How many anti-thieves are there?

No one can calculate it clearly, but if these big and small anti-thief leaders and all the refugees under their command are all concentrated in the mountains between Shangluo and Ankang, it is estimated that there will definitely be no less than one million people.

Shangluo and Ankang are only two state capitals in the mountains, less than a county in the plains, and if millions of people suddenly emerge in such a barren place, eating and drinking will be a big problem.

When the time comes, the imperial court will ambush and besiege on all sides without attacking, but will these millions of people obediently wait for death?

Apparently not!

So Lu Xiangsheng's worries are very reasonable.

If the thieves really besieged these two places, then the people will naturally suffer.

However, compared with the entire empire and the Ming Dynasty, the two barren state capitals are a bit insignificant, and none of the dignitaries present deliberately took Lu Xiangsheng's words and said some painless and compassionate words to the people of the two places.

"Everyone!" Zhang Fengyi waved his hand: "Master Lu's method, I think it's very good, I don't know what you think?" ”

"Not bad!" Hong Chengchou said solemnly: "If this is the plan, these thieves will indeed have no place to be buried, that is, there are two difficulties in this siege without attacking, and the official is worried that the time will be lost." ”

"Huh?" Chen Qiyu frowned: "Didn't Master Lu just say the difficulty, how can there be any difficulty?" ”

Hong Chengchou knocked on the table, leaned forward slightly, and said in a low voice: "My Lord Chen, the two difficulties mentioned below are not from the time and place on the battlefield, but from the court!" ”

"Tell me!" Chen Qiyu made a big horse knife on the podium, and let Hong Chengchou speak bluntly.

Hong Chengchou said: "First, what Lord Lu said just now is right, if you want to complete the battle, what you need is not for us to carry troops up to attack, but to plan in advance, and then besiege and drive away for a long time." To put it mildly, if this battle is not half a year, it will be difficult to succeed.

As a result, there will be a situation where there will be no size advancement for a long time. For those imperial historians who caught our pigtails, and didn't impeach me for waiting for a sin that was sluggish and disobedient? That is, Your Majesty has patience and waits, but can the ministers be patient? The imperial court won't think that we are grinding foreign workers here? ”

"That's what Lord Hong said!" Cao Wenzhao smiled and said: "Whatever you say about grinding foreign workers, it's all light, and it's impeaching us for the crime of being a thief, which is unbearable." ”

"This matter is worrying!"

"Those people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate really don't seem to be with each other."

……

Listening to the discussion of the people below, Zhang Fengyi shook his head and said: "Yan Yan (Hong Chengchou), you go on, what is the second difficulty?" ”

"Hmm!" Hong Chengchou arched his hand and said: "Second, if you besiege the thief army, you must have our ten-sided army to advance and retreat together, and the difficulty of liaison in the center is not asked for the time being, just say that this thousand army is spending food and grass, which is not a small amount." ”

In the past, the imperial court used two tricks to fight bandits, one was to send troops to extinguish the fire wherever the fire started, and the second was to order the local defenders to guard their respective territories.

Although this method of the imperial court is not very effective, it is as good as it is, that is, there is no need to send a large army, and it does not need to consume too much grain and grass.

But this time was different.

As Hong Chengchou said, the army is together, ambushed on all sides, and the five provinces are mobilizing swords at the same time.

Together, not only did the young and strong join the army, but the people of the five provinces were also responsible for transporting military rations and equipment.

Moreover, this kind of encirclement and annihilation tactic is the most time-consuming, and it is possible to do as little as half a year or as much as a year, so that the people of the five provinces will really be abolished.

"I know what you're worried about?" Zhang Fengyi stood up, wielded his beard and said: "Everyone, according to what Jiandou (Lu Xiangshengzi) said just now, ambush and besiege the thief army on all sides. No matter how the court impeaches, the official and the cabinet will naturally bear it, and it will be okay to buy you half a year. In addition, it is the matter of money, don't hide it from you, Your Majesty attaches great importance to this expedition, and this time the official is naturally not fighting empty-handed, the official has two million taels of silver! ”

"What ......"

"Two million taels!"

"Okay, this time I will be able to do it!"

"Hahaha!" Chen Qiyu looked up to the sky and laughed, and said, "In this way, the big thing is decided!" ”

Two million taels of silver, half a year!

Chen Qiyu held his hand, and his heartbeat unconsciously accelerated.

If there is really enough money and food, it will naturally be easy for the court to fight these thieves, and it is time for the husband to make meritorious contributions.

Seeing the joy of everyone, Zhang Fengyi smiled with his beard, and said a few more times, "Everyone, the strategy is certain, the silver is also available, and the ugly words of the official are in front."

If you can finish the battle this time, it will be the best, and the title and knighthood will be completely fine; But on the other hand, the imperial court has spent so much silver, and the people of the five provinces have been burdened with the pain of forced labor...... Think for yourselves. ”

……

Next, the generals worked together to further refine the besieged circle, and the commanders or governors of each defense area divided the tasks and set the dates, so as to ensure that the thieves were driven to the mountains near Shangluo and Ankang within half a year.

The discussion stopped, and the generals had a meal in Tang Wangfu.

Then, after agreeing on the date of the encirclement and the contact information, the generals dispersed, what should they do.

