After Li Banghua said these words, he looked at Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting and others, and waited for them to offer advice. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

At this time, Sun Chuanting saw that everyone was looking at him, so he simply said: "Lord Cabinet, these bandits have all flowed into Shanxi from the jurisdiction of the lower officials, and the lower officials do have unshirkable responsibilities. But the matter has come to this point, and it is useless to repent, only to pursue it with all your heart. ”

Li Banghua left Beijing as a cabinet minister, and according to the practice of officialdom, Sun Chuanting called him "the cabinet lord".

After saying this opening remark, Sun Chuanting paused slightly, and then said: "Judging from the experience of fighting these thieves in the border army of Yansui Town led by the following officials, these thieves are quite effective except for some old camp backbones and habitual bandits who have accumulated over the years, and the other thieves and rebels are just a group of rabble, although there are many people, they are not the enemies of our official army.

"Now that the Yellow River is thawing, the turbid waves are surging, and the way for the thieves to retreat to the west has been cut off, as long as we wait for the three-way army, from the north, east, and south, slowly march into the army, steadily and steadily, step by step, and besiege these thieves in the mountainous areas of Luliang and Yunzhong, within a few months, they will definitely be able to exterminate one of them."

After Sun Chuanting finished speaking, everyone nodded and arched their hands, indicating that their thoughts had been finished.

At this time, Hong Chengchou said to Li Banghua and the lieutenants present: "What Sun Fuyuan said is very reasonable. When the official led the army to Jiezhou, he heard that the thieves knew the news that our army was gathering, and abandoned the prefecture and county where he had previously taken, and successively coerced the people into the mountains to resist stubbornly.

"In my official's opinion, the thieves did this because they did not dare to confront our officers and soldiers and fight a dignified battle. Although this makes it more difficult for our army to exterminate it, it is not a good strategy.

"I heard that since the first month of last year, Shanxi and Shaanxi are the same, they are all in drought for many years, and the rain has not fallen. Even if the thieves are included in the mountain, with more than 100,000 people, people can eat horses and chew, and how long can they withstand it.

"So this official and Sun Fuyuan see something in the same way. As long as we wait for the three or four parties to echo, move in unison, and slowly advance and suppress, it will only be a matter of time before these thieves and people are surrounded on the mountain, and they will be exterminated. At worst, I can force these thieves down the mountain and confront me face to face, and at that time, it will be the time for the various armies under the command of the cabinet lord to show their skills. ”

Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou's thoughts were already understood by Li Banghua before, so it was not surprising to hear them say this.

Although Zhang Xiao, the governor of Shanxi, and Wang Guoliang, the chief military officer of Shanxi, were anxious to exterminate the thieves, or at least to win a battle as soon as possible, so that they could give an explanation to the emperor and the officials who impeached them, they knew about their own family affairs, and although they were anxious, they could not be too exposed.

Zhang Xiao, the governor of Shanxi, listened to Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, the two governors, finished speaking, and basically meant the same thing in and out of the words, thought about it, and said: "What the two Fuyuan adults said is true, this is also the right reason to suppress thieves. However, as the Shicai Hongfuyuan said, the whole province of Shanxi has not been raining since the first month of last year, and the official used the money and grain allocated by the imperial court to build forts and forts along the Yellow Defense Line to help the people, so as not to cause civil unrest like Shaanxi.

"Now that the army of bandits from all walks of life has gathered in Shanxi, Ruodun soldiers outside the mountain, it has been fruitless for a long time, not to mention the waste of food and wages, and it may also lead to a change in the people, so the gains outweigh the losses, this point, please think carefully."

Hearing Shanxi Governor Zhang Xiao talk about this problem, several people also nodded one after another.

This is not unreasonable.

Several of you here are all heroes of the moment, and naturally they all know that a problem will inevitably arise when a large army gathers but has no effect for a long time.

This problem is a serious problem for the besieged thieves, and it is also a serious problem for the officers and soldiers besieging the thieves.

Fortunately, the officers and soldiers besieging the thieves could keep trying to find ways to raise food and grass from other places, while the besieged thieves could only rely on the existing grain and grass.

If the strategy of besieging first and then attacking and suppressing is adopted, then the next comparison between the enemy and us is to see whose grain and grass reserves can last longer.

However, this problem has long been considered by the current emperor.

Before Li Banghua left Beijing, the emperor also talked to him about this issue, and he also had a bottom line in his heart.

Shanxi has been in drought for many years, and neither the common people nor the government granaries have much grain in stock, but this does not mean that Shanxi cannot produce enough grain to supply 40,000 or 50,000 troops for several months.

If this were the case, Shanxi would have been in the same situation as northern Shaanxi.

Even if this is the case, as long as you have the silver, you can go east to Fukou or south to Yiguan, and buy the food needed by the army from Beizhili and Henan Zhufu, which are in slightly better condition.

