Chapter 26 Worry
In Nanjing, the chief envoy Xue Xiaowen was thinking about something.
In recent years, Zhang Hu's headquarters has been moving around Baoning (now Langzhong), Shunqing (now Nanchong), Kuizhou (now Kaijiang, Da County), and even Changshou Fuzhou (now Fuling) in northern Sichuan. Earlier, the imperial court's Huguang elite were held back by Guan Shengyun. The resources that could be mobilized in the nearby areas were very limited. Zhang Hu had not yet conquered northern Sichuan. The two sides had been fighting in Wanxian for a while. The war has reached a stalemate.
For Zhang Hu, it was a pity that Gansu and Shaanxi could not spare the strength to attack southward along the line of Hanzhong and Baoning due to banditry and protracted drought. The Chengdu Prefecture could have sent troops from the southwest to the north to encircle it, but the helpless King of Shu was restrained at every turn. The vassal king was not doing anything but taking care of his salary, but no one could bear the label of "he was so happy with his success that he betrayed the clan and the vassal and ignored the danger." In Chengdu and Chongqing, they just sat back and watched with troops to protect themselves. Zhang Hu was short of people when he asked for food at his doorstep. It's nothing to take them prisoner. The imperial army in Yunyang area of Kuizhou Prefecture (Fengjie) was already exhausted.
Although Guan Shengyun is not as big as Zhang Hu, he has fought thousands of miles, has brave soldiers and strategic plans, and is a prosperous grain-producing area. He has fought vigorously with the local officials and soldiers, and he is not greedy for merit and has a firm control. Live in a few strategic locations and operate with peace of mind. As time goes by, everyone becomes more relaxed.
Like most officials in the court, Xue Xiaowen knew very well that Zhang Hu and other so-called giant bandits were not the real threat to the court - Guan Shengyun was the real thorn in his side!
Zhang Hu has been in trouble for many years. Since he came out of Shaanxi, he dragged the refugees into Sichuan, and then caused trouble in Huguang. Faced with heavy siege and was unable to do anything, he ran back to northern Sichuan again. Despite their terrifying momentum, they have no foundation and no long-term plans. They are just bandits who are overthrown wherever they die and live day by day. The other groups of rogue thieves who have grown up in size are also similar.
Guan Shengyun is obviously different.
They also came out of Shaanxi, swaggering and quietly leaving Tongguan and going to Shaanzhou. They were not discovered until the troops reached Luoyang. When the imperial court mobilized all its forces and wanted to annihilate him in Luofu, unexpectedly, this guy immediately feinted with a shot, massacred Nanyang and then went straight to Huguang! Just talking about the thousands of miles leap from northern Shaanxi without anyone noticing, even with the deception and connivance of the local and central government patrons, it is really not something that ordinary people can do. Afterwards, the official circles of Henan and Shaanxi turned into a quarrel between the DPRK and the DPRK, so what? Xue Xiaowen himself estimated that the Emperor Sheng had already understood what was going on, but in the face of the intricate bureaucracy, he could only ignore it.
If it was said that he was good at using troops when he attacked east and west, but when he entered Huguang, he immediately showed another, more terrifying side: administrative management ability. The Guan thieves did not wreak havoc like the poor and crazy bandits like Zhang Hu. Instead, they took root in the Yunyang, Xiangyang, and De'an areas. Although the Huguang matter has nothing to do with him, Xue Xiaowen, who was able to serve as the governor of Zuo, South Zhili, had already sensed the threat through the few words in the imperial newspaper - the Guan thieves so close at hand were like a sharp knife in the lower abdomen. , who knows when it will stab him and kill him.
However, there was too much noise at Zhang Hu's place. Every time he came out to cause trouble, it would affect several provinces and attract everyone's attention. Local officials have their own backers in the court. Needless to say, the money and food losses in various places are lost. You must know that a large part of them will be transferred several times and eventually fall into the pockets of the adults! At this time, whoever says that Guan Shengyun, who has not yet matured, is the most threatening, will definitely be criticized by everyone as bullying the weak, fearing the strong, and fearing thieves like a tiger - knowing it in your heart and saying it with your mouth are two different things. Everyone knows about some bastard things, but they can't reveal it. Sometimes you know that you are stirring up trouble, or even putting out the fire, but you have to work very hard, otherwise, no one in the officialdom will tolerate you!
This is the Ming Dynasty.
Okay, then everyone will focus on dealing with Zhang Hu first.
No way!
The core of the word "Liu Kou" lies in the word "Liu". All provinces work together to contain it and prevent it from "flowing", which is half the battle: tens of thousands of people are tens of thousands of mouths, and hundreds of thousands of people are even hundreds of thousands of mouths. They have to eat, no matter where they are blocked, sooner or later they will eat each other - it is very possible that the hungry guys just tied up Zhang Hu and asked him to surrender. It's a pity that all localities have their own little calculations: Don't block me here, otherwise when the giant bandits are wiped out, other places will celebrate, and how many years will I have to live with myself? Why!
From the governor and the envoy to the prefect, everyone is making small plans. As a result, the encirclement was naturally full of loopholes, and Zhang Thief could come and go freely. The manager carrying Shang Fang's sword could only stamp his feet on the side, helpless. Xue Xiaowen asked himself, if his official position was in Huguang, Sichuan and Shaanxi, he could only do this: even if he wanted to "put justice first", he could not let down the senior ministers who promoted and protected him and the subordinates who supported and maintained him. Bar? Even if the slightest thought is revealed, the black gauze hat will be taken off first - but Zhang Hu still cannot be destroyed!
