On the first day of August, at the foot of Ningzhou City.
Yang He, the dusty governor of the three sides, reined in his horse at the foot of the city. His official robes with dark crimson stripes and peacock patches were stained with thick dust. He raised his riding whip and shouted to the city: "Open the door and set up a porridge factory!"
Behind him, hundreds of people in Ningzhou cowered, not daring to come within range of the city wall.
They were frightened. They had never seen a high-ranking official wearing a scarlet official uniform in their life. They took them out of the cave on horseback with Wu Bian and drove them to the gate of Ningzhou City. No one knew what was waiting for them.
Soon, a big pot was set up under the city and golden millet soup was boiled. For half an hour, Yang He stood under the city without saying a word.
After the rice soup was boiled, he filled a bowl and took a sip, then waved to the hungry people. When he saw that they could not be moved, he sent Ma Bian to call again. Then someone finally came over tentatively, took the soup bowl and poured it into his stomach regardless of the boiling heat. .
"Drink slowly, don't burn yourself."
Yang He frowned, feeling compassion and helplessness lashing his heart like whips, but he could do nothing else.
He had not been idle these past few days. He led Ma Bian around the city of Ningzhou several times, and he had a very clear understanding of the lack of food and clothing.
Yang He took the risk and ran out to observe the people's sentiments, not out of mercy, but because of Liu Chengzong's conditions.
He had some expectations about Liu Chengzong's conditions, which must be higher than what he could offer for an official position ranging from garrison to general.
In fact, in his heart, Yang He did not expect this recruitment to be successful at once. He prepared two official positions for Liu Chengzong in his heart.
Either the establishment of a battalion is given, and you don't have to participate in the suppression of bandits, but you have to guard the Great Wall with the rank of general.
Or they can be organized into the same battalion and be promoted to deputy commander-in-chief, and as the commander-in-chief of the battalion, they can deal with those bandit leaders who have failed to recruit and are stubbornly resisting.
These two official positions mainly depend on what kind of person Liu Chengzong is.
But the news brought back by force on Sunday still exceeded Yang He's imagination.
Qinghai Xuanwei Envoy Division.
Yang He himself was from Wuling. He had also patrolled Guizhou and specially sorted out the chieftain's land, household registration, tribute, chief, head, title, inheritance and other matters. He had a very good understanding of the chieftain system.
He couldn't understand how thousands of Han soldiers thought of going to Qinghai to serve as consolation envoys.
Not to mention that Qinghai did not have a propaganda envoy. In the past, the natives had to be conquered to become a comfort envoy.
The key point is that this is completely a degradation of oneself, let alone the Xuan comfort envoy, so what about King Shunyi, the third lady is not an official of the court. If she wants to marry her son, she will marry her son, and if he wants her to marry her grandson, she will marry her grandson.
The Southern Barbarians, Beidi, Dongyi and Xirong, officials of the Central Dynasty, were born to stand at the top of the world's discrimination chain.
The quality of life of the Dharma King who protects and protects the Buddha from all over the sky in Uzang is not as good as that of a wealthy man from the south of the Yangtze River.
After the recruitment, Liu Chengzong was also an official, equivalent to the deputy commander of the war zone. However, this man asked for a Gambian guerrilla captain.
This matter left the second monk Yang Hezhang puzzled.
Yang Hexun thought that Liu Chengzong was a scholar and was not uneducated. Didn't he know that he wanted to be the governor of Qinghai?
What Zhou Qiang said was very serious, and he had to report it to the court and ask the emperor to make a decision. Otherwise, Yang He might not be able to bear the blame.
If it weren't for Liu Chengzong's fear of shaving his head, Yang He would even want to ask Liu Chengzong to send him a Nurgan propaganda envoy and send him outside the customs to launch the Huangtaiji Campaign.
Because he didn't think about this problem clearly, Yang He went around to observe the public sentiment and see what kind of person Sunday Qiang was before considering his words.
After an inspection, Zhou Zhouqiang was an official who did nothing.
Inaction is a compliment in the land of Ningzhou.
Even the people of Ningzhou, who dug holes in the mountains and lived like wild cats and dogs, did not rebel. This was largely due to Zhou Qiang's inaction.
