Yesterday, Song Nan and Wang Shouren agreed that the two of them left the capital at a staggered time, and if they left together, it might cause too much of an idea, so Wang Shouren set off yesterday evening, and at this moment he was afraid that he had already left the border of the capital. Song Nan was actually worried that his departure from the capital would attract the attention of many people in the capital, especially King Ning, who was still in the capital, if he was smelled by his dog's nose, I am afraid that King Ning would immediately realize something.

Therefore, Song Nan chose to set off in the early morning, coinciding with Jiang Bin's Yangwei camp guarding the gate of Yongding Gate during the New Year, and the departure of these five hundred people should not be known to outsiders, unless King Ning is unpredictable or sends people to keep an eye on Song Nan every day, but this is impossible. Who in the capital has the ability to send people to keep an eye on the commander of the Jinyi Guard without being known? Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao was not stupid enough to do this. In addition, it is annual leave, and Song Nan does not have to show up in the court, but the time is right.

The capital is only six or seven days away from Jiangxi if it is an ordinary speed, the official road south of the capital is flat, and the accompanying are well-equipped Jinyi Guard cavalry personal guards, the people are strong and the horses are strong, and they move quickly, in the afternoon they caught up with Wang Shouren's car in the territory of Baoding Mansion, in order to save time and rush to the road, Wang Shouren abandoned the car and changed horses, and took his entourage to all lightly mounted horses to follow the cavalry of the pro-guard team day and night, and it took only four days and three nights to arrive in Jiangxi through Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui provinces.

The brigade naturally did not dare to be too ostentatious, Wang Shouren built a detour through the edge of the Jianchang Mansion to reach the Ganzhou Mansion under the jurisdiction of Gannan Province, where is Wang Shouren's jurisdiction, if you take a shortcut directly, you must cross the Nanchang Mansion, and you have to pass through the sphere of influence of Ning Wangfu, which is easy to expose the target and leak the news.

Although one of the purposes of Song Nan's trip was to go to the yamen of Nanchang Jinyi Wei Qianhu, Song Nan also understood that going to Gannan first was the most important thing, and he must not startle the snake at this time. So obeying Wang Shouren's Jianyì walked around the eastern edge of Jiangxi for a day and a night, and on the evening of the eighth day of the first lunar month, everyone finally arrived outside the city of Ganzhou, the seat of Gannan Governance.

After several days of running, even the strong Jinyi guards were tired enough, Song Nan's legs were sore, his buttocks hurt on horseback, Wang Shouren was old, his body was not very good, and his face was pale and colorless, as if he was seriously ill. Song Nan secretly admired Wang Shouren's endurance, and slept on a fast horse along the way, but did not see Wang Shouren complain for half a sentence, and before he could take a breath after the net profit of Ganzhou, he had already summoned the main officials of Gannan to come to the governor's yamen to hold a meeting.

Song Nan and his entourage were arranged to rest in the barracks at the east gate of Ganzhou, Song Nan only took a hot bath, rested a little, and was invited to the governor's yamen that night; The meeting was held in a small hall in the back hall of the governor's yamen, and when Song Nan arrived, there were already six or seven officials present, and the Taishi chair at the top was vacant, and that was Song Nan's position.

Wang Shouren changed into a thin black cotton robe, his face was much better, and he personally greeted Song Nan in front of the hall door, the officials on the seat did not know what kind of person was coming, and when Song Nan sat down, Wang Shouren introduced Song Nan's identity, and several officials who had just fallen from the seat were frightened, and hurriedly got up and saluted again. A black-bearded military attache was dumbfounded and shouted: "My God, Zhenguo Gong, your old man is here in person, you can see Zhen Guogong in this life, and your humble life is not in vain." ”

Song Nan rolled his eyes and said: Am I old? With a smile on his lips and humility, all the officials were shocked and incoherent, and Wang Shouren smiled and introduced Song Nan one by one.

"This one is General Wang Mian of the General Army of Gannan."

Song Nan smiled and nodded, the black-bearded military attache looked mighty, it was actually such a crepe name, and he was looking at Song Nan with sparkling eyes at the moment and smirking.

"This one is the guerrilla general Cai Meng, this one is the commander of the Ganzhou Wei Li Guangtai, this one is Zhao Ziyue Zhao Qianhu, and this one is the Ganzhou prefect Ma Jiuping......"

After introducing the six or seven officials one by one, they are all military and political leaders in Ganzhou and even southern Gansu, Song Nan glanced at Wang Shouren with a little suspicion, how shrewd Wang Shouren was, and whispered in Song Nan's ear at the moment: "Don't worry, Grandpa Guo, these people have nothing to do with King Ning, under the jurisdiction of my southern Gannan, the old man is not so sure, so what kind of governor of southern Gan should he be?" ”

Song Nan nodded slightly, what he was most worried about was that the news of his coming to Gannan would leak out, Wang Shouren obviously knew this, the people he called were probably well thought out, but unfortunately, he couldn't believe any of these people, who knew how deep they were disguised.