That's right, even if the Holy Father issued a strict decree to let the thieves run away or to hold them accountable, it would not work. Not to mention the quarrels between the DPRK and China in order to shirk responsibility, even at the prefecture level, and even at the prefecture and county level, the relationship is often intricate. Shaanxi and Henan are a ready-made example not long ago: Henan Province angrily accused Shaanxi Province of plotting to blame the neighbors, and Shaanxi Province plausibly asked the other party to provide real evidence - they had already done their homework: the "examination is correct" The head of the "real strong thief", the military report of the great victory and the commendation from the Holy Emperor, the training and mobilization plan of the garrison and military town approved by the Ministry of War in advance, and as for the distribution of food, salary and military resources, not only the receipt of the garrison's receipt, but also the daily consumption There are accurate records down to every copper plate and every spoonful of rice and beans... You have been brutally taxing the officials and forcing the people to rebel, but you are spitting blood on others, where is your conscience! At that time, the governor and the chief envoy of Henan Province roped in two one-word princes to endorse him. He thought he was sure of victory, but he expected that the princes of Shaanxi would also jump out to support the province! This war of words has been going on for so many years. Is there any conclusion?
No!
So, the only solution is to mobilize the border troops?
However, it is obviously unrealistic: there are so many rogue bandits, and if there are too few frontier troops coming, it will not be helpful, but if there are too many... what will we do if the northern bandits invade? Okay, even if the Northerners don't come - the old rule is that troops must be paid double when they leave, right? Not to mention the double salary, the basic salary has been owed for so many years, how about you pay for it?
This is a big pustule that is rapidly expanding. If it waits for it to rot by itself, the empire will lose at least half its life. The best way is of course to poke it as soon as possible. However, the first person to poke it will definitely be sprayed with pus and blood. Head and body all over! From this, everyone understood that there was only one real way: pretend not to see it and leave it alone!
The harm caused by rogue bandits depends on one's nature.
As a result, today, what Xue Xiaowen feared most finally happened.
After a period of business, Guan Shengyun's wings have gradually become fuller. Now it seems that he should have contacted Zhang Hu, who has been a bandit for many years and keenly seized the opportunity. The two giant bandits colluded... From this, it can be seen that years ago, Guan Sheng Yunbei invaded Shaanxi as planned in advance! Customs Sheng Yun was already familiar with this trick, and no one expected that this time he would actually teach Zhang Hu step by step!
Years ago, Guan Shengyun seemed to be possessed by an evil spirit. He left Huguang in good condition and suddenly led his army westward. The officialdom in Huguang breathed a sigh of relief, secretly glad that this devil finally went to join Zhang Hu to cause harm to Sichuan, and he was now considered clean. Due to the strict orders of the court and to avoid coming back to cause trouble for themselves, Henan and Huguang mobilized large armies to follow Guan Shengyun step by step. Needless to say, the senior officers had received orders, either explicitly or covertly: just block the return route of the Guan thieves and never waste the fight - some merit-hungry guy made him angry and counterattacked. , the first one to kill you! Unexpectedly, this guy rushed to Shunqing Mansion, pretended to attack Chongqing, suddenly went north along the Qujiang River, and plunged into Shaanxi from Baoning Mansion. Now the officials of Sichuan Province were a little relieved. Although they were puzzled, they were also sincerely happy: the knife on the lower abdomen was finally gone. It seems today that I was still careless. I really didn’t expect that this guy would play such a big game!
The Guan thief himself was an officer and soldier of Yulin Guard, so he would be familiar with the methods when he returned to his hometown. For more than a year, he not only caused chaos in Shaanxi again, but also disturbed Henan from time to time. This move completely attracted Zhang Hu's attention to the court: urgent documents from all over the country were flying in like a snowflake, and everyone's eyes were fixed on it. Keep an eye on Guan Shengyun.
In order to guard against the northern invaders, the elites of the Nine Borders could not move, and they could only rely on the power of the local guard to deal with Guan Shengyun. Guan Shengyun had no scruples, and the purpose of this trip was to make a fuss in the east and attack the west. The louder the noise, the better. Wherever he went, he would eat, rob, and then burn everything down! This created a situation similar to Zhang Hu's fleeing situation: the officers and soldiers were unable to pursue him! Behind Guan Shengyun was one or two hundred miles of white land. The pursuing officers and soldiers had to bring their own food and supplies if they wanted to avoid starvation - how could they catch up? And interception is even more unthinkable. The local officials have drawn the limited surrounding guard troops to their side to embolden them, and sent them out to intercept? I'm so frustrated that I'm going crazy!
Guan Shengyun's food depended on robbery. How could the court do this? In fact, it's not that I don't want to do it, I just can't capture Guan Shengyun, and, despite the fact that there are only a few soldiers who can fight, there are too many people asking for food, so I can only transfer the food from the south to the north, and then transport it to Shanxi and Shaanxi - Dou is like this. In a large circle, the manpower and material resources consumed along the way were astronomical, and it didn't take long for them to be overwhelmed. Strategically, they could only gradually switch from offense to defense, which gave Zhang Hu an excellent opportunity. The two guys must have discussed the time beforehand. Zhang Hu's headquarters suddenly made a desperate move and swept down the Yangtze River like a mountain torrent, sweeping through Yiling (today's Yichang), Jingzhou, and Yuezhou (today's Yueyang). ), Hanyang, although they passed by these fortified cities without attacking, they robbed tens of thousands of civilian ships, and also carried away the people along the way, and quickly expanded to 200,000 or 300,000 people like a snowball, like a wave of The unstoppable mudslides flowed down the Yangtze River and headed straight towards South Zhili! Zhang thief finally captured Jiujiang with lightning speed and used it as a base to attack Southern Zhili and established it.
The knife pressed against his lower abdomen was back again, and this time it was a bigger one. Xue Xiaowen couldn't help but worry.