There is only one spark missing from the firewood and the burning oil. Local officials played the role of extinguishing the spark at the expense of their own future.
Therefore, Yang He attached great importance to Zhou Zhouqiang's words. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that what Liu Chengzong valued was not the official position of the Xuanwei Envoy with a low social status, but the power of the Xuanwei Envoy Tuwang.
In other words, these people did not want to surrender. This was just a peace and truce agreement.
Then things will be different.
And it also involves a problem, because the defeat of He Huchen in Huanglong Mountain was concealed.
Yang He knew how powerful Liu Chengzong was, but the court didn't.
Just when he was hesitant, everyone's love for Yang He arrived.
Shaanxi Governor Lian Guoshi led his generals Zhang Quanchang and Zhao Dayin to arrive in Ningzhou with more than a thousand soldiers, stationed troops in the west of Ningzhou City, and set up two camps.
Immediately afterwards, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui, also sent a message, sending guerrilla Zuo Guangxian and 500 troops from Yansui Town to Huan County to rush for reinforcements. Cao Wenzhao's troops who entered Shanxi had passed straight through Shanxi and entered Shaanxi.
This news made Yang He very excited. If he wanted to recruit others, he had to defeat them once. Otherwise, the conditions offered would be this kind of Qinghai comfort mission, which was an armistice agreement that used war to promote peace.
In the Ningzhou Yamen, he told Lian Guoshi about the Qinghai Xuanwei Envoy and Lian Guoshi. Unexpectedly, Lian Guoshi thought it was okay.
"Junmen, the current chaos in Shaanxi is that there is no food, and the rebellion is also troublesome. Send him to Qinghai, and he will be exhausted just by wrestling with the bandits in the West Sea."
Lian Guoshi said: "Earlier, the military gate also wrote a letter to the emperor, saying that since the defeat of Liaozuo, Guizhou, and Sichuan, the feudal frontiers have lost their vitality; the subordinates have sent more troops, public and private financial resources are difficult, and the people are also exhausted; now When there was a severe drought, it was just when there was no one left to spare, so Xiaoxiao caused chaos."
"A few years later, when the drought has passed and the imperial court has regained its strength, Liu Chengzong will rely on the imperial court to fight pirates behind the back of the West Sea. How can he be rebellious and cut off his wealth?"
Having said that, Yang He was not optimistic about the future development of the situation. He shook his head and said: "If the drought continues and the national strength is exhausted, Zhao Chongguo of the Han Dynasty once established Xihai County outside Xining to farm. If in ten or twenty years, Liu Chengzong starts to rebel again. So what?"
Lian Guoshi clicked his tongue, shook his head and waved his hands: "The army has thought too far. Now is the time to let nature take its course. The drought has stopped, we can recuperate, and all major issues in the world can be solved. If the drought continues, the court continues to collect grain, and the people have no harvest, then It’s hard for gods to save you.”
"Is it possible that the army still expects this situation to last for twenty years?"
When Yang He heard this, he laughed and said to Lian Guoshi: "The situation may not really be so bad, but if we want to recruit Liu Chengzong, I think we must at least besiege the city or the great plains, so that he has no way to go to the sky or the earth." No way, keep asking for surrender."
"Appeasement is a blessing from heaven. Your majesty loves the innocent heart and cannot bear to die in war. Now that he has not won a battle, he is so gentle as to appease him. I'm afraid it will make him despise the imperial court even more."
Unexpectedly, just when the situation was getting better, Hong Chengchou wrote another letter.
Yang He unfolded it and took a look, his face turned ugly, and he said to Lian Guoshi: "Cao Wenzhao is not coming."
"Ah?" Lian Guoshi asked, "Why is this?"
They relied heavily on the Guan Ning Army for no other reason, and it had nothing to do with Cao Wenzhao. Cao Wenzhao was just a guerrilla from Shanxi, and he was not a veteran on the battlefield.
The only thing is that Guan Ning's army is among the best soldiers that the imperial court can mobilize, and there are only a few who can have enough to eat.
This alone can cause a dimensionality reduction blow to the entire army in Shaanxi.
Even if they provide the same military rations, Guan Ning, who has always had enough to eat, is more effective than the Western Army who has been hungry for three or four years and has just had two full meals.