Needless to say, the three prefectures at the southern end of the North Zhili are naturally under Lu Xiangsheng's vigorous recruitment of people to reclaim the land, and the situation is much better than that of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi.

Even in the previous years of major disasters and severe drought in Henan provinces, the situation has improved somewhat.

After Shi Zhaolin, the governor of Henan, moved to Luoyang City, with the assistance of Gao Shiming, the eunuch of ceremonies, and others, he eradicated the relatives of Zhu Changxun, the king of fortune in Henan, and his mother Zheng, and confiscated all the 40,000 or 50,000 hectares of fertile land occupied by the palace in various parts of Henan, and used them to resettle the landless people in the province and the victims of the Shaanxi and Jin dynasties who fled famine, and used them to cultivate and promote new crops.

Since last year, although the drought in the Central Plains has continued, and there has been no bumper harvest like that in Beizhili and other places, after all, there is still a harvest, and it is backed by Huguang grain-producing land, so grain prices have not risen as sharply as Shaanxi and Shanxi.

Moreover, the establishment of the Henan Governor's Yamen, the General Military Office, the Household Division, and the Mint Branch also allowed Luoyang, a male city that has stood in western Henan since ancient times, to purchase and reserve a large amount of grain and grass from Jianghuai, Huguang and other places, specifically to meet the urgent needs of the northwest to suppress thieves.

Therefore, if Li Banghua made up his mind to fight with the thieves in Luliang Mountain, then he would also have the confidence to force the thieves in the mountains to hold on.

Although this style of play is not good-looking, it is not as hearty as the legendary Jin Ge Iron Horse, but as long as you can win in the end, isn't it?

As the saying goes, those who are good at fighting have no great achievements.

Thinking of this, looking at the several governors and cadres present were thoughtful, Li Banghua said: "The art of war is cloudy, and those who are good at fighting should be invincible first, so that the enemy can win, but not in themselves, but in the enemy."

"The imperial court's strategy for dealing with the thieves in the northwest must be clear to you now. If we can wipe out all the thieves, of course, that will be the best outcome. But if they can't be wiped out completely, then they must not let the thieves flow east or south out of Shanxi. This is a bottom line set by the Cabinet and the Military Aircraft Department for this meeting, and it is also a bottom line set by His Majesty for his own officials and for you.

Speaking of this, Li Banghua looked at the feudal officials in front of him again, and then said: "This official has made up his mind. In this encirclement and suppression of thieves, we must be cautious and steady, and we must not take the enemy lightly and be taken advantage of by thieves.

"The Shaanxi army of the Hongfu Institute Department marched from the southern line, went north along the Fenshui, mainly in the direction of Huozhou, and stationed troops in Huozhou and Puzhou, and after further exploring the enemy's situation, the main and secondary roads could find opportunities to continue north to Fenxi and Xizhou.

"The Yansui Army of the Sun Fu Institute Department is fully responsible for the encirclement and suppression of the northern front, and can go upstairs from Taiyuan to the north, and after meeting with the Ningwuguan Shanxi Town Army led by Wang Jiazheng, he will seek an opportunity to enter Lanxian and Jingle.

"Zhang Fuyuan continued to return to Taiyuan, led the civil and military forces of Shanxi, and made sure that the city of Taiyuan was foolproof."

"As for the general army of Shanxi Zhenwang, they must rush back to Fenzhou as soon as possible, and send troops to occupy all the dangerous roads at the eastern foot of Luliang Mountain, especially the key places of Jinsuoguan and Huangluling, to ensure that Fenzhou, the important place of the eastern line of Luliang, is safe."

After saying these words, Li Banghua paused for a moment and continued: "You will march into the army as promised, and after arriving everywhere, find out the distribution of the enemy situation as soon as possible, and then this official will take the mine battalion and the Tianxiong battalion from Lu'an Mansion to Fenzhou, and encircle and suppress them. ”

After Li Banghua said this, his eyes looked over everyone's faces one by one, and finally said solemnly: "You have a great responsibility to encircle and suppress the thieves this time, and if any of the generals under your command neglect their duties or do not obey military orders, they can be cut first. However, because one of you who lost the time of the frontier missed the opportunity, the encirclement and suppression failed, and the official cut first and then played, and then blamed the official for not being emotional. ”

Li Banghua said these words with a serious face, and quietly looked at the people in front of him.

Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, Zhang Xiao, Wang Guoliang, as well as Yuan Jixian, deputy envoy of Shanxi's military garrison, Guo Jingsong, the prefect of Lu'an, and others, who were also present at the meeting, quickly got up and left their seats, bowed down and clenched their fists and said: "Please rest assured, the lower officials and others will definitely bow down and die!" ”