Outside a forest three miles outside the Wendeng camp, there were clear posts of the Chinese Guards, and in winter the woods were only bare branches, and the ground was covered with snow.

Chen Xin walked into the woods with the sea dog and the liaison officer of the intelligence bureau, where he met Wu Jianzhong, who had just returned, and was listening to his report.

"There are more than 300 people in this group of Ruershan, and the tiger promised to send the eldest son and the eldest woman as hostages, he wants to meet the adults, 1 The villain does not know the intentions of the adults, and has not yet accepted him, nor has he told the identity of the adults."

Wu Jianzhong still looks calm, Chen Xin admires his action very much, it can be seen from this incident that Wu Jianzhong has a kind of courage to overcome difficulties, in Wu Jianzhong's belief, the most important thing is to complete the orders of the Shangguan under any circumstances, just like when he crossed Liaoxi on foot, this seems to be a kind of innate toughness in Chapter 82, this kind of subordinate who is not afraid of hardships and dangers is liked by any superior.

After listening to his report at this time, Chen Xin thought for a while, and did not answer whether he saw the Tigers, "How did you arrange the Tigers?" ”

Wu Jianzhong looked up in surprise, he was only thinking about subduing the bandits, but he didn't think about what to do later.

Seeing this, Chen Xin smiled, found a stone and sat down, pointed to a stone opposite, and motioned for Wu Jianzhong to sit too.

Chen Xin said: "The soldiers of the Wendeng battalion are my right hand, and the intelligence bureau is my left hand, and now the soldiers are already famous all over the world, looking very beautiful, the intelligence bureau is still not famous for the time being, but it is very important to the officer, the importance of the intelligence bureau lies in the hidden power, you can control some scattered forces with fewer resources, these bandits are such forces, the biggest disadvantage is that you must be hidden, even if you are caught, I will not admit that you are my Wendeng battalion." ”

Wu Jianzhong somewhat understood but he didn't care about his situation, looking at Chen Xin's meaning, the Tiger was just the beginning, he wanted to control a group of secret forces, and asked after thinking: "Chapter 82 Choose adults, there are many bandits in the mountains, and some bandits cannot be subdued." ”

Chen Xin said with a smile: "Exactly, what we can subdue, most of them will not be the strongest bandits, maybe they will be eaten one day, we have to let people help do things, the benefits are indispensable, but I will not give silver, this benefit is that it can help them destroy the nearby bandits, let him become the largest bandit, and the benefits behind it, of course, will depend on him to take it." ”

Wu Jianzhong arched his hand and said, "My subordinates understand." ”

"Then think about it now, what benefits you can give to the Tiger."

"There are three bandit villages next to the Tiger of Laojun Mountain, Niutou Mountain, and Huanxiling, and there are many fires with the Tiger on weekdays, and the subordinates ask the Lord to send soldiers to eliminate the three bandits and let the Tiger absorb those bandits, so that he is the top cottage of the Daze Mountain Platoon, which is the benefit of the moment."

Chen Xin nodded and smiled: "That's right, you don't have to see me if you want to see me, and don't tell him that you are under the orders of this official, just let him know that you are from Wendeng Camp." This officer left a combat division and a special service team here, and they were not allowed to participate in the battle and then let them take it after the battle. ”

"Understood."

"After defeating the three bandit villages, the soldiers want to chase the army, and you stay in Pingdu Prefecture to control the tiger, and ensure the transmission of information."

Wu Jianzhong agreed one by one, in fact, according to what he thought in his heart, he still liked to fight with Jiannu the most, but since Chen Xin thought that he was suitable for doing this, he could only do it first.

"These bandits will soon be useful, and the family members of the Tripping Tiger will be sent to Wendeng as soon as they are in hand, and you will stay at the Pingdu Prefecture Contact Point to wait for orders, but you have to remember that you are only in contact with the Tripping Tiger, and the other bandits will not know your background."

