Chongzhen's reward for Zhao Yan also came down, and Zhao Yan was crowned a prince and young master, which was another false position, Zhao Yan couldn't help but be speechless, and felt ashamed of Chongzhen's behavior.

Last time, Chongzhen gave him a prince and a young master, and this time he was given a prince and a young master.

Although the reward of the imperial court is dispensable for Zhao Yan, but now the situation is different, Zhao Yan has decided to completely suppress Chongzhen in terms of fame, and it would naturally be better if he had a title.

…… On the second day of the first month of May, on the military page of the "Daming Daily," an article by Zhao Yan published under his public name appeared.

Zhao Yan said in the article that the war situation in Liaodong has been decided, and Jianyu's vitality has been greatly damaged, and he cannot invade the pass for the time being, but Jianyu is a disease of the hands and feet, and the thief is a disease of the henchmen. Now that the Jianyu is no longer able to invade the Guannei, the thieves are the first victims.

Looking at the progress of the thieves since the beginning of winter last year, Hong Xiang has received five million taels of military spending from the imperial court to the ninth collar, but there has been no progress, and the thieves have spread to Huguang and Henan again, making his eight-year attack and suppression fall short, and he is really incompetent. The general wants to recruit him today, so he will immediately ask the Holy Lord to send troops.

Zhao Yan scolded Hong Chengchou for his incompetence in the newspaper, and counted several pieces of evidence of incompetence, which can be described as extremely fierce. Hong Chengchou, the old king, was married to Zhao Yan last year, how could Zhao Yan not spray it quickly?

At the same time, Zhao Yan wrote a letter requesting troops to be sent to the Beijing Division, and he did not agree with Chongzhen's watch, and he did not agree with Zhao Yan to send troops to suppress it.

The population problem is already extremely serious, and if there is not enough population, there is no need to open the factory in Denglai, let alone colonize overseas.

In this recital, there is also Zhao Yan's report to the "Daming Newspaper", saying to Chongzhen: The minister's intention to set up a newspaper is to make the people of the world listen to the holy will, and the people's sufferings can reach the heavens. The previous phases of the trial were carried out with relatively good results. The minister sent a reporter to Beijing to hope that His Majesty could accept an interview, so that the will of the Son of Heaven could spread all over the world.

On the third day of the fifth month, Zhao Yan's recital was sent to Jingshi at an expedited speed of 800 miles.

Chongzhen received the concert and was stunned for a long time, and Yang Sichang was also stunned when he saw this concerto.

The reason why the two were stunned was because Zhao Yan did not play his cards according to common sense, it stands to reason that Zhao Yan wants to deal with Jianyu in Liaodong, and there is a three-year period, this guy actually has to send troops and horses to suppress the thieves.

"Your Majesty, since this son wants to send troops to suppress the thieves, why not allow it?" Yang Sichang suddenly said to Chongzhen with a sinister smile on his face.

"Why did Yang Aiqing say this, if he let this son go in to suppress the thieves again, wouldn't he make him famous all over the world?" Chongzhen is very wary of this.

"Your Majesty, this son has fought several battles with Jianyu in Liaodong and Korea, and he must have consumed a lot of money and food. Yang Sichang boasted: "If you fight for a long time, you will be tired, and if you are warlike, you will die. This is the supreme principle of the ancients, if he wants to fight, His Majesty can let him fight, and after a long time, it will inevitably decline. ”

"Your Majesty not only wants to allow him to enter and suppress the thieves, but also let him fight Mongolia after he finishes fighting Jianyu, and then let him fight Mongolia, after the Mongolian war is over, His Majesty can also order him to go to Mobei, with the power of Shandong Province, under the repeated wars, the results can be imagined."

"Aiqing's words are reasonable, and this words are reasonable." Chongzhen's face flashed with joy, and he clapped his hands and praised, "Okay, since he wants to fight, I will let him fight." ”

Chongzhen said, and directly wrote the word 'quasi' on Zhao Yan's recital.

The reason why Yang Sichang and Chongzhen agreed with Zhao Yan to suppress the thieves was because they wanted to exhaust Zhao Yan's strength, and the reason why they still retained this concept was entirely because their understanding of war was still in a very primitive state.

In China's wars, except for the Qin, Han, Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties, which had individual specialized armies, most of the other armies were loosely organized, had a large number of soldiers, and were completely unprofessional warfare.

Moreover, often both sides of the war are such armies, such an army is not only not strong in combat effectiveness, but also invests a large amount of labor, and transports grain requires a huge amount of manpower to maintain, which causes great damage to social production, so it often fights until there is a shortage of food, and after several major defeats, the national strength will decline rapidly. This was the case for example, with the Sui Dynasty's armies, which were replaced by the Tang Dynasty after several huge foreign wars, which caused civil unrest.

