weaving

Even if it was just for Zhai Tang's 20 taels of hard work, Wang Pu had no reason not to work hard, not to mention that he was not fighting alone in Datong Town.

Fu Dianzuo, the general of Datong's right-wing battalion, and Hou Fangke, the guerrilla battalion's guerrilla, witnessed the power of the Yongyi Army with their own eyes during the First Battle of Liaodong, and both began to admire Bo Yongning.

After returning to Datong, under the operation of the secret hall Su Yiyang, although they did not necessarily obey Yong Ning's words, they were very supportive of the elimination of slave-traffickers and profiteers.

They don't have to take any risks, and they can get a large sum of money as hard work. If they don't do it, wouldn't they be worse than a fool?

Especially when they saw the elite soldiers of the Yongyi Army actually appeared in the Biao camp of General Wang Pu, and that He Kuan was originally a guerrilla in Xuanfu, but now he had unknowingly become a guerrilla general in Datong Town.

All this made the two of them extremely frightened when they thought about it. Even their own generals were like this. What more scruples could they have?
Fu Dianzuo is a little older and can no longer climb. He just wants to hold on to what he has and create more good relationships for future generations.

And in the current comparison of forces, it is obvious that Uncle Yongning is stronger and has a better chance of winning. What's more, even if Uncle Yongning loses, so what?I am just following the military orders of Commander-in-Chief Wang Pu, so what responsibility do I have!
But Hou Fangke is slightly different. He has not yet reached the age of [-], but in the entire Datong Town, he is like "Xuanfu Zhang Cheng" - a new star in the military world.

However, after the battle with the Tartars in Liaodong, he finally realized the gap between himself and Yong Ningbo, and also made him see the reality clearly. He did not have a powerful army under his command, and even if he had a backing, it would be in vain.

Therefore, when he saw Wang Pu approaching Uncle Yongning and asking Uncle Yongning to help him drill the Datong Zhenbiao camp, Hou Fangke also started to have his own thoughts.

And his first step was to fully cooperate with Yong Ningbo's campaign to suppress the traitors and traitors in the Qing Dynasty!

It can be said without hesitation that there is only one voice in the entire Datong Town, and that is Yong Ningbo's military orders, which are even more effective and unimpeded than the orders of the Datong Governor.

…………

On March [-]th, early in the morning, the sky was not fully bright yet.

Wang Pu, the chief military officer of Datong Town, immediately put on his neat military attaché robes, escorted by his own soldiers, and went to the Prince Dai's Mansion. He went to the door in person and asked for an audience with Prince Zhu Chuan.

He did this entirely to protect himself!

After all, Wang Pu was not stupid. Although he fully supported Yong Ningbo's military actions, self-protection strategies were still necessary.

Therefore, after he arranged everything, he used the excuse of going to Dai Wang's Mansion to stabilize Dai Wang Zhu Chuan, creating an alibi for himself.

If the military operation goes well, he will stand up and share the fruits of victory like everyone else. If the military operation goes unfavorably and he is held accountable by the court, he can escape from the camp by himself, and the military operation will be completely handled by his general He Kuan. own responsibility.

For the future of himself and his family, Wang Puke really worked hard!
However, the guerrilla general He Kuan did not have so many twists and turns in his heart. There was no word of failure in He Kuan's belief. There was only one unswerving belief in his mind, and that was General Yong Ningbo's military order. Follow through resolutely!
In the entire Datong Town, the actions to seize all the properties of profiteers were all directed by He Kuan alone. Even Wang Pu's other general Wang Zheng did not participate in it.

According to Wang Pu's military order, once the operation to raid profiteers begins, it is likely to cause a certain degree of riots. For the safety of his family, he ordered Wang Zheng to lead his elite servants to guard the General Military Mansion and not leave at all.

Although He Kuan may not have seen through all of Wang Pu's tricks at the time, he completely ignored them. He personally commanded the soldiers of the Biao Camp and the Ranger Battalion to seal up the business houses and collapsed houses of the eight families on the right side of the town inside and outside the town.

At the same time, teams of sergeants were dispatched, each carrying orders from the General Military Office, to other major cities and dangerous places in the town to seize the properties of profiteers and control important transportation areas.

Although this military operation is slightly different from previous operations, one thing remains unchanged, and that is the importance of intelligence.

Whoever can control the traffic arteries will be able to obtain and transmit information as soon as possible, while the other party will become blind, unable to know the situation outside, nor can he pass on his intelligence to others.

There is no headquarters or old residence of the Eight Families in Datong Town, so the main task here is to cut off the traffic between Shanxi and Xuanfu and completely isolate Shanxi from Zhangjiakou.

In this way, it will not only prevent profiteers from exchanging information, but also prevent information about military operations in various places from being transmitted to the governor's office prematurely.

As for the aftermath, even if this information reaches the ears of the governor and fuchen, Uncle Yongning is not afraid. Anyway, the people have been killed and the property has been seized. He only needs to put the evidence on their desks.

