The goose feathers and snow were falling, and the outside of Qingzhou City was already white, and in the suburbs, the snow had fallen so deep to the children's knees.

At this time, Pang Gang had just returned from Lingshanwei, followed by Hua Yan, Wen Renjun, Meng Qing and other civil officials, although they were all wearing thick winter clothes, but they were still frozen to the red cheeks, when they entered Qingzhou Cheng, Pang Gang stood still and said to everyone with a smile: "Okay, today is the Chinese New Year's Eve, everyone go back, if you don't go back to the house, the bride will scold the mother." ”

"Huh"

Everyone laughed, especially the eyes they looked at Wen Renjun was a little strange, Wen Renjun just accepted a new concubine room a few days ago, it was the time of the newlywed Yan'er, Pang Gang said this, but there was something to say.

Hua Yan was more rigorous but didn't say anything, but Meng Qing, who was more extroverted, quipped: "Brother Wen, you are not young anymore, and you are active at night, don't flash your waist." ”

"Hahaha" everyone laughed.

Wen Renjun, who has always been debauched and open-minded, scratched his head embarrassedly at this time, and said with a smile: "What do you know, or adults know me, then I will go back first." ”

"Go ahead!" Pang Gang smiled and said: "You have worked hard to settle the homeless people, and the official specially approved you to rest for three days and get together with your little lady, but the official also wants to warn you, don't forget the bad wife if you have a new love." ”

As soon as Pang Gang spoke, Wen Renjun, who was about to get on the horse, slipped under his feet, almost fell off the horse, turned around and smiled bitterly: "My lord, don't say that, if this is heard by the lowly lady, it will be a big trouble." ”

Pang Gang couldn't help laughing out loud anymore, and the snow from the trees on the side of the road fell straight down.

Pang Gang, who finished laughing, stepped on the stirrup, jumped on the horse, the whip gently whipped the horse's back, and the big red horse under the crotch galloped towards the champion Hou's mansion quickly, and behind him were dozens of personal soldiers who followed Pang Gang closely whenever he went out.

When Pang Gang came to his mansion quickly, it was already evening, and the two sergeants guarding the door saw Pang Gang coming back and quickly pushed open the door that was a little stiff and frozen, allowing Pang Gang and his party to come in, Pang Gang came to the door, saw the soldiers who were already covered with snowflakes, and said kindly: "Okay, when the official goes in, you will close the door, today is the Chinese New Year's Eve, hurry back to the camp and have a few cups with the brothers to warm up." ”

"Thank you, sir!"

The two sergeants bowed down to thank Pang Gang, a hint of gratitude flashed in their eyes, and the huge man was still as considerate of his subordinates as before.

As Pang Gang and the others entered, the door of the Champion Hou Mansion slowly closed again, as if to block the cold outside.

Pang just got off the horse, handed the reins to Shi Bowen behind him, and told him not to follow, but also to go back to the camp to have a few drinks with his brothers, and strode towards the inner courtyard.

When Pang Gang came to the inner courtyard and pushed open the door, he felt a warm heat rushing to his face, followed by the smell of food, and the festive atmosphere inside seemed to overflow, a noise.

At this time, the hall was very lively, not only Pang Gang's wives and concubines were there, but even Wei Tongtong and Kong Wen, the two old fathers-in-law, were here, and their families were also here. Kong Ruolan, who has a big belly, and Wei Manyao, who has a slightly bulging lower abdomen, are talking with their respective fathers. There were three or four tables in the lobby, and more than a dozen maids and servants were busy serving, while Qiao'er and Ling'er, the two maid-born concubines, were busy directing the maids and servants, and they were very busy.

Seeing Pang Gang returning, the hall suddenly sounded with the voice of a warbler Yanyan, "Husband is back!" ”

Pang Gang took off his cloak and handed it to a maid beside him, and then stepped forward to greet Wei Tongnian and Kong Wen: "The two fathers-in-law are also back." ”

"Chaodong, you're here too." Wei Tongnian and Kong Wen also greeted him with a smile when they saw Pang Gang coming back.

As soon as Pang came to the two of them and sat down, Chen Yuanyuan immediately stood up and obediently knocked him on the back with a soft softness. And Li Xuezhu also ran over and snuggled up to Pang Gang's side and coquettish: "Husband, you are really, you are so busy in the Chinese New Year's Eve, you won't go again after the New Year?" ”

Pang Gang pinched her nose dotingly, and said, "It's a year older, and it's still like a child." ”

Although Li Xuezhu is a princess of North Korea, she has a simple surname, is lively and cheerful, and gets along with everyone, so everyone spoils her, including Chen Yuanyuan, Kong Ruolan, and Wei Manyao, everyone treats her as a little sister to pamper, so she lives a very carefree life after marrying into Pang Mansion.

Now that I saw my husband come back after going out for a day, I couldn't help but throw myself into his arms and be coquettish, and when I saw Pang Gang, she joked, but she didn't cling to Pang Gang's arms, and it took a long time to get up. However, when she came together, she saw Chen Yuanyuan looking at her with a smile but not a smile, and then she remembered that there were still others watching at the moment, so she stood up shyly and came behind Pang Gang to beat her husband's back with Chen Yuanyuan.

