"Great victory, great victory in Liaodong, the Shandong army killed more than 20,000 Qing troops, Haoge and Daishan were killed, and Dolgon was captured." In the city of Jinan, several people rode horses and shouted gongs along the street.

The people who heard the news looked sideways, and some people ran home in a hurry to spread the news of the victory.

"General Zhao has won the battle again, as long as General Zhao is in Shandong for one day, we in Shandong will not have to worry about suffering from military disasters."

"But no, now Shandong can't even find a single bandit, it's all the credit of General Zhao, and now Shandong is trying to change, and General Zhao did it."

"Isn't that what the Governor did?"

"Mingli is the governor, but the Qing officials and masters used are all General Zhao's people, in order to keep those corrupt officials from making trouble, General Zhao also pays hundreds of thousands of taels of money every year."

"It's good to try it! Now there is no need for us to pay silver, and we only need to pay 20 catties of grain every year for one acre of land. There is no longer any errand service, and you can still get paid for working for the government! ”

"The reason why our Xisanfu has been so prosperous in recent years is because of General Zhao's textile factory, cotton is much better than in previous years, and we don't need to go to cottonseeds. In the past, a person could grow a maximum of 15 acres of cotton, but now it is no problem for a person to plant 40 or 50 acres. ”

"General Zhao has sent troops to Liaodong to kill Jianyu, a head is worth fifty taels of silver, I don't know if I can recruit troops now."

"The fifty taels of silver are calculated according to the land, and the Shandong Army stipulates that the head of the Tartar is to be divided equally among the whole army, and the silver rewarded is calculated according to the land, and the silver will be directly issued if it exceeds 300 acres."

"What's that, as long as you kill a few Tartars, it is also dozens of acres of land, and after joining the army, there is no need to pay grain if the acres are less than 300 acres, if you are not careful, General Zhao will also give you three hundred taels of silver, and rice grain every month."

The people are talking a lot, and the Xisanfu, which was originally not strong in influence, is also the desire of the people at this moment.

The squires in Shandong all paid attention to the war situation in Liaodong, which was related to whether Zhao Yan could fulfill his promise. The news of the great victory greatly disappointed some of the squires who hoped that the Shandong army would be defeated in Liao.

At this time, the squires in Shandong were very deferential to Zhao Yan on the surface, and did not stop Zhao Yan's trial reform in Shandong. But that was the result of Zhao Yan putting the knife on their necks, smashing the silver again, and saying something reasonable.

In fact, many squires have a lot of resentment about the trial reform, mainly the squires of the eastern three provinces, and the squires of the western three mansions are better.

Xisanfu is located in the golden delta of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, where every inch of land is valuable, if Zhao Yanzhen gets involved there, he will definitely be attacked by a group.

However, the squires of the Western Three Mansions also felt a little frightened in the face of Zhao Yan's rise, who knows if Zhao Yan will get involved in the Western Three Mansions in the future?

At the same time, Zhao Yan ignored the sea ban, with the increase of Zhao Yan's offshore transport vessels, shared some of the flow of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, although there is no problem in the short term, but if people are accustomed to taking the sea route, then the economy of the three western provinces will suffer a greater impact.

The main reason why Shandong does not open the sea ban is that some people are worried about the economic problems of the three western provinces.

…… In Zhaojiabao, Zhang's family has been going out a lot recently, and went to Zhaojiabao's military headquarters to inquire about the situation of the war in Liaodong.

Since March, he has sent people to Longkou twice and told Zhao Yan not to go to Liaodong in person, just command in Longkou.

However, the strange thing is that Zhang, who had never asked in detail before, suddenly asked in great detail about the situation in Liaodong, and the military personnel who stayed in Zhaojiabao did not dare to hide it a little, and patiently explained the situation in Liaodong to Zhang.

Since the beginning of spring, a new teacher has come to the girls' school in Zhaojiabao, and the women's colleges were all led by Yuan'er in the past, and the scale is not large, only about 30 students.