Yang He pointed to the letter and sighed: "Hong Hengjiu said in the letter that Wang Jiayin in Fugu had not yet been defeated. He did not know what method he used to collude with thousands of Mongolian soldiers from all over the Yansui border wall to invade. Yansui Town could only withdraw Zuo Guangxian’s troops are here to help.”
"The other soldiers and generals will have to return to guard the side walls of the fortress. Fugu will also have to rely on Cao Wenzhao's army to continue the siege. There is no spare power to help us."
After hearing this, Lian Guoshi looked very ugly. The total strength of the army suddenly changed from 6,500 to 1,500, and the situation was reversed in an instant.
He said: "Military Gate, if that doesn't work, we should submit a memorial to the emperor and inform Liu Chengzong of his conditions, and ask His Majesty to make a decision."
"This matter will naturally require His Majesty's Holy Judgment."
But Yang He was hesitant not because he was hesitant to tell the emperor about the matter, but because he was hesitant about how to write the memorial.
In his early years, his son Yang Sichang compiled his experience in financial management at the Ministry of Household Affairs into "Collection of Local Officials". The emperor read the book and liked it very much.
Because the emperor had a good relationship with his son, Yang Sichang told him that the emperor had a strong integrity and valued etiquette. For the same matter, how he wrote the memorial would have a bearing on whether it would be allowed by the emperor.
According to Liu Chengzong's thinking, the meaning expressed to Yang He on Sunday was completely condescending to use war to promote peace, and even implied contempt for the imperial court.
Such a report was reported to the imperial court. Not to mention Liu Chengzong's thousands of troops traveling across northern Shaanxi, even if he had tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of troops to attack the city of Beijing, the emperor would not bow to violence.
It's against etiquette.
It's impossible to fight.
Yang He knew how to write a memorial, but before writing a memorial, he had to meet Liu Chengzong first.
With this mentality, he sent Zhou Zhouqiang's envoy back and asked Zhou Zhouqiang to convey his intention to Liu Chengzong and arrange to meet and talk with him near Ningzhou City.
The distance from Ningzhou City to Liu Chengzong's garrison camp was only a few dozen miles. After the first day, he should be able to come back the next day, but he didn't come back for two days.
The first person to come back was Zuo Guangxian, who came from Huanxian County and defeated Han Chaozai on the plain.
Zuo Youqi came over and was very happy. When he saw the governor's military gate, he prostrated himself and saluted: "I'm late, I'm here. The siege of Ningzhou has been lifted. Please give me an order from the military gate. Where should I attack next?"
Yang He was stunned, looking at the tall and tall Zuo Guangxian, he couldn't close his mouth from ear to ear: "You defeated Liu Chengzong's more than 10,000 people?"
My God, here comes the guerrilla general, the God of War!
Zuo Guangxian had a question mark on his face. He didn't understand what was going on, and he didn't dare to take the credit on himself. He said doubtfully: "Liu, Liu Chengzong? The military gate has more than 4,000 troops stationed on the plains. It seems that the leader of the thieves is called Han Chaozai."
Yang He was also confused. Han Chaozai?
Zuo Guangxian had just released the prisoners, and sent troops to chase them out. After catching the two prisoners for interrogation, he found out that there were only 800 people from Liu Chengzong's tribe stationed on the plateau, and the chief was named Wang Wenxiu. Later, there were the Han Dynasty Prime Minister and the Ningzhou bandits. Hu Sanzha and more than 3,000 soldiers.
Seeing them, Wang Wenxiu led his troops to retreat westward. The Han Dynasty Prime Minister moved a little slowly before engaging in battle, and then retreated after a small defeat.
Yang He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, but what about Liu Chengzong?
Zuo Guangxian led his troops to search for two days on the plateau but could not find it. Zhou Qiang's envoy came back: "Junmen, Liu thieves captured Zhenyuan County, plundered more than 2,000 Pingyuan horses, plundered wealthy families, scattered wealth, and helped the poor. , Zhang Guan sent officials to distribute millet to relieve the famine, and now he has gone to Guyuan again!"
