At this moment, someone asked with confusion: "Those bandits have already run away, why doesn't Duke Xingguo chase them?"
When Li Guo heard this, he immediately came to his senses and turned around to look. He also wanted to know the answer to this question.
Sure enough, someone still knew and replied: "Don't you know? Xingguo Gongwen's local government said that the most important thing in eradicating the bandits is not to defeat the bandits or eliminate the bandits, but..."
"But what? Don't hide half and tell half, okay?"
"Yes, it's not fun if you do this!"
"..."
Li Guo was also anxious to know the answer, so he immediately said, "I'll pay for this brother's tea!"
Upon hearing this, the man hugged Li Guo, and then said with a smile: "Gong Xingguo said that the most important thing is to settle the outcast thieves. In fact, we can't say that they are outcast thieves. Most of them are outcast thieves." Ordinary people who are coerced. Only by settling them down and stabilizing people's livelihood can we eliminate one bandit and reduce the number of bandits. Therefore, we need the local government to actively cooperate and settle all the nearly 400,000 bandits!"
Hearing this, all the people in the teahouse nodded in praise, it was indeed true.
Among these praises, some people also said with emotion: "At this time, only Duke Xingguo can do it!"
"How do you say this? Is it possible that only Duke Xingguo in the court has such ability?" Someone was puzzled and asked immediately.
Li Guo was quite low-key. If he could avoid speaking, he would never speak. He would listen with his ears straight up. He is also very concerned about these issues.
"What do you think is the most important thing to settle these bandits? Food, right? Now only Duke Xingguo has the power to collect food and grass from the surrounding areas and transfer it to Kaifeng Mansion. Who dares not to cooperate with officials from all over the country? And those local squires, No matter how deep their background is, they must be obedient."
At this point, the person who broke the news showed off again: "As far as I know, there are two short-sighted people who wanted to perfunctory because of their connections in the capital. As a result, Duke Xingguo directly sent troops there. What do you think? If it had been anyone else, who would have dared to do this?”
After hearing what he said, everyone nodded and smiled. They like to hear this!
Even Li Guo smiled after hearing this, as if he wanted to express that he deserved it. But then, he immediately remembered something and frowned.
Obviously, the better Duke Xingguo does, the more difficult it will be for the great general to achieve great things.
"I'll tell you another piece of news, about Duke Xingguo. Do you want to hear it?"
"Nonsense, who doesn't want to hear about Duke Xingguo?"
"Yes, please hurry up and tell me about Duke Xingguo!"
"..."
Hearing them talking, Li Guo temporarily let go of his thoughts and looked up.
"Let me tell you, the news from the capital is that Duke Xingguo came from the stars in the sky to assist the emperor in reviving the Ming Dynasty!"
As soon as they heard the news about him, with a little fairy background, these people immediately became more interested. Only people like Li Guo who have experienced a lot on the battlefield would not believe it!
"Come on, tell me, what's going on?"
"So, together we can bring peace to the world? That's great!"
"..."
Even if he doesn't push, this person will still say it. However, with so many people listening curiously, he was naturally even happier and told them: "The origin of Duke Xingguo is very mysterious. No one knows where he is from or whether he has any family members. It is as if he suddenly appeared in the capital."
After a pause, he emphasized: "The most important thing is that he knows astronomy from above and geography from below. He has accepted many top scholars as disciples. Even the princess admires his talent and follows him around! Many things that Duke Xingguo has done, It’s all unheard of, and it seems that it only exists in the sky! You think, if the stars in the sky hadn’t descended to earth, who would have such ability, and who would let the emperor use it so highly?”
After hearing this, everyone in the audience was surprised, and then they also shared the news they had heard from hearsay. In short, a lot of the news is actually distorted and exaggerated.
However, most people are actually happy to hear this. After looking back, when they repeat these words, they will definitely describe it in the aspect they want.
At least at this time, everyone present clearly received a signal: with stars like Xing Guogong descending to earth, peace in the world is not far away!
After so many years of troubled times, most people actually long for peace, longing for no war or disaster, and they are willing to think, speak, and yearn for this.
Li Guo heard this from the side and looked at their smiles. Suddenly, he understood a truth: This is what people want!
Eighteen-year-old child master artifact, haha, in today's world, under such circumstances, how many people can be encouraged to believe in this?
Li Guo smiled bitterly in his heart. After listening for a while, he felt more depressed the more he listened, and finally left.
When he decided to turn back, the government happened to issue a notice saying that the plague had been completely eliminated and most of the people who had caught the cold had recovered.
Looking at the camp where he was in the distance, Li Guo was silent for a while again before hurriedly leaving Kaifeng.
………………
One day later, in that small mountain village with ruins, Li Laiheng saw Li Guo who had returned. He quickly greeted him and asked with a hint of expectation: "How is it? I didn't lie, did I?"
