Zhang Shize is not a descendant of Sun Chuanting, and he has no deep friendship with Sun Chuanting, so naturally he did not participate in Sun Chuanting's planning, but Zhang Shize can guess the truth behind it and the roles played by each person.

Sun Chuanting's dispatch to Montenegro was not to take down the three fires of the new officials to take down the position of the governor of the three sides, but to punish the trilateral generals with the hands of the Montenegrin thieves and remove the resistance to the rectification of the three sides. And in this matter, Li Hongji is the knife in Sun Chuanting's hand.

After some planning, Sun Chuanting's plan was basically completed, and most of the generals on the three sides were held accountable for their defeat, or demoted or imprisoned.

In this matter, the Black Mountain thieves, who originally did not pose much threat to the Ming Dynasty, were just tools used by Sun Chuanting, and thousands of border soldiers were victims of great achievements. One will be a success, and that's it!

Zhang Shize was born in the family of the duke, and he has read history since he was a child, and he has seen too many such things, as for justice, as for the lives of thousands of border soldiers, he doesn't care about it. Like Sun Chuanting, he doesn't care about right or wrong, he only cares about the result. Now the results are for the best.

did not report to the imperial court, nor did he tell Sun Chuanting, Zhang Shize directly ordered that the captured Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang and other thieves be executed, and the heads were salted in lime and sent to Beijing.

Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang and other thieves caused chaos in another time and space for half of the Ming Dynasty, but in this time and space, nothing happened and did not cause much harm to the Ming Dynasty, and the imperial court naturally did not care about their life and death.

The captured leaders of the Montenegrin thieves were all killed, the ordinary thieves were screened, those who committed the most heinous crimes of human life were all executed, and the ordinary thieves were escorted back to their hometowns.

Most of these thieves come from all over northern Shaanxi, and it is under the jurisdiction of Zhang Shize that a complete armor protection system has been established in northern Shaanxi, and there is no problem in integrating these thieves.

As for absorbing these thieves into the army, Zhang Shize never had such an idea, the Yansui army is not short of soldiers now, every time the army is recruited, the young people in northern Shaanxi are enthusiastic to sign up, and there is no need to absorb these thieves at all.

The main force of the Black Mountain thieves was defeated in the First World War, and the Black Mountain thieves who fled to the grassland were basically pacified.

It is said that the report should be co-signed by Sun Chuanting, after all, Sun Chuanting is the governor of the three sides. But Zhang Shize is not Sun Chuanting's subordinate, and Yansui is not within the three sides, Zhang Shize's status as a British prince is noble, so he naturally will not go to meet Sun Chuanting. Although the skill of exterminating thieves is not great, wouldn't it be better to swallow it alone?

In the report to the imperial court, Zhang Shize did not forget to ask Li Hongji for credit, although Li Hongji did not play a big role in the battle to destroy the Black Mountain thieves, but after all, he went deep into the tiger's den, and there was no merit and hard work. In addition, he helped the Montenegrin thieves defeat the three-way Ming army, made contributions to the rectification of the three sides, and successfully completed his task, so he should be asked for credit. Of course, the matter of helping the Montenegrin thieves defeat the Sanlu Ming Army could not be reflected in the report documents, so they could only ask for credit under other excuses.

As a British prince, Zhang Shize has a noble status, so he naturally will not be greedy for the merits of a small person.

Zhang Shize can see that Li Hongji is ambitious, but he doesn't care, there are too many such low-level characters, it's nothing, and it doesn't hurt to give him a chance to rise.

Li Hongji is also a clever person, so he naturally understands that Zhang Shize's power, whether it is status or holy family, is not under Sun Chuanting, the governor of the three sides. Although Li Hongji was directly under the jurisdiction of Sun Chuanting, it did not prevent him from getting closer to Zhang Shize, taking the initiative to give Zhang Shize advice, and was willing to lead troops to Montenegro.

Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang and others did not come out of the nest, there are still three or four thousand people left in Montenegro, led by Wang Jiayin under Zijinliang, in order to leave a way out for the Montenegrin thieves, of course, they are also reluctant to abandon the territory that has been operating for three years. After all, between Montenegro and the Yellow River, there are tens of thousands of acres of fields that they have worked hard to cultivate.

Shizi Ye, the last general suggested sending troops to Montenegro, and only two or three thousand soldiers and horses were needed to defeat Zijin Liang and take Montenegro, which can be described as a great achievement. After taking Montenegro, you can also seize the wealth accumulated by the Montenegrin thieves for several years, which is also a lot of money. Li Hongji suggested.

Zhang Shize was a little hesitant, in the bitter cold land on the grassland, how much can the Black Mountain thieves accumulate? After defeating the Montenegrin thieves, many war horses and materials were captured, and most of the wealth accumulated by the Montenegrin thieves was captured, how much could there be left in Montenegro? Seeing that winter is about to begin, is it worth it to send troops to Montenegro for thousands of miles?