However, Zhao Yan's army was full of professional soldiers, completely detached from production, and only existed for war. Such a professional elite soldier has extremely strong combat effectiveness, coupled with a small number of people, it does not occupy much labor, and the supplies consumed in the battle are also small.

The most important thing is the occupation of labor, if you don't occupy too much labor, you will have enough labor force to produce, and the war is fought with people and materials, so that there are people and material output, as long as Zhao Yan is not financially bankrupt, he can continue to mobilize these manpower and material resources to carry out wars, how can it be measured according to that crude way of war. The only blame can only be blamed on the two of them for being too lonely and unheard of and lacking investigation into the facts.

The newspaper issued on the second day of the fifth month was sent to the Qianqing Palace, and Chongzhen sneered after reading it, and the reporters sent by Zhao Yan to Beijing also entered the Qianqing Palace.

Just in the morning, Chongzhen was interviewed.

Chongzhen still likes such a new thing as the newspaper, and when he sees the people who make comments in the newspaper every day, he also wants to participate in it and experience that feeling.

In fact, everyone has that kind of expressive desire, and wants to make some remarks to make others feel that they are very good, not to mention Chongzhen, an 'angry youth'.

The reporters sent by Zhao Yan to interview Chongzhen were specially trained by the Propaganda Department and were very familiar with the etiquette in the palace. The reporter entered the Qianqing Palace before dawn and interviewed Chongzhen before the early dynasty.

The question to Chongzhen is very simple, only to ask what is the ideal of His Majesty?

Chongzhen's ideals naturally have many things, revitalize the Zhu dynasty, and rule all directions. Chongzhen also said some empty words that he hoped that the people would be stable.

After the interview, the reporter asked Chongzhen if he could write some comments for the "Daming Daily" in the future to guide the people of the world, and Chongzhen readily agreed.

…… Chongzhen's approval of Zhao Yan's recital surprised Zhao Yan very much, originally he thought that Chongzhen would disagree, but the result was beyond his expectations.

Since Chongzhen agreed to Zhao Yan's entry to suppress the thieves, Zhao Yan didn't have to build momentum in the newspaper.

Liaodong was relatively calm at this time. According to the information sent back by the Liaodong Special Operations Brigade, the Manchus were preparing for war and there was no sign of launching a counteroffensive for the time being.

Even if the Manchus launched a counteroffensive, with the current strength of Liaodong, there is no suspense, the eastern front is all mountainous, the fourth battalion of the Liaodong Army has defended enough, and there is also the third battalion of the Shandong Army waiting for an opportunity to attack, in the eastern front where the cavalry cannot play, the Manchus do not want to counterattack.

As for the western front, the third battalion of the Shandong Army was stationed in various cities, and the fortresses were constantly being built, plus the first battalion of the infantry and cavalry of the Shandong Army was stationed, and forts were arranged along the Sancha River and the Taizi River.

If it weren't for the population problem, Zhao Yan would definitely be like a wind sweeping away the leaves, recovering the entire territory of Liaodong. After all, even if he conquered Liaodong, Zhao Yan would not be able to gain much population.

The plan for now is to quickly wipe out the thieves, gain enough population in a short time, and then concentrate on sweeping Liaodong.

On the ninth day of May, Zhao Yan personally set out with the first battalion of the infantry of the Liaodong Army, the newly formed fourth battalion of the infantry of the Shandong Army, the third and fourth battalions of the cavalry, and the operational staff composed of the heavy battalion of the Shandong Army and Mao Yuanyi.

Before the expedition, Zhao Yan summoned the high-level leaders of various departments one by one, told them to abide by their duties and not neglect their duties, and then handed over the defense of Shandong to Zhao Quan, and asked Zhao Quan to dispatch the rear in Shandong.

With the centripetal force of the battalions, a rebellion is almost impossible, and even if those generals are tempted by the imperial court, the soldiers below will not agree, and the generals have a check and balance from the education committee.

However, Zhao Yan handed over the defense to Zhao Quan just in case, Zhao Quan, as an old servant of the Zhao family, has no children under his knees, and is an absolutely safe candidate.

At present, Shandong's defense looks very empty, because there is not a single professional combat corps, but if it is invaded by foreign enemies, hundreds of thousands of young men can be recruited from all over Shandong at any time to put into the battlefield, and these young men and women are all trained, although they are not professional enough, but their combat effectiveness is definitely not low, and they are absolutely not afraid of death.

Moreover, there are many fortresses in Shandong, and the interior is extremely powerful, and it is completely impossible for the outside to break in.

"Daming Daily" immediately reported an article on the same day, titled: "Thousands of miles to go out again, Zhao Zhijian is here." The article details Zhao Yan's battles against the thieves from the beginning of the army to the ten years of thieves.

