"Your Majesty!" Wu Mengming knelt on the ground and replied: "Weichen imprisoned Gao Qiqian alone in the C-shaped cell of the Imperial Prison, but he didn't want this guy to suddenly go crazy and dance with his hands, and the guards quickly invited a doctor after learning about it, but by the time the doctor arrived, he was already exhausted." “

"Sudden madness, how can it be such a coincidence?" Chongzhen shouted angrily: "Didn't you kill him? “

"Wronged, Your Majesty!" Wu Mengming hurriedly kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Majesty, Gao Qiqian's corpse is outside, if it is assassinated by the villain, it will inevitably leave traces." ”

Chongzhen glanced at Wu Mengming suspiciously, nodded, and the eunuch on duty hurriedly made a gesture, and after a while, Gao Qiqian's body had been moved in. Chongzhen stepped forward to take a closer look, only to see that there was no wound on the naked corpse, and there were no bloodshot black marks on the mouth, nose and eyes, but the muscles of the deceased's face were distorted, obviously in a state of madness before death. Chongzhen looked back at Wang Chengen behind him, and Wang Chengen, who knew about it, asked the body to be carried down, and after about half an hour, Wang Chengen returned to Chongzhen's side and whispered in his ear: "Your Majesty, Gao Qiqian did not die of poisoning." ”

"Even if it's not an external injury, and it's not poisoning, is it really as this guy said to go crazy and die?" Chongzhen thought to himself in his heart, as a child of the Heavenly Family, he had also heard of some secret methods in Jinyi Wei that could make people die without a trace, and Gao Qiqian also died too coincidentally, he looked at Wu Mengming, who was kneeling on the ground with blood on his forehead, and couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. He really wanted to give an order to drag Wu Mengming out and beat him to death, but if this was Gao Qiqian really assassinating, then what was the point of killing Wu Mengming? There are still many middle-level officers like him, and it was just a coincidence that Wu Mengming met Gao Qiqian that night, even if it was another person that night, I am afraid that Gao Qiqian would still "go crazy and die". Come to think of it. Chongzhen only felt a burst of weakness, he sat back on the dragon chair, and shouted: "You go back and wait for the crime behind closed doors!" ”

I don't know how much time passed, Chongzhen opened his eyes again, he looked at the exquisite dragon patterns on the armrests on both sides of the dragon chair, and for the first time since he ascended the throne, a question popped up in his mind: "Are you really the master of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

The unexpected encounter with Hong Chengchou is a lucky charm for Liu Cheng. Relieved his long-standing worries - after Yang He went to power, would his new boss support his "nonsense". Compared with Yang He, Hong Chengchou is a more utilitarian person, if he can use it, he can turn a blind eye to many taboo things, of course, if he thinks it is more advantageous to cut off your head one day, don't be surprised that he turned out a bunch of black materials to cut off your head. A few days after that meeting with Hong Chengchou, Liu Chengcheng received the appointment order from Hong Chengchou as the general of the Yansui Left Battalion, and he waved his pen. Seven or eight prefectures and counties in eastern Shaanxi along the Yellow River, including Yichuan, Yanzhou, Hancheng, Pucheng, and Tongzhou, were included in Liu Cheng's defense area, which was tantamount to a big pie falling from the sky for Liu Cheng.

Like other dynasties in history, the military attache system of the Ming Dynasty was quite different in the early and late periods. In the middle and former military attachés, the promotion route was generally based on the system of guards, that is, the chiefs of 100 households, the chiefs of 1000 households, the commanders of each guard, the commanders of the capitals, and the governors of the five armies. However, with the abolition of the guard system, the above-mentioned military attachés gradually only represent the rank and treatment of a military general, and have no direct relationship with the actual strength and responsibility of the military commander. However, the actual strength and responsibilities of a military general are determined by his dispatch, that is, the sequence of general - thousand general - garrison - capital division - guerrilla - staff general - deputy general - general soldier. In this sequence, the generals, guerrillas, commanders, and garrisons are all commanders at the battalion level. However, the number of troops under their command and the responsibilities they undertake are different, and generally speaking, the garrison of the capital division is to defend a city. The guerrilla is a guerrilla army for the whole way, and the staff will guard the whole road, which is already a unique role. Liu Cheng, who was promoted to a general, could finally openly ask the local officials in the defense area for money and food, of course, whether he got it or not depends on his own ability.

As the saying goes, once the power is in hand, the order will be executed. Liu Cheng, who finally became a staff general, immediately accelerated the speed of his actions. In the next half a month, the Yansui Zuo Battalion under his command swept like a huge broom through six or seven prefectures and counties close to the west bank of the Yellow River, such as Hancheng, Pucheng, and Tongzhou. This finally solved the sword of Damox that had been hanging over Liu Cheng's head.