Chen Xin was very satisfied with this calm subordinate, and advised: "Originally, I planned to let you be in charge of Liaodong intelligence, but now we have no place to stand in Liaodong, you are a familiar face on Phi Island, and there are many difficulties, and you can't do it if you want to, so I will do this first, there are many heroes in the green forest in Shandong, and this line will be extended outward in the future." There are many things that we can't do conveniently, so we need these people to do it. ”

"Yes, please assign the battalion, and the villain will be the guide, and immediately take them to clear the three bandit villages." ……

The news of the mutiny on Phi Island soon spread to Dengzhou, Wang Tingqian and other Qin Cha were ready to leave at this time, return to the capital to resume their lives, and stayed after hearing the news, Sun Yuanhua was completely panicked, he scolded Huang Long, and once wanted Kong Youde and others to return to the division, ready to suppress the Phi Island rebellion, but at this time Phi Island has been frozen, and the Dengzhou Navy Division cannot go to support, and a qiē can only count on the interior of Dongjiang Town.

Sun Yuanhua is already anxious about the situation, judging from his current political achievements, even if Zhou Yanru takes care of him, the best outcome is just to go to work and stay idle, but after being an official for a long time, the taste of power is also very attractive, and Sun Yuanhua always holds the last glimmer of hope.

He thought about it again and again, Da Ling River is the center of gravity of the imperial court at the moment, even if Dongjiang Town mutinies, it is far east of the Liaohai Sea, obviously the political impact of rescuing Da Ling River is higher, so Kong Youde and others must continue to aid Liao, and the speed must be accelerated.

His order was soon passed to Kong Youde's department through Guò Tangma, and at this time, Kong Youde's department had also received the news, and they camped in the south of Pingdu Prefecture City, resting for two days, originally full of hope that they could return to Dengzhou, but now they were given instructions to speed up, and these Liao soldiers immediately complained.

This Dengzhou army has a total of 3,300 soldiers, including nearly 900 cavalry, most of whom are the families of the generals, and their grain and grass have been insufficient, Qixia, Laiyang and Pingdu Prefecture have refused to provide grain and grass, including the Wendeng camp, Chen Xinwei was welcomed in Laiyang, because the officials and people of Laiyang still remember the rescue grace of the Wendeng camp in their own years. Where Kong Youde's department passed, the gates of the cities were closed, and they were not even allowed to enter the city to purchase, they marched in the Ming Dynasty, but they were no different from the outer line of the march, plus they brought very little military salary, often hungry and full, and the journey of thousands of miles behind made Kong Department daunting.

After the news of the chaos on Phi Island spread, it also gave these Liao soldiers a hint, it seems that it is a normal situation for soldiers to make some trouble, think about the Guanning Army in western Liaoning, Zu Dashou needless to say, the other rebels forced the governor Bi Zisu to death, and arrested the deputy general Mao Yuanyi, and in the end there was no severe punishment.

Eating and dressing are problems, military discipline can not be maintained, Dengzhou soldiers all the way to steal chickens and dogs in the countryside and openly rob civilians, the purpose of these Liao troops is only to grab food, they still have a kind of sincere fear of the foreigner mentality in Shandong, the courage is not too big, murder and adultery dare not do, nor dare to rob the gentry big households, Kong Youde in Dengzhou has suffered enough of the gentry, can only respect these people and stay away.

They went all the way to Pingdu Prefecture, and at this time the Wendeng camp was preparing to leave, leaving only a small force to clear out a few bandits in Daze Mountain, on the grounds that the bandits had robbed the military rations of the Wendeng camp, and Pingdu Prefecture could not verify it, and neither supported nor opposed.

The situation of the Dengzhou soldiers was fed back to Chen Xin one by one by the sentinels contacted by Wendeng, and Kong Youde's department did not improve because of his arrival, and now it only depends on where they began to break out, Chen Xin immediately sent the sentinels to the south of Pingduzhou City, and asked Kong Youde to come to the Wendeng camp to meet.

Kong Youde, who was five big and three thick, came to Chen Xin to greet him at the camp gate in person, Kong Youde's face was haggard, and he bowed to Chen Xin after jumping off the warhorse, although both of them were generals, Chen Xin's loose rank was higher than him, and his strength was much stronger than him, and his life was also more moisturized than him.

