The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 443

Shandong, within Dongchang Mansion.

Under the introduction of Yang Peng, Zhang Zhou met Cao Bao, the local commander of Pingshanwei, who was in command and envoy. He lived up to his name. Zhang Zhou's first impression of Cao Bao was that he was like a straw bag, and he couldn't even speak. It's not easy to say.

The hereditary military position makes it difficult to get in touch with high-ranking civilian officials outside the guards in the local area, and they seem to be very inexperienced in officialdom entertainment.

Yang Peng said: "The magistrate of Dongchang Prefecture and the officials of the counties under his jurisdiction also want to see you, Cai Guogong."

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said, "No need, I want to have a good talk with Commander Cao, so don't let others disturb you."

"Yes." Yang Peng smiled and glanced at Cao Bao, as if to say, you are lucky to have the famous Cai Guogong come to talk to you in person, it seems that you have a bright future.

……

inner hall.

Zhang Zhou, Yang Peng, Cao Bao, and Liu Gui and Jia Laoshui brought by Zhang Zhou met with Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was watching the fun around a sand table, when he saw Zhang Zhou, he excitedly said, "Has it started yet?"

Zhang Zhoudao: "Introduce to the prince, this is Cao Bao, commander of Ping Shanwei."

"Little man...Cao Bao...see the master!"

In a hurry, he also forgot who he was saluting, and directly called the prince "Master".

"Commander? Isn't it a commander? Is this... can it be done?" Zhu Houzhao could also see that Cao Bao didn't look like he would lead an army.

Zhang Zhoudao: "In the local guards of the Ming Dynasty, most of them are commanders. The position of commander is not permanent. Prince, you know that Commander Cao can obey orders and dispatch troops."

"Oh." Zhu Houzhao said, "That's fine, anyway, you don't need to do anything, does he know the situation?"

Zhang Zhou pointed to Yang Peng, which means you can explain now.

Yang Peng helped Cao Bao up, and said with a smile: "Commander Cao, that's it. On the way to the north, the crown prince and Cai Guogong have been threatened by treacherous evil. As a local general, should you contribute to this?"

"Yes!" Cao Bao replied.

Yang Peng smiled and said: "That's easy. I heard that there are bandits in Gaotang area in your Dongpingwei jurisdiction. Tell me about the situation."

"Ah...humble job, villain...it's not that I'm ineffective, it's just that I have repeatedly conquered and suppressed, and the progress is not smooth, and the masters of Dongchang Prefecture and Taiwan all think that the grassroots bandits are not worth mentioning...the soldiers once attacked the hills of the bandits, Returning in vain..."

It's not that we are ineffective, it's just that we can't fight.

That's probably what it means.

Yang Peng said: "Let me tell you about the situation. I didn't ask you how to suppress it before. With Cai Guogong here, how to send troops, do you still need to worry about it?"

Cao Bao looked aggrieved, and he was also looking at Zhang Zhou in wonder.

I was thinking in my heart, you are such a powerful figure in the court, passing by our Dongchang Mansion, how come you come here to suppress a few gangs of bandits?By the way, where are there no bandits in this world?Is it over?

Cao Baodao: "Most of the bandits in Dongchang Mansion came from Beizhili and other places, and many of them were fleeing households who raised horses. Those whose horse households could not sustain themselves all fled outside. They were good at riding and used them for Bows and shoots often come and go like the wind, and it is not smooth for villains to lead troops to conquer and suppress too many."

"Ah."

Zhang Zhou nodded, seemingly satisfied with Cao Bao's answer.

The ability is mediocre, but why the robbers started and they also know the strengths of the other party, then this shows that there is still room for salvation.

Zhang Zhou looked at Zhu Houzhao and said, "What does the prince think?"

Zhu Houzhao didn't bother to pay attention to those things. He was going to take the actual combat class this time. Ever since he knew that he was going to fight the bandits on the ground in Shandong, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep. This study tour can be said to be fruitful.

"How to fight, how to fight?" Zhu Houzhao only wanted to know when the fight would start.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Commander Cao, in my capacity as the new Secretary of the Ministry of War, Cai Guogong, and in the name of the East Factory Admiral Yang Gonggong, I will send you five hundred elite soldiers to cooperate in attacking the bandits on the mountain. Are you willing to cooperate?"

"Impossible to take orders."

Cao Bao didn't need to care about Zhang Zhou's current official position, he just needed to know that no matter if it was the crown prince, Zhang Zhou, or Yang Peng, he couldn't afford to offend him.

As for 500 people...he can easily transfer them.

