It is difficult to go to Shu and it is difficult to go to the sky. Eight?? ８}

Since ancient times, the roads in and out of Sichuan are rugged and difficult, steep and abnormal, Kuizhou and other places are easy to defend and difficult to attack, once the rebels enter Sichuan, entrenched in Bashan and Shushui, the mountains and forests are heavy, the army is inconvenient to dispatch, I am afraid that it will be more difficult to exterminate.

In order to prevent the rebels from entering Sichuan, Mo Li and his subordinates of the New Liao Army were desperately on the way, just wanting to catch up with the rebels as soon as possible and prevent them from escaping into Sichuan.

A few days later, the army chased to Changyang, but now Wang Jiayin's rebels had already plundered Changyang, Yidu and other places, and ran to the vicinity of Wufeng Shibaosi. It seems that Wang Jiayin really wants to show up in Sichuan.

On the way to Changyang, but saw that the villages along the way were dilapidated, ten rooms and nine empty, and the people he encountered were all yellow and hungry, and they would fall to the ground and starve to death at any time, so Mo Li had to take out a small part of the food from the military rations to help the refugees, and set up a homeless resettlement envoy to be responsible for sheltering and resettling the displaced refugees from all over the country.

At dusk of this day, the army rushed to a small town called Gushan to rest, and the forward Zhou Yuji sent someone to report, saying that there was a large village in front of the village to defend itself, and the forward troops originally wanted to ask the people in the village about the traces of the rebels and the nearby terrain routes, but those who guarded the village did not give the officers and soldiers any face, not only refused to open the door, but also spoke badly to each other, threatening not to welcome the arrival of the officers and soldiers.

For this reason, Zhou Yuji asked for instructions on how to deal with it. After all, this is a local affair, and the other side does not look like a rebel, but all white-hat Muslims.

Hui?

Mo Li suddenly thought that this Wang Jiayin's rebels were like locusts crossing the border, and the place they passed was almost thousands of miles away, and many of the villages that had formed and defended themselves had been broken and ravaged by the rebels, why could this village still be so flamboyant and not take the officials and soldiers seriously? Is there something greasy? Or does it indeed have extraordinary strength, even Wang Jiayin's tens of thousands of rebels can't help it?

The so-called self-defense of the village is a means of self-protection of the local heroes. Since the raid on the Central Plains, the landlords in the Central Plains have gathered to defend themselves, small villages and large villages, armed with weapons to resist the Liukou, and sometimes resist the soldiers and horses sent by the government, the reason is that they do not want to pay grain.

Most of the soldiers in the village are not poor peasants, but landlords and rich peasants, who farm the land during the busy season and go out to fight and loot during the slack season.

Most of these stockades are in the territory of Huguang, but Mo Li has the idea of taking Huguang as the foundation for his future support and self-respect, how can he tolerate the existence of such lawless villages?

But because the rebels who are now eager to hunt down Wang Jiayin, where is there extra time to pay attention to the powerful soldiers in these places.

Besides, after all, his new Liao army was transferred from abroad to suppress bandits, and the villages that were formed were in Huguang and Henan, and these things belonged to local affairs, and matters that had nothing to do with the suppression of bandits were naturally not under his jurisdiction.

More is better than less, Chongzhen has never been at ease with himself, the most important thing at the moment is to encircle and suppress the rebels, and the matter of Haoqiang should be left to be solved later. As long as Wang Jiayin's rebels are exterminated, and he has mastered the military and political power of Huguang, and the world is peaceful, these heroes will naturally lose the soil for survival, and they will have to obey the king's orders when the time comes.

Just thinking about why this stockade is so arrogant, he dares to openly confront the officials and soldiers? Since the people guarding the village are all wearing white hats, could it be really the old Hui Ma Shouying's trilogy?

Thinking of this, Mo Li hurriedly called someone to find the local guide Feng Daniu. Feng Daniu was the official of the Changyang County Ya, and when the army arrived in Changyang, he asked Changyang County to send a guide to point out the road terrain for the army, so Feng Daniu was sent.

Feng Daniu saw that Mo Li's appearance was extraordinary, and he had a compelling momentum on his body, and he saw that the New Liao Army had strict military discipline and military prestige all the way, so he didn't dare to hide anything, and told the matter of the village in front of him with anxiety.

It's okay not to say this, but as soon as he said it, it made Mo Li and other generals angry.

It turned out that this Ma family village with Ma Hongxi, the old man of Ma, as the leader, because of its large number of followers and huge strength, relied on his identity to run rampant in the township on weekdays, and did many evils.

Forced buying and selling, stealing chickens and touching dogs are all light, and sometimes the mob even molests and insults the Han people's eldest girls and daughters-in-law on the street, and even beat and hurt people, and so on There are countless such evil deeds.

At the end of last year, a few young people rode into the city to buy New Year's goods, and because of a rampage, they knocked down a small vendor selling groceries for no reason, and not only did they not apologize, but they also beat the vendor so arrogantly that they looted the vendor's belongings.

The little vendor was very old, first he was knocked down by a horse and fell to the ground, and then he was beaten violently by Huihui, and he was injured and vomited blood, and then when he saw that his belongings were looted again, he was immediately angry and anxious, and he did not catch his breath, and was actually angry to death in the street.