Chen Xin smiled in return, and looked at Kong Youde, this Dingdong miner has almost not changed from last year's meeting, from Chen Xin's heart, he has some admiration for Kong Youde, a group of Dongshan miners, and dared to fight with Jiannu when Nurhachi's military power was at its peak, Kong Youde was not bad after coming to Dongjiang Town, at least he dared to fight in Liaodong. With the killing of Mao Wenlong, this group of Liao people who lived on the island came to Dengzhou again, with an inferiority complex of leaving their homeland from beginning to end.

From the information collected by Chen Xin in the past two years, they are far from being as domineering as the Guanning army in Dengzhou, and what they have to endure, in addition to the common problem of the Ming army's withholding salary, is more hostile to the immigrants of the locals, this kind of vigilance is everywhere, these Liao people are as cautious as little daughters-in-law, 1 carefully deal with the civilian officials and the local gentry, if this patience reaches a critical point, their outburst of anger can make these once cautious soldiers become extremely cruel.

Chen Xin invited Kong Youde into the big tent, Kong Youde saw the solemn scene of the camp all the way, secretly envious in his heart, and sighed at the gap in the situation, I heard that this Chen Xin is also a Liao people, Kong Youde followed Mao Wenlong to build slaves in Liaodong, this Chen Xin did not know where to beg for food, the seven years of the Apocalypse only became a guard of 100 households, five years has already had a power far beyond Kong Youde, Kong Youde has heard some rumors, it is said that Chen Xin was valued by the emperor and many cabinet elders in the court, so he dared not to give Sun Yuanhua face.

When Sun Yuanhua sent out the army, he told him not to get mixed with Chen Xin, Kong Youde promised at the time, but he had his own plans in his heart, this time after all, it was to aid Liao, Chen Xin's Wendeng battalion was strong, and a good relationship with him could save his life, so as soon as Chen Xin was summoned, Kong Youde could only rush over.

Kong Youde brought someone into the tent and sat in a corner on the chair, he tried to keep his voice as low as possible, and put on a subordinate posture, "Lord Chen, this is Li Yingyuan, the general manager of Zhongying." ”

Chen Xin smiled and nodded at Li Yingyuan, Li Yingyuan's temperament was gloomy, with a kind of rebelliousness in his eyes, he knelt down and said loudly: "I've seen Lord Chen, 1 The villain heard my father say that he had seen the adult in Wendeng, and he has been looking forward to seeing the adult, and today is a thought of the villain." ”

Chen Xin said politely: "Li Qian has won the award, I don't know who Ling Zun is?" ”

"My father is Li Jiucheng."

"Oh." Chen Xin vaguely remembered the military general who came with Sun Yuanhua last year, and his impression was full of fierceness, at that time, Lu Zhi also planned to let him go to the county government to check the tax accounts, according to the latest summary reported by the Intelligence Bureau, Li Jiucheng is now a guerrilla in the standard camp, Chen Xin stretched out his hand slightly: "It turned out to be Lord Li's son, it is really a general, please get up." ”

After Li Yingyuan got up, Chen Xin continued to ask, "Is General Li also in your army this time?" ”

"A few months ago, the governor sent my father to buy horses in the border area, and he has not returned.

Chen Xin knew that the silver was specially applied for by Sun Yuanhua at the beginning of the year, when Zhou Yanru beat the side drum, Chongzhen was responsive, and the Ministry of Industry provided the purchase of horse silver, a total of 20,000 taels, and the horses bought in Biansai and Mongolia are generally about 20 taels, enough to buy 1,000 horses, plus the loss of the journey, seven or eight hundred war horses should be there. When Chen Xin went to Dengzhou in March, Sun Yuanhua also told Chen Xin to wait for the horse to buy it back and give Wendeng a part of it.

"General Li's father and son are all hard, Li Qian is always a tiger, follow General Kong well, if there is frequent turmoil today, it is the time for my generation to make contributions." Chen Xin encouraged Li Yingyuan a few words, which was considered to be done with etiquette, and then turned to Kong Youde.

"General Kong, yesterday Dengzhou sent a military order to speed up our troops to Liaozhen, did General Kong receive the same?"

