Deng Fanxi's face changed greatly when he heard this, and he said in a trembling voice, "If Governor Fang just wants to hold on to the city and wait for the Manchu Tartars to withdraw on their own, why would he issue such a harsh military order?" ”

Fang Yuan looked at him obliquely and said, "His Royal Highness King Lu, Governor Deng, who said that I just held on to the city and sat and watched the Manchu Tartars retreat?" I want to beat the Manchu Abatai to give birth to a psychological disorder, and I dare not step into the customs for the rest of my life! ”

Zhu Yihai listened to his ambitious words, but the Ming Dynasty, whether it was officials or generals, were beaten out of the psychological barrier by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, three years ago, Zhu Yihai had seen the Manchu Qing sweep of Shandong's military might, the other party's original words were suspicious, stunned and asked, "Governor Fang is going out of the city to fight with the Manchu Tartars?" ”

Fang Yuan nodded and said, "Of course. ”

Deng Fanxi knew that Fang Yuan only had 2,000 soldiers and horses entering Yanzhou City, which was not enough to stuff the teeth of the Manchu Iron Cavalry, and asked tentatively, "Governor Fang went to the capital, how many troops would he bring to Yanzhou Mansion to support?" ”

This is where Zhu Yihai and Deng Fanxi curry favor with Fang Yuan, and they are counting on Fang Yuan to persuade Chongzhen to send heavy troops to defend Shandong.

Fang originally wanted to fool them like he fooled Sun Chuanting, saying that he would bring an army of 100,000 to come. But after thinking about it, this is a real war, not a transfer of divisions, and I can't make the slightest joke, so I said truthfully, "No, the Gyeonggi soldiers and horses are also overstretched, and this time I can only bring 2,000 soldiers and horses to support Yanzhou." ”

Zhu Yihai and Deng Fanxi looked at each other, and 2,000 soldiers and horses wanted to fight with 40,000 Manchu iron cavalry, what was that not to death? If Fang Yuan can't lead the army to break the siege, what will Yanzhou Mansion rely on to hold on?

Fang Yuan patted Zhu Yihai, who was stunned, and said with a smile, "His Royal Highness King Lu, this time you and I, as well as Governor Deng's Mansion, are all fighting against the water. If this battle is won, His Royal Highness will be able to sit firmly on the throne of King Lu, the prefect of Deng will be promoted to the governor, and the officials of all counties and towns in Yanzhou Mansion will be promoted to make a fortune; If this battle is lost, it is estimated that after the Manchu Tartars capture Yanzhou Mansion, they will also cut you, the King of Lu, and the Deng Governor's Mansion will not escape the responsibility of losing the land. ”

Zhu Yihai knew that he was by no means alarmist, and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, "Yes, yes, but Governor Fang is going to the capital here, can he bring some more troops?" 100,000, oh no, 50,000 is fine! ”

Fang Yuan saw Zhu Yihai's cowardice, if he didn't comfort him to bring 50,000 troops, it was estimated that he would be so frightened that he couldn't sleep, so he casually dealt with it and said, "I'll talk about it in front of Your Majesty!" ”

Zhu Yihai said repeatedly, "There are labor governors, and there are labor governors. ”

"I'm not afraid of going out of the city and fighting with the Manchu Iron Cavalry, what are you afraid of hiding in the city?"

Fang Yuan laughed and teased, and said solemnly, "His Royal Highness King Lu, Governor Deng has no choice at all, if you want to live, you must convey it according to my military order." As soon as the war begins, all the soldiers and civilians of Yanzhou must abandon all luck psychology and fight the war of resistance for the whole people! If you are greedy for life, you will die, and only if you are fearless will you have life! ”

Since he dared to go out of the city to fight with the Manchu iron cavalry, the burden on his shoulders was far heavier than that of the Yanzhou Mansion military horses hiding in the city to defend, Zhu Yihai and Deng Fanxi had nothing to say, and they all agreed.

Fang Yuan explained everything, and ordered Chigutai to lead 1,800 musketeers to stay in Yanzhou City to recuperate and prepare for battle, while he himself led 200 musketeers to leave Yanzhou City.

Before he rushed to the capital to meet Chongzhen, he had to meet another force, that is, Liang Min, Liangshanliukou.