In March of the fifth year of Chongzhen, he was in the same state.

"My lord, there is a messenger!"

"Hmm!" Liu Cheng looked up from the map, but the letter was looked at, and he threw it aside with a sneer. Du Ruhu next to him asked, "My lord, what is written in the letter?" “

"It's not urging me to go west!" Liu Cheng smiled slightly, his face full of disdain.

"My lord, General He is a general in the army, and his rank is above you, you are still-" Du Ruhu was blocked back by Liu Cheng's words as soon as he said this: "You don't understand this matter, it's not that I don't obey military orders, but that this battle can't be fought like this." When Liu Cheng said this, he looked at Du Ruhu's face, knowing that the other party did not agree with his opinion, and sighed and said: "Let me ask you, what does General He want me to go west for?" “

"The resurgence of thieves in Shaanxi, there are now 2,000 elite soldiers under the command of adults, and it is natural for adults to go west to be flat thieves!"

"Yes, but am I not a thief here? Obviously, I can level thieves here, why do I have to go west to level thieves? “

"Your Excellency!" Du Ruhu couldn't laugh or cry when Liu Cheng said this, he held back for a while before he said: "My lord, although you are also a thief, but a thief is very different from a thief!" It turns out that the states that Liu Cheng has experienced these days are basically adjacent to the Yellow River, with many rivers, convenient irrigation, and far away from the border.

"They're all thieves, what's the difference?" When Liu Cheng said this, he also felt that his answer was a little too shameless, and sighed and said: "Du Shoubei, sharpen the knife and don't cut the wood, there are some things that you still don't understand." ”

"What do you mean, sir?"

Liu Cheng made a gesture. motioned for the others in the room to go out, and asked in a low voice, "Du Shoubei, how long do you think the battle in Shaanxi will take?" “

"How long?" Du Ruhu paused for a moment, hesitated for a while and replied: "It's spring now, and it should be over by the end of the year!" ”

"At the end of the year?" Liu Cheng sneered: "At the end of which year?" ”

"It's the end of the year, naturally." Speaking of this, Du Ruhu understood what Liu Cheng meant: "Do you think this battle can't be fought in a year?" “

"Naturally, I can't finish fighting." Liu Cheng smiled: "I asked you how you finished fighting?" Which thief did you kill? Destroy the tributary thief? Or which city to capture? “

"This—" In the face of Liu Cheng's rebuttal. Du Ruhu couldn't help but be speechless, as Liu Cheng said, now the Ming army is actually fighting a strange war. If according to the usual standards of ancient warfare, since Shen Yikui and Bu Mu have been killed, and most of the backbone around them have also been wiped out by He Renlong, it should mean that the army has won the war. But the reality is that instead of ending, the war has become more violent, and more and more hungry people have elected new leaders and attacked the county town and tunbao everywhere. If anything, these new peasant armies no longer believed in the court's letter of appeasement.

"Du Shoubei, you understand!" Liu Cheng patted Du Ruhu on the shoulder: "This battle is not a month or two, nor can it be fought in a year or two." Yes, I have made a lot of money these days, which is probably enough to pay the soldiers of the battalion for seven or eight months. But this Shanglong, why don't people eat horses and chew and reward silver? What should I do if I don't have a salary? Counting on the court, but is the court counting on it? “

Faced with Liu Cheng's repeated questioning. Du Ruhu couldn't help but shake his head, what would happen to the army if there was no pay and no food. He knows better than anyone that if the imperial court can count on it, how could Chongzhen himself fall from a dignified court military attache to a thief in the second year? Thinking of this, he asked in a low voice, "My lord, how do you reply to General He?" “

"It's not simple, let's just say that the same state and local areas are not quiet. The soldiers were in arrears of salaries, and the morale of the army was unstable, so if they wanted to send troops immediately, they would ask him to make up the salaries. “

Hearing Liu Cheng's words, Du Ruhu couldn't help but smile bitterly. If it is said that Liu Cheng's Yansui Zuo Battalion, which has the most stable military heart in the whole Shaanxi official army, said second, no one dares to say that it is the first, not only making up for the arrears over the years, but also giving two months' salary from top to bottom on the grounds that the Spring Festival is approaching. But no one can say that Liu Cheng is crying about poverty, after all, the money and food he used to pay were scavenged from the local government, according to the unspoken political rules of the Ming Dynasty, this money belongs to the private money of the military generals, whether it is used to support the family, raise eighteen concubines, or buy thousands of acres of good land in his hometown, it is Liu Cheng's freedom. Before the war, the old man Qiu Ba reached out and asked for money, isn't that a natural thing?

