Shandong, in Dongchang Mansion.
Under the introduction of Yang Peng, Zhang Zhou met Cao Bao, the commander of the local Pingshan Guards and the envoys. As his name suggests, Zhang Zhou's first impression of Cao Bao was that he was like a straw bag. He couldn't even speak. It's not easy to say.
With a hereditary military position, it is difficult to contact high-level civil servants outside the guard station at the local level, and he is also very inexperienced in officialdom.
Yang Peng said: "The prefect of Dongchang Prefecture and the officials of the subordinate counties also want to see you, Duke Cai."
Zhang Zhou shook his head and said: "No, I want to have a good talk with Commander Cao, and I don't want others to disturb me."
"Yes." Yang Peng glanced at Cao Bao with a smile, as if to say, you are lucky to have the illustrious Cai Guogong come to talk to you in person. It seems that you have a bright future.
…
Inner hall.
Zhang Zhou, Yang Peng, Cao Bao, as well as Liu Gui and Jia Laoshui brought over by Zhang Zhou met with Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao was watching the excitement around a sand table. When he saw Zhang Zhou, he said excitedly: "Has it started yet?"
Zhang Zhou said: "Let me introduce you to the prince. This is Cao Bao, the commander of Pingshan Guards."
"Villain...Cao Bao...see you, sir!"
In a hurry, he forgot who he was saluting and directly addressed the prince as "Master".
"Commanding the general affairs? Aren't you the commander? Is this... possible?" Zhu Houzhao could also see that Cao Bao didn't look like he was good at leading troops.
Zhang Zhou said: "In the Ming Dynasty's local guards, most of them are headed by commanders. The post of commander is not permanent. Prince, you only need to know that Commander Cao can mobilize troops according to orders."
"Oh." Zhu Houzhao said, "That's alright. You don't need to do anything anyway. Does he know the situation?"
Zhang Zhou pointed at Yang Peng, meaning you can explain now.
Yang Peng helped Cao Bao up and said with a smile: "Commander Cao, it's like this. The prince and Duke Cai have been threatened by evil spirits on their way north. As a local general, should you contribute to this?"
"Yes!" Cao Bao replied.
Yang Peng smiled and said: "That's easy to handle. I heard that there are bandits in Gaotang in your Dongpingwei jurisdiction. Please tell me about the situation."
"Ah... you are in a humble position, you villain... It's not that you are incompetent in doing things, it's just that you have repeatedly conquered and suppressed them, and the progress has not been smooth. Moreover, the masters of the Dongchang Prefecture and others all think that the grass bandits are not worth mentioning... The soldiers once attacked the mountain tops of the bandits. Return without success..."
It’s not that we are ineffective, it’s just that we can’t defeat them.
That's about it.
Yang Peng said: "I asked you to tell me the situation. I didn't ask you how we suppressed it before. Do you still have to worry about how to send troops with Cai Guogong here?"
Cao Bao looked aggrieved and looked at Zhang Zhou in confusion.
I was thinking in my heart, you, a powerful figure in the court, passed by our Dongchang Mansion, and you actually came here to suppress several groups of bandits? By the way, where in the world are there no bandits? Can the suppression be completed?
Cao Baodao said: "Most of the bandits in Dongchang Prefecture came from Beizhili and other places. Many of them were fleeing horse households. Those horse households that could not survive all fled away. They were good at riding and used them as horses. Bows and arrows often come and go like the wind, and even when a villain leads an army to conquer many, it will not go well.”
"Um."
Zhang Zhou nodded, seemingly satisfied with Cao Bao's answer.
His ability is average, but why did the bandit start and he knows his opponent's strengths, which means there is still room for salvation.
Zhang Zhou looked at Zhu Houzhao and said, "What do you think, Prince?"
Zhu Houzhao didn't bother to pay attention to that. He was going to take a practical class this time. Ever since he knew that he was going to fight the bandits on the ground in Shandong, he was almost too excited to sleep. If he could fulfill his wish of personally leading the troops during a trip, then this This study tour can be said to be very fruitful.
"How to fight, how to fight?" Zhu Houzhao only wanted to know when the fight would start.
Zhang Zhou said: "Commander Cao, as the new Minister of War, Cai Guogong, and in the name of Eunuch Yang, the admiral of the East Factory, I will mobilize five hundred of your elite troops to cooperate in the attack on the bandit mountain top. Are you willing to cooperate?"
"I humble my position and take orders."
Cao Bao didn't need to care about Zhang Zhou's current official position. He only needed to know that he couldn't afford to offend anyone, whether it was the prince, Zhang Zhou or Yang Peng.
As for the five hundred people...he can easily mobilize them.
