Before the Huaiyang army sent a fast horse to Jinan, Li Meng heard the news about four days in advance, and sent the matter back with a fast horse in advance with the eyeliner planted in the Jingshi.

The investment and effectiveness of Shandong's intelligence system are very large, but among the real high-level, it has not been successful, which has a lot to do with the Jiaozhou battalion itself starting from the end of the microscopic end.

Among the Jingshi, there are countless high-ranking officials and nobles, and when you reach a certain level, you can't send money even if you want to, the procedures are very troublesome, and the nostrils are facing the sky.

And because Shandong is deliberately low-key, the officials treat Shandong as a soft persimmon and a poor egg, and they don't bother to pay attention to it, if the people who change Zuo Ping's thieves come to the activities, it can really be said to be unimpeded.

As a result, the Lingshan Commercial Bank and the Shandong Salt Gang have been active in Beijing for so many years, and the silver has also spent a lot, but it has never achieved much results, and the news that the Jiaozhou camp needs is often not found.

But there is no secrecy in the overall environment of the entire Beijing Division, sometimes a minister and the emperor meet alone, and the emperor himself thinks it is a big secret, but the next day what they say is spread all over the city, leaking the forbidden Chinese language is originally a serious crime, and the prime minister of ancient times has to be degraded when he encounters this crime, but now no one takes it seriously.

The eunuchs in the court, as well as the officials on other occasions, often have the habit of selling news for money, and a few taels of silver can bring words out, and give hundreds or even steal those drafts written by the imperial pen to you. The ministers of the court, the official imperial history, for political struggles or other purposes, are also willing to pay to buy news, the beginning of the Donglin Party sweeping the world, is the founding patriarch of Nanjing Hubu Shangshu Tuota King Li Sancai, secretly copied his teacher Wang Juexi to the emperor's excerpt, the political tide won a big victory.

The so-called empire is like a big ship, but the ship is leaking from above, and this is the case with the Ming Empire. It's hard to keep a secret.

In the past two years, some of the spies in Shandong have even begun to collect the waste manuscripts of the yamen of various ministries, according to the usual practice, they are generally drafted below, and the chief officer copies them according to it, and these copied manuscripts are also drafted by the subordinates. It was sold as waste paper, and the secret agents in Shandong disguised themselves as tatters, and they got a lot of news. Li Meng relied on such news to spread. can actually grasp the movements of the imperial court, which can be regarded as making people laugh and cry.

The Lin director of the military department is the only achievement of the Lingshan Commercial Bank and the Yan Gang among the officials of the six departments, and the branch of the Lingshan Commercial Bank in the Beijing Division, by chance, I know that this Lin director is living in embarrassment, and there are many Beijing officials who are in distress, but they are from the military department. It's this kind of situation again, it's really rare, so Director Lin is too precious to the Jiaozhou camp.

The method of arresting this chief in his hands was not ingenious, and the intelligence officers of the Jiaozhou battalion who were born in the military were even very rude, first kidnapping the three sons of the chief of Lin, loading them in a cart and sending them out of Jingshi as goods, and then a generous gift of three thousand taels of silver.

This Lin master didn't hesitate for too long. Xun made a choice, he left two hundred taels of three thousand taels of silver, and then sent the rest of the silver to Shandong with his wife. Let her reunite with her son and stay in Jingshi by herself, this Lin director also has to gamble once.

The news sent by the principal was sent back as the first class of important news, but it was in the hands of Li Meng, and after watching it with Sun Chuanting. Li Meng's reaction was just a smile.

Sun Chuanting knew the news, slapped it on the table hatefully, and shouted angrily:

"This court, this world. It's all delayed by these scourges......"

Sun Chuanting has some psychological stereotypes in his heart that are still difficult to turn back. In his heart, he always has a little inseparable emotion for the Ming court and the great tomorrow. But after saying this, Sun Chuanting immediately said worriedly:

"Lord Li, we must deal with it as soon as possible, the land of Jiangbei and Huai is the depth barrier of my Shandong, and it is the land of fish and rice, but it extends in all directions, it can only be entered and not guarded, and there must be no loss, look at this news, Qincha should still be on the way, Jinan sent a fast horse order, and it was completely too late to transfer General Chen back to Shandong."

Li Meng smiled and said:

"Chen Liu is like Li's brother, he is in Lianghuai, I am very relieved, why should I be transferred back!"

