stubborn thief

Prince Su fled on the front foot, and Lanzhou City fell completely on the back foot.

General Huang Ming led dozens of banner troops in hot pursuit along the way, running from night to day, from day to dusk, and finally caught up with Lord Su at the gate in the north of Anding County.

Before chasing King Su, Huang Ming's purpose was very clear. He wanted King Su to return to Lanzhou to preside over the overall situation. As long as King Su was still in Lanzhou, Lanzhou would not fall instantly.

But at this moment, he really caught up with King Su, which made him extremely confused. Lanzhou City was naturally completely occupied between day and night, and it might be their turn to attack the city when they go back, so they had no choice but to enter the longevity horse with King Su Post rest.

King Su was still at a loss when he arrived here. He heard Huang Ming say that it was Shi Xiang who sent the troops from the Marshal's Mansion into Lanzhou City. At that time, he used an excuse to walk the horse and ran away without a trace.

In desperation, he must have someone to help him make up his mind, so he can only discuss with Huang Ming what to do in the future, but it is a pity that it is difficult for the two of them to talk together.

Huang Ming is a general rolled up in the ranks, and Zhang Tianlin is the one who dares to lead the train army out of the city for racing around Lanzhou City. No matter what situation he faces, he must take action.

King Su was born noble, but his identity determined that this person would do nothing while alive, which would be the greatest help to the world and himself.

Huang Ming thinks that King Su should stay in Anding, and help him gather squires, recruit rural folks to integrate landlord regiments, and pull out an army. Even if it is not to recover Lanzhou, at least to guard Anding and prevent the rebels from taking Gongchang Mansion .

There is no problem with the logic of this matter. Relying on the second-line or even third-line troops such as the township soldiers and banner troops in Longxi, Qinzhou, and Jingning Prefectures, holding back the dangerous terrain, and relying on the ancient castles and villages that have existed on this land for thousands of years, no matter what you face The opponents can defend for a while.

For a while, the iron smelting center in the southeast of Gongchang Mansion will not be lost.

The more important thing is that this place cannot be lost. Although Gongchang Mansion is not rich in agriculture, the folk customs are strong and the handicraft industry is developed. There is a lot of salt and iron, and there are many craftsmen. The most common place names in this place are Shangzhai, Xiazhai, and Wayao Castle and Ironforge.

And Yankou is the north gate of Anding County, guarding the widest ancient road from Lanzhou to Anding and even Longxi.

Huang Ming thinks that this place is very suitable for defending, and there is a ready-made castle. Between the mouth of the mouth and Anding, on the west bank of the Guanchuan River, there is an ancient city where eleven patrolling archers and eleven shopkeepers are stationed. Guanchuan Inspection Department, also known as Anding Thirty Mile Shop.

This is a castle built in the Song Dynasty. It was called Anxi City at that time, which means to stabilize Xixia. There are urns in the north and south, and the four walls are built with horse faces.

Huang Ming said: "With this castle here, even if the Liu thief is over the sea, with His Highness here to stabilize the army, we will be able to hold out until the reinforcements arrive."

Huang Ming didn't think much of this. Yang Yanchang was in Pingliang Mansion and practicing state affairs in Qinzhou. The distance was no more than three hundred miles and the distance was no more than five hundred miles. It was not a big problem to rely on the castle for seven or eight days. City equipment is not limited to this time.

King Su also thought that what Huang Ming said was reasonable, but he immediately sent people to call all the guards of the Wangfu who had fled with him to his side, surrounded Huang Ming, and then asked very seriously: "General Huang, in the past this king Have you ever owed anything to you?"

Huang Ming shook his head with a confused face: "Not only did the king not owe me anything, but he also helped the Lanzhou garrison a lot. I don't know what the prince means?"

"Oh, never owed."

Su Wang Zhu Shihong was relieved, and he asked: "Since I have never owed anything, why did the general harm me?"

