Li Yu just lived in Hanyang, and the guards came to report that Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang, came to see him, which is strange, the Ming Dynasty used literature to control the military, and the seven imperial history could call the general soldiers, although Li Yu had a title, but the Wenchen never took it seriously, and it was the first time that the feudal officials took the initiative to visit.

"Han Min, Yang Ge often mentioned you when he was alive, and today I saw that my appearance was really extraordinary," Song Yihe was in his early fifties and thin in stature, and chattered endlessly when he saw Li Yu, "This official and you are carried by Yang Ge Lao together, and they belong to the same family, you are from Yulin, Shaanxi, and the official is directly subordinate to Wanping, and the northerners are fellow villagers when they go to the south. ”

Song Yihe, Chongzhen three years to raise people, sleek but shrewd and capable, Chongzhen seven years to simply pull out the county, since then the clouds, Xiong Wencan, the prime minister of the five provinces of military affairs, promoted him to be the deputy envoy of Yunyang, Yang Sichang supervised the division and recommended him to replace Fang Kongzhi as the governor of Huguang - the person was born less than ten years into a party governor, which caused the government and the opposition to be red, wishing he was unlucky, Huguang people also caught him to write a letter to Yang Sichang to avoid Yang's father's name "Song Yiniao", and gave him the nickname "Song Yiniao". Song Yihe was snubbed in Huguang, and even Zuo Liangyu, who hid in Xiangyang, looked down on him, and Li Yu was even more lawless when he came, occupying Tuntian without saying hello, and he was so angry that he wanted to die, but the staff reminded him that the weather in Huguang was hot, and those northern captives couldn't stand it, and I was afraid that they would have to run back in the spring next year.

"Han Min, De'an and Hanyang are leaning on Tongbai Mountain in the north, the Yangtze River in the south, Dabie Mountain in the east, and Hanshui in the west. It's all Zuo Liangyu's fault, he didn't dare to fight the thief, but he asked the local government for food, and he couldn't get much food out of the drought in the lake, so he scourged the people like a thief, but the official couldn't help him, you have to beware of this wicked person. Song Yihe entered the study and sat down and chattered again.

"Thank you for the reminder." Li Yu understood what Song Yihe meant, Tuntian was okay, but he didn't have a single out, and he had to help him deal with Zuo Liangyu.

"Hermes-Epitek was ordered to prime minister Henan, Huguang to suppress thieves and military affairs, the suppression of thieves is a major event, Huangzhou Mansion is located in the mountains, adjacent to Anqing Mansion in the south of Zhili, the most affected by thieves, the giant Kou Zhang Xianzhong, Ma Shouying and so on entrenched here, Fengyang Governor Ma Shiying is trying his best to encircle and suppress, the Datong Army can fight the thieves in Dabie Mountain with its east and west, Han Min's efforts to suppress the thieves to go, the affairs of Tuntian are too miscellaneous, the official will be tired to take care of you, the credit is still yours." Song Yihe continued.

You sent me into the mountains to suppress the thieves in a few words, and I didn't pay for the benefits of picking up the tuntian, when I was a fool - Li Yu was angry in his heart, and replied expressionlessly: "My lord must not know that Ma Shiying led Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo and other troops to suppress the thieves, and the giant Kou Ma Shouying and others parted ways with Zhang Xianzhong with the fifth battalion of the left of the revolution, and they have gone to Henan to take refuge in the thieves, so the strength of the thieves has increased greatly, and it is inevitable to go south to Huguang to solve the food salary, so you should be careful of the thieves." ”

"Is the message reliable?" Song Yihe was taken aback.

Li Yu nodded, the news was obtained by Ma Shiying from the captive, Sun Fuhu happened to be in the army, and immediately sent the Titang official to deliver the letter, he also just got the urgent report - Ma Shiying's official luck after leaving Fengzhou was amazingly good, and in the same year, his friend Ruan Dacheng helped Zhou Yanru to recover, and he had the intention to seek an official position in Zhou Yanru but it was difficult to do it because he was listed in the eunuch party, so he gave the opportunity to Ma Shiying, and the old horse suddenly soared, from the staff of Shandong Governor Yan Jizu to the governor of Fengyang, but this guy missed the old love and secretly gave a lot of help to the Shandong Tuntian Army, Sun Fuhu also reciprocated Li and led troops to help suppress, and the relationship between the two sides has always been good.

"It doesn't matter if Xiangyang has Zuo Liangyu and Wuchang has you, but Chengtianfu is where Emperor Gong Ruixian's tomb is located, and it can't be lost," Song Yihe paced anxiously, and suddenly said to Li Yu, "You immediately send troops to Zhongxiang to guard the tomb." ”

"The thief floats uncertainly, and he can only win by moving the brake, what is there to defend a broken grave!" Li Yu replied coldly that the tomb of Emperor Sejong's biological father was the tomb, and the emperor's ancestral tomb had nothing to do with him.

