It was already late spring, and the two camellias in the courtyard had already spit out flowers, full of refreshing aromas. Yang Sichang walked twice, stopped under the camellia tree, closed his eyes, and enjoyed this rare quiet. Only at this time can Yang Sichang temporarily get rid of those situations that bothered him, calm his sensitive mind, and feel the beauty in life.

A gust of north wind blew, and the iron horse with the eaves made a tinkling sound, which woke Yang Sichang from his reverie, returned to reality, and began to think about the bad situation in front of him, sighing from time to time. After a long hesitation, he bowed his head, returned to the room, and sat down in front of the bookcase.

At present, Jiangbei, Huguang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hebei, almost half of China are experiencing various disasters, and people who have been oppressed by taxes and natural disasters to the brink of death have gathered in groups, wandering around aimlessly, looking for a ray of life. Even south of the Yangtze River, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and other places have disasters and riots, and even in the land of fish and rice such as Suzhou and Jiaxing, where the imperial court pays taxes, they have also encountered drought and locust plagues that are rare in a century, and grain prices have skyrocketed. At the beginning of the year, Li Zicheng suddenly captured Pingyang, the capital of the Hedong region, although Li Dongguo, the imperial history of Hedong Patrol Salt, was disposed of on the spot, and the Shaanxi soldiers were transferred from Chaoyi to recapture Pingyang soon after, but the goods, salt, military resources, and nearly 10,000 livestock in the city were owned by Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng, whose strength has greatly increased, immediately went east, through the Yiguan in the Taihang Eight Paths, and unexpectedly arrived at the city of Huaiqing Mansion in Henan Province. Soon after, Cao Cao also took more than ten other bands of thieves over the Taihang Mountain, and Li Zicheng joined forces, for a time the deployment of the Ming army was chaotic, and had to readjust the troops, intending to eliminate the thieves in the Hanoi area (ancient Hanoi County, today's northern Henan, southern Hebei and western Shandong, east of the north bank of the Yellow River recess).

As a soldier of the military department, Yang Sichang did not agree with this plan, or he did not think that this plan could succeed at all. Among the senior bureaucrats of the empire at that time, he was one of the few who recognized that the great uprising that broke out in Shaanxi was a mortal threat to the empire, especially after Li Zicheng and Cao Cao and others crossed the Taihang Mountains and set foot on the land of Hanoi at the western end of the Central Plains, there were no major geographical barriers to the east, south, and north to stop their horses' hooves, and the wealth here was the foundation of the empire's existence. In such a large and flat battlefield, in order to achieve a decisive victory over the bandits, the official army must have higher mobility, which is why he strongly advocated the transfer of the Mongol cavalry led by Liu Cheng into the Central Plains to defeat the bandits. Of course, from a selfish point of view, if Yang Sichang's proposal is passed, then as a squire of the military department, he is very likely to go out to serve as a supervisor, after all, his father Yang He has a great favor for Liu Cheng to be promoted to the ranks, and from the perspective of civil and military single-mindedness, Yang Sichang has an advantage that others cannot match.

"Master, there are people outside asking to see you!"

"What people!" Yang Sichang raised his head with a bored expression on his face.

"He claims to be surnamed Liu, his name is Cheng, and he says that he is the old department of the first master!"

"Liu Cheng? The old ministry of the late father? Yang Sichang stood up in surprise, and then smiled: "Okay, good, it's really Cao Cao who is Cao Cao, invite him in, please go to the back hall for tea, don't be lazy, I'll be there later!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

Liu Cheng sat on the rosewood chair, looking at the furnishings in the room with a curious gaze, this may be the inner house of the highest-ranking imperial official he has ever seen, even Hong Chengchou only got the title of the military department squire two or three months ago, and Yang Sichang is only in his early forties this year, it is not difficult to imagine how great the future of the owner of the room is, a series of dazzling titles such as the military department scholar, university scholar, and first assistant are waiting for him, and the only decoration in this room is the couplet on the wall:" Liu Yingchun tried the horse, and the tiger general talked about the army at night. "It's quite like the identity of the master.

Liu Cheng was looking at the couplet, and there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and he hurriedly turned around and saluted: "The last general will see Lord Shilang!" ”

"Mr. Liu, please get up, please get up!" Yang Sichang's attitude was very affectionate, without the arrogance of the senior civil officials at that time when facing the generals, he even grabbed a few steps, helped Liu Cheng, who had not finished the salute, to stand up, looked at it from head to toe, and said with a smile: "Liu Zongbing is really a talent, my father once sighed when he was in prison, Liu Zongbing was like standing out among the crowd, although he was offended by the saint, but he was able to select a talent for the country, and he had the face to see the two ancestors under the spring!" ”

"Don't dare! Yang Gong praised it so falsely, how can he afford it in the end! Liu Cheng heard Yang Sichang mention Yang He, Rao is thicker than the city wall, and his face can't help but feel a little hot, Yang He doesn't care about others, he does have the grace of cultivation for himself, and although his failure is not directly related to himself, but Yang He is not finished, he defected to his political opponent Hong Chengchou, although it is for self-preservation, but how to say it is not too kind, or ashamed.

