Going on an expedition.
Xu Ruolin helped Zuo Mengeng pack her luggage, and while fiddling with it, her eyes suddenly turned red.
Zuo Mengeng was very nervous.
"What's wrong?"
Xu Ruolin sat down slowly, but raised her head and always looked at the person in front of her.
"The poor bones by the Wuding River are like those in a spring boudoir dream. In the past, when I read poems, I just sighed. Today I know the torment of caring about this heart."
Zuo Mengeng finally understood and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"My sister, it's not as serious as you think. There is no danger in this expedition, it's just like traveling."
Xu Ruolin just thought he was coaxing her.
"Nonsense. On the battlefield, a sword or a gun has no eyesight. You...you have to be careful, don't..."
It's a heartwarming feeling to have someone caring about you when you're traveling far away.
Zuo Mengeng didn't explain any more, just whispered: "Wait until I come back."
Xu Ruolin couldn't bear it any longer, so she suddenly protected his head and offered her lips to him.
This kiss almost ended forever.
The girl didn't let go until Zuo Mengeng's lips hurt from the kiss.
Zuo Mengeng touched her hair, turned around and walked out.
In the military camp, more than 3,000 soldiers had already been fully equipped. When Zuo Menggeng appeared, the entire army set off.
The atmosphere of this expedition was completely different from the past.
The White Lotus cult bandits that wreaked havoc in Shandong caused huge headaches for the imperial court. But in the eyes of the New Army, it really is nothing.
Zuo Mengeng told Xu Ruolin that this was a trip, which was actually true.
Sun Yuanhua was also in the starting team. Watching the neatly arranged line of four people meandering forward, deep in his heart, there was another wave of excitement.
This kind of army has never been seen in the imperial court.
Even the powerful Guan Ning army he saw in Liaodong was a far cry from it.
The reality is so cruel.
Just by looking at a marching column, you can tell how strong an army is.
In the past few days, Sun Yuanhua had been struggling with whether or not to tell the court everything about this place.
If you don't tell me, as a minister of the Ming Dynasty, you are tantamount to deceiving the sage, protecting and plotting rebellion. What is the difference between it and rebellion?
But if he was reported, not only would Zuo Menggeng be in trouble under the thunder of the court, but so many of his friends would also be killed.
In particular, the respected teacher Xu Guangqi will also be implicated, and his blood will flow into a river.
However, after seeing the power of "Dongchang Association" today, Sun Yuanhua's thoughts were immediately wiped out.
How many imperial soldiers and horses are needed to defeat such a powerful army?
If Zuo Mengeng is angered and chooses to join forces with the White Lotus Sect and Shanxi bandits, the northern land will immediately fall and there will be no peace.
Isn't it ironic?
The reason why he didn't dare to report when he saw someone plotting rebellion was that he was afraid that the court would not be able to defeat him.
In this state of mind, Sun Yuanhua had no choice but to turn a blind eye.
Just muddle along and wait and see what happens next.
What Zuo Mengeng didn't know was that Sun Yuanhua had this idea because he was actually looking for a place to step down.
Because Sun Yuanhua did not want to be the governor of Denglai.
When he was appointed by the imperial court, he submitted his resignation. The excuse used is also very simple, poor health.
In the memorial, Sun Yuanhua also elaborated on Denglai's problem.
However, Chongzhen refused, so Sun Yuanhua had no choice but to take office.
When the army went out for battle, intelligence immediately came in a steady stream.
While resting in Gaotang that night, Zuo Menggeng held the first combat meeting.
Sun Yuanhua, as the governor of Denglai, attended the meeting.
This was also intentional by Zuo Mengeng, to let him experience the difference of the new army.
"This time, we will go to Yucheng, follow the Tuhe River to Qingcheng, and go to Denglai via Le'an. It is expected to take about five days. If we encounter the White Lotus bandits at various places along the way, we will eliminate them on the spot."
Each officer received the order and immediately marked it on the map.
The map of Shandong has never stopped surveying and mapping before and after the Houying moved north to Gyeongsang Province. Now it is mostly completed, which can be regarded as a relatively complete regional map mastered by the New Army.
Sun Yuanhua stood aside and watched for a while, but found that he couldn't understand it at all.
However, he questioned Zuo Mengeng's marching route.
"We can go to Jinan first to relieve the siege of the provincial capital."
Zuo Mengeng shook his head and informed him of a situation.
"We have received intelligence that more than 30,000 people under the bandit leader Li Mengming are already besieging Laiyang. The county magistrate of Laiyang is now vacant, and there is only one county magistrate and a squire guarding the city. If the delay continues, Laiyang will be defeated. If Laiyang is lost, Laixi will be destroyed. , Zhaoyuan, and Huang County are all difficult to survive. Once the connection between Deng and Lai Prefectures is cut off, Deng Prefecture will become an isolated city and cannot protect itself."
