While the two were talking, dozens of horses came running from a distance, and it was Wu Sangui and his entourage. They dismounted their horses by the river to greet them, and everyone gathered in a circle under the shade of a tree. General Chang Yu told the story of his plan to enter the mountain to capture the thieves. All the generals nodded in agreement, especially Lu Daqi. He said with a smile: "I thought I would enter the mountains only when I reached De'an, but I didn't expect to end up here."
"It's been more than a month since we met in Nanjing and today I saw Lu Shangshu's smiling face for the first time," Chang Yu joked. He admired Lu Daqi very much. He was a rare civil servant of this era. There were only a few people in the whole court. Shi Kefa was one of them. First, he is one of them. He is nearly sixty, which is considered an advanced age in this era, but he is willing to brave the scorching heat to travel through mountains and rivers, eat and sleep in the open with the soldiers. It is admirable.
"The white thieves have been entrenched in Jiujiang for several years and have become a stubborn disease. This time they went north to act as monsters and made several houses smoky. I thought... Hey, the lower official and Zuo Liangyu have been fighting with him for several years without harming his skin. Who would have thought that the governor would not be able to do anything? In just over a month, he was defeated like a bereaved dog and fled into the mountains. I am so happy!" Lu Daqi changed from his usual calmness and started frothing when he spoke. Everyone laughed heartily when they saw him like this.
"The general originally thought that this would take a lot of trouble, at least several cities would have to be fought hard to get him close to De'an's home base, and then we would have to rest and recuperate before we could have the strength to go into the mountains to pursue him. In this way, we would not be able to survive the Mid-Autumn Festival or even Winter is coming..." Wu Sangui also looked relaxed: "Fighting with the governor is such a pleasure!"
Everyone agreed, and Chang Yu looked at Wu Sangui with a smile but not a smile: "Have a good time, it's more comfortable than outside the customs. If there are battles to fight and achievements are made, General Wu can have a good time."
Wu Sangui chuckled and said nothing. Everyone except Ma Ke didn't know the difference between them and just laughed in agreement.
After some joking, Chang Yu got back to the topic: "Don't be too happy too early. Bai Wang will not die, and thieves will never be eliminated. As soon as we take the lead, he will immediately pull up a team behind him to continue causing chaos, so he must be killed." Uprooted, so the real fierce battle began. We followed the river all the way from Nanjing. Although we won many battles, we also suffered a lot of losses. Jungle warfare and guerrilla warfare are what the bandits are best at. You must not underestimate the enemy."
When the generals heard what he said, their expressions became serious.
"If it's in De'an, Bai Wang has been operating there for several years and is blessed with people and food. When we go into the mountains, we are very passive. However, the mountains in front of us are all wild hills. Bai Wang's eyes are dark when he goes in. , and he has no soldiers or food, just grab his tail and you can tear his head off!" Wang Tizhong analyzed, his words are very weighty, after all, he was born in the bandit army and was Bai Wang's most valued subordinate. .
Chang Yu nodded slightly: "But it is also disadvantageous for us. We have no way to go, and the horses cannot enter the mountains. There is no supply of food and grass. Even artillery cannot be deployed on a large scale. We have to rely on eating dry food and drinking spring water to cross the mountains on two legs. In addition, the heat There is mosquito miasma in the mountains, etc. We must be mentally prepared for these.”
"The general has been accustomed to it for a long time in the mountains, and this time he is willing to take the lead." Wang Tizhong chuckled. This was very confident. In fact, no one here can compare with him when it comes to fighting guerrillas in the mountains and forests. He was also a thief. Neither can Hao Yaoqi.
"When we enter the mountain this time, there is no distinction between the front and back formations. You can fight individually or join forces to form a group. The governor does not ask about the process, only the results. Whoever captures Bai Wang will have a great achievement regardless of life or death!" Chang Yu said lightly! With a smile, his eyes scanned everyone's faces one by one, and the generals understood that they were about to enter the power-grabbing mode, but they didn't know what price the little eunuch offered.
"May I ask, Lord Governor, what kind of reward will the court give you if you capture Bai Wang?" Wang Tizhong was more curious about this. The cake Chang Yu drew when he recruited him was not small. At that time, he said that if he could kill Bai Wang, he would be given a big reward. The future of his family was now at his fingertips, and he had to ask clearly.
"General Wang has got the point." Chang Yu laughed, stood up and walked half a circle behind everyone before saying: "You must have heard that the imperial court promised to capture Zhang Xianzhong or Li Zicheng and ennoble it in order to suppress the bandits and quell the rebellion."
Everyone couldn't sit still for a moment, and their expressions were slightly excited: "Could it be that if you capture Bai Wang, you can enter the knighthood? Is he qualified for this?" Wang Tizhong was the first to speak, asking everyone what they thought.