"You are so bold, if you lose Xianling, you and I will lose our heads!" Song Yihe shouted.

"It's just a few rotten bones, who would dare to cut off my head? If you're afraid of losing your head, you'll go by yourself, I'm the prime minister to suppress thieves and military affairs, and it's my business to suppress thieves. ”

"You, you ......" Song Yihe was so angry that he couldn't speak, and turned around and left.

Song Yihe rushed back to the Yamen of Wuchang Governor, and found the inspector Li Zhensheng to discuss, and the two decided to report Li Yu to the imperial court, and at the same time reported the latest thief situation, requesting to make up the arrears of the Huguang officials and troops as soon as possible - it is strange to say, the Liao salary of the imperial court has been collecting, although the salary was suspended in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, but then a heavier training salary was levied, and the heavier the additional payment, the more arrears there were, and the Huguang official army did not get the salary for almost a year, and the dragged out to fight will definitely mutiny.

Li Yu didn't take Song Yihe seriously, what he was worried about was how to win over the local forces, not to drag these local snakes into the water, and the Datong forces didn't want to gain a foothold in Huguang, early the next morning, he and Du Wenhuan went separately to find He Fengsheng, the leader of the Huguang people, and the king of Chu, the largest snake in Huguang.

He Fengsheng, Wuchang Prefecture Jiangxia people's clan, Wanli year Jinshi, awarded the Hanlin Academy to edit, only to know people, honest and upright, very prestigious in the government and the opposition, Chongzhen nine years to the Ministry of Rites into the cabinet to participate in politics, eleven years to Shi returned to his hometown, last year the emperor used the name of the minister, and then called him into the cabinet, the old man did not feel comfortable, and returned in June this year, just returned home less than a month.

After receiving Li Yu's greetings, He Fengsheng was stunned for a while - this person is in the company of profiteers, Yiren, and bad literati, who has no national law and acts recklessly, and now he is even more thorny and no one dares to provoke him, how did he come to the door? This kind of person has a bad reputation, and it's better not to get involved.

It is expected that He Fengsheng refused to meet, of course the big man will not easily meet a big soldier, but I can wait, I don't believe you don't show up - Li Yu thought about it, and sat on the threshold of the He family's gate and didn't leave. At lunchtime, the smell of food wafted out of the He family's house, and Li Yu also called the Sentry of Rabudu together, and blocked the door while nibbling on sorghum cakes and threatened, he respected Mr. He, and would never leave until he saw him. Relatives and friends thought that something had happened to the He family, so they came to inquire about the news, and the more the He family explained, the more indescribable they became, so they had to beg the old man to show his face and quickly send away this group of plague gods.

The old man was also very angry, and called Li Yu into the hall and asked, "Uncle Guihua, the old man has nothing to do with you, why did you lead a group of soldiers to make trouble in front of the door?" ”

"That's the guards of the younger generation, and they will never dare to invade your mansion," Li Yu waved his hand and denied.

He Fengsheng frowned, and a middle-aged scholar beside him whispered a few words in his ear, and then explained to Li Yu with a little apology: "In Xia Yin Ruweng, he is a disciple of the boss, and the master has some back ears. ”

"Now that bandits are rampant, the local people are all worried, and the younger generations have great respect for the boss, and I want you to come forward to organize the gentry to jointly defend themselves, so they have the courage to come to the door to disturb, please forgive the boss." Li Yu said.

"You want to pull people on the boat, but it's a pity that the old man is old and frail, and he has no intention of taking care of the world anymore, so you can find someone else!"

"The soldiers and horses of the younger generation are stationed outside the customs, Huguang is humid and hot, people can not stand the horses, and they must return to the station before the summer next year, but Huguang is constantly in chaos, and solving the people's livelihood is not a short-term work, and the younger generations think that Huguang's affairs are still done well by Huguang people, and it is not to bother the old man with private affairs."

Li Yu talked about the current situation: the thieves were defeated in Zhengzhou, but the elite of the bandits suffered little loss, and after joining forces with the fifth battalion of the Gezuo, they will definitely make a comeback, Henan is full of victims, and there are no less than one million thieves, and the only way to solve the problem of food and salary is to go south to Huguang, and the Datong army's purging of Huangzhou Mansion will also begin, Zhang Xianzhong is facing an attack from the east and west, and naturally he will not sit still in the Yinghuo Mountains, he is most familiar with Huguang and Sichuan, and it is an inevitable choice to flow westward. Looking at the Huguang official army again, the Huguang general army is said to have tens of thousands of soldiers, but the long-term food and salary are insufficient, I am afraid it is difficult to make a difference, Zuo Liangyu is entrenched in Xiangyang and is strong, but the thieves are not effective, and the people are more than disturbed, although the Datong army has the intention to suppress the thieves, but the troops are insufficient, it is difficult to support the vast situation of Huguang, and can not stay here for a long time, the war resumes, and the people of Huguang have become cattle and sheep to be slaughtered.

