't know, maybe it's for New Year's greetings."

Guo Muying glanced at Liu Juntao, who came to pay New Year's greetings on the Shangyuan Festival?

While he was talking, a maid led Liu Zi'an over, and Liu Juntao couldn't help but be secretly surprised when he saw Liu Zi'an's face was not good.

"General! Please take a step to speak! ”

Liu Juntao nodded, and walked into the wing room with Liu Zi'an.

Guo Muying looked at her father beside her, her eyebrows were full of sorrow, and said, "Father, something must have happened!" ”

"Could it be that Ye Zongliu has made something happen again?"

Guo Muying groaned for a moment when she heard this, and said: "It seems that most of the Ye Sect stayed, but I don't know where the Ye thief is causing trouble!" ”

Inside the wings.

"General, there is news from the Department of Exploration that Ye Zongliu has taken refuge in Deng Maoqi, a giant in Fujian, and at present, the two thieves have gathered 800,000 people, known as 1 million, and have already conquered most of Fujian, and captured Guangdong and Jiangxi, and have the posture of fighting against the imperial court!"

Hearing this, Liu Juntao was also taken aback, he never expected that Ye Zongliu would have such a great energy, and he would escape death several times, and this time he and Deng Maoqi set off a monstrous wave, he really underestimated this thief!

"What's the reaction from the imperial court?"

Liu Zi'an said in a deep voice: "The Chaotang Division has sent news from the Beijing Division, and now the military department has vigorously recruited troops and horses, preparing to gather a large army to suppress it. ”

"Will we recruit troops and horses from our Shandong?"

Liu Zi'an nodded and said: "The provinces that recruit troops and horses include our Shandong, and it is said that the requisition order under the military department is already on the way!" ”

Liu Juntao pondered when he heard this, and Liu Zi'an said with some worry: "General, now Deng Maoqi and Ye Zongliu have gathered hundreds of thousands, and the momentum is huge and unstoppable!" Although the people of our Yushan Town are strong and strong, after all, there are many ants that bite and kill elephants. If the imperial court wants to transfer troops from Shandong, we will bear the brunt, do we really want to go south to Fujian to fight a bloody battle with the thieves? ”

After listening to this, Liu Juntao asked: "Since the military department has given the order, then we can only go on the expedition, there is no other way." The most important thing now is to discuss how we should deal with the battle! ”

Liu Zi'an sighed and said, "General, this is a bloody battle, since it is unavoidable, let's simply do our best and make earth-shattering achievements!" ”

Liu Juntao laughed when he heard this, and said loudly: "Haha, good! Just what the doctor ordered! ”

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