On the evening of 22 March, Shen Xi led the fleet into the Hanjiang River channel and berthed directly at the ferry port in the south of Chenghai County. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

On that day, the fleet will stay on the surface of the Hanjiang River, and with the help of Pengzhou, more than 3,000 footmen have crossed the Hanjiang River smoothly by ferry at noon, and have now set up camp near the ferry.

The three armies converged, the military prestige was greatly enhanced, and at this time, on the left bank of the Hanjiang River, Pengzhou sent about two hundred households to defend together, and the originally abandoned Jiangkou beacon tower was also re-stationed with soldiers and horses, Shen Xi did not have to worry too much about the attack from the sea, so he directly chose to go ashore to rest.

Although he had an army of 4,000 in his hands, Shen Xi was still cautious and meticulous in the defense of the large battalion. At the same time, Shen Xi also assigned that the fleet will detach some ships to patrol between the Hanjiang River and Nanao Island, and tomorrow Shen Xi will lead a large army to relieve the trap of bandits in Chenghai County.

On March 23, early in the morning, most of the soldiers and horses stationed overnight went north to Chenghai City, but for an hour, the city wall of Chenghai City was already in sight.

Chenghai City is actually five or six miles away from the Hanjiang River, in fact, yesterday the officers and soldiers at the head of the city have found that there are officers and soldiers stationed on the riverbank, but they dare not confirm where the team came from, until after nightfall, Shen Xi sent people to contact, Chenghai people only knew that the imperial court sent the governor of the three provinces to Fu Shen Xi personally commanded the troops to come to quell the bandits, and cried with joy for a while.

Before the three armies arrived at the city gate, they had already seen tens of thousands of civilians outside the city lining the road to welcome the arrival of the officers and troops.

Compared with Haifeng and Huilai who passed before, the gentry and people of Chenghai saw Shen Xi and were completely treated as Guanyin Bodhisattva who rescued suffering.

This is also Chenghai County after several years of suffering from banditry, finally ushered in the dawn of the local peace and contentment.

The people rejoiced, gongs and drums were noisy, and there were even lion and dragon dances, completely treating the officers and soldiers as their own relatives, and many people handed over the tea and boiled eggs in their hands with tears in their eyes.

As soon as Shen Xi's Chinese army arrived at the gate of the city, Jiang Shun, the county governor of Chenghai, stepped forward and took the initiative to lead the horse for Shen Xi.

Shen Xi dismounted and said: "Jiang Zhixian is a parent, so there is no need to be so polite to this official. ”

Jiang Shun almost shed tears, and said with gratitude: "My lord brought the troops here, just like a long drought and a rainy day, it is really the re-creation of my Chenghai fathers and villagers, and my lord can afford it!" ”

Everywhere he went, the people knelt down along the way, and their faces were full of pious expressions, which was even more grand than the reception he received in Guangzhou Mansion, and the whole city was completely worshipping him as a living ancestor.

Witnessing all this, Shen Xi was afraid that he would deviate from the bandits in the next period of time, which would betray the trust of the people.

After entering the city, the officers and troops began to take over the defense of the city.

Shen Xi did not settle in a post house with relatively good conditions in the city, but set up a large tent of the Chinese army in the dilapidated school field, and used the school field as a temporary command center for suppressing bandits.

Shen Xi did not accept any banquets in the city, and even changed his habit of asking for money, food and materials in one place, because he saw that after two years of banditry, Chenghai County was already in turmoil, and the people in the city tightened their belts to live.

At noon on the same day, Jiang Zhixian reported to Shenxi the situation of Chenghai County's dealings with local bandits in the past few years.

There are several powerful bandits around Chenghai County, such as Zhang Tianfu, Hu Min, Song Rushan, etc., these people burn and loot all kinds of evil in the place, so that in addition to the county seat in Chenghai County, the surrounding villages and towns have to build their own city fortresses to resist the bandits, but with little effect, the bandits often capture the villages, so that the crops planted around Chenghai County are almost looted, and Chenghai County has not even paid the taxes stipulated by the imperial court for several years.

“…… More than a year ago, it was my Chenghai County to play the imperial court, asking His Majesty to send a powerful minister to the southeast to sit in the town and put down the bandits. More than a year has passed, and I finally look forward to Lord Shen coming to Chenghai in person, which is really the savior of the people of Chenghai! ”

Jiang Shun held Shen Xi very high, but he didn't know that the higher he held it, the worse he fell.

The reason why Shen Xi did not directly lead troops to Chenghai County a few years ago was that he knew that the bandit forces in the northeastern part of Guangdong were too strong, and if he rashly sent troops, he might even hate the battlefield, so it was better to go south from Guangzhou Mansion and sweep the surrounding area of the Leizhou Peninsula around, so as to stabilize the rear and then train the troops by the way, so that the officers and men could accumulate confidence and gain valuable experience in fighting the enemy.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye, and now that Shen Xi is leading the troops, he is not sure of a complete victory. Because of this, Shen Xi is now cautious in exterminating local bandits in Chenghai, and he is ready to recruit local guards to fight together, rather than relying solely on the infantry led by him.

Shen Xi asked: "Chaozhou Wei has the responsibility of protecting the territory and the people, didn't they send troops to suppress the bandits?" ”

Jiang Shun said with a sad face: "The local bandits have a clear division of labor in wartime, are coordinated, and combine attacks and frontals, and the officials and troops have fought with them many times, all of which have ended in failure, and the county government can only garrison the city with soldiers and horses from the inspection department, and try not to lose, but they are really powerless against the bandits outside the city!" ”

Hearing this explanation, Shen Xi couldn't help but think that what Yansui Town heard from Baoguo Gong Zhu Hui was exactly the same.