"Hahaha!" Yang Sichang said with a smile: "The general soldier breaks the old and returns, and the eyes of the revolution are clear; Save Ningxia City, kill Hudun Rabbit Han and Bu Lost Rabbit Two Chiefs! It is the great merit of winning the Taimiao and tearing the earth and sealing the marquis, if you can't afford it, who can afford it? It's a pity that my father never saw the general soldier so majestic with his own eyes, and if he knew about it, he would definitely be blinded! “

"Liu can have today, thanks to Yang Gong's promotion to the ranks, but unfortunately the world is unpredictable, and I can't repay the favor in case!"

"It's good that Mr. Liu can have this intention!" Yang Sichang said with a smile: "Besides, my father acted selflessly, if the general soldier can kill more thieves and criminals, and contribute to the country, it will be a reward for my father's kindness!" ”

When Liu Cheng heard the words "kill more thieves", he couldn't help but chuckle in his heart, and hurriedly bowed his head and replied: "Lord Shilang taught me a lesson!" ”

"Mr. Liu!" Yang Sichang smiled: "You are a talent selected by your father, how dare I treat each other as subordinates, if there are no outsiders present in the future, you and I will be commensurate with brothers!" “

"Sure enough, the drama meat has arrived!"

Liu Cheng pretended to be frightened: "Lord Shilang, this, this is not appropriate!" ”

"What's inappropriate?" Yang Sichang said with a smile: "With the great merit you have made, it is enough to be a marquis, but the qualifications are still a little worse." You and I will naturally be good in the future, so why not be commensurate with brothers in the world? ”

Liu Cheng excused himself again and again, and finally agreed, so the two of them were called brothers, and Yang Sichang asked the servants to bring wine and food, and the two talked while eating and drinking, and the atmosphere was invisibly lively. After three rounds of drinking, Yang Sichang suddenly asked: "Brother Liu, I read that the Tang newspaper said that after you defeated the two chieftains of Hudun Tuhan and Bu Lost Rabbit, you captured tens of thousands, and all of your subordinates surrendered, and your chieftains were all taken prisoner in Jingshi, I don't know how many remnants there are?" ”

"Hudun Rabbit Han was originally a descendant of Dayan Khan, a noble breed among the captives, and originally claimed to be the 'Lord of 400,000 Mongolians', of course, this is just an imaginary number, among which the seven Khalkha departments in Mobei and the ten thousand households of Wuliang Ha have long claimed to be one, and they do not respect the order; Even the Horqin, Inner Khalkha, Tumut, and Ordos departments in Monan are just Yaozun, all of them have their own policies, and only the eight departments of Chahar Wanhu obey the orders of Hudun Tuhan. After the rise of the Eastern Captives, the Korqin tribe depended on him as their leader, and the Inner Khalkha was left and right between the Chahar and the Eastern Captives. After Hudun Tuhan succeeded to the throne, he competed for the various departments with the Eastern Captives, but was defeated by the Emperor Taiji, in order to avoid the Eastern Captives, the Hudun Tuhan had to move westward, and successively defeated the Tumut Department and the Harashen Department, and obtained its pasture, and its people, but did not want to encounter the snow disaster that year, and the loss of the Shizhong livestock was great, so he had to break my side wall in order to be full! “

"I see!" Yang Sichang nodded and asked, "In that case, there are ten thousand households of the Chahar Department under the command of Hudun Tuhan, as well as the rest of the Tumut Department and the Harashen Department?" ”

"Exactly! When the Hudun Rabbit led the troops to besiege my camp, he led more than ten personal guards to thin my formation, wanting to see my formation virtual and real, but it happened to be a sudden encounter for a member of my subordinates. I let the generals bluff, saying that there is a change in the captives, and the captive chieftain has been killed by me, and he does not know the truth and does not have one heart, and he is defeated! “

"What a discordant plan!" Yang Sichang slapped his palms and smiled: "I read the rough writing in the Natang newspaper, but I didn't know that it was so exciting, it was General Shufei and Wei Huo of the Taishi Gongsuo, and it was nothing more than that!" Float a big white! Speaking of this, he poured a full glass of wine for himself and Liu Cheng, raised his glass, Liu Cheng hurriedly drank it all, he already had four or five points of alcohol at this time, and the battle was his own proud work, so he simply continued.

