"Why?"
"Listen to the students. Let's talk about the origins of the other two people. Let's talk about Sun Dabiao first. This man's ancestors are not from Yangshan. They are bandits who came from Huguang. When his ancestors came to Yangshan, they occupied He opened several shops in Dachunwei and specialized in monopolizing the salt trade with the Yao people in Yonghua Township. The salt was sold at the price of gold.
"His salt mainly comes from three sources. One is official salt on the market, the other is smuggled, and the third is some people who have no capital to buy and sell salt. Some sell salt by land to Huguang or Yao Pai Yao Village. Once a hawker is encountered by his men, he will inevitably kill him and seize his goods. As for kidnapping and extortion, Sun Dabiao also does a lot."
Wang Chuyi suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the local Yao people were worried about the price of salt. It turns out there is another reason!
"As for Feng Haijiao, he is a water bandit who lives in Qinglianwei. His ancestors are said to be from a household. After several battles, he took over the Lianjiang River bend in Qinglianwei as his own territory. He specializes in extorting money from passing ships, and robs those who don't comply. Not only does he ship cargo like this, but he also often buys and sells goods by force."
But these materials are not rare: Wang Chuyi learned something about the situation in the "Overview of Yangshan" compiled by the Foreign Intelligence Service. Although it is not detailed, he generally knows these people.
"Does the county magistrate know that Hunan eats Cantonese salt and Guangdong eats Hunan grain?" Peng Shouan knew that Wang Chuyi was a little impatient.
"Please tell me." Wang Chuyi knew that Peng Shou'an was going to talk about drama.
"Huguang is ripe, and the world is rich. Huguang produces grain but not salt, so grain is cheap and salt is expensive in Huguang, and the opposite is true in Guangdong. The area around Lianyang is remote and mountainous. Fortunately, you can go all the way to Guangzhou along the river, and it is only separated from Huguang by Jiuning Mountain. . Over the mountains, you can go north along the river directly to Wuchang. Therefore, although Lianyang is located in a remote area, it is still prosperous on the commercial road selling salt in the south and north. Especially in Lianzhou, merchants in Huguang buy salt and merchants in Guangdong sell it. Salt is the richest place in the three cities of Lianyang."
What Peng Shou'an said above was still nonsense, but Wang Chuyi still listened patiently.
"The three hegemons colluded with each other. They sold the autumn grain they received in Qinglianji to grain merchants going south. They used the money in exchange to buy salt, shipped it to Lianzhou and sold it to Huguang merchants, and then bought grain from Huguang merchants to fill the county. library."
And such a hand! Wang Chuyi couldn't help but nodded repeatedly. These details were not mentioned in the "Overview". People who are not in charge of local government have no idea of the threshold inside. This old bureaucrat doesn't think he can do things well, but he sees things clearly.
These words made Wang Chuyi determined to suppress the bandits first. Originally, he planned to collect money and food first, and then suppress the bandits. Now it seems that this reasonable burden cannot be collected without killing a few monkeys.
"Suppressing bandits has another purpose." Peng Shou'an saw his change of attitude, and felt very relieved. He simply told his experience of being an official in the local area, "When the Yao people in Lianyang are in trouble, there are often local gangsters to help and lead the way. Pengbi is Traitor. If this root is cut off, even if the Yao people want to cause chaos, it will not be that easy."
This situation is not unexpected, because Huang Chao once talked with Wang Chuyi: The local bandits are inextricably linked to Yao Pai, and they only need to wipe out the local bandits first. The Yao people lost their guide when they tried to go down the mountain to plunder. It is of great benefit to promote local security.
"What Master Peng said is very useful." Wang Chuyi said sincerely, "It seems that we still have to deal with it from the root!"
The matter of suppressing the bandits was of great importance, and Wang Chuyi did not dare to make the decision without authorization, so he wrote a coded report and his own related action plan based on the intelligence collected, and sent a communications corps to Lianzhou for instructions.
Although Huang Chao gave full authorization to his naturalized county magistrates and governors, he still had reservations about military command authority... It's not that he couldn't trust them, but they had too little capital: five National Army squadrons , three regular army companies. Scattered throughout the Lianyang area, a single defeat can be devastating. Huang Chao is very aware of his situation. The current peace in the three cities of Lianyang is all due to the "tiger power" played by Fubo Army along the way. It has not reached the point where everyone is convinced...especially the local powerful He Yao. Platoons. As long as a large-scale military defeat occurs, these forces will immediately swarm up.
It is better to be cautious and move slower to maintain the myth that "Fubo Army is invincible in the world".
So when he received Wang Chuyi's report, although he knew that suppressing bandits was the right thing to do, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. I stood up and looked around the large-scale Lianyang map on the table, thinking over and over again in my mind.
To be honest, he was quite worried. Because Wang Chuyi's total force in Yangshan was only two national army squadrons, plus an auxiliary team composed of Yonghua Yao people.
Naturally, a squadron stationed in Yonghua Township cannot be easily used... Their presence is not only to intimidate the Yao people in Yonghua, but also to monitor the southeastern road of Bapai Yao.
The other squadron is the National Army Squadron in the county. Relying on the county militia composed of temporarily recruited strong men from Yangshan County, the county squadron has a certain degree of mobility. Wang Chuyi's plan is to use this squadron to carry out targeted strikes against Sun Dabiao and Feng Haijiao.