After everyone sat down again, Wang Shouren spoke: "My lords, Zhenguo Gong came to Ganzhou this time, brought the elite guards of Jinyiwei, the purpose of which is to assist us in exterminating the bandits in southern Gannan. ”

All the generals bowed their hands one after another: "Actually, the Guogong of the Labor Town came to Jiangxi to suppress the bandits, and we are ashamed." ”

Wang Shouren turned to Song Nan and said: "The Duke of Zhenguo is here in person, and the military affairs here will be decided by the Duke of Zhenguo, and the Grandpa of the Kingdom has anything he wants to ask and wants to ask, but he can be ordered, and I will not slack off." ”

Song Nan smiled and waved his hand: "The matter of suppressing bandits is still mainly up to you, and I am only here to assist." ”

Wang Mian said loudly: "Don't be polite, Zhenguo Gong, you have long regarded Grandpa Guo as the god of the Ming Army, and it is our honor to be able to work under Grandpa Guo." ”

"Yes, yes, Zhenguo Gong has just recovered the Hetao, and he has made an unprecedented contribution to the Ming Dynasty, driving the Tartars to the north of Yinshan Mountain, and now he is here to exterminate the bandits, isn't it a piece of cake? Grandpa Guo, but please command. The crowd chimed in.

Song Nan coughed and said, "Okay, since you are raised, of course I won't let it, and it would be hypocritical to prevaricate." To tell the truth, my visit to Ganzhou this time was a personal act, just because Mr. Yang Ming said that bandits were rampant in southern Ganzhou, and the officers and soldiers were helpless, and I felt a little curious. It is reported that there are only a few hundred bandits led by Yang Qing, Li Fu, Wang Ru and other bandit leaders in southern Gansu. Why has it failed to be eradicated? ”

Everyone was a little embarrassed, coughing and hiding their refusal to speak.

Song Nan said: "I'm not blaming you, I'm just understanding the enemy's situation, who will say it." ”

Wang Mian got up and arched his hand and said: "Let's talk about it, what Zhenguo Gong said is very true, I have more than one guard of soldiers and horses in southern Gansu, nearly 8,000 soldiers and horses, although they are scattered in various state capitals, but every time they suppress bandits, they send troops ranging from 3,000 to 5,000, more than dozens of times the bandits, but it has not worked, it is really unreasonable." ”

Song Nan nodded and said, "There must be a reason, let's talk about the reason." ”

Wang Mian said: "It's not a humble duty to shirk responsibility, Yang Qing, Li Fu, and Wang Ruxiao gathered less than 300 bandits, but they are not ordinary bandits, although they don't have the ability to penetrate the heavens and the earth, but they are well-informed. Their nest is on the Sanbo Mountain in Anji, southeast of Ganzhou, with high mountains and dense forests, deep peaks and deep valleys, and a radius of hundreds of miles; It is bordered by Changning County in the east and Anyuan County in the north, which is convenient for bandits to move from the topography; Although there are a large number of thousands of our officers and soldiers, they are completely inadequate in this mountain. ”

Song Nan nodded slowly and said, "This is a troublesome matter, but after all, there are traces to follow, can't you even touch their clues?" ”

Wang Mian said: "That's not it, we also have our methods, but when we got the exact news several times and rushed to exterminate them, these dog thieves disappeared without a trace as if they had ventilated ears and clairvoyance, and they always returned in vain." And it's not me who destroys my own prestige, although these bandits are thieves, but they are high-headed horses and neatly armed, in addition to neat swords, bows and crossbows, they also have seventy or eighty firearms in their hands, if a small force fights, the officers and soldiers are not opponents. ”

Song Nan was shocked: "Fire gun? They actually have firecrackers? ”

Wang Mian turned to the other general and said, "General Cai, you have seen this with your own eyes, tell Zhenguo Gong about it." ”

The guerrilla general Cai Meng hurriedly got up and saluted: "Yes, Grandpa Guo, last autumn, I led a thousand soldiers and horses to block this gang of bandits in the area of Yanziyan in Sanbo Mountain, twenty miles south of Anyuan, but they suffered a big loss, they entrenched on Yanziyan and condescendingly shot with firearms, only half an hour, more than 70 officers and soldiers were killed and wounded, and they could not attack for half a day. Humble and incompetent, let them run from under their noses. ”

Song Nan sighed, it seems that what Wang Shouren said is true, how did the bandits come to the sharp sword of the fire bow and crossbow? I'm afraid it's the supply of Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao. Seeing Cai Meng's depressed face, Song Nan comforted: "The fire gun is indeed fierce, you should not fight hard, if there are seventy or eighty fire guns, I am afraid that half of your thousand soldiers and horses will be killed before they can get close." The mountain bandits are very familiar with the terrain, and it is unrealistic to want to trap them. ”

Cai Meng clenched his fists and said: "Thank you Grandpa Guo for his magnanimity, I am deeply ashamed of this humble position, if this gang of bandits is caught, they will be killed alive." ”

Song Nan laughed and said: "That's not possible, the purpose of my coming here is to capture the bandit leaders alive, and you want to kill them alive, isn't it contrary to my idea?" ”

"Captured alive?" The boss of all the generals with their mouths open, all thought: "This grandfather is a fool's dream, although you led hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses to fight in the northwest, and the Tartars were defeated, but sometimes it is easier for the army to fight than to suppress bandits in the mountains, and it is as difficult as climbing to the sky to capture a group of extremely cunning bandits alive in the mountains." Even if you are the military god of the Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid this matter is just talking. ”