Yang He felt like the world was spinning. He held his hand on the corner of the table and almost fainted. He pointed at the messenger and opened his mouth again and again before saying, "He, he lied to me?"
The envoy cupped his hands and said: "Zhizhou Zhou said that the Liu thief saw through the military gate's plan to delay the recruitment of Cao's army. He is not afraid of General Cao, but is afraid that General Cao will attack others. This thief is preparing for war at this time and only waits for General Cao to lead the army. Coming."
"How is this possible? Zhenyuan was a fortified city. It has only been a few days. Could it be that the magistrate has surrendered?"
The envoy said: "At the military gate, Zhenyuan Magistrate defended the city, but the number of troops was too small, and the Liu bandits did not besiege the city. They planned to besiege in five days, but the city fell on the same day."
Yang He was about to be pissed off by Liu Chengzong. He only had one idea in his mind: to mediate Cao Wenzhao and deal with Liu Chengzong!
On the same day, Yang He not only wrote to Hong Chengchou, explaining the seriousness of the loss of communication between the east and west of Longshan after Guyuan was captured, and asked him to send Cao Wenzhao to rescue and suppress, but he also sent another letter to Liu Chengzong.
In the letter, he asked Liu Chengzong to stop his actions immediately and lead his army back to Ningzhou. He must not attack Guyuan City.
At the same time, he promised that the matter of Qinghai Xuanwei Division would be reported to the emperor immediately. However, you attacked the city while reporting this matter, which is very unbecoming of etiquette. I am afraid the emperor will not agree. Come to Ningzhou to confess your mistake, and we will discuss how to write the report. Write.
When Liu Chengzong received this letter, he was already in Guyuan Prefecture.
He had never felt so happy since the uprising. He climbed over Liupan Mountain and entered the Qingshui River Valley. The troops were galloping north and south of Guyuan Prefecture City. The hungry troops guarding the fort looked at the wind and rushed to surrender.
Sanyingbao and Heishuiyuan in the north of the city even sent people directly to ask him if he had food. On the day he answered that there was food, two generals from Sanyingbao came with their war horses.
The remaining fortresses, even if they do not surrender, are closed and there are even hungry troops coming to beg for food.
There was only Yanglang Fort, and veterans and regiments from the nearby Mujiaying and Mujiatan areas formed formations to defend them.
Liu Chengzong adopted Yang Yao's suggestion and ignored these people.
In the past, a large area of land in Guyuan was Mu Ying's fief. During the Longqing period, due to the need for border payment, the emperor took away the Mu family's fief in the north, leaving only fifty hectares of land. Mu Ying's descendant in the north, Mu Zhu, built Yanglang Fort.
The city god in that castle is Muying.
Liu Chengzong was very happy to grab horses from the north and south of Guyuan Prefecture, and he was even more happy when he saw Yang He's letter to Zhou Qiang.
He took the letter and went to Mr. Yang and asked: "Sir, Governor Yang said that the conditions I offered were not in line with etiquette and the emperor would not agree to it. What do you mean? They have rebelled. How can it be considered in line with etiquette?"
Yang Dingrui thought for a while and said: "This is indeed a problem. I understand what Yang He means... It's okay, lion. The teacher will write you a memorial. Etiquette is for kings and ministers, father and son, equalizing the land is to eliminate violence and ensure peace, and attacking the city is to eliminate corrupt officials. , Resisting the official army is suppressing the troops and bringing peace to the people."
After that, Yang Dingrui looked at Liu Chengzong and said: "Anyway, we didn't plan to attack Guyuan. Since Yang He said we won't attack Guyuan, we won't attack Guyuan. But I feel that suppressing troops and calming the people, punishing corrupt officials, and eliminating violence are not enough to go to Qinghai." , you still have to save King Han."
What Yang Dingrui said was so exciting that Liu Chengzong didn't react for a while: "Save King Han?"
"Yes, Guyuan is in chaos now. There is a Guyuan army with the leader Jin Chanzi, who will attack Pingliang City, and after the city is broken, they will besiege Prince Han's Mansion."
Yang Dingrui squinted his eyes and looked like a great prophet: "Liu Shishi, who was raising the war horses, just received the news and drove them away to save Han Fan from fire and water. Zhou Zhizhou was present when this happened."
