stubborn thief

Chapter 659: Extraordinary Value

Lucky people always get what they want.

Chen Qiuyu is such a person, although he himself does not know it.

He was always thinking about and regretting that Ren Quaner was not able to serve as the lieutenant general under him.

He also holds on to the beautiful dream that if Ren Quaner were still alive, he would be able to kill Trierdag in the city right away.

Ren Quaner really came to help him kill Cui Erda.

Although the process was not quite what he expected.

The letter written by Chen Qihuang was sent out of the city, and he received a reply in just half an hour.

The format of the reply was very formal, but the handwriting was bold and not official style, and the words were quite arrogant. It was obvious that it was written by a military general who was familiar with official documents.

The letter said that the Xi'an defenders were stubborn and unyielding, and according to the rules of the Marshal's Office, no one in the city was allowed to communicate directly with the Marshal.

The letter had been delivered to the General of Cavalry in the Marshal's Office and the Commander-in-Chief of the Second Field Brigade, and then it disappeared.

This thing is more like a receipt than a reply letter.

I don’t know whether they agree or not, and I don’t know whether they will send troops or not.

That afternoon, Chen Qiuyu spent a long time thinking on the city gate tower, and even asked his family to cross the chaotic streets of the city, enter the Censorate, and bring back three carts of official documents to search for intelligence from the Marshal's Mansion.

But after searching for a long time, he found the militia leaders who had followed Liu Chengzong in his early years, the list of officials conferred when the Qinghai Marshal's Office was established, and the list of officers and soldiers of the two armies during the Hehuang Battle.

No general with the surname Ren was found.

If that were all, it would be fine.

The key point is that Chen Qiuyu actually found the military honors and ranks system of the Marshal's Office.

General, since its inception, the word has literally meant leader of an army.

Throughout the dynasties, as the military organization became more complicated, the status of the title of general has actually been gradually declining.

By the Ming Dynasty, he had several hundred men under his command, and most of them could be given the title of general in official documents.

But even so, the title of General of Cavalry is still unshakable in status, and it is the most valuable general title in all dynasties.

The Marshal's Office is no exception. This is the first class and third level of the ninth grade of the general level one, third level.

Above him were only the Dragon and Tiger Generals and the Government Army Generals.

In other words, considering Liu Chengzong's current status and the situation of the Marshal's Office on the eve of its success, General of Cavalry is most likely the highest military rank at present.

  However, with such a high official title and commanding the second-ranked military town, this man named Ren was like a man who popped out of a stone, and the court knew nothing about him?

What made Chen Qiyu even more uneasy was actually the receipt.

The reply letter was in a formal format and naturally had a signature. The signature was from the deputy commander-in-chief of the Second Field Brigade, named Ouyang Gun.

Chen Qiuyu is familiar with this person.

He was from Ganzhou and was originally a lieutenant general. A few years ago, he was about to become the deputy general of Lintao. At that time, Chen Qiuyu was still the governor of Yansui.

  Why the hell did he end up serving as Liu Chengzong's deputy general?

Oh yes, first Lanzhou and Lintao were lost, and Ouyang Gun had nowhere to take office. Later, Gansu was also lost, and the backbone of the Ming Dynasty was removed by Liu Chengzong.

But where did this General Ren come from?

Of course, it was Ren Quaner, whom he had been thinking about all the time.

In fact, it was not that Liu Chengzong was being arrogant and refused to accept Chen Qihuang's letter.

In fact, when Chen Qihuang sent this letter, Liu Chengzong had already left Xi'an Prefecture.

As the two field brigades were reorganized, Chen Qiuyu in the city had no choice but to cooperate with the Marshal's Office and began to confiscate the properties of wealthy households in the city.

Liu Shizi was completely relieved about Xi'an Prefecture.

He knew very well that in the whole of Shaanxi, the biggest threat to the Marshal's Office was not Chen Qiuyu, but the position of Governor-General of the Five Provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

This is one of the first issues that the Marshal's Army has to deal with in this Eastern Expedition, and its priority is second only to the Ming Army's heavy military group in Shaanxi.

It is no exaggeration to say that this official position has absolute power. Liu Shizi will not be able to sleep well unless he is surrounded and killed in the city of Xi'an to prevent him from conveying orders to the outside.

After all, the purpose of organizing this battle was to make a key breakthrough rather than to advance across the board, which inevitably led to the fact that after the battle, there were still independent military leaders and local officials everywhere in Shaanxi.

They don't have the ability to go against the Marshal's Army, but they are very good at pretending to obey and secretly disobeying the orders, or even keeping their own people safe.

Without the governors of the five provinces to integrate them together, these would be minor problems. However, if Chen Qiuyu could contact the outside world, it would be difficult to cause a big upheaval, but it would be too easy to deceive the military leaders and officials to disgust Liu Shizi.

Before Chen Qiuyu's property was confiscated, he was the governor of five provinces, but after that, he was just an official with some civil and military skills.

