No matter what intentions were hidden in the secret, the left-behind officials spent nearly a whole day and finally determined the candidate to lead the troops to Hebei to quell the turmoil. Doctor Guanglu and Duan Da, who stayed in the eastern capital, drafted the decree and sent it to the palace to be handed over to Yang Tong, the king of Yue, for sealing. Then he didn't bother to look at it anymore, and directly sent someone to the mansion of Feng Xiaoci, the general of the Right Marquis.

Feng Xiaoci is a veteran of a hundred battles, and in the summer, he just returned from Liaodong with the fleet of the Governor of the Navy to protect his children, passing through Qi County, and Zhang Xutuo and others sealed the marquis, and during the banquet he had a good understanding of the thieves in various places. At this moment, seeing that Duan Da didn't even prepare for the grain, grass and baggage, he ordered himself to lead the army immediately, and immediately understood in his heart that he and a few colleagues bluntly said that the government had touched the mold of the left-behind adults, so the other party wanted to get rid of himself by the hands of thieves. This time I went to Hebei, I am afraid that if I win, I may not be able to return to the Eastern Capital alive, and if I am defeated, I will be buried in another country. But since he is a military general, there is no reason to passively avoid war. So there was no more nonsense, and he arched his hand in the direction of the palace where King Yue lived, and took the order.

Immediately, Feng Xiaoci inspected 10,000 soldiers and horses on the school grounds. Then, through the relationship between his old friend and Su Wei, he scraped together a batch of baggage and led the army of bandits to cross the Yellow River north. The team had just landed, and Zhang Wenqi, the Taishou of Ji County, who had been waiting for a long time, had already led the officials of Ji County to greet him. Food, boiling water, vegetables, herbs and other urgently needed items for the army were all prepared.

Feng Xiaoci, who had received a cold reception along the way, was very moved, and hugged his fists and thanked him repeatedly. Zhang Wenqi didn't dare to stand it, took half a step sideways, returned the full salute first, and then responded in a low voice: "If the old general hadn't come in time, I'm afraid Jijun would have fallen into the hands of thieves." The lives of men, women, and children in this county were all saved by the old general. If you thank you, it should also be Zhang to thank the people of the county for saving the life of General Xie! ”

Hearing this, Feng Xiaoci was stunned again. Quickly found a relatively quiet place, and summoned the officials of Ji County to inquire about the situation of the banditry exhibition. After asking, I realized that in the days when the news reached Dongdu and Duan Da and others were dragging their feet to decide who would lead the troops to suppress the bandits, Lin Hushan, Douzigang and the Fox Lake group of thieves poured out of their nests, and there were more than a dozen in Lianke County. Qinghe County Cheng Yang Shanhui was newly defeated, and he was unable to fight again for a while. So the thieves became more and more arrogant, and actually joined forces to fight the idea of Liyangcang.

Although some of the grain stored in Liyang Cang was robbed by Yang Xuangan last year, the remaining grain was enough to supply the consumption of the 100,000 army for several years. If it is obtained by the bandits, I am afraid that the hungry people of the entire Hebei Province will flock to it, and in the blink of an eye, they will become one of the bandits.

When the police message reached Liyang, Zhang Wenqi looked at the more than 2,000 newly recruited county soldiers around him, and knew that he was unable to defend the city. So the firewood was piled up near the granary, and when the Liyang gate was breached, he immediately raised fire and died with food. Unexpectedly, yesterday evening, the rogues suddenly dispersed like a tide. After the shock calmed down for a while, he sent his powerful subordinates to investigate, only to know that a large number of officers and troops on the other side of the Yellow River were preparing to cross north, and the rogues did not dare to fight the government soldiers, so they fled away.

"This Cheng Mingzhen is quick to see the opportunity!" After listening to the narration of Zhang Wenqi and others, Feng Xiaoci frowned and sighed. According to the reaction of local officials, the thieves must have laid a lot of eyeliner on the south bank of the Yellow River, so they were able to learn the news of the imminent killing of the government soldiers early. And ordinary rogues would not have thought of this trick at all, only people who have been trained in the orthodox art of war will attach so much importance to the affairs of sentinels.

"The one surnamed Cheng didn't make a move at all. The three giant thieves who came back to attack Liyang were mainly Gao Kaidao, Dou Jiande and Sun Xuanya! Zhang Wenqi's statement once again surprised Feng Xiaoci's expectations, and he opened his mouth to report three relatively unfamiliar names.

"Can Zhang Junshou know the origin of these three thieves?" Feng Xiaoci was slightly stunned and continued to ask. The thief is like a leek in the wilderness, cut stubble after stubble. This phenomenon is no longer surprising in the Great Sui. However, such a well-organized and well-organized thief as the Hebei group of thieves is rare in other places. In Feng Xiaoci's memory, the bandits encountered by Zhang Xutuo and others were all a swarm of headless flies. How is it that as soon as these guys cross the Yellow River, they immediately become smarter?

Knowing that Feng Xiaoci was eager to understand the situation of the group of thieves, Zhang Wenqi lightly bowed his hand and said in detail: "The surname Gao seems to be the nephew or brother of Gao Shida, the chief scoop of Hebei Lvlin. Dou Jiande was a powerful general under Gao Shida, and Sun Xuanya was a rogue who came to Hebei after being defeated by General Zhang Xutuo in Bohai County. Among the three, Dou Jiande is the most cunning, and Gao and Sun are both obedient! There are also Guo Shanhu, Han Jianhong, Shi Derui, etc., who are the grass cowards who occupy the mountain as the king, and have been following behind Dou Jiande and others, taking advantage of the opportunity of the city to fight some autumn wind.

"How many of these people do they have?" Since the other party was willing to help, Feng Xiaoci simply got to the bottom of it.

