Chongzhen learned that Chen Qiyu's soothing strategy failed, and let go of Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng and others in the carriage gorge, he was furious, and with a strict order, Chen Qiyu was dismissed and returned to his hometown, and the post of governor of the five provinces was taken over by Hong Chengchou. Immediately, the first assistant Wen Tiren, Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the military department, and the Hou Sui, the secretary of the household department, entered the palace to discuss the transfer of troops and raise salaries. Wen Tiren sat on the stool, thinking about the scene that made Chongzhen unhappy by Laotai in the suburbs of Liangxiang, and secretly wondered if he was forced to use Hong Chengchou by the situation, or did he release his previous suspicions? looked up at Chongzhen, but he couldn't detect a trace of color, glanced at Zhang Fengyi and Hou Xun, and said tentatively: "The Holy Admiral entrusted such a heavy task to Hong Chengchou, he should be the first to pursue and suppress the Liukou, he should not sit back and wait for the salary, and let the Liukou rage." Now that the Liukou have just escaped from the Carriage Gorge, and their vitality has not yet recovered, they can take advantage of the victory to pursue and gather together to annihilate them in one drum, so as not to give them the opportunity to resurge. ”

Zhang Fengyi and Hou Sui knew very well the difficulty of transferring troops and raising salaries, and when they heard the overtones in the first auxiliary words, it also implied that they were worried about the difficulties of the two parts, and arched their hands towards Hou Sui, and said with long eyebrows: "Brother Ruogu, your household department is in charge of money, grain, and fields, as long as you give me half of the food and salary of the military department, it is not difficult to transfer 100,000 elite soldiers from all over the country." ”

Hou Sui smiled bitterly: "Don't force me, Da Sima, since I took over the household department last year, I have only cleared up the taxes accumulated in the world over the years, and I have been helpless. Taicang Silver has nearly one million taels of tax silver just put into the warehouse, but to make such an exception to you, I, the household official, had to take my subordinates to beg for food. ”

"Don't be so decisive! The military department has already sent Zhang Quanchang, Cao Wenzhao, Qin Yiming, and Deng Xi to Henan, and the four or five thousand people have not opened their hands to ask for the money of the household department! ”

Hou Sui listened to his sarcastic words, and didn't care about the presence of his father, and defended: "It's difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, you just shout and urge you to ask for it, and I can't do it!" ”

Chongzhen waved his hand and interrupted: "You don't have to act for me to see, I haven't asked you for money, just ask how to transfer troops." ”

Zhang Fengyi heard Hou Sui breathe a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but be a little anxious, and asked, "How many soldiers and horses does the emperor want to transfer?" ”

Chongzhen put the shiny octagonal oval Su sample water mill red copper hand stove on the kang table, and stroked his hands and said: "I received a secret report from Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Yunyang, that the thieves went out of the carriage gorge and were repatriated by different routes at first, but after Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng rebelled, they responded in groups, and they knew that there was Hong Chengchou in Shaanxi, so they turned south and divided into three routes Shanxi, Huguang, and Lu to invade the Central Plains, and joined forces in one place. Today, there are only two soldiers and horses in Henan, Zuo Liangyu and Chen Yongfu, but thousands, a drop in the bucket, how can they resist hundreds of thousands of thieves? It must be cracked down on in a big way! ”

"Then first transfer 2,000 from Tianjin, and then transfer 3,000 Guanning iron cavalry to help in the battle, thinking that those rogues are just a rabble, and they were defeated by the carriage gorge, and when they heard that the official army was attacking, they were bound to flee in despair."

Wen Tiren praised: "The emperor is wise in the sky, determined to prosper, such a thief is just a mantis arm as a car, a mayfly shakes the tree, how can you be concerned!" ”

"The Central Plains is the security of the world, and it has been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times. Nowadays, the thieves are powerful, and the number of people is very heavy, so they should not be taken lightly. Chongzhen bowed his head slightly towards Wen Tiren, turned to Zhang Fengyi and said: "With only 5,000 men and horses, even if the Guanning Iron Cavalry is brave, one is ten, and it can't withstand hundreds of thousands of anti-thieves." Your military department should not just talk about things, but should make overall plans, increase what should be increased, and adjust what should be adjusted, in order to sweep away the rogues as soon as possible. ”

"Then the minister was bold and outspoken."

