Of course, Chen Yingliang is not a person who is not crazy, and he dares to let out wild words that four or five thousand thieves are not a problem at all, that is enough to dare to say such a thing, reporting to the two most elite school regiments, and breaking the rabble of only four or five thousand people, it is simply a simpler and easier thing than eating and drinking. For Chen Yingliang, the only two problems in this war were how to lure the main forces of the Tian brothers and Zhang Qian to the Yongcheng battlefield to die, and how to capture the thief and capture the king first, and how to kill the three bandit leaders of the Tian brothers and Zhang Qian.

Chen Yingliang himself has this confidence, Xu Minlian and Dong You and other new colleagues do not have this confidence, after struggling to get up from the ground, Xu Minlian said to Chen Yingliang with a wry smile: "Chen Zanzhi is loyal to the country and worried about national affairs, and the official admires it, but it is ......, but the official feels that Chen Zanzhi may not know much about the situation in Qian County, and it is probably impossible to exterminate the black and white thieves and Zhang Qian's thieves within three days." ”

"Yes, Chen Zanzhi, you don't know the situation in Qian County too much." Xie Weiping, the eunuch of Yongcheng Palace, probably felt that Chen Yingliang had no hair on his mouth, and he was young and vigorous and talked nonsense, so he took over the conversation and said: "Qian County is a second-class county, there is only one medium eagle in the territory, and there are only five regiments of government soldiers under his command, and they are all not satisfied, just to defend the safety of the six county towns and Tongji Canal, the strength is already stretched, how can it be possible to exterminate the three major thieves within three days?" ”

Chen Yingliang didn't answer, but turned to Dong You and asked, "Dong County Order, dare to ask how many government soldiers are in the Yongcheng area?" How many auxiliaries? How many errands? ”

"There are two regiments in the name of the government soldiers, but in fact there are only about 300 people." Dong You replied truthfully: "There are more than 600 auxiliary soldiers, and more than 100 people are on errands, but the equipment of the auxiliaries and errand soldiers is very poor, basically one person has a horizontal sword, and there are very few armor and bows and arrows. In addition, the equipment of the government soldiers is not complete enough, and there are less than 50 people with war horses. ”

Although he was prepared in his heart, he had long expected that the situation of the army on the side of Qian County would definitely not be very good, but after learning the truth, Chen Yingliang was still stunned and asked in surprise: "How can there be more than 300 soldiers in the two regiments?" Almost a quarter of the staff shortage? ”

"There are too many deserters." Dong You replied dejectedly: "At the beginning of the great cause, the flood was severe, and all the six counties of Qian County, except for Yongcheng County, were all hit hard, and the Juntian received by the government soldiers was almost nothing, either starved to death and drowned, or could not afford to buy weapons, armor and war horses, and was forced to become deserters. Later, the first conquest of Goguryeo by the Holy Shang, almost none of the government soldiers who were transferred north to participate in the war from Qian County came back, and the number of soldiers was greatly reduced, and the second conquest of Goguryeo at the beginning of this year, the government soldiers were afraid that they would be sent to Goguryeo to participate in the war, and there were more deserters, and some simply surrendered to the thieves, so no matter how much the local Yingyang general Fang Kuangfang recruited, he couldn't get together the soldiers anyway. ”

Chen Yingliang was silent, only then did he believe that the sentence 'sweeping the floor for soldiers' in the Sui book was not bragging, and if it continued like this, it was necessary to transfer the woman who swept the floor to the army as a government soldier. Over there, Xu Minlian comforted Chen Yingliang and said: "Chen Zanzhi doesn't have to worry, in view of the fact that Juntian is abandoning the wasteland, this official has written to the imperial court to request the redivision of Juntian and the re-recruitment of government soldiers, and the court has also agreed, and after a period of time, the government soldiers of Qian County should be able to make up for it." ”

Of course, Chen Yingliang would not believe Xu Minlian's promise that he was far away, but fortunately, Chen Yingliang never counted on the local officers and soldiers in Qian County, so Chen Yingliang was not in a hurry, but just let Xu Minlian and the others retreat, so he whispered the news of the arrival of the national army in Yongcheng two days later to Xu Minlian and others, and at the same time told Xu Minlian and others to keep it secret, and never leak the news, so as not to scare away the Tian brothers and Zhang Qian.