Cao Baodao: "But it's best to say hello to Dongchang Mansion, so as not to..."
"In order to avoid being accused later, I, Mr. Zhang, mobilized troops without authorization in the local area?" Zhang Zhou said with a smile, "I can still bear this matter. You go back and order all the troops, and you will follow me to send troops to Gaotang tomorrow."
"Yes." Cao Bao respectfully accepted the order.
…
…
Yang Peng sent Cao Bao away first.
After Yang Peng came back, he summarized and reported the current surrounding situation: "Master Zhang, in addition to the 500 soldiers that Pingshan Guard can mobilize, Jinyi Guard has more than 400 people who can go together. The total number is less than a thousand. There are a lot of muskets, but as for the cannons... there are only two divine cannons, do you think they are enough? There are no divine cannons stationed on the ground in Shandong, but there are some old cannons from the past."
"That's enough." Zhu Houzhao answered for Zhang Zhou, "Is it necessary to have cannons to fight? Charge in on horseback... Haha, just thinking about it makes my blood boil."
When the average kid talks about killing enemies on the battlefield, he will definitely be scared to death. At least he should be worried about his own life.
But Zhu Houzhao carried a strange spirit of adventurism, as if he did not regard his own life as fate, but took pride in killing the enemy heroically.
This kid already has a full spirit of adventure. In addition, he was "poisoned" by Zhang Zhou's martial arts in his childhood. This belief seems to be even stronger. He clamors to be Huo Qubing all day long.
Zhang Zhou said: "Prince, you must understand the purpose of our trip!"
Zhu Houzhao asked curiously: "Isn't the purpose to wipe out all the thieves?"
Yang Peng smiled bitterly and said: "Your Highness, there are thieves and bandits everywhere. Even in a peaceful year, bandits falling out of step will still happen from time to time. Many of them are farming in the mountains. They only live when they can't survive." , will take desperate risks, and when the government goes to conquer, it is often difficult to distinguish whether they are bandits or civilians."
"Oh, then come in line. Anyway, I don't want to go back to the capital yet." Zhu Houzhao heard this.
This feeling is good.
There are bandits everywhere, so I’ll just follow Mr. Zhang and hunt down bandits everywhere. Do you think I’d like to return to the capital and see my father’s bitter face?
Zhang Zhou said angrily: "Prince, we want to deal with the thieves in Qingping and Gaotang, not because they disturb the people's livelihood, or because they have nothing to do with us, but because they may have been bribed by King Ning to secretly rob Kill us, so we take the initiative!"
"Really or not? A group of bandits dare to attack us? Are you tired of living?"
Zhu Houzhao curled his lips, not quite believing it yet.
Zhang Zhou said: "The prince had better believe it, and let your majesty believe it. Otherwise, if your majesty knows that I am taking the prince to suppress the bandits, without your majesty taking action, the ministers in the court will chatter about it endlessly. Then..."
"Come on, I understand. If I am targeted by the minister, I will be locked up in the palace to study and cannot go anywhere, and you will be questioned. Let's not talk about the old things. Mr. Zhang, Let’s talk about fighting bandits, I’m impatient!”
Zhu Houzhao just wanted to comfort Zhang Zhou now, at least to make Zhang Zhou take him with him when fighting bandits.
As for this group of bandits, although he didn't know how many there were, he expected them to be much weaker than the Tatars and so on. He just happened to practice with this group of bandits first.
When Zhu Houzhao went out, he was still excited and said to himself: "If I lead the troops to quell the bandits, it will be a meritorious service to the court. Who dares to say that I am young and inactive? Let them know that I will also fight. !”
…
…
When Yang Peng saw the prince's excitement, he was actually very worried.
Zhang Zhou wanted to fight local bandits, which he could understand. After all, Zhang Zhou was the Minister of War. On his way back to Beijing, he killed the bandits whose base was very close to the canal and who often disturbed the canal and surrounding official roads. This was a benefit to the people. good thing.
But bringing the prince... Yang Peng found this a bit mysterious.
"Master Zhang, do you think this will put the prince in danger? Or you can ask your majesty for an order. It won't be too late to leave when your majesty has an order."
Yang Peng means that it is better for us to wait for the emperor's decree first and follow the decree to suppress the bandits than for you to make your own decisions.
It doesn't matter whether you suppress them or not, just don't take the prince with you.
Zhang Zhou said: "Strategy requires that no opportunity be missed. Even the bandits don't expect us to take the initiative. Shouldn't this be a good opportunity? How are you investigating the situation of the bandits?"