Zhang Wenqi shook his head and smiled bitterly, his face was full of helplessness, "They have always gotten and grabbed wherever they go." robbed the local people of all the food, and the people naturally became their minions. Therefore, the specific number cannot be counted at all, this wave of bandits has spread rapidly, and it has spread to the present, and the least one of the Liukou has probably gathered more than 20,000 people. As for the many, I'm afraid there are no less than 100,000! ”

"Then what will happen if they can't get enough food and grass?" Ying Yanglang General Zhao Yida, who had been standing behind Feng Xiaoci, couldn't believe Zhang Wenqi's words, and couldn't help but interject.

The eyes of all the officials of Ji County immediately swept towards Zhao Yida, as if they saw an idiot. "The rogues don't always carry much grain and grass." Zhang Wenqi continued to shake his head and smile bitterly, "They have always been where they go and where they eat." When one place is eaten, it is carried to the next place with the local people, and so on it gets bigger and bigger. If the current army in charge is difficult to get food, he will go and gnaw on a big city. If it is gnawed down, then all the grain and grass will be there. If you can't gnaw it, some of the minions at the bottom will naturally die in battle and run home to farm part of it. In this way, the food supply for the rest of the people will be normal again! ”

"In this way, I am afraid that the last remaining ones are all those who are not afraid of death!" Feng Xiaoci nodded gloomily, and finally understood the answer to why the bandits were getting stronger and stronger the more they fought. It is no wonder that Yang Shan will kill the rogues when he sees them, and he will not let go of those who surrender. Those who have lived in the bandits' den for more than three years are probably each in arrears of dozens of lives.

"Those bandits will specifically pick out the old minions and treat them as their own soldiers, and they are willing to press them at the critical moment!" Zhang Wenqi is not familiar with military affairs, but he has a very thorough understanding of banditry. "Each gang of bandits is made up of hundreds to thousands of soldiers, carrying tens of thousands of people. Lord Yang Yichen issued an edict to persuade farmers last year, so this year, the life of the people is still passable, and there are not too many people who follow the bandits. If it were this time last year, as soon as the rogues put up their flags near the city wall, hungry people all over the mountains would take the initiative to gather. The leader of the rogue first gave each of them a full meal, and then a wooden stick, which could be used as a siege striker! ”

Speaking of the tragic incident of the bandits tempting the people to replace the dead with a single meal, other local officials were also indignant. took the initiative to take over the conversation and said with emotion: "There is obviously enough food in Liyang's warehouse, and if you go down casually, you can appease many hungry people." But the imperial court just didn't allow it, and would rather the grain in the warehouse be moldy, rotten, or robbed and divided by bandits, rather than give a grain to the people! ”

This topic is not something that Feng Xiaoci can participate in casually. After all, the purpose of his coming to Hebei was to suppress bandits, and he had no right to interfere too much in civil affairs. But he didn't want to disappoint Zhang Wenqi and the others too much, so he groaned a little and responded with a smile, "Lord Yang's persuasion order has caused a lot of controversy in the DPRK. But since the imperial court has not ordered it to be banned, you can continue to enforce it for the time being. This time, I went north to suppress bandits, and I didn't bring much military rations. As a rule, it is to be supplied locally. Now that the autumn harvest has just passed, the newly harvested wheat may not have time to be collected and put into storage. So I had to borrow some from Liyang Cang for the time being. Later, I will write an IOU with Mr. Zhang, and there will be a number for how much I use and how much I move in the future. Master Zhang just records it for the imperial court to check at any time. Anyway, there is so much grain in Liyang's warehouse, even if my more than 10,000 soldiers and horses eat eight meals a day, they may not be able to eat it all in 50 years! ”

Zhang Wenqi and his subordinates are all understanding people, and they can understand it at all. Feng Xiaoci said a word, and the smiles on everyone's faces were one more point. Say one more point. When the words fell, the eyes of almost all local officials shone brightly, and they thanked them for their kindness.

Feng Xiaoci also refused to give the other party benefits in vain, smiled, and continued: "The old man has just arrived, and he is blind to the surrounding situation. In the first few days, I lived in Ji County for the time being. lest the old man walk on his front foot, and the rogue will come back to fight the idea of Liyang Cang! ”

"There happens to be a large school field in the east of Liyang City, and the camp and warehouse were all repaired by Yang Thief Xuangan back then, which is enough to accommodate 100,000 troops!" Zhang Wenqi couldn't wait for Feng Xiaoci to be stationed in Liyang and not leave, so he couldn't wait to agree. "Although the old general can rest assured, I will do my best to provide daily fruits and vegetables from top to bottom, and I will never let the brothers go hungry and fight with the rogues!"

Then you can bring more grain out of the Liyang warehouse under the pretext of supplying military supplies. Feng Xiaoci smiled and nodded, not piercing the other party's careful thoughts. "I'm not familiar with the situation in various places, so I asked Master Zhang to send some officials and arresters to help, and go around to find out the movements of the thieves. When the sentry I sent out has a thorough understanding of the surrounding situation, Zhang Da can transfer the manpower back! ”

"That's, that's nature!" Zhang Wenqi couldn't wait to give Feng Xiaoci a confession, and he was willing to agree to any request. "There are a few lieutenants among the county soldiers who have a grudge against the Liukou, and I will transfer them to General Feng's account to obey orders. They are all locals and know everything about the surrounding area! ”

"That's the best!" Feng Xiaoci twisted his beard with his hands and smiled. Being able to get the full cooperation of local officials is undoubtedly a good start for the entire task of suppressing bandits. In the future, as long as the civil and military work together and the soldiers use their lives, he may not be able to achieve a career outside the court like the old general Zhang Xutuo.

Worship the general, that is the dream of all generals. He is only in his fifties, but he can't be considered old.