Hold Pucheng, for the local county respect Liu Guoxiao, is a big problem, Pucheng is located in the Loess Plateau and the Weinan Plain junction, has always been the place where the soldiers must fight, so to the Shang Zhou and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the city wall continues to increase and repair, it is really a copper wall and iron wall, although the Ming Dynasty has been peaceful for a long time for three hundred years, there is no longer a war, but the foundation is there, as long as you take some money and grain to do a little renovation can restore the original appearance of Xiongguan. In particular, he is still facing a group of rogue thieves, although this rogue is very popular in the seven counties in the north, but the rogue is still a rogue and there is nothing remarkable.

After all, a rogue is a rogue Kou, even if he is a rogue who is in the mix, he is still a rogue Kou, and in the face of a rogue Kou, Liu Guoxiao has enough confidence.

In June, in order to trap the thieves and implement the policy of the two governments working together to suppress the thieves, Xi'an sent 6,000 men and horses with Zhang 15 as the garrison.

Now Pucheng has become a large construction site, approved by the peak, half of this year's tax money and grain will be used to repair the city, of course, in fact, half of the half is enough to complete, the master is not paid, but it is for the wartime, there is three meals of gruel a day, if you are not careful to mutiny and delay the construction period, according to the rules, bring your own dry food, then there is almost no expense.

After March construction, Pucheng was basically completed, and on this day, Liu Guoxiao, the county respecter, took a group of officials from the government office to the city for inspection and acceptance.

Walking in the already renovated and sturdy city, Liu Guoxiao kept pointing and picking out the faults here and there.

"Here, it needs to be heightened and replaced with weathered masonry." Liu Guoxiao pointed to a section of the wall that had been in disrepair for a long time, and said to Liang Xiao, the county man who was following behind him.

"Yes, yes, yes." Liang Xiao agreed repeatedly, and as usual, he hurriedly said to the secretary who followed him: "You hurry up and go to the city to send people and men to strengthen this section of the city wall." ”

The book was ordered, and he ran down to the city in a hurry, shouting and scolding at a group of ragged masters under the city, and a group of officials immediately followed the instructions, brandished water and fire sticks, and drove the exhausted masters and others to carry earth, stone, bricks, and tiles.

Looking at the master who was like an ant, rolling in the wailing and screaming, Liu Guoxiao held a section of the newly repaired battlement and looked out.

The mountains in the distance are in full view, and looking at the nearby plains and fields, the people who are still sparsely harvesting crops can't help frowning and asking the master book next to him: "Haven't you already arranged for people to go to the countryside to clear the wilderness?" Why is there no action at this point? ”

The walls are cleared, so that the rogues have nowhere to loot and forage, which is also part of this plan.

According to the normal situation, the rogue is wandering, there is no logistical supply at all, and all the expenses must rely on the supply of looting along the way, once the policy of clearing the wilderness is implemented, it is equivalent to cutting off the lifeline of the rogues, and without the supply of local looting, the more thieves, the faster the defeat. Even if this thief is different from other poles, how can he support it for a long time with the strength of the small and barren Seven Counties? You must know that once you go out to fight, the amount of grain and grass consumed is astronomical.

According to the calculation of the operation of the art of war, after a transfer, one pound to the front line must be consumed by ten pounds, and no matter how capable he is, he can't stand it.

And according to the art of war, one catty obtained locally is equivalent to saving ten catties, so this is the most decisive part of this plan.

When asked about the matter of Jianbi Qingye, Qin Heng, the chief bookkeeper, hurriedly stepped forward and said: "My lord, it was originally scheduled that Jianbi Qingye was the day before yesterday, but the gentry of the countryside pleaded together, hoping to delay it for a few more days, so that the gentry urged the tenants to harvest all the crops in the fields before executing, so the upper and lower officials made their own claims, so they agreed to their request, and hoped that the lord would forgive them." ”

Liu Guoxiao glanced at the master book, and couldn't help but disdain in his heart, are you sympathetic to the gentry and elders? Forget it, isn't it their filial piety? But where have you put me?

So, he reprimanded in a dissatisfied whisper: "How can the major affairs of the military state be changed with a few gentry? How dare you agree to a change in your small master book? ”

Qin Heng, the chief bookkeeper, saw that the county zun had changed color, he just smiled slightly, and he was not afraid, he took a step forward, got close to the county zun, and whispered: "My lord, in the past few years, there has been a great drought in the world, the harvest is not good in various places, and the granaries of some landlords and gentry have also been consumed. Therefore, everyone wanted to harvest crops to make up for the deficit in the past, so they came up to plead, I saw that the adults were busy building the city, so I and a few masters, and-" Looking at Liu Guoxiao, who had a gloomy face, he lowered his voice and said: "And after discussing with your housekeeper, I was sympathetic to the people's feelings, agreed, and asked the county lord to forgive me for making an opinion." ”

As soon as he heard that his housekeeper was involved, Liu Guoxiao, who was originally sinking like water, gently turned his head, glanced up and down at Qin Heng with the corner of his eye, snorted in his nose, and said softly: "When is it all right, still being so yang and yin?" This is a major event to suppress thieves, and if we succeed in suppressing thieves, we have military merits and political achievements, and everyone has been promoted to become rich. If the thief fails, then we have to bear everything, that is, we lose our official position and resign, and the emperor will not be angry, and he will kill us to set an example, do you understand the consequences? ”

"Understood." Qin Heng nodded again and again, but there was not much worry in his tone at all.

