readx; Because the weapons and ammunition transported from the Beijing division and the grain and grass borrowed from various places were still in transit, Zhu Youzhen was not in a hurry to advance southward, and just after crossing the Zhanghe River, he rested on the south bank for a while, watching the sergeants carefully step on the river ice, break the ammunition boxes on the baggage carts into pieces and move them across the river, and then reload the trucks on the south bank. The pen www.biquge.info≥ the top ≥ point≥ Xiao ≥ said,

Of course, this process was very boring, so Zhu Youzhen took this opportunity to have a brief meeting with Lu Xiangsheng and the generals of the Southern Expedition. It's a meeting, because he knows everyone very well, so it's better to say it's a chat.

First of all, Cao Bianjiao, who was the first to arrive in Guangping Mansion, reported to Zhu Youzhen the intelligence of reconnaissance to the south. According to the report of the reconnaissance cavalry with flying pigeons, the rebels really gathered in the area of Zhengzhou unexpectedly, but the speed of the march was not fast, until last night, the forward had just arrived in Xuzhou, according to observation, the general with the troops should be Hong Chengchou's general Li Chengdong. Xuzhou is still more than 100 miles south of Zhengzhou, and at this rate, it may take another three days for the rebels to enter Zhengzhou.

Hao Yongzhong listened and analyzed: "The last general thinks that Hong Chengchou has always been cunning with his troops, and he is deliberately luring our army to march southward. ”

Zhu Youzhen also nodded and said, "You make a lot of sense. Therefore, we are not in a hurry, we must wait for the baggage to keep up before we advance slowly, steadily and steadily, or confront the rebels in Zhengzhou according to the predetermined plan. By the way, will it be dangerous for the scouts to go deep into the territory of Henan? ”

Cao Bianjiao hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, those who go to reconnoiter are all first-class masters, each with three war horses, and even if the rebels find out, they will not be able to catch up." ”

Zhu Youzhen asked Lu Xiangsheng about the recent grain borrowing, and Lu Xiangsheng immediately replied: "The nearby prefectures and counties, Guangping Prefecture 9,600 stones, Linzhang County 3,500 stones, Wei County 3,300 stones, Daimyo Mansion 31,500 stones, Cheng'an County 4,000 stones, a total of 51,900 stones. Guangping County and Cizhou, the minister has not had time to go, and it is expected that he can borrow six or seven thousand stones. ”

"Why did the Daimyo's Mansion borrow so much?" Zhu Youzhen was a little surprised.

Lu Xiangsheng said that because the Daimyo Mansion was the hometown of the soldiers of the Tianxiong Army, the local people were very supportive of the counterinsurgency, and Yao Dongzhao, a famous man, took the lead, so he did not need Lu Xiangsheng to mobilize at all, and directly sent more than 30,000 stones of grain.

Zhu Youzhen said movingly: "It seems that we have to fight the battle well no matter what, in order to be worthy of the ardent hopes of the people!" I see that there are less than 30,000 people on our way. Let's do some more, according to the calculation that one person eats two catties of grain a day, one stone of grain is enough for one person to eat for two months, and the existing more than 50,000 stone of grain is enough for the army to eat for more than three months. The rest of the borrowed grain from various places will also arrive one after another, so we don't want to take all the food with us, it will not be able to eat and affect the speed of the march, so we can store it in Quang Binh Province first. In the middle of winter, there will definitely be a break for the poor people, and some of this food can be used for relief. But it can't be put in vain, or work for relief, let the people help transport the baggage. ”

Everyone praised the kindness, and Zhu Youzhen asked about the captured White Lotus Sect protector. Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly said: "This person is stubborn, no matter how the minister interrogates him, he just refuses to reveal the situation of the same party and his activities in various places. The ministers were afraid that he would not be tortured but die, so he had to be temporarily imprisoned in the cell of Guangping Mansion. ”

"It's okay, I'll let the brocade guard clean him up." Zhu Youzhen smiled coldly and said, "Isn't he hard-mouthed?" I promise that in less than three days, he will have to recruit something like stealing a neighbor's egg when he was a child! ”