Chang Yu chuckled: "The imperial court is resolute in suppressing bandits and quelling chaos. It will definitely reward the soldiers for their merits and is very sincere. Capturing the intruders and presenting them to the nobility is a sure thing. Originally, Bai Wang was not enough. Ge was side by side with the two thieves, but because they had caused so much trouble in the south of the Yangtze River in recent months, the imperial court wanted to reward the soldiers generously in order to put an end to the chaos as soon as possible. The governor had already asked for the reward from the emperor before leaving the capital, regardless of whether Who is it? As long as Bai Wang is captured, I will guarantee that he will be crowned!"
The generals were suddenly in an uproar and couldn't bear to be excited. Who among the generals in the army doesn't want to be awarded a title? This is the ultimate goal, but it is not so easy to be awarded a title. Many people have never touched it in their entire lives, but it is Because of this, the appeal of knighthood is extremely great. Everyone even complained about why Chang Yu only said it now. Wasn't it to boost morale? He should have said it earlier.
Chang Yu also expressed his helplessness about this. Good steel should be used for blades. He originally planned to announce this reward to boost morale when the battle situation entered a difficult situation. However, who knew that all the way south, although the bones were hard, they had not yet broken the teeth. Even the progress was so fast that I didn't expect it. It would be good to hide it until this time and bring it out as the icing on the cake. Or maybe Bai Wang's escape into the mountains at this time is also a dilemma in a sense, but it is also the best way to announce the reward. opportunity.
The generals couldn't hide their excitement and talked endlessly. Chang Yu saw that Xu Hongji and the others had slightly calm faces. He knew that this title had little appeal to them. After all, they already had titles. For example, Xu Hongji was the Duke of the country. When it reaches its peak, how can a count be looked down upon.
But Chang Yu had his own way to make them unable to calm down, saying: "Everyone, please listen clearly. Those who capture Bai Wang will be promoted to the rank of nobility. Those with the title can be promoted or their heirs can be promoted!" Chang Yu's eyes were intentional or unintentional when he said this. It swept over the faces of Xu Hongji, Zhu Guobi and others.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Xu Hongji and others couldn't sit still. Zhao Zhilong stood up and blurted out: "Eunuch Chang won't trick us."
What he said was a bit rash, and Zhao Zhilong himself felt that something was wrong. Just as he was about to apologize, Chang Yu smiled slightly and said, "No matter how bold I am, I will not falsely pass on the imperial edict, just to play with all the noble generals."
Xu Hongji and others said yes again and again, their faces were as calm as before and even flushed. Since they can be promoted to nobility, the original earl can be promoted to marquis. Dukes like Xu Hongji cannot be promoted, but they can be passed on to their heirs. .
Being promoted to a knight is like a shot of stimulant that makes the generals' blood rush. Even Wu Sangui, who had received a secret promise from Emperor Chongzhen long ago, was also itchy. Although Emperor Chongzhen allowed him to be knighted after quelling the chaos, he must have military merit. During this trip south, he showed bravery and participated in several battles, but his military exploits were not outstanding, so he had to get himself a double insurance policy, which was to capture Bai Wang!
Although everyone is ready to make a move, they don't just go into the mountain directly. Instead, they have to make some plans first, such as how many troops they should send into the mountain. They also need to prepare dry food, medicine, etc.
At this time, there were 20,000 officers and soldiers in Chizhou, divided into various departments, and it was impossible for them all to enter the mountain. After some discussion, everyone decided to send one thousand troops to the mountain each, and the rest to set up defenses outside the mountain.
In addition to Lu Daqi, Ma Ke, Wu Sangui, Jin Shenghuan, Xu Hongji, Zhao Zhilong, Chang Yanling, Zhu Guobi, Wang Tizhong, Ji Jike, Hao Yaoqi, the three guards of Dongchang and even Wu Weiying were all ordered to go into the mountain to pursue Bai Wang, plus Wang Zamao, who took the first step, attacked thirteen troops.
The three guards of Dongchang are quite special. The main purpose of entering the mountain is to train the soldiers to adapt to mountain jungle warfare, and to supervise the soldiers and horses not to do evil in the mountains. As for whether they can achieve success or not, it all depends on God's will.
Lu Daqi didn't join the mountain because he was too old. Secondly, Chang Yu needed a calm and experienced boss to handle military affairs outside the mountain, and no one was more suitable than Lu Daqi.
After a hasty lunch, just after noon, the generals mobilized their troops to cross the water and enter the mountains by boat. As for whether they fought alone or joined forces to form a group, Chang Yu was not concerned about it, and he was not worried at all. After all, most of them They are all experienced veterans. Now there are more than ten thousand people in the mountain. No matter fighting alone or in a group fight, as long as they encounter Bai Wang, he will not be able to escape.