Don't talk about guarding Shisanlipu here, even if he can gather people to take back Lanzhou, so what?From the moment he left Lanzhou City, Su Wang Zhu Shihong knew very well in his heart that he was already wearing a crime.

Now the matter is not irreparable, as long as he obediently admits his mistake to the emperor, it is estimated that Lumi will be fined and confiscated.

However, if he dared to recruit troops to defend, it was uncertain whether the imperial court could take back Lanzhou. Regardless of whether he could take it back or not, I am afraid that the Fengyang High Wall would be his only destination.

Su Wang Zhu Shihong could not accept Huang Ming's suggestion, and finally chose to part ways with him, and continued to set off for Pingliang under the escort of the palace guards.

On the other side, Liu Chengzong, hearing that the outer city of Lanzhou had been captured easily, and Li Zude, who was guarding the inner city, also wanted to join him, so he immediately decided to go to Lanzhou in person.

Li Zude's surrender conditions are not a big deal to Liu Shizi. The Marshal's Mansion has a long history of placing surrendered generals.

This rule has nothing to do with Liu Shizi's personal preferences, it's all because it's so easy to arrange.

The most fundamental difference between surrendering before a battle and surrendering after a defeat is that the army led by the former can be better preserved. The surrender of the Marshal's Mansion is equivalent to a direct expansion, and the increase in the number has little impact on the interests of the direct line.

The latter, after battles, led fewer troops than official positions. When the official was restored to the original position or promoted to a higher level, the promotion of the direct line ministers would be affected. Therefore, Liu Chengzong often appeared very stingy when dealing with demoted generals.

Lanzhou city soldiers opened the city to surrender without bloodshed, which not only preserved the strength of the Marshal's Army, but also basically preserved the original garrison in Lanzhou. Therefore, it is rare and generous for Liu Chengzong to grant the official position of surrendered general.

On the third day after Lanzhou City was captured, Liu Chengzong held a banquet under Lanzhou City, accepted the attachment of Shi Xiang, Zhang Yunqi, and Li Zude, the former generals of the Lanzhou Battalion, and then stationed in Suwang Palace City of Lanzhou, announcing that he would ascend the West Gate Tower of the Palace City. On the third day of the hall, I accepted the crimes of the Lanzhou elders against the evil gentry, Zhu Ming's relatives, the generals of the guard, and corrupt officials.

At the same time, Hehuang's township official team also settled in Lanzhou City, and started the work of measuring fields outside the city and counting property inside the city.

During these three days, Liu Chengzong only promulgated three laws, instructing the soldiers and civilians in the city to abolish all lowly statuses, behead those who kill, and chop off the hands of those who steal, so that the people can settle down in their homes.

Liu Chengzong's original idea was to stabilize the rich and powerful families in the city for the time being, and wait until the front line of the battlefield is far away from Lanzhou, and then carry out equalization of land and house raids, but Su Fan is very poor, which he really did not expect.

Sufan is definitely not poor, and there are countless precious national treasures in the treasury, but national treasures cannot be used as military pay, nor can they be eaten as food, but Sufan is too poor in terms of hard currencies such as money and food.

If there is a ranking list for professionals who are good at plundering, then the two generals Luo Rucai and Yang Chengzu under Liu Chengzong's command will definitely be tied for the top of the list.

The two of them are no longer the kind of thieves who robbed and smashed at the same time in the early years. The two of them and the generals under their command are well-informed and have the most abundant experience in plundering and looting in the world. No one can break their record.

However, the two generals led the army to turn Su Wang's city upside down. Even the 140 four carved stones that Su Wang ordered people to hide in the deep well before he left were all salvaged, but no amount of food was found.

So Luo Ru came to Liu Chengzong with shameful eyebrows and reported their gains: "Marshal, we did our best. Counting the gold and silver jewelry, the entire Sufan only has 880 four taels of gold, 300 taels of silver, and Tongbao 160 million."

Liu Chengzong raised his eyebrows, and he was full of calculations, equivalent to 3 taels of silver, which was far from meeting his expectations, so he asked, "Where is the food?"