"Your Excellency, are you going to drag it out right here?"

Liu Cheng smiled and didn't answer Du Ruhu's question, he stretched out his finger and tapped on the map, and asked, "Ruhu, what kind of place do you say this is?" ”

Du Ruhu looked at it and saw that the place where Liu Cheng pointed was where they were now, so he replied in a deep voice: "It's Tongzhou Chaoyi." ”

"Yes, it's Tongzhou Chaoyi!" Liu Cheng smiled, and suddenly said loudly: "In the Spring and Autumn Period, this place was the Great Lirong State, and it was a vassal of the Jin State; During the Warring States Period, it was the Hexi County of the Wei State, and was later taken away by the Qin people, and it was an internal historical place; The capital of the Western Han Dynasty was Chang'an, and this place was under the jurisdiction of Zuo Fengyi, one of the three auxiliaries; When the Three Kingdoms belonged to Wei, it was changed to Tongzhou, and then there were changes in the successive dynasties, and Pujin was in the county. In the spring and autumn season, Qin and Jin competed in Hexi; During the Warring States Period, Qin and Wei fought for Hexi, and after Qin took Hexi, the trouble of the Three Jin Dynasty was imminent; In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the Han army crossed the river from Linjin East many times to fight for the Central Plains; At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Deng Yu also entered the customs from this; During the Western Wei Dynasty, Gao Huan went from Pujin Jihe to Feng Yi. Huazhou Thorn Shi Wang Zhen insisted, claiming that this city was Wang Zhen's tomb, and he had to retreat to Hexi, and since then he could no longer peep into Guanzhong, Yuwentai presided over the political affairs of the Western Wei Dynasty, and lived in the same state, so as to control the Guanhe River, and the troops came to attack, so as to facilitate the response. At the beginning of Tang Xingyuan, Li Huaiguang rebelled in the river. The officials and troops strangled their fellow states, and Huaiguang was sluggish. Why do you think I have to stay here? ”

Hearing Liu Cheng's words, Du Ruhu's eyes couldn't help but flash with surprise, he is also a Jiangmen family, how can he not hear the deep meaning of Liu Cheng's words. This Tongzhou Chaoyi controlled the Pujin Ferry, the most convenient passage from the east of the Shanxi River to Guanzhong, and was not far from the famous Tongguan Road. Liu Cheng chose to defend this place, obviously believing that the scope of this war would not be limited to the Guanzhong area of Shaanxi, so he first controlled this important crossing. If others said this, I was afraid that he would have thought it was nonsense, but since he followed Liu Cheng, he had seen that the reality had confirmed the other party's speculation again and again, and he had to bow his head and ponder.

"Ruhu, what should you mean by what I just said, don't tell any third party, not even your nephew!" Liu Cheng's tone became serious: "You are a stable and reliable person, so I told you these things so that you can prepare in advance, understand?" ”

"Thank you, sir!" Du Ruhu bowed and retired, and under the influence of what Liu Chengfang just said, his steps became very heavy.

Looking at Du Ruhu's departing back, Liu Cheng couldn't help but sigh, he just said the truth to this subordinate, but it was not completely true. There were several reasons why he controlled this point of Pujin, one of which was hinted at by Du Ruhu: due to the great hunger in Guanzhong for many years, although the Ming army had considerable military superiority, the war would inevitably continue for a long time, because no matter how many peasant army leaders the Ming army killed, hunger would force the remaining people to elect a new leader to continue fighting; But on the other hand, as long as the peasant army was confined to Shaanxi, the threat they could pose to the Ming Empire was also limited, and the peasant army had to be dispersed into many small units, rather than into a few large ones, because it was easier to obtain the necessary food, and in this case, it would be difficult for its leaders to break up the small forces, and organize their suitable personnel according to military principles, and rise from a rabble to an army. Therefore, when the war reached a certain stage, the peasant army would try to leave Guanzhong and go to areas with more abundant food and resources to seek opportunities for development and growth. Considering the geographical situation in Guanzhong, the peasant army could choose the following roads: first, to cross the border defense line to the north and enter the grassland; second, to the west to Qinghai, Xinjiang; third, crossing the Yellow River into Shanxi; Fourth, cross the Qinling Mountains and take the Golden Bull Road or the Meridian Valley to enter Hanzhong; Fifth, pass through Tongguan to enter western Henan; Sixth, go west to Long, out of the Dasanguan Ancient Road into Sichuan or Hanzhong. (To be continued.) )

PS: I found that the monthly pass was very powerful yesterday, and I hope that it can be given today, and at the same time I wish you all a happy New Year and all the best in the coming year.