The turmoil in Macheng this night soon spread to Lu Zhi County, and to the ears of Mei Zhihuan, Li Changgeng and others.

Lu Jinxi was glad that a turmoil was pacified in time, and he was very dissatisfied with Zhao Xiancheng, who caused the incident, and called him to criticize him very harshly. After Zhao Xiancheng left in embarrassment, Lu Jinxi secretly sighed, fortunately, Liu Jun appeared in time and skillfully appeased the matter. Otherwise, he would really be the head of the county.

Lu Zhixian suddenly found that in recent times, the name Liu Jun has appeared in his ears more and more frequently. The tragedy of Linjiazhai exterminating the village, which once made him panic, finally Liu Jun quietly took the initiative to find and exterminate Da-Mazi, and even later in the battle of Qiting's crackdown on the thief's den, Liu Jun also made great contributions.

And this time, thanks to him.

This Liu Jun, it's really right to let him be an inspector. At the beginning, when Mei Zhihuan proposed to let him do the inspection of Hutou Pass, Lu knew that he was still a little unhappy in his heart, who would have thought that this kid would be so good.

At the foot of the Turtle Mountain in the east of the county, Li Changgeng has built a villa here, which is quiet and elegant, especially in summer, it is extremely cool here. After Zhishi, Li Changgeng spent most of his summer here.

Today's weather is fine, Mei Zhihuan is not invited, and the two of them come to the river together to hook fish, fishing under the shade of the tree, which is also quite a rare taste.

Mei Zhihuan is wearing a straw hat and a short cloth coat today, like an old farmer's outfit.

"I heard that the public album is going to Nanjing?"

"I've already left this morning." Li Changgeng's long-sleeved shirt, coupled with his long white beard, is very elegant.

Mei Zhihuan chuckled twice, "Actually, the nine-headed bird he and Liu Jun made is very interesting, it's still early to try, stay in the team for a while longer, it will be more rewarding." ”

"This period of time has helped Chunjiang a lot, but Chunjiang is still not suitable for the army after all. But that Liu Jun is like a general who leads troops to fight, courageous and wise, brave and strategic, so young, so sharp, quite rare. It's just too rigid, and I'm afraid it's in danger of breaking. Li Changgeng has also been paying attention to the Nine-headed Bird team, and he really has a feeling of surprise and appreciation the more he looks at the deputy chosen by his nephew.

"In this world, what is lacking is people like Liu Jiye. Such people are not afraid of many, but too few. Now that this day has reached an unprecedented critical time, it is a pity that there are few people who can see the situation clearly. Mei Zhihuan sighed, at the beginning of Emperor Chongzhen's accession to the throne, the Tartars invaded the territory, and the emperor summoned him to lead his troops to serve the king. As a result, he walked halfway, but there were criminals in the rear, and he decisively ordered to return to the division to quell the chaos. When he put down the rebellion and then sent troops into Beijing, when he arrived, the Houjin thieves had retreated, but the emperor condemned him and drove him back to his hometown.

Later, he was involved in the struggle between the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party, and although the Eunuch Party fell and he was also restored to his official position, he was never given a substantive position again.

As a member of the Donglin Party, Mei Zhihuan is one of the few people who are more decent and have a clearer view of the situation in the world. Last year, after the Jin invasion of the border, the imperial court transferred Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou, who were in charge of the thieves in the Central Plains, to Beijing, but in the end, the Jin still went to Shandong, broke through the Jinan Mansion, and finally plundered and then went away and calmly returned to Liaodong.

However, the transfer of Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou, the two general of the flat thief, and the entry of the elite soldiers of the flat thief into Beijing, made the good situation of the flat thief fall short, especially after Xiong Wencan succeeded to the post of the Central Plains thief, he actually did not take the opportunity to exterminate the bandits who had reached the end of the situation in one fell swoop, but stopped the troops, and played the trick of appeasement, so that Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, Li Zicheng, Lao Huihui and other thieves were able to breathe for a long time, and got the opportunity to recuperate, and now they have finally made a comeback, and the bandits from all over the country have re-emerged.

