Zhang Mengjin looked at Zhou Qiang, who came to his camp, although he was a little unhappy in his heart, he still held back his anger and showed due courtesy. Even if Zhou Zhouqiang is not Zhang Mengjin's direct boss, he doesn't have to care so much about the other party's words, but Zhang Mengjin still cares about the friendship he formed in Ningzhou City that day.

Besides, after all, Zhou Tianqiang is the supreme commander of this official army attack at this time, and it is always right for Zhang Mengjin to show a little more respect.

"In the past, Zhang Da was famous, and after you joined the official army, I have repeatedly heard that you have made great contributions to the imperial court. It's just that I haven't been able to see it with my own eyes, and today's battle really lives up to your reputation. As for some small disputes, it is inevitable, they are all heroes on the battlefield, and everyone has some temper. ”

Sunday Qiang knew that Zhang Mengjin must have a lot of resentment in his heart because of the previous weapon fighting incident. But this question cannot be avoided, and after Sunday Qiang can only say some flattering words, he will simply bring it lightly.

Zhang Zhaoen saw that Zhou Qiang, who came to inquire, directly talked about today's fight, and simply thought that this senior official must have supported his own attitude, so he immediately wanted to interject.

But Zhang Mengguang, the ninth uncle on the side, stopped the unruly Zhang Zhaoen in advance. While quietly pulling Zhang Zhaoen, he also glared at Zhang Zhaoen viciously. After being reminded by the ninth uncle, Zhang Zhaoen finally wisely chose to remain silent and waited for his eighth uncle's speech.

Zhang Mengjin saw that his second brother had stopped his reckless nephew, so he respectfully raised his hand and replied: "I and the brothers around me are rough people, but we also understand the importance of loyalty. If the court can be merciful to those of us who were once thieves, and then entrust us with important responsibilities, it is only natural that our brothers will die in the service of the country wholeheartedly. ”

Seeing that Zhang Mengjin and others complained to themselves without coming up directly, Zhou Qiang was a little relieved and a little disappointed at the same time.

After he thought about it, he continued: "Today, the officers and troops of the three towns of Ningxia, Yansui, and Gansu have performed well in killing the enemy together, and this official is ready to ask for credit for you in the song. At present, the remnants of Iron Horn City are intimidated by the military might of the official army, and have expressed their hope to be appeased to their own officials. Although this official does not fully believe in the other party, but if the other party can sincerely accept the appeasement, there will not be a few people who are willing to serve the court like Zhang Shoubei. Therefore, the official also passed the word in the past, but some disputes between the officials and the army today, the movement is still relatively big, and the official came this time to hope that several generals of the imperial court can continue to cooperate in dealing with thieves. ”

The thieves in Iron Horn City were originally recruited by Liu Wu and Liu Liu on Sunday, but they were planted in the past but betrayed again. Now Sunday Qiang actually hopes to use the military might of the official army to appease these traitors again. even deliberately mentioned his own example, Zhang Mengjin suddenly felt a little speechless. However, he still respectfully persuaded him: "My lord is benevolent, it's just that these thieves are rebellious, and I'm afraid that the other party is using a delaying tactic." ”

Sunday Qiang saw that the other party was a little suspicious of his appeasement policy, which was also expected by him, so he patiently continued to explain his thoughts to Zhang Mengjin and others.

"In the past few years, there have been frequent disasters and famines, and there are not many people in Qingyang Mansion, if these thieves can be appeased, they will return to their hometowns to farm, and they will select people to supplement the army to suppress the thieves together. That is a great achievement for Qingyang Mansion, you have also seen a lot of places in Yan'an Mansion, and you must know how many farmlands are uncultivated. One more person can harvest more grain, and what Shaanxi needs most now is grain. ”

Although there has been a bumper harvest around Jinding Mountain, Zhang Mengjin and others know that this is just a special case. There is still a lot of abandoned land in other areas, so Zhang Mengjin and others also understand Sunday Qiang's worries about food.

It's just that for these former thieves who have done all their bad deeds, it doesn't matter to them whether there is food elsewhere or not, anyway, they have what they have to eat. And more and more thieves are rising up to make trouble, just so that they can continue to add several strokes to their credit book. So even if they understood what the other party meant, Zhang Mengjin and the others were very cold about Sunday Qiang's words.