Of course, you have to do your best to suppress thieves, this is your duty, but as for the defeat of thieves, Qin Heng really didn't think about it so much, at least he knew that if he was victorious, everyone shared the military merits, and if he failed, you county order the top cylinder, why do you do my little master book? It is serious to make money in a muffled voice.

Besides, there are a lot of thieves in this world, you come and go, in fact, those are just a rabble, not more, thousands of poles, as long as there are hundreds of swords and guns in the county, it will immediately make him disappear, as for now, everyone is just turning their eyes open and conniving at him, one does not want to report, smear his political achievements, and secondly, I don't know how much I have colluded with these people in the county, and the cats of them can not be said, just one piece, the knives and guns of your brother-in-law's guard, I only see you report and apply for it every year, But I don't see an increase in one and a half pieces, and in the hands of hundreds of crooked soldiers, there are still rusty knives and rotten guns, and there is not a single bow and arrow, where are the knives and guns that are applied for every year? Don't you know it yet?

Also, at the beginning of the year, a wealthy gentleman broke his house, and people sent people for help several times, but you just dragged and didn't let your brother-in-law send troops, and it wasn't that the gentry used the power of the top to suppress you for many years, making you a dignified county, but you had to whisper to a rich man, you really couldn't bear it, what did you do? I don't know, the white jade antique that you are now on the antique shelf, I have seen it in the flower hall of the gentry, and I don't see him walking around with you, why did he come to your room for nothing?

Squinted at the main bookkeeper Qin Heng's submissive appearance, but a trace of sarcasm flashed on his face. This sneer, Liu Guoxiao saw it in his eyes, and couldn't help but feel weak for a while, he was a foreign official, and these county officials were local people, as the so-called strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, only one term, as long as he relied on them to block the attack of the thieves and obtained military merits, then he would rely on these to shine in the circle of literati, so it is not impossible to be promoted to another place and become a prefect, or even a governor.

Now, it is the right thing to stabilize the subordinates, or everyone will be finished together.

Thinking of this joint, he sighed softly, and said to the main book with low eyebrows again: "Since it is the plea of the gentry and elders, then, let's do our best, but the king's affairs are not costly, and the next is not an example." ”

got a sentence of not taking it as an example, and also got the promise of the county lord and other people above, so the master bookkeeper bowed again and again: "Yes, yes, I said that the county lord is sympathetic to the people and the elders, and he will definitely agree." ”

Don't look at the disgusting face of Qin Heng, the master who climbed up the pole, holding the battlement with his hand, in the dust, and continued to look at the fields outside the city.

"According to what you said, all the gentry and village elders should have finished harvesting the fields in the field in these three days." After looking at it for a while, Liu Guoxiao, the county honor, asked in a man's voice, speaking of which, he was stunned, and without waiting for the main book to respond, he knocked his fist lightly on the city wall and said: "The thieves will go south in these few days, and they can't be delayed anymore, tomorrow, tomorrow, I will order the guards to send troops, and according to the plan, clean up all the roads within a radius of forty miles from Pucheng, and never leave a grain of grain or firewood for the thieves." ”

When the master and others heard about this arrangement, their faces were disappointed.

Sweeping the surrounding forty miles, that is the farthest distance for an army to collect food in a day, which has to be said, Shangfeng knows the army. However, this sweeping around, the walls are clear, but it is also a great opportunity to make a fortune, but unfortunately, this huge piece of fat has fallen on his county brother-in-law, and everyone can only watch it.

Why doesn't Liu Guoxiao know everyone's thoughts? The fat difference of the strong wall and the clear field, or everyone does it well together, so that it can also boost morale in disguise, now, making a fortune is one thing, but uniting to defend the city and defeat the thieves is the last word.

He turned his face and said: "However, the matter is urgent and cannot be delayed, and the personnel under the Qianhu are limited, so I have to trouble my colleagues, for the sake of the Ming court, you will work hard, try to transfer domestic slave employees, and assist the guards to act together." ”

Hearing this arrangement, all the people cheered together, and all of them were red.

Looking at the new garrison with an indignant face, he didn't feel pain in his heart, and the defenders were mainly counting on them, and they should share a cup of soup, so he smiled and said to Zhang Fifteen and that Zhang Cunmeng: "The place is too big, and the task is urgent, so I have to work the garrison to send troops, one is hard, and the other is to be suppressed, what do you think, general?" ”

Zhang Shifu smiled and stepped forward to take over the task calmly: "Don't dare to work hard, it is our duty to work hard for the king." ”

Zhang Cunmeng's eyes lit up even more, and he was not relentless.

Turning around again, looking at the fields everywhere and the villages scattered in the fields, Liu Guoxiao couldn't help but sigh, in the blink of an eye, the hundreds of thousands of years of hard work in construction will be turned into ashes, and the disaster of thieves is so tragic.