Qin Yiming, the former deputy chief soldier of Sichuan, the son of Qin Bangping, the elder brother of Qin Liangyu, was the son of Qin Bangping, who fought with his aunt and father in the north and south since he was a child, and was ranked with Ma Xianglin as a double tiger general of Shi Yan. After Sun Chuanting was reappointed as the superintendent, he recommended Qin Yiming as the chief soldier of Sichuan, and asked him to enter Henan with the Sichuan army and join the Qin army to suppress the thieves, but the Sichuan army was not angry, and did not fight behind the Qin army's buttocks, and fled quickly, and the Qin army suffered defeat in front, and they immediately turned around and fled back to their hometown. Qin Yiming had no official position and could not control the Sichuan army, so he led more than 1,000 Shi Yan's disciples to retreat to Hanzhong, and joined forces with He Zhen to defeat the Shun army, but Li Zicheng then led a large army to kill, the two could not resist, Qin Yiming retreated to the mountains at the junction of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and He Zhen surrendered to the Shun army. God has eyes, Li Zicheng was driven out of Shaanxi in a blink of an eye, Qin Yiming has a relationship with Li Yushen at the level of Ma Xianglin and his wife, and He Zhen, who was just anyway, also has a heart to have a relationship with Li Yula, and the two came together.

"In the next grass people, I don't dare to call Qin Shuai, my cousin Ma Xianglin often talked about naturalization when he was alive, so he admired it for a long time and dared to come to visit." Qin Yiming smiled bitterly - Sichuan and Huguang Yinxin were cut off, and the people of Shiyan thought that Ma Xianglin had died in Xiangyang.

"Brother Qin is already the chief soldier of Sichuan, I have seen the imperial edict from the new Qin Governor Yu Yinggui, Hanzhong has been recovered, and the edict will be delivered soon, who said that Brother Ma Xianglin is dead, he is currently commanding the army in Hanyang." Li Yu waved his hand and replied.

He Zhen and Zhang Zhiyao and Li Guoying behind Li Yu hurriedly congratulated, Qin Yiming was stunned for a long time, insisted on making a big salute, Li Yu waved his hand and excused himself, and pulled Qin Yiming and He Zhen back to the Chinese army's big tent. Everyone sat down and chatted for a while and finally got to the point, Qin Yiming and He Zhen came this time with their own things on their minds, and carefully put forward their requirements.

"Sichuan first fought the southwest Zhuyi, and then fought the thieves, the east, hundreds of years of war to fight the people's livelihood withered, the people's hearts are tired of war, now the thieves have withdrawn from Shaanxi, but in Huguang coveted Sichuan, and the Sichuan army is not Liu Xian, Liu Wei father and son when the elite division, no external help can not defend the land, naturalized Hou, can you send a strong force into Sichuan? Otherwise, I don't dare to be this chief soldier! Qin Yiming said with a sad face.

"We are the same, the official army and the thieves have repeatedly fought in Sichuan and Shaanxi, the people of Hanzhong have either died in the war or fled to other places, there is not much left of the population, a large area of land is abandoned, the local army cannot afford to raise soldiers, and the court does not pay food, we can't go on, the last general will ask the naturalized Hou to take over the Hanzhong garrison, and give the brothers food to eat." He Zhen pleaded with red eyes.

Li Yu stood up, paced back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back, it is easy to suppress thieves for a long time, the situation in Sichuan and Shaanxi is indeed very grim - Fan Erxi sent a letter from Hanyang, Lao Hui Ma Shouying died of illness, and the rest of the party merged with the remnants of Zhang Xianzhong, and elected the eight great kings and righteous sons Kewang as the leader, this group of thieves plundered Changsha and Changde, and also defeated Li Zicheng's southward troops, which has the potential to dominate one side, the Huguang revolutionary government is very vigilant against the resurgence of thieves, and sent troops to the south of the Yangtze River. Sichuan may be difficult to preserve; The situation in Hanzhong and Xing'an is even worse, not only are there few people left, but even the officials are dead and fleeing, the place has actually been eroded, He Zhen's soldiers have been starved of food and pay for a long time, and they are hungry and cold in the winter, and they can't find a place to rob, so if they go on like this, I'm afraid they will have to run away to be thieves.