Yuan Mo, the chief soldier of Henan, was about forty years old, a tall and burly man, and after eating wine from the Tang Dynasty's mansion, he led his soldiers to ride back to Luoyang.

Although it is said that the seat of governance in Henan is Kaifeng, Luoyang is the military center.

Yuan Mo not only garrisoned Luoyang, but was originally a native of Luoyang.

It is not quite accurate to say that he is a native of Luoyang.

This Yuan Mo ancestor is a Xianbei person, and he is a Xianbei nobleman, who once ruled half of China during the Northern Wei Dynasty, and was a royal family. Later, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty Tuoba Hong integrated Han culture for political purposes, and changed the surname of Tuoba to Han to Yuan, and since then China has had the surname Yuan.

Therefore, it is not impossible to say that Yuan Mo is a descendant of the royal family.

Luoyang Yuan family is a hereditary military family, ancestors have served in the Ming Dynasty army for generations, and his generation is already a local family, but he has no success in studying, so he can only enter the army again. Because he has been in the army for generations and has made a little famous, when he abandons his literature and enters the military, his promotion will be much cheaper.

After more than 20 years of mixing, I finally got to a height that my ancestors had not mixed up with for generations: the general army.

The official title of the third product.

Of course, the reason why he was able to mix to such a high position was not only Yuan Mo's own factors, but also external factors. As the saying goes, there are people in the court who are good officials, and this Yuan Mo belongs to the category of people in the court.

The name of the person who carried him was Liu Zongzhou.

He is currently a cabinet minister.

"It's almost there, isn't it?" Yuan Mo stopped his horse, put away the leather whip in his hand, and looked at a low hill in front of him that was shaded by the woods and asked.

"General, it's almost there, and Director Liu is in the woods in front." Yuan Mo's own soldiers pointed to the low hill in front of him, which was covered with dense forests.

"Okay, you wait for me here, and stop the rest from entering the woods!" After Yuan Mo finished speaking, he "drove" and urged the horse into the woods.

In the woods, a man in a cotton cloth shirt is standing with his hands behind his back, looking at the clothes on his body like a businessman, this person is actually a six-grade director of the Ministry of Rites, and was sent by Liu Zongzhou, a cabinet minister, to have a private meeting with Yuan Mo, the chief soldier of Henan.

"Chief Liu?"

Yuan Mo rode on the horse and did not get down, and when he walked to the side of Chief Liu, he shouted softly.

"Hmm!" The light in the woods was dim, Director Liu turned his head, gently stroked the three locks of black beard under his chin with his left hand, smiled on his fair face, and hugged his fist towards Yuan Mo and said, "General Yuan? ”

"Hmm!" Yuan Mo dismounted, took the reins in his hand, walked gently to Master Liu, and asked, "I don't know if Elder Liu Ge has any instructions?" ”

"You come with me!" After Mr. Liu finished speaking, he turned around and left.

Yuan Mo tied the horse to the trunk of the tree next to him, caught up with him in three steps and two steps, and followed this Liu to a cliff in the mountain, which is the commanding height of this hill, facing the sky on one side and low trees on the other. This place can not only cover the body well, but also avoid being overheard by others, and it is a good place to discuss secrets.

"Zhang Dashangshu and Chen Qiyu discussed the method of besieging but not attacking, this official has already heard of it, if this method is effective, the day of General Yuan's meritorious deeds will not be far away."

Although Director Liu is only a sixth-grade official, Yuan Mo is a third-grade official.

However, the civil officials and military attaches are not equal in status, because Director Liu did not have half a point of respect when he saw Yuan Mo, and he regarded himself as his own official everywhere. It is because civil officials can write and say things, military attaches are responsible for fighting, and those who work hard cannot speak the same way.

"It's all for the national court and the people of the Ming Dynasty, and someone in Yuan dares not to die?" Yuan Mo didn't expect this surnamed Liu to be respectful to him, smiled slightly, and replied a little prevaricating.

Fortunately, Director Liu did not come for this encirclement and suppression, he glanced at Yuan Mo deeply, and said in a low voice: "Elder Liu Ge asked this official to bring a message to General Yuan. ”

"Please show it to Lord Liu!" As soon as he heard the words of Liu Ge's elder Liu Zongzhou, Yuan Mo did not dare to slack off at all, and hurriedly bowed his hand, with a serious expression comparable to listening to orders.

"Elder Liu Ge said, you are in charge of Henan's military affairs, no matter how you suppress bandits, he doesn't ask the old man, but there is one thing." Chief Liu's voice was lowered, "Luo Rucai is entrenched in Xingyang, he has no strategy, he is a rat, so you secretly force him to go east, Lord Liu has his own way to deal with him!" ”

"Forced to go east?" Yuan Mo was taken aback and said: "The military department has just set a general plan for an ambush on ten sides, if it is forced to go east at this moment, won't it disturb the overall situation, how can this be made?" ”

"No problem!" Director Liu said: "Didn't the official just say it, Luo Rucai talked about the people, and after he went east to loot and return to the Defu, Lord Liu will help you block him back to the west, and he will not miss the major affairs of the imperial court." If you can get rid of a scourge by the hands of thieves, it is also a great merit, Lord Liu is a scholar in the world, and he has good intentions. ”