Everyone laughed for a while, but Lu Xiangsheng didn't laugh, and said to Zhu Youzhen: "Your Majesty ordered the prime minister to minister the military affairs of the five provinces and four governments, and to control all local officials, and the minister always felt terrified. At the beginning of this year, the minister was only a fifth-grade prefect, but now he has been promoted to a second-rank member, and his promotion is too fast, for fear of provoking discussions. His Majesty still chooses another highly respected minister to take this important position, and the minister only listens to it under the tent. ”

"Master Lu thinks the promotion is too fast?" Zhu Youzhen finally didn't blurt out the word "brother", and said with a smile, "Indeed, it takes less than a year to go from the fifth grade to the second grade, which is a bit fast." But Lord Lu was promoted based on military merits, and it is not an exaggeration to rise faster. What's more, if you don't take the military affairs of the prime minister, the court's counterinsurgency plan will be affected. ”

Lu Xiangsheng asked suspiciously: "The minister is blunt, please make it clear to Your Majesty!" ”

Zhu Youzhen explained: "Most of the rebels are thieves, and the biggest characteristic of the thieves is that they move quickly, and today they are in Henan, and tomorrow they may run to Shandong and Jiangsu. However, the officers and armies of the local guard stations are not subordinate to each other, and they fight separately, at most they can keep the city from losing, but they cannot annihilate the thieves. When I was the vassal king, Yang Sichang, the commander of Jingyang County at that time, proposed 'four positive and six corners, and ten sides of the net', but the most important thing was to have a main force to follow the thieves closely, and where the thieves ran, this army would chase them.

"I think Yang Sichang's suggestion is very good. With Lord Lu as prime minister, the military affairs of the five provinces and four governments are precisely for this reason. After we defeat Hong Chengchou head-on, the thieves will inevitably run around, and then it will depend on the results of Lord Lu's pursuit and suppression. If you are only a trilateral governor and cannot control the local officials and the guards and soldiers, you will inevitably be constrained at every turn. Like Liu Yangcui, the prefect of Guangping, who refused to help at the beginning, there will be many such things in the future. Now that you are the 'prime minister', it is different, and those who are not restrained can ask the sword to cut first and then play, so that the whole country can play a game of chess and completely exterminate the thieves. ”

Lu Xiangsheng felt the emperor's grace after hearing this, and at the same time knew that he had a heavy responsibility, so he saluted with tears: "The minister dares not to repay Your Majesty!" The minister will go to Cizhou to borrow grain now! ”

Zhu Youzhen knew that his righteous brother was a typical temperament, and he acted resolutely, so he had to watch him stride away. However, a very young Chinese soldier next to Lu Xiangsheng caught his attention, stopped him and asked, "How old are you this year?" Why do I think you're only eleven or twelve? ”

The Zhongjun didn't expect the emperor to speak to him, so he was very nervous, so he quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "Back to Your Majesty, the grass people are eleven years old this year. ”

Cao Bianjiao hurriedly introduced to Zhu Youzhen that this person was Lu Yuansheng, the young man who led him to take out Huangliang Dream Town. Because he promised him to join the army, he introduced him to Lu Xiangsheng. Lu Xiangsheng also admired Lu Yuansheng's youthful courage, so he made an exception and accepted him as a Chinese army. Because he was a child, it was natural for him to read and write, so Lu Xiangsheng asked him to be responsible for recording food and salary receipts and expenditures.

Zhu Youjian listened to this and thought that in this era of "everything is inferior, only reading is high", it is absolutely new for readers to put pen to paper, and he should be greatly encouraged.

So he smiled slightly and said: "Since you are under the account of Lord Shangshu, the so-called 'Seven Rank Officials in front of the Prime Minister', it is not appropriate for you to call yourself 'grass people'." In this way, I will promote you to a hundred households, and from now on, you will be a general. ”

Lu Yuansheng reacted for a long time, choked up, and said loudly in a slightly immature voice: "The last general... Obey!! ”