stubborn thief

Chapter 661 Feng Shui Treasure Land

Black Dragon King Temple Mountain.

The drums and music were loud and both the host and the guests were having a great time.

Liu Chengzong originally wanted to put on airs, but when he returned to his hometown after several years, he couldn't contain his joy.

He finally lost his self-control. Not only did he drink alcohol, which was rare, but he also accepted all the toasts from his fellow townsmen.

No matter how much I can drink, I can't handle this, so I just left the game halfway.

He rode his horse in the dark all the way to the ancestral temple, which was the place where he was punished to read Zizhi Tongjian when he was looted from Wangzhuang.

When he led his troops away from his hometown, this place was destroyed. However, when Zhang Zhen entered Yan'an Prefecture, he put a lot of effort into repairing it, and it looks better than before.

Liu Shizi, in a daze, drove all the guards out of the ancestral hall, locked the door, and cried and laughed for half the night.

When he woke up the next day wrapped in a fur robe, he felt sore in his back and whole body. He didn't know why he had gone through all that.

But I do feel a lot better and less stressed, as if some long-standing garbage in my body has been discharged.

He rested in his old house in Heilongshan for three days. Thinking that his parents and brothers would surely come back by then, he asked someone to clean up the house. He also met with Zhang Yungong, the prefect of Yan'an, and Zhang Pan, the magistrate of Fushi.

This world is so bizarre that Zhang Pan, a clerk, has been recommended to be the county magistrate, and is quite popular.

Zhang Pan did not dare to take credit for this, and quickly waved his hand, saying: "I told everyone I met that I was an old acquaintance of Marshal Liu. It's hard to ignore people's hearts."

What Zhang Pan said was not an exaggeration at all.

Back then, Liu Shizi attacked the county government office and shot and killed the magistrate of Fushi. He spared the life of the county magistrate named Meng and made him the acting magistrate. The clerk Zhang Pan was standing nearby and even advised Liu Chengzong.

Later, County Magistrate Meng became the acting county magistrate, and Zhang Pan was directly appointed as the temporary county magistrate.

No one in the entire county disagreed.

Who would dare to disagree? No one knows how close Zhang Pan is to Liu Shizi. What if you disagree, call Liu Shizi in, and then purge the county government?

After a few years, County Magistrate Meng died of illness and Zhang Pan became the county magistrate.

In fact, for Zhang Pan, life is a complete mess.

He was originally a hereditary clerk, the de facto ruler of lowly status in the county government.

To put it in a smaller sense, they are just grassroots officials. To put it in a larger sense, they can also exceed their authority, steal power, and abuse power in a county, undermine the chief official, and call the shots.

There is basically no possibility for clerks to become officials.

Just because of his acquaintance with Liu Chengzong, he changed his fate and became the chief official of a county.

But Liu Chengzong not only felt gratitude towards him, but also resentment.

The postmaster of Jinmingma Posthouse was his relative, and Zhang Pan once used this relationship to intercept the imperial court's wanted warrant for Cai Zhongpan.

However, Liu Chengzong broke into the county prison and rebelled under his real name. The first place he destroyed was Jinming Horse Posthouse. His relative was also beaten to death by Wei Qianer's postmen.

Now, Wei Qianer, the first earl in the Marshal's Office, is given the title of Earl Jinming.

However, Zhang Pan had no intention of revenge in his mind. He was even a little afraid that Liu Shizi would kill him completely.

So the year he became the county magistrate, Zhang Pan expelled that dead relative from the family tree.

  Keeping him here will only bring trouble to your family and property!

In addition to meeting with local officials, Liu Chengzong also sent people to Heshui County west of Ziwuling Mountain to find a village called Luping to look for auspicious signs.

That auspicious sign was not a thing, but a person named Old Man Xu.

When he defeated He Huchen at Ziwuling and led his troops westward, he passed by Luping in Heshui County and met the 78-year-old Mr. Xu.

At that time, all the people in Luping Village had died, leaving only five families waiting to die. Old Man Xu was like a good omen. No matter whether soldiers or thieves came, considering his age, they would always leave some food.

Liu Chengzong was no exception. He said at the time that he would let Old Man Xu hold on for a few more years, saying that he could provide people with enough food.

That was July of the third year of Chongzhen. Five years have passed now, and it seems like a lifetime ago. In the vast northwest, it is now Liu Shizi's turn to have the final say.