Having missed such a good opportunity to level the thieves, it will be quite difficult to exterminate these bandits again. There is no time to lose. The Central Plains is erosive, the bandits are not appeased, but the Houjin outside the gate is getting stronger and stronger, internal and external troubles, and the Ming Dynasty is already in danger of falling apart.

Although Mei Zhihuan works very hard, he can at most affect a corner of eastern Hubei Province.

Li Changgeng quietly held the fishing rod, looked at the calm water, and listened to the cicadas in the trees. "Daming has reached this point today, how can it be an overnight thing, freezing three feet, not a day's cold. Now the situation is weak. Suppress bandits and bandits, maybe one day this bandit will take over the world and sit in the Golden Palace. ”

Li Changgeng has done four books, and he has also served as the governor of Shandong, and he has been an official all his life, and he has a clear view of the erosion of the Ming Dynasty. In his opinion, if it goes on like this, it won't be long before the dynasty will change. It's just that I don't know if it will be Zhang Xianzhong or Luo Rucai, or Ma Huihui or Ge Liyan, or Li Zicheng.

In his opinion, if it weren't for the fact that these thieves were bent on plundering, did not establish a basis, and did not determine the tax system, maybe they would not have been able to hold it tomorrow. However, the thieves are getting stronger day by day, and sooner or later they will wake up, and then they will no longer just blindly wander, and when they settle down to establish a base, they will then set up an official system and a tax system, and win over the gentry, then the world will really change.

Li Changgeng felt that he couldn't change these things, and no one could change them. In his opinion, no matter who will sit in this world in the future, this world will still be the world of gentry and landlords, and it will definitely not be the world of farmers, craftsmen and displaced people.

The Jinshi of the Ming Dynasty will also be the Jinshi of the New Dynasty in the future.

The emperor will change, but the owner of the land in this place will not change.

Mei Zhihuan didn't like this point of view, "The Restoration Society is not a good thing, it is even worse than Donglin, and it is useless for Chunjiang to join the Restoration Society, it will only talk about misleading the country." I have been in the office all my life, and when I am old, I can be regarded as realizing something, just it will be useless, and the key is to do it. If I have a few more Yu Qian, Zhang Juzheng, Qi Jiguang, this Ming may still have the hope of Zhongxing. But looking at the current situation, I am afraid that when the time comes, you and I will not only be slaves of the country, but also slaves of the family. ”

Li Changgeng frowned, "I admit that Houjin is very strong, in the past few years, they have pressed Mongolia to force North Korea, and have repeatedly entered Guanzhong. But in the final analysis, the population of Houjin is so large that I don't believe that they can occupy the Central Plains. I want to think that Liaojin occupied half of the Central Plains, but didn't the Song Dynasty last for hundreds of years? ”

Li Changgeng seems that if he can face up to the thieves, even if the future Jin is strong again, the Ming Dynasty can still move the capital to Nanjing, divide the river and rule, and defend half of the country. If the Ming Dynasty can't face up to the harm of the thieves, then the world is likely to be destroyed by the thieves, and the Ming Dynasty will be replaced by the thieves. ”

"We don't have to fight for this, anyway, we are all this age, and we won't live for a few years, and then the sky will fall apart, or the flood will be monstrous, we won't be able to see it anyway."

Both were silent for a moment. It is impossible to leave it alone. Their families are all here, and the world is in turmoil, even if it is a local wealthy family, it is dangerous.

"Will the fifth battalion on the left call?"

"Not for the time being, the thief just tried it last time, and after being slashed by Liu Jun, he retracted and didn't move." Mei Zhihuan replied.

"What about Xiangyang, what is the movement of the official army?"

"That's not it, the imperial court let Yang Sichang and Xiong Wencan be responsible for suppressing the bandits, but Yang Sichang is still in Beijing, Xiong Wencan is still the prime minister, but it is clear that the imperial court just let him temporarily lead the bandits, but let him wait until Yang Sichang comes to hand over. As soon as Yang Sichang arrived, Xiong Wencan couldn't escape the result of a lock to enter Beijing. ”

"Are you not optimistic about Yang Sichang?"