"Datong is also very difficult, unable to absorb the army, Henan general soldier Chen Yongfu came to vote, his soldiers can only be incorporated into the guard tuntian, to feed themselves on a piece of land, even more unable to send troops into Sichuan, there is nowhere to raise food, our soldiers have to go home after the war to farm and graze." Zhang Zhiyao shook his head and explained the Datong military system and tax system to Qin Yiming and He Zhen.

Qin Yiming lowered his head, but He Zhen shouted: "It's okay to put us into the Tuntian of the Guard, there is wasteland in Hanzhong, as long as we don't hand over the seeds of the Tuntian, and then give us ploughing cattle, farm tools and seeds, we can live." ”

"What is the situation in Suiding and Boryeong?" Li Yu stopped and asked.

Qin Yiming shook his head and said: "The situation is similar to that of Hanzhong Prefecture and Xing'an Prefecture, the population is withered, the wasteland is continuous, and the official government decree does not go out of the city walls. ”

"I have always advocated that local affairs should be handled by local people, Qin Shuai, I will help you, and then transfer Ma Xianglin's eldest brother to help you, we will work together in Baoning, Suiding in Sichuan and Hanzhong Mansion in Shaanxi, Xing'an Prefecture to recruit people to support themselves, all the imperial court taxes and additional payments will not be paid, I will bear the guilt, someone can train troops if they have food, I don't believe that they can't clean up a few thieves." Li Yu's tone was firm and decisive, Qin Yiming was shocked when he heard it, this was obviously instigating him to fight against the imperial court, but Sichuan has long been unable to afford the taxes of the imperial court, and the tyranny will only force the officials to rebel, does he have any other choice?

"The northwest frontier is all in my hands, the problem of border troubles no longer exists, Shaanxi must vigorously reduce troops, implement the policy of serving the people with troops, Vice General He is willing to take the lead, I will definitely reward him heavily." Li Yu turned his head and said to He Zhen again.

He Zhen was a little stupid, and didn't know how to answer, Li Guoying stepped on him hard, and interjected with a smile: "Vice General He is a talent, first defeated the thieves with a tired army, and then deceived the thieves to fight back, and he had a share of the credit for recovering Hanzhong, the president might as well transfer him to the Wuxuan Academy to teach, and he will be a general in the future." ”

He Zhen reacted, the general trend is irresistible, if you want to be promoted and make a fortune, you have to stand in line, this opportunity must not be missed, patted her chest to show her loyalty, and resolutely asked to go to the Wuxuan Academy to study.

Seeing off Qin Yiming and He Zhen, Li Yu immediately wrote a letter to Datong to explain the current situation, suggesting that Gu Keli, the governor of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Division, be transferred to be the ambassador of Tuntian, and that he should start to expand Tuntian in the four prefectures of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and at the same time transfer Du Hongtai as the political envoy of Shaanxi and Bai Yuzhu as the Dafa Division in Shaanxi to judge the matter, the situation is pressing, and the three of them must arrive as soon as possible, and for the deployment of military forces in Shaanxi, he suggested that Hou Shijie's Buyi Town should be stationed in Yulin, and Tie Biao would be the town commander to form a new Bujiu Town, and in the future, Ganzhou would be garrisoned, and then Sun Shoufa's Buer Town would be transferred to Xi'an. And Sun Shoufa supervised the military affairs of the northwest. In addition, he also believed that Shaanxi was too big to be governed, and asked the two governments and the first court to consider separating the two towns of Gansu and Ningxia and Xiningwei from the Shaanxi Political Envoy Department, and setting up a separate Gansu Xingtai jurisdiction.

After Li Yu finished writing the letter, he instructed Li Guoying to send the letter to Datong first, and then go to Xue Xianguang and others from the Zanhua Military Affairs Department to make careful plans and come up with a new charter for the adjustment of the source of troops and the assembly of reserve troops as soon as possible.