Kong Youde still has a cautious nose, which is in strong contrast with his appearance of five big and three thick, and he said softly: "I also received it, but it is not easy to get up quickly, I don't know what strategy Lord Chen has, and the lower officials are willing to obey the arrangement of the adults." ”

Chen Xin listened to his tone, he planned to send troops to listen to his own command this time, but he knew that it was limited to this battle, the Ming Dynasty has always used civilian military control, and after the Ming Dynasty, the civilian power comprehensively suppressed the generals, and even the martial artists themselves looked down on themselves, even if they wanted to take refuge, they also wanted to take refuge in civilian officials, and they would not take refuge in themselves as a military attache at the same level, and even if Chen Xin became the chief soldier of Denglai, he was only a higher rank than the general, and he could only manage the barracks in peacetime, and could not manage the military salaries and personnel of other strange soldiers and reinforcements. The relationship between the generals and the generals is not completely subordinate and subordinate, but usually more like a separate department, under the unified management of the governor's yamen, and the governor controls personnel and salaries, which is the system and material basis for using civil and military forces.

So whether Kong Youde wants it or not, he can't take the team to Chen Xin, unless he gives up his official position and takes refuge, but obviously it's even more impossible. After thinking about this, Chen Xin said to Kong Youde: "Since the governor has an order, we soldiers naturally have to obey it, and this official plans to march tomorrow for sixty to seventy miles a day, but this route, I still want to hear what General Kong means." ”

Kong Youde was flattered, and after thinking about it, he replied: "I think that after passing Pingdu Prefecture, you can go to Changyi, Shouguang, and Le'an to Wuding Prefecture, and then go to Dezhou Mansion and go north along the canal, where it is easier to buy grain in winter." ”

Chen Xin took out his map, he looked at the route that Kong Youde said, it was almost the same as his plan, and he didn't know where Kong Youde rebelled, so he frowned and didn't speak.

Li Yingyuan interjected: "Our standard camp can walk up to thirty or forty miles a day, and the grain and grass are also insufficient, I'm afraid we can't keep up with the adults." ”

Chen Xin touched his chin, Kong Youde should want to follow him and take care of his salary. Kong Youde's rebellion is an opportunity that Chen Xin has been waiting for for a long time, but now Kong Youde is standing in front of him, there is no arrogant appearance at all, he also knows the misery of the Liao people in Dengzhou, and there is a trace of unbearability in his heart, if he helps Kong Youde provide some supplies, this group of people may not rebel, maybe secretly take refuge in themselves, and they don't have to be traitors.

But this fluctuation of this sentiment was only for a moment, and soon he overturned this impulse, how long Zu Dashou could keep, Chen Xin did not know, but he knew very well that he could not just take these two thousand people to Liaodong, and the other troops of Wendeng were not registered in the imperial court, and it was impossible for them to appear in Liaozhen with swagger, if Kong Youde did not rebel, they could only go all the way to Liaodong.

When he arrived in Dalinghe City, if he lost, most of his head would be cut off by Jiannu, and if he won, it would not be of much benefit to Chen Xin, Sun Yuanhua may stay in office because of this, Zhou Yanru may continue to be the first assistant, the situation in Dengzhou is still dominated by the local gentry, and Chen Xin is a foreigner in the end, Wendeng Camp is also mainly a homeless person, without liquidation, the land and resources are in the hands of officials and gentry, and it cannot be transformed into the strength to fight Jiannu at all, and Wendeng Camp is still just a bargaining chip in the hands of others.

And Kong Youde himself is just an old-style general, and he is not a necessary talent for the Wendeng battalion, and the information collected from the intelligence bureau shows that he drinks the blood of the soldiers and eats empty salaries no worse than the regular barracks.

Chen Xin raised his head and looked at the wrinkled and hopeful face of Youde on the opposite side, "In this way, this official will take Wen to the camp first, and the food and salary of our department are also insufficient, I am afraid that I will not be able to supplement your department, please forgive General Kong." ”

Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng suddenly had a disappointed expression on their faces, Chen Xin made up his mind, served tea and sent off the guests after a little greeting, and sent a small amount of pork and mutton to the two of them, Kong Youde took it and left with the troops, Chen Xin personally sent out of the camp gate, and the backs of a group of Liao soldiers were far away in the wind and snow, desolate and lonely.

(To be continued!!