This new teacher is very beautiful, but if you look closely, it is Yan Yuyao, the daughter of the governor, since Yan Jizu took refuge in Zhao Yan, Yan Yuyao often came to Zhaojiabao, and after the New Year, she also got a house in Zhaojiabao, lived in Zhaojiabao for a long time, and went to the girls' school every day to help Yuan'er teach classes.

even learned various courses from Zhao Yan with Yuan'er, and became a pair of good sisters with Yuan'er.

Yan Yuyao was born slim, plus knowledgeable, and the daughter of the governor, she was very liked by the Zhang family, and the Zhang family often chatted with Yan Yuyao. Zhang's look at Yan Yuyao but the more she looks at it, the more she likes it, although Yuan'er is also very fond of her, but after all, she bought it from the teaching workshop and bought it for Zhao Yan as a personal maid, so naturally she is not as good as the governor's daughter.

"Yu Yao! Today, I heard from the people in the military department that the situation in Liaodong is very good, Huang Taiji was trapped in North Korea by us, well, and Daishan and Haoge were killed in Zhenjiang, and now there is only one Duoduo and Zierharang left in Liaodong. When Zhang learned the news from the military headquarters, he revealed it to Yan Yuyao, "That person named Duoduo has an army of sixty or seventy thousand in his hand, and he is now attacking Shenyang. What's his brother's name......

"Madame, it's Dolgon." Yan Yuyao hurriedly reminded.

"Yes, yes, it's called Dolgon." Zhang nodded and said, "Dolgon also ran away from North Korea by boat, and then was completely wiped out by the navy. As soon as Dolgon ran like this, Huangtaiji could not escape from Korea by land, and the sea route could not be passed. ”

"The people in the military department said that the loss of the 70,000 army of the Tartars in North Korea is certain, plus Zhenjiang killed nearly one banner of Tartar soldiers, and there are 20,000 Menghan and eight banners, the Tartars are already seriously injured, and there is no suspense in defeating Liaodong, as long as it is fought steadily, there will be no accidents."

"Madame, thank you so much, after all, my father is also working for the general now, if he doesn't know the battle situation in Liaodong, it is not easy to cooperate with the general in the imperial court." Yan Yuyao explained.

"Thank you for a little thing, Yan'er is still too young now, and he is frizzy in his work, and he doesn't even report the governor." Zhang kindly took Yan Yuyao's hand and said kindly.

...... "Win again, and if you continue to win like this, then no one in the world can control it." Governor Yan Jizu heard the news of the victory, and was mixed with joy, "But since you are on this boat, it is naturally best not to capsize." ”

"My lord, Miss is back." At this time, Yan Jizu's old slave came to tell him, and Yan Jizu immediately came to his senses and said, "Invite her in." ”

"Yes."

Soon, the dusty Yan Yuyao walked into the study, and when Yan Jizu saw her, he immediately asked, "Yao'er, what's the news from Zhaojiabao?" ”

"Daddy, I heard from Old Madam Zhao that Liaodong at this time is far from being as simple as the situation reported by Zhao Yan." As soon as Yan Yuyao entered the study, she said to Yan Jizu.

"Oh? What's not easy? Yan Jizu asked puzzled.

"Huang Taiji's army of 70,000 was blocked in Korea, and Dolgon fled by sea himself, and then was annihilated by the Shandong navy. Huang Taiji had no ship, he couldn't go by sea, and the land route was completely blocked by the Shandong army, and it was only a matter of time before Huang Taiji and the 70,000 troops he personally led were destroyed. ”

Yan Yuyao paused, and then said: "The Liaodong side is even more rapidly changing, Duoduo controls the army of Jianyu, and at this time, his ambitions have skyrocketed, and he wants to replace Huang Taiji to stand on his own, and he can't take care of the Shandong army for a while. ”

"Oh! How good is the situation? Yan Jizu was extremely surprised.