Because he couldn't reach it, he stubbornly defended the city pass, and let the Tatars do whatever they wanted outside the city fortress, as for the local people, life or death were not considered by the officials, and even at that time, Shen Xi personally led the artillery team sent by the imperial court to send guns, but they were all turned away, and they almost hated Yulin City.

The defenders in all parts of the Ming Dynasty are basically the same mentality, even if it is useless to defend the city, but there is no big fault, but if you take the initiative to attack and fail, then you need to take responsibility, and it is impossible to resign, and you will end up with a self-apologizing at every turn.

Shen Xi said: "This official will send a letter to Chaozhou Wei, mobilize troops and horses to encircle and suppress the bandits, and ask Jiang Zhixian to cooperate!" ”

Jiang Shun didn't want to stand by Shen Xi because he was afraid that Shen Xi would be affected by his defeat. But Shen Xi's order is not only a military order, but also a government order, even if Jiang Shun doesn't want to cooperate, he can only grit his teeth and agree at this time, which is equivalent to blessings and hardships, no matter what the purpose is, he can only hope that it is Shen Xi who will win in the end, otherwise he will not only suffer, but even his parents and relatives will suffer.

Jiang Shun reluctantly signed his name in the warrant for the transfer of troops to Chaozhou Wei presented by Shen Xi, originally he was not qualified to transfer troops, but Shen Xi needed it, and he had to prove that the local bandits were serious to the point of no return.

After the others left, Jing Yue entered the big tent of the Chinese army and said indignantly: "My lord, we are here to help Chenghai County quell the bandits, how do you seem that this county magistrate doesn't seem to be very concerned?" ”

Shen Xi said: "Lao Jing, you are good at fighting, and you are a complete layman in political schemes." If you are a soldier, of course, you have to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy to obtain meritorious service, but if you serve as a local official, the condition for you to complete your term of office for a few years is to keep the city, and military merit is just the icing on the cake for him. But if he supports sending troops, then he needs to take on this responsibility regardless of victory or defeat! ”

"Huh!?"

Although Jing Yue has a certain amount of wisdom, he still has to be a few beats slower in considering these issues.

Shen Xi said: "Chaozhou Wei Neng mobilized about 2,000 soldiers and horses, and removed the 1,000 soldiers and horses used for sea patrols in my hands, and now we can muster 5,000 troops, which is the fundamental basis for us to quell the local bandits." There are at least three or four thousand bandits around Chenghai, if there are too few soldiers and horses at hand, even if we can win this battle, it will only be a tragic victory in the end! ”

The bandits around Chenghai are much worse than Shen Xi had predicted before he came, which stems from the sharp increase in the number of bandits in the local area over the past year or so.

Ordinary people were plundered, food and clothing were gone, and in order to survive, they could only rely on plundering others to make a living, whether they wanted to or not, in fact, they became a member of the bandits.

It may be that these bandits had no weapons and combat strength at the beginning, and some were eliminated by other bandits, while others were co-opted, and then the small forces were integrated into large forces, and gradually became big thieves entrenched in one side.

It took three days for the guard to mobilize troops and horses, and Shen Xi had already asked Jinghai and Haimen to transfer troops, and each side sent two hundred households to reinforce it, plus the two hundred households that Pengzhou was ordered to guard the Hanjiang River and the coast, Shen Xi had six hundred more soldiers and horses in his hands.

The number of troops transferred by the remaining thousand households is basically the same, and it will probably be on March 26, when the soldiers and horses will be ready. Before that, Shen Xi will send troops to suppress the bandits, and strive to uproot the camps set up by the local bandits one by the end of March.

The soldiers and horses rested in the city for only one day.

That night, Shen Xi was sorting out the copywriting in the big tent of the Chinese army, because the climate change during the Xiaoice River period was impermanent, and in late March, it actually encountered a cold spring, and the temperature was only about seven or eight degrees, Shen Xi tightened his clothes and only listened to the sound outside.

Shen Xi put down his pen and walked out of the tent, only to see Yun Liu coming with hot tea.

In the past, Yu Niang felt that Shen Xi might like Xi'er more, because Shen Xi and Xi'er had a "skin-to-skin relationship", so she asked Xi'er to take the initiative to be courteous to Shen Xi, but it was always in vain. Yu Niang returned to Beijing, leaving Xi'er and Yun Liu by Shen Xi's side, it is estimated that she changed her strategy, and now it is Yun Liu who comes to bring tea and water to Shen Xi.

From Shen Xi's point of view, he does prefer gentle and considerate girls, just like Yun Liu, but after all, there is an age gap between him and Yun Liu, and he sometimes thinks that even if Yu Niang really wants to give him a woman, he should find some cute girls of the same age, instead of staring at Yun Liu and Xi'er.

Now that Shen Xi has married Xie Yun'er and accepted Huiniang, there is no need to leave women like Xi'er and Yunliu who are several years older than him by his side.

Xi'er and Yunliu are not as gentle and considerate as Xie Yun'er, and they don't have the feeling that Hui Niang gave Shen Xi to pursue at first sight, Xi'er and Yunliu stayed by their side, because of their special status, Shen Xi always kept them on guard, not pity.

"Give me the tea, go back and rest by yourself."

Despite Yun Liu's man's attire, Shen Xi still didn't want to welcome her into his tent, because once he and Yun Liu were alone, the army might not know how to spread the word about their relationship.

Those veteran oilers like to talk about these children's private affairs the most, and when the yellow mud falls into the crotch of their pants, it's not but! (To be continued.) )