"There are two groups of people, one named Zhong Twelve and the other named Su Nianba. As Commander Cao said, they are both from the Beizhili area. They have been living in the two places for many years. Once the local troops are sent to annihilate them, they will They will be transferred to other state capitals, or even across provincial boundaries. Because the suppression of bandits in various places failed to coordinate, they have been wandering around for many years and have not been quelled. Now there are more and more of them, and a group of at least There are two to three hundred, and due to their strength, the local government generally wants to leave this kind of conquest to the next person..."
The number of enemies is increasing, and local governments cannot defeat them, or they suffer heavy losses during the campaign, which affects political performance.
Either leave the matter to the next person, or send people to drive away the bandits and let them cause trouble elsewhere... This is probably the reason why bandits are rampant in the Ming Dynasty today, and can evolve into a large-scale Liuzhou in a few years. The reasons for the Liuliuqi uprising.
Yang Peng continued: "According to the clues you gave me, Master Zhang, I found that not only did Prince Ning have dealings with bandits in Jiangxi and other places, but also bandits in the Central Plains were recruited and bribed by him, but under what name specifically?" , is still unclear. However, it is currently said that Zhong Twelve and Su Twenty-eight have carried out kidnappings on the canal many times. Now it is in Linqing Prefecture in the north and Dongchang Prefecture in the south. Except for ships with official background, they dare to travel. , many of the remaining merchant ships and civilian ships have been stranded."
Zhang Zhou asked with a smile: "Their target is me."
Yang Peng said: "Maybe there is still a prince. Or maybe they don't have the courage to do this at all, and they just show it off... Maybe King Ning gave them a lot of benefits and asked them to do this. We should also be careful about the people sent by King Ning. I don’t know exactly how many assassins there are and what kind of strength they have.”
Zhang Zhou looked very calm and said: "Then think of it as getting rid of harm for the people. Otherwise, what should we do? See bandits wreaking havoc in the local area and blocking the operation of the canal? As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, you cannot shrink back when encountering trouble. In addition, this has educational significance for the prince. Eunuch Yang, I heard that you will become a royal eunuch after returning to the court. Don’t you want to make meritorious service and accumulate prestige for this? "
When Yang Peng heard this, he smiled and said: "Of course I want to, but I'm afraid..."
"As long as I'm here, work hard." Zhang Zhou gave Yang Peng some encouragement.
In an instant, Yang Peng seemed to have ascended.
The feeling of being appreciated by the most capable minister of the Ming Dynasty is really great, as if meritorious deeds are at your fingertips.
…
…
As found by Dongchang.
The canal of the Ming Dynasty, from Linqingzhou in Shandong to Dongchang Fucheng, was ravaged by two groups of bandits. Ordinary ships and business travelers without strong backgrounds and escorts did not dare to pass through casually, so many people were detained at both ends. and goods.
Even many business travelers returning to the capital after attending the Nanjing Cultural Conference are blocked on this line. They have been waiting for news that the road will be clear.
Among them are brothers and sisters Li Zhaoxian and Li Jue.
That day, Li Zhaoxian went out from Dongchangfu City early in the morning to inquire about news. What he wanted to inquire about was the land route that detoured from Damingfu and Handan to the north. But when he came back, he met several classmates. After talking in detail, he found out that the land route was now also It was not peaceful, so much so that he returned to the inn with great displeasure.
"No chance." After Li Zhaoxian sat down, he faced his wife and sister and drank water there.
Li Wei asked: "Brother, are you saying that you can't go to the west? Then go to the east. We have been out for so long, and it is almost winter now. I miss home."
Little girls don’t have the courage to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles like Li Zhaoxian. Especially when the journey is not going well, they will long for the comfortable and comfortable life circle in the capital.
Li Zhaoxian said: "I also heard the news that Duke Lai has become Duke of Cai and has gone to Dongchang Mansion with the prince."
"Really?" Li Wei asked, "What about the female gentleman?"
"Then I don't know. How can the whereabouts of Mr. Zhang's family members be easily known to outsiders? But I guess it shouldn't be too far away, right? Now there are rumors outside that these damn thieves are really in the hands of Mr. Zhang Well, knowing Mr. Zhang’s reputation in running the army, you still dare to hinder Mr. Zhang from escorting the prince northward. I estimate that the bandits will be wiped out in a few days!”
Li Zhaoxian mentioned Zhang Zhou with a sense of admiration.
no way.
In the academic world, Zhang Zhou has established a reputation as a master of literati in the world with his mind-based studies. Although this reputation is not yet recognized by the mainstream academic circles, it is probably equivalent to an Internet celebrity and is not respected by mainstream celebrities.