Sun Yuanhua was shocked. He didn't expect that Dengzhou Mansion would be lost before he, the governor, took office.
He originally had good intentions and felt that by borrowing Shandong's soldiers and horses, it was better to go to resolve the crisis in Jinan Mansion first and return the favor to Shen Xun, the governor of Shandong.
But now I have no choice, my hometown is going to be gone, so I can’t care about this anymore.
At noon the next day, the army arrived at Yucheng.
This place was previously attacked by the White Lotus Cult, but when they heard that the Ming army from Dongchang Prefecture was coming, the White Lotus Cult fled.
Zuo Menggeng summoned some people to discuss matters.
"I brought you out this time so that you can practice your administrative skills. Starting from Yucheng, you will take over. I will leave a hundred soldiers for each of you. Your task is to ensure that the recovered county is stable. At the same time Take this opportunity to learn about the local population, land conditions, rich and poor distinctions, mineral resources and hydrology, do you understand?"
The difference between the New Army's expedition this time and this time is that it brought more than 20 administrative personnel.
These people were all drawn from Zuozhuang and various factories.
These people had received preliminary administrative training from Li Banghua before, and at least they understood what they needed to pay attention to when controlling a place.
In ancient times, it was not difficult to be a local official. You only needed to master two things.
One is the yellow book and the other is tax collection.
It’s not certain whether the county magistrate’s orders can go out of the county. After all, the imperial power doesn’t go to the countryside.
The yellow book is the population, and the tax collection is money and food.
If you do these two things well, according to the standards of the imperial court, you will obviously be a good official.
According to Zuo Mengeng's standards, these people are certainly not qualified to govern the local area. But this time it's not really about occupying territory, it's just taking advantage of the opportunity of suppressing bandits to understand the actual situation in various places, so it doesn't matter.
"You ensure the safety of all counties and cities, and you can evacuate when the imperial officials arrive."
It was not yet time for the new army to capture the city, and Zuo Mengeng did not want to stimulate the court's nerves. But there is no problem in maintaining local security before the newly appointed local officials from the court arrive, right?
Basically, in the county towns that were invaded by the Bailian bandits, the officials were either killed or ran away.
After the New Army regained control, the local area was in a mess with no one in charge, which was perfect for these administrative staff to practice their skills on.
"Yin Rongkang, you are in charge of Yucheng."
Zuo Mengeng began to point out generals.
Yin Rongkang was also one of the original scholars, and later assisted in the management of Zuozhuang under Chen Zhi. Zuo Mengeng's abilities were all appreciated. He was diligent and down-to-earth and was good at mediating disputes, so he was brought out for training this time.
Yin Rongkang was very happy and quickly accepted the order.
He was originally a scholar, but he wandered around after his family was ruined. Not to mention fame and wealth, I don’t even know if I can survive.
I didn’t expect that I could manage a county now.
Although it is only temporary, since Zuo Mengeng has made this arrangement, I am afraid that it may not become a reality in the future.
Looking at the more than a hundred New Army soldiers left for him, Yin Rongkang was very courageous.
"Let's go and check the pornographic books first, and then punish the criminals who committed crimes."
The new army marched and fought in this mode.
When we arrived in Qingcheng County, the bandits entrenched here did not escape. Seeing the officers and soldiers, they immediately closed the city gate and prepared to defend to the death.
After Zuo Mengeng learned about it, he realized that the bandits here were not from the White Lotus Sect, but habitual bandits from the nearby mountains.
When the White Lotus Sect was in rebellion, they followed suit and shouted. Later, when the White Lotus Sect went to attack other places, this group of people stayed behind, wreaking havoc in the county and preying on the people.
Zuo Menggeng didn't have any good impressions of such a person and directly ordered an attack on the city.
The army blocked the four city gates and directly besieged them regardless of priority.
Sun Yuanhua originally felt that Zuo Menggeng was underestimating the enemy by doing this, but when he saw the New Army soldiers beating to death the bandits who were about to fire arrows at the top of the city a hundred steps away, his eyes almost popped out.
These days, he has been in a confused mood, so he did not notice the difference in the new army's weapons.
A fire gun that can accurately kill enemies from a hundred steps away...
Sun Yuanhua couldn't help but feel lucky that he suppressed the idea of reporting.
"Uncle, please look, this is my new army gun."
Zuo Mengeng took the musket from a soldier and gave it to Sun Yuanhua for appreciation.
As for siege warfare...
Well, the new army has entered the city.
It only took more than half an hour to capture Qingcheng County. More than five hundred bandits entrenched in the city were all wiped out, not even taking prisoners.
Anyway, if you look at the tragic situation in the city, you will know that none of these people are innocent.
outside the city.
However, Sun Yuanhua couldn't calm down after looking at the New Army's guns for a long time.
Especially after seeing Zuo Mengeng demonstrate it to him, he felt more and more that the Ming Dynasty seemed to be really drifting away.
