Zhang Mengcheng looked at Cai Zhongguang in front of him and felt a little funny in his heart. Because of this strong man who Zhang Mengcheng also admires, he is being lectured by his wife Cai Qixian at this time.

And the Whirlwind team, who is the elder brother, just kept his head down, not daring to refute even a little bit of his cousin's criticism.

Cai Qixian was still complaining about her cousin who came to visit relatives, and her tone was quite disappointed.

“…… Fourth brother, you are already the boss, I just said what you should look like. Don't always look like a thief, learn more from your big brother. Huzi (Zhang Zhaoen) is just a junior, what kind of prestige do you fight with him, we are not still fighting for turf back then. ”

Zhang Mengcheng saw Cai Zhongguang's very embarrassed appearance and wanted to save him a little more face. So he interrupted his wife's preaching and found an excuse to break her up.

"Don't talk about Maimuna, go and see if your chicken soup is ready. Now Yamamoto often messes around with Shora, so be careful that the two of them are gluttonous and steal the chicken soup you've worked so hard to make. ”

"Chicken soup, yes. Fourth brother, think about it yourself, don't always be instigated by Yamamoto. That stinky boy is really getting bigger and smaller, and it looks like I'm going to find a chance to take care of him. ”

After being reminded by her husband, Cai Qixian finally remembered that she was still cooking chicken soup. So she had to stop preaching, leave a sentence and rush to the kitchen outside.

After confirming that the ninth sister had finally left, Cai Zhongguang finally raised his head at this time, and he said with some emotion to Zhang Mengcheng in front of him: "The ninth sister's mouth is not as ruthless as before, but it is more verbose than before. Xiucai, how are you doing with her, and have you been annoyed by her? ”

"Although Xian'er does say a lot of things sometimes, most of the time she is still the same cute as before. Don't talk about this, you come to our Jinding Mountain, it won't really be just for visiting and competing. ”

Although Cai Zhongguang's appearance just now was a little embarrassing, Zhang Mengcheng thought that the other party came over, not so simple and absurd on the surface, but that he had something to discuss with him.

Cai Zhongguang did come to Jindingshan on the grounds of visiting Zhang Mengcheng, but in fact, their big boss Cai Zhongming had something to ask Zhang Mengcheng. Now that the ninth brother-in-law has discovered his true intentions, Cai Zhongguang will no longer be verbose.

"Now you should have also received the news that the trilateral governor Hong Chengchou has sent a placation to the thieves in Dongchuan. We know Xiucai, you can see things accurately, will this appeasement finally become like last year's Yang He appeased Shen Yikui? ”

"Are you talking about the appeasement order issued by Hong Chengchou before? That's not working very well right now. ”

Of course, Zhang Mengcheng knew about this matter, and now there are many thieves with hair in the Huanqing Mountains, all of whom are running out with their families. Now a substitute teacher in Jindingshan is a thief who ran out before.

Although the official army had not yet begun to directly attack Tiejiao City, the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, had already begun his preliminary plan for the conquest of the Dongchuan Thieves' Nest.

There are too many thieves in the Huanqing Mountains, as long as the officers and soldiers put on a posture of preparing to enter the mountains to suppress them.

These different bandit groups, which stretch for hundreds of miles, will quickly gather together to defend against the official army. Or they may take the initiative from other directions and lead the gathered officers and troops elsewhere.

The previous failed attack in which Zhang Mengjin participated, and the exhaustion of the official army in the Huanqing Pinggu area afterwards, were all due to this reason.

Since there are too many thieves in the thieves' lair, the imperial court must find a way to reduce their number.

The way these thieves increased their numbers was by repeatedly plundering the population in the Huanqing Pinggu area. When they captured an ordinary village or a village where the villagers protected themselves, they killed all the old and weak, and all the young and strong men and women were taken captive into the den of thieves.

After that, they will follow the custom of the two brothers, Shen Yiyuan and Shen Yikui, to shave all the heads of all the men as a sign of joining the gang.