Under the first month, the Datong army left Nanzheng and drove north, and was welcomed by the gentry and common people of Shaanxi along the way, and the song of "Xintianyou" was sung all the way - the policy of local autonomy, exemption from land levy, and official public promotion was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the suffering Shaanxi people did not want much, but they just longed to live with dignity, Li Yu brought hope, and naturally became the leader they supported.

However, what I saw along the way made people feel more heavy, Shaanxi was dilapidated and depressed as expected, but the killing continued, there were heads hanging at every village entrance and city gate, and there were often hanging corpses on the roadside, Li Yu even saw a group of thieves burying dozens of farmers alive - the thieves ran away, but the hatred remained, when was the retribution.

Li Yu was dissatisfied, did not rush directly to Xi'an City, but went to Xianyang to meet his auxiliaries, and saw a tired Ma Guangyuan at the gate of the camp - Datong only mobilized 20,000 auxiliaries to cross the river this time, and hired a large number of people to deliver supplies to various battlefields on the spot, as a measure to help the local people, this burden fell on the shoulders of the old horse, and it was indeed hard for him.

"How's it going to the west?" Li Yu asked in a low voice, and walked side by side with Ma Guangyuan to the big tent of the Chinese army.

"The thief He Jin hit Xiningwei at the beginning of the month, and the Ming army surrendered without a fight, but the Tibetan governor He Chilie acted quickly, leading the Mongolian and Tibetan 5,000 cavalry to meet the local troops to set up an ambush to kill He Jin, recovering Xiningwei in one fell swoop, and taking advantage of the victory to pursue the thieves, Zhao Ji's army has joined them, and is currently surrounding the rest of the thieves near Ganzhou, the overall situation has been decided, and the good news may be on the way." Ma Guangyuan replied with a faint smile.

Li Yu nodded and asked, "What are you busy in Xi'an City?" ”

"Just one word 'chaos', Sun Tingyao killed the red-eyed, clamoring to cut the grass and eradicate the roots of the thieves, 'rather kill by mistake than be lenient', begging the thief army to arrest and kill people all day long, making a lot of trouble, the newly descended Tian Jianxiu, Wu Ruyi, Zhang Nai, and a group of people were scared to death, Tuoyangkun was angry, and sent someone to escort them to Datong, you should take care of Lao Sun, I didn't think this guy was ruthless before."

"What about Yu Yinggui, as the governor of the three sides, why didn't he stop the indiscriminate killing?"

"You Shiwei and Wang Shiqin have arrived in Xi'an, playing the banner of the Shaanxi Thief Joint Defense Bureau, and encouraging the gentry of the state capitals to set up a parliament to seize power, this You Laoshuai wants to seize the power of Shaanxi, of course Yu Yinggui does not agree, and does not go to Guyuan to take up the governorship, so he will rely on fighting with You Shiwei and his gang in Xi'an City, how can he care about Sun Tingyao's murder."

Li Yu sat down in the big tent, thought for a while and said, "Send someone to inform them to come to Xianyang to see me." ”

"No notice, they're very good at it, and I bet they're on their way." Ma Guangyuan waved his hand.

Just after noon, the group of people in Xi'an City came running, You Shiwei and Yu Yinggui twisted together and made a noise to ask Li Yu to comment, Li Yu ignored them, stepped forward and grabbed Sun Tingyao's collar and shouted angrily: "Sun Boxi, I have seen your people killing indiscriminately all the way, you tell me, how many people are killed, do you want to kill all the people in Shaanxi?" ”

"I didn't kill indiscriminately, the thieves killed the remnants of the thieves, these wicked people who killed the gentry, robbed property, and occupied women were all innocent, what did the thieves do, I will return them to them, you go and ask You Shuai, the people of Yulin also went to Mizhi to kill people." Sun Tingyao tried his best to get rid of Li Yu and pointed at You Shiwei and shouted.