Cao Baodao: "But it's best to say hello to Dongchang Mansion, lest..."

"In order not to be impeached by others afterwards, I, Zhang, transferred troops without authorization?" Zhang Zhou said with a smile, "I can still bear this matter. You go back and order Qi soldiers, and tomorrow you will send troops to Gaotang with me."

"Yes." Cao Bao respectfully accepted the order.

……

……

Yang Peng sent Cao Bao away first.

After Yang Peng came back, he also sorted out and reported the current surrounding situation: "Master Zhang, in addition to the 400 soldiers that Pingshanwei can transfer, there are more than [-] people from Jinyiwei who can go together. The total is less than a thousand people. There are quite a few blunderbusses, but they are just cannons... only two Shenwei cannons, do you think it is enough? There are no Shenwei cannons stationed on the ground in Shandong, but there are some old cannons."

"That's enough." Zhu Houzhao replied for Zhang Zhou, "Is it necessary to have guns in a war? Ride in on horseback... Haha, thinking about it makes my blood boil."

Ordinary children would be terrified when it came to killing the enemy on the battlefield, at least they should be worried about their own lives.

But Zhu Houzhao has a strange spirit of adventurism in him, as if he doesn't take his own life seriously, and takes pride in killing the enemy bravely.

This kid already has a sufficient spirit of adventure, and when he was "poisoned" by Zhang Zhou's martial arts novels in his childhood, this belief seems to be even stronger, and he clamors all day long to be Huo Qubing.

Zhang Zhou said: "Prince, you have to understand what the purpose of our trip is!"

Zhu Houzhao asked curiously: "Isn't the purpose to wipe out all the thieves?"

Yang Peng smiled bitterly and said, "His Royal Highness, there are thieves and bandits everywhere. Even in peaceful times, such things will happen from time to time. Many of them are farming in the deep mountains. Only when they can't survive , will take the risk, and the government will often find it difficult to distinguish whether it is a bandit or a civilian."

"Oh, then line up, anyway, I don't want to go back to the capital." Zhu Houzhao listened.

It's a good feeling.

There are bandits everywhere, so I just follow Mr. Zhang to suppress bandits everywhere, thinking that I rarely go back to the capital to see the bitter face of my father?

Zhang Zhou said in a bad mood: "Prince, we want to take down the pot of thieves from Qingping and Gaotang, not because they disturb the people's livelihood, or because they have nothing to do with us, but because they were bought by King Ning and wanted to rob them secretly. Killed us, so we took the initiative!"

"Really? A group of bandits, dare to attack us? Tired of work?"

Zhu Houzhao curled his lips, still not convinced.

Zhang Zhoudao: "The prince had better believe it, and let His Majesty believe it. Otherwise, let His Majesty know that the minister took the Prince to suppress the bandits without His Majesty's action, and the ministers of the court and the central government will chatter about it endlessly. Then..."

"Come on, I get it. If the minister targets me, then I will be imprisoned in the palace to study and not be able to go anywhere, and you will be questioned. It's an old-fashioned thing, so let's not talk about it. Mr. Zhang, Let's talk about hunting bandits, I can't wait!"

Zhu Houzhao now just wants to appease Zhang Zhou, at least let Zhang Zhou take himself with him when he is hunting bandits.

As for this group of bandits, although he didn't know how many there were, he guessed that they must be much weaker than the Tatars, so he just happened to practice his skills with these bandits first.

When Zhu Houzhao went out, he was still excited and said to himself: "If I lead the troops to suppress the bandits, it will be a meritorious service for the court. Who dares to say that the prince is young and ineffective? Let them know that the palace will also fight !"

……

……

Seeing the excited look of the prince, Yang Peng was actually very worried.

Zhang Zhou is going to fight local bandits, he can understand that, after all, Zhang Zhou is the Minister of the Ministry of War, on the way back to Beijing, he stopped the bandits whose lair is very close to the canal and often disturbs the canal and the surrounding official roads, it is for the benefit of the people good thing.

But to bring the crown prince... Yang Peng felt a little mysterious about this.

"Master Zhang, do you think this will put the prince in danger? Or you can ask His Majesty for an order, and it will not be too late to leave after His Majesty has an order."

What Yang Peng said, let's wait for the emperor's order first, and follow the order to suppress the bandits, it's better than you make your own opinion.

It doesn't matter whether you suppress or not, just don't take the prince with you.

Zhang Zhoudao: "In terms of strategy, it is important to have an opportunity that cannot be missed. Now even the bandits have not thought that we will take the initiative to attack. Shouldn't this be a good opportunity? How are you investigating the situation of the bandits?"

