Yulin, Shaanxi.

Cao Wenzhao, the chief soldier of Yansui, Yang Jiamo, the general soldier of Gansu, Yang Lin, the general soldier of Shaanxi, Wang Chengen, the general soldier of Yulin, and He Huchen, the general soldier of Ningxia, gathered together.

Tang Shang was appointed by the imperial court last year as the governor of Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Huguang, and Sichuan provinces.

Although he had been appointed governor of the five provinces in Layue last year, Chen Qiyu did not go to Xi'an until March after the year, and this was the first time he met with several generals under his command. Prior to this, these generals were all leading their troops on one side, and it was difficult to get together. (Author's note: Chen Qiyu was actually appointed governor of the five provinces at the end of Chongzhen's sixth year, and this history has changed slightly, but there will be no changes in the war.) ）

The five powerful military leaders in the northwest region, whose soldiers and horses were one of the few soldiers in the imperial court who could fight, could not help but congratulate the new governor Chen Qiyu after greeting each other.

Chen Qiyu is a forty-fourth year jinshi of Wanli, Zhongjin Shi is already in his early thirties, and he is also a person in his fifties, but he is the same as Hong Chengchou, and his complexion is not as white as a scholar, but as a military man. The appearance is not very outstanding, Yisui has a long beard is quite powerful, and his temper is also very close, unlike those officials in the court, Chen Qiyu never puts on the role of a governor for the generals under his command, and he does not speak loudly to each other easily.

All the generals also know that this Governor Chen is famous for his good temper, and he attaches great importance to his hometown, and most of his staff are from his hometown, and there are many people who are talentless, immoral, greedy, and good goods, but Chen Qiyu does not control them very much, as long as he is not too excessive, he is also very good to the people in the house, and he never punishes them easily.

Except for Wang Chengen, the general of Yulin, the rest of the generals had been in contact with Chen Qiyu, and Wang Chengen also knew more or less about the character of the new governor, so he sat there and was not very restrained.

Yang Jiamo, the chief soldier of Gansu, was the youngest among the people, only thirty-four years old, but he was the largest number of troops among the generals present, and he brought 9,000 soldiers from Gansu this time, including 2,000 cavalry.

Yang Lin, the general soldier of Shaanxi, was the fattest, about forty years old, but he had the least soldiers and horses, only 3,000 people. Shaanxi has been plagued by military disasters for many years, and there are not many soldiers who can fight, and the 3,000 soldiers under Yang Lin are still difficult to gather when Hong Chengchou was the governor of the three sides, otherwise, he is a general of the light pole. Yang Lin is also quite timid, he has no martial arts demeanor, among the general soldiers present, he is counted as the most powerful, in fact, there are only 3,000 soldiers, but the registered soldiers who reported to the military department are 13,000 people, which is enough to eat 10,000 vacancies!

Wang Chengen, the chief soldier of Yulin, was promoted from the general when Hong Chengchou was serving as a political officer in Shaanxi, and although there were not many soldiers and horses, only 5,000 people, he was able to fight very well. Most of the soldiers are Yulin's children, fathers, brothers, uncles and nephews, and the blood relationship is very close, and Yulin has been an important town on the nine sides since the founding of Taizu, which has been passed down for more than 200 years. And because many of the sergeants and soldiers in the army are related by blood, the soldiers on the battlefield are all brave to kill the enemy, and they will never give up without the general's order. Therefore, Wang Chengen is deeply valued by Hong Chengchou, if it were not for Chen Qiyu's adjustment this time, Hong Chengchou would definitely not let him go.

He Huchen, the chief soldier of Ningxia, is not a native of Hetao, but a native of Baoding Mansion in Beizhili, who was a general of Denglai during the Apocalypse, and moved to Yansui Deputy General in the sixth year of the Apocalypse. Its troops were all cavalry, but their numbers were small, less than 4,000. He Huchen is quite capable of fighting and is deeply supported by the soldiers, but he has a shortcoming, that is, he is brave and unscrupulous, and often does bad things because of his own recklessness. He Huchen did not belong to Chen Qiyu's account, but because there were many border soldiers in Ningxia Town among the thieves, these border soldiers were good at riding, and there were not many cavalry troops in Shaanxi, so Chen Qiyu asked the court to transfer Ningxia soldiers to fight the thieves together.