Section 1: Clever tricks to catch thieves alone.

It is about the first battle between Zhao Yan and the thieves, which took place in Zhaoyuan, Zhao Yan took his family to Jinan to do business, and was surrounded by eight thousand thieves on the way back.

The newspaper said: "It was precisely because of this battle that General Jianwei saw that the world was erosive, and decided to abandon his pen and follow Rong, train the township bravery, and calm the place." ”

In the second section, thousands of miles to save the capital, Denglai guerrilla shows loyalty.

Seven years, the thief swept the king, the king of Taiping invaded the capital, as the Denglai guerrilla Zhao Yan thousands of miles to rescue, galloping all the way, said to travel a hundred miles, more than ten days to arrive at Fengyang Mansion, people and horses are tired, still brave and fighting, will just enter the middle of the sweeping king, Taiping King two more than 200,000 siege between the fat water, annihilation, to ensure that the imperial tomb is not destroyed...... Section 3: Preparing for the war to attack Jianyu, not forgetting to fight the western thieves This section reports that when Zhao Yan was preparing for war in eight years, he sent troops to help Lu Xiangsheng and Zhu Dadian to suppress the thieves.

"In the past four years, General Jianwei has done his best, and he has been able to shake the thieves, and the thieves have declined. However, since Hong Chengchou supervised and suppressed the thieves, he led the imperial court to collect 500,000 gold and wages, but he did not have the ability to do straw bales, so that he was now said to be defeated, General Jianwei was in pain, and wanted to send a division to clear up, and the Holy Lord allowed it, the general has sent troops to lead 30,000 troops, and personally levitated, and the people and squires around the country do not need to panic when they see the army, and General Jianwei's soldiers and horses have never committed any offense with the people, and the war reporters of this newspaper will follow General Jianwei all the way and report the latest war situation at any time. ”

…… As soon as the newspaper was issued, it set off strong repercussions in various places, and scholars and squires from all over the country wrote letters to the local Jimin Inn to cheer up Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan was so active in suppressing thieves that he was enthusiastically supported by those middle and upper classes, because the thieves threatened their lives, property, and status, and were class enemies.

In the long-term weak situation of the conquest and suppression of the thieves, they need a person who can stand up and protect them, and Zhao Yan is so good at fighting and so active in the suppression of thieves, so he naturally receives widespread support.

Even Chongzhen read this newspaper and remembered the incident of Zhao Yan's seven-year thief invasion of Zhongdu, and couldn't help but be moved in his heart, and sighed: "This son is loyal, but it's a pity that I am no longer easy to control." ”

The people of Shandong heard that Zhao Yan was on the expedition, and they saw each other off along the way. Zhao Yan went out of Shandong, and with the propaganda of "Daming Daily", he was also warmly welcomed along the way.

Zhao Yan waved the banner along the way, swaggering forward, and did not commit any crimes with Minqiu along the way, and also collected the displaced people along the way, and the rice and wheat of the squire's army were used to help the poor. Everywhere he went, the people praised him.

However, Zhao Yan's speed is not fast or slow, and he is moving at a speed of 100 miles, which is 50 kilometers, which is equivalent to riding a motorcycle for an hour at a speed of 50 kilometers in later generations. And Zhao Yan went out on this expedition, and everyone in the soldiers had horses to travel, and it was indeed unpleasant to travel hundreds of miles.

The baggage battalion does not have this speed, although there are many horses in the baggage battalion, but the number of materials carried by the battalion-level baggage company is not the same level, and it can keep up with the speed of the brigade in Shandong, where the road is still good, but out of Shandong, the speed of travel in a day is only fifty or sixty miles, and if the road is not good, it will be slower.

However, the baggage battalion did not march with the brigade, but marched alone, as a professional baggage battalion, it has the ability to act alone, and their self-protection ability is very strong.

The task of the baggage battalion is to constantly transport supplies back and forth on their own, and the 5,000 soldiers of the baggage battalion can fight in formation, or they can also act as sappers to open roads and build bridges.

Zhao Yan was advancing, and the situation in the Central Plains came back one after another, and there were three strong thieves in Huguang, including Gao Yingxiang, the king of the Chuang Wang, Zhang Xianzhong, the eight kings, and the three strong thieves of the Collapse of the Sky.

Gao Yingxiang ran to Dabie Mountain to fight guerrilla warfare, and Zhang Xianzhong ran to the south of Huguang (Hunan), in Hunan, where there are many mountains.

It's good to say, the surname of Hunan people is strong, they value righteousness, the greater the oppression, the stronger the resistance, and the worse it sounds, it is that the poor mountains and bad waters come out of the people, and there are many bandits. As soon as Zhang Xianzhong arrived in Hunan, the people of Hunan, who had suffered from unfair treatment, rose up one after another, and Zhang Xianzhong's team expanded rapidly.