"If Sun Chuanting or Hong Chengchou is okay, even Lu Xiangsheng, who just died in battle, is stronger than Yang Sichang, although the emperor trusts him, but Yang doesn't really know the soldiers, what hope is there for such a commander."

"Then Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Ru will not go east, go to Nanzhili to join the Huizuo Fifth Battalion, attack Jiangbei, and attack Nanjing?" Although Li Changgeng has been in a high position in the center for a long time, he is not good at military affairs. However, Mei Zhihuan is obviously better than him in this aspect, so he asked humbly.

"Now the imperial court has heavy troops stationed in Henan and Xiangyang, Zhang Xianzhong and they are difficult to advance eastward, but it is very likely to enter Bashu, where the garrison is weak, the road is dangerous, although the officers and soldiers have cannons but difficult to carry, but the thieves can wander around. The thieves have experienced the attack and suppression of Sun Chuanting and others, and their strength has been weakened to a certain extent, and now they are rebelling again, what they need most is to wander. The thieves are first-class, and they can quickly roll up hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of men and horses, and rob a large amount of money, food, materials, and ordnance. I just hope that I don't wander to eastern Hubei Province. ”

Li Changgeng also sighed.

"Looking at the Di newspaper, the imperial court is leviing salaries again, and the towns are also training their troops, and at the same time, the prefectures and counties are practicing bravery."

Mei Zhihuan sneered, "It's not easy to use what sounds good, and the things that fool the emperor are just given to the towns in the name of greedy money." ”

"According to the will, Macheng County should also train 500 Lian Yong, and withdraw the county master book, set up the post of Lian Yong as the commander, and set up the post of Lian Yong to lead the Lian Yong, and the general manager will set the rank of the general position according to the border army of the Beijing camp, and the grade will be set from the eighth grade." Li Changgeng said lightly.

"What do you mean by that?" Mei Zhihuan asked strangely, could it be that Li Changgeng still likes such a Lian general manager from the eighth grade, or that the Li family has children and nephews who want this official? But Li Chunjiang went to Nanjing, and Li Changgeng's two sons, Li Chunchao and Li Chunhong, were also dedicated to the imperial examination.

Li Changgeng lifted the rod fiercely, and a hooked carp was being lifted out of the water. Li Changgeng said with a smile while closing the rod, "It's a public series, before I left this morning, I told me a lot, and finally brought it up, wanting me to do me a favor and let Liu Jun be the general manager of this Macheng practice." I don't have the ability to do this, I have to find you for this matter, okay, you don't have a word. ”

Mei Zhihuan scolded with a smile, "You old thing, what do you mean that you don't have this ability, and you can't do anything with me?" Speaking of which, this nine-headed bird team is still in the name of your Li family, and Liu Jun is also a member of your Li family. ”

"Don't say that, the Nine-Headed Bird Team is still a subordinate of the Baoshengbao Township Regiment, and you are Liu Jun's boss."

The two laughed and scolded like this, but they also told part of the truth, no matter what, today's Nine-headed Bird and Liu Jun, in the eyes of outsiders, are actually just a team under the name of the Mei family and the Li family, he belongs to the Mei and Li families, and does not really belong to Liu Jun.

"Okay, you can't say a word." Li Changgeng unhooked the carp and put it in the bucket.

"Of course there's no problem, he has this qualification, but he's just been promoted to patrol inspection, and he's still a temporary agent. I have to let him really sit in the inspection position first, and then he will be promoted to the general. Anyway, this practice is useless except for the grade, five hundred practice bravery, not all farmers in groups, and they can't practice for two months a year, which is costly, laborious and time-consuming, but it is useless. ”

"I made a note of your promise, in short, you agreed to this matter, if it doesn't work out by then, I will let Chunjiang find you, it's none of my business." Li Changgeng loaded the bait and threw off the hook into the water.