The white porridge and pickled mustard is enough, why am I wearing a royal robe?

Chapter 135 Geng Zhangguang and Geng Ruqi

"Reporting to the governor, a rogue bandit from Shaanxi Province, named Zao Wang, captured Yonghe County. Yonghe inspected Kaicheng and surrendered. The county magistrate Liu Zhi joined the bandits. The bandits were actually repairing the city wall. It seems that they plan to occupy Yonghe for a long time!"

A soldier knelt down to report the news from Yonghe County.

Geng Ruqi frowned. Wang Fugang, the Yonghe County inspector, reported to him a few days ago that there were rogue bandits crossing the border in Yonghe County. Now, Yonghe people have directly surrendered to the enemy. Where is the backbone of the literati?

There was no room for sand in his eyes, Geng Ruchi, otherwise he would not have been falsely accused of embezzling [-] gold for not kneeling before the statue of Wei Zhongxian, and was almost beheaded by Qiu Houwen.

Wang Fu stood in the hall. He was summoned by Geng Ruqi today to ask for details, but he heard the news that all the people in the county had surrendered to the enemy, and that bandit turned out to be the Stove King. He had heard of the name of the Stove King, and he was sent by the imperial court. The three governors and ten thousand people were unable to do anything to the Kitchen King.

But now that the Kitchen King has fled to Shandong, it seems that the three governors are still somewhat effective.

"If I had known I wouldn't have left the city, I would have surrendered directly."

Wang Fu was on the verge of tears. If he had known that the county magistrate and the county government officials were so united, he would not have fled.

"Wang Fu, please tell me again, how many troops does the Kitchen King have?"

When the governor asked, Wang Fu quickly said seriously: "Your Excellency, the Governor, the Kitchen King has two hundred horses and two thousand men."

"The weapons are excellent, but there are almost no armored soldiers."

"Two hundred cavalry, more than 2000 men, well-equipped weapons, no armor."

Geng Ruqi stroked his beard. These configurations were basically similar to those of the former bandits. Horses were stolen, and weapons were stolen. There was never a shortage of weapons in this land. Hiding armor here was a capital crime, but hiding weapons secretly Nothing big happened.

There is no such thing as hiding weapons privately. The average landlord has many weapons in his home.

What surprised Geng Ruqi was that this group of bandits didn't seem to be planning to leave. They wanted to be stationed in Yonghe. You said you were stationed in a relatively wealthy county, so forget it. Then where is Yonghe? It's a small county the size of a palm, with city walls and earthen ramparts. Not a foot high.

Why are we stationed in Yonghe? Shouldn't the rogue bandits rush back to Shaanxi?
"Could it be that the three governors sent by the capital played a role in preventing the bandits from returning to Shaanxi?"

A few days ago, I heard news from Shaanxi that Yang He, the governor of the three sides, sent the general Du Wenhuan to lead ten thousand people to fight against the Kitchen King in Yanchuan, but the final result was not very good, and the specifics are unknown.

But now that the Kitchen King is crossing the border, it is obvious that he was beaten here.

It seems that the rumors are somewhat false, perhaps spread by the bandits in order to increase their momentum.

"Send someone to Yan'an and tell the Kitchen King to capture Yonghe. I will send troops to drive the Kitchen King to the border of Shaanxi. I hope the governor can cooperate with the troops from Shanxi to completely wipe out this bandit."

The rogue bandits are the most powerful in Shaanxi. You must know that the rogue bandits are mobile bandits. These bandits often move from one place to another. Now that the rogue bandits have come to Yonghe and are stationed in Yonghe, he only needs to send people Send troops to drive them to the border of Shaanxi. Under the attack from both sides, there will definitely be a chance to completely wipe out this bandit and capture the bandit Stove King.

During these days, I was tangled up in troops and horses, and when the time was right, I went to Yonghe to capture the Kitchen King.

Governor's Office.

"Dad, why are there rumors that the governor led an army of [-] to fight against the Kitchen King in front of Yanchuan City but was defeated in the end? Moreover, before that, he also led an army to attack the city, but he was also defeated, and it was a disastrous defeat."

