Zhou Zheng waved his hand, asked him to sit down, and said, "You say." ”

Sun Chuanting sat down beside Zhou Zheng, and like Zhou Zheng, he tore the steamed bun and said: "My lord, there are too many bandits, and they are too widespread, and we are so tired that we can't get rid of them all." Also, the soldiers are tired, and food and grass are also a big problem. ”

Zhou Zheng chewed the steamed bread slices, looked at the tired soldiers not far away, and said, "What do you think?" ”

Sun Chuanting looked around and said, "My lord, I think my lord should go to the court and use two methods against the bandits." One is to force them to gather in Shaanxi and annihilate them all. At the same time, starting from Beizhili, heavy troops were cleared, and other provinces were strictly guarded and eliminated one by one! ”

Zhou Zheng glanced at him and picked up water to drink tea.

Sun Chuanting's method, not to mention that this method will not work, he has not solved the fundamental problem of the source of the bandits.

As long as this problem is not solved, the bandits will be eliminated.

Zhou Zheng looked up at the sky, this winter, I am afraid that it will be even colder, the endless natural disasters, coupled with the corruption of officials, whether it is suppression or appeasement, will not solve the problem.

The problem is below, and it is also above.

Zhou Zheng took a sip of water and said, "Hmm." Did we capture the victims, refugees, and resettlement to Denglai? ”

Sun Chuanting didn't think too much about it, and said, "I have already sent someone to escort it, and Governor Ma is also receiving it." ”

Governor Ma, Governor Denglai, Ma Shiying.

Zhou Zheng thought about it, glanced at him, and said: "Zhang Shangshu sent me a letter, the imperial court intends to transfer me as the governor of Shaanxi, and it won't be long before we have to enter Shaanxi." ”

Sun Chuanting was not surprised at all, and said: "This is expected, my lord, be cautious." ”

The momentum of the Liukou is getting bigger and bigger, the number of troops is increasing, the combat power is getting stronger and stronger, and there are constantly general soldiers, governors and other halberds sinking into the sand, once they fall into Shaanxi, they are entering the base camp of the Liukou.

Shaanxi is vast and sparsely populated, and there are many bandits, as long as you step in, it is dangerous!

This is not only the problem of bandits, but also the fact that people from all walks of life are not subordinate to each other, and the special identity of the prison army in it, which is unimaginable.

Zhou Zheng's identity as a 'guilty meritorious service' is also a key point. Once there is a slight mistake, the officials will step on 10,000 feet, making it difficult for Zhou Zheng to turn over!

Zhou Zheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Don't talk about this, first untie the siege of Feng." ”

Sun Chuanting nodded lightly and did not say anything more.

The wind came from all directions in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and the officers and troops were simply plugged, running around to plug leaks.

At the end of January, the rebels in Kaifeng knew that Zhou Zheng's army was coming, and withdrew first and fled into Shanxi.

In February, Zhou Zheng really received an order to transfer him to the governor of Shaanxi, and he was under the control of Lu Xiangsheng, and worked together to suppress the bandits in Yansui.

Zhou Zheng had just received the order for only three days, and before he could pull out the division, shocking news came from the capital again.

Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the Ministry of War, was imprisoned, and the Hou of the Ministry of Household was reduced to the people, and hundreds of officials of all sizes were affected by this, and two cabinet ministers were also crumbling.

The top of the imperial court, once again changed blood, and was in turmoil.

In mid-March, Zhou Zheng purged his army, crossed the Yellow River, and began to enter Shaanxi and Xi'an.

At night, when Zhou Zheng's army was resting, a group of people were discussing the war in Zhou Zheng's big tent.

Meng Hezhou pointed to the map, and Zhou Zheng, Sun Chuanting, Jin Guoqi, Cao Bianjiao and others said: "My lord, at present, the bandits in the northwest are very scattered, and the two largest places are the junction of Shaanxi and Sichuan, and Yansui, the junction of Shaanxi and Sichuan is headed by Zhang Xianzhong, and Yansui is headed by Gao Yingxiang. The governor of Guihong in Shaanxi, we have to deal with Gao Yingxiang. Gao Yingxiang has recently subdued five or six bandits, as if he is the leader of the alliance, with more than 300,000 supporters, but the internal relationship is chaotic, and he cannot command it alone, among which Li Hongji is the strongest, repeatedly defeating the official army, and conquering the most ...... prefectures and counties"

Everyone nodded silently when they listened, it wasn't when they just entered the northwest to suppress bandits, they would be shocked to hear '300,000', and now they are not surprised.