"Yuzi, you know this place in Shaanxi, the land is barren, the people are poor, the yield per mu is only thirty or fifty catties of millet, the family has 100 acres of fertile land, and the days are also panicked, how many rich families are there? But the thieves are extremely vicious, even the poor villagers do not let go, and how many families are ruined by forcing food and wages, and it is not enough to kill ugly people, and it is not enough to kill them, and only by killing more can they live in a place. You Shiwei said nonchalantly.

"The thieves are evil wolves, but we are not, from today onwards, stop killing, the arrested prisoners will be temporarily detained, Bai Yuzhu of the Grand Law Division is about to enter Shaanxi to form the Shaanxi Branch, all prison lawsuits are subject to the arbitrary judgment of the Law Division, and others are not allowed to interfere," Li Yu waved his hand and replied decisively, and then pointed at Sun Tingyao, "Disband the thief army immediately, you will stay by my side, and you are not allowed to go anywhere." ”

You Shiwei and Sun Tingyao didn't dare to talk back anymore, Yu Yinggui jumped out and shouted: "Li Hanmin, if you forcibly take Shanxi, do you still want to occupy Shaanxi, this governor warns you, Hugh has to instigate the same party to plot against you, immediately dissolve the Shaanxi Thieves Joint Defense Bureau and local councils, and wait for the imperial court to send officials to take over Shaanxi." ”

"Lord Yu, how much money and how many soldiers did you bring into Shaanxi, shut up if you didn't, you still want to get land without spending money or blood, how can there be such a cheap thing in the world!" Wang Shiqin immediately shouted in a strange manner.

Yu Yinggui was furious, the military generals have always been as docile as kittens to Wenchen, but these retired generals dared not to take him in their eyes, they couldn't bear it anymore, and turned their heads and shouted to Li Yu: "Li Hanmin, the vulgar martial artist has no court, he dares to incite public opinion to campaign, and he openly approves himself as a puppet official, and arrests all these people!" ”

Li Yu beckoned everyone to sit down, glanced at Yu Yinggui and said: "Lord Yu, I don't read much but I know the truth of saving the people first, you have seen the situation in Shaanxi, what are the plans of the imperial court?" How much relief money and grain can be allocated to Shaanxi? ”

"Well, this governor is going to start the imperial court to exempt Shaanxi from arrears of taxes over the years, and the other imperial court officials will naturally have a countermeasure after accepting the locality." Yu Yinggui blushed a little, the imperial court also planned to loot money from Shaanxi, and the ghost considered giving relief to the place.

"I pay for the thieves, I have the final say in Shaanxi, I welcome the imperial court to send officials into Shaanxi, but when you get here, you have to abide by the rules, be willing to do things, treat the people well, and those who violate my law and harm the place must be severely punished, I am a northern captive in the eyes of the courtiers, and I don't care about killing a few more people," Li Yu's cold words frightened Yu Yinggui into a cold sweat, with this northern captive here, it is estimated that few officials dare to run to death, it seems that the imperial court is going to lose Shaanxi, Li Yu then waved his hand at everyone, "Let's talk about the actual thing." Since the end of the apocalypse, natural disasters and man-made disasters have continued, and all industries have been depressed and the people are not able to make a living, especially the five border towns are almost in a desperate situation, what are your ways to solve the dilemma? ”

Everyone talked about it, it is necessary to depose miscellaneous taxes and increase the distribution, and then squeeze oil and water from the people, Sun Chuanting's defeat is the end, and the abolition of the government and the official army is nonsense, is there still an official government and an official army in Shaanxi? In a word, we must recuperate with the people, but this may be useful for the Guanzhong region, but it is meaningless for the five border towns, the Ming Dynasty nine sides and thirteen towns are located in the bitter cold and barren land, and have always relied on the imperial court to supplement the money and grain to maintain, especially the five towns in the northwest, which could not grow food, and the officials and soldiers also had to go out to burn the grasslands of the Mongolians. The Mongols can't stand it and can move, but the Ming military households can't farm and eat, and every household has to have someone to be a soldier and a post boy to earn public money to make a living.

