Not long after, Li Ping, Cheng Qi, Hou Cheng and other generals sorted out all the captures in the city, Li Ping said happily: "Lord, there are a lot of grain, grass and goods in the city, our army has captured more than 300 catties of red gold, more than 1,400 catties of gold, more than 7,000 catties of silver, more than 70 million catties of money, more than 20 boxes of treasures, more than 3,000 horses of various cloths, and more than 60,000 stones of grain. This battle is a great harvest. ”

He Bai was also very happy in his heart, when the Black Mountain thieves were at their peak, they were rampant in the territory of nearly three or four counties, and almost all of them were robbed and burned everywhere they passed, and there were a lot of goods in their hands, but there was not much grain and grass. And although Guo Daxian joined later, he only plundered the land of the two counties, but he also had so much wealth, it seems that there is a way to make money.

He Bai asked, "What is the total casualties of our army?" How many thieves are there? ”

Li Pingyu said: "Our army has wounded more than 160 people in total, but most of them are lightly wounded, less than 30 are seriously wounded, and only more than 40 people are killed. Most of them were the result of last night's raid, but the damage in this afternoon's cavalry battle was not much. There were more than 1,800 prisoners, more than 4,400 thieves, old and young, women and children, more than 2,300 enemies killed, plus more than 200 people killed by the Qiu clan, and more than 400 to 500 thieves who fled into the mountains, our army broke more than 9,200 enemies, and it can be said that it was a complete victory. ”

He Bai shook his head with a smile and said: "It's not enough to win a big victory, the thieves still have a thousand armored soldiers who are heading south to Tangcheng, and more than a thousand thieves at the intersection of the two counties, only by defeating them in one fell swoop can it be called a big victory." ”

Cheng Qi asked: "Lord, the thieves at the turn of the two counties have no danger to rely on, and their families are more in my hands, so it is easy to break." However, the thieves who traveled south to Tangcheng had a strong city as a base, and their families needed to protect them, so they were afraid that it would be difficult to break through. Didn't the lord say that this battle should be resolved quickly, and he should not let the black mountain thieves react? If the thieves of the southbound Tang Dynasty are implicated for time, it will not be a miscalculation. ”

He Bai said with a smile: "For me, the thieves of the southbound Tang are as easy as destroying them. But I want to see what you are waiting for, so I won't talk about it for now. Think about how you can get rid of this thief quickly and easily. ”

Not long after, Cheng Qi shouted: "Our army destroyed Guo Daxian's thieves very quickly, but I am afraid that the southbound Tang thieves do not know the information." At this time, our army has a thousand good horses, and they can attack the southbound Tangcheng with a quick attack, and the thieves will be able to break it with a drum if they are caught off guard. ”

He Bai nodded, shook his head again, and commented: "This strategy is good, but after all, the thieves have a strong city to rely on, and the casualties of our army must be not small." It needs to be reconsidered. ”

Hou Cheng said: "Our army can send a hundred elite cavalry to deceive the defeated soldiers, and after the deception opens the city gate, the elite will cut the gate and seize the gate, and the whole army will rush up again, and it will be able to capture this city." ”

He Bai shook his head and said with a smile: "There are too many uncertainties in this strategy, if the thief is too timid to open the door, or if the thief is not such a rough and unrefined general as Cheng Qi, if he sees through this strategy, this battle will turn from a sneak attack to a strong attack, which is not good for me." ”

Hou Cheng lowered his head thoughtfully, and Cheng Qi smirked. Cheng Qi belongs to the good attack is not good at defending the general, everyone knows, He Bai pointed out here, but also in the sense of reminding, if this situation occurs in the future, should be cautious and good.