"There is less food, only more than [-] shi."

Liu Chengzong shook his head, stood on the Fuyun Tower, looked at the surging Yellow River, and said slowly: "There is no way."

He needs the silver and food in this city to reward the army, and 3 taels of silver is not enough.

After three days, when the hearts of the people in the city became a little more stable, Liu Chengzong tore off his amiable mask and issued an order to serve as an army.

The content of the army order is to transfer all households in and outside Lanzhou with more than 100 taels of silver, more than [-] shi of grain, more than ten houses, two horses, two cows, two donkeys and mules, and two carts. For military expenses.

At the same time, troops were sent to carry notices to inform the soldiers and civilians within the scope of Lintao Mansion that the Marshal's Mansion will organize households here and give them all the land before spring plowing, and convey Hehuang's preferential treatment policy for military households to inform Lintao, The banner troops of the two guards in Hezhou let them return as soon as possible.

This kind of thing is also very familiar to Li Wanqing. They had done the same thing when they captured Zhenyuan, but the scope of work in Lanzhou was larger.

Because the Marshal's Mansion plundered more than a hundred wealthy families in Lintao Mansion earlier, there was an unprecedented concentration of wealthy households in Lanzhou. Although the standard set by Liu Chengzong was not low, there were still only a hundred or so households in this city who did not meet the conditions.

It’s not that Lanzhou City is full of rich households. The more rich households there are, the more poor people need to serve them. However, Lanzhou is a special place. For one thing, it guards the Hehuang Valley where all businesses are ruined. Those who ran west all went west.

Secondly, many of the poor people who stayed in Lanzhou became pawns and peddlers, earning a lot of money by selling things to Hehuang. In addition, last year's bumper harvest in Hexi made the common people have surplus money.

So much so that after the order to fill the army was issued, Lanzhou City became the only unpopular city under the Marshal's Mansion almost in the blink of an eye.

There is nothing he can do if he is unpopular, at least Liu Chengzong has money and food. Through the order of embezzling the army, the Marshal's House broke up his family to collect money, and easily obtained more than 27 shi of grain and 35 taels of silver, and then proceeded to the next step of deployment.

First of all, Wang Wenxiu, the brigade commander, was added as the second-class general of the town, and he was awarded the governor of the Marshal's Mansion, and ordered him to guard Lanzhou and take charge of the military registration, military training, and general selection in Lintao Prefecture.

Li Wanqing, Yang Chengzu, Luo Rucai, and Shi Xiang were all added to the third rank of General Zhaowu, and were awarded the command of the capital.

Li Wanqing, Yang Chengzu, and Luo Rucai are temporarily stationed in Lanzhou.

Shi Xiang was dispatched by the Lintao Brigade Commander, and under his jurisdiction were the Central Army and the Left and Right Battalions. Zhang Yunqi and Li Zude served as the generals of the Left and Right Battalions respectively.

Liu Chengzong attached great importance to the three surrendered generals, Shi Xiang, Zhang Yunqi, and Li Zude, and called them to the palace, saying: "I will give you three standard battalions. Your most urgent task is to recruit troops from the Lanzhou Guards."

There was ecstasy in the eyes of the three of them. They already knew the size of the army in the Marshal's Mansion. Three standard battalions were 800 people, which meant that Liu Chengzong didn't intend to give them empty jobs.

But immediately after Liu Chengzong said the following words: "You have made great contributions to the Shuaifu's acquisition of Lanzhou, so I award you lieutenant generals and generals. ?”

The three of them looked at each other with awe-inspiring expressions.

How does a general measure his talents?Of course, it was typed out. There is no doubt that these establishments were not given for nothing, and they were about to go to the battlefield.

Shi Xiang clasped his fists and said: "Commander, please give me an order, where do you want to attack?"

"Di Dao County, Hezhou County, Jin County, Weiyuan County, I want you to take at least the entire territory of Lintao Mansion. If you still have spare power, continue to march towards Gongchang Mansion."

