stubborn thief

Chapter 640 Comeback

Outside the city of Xi'an, there is a siege camp.

With the migratory locust swarms originating from Shanxi and Henan in Shaanxi, Weinan County was defeated without attack, and Nan Juyi and other gentry finally surrendered.

Liu Chengzong corresponded with Nan Juyi three times, and finally decided on the policy of exonerating the gentry for donating money, confiscating 60% of their land, and dividing the remaining 40% of the rich families into households and land.

In Weinan, Liu Shishi was rare in being more tolerant in the fields, because the donation to exempt him from guilt was made by the gentry in Yidai City in Nanju, and the amount satisfied Liu Chengzong, who was born poor in northern Shaanxi.

Nan Juyi donated 14,000 taels of silver, his uncle Nan Zhongqi donated 10,000 taels of silver, and Nan Juye and other well-known people donated miscellaneous silver. The whole family together contributed more than 70,000 taels of silver. of gold and silver.

Liu Chengzong was very happy with this result.

Because all he could get from the Nan clan was gold and silver. After all, the fields were outside the city. After he defeated the official army, he had already sent troops to occupy the land and divided 60% of the Nan clan's fields.

This big family controlled a huge amount of land, so much that it made Liu Chengzong speechless. There were more than 8,000 hectares of mountains, forests, fields, and ponds, and 1,400 hectares of land were used to grow summer and autumn crops and vegetables alone.

Liu Shizi had an idea at that time: there were so many good lands in Guanzhong, and one county almost had as many good lands as the whole of Hehuang.

Rather than being mean to the Nan family and forcing them all to death, Liu Chengzong was more concerned about setting an example of dividing the wealthy family into a small family through Weinan.

Find a degree between oppression and gentleness that is easier for people to hold their noses and accept, so as to facilitate the implementation of policies and allow Guanzhong to settle down before next autumn.

If Liu Chengzong was a warlord who started in the North and East China plains, what he would see at this moment would be soil erosion in the northwest, large-scale water conservancy projects in disrepair, and the decline of Guanzhong, which is difficult to achieve great achievements.

But Liu Chengzong happened to be a poor man who had lived on the border for more than 20 years, and even Xiaohehuang could be his starting point.

Now they have entered Guanzhong and captured most of the land in Guanzhong except Xi'an Fucheng.

The familiar feeling when I first entered Hehuang came again, that is, the impact of one stone and ten taels of silver in Shaanbei Zamian and one stone and one tael in Hehuang came again.

The values ​​​​in Liu Chengzong's mind have undergone earth-shaking changes again.

These days, the emperor of the Central Plains who controls East China may not pay enough attention to Guanzhong, where water conservancy is in disrepair, but there will never be any grassland khan who does not care about the thousands of miles of fertile fields in Guanzhong.

This is simply a land of destiny!

However, Liu Shizi didn't bother to see more of the lovely fields in Weinan, so he handed over the surrender matter to Zuo Guangxian of Huben Camp, then turned around and rushed back to Xi'an Fucheng with Gao Yingdeng and Ma Ke.

Because Chen Qiyu in Xi'an Fucheng moved and wrote him a letter.

Chen Qiyu wrote the letter not to surrender, but to ask for help - Lian Guoshi was dead.

"Why did Lian Guoshi die?"

When Liu Chengzong mentioned the governor of Shaanxi, his tone was very rare with disgust.

Zhang Xianzhong, the Minister of Rites, who was sitting in the Chinese army camp, looked at him sideways, with a pair of big, round evil eyes rolling around in his eye sockets.

The person who loves studying Liu Chengzong the most in the entire Marshal's Mansion is Zhang Xianzhong.

According to Zhang Xianzhong's understanding, the composition of the handsome man in his family is very complicated. Not to mention that he cannot be judged by ordinary people, even if he thinks about it as an abnormal person, he cannot understand it.

At least Lao Zhang felt that he was not normal, but compared to Dashuai Liu, he was at best a healthy ordinary person.

For example, in Zhang Xianzhong's view, the rebellion was a distinct matter. They wanted to be separated from everything in the Ming Dynasty. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, the officials and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had to be physically separated from each other. open.

But the behavior and thoughts displayed by their commander were obviously not like this.

