The news of the capture of Ji'an Province reached the capital Nanchang within 10 days.

The new governor Liu Zongxiang was so angry that he almost vomited blood as soon as he received the war report.

Since taking office after the year, Liu Zongxiang ordered to recruit 20,000 township warriors in Nanchang Prefecture, and in the past two months, 20,000 township warriors can be recruited to half of the number, and the recruited township warriors have not been properly trained, and they are simply a group of recruits.

Liu Zongxiang originally wanted to train this group of recruits for seven or eight months, wait until they become elite soldiers, and then set out in one fell swoop after the autumn harvest to attack the Mo thieves in Yuanzhou and completely exterminate them.

But I didn't expect this Mo thief to be so cunning, and he suddenly sent troops to attack Ji'an Mansion when his recruits had not yet been trained, and also took down the four counties of Fucheng, Luling, Anfuyong, Xinyong, Feng, and Jishui.

This time Liu Zongxiang's plan can be completely disrupted, Mo thieves are so rampant, but he has no troops to send, and he is powerless to suppress the bandits.

But now that Mo Thief is so arrogant, if he, the governor, doesn't come up with a plan, it won't be justified.

Liu Zongxiang summoned two other deputies from Jiangxi's political envoy department to discuss countermeasures.

One is Zhu Zhichen, the political envoy in charge of the civil affairs, Tian Fu, and household registration of Jiangxi Province, and the other is Si Lin Zhen, the official envoy of the third rank who is in charge of the province's judicial prisons.

The three of them sat in the room and had a small meeting.

Liu Zongxiang said straight to the point: "Two, this Yuanzhou Mo thief is getting bigger and bigger, and now he has captured Ji'an Mansion City, and now the thief general Yi Jiuzheng is leading three thousand anti-thieves to storm Xiajiang County, Xiajiang County has no heavy troops to defend, and Dong Ji of the county is a wine bag and rice bag, if it weren't for the Linjiang Governor Hu Yongqing sent Qingjiang County Liang Shiji to send troops to rescue, I am afraid that this Xiajiang County has already been broken by the anti-thieves." ”

Liu Zongxiang's words were approved by the two deputies.

The political envoy Zhu Zhichen arched his hand and said: "Lord Futai, Dong Ji, the magistrate of Xiajiang County, is just a tribute student, and I don't know which prince and nobleman he is the son of, and he can actually release a magistrate, just by virtue of his background as a tribute student, where does he have the qualifications to be the magistrate of that Xiajiang County."

Since taking office in Xiajiang, this guy did not want to repay the emperor's favor, but learned the behavior of those eunuchs, set up cards on the river to intercept and collect taxes, and made merchant ships complain. ”

Lin Zhen couldn't help but sneer when he heard this: "Master Zhu doesn't understand, that Dong Ji is not an ordinary person, his family is a big family of Zhenyang, rich and rich, his father spent five thousand taels of silver for the official position of this magistrate!" ”

"What? Five thousand taels? These landlords, who have the money to buy officials, but are reluctant to spend a penny to do things for the court and the people, but instead use them to buy officials, buy officials and crazy fish and meat people, if this continues, how can my Ming Dynasty be immortal?"

Zhu Zhichen said bitterly.

"Hey, it's not easy to talk nonsense, as courtiers, how can we sing down my Ming Dynasty, and now we still have to find a way to block the expansion of the Mo thief, once Xiajiang County is captured by the Mo thief, the Linjiang Mansion will open the door, there is no danger to defend, and then the Mo Thief Bingfeng will be directed to the provincial capital Nanchang, and then what can I do?"

When it comes to Mo Thief, Zhu Zhichen and Lin Zhen don't dare to talk nonsense, one is in charge of civil affairs and the other is in charge of justice, and they really don't know much about military affairs.

But now the boss has asked, and it's not good not to answer.