You Shiwei said with a big grin: "Yuzi, we have thought about it, the five towns still have to be retained, there are strong soldiers and fierce generals in the northwest, there is no border trouble to go out to find a battle to fight, we can fight anyone who is not pleasing to the eye!" ”

"You Shiwei, who do you want to fight?" Yu Yinggui was startled, and then gloated and smiled, "Li Hanmin, to tell you honestly, the imperial court has no money, you can figure out your own way for this mess in the northwest." ”

"You can play the Ming court, I still have to decide on this territory in the northwest, but I'm not interested in finding someone to fight, the five towns in the northwest must be revoked, the Ming Emperor will do stupid things, but I won't do stupid things." Li Yu replied coldly.

Zhang Zhiyao got up to explain the governance strategy, the key to solving the people's livelihood in the northwest is to eliminate border troubles, Datong has done this, it is meaningless to continue to keep the border towns, the nine-sided thirteen towns are the Ming Dynasty's accumulation of evils, raising millions of soldiers neither dare to attack nor reconcile Mongolia, exhaust the national strength and have no size, and finally raise the northwest liukou, it is simply stupid. The five towns of Yulin, Guyuan, Ningxia, Ganzhou, and Lintao must be withdrawn, but the livelihood of the military and civilians in the border towns must also be solved, and Datong implements the practice of employing soldiers in the people, and it is impossible to count on being a soldier to solve the livelihood, and there are two ways: one is to immigrate to Tuntian, and the Yellow River is the only one rich in all kinds of harms, and the east of the Hetao has been reclaimed, but there are large tracts of fertile land to the west and north of the Hetao, and it is not a problem to feed 200,000 people, and in addition, Hami, Turu Domain, and Urumqi in the Western Regions, as well as Hanzhong, Xing'an, Suiding, and Baoning at the junction of Sichuan and Shaanxi, can go to another 300,000 people. This would solve the livelihood of 500,000 people; Datong plans to build a straight road along the Hexi Corridor to promote trade between Shanxi and the Western Regions, and the rise of industry and commerce will certainly provide a large number of livelihoods, and the remaining hundreds of thousands will be easy to do. The Federal Chancellery is also considering issuing bonds to raise money and leaving part of the commercial tax back to the local government, so that the livelihood problems in the northwest can be alleviated within three years.

Everyone bowed their heads and was silent, but Wang Shiqin shouted: "Don't do it, our ancestral graves are all in the Guannei, why should we leave our hometown." ”

Li Yu patted the case and said: "If you don't do it, you have to do it, Datong and Xuanfu towns are doing this, the people can't figure it out and let me judge, my answer is very simple, the tree moves the dead and the people live, if you want to live, you can leave, if you don't want to go, you will guard the ancestral tomb and wait for death, Wang Shiqin, aren't you making a fuss about becoming an official, okay, you will take the lead in Hetao Tuntian, and you, You Shiwei, I heard that you encouraged everyone to elect you as the commander of Shaanxi Xingtai, I agree, you will be the boss of Shaanxi." ”

You Shiwei and Wang Shiqin almost jumped up, You Shilu pulled them to sit down, bit their ears and said for a while, and the two of them stopped talking.

The three sides of the governor were hung aside, how did he see people when he returned to Beijing, Yu Yinggui was angry: "Li Hanmin, you dare to privately seal the puppet official, then, what is the governor doing?" ”

"Fart, you're a hypocrite." Wang Shiqin immediately retorted.

"Well, take care of the errand of the Shaanxi Trial and Criminal Division, but you have to handle the prison lawsuit according to the law of Datong, if you don't understand, ask Wei Jingming, the governor of Datong, for advice, I heard that Zhou Yanru and Wu Changshi ended up very miserable, you don't want the court of your classmates, right?"

Yu Yinggui was deflated, Zhou and Wu deserved it, but the emperor's meanness and lack of kindness were even more chilling.