Hearing Li Meng say this, Sun Chuanting thought that the other party was thinking about some kind of brotherhood, and he was suddenly a little anxious, and hurriedly said:

"My lord, this is not the time to care about brotherhood, if General Chen has the mind to stand on his own because of the title of deputy commander-in-chief, then what is this brotherhood to talk about?"

Sun Chuanting was so anxious, but Li Meng laughed out loud and said:

"Mr. Sun, what would happen if this method of the imperial court was used on Zuo Liangyu?"

"Although Zuo Liangyu can hold it down, it is inevitable that there will be dirty disputes between his subordinates, and there will be one or two fires to merge, but then again, this Zuo Liangyu has always been domineering, and after such a will, I am afraid that he will make a big fuss soon, and the court will be appeased at that time, and such a thing will not be done."

Although the Shandong Salt Gang listed this matter as the first-class most important information, Sun Chuanting was also full of anxiety, but Li Meng became more and more tidy, and said with a mocking smile:

"It turned out that Li was not domineering enough, and the court paid special attention to it."

Seeing what Sun Chuanting was going to say, Li Mengyang stopped the other party with his hand, a character like Sun Chuanting should be polite at any time, and excessive ridicule would have the opposite effect, but he really didn't take this matter to heart, so he had to explain two sentences:

"Mr. Sun, who gave Zuo Liangyu's wealth and power?"

“…… It is a reward from the imperial court......"

"Yes, without the reward of the imperial court, no matter how domineering he Zuo Liangyu is, he is just a thief, I'm afraid that the soldiers and horses under his command are not as good as Li Chuang's ability to gather into a group, and they will disperse soon, who gave Chen Liu's wealth and power?"

“…… It's Lord Lee......"

"Why did the imperial court give them the status and status, it is not the strength in his hands, whose strength is it, the root of all this is there, presumably everyone knows it in their hearts, the glory and wealth of the Jiaozhou camp are all brought down by me Li Meng alone, if there is a dissent, Li gave it to them. I can get it back, too. ”

After saying this, Sun Chuanting was thoughtful, and Li Meng said loudly:

"Mr. Sun's consideration is also for the long-term plan of the Jiaozhou camp, but this matter, Mr. is indeed too worried, rest assured."

The words have come to this point, Sun Chuanting also knows that Li Meng must have the corresponding means, but he is always unsteady in his heart, but Sun Chuanting has to make this statement no matter what. It is also a sign of faithfulness.

But if you think about it carefully, what you can consider is that Liu Fulai, the eunuch of Nanjing, is so cunning and cunning. is even more familiar with the center for many years, and he must be able to take into account that he is in such a hurry, but the old eunuch has always been in a good time, which shows that this Jiaozhou camp may have a case to deal with these things, and wait and see.

A few days later. Huai Yangjun's deputy Gao Ke sent a messenger to report the news, saying that the imperial court's eunuch had gone to Yangzhou Mansion to announce the decree, and he had made all preparations there, but Chen Liu was not in the station, so he was going to send a letter to inform him.

This news made Sun Chuanting a little worried, but on the third day, Huaiyang's fast horse sent the letter and followed closely. It shows that in the small battle in Lijiaqiaodi, all 700 bandits who claimed to be officers and soldiers were killed, and not a single one was left. At the same time, it was said that Deputy General Chen and his family members were not suitable for the water and soil of Lianghuai, and they wanted to be sent back to Jinan and asked the marshal to take care of them.

Seeing this letter, Sun Chuanting also put his mind at ease, and slaughtered those bandits who claimed to be officers and soldiers, which could be regarded as doing something similar to the surrender of his name, sending his relatives and parents back to Jinan, and taking the initiative to send the hostages over to show his confession. Anyway, his relatives are in the hands of the handsome. If there's anything wrong with us, aren't we joking with the safety of our loved ones?

Li Meng believed in Chen Liu. Chen Liu also believed that Li Meng would not doubt himself, but the two sides were separated by two places, and the imperial court made such a reward, or made all the things that should be expressed and done, so that both parties were at ease.

On the fifth day of the first month of February, Zhang Ruoqi, the director of the Ministry of War, led a group of people from Beijing to Shandong to inspect the soldiers and horses to verify the number of people, and then prepared to pay silver.