Zhu Zhichen thought for a long time before saying: "Lord Futai, since the Mo thief occupied Yuanzhou Mansion, in Yuanzhou Mansion and four counties to vigorously promote the so-called Juntian policy, this policy can be described as extremely vicious, those tenants do not know the power of this strategy, taste a little sweetness to the Mo thief Thanksgiving, since the battle of Fenyi, Governor Xie died, my 7,000 officers and troops were almost wiped out, but the Mo thief is getting stronger and stronger, this time he led the troops to make trouble, nothing more than to deceive me Jiangxi Province There are no heavy troops.

Why don't you write to the imperial court and ask the emperor to order the governors of Huguang and Zhejiang, and let them send troops to help, I don't know if it's possible? ”

Liu Zongxiang couldn't help but be a little moved when he heard this opinion.

Zhu Zhichen said that when it comes to the current situation in Jiangxi Province, there are no heavy troops in the province, and although only 7,000 men and horses have attacked the city of Ji'an, these 7,000 people are really elite soldiers, all of whom have experienced the war, and their combat effectiveness is many times stronger than that of officers and soldiers who have not been trained for a long time.

At present, only half of the Xiangyong recruited by himself has been recruited, and the training time of these people is only more than a month, if they are sent to fight the army of anti-thieves, these 10,000 people may not be able to beat 6,000 people.

Lin Zhen saw Liu Zongxiang's thoughtful appearance, and hurriedly followed: "Lord Futai, Lord Zhu is reasonable, just with our current strength, it is indeed impossible to exterminate the Mo thief, if you want to exterminate this thief, you still need external forces, Zhejiang Huguang and the two provinces are strong and strong, because it is Huguang, they fight with the local bandits all the year round, and the combat power is strong, if you can get the help of the two provinces, it will be much easier to exterminate the Mo thief." ”

Liu Zongxiang agreed with the opinions of the two deputies very much, but he couldn't agree.

He said to the two: "Two, when I took office as governor two months ago, I swore to the emperor that I would put down all the bandits in Jiangxi within two years.

It's only been less than two months now, and the pen and ink have not dried up, but now I'm writing to the emperor to ask for military support, isn't this a slap in the face? ”

As soon as Liu Zongxiang's words were finished, Lin Zhen and Zhu Zhichen couldn't sit still.

Zhu Zhichen couldn't help but get up and said: "My lord, the name is small, the suppression of bandits is big, we have no soldiers in our hands at all, just those 10,000 villagers, but only trained for more than a month, it is difficult to say whether there is combat power, in case you are defeated by the anti-thieves when you fight with the anti-thieves, then your name will not be ruined!" ”

This sentence woke up Liu Zongxiang at once, but he was still a little embarrassed.

"Wu Yi, I know you have a point, but this far water can't save the near fire, we have to find a way to attack ourselves."

Lin Zhen looked at Liu Zongxiang's stubborn appearance, and he couldn't wait to go up and strangle him.

However, he resisted the urge in his heart, and began to think of a way to do it.

After a while, an idea suddenly occurred to him.

He said to Liu Zongxiang: "My lord, you can send the commander of Tongzhi Li Yulong to lead the 10,000 villagers to set off to the south first, and then immediately post a notice, with two dry meals a day, one tael of silver money a month as bait, recruit 10,000 villagers, Nanchang Ordnance Treasury is abundant, let's replace all these other 10,000 people with battle armor and long knives and spears, and when fighting, these 10,000 people will stabilize the rear and not move, just wave the flag and shout in the back."

Then let Li Yulong lead the army to pretend to attack, the anti-thieves are only a few thousand people, seeing that our army has many soldiers and horses, and the military is victorious, it will be timid, and it may retreat without a fight, and I don't know!

As soon as the thief retreats, the adults can call the newly recruited 20,000 villagers to garrison on the spot, and we will provide military food and grass in the rear, so that these 20,000 people can practice day and night in the front, and wait until the autumn, these 20,000 soldiers must have been trained properly, and then Lord Futai will personally go out and take advantage of the late autumn to fight and wipe out the thieves! ”

Lin Zhen's words immediately reached Liu Zongxiang's heart.