Li Ping stroked his beard and said: "Our army can use the soldiers of the Qiu and Yin clans to bluff, and then use Guo Daxian's head to demoralize the enemy, or recruit or force the enemy to flee, and then use the cavalry to destroy them in the field in one fell swoop." ”

"In a hundred miles, the march of thousands of people will take at least two days, plus one day to attack the enemy, it will take three days, which is too long." He Bai applauded and laughed, and commented on the three of them: "Okay, I already know the strategy of the three of you, in general, it is not bad, all of them have merits, and they are all in line with the art of war, I am very relieved." When there is no better way, all three are good strategies. With time, the commander of the army will be long, and you will become a famous general. But Guo Daxian has already been awarded the head, and the purpose of our army has been accomplished, if it takes a lot of losses and a long time to defeat this thief, it is better not to go. ”

The three generals bowed their hands and said: "Thank you for the praise of the lord and the captain, I dare not be ashamed." I don't know what the master's and the captain's clever plan is......"

He Bai grabbed an arrow in front of the case and said with a smile: "Order, the southbound Tang army quickly sent 800 foot soldiers to Qiu's Wubao in Duxiang to listen to the dispatch. You must arrive at the battlefield by the day after tomorrow. ”

The three generals were stunned for a moment, and then looked at the thief military order arrows thrown on the ground, and suddenly realized, and bowed: "The lord and the captain have a wonderful plan, I can't wait." ”

He Bai said solemnly: "Before, I have sent people to fly to the southbound Tang City to pass the order, as long as the thieves guard the general does not have the ability to penetrate the heavens and the earth, they will inevitably fall into the scheme." Li Ping, Cheng Qi, Hou Cheng, this battle will be handed over to you and the other three to do, where to ambush the thieves, you and others are up to you, I will only wait for the good news in the capital. ”

The three generals were overjoyed: "Well, we will live up to the expectations of the lord and the captain." The army of thieves returned. ”

He Bai also ordered Qiu Hui and Yin Li to be the guides, and left with the three generals. At this time, Luo Pei came out of the inner room with a heavy face, and said: "Lord Duwei, this is a secret letter copied from the inner room of the thief Guo, which contains a lot of private matters about the history of the Ding Thorn in Bingzhou, and I also ask Lord Duwei to read it carefully." ”

He Bai waved his hand and said, "I won't look at it, you can roughly tell me what it is." ”

Luo Pei glanced at He Bai strangely, he had heard for a long time that He Bai was not on good terms with Ding Yuan, how could he be indifferent when he heard that Ding Yuan's private affairs were indifferent, so strange? But He Bai didn't look at it, Luo Pei, as a subordinate, had to honestly show his faith one by one:

"At the beginning of last year, Ding Yuan, who was still a cavalry captain, communicated with Wang Fen, the assassin of Jizhou, and others, plotted to abolish the emperor, and sent his elite Guo Jian and Tao Ying to ...... In August this year, Ding Yuan sent Guo Jian and Tao Ying to attack and kill his accomplice Ma Yi Yu ...... There is only one daughter, Cherry...... Hey, it turns out that Lord Lieutenant already knew about this? ”

He Bai frowned and asked a few questions, "Huh? Are you saying that the Black Mountain thief Tao Yingbu is also related to the disaster of the Ma family? ”

Luo Pei looked at the letter carefully and replied: "Yes, the Black Mountain thief Tao Ying is also Ding Yuan's old department. ”

He Bai couldn't help but rub his brows, and if he looked at it again, he was afraid that even the other Black Mountain thieves would have a share. Because in history, Wang Fen, the assassin of Jizhou, asked the imperial court for the power of soldiers and horses under the pretext of guarding against black mountain thieves, and later Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty gave up returning to his hometown in the river for some reason, which made Wang Fen mistakenly think that the incident was leaked and committed suicide. The accomplices of the assassins who gathered around Wang Fen also dispersed in a hurry, and many of them hid in the name of the Black Mountain Thieves. Soon after, it was rumored that the Montenegrin thieves surrendered to the court, and the court also happened to be generous in accepting the surrender of Montenegro. If no one in the court colluded with Montenegro, the ghosts would not believe it. In this way, Montenegro has more than one connection with Ding Yuan and other people who are plotting to abolish the establishment.