The forces of the Liangshan Liukou spread throughout Shandong, and they were expected to fight against the Manchu iron cavalry, which was to send sheep into the mouth of the tiger, but they were still competent to provide military intelligence of the Manchu army at any time.

Fang Yuan left Yanzhou Mansion and immediately rushed to Jining Prefecture, where the Liangshan Liukou base was located.

Before arriving at the 800-mile Liangshan Shuibo, Fang Yuan ordered the joint to report according to the code agreed with Liang Min before, as long as he met Liang Min in person.

After waiting for a long time, Liang Min led several Liangshan leaders and fifty Liangshan Liukou horses to meet Fang Yuan.

At this moment, going deep into the hinterland of Liangshan, Fang Yuan was still a little cautious, would this Liang Min still hold grudges and suddenly make trouble, Fang Yuan actually had no bottom in his heart, so he could only secretly order the musketeers under his command to secretly prepare for battle.

When Liang Min saw Fang Yuan, he immediately dismounted, and said with a laugh at Fang Yuan, "Haha, why did Lord Fang come to Liangshan in person?" Let's go to Liangshan and get together! ”

Fang Yuan secretly glanced at the musket cavalry battalion, ordered them not to dismount, put their minds on guard, dismounted by themselves, and saluted Liang Min back, "Leader Liang, this time I really have something important to discuss, and if I can't delay, I won't go to the Liangshan Hall." ”

Liang Min saw that the sergeants under Fang Yuan's command were all on guard, and he was already in order, in order to avoid suspicion, he immediately ordered the dozens of Liangshan brothers he brought to retreat to Liangshan, leaving only two or three leaders to show that he had no two hearts.

Fang Yuan was relieved to see that he had no two hearts, and entered a small township in front of Liangshan Shuibo with him, found a tea shop, and cleared all the idle people.

The two exchanged a few polite words, talking about the tacit cooperation of robbing the Weng family's merchant ship, and laughed nonstop.

After a cup of tea, Liang Min suddenly asked, "Lord Fang has something to say!" ”

Fang Yuan stopped beating around the bush and informed him of the purpose of this trip, "Leader Liang, the Manchu invasion is imminent, and it will inevitably go to Shandong to plunder, I will face the Manchu Tartars in Shandong, and I want to ask the Liangshan brothers to contribute." ”

Liang Min and several Liangshan leaders glanced at each other, and when they heard Fang Yuan's words, it seemed that they wanted to use Liangshan's power to start a war with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and suddenly their faces were embarrassed, and they said hesitantly, "There are 20,000 or 30,000 horses in Liangshan District, and they have the intention to kill thieves, but they can't go back to heaven!" ”

Fang Yuan knew that Liang Min had misunderstood his thoughts, and he didn't plan to order Liang Shan Liukou to go to the fire and the Manchu Iron Cavalry, because this was to send sheep into the tiger's mouth, and hurriedly explained, "I don't want Liang Leader to send troops to fight against the Manchus, but I want to ask Liang Shan to help me with two small favors." ”

Liang Min was really at a loss for the second monk at this time, and asked in amazement, "What does Master Fang want us to do?" ”

Fang Yuan said slowly, "First, I borrowed the intelligence network all over the prefectures and counties in Shandong, when I fought against the Manchu Tartars, the small hills of Liangshan would provide me with a place to be stationed, as well as accurate information on the movements of the Manchu Tartars. ”

Liangshan has small hills in Jinan, Yanzhou, Dongchang, Qingzhou and other places in Shandong, which can be said to be every two hundred miles and there is a bandit mountain under the banner of Liangshan and doing looting. Fang Yuan took a fancy to the vast intelligence network that Liang Shan possessed, as long as he had the support of this intelligence network, his Xuanjia army could be stationed at any time to recuperate, and he could also control the accurate information on the movements of the Manchu Tartars at any time.

Fang Yuan's request was not too much in Liang Min's opinion, he didn't need Liang Shan to send troops to wear and tear, and he could also support the killing of the Manchu Qing Tartars, how to see how cost-effective this deal was.