Cao Wenzhao, the general soldier of Yansui, has the most complicated experience among the generals. In his early years, he served in the army in Liaodong, served Xiong Tingbi and Sun Chengzong, and was promoted to guerrilla warfare. In the second year of Chongzhen, he entered Kou Jinggi, he once followed Yuan Chonghuan into the customs to defend the Beijing Division, and then followed Sun Chengzong to recover the four cities of Yongping, accumulating merit to the generals. If it weren't for the great change in the people of Shaanxi, the imperial court transferred him to Yansui, and Cao Wenzhao was afraid that he would still be in Liaodong. With his ability as the first good general, he is afraid that the big and small Linghe will fight to the end, and it is not yet known who will kill the deer. Cao Wenzhao's soldiers and horses were the first among the generals, and there were not only 4,000 soldiers who dared to fight, but also a cavalry of 1,200 people. This cavalry was the Guanning cavalry advocated by Sun Chengzong and trained by Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou, Man Gui and others. After Zu Dashou led the main force of the Liao soldiers to reduce the gold, the bloodline of the Guanning cavalry was all under the command of Cao Wenzhao. Although there is also a cavalry under Zu Dabi and Wu Sangui in Denglai now, it is a little worse than Cao Wenzhao's army, and it is not a real Guanning iron cavalry.

Cao Bianjiao looks much older than his actual age, he is only thirty-six this year, but he looks like a person in his forties, thinking that it is because of the continuous battle. Cao Wenzhao admired the newly appointed governor of the five provinces, and he was a thief in January, and he looked at the world for this ability, and he was afraid that he would not find a second person

From the governor of Yansui to the biggest governor of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Qiyu was unhappy, but he also had unspeakable suffering. Greeting the generals, he smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "The governors of the five provinces listened to the official, but sitting on this, the official was very flustered, maybe he was afraid that he was taking a step further to the Lord of Yama. ”

Speaking of this, he said to the generals in a serious tone: "Now that you and this official are in the same boat, if this boat capsizes, we will wait for a string of zongzi tied by a straw rope to be thrown into the sea, wrapped by robbers, tied to death by the imperial court, sunk one, and don't think about the others to float up again." ”

Hearing this strange analogy, Ningxia General Soldier He Huchen couldn't help but laugh: "The governor said it is so funny, how did the last general become that brown son?" ”

Cao Wenzhao and the others also felt strange and looked at Chen Qiyu in puzzlement. Chen Qiyu sighed lightly and said: "Zongzi, Zongzi, the honor and disgrace of the ancestors, and the blessings and misfortunes of the descendants are all on us!" ”

Hearing this, the generals were stunned and silent. They are all military generals, licking rice on the edge of the knife every day, for what, not for the glory of the family, in order to leave blessings for their children and grandchildren. If the ship sinks, not to mention his own life, the family and his descendants will all be destroyed, who is willing?

After a while, Yang Jiamo, the chief soldier of Gansu, slapped the table at hand: "Don't worry, Governor, we will never become browns, and the last general still wants to earn a feudal Hou Yaozu!" "He is the youngest and the most vigorous, and he doesn't care about those thieves, and he is bent on earning military merits and honoring his ancestors.

Chen Qiyu was naturally happy when his subordinates had such ambitions, nodded with a smile, stopped talking nonsense, and said straight to the point: "Since this is the case, let's avoid politeness and get down to business." Yang He failed to appease the thief and was deported to Beijing. This official has meritorious service to be the governor of these five provinces. Therefore, there is only one way for this official and you to go in the future - to kill! Other than that, there is no other way. The official summoned you here to ask you, how to go on this road? ”

The generals looked at each other, no one spoke, they were all warriors, they only knew how to act according to orders, and the overall situation naturally had to be taken by the governors of the five provinces, how dare they discuss it. If it is known by someone with a heart, it will be troublesome.

Chen Qiyu knew why the generals were silent, so he looked at Yang Jiamo and said by name: "General Yang, you talk about it first, and say whatever you want, it doesn't matter, everything has its own officials." ”

was named by the governor, it didn't hurt to be straightforward, Yang Jiamo didn't dare to hesitate at the moment, and clenched his fists and said: "The last general is a rough man, he has never liked to use his brain, and the future will all depend on the arrangement of the governor's hall, and I will obey the order." "It makes no difference between saying it and not saying it. Chen Qiyu smiled disapprerovingly: "This official is a scholar, his kung fu with fists and legs, and his ability to talk on paper, you are all heroes who roll over in the sea of knives and meat, and you have to rely on you to kill thieves." The military is dangerous, although the official has made some achievements in the past, but he will not be self-righteous, and the officer still wants to hear your opinion, after all, you know much more about the thieves than the official. After speaking, he looked at Yang Lin, the chief soldier of Shaanxi, and said in a harmonious voice: "General soldier Yang, why don't you talk about it first?" ”

