Liu Cheng saw clearly from the sidelines, in addition to Hong Chengchou's purpose was to use Du Wenheng to kill chickens and show monkeys and scare the generals, what was more important was to take away the military power of Du Wenhuan, a close confidant of the former governor Yang He, Ningxia Town was the most remote of the towns under the jurisdiction of the trilateral governor, and Yang He did this clearly to take the military power into his own hands.

"This guy is such a powerful wrist!" Liu Cheng thought to himself: "You must not have a handle in his hands, otherwise you won't know how to die." After this military meeting, Jin may return to Chaoyi as soon as possible, and he will not be able to stay for another day! ”

Liu Chengzheng thought about it, that Du Wenheng had already been executed, was put up and knelt down to thank him, looking at his bloodstained clothes, all the generals subconsciously lowered their heads. Hong Chengchou glanced at the officer, and he immediately made a gesture, and the guards and servants on the White Tiger Hall and under the corridor retreated one after another. Hong Chengchou began to instruct the strategy of marching troops, and he divided the area with a large number of thieves into east and west according to the Meridian Ridge, and adopted the strategy of first west and then east, and concentrating troops to attack and suppress it, intending to use one year, or at most two years, to exterminate the chaos in the northwest.

"Although there are many thieves, but most of them are rabble, and only one-tenth of the thieves can fight, if one or two of them are exterminated, the remaining thieves will naturally break themselves, or flee to the poor land, or dismount and beg to surrender, what do you think of this strategy?"

In the face of Hong Chengchou's inquiry, the generals only said yes. Liu Cheng couldn't help but secretly admire Hong Chengchou for being one of the few civil and military governors of the late Ming Dynasty, and the plan he formulated was very targeted. Although as the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou commanded many border towns in the northwest and did have a lot of troops, but in fact, the main task of these border towns was to resist the nomadic cavalry on the grassland, and there were not many mobile troops that could be drawn. According to his strategy, the garrison of the Ming army in Shaanxi divided the various defense areas into two large parts, and the Loess Plateau region, which is now rampant with thieves, so as to do so. Except for a small number of elite mobile troops, the vast majority of the Ming army did not need to be too far away from their own station, which undoubtedly reduced a lot of expenditure, and even in the case of arrears of military salaries, the combat effectiveness of the defenders who were the main army was relatively guaranteed. The east and then the west can prevent the displaced people from fleeing to Shanxi when the Yellow River freezes in the following winter, and even the peasant army that has not been wiped out will be forced to retreat westward, as it is well known that the western part of Shaanxi Province is much more barren than the east, and hunger and cold can save a lot of strength for the Ming army.

After explaining the strategy. Hong Chengchou retreated into the festival hall to rest, and the generals withdrew from the White Tiger Hall after he left, and ate tea and snacks in the wing room outside the second gate, and they would wait for Hong Chengchou's summons to teach him face-to-face. Hong Chengchou understands the psychology of everyone very well, and his subordinates can accept the reserve and arrogance of his boss in front of everyone, because that is the need of the system; However, when meeting alone in private, he showed affection and friendliness, not only did not arouse the contempt of his subordinates. On the contrary, it will win their favor and be willing to do their best. Therefore, no matter who Hong Chengchou summons, he always directly addresses the other party's words instead of official positions, and his memory is very good. can not only accurately call out the name and name of the other party, but also mention the other party's origin and past resume, in this way, Hong Chengchou not only successfully expelled the military general's unique antipathy to civilian officials. It also left a good impression on many generals that they were easy to get close to.

Although Liu Cheng has already made it to the general, he still belongs to a few of the low-status generals waiting to be summoned. Therefore, by the time his name is called, it is already near the end. However, to everyone's surprise, Hong Chengchou was actually met alone. Rather than three or four, four or five together, as the other generals did, they regarded this as a special priority for the new governor.

Liu Cheng walked into the festival hall with a nervous mood and saluted. And Hong Chengchou's attitude was particularly cordial, compared with Fang Cai's presence in the White Tiger Hall, it was like two people. He asked Liu Cheng about his family situation, past experiences, and even asked Liu Cheng if he was married, and finally asked about the number of troops and food under his command. When he learned from Liu Cheng that there were already more than 2,000 fully armored soldiers under his command, he couldn't help but nod and sigh: "Among the generals, they are all dissatisfied, only General Liu, your subordinates are neat and well-armed, and you really have a good way of governing the army!" ”

"This is also thanks to Lord Hong's understanding!" Liu Cheng hurriedly patted the ass of his new boss: "What the last general did in Yichuan, if it weren't for Lord Hong, I'm afraid it would have been-"