If Mr. Xu were still alive, he would be eighty-three years old.

Liu Chengzong thought that it would be interesting if he could take over this old auspicious animal that had outlasted several emperors.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find it.

The Yulin cavalry sent to look for auspicious signs reported that Luping should have been deserted a long time ago. When they found the ruins of the village according to the map, there was no trace of human beings in the ravines within a radius of 30 miles, and only four tigers were roaming around.

Liu Chengzong and Old Man Xu didn't have much of a relationship, but he still felt disappointed when he heard the news.

At this time, the treacherous minister jumped out on his own.

Zhang Xianzhong, the president of the Liu Chengzong Research Association and the Minister of Rites of the Grand Marshal's Office, made a decisive suggestion after careful consideration:

"Marshal, over eighty years old is not considered old. Why don't we just issue an order and ask all provinces, prefectures, counties and cities to send their oldest men to us!"

  Liu Shizi glanced at him and thought, "Are you dissatisfied with the long average human lifespan?"

"You better take a break. You're going to torture the old man to death. Haven't you heard what people say? There are fucking packs of tigers roaming around on the streets."

In fact, to Liu Chengzong, other old men who lived to be a hundred years old were not considered auspicious signs. Only the old man Xu whom he met that year was auspicious.

What's more, even if he really wanted to get two old men as auspicious signs, there was no way to confirm whether it was true or not.

Nowadays, it is not uncommon for a fifty-year-old to look like a hundred.

"Don't worry about the old man, but the tiger problem is indeed a problem."

Tigers are the top predators on land. As the saying goes, there can't be two tigers in one mountain.

It's not that tigers will fight each other when they meet. In fact, when two powerful creatures meet, they will usually retreat to avoid fighting.

Tigers do not live in groups, mainly because the food on a mountain can only support one tiger.

No one can survive if there are too many.

In this era, the number of tigers is not that scarce. At least in Shaanxi, their range of activities largely overlaps with that of humans.

During the long process of living together, tigers are afraid of humans and humans are afraid of tigers, so on those roads that are interconnected, humans control the day and tigers rule the night.

But the time, place, number and behavior were all abnormal, indicating that this was not an ordinary wild animal, but a tiger plague.

Just like bandits, natural disasters and wars affect the living conditions of normal people. People meet and form groups while wandering, follow food, and rely on force to form powerful violent gangs.

Tigers are no exception. In times of war, chaos, floods and droughts, their living environment is even worse than that of humans.

When tigers leave the mountains and forests where they depend on for survival and roam around in groups without restraint, it goes without saying that their main source of food in Shaanxi in such a bad year is food.

Simply put, they are no longer afraid of humans, and have even honed a set of efficient techniques for preying on humans through long-term hunting.

Because in this world, tigers only need companionship when they use humans as prey.

Tigers traveling in groups are beyond the ability of ordinary people and wealthy families to deal with. Three or five tigers traveling in groups can easily kill hundreds of people in a few months.

Zhang Xianzhong, who was standing by, did not take the tiger threat seriously. He had seen many tigers when he was wandering.

In fact, there are few tigers in northern Shaanxi. Tigers in Shaanxi are mainly concentrated in southern Shaanxi and the Qinling Mountains.

But the tigers he met were very smart and knew to avoid him.

But Liu Chengzong obviously didn't think so. Tigers would avoid the army, let alone ordinary people beating drums and gongs.

But the lone civilians had no power to fight back against the tiger.

  The people under Liu Chengzong's rule were made up of individual people. How could he allow a tiger to eat them like this?

Where there are people, there is an army; where there is an army, there is territory; where there is territory, there is food; where there is food, there are more armies, and with that, there is even more territory!

Liu Shizi immediately called the Yulin cavalrymen who were with him and said, "Write down the story. When we return to Xi'an, spread the news to all places. If there are tiger infestations in the prefectures and counties, please report them. If there are many, we will recruit some tiger catchers and killers from the people."

Zhang Xianzhong asked in confusion, "Does the Marshal intend to set up a tiger-killing camp and attack upon hearing the alarm?"

"what?"

Liu Shizi hurriedly shook his head: "Why build that? If the tiger problem is serious, I will recruit some tiger killers, compile a tiger hunting book, publish it, and let each county and city form a tiger hunting team according to its own conditions." Marshal Liu had some experience in hunting.

