Of course, Xu Minlian, the timid and cowardly Taishou of Qiaojun, did not dare to say any lies in the six-hundred-mile urgent victory to the eastern capital, and after the easy victory in the dock ambush, he only rested for one day, Chen Yingliang immediately organized the local army of Yongcheng to launch a counterattack against the nest of Mangdang Mountain, with the national army as the vanguard, and the captured bandit soldiers as guides, it didn't take much effort to kill in front of the Tian bandit cottage located in the depths of the mountains and forests. Before that, Chen Yingliang asked Xu Minlian to urgently transfer the garrison of Qian County to the east to Jishan, and also used the prisoners as guides to attack the Jishan cottage of Zhang Qian's gang, leaving no time for the enemy.

It is not so much to attack the cottage, but to fight the bandits, because Chen Yingliang pulled Xu Minlian and promised to break through the Tian bandit cottage in public, and then distributed half of the spoils to the participating teams, as a result, the soldiers and township soldiers in Yongcheng who relied on military rewards and food immediately screamed arrogantly like chicken blood, and when attacking the mountain, they all scrambled to be the first, and they were injured and did not retreat, and the Tian bandit team had just been hit hard, and even Tian Heishe was killed at Yongcheng Wharf, and Tian Baishe was seriously injured and could not control the team, so naturally they could not stop the Sui army from attacking and fighting. After defending for less than half a day, he was forced to abandon the village and flee for his life, Chen Yingliang waved his army and marched forward, completely destroying the cottage that the Tian bandit team was not too strong, seizing a large number of stolen goods looted by the Tian bandit team before, and capturing more than 500 enemies, while Tian Baishe disappeared with a few cronies in the melee.

After taking the Tian Bandit Cottage, after learning that the soldiers and horses of Qian County led by Fang Kuang had still not taken the precipitous Zhang Qian Cottage, Chen Yingliang first burned the Tian Bandit Cottage to ashes with a fire, and then immediately turned around and went south, leading the Yongcheng garrison that had tasted the sweetness to reinforce the Jishan battlefield, and in view of the unfavorable terrain, he did not blindly attack, adopted Ma Sanbao's construction, and let the little bandit soldier He Er who Ma Sanbao saved lead the way, cutting off the two streams that flowed into Zhang Bandit's cottage, so that the enemy had no water to use, and was forced to abandon the village and flee for his life. Then he easily broke through the Zhang bandit cottage, beheaded the stubborn bandit leaders Wang Wu and Zhang Wancheng, and also completely eradicated the Zhang Qian bandits.

At this point, in order to harm the Tongji Canal Canal in the past two years, the two major gangs of the county were completely wiped out, Tian Heishe and Zhang Qian's two major thieves were both subdued, only Tian Baishe was nowhere to be found, but it was destined to have no power to threaten the safety of the Tongji Canal Canal, and the people and merchants who were once miserable because of the rampant thieves in the Tongji Canal were smiling, Chen Yingliang's prestige in the county was greatly boosted, and the people praised each other, but the thieves and bandits were afraid of it like a tiger.

For the ambitious Chen Yingliang personally, the harvest is far more than just fame and official position, the most important thing is that after completely eradicating the two big bandits of the Tian brothers and Zhang Qian, the Tongji Canal in Qian County will definitely be able to obtain peace and tranquility for a period of time, and Chen Yingliang, who must ensure that the Tongji Canal is unimpeded, can free up his hands and concentrate on building his own lineage army, and at the same time, more than 1,600 bandit soldiers have been captured, which also provides Chen Yingliang with enough troops to choose and build an army.

Knowing history and knowing that Emperor Yang of Sui has not been able to jump for a few days, Chen Yingliang naturally refuses to waste half a little time, as early as the siege of the Zhang Qian bandit gang cottage that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, Chen Yingliang has already begun to screen and select prisoners to form an army, the screening condition is that the middle-aged prisoners between the ages of fifteen and forty-five can stay in the army, and then let these captives identify each other's crimes, and those who kill innocent people and **** women will be executed, and the whistleblowers will be rewarded with money, food and food, and the results are very fast. After breaking through Zhang Qian's cottage, Chen Yingliang obtained about 1,100 prisoners with relatively clean criminal records as soldiers, and more than 100 reliable soldiers who took the initiative to expose the crimes of their companions and let them serve as grassroots officers.

