After listening to Yang Sichang's words, Chongzhen took a deep breath and said, "Since Aiqing has already found out, let's talk about it!" ”

"Obey the order!"

Yang Sichang respectfully gave a salute, and then said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the minister has found out that Pang Gang and last year in Qingzhou built a warship without authorization to recruit sailors to form a sailor, and the scale is quite huge, according to the spies, Qingzhou now has at least 2,000 or more large ships and 20 large ships, 1,000 ships and 100 ships, and the ships are equipped with artillery, just a few months ago they also fought with the Fujian guerrilla general Zheng Zhilong's sailors, and sank Zheng Zhilong's dozens of warships. As for Pang Gang on land, he also recruited nearly 30,000 troops without authorization, but Pang Gang was still not satisfied, they said some time ago that they were still expanding their troops in Jinan by 20,000, if they were recruited, Pang Gang would have 50,000 troops under him, and the minister also found out ......"

"Enough!"

A low angry shout interrupted Yang Sichang's report, and Chongzhen, who had stood up at some point, had already clasped his two hands tightly together, and the back of his trembling hand had already revealed green tendons.

Chongzhen's trembling hand pointed at Yang Sichang and shouted angrily: "You guys...... You're all a bunch of rice buckets, rice buckets! ”

Chongzhen, who was shocked, didn't know how to describe his feelings, he didn't expect that in just over a year, Pang Gang would quietly develop such a powerful army in Shandong, and even a big silver-consuming household like the water division also has. In fact, the reason why the emperors of the Ming Dynasty listened to the instigation of the civil official group and ordered the ban on the sea was that they did not see the benefits of maritime trade, and secondly, that the sailors from ancient times to the present day were a big money-burners, and the silver taels needed to maintain a sailor were too huge, big enough to drag down the fragile finances of the Ming Dynasty.

But now Yang Sichang has come to report to himself, saying that Qingzhou already has a sailor with at least 100 ships, which makes Chongzhen, who claims to be the son of sainthood, embarrassed.

Facing Chongzhen, who was furious, Yang Sichang knelt down silently, he knew that Chongzhen, who was angry at this time, would not listen to any words.

"I value him so much, but he ...... is so domineering, I swear to punish him! Assemble...... The army ......"

Chongzhen said something that others couldn't understand, his hands were still dancing unconsciously, his face was flushed abnormally, where he gritted his teeth and roared, he was very emotional, and it took a while before he gradually calmed down.

"Okay, Yang Aiqing, get up first!"

Chongzhen, who calmed down, took a deep breath and waved his hand to signal Yang Sichang to stand up, and after he waited for Yang Sichang to stand up, he said: "Yang Aiqing, yesterday it was said that Liu Yuliang, the governor of Henan, came to report that the Liukou was raging in Henan, and he was attacking Luoyang first, but Luoyang only had thousands of soldiers, and he sent a request for help. ”

Yang Sichang smiled bitterly, "The emperor forgives the sin, and the minister has one more thing to report to you." ”

"Oh, anything else?" Chongzhen's brows furrowed again, "What's the matter?" ”

Yang Sichang lowered his head and said, "That's it...... According to the report from the spies, now Pang Gang has led the Qingzhou Army straight to Luoyang, and now I am afraid that he is almost in Luoyang. ”

"What!" The teacup in Chongzhen's hand slammed to the ground......

It is said that after the prefect of Wei Hui came out of the yamen, he led a cadre of officials to borrow grain from the rich gentry in the city, and worked all night, so that he could gather enough grain of 3,000 stones, and early in the second morning, he took the opportunity to accompany Lu Weiqi and the others out of the city to send the grain and livestock to Pang Gang's military camp.

Pang Gang was not very much after receiving the grain and livestock, and after meeting with Lu Weiqi, he ordered the whole army to set up camp, watching the mighty army march all the way west, the shame and anger in Fang Shoudi's heart surged from his heart again, and he stomped his feet with hatred, "Vulgar martial artist, you just wait for the old man's impeachment!" ”

Pang Gang naturally didn't have the heart to pay attention to the hatred of a certain little person, after they went on the road, the army began to drive towards Huaiqing Mansion, Huaiqing Mansion is the gateway to Luoyang, as long as it passes Huaiqing Mansion, it will be considered to the ground in Luoyang.

Two days later, Pang Gang's team had arrived at Huaiqing Mansion, because Lu Weiqi and the others were worried about Luoyang, and they were afraid that something would change, so Pang Gang and others did not stay in Huaiqing Mansion, but went directly around Huaiqing City.

After passing through Huaiqing Mansion, Pang Gang found that the situation here was even worse, Pang Gang rode on his maroon war horse, looked around, and his heart twitched for a while.

At this time, the scenery presented before him was miserable, all around him was yellow and white, there were no leaves, no bark, no blades of grass, because they were all eaten up by the hungry, and the trees he saw along the way were bare in the yellow earth with their trunks trembling in the wind, and a gust of wind came and was full of dust.