There was chaos, like the embodiment of the concept of God.

He can talk nonsense seriously.

For example, tell the enemy garrison that you have done a good job in local governance. I won't beat you, but I will reward you.

Just half a month ago, the commander-in-chief asked the old man from Hehuang to draw up this year's outstanding awards. There were ten people in total, such as Yang Dingrui from Xining, Song Xian from Suzhou, Feng Shilin from Zhuanglang, etc., to commend their merits and give each one a reward. A mink fur collar, brocade clothes, and a hundred taels of silver.

Among these ten people, the weirdest one was Zuo Maodi, the magistrate of Hancheng County who had not yet surrendered. The commendation was also sent to Hancheng by Lang Guan.

How did Zhang Xianzhong know this matter so well? Because according to the system, the Ministry of Rites also entertains officials who have won outstanding awards.

But Zuo Maodi obviously didn't intend to come to eat, so if the handsome man opened his mouth, we, Lao Zhang, would owe someone else a meal.

Recently outside the city of Xi'an, Zhang Xianzhong did not see Liu Chengzong talking nonsense.

For example, after Liu Chengzong finished the battle, he would ask Huben officers to sort out the Tang newspaper, then give up on his consciousness as the leader of the rebels, rewrite a nonsense version of the Tang newspaper himself, and shoot an arrow at the Ximen Tower of Xi'an Fucheng.

'Gao Yingdeng, the commander of the commander's office, reported: "Suddenly I heard that the beacon was coming from the east post, and the Liao soldiers Zu Kuan in Guanmen made a rebellion and plundered Xingping. He then led Qianzong Tang Tong and others to lead the troops to the Xianyang plateau. , fought bravely against the enemy and resisted with all their strength. The rebels knew that they were violating the national law and did not dare to attack with a single blow. The morale of the army collapsed, so they fled to the south of Weihe River for their lives. '

After the war, it was found that Zu Kuan, the leader of the rebellion, was shot seven times by his troops and was killed immediately. His head has been enshrined, pending inspection and recording by officials from the Ministry of War. '

"Lu Xiangsheng of Yunfu harbored a grudge and wanted to have an affair with Fan Miao. Now that his ambition has become reality, he is a reckless person. He secretly crossed the border and raised troops into Shaanxi. Fortunately, Zhang Tianlin, a capable general in the commander's office, found out and persuaded him to return with his virtue. The crime was innocent. He was pardoned, and he was demoted to Qinghai to herd horses. '

To say that he is serious, he confuses right and wrong and refers to a deer as a horse.

They said he was joking, but he was really outstanding for the Ming court officials who refused to surrender.

This will always give Zhang Xianzhong the illusion that when others rebel, they hate the world deeply and want to overthrow everything; when their generals rebel, they love the world deeply and want to succeed by force.

This kind of long-term research makes Zhang Xianzhong consider himself the most knowledgeable commander in the world.

However, this time when Liu Chengzong mentioned the name of Lian Guoshi, the hatred he unconsciously showed gave Zhang Xianzhong a new understanding.

The commander-in-chief does not have a favorable impression of all court officials who have done well.

It's obvious that he doesn't like practicing state affairs. People are dead, but the disgust is still there.

Wang Wenxiu, who was sitting upright in the military tent, heard Liu Chengzong's words and chuckled uncontrollably. Then he cupped his fists and saluted Liu Shishi: "Come back to the commander-in-chief, Chen Qiyu said that practicing state affairs will make you sick from overwork, but the general thinks that practicing The state affairs are so angry with the commander-in-chief’s few reports.”

Liu Chengzong looked surprised, shook his head and said: "This man died in the wrong way, it was an advantage for him."

Gao Yingdeng, the only remaining general of the camp, laughed when he heard this: "The commander-in-chief is saying that he thought he should be blown up with landmines!"

Gao Yingdeng knew where Liu Chengzong's hatred came from. When the marshal's army crossed the Yellow River to attack Xigu City, everything was prepared for an ambush. steel wheel mines, and Zhang Yingchang was also sent to set up an ambush with gunners at Lama Ridge.

It can be said that it was one of the most dangerous situations in Liu Chengzong's life, and he was almost killed by a bomb.