Enjoying the service of the two wives and concubines, Pang Gang stretched his waist and said to Wei Tongnian: "Father-in-law, you can stay here for a few more days during the Chinese New Year, and it will not be too late to go back after the fifteenth." ”

Wei Manyao, who was snuggled up to Wei Tongnian's side, also said: "Yes, Dad, you will stay for a few more days this time, and let your daughter do her filial piety." ”

Wei Tongnian said with a smile: "You can be very content to be distracted as a husband, there are a lot of things in Jinan, don't worry if you don't go back to stare at it, especially if your husband is going to expand the army recently, there are more things." ”

Pang Gang said with a smile: "It's not okay not to expand the army, our troops are not much, and now we have 10,000 soldiers and horses stationed in Luoyang and Kaifeng, and we can use even fewer troops. ”

"Yes! It's going to be war again. Wei Tongnian sighed, I don't know if he lamented the impermanence of the world or his son-in-law finally turned against the court.

Seeing Wei Tongnian's emotion, Pang Gang also smiled bitterly, who can be blamed for this, it coincides with troubled times, in order not to drag a pig's tail on his head, in order not to be someone else's minion, there is nothing wrong with doing this, if he travels to the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the ghost only embarks on this road, isn't it better to be a rich man with his own mind than anything else.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little dull, Wei Tongnian changed the topic in a timely manner, and he said: "Chaodong, last time the imperial court sent Ma Gonggong to urge you to send troops, you ignore others, now the whole territory of Hubei has fallen, although the imperial court can no longer help us now, but we should also have a countermeasure to this, otherwise if this continues, our Daming country will be ruined in the hands of those rogues." ”

Pang Gang smiled bitterly: "This is also a matter of no way, our strength does not allow us to chase the rogue all the way, that is not realistic." You think, if we go to Hubei today to suppress the thieves and drive the thieves out of Hubei, Emperor Ming'er will dare to let us go to Sichuan to suppress the bandits, and the day after tomorrow will dare to let us go to Shanhaiguan and Tartar to die, no matter how big our family is, it is not enough to squander it! Although the emperor gave the son-in-law the title of champion Hou and the seal of the general, he did not mention the grain, grass and equipment, he took us for fools, do you think the son-in-law can agree. ”

Wei Tongnian stroked his beard, nodded and said: "Yes, it is not easy for us to accumulate this little belongings, if we really listen to the emperor, our family will be squandered in less than a year, but the old man is worried that after the thieves occupy Hubei, they will use Hubei as a stronghold, and when they gain a foothold in Hubei, it will be difficult for us to deal with them in the future." ”

Pang Gang smiled contemptuously: "Father-in-law, don't worry, Li Zicheng's gang of thieves will not have that kind of mind, they are all good at killing people and setting fires, but when it comes to recuperation, they have to learn for another hundred years." ”

Pang Gang is very sure of this, and the thieves headed by Li Zicheng are mainly peasants in northern Shaanxi, mainly in the Yan'an area, where the mountains are high and the forests are dense, and there have been constant bandits in history.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was in a drought for many years, and the thieves who were originally raised by eating large households could roll tens of thousands of people, or even hundreds of thousands of people, within ten months. The thieves are also scattered and scattered, and they use pseudonyms. For example, the sixth team and the seventh team each had 30,000 or 40,000 people, and in the fifth or sixth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang once gathered more than 100,000 people to roll forward, and the 32,000 officers and soldiers did not dare to move forward.

When the Liukou marched, the middle of the line was women and children, and the outside was Ding Zhuang, and the cavalry formed an outer defense line, and the movement was dusty. The rogues are all coerced by the whole village and the whole clan, and if they do not comply, they will definitely die, and if they do not starve to death, they will be eaten. In Shaanxi, there is no essential difference between homeless people and rogues, they are both trying to survive, and there is no way. Shaanxi has a population of 3 to 4 million, and 1 or 2 million of them have formed liukou, mainly because of the severe drought for consecutive years. The government is incompetent, the officials govern [***], and Chongzhen has no way to govern the country, due to the lack of precious metals such as silver, the imperial court indiscriminately invents money, causing inflation, like waste paper.

In order to survive, the rogues are like locusts, they eat wherever they go, and there are no grass roots left wherever they pass, so that these people can develop and farm with peace of mind, just like letting sows go up trees.

Li Zicheng and others lacked foresight, although there were one or two people with long-term vision in the army, such as Li Yan, but after all, he was humble and could not convince Li Zicheng and those rogues who could only fight guerrillas.

Therefore, Pang Gang expected that Li Zicheng would definitely be like in history after sweeping away Hubei, the main force would move to Hunan or Shaanxi, which was in line with Liukou's surname.

After listening to Pang Gang's explanation, Wei Tongnian nodded with satisfaction: "Your idea is very reasonable, as for your idea, the old man also understands it a little, I am afraid that your current expansion of the army is to prepare for the occupation of Henan and Hubei after the year, right?" ”

Pang Gang smiled after hearing this: "Those who know me, my father-in-law too!" ”

(To be continued)