Sitting in the swaying carriage, Zhang Ruoqi has always felt in a dream, the battle of Songshan, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses were scattered, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses were surrounded on Songshan, and the last hundred thousand soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty were destroyed by him.

After returning to Beijing, he lived a muddy life every day, wandering the wreckage, whether eating or drinking, men and women, they were trying to enjoy as much as possible, and they sang prostitutes in the house every day. He knows that the responsibility is heavy, the dynasty is not like the Song Dynasty, just exile you to Shamen Island and finish the matter, that is really going to cut off your head, he is just waiting there for the disposal of the court, but he has been staying like that, the court has never dealt with it, even Chen Xinjia, who commanded him, stayed in his position unharmed, and gradually became a little relieved.

Even if the sky falls, isn't there still a Shangshu on top, don't you have to worry too much, Zhang Ruoqi will recover after being silent for a while.

This time he went to Shandong to inspect the soldiers and horses, and the errand fell on him, not only those colleagues in the military department were surprised, but even Zhang Ruoqi himself was dumbfounded, such a place is good and bad, why is Lord Shangshu cheap?

It wasn't until he left the Beijing Division that Zhang Ruoqi, who had always been dizzy, figured it out a little, Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, and he were grasshoppers tied to a rope, and he was supervising the army on the front line.

If he is punished, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not be involved in Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, and even damage the face of Emperor Chongzhen, and the current emperor has not yet reached the weak crown, and he killed the first national thief in the history of the Ming Dynasty, the real holy monarch who stands up to the sky and the earth, how can he make a mistake? How could it be wrong?

Thinking of this, Zhang Ruoqi, the head of the Ministry of War, suddenly became a lot more courageous, but now even the Secretary of the Ministry of War and the emperor have to cover up for me, so wouldn't I be able to act unscrupulously and not be afraid of anything.

After leaving the Beijing Division, Zhang Ruoqi's low mood had been swept away, and he happily studied with his relatives all day long how to pull out some oil and water from the Shandong soldiers and horses.

Shaanxi Governor Wang Qiaonian led 40,000 Shaanxi soldiers and horses out of Tongguan, at this time a soldier and horse of the thief general Zuo Liangyu was fighting hard in the area of Xiangcheng and Li and Luo's coalition army, Shaanxi Governor Wang Qiaonian placed the foot soldiers in Luoyang City, led 20,000 cavalry, and went straight to Xiangcheng. The intention should be inside and out. Defeat this force of the combined forces of Li and Luo.

It was around the first month, despite the chaos in Henan, whether it was the officers and soldiers or the exiled troops of Li and Luo, the large army was in a short rest.

The only large-scale battle in Henan was the battle of Xiangcheng.

After Zhang Ruoqi, the head of the military department who went to Shandong to inspect the troops and horses, entered the territory of Shandong, the news of the battle of Xiangcheng quickly spread to Beijing and all parts of the world. The chief soldier Zhang Guoqing was killed on the spot.

He Renlong and two other commanders led his men to flee towards the way they came, and Wang Qiaonian, the governor of Shaanxi, could only lead the remnants of the defeated army to retreat into Xiangcheng, and was besieged by the combined forces of Li and Luo for five days. Xiangcheng was breached, and Wang Qiaonian, the governor of Shaanxi, was captured and killed.

I don't know why, the whole world is very indifferent to this failure, it seems to be commonplace, and the official Yushi of the court was going to launch an impeachment against Chen Xinjia, but at this time, they were all dumb, and occasionally a few sighed there. The Shaanxi soldiers are also so unbearable, what else can there be in the world that can fight soldiers and horses, and the thieves are more and more uncontrollable.

Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, Ding Qirui, the governor of Baoding, and Zuo Liangyu, the general of the Ping thief, mobilized troops and horses like crazy, preparing to fight a decisive battle with the Li and Luo coalition forces in a desperate manner.

"Is there any rule for this Shandong soldier and horse, this official is a representative of the military department sent to inspect the soldiers and horses, how can he be so slack!!"

Zhang Ruoqi, the head of the military department, was angry in the post station. This check on the number of soldiers and the errand of paying money is equivalent to choking the neck of the local general. No matter how arrogant and domineering you are, you have to give three points of smiling faces to please and welcome.

Who would have thought that when he arrived outside the city of Jinan, there were soldiers guarding the door who asked, originally the chief Zhang Ruoqi was high-spirited, thinking that Lao Tzu came to your Jinan city to inspect your Shandong soldiers and horses, and he wanted to meet with the general soldiers of your family, and what did he have to say to you soldiers.