Although he had never hunted a tiger, he knew very well that hunting was a very professional skill and that force alone was useless.

In fact, in most cases, the use of force is of no use at all.

If a person has such a big brain but cannot hunt without fighting with the prey, then his life is basically in vain.

As for how to kill a tiger, Liu Shizi believed that professional hunters must know more than him.

At that time, counties and cities with tiger problems were allowed to recruit tiger hunters. The government would reward one hundred taels of silver for each tiger killed.

In addition, if a book is compiled to form a set of effective methods for catching and killing tigers, then there will be brave men who will be rewarded handsomely, and the local authorities will be able to solve the problem themselves.

"In short, under the rule of the Marshal's Office, if a child dies in the village, a bunch of tigers will die in the mountains."

When Liu Chengzong said this, there was still regret on his face for not finding Old Man Xu.

Fortunately, there are always new things in this world, and the feeling of loss will not bother Liu Shizi for too long.

Because soon, Tian Shoujing sent someone back from Ningzhou with letters and verbal messages.

Tian Shoujing's own official position was the captain of the Huben Camp. His guards were also soldiers from the Huben Camp, and he was very familiar with Liu Chengzong.

"General, He Renlong has stopped his advance and is stationed outside Ningzhou City. This is a letter from General Tian."

"Send it up."

Liu Chengzong took the letter from the Imperial Guards and opened it while asking, "How are the soldiers in General He's battalion?"

"General, after He's army fled the battlefield, they led their general Ding Mingtai and others to station troops in Zhenning, and recruited two more bandits with more than a thousand soldiers. They sent people to various places in Yan'an Prefecture to pick up the soldiers' families. The government troops and civilian troops took women and children with them, numbering more than 10,000."

Liu Chengzong, who was reading the letter, raised his eyebrows disapprovingly, turned to Zhang Xianzhong and said, "No wonder he doesn't have enough to eat."

On this point, he and Zhang Xianzhong had a lot in common.

From the beginning of their uprising, both of them have been choosing elite troops. They eat according to their abilities and never involve useless people.

Liu Chengzong read half of the letter and saw that He Renlong still had no intention of surrendering directly, so he asked the guards who came back: "Did General He make things difficult for you?"

Upon hearing this, the guard shook his head and said, "That's not the case. If they don't attack Qingyang, they will be at their wits' end and will only be waiting for the Marshal's Mansion to save their lives. Don't worry, Marshal, we will not make it difficult for them."

"it is good."

Liu Chengzong sat up straight, pondered for a moment, turned to the Yulin rider beside him and asked, "Ding Guodong is besieging the city at the South Gate?"

This besieged city refers to the Yan'an Wei city at the south gate of the city.

After receiving the affirmative reply from the guard, Liu Shizi said, "Let Ding Guodong gather the troops and prepare to go out, raise the banner of the reinforcement army, go straight to Qingyang Prefecture through Huachi, take control of the city defense and help defend the city."

Tian Shoujing's guards were all confused.

Well, didn’t He Renlong’s troops stop obediently?

Zhang Xianzhong narrowed his eyes and frowned, "Marshal, the Marshal's Office is putting pressure on him, but He Renlong still refuses to surrender. Do we need to fight?"

He already had a very comprehensive defense map in his mind, with Yan'an in the east, Pingliang in the west, Guanzhong in the south, and Qingyang in the north.

There are newly formed garrison brigades on three sides now. As long as Ding Guodong's troops enter Qingyang, He's troops will be surrounded and killed in Ningzhou.

"Ah? There won't be a fight. I know General He well. Even if he doesn't want to surrender, he won't go against me. He's a veteran soldier."

Liu Chengzong waved his hand and explained, "The march to Qingyang has nothing to do with He's army."

He's not crazy at all.

Although it may seem a bit crazy to recommend outstanding officials to the imperial court, this is only a means to soften the enemy's will and attack their strategy.

When the general's office recommended someone for outstanding work, the reward was real; when he encountered problems and asked for help, the reinforcements were also real.

  But where is there a free lunch in the world?

Liu Chengzong chuckled: "If the reinforcements enter the city and Qingyang Prefecture does not change its flag and submit, then the problem of He Renlong will never be solved."

"Look how slippery he is. I asked Tian Shoujing to tell him that he can make any conditions he wants, and it's up to me whether he agrees or not. He simply won't meet Tian Shoujing."