The so-called one side of the water and soil to raise a side of the people, the environment is different, the surname of the person is also different, in the absence of guidance, it will evolve in different directions, for example, the Northeast people of later generations, most of them are people from Shandong, Hebei and other places, but after arriving in the Northeast, the surname and the previous changes have occurred, and Sichuan is the same, after the Manchu Qing Dynasty slaughtered the Sichuan people, and the people of other provinces filled Sichuan, after the people of other provinces entered Sichuan, after evolution, the formation of a leisurely life of Sichuan people, the so-called young do not enter Shu, the old do not leave Sichuan, It can be seen that the atmosphere of Sichuan.

As long as the political axe provides guidance, eliminates the gap between the rich and the poor, the problems of uneven distribution of benefits, and changes the root cause of the formation of bad habits, it is possible to correct the bad habits in different regions.

The thieves who broke into the sky began in the first year of Chongzhen, and began to be thieves with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, and Chongzhen was in chaos in Shaanxi for three years. Already, crossing the river to the east, Koushan West, turning to the south of Jinan, Hebei.

In the winter of the sixth year, he entered Henan, and then from the inner countryside, Xichuan to Huguangyun and Xiang, and broke several counties. In the first month of next year, it will enter Sichuan and trap Kuizhou. Turned east, entered the Yunyang realm, and was squeezed by the governor Chen Qiyu. Go to Hannan and trap the car box gorge.

It has been concluded that the revival of the great chaos in Shaanxi, re-entering Henan, and ravaging the north of the river. The officials and soldiers forced it, and they were neatly arranged between Wang Tunshang and Luo Mountain. In the ninth year, the king of Kaichuang and the scorpion block were returned from Yun, Xiang to Xing'an, and Hanzhong, and the governor Hong Chengchou was exhausted.

Xunnan went to Jing and Xiang, and fought several battles with the general soldier Qin Yiming. In the winter, with the scorpion and other seventeen battalions peeped at Tongguan, the governor Sun Chuanting choked it, leading to the south. Next year, Wen Ma Guangyu and others will commit Qi and Huang, lead the crowd to meet them, and go straight to Jiangbei. The officers and soldiers invited several attacks, but they did not dare to go east. He also went to Huangpi, entered Mulan Mountain, turned to Kou Henan, defeated the general Li Chungui, and forced Kaifeng. The generals sent troops to help, but they went south to Huang and hemp.

Zhao Yan vaguely remembered that this person's real name was Liu Guoneng, who accepted Xiong Wencan's appeasement for ten years, and was the only one among the thieves who obeyed the restraints and assisted the official army in suppressing it, and was finally killed by Li Zicheng.

It is recorded in the history books: At the beginning, when the country was a thief, he became brothers with Zicheng and Ru Cai. and the country can be corrected, and it is hated by its own generations. In September of the fourteenth year, the city was besieged, and it was attacked on all sides, and the country could not support it, and the city fell and was executed. The thief said, "If I am the old man, why don't I surrender?" The state was dumbfounded and scolded: "I was a thief with Ruo at the beginning, and now the king and the ministers are also, why did you become a thief!" Kill him. Upon hearing of the incident, he gave the governor of Zuo, and entered the Ronglu doctor and built an ancestral hall.

"More than 150,000 people have been coerced by this department, jumping north of Dongting Lake." Mao Yuanyi said, Zhao Yan thought about it, and asked Han Sheng, "Do you know the Collapse Heaven?" ”

"His subordinates once attacked Hancheng in the second year, but were repelled by Hong Xiangjiu." Han Sheng said.

"It seems that you and Chuang Tiantian have achieved Hong Xiangjiu?" Zhao Yan laughed, Han Sheng scratched his head embarrassedly, in the second year, Hong Chengchou was just a penniless guy, all because of the thieves besieging Hancheng, the soldiers and horses of Shaanxi were all in attendance, the Qin land was extremely empty, Yang He, the father of Yang Sichang, had no soldiers in his hands, Hong Chengchou volunteered, led the troops out of the city to fight the thieves, and killed more than 200 levels, and became famous for a while.

Later, Hong Chengchou resolutely stood on the main suppression faction, and after the fall of Yang He of the main Fu faction, the imperial court used the main suppression faction, and Hong Chengchou came to power.

However, Hong Chengchou, the old king, still has a hand in scheming, and he is well versed in the way of being an official.

Zhao Yan smiled and said to Han Sheng: "You and a letter is written in the sky, and this official will give him the post of general and let him be appeased." ”

"Yes." Han Sheng commanded.

(To be continued)