Liang Min hurriedly said, "Since Lord Fang has explained, in order to resist the righteousness of the Qing Dynasty, Liang Shan must also support Lord Fang." I immediately sent my brother to send orders to all the hills belonging to the banner of Liangshan, and from now on, monitor the movements of the Manchu Tartar invasion at any time, and fully support Lord Fang's battle plan. ”

He ordered one of the accompanying leaders to immediately go back to Liangshan to go to the rosters and maps of each mountain, and asked, "Lord Fang, what else is there?" ”

Fang Yuan was silent for a while, and then said coldly, "I want to ask the Liangshan brothers from all the mountains to loot all the people and grain in the towns and villages within a radius of a hundred miles to the mountains for resettlement. ”

Fang Yuan drew a circle around the county seat for a hundred miles, and then drew a circle around the forces on the top of the mountain in Liangshan. If the Manchus wanted to plunder on a large scale, they had to attack one county and one hill, so that the Manchu Qing's field advantage could be compressed to the extreme, and the Ming army's defensive advantage could also be brought into full play.

This is the scorched earth anti-Japanese war strategy planned by Fang Yuan!

Liangshan Liukou also relies on dozens of villages around him to pay food and pay protection money to support them on weekdays, but the blatant large-scale looting of the people, this action is really a bit big, even Liang Min, a rogue who licks blood on the knife edge, is also surprised, Liangshan looting is generally to rob food and money, and there is no such a large-scale robbery, "Lord Fang, this is to provoke the anger of the heavens and people!" ”

Fang Yuan didn't know that if this military order was carried out, the people of Shandong would inevitably suffer a catastrophe. However, the war is sometimes really helpless, if these people and grain are not looted by the Liangshan brothers, they will also be looted by the Manchu Tartars.

Rather than leaving the people and food to the enemy, it is better for Liangshan to grab it first. was looted by the Manchus, and when he went back, he was also a clothed minion; It was looted by Liangshan, and it could be returned to farming after the war.

This kind of dirty matter, Fang Yuan and the government must not bear the notoriety, and can only be borne by the Liangshan Liukou. Of course, Fang Yuan didn't expect Liangshan Liukou to execute without discount, but as long as he could achieve three or fifty percent, it could be regarded as the greatest support.

Fang Yuan said slowly, "Leader Liang, after the matter is completed, I will reward you for your meritorious deeds; will also show the emperor and completely rehabilitate the Liangshan brothers; After the war, some of the ownerless land will also be allocated to the Liangshan brothers. ”

His proposal was not intriguing.

After the war, after a round of purge by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, there will definitely be a large amount of ownerless land in Shandong, as long as Fang Yuan's promise can be fulfilled, the Liangshan forces can immediately change from robbers to robbers to large landlords with a large amount of land, which is a great opportunity for Liangshan to completely turn over.

But there is also a risk, plundering the local people, grain, nine times out of ten will attract the attack of the Manchu Tartars, although there is no need for Liangshan to send troops to fight, but it can be said that it is related to the life and death of each mountain in Liangshan.

Fang Yuan's movement this time was too big, the two little leaders brought by Liang Min were almost stupid, Liang Min couldn't make decisions on his own, and said with a deep sigh, "Lord Fang, this matter is very important, I can't make decisions without permission, I must convene the leaders of the various mountains to discuss together." ”

Fang Yuan also knew Liang Min's difficulties, of course, he couldn't press too hard, so he said, "Then I'll go back to the capital first, and after Leader Liang discusses, just send someone to pass on the word." ”

Liang Min sent back to the head of Liangshan to receive a roster, as well as a token, and handed it to Fang Yuan, "Lord Fang, this is the roster and map of the various mountains in Liangshan. ”

"This is the token of Liangshan's transmission order, as long as this token is presented, the brothers on each mountain will provide Lord Fang to be stationed, as well as provide the information obtained."

Fang Yuan put away the roster map, as well as the token, and said to Liang Min, "Leader Liang is righteous, Fang Yuan thanked him first." ”

Liang Min shook his hand, and Zhengrong said, "The Manchu Tartars have ravaged Shandong several times, burning, killing and looting, and doing all kinds of evil, my Liangshan brothers have long wanted to slaughter a few Manchu Tartars, but they can't do it." Lord Fang's killing of the Manchu Qing Tartars is to give us a bad breath for the people of Shandong, and we have to thank Lord Fang. ”

Plaintiff Fang resigned from Liang Min, and rushed to the capital non-stop, and the next thing is to go back to the capital to meet Chongzhen and state the battle strategy this time!