I have broken my spine, so what is there to be afraid of?

So Liu Chengzong simply handed over the siege to Ren Quaner and Gao Yingdeng, and took the two battalions back to his hometown to worship his ancestors.

As soon as Liu Shizi left Xi'an Prefecture, Chen Qihuang delivered the letter. Ren Quaner, who received the letter, naturally would not tell the truth, but only said that they were not worthy of communicating with the Grand Marshal.

But Ren Quaner was willing to cooperate with Chen Qiyu in his heart.

Because he knew very well that Liu Chengzong went to Yan'an Prefecture not only to worship his ancestors, but more to capture Qingyang Prefecture.

Under the governance of the prefect Ju Sirang, Qingyang Prefecture was like a paradise in troubled times.

Liu Chengzong had no good way to deal with such people.

After all, the marshal's army that he carefully built was an ironclad army of volunteers.

The rebel army here is not a peasant army, but a combination of civilian army and border army. The common ground between these people cannot be called ideals, at most they have similar values.

I just want to survive, and if I have the ability, I will help others survive.

From the beginning of the army's establishment, their distinction between enemies and friends was rather vague, and the reference was not force but behavior.

So we fought both bandits and government troops.

Over time, this army will be able to run rampant in the land where people are living in poverty, and will have a very high morale bonus when targeting corrupt officials, rebellious armies, and wealthy and unkind landlords.

Even if you meet a rare honest official, it doesn’t matter. In this world, if you want to do good things, luck, ability and ideals are all indispensable.

But once they meet people like them, they are tired of war.

It's like two militias fighting side by side suddenly break out into a fight, and most of the soldiers will be tired of fighting.

This characteristic formed from top to bottom has also directly led to the phenomenon that Shaanxi nominally belongs to the Marshal's Office, but is actually full of independent military leaders and officials.

As long as a person is capable of doing human work and has no intention of attacking Liu Chengzong, the Marshal's Army will only have a good impression of them and not be hostile to them.

Although everyone here is reckless, they are not bad and they are reasonable.

However, in this era, even if Shaanxi officials have great abilities, it is difficult for them to survive.

After all, if you don't have any problems, others will. For example, in Qingyang Prefecture, Ju Sirang had previously resettled refugees and recruited the unruly to create a rare scene of reconstruction in Huanmaling and Fengchuan.

Unfortunately, He Renlong entered Qingyang and stationed his 3,000 troops in Zhenning County in the south of Qingyang Prefecture.

Zhenning County belongs to Ningzhou, and the previous governor of Ningzhou was Zhou Riqiang.

Back then, Zhou Riqiang had no idea what to do with the people in Ningzhou. The people under his rule were so poor that they had to give up their homes to avoid tax collectors and lived in holes in the ground.

It's easy to raise horses in that place, but it's impossible to raise soldiers.

He Renlong stationed his troops there and tried every possible means, but he could not get any food or fodder. He also had no way to go south to get food, so he could only turn his attention to Ju Sirang's Qingyang Prefecture.

But Ju Sirang was also a tough guy. Relying entirely on benevolence and morality, he persuaded tens of thousands of peasant soldiers to surrender and resettled them in Qingyang Prefecture.

Let’s put aside whether or not there will be a war. It’s not easy for these desperate criminals to hand over the food they have.

Therefore, He Renlong patiently negotiated in a good way until winter was approaching and the food and rations that he had collected with great effort were about to run out. His words in asking Ju Sirang for food and rations became increasingly fierce, and he finally resorted to threats.

He was ready to lead his troops to fight against the old bandits that Ju Sirang had placed in a battle.

As a result, Ju Sirang became even more aggressive. He started to curse back and then shook people after cursing.

He first sent a message to Hong Chengchou, who was stationed in Ningxia in the northwest, asking the troops from Ningxia Town and Yansui Town to go south to suppress the bandits.

Hong Chengchou, who was recruiting new troops, almost fainted when he received the letter.

He thought to himself: They are still going south. The five battalions of Ningxia went south half a year ago. How many people avoided taking a detour of thirty years and went straight to the underworld.

He couldn't even contact Yansui Town, and the empty Ningxia Town was losing ground under Cao Yao's continued Lamb Offensive. At this moment, there was not even a lieutenant general or guerrilla commander to lead the troops.

He formed a new army, and the acting lieutenant-general of the governor's camp was previously just a commander.

To him, the Ningxia army was good in every way except that they loved eating lamb too much.

Hong Chengchou was unable to help Ju Sirang and could only send someone to deliver a bland letter to He Renlong, ordering him not to fight against him.

He Renlong met with the envoy of the Governor of Sanbian in Zhenning County, and respectfully and sincerely invited him to go up to the city, and then asked He Yong to push the envoy down.

He Yong didn't die from the fall, and he shot another arrow at the top of the city wall.

For He Renlong, not to mention that Hong Chengchou was the governor-general of three borders, even if Emperor Chongzhen wrote to persuade him, he would still have to fight.