Naturally, this small amount of troops was not enough to encircle and suppress the two gangsters. Each of them can mobilize two to three hundred bandits. Moreover, the places where they are entrenched are old nests that have been operated for many years. If they want to attack directly with force, the county squadron, which has limited combat power and is at a disadvantage, will have to be crippled even if it can win.
Therefore, the plan proposed by Wang Chuyi was to "outwit" and use "recruitment" as bait to lure the two bandit leaders out of their lair and capture them in one go. Then they took advantage of the chaos and attacked. Destroy their nest in one fell swoop.
This plan can't be whimsical. In fact, Huang Chao admires it very much. Because when he was the county director, he also relied on various "strategies" to suppress bandits.
If you ask Huang Chao which historical figure of the Ming Dynasty he likes the most, he will answer Wang Shouren without hesitation. It is not because Wang Shouren led the upsurge of ideological liberation in the Ming Dynasty, but because he was influenced by a popular historical book and he liked Wang Shouren's suppression of bandits and counterinsurgency. I highly appreciate the "unexpected plan", which fully reflects the basic element of the art of war that is not afraid of deceit. During the suppression of bandits in Lingshui, Huang Chao fully learned this method. He used night raids, ambushes and other deceptive methods a lot. He was also brave enough to fight and fight against hundreds of bandits with a platoon. .
In the past, a platoon of Huang Chao dared to fight, but that platoon of Fubo army was a regular army. Now, Wang Chuyi's men are all National Army soldiers who have been in the army for less than half a year.
Huang Chao thought about it again and again, and decided to approve Wang Chuyi's action plan...Everything has a beginning, and you can't let the elders take charge of everything. However, to be on the safe side, he decided to send the Li Miao Company to assist Wang Chuyi... After all, attacking enemy strongholds has always been something only elite soldiers can do, and relying solely on the National Army would be very risky.
He immediately replied with a letter and approved Wang Chuyi's action plan. At the same time, he was told that he would provide support to the Li Miao Company, but they could only arrive 24 hours before he started the operation, so he was asked to confirm the specific time of the operation. In order to avoid the failure of both parties to cooperate.
At the end of the letter, he repeatedly told Wang Chuyi to be "cautious" in his anti-bandit operations and never to advance rashly. Bandits are different from officers and soldiers. They are not only familiar with the local situation, but also often have a huge network of human relations. They have much better information than the government. They must do a good job in keeping secrets and retain local personnel and places who have not paid hostages or whose "weight" is not enough. Jin gentry should remain vigilant.
Wang Chu was very excited when he received the reply. He immediately summoned several local naturalized cadres and Peng Anshou to discuss the specific action plan.
It is also a traditional practice of local officials to trap bandit leaders in the name of "recruiting peace". Although Peng Shouan has never had the opportunity to do it himself, he has heard many similar stories. This action did indeed eradicate many bandits and local powerful men.
"I have no opinion. As long as the county magistrate gives the order, our squadron will resolutely implement it." The squadron leader of the National Army Squadron said, "It's just that we don't have enough troops. Even if the entire squadron is dispatched, there will only be less than a hundred people. Da?~ Weihe Qinglianwei and Qinglianwei are both market towns with walls and many households and businesses. The terrain is quite complex. If we want to attack by force, we can win it. The problem is that our troops can only attack each house one by one. No matter who goes first. In the end, the losses will probably not be small, and I’m afraid we won’t be able to attack the second place.”
"So we need a surprise attack." Wang Chuyi said, "We capture the bandit leader in one fell swoop, and they will be leaderless. Let's make another surprise attack to catch him off guard. Besides, Chief Huang will send a mountain company to support us... You don't have to worry about insufficient troops. "
Hearing that there was regular army support, the squadron leader was obviously relieved: "I don't have any questions. I will arrange for people to conduct reconnaissance right now."
"I don't think your squadron is good at reconnaissance," another naturalized cadre said. "We all have outsider accents, and we'll reveal our secrets when we open our mouths. How can they not be suspicious when a foreigner suddenly comes? It's best if he is a local." of."
"It's hard to find local ones. Except for the Yao people from Yonghua, we have never recruited local soldiers..."
"We can recruit a few local activists who have blood debts with the bandits."
Peng Shou'an coughed lightly and interrupted their argument: "Never mind that, since we are recruiting people for peace, we must make the intention to recruit people for peace. These two people have quite a network in the county. The master might as well call someone he trusts first, Promise him a huge reward to persuade him... I'm afraid it won't happen overnight."
Since ancient times, bachelors have many evil intentions, but bandits have even more evil intentions. Bandits are often inferior to officers and soldiers in terms of fighting strength, fighting spirit, and weapons. In rural areas, they often face encirclement and suppression by local warriors with stronger combat effectiveness. Therefore, most of the bandit leaders and backbones will be extremely suspicious. Not only will they burrow three times, but they will even move three times in one night. Otherwise it would be impossible to remain active for decades. These two families have been bandits for generations. Although they have been strengthened, their suspicion has long been engraved in their bones.
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Next update: Volume 7, Guangzhou Governance Chapter 408