Seeing that the other party had no reaction, Zhou Qiang had to change his direction and continue to persuade: "I have all your performance in my heart today, General Yang and General He's subordinates directly coaxed your heads, and injured many of your soldiers, there are indeed many mistakes. I have already rebuked the two commanders, and this head will be handed over to me anyway, and whether they want to return it or not, I will take credit for you. That's why I'm here to hear how many heads you've been robbed of; Second, I hope that you can stop worrying and continue to cooperate with the other two commanders to deal with the thieves. ”

Zhang Mengjin saw that Sunday Qiang finally made it clear that he supported his side, and his heart was finally a lot more steady. So he immediately responded: "Today, our soldiers have captured a total of 153 heads, of which more than 82 were snatched by the soldiers of Ningxia Town and Gansu Town. There are also twenty-three soldiers who were injured by their men, as long as the adults can take the lead and seek justice for our brothers in Yansui Town, our people in Yansui Town will naturally be grateful to the adults. As long as the adults give the order, we will never shirk anything. ”

On Sunday, Zhang Mengjin took a look at the figures reported, and although they did not exceed the total amount reported by the officers and men of Ningxia and Gansu towns, they still accounted for a large share of them. Although he felt that this matter was quite difficult, Sunday Qiang still said that he would support Zhang Mengjin.

After these simple and direct appeasements, Zhang Mengjin, a former thief with little experience in officialdom, was appeased, and directly said that he would obey orders and continue to cooperate well with other officers and soldiers.

Not long after Qiang returned on Sunday, a lot of heads were sent back from the camp in Ningxia Town, as well as some money, wine, and meat. The person who came said that the head of Gansu Town was still being counted, but it was not early, and it would be sent back one after another in the following days. And Ningxia Town has already given up a lot of camps, and I hope that the soldiers of Yansui Town can deploy defenses as soon as possible.

Zhang Mengjin and others saw that they had to return a lot of heads, and they also had money, wine and meat rewards, so they all thought that Zhou Zhouqiang was a person who kept his word. They immediately called on their brothers and rearranged the camp in close proximity to the camp in Ningxia Town. At the same time, he ordered his soldiers not to clash with the soldiers in Ningxia Town again, and the short-tempered Zhang Zhaoen received special attention.

On the other side, the soldiers in Ningxia Town, they also showed considerable restraint. It was not like before, when the soldiers of Yansui Town encountered it, they began to scold and fight angrily. Because He Huchen, the chief soldier of Ningxia Town, also repeatedly ordered his subordinates not to provoke the other party.

He Huchen obediently sent out his head and strictly ordered his subordinates to exercise restraint, not because he thought that his side was at a loss. Instead, Zhou Qiang directly registered those heads as Ningxia Town's capture in front of him, and said that Ningxia Town had the first credit in today's battle, so there was such a performance.

On the other side, in the town of Gansu, they did not reply further.

……

"My lord, the figure of the thief was found outside the camp, and General Pan asked if he wanted to fight." A soldier in Gansu Town reported the latest military situation to Yang Jiamo in the camp.

Yang Jiamo was very calm, and directly ordered: "Let Pan Weizhong watch from the front, everyone is ready to follow me out of the camp to kill the enemy, and don't let the people of Ningxia Town and Yansui Town take any credit." ”

After Yang Jiamo gave the order, the soldiers and horses in Gansu Town quickly began to move, and did not report to another official and military camp across the mountain.

Yang Jiamo, the chief soldier of Gansu Town, didn't pay much attention to Qiang's persuasion yesterday and Sunday. He was the chief military officer of Gansu Town, why should he care about a small garrison on Yansui West Road, not to mention that this person was a leader of thieves who had been in chaos before.

As for Sunday Qiang's statement that he would take most of the credit for this thief on himself, Yang Jiamo didn't believe it at all. He has been a military attache of the Ming Dynasty for so many years, and he knows very well the tricks of saying one thing and doing another in the officialdom.