Originally, Chen Yingliang thought that Xu Minlian, Dong You and others would be ecstatic and confident when they learned that the Baoguo Army was about to arrive, but who knew that Xu Minlian was not happy when he learned that the Baoguo Army only had two regiments of troops, and asked tremblingly: "Chen Zanzhi, are you joking?" Two regiments of the National Army, you just want to kill Zhang Qian and the four or five thousand thieves of the black and white thieves? No matter how good it is, it's not so powerful, right? ”

"I took four regiments of dissatisfied newspapers to the country, and I shook more than 50,000 thieves head-on!" Chen Yingliang became angry, and said: "I also forgot to tell you that I and the Baoguo Army marched east this time, and we also cut off the head of the star of Kou Lu in the north of Jibei on the way, and defeated the Wagang thief army of Xu Shiyun, the head of the Wagang thief!" ”

The timid Xu Minlian exclaimed again, Chen Yingliang gave a general introduction to what happened on the road to Qian County in the east, and he shamelessly put the credit for the head of Lu Xingxing on himself, and explained that he left the **** team and came to Yongcheng first, just to arrange tactics to clean up the Tian brothers and Zhang Qian, so that Xu Minlian and others could barely believe that the two regiments of the Baoguo army were sure to defeat the Tian brothers and Zhang Qian.

Although he reluctantly believed it, Xu Minlian was still very worried, and asked again: "Chen Zanzhi, the National Army is indeed famous, but they are just passing by Qian County this time, and they can't stay in Qian County for a long time to suppress bandits, Zhang Qian and the black and white thieves are hiding in the deep mountains and old forests, and they like to run away when the situation is not good, it is still difficult to exterminate them?" ”

"That's why I came to Yongcheng early." Chen Yingliang smiled, and then asked: "Xu Taishou, Dong County Order, Xie Gongjian, you have been in Qian County for a long time, you must know something about the situation of the black and white thieves and Zhang Qian, what are the biggest personality traits of the black and white thieves and Zhang Qian?" Did you know? ”

Xu Minlian, Dong You and Xie Weiping glanced at each other, and then replied in unison: "Greedy for money and lustful, the three thieves are all this virtue." ”

"Especially the black and white thieves." Dong You added: "After the thief Zhang Qian finished robbing, at least he left a piece of clothes for the robbed merchants, and the black and white thieves finished robbing, and they didn't even let go of the clothes on the dead bodies, even the women's clothes." Therefore, the officers under the command of the lower officials have experience, and when they see the corpse with clothes, they know that Zhang Qian's thieves did it, and if there are no clothes on the corpse, it must be done by the black and white thieves. ”

"I don't even let go of the corpse's clothes, it seems that it's really not just ordinary greed." Chen Yingliang smiled, and after thinking for a moment, Chen Yingliang asked again: "Dong County Order, just now we said that the Tongji Canal has been very uneven recently, and the culprits of the uneven are of course the three thieves of black and white and Zhang Qian, so have they attacked Yongcheng Pier before?" Is there a direct robbery of Yongcheng Pier? ”

"Not really." Dong You replied truthfully: "Whether it is Zhang Qian or the black and white thieves, they have never dared to attack the Yongcheng Wharf before, the Tongjiqu Wharf can be said to be the lifeblood of Yongcheng, the government soldiers of the two regiments are stationed next to the wharf, and the auxiliary team is very closely guarded, so the black and white thieves and Zhang Qian have never dared to attack the wharf before." But....... ”

Speaking of this, Dong You hurriedly closed his mouth, and timidly glanced at Xu Minlian next to him, Chen Yingliang observed his words and looks, and hurriedly said: "But what? Dong County Order, please speak up if you have something to say, don't worry, I know that it's not your fault that the thieves are getting bigger and bigger, and I won't bother with you, you just have to talk with confidence. ”

After that, Chen Yingliang also turned to Xu Minlian carefully, and arched his hand and said: "Xu Taishou, please also raise your noble hand, if Dong County Ling says anything wrong, bear with me." ”

"Of course." Xu Minlian nodded, and also said to Dong You: "Say, it's okay, you don't know who I am?" The impeachment of Fu Jiande was because he drank flower wine and made a mistake, and the robbery of the grain was such a big thing, you are the Yongcheng County Order, I haven't implicated you? ”

"Then the lower official will say it directly." Dong You had confidence, so he gritted his teeth and said: "But now the black and white thieves and Zhang Qian may not dare to rob the Yongcheng dock, the lower officials heard the rumors, and the black and white thieves have already released wild words, saying that the officers and soldiers of Yongcheng are nothing more than that, and they are not their opponents at all, so they are ready to make another big deal." Xia Guan suspected that the big deal they were talking about was probably referring to Yongcheng Wharf. ”

"Where did you hear all these rumors?" Chen Yingliang hurriedly asked: "Also, why do the black and white thieves say that the officers and soldiers of Yongcheng are just like this, and they are not their opponents at all?" ”

has already said the news he heard, of course Dong You will not have anything to hide, and said directly: "Don't hide it from your superiors, it is the news from the inside line that the lower officials have planted in the team of the black and white two thieves, the black and white two thieves are entrenched in the area of Mangdang Mountain and Yushan, and many of the thieves under his command are locals of Yongcheng. ”