Liu Chengzong said it very lightly: "The banner troops of Lintao, Hezhou, and Lanzhou should be enough for you to complete the establishment. Is there any difficulty?"

This mission is no problem for Shi Xiang, he is very clear about Liu Chengzong's intention, this is a certificate of honor.

They went to attack the city of Lintao Mansion as generals of the officers and soldiers, so there was no possibility of a false surrender. From now on, they could only follow the Marshal's Mansion all the way to the dark.

Naturally, Shi Xiang had no difficulty. He and Zhang Yunqi held more than [-] troops from the original Lanzhou camp, and they could also pull the tiger skin of the marshal's mansion to suppress Li Zude. In his opinion, it might take a fierce battle to capture the two guards, but Measuring the strength of the enemy and ourselves, a single guard is not their opponent.

On the contrary, General Zhang Yunqi looked distressed, what he was thinking was that the imperial court owed the Lanzhou camp several months of salary and had not paid it.

Of course, this is not to say that the officers and soldiers have no money. King Su has given them a salary, but the salary belongs to the salary.

After all, he knew in his heart that although the troops of Liu Chengzong's Marshal's Mansion were all rebels, the rebels were also divided into ranks. Before the Marshal's Mansion paid their salaries, they didn't even know which level of troops they belonged to.

But he didn't dare to ask Liu Chengzong for money, so he had to wonder: "Marshal, there is no difficulty in capturing the city, but the imperial court owes the Lanzhou camp a few salaries. The morale of the soldiers is not high, and they want to attack the city. Would you like to send another general to lead the army to wait for me?"

This is what Liu Chengzong broke up his family in Lanzhou to make money. Hearing this, he said with a smile: "Go back and tell the soldiers in the battalion that the imperial court owes them military pay and food, and it has nothing to do with me. According to the regulations of first-class officials, each person will be rewarded with three months' salary and two months' rations."

"You must win the battle and take the attack, and Liu will be rewarded for his meritorious service. Until the Lintao Brigade makes up its troops, you can tell the Hezhou and Lintao Guards and Banners that anyone who volunteers to the Marshal's Office before the war will be awarded first-class talent." According to the official regulations, three months' salary will be rewarded, and two months' food will be given to settle down."

This reward bank ration is not much, because the military honors of the Marshal's Mansion are divided into three ranks and nine ranks, and the lowest rank is the talent officer, and the second and third ranks in the talent officer are recruits who do not have a penny of military pay.

Even a first-class official is only paid three qian silver a month and six dou a month.

However, this was enough to make Shi Xiang and the others overjoyed. The banner army is not as good as this treatment. As long as they have this promise, their battle to capture Lintao Guard and Hezhou Guard will go much smoother.

"However, I'm going to put the ugliness in front of me. The imperial court doesn't give the soldiers enough food and pay, and there's nothing they can do if the military discipline is corrupt. The military law of the commander-in-chief's mansion should be the same as the imperial court's military law, except that donkeys, mules and horses killed in battle can be eaten by the soldiers. Liu has never defaulted on the payment."

"So whoever violates the military law will disregard my face, Liu Chengzong, and clean up the military discipline. It has never been the military law that must kill people."

Liu Chengzong looked at the three of them and said: "It's someone who insists on hitting the road of death."

The three of them were shocked by what was said, and hurriedly retreated to the battalion to rectify military discipline. They were very aware of the military discipline problems of the sergeants in their battalion.

For the officers and soldiers in this period, it is good if the army can stay in the camp without causing trouble. If they are released to kill people, they will inevitably do some nonsense.

Not long after they left, news of Xie Erhu asking for help came from Dongguan. The imperial court sent an army into the Zhuanglang River Valley from Gansu. After learning the news of Lanzhou's fall, they stepped up their march and surrounded Zhuanglang. Acropolis.

Liu Chengzong couldn't help laughing at the appeal letter: Hong Chengchou noticed Lanzhou.