Meng Hezhou glanced at Zhou Zheng and said, "My lord, the Military Intelligence Department has received news that the bandits have made a plan to use Xi'an Mansion as the foundation to counterattack the official army, and they may take advantage of the gap in Xi'an's defense to attack Xi'an." ”

Zhou Zheng naturally knew the source of the information, and said quietly: "Do the other parties and Governor Lu know the news?" ”

Meng Hezhou looked at the others again and said, "I don't know yet." ”

Zhou Zheng knocked his fist on the Xi'an Mansion and said in a deep voice: "Soldiers send Xi'an!" ”

"Yes!" A group of people didn't ask much, and responded in unison.

Zhou Zheng went out day and night and sent troops to Xi'an.

On the way, Sun Chuanting obtained a steady stream of information about various bandits from Menghezhou, which was far from being found by some scouts, and it was clear that some bandits reported to the officials and soldiers.

Sun Chuanting vaguely understood, didn't ask too much, and made arrangements based on this information.

The main force of Zhou Zheng's army was stationed near Xi'an Mansion, and Jin Guoqi, Cao Bianjiao and others each led 3,000 people to make a move to go west to Fengxiang Mansion, clearing and suppressing everywhere and confusing the bandits.

During this time, Lu Xiangsheng concurrently served as the governor of Xuanda, exerted his strength in Shanxi, drove back Li Zicheng, who was advancing eastward, and then sent troops to Henan to clear all the bandits from North Zhili to South Zhili.

Hong Chengchou defeated several 'kings' in Huguang and Sichuan in a row, forcing these bandits into Shaanxi.

In just two months, with the full cooperation of Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng, the official army has achieved several great victories and dealt heavy losses to the Liukou.

The imperial court looked at these good news, and did not relax at all, and kept urging the two of them to eliminate the bandits as soon as possible, and they must not slack off.

It can be said that the loss of Fengyang, the central capital, gave the Ming Dynasty a great shock, and if the bandits were not eliminated for a day, they would be restless day and night.

In May, Gao Yingxiang and others came out of Hanzhong, and when the officials and soldiers from all walks of life suppressed bandits and were unable to take care of Xi'an Mansion, they approached Xi'an Mansion.

Zhou Zhengdaying, Meng Hezhou and others made reports.

Meng Hezhou said: "My lord, from the intelligence point of view, one way is from the south to the north, Gao Yingxiang is the main one, and the other road is from Suiyuan, headed by Li Zicheng and others, from the north to the south, it is a planned and premeditated action. ”

Zhou Zheng, Sun Chuanting and others carefully scrutinized the map one by one.

Zhang Cunren said: "If there are really more than 200,000 bandits, they can't be touched." ”

Cao Bianjiao said: "The rainy season is coming, I'm afraid that other people from all walks of life will not be able to rush over immediately." ”

Jin Guoqi said: "There are less than 5,000 people in Xi'an Mansion, and they may not be able to resist it." ”

Zhou Zheng didn't speak, looked at it for a while, and glanced at Sun Chuanting.

Sun Chuanting was staring at the map, his fingers were gesturing on it, and he was seriously deliberating about something.

Zhou Zheng didn't speak, thinking about countermeasures in his heart while looking at Sun Chuanting.

Sun Chuanting's career was interrupted by Zhou Zheng, at this time, can he give full play to the glorious leadership talent in history?

After a while, Sun Chuanting suddenly raised his head and said, "Li Zicheng is from the north, and Xuanda will not sit idly by." With Xuanda containment, we don't have to worry too much. On Gao Yingxiang's side, Governor Hong's main force is in Huguang, and he won't be able to catch up for a while. But if Gao Yingxiang wants to attack Xi'an Mansion from Hanzhong, there are several places that must be passed, and he can't take the army yet. ”

Cao Bianjiao suddenly stared at the map and said, "What does Mr. Sun mean, is it an ambush?" ”

Sun Chuanting said: "It's not just an ambush, if it's properly arranged, maybe it can hit Gao Yingxiang hard." ”

Zhou Zhengmeng woke up, he remembered that Gao Yingxiang was captured by the officials and soldiers and executed by the imperial court, and then Li Zicheng was able to succeed King Chuang.

Is it at this time?

Zhou Zheng put his hands behind his back and said decisively: "Okay, this battle is under the full command of Mr. Sun, and everyone acts according to orders!" ”

Sun Chuanting was taken aback, and he didn't have time to speak, but Cao Bianjiao, Zhang Cunren and others had an experience, and calmly raised his hand and said: "The last general will take the order!" ”

Seeing this, Sun Chuanting took a deep breath, raised his hand and said, "Sun Chuanting takes the order!" ”

Zhou Zheng just nodded, without saying a word.

Sun Chuanting took over the command, and while sending an order to notify the nearby officers and soldiers, report to Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou, and investigate the appropriate ambush location and method.