The coerced people who cut off their hair will not be able to distinguish themselves from the old thieves. Even if they have a chance to escape from the thieves' lair, they are afraid of being killed by the government.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou issued a plausibility order, as long as the people with hair are willing to come out and surrender, the government will be responsible for protecting their lives. And now it seems that the results are good, and thousands of people have already come out to surrender. (Note 1)

"My eldest brother wants to know, this time will be like Yang He before, stuffing thousands of Dingding or a bunch of bandit leaders to Ningsai. After all, Shen Yikui's fate is not good, and now the garrison officer of Ningsai is my eldest brother. ”

Cai Zhongguang just knew that the results were good, so he hurriedly ran over to ask. If thousands more come over, the situation in Ninse will become very complicated and dangerous.

It turned out that Cai Zhongming was worried that he would follow in his footsteps, and Zhang Mengcheng felt that he was obviously thinking too much.

"You don't have to worry about that, as far as I know, most of the people who are currently being appeased are low-level thieves. The famous leaders are still nested in their nests to prevent the people in the territory from escaping. Even if there is really a descendant to settle in Ningsai, it is still some headless minions, and it is easy to subdue them. Moreover, Ningsai had produced a big basket before, and this time the government is more likely to send people to the Ningxia Guard or the Dingbian Camp, because the location of large-scale appeasement is in Huanxian. ”

"Xiucai, you know very clearly, where did the news come from?"

Cai Zhongming was very curious about Zhang Mengcheng's inexplicable self-confidence.

"A while ago, many thieves fled to the territory of our Jinding Mountain, and I asked the people inside. They originally wanted to go to Huanxian to get a free death ticket, but they were afraid that they would be intercepted and killed by the bandit leader on the road, so they ran closer to us. And I heard that there are several big bosses in the thieves' nest, and none of them have yet accepted the appeasement. ”

Then Zhang Mengcheng told Cai Zhongguang everything he learned from the fugitive thieves.

Although there are many leaders among the thieves, there are local bandits and those who run in from other places. But in general, they are currently in charge of Ke Tianfei.

Now the detailed name of Ke Tianfei is still unclear, but it can be confirmed that most of the thief's surname is He. Because Ke Tianfei (later the officials and soldiers will know that his name is He Chongwei) is the He family's old village, which is controlled by a clan surnamed He.

Ke Tianfei set up more than ten lieutenant generals under him, and the relationship between these lieutenants and Ke Tianfei is the same as the relationship between Zhang Mengjin, Cai Zhongming, Huang Youcai and Ru Chengming and God in the past.

Among them, Zhang Mengcheng knows better, and there are three thieves who know the real name of the leader, and they have a close relationship with Ke Tianfei.

One branch is Liu Wu's subordinates, and Liu Wu is also Liu Daojiang. The name of this thief leader, Zhang Mengcheng had already inquired about it when he was still a thief under Shen Yikui.

Although Ke Tianfei and his subordinates were very strict at that time, Liu Wu and their men and horses did not seem to be very reliable. Moreover, Zhang Mengjin's gang, which later became an official army, also repeatedly fought with them, and the two sides were not strangers.

There is also a thief, which is Bai Guangen's people. Bai Guangen was familiar with Zhang Mengjin and his gang earlier. Because this guy's original territory is the area of Wuqiying and Jintang Mountain. (Note 2)

With such a close proximity to Jinding Mountain, the conflict between the two sides has naturally been around for a long time. Later, Zhang Mengjin and his gang successfully forced him to the field, and after Zhang Mengcheng interrogated several opponents' subordinates, he also learned that near his own territory, there was a famous descendant in history.

The last branch of men and horses is the tribe of Qi Yixun, a thief in the area of Sanchuan in Xiyang. Zhang Mengjin captured many thieves in Heshui County before, and some of them knew Qi Yixun's identity.

Qi Yixun was originally an ordinary person who lived in the Sanchuan area of Xiyang and lived a stable life. Because there are so many thieves, either born and raised in the locals, or they have come from outside. In order to save the lives of himself and the villagers around him, Qi Yixun had no choice but to lead them to become thieves to protect himself.

Cai Zhongming carefully digested the information provided by Zhang Mengcheng, and after thinking about it, he said to Zhang Mengcheng: "That is to say, now that the number of troops in the thief's nest is decreasing, the battle of the official army to attack Iron Horn City in the future will be much easier. After that, whether the thieves will be all exterminated, we can only get military merit from Dazi in the north in the future. ”

Now two of the three major thieves' nests in Shaanxi have been wiped out by the official army. It seems that most of the remaining Iron Horn Cities will not escape the fate of destruction.