There was no river to be seen on the ground, because it was all dried up. The fields and rivers are all seeping cracks, and the sky is full of "dark clouds", which is the effect of overwhelming locusts flying in.

Most of the villages and towns on the road were deserted, and the road was full of starvation, bones, and all kinds of people who had died. Even if there are people alive, they still have a pair of eyes with a green light, which is a sign of hunger and dizziness. There are also hordes of people who cut the flesh of those who have fallen to eat, and the dead babies who have been donated are everywhere.

"Plague of insects, that's a plague of locusts!"

Pang Gang trembled in his heart and screamed. He is very aware of the dangers of locust plagues, there is an ancient Chinese saying called "locusts in drought", it seems that Henan Province must have suffered a major drought this year, otherwise there will never be such a large-scale locust plague.

He hurriedly rode his horse to Li Xianfeng's carriage, opened the curtain and said to him eagerly through the window: "Lord Li, has the locust plague in Henan been so serious?" ”

"yes!" Li Xianfeng said with a wry smile: "Compared with the huge people, I have also seen that most of the western part of Henan has been affected by disasters, many farmers have no harvest, many people have been starved to death, the situation has reached a very critical point, and the situation has reached a very critical point after Chuang Chao and others entered Henan, now you understand why the old man and the Confucian Duke are urging you to hurry so much." ”

"I get it!" Pang Gang sighed, Henan has been known as a place for soldiers since ancient times, and it is also a place of four wars, whenever there is a war together, the two sides will definitely take the lead in fighting for it, and now it has been plagued by locusts, it is really a disaster!

Pang Gang put down the curtain and walked away in a heavy mood, Pang Gang, who was riding on a red horse, marched, and at the same time remembered the things sent by the former Weihui Mansion, he summoned Meng Qing, the counselor of the army who was in charge of the army, "Counselor Meng, how is the grain and grass in the army replenished?" ”

Meng Qing's spirit is very good, he is wearing a light stainless steel armor, due to sufficient nutrition and regular exercise, his face is very ruddy, after hearing Pang Gang's question, he replied with a smile: "My lord, rest assured, with those three thousand stone grain, not only will our losses be replenished, but also there will be some surplus, and we don't have to worry about the food problem within a month." ”

"That's good!"

Pang Gang sighed, he looked at the dead corpses that flashed in his eyes from time to time on the side of the road, and only felt panic in his heart. It stands to reason that it has been almost three years since he came to this era, but he still can't get used to some things, in later generations, if a person starves to death in society, it will be a big news sensation across the country, which is like now, and people who starve to death are lined up for more than ten miles.

For this reason, Pang Gang finally understood why some people in later generations would say that the old society was evil, and the word "starvation" was really not just talking, this is the living reality in front of him!

"We can't go on like this." Pang Gang secretly clenched his fists, this troubled era must have an end, otherwise if history is allowed to develop according to the original habitual surname, what is the point of him coming to this era.

At the same time, to the west of Huaiqing Mansion, Gu Chen led a team to walk on the desolate land at night, and Gu Chen looked at the terrain in front of him as he walked. After many years of military career, he was very alert and experienced on the battlefield. After so many tests of blood and fire, Gu Chen and the others had reached the pinnacle in terms of experience, martial arts, and skills.

"Gutou, there's a river ahead!" A night in front of the night did not close the voice with surprise sounded in front, Gu Chen saw that there was a small river in the distance, it was not dry, it was still flowing in the river. Seeing that there were still some forests on both sides of the river, the hills were undulating, which was very conducive to infantry combat, Gu Chen's heart moved, and he raised his hand to let everyone stop coming and advancing, and six or seven people immediately reined in the horses.

Gu Chen said coldly: "Everyone be careful, this is a good place to set up an ambush, and now everyone is looking for a place to hide." ”

After speaking, Gu Chen took out a monocular clairvoyant from his bag and looked at the hills four or five hundred steps ahead, using the clairvoyance to carefully observe the movements of the hills not far away. It is good to have a clairvoyant, stand tall, see far, and what cannot be seen with the naked eye can be seen very clearly with a clairvoyant.

In the Qingzhou Army, the clairvoyant mirror is a rare thing, it has always only been equipped with officers above 1,000 generals, Gu Chen's clairvoyant mirror was rewarded to him because of his great achievements, and the signature engraved on it can make Gu Chen puff up his chest before the rest of the night officers.

"Well, that's ......"

Gu Chen's eyes, who were observing with the clairvoyant mirror, suddenly froze, and a group of people wearing various costumes appeared in the lens of his clairvoyant mirror, dense figures spread all over the hills, Gu Chen roughly counted at least seven or eight thousand people, although they all tried their best to bow down and sit on the ground, but there were still many people talking, obviously their military discipline was not very strict.

"It's not good, that's a rogue, they're going to ambush our army!" Gu Chen's face changed slightly.

(To be continued)