"Two groups of people, one named Zhong Twelve and the other Su Nianba, as Commander Cao said, they are all from the area of ​​Beizhili, and they have fled between the two areas for many years. It will be transferred to another state capital, or even across the provincial border, because the suppression of bandits everywhere has not been coordinated, so that they have not been quelled for many years, and now their number is increasing. A group of at least There are two or three hundred, and due to their strength in the local area, they generally want to leave this kind of conquest to the next generation..."

The number of enemies is increasing, and the local government cannot prevent them from defeating them, or there will be large losses in the process of conquering and suppressing, which will affect the performance of the government.

Either leave the matter to the next generation, or send someone to drive the bandits away and let them go to other places to cause harm... This is probably the reason why bandits are rampant in the Ming Dynasty today, and they can evolve into a large-scale Liu Bei in a few years. The cause of Liu Liuqi's uprising.

Yang Peng continued: "According to the clues given by you, Master Zhang, we found that King Ning not only had contacts with the bandits in Jiangxi and other places, but even the bandits in the Central Plains were recruited and bought by him, but in what name? , is not clear yet. But it is said that Zhong Twelve and Su Nianba have taken captives on the canal many times. Now they are in Linqing Prefecture in the north and Dongchang Mansion in the south. Except for the ships with official background who dare to come and go , the rest of the merchant ships and civilian ships have already been stranded."

Zhang Zhou asked with a smile, "Their target is me."

Yang Peng said: "Maybe there is still the prince. Or, they don't have the guts to do this at all, they just put on a show...Maybe King Ning gave them a lot of benefits and asked them to do this. We should also be careful of the people sent by King Ning." Assassins, exactly how many people there are and what kind of strength they have, I don’t know at all.”

Zhang Zhou looked very calm and said: "Then it is to eliminate harm for the people, otherwise what should I do? Seeing bandits raging in the local area and blocking the operation of the canal? In addition, this is of educational significance to the prince. Eunuch Yang, I heard that you will be a horse eunuch after returning to the court, don't you want to make meritorious service and accumulate prestige?"

When Yang Peng heard it, he smiled and said: "Of course I think about it, but I'm afraid..."

"With me here, work hard." Zhang Zhou gave Yang Peng some encouragement.

In an instant, Yang Peng seemed to have ascended.

The feeling of being appreciated by the most capable minister of Ming Dynasty is really great, as if meritorious service is at your fingertips.

……

……

As found in Dongchang.

The canal of Daming is from Linqing Prefecture in Shandong Province to Dongchangfu City. Because of the rampage of two gangs of bandits, ordinary ships and merchants without strong backgrounds and escorts dare not pass casually, so that many people are detained at both ends. and goods.

Even many people who returned to Beijing for business trips after participating in the Nanjing University Literature Fair were blocked on this line. They have been waiting for news that the road will be smooth.

Among them are Li Zhaoxian and Li Yu brothers and sisters.

That day Li Zhaoxian went out early in the morning from Dongchang Prefecture to inquire about news. What he wanted to inquire about was the land route that detoured through Daming Mansion and Handan to the north, but when he came back, he met some classmates again. It was so uneven that when he returned to the inn, he was also very unhappy.

"Nothing." After Li Zhaoxian sat down, he faced his wife and sister and drank water there first.

Li Yu asked: "Brother, do you mean that you can't go to the west? Let's go to the east. We've been out for so long, and now it's going to be winter. I'm homesick."

The little girl's family does not have the courage of Li Zhaoxian to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles, especially when the journey is not going well, she will think of the comfortable and comfortable living circle in the capital.

Li Zhaoxian said: "I also heard news that the Duke of Lai has now become the Duke of Cai, and he and the crown prince have also gone to Dongchang Mansion."

"Really?" Li Yu asked, "What about the lady?"

"Then I don't know. How can the whereabouts of Mr. Zhang's family members be easily known by outsiders? But I guess it shouldn't be too far away, right? Now it's rumored that the murderous thieves really fell into Mr. Zhang's hands." Well, knowing Mr. Zhang's prestige in governing the army, he dared to prevent Mr. Zhang from escorting the prince northward, and the bandits will be wiped out in a few days!"

Li Zhaoxian mentioned Zhang Zhou with a wave of admiration.

no way.

In the academic world, Zhang Zhou established his reputation as a teacher of literati all over the world with his mind. Although this reputation has not been recognized by the mainstream academic circles, it is probably equivalent to an Internet celebrity and is not respected by mainstream stars.