At the same time as screening the prisoners and forming an army, the Baoguo Army, which had been delayed for a long time in Qian County, also bid farewell to Chen Yingliang and continued to go east to Jiangdu. In addition, Pei Renji, who received the news, finally sent a soldier to welcome his daughter back to Luoyang, although Chen Yingliang, who was entangled by this little pepper, cheered for this, but he was also a little lost and melancholy, and he still had some conscience to the dock to say goodbye to Pei Cuiyun, and thanked Pei Cuiyun for the many help he had given him these days.

It's a pity that contemporary Chen Shimei and Chen Yingliang rarely found it with their conscience, and went to the dock to bid farewell to Pei Cuiyun, but Pei Cuiyun refused to give Chen Yingliang a good face, ignored it and boarded the boat and left, refusing to even look at Chen Yingliang. As for the reason, it is because Pei Cuiyun asked Chen Yingliang to fulfill his promise and asked Chen Yingliang to immediately terminate the marriage contract with his eldest grandson Xiao Luoli, Chen Yingliang denied that Pei Cuiyun only got Tian Heishe's head and let Tian Baishe run away, and Pei Cuiyun did not complete the agreement, so he did not have to fulfill his promise to promise Pei Cuiyun any conditions, but Pei Cuiyun was of course furious and cut off his righteousness with Xiao Chen Shimei.

Seeing Pei Cuiyun boarding the boat and leaving with a pretty face, Chen Yingliang shook his head and smiled bitterly, but he was inevitably a little guilty, ignoring that his brother-in-law, the eldest grandson Wuji, was next to him, and sighed: "There is no fate, otherwise, this girl may really be my good help." It's a pity that there is no fate. ”

Hearing the words of his future brother-in-law, the eldest grandson Wuji rarely didn't fight for his sister, and said: "Brother, it's a pity that Miss Pei was born in a famous family, and Doctor Pei will never agree to let her be your concubine, otherwise, I will dare to make decisions for my sister and agree with you to accept her as a concubine, she is a good girl, a rare good girl." ”

"What are you talking about? Things are over, let him pass. Chen Yingliang shook his head with a wry smile, looked up at the gray sky, and sighed: "The army is gone, Pei Cuiyun is also gone, the good helpers are gone, and then it's up to us." The road is very difficult to walk, Mowgli, you are my brother-in-law, accompany me on this difficult road, but you must be psychologically prepared to suffer from sin. ”

The eldest grandson Wuji, who had already tasted the warmth and coldness of the world at a young age, nodded silently, and also knew that Chen Yingliang's next road was definitely not so easy to walk, and the Lang uncles felt sad, but they didn't notice that Pei Cuiyun was quietly lifting the corner of the curtain in the cabin, peeking at Chen Yingliang's figure, and said softly, "Take care, negative man, don't forget me." ”

Chen Yingliang's next road is really not easy, although more than 1,100 gang prisoners have been reorganized into an army, but the morale and morale are very low, and loyalty also needs to be tested, these are not big problems for Chen Yingliang, who is good at political commissar tactics, the most troublesome thing is the problem of money and food, the new army wants to eat, drink and Lazar, to have weapons and armor, to have clothes and flags, to have grain, grass and horses, these things need money to buy food in exchange, don't say that Chen Yingliang doesn't know that he will be promoted to the general guard of the county, even if he knows, Chen Yingliang also had to reach out to Taishou Xu Minlian to ask for it.

Fortunately, because the aftermath of the extermination of the two major gangs has not yet been fully dealt with, Xu Minlian, the Taishou of Qian County, is still stranded in Yongxian County, and Chen Yingliang does not need to climb mountains and wade through water to meet Xu Minlian in Qian County to ask for money and food, but after finding Xu Minlian to discuss the issue of money and food, what made Chen Yingliang crooked his nose was that Xu Minlian not only refused to honestly pay money and food, but also persuaded Chen Yingliang not to form so many county soldiers, and to build yì Chen Yingliang like in the eastern capital Luoyang, with the old officers and soldiers of Qian County as the backbone to expand to four regiments, It is impossible to raise so many Qiu Eight Masters, which increases the burden on the people and is easy to arouse suspicion.

As for the reason, it is also very simple, Xu Minlian feels that the two black and white thieves and Zhang Qian have been resolved, and there are only a few small bandits left in the county, and with the current strength of the officials and soldiers of the county, it is already easy to clean up these small thieves, so naturally there is no need to form so many county soldiers.