"As for why the black and white thieves said that our Yongcheng officers and soldiers are nothing remarkable, it's all because of the good deeds done by that lustful fool Fu Jiande." Dong You added with a depressed expression: "Last time the two black and white thieves robbed the boat, Fu Jiande went to rescue the grain, I heard that there was hope to repel the thieves, but Fu Jiande drank wine and dazed, greedy for life and afraid of death, and suddenly took the lead in fleeing for his life, our team immediately dispersed, and all ran with him, and were killed by the thieves More than 50 people, and lost a lot of weapons and armor, so the black and white thieves felt that our Yongcheng officers and soldiers were not a big deal, and they were no longer so afraid and afraid. ”

Chen Yingliang was overjoyed, because Chen Yingliang understood that his predecessor Fu Jiande inadvertently left a good foundation for himself, which was a good foundation both internally and externally. Unexpectedly, Dong You arched his hand to Xu Minlian again, and said: "Xu Taishou, the matter has come to this point, and the lower officials don't dare to hide it from you anymore, today outside the city, the lower officials reported the murder of the ship to you, and it was not fully explained, in fact, the murder happened next to the Yongcheng wharf, less than three miles away from the wharf." Xia Guan is now extremely worried, if this continues, the black and white thieves will sooner or later attack Yongcheng Wharf. ”

"So close?"

Xu Minlian was taken aback, Chen Yingliang was also taken aback, and hurriedly asked Dong You about the situation, and after Dong You truthfully recited, Chen Yingliang was not only annoyed by the incompetence of his subordinates and the rampant thieves, but also showed an ecstatic look, and said: "Okay! We didn't expect thieves to be rampant to this point, and this time we were even more sure. ”

Xu Minlian, whose official reputation is not bad, rolled his eyes at Chen Yingliang, and said in his heart that the people of Qian County were so unlucky yesterday, and there were such rampant thieves in the territory. Chen Yingliang didn't pay attention to Xu Minlian's eyes at all, his triangular eyes were spinning and calculating for a while, and Chen Yingliang suddenly asked again: "Dong County Order, you just said that there are two regiments of government soldiers stationed here in Yongcheng, so the captains of these two regiments are reliable?" It's not about fighting a war, it's about being a human being, you must be absolutely reliable, and you won't betray the secrets of the big thing about the thief. ”

"It's ......." Dong You hesitated for a moment, and then said: "I don't know much about Captain Li Cai, but Captain Zhang Huaishen should be fine, the lower officials have a lot of contacts with him, and they know that he is a straightforward person, and he doesn't have any tricks." ”

"Captain Li Cai is also reliable." Xu Minlian also said: "He is a filial son, but also a local, last time his mother was seriously ill, found countless diseases and doctors can not be cured, I heard that I am proficient in medical skills, so I went to Qian County to beg me to treat his mother, I was too busy with official business to prevaricate a few words, he knelt down and begged me, I was moved by his filial piety, so he put down his business and went to his house, helped him cure his mother, he was very grateful to me, and kept saying that as long as I have something to send, he will repay my kindness even if he goes to the soup." By the way, I remember that he had a younger brother, who was also a soldier, and I also met him at that time, and he was also a very good young man. ”

"Okay." Chen Yingliang was even more happy, and hurriedly bowed his hand to Xu Minlian and said: "Xu Taishou, Dong County Order, Xie Gongjian and Xia Guan, now as the Zanzhi of Qian County, are preparing to arrange a plan to lead the snake out of the hole, this plan requires your full cooperation, and please read it for the sake of the court of your family country, and do not shirk." ”

"It's all for the sake of the court's affairs, Chen Zanzhi doesn't have to be polite, please say it directly."

Xu Minlian was the first to nod, Dong You and Xie Weiping also nodded without hesitation, Chen Yingliang was overjoyed, and hurriedly introduced his plan to these new colleagues in a low voice, and then said confidently: "Three adults, I dare to say that this plan has more than eighty percent of the success." As long as the black and white thieves and Zhang Qian can be led to the Yongcheng wharf, I will definitely be able to kill them with the team of the national army, defeat their arrogance, and let the Tongjiqu Canal in the territory of Qian County be safe and sound for a long time. And you can rest assured that even if this plan fails, we can say that we have almost nothing to lose, and at most sacrifice two messengers and a little money and food, it will not matter at all. ”

As the head of a county with the money and grain of Qian County, Xu Minlian has no problem with the money and food that Chen Yingliang needs, and he doesn't care much about whether the two messengers are killed, Xu Minlian is worried about another layer, and said hesitantly: "Chen Zanzhi, if your plan succeeds, of course it is good, but if it fails, or is discovered by Zhang Qian and the black and white thieves, then we will be in big trouble, they will definitely loot the canal more rampantly under their anger, maybe they will wait for the national army to leave, and really come to attack Yongcheng Wharf?" ”