"Although."

"The minister thought that if there was a large-scale attack, it was necessary to transfer troops from all sides, fight quickly, and return to the original garrison as soon as possible after the thieves were pacified. In this way, 25,000 soldiers from the west, 18,000 soldiers from the north, and 21,000 soldiers from the south; 5,000 iron cavalry was transferred to Ning, led by the commander-in-chief Zhang Waijia and You Shiwei; 5,000 soldiers were transferred to Linwei and other places, and 5,000 Tianjin soldiers were transferred, led by Xu Laiqian; 3,000 soldiers of Bai Congzi and Luo Tusi were recruited, led by the Sichuan general Tan Daxiao, and went to Henan from Kuizhou via Yunyang. A total of 80,000 soldiers and 21,000 horses were handed over to Hong Chengchou to control them. Zhang Fengyi said this, deliberately paused, waiting for Chongzhen's decision.

"Hmm! The Guanning Iron Cavalry must always be on guard against Houjin's attack, and it is not advisable to levy too much. Tianjin Gongwei Beijing Division, once there is a police, can rush to help, and it is not appropriate to adjust more. I only transferred 2,000 Guanning iron cavalry, 3,000 Tianjin soldiers, and synthesized 5,000. The rest is correct. Chongzhen looked at Hou Sui's appearance of wanting to speak and stopped, and asked, "What do you have to say, but you are worried about food?" ”

"There is no shortage of soldiers and horses in these places, and the minister has nothing to worry about, but he is worried that several soldiers and horses are controlled by Hong Chengchou, and he lacks skills, so it is difficult to take care of them. The military situation is like fire, if you go back and forth to ask for instructions, I am afraid that it will delay the fighter plane, and it will be taken by thieves, so it seems that it is better not to send a person to supervise the military affairs of Henan, Shanxi, and Huguang. ”

Chongzhen pondered: "This statement is certainly reasonable, but Hong Chengchou has a prestige and a good way to suppress bandits, and it is difficult to select such handsome talents, so I don't dare to change generals easily." He couldn't help but think of Yang He and Chen Qiyu, and said hatefully: "I really can't afford to delay, if this stalemate continues, when will peace be expected!" ”

Chongzhen's expression was a little stunned, and his words were full of remorse, although he did not mean to blame, Hou Sui was shocked into a cold sweat when he heard it, if the emperor thought that he was interceding for Yang He and Chen Qiyu, he was angry, unimaginable, and hurriedly silenced. Chongzhen asked Zhang Fengyi: "Henan is not far from Fengyang, the capital of Longxing, how many people are guarding the ancestral tomb?" ”

Zhang Fengyi saw that Chongzhen almost approved his own performance, and his heart was overjoyed, and he replied: "Emperor Taizu Gao set up a special Zhongdu Left-behind Division that year, under the jurisdiction of Fengyang, Fengyangzhong, Fengyang Right, Imperial Tomb, Left-behind Left, Left-behind Guard, Changhuai Eight Guards and 1,000 households, with a total of 6,000 squad troops, high-wall troops, Cao troops, and new armies guarding tombs. ”

"It's not a peaceful and prosperous era now, I'm afraid there are fewer than 6,000 people."