If he doesn't fight, the three thousand hungry Yansui soldiers behind him will have to kill him first.

But He Renlong didn't expect that Hong Chengchou was just Ju Sirang's delaying tactic.

The purpose was to let Hong Chengchou help him delay He Renlong for half a day or a day so that his envoy could successfully reach Xi'an Prefecture and return.

Because a few months ago, Ju Sirang, who was farming in Qingyang Prefecture, received a strange commendation from Lanzhou.

The man said that the Grand Marshal's Office had elected him as one of the ten most outstanding officials in Shaanxi in the eighth year of Chongzhen.

In addition to the formal-looking commendation documents, he also received a sable fur coat, a brocade robe, one hundred taels of silver, and an invitation to a banquet at the Lanzhou Li Ya.

To be honest, when Ju Sirang received the commendation document, his head buzzed as if it had been plowed by a red cannon shell, and there was no air everywhere.

The prefect of Qingyang thought for a long time in confusion and decided to send the small leader of the bandits who had surrendered to Lanzhou to inquire about the situation.

Find out what this outstanding commendation means in the Marshal's Office.

Unfortunately, the skilled fighters who were sent there pretended to be merchants. As soon as they entered Lanzhou City and had not even had time to sit down in the teahouse, they were caught by the anti-smuggling soldiers who arrived after hearing the news before they found out the prices of tobacco and Hequ Majuzi in Hehuang.

Ju Sirang felt that these guys in the Marshal's Mansion were indeed evil.

  What kind of anti-reconnaissance capability is this!

Even if he sent a spy into Beijing to find out what the emperor ate early in the morning, he wouldn't have let the imperial guards seize it so quickly.

The most infuriating thing is that after catching the spy, they should at least force him to reveal some information or something, right?

No, those bastards with the Hehuang accent were greedy and vicious. They confiscated the stolen money and took the money without asking any questions. They just beat you up.

Ju Sirang's spies received a severe beating. Their buttocks were swollen and purple from being hit by the big iron rods, and they could not even walk.

After the incident, the gang threw him to Jin County, saying that according to the law, he should be sent to the Jingou Silver Cave to work in the mines for his crime. However, considering the small amount of money involved, they let him recuperate in Jin County. There was no one to look after him, so he could run away if he could.

He also said that he had found out everything he wanted to know this time, so he would bring more things he wanted next time.

After Ju Sirang's envoy came back, he thought for a long time and had no idea what he wanted to bring to Lanzhou, let alone what incredible secret he had discovered.

After returning to Qingyang, I could only report the situation truthfully to the prefect.

He didn't even know, and Ju Sirang was even more dumbfounded after hearing this.

In the end, the two agreed that they could not understand the strange and bizarre jargon and the mysterious spies, but they were greatly shocked - the Marshal's Office was full of psychopaths.

It’s better not to go to the so-called banquet.

It's possible that the one hundred taels of silver was just the money to buy meat, and it wouldn't be surprising if the person was eaten on the spot.

They are so crazy that they have given Ju Sirang Zhuoyue a lot of praise. Is there anything they can't do?

Originally, for Ju Sirang, this was just a minor episode in the process of farming. No one mentioned it, and he would forget about it soon.

But He Renlong came to the door.

Ju Sirang thought to himself, I am a Shandong native, if you don’t let me be a good official, then you can just forget about it.

I'll call a few psychopaths to beat you to death!

Soon, the commendation document for outstanding officials issued by Lanzhou to Ju Sirang was handed over to his subordinates by Ju Sirang.

He was ordered to rush to Xi'an Prefecture as quickly as possible and find Liu Chengzong. He was not to say anything but one sentence: "Grand Marshal, there is a man named He Renlong who wants to lead troops to fight against your outstanding officials."

After all, Ju Sirang was good at recruiting bandits, and he had seen many bandit leaders and lunatics passing through Qingyang.

He simply felt that the Grand Marshal Liu Chengzong was particularly energetic, and his symptoms had even evolved to the point where the rebel leader was giving bounties to court officials.

So in the Grand Marshal's mind, isn't it reasonable for court officials to ask for help from the rebel leaders?

Of course, if Liu Chengzong did not send troops, Ju Sirang would have died, and before he died he could have embarrassed this madman.

But this is exactly the logic of our Liu Shizi.

Although Liu Chengzong didn't know when his father gave Qingyang an outstanding commendation, it didn't matter.

No one can touch the outstanding officials of my Grand Marshal's Office!

Liu Shizi led two battalions directly north to Yan'an Prefecture, and commanded Zhang Zhen, the general of the Yanqing Brigade who had not yet completed the reorganization, to intimidate his old superior.

At the same time in Xi'an City, on a pitch-dark night, five hundred Yan'an soldiers crossed the moat from the south of the city, climbed up the city walls, and attacked the city wall defense area guarded by Qin Fan.

good evening!