Yang Lin hurriedly got up and saluted, and Chen Qiyu motioned for him to sit down and speak. After Yang Lin sat down again, he said in a deep voice: "The last general thinks that although there are many thieves, they are scattered, and they can't rely on the people who lead them. Therefore, the thief captures the king first, as long as the group of thieves has no leader, the officials and soldiers will be able to defeat each other. ”

After hearing this, Chen Qiyu nodded and praised: "General Yang is right, capture the thief and capture the king first, and this official also means this." But which one to hit first, it's a good student to think about it. Well, General Cao, which do you think we should suppress first, the remaining thieves in the northwest or the thieves in Huguangliu or the ones in Henan? ”

Cao Wenzhao was ordered to control the generals of Shanxi and Guangwei a few years ago, so Chen Qiyu did not use the general army but the general when he called him.

Cao Wenzhao is not good at words, and he doesn't want to express any opinions, but since Chen Qiyu asked him, he also said frankly: "Governor, the last general thinks that the remaining thieves in the northwest are not to worry, with Governor Hong and Guyuan Town, it is only a matter of time before they are swept away." And the thieves who skewered into Huguang don't have to worry, most of them are small thieves, and they gather into many, each fighting for itself, and it is difficult to become a climate. The person who is worried about it is the Central Plains, and there are big thieves such as Chuang General, Cao Cao, Lao Huihui, King of Troubled Times, and Breaking the Sky, and there are many people, no less than 200,000 people, and they are wandering in the Central Plains, if they are not exterminated, I am afraid that the imperial court will be difficult to control. Therefore, the last general thought that he should hit the original thief first. ”

"General Cao's analysis is good, this official coincides with you. The thieves in the Central Plains are the big trouble, as long as they are exterminated, the world can really be peaceful. ”

Chen Qiyu smiled and nodded, and was about to order the left and right to take the map, when a personal soldier suddenly ran in and reported: "Governor's Hall, the holy decree is here!" ”

The Divine Decree is coming?

Everyone in the hall got up at the same time and followed Chen Qiyu outward. As soon as he left the gate, several horses had already arrived, one of them was dressed as a eunuch, and the few people behind him were brocade guards.

Chen Qiyu was appointed as the deputy envoy of Shaanxi in the sixth year of the Apocalypse, and he didn't know any of the eunuchs around him today, only heard the name, so he greeted him and said: "Chen Qiyu has seen his father-in-law, but he has not been able to meet him from afar, and he hopes that his father-in-law will bear with him." ”

The eunuch didn't answer, jumped off the horse, "Chen Qiyu takes the order!" He said with his hands in his hands.

Chen Qiyu took a few steps back, flicked the sleeves of his robe, knelt down on both knees, and several chief soldiers knelt down together, "Chen Qiyu took the order!" ”

"The thieves in Qinzhong are still in danger, and the remnants of the party have been wiped out, and the victims are compassionate to the victims. If you plan to be safe, you must not spare the tip, which will cause trouble. Qin Province issued relief and retained salaries, and the imperial court had arrived, and the aftermath was planned in detail, and the thieves were eliminated during the service period, and the hungry people resumed their business. He will also supervise and encourage the generals, and quickly try to suppress it, so as to lay the rock frontier, and call it the intention of the imperial court. After the eunuch finished reading it, he handed the holy decree to Chen Qiyu, and then he smiled and stepped forward to help Chen Qiyu, "Your Excellency, please get up quickly." ”

"Thank you, father-in-law." Chen Qiyu got up, raised his hand, pointed to the hall, turned half his body sideways, and said respectfully: "Father-in-law, please." ”

The eunuch smiled and nodded, and immediately entered the door side by side with Chen Qiyu.

"When Qi Yu was in the middle of the matter, the father-in-law around the first emperor also recognized a few, but you were an eye-eye, presumably the old man when he was in the palace today. Dare to ask your father-in-law's surname? The eunuch said: "When you go down to the high school, you are on the errand when you believe in the king's mansion." ”

Entering the main hall, Chen Qiyu gave Gao Shiming the right seat, served tea, accompanied him by himself, and several general soldiers stood with their hands.