Zhang Fengyi was afraid that Chongzhen would order the transfer of troops again, so he hurriedly argued: "The emperor doesn't have to worry about the Liukou Nan criminals, but he can order Yang Yipeng, the governor of Fengyang, to move to Fengyang, and Wu Zhenying, the governor of Sizhou, thought that the horns were the momentum, echoing left and right. The minister then flew to the governor of Shandong and the imperial history of Caojiang, strictly guarded the critical place, and taught the liukou to retreat despite the difficulties. ”

Wu Zhenying was originally Wen Tiren's fellow in-law, he had been a staff member in Wen Mansion for many years, Wen Tiren was promoted to the first assistant, and he was given an official position in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and he had just been released to Fengyang Patrol for less than a year, and the Yamen was located in Sizhou, and was a subordinate of the Fengyang Governor, but the Fengyang Governor was also the Governor Caoyun, and the Caoyun Governor's Mansion was located in Huai'an, and the affairs of Fengyang Mansion were handled by the Governor on behalf of the Governor, if the Governor Yamen moved to Fengyang, Wu Zhenying would naturally have a lot of constraints, Wen Tiren had the heart to protect him, and asked Zhang Fengyi: "How do you know that the Liukou will know the difficulties and retreat?" With such certainty, isn't it to coax the dragon's heart to joy? ”

Zhang Fengyi didn't think much about it, and said with a smile: "Don't worry too much, your old man grew up in the south of the Yangtze River, and the folk customs in the northwest are not as familiar as my old Shanxi." Since ancient times, Humayi has the north wind and the south branch of the bird's nest, which means that people and things have their own habits. Now those northwest rogues are not used to eating the rice in the south of the Yangtze River, and the war horses ridden by the thieves do not eat the water and grass in the south of the Yangtze River. ”

Wen Tiren snorted lightly: "It turns out that there is such a mystery! That being the case, then Yang Yipeng doesn't have to move to Fengyang, thinking that he is old, and his protégés have all joined the cabinet to participate in the secrets, after all, he can't work hard, why teach him not those Zhou Zhang? ”

The words are so eloquent, how can Zhang Fengyi not hear the edge? He immediately remembered that Pi Yang Yipeng was the master of the pavilion elder Wang Yingxiong, and Wu Zhenying and Shou Yu had a friendship of in-law, if he offended the two cabinet ministers because of a trivial matter of changing guards, he was afraid that he would not be able to do it, wiped the fine sweat on his forehead, and replied busily: "That's nature, that's nature." ”

Chongzhen has never left Gyeonggi since he was a child, and he has never received the customs of water and soil in various places, and he heard Zhang Fengyi quote the past and prove the present, and he said that he was the first to be the truth, but he still felt puzzled and asked Wen Tiren: "Mr. thinks it is feasible to protect the ancestral tomb in this way?" ”

Wen Tiren got up and said: "The minister was known by the Holy Lord to meet the great grace and take charge of the cabinet affairs, and he should have made suggestions, but the minister only knew that the vote was intended to be loyal and not deceitful, and he did not study the use of troops in battle, so he was really ashamed!" Zhang Dasima dared to talk about it like this, and the ministers were not good at commenting, so he asked the emperor to make a judgment. ”

"Sit, sir." Chongzhen looked at Hou Sui, who was silent, and said with a smile: "Are you still worried about food?" I don't want to embarrass you, and I don't want to embarrass Hong Chengchou. I will leave you some silver, 800,000 taels of silver for the household, 200,000 taels of silver from the internal funds, and 130,000 taels for Huguang and 20,000 taels for Sichuan, for military use. Do not delay the thief because of the lack of pay, and give you an excuse. ”

"Holy Divine Martial Arts, how dare the ministers!" Wen Tiren hurriedly got up and spoke in unison with Hou Sui and Zhang Fengyi.

Chongzhen stared at the delicate little hand furnace and said: "Proposed decree, give Hong Chengchou the title of secretary of the military department, and promote him to the governor of the five provinces." ”

Hong Chengchou received the holy decree, both happy and sad, in the future, driving back and forth between several provinces, even if there is a BMW that travels thousands of miles a day, it must also have an iron body. If you do everything by yourself, you must have thousands of hands and thousands of eyes like Guanyin. Therefore, while thinking about how to join forces to pursue and suppress, he continued to recommend people, urge food and wages, and promoted his protégé Shuntianfu Chengsun Chuanting to the governor of Shaanxi, so as to stabilize the situation in Shaanxi and let go of the suppression. He estimated that it would take dozens of days for Sun Chuanting to arrive, and he didn't wait for him to meet, so he led the army south out of Tongguan.