He Bai shook his head, he was not a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, and he didn't bother to care about their intrigues, as long as he completed the task that Ma Xue'er gave him, it was difficult to care about anything else.

He Bai asked casually: "Judging from these letters, you may guess who is the mastermind behind the abolition of the establishment?" ”

Luo Pei frowned and thought for a while before he said: "Judging from the officials gathered last year, only Wang Fen, the assassin of Jizhou, is the main one, and it is not a high-ranking official above the ninth secretary of the court. Hmm, if my expectations are right, it should be Yuan Shao, the sage of the capital, Yuan Shao Yuan was the person behind the scenes. ”

"Hiss......" He Bai gasped, he didn't expect Luo Pei's insight to be so clear. It was also through various historical signs, especially the participation of Yuan Shao's strategist Xu Yu later, that he suspected that there was Yuan Shao's black hand. I didn't want Luo Pei to just get a secret letter from a participating intermediate executor, so he guessed Yuan Shao. This ability to analyze intelligence made He Bai impressed, it seems that Luo Pei's ability as a staff officer is really good.

Luo Pei asked, "Lord Duwei, has this matter been explained to the court?" ”

He Bai waved his hand and said: "This matter has nothing to do with me, and besides, it is still undone, and the emperor does not know about it." If you rush out, you will be hit by those who have not yet been exposed. So just keep the letter away and don't bother with it. ”

"Yes, Lord Lieutenant."

At this time, Qiu Tong and Yin Yuan, the patriarchs of Qiu and Yin Er, led more than 20 people from the other surviving Xiaowubao patriarchs and tyrants in the county to come together to meet He Bai and thank He Bai for his kindness in destroying thieves. After He Bai invited everyone to sit down in the yazhong together, he asked, "I wonder how many people in Duxiang County have not yet been thieves?" ”

Qiu Tong bowed his hand and said: "In the first year of Zhongping, there were more than 7,500 households in this county, and more than 43,000 Dingkou. But after the Yellow Turban Thieves and the Black Mountain Thieves, only I and the seventeen dock forts are still good. There are more than 1,000 people in each of our docks, and 2 or 300 people at the least, and the total number of people is only more than 1,700 households, 8 or 9,000 people. ”

He Bai couldn't help but sigh: "Poor, it's a pity, it's only a few years, and the population of a county has lost nearly eighty percent. Sure enough, it is rather a peace dog, don't make a mess and leave people. ”

When the patriarchs heard this, they couldn't help but feel desolate, and some of them were even more whimpering. After a while, He Bai said: "Now that the thief leader Guo Daxian has died, the court army will be stationed in the near future, and the other Montenegrin thieves have an agreement with the court, and it will be difficult to invade on a large scale for a while." Therefore, it is time to recuperate and vigorously develop people's livelihood. ”

Yin Yuan bowed his hand and said: "Lord Duwei clearly sees that since Guo Thief broke the capital city, most of the agricultural affairs in the county have stopped, and our clan can still fish and hunt for a living before winter, but now everything is gone, there is no harvest, and there is almost no food, and the other docks are afraid of a similar situation." I also hope that Lord Du Wei can give me support and help in the Ming court, and help us. After next year's harvest, we will repay the great favor of the court. ”

He Bai nodded and said: "I have considered this matter, after this battle, our army has captured a total of 90,000 stone of thief soldiers' food, except for the requisition of 3,000 stones, all the others can be used for the matter of reassuring the people." There are eight or nine thousand people in the township, and the southbound Tang must be about this number, and the number of prisoners will be about 12,000, and the total number of people in the two counties is about 30,000, so one person will have an average ration of about three stones, and he can eat it in half a year. Then we will give everyone land to cultivate, and then it will be close to the autumn harvest......"

"No, no, never! Lord Lieutenant, don't do it! ”