Seeing that the general trend had gone, Hudun Tuhan led his troops to flee to the old camp under the city of Ningxia, and his army disintegrated. In the next to choose the front to take advantage of the victory to chase the north, straight to the camp, the defenders in the city saw this, also out of the city to attack, the chieftain saw this, had to abandon his wife and baggage, across the river to escape, his troops all surrendered, a total of nearly 30,000 households! “

"There are so many! I read that the Tang newspaper said that Hudun Tuhan was killed by his subordinates, but I don't know who it is? “

"It's the Lost Rabbit!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "Bu Lost Rabbit is the leader of the Tumut Department, after he was defeated by Hudun Tuhan, he led the remnants to flee westward, and then united with Gushi Khan to compete with Hudun Tuhan, but he didn't want to collide with him, so he killed Hudun Rabbit Han Xian and Daming, and wanted to claim back his own people. I saw that he was very ambitious, and sooner or later he would be a disaster for the Ming Dynasty, so I found an opportunity to kill him, and his subordinates numbered about 3,000 households. ”

"So there are more than 33,000 households?"

"It should be more than that! In the past, many of them escaped, but now that the war has subsided, the thing set is a land of abundant water and grass, and those who have escaped will naturally come back, I estimate that there should be more than 40,000 households after autumn! “

"There are so many!" Yang Sichang's eyes showed a glimmer of essence, and then he pretended to be casual: "Brother Liu, you and I have nothing to do tonight, why don't you borrow this glass of wine to talk about today's state affairs?" “

"State affairs? I have all the ministers in the court, I am just a martial artist, how dare I put my beak? ”

"Brother Liu's words are wrong! Now it is an eventful autumn, there are thieves wreaking havoc outside, and thieves jumping off the beam inside, it is a good time for people like you to make contributions! “

"If you go into battle to kill the enemy, the younger brother will naturally not dare to fall behind, but it is the business of all gentlemen and adults to strategize!"

Yang Sichang was a little disappointed with Liu Cheng's answer, but the fiery thought in his heart was still pushing him, and he decided to give it another try: "Brother Liu, according to what you see, which one should come first and which one should come last?" ”

"Little brother doesn't know, please mention it!"

"As far as I can see, you need to be safe before you go outside! Be a stratothief first! “

Hearing that familiar sentence, Liu Cheng was almost frightened and called out, the mantra of Chairman Jiang came from you! But when people talk about this, I'm afraid I can't pretend to be stupid anymore, Liu Cheng had to reply: "Brother Yang Shi, it's just that the saint and Zhou Shoufu are there-"

Yang Sichang snorted, his expression became cold, and after a while, he said: "Zhou Yusheng's name is exaggerated, Wen Changqing is just a household dog, and he is not a talent for controlling chaos. Although the saint is heroic, but there is no one in the bag, and all beings are crowded, but there is no one who can sacrifice himself as a saint to share worries. The world is bad for these people! ”

"Good scolding, scolding happily!" Liu Cheng heard it in his ears and praised it in his heart, but he pretended to have a panicked look on his face, and said in a low voice: "Brother Yang is cautious!" ”

"Between you and my brothers, just say a few words of truth, what are you afraid of!" Yang Sichang's face flushed with a hint of redness, as if he had drunk too much, and he drank the residual wine in the cup: "Although Dongyu is fierce, all he wants is to establish a country on his own, not to destroy my society; However, although the thieves are weak, they travel all over the world and embezzle nothing, but what endangers is the three hundred years of my Ming Dynasty, how can you underestimate it? The princes of the court, the door, the heart, and the thoughts are all dealing with the eastern captives, but the thieves are at a loss, it was originally just a corner of the matter, but now it has affected the Central Plains, it is really a mistake for the country! ”

"Brother Liu!" When Yang Sichang said this, his eyes suddenly turned to Liu Cheng: "The plan now is to quickly exterminate the thieves, and then negotiate peace with the Eastern Prisoners, train soldiers and raise soldiers, so as to restore the vitality of the country!" The elite soldiers of the imperial court are all on the nine sides, and the inland soldiers will be peaceful for a long time, and they will defend themselves, but it is not possible to exterminate the thieves, Xuanda and Liaoxi soldiers want to block the Beijing division, and they can't move, only your Ningxia Town, the horses are strong, and the world can't reach it. If you ask the Son of Heaven to be a thief when you meet him, the Holy One will definitely answer! ”

"This-" In the face of Yang Sichang's step-by-step pressing, Liu Cheng subconsciously lowered his head, avoided the other party's gaze, and casually prevaricated: "Don't hide it from Brother Yang, there are many Mongols in my generals, and they can fight, but the military discipline is not very good, if they are allowed to come to the splendid land of the Central Plains, then I am afraid that I may not be able to restrain it, and there are military salaries, the imperial court owes me almost a year of military salaries, how can I level the thieves without military salaries?" (To be continued.) )