Gao Shiming took a sip of tea, glanced at Chen Qiyu, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency the Governor knows that Hong Chengchou pleaded for Yang He, and then he stretched out his hand to ask for a salary of 1 million taels of silver, and then asked for 600,000 taels of Shaanxi tax silver, and then asked for next year's levy of 500,000 taels of silver. Back then, Long Live Lord favored Yuan Chonghuan's son, and he didn't give Ning Yuan so much. You say, is there anyone in this world who is more daring than Hong Chengchou? "Hong Chengchou asked for silver Chen Qiyu already knew about it, and he supported this matter, whether it was war or care, silver was the most important thing. If Hong Chengchou can ask the court for silver, he will be the governor of the five provinces more relaxed. He said with a smile: "What my father-in-law said is that Hong Chengchou is arrogant, but this is a lesson from Lord Yang!" The defeat of the Fu situation is the defeat of the lack of money to settle the thieves! In the past five or six years, bandits have been rampant, destroying cities and slaughtering wilderness, and they are like a prairie fire, and they cannot be extinguished. If it is not for the urgent increase in troops, the measures are large, for a once and for all, I am afraid that the officers and soldiers will be in the east, the thieves will gallop in the west, the old man will be scarce, and the rod will not be revealed! At present, there are disasters and famines everywhere, and the bundles of rice and grass are several times more expensive, and they must be relieved after the thieves, and they must give seeds to the cattle and supervise the opening of wasteland, all of which are given money and grain! ”

Gao Shiming nodded while listening with a smile: "Long live how smart you are, how can you not understand this?" Therefore, although the soldiers and the second household were unable to make ends meet, the emperor still forced Xiong Mingyu and Bi Ziyan to take out 200,000 yuan, and the interception requested by Lord Hong was also approved. "Only 200,000? Chen Qiyu was stunned, and secretly said that this is too little, but thinking about the suffering of the imperial court, he can only sigh secretly, fortunately, the interception of tax and silver is accurate, and it can be regarded as the emperor's grace.

"The grace of God is high, and we can only comfort the sacred heart if we do our best to exterminate the thief!"

"Well said, with the courage of an adult, you will definitely be able to exterminate thieves."

Gao Shiming yawned, Chen Qiyu hurriedly got up and said, "Father-in-law has been tired all the way, please rest for a while, and Qiyu will pick up the wind for father-in-law." ”

Gao Shiming cheered up and said: "It's not necessary, our family still has a dispatch, but Hong Chengchou is in Guyuan?" ”

Chen Qiyu said: "Lord Hong, this will be a thief in the plains. ”

"Okay, let's work harder, and then go to Guyuan. Alas, the emperor is on his side, and this old bone of our family is not easy. Gao Shiming said and beat his arm.

Chen Qiyu commanded left and right: "Come on, give your father-in-law a note of ceremony." ”

Suddenly, a staff member presented the silver taels that had been prepared for a long time, Gao Shiming's eyes flashed, his face was full of smiles, and he humbly said: "Hey, how can this make Master Chen work hard for state affairs, how can our family ask you to break the bank." Take it back, take it back. He withdrew his mouth, but his eyes remained fixed on the silver.

Chen Qiyu said with a smile: "With a meager heart, please don't be too little." If the father-in-law doesn't accept it, the official is not. After speaking, he couldn't help but put the silver in his hand, and then handed it to the brocade guard who came with Gao Shiming.

"How dare you, that's done, our family won't delay the governor, our family will go to Guyuan." Gao Shiming no longer shirked, accepted it with a smile, and was about to leave and go to Guyuan. He really ran away with a lot of people this time, and he went to Xi'an first, but Chen Qiyu arrived in Yulin. When he arrived in Yulin, Hong Chengchou ran to Guyuan again, and he was so tired that he choked.

"This official will send troops to escort his father-in-law." After Chen Qiyu finished speaking, he ordered his family to lead a team of personal soldiers to escort Gao Shiming to Guyuan.

"There's Lord Lao Chen!"

At that moment, Gao Shiming did not delay any longer, and left straight away accompanied by Chen Qiyu.

Seeing off Gao Shiming, several chief soldiers returned to the lobby with Chen Qiyu. He Huchen suddenly muttered a little strangely: "Why does Lord Hong want to intercede for Yang He?" ”

Yang Jiamo shook his head, but Chen Qiyu sighed and said, "The rabbit is sad that the fox is dead." ”

While sighing, I couldn't help but think, but I don't know if I will have Yang He in the future, and whether someone will intercede for me at that time