But Zhang Zhou, an internet celebrity in the academic world, has more fans, and there are many people who are willing to be "bewitched" by him. As for the traditional Confucianism factions, they are all fading away...
Originally, Zhang Zhou had great prestige in both the government and the public because of his military management and fortune-telling.
Zhang Zhou's reputation in official circles also promoted the accumulation and fermentation of his reputation among the people.
Li Zhaoxian's wife He asked: "So now we still have to wait here?"
"Let's wait and see." Li Zhaoxian said, "It's winter now. It's said that in about half a month, the rivers on the ground in Shandong may freeze. This is the key season for transporting goods from north to south. Even if it's Zhang at this time, If you don’t take action, the local government shouldn’t just sit back and watch.”
Li Jue said: "Can we go out for a walk now?"
Li Zhaoxian shook his head and said: "It's too chaotic outside, so don't go out. It will be fine in a few days."
…
…
When Zhang Zhou and Zhu Houzhao set off with the Jin Yiwei and local officers and soldiers.
In the capital, Zhu Youtang also learned that bandits appeared on the ground in Shandong and even intended to rob and kill Zhang Zhou and Zhu Houzhao.
There is no real evidence whether this group of thieves is related to Prince Ning, but Zhang Zhou now likes to "exaggerate". Even if it is not, Zhang Zhou also likes to blame the Ning Fan faction. Who let Ning Fan himself? What if the tree is big and attracts the wind? Even the guards have been deprived, and everyone in the world knows that Ning Fan is unwilling to stay in a small place like Jiangxi.
You want to impeach me, or even assassinate me, but why don't you allow me to use Dongchang's public opinion to blame you?
"boom!"
Zhu Youtang slapped Dongchang's report on the table.
Li Rong, who came to deliver the message, said cautiously: "According to the date, Cai Guogong and his party should have arrived at Dongchang Mansion. Cai Guogong has not yet reported the local situation, but based on the reports from Linqing Prefecture in the past ten days, it is said that this group of bandits are also They suddenly appeared, seemingly with the purpose of blocking water transportation, and they also specifically requested the imperial court to send troops to quell the pirates."
Zhu Youtang said: "There are a few thieves in the local area, why don't I send a large army to encircle and suppress them? Does it mean that the local officials can't even handle this?"
Li Rong said: "Your Majesty, most of the local bandits are roaming around to do evil. If soldiers and horses attack in one place, they will move to other places. When the storm is tight, they will even hide. However, places such as Luxi are mostly mountainous and there are many places that are inaccessible. If they Without showing their heads, it would be difficult to find their traces for a while.”
Zhu Youtang said angrily: "Is it a problem that we can't find their traces now? The water transportation has been blocked. After the autumn grain collection, have the capital and warehouses been fully deployed? If we don't send troops at this time, when will we wait? ?”
Just as he was talking, a young eunuch at the door announced loudly: "The commander of the Jinyi Guards wants to see you."
Zhu Youtang said: "Let him come in!"
Then Mou Bin, the commander of the Jin Yiwei, appeared in the Qianqing Palace.
"I see your Majesty." Mou Bin quickly saluted.
"What's the matter?" Zhu Youtang said with a straight face.
Mou Bin took a look and knew that the emperor had been angry before. Mou Bin said: "Dongchang sent a message on Pegasus to report to Cai Guogong to mobilize 500 soldiers of the Pingshan Guard and cooperate with the Jinyi Guard to wipe out the local bandits!"
"look!"
Zhu Youtang looked relieved and said, "Bingkuan never has to worry about me when he does things. When he sees danger, he will naturally come forward. This is what makes him different from others. He never has to worry about me. Wait."
Zhu Youtang first praised Zhang Zhou fiercely, and then thought of a question: "Where is the prince?"
Mou Bin said: "The prince is also in the formation."
"this……"
After Zhu Youtang finished boasting, he thought that it would be a bit... dangerous to let his son go to defeat the thieves.
Li Rong hurriedly smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you can rest assured. Since Lai Guogong went to quell the robbers in person, why not go with the prince? Leaving him somewhere will put the prince in danger."
Zhu Youtang said with relief: "That's right. The prince is too naughty. He doesn't have a good attitude, or he can't even watch him! The more dangerous the place, the more he likes to get into it... I don't know where he learned this temperament! With I……"
Originally he wanted to say that he was very different from me.
But when I think about my life goal, I want to level the grassland with Bingkuan and conquer it myself.
Suddenly, I felt that my son was my biological son, and that father and son were definitely of the same blood.
It's just that my personality has been suppressed too much before and I didn't have the chance to express it... In other words, Bingkuan never showed up, so I didn't have the chance to express it.
(End of chapter)