It was only because He Yong, the chief servant under He Renlong Biao, sent a secret message that allowed Liu Chengzong to grasp the situation on the shore in advance, so that the army climbed ashore from the Yellow River like ghosts, accurately avoided all minefields, and surrounded the governor Biao camp in Lama On the mountain, Xigu City was leveled, and the rich families of Lintao Prefecture were plundered. They leisurely transported grain, grass and wealth back to Hehuang.

"Just forget about practicing national affairs and die, it's not important."

Liu Chengzong looked at the generals, waved his hands and said: "The important thing is how to use this matter to break Chen Qiyu's mind. What do you brothers think of his request?"

Chen Qiyu's request was very simple. He hoped that Liu Chengzong would allow Xi'an Fucheng to open its doors and send out the coffin of the state affairs officer, and the Fucheng Military Academy would transport it back to his hometown in Henan for funeral. On this matter, Wang Wenxiu, Shi Xiang, Zhang Xianzhong and others had almost the same opinions.

They all agreed to let the Ming army send the coffin into Henan. The difference was that Wang Wenxiu and Shi Xiang suggested opening the coffin for autopsy.

Wang Wenxiu wanted to confirm that Lian Guoshi was indeed dead, and Shi Xiang had to have a clearer mind. He was worried that there would be a living Chen Qiyu lying inside the coffin.

Zhang Xianzhong was not interested in the coffin. He was very interested in opening the city gate. He stood up and said: "Commander, to take care of the coffin, you can ask Wang Ziqi of the West Brigade to go and take advantage of the opening to enter the city. As long as twenty good men are enough to take down the city defense." , hold on until the army invades the city!"

Liu Chengzong was impressed by the Wang Ziqi mentioned by Zhang Xianzhong.

This man was originally a border soldier. When Zhang Xianzhong raised his army, he brought the Jiazhou clan to join the Xiying and became Zhang Xianzhong's right-hand man.

Therefore, when recruiting the Western Brigade, Liu Chengzong gave the post of general to his younger brother Wang Ziyu for the purpose of decentralizing power, but did not grant the post of general to Wang Ziqi.

Therefore, he has been following Zhang Xianzhong as a horse archer and the leader of the guard. He is indeed a fierce general who can fight hard.

During the siege of Qianzhou, Wang Ziqi led the death squad to be the first to rush into the gap in the city wall.

During the night battle in Baoji, Ming general Long Zaitian seized the opportunity and used war elephants to break through the Lintao brigade Zhang Yunqi's military formation. The same Wang Ziqi went into battle with a long sword and cut off the trunk of the elephant, forcing the war elephant to turn its head and rush through Long Zaitian's army. Yunnan soldiers.

Having twice achieved military exploits, Liu Chengzong could understand Wang Ziqi's eagerness to seek office, not to mention that he also admired this ruthless person.

So he said with a smile: "Brother Bingzhong, don't be in a hurry to get a job for Wang Ziqi. I have sent a message to the military office to ask Zhao Fan to come over. There are tens of thousands of people in the army who need to record their merits. Soon he will have it." An opportunity to lead the army independently.”

"one hand?"

Zhang Xianzhong was stunned: "Isn't he the doctor of the Hexi Qing Li Division of the military office?"

Liu Shizi smiled and said: "Most of the army's soldiers are in Hexi. Of course, people from Hexi must come."

Systems are always lagging behind because plans cannot keep up with changes.

This is especially true for the Marshal's Mansion, which is advancing rapidly on the territory.

Their recruitment, training, selection of generals and even personnel appointments are all incompatible.

This primitive and simple system has become the biggest problem Liu Chengzong currently faces.

After all, when manpower is exhausted, victory in a Shetunxiang-style war will often bring about a sharp expansion of territory and a surge in the surrender of generals and troops.

This involves why people surrender on a large scale - interests, inherent interests have not been completely destroyed, and it is even possible to obtain greater and more benefits.

The capture of Shaanxi was a victory like a snake swallowing an elephant for the Marshal's army.

Liu Shishi can no longer hold on to all the power without letting go. He must delegate some of his power to others.

In the past, he couldn't get to know every soldier, so he had to hand over the power to manage the army to the general and set up another battalion.