Liu Shizi pointed at the letter and said to Zhang Xianzhong: "Just let He Yong hint at it indirectly and bring up something that seems to be true, so that he can send the news back to see what I think."

As he spoke, Liu Chengzong frowned again, with a look of not knowing whether to laugh or cry on his face. He simply handed the letter to Zhang Xianzhong: "Take a look, it's quite interesting."

Zhang Xianzhong took the letter and quickly skimmed through the front part. He only looked carefully at the conditions stated by He Yong. Then he also looked strange: "This... Marshal, this He Renlong asked us to choose a place that is cold and remote, with few people and many enemies."

The Eighth Prince looked puzzled: "Does he have any misunderstanding about the Marshal's Mansion, or is he being polite to the Marshal?"

"I looked left and right, and what he meant was that I could deploy him at will."

Liu Chengzong couldn't help but nod, spreading his hands and saying, "He said it as if I had some Feng Shui treasure land in my hands, except for this unlucky place that is bitterly cold and remote, with few people and many enemies, and people can't be seen for half a year or a year."

I'm not being modest. If he wants to go to a good place, there's really no such place in our Marshal's Mansion.

But aren't there many places that are suitable for live animals but not for humans?

"Marshal, if I think it won't work, we should surround him from all sides, force him to land, and let his men dismantle him!"

  The Eighth King thought to himself that my West Camp has been demolished, what virtue and ability do you, He Renlong, have that you still want to keep the soldiers, women and children, and still want to be a general?

"I think it should be demolished, but it would be a shame to just demolish it. His group of people can really accomplish something."

As Liu Chengzong spoke, he glanced at Zhang Xianzhong unconsciously.

He knew He Renlong very well. As a military scholar, he should have become a general who was able to plan strategies and strategize. However, he wasted ten years in Yuhebao and became a super soldier who maintained the army with brotherhood and took the grassroots route.

Let him lead the men out to the bitter, cold and barren land. There will be no problem with their combat effectiveness and cohesion.

You can definitely accomplish something.

You, the Eighth King, are different. You are very helpful when you are tied to my side. It’s best to leave it this way. I dare not imagine how much you can accomplish if you are released.

"The wives and children should find a place to stay first. There are five or six thousand people left. They can do something wherever they are placed. General He also showed me a favor by giving me two pots of arrows."

When Liu Chengzong said this, an expression of interest suddenly appeared on his face.

Based on Zhang Xianzhong's understanding of him, the great marshal must have thought of something strange in his mind.

Liu Shizi was wondering where to throw He Fengzi.

In the southwest, the organizational form of the feudal lords of U-Tsang is too weak, and any lieutenant general will do. It would be a waste of talent to let He Renlong go.

In the northwest, Tai Mengwei was released to serve as Zhou Riqiang's right-hand man. He is good at conquering territories. It happened that Chu Huer did not recognize his relatives, so He Renlong's three thousand border troops and two thousand bandits could easily suppress him.

It's just that that place meets He Renlong's requirements a little too much.

His brother was relatively comfortable in Tianshan, but He Renlong certainly didn't like working around his brother.

Further north, the Taimeng Guards were indeed suffering too much, and the border army brothers had not violated any laws. In comparison, Liu Chengzong was more willing to send members of the Ming royal family to guard the national border.

However, to the west, the situation of Yarkand is still unresolved.

We can appoint He Renlong as a commander-in-chief and release him from the territory of Chijinwei outside Jiayuguan. We can give him a map of an oasis and then let him go once he enters the desert.

  I will also pack your armor and weapons and fill your quiver!

In the past, it would have been best if they could have chosen a few guards and appointed a few commanders as military nobles, but a little difficulty was also fine.

As for being killed by the small oasis lord, Liu Chengzong was not worried... It was not that he overestimated He Renlong or underestimated Yarkand.

If the beks in Yarkand had this ability, they would have conquered Gansu long ago.

Thinking of this, Liu Shizi showed a satisfied smile and said to Tian Shoujing's guard: "I will write a letter, you take it to Qianzhou, and ask Milayin to send half a month's food and grass for 4,000 soldiers to Zhenning County. You take it over and ask Tian Shoujing to stabilize He Renlong first."

"Once the dust settles in Qingyang Prefecture, we will deal with the He Ministry's affairs."

After saying that, Liu Chengzong turned to look at Zhang Xianzhong and said, "Let's go back and enter Xi'an!"

Good morning!