Li Hongji saw Zhang Shize's hesitation, and continued: "Lord Shizi, in fact, the wealth of Montenegro is nothing, the real wealth is not those cattle and sheep grain, but the work of expanding the land!" ”

"The work of expanding the soil?" Zhang Shize was stunned for a moment.

"Yes, it's the work of expanding the soil!" Li Hongji nodded heavily and said, "Montenegro is located in the north of the Yellow River at the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain, which is the most fertile place in the Hetao. If you send a group of men and horses to capture Montenegro, you can build a city in Montenegro, you can plant a nail for my Ming Dynasty in the Hetao, and over time, with Montenegro City as the foundation, you can plot the entire Hetao, and then take the Montenegro Hetao as the foundation, completely defeat the Mongols, and bring the entire Monan into the rule of my Ming Dynasty, so isn't it a work of expanding the land? ”

Zhang Shize said that Zhang Shize was extremely excited, since the Jiajing period, the Ming Dynasty has a proposal to reset, if the Hetao can be recovered, the Ming Dynasty will establish an absolute advantage over the Mongols on the grassland, if it can recover the Hetao, the credit is great, comparable to the blue jade attack desert of the year.

But.

"The lonely grassland of Montenegro, and the Ordos Mongolia is still separated from Yulin, can you send troops to occupy it, and can you hold it? The imperial court did not have the strength to transport grain and grass materials thousands of miles to the past. Zhang Shize asked.

"If it were another time, the Mongols would naturally not let our army occupy Montenegro. But now it's different. Li Hongji smiled.

"In the current southern Mongolia, the Chahar Lin Dan Khan family is dominant, and the Karaqin and Ordos tribes were conquered by Lin Dan Khan. But Lin Dan Khan seemed to be stable in Monan, but he had great trouble, that is, Jiannu took the opportunity to attack westward.

You should know that just last winter, Na Huang Taiji captured Horqin Mongolia, and now he has unified the right wing of Mongolia. Jiannu suffered successive setbacks in Liaodong, and under the offensive of our Praetorian Guard, most of Liaodong had been lost, and the population loss was very large, and it was no longer able to compete with our Praetorian Guard. Therefore, the last general speculated that Huang Taiji would most likely shift his attention to the steppes and aim to completely recover the whole of Mongolia. Therefore, his next step will inevitably be to make a move on Lin Dan Khan.

And Lin Dan Khan also felt the pressure of Jiannu, so he was extremely docile to the Ming Dynasty, and allowed our army to crusade against Montenegro through the Mongolian territory.

Therefore, we can ask for a garrison in Montenegro on the condition of helping them deal with Jiannu. In order to resist the annexation of Jiannu and to get the help of the Ming Dynasty, Lin Dan Khan will inevitably agree. ”

"I admit that what you said makes sense, but there are fewer soldiers stationed in Montenegro, and there is not enough strength to gain a foothold, let alone resist Jiannu. However, if there are more troops stationed, the supply of food and grass will be a huge problem. Zhang Shize shook his head and said. The work of expanding the land looks beautiful, but it is not easy to win the credit.

"One thing you have forgotten, that is, the Black Mountain thieves have reclaimed nearly 100,000 acres of fertile land between Montenegro and the Yellow River, all of which are irrigated by water, and the Yellow River water is used for irrigation, and the grain yield is very high. Just here is enough to support an army of twenty or thirty thousand. Li Hongji said with a smile.

"In that case, it's not impossible to think about it." Zhang Shize was moved.

Indeed, as Li Hongji said, tens of thousands of acres of land in Montenegro alone are enough to feed an army, and it should not be a problem to hold Montenegro. With Montenegro as the foundation, and relying on the horns of Lin Dan Khan in Naturalized City, it will definitely be able to block the westward invasion of Jiannu. Curbing the construction of slaves in the house will naturally have many benefits to the Ming Dynasty.

After completely eliminating the trouble of building slaves in the future, you can use Montenegro as the foundation to attack the entire Monan, completely defeat the Mongols, and incorporate the entire Monan into the territory of the Ming Dynasty!

Thinking of this, Zhang Shize's heart became more and more hot.

If you can accomplish this great cause, it is not impossible for the great general of merit to surpass the ancestors and surpass the first generation of British princes!

"Okay, I'll write a secret to Your Majesty!" Zhang Shize said categorically.

"Shizi, the last general thinks that the top priority now is that he should take advantage of the defeat of the Black Mountain bandits, and Zijin Liang, who stayed in Montenegro, did not notice it, and quickly sent an army to the grassland to defeat Zijin Liang and occupy Montenegro." Li Hongji suggested again.