Now it is necessary to hand over part of the personnel appointment power to the military yamen. This is also the meaning of the existence of the military yamen and the military bureau.

But there is no problem in delegating power. Scale is important.

After all, it is easy to give something away, but difficult to get it back.

Therefore, when he said that the military office would record meritorious service, it was actually just a polite statement. The military office of the Marshal's Mansion did not have the power to appoint mid-level officers.

Zhang Xianzhong also knew that there was some use in appointing officers below the general commander in the Marshal's Mansion and the military office.

But for the appointment of officers above the rank of Commander-in-Chief, the military office is just a toy, and it all depends on Liu Chengzong's decision.

But since the Generalissimo was talking nonsense with his eyes open and showing that he paid great attention to procedures, what could he do? He could only smile and said: "Then, why don't we take this opportunity to capture Xi'an Fucheng?"

"If you don't attack him, why attack him?"

Liu Chengzong looked at the eager Zhang Xianzhong, then looked around at Wang Wenxiu and others, and said: "I know that all brothers are eager to serve, but the most important thing right now is to prevent locusts. Even if the city surrenders, I will not accept it."

"what?"

At this time, not only Zhang Xianzhong, but also Wang Wenxiu was stunned on the spot and said: "Commander, there is the Prince of Qin's Mansion in the city. If the hunger reaches a certain level, the King of Qin may not be able to open a warehouse to help pay due to the situation."

The meaning is obvious. The wealth and food of the Qin Palace have long been in the possession of the Marshal's army, and they are reluctant to let the Ming army waste it.

Liu Chengzong said, "This city is surrounded by brothers Shi and Zhang. My top priority is to transfer Yang Chengzu's camp to Baoji and call Luo Rucai's camp over to cooperate with Huben camp to handle one thing."

Wang Wenxiu stood up to answer the order, and then said: "Please give the order, Commander-in-Chief."

"The troops of the Four Guards and Banners of Xi'an are all in the city. Let them eat the King of Qin's food in the city. Luo Ru has the experience of preparing locusts in Baoji, so you ask him to come and collect the locusts."

"You will lead Huben's camp to have a thousand headquarters and be responsible for cleaning up the military settlements. Clean up the 24,000 hectares of military settlements in the four guards. Those who occupy the military fields should be expelled and those who should be arrested. I will take 24,000 The army is stationed in Qing."

As soon as Liu Shizi said this, Wang Wenxiu, Shi Xiang, and Zhang Xianzhong all understood.

The generalissimo has long been eyeing this military camp, so he doesn't want Xi'an Fucheng to surrender early, thinking that cleaning up the military camp will avoid unnecessary trouble.

Wang Wenxiu immediately accepted the order with great joy.

He had never thought about the army camp in Xi'an with three guards and one guard before. Although everyone knew that the four guards had 2.4 million acres of farmland, they were raising the flag army of the four guards.

Wang Wenxiu could not have imagined that Liu Chengzong had no intention of surrendering the Four Guards of Xi'an.

In other words, even if they surrender, there is no intention to let them continue to be military households.

Then these fields are too important. After all, they are all cultivated land. If military camps are re-established, according to the military camp system of the Marshal's Mansion, they can support at least eight battalions.

This is undoubtedly great news for Wang Wenxiu, who has been thinking about military rations, logistics and other matters recently.

Wang Wenxiu clasped his fists and asked: "Then the commander-in-chief will not fight in Xi'an Fucheng?"

"I won't fight him, but Chen Qiyu..." Liu Chengzong said with a smile: "I still want to tease him, and I will write him a reply."

On the same day, a letter was shot to the gate tower of the west gate of Fucheng by Yu Linqi riding horses and bending bows outside the city.

Chen Qiyu unfolded the letter and saw that it read: "It is a pity to have the talent to practice public service. It is normal for people to return home to mourn. The younger generation can send his adopted son Ezhe to lead troops to accompany him and escort the coffin to Wuguan. However, as the pass is established, the military gate should also Worry about yourself.”

"The fields outside the city have been divided among the people's houses. There is no help outside the city and no food for the troops. There is a risk of mutiny. How about tomorrow at three o'clock, the juniors will set out on patrol, raise the gates of the army, leave the city and move into Shanxi, supervising the four provinces and the world. Things may come back again.”

good evening!