At this time, the righteous army in Henan had 13 large and small 72 battalions, with more than 200,000 men and horses, stationed between Yi, Song, Wan, and Luo, and the battalion was dozens of miles, and the momentum was extremely huge. Among the thirteen families, Gao Yingxiang had the most men and horses, stationed inside and outside Xingyang City. He got the news that his old enemy Hong Chengchou was heading south, and knew that the comer was not good, so he hurriedly feishu summoned the leaders of all walks of life to discuss countermeasures.

Xingyang has long been known as "the eastern capital of the belt, the throat of the three Qins", the Songshan Mountains are in the south, the Piling Mountains are across the north, the east embraces the Jingxiang City, and the west crosses the Tiger Prison Pass, which has always been a place for the soldiers to fight. In the Chinese New Year's Eve, the Dahai Temple in the east of Xingyang City is very lively, with two huge red lanterns hanging in front of the temple gate, and two rows of colorful flags neatly planted on both sides of the road leading to the Daxiong Treasure Hall, hunting from time to time in the cold wind. In front of the Buddha statue in the main hall, there is a large red sandalwood table, and thirteen Taishi chairs are placed around the table. Li Zicheng took Li Guo, Gu Junen and dozens of other personal soldiers to be busy, and tonight the leaders of the thirteen families will gather in the temple to discuss the battle plan. As soon as it was dark, the soldiers outside the door ran to report that the eighth king Zhang Xianzhong had arrived, Li Zicheng hurriedly greeted him, and Zhang Xianzhong hugged his fist and asked: "Brother Zicheng, tonight is the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, what good meal have you prepared for your brother?" ”

Li Zicheng led Zhang Xianzhong into the main hall and beckoned him to sit down by the big brazier, before replying: "The younger brother knows that my brother is a master who drinks wine and eats meat in a big bowl, and he is not used to eating such fine meals as the eunuchs' houses, so he has prepared dozens of jars of spirits, and the two whole pigs have already been killed and steamed under the stove!" He stopped talking and inhaled, "There is already some fragrance, it must be out of the pot." ”

"Tonight is the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve, if it is the usual wine and dinner, my brother will pull his legs and leave." Zhang Xianzhong stroked his dense beard and laughed.

Li Zicheng took a step forward, stretched out his hand to lift the red sandalwood table curtain, there were many wine jars lined up under the table, touched the red paper sticks on the altar, and said with a smile: "My brother is a distinguished guest, how dare my younger brother treat him with ordinary soju?" This is the famous Shangdong Spring in Xingyang, and the aroma of wine is full of mud. ”

"Upper Cave Spring? I hadn't really heard of it, let alone tasted it. ”

"This is a famous wine since ancient times!" Gu Junen saw that Zhang Xianzhong's words seemed to be a little unhappy, and explained: "This wine has been recorded in the "National History Supplement" written by the Tang Dynasty as early as the Tang Dynasty. From the first year of Tang Xuanzong to the first year of Mu Zong's Changqing, it has always been the work of the imperial court. This wine is brewed from the Three Cave Village, but only the Upper Cave Village is considered a good wine......"

"Alright, alright!" Zhang Xianzhong shouted: "I can't read a few baskets of big words, I hear people drop their bookbags and their heads are big, whether the wine is good or not, you can know if you taste it, why be so noisy?" He faintly smelled a faint aroma of wine, and the wine worm in his stomach moved, but he asked, "It's strange!" These days, I ordered people to look for wine everywhere, and I have also been to Shangdong Village, why haven't I found it? ”

Li Zicheng said: "The owner of the winery in Shangdong Village fled long before we came. Later, I couldn't rest assured that those old wine cellars were approaching, and when I ran back, I saw that Ma Qiu, the person who broke into the king, did not commit any crimes, so I dared to reopen to do business. ”

As the two were talking, Gao Yingxiang strode in, and when he saw Zhang Xianzhong, he smiled and said, "You came early, you smell the wine!" ”

"Look at what my brother said! I want to have a good year with my brother! Zhang Xianzhong stood up and crossed his hands and clasped his fists in salute.

