A secret report from Dongchang arrived in the capital this morning. The group of gangsters who entered the capital privately were wiped out by a group of Zunhua militia in Yangliuqing Town.
In the Qianqing Palace, Chongzhen looked at Wang Chengen who was kneeling on the ground with a gloomy face, and did not come back to his senses for a long time. When Wang Chengen reported this incident just now, Chongzhen was shocked.
Dongchang's fanzi mobilized a militia group and wiped out the gangsters in Yangliuqing Town.
Wei Wei actually has such a force outside. He must have five or six thousand people to wipe out three thousand bandits. How much strength does he still have in his hands?
"Who mobilized the militia and who is the leader of the militia?" Chongzhen asked eagerly.
"The person who mobilized the militia was Tu Shanyue. The leader of this militia was Zhang Geda, an old fugitive from Liaodong Town. The real owner of the militia was a man named Yang Fan, who was under Tu Shanyue. Captain. There is an iron factory in Zunhua."
Hearing this, Chongzhen took a long breath and sat on the chair.
It was Tu Shan's daughter Tu Shan Yue who did it. No need to ask, this must have been arranged by Tu Shan before he left. No wonder he repeatedly told me not to mobilize troops before leaving. It turned out that he had been prepared.
But then I thought about how Tu Shan actually had so many troops outside without telling me, and I felt a little uncomfortable.
After all, a total of only five to six thousand actual combatable soldiers.
"How many people are there in this militia?" Chongzhen's face became uncertain again.
"Returning to Long Live Lord, this militia group currently has 420 people. This time, 300 people were dispatched. They were originally escorting the goods to Beitang for delivery. Just in time, the East Factory issued an order asking all Jinyiwei and Fanzi nearby to do their best. To prevent these gangsters from entering Beijing, Tu Shanyue transferred them here."
"What! Three hundred people, three thousand people were wiped out." Chongzhen stood up in surprise again. This was not a joke. What kind of soldier is this powerful? Even the Qi family army back then couldn't do it.
Seeing Chongzhen's surprise, Wang Chengen quickly explained: "These militia groups have not been established for a long time. The reason for applying was to guard against bandits in the nearby mountains. After all, bandits are everywhere in Zunhua, and those who run iron factories generally Apply to establish a militia group to protect the safety of transporting iron materials."
Chongzhen nodded. He knew this situation. Nowadays, many big businessmen have funded the establishment of local team training to maintain local security. After all, the biggest losses from bandits are the big businessmen themselves.
The man named Yang Fan invested the money to set up a militia to protect his own industry, and it was normal for him to find someone of his own to train the group. Although the old deserter from Liaodong Town is a bit worse, he has served as a soldier after all. How about regiment training? Do you still expect them to hire professional generals like generals?
Moreover, the scale of more than 400 people is extremely small in group training. As long as the group training does not exceed 3,000 people, it is allowed by the local government. After all, the group training is not a regular army, and the combat effectiveness is not good. It only maintains law and order. Too few people will not be helpful at all.
"Why are they so good at fighting?" Chongzhen asked his biggest doubt.
"When Yang Fan was in Zunhua, he was guarding hundreds of households in the rocky beach. For some reason, the bandits from Zunhua suddenly gathered, with a total of five thousand people, and attacked the rocky beach. Yang Fan was in an emergency situation at the time, so he had to I applied for a spot as a regiment trainer and temporarily recruited 3,000 people from the refugees to assist in the defense."
When Chongzhen heard this, he felt that something was wrong. With so many bandits, shouldn't Yang Fan report them?
Seeing Chongzhen's doubts, Wang Chengen whispered: "There are many bandits pretending to be slaves. The guards in various places were afraid of the enemy and pretended not to know. Yang Fan reported it but no one paid attention to it and scolded him for his nonsense. "
Chongzhen immediately understood what was going on. These bastards were afraid that the matter would be leaked and they would be held responsible, so they pretended not to know about it. They didn't dare to exterminate them, so they had no choice but to deal with them coldly.
However, what were so many Jiannu sneaking in? Chongzhen felt his body getting cold. He had been uneasy since the Duoyan Sanwei in the north of Ji Town took refuge with Jiannu. I always feel like something big is going to happen.
"Later, why didn't anyone report this matter?" Chongzhen felt very uncomfortable. Five thousand bandits attacked the garrison, which could be regarded as a rebellion. Why didn't the court know at all?
"Since the Zunhua side didn't report it before, they don't dare to report it now if something serious happens. Yang Fan encountered a problem with his boss before, and he doesn't dare to report it again to cause trouble." Wang Chengen said.
"What happened next?" Chongzhen asked.
"This Yang Baihu is really a raw material for a famous general. He fought hard for several days and engaged in more than ten battles. He actually relied on these 3,000 men to wipe out 5,000 bandits. Legend has it that more than a thousand of them were slaves pretending to be slaves. . In the end, only these 300 people were left in Yang Fan's 3,000 regiment training. It can be said that these 300 people can be regarded as veterans of hundreds of battles."
"So that's it. It's more reasonable to say that. Veterans who can survive fighting with Jiannu are not easy to deal with those bandits from the south of the Yangtze River." Chongzhen said to himself.
"Your Majesty, this is an opportunity. Wei Gong has just been so angry that he vomited blood and is recovering. We should rush to issue an edict to praise Yang Fan's contribution. In this way, everyone in the world will think that Yang Fan is your Majesty's man, which can further weaken Wei Gong's power."
Chongzhen was silent, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Tomorrow morning, let someone report this matter, and then I will appoint you as an imperial envoy to go to Tianjin and meet that Yang Fan for me. He is from Baihu, right away. He has made such great contributions and others pretend not to see it, but I cannot ignore it and promote him to Qianhu."
"Your Majesty, the gangsters have an accomplice in Yangliuqing Town, the Chen family, who is a prominent local family. They provide the gangsters with a hiding place and food and fodder. Do you want to capture them together? What to do with the captured gangsters?"
"Hmph, these people have ulterior motives and can be punished. The Chen family will be punished as treason and their property will be confiscated. You take Luo Yangxing and escort the captured gangsters to Beijing to rectify the law at Caishikou to deter Xiaoxiao. Disciple."
"I am worried about Yang Fan escorting him. I will meet him after he comes to Beijing."
"Yes" Wang Chengen bowed and backed away. He walked backwards out of the hall.
In the past few days, Chongzhen took advantage of his 9,000-year-old illness and was sick in bed, and continuously transferred the guards from Prince Xin's Palace into the palace. Currently, the guards and maids in the first three palaces, the third palace in the back, and the six east and west palaces have all been replaced by old people from Prince Xin's Palace. Chongzhen finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Wei Zhongxian's power in the palace was greatly reduced.
Chongzhen stood at the gate of Qianqing Palace, with his hands behind his back, looking at the numerous palaces in the distance, thinking that if he could subdue this army, he would be more confident in dealing with Wei Wei in the next step.