Li Guo did not answer his question, but immediately ordered: "Give me the order to break camp and go south tomorrow to pursue the general."
Upon hearing this, Li Laiheng was surprised and asked quickly: "Father, is there any movement among the main force of the imperial army?"
Li Guo stood up and dismounted, without his usual air of magnanimity, but his decisive style could still be seen. As he walked towards the house, he answered Li Laiheng, "No, I just have some ideas that I want to talk to the general."
Looking at his expression and hearing his words, Li Laiheng couldn't help but feel happy, and quickly asked: "What are you talking about?"
However, Li Guo didn't answer, and just told him to get ready quickly.
Li Laiheng was a little helpless, but based on his understanding of Li Guo, he roughly guessed a few things, and immediately started preparing with joy.
………………
In fact, what is being circulated outside about the reasons why the main force of the imperial army did not go south immediately is not comprehensive.
It is indeed a very important reason to settle the bandits in the local area. There is another reason, which is that the main force of the imperial army has been expanded. Selected from nearly 400,000 bandits, the main force of the imperial army now reaches 90,000, including about 30,000 cavalry.
Although there are a lot more troops, the logistical pressure has also suddenly increased. If nothing else, military uniforms alone are not enough.
Of course, military uniforms are not the most important thing. Grain, grass, gunpowder and other military supplies are the key.
The Battle of Kaifeng lasted for more than a month. Not to mention the consumption of food and grass, and gunpowder was also a very big problem.
More than half of the imperial officers and soldiers already use firearms. Although this improved the combat effectiveness of the imperial army, the demand for gunpowder also increased.
Originally, the gunpowder and other supplies for the imperial army came from the Military War Bureau and Ordnance Supervision of the capital.
All materials from these two yamen must be strictly reviewed before delivery. However, when these gunpowder supplies were replenished locally, not only were the guns found to be shoddy, but the gunpowder also did not meet the requirements.
Therefore, when Zhang Mingwei settled the captives of the bandits, he also asked the Jinyi Guards to station in the local war bureau to strictly control the production of gunpowder and firearms. Then I discovered that there were no raw materials.
In the end, the firearms, gunpowder and other military supplies used by the army still had to be deployed from the capital, which took time.
……………………
While Zhang Mingwei was busy with this, Sun Chuanting looked at the letter in his hand at the Trilateral Governor's Mansion in Guyuan, Shaanxi Province, and kept praising: "It seems that Duke Xingguo has thought carefully, but I have made unnecessary efforts."
Hearing this, his commander-in-chief Gao Jie asked curiously: "Did Duke Xingguo win the battle of Kaifeng?"
Sun Chuanting had already read the letter. When he heard his question, he looked up at him and said with a smile: "No, I am considering withdrawing the soldiers and civilians from Liaodong in Xingguogong and consolidating the defense line of the Great Wall to avoid fighting on two fronts. I feel that This strategy still had flaws, so I wrote to the capital to remind them. Unexpectedly, it turned out that Duke Xingguo had already thought of using water to contain the main force of the slave establishment."
Having said this, he paused, stopped smiling and then said: "However, the matter of containing the main force of Jianlu by sea can only be effective by taking it by surprise. Afterwards, when Jianlu is prepared, it will not be that easy. At that time, enter It is still very possible for the main force of Jianlu to take a detour through the grassland and invade the pass."
"So..." Gao Jie said as he listened and thought, "Duke Xingguo needs to put down the rebellion in the pass as soon as possible before he can return to the army to resist the possible invasion of the main force of the Jianlu?"
Sun Chuanting nodded and said seriously: "That's right!"
After finishing speaking, he pondered for a moment and then said: "It was Duke Xingguo who gave me enough time to raise money and food and reorganize the army. Now it is my time to repay Duke Xingguo!"
Gao Jie was overjoyed when he heard this and quickly confirmed: "What do you mean, sir, are we going out to support the battle of Kaifeng?"
Now, Sun Chuanting's Qingtun was here to collect pay. Under his vigorous and resolute actions, food, grass and military pay were sufficient as never before, which gave all the soldiers confidence. The conditions are far better than before, winning the battle is just around the corner, and we can achieve military success again.
"Now the imperial court cannot do without Duke Xingguo. If there is a problem in the battle of Kaifeng, the consequences will be disastrous." Sun Chuanting said seriously, "Send my military order and the whole army will prepare for war."
In his heart, he was actually very worried. After all, Li Zicheng and Luo Ru are his old rivals, and after so many years of development, the strength of these thieves is far from what it was back then. And Duke Xingguo has never fought in a big battle, so it is difficult not to worry!
At this time, just after he finished speaking, he heard rapid footsteps outside.