Geng Zhangguang was dressed in regular clothes and carried a very simple-looking sword at his waist.

"How could the imperial court lose thousands of troops to mere rogue bandits? Bandits have always been suppressed by officers and soldiers. The rogue bandits fled. Those rogue bandits were able to occupy a county just because they bullied the county and had no soldiers."

He had long heard of the popular uprising in Shaanxi, and he had served as a councilor in Shaanxi. In Geng Ruxi's view, the uprising was easy to suppress. It could be solved by suppressing part of the uprising and relieving the other part. However, the most important thing at the moment was the Liao people in the north, who should defend the border. To advance, build fortresses, repair fortresses, and shovel mountains and valleys.

However, now that the Kitchen King has entered his territory, he cannot sit idly by and ignore it. He can only delay the border fortress.

Seeing his father say this, Geng Zhangguang had no choice.

"If you don't continue studying books, what are you doing here?"

Geng Ruqi glanced at his son. He was good at everything, but he was too outspoken and couldn't hide things. He looked a little like him. Thinking of this, Geng Ruqi was a little relieved.

"If you have anything to say, just tell me."

"Uh, dad, I told you, don't beat me," Geng Zhangguang chuckled. He moved his stool and sat next to his dad.

"I also heard that the Kitchen King has unpredictable powers and can conjure food. His soldiers are called heavenly soldiers."

Geng Zhangguang waved his hand in front of his father with a mysterious expression.

Geng Ruqi glanced at his son, "In the past two months, you have been traveling around and heard these things?"

Two months ago, Geng Zhangguang said that reading thousands of miles of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles, so he traveled around with his entourage.

Geng Zhangguang smiled and said, "Dad, I passed by Hexiang. The people there praised the name of the Stove King and said that he divided the grain and the fields."

"I haven't beaten you in the past two months. I think you are itchy. No matter how he behaves, we are all officials of the Ming Dynasty, and he is a thief and a bandit. I think your travels in the past two months have made you My mind is spinning."

As he said that, Geng Ruqi stood up and moved his hand towards the table, where there was a ruler.

"Ehhh."

Geng Zhangguang stood up quickly and took the ruler away early. He looked at his father, still smiling, "Dad, let's get down to business. Who are you going to send to suppress the bandits this time?"

"Why are you asking this?"

Geng Ruqi sat back on the chair.

"Dad, I also want to go out with the army to suppress bandits and read thousands of books."

"Stop it, I think you simply want to meet the Kitchen King. When you were repairing the border, why didn't you say that reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles?"

"Haha, dad still understands me. What do you think, who is dad going to send this time?" Geng Zhangguang took two steps forward, stretched out his two hands and kept hammering Geng Ruqi's knees.

Geng Ruqi shook his head helplessly. There was not much he could do with his son.

"Send General Zhang Honggong to suppress the bandits with five thousand soldiers. If you follow, don't go forward to fight," Geng Ruxi warned. He knew that if his son was not allowed to go, he, Geng Zhangguang, would also find a way to escape.

Rather than letting him sneak out of his control, it would be better to let him pass under his nose.

Geng Zhangguang was overjoyed when he heard his father relent. He quickly stood up and said with a smile on his face, "Thank you, Lord Governor."

"Get out of here right now, you're such an adult and you can't stand upright."

Geng Ruqi waved his hand angrily.

It has become the norm for the two of them to look like a loving father and a filial son. Geng Zhangguang was famous for his filial piety. Historically, Geng Ruchi was wrongly imprisoned, and Geng Zhangguang went to serve his father in prison.

Dan Ruqi was executed by capital punishment, so Geng Zhangguang wrote a blood letter to plead his grievances on behalf of his father, pleading that his father was innocent. It can be said that his filial piety moved the entire court.

Geng Zhangguang walked outside, and for no apparent reason, he thought of the young man named Liu Zhenhua he met earlier.

He returned to the room, pulled out a wooden box under the bed, and then opened the wooden box. Inside the wooden box filled with red silk lay a straight iron rod.

Said to be an iron rod, Geng Zhangguang knew that this thing was probably some kind of magic weapon. This was exactly what the man named Liu Zhenhua gave him.

After returning to the governor