At this time, the Han people next to them finally got out of the ground and became angry, and a few small vendors who usually had a good relationship with the old man came forward and led the people passing by to surround those few back, asking them to give an explanation.

Those who returned to see the excitement of the crowd did not dare to be rampant anymore, and hurriedly rode back to the Ma family village.

However, it didn't end there.

The next morning, those Hui Hui gathered thousands of Hui people near the village, claiming that the Han people in the city had bullied the Hui children, and rushed into the county seat with great arrogance, armed with machetes, wooden sticks and spears, and smashed a street in the county from head to tail.

After receiving the report, the government hurriedly transferred hundreds of auxiliary soldiers, arresters, and errand soldiers. But when they saw so many riots, they didn't dare to care, after all, there were thousands of riots, and they were so numerous that the government didn't dare to stop them. The former county magistrate once handled a return to trouble because of impartiality, but he was blamed by the higher authorities for being troublesome, and he was dismissed within a few days.

The new county magistrate is an old scholar in his fifties, who is already timid, for fear that the matter will spread to the top and lose his official position like his predecessor, so he has to watch them behave indiscriminately.

"They rushed in and smashed whatever they saw, even the windows of my house were smashed by them!" Thinking of the scene of going back to the city to commit violence, Feng Daniu is still a little scared when he thinks about it now, "What's even more terrifying is that my second uncle's baby was trampled by the riot because he couldn't dodge, and a few bones were broken, if it wasn't for the second uncle's desperate snatching back, I'm afraid that now there are no people!" ”

Mo Li said angrily: "How can this be true! What did the government do? By the way, aren't you a servant? Are you just watching these mobs go haywire? ”

"We ...... The county lord doesn't dare to care, where does the little one dare to speak up! Those returning mobs were all rushing in in large groups, all with guys in their hands, and they were terrible when they saw what they were smashing! Feng Daniu said tremblingly.

"They are fierce, do all the officers and soldiers eat dry food!" Cao Bianjiao on the side had a face flushed.

Feng Daniu said with a sad face: "General, they have power in the county and Jingzhou Mansion, the head catcher of this Changyang County Government is the third child of the Ma family, and most of the catchers in the county government are recruited by Ma Laosan, where can we afford to provoke it?" ”

"So, the Ma family village has not been dealt with by the government until now? The government has watched them run rampant in the countryside in the past few years? Moli's voice grew colder and colder.

"No, they are outnumbered, and they are in a group, hundreds or thousands of people are dispatched at every turn, and even thousands of people are making trouble together, and the government is afraid of them." Feng Da Niu said tremblingly, hesitated for a moment, and said cautiously: "General, the villain also heard that the Ma family village has been in contact with and the rebel thieves recently!" ”

"What you say is true? Did this Ma family hook up with the old Hui Ma Shouying? Mo Qian moved his head and asked.

"I don't know about this little one, and the little one has only heard about it. The villain heard that our new Liao army is very powerful, general, you must be the master of the villain! Feng Daniu suddenly said sadly: "Last year, the villain's daughter-in-law was humiliated by these beasts and killed herself!" ”

"Don't worry, your daughter-in-law's hatred and the injustice of the people of Changyang, this general will definitely seek justice for you!" Mo Li said coldly: "Since this Ma family has hooked up with the rebels, then his good days will come to an end!" ”

At dinner, Mo Li told Lu Hanzhang about these mobs and his plans.

Lu Hanzhang sighed, then glanced at Mo Li, and said in a deep voice: "General Mo really wants to take care of the affairs of these sect people? ”

"Father-in-law, if these mobs are not removed, how can the place be peaceful?" Moli said.

Lu Hanzhang couldn't help but smile bitterly, and immediately persuaded: "General Mo, as the saying goes, more things are better than less, and these things are best left to the government to deal with."

Our family also said bluntly, when you were in Liaodong, although your various behaviors were very happy, and the brothers were also happy, your reputation in the court was no longer good, especially the emperor had a stomach for you! I almost killed you to the end last time in Dalinghe, if it weren't for your repeated exploits in the counterinsurgency operations in Denglai and Shandong, I don't know when you would have been able to sit in the position of the chief soldier.

This time you went to the Central Plains to suppress the thieves, you just have to lead the troops to fight, and when the rogues are pacified, the court will naturally not treat you badly, why bother with this thing that should not be taken care of, and then make the emperor suspicious for this matter, wouldn't it be to lift a stone and shoot yourself in the foot, and find yourself unhappy. ”

Mo Li also shook his head and said: "Gonggong Lu, the last general thinks that these Huihui are actually the Liukou rebels, and the old Huihui of the Liukou thief is the Hui people, and according to the intelligence, the Huihui of this Ma family village and the Huihui of the Liukou Ma Shouying, we must not tolerate these murderers and bullies who poison the people and cause trouble to the place!" ”

Lu Hanzhang smiled bitterly: "General Mo refers to that Feng Daniu's testimony? ”

"That's right! Feng Daniu's testimony is only one of them, and according to the intelligence collected by Xiaobei, it also points to collusion between the Ma family village and the rebels. Mo Li said: "Although the last general has some evidence and intelligence in his hands, after all, there are still some things that need to be confirmed, so the last general decided to surprise the snake!" ”