"Sit down and cook the fire." Gao Yingxiang nodded with a smile,

"What are the things for the New Year, such as incense, candles, paper horses, and firecrackers, and I have prepared them, and I also teach people to make bread dumplings later!"

Zhang Xianzhong stroked his hair and laughed: "Brother is thoughtful, there are dumplings to count the New Year!" It's just that it's not easy to wrap dumplings for so many people. ”

Gao Yingxiang waved his hand and said, "Enough!" Let's eat with a stomach! ”

"When is he polite...... Li Zicheng was still making fun of Zhang Xianzhong, when he heard a noise in the courtyard, he knew that many leaders were coming, and hurriedly greeted him. Sure enough, Lao Hui Ma Shouying, Ge Li Yan He Yilong, Zuo Jin Wang He Jin, Cao Cao Luo Rucai, Reincarnated King Xu Chang, Shot the Sky Li Wanqing, Mixed 100,000 Ma Jinzhong, Guotian Star Hui Dengxiang, Sweeping King Zhang Yichuan, Breaking into the Sky Liu Guoneng, and Nine Dragons Guo Dacheng entered the temple gate one after another. Li Zicheng greeted and led everyone into the main hall, and when everyone saw Gao Yingxiang, they hugged their fists and saluted. Gao Yingxiang beckoned everyone to sit down around the table, and the dishes came up immediately, without waiting for the soldiers to move the wine and put the wine bowl, Zhang Xianzhong stretched out his hand and proposed a jar of wine. He looked around at everyone and smiled, "I'll taste it first." He poured a bowl full of it, poured it into his throat, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and praised: "The fruit is a good wine!" ”

Gao Yingxiang gave him a boost of pride, got up with a drink and said: "I have been waiting for my brothers to have a ** year, I have been fighting in Sanqin, and I have never been born again. ”

Everyone did it together, sat down to eat vegetables, and Zhang Xianzhong took the pork leg from the clay basin and chewed it. Gao Yingxiang paused for a moment, and suddenly sighed: "In the last year of the Apocalypse, heroes rose up, raised the banner of righteousness, killed corrupt officials, and attacked the city, what a momentum!" For more than ten years now, most of the 36th battalion of that year has been scattered, and only a few of us are left, but they have driven people out of their hometown in Shaanxi......

"For the New Year, why bother to say such depressing words! As long as Lao Tzu still has three inches of energy, he will fight with the government with a knife and a gun, killing one is enough, killing a pair to earn one, and it is better to bully the government to live. Ma Shouying opened his wide sheepskin jacket, patted his chest and said, "What are you afraid of when Hong Chengchou comes?" He rushed to Henan, let's take the opportunity to smash his lair and return to his hometown in Shaanxi! ”

"Hong Chengchou is not an ordinary person, we have dealt with him for many years, and we have not found any benefits, this matter is by no means so easy." Gao Yingxiang drank a few sips of wine in a row, his face gradually turned red, and his sad color suddenly decreased.

Ma Shouying sneered, wiped the oil stains on his hands, shook it a few times and said: "If you can fight, you will fight, if you can't fight, you will run, as long as we get into the mountains, the ditch is deep and the forest is dense, and the Hong Barbarians can't do anything about us!" ”

"I'm really old, and I don't have the pride of the year!" Zhang Xianzhong threw the pig's leg in his hand on the table, rolled his eyes and looked at Ma Shouying's gray beard under his chin, and laughed loudly: "If you are afraid of Hong Manzi, why do you have to flee all the way back to Shaanxi, just hide behind the men and horses of our battalion, our old Zhang guarantees that the official army will not hurt you in the slightest!" ”