"That's it!" Hong Chengchou laughed: "When the water is clear, there are no fish, and if people are observed, there are no disciples." The Governor still knows this. If you can't use some extraordinary means, don't say that you will win by breaking the enemy, I'm afraid that you won't even be able to save your own life! But there are some things that you can't do, you know? ”

"Yes, sir!" Liu Cheng hurriedly nodded and said, "But the salary of the headquarters?" ”

"It's okay, I'll urge the Huazhou government to do so immediately." Hong Chengchou added a few more instructions, which was nothing more than that Liu Cheng must strictly guard the defense area, not allow the thieves to escape into Shanxi or Henan, and divide the troops to cooperate with the army directly under the governor to coordinate the invasion of the thieves east of the Meridian Ridge. Finally, Hong Chengchou asked: "General Liu, according to what you see, what are the difficulties in exterminating the thieves?" “

Liu Cheng respectfully owed his body and replied: "According to the last general, there are two difficulties: 1. There are hundreds of miles of the Yellow River in the defense area of the last general, which can be crossed everywhere, and more than 2,000 people are too few; 2. If the salary source is insufficient, the army will be scattered if there is no salary, let alone exterminate the thieves. “

"Hmm!" Hong Chengchou nodded: "What General Liu said is true, and the matter of military salaries is not enough, but there is no way to do it if the troops are insufficient, so I have to favor my colleagues over there in Shanxi!" “

Liu Cheng secretly looked at Hong Chengchou, only to see that the other party's face had no expression, and he couldn't see what his idea was, so he gritted his teeth and said: "For these two problems, the last general has a way, but I don't know if it's okay." ”

Hong Chengchou still looked noncommittal: "Oh? This official has heard for a long time that General Liu is quite strategic, so you can say that you can listen to it! ”

"Yes, sir!" Liu Chengdao: "The station of the last general is in Chaoyi, opposite to Yongji, Shanxi, which is where Pujin was located in ancient times, and many merchants and travelers from Qin and Jin provinces crossed the river here. The last general planned to build a pontoon bridge here, so as to facilitate the travel of merchants, and to collect some fees to support the soldiers. ”

"Build a pontoon bridge over the Yellow River? Isn't that easy? ”

"For civil bridges and the like, the last general still has a little confidence!" Liu Cheng said with a smile, although he did not graduate from the bridge major, he had not lost his mathematical tools and structural mechanics. The on-site construction has also been done for seven or eight years, and it is definitely not possible for him to build a cable-stayed steel cable bridge, and it is not a big problem to build a pontoon bridge.

"If this is the case, then building a pontoon bridge and communicating with Qin and Jin is also a good thing for the benefit of the people, and it is natural to collect some ferry fees." Hong Chengchou nodded, Liu Cheng was secretly happy when he saw this, and said with a smile: "As for the lack of troops, the last general plans to replace the troops with boats!" “

"Boats instead of soldiers? Where does this start? Hong Chengchou showed an interested look on his face. Liu Cheng hurriedly explained, it turned out that one of the usual tactics of the peasant army to deal with the officers and soldiers at that time was to rush up when they encountered a small group of officers and soldiers. When encountering the officers and men of the brigade, they will be divided into pieces. In this way, Liu Cheng's defense area has several prefectures and counties, and there are hundreds of miles of the Yellow River, if a county town sends an emergency letter every day, there is no need to fight, and Liu Chengcheng will die of exhaustion on the road. Therefore, Liu Cheng planned to build a beacon tower every thirty miles along the bank of the Yellow River, and if something happened in any county, he could light the beacon to call the police, and then Liu Chengcheng could transfer troops through the waterway to relieve the hardships of rushing along the way. You can wait for work.

"Hmm!" Hong Chengchou nodded: "Everyone else uses the Yellow River as a beggar, but General Liu uses the Yellow River as a road, good, good!" I don't know how many boats you're going to build. How much does it cost? “

"The beacon tower can be built by requisitioning the people from each county itself, as for the boat!" Liu Chenggang wanted to say that he could raise money by himself, but when the words came to his lips, he took them back: "The last general plans to make sixty articles, according to fifty taels of silver per day." Three thousand taels! “

"So much!" Hong Chengchou's face immediately showed embarrassment, and Liu Cheng hurriedly smiled: "If there is a shortage of money here to make Taiwan, there will be another way in the end." “

I heard Liu Cheng say that he didn't have to pay. Hong Chengchou's tightly knit brows relaxed: "Oh? What can you do, let's hear it. ”

"The Lord of the Army knows that the last general also has some ways to make money, but the governor of the state and county must be interesting and willing to make it convenient."