However, I only scolded two sentences, and this poor shelf has not yet been put up. The soldiers guarding the city gate were already approaching with knives and guns.

I saw the other party's cold blade. Who would dare to say a word more, and he was obediently placed in a post station outside the city. According to the Ming system, this is also in line with the rules.

The official who runs the errand should live in the post house of the official's house, but no one has followed this rule for many years, but it is impossible to say that the other party will make any mistakes in following the rules.

After entering the post station, Zhang Ruoqi pondered, didn't this post station be abolished in the early years of Chongzhen, it seems that after entering the territory of Shandong, he saw the existence of the post station, and there was no post station in Jingshi and Jizhen.

But this question just flashed away, Zhang Ruoqi gritted his teeth, and pondered thousands of ways to make things difficult for the other party in his heart, a vulgar general, he dared to look at no one like this.

And at this time, Zhang Ruoqi also remembered that when he came to the ground, Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the Ministry of War, had an entrustment, saying that "it is necessary to investigate carefully and carefully".

When he left the Beijing Division, Zhang Ruoqi knew in his heart that if the Shandong General Soldier knew how to do things and gave enough money, then the ambiguity would be fooled.

Seeing the other party's performance like this, his heart suddenly brought out the words of Lord Shangshu, and he was determined to strictly handle it according to the rules, how could there be a military general in the world who did not eat vacancies, as long as it was strictly investigated, I was afraid that I would not find out the problem.

To make it difficult for this military general, Zhang Ruoqi thought that he still had a few distractions, and that day, as a sixth-grade person, was in front of Hong Chengchou and the generals of the second-grade land, and he was majestic, so that these personnel matters could only be handled in accordance with the orders he conveyed.

Shandong General Li Meng, a military general who has never seen the market, Zhang Ruoqi, the head of the military department, did not pay attention to it at all, and with a little means, he could make the other party anxious.

But Zhang Ruoqi was so ruthless, no one in Shandong City came out to receive him, and he was always allowed to stay outside the city for three days before a pusher from Jinan Mansion came out to receive him.

It is said that it is none of my business, the inspection of military horses has nothing to do with this civil official, the other party will definitely be polite, who would have thought that this push official was full of cold faces, and said a few words stiffly:

"Coming from afar, it must have been hard work, the governor and the chief soldier still have important matters today, and they will be summoned tomorrow afternoon, so you should prepare carefully."

This sentence is finished. That Zhang Ruoqi exploded, pointed at the nose of the pusher and scolded:

"Okay, you dog-eyed thing, this officer is sent by Chen Shangshu of the Ministry of War to check your Shandong soldiers and horses, what are you, you dare to talk like this."

The pusher was not ambiguous, knocked off this Ruoqi's arm, and retorted coldly:

"What kind of thing are you, you are a six-pin, and this official is also a six-pin. This is Jinan, but not the capital, so don't take the tone there......"

After saying that, he walked away. Zhang Ruoqi didn't expect the other party to say such words, but with such an attitude, he was stunned there for a long time without speaking, and finally understood that this errand was not easy to do.

In the afternoon of the next day, sure enough, ten soldiers with indifferent faces came to lead the way, and their demeanor was a business-like attitude. It has nothing to do with being polite at all.

The city of Jinan is deserted, and there is no such thing as the prosperity of a big city, and there are heavily armed soldiers passing by in a queue from time to time.

The Yamen of the General Army is even more heavily guarded, like a fortress, and Zhang Ruoqi, the head of the Ministry of War, feels a little strange, because this point of testing soldiers and horses should be going to the governor's official office. There was a governor to arrange all this, who would have thought that this Shandong was actually directly led to the Yamen of the General Army, and couldn't help asking:

"Shouldn't I go to Governor Yan's side......."

The leader of the soldiers who led the way said coldly:

"The Governor and the Commander are in the lobby. You'll see you later. ”

The tone of the soldier's voice is also hard, this soldier's leader is a petty officer with no grade, and it is far worse than Zhang Ruoqi's grade, but seeing the soldier's leader pressing his hand on the hilt of the knife and his cold gaze, Zhang Ruoqi swallowed and spat, but still didn't say anything.

