Shandong, in Dongchang Province.

Under the introduction of Yang Peng, Zhang Zhou met Cao Bao, who was commanded by the local Pingshanwei to command the envoys, as his name suggests, Zhang Zhou's first impression of this Cao Bao, this goods is like a straw bag, and he can't even speak well.

The hereditary military position itself has difficulty in reaching the high-level civil officials outside the guard, and it is also very inexperienced in officialdom.

Yang Peng said: "The prefect of Dongchang Mansion and the officials of the subordinate counties also want to see Cai Guogong. ”

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said, "No need, I want to have a good talk with this Commander Cao, so don't let others disturb me." ”

"Yes." Yang Peng glanced at Cao Bao with a smile, as if to say, you kid is blessed, you can actually let the famous Cai Guogong come to talk to you in person, it seems that you have a bright future.

……

Inner nave.

Zhang Zhou, Yang Peng, Cao Bao, as well as Liu Gui and Jia Laoshui, who Zhang Zhou brought over, met Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was watching the excitement around a sand table, and when he saw Zhang Zhou, he said excitedly: "Has it started?" ”

Zhang Zhoudao: "Introduce the prince, this is Cao Bao, the commander of Pingshanwei." ”

"Villain...... Cao Bao...... See the Lord! ”

In a hurry, I forgot who I was saluting and directly called the prince "master".

"Commanding the officer? Isn't it a commander? This...... Will it work? Zhu Houzhao also saw that Cao Bao didn't look like a leader of soldiers.

Zhang Zhoudao: "In the Daming District Guard, most of them are in charge of the commander, and the command position is not permanent. ”

"Oh." Zhu Houzhao said, "That's okay, you don't need to do anything anyway, does he know the situation?" ”

Zhang Zhou pointed at Yang Peng, meaning that you can explain it now.

Yang Peng helped Cao Bao up and said with a smile: "Commander Cao, that's the case, the crown prince and Cai Guogong have been threatened by treachery and evil on the way north, as a local general, should you contribute to this?" ”

"Yes!" Cao Bao replied.

Yang Peng said with a smile: "That's easy to do, I heard that there are bandits in your Dongpingwei jurisdiction, Gaotang place, tell me about the situation." ”

"Ah...... Humble position, villain...... It's not that it's ineffective, it's just that the repeated conquests and suppressions have not progressed well, and the people of Dongchang Mansion and others all think that Caokou is not worth mentioning...... The soldiers once attacked the mountain of thieves, but returned in vain......"

It's not that we can't do things well, it's just that we can't beat it.

That's probably what it means.

Yang Peng said: "Let you talk about the situation, I didn't ask you how to suppress it before, with Cai Guogong here, how to send troops, do you still need to worry?" ”

Cao Bao looked aggrieved, and he was also looking at Zhang Zhou in wonder.

I was wondering in my heart, you are such a powerful person in the court, passing by our Dongchang Mansion, and actually came here to suppress a few gangs of bandits? In other words, where are there no bandits in this world? Is it finished?

Cao Bao said: "The mountain bandits of Dongchang Mansion are mostly from Beizhili and other places, many of them are runaways who raise horses, and the horse households are difficult to sustain, all of them are wandering outside, and they are good at riding, using bows to shoot, often come and go like the wind, and it is not smooth for the villain to lead the troops to go to conquer more." ”

"Hmm."

Zhang Zhou nodded, as if he was very satisfied with Cao Bao's answer.

The ability is average, but the reason for the thief is also known, and the other party's strengths are known, so this shows that there is still room for salvation.

Zhang Zhou looked at Zhu Houzhao and said, "What does the prince think?" ”

Zhu Houzhao didn't bother to pay attention to those, he was going to take a combat class this time, since he knew that he was going to fight the thieves on the ground in Shandong, he was almost so excited that he couldn't sleep, if he went out and even personally led the troops This wish was completed, then this study tour can be said to be very fruitful.

"How to fight, how to fight?" Zhu Houzhao just wanted to know when the fight would start.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Commander Cao, in the name of the new secretary of the military department and Cai Guogong, as well as the name of Yang Gonggong, the commander of Dongchang, I will transfer you 500 elite soldiers to cooperate with the attack on the thief Kou Mountain, are you willing to cooperate?" ”

"Commanded by humility."

Cao Bao doesn't need to care about what kind of official position Zhang Zhou is now, he just needs to know that whether it is the prince, Zhang Zhou, or Yang Peng, he can't afford to provoke anything.

As for five hundred...... He was easily transferable.

Cao Bao said: "But it's best to say hello to Dongchang Mansion, so as not to ......"

"Lest someone impeach me and Zhang to transfer troops in the local area without authorization?" Zhang Zhou said with a smile, "I can still bear this little thing, you go back and order all the generals, and you will send troops to Gaotang with me tomorrow." ”

"Yes." Cao Bao respectfully received the order.

……

……

Yang Peng sent Cao Bao away first.

After Yang Peng came back, he also sorted out and reported the current surrounding situation: "Master Zhang, in addition to the 500 soldiers that Pingshan Wei can transfer, Jinyi Wei also has more than 400 people who can go together. There are less than 1,000 people combined, and there are a lot of firecrackers, but they are cannons...... There are only two Shenwei cannons, do you think it is enough? On the ground in Shandong, there are no Shenwei cannons yet, but there are some old cannons from the past. ”

"That's enough." Zhu Houzhao replied for Zhang Zhou, "Do you have to have artillery to fight?" Ride your horse and rush in...... Haha, it's exciting to think about. ”

When an ordinary child mentions killing an enemy on the battlefield, he must be terribly afraid, or at least he should be worried that his life will not be guaranteed.

But Zhu Houzhao has a strange adventurist spirit in him, as if he does not take his own life seriously, and is proud of killing the enemy bravely.

This kid himself already has a full adventurous spirit, coupled with the fact that he was "poisoned" by Zhang Zhou's martial arts in his childhood, this belief seems to be even worse, and he shouts all day long that he wants to be Huo Quai.

Zhang Zhou said: "Prince, you have to understand what the purpose of our trip is!" ”

Zhu Houzhao asked curiously: "Isn't the purpose to exterminate all the thieves?" ”

Yang Peng smiled bitterly: "His Royal Highness the Prince, there are thieves everywhere, even if it is a peaceful year, this thing will still happen from time to time, many of them are farming in the mountains, only when they can't survive, they will take risks, the government goes to expropriate, it is often difficult to distinguish whether it is a bandit or a people." ”

"Oh, then come in line, anyway, the palace doesn't want to go back to the capital." Zhu Houzhao listened.

It's a good feeling.

There are bandits everywhere, so I just follow Mr. Zhang to play with bandits everywhere, thinking that I rarely go back to the capital to see my father's bitter gourd face?

Zhang Zhou said angrily: "Prince, we want to take the pot of thieves in Qingping and Gaotang, not because they disturb the people's livelihood, or that it has nothing to do with us, but because they may be bribed by King Ning and want to secretly rob and kill us, so we are taking the initiative!" ”

"Really? A group of bandits, dare to attack us? Tired of living, right? ”

Zhu Houzhao pursed his lips, not quite convinced.

Zhang Zhoudao: "The prince had better believe it, and let His Majesty believe it, otherwise let His Majesty know that the minister took the prince to suppress the bandits, and without His Majesty's action, the ministers of the court and the central government will talk about it, and the time will ......."

"Come on, I know, if I am targeted by the minister, then I will be locked up in the palace to study and not be able to go anywhere, and you will be questioned, the old thing, let's not talk about it. Mr. Zhang, let's talk about fighting bandits, I'm already impatient! ”

Zhu Houzhao just wants to appease Zhang Zhou now, at least let Zhang Zhou bring himself with him when he fights the bandits.

As for this group of bandits, although he didn't know how many there were, he expected that they must be much weaker than the Tatars or something, and he happened to use this group of bandits to practice first.

When Zhu Houzhao went out, he was still talking to himself excitedly: "If the palace leads the troops to level the bandits, it will be a meritorious service to the court, who dares to say that the prince is young and inactive?" Let them know that this palace will also be at war! ”

……

……

Yang Peng saw the prince's excited appearance, and he was actually very worried in his heart.

Zhang Zhou wants to fight local bandits, he can understand, after all, Zhang Zhou is the secretary of the military department, and on the way back to Beijing, he stopped the thieves who often disturbed the canal and the surrounding official roads, which is a good thing for the people.

But take the crown prince with you...... Yang Peng felt a little mysterious about this.

"Master Zhang, do you think this will put the prince in danger? Or you can ask Your Majesty for a decree, and when Your Majesty has a will, it is not too late to leave. ”

Yang Peng's meaning, let's wait for the emperor's will first, and suppress the bandits by order, it is better than you to make an opinion.

It doesn't matter if you kill it or not, just don't take the prince with you.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Strategically, we can't miss an opportunity, and now even the thieves didn't expect us to take the initiative, shouldn't this be a good opportunity?" How is the situation of the thieves? ”

"Two groups of people, one is called Zhong Twelve, the other is called Su Twenty-eight, as Commander Cao said, they are all in the north of the local government, themselves have been in the two places for many years, once there are troops sent to exterminate the locality, they will be transferred to another state capital, or even across the provincial border, because the suppression of the Kou everywhere has not been coordinated, so that they have been wandering for many years and have not been quelled, and now there are more and more of them, a group of people at least two or three hundred, the local hindrance of their strength, generally want to put this kind of conquest and suppression to the next ......"

The number of enemies is increasing, and the local defense cannot be defeated, or there are large losses in the process of conquest and suppression, which affects the political performance.

Either leave the matter to the next one, or send someone to drive the thief away and let him go somewhere else to cause trouble...... This is probably the reason why the local mountain bandits in the Ming Dynasty are rampant and can evolve into a large-scale Liu Liu and Liu Qi uprising a few years later.

Yang Peng continued: "According to the clues you gave Master Zhang, it was found that King Ning was not only in contact with the bandits in Jiang and Jiang and other places, but even the thieves in the Central Plains were also recruited and bought by him, but it is not clear in what name it is. However, at present, it is said that Zhong 12 and Su Twenty-eight have been kidnapping people on the canal many times, and now the north is in Linqingzhou, and the south is in Dongchangfu, except for the ships with official backgrounds who dare to come and go, the rest of the merchant ships and civilian ships have been stranded a lot. ”

Zhang Zhou asked with a smile: "Their target is against me." ”

Yang Peng said: "Or there is a prince." Or, they don't have the guts to do it, and they just put on a show...... It may be that King Ning has given them a lot of benefits, let them do this, let's also be careful of the assassins sent by King Ning, how many people there are, and what kind of strength they have, it is not clear. ”

Zhang Zhou looked very calm and said: "Then it should be regarded as eliminating harm for the people, otherwise what should I do?" Watching thieves wreak havoc on the ground and block the canal? As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, he can't retreat in case of trouble, and this is educational for the prince. Gonggong Yang, I heard that you will be a royal horse eunuch after you return to the court, don't you want to make meritorious contributions and accumulate prestige because of this? ”

When Yang Peng heard this, he smiled and said: "The little one naturally thinks about it, but he is afraid of ......."

"With me, work hard." Zhang Zhou gave Yang Peng a little encouragement.

In an instant, Yang Peng also seemed to have soared.

The feeling of being appreciated by the first capable minister of the Ming Dynasty is really good, as if the merit is at your fingertips.

……

……

As found in the East Factory.

The canal of the Ming Dynasty, from Linqingzhou in Shandong Province to Dongchangfu City, because of the ravages of two groups of bandits, ordinary ships and merchants without strong backgrounds and guards did not dare to pass casually, so that a lot of people and goods were bet at both ends.

Even many people who returned to the capital for business travel after participating in the Nanjing Dawen Conference were blocked on this line, and they were still waiting for the news that the road was smooth.

Among them are Li Zhaoxian and Li Yu, brothers and sisters.

On this day, Li Zhaoxian went out from the city of Dongchang Mansion early in the morning to inquire about the news, and what he wanted to inquire about was the land route that detoured to the north of the Daimyo's Mansion and Handan, but when he came back, he met a few classmates, and then talked in detail to know that the land route was not very peaceful now, so that he was also very unhappy when he returned to the inn.

"No play." After Li Zhaoxian sat down, he drank water in front of his wife and sister.

Li Yu asked, "Brother, do you mean that you can't go to the west?" Let's go east. We've been out for so long, and now it's going to be winter, and I'm homesick. ”

The little girl's family does not have the courage of Li Zhaoxian to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles, especially when the journey is not smooth, she will want to live in a comfortable and comfortable circle in the capital.

Li Zhaoxian said: "I also heard news that Lai Guogong has now become Cai Guogong, and he has also gone to Dongchang Mansion with the prince. ”

"Really?" Li Yu asked, "What about the female gentleman?" ”

"Then I don't know, how can the whereabouts of Mr. Zhang's family be easily known to outsiders? But I guess it's not too far off, right? Now it is rumored outside that the thieves killed these days are really in the hands of Mr. Zhang, knowing that Mr. Zhang's prestige in governing the army, he dared to hinder Mr. Zhang from escorting the prince north, and it is estimated that in a few days, the thieves will be destroyed! ”

Li Zhao mentioned Zhang Zhou first, and it was with a sense of admiration.

No way.

In the academic world, Zhang Zhou has established his reputation as a teacher of the world's scholars with his psychology, although this reputation is not yet recognized by the mainstream academic circles, it is probably equivalent to Internet celebrities and is not respected by mainstream stars.

But there are more fans of Zhang Zhou, an academic Internet celebrity, and there are many people who are willing to be "bewitched" by him, and those factions of traditional Confucianism are all in the twilight......

Originally, Zhang Zhou was in the government and the opposition, and his prestige was very high because of the management of the army and the measurement of the sky.

Zhang Zhou's reputation in officialdom also promoted the accumulation and fermentation of his reputation among the people.

Li Zhaoxian's wife, He Shi, asked, "Then now we have to wait here?" ”

"Let's wait and see." Li Zhaoxian said, "Now that it is winter, it is said that in about half a month, the river on the ground in Shandong may be frozen, which is originally a critical season for transporting goods from north to south, even if Mr. Zhang does not make a move, the local government should not sit idly by." ”

Li Yu said: "Then can we go out for a walk now?" ”

Li Zhaoxian shook his head and said, "It's too chaotic outside, don't go out, it'll be fine in a few days." ”

……

……

When Zhang Zhou and Zhu Houzhao set off with Jinyiwei and local officers and soldiers.

In the Jingshi, Zhu Youzhu also learned that there were bandits on the ground in Shandong, and even intended to rob and kill Zhang Zhou and Zhu Houzhao.

Whether this thief is related to King Ning or not, there will not be any substantial evidence, but Zhang Zhou now likes to "play with the topic", even if it is not, Zhang Zhou also likes to deduct the basin on the Ning Fan faction, who made the Ning Fan itself a big trick? Even the guards have been deprived, and everyone in the world knows that you Ning Fan is not willing to nest in this small place in Jiangxi.

You want to impeach me, and even want to assassinate me, and you don't allow me to use the public opinion of Dongchang to detain the basin on you?

"Bang!"

Zhu Youzhi slapped the report of the East Factory on the table.

Li Rong, who came to deliver the message, said cautiously: "Cai Guogong and his entourage should have arrived in Dongchang Mansion on the day, Cai Guogong has not yet reported the local situation, but based on the performance of the local area in Linqingzhou in the past ten days, it is said that this gang of thieves also appeared suddenly, and it seems that there is a purpose to block the luck, and they also specially asked the imperial court to send troops to quell the thieves." ”

Zhu Youzhu said: "There are a few thieves in the place, and I still have to send a large army to encircle and suppress it?" Could it be that the magistrate can't even do this thing? ”

Li Rong said: "Your Majesty, most of the local thieves are wandering and doing evil, and if there are soldiers and horses attacking in one place, most of them will be transferred to other places, and they will even hide when the limelight is tight, and Luxi and other places are mostly mountainous, and there are many places where people are inaccessible, if they don't show their heads, it will be difficult to find their traces for a while." ”

Zhu Youzhu said angrily: "Is it a matter of not being able to find their traces now?" The transportation has been blocked, and after the autumn grain is collected, has the Jingcang been fully deployed? If you don't send troops at this time, when will you wait? ”

As he was talking, a little eunuch at the door said loudly: "The commander of the Jinyi guard asks to see him." ”

Zhu Youzhu said: "Let him come in!" ”

Subsequently, Jin Yiwei commanded Mu Bin to appear in the Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty." Mu Bin hurriedly saluted.

"What?" Zhu Youzhu grimaced.

As soon as Mu Bin saw it, he knew that the emperor had moved his liver fire before, and Mu Bin said: "Dongchang sent a message with Pegasus, and reported to Cai Guogong to transfer 500 soldiers from Pingshanwei to cooperate with Jinyi Wei to exterminate local thieves!" ”

"Look!"

Zhu Youzhu looked very relieved and said, "Bingkuan does things, he never has to worry about it, he sees where there is danger, he will naturally come forward, this is what makes him different from others." I never had to worry about it. Wait a minute. ”

Zhu Youzhi first praised Zhang Zhouyi, and then he thought of a question: "What about the prince?" ”

Mu Bin said: "The prince is also in the array. ”

"This ......"

After Zhu Youzhu finished boasting, he thought that it would be a bit ...... to let his son go to the thief with him It's dangerous.

Li Rong hurriedly smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you can rest assured, since Lai Guogong went to quell the thieves in person, how can there be any reason not to go with the crown prince?" Leaving him where to leave him would put the prince in danger. ”

Zhu Youzhu said with relief: "Also, the prince is too nonsense, he doesn't have Bingkuan, or he can't look down on him!" The more dangerous the place, the more he likes to drill ...... I don't know where he learned this character! ...... with me"

Originally, he wanted to say that it was very different from me.

But when I think of my life goal, I want to step on the grassland with Bingkuan and drive the expedition in person.

Suddenly, I felt that the son was biological, and the father and son were definitely formed in the same vein.

It's just that my personality was too suppressed before and I didn't have a chance to show it...... In other words, Bingkuan has never appeared, and he has not had a chance to perform.

(End of chapter)