Faced with Liu Cheng's words, Hong Chengchou hesitated slightly, but nodded: "Who are you talking about?" ”

"For example, Yichuan County Lingqu Duan is!"

"Is that him?" Hong Chengchou saw the appearance of the chubby county official in front of him, nodded and said, "This official knows!" ”

Seeing Hong Chengchou pick up the tea bowl, Liu Cheng knew that it was a hint of sending off guests, so he hurriedly got up and bowed to Hong Chengchou and retreated carefully. When he came out of the hall, he happened to see an old servant walking by, and he remembered that when he was in Yichuan, this old servant was walking beside Hong Chengchou, and he was very close. rushed forward two steps, gently grabbed the old servant's sleeve and said with a smile: "Uncle, it's polite down there." ”

"What's the matter?"

Liu Cheng took out a sheepskin bag from his arms, handed it to the old servant and said with a smile: "Next is Liu Cheng of the Yansui Zuo Battalion, a little heart, ask the old man to transfer it to the master of the army, don't shirk!" Then turn around and leave, not giving the other party the slightest chance to refuse. The old servant just wanted to say something, Liu Cheng had already run away, he shook his head helplessly, weighed the skin in his hand a little, and felt that it didn't look like silver, so he casually untied the skin bag and saw that it was two pieces of mutton fat jade. This old servant has been following Hong Chengchou for a long time, and he is also a knowledgeable person, although the two pieces of mutton fat jade he saw were only the size of a palm, but the texture was very moist, and it seemed to have a layer of oil on his hand, faintly with a sense of warmth, knowing that this was the best white jade. The old servant didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly put the two pieces of white jade into his bag and entered the festival hall.

"Master, please look!" The old servant presented Yu Jue, Hong Chengchou took it casually, and his face changed slightly: "Where did this come from?" ”

"It's the general of the left battalion in Yansui Town, named Liu Cheng, who said that he asked the old slave to hand it over to you."

"Is that him?" Hong Chengchou was stunned when he heard this, knowing that this was the matter of Liu Cheng letting Qu Duan do the order of Chaoyi County, he hesitated a little in his heart, but he only felt that the jade carving in his hand was not enough, and the texture was extremely rare, and white jade like this may not be able to be bought even if it is rich, and it must be a coincidence. Hong Chengchou played with it in his hand for a while, feeling more and more in love, and the hesitation in Fang Cai's heart gradually disappeared. He stood up and said with a smile: "Come, you help me tie this pair of jade jue and see if it is suitable?" “

Liu Cheng returned to his residence, it was already past noon, and the accompanying soldiers hurriedly ordered the shopkeeper to bring wine and food, and just after eating, a member of Hong Chengchou's staff came to the residence and told him that the governor had agreed to ask for help, so that he did not have to worry. Liu Cheng was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly asked his soldiers to take fifty taels of silver and twenty woolen wool as gifts, and personally delivered them to the door. When he returned to the table, he saw Min Min sitting at the table, looking at himself with a smile, Liu Chenggang wanted to say a few words, but heard Min Min smile and said, "Are you going to leave for you tomorrow?" ”

"Not bad!" As soon as Liu Cheng spoke, he found that something was wrong: "How do you know that I will go back tomorrow?" ”

"As a general of the First Army, you have completed everything you need to do, so you naturally have to rush back as soon as possible."

"How do you know I'm done?"

"It's not simple, just now I saw that you sent that official out with a thousand thanks, and your smiling eyes are almost gone, isn't it all done?"

Liu Cheng was speechless by the girl's words, so he had to smile and say: "People are here on behalf of the Governor, and as a subordinate, I naturally have to be respectful." ”

"That's different." Min Min walked only one step away from Liu Cheng: "The smile of subordinates when they see their bosses is one, the smile when they see their friends is another, and the smile when they see their lover is another. ”

"Do you really see that?" Liu Cheng was a little frightened by Min Min, if there is really someone in the world who can see through his mind, then where can he still live.

"It's true, for example, now you're smiling a little reluctantly, you see the corners of your mouth are bending down, as if you're going to cry, it's really fun!" Speaking of this, Min Min couldn't help laughing, at this time, the two were only half a step apart, obviously a beautiful woman was in front, and the fragrance was fragrant, but Liu Cheng only felt that his mouth was like having Coptis chinensis, which was very bitter.

Min Min laughed for a while, saw the bitterness on Liu Cheng's face, and said with a smile: "Why don't we make a game, you tell me what you asked the Governor to do, let me guess what idea you have behind your back." (To be continued.) )