Yin Ruweng was sweating when he heard this, and kept whispering in He Fengsheng's ear, He Fengsheng also looked uneasy, and only after calming down did he say angrily: "The old man doesn't listen to your nonsense, Huguang's major affairs have their own court in charge, and it's not the turn of the martial artist to worry about it, you robbed the three towns of Xuanda, do you still want to deceive Huguang with clever words?" ”

"How is the imperial court, the boss knows best, if Shanxi listens to the imperial court, I am afraid that it will already be erosive, and the younger generation hopes that Huguang will be stable, but he just wants to buy more food, and other things are beyond his reach," Li Yu was a little angry, stood up and arched his hand and said, "The younger generation hopes that the elder can think more about Xiangzi, and in three days, the Huguang Thief Joint Defense Bureau will be established in Hanyang. ”

Li Yu said goodbye and left, and Yin Ruweng caught up and apologized: Shizun is old and has a somewhat eccentric temper, but he is definitely willing to do his part for Xiangzi, and he will definitely be present at the conference in three days.

Du Wenhuan went to find the king of Chu than Li Yu simply, directly to the palace, the guard stood up to block, and was beaten badly, the prefect of Wuchang rushed to hear the news, and repeatedly explained to the old marshal that the vassal king was not allowed to make friends with officials, not to mention the commander of the army, the old marshal only said "get out", and swaggered into the palace.

"Well fought, well fought, this king hates these servants when he looks at them," King Chu has been hiding by the second gate to watch the excitement, giving Du Wenhuan a thumbs up, and then putting away his smiling face and shouting, "Du Wenhuan, I know you, your father Du Tong and uncle Du Song are all my fierce generals, but the Chu Wangfu is not where you came, hurry up, so as not to suffer a lawsuit yourself, and this king will be punished." ”

"I'm bold and not afraid of lawsuits, I heard that His Royal Highness's courage is not small, it seems that he has caused a big incident, and it is not a fuel-efficient lamp!" Du Wenhuan replied with a smile, holding down the hilt of the sword casually, and the soldiers behind him immediately dispersed, arranging a guard in the palace.

The face of the king of Chu changed, and he turned his head and left - Zhu Huakui, the ninth generation of the king of Chu, his father King Chu Gong died childless, a palace student gave birth to a posthumous son Zhu Huakui and his twin brother, but his bloodline was directly suspected, the Chu clan had jointly reported that the two brothers were different surnames, and there was a sensational "pseudo-Chu King case", Zhu Huakui spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy off the then first assistant Shen has always suppressed the case, and the clan that finally sued was imprisoned in the ancestral tomb of Fengyang, and Zhao Kehuai, the governor of Huguang who handled the case, was beaten to death by the people of the Chu Palace, Zhu Huakui is safe and sound, he is over seventy years old this year, and he is still on the throne and will not die.

"Your Highness stays, Ben Shuai has something to talk to you about." Du Wenhuan shouted.

"Don't talk about it, this king knows that you want money, don't think about it, this king won't give you a son." The king of Chu shouted with a stick, it is not the first time that the government has asked him to donate salary, and he will not give it in the future.

Du Wenhuan laughed: "Your Highness is really joking, do we want the money of the Chu Palace, do we still need to talk about it, just send someone to move it away, and then tie a stone to His Highness and throw it into the Yangtze River, just say that it was a thief, it's easy, do you say yes?" ”

The King of Chu was so frightened that he sat on the ground, pointed at Du Wenhuan and said, "You guys, what do you want to do?" ”

"Don't be afraid, we don't hurt you, and we don't want your money, do you know the king? People are very beautiful now, there is no government to control him, he can go wherever he wants, do whatever he wants, I heard that he went to Guanwai to escape the summer a few days ago, envy, let's find a place to talk. Du Wenhuan smiled and pulled up the King of Chu.

The king of Chu breathed a sigh of relief, he knew about the king, it is said that the doll had a clan uncle who was a big official, and he casually promoted him to be the chairman of the council, and the king of Jin and Shen in Shanxi seemed to be mixing well, everyone could run around, and he lived for more than seventy, except for the annual Qingming worship of the ancestors, almost all of them were locked up in the palace, and they were envious of others!