The entourage of his cronies was stopped at the door of the general army's yamen, and one of Zhang Ruoqi's cronies was immediately on fire. There he shouted loudly, "My lord is from Jingshi." The important officers of the military department are the ones who are in charge of you hills. If you are released, you can directly be the prefect of Jinan, how can you ......?"

It is estimated that this sentence is "how dare you", but the following words were not said at all, and the guard at the door was hit heavily on the stomach with the handle of the knife, and the whole person curled up on the ground like a shrimp

Zhang Ruoqi wanted to turn around and say a few words, but several soldiers stopped in front of him and urged:

"My family commander and the governor have been waiting for you in the hall for a long time, hurry up!!" Looking at these cold soldiers, Zhang Ruoqi opened his mouth, but after all, he didn't speak, turned around and silently walked forward with the soldiers who led the way.

It's not easy to come to Jinan to check the soldiers and horses.

"Yesterday, the news from both sides of Kaifeng City and Guide Mansion came together, Zuo Liangyu's soldiers and horses and Ding Qirui's soldiers and horses both entered Kaifeng Mansion, they may have noticed that Li Chuang and Luo Rucai's soldiers and horses had some scruples about the ground of Kaifeng Mansion, so they gathered soldiers and horses there."

In the hall, Li Meng, the chief soldier of Shandong, took the documents sent yesterday to talk to Yan Jizu, although Yan Jizu, the governor of the Jiaozhou battalion, did not participate, but he knew a lot more than outsiders.

Moreover, many people in Shandong's Li Meng system do not shy away from Yan Jizu, anyway, they can't escape the palms of Shandong's soldiers and horses, and they are not afraid of anything.

Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, was also very adaptable to the situation in front of him, and when he heard Li Meng talk about it, he pondered for a moment and replied:

"Look at the Di newspaper, as well as a letter from a friend of the official Jingshi, the imperial court is issuing an order urging Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu to attack the thieves as soon as possible, and a large number of soldiers and horses in Huguang have been transferred to Henan, I am afraid that the thief Zhang Shun will not be able to take care of it, and I am afraid that the Zhongdu side will lose."

Li Meng turned his head and looked at Sun Chuanting, who was sitting beside him, and now Sun Chuanting was dressed in a scribe's green shirt, with an iron mask on his face, but he was quiet and listened to it.

Yan Jizu was in the Beijing Division, and he had several connections with Sun Chuanting, and he still had to be careful not to be recognized by the other party on this occasion, so he kept silent, but Yan Jizu's attitude was as if there was no "iron mask" in his eyes. When dealing with Li Meng, you have to pay attention to what you shouldn't see, then you can't see it.

"The more the thief's power swells, the more unscrupulous he may be, Zhang Zhili's side, Nanzhili still has some soldiers and horses who can fight, but this Henan, I have to go again again, Governor Yan, when the time comes, I will ask you to go down the paperwork here."

All the things in Shandong, Li Meng can decide in one word, but on the surface, if the army is marching and fighting, it is still the governor and commander, and the procedures and letters should be sealed, as well as the negotiations with the imperial court, all of which must be handled by Yan Jizu. Of course, Li Meng said this, but it was just a politeness, since this Yan Jizu is interested, he also has to give the other party.

Hearing Li Meng's request, Yan Jizu owed himself in his seat and signaled that he was taking orders.

Zhang Ruoqi followed the soldiers who led the way with anxiety, but saw this scene in the main hall.

The chief soldier Li Meng sat in the middle, and Yan Jizu sat on the right side, this seat was already the chief soldier and the governor was below.

Zhang Ruoqi's mind was completely confused, he looked at the hall blankly, and he didn't care about his feet, he tripped over the obstacles below, and fell directly to the front, falling firmly.

Walked into the main hall of the chief soldier's yamen, Zhang Ruoqi was not ambiguous, and was directly ready to hug his fists as a salute, although he was the main person of the sixth grade.

Although he has to kowtow according to the rules, he represents the court and the emperor, even if he is in Hong Chengchou's army, so many first- and second-grade generals have to be polite to him and treat each other politely, what is the governor and general soldier of Shandong.

Li Meng ignored this person's rude behavior, just squinted at Zhang Ruoqi who was doing it there, and asked slowly:

"This Director Zhang is the supervisor of the army when Inspector Hong led the army out of the customs last year, and the culprit of the defeat of Songshan!?" Cloth, if you have a monthly pass, you can vote.