Hearing Xu Minlian's reason, Chen Yingliang, who had a kind personality, rarely made a squall, stood in front of Xu Minlian and yelled, "The black and white thieves and Zhang Qian have been exterminated, so we can sit back and relax?" Xu Taishou, you shouldn't be dreaming, right? The world is so chaotic now, how many homeless people who are hungry and cold and are about to starve to death in Qiaojun, how many scoundrels who don't want to pay food and taxes, can you count Xu Taishou? These people are hidden thieves, as long as someone raises their arms and shouts, they will immediately respond to the call, and then we will expand our armaments and war, is it too late? ”

"Even if our county's money and food situation is relatively good, and there are fewer rebels, what about the surrounding counties?" Chen Yingliang took out the map of Qian County again, pointed to the surrounding counties and roared: "In Liang County to the north of us, tens of thousands of thieves of Meng Haigong are occupying the mountains in the Zhouqiao area, and the more troublesome they are, the remnants of Han Xiangguo are thousands of people who have been repeatedly suppressed, and they are still wandering in the counties of Liang County!" To the east, the East China Sea thief Kou Peng Xiaocai has flowed into Pengcheng County, Pengcheng stayed behind Dong Chun Dong stayed behind to send troops to conscript, but because Langya Mountain is high and dense, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and the main force of Peng thieves cannot be found at all, Peng Xiaocai also runs away every time he robs, and has been playing hide and seek with Dong Chun, as well as Miao Haichao in Xiapi, Du Fuwei who is flowing to the south, these thieves may flow into our relatively wealthy Qian County at any time, and then we will prepare for war, is it too late? ”

"These thieves are no better than the black and white thieves and Zhang Qian that we just exterminated, the black and white thieves and Zhang Qian only have a total of four or five thousand people, and they can only be regarded as small bandits, but these big traitors have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people at every turn, with the little force in our hands, if they suddenly kill, how can we resist? Xu Taishou, you are also a scholar, the husband is not guilty, don't you understand the truth that he is guilty? Our county is relatively peaceful, and we have more money and food, how can those hungry thieves let us go?! ”

Frightened by Chen Yingliang's angry appearance, and feeling that Chen Yingliang's words were quite reasonable, Xu Minlian, who had a weak personality, finally changed his words and asked cautiously: "Chen Zanzhi, then in your opinion, how many people should we expand the army?" ”

"This year, it will be expanded to fifteen regiments! Next year, it will have to be expanded to at least 25 regiments! ”

Chen Yingliang's categorical answer made Xu Minlian fall directly to the ground again, lying on the ground and wailing that Qian County was only a second-class county and could not afford to raise so many county soldiers, crying bitterly and begging Chen Yingliang to reduce the number of army expansion slightly, but Chen Yingliang did not give an inch, and also moved out the money and grain accounts collected before, and confronted Xu Minlian one by one, pointing out that the money and grain taxes in Qian County could fully afford to support so many troops, and proposed to collect donations from past merchants and exploit merchant ships and civilian ships to support the army. Only then did Xu Minlian reluctantly agree to his army expansion plan, forcing Xu Minlian to take out a lot of money and food to expand his armament for the war.

"Let's expand to fifteen regiments to coax him first, and then find a way to stop him from continuing to expand the army when the world is a little better next year." This was Xu Minlian's true thought when he agreed to Chen Yingliang's plan to expand the army, but unfortunately, it didn't take long for Emperor Yang of Sui to appoint Chen Yingliang as the commander of the county when the edict was sent to the county, Xu Minlian and Xu Taishou also fell to the ground for the third time, because Xu Taishou knew that he could no longer stop Chen Yingliang's crazy expansion of the army, and he could no longer refuse Chen Yingliang's request for money and food.

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty's edict was a talisman for Xu Minlian, but it was a timely rain for Chen Yingliang, with the power of the dethroned civil and military officials in the county, Chen Yingliang seemed to become the emperor and vampire of the county, and vigorously recruited troops and horses. The second order was to require the seven counties to supply saltpeter, use the old clay nitrate making technology that had appeared in this era to boil saltpeter, and supply Yongcheng for military use, forcing the counties of Qian County to complain for a long time, and forced them to dig the foundations of many old houses, and take old clay to make nitrate to satisfy Chen Yingliang's bottomless appetite.

In fact, Chen Yingliang only made it difficult for the subordinate officials to govern on these two points, and in terms of specific government affairs, Chen Yingliang was more generous and laissez-faire, and did not rely on his power to bully the subordinate officials, put forward any unreasonable demands, and did not extort bribes from his subordinates like other superiors, forcing his subordinates to scrape the ground to the height of the sky to bribe himself, and his official reputation was not bad - but this is not that Chen Yingliang does not want to, but Chen Yingliang does not have the time and energy to do this. All of Chen Yingliang's energy and time have been devoted to the expansion and training of the army and the forging and development of weapons.