"In your opinion, how many troops do you need to do this?" Zhang Shize asked.

"There are only four or five thousand thieves left behind in Montenegro, all of them are ordinary thieves with weak combat strength, if you send a Praetorian Guard, you only need two thousand soldiers and horses." Li Hongji said.

"Two thousand people, okay, I'll give you two thousand Yan Sui soldiers, and you go and take Montenegro." Zhang Shize immediately said.

Regardless of whether the emperor and the imperial court agree to build a city to defend in the grassland, it is always no problem to send an army to Montenegro to clear out the Black Mountain thieves, it is their own business. After conquering Montenegro, at least some money and food can be captured, which is enough to make up for the loss of this troop.

"I'll give you two thousand firearms, each with two horses, and you can help me quickly take Montenegro. When this is done, I will ask Your Majesty to transfer you to my command and give you a lieutenant. Zhang Shize continued.

"Thank you, Lord Shizi!" Li Hongji was overjoyed.

His current position is only a guerrilla general, in charge of a thousand men at most, and he is too far from a lieutenant general who can lead a side and be responsible for the battle alone. Sure enough, choosing to join Zhang Shize is a very correct choice, only with a strong backer in the DPRK can he be quickly promoted.

Zhang Shize has always been resolute, even if he allocated 2,000 Yansui soldiers from his command, each equipped with two war horses, led by Li Hongji, out of the border wall into the Ordos grassland. Most of the Yansui soldiers have been trained in horseback riding, and although they are not good cavalrymen, they can still do it with war horses. And among the thousands of war horses captured in this battle, Zhang Shize has no shortage of horses in his hands.

As for handing over his army to Li Hongji, Yan Suibing is also a Praetorian Guard, with a perfect system of checks and balances, Li Hongji can lead them to attack Montenegro, but if they want to plot wrong, Yan Suibing will naturally not listen.

Li Hongji led 2,000 cavalry into the grassland, swept through the grassland like a whirlwind, and the two war horses rode alternately, traveling 200 miles in one day, and crossed the Yellow River in only three days. During this period, he even encountered many Black Mountain bandits who fled, all of whom were ordered to be killed by Li Hongji.

The speed of the march was very fast, completely exceeding the speed at which the Black Mountain rout had fled. The main reason is that the Yansui soldiers carry dry food and drinking water for several days, and there are horses to change to ride, so they can march without stopping, but those routs do not have these conditions, while walking, they also have to look for food on the grassland, although they set off a day earlier, they are not as fast as the Yansui cavalry.

After crossing the Yellow River, after traveling for half a day, they arrived at Montenegro, and the thieves who stayed in Montenegro did not get any news of the Ming army's attack.

When the 2,000 Ming army appeared in Montenegro, it immediately caused the thieves to panic.

The camp of the Montenegrin thieves is located in the southern foothills of Montenegro, with a large number of simple houses built against the backdrop of Montenegro. Most of the houses were dug into the ground with half-man-deep pits and then made of mud and the roofs were made of branches and thatch.

The whole camp is surrounded by simple walls, about one zhang high earthen walls, with arrow towers and gates, and no moats.

The camp of the Black Mountain homeless people is actually a simple fortress with average defense, but it is no problem to defend against steppe horse bandits who are not good at attacking cities.

At this time, it was late autumn, there was no snow yet, the grassland was golden, and most of the displaced people left behind in Montenegro were busy working in the fields, busy harvesting the grain in the fields.

The big boss Wang Jiayin led most of the manpower to attack the side wall, so that the remaining manpower was insufficient, and the crops planted in the field have not been harvested until now.

Looking at the sudden appearance of the official cavalry, the homeless people who were busy in the fields were dumbfounded.

Some of the displaced people left behind the sorghum ears they were holding in their arms and ran desperately to the camp, while most of them panicked and did not know what to do.

Li Hongji didn't have time to pay attention to the homeless people in the fields, and galloped towards the camp with his cavalry.

The sharp whistle sounded one after another, the thieves guarding the gate desperately went to close the city gate, several Ming cavalry Pegasus arrived, the war horse hit the city gate heavily, the powerful impact made the city gate open, and the thief soldiers who closed the door spurted blood in their mouths.

The cavalry behind did not care about the comrades who had fallen off their horses due to the collision, and quickly rode their horses into the city. Some of the cavalry slaughtered the castle guards and arsenals in the city, while the other cavalry fought at the other gates.

At this moment, most of the thieves were busy in the fields outside the city, and there were only two or three hundred thieves left in the city, so naturally they could not stop the attack of the Ming army, and the city was easily taken down.

The city guarded the mansion, looking at Li Hongji who was riding a horse slowly, Zijin Liang's face was full of despair.

PS: Four thousand words.