But Zhang Zhou, an internet celebrity in the academic world, has more fans, and many people are willing to be "bewitched" by him. As for those factions of traditional Confucianism, they are all fading...

Originally, Zhang Zhou had great prestige in the ruling and opposition parties because of his military affairs and sky testing.

Zhang Zhou's reputation in the officialdom also promoted the accumulation and fermentation of his reputation among the people.

Li Zhaoxian's wife, He Shi, asked, "Then we have to wait here now?"

"Let's wait and see." Li Zhaoxian said, "Winter has already entered, and it is said that in about half a month, the rivers on the ground in Shandong may be frozen. This is the critical season for transporting goods from north to south. If you don’t act, the local government shouldn’t sit idly by.”

Li Yu said: "Then can we go out for a walk now?"

Li Zhaoxian shook his head and said, "It's too chaotic outside, it's better not to go out, it will be fine in a few days."

……

……

When Zhang Zhou and Zhu Houzhao set off with Jin Yiwei and local officers and soldiers.

In the capital, Zhu Youtang also learned about bandits appearing on the ground in Shandong, and they even wanted to rob and kill Zhang Zhou and Zhu Houzhao.

Whether this banditry is related to King Ning, there will not be any substantive evidence, but Zhang Zhou likes to "make use of the topic" now. What about the big tree attracting the wind?Even the guards have been deprived, and everyone in the world knows that you Ning Fan are unwilling to live in this small place in Jiangxi.

You want to impeach me, even assassinate me, and you are not allowed to take advantage of Dongchang's public opinion to put shit on you?

"boom!"

Zhu Youtang slapped the Dongchang report on the table.

Li Rong, who came to send the letter, said cautiously: "Cai Guogong and his party should have arrived in Dongchang Mansion in a few days. Cai Guogong has not reported the local situation yet, but according to the report of Linqing Prefecture in the past ten days, it is said that this group of thieves are also Appearing suddenly, it seems that there is a purpose to block the water transportation, and the imperial court is specially asked to send troops to suppress the robbers."

Zhu Youtang said: "There are a few thieves in the local area, and I still need to send a large army to encircle and suppress them? Could it be that the local officials can't even do this well?"

Li Rongdao: "Your Majesty, most of the local thieves are fleeing and doing evil. If there are soldiers and horses attacking in one place, most of them will be transferred to other places. When the limelight is tight, they will even hide. However, there are many mountains in Luxi and other places, and many places are inaccessible. If they Without showing their heads, it will be difficult to find their traces for a while."

Zhu Youtang said angrily: "Is it the problem of not being able to find them now? The water transportation has been blocked. After the autumn grain is collected, has the Beijing warehouse been fully deployed? If there is no army at this time, when will it be?" ?”

Just as he was talking, a young eunuch shouted at the door: "Commander Jin Yiwei asks to see you."

Zhu Youtang said: "Let him in!"

Then Mu Bin, the commander of Jinyiwei, appeared in the Qianqing Palace.

"I see Your Majesty." Mou Bin hurriedly saluted.

"What's the matter?" Zhu Youtang said with a straight face.

Looking at it, Mou Bin knew that the emperor had been angry before. Mou Bin said: "Dongchang used a flying horse to send a message to Cai Guogong to transfer five hundred soldiers from Pingshanwei to cooperate with Jinyiwei to wipe out the local bandits!"

"Look!"

Zhu Youtang seemed very relieved, "Bingkuan never needs me to worry about things. He will naturally step forward when he sees danger. This is what makes him different from others. I never need to worry about it. Wait."

Zhu Youtang first boasted to Zhang Zhou, and then thought of a question: "Where is the prince?"

Mou Bin said: "The prince is also in the formation."

"This……"

After Zhu Youtang had finished boasting, it occurred to him that it would be a bit...dangerous to let his son go to suppress the thief.

Li Rong hastily smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you can rest assured. Since the Duke of Lai went to quell the robbers himself, why not go with the prince? Wherever he is left will put the prince in danger."

Zhu Youtang said in relief: "That's right, the prince is too nonsense, he is not Bingkuan, or he can't even look down on him! The more dangerous the place, the more he likes to drill... I don't know where he got this temper! I……"

Originally, he wanted to say that he was very different from me.

But when I think of my goal in life, I want to level the grassland with Bingkuan, and I want to conquer it myself.

Suddenly, he felt that the son was his own, and the father and son were definitely formed in the same line.

It's just that my character was too repressed before, and I didn't have the chance to show it...or in other words, Bing Kuan never showed up, and I didn't have the chance to show it.

(End of this chapter)