Now that all the thieves' nests have been cleared, the thief rebellion in Shaanxi should come to an end. For Cai Zhongming and his gang, who are pursuing promotion and making a fortune, this matter is not good news.

Regarding the historical development of the Shaanxi Thieves' Rebellion after that, Zhang Mengcheng still remembers the general trend and development, so this question is not difficult for him.

"To exterminate the remaining thieves in Shaanxi, it still takes more effort from the imperial court. And it is difficult to ensure that there will be another catastrophe on this territory. And the imperial court has a lot of things to do now, and there must still be no money for relief. At that time, there will definitely be people who will not survive and will run out to do thieves and rob. ”

After a slight pause, Zhang Mengcheng took a sip of water and continued: "Now the thieves in Shanxi are also making a lot of trouble, I heard that Zhang Yingchang in Dingbian is going to be the chief soldier there." Most of the famous thieves in Shanxi ran over from Shaanxi. I think the imperial court will also select a group of soldiers who are good at fighting in Shaanxi to continue to suppress thieves in Shanxi, but I don't know if we will be selected. Moreover, the thieves are running around, maybe when they will run back to Shaanxi again, and you don't have to worry about having no place to make a fortune and make meritorious contributions. (Note 3)

After listening to Zhang Mengcheng's opinion, Cai Zhongguang's heart was also a little relaxed.

The eldest brother said that Xiucai's vision of things is very accurate, so he has to come and talk to him in person. Listening to Zhang Mengcheng's analysis now, it seems that they don't have to worry so much about the future.

And even if they really don't have much chance to kill the thieves, the Mongols in the north are not without them being able to cut off some heads.

After Cai Zhongguang finished asking the questions in his heart, his ninth sister Cai Qixian finally came back with the cooked chicken soup. In a good mood, he joked and said: "After the ninth sister gets married, she is really an aunt who can take care of men." I just don't know what this chicken soup tastes like, otherwise the fourth brother will help you taste it. ”

"Go, go, don't mess around. This is what I did especially for Xiucai, you want to eat and go back to the fourth sister-in-law. I'm really hungry, I have some chicken feather soup in my kitchen, you can go and taste it. ”

After Cai Qixian put the chicken soup in front of Zhang Mengcheng, she immediately reached out to the tip of her ear and pinched it, and at the same time unceremoniously pushed Cai Zhongguang back.

"Sure enough, it's the girl who got married, and the water that was spilled. I can't get chicken soup to drink, so I'll have to go to the kitchen to find out what else to eat and pad my hungry belly. ”

Cai Zhongguang left with a smile, leaving his ninth sister and Zhang Mengcheng to spend their time together.

"Oh no, there's still a few eggs in the kitchen."

Cai Qixian was just about to feed Zhang Mengcheng soup, when she remembered that she had boiled a few eggs in the kitchen. The fourth brother, who was afraid of being greedy, picked it up and hurriedly chased Cai Zhongguang and ran out.

PS: Note 1: Zheng Tianting's "Historical Materials of the Peasant Uprising in the Late Ming Dynasty" in the "The Ministry of War is entitled to Gong Bao and Punish Qu Kui and Other Things", although it is a document of Zhang Fengyi and others, the secretary of the Ministry of War, but there is also a sparse with Hong Chengchou. It mentions that Hong Chengchou finally appeased a total of 4,000 men and women and asked them to go home. In addition, thousands of people were recruited, and they were deployed to Ningxia Guard and Dingbian and other places. That is to say, before Hong Chengchou entered the suppression, the thieves in the thief's nest had been greatly reduced.

Note 2: Bai Guangen was a thief in Wu Qiying's camp in history, and the source is still the information "The Ministry of War Entitled Gong Bao Suppressed Qu Kui and Other Matters". Now history has changed, and Bai Guangen was squeezed out of his original territory by Zhang Mengjin and his gang.

Note 3: According to the "Chronology of Officials in the Ming Dynasty", Zhang Yingchang was appointed as the chief soldier of Shanxi on the third day of August in the fifth year of Chongzhen.