"Jian Yu was already seriously injured at this time, and Zhao Yan made up his mind to fight steadily in Liaodong, and he would inevitably build a fortress in Liaodong, the defense of the fortress is extremely strong, and it is shorter than the city wall of the four sides, and it is better to build, and the artillery on it is impregnable. As long as Liaodong is lined with fortresses, Jianyu will not want to fight back, and Liaodong will be gradually encroached upon by the Shandong army. Yan Yuyao speculated.

"Since the situation is so good, why didn't Zhao Yan truthfully report to the imperial court?" Yan Jizu asked in wonder, Yan Yuyao thought for a moment and said, "Maybe Zhao Yan is afraid of high merit and shocking the master!" ”

"He's already a master of merit at the moment." Yan Jizu asserted, "If an ordinary military general can be so good at fighting, the saint will naturally be happy." It's just that Zhao Yan himself will make money, and since ignoring the sea ban, he has even entered the golden bucket, and he is rich enough to rival the country. A martial artist who can't be controlled, and he has a tiger and wolf master in his hands, how can the saint not be on guard? It's not that the saints are unkind, it's human nature. Last year, Zhao Yan and Hong Chengchou had a quarrel with the imperial court, who was the saint favoring? However, Zhao Yan is afraid that he will not be able to be captured, and if he is so powerful, he will definitely follow in the footsteps of Yue Fei and Qi Jiguang. ”

"Based on what my daughter saw in Zhaojiabao, Zhao Yan is frank and upright, even if it comes to that day, he will be able to treat the Ming royal family preferentially." Yan Yuyao said.

"Who knows what will happen in the future! It's okay to talk about this at home, but you can't say it outside. Yan Jizu said a little melancholy.

"This daughter naturally understands." Yan Yuyao nodded.

"If you are not afraid of the high merit and the lord, then how can you not truthfully report the situation in Liaodong? As long as the Shandong Army cooperates with the officers and soldiers of Liaoning, it may not be difficult to take Liaodong in one fell swoop. Yan Jizu thought incomprehensibly.

"Daddy, could it be...... He wants to take the opportunity to occupy Liaodong? Yan Yuyao suddenly thought of something and said to Yan Jizu.

"Hmm!" Yan Jizu thought for a moment, nodded and said: "It should be like this, as long as Zhao Yan swallows Liaodong, there will be no shortage of land, and he likes to recruit people to reclaim it, but this Liaodong is the best place." ”

Yan Yuyao added: "If you cooperate with the officers and soldiers of Liaoxi to capture Liaodong in one fell swoop, the imperial court will inevitably send someone to take it over, and it will be much more complicated at that time, and it is not such a simple matter for Zhao Yan to swallow Liaodong." ”

"Look at this good news, how do you report it?" Yan Jizu took out the piece that had been moistened and handed it to Yan Yuyao, Yan Yuyao opened it and looked at it for a while, and said, "How Zhao Yan writes, how we will report." ”

"Then let people send it to Jingshi." Yan Jizu nodded, and immediately let people spread the great victory of Phi Dao and Zhenjiang.

…… The Forbidden City, at this time is already spring, the garden of the palace is a sea of flowers, it looks extremely beautiful, Chongzhen strolled in the garden, watching the bees buzzing and flying in the flowers, the complexion is quite ugly.

Now that spring is coming, the crackdown on thieves is not going well. Gao Yingxiang broke into Shanxi, Li Zicheng retreated to Gansu, Zhang Xianzhong broke into Huguang, and the bad news came one after another.

Fortunately, Gao Yingxiang, who broke into Shanxi from Hequ County, was quickly pushed to western Henan by Lu Xiangsheng, after all, Lu Xiangsheng was in Xuanda, and it was impossible for Gao Yingxiang to be undefeated.

Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army had its own muskets, artillery, plate armor and other sharp weapons transferred by Zhao Yan, and in addition, it used instructors from the Shandong Army to train the army, and its combat effectiveness was greatly improved. At first, Gao Yingxiang's subordinates thought it was Zhao Killxing's Denglai army, but Gao Yingxiang's rabble was killed by Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong army.

It's a pity that the Guanning cavalry in Lu Xiangsheng's hands was transferred to Hong Chengchou by Chongzhen, and the Tianxiong Army, which lacked cavalry, failed to completely annihilate Gao Yingxiang's department, and was fled to Hebei by Gao Yingxiang, which did not belong to Lu Xiangsheng's combat scope.

In addition, the matter of suppressing thieves was supervised by Hong Chengchou, and Lu Xiangsheng defended Xuanda, so Lu Xiangsheng withdrew to Xuanda as soon as he reached the border of Henan.

Gao Yingxiang ran to western Henan, Hong Chengchou considered the situation once the thieves invaded western Henan, so more than 40,000 officers and soldiers were deployed in western Henan, although these officers and soldiers did not dare to fight with the thieves, but the ability to defend the city was still there. This led to a relatively tight defense in western Henan, and most of the poor people were fooled by Zhao Yan to come to Shandong, and the people's 'revolutionary' enthusiasm was not high. Gao Yingxiang spent a lot of effort to capture a few towns, but he didn't coerce many people.

And Zhang Xianzhong's situation in Huguang is much better, Huguang is one of the regions with the highest degree of land annexation, and the various vassal kings have a terrible amount of land in Huguang, more than seventy percent of the land in Huguang is in the hands of the vassal king, and there are many poor people here.

Zhang Xianzhong ran to Huguang with the remnants, and immediately formed a beacon fire in the plain, at this time Huguang was without Lu Xiangsheng's seat, although there were many officers and soldiers, but most of them were vulnerable.

The millions of taels thrown down by Chongzhen did not even show a single shadow in terms of improving the combat effectiveness of officers and soldiers, and the only effect was that no officers and soldiers rebelled and defected to thieves because of lack of salary.

Zhang Xianzhong grew rapidly in Huguang, and Gao Yingxiang heard about this situation in western Henan, and also pounced directly on Huguang. Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong fought together in the seven cities of Huguanglianke.

Chongzhen was furious and ordered Hong Chengchou to attack immediately. Hong Chengchou was in trouble at this time, and the Guanning cavalry was obedient in the hands of Lu Xiangsheng, but in the hands of Hong Chengchou, they were extremely disobedient and violated orders continuously, causing Hong Chengchou's encirclement and suppression plan to be frustrated several times.

In addition to the 20,000 people he originally brought with him, plus Sun Chuanting's 20,000 people, who were still usable, the rest of the officers and soldiers from all walks of life were mixed, and they could make any mess on the battlefield.

Hong Chengchou, who was questioned by Chongzhen, hurriedly dispatched half of the officers and soldiers out of Shaanxi to suppress the thieves in the lake.

The silver was smashed down, but it had no effect, how could Chongzhen be happy. In addition, Chongzhen ordered Zhao Yanchi to help Phi Dao, but there is no news so far, it stands to reason that the order was made in February, and now it is March, there should have been a news coming! Chongzhen asked Jinyiwei to check, only to find that Zhao Yan did not send troops to support Phi Dao at all in February. As soon as Chongzhen was unhappy, he caught a cold at the beginning of spring, and the imperial doctor looked at it for more than half a month.

"Is there any news from North Korea and Phi Dao?" Chongzhen turned his head to the eunuch who was serving.

"Back to the emperor, I haven't received any news yet." The little eunuch replied.

Chongzhen couldn't help but say angrily: "This Zhao Yan, who swore that he would be in Pingliao for three years, was attacked by Jianjiao this time, but he didn't dare to go?" ”

The little eunuch on the side saw Chongzhen angry, and hurriedly lowered his head and didn't dare to speak.