Liu Zongxiang clapped his hands and said: "Okay, just do it, pass the order, and command the same acquaintance Li Youlong as the general of the army, lead 10,000 troops, and immediately lead the troops to set off, and the official will lead 10,000 villagers to set off in 15 days." ”

The matter of requesting the imperial court to rescue the troops in Zhejiang and Huguang provinces was directly ignored by Liu Zongxiang, and he felt that Lin Zhen's opinion was very good.

If you send 20,000 troops yourself, you will already crush the anti-thieves in terms of numbers, and when the time comes, you will pull another 10,000 or 20,000 people, and they will also hold the flag and change their armor.

After receiving the order, the commander and envoy Li Yulong did not dare to delay, and immediately went to the barracks outside the city to order the generals, and went to the treasury to receive 3,000 stone of grain and a large amount of ordnance and armor as supplies for the army.

As soon as the morning of the second day passed, under the personal send-off of Liu Zongxiang, Li Youlong led 10,000 advance troops to board the ship at the wharf by boat, and sailed all the way to the south against the current.

……

At this time, Taihe County is a different scene.

Mo Qian led 1,500 soldiers and horses to show off his might in front of the gate of Taihe West City.

He stood fifty steps away from the city wall and shouted loudly at the city wall: "I am the leader of the rebel army, Mo Qian, dare to ask Lord Wu of Zhixian County?" ”

As soon as Wu Wenying heard that it was the anti-king calling him, he immediately came to the west city wall.

"I'm Wu Wenying, but the city is anti-Wang Mo asking?"

"Exactly, Wuzhi County, Wan'an's rescuers have been wiped out, Taihe has become an isolated city, I admire the loyalty of Wuzhi County, I wanted to give Wuzhi County a dignity, but I value the people more.

Lord Wu, you are Taihe's parent official, can you bear to let the people of this whole city lose their lives because of this military disaster? ”

Wu Wenying immediately interrupted Mo Qian's words when he heard this.

"Don't ask the dog thief, you don't want to be rampant, I, Wu Wenying, eat the grain grown by the people and wear the clothes woven by the people, don't use the people to threaten me.

You dog thief, if you really feel so sorry for the people, then don't you quickly lead the troops back to Yuanzhou, and you still have the face to bark here.

If you don't rebel, how will the people of Jiangxi suffer from military disasters because of you.

I heard that you are a talent in Yuanzhou, and you are also a famous person in the county school, you received the rice of the imperial court, ate the grain of the imperial court, and received the favor of the imperial court.

Now you are raising an army to rebel, you dog thief, full of benevolence and morality, but full of ingratitude, I have never seen such a brazen person! ”

Mo Qian didn't expect to be scolded by a person for the first time after crossing over.

He knew that this Taihe County could not be taken peacefully today, and the siege was inevitable.

"Pass the order, beat the drums, march!"

The 3,000 rebels had been waiting impatiently, and Lu Zhao, who came from the direction of the Water Gate in Nancheng, immediately launched an attack after hearing the drums.

The rebels drove the boat, with a thick wooden stake tied to the bow, and then accelerated with all their might, and hit it straight into the water gate.

The Water Gate was made of a fence, and under the onslaught of the rebels, the Water Gate was breached in less than half an hour.

The battle in Xicheng was even more intense, and the soldiers of the rebel army were filled with righteous indignation because they felt that the king had been insulted, and everyone rushed to be the first.

Wu Wenying, the county governor of Taihe, led the residents of the city to go to the city and hold on to it for less than half an hour, and the county seat of Taihe was breached.

Wu Wenying wanted to draw his sword and kill himself at the moment when the city was broken, but he was stopped by the rebel soldiers, who stabbed Wu Wenying into a sieve with a spear in order to vent their anger.

By the time Mo Qian came to the top of the city tower, Wu Wenying was already dead and couldn't die anymore.

Looking at Wu Wenying's corpse, Mo Qian sighed and said, "Burial it!" ”