Yang Jiamo knew that in front of He Huchen in Ningxia Town and Zhang Mengjin in Yansui Town, Qiang Bacheng on Sunday also adopted this statement. Whether He Huchen will choose to believe it, Yang Jiamo doesn't know. But Zhang Mengjin looks obviously a rookie, and he was deceived by Sunday in three or two clicks.

Although He Huchen and Zhang Mengjin's subordinates had a feud because of the past. However, before yesterday's battle, Yang Jiamo and Zhang Mengjin did not have any grievances between the two sides, and it stands to reason that they could have cooperated well.

It's just that Yang Jiamo thinks that in yesterday's battle, it was indeed Zhang Mengjin and others who did not listen to the order to take the lead, and it was right for their people and horses in Gansu Town to regain their heads. Second, the thieves in Iron Horn City are nothing remarkable, and they don't have to care so much about cooperating with others.

And Sunday Qiang had a holiday with himself, before Sunday Qiang did not pre-arrange grain and grass for Gansu Town, causing his soldiers to harass the people, and finally he was also held accountable by the imperial court. Therefore, Yang Jiamo originally had a lot of opinions about Zhou Qiang, and this time under the leadership of Zhou Qiang to suppress the thieves in Iron Horn City, Yang Jiamo also had a lot of scruples, and was always worried that he would be sold by others.

Therefore, Yang Jiamo insisted on separating from the officers and troops in Ningxia Town, and camped across a mountain and a ravine. In the name of being able to flank the remnants of Iron Horn City, it is actually not the same as others.

After the people of Gansu Town led by Yang Jiamo began to act, the soldiers of Ningxia Town and Yansui Town also discovered the movement, and they immediately reported to their respective commanders. After receiving the news, He Huchen and Zhang Mengjin hurriedly asked the Supreme Commander for instructions on Sunday.

Sunday Qiang at first thought that it was a thief from Gansu Town who did not listen to the order and attacked Iron Horn City without authorization. But then Gansu Town sent someone to report that there were thieves from other directions to reinforce Tiejiao City.

It didn't take long for the sentinels of Ningxia Town and Yansui Town to return to the camp one after another, and many traces of thieves were also found in other directions. Sunday Qiang realized that something was wrong with the situation at this time, and he immediately dispatched troops and horses out of the camp to fight.

"The big boss, there are traces of thieves on all the hills, and it looks like tens of thousands of people have been killed." After Zhang Mengjin returned to his camp, another group of sentry agents sent by Jindingshan quickly rushed back to call the police.

"Big brother, our brothers have all been thieves before, and these places are not far from the territory of our security. No matter how big the territory of Dongchuan is, it is impossible for tens of thousands of thieves who can fight, and even the thieves from Xichuan can't get together so many people. This is mostly a suspicious tactic, and there are a total of 3,500 elite officers and soldiers in this attack, so we don't need to be afraid. Zhao Wankui didn't believe that the thieves could raise tens of thousands of horses to besiege the official army, so he was not afraid of the battle afterward.

Guan Zhiqing was a little worried, and he showed his concerns to Zhang Mengjin. "Although it is true that there are tens of thousands of thieves, if there are really thieves from other places to join, there may be tens of thousands of people in the old and weak, and there can be thousands of people who can fight. Although we have more than 3,500 officers and soldiers here, we are already unkind, and the people and horses in Gansu Town are still too far away from us, so I am afraid that there will be some danger. ”

Seeing that the second master and the third master had different opinions, the other leaders of Jinding Mountain were not good at speaking arrogantly.

Zhang Mengjin, as the big boss, looked at the group of brothers around him who had been born and died with him for many years. finally made up his mind and said: "As long as our brothers work together, we can kill seven in and seven out of any place in the world by relying on these hundreds of openings under our hands." So don't worry about being afraid, as long as you use all the skills you usually practice, and believe that your left, right and back will definitely have brothers to take care of, then there are 100,000 thieves, and we can defeat them. Pass on our military orders and open the door to fight. ”

The big boss made up his mind, and all the leaders in the camp removed the distractions in their hearts and agreed loudly. It didn't take long for everyone to follow Zhang Mengjin out of the camp to fight.