The more Chongzhen thought about it, the more angry he became, the holy decree had been issued for a month, but Zhao Yan didn't even let out a fart, it was obvious that he was disobeying the decree, and it didn't matter to others, but Chongzhen was very sensitive to Zhao Yan's affairs.

Don't want Zhao Yan Even if he doesn't obey the order, Chongzhen has no choice, and he can only feel powerless for Zhao Yan.

Just when Chongzhen was sulking in the garden, Cao Huamel rushed into the back garden in a hurry, shouting as he ran: "Your Majesty, good news, good news." ”

"Oh! Where's the good news? Huguang's mutinants have been exterminated? Chongzhen's spirits perked up, and he couldn't wait to ask Cao Huaol.

"Emperor Qiqi, it's not the good news of Huguang, this is the good news of Phidao and Liaodong, you see." Cao Huaol said and handed the piece presented by Yan Jizu to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen quickly opened the chapter and looked at it, Cao Huaol stood aside with a happy look, and said: "Your Majesty, General Jianwei not only captured nearly 20,000 Qing soldiers on Phi Island, but also fought a big battle with Jianyu in Zhenjiang, capturing 6,000 real captives, 20,000 fake captives from Meng and Han, and also killed Prince Hao Ge and Prince Dai Shan of Jianyu on the spot. Later, he completely annihilated the naval division at sea, capturing 4,300 Dolgon and Zhengbaiqi Zhenqing. ”

"Okay, okay." Chongzhen's expression was excited, and he looked at the song and laughed: "Zhao Aiqing really didn't disappoint me, and he will send someone to Shandong to inspect the head and prisoners in a while." ”

"It's the emperor." Cao Huaol bent over, then took two steps back, then turned around and was about to leave. But before he could take two steps, Cao Huaol suddenly stopped, then suddenly turned around, knelt down in front of Chongzhen, suddenly sobbed, and said to Chongzhen with tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty, you want to be the master of the old slave!" ”

"Are you talking about Wen Tiren's secret performance?" Chongzhen asked.

"Please let the emperor know, after Qian Qianyi was arrested by Wen Tiren, he sent someone to ask the old slave for help, but the old slave didn't do anything! Wen Tiren went to the secret recital, Your Majesty, the old slave was wronged! Cao Huaol cried.

Since Wen Tiren became the first assistant, he has been obsessed with ostracizing dissidents and attacking political opponents. If you feel that you have made too many enemies, I am afraid that you will incur retaliation from others. In order not to leave a handle for others, all the documents he presented to Chongzhen and the relevant documents drawn up by the cabinet were not stored in the files, in an attempt to destroy the evidence of the crime.

During Wen Tiren's auxiliary administration, Shangshu impeached him countless people. Instead of bringing down Wen Tiren, these people set themselves on fire. Some were dismissed, some were exiled, and some were even killed by a cane on the spot.

However, this time, Wen Tiren gave Chongzhen a secret recital, and asked Chongzhen to deal with it and severely punish Cao Huaol, how can Cao Huaol be so easy to provoke? The little eunuch beside Chongzhen saw the secret performance and hurriedly reported to Cao Huaol.

The cause of the incident was all because of a Zhang Hanru's stick, which went to Qian Qianyi's house to ask him to do a private matter, but Qian Qianyi refused, which annoyed Zhang Hanru, and went directly to the capital to sue the gang, insisting that he had made a group of friends in the township, spreading strange theories and slandering the government.

Wen Tiren is ruthless and vicious, and one of the manifestations is that he will not let go of those who have offended him for the rest of his life, so he directly ordered someone to arrest Qian Qianyi.

Qian Qianyi sent someone to Cao Huaol for help, but Wen Tiren learned about it, and Wen Tiren immediately added oil and vinegar to Chongzhen, demanding that Cao Huaol be severely punished.

(To be continued)