The two entered the study, closed the door and talked endlessly, until the lamp was in the palm of the door to open the door, the king of Chu happily beckoned the eunuch to set up a banquet, he wanted to accompany Brother Du to have a few drinks, and move to Hanyang tomorrow, which dog official dared to stand in the way and beat him hard.

Three days later, the Han River on the shore of the flag waving, the voice of the people boiling, the Huguang Thief Joint Defense General Bureau inaugural meeting was officially held, the scholar leader He Fengsheng, the king of Chu appeared on the rostrum as scheduled, the gentry, local tyrants, thousands of businessmen from all over the country were invited, even the Chu clan also came to join in the fun, the crowd was also mixed with a lot of monks, Taoist priests and peddlers and pawns of the people, it is estimated that it is a member of the Civic Party - the hidden power of the White Lotus Sect in the Yangtze River basin is huge, all over the nine streams and three religions, Wang Fang tampered with the "vacuum hometown, no old mother" to "Datong world, Lady Liberty "tricked many people into joining the Civic Party."

The meeting was presided over by Jia Jingzong, a giant businessman in Wuchang, who first read out the "Datong Federal Regulations", and then scolded the imperial court for being corrupt and incompetent, and tyrannical expropriation, so that the heavens were angry and the people were resentful, and the people were not able to make a living.

Zhang Zhiyao hurriedly came out to explain that the Datong Federation believes in the idea of "respecting the emperor and building another country", but this is by no means a rebellion, but loyalty to the Ming Emperor, on the contrary, it is disloyal to mutilate and abandon the emperor's subjects, such as what the imperial court did.

"Support the Datong Army, we are willing to help." A group of merchants and landlords immediately shouted.

The people of the Chu Wangfu carried ten large wooden boxes and opened the silver full of white flowers, and the King of Chu was a little embarrassed to say that he used to pick the door because he knew that most of the donated money would fall into the pockets of the court officials, in fact, their family had lived in Wuchang for two or three hundred years, of course, they were willing to contribute to the township, and now they will take out 100,000 taels of silver to help the Datong army who really suppresses the thieves - the king of Chu took the lead, and others also shouted to pay for the silver.

Zhang Zhiyao waved his hand and refused, the Datong Army can still afford military salaries, if Huguang's father supports us, please accept the silver banknotes, the Federal Bank Bank Bureau will soon set up a Hanyang branch to ensure that the banknotes can be cashed at any time, and everyone will never suffer. He suggested that everyone have money to contribute, make a strong contribution, participate in Tuntian together, share the income together, and Datong should open an iron factory in Hanyang to build weapons, which is a big deal, and everyone is welcome to join the shares.

The venue was boiling, Zhang Mengcun and Hui Dengxiang were surrounded and talked about how to open a farm, Li Mao and Chen Shishi talked about how to build the Hanyang Iron Works, and Wang Zhong also encouraged everyone to build a mud factory in partnership - Huguang people understood that it turned out that cracking down on thieves and reassuring the people was also a profitable business, and the conference seemed to have turned into a business fair.

The sun was in the west, and everyone remembered that there was still something serious, so they elected the king of Chu as the supervisor of the Huguang Joint Defense Bureau for the Suppression of Thieves, Jia Jingzong as the assistant, He Fengsheng as the government affairs of the Zanhua, Du Wenhuan as the military affairs of the Zanhua, Zhang Mengcun and Hui Dengxiang as the ambassadors of the principal and deputy Tuntian, and the prefectures and counties also elected a group of celebrities and local tyrants as the leaders, and the Caotai team was formed.

Du Wenhuan then made arrangements to suppress thieves: to deal with bandits, it is necessary to "lure snakes out of holes, catch them all, and cut down the grass and eradicate the roots", for example, Huangzhou Prefecture Macheng, Yingshan and other places have become plagued by bandits, and there are many people who have families and villages as bandits, and these habitual bandits will be killed, and their houses will be burned, their fields will be destroyed, and their families will also be scattered and assigned to the Tuntian Guard.

In October, all localities began to crack down on thieves at the same time, and the Datong Army and local regimental training started together, and there were not many habitual bandits in De'an and Hanyang, and they were quickly pacified. The situation of thieves in Huangzhou Mansion is complicated, after the Datong army follows the local regiment training, it fights forward step by step, and the Shen family fleet on the Yangtze River responds at any time, and every time it occupies a place, it kills the habitual bandits, burns the thieves' nests, and the bandits disperse and sends them to various places, and immediately after consolidating the territory, the people are moved to settle here, and the militia is formed to defend itself, and then continues to advance.

The Huangzhou Mansion is not big, and it is enough to fight slowly, one winter is enough - Li Yu is very optimistic about the situation of suppressing thieves, but the external situation is taking a sharp turn for the worse.