Time passed day by day, the five regiments of government soldiers under Chen Yingliang's strict order have all been replenished, and the ten regiments formed under the banner of township soldiers in the county have all been recruited, and all of them are assembled in Yongcheng County by Chen Yingliang himself for training, and Chen Yingliang's headache is the manufacture of weapons and armor, knives and guns are good to say, the knives and guns captured from Mangdang Mountain and Jishan are enough for the township soldiers of ten regiments, and they can be used to slowly build standard weapons to replace, However, armor and bows and arrows are not so easy to make, consuming both materials and time, and they cannot be achieved overnight.

Fortunately, Chen Yingliang also has a more reliable staff member called Changsun Wuji, seeing that Chen Yingliang was troubled by the lack of armor and bows and arrows, Changsun Wuji said: "Brother, why don't you put on a seal and ask the court for help?" The emperor is currently in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and the distance from Qian County is not too far, you can directly go to the table and ask him to pull out a batch of weapons and armor for you, can't you directly solve this problem? ”

"I'm looking for death?" Chen Yingliang glanced at the eldest grandson Wuji, and said: "I expanded the township soldiers, which was originally to take advantage of the loopholes of the imperial court's decrees, and also asked the imperial court for weapons and equipment for the township soldiers, and the emperor did not suspect that I was ready to rebel." ”

"Others may be suspicious, but you won't, brother." The eldest grandson Wuji smiled and said: "Brother, you forgot, the number one celebrity in front of the emperor shot Pei Ju, that is your distant uncle, with him to deal with you, what do you have to worry about being suspected?" Besides, now you have a good excuse to ask the court for weapons and equipment, and even if you don't get it, you won't cause any trouble. ”

"What excuse?" Chen Yingliang asked.

"The day before yesterday, it was reported that the big Kou Du Fuwei of Qi County, all the way to the south, has reached Xiapi, and the thieves have reached more than 20,000 people, and the momentum in Xuzhou is unparalleled." The eldest grandson Wuji said: "Brother, you might as well excuse yourself to say that you heard the news of the thieves, saying that Du Fuwei intended to flow in the direction of Huainan, and the main team of Pengcheng who stayed behind Dong Chun was contained in Langya by the thief Peng Xiaocai, and he was powerless to stop the rebel Du Fuwei from flowing through Huainan. ”

"Such an excuse is too far-fetched, isn't it?" Chen Yingliang smiled a little wryly.

"Maybe it's a bit far-fetched, but it's good for the country and the people, and it's also the emperor's appetite." The eldest grandson Wuji changed his young and old Yan face, and said solemnly: "Brother, you once said that you are a tyrant of the emperor today, but you are not a faint monarch, and you will definitely not mind that there is another capable minister in the court to counter the rebellion." As for Pei Ju Pei Xiang's ......, the younger brother thinks that he is a traitor and a bright minister, but he is by no means a mediocre phase, he knows which is more important and which is right and which is wrong, if he can help up the second Zhang Xutuo, the emperor must be overjoyed, and he also has a bright face. ”

"It's ......." Chen Yingliang was stunned, and then he realized that the words of the eldest grandson Wuji were going straight to the core - Emperor Yang of Sui and Pei Ju, although they may mind their purpose of expanding the township soldiers of Qiaojun, they will definitely not mind cultivating another Zhang Xutuo who is invincible on the battlefield of counterinsurgency, and quickly cultivate an accomplice lackey who can increase their face, grow their prestige and solve troubles.

"In that case, you can give it a try." Chen Ying's conscience calculated in his heart, and felt that he had left a good impression on Emperor Yang of Sui, and at the same time, Emperor Yang of Sui happened to have a lot of his own backers around him, and he was still a reliable backer who could help him speak, even if this matter could not be done, the consequences would not be too strict. Chen Yingliang made up his mind at this time, and said in a deep voice: "Let's do it, I'll write the chapter first, you go to the Eastern Capital with some gifts, first excuse me to pay New Year's greetings to Pei Ju, and take the opportunity to hand over the chapter to Pei Ju to pass it on, and test Pei Ju's attitude towards this matter." ”

"If Pei Ju thinks it's inappropriate, then you just bring the piece back, and there won't be any troublesome consequences. If Pei Ju thinks it is feasible and agrees to forward the chapter, you will go to Yuwenshu to pay New Year's greetings again, and also give me a gift, begging Yuwenshu to help in this matter, he is the number one favorite minister in front of the emperor, and he speaks in a word, with his help, this matter will be more certain. ”