"Xu Taishou, if we don't do this, will Zhang Qian and the Tian family brothers let go of the Tongji Canal and Canal?" Chen Yingliang said calmly: "Xu Taishou, the imperial court arranged for me to be your assistant, in order to assist you in quickly suppressing the thieves in the county and ensuring the smooth flow of the Tongji Canal Canal, but it is difficult for a Qiao woman to cook without rice, there is no army, and I don't know when I will be able to change the current situation of rampant thieves in Tongji Canal, let alone when I will be able to exterminate the two thieves of the Tian family brothers and Zhang Qian." Therefore, Xu Taishou, if you want to do your best to hit the thieves in the territory and not repeat the mistake of being robbed last time, now is the only chance. ”

Chen Yingliang's words woke up Xu Minlian, considering that his forbearance strategy during this period of time had made the Tian brothers and Zhang Qian more advanced, and he also knew that if he didn't help Chen Yingliang set this trap, the team of thieves in the county would not let go of the Tongji Canal with a lot of money, Xu Minlian gritted his teeth, but nodded and said: "Chen Zanzhi is reasonable, okay, listen to your arrangement." Dong County ordered, you immediately send someone to invite Captain Li and Captain Zhang, and we will act according to the plan. ”

………………

After arranging the preliminary work of the plan, and accompanying Xu Minlian and Xie Weiping to participate in the reception dinner prepared by Dong You with the funds of the county government, it was already dark, and Chen Yingliang, who was tired from the journey, followed Xu Minlian to the post house to stay - in order to keep it secret, Chen Yingliang not only used a pseudonym in the post house, but also fabricated the identity of an envoy from the eastern capital Taifu, fortunately, with Xu Minlian as evidence, Chen Yingliang did not even have to forge official documents, and directly led the eldest grandson Wuji and Ma Sanbao and others to live in the post house.

Regarding Chen Yingliang's criminal behavior of abandoning his public funds to eat and drink, the eldest grandson Wuji and Ma Sanbao, who have no official positions at present, have no complaints, but Pei Cuiyun, who confidently pestered Chen Yingliang and came to Yongcheng, did not do it, and complained to Chen Yingliang as soon as he settled down: "Things without conscience, don't call me when you drink in the main hall, and let me eat with a group of subordinates Qiu Ba, I am a beautiful girl, if you let others know, tell me how to behave in the future?" ”

"Who told you to wear men's clothes?" Chen Yingliang, who was already exhausted, snorted while considering the plan to lure the enemy: "You still have the face to call yourself a lady, wearing men's clothes all day long, and your demeanor is so rude, this is everyone's style of being a lady?" Wild boy is pretty much the same, right? ”

Pei Cuiyun's white and tender face suddenly turned red, and she said angrily: "You think I want to wear men's clothes all the time?" I was in too much of a hurry to go out and forgot to bring women's clothes! Do you want me to restore women's clothes? Deem manners? Okay, I'll go to the street tomorrow to buy ten sets of women's clothes, and you pay for it! ”

"Why do you want my brother-in-law to pay?" The eldest grandson Wuji asked beside him, and deliberately said the word brother-in-law very seriously.

"Because I haven't returned the dowry to him, I have saved his life, and it makes sense to use his money!" Pei Cuiyun replied with a sneer.

The eldest grandson Wuji was also angry, and quickly pointed out that Pei Cuiyun and Chen Yingliang's engagement was just a misunderstanding, and he had a big quarrel with Pei Cuiyun. Chen Yingliang, who was physically and mentally exhausted and was about to collapse, was lying on the chair watching the excitement, looking at Pei Cuiyun's face that was still quite moving in anger, and his body that was still full and moving after tying his chest, Chen Yingliang couldn't help but sigh quietly, "This girl is so beautiful, why can't she be gentle and virtuous?" ”

After sighing, Chen Yingliang suddenly remembered a big event, quickly cheered up, sat up straight and said, "Sister Cuiyun Xian, do you want to buy women's clothes?" Okay, tomorrow I'll accompany you to the bazaar, buy you a few sets of the best women's clothes, and by the way, buy you two sets of fine jewelry, and I'll pay for it. ”

"Brother-in-law! You?! The eldest grandson Wuji was furious.

"Really?" Pei Cuiyun showed a moving smile that was more delicate than flowers, seeing Chen Yingliang nodding seriously, Pei Cuiyun was even more happy, and it was rare to be a little shy and thought in her heart, "Promise to buy me clothes and jewelry, could it be that this negative man finally found out with his conscience?" ”