It's up to them to choose what to do with the rest.

He Kuan was wearing a bright red guerrilla general-style cloth armor. He stood on the highest floor of the Drum Tower in the south, motionless despite the cold early spring breeze blowing in the morning.

Although Datong City is also a place where merchants gather and groceries from the north and south gather, its commercial prosperity is not as prosperous as that of Xuanfu and Taiyuan. It is like a large commodity transshipment and distribution center.

The most prosperous places in the city are Nanguan and Yongtai Street inside the South Gate, and Yanghe Street inside the East Gate. However, Nanguan and Yongtai Streets are almost all where foreign businesses and collapsed houses are located, while Yanghe Street There are mostly local businessmen on the streets.

Therefore, He Kuan personally sat in the Drum Tower on Yongtai Street and was responsible for the inspection of the eight shops and collapsed houses in Shanyou, while Hou Fangke was responsible for other involved shops in the city.

Due to the careful planning, and the fact that the soldiers in the Standard Camp and the Ranger Camp were mostly military households in Datong Town, although they had not always had a good impression of these businessmen, they were locals after all, and due to the strict military discipline, no one dared to offend.

Therefore, the inspections in Datong City and Shuozhou City went very smoothly and peacefully.

Starting early in the morning, Datong Town's standard battalion, right-wing battalion, and ranger battalion all came out and stationed themselves at street corners in the city, prohibiting all people from passing through.

And the inspection only involved slave traders. It was past noon, and the sergeants at each street intersection also withdrew one after another. At the same time, the ban on traffic was lifted, and most shops in the city were open for business as usual.

Even though the doors of some shops were still closed, and there were several soldiers in armor standing guard in front of the shops, it did not cause much panic in the city.

…………

Almost at the same time that the operation in Datong City began, Taiyuan Prefecture in Shanxi Province also began a large-scale search for adulterers and raided the business names of the eight Shanyou families.

Li Fuming has no foundation in Shanxi. His foundation is in Xuanfu, in the Yongyi Army, and in the hands of Uncle Yongning!
It can be said that being able to continue to sit in the position of chief military officer of Shanxi Town is entirely due to Uncle Yongning, or it can be said that Uncle Yongning rewarded him with this meal.Therefore, Li Fuming no longer had so many worries in his mind, and he was only thinking about how to carry out Yongning Bo's military orders.

The reason why he did this was not to repay Uncle Yong Ning's kindness, but simply because he couldn't stand the arrogant behavior of those profiteers, and he also coveted the 10 taels of silver that Uncle Yong Ning promised to give him.

There are no free animals in this world. Zhang Cheng, who has been a man for two generations, naturally understands this truth - if you want a horse to run, you have to be willing to feed it!

The general soldiers of a town like Li Fuming and Wang Pu are naturally incomparable with the battalions of the Yongyi Army. First of all, Zhang Cheng cannot independently decide their life and death, and secondly, he has no control over their families.

Therefore, at this stage, interests must be used as a link to tie them to their own tanks. As for the future, it depends on the further development of the situation and whether it can be as expected.

Xuan Town, Datong Town, and Shanxi Town are like three relatively independent entities at this moment. They are not connected with each other and do not interfere with each other. Their respective towns are also artificially isolated, like isolated islands, completely cut off from all contact with the outside world. .

Not only in Taiyuan Prefecture, but also in Xinzhou, Yuci, Qingyuan, Taigu, Qixian, Pingyao, Jiexiu and other prefectures and counties, on the same day, military operations were launched to seize the property of profiteers.

In addition to Cai Maode, the new governor of Shanxi, there is also Zhu Shenxuan, the Jin king of the Ming Dynasty, in Taiyuan City. It can be said that the situation is also very complicated.

Zhang Cheng still knew something about Cai Maode.

In the early 14th year of Chongzhen's reign, when the intruders besieged Kaifeng for the first time, Zhang Cheng was ordered to come to the rescue. Cai Maode was then Henan's right chief envoy and had a chance encounter in Kaifeng.

It was precisely because of his meritorious service in guarding the city of Kaifeng that Cai Maode was promoted to censor of Youqiandu by the imperial court in the winter of the 14th year of Chongzhen, and succeeded Fan Zhiwan as the governor of Shanxi.

According to Zhang Cheng's understanding, Cai Maode, whose courtesy name was Weili and whose name was Yunyi, was from Kunshan, Suzhou Prefecture, South Zhili. He passed the Jinshi examination in the 47th year of Wanli and was initially promoted to an official position in Hangzhou Prefecture.

At the time of the Apocalypse, he was suppressed because he refused to visit Wei Zhongxian's shrine and was never promoted.

It was not until the first year of Chongzhen that he became the deputy envoy to promote education in Jiangxi. Later, he moved to Zhejiang to participate in politics, and guarded Jiaxing and Huzhou respectively. At that time, Taihu thieves gathered to slaughter A Chou and others. Cai Maode used a strategy to capture Tu A Chou and beheaded him in the market. , everyone at that time said: "Mao De knows the soldiers."

Later, because of the reputation of "Zhibing", he served as the Jingxing Army Preparation Road. He was also transferred to Ningyuan, where he guarded Songshan and built Taibao and made great achievements. He was transferred to Jinan Road. After that, he moved to Shandong Province to be the Inspector-General and the Henan Youbu-Chief Envoy and other important posts. .

Although Cai Maode knew a little about military affairs, his parents both held Buddhist precepts. He had been influenced by his family since he was a child, and he practiced discipline like an ascetic Buddhist monk.

Perhaps due to his long-term vegetarian diet, Cai Maode looked extremely thin. Someone once wrote to Emperor Chongzhen, saying that his literary skills were weak and he was not suitable for the important task of guarding the border. However, because he knew people well and was good at using troops, he was actually a rare talent for the imperial court. Even Emperor Chongzhen trusted him.

Cai Maode set out immediately after receiving the new appointment document from the imperial court last winter. Not long after he took office, he encountered a thorny problem as soon as he took office.

Just to the southeast of Taiyuan Prefecture, in the Bafu Ridge of the remaining Taihang Mountains, there is a group of bandits hidden. Its leader is named Wang Mian, and he has gathered thousands of bandits, including hundreds of deserted officers and soldiers. They are quite powerful.

Wang Mian led the bandit army on the Taiyuan side of the Baduling Mountains. They were very active. They even held tens of thousands of hungry people captive, and they were opening up wasteland and colonizing the valleys. They had the potential to become bigger.

The wealthy gentry and wealthy families in the southern part of Taiyuan Prefecture came forward one after another, asking the government to send troops to exterminate the bandit. Fan Zhiwan, the former governor of Shanxi, also gathered troops to suppress the bandit several times. However, Wang Mian, the bandit, was very cunning and did not fight with the army at all. He only stayed in the valley. Wandering around to avoid the officers and soldiers.

On another occasion, nearly ten thousand officers and soldiers were defeated by Wang Mian. Not only was the campaign blocked, but Wang Mian was also given a lot of weapons and armor, which in vain made the bandits even more prestigious.

Now, this pressure is directly placed on Cai Maode, the new governor of Shanxi. He has only been in Taiyuan for less than a month. Even if he has a strategy, he must have troops at his disposal to suppress thieves.

For this reason, Cai Maode summoned the chief military officer Li Fuming three times in less than a month. The discussion was about how to eliminate the big thief Wang Mian.

However, Li Fuming said that his troops had just gone through the battle of Liaodong and were already exhausted and disabled. The imperial court was urging them to send troops to aid Henan. Now they were recruiting new brave men and intensifying their training, but they were really unable to send troops to suppress the bandits.

Although Cai Maode was helpless about this, he was unwilling to wait so quietly. He immediately started to clean up his Fubiao camp. He also opened a new army in Taiyuan Prefecture and stepped up all matters in the camp.

He even established the "Gancheng Society" in Taiyuan City to recruit strategic and brave people to assist him, eliminate big thieves, and stabilize Shanxi.

But for Cai Maode's urgent need to suppress thieves, these are far away water and cannot quench his near thirst at all!

In fact, although Li Fuming's Biao Battalion was newly formed, its old foundation had been fighting the Tartars in Liaodong, not to mention the more than a thousand Yongyi Army soldiers brought by Chen Dakuan.

Chen Dakuan is now the personal general of Shanxi Commander-in-Chief Li Fuming, and has been promoted to Shanxi Town Guerrilla General. Like He Kuan, he is responsible for the training of Shanxi Town Biao Camp.

However, Li Fuming is no better than Datong General Wang Pu. He does not have strong family financial support behind him, and he does not have any strong background connections in Shanxi.

Therefore, the speed at which he recruits new heroes is naturally not comparable to that of Wang Pu. To this day, his Zhenbiao Battalion still has a vacancy of about 1000 people and has not been able to recruit them all.

This was the military salary support provided by Yong Ningbo behind the scenes. Of course, the setback in recruiting new brave men was also caused by the resistance of local merchants and wealthy families in Shanxi.

Li Fuming was not a fool. He knew this very well, but he was helpless. He was not as single as Yongning Bo and Zhang Cheng. After all, as people aged, their tempers had long since worn off.

However, this does not mean that Li Fuming has no means. He has been evading the idea of ​​sending troops to suppress thieves for this reason.

He even forced Cai Maode to withdraw ten thousand taels of silver from the government treasury to help him recruit new warriors as soon as possible, fill up the vacancies, and intensify training so that he could dispatch troops to eliminate the big thief Wang Mian as soon as possible.

As for Li Fuming's delay in sending troops to annihilate Wang Mian, he had another selfish motive at work, and that was to search for profiteers and property! (End of chapter)