On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Xinghe Army stationed in the newly conquered Xizhou City.
Without the brutal battle to attack and defend the city, the old camp of rogue bandits had long since fled, leaving tens of thousands of war refugees with nothing behind.
The bad thing about rogue bandits is their deliberate destruction. At this time, Xizhou was burned through the city. There were broken walls and ruins everywhere, and only a few temples were still intact.
Geng Ruqi, the governor of Xuanda, also rushed to Xizhou under the protection of Geng Da and two hundred armored servants. He not only transported more than 10,000 stones of grain, but also brought some pigs and sheep to reward the three armies.
The state government office had been reduced to ruins, and the governor had no choice but to settle in Puji Temple in the south of the city.
So far, it has been announced that there are no large groups of bandits in Shanxi, and all prefectures, cities, prefectures and counties have been recovered.
However, as rogue bandits crossed the border, tens of thousands of houses were burned down and hundreds of thousands of victims were displaced.
Even if all the efforts of the Xuan Da Territory were concentrated on disaster relief, tens of thousands or even more ordinary people would not be able to survive the spring.
This is the current situation in the late Ming Dynasty. It is not difficult to fight against the bandits, but the most difficult thing is to deal with the aftermath.
If there is no ability to resettle war refugees, these refugees will soon become new refugees and gradually develop into rogue bandits.
Huang Yi has reached the limit with a population of hundreds of thousands. He doesn't want to do it anymore and is ready to return to the base area.
Therefore, he actively promised to accept the resettlement of 30,000 refugees, and sent Zhang Dong to lead all the artillery, auxiliary soldiers and strong men on their way home.
No one would have a different opinion. There were too many refugees waiting for food. The Xinghe Army accepted 30,000 without asking for extra food, which was equivalent to relieving the people.
Of course Huang Yi wanted to ask for more food, but when he saw that there were so many refugees, he decided not to embarrass his father-in-law, the governor of Shanxi, and the army...
There were only cavalry and mounted infantry left around him, each with one man and two horses.
Auxiliary soldiers, strong men and refugees needed to transport captured food and property. The march could not be fast, and it would take more than a month to reach the base area.
The two-horse cavalry can travel at an average speed of 150 miles a day for ten days. If they march quickly without any effort, they can cover three to four hundred miles a day.
The multi-mobility and powerful horses are the capital of the Xinghe Army.
Therefore, as long as the bandits were defeated by Huang Yi, they basically could not make a comeback, because the horse bandits in the old camp of the bandits could not escape at all.
Horse bandits are the backbone of rogue bandits. These people eat more, occupy more, and take more, so they are stronger and better equipped.
By beating the horse bandits, not only the horses and mules can be seized, but also a large amount of gold and silver treasures can be seized.
The Xinghe Army suppressed the bandits for only half a year. The value of the gold and silver treasures they obtained was no less than 500,000 taels, and they gained hundreds of thousands of people.
Geng Ruqi was still a little worried at first. The reason was very simple: how to deal with the unique and major matter of his audacious son-in-law blackmailing the chief eunuch of the supervisory army.
In the past, I avoided it, pretended to be ignorant, and ignored it.
Now that the Shanxi bandits have been driven away, when it comes time to share the credit, he must negotiate and communicate with Wang Kun.
Fighting with the army, advancing dozens of miles every day, I heard that the supervising army ate and slept with the soldiers. How much hardship must this have caused?
Geng Ruqi couldn't imagine it.
When Shanxi was pacified, Wang Kun realized that he was about to survive, and kept reminding himself to be patient and patient, so as not to fall short at the last moment.
But the moment I saw Geng Ruqi, I still had mixed feelings, and even my voice was filled with tears.
"Sir, the Sa family has been looking forward to the stars and the moon for you to come!"
Wang Kun used to be fair and fair, and his skin was fairer and tender than that of the girls in the brothel. Now he was not only dark but also had a chapped face. Geng Ruzi was so stunned that he didn't recognize it.
"You are the prince, I haven't seen you for a few months, how come you..."
Geng Ruqi couldn't describe it for a moment, and then he realized that it was his son-in-law who was braving the world's disapproval and stuttered.
Where? Wasn't it caused by your lawless son-in-law?
At this moment, Wang Kun had the urge to cry.
But then I thought about it, I have endured the pain, and we have to look forward while we are alive!
Is it useful to cry about Huang Yi's lawlessness in front of Geng Ruxi?
Will this old boy team up with his son-in-law to kill the Sa family, and then report to the court that the chief eunuch of the Supervisory Army personally took part in the battle to regain Xizhou, but unfortunately he was lost and died of his injuries.
So Wang Kun pretended to be polite, raised his head and said:
"The Sa family has shared the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, and of course it has become like this!"
"Great, great. If the prince can take the trouble to deliver the good news to Beijing in person, the benefits here will be unimaginable!"
"Enter the capital? What do you mean, sir?"
"I was shocked when I saw you like this with my own eyes, but how many civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty would believe it?
If His Majesty is allowed to see the success of Xuanda University in the first month of the year, what will His Majesty think when he sees you like this? "
Old fox! Wang Kun couldn't help but get excited.
Return to the capital? Wang Kun thinks about it every day and wakes up from crying countless times in his dreams.
He didn't know Emperor Chongzhen's temperament. He believed that the emperor would inquire carefully about the war situation in Shanxi, the military situation, and the people's situation.
He has experienced it firsthand, so he will definitely answer fluently. If he lets the emperor see his face and hands intentionally or unintentionally, he will definitely have a bright future in the future.
"The Sa family can make this trip. To be honest, the Sa family haven't seen His Majesty for a long time and they miss him day and night!"
The dead eunuch's words were really disgusting, and Geng Ruqi had goosebumps all over his body when he heard it.
"Since my father-in-law has decided to return to Beijing, it should be sooner rather than later!"
"This..., sir, I'm afraid you have to discuss this matter with General Huang!"
Wang Kun was afraid of Huang Yi, but he didn't want to misunderstand Huang Yi by leaving suddenly.
He knew how powerful the Xinghe Army cavalry was, and even more so, the riding skills of those Mongolian knights.
If he leaves without saying goodbye, and Huang Yi misunderstands that he wants revenge and sends cavalry to chase him, he will definitely not be able to escape.
Of course Geng Ruqi had to discuss it with Huang Yi, because he only knew that Huang Yi had offended the chief eunuch of the supervisory army to death, and did not know Huang Yi's next plan.
Immediately go to Xinghe Camp to meet Huang Yi in person.
Huang Yi had a large number of people and it was not suitable to occupy the temple accommodation, so he cleared an open space to set up camp.
In order to avoid the embarrassment of not kowtow, Huang Yi tried his best not to see his father-in-law, especially when his father-in-law was accompanied by a group of civil servants and military generals.
If my father-in-law has anything to explain, he can ask Geng Da to pass the message.
Geng Ruqi was used to Huang Yi's unreasonableness and knew that his son-in-law was determined not to leave his army.
Now Geng Ruqi wants to understand, and he also feels that Huang Yi really cannot leave the Xinghe Army.
The home of the chief eunuch of the Supervisory Army was ransacked and taken away. What would happen if he had no soldiers? It’s simply unimaginable.
So he only brought Geng Da and four servants to discuss how to deal with Wang Kun.
Letting Wang Kun return to the capital to report his victory is a happy way for everyone. This is based on the premise that Wang Kun can forget his grudges with a smile.
Otherwise, the team reporting victory would be robbed by sporadic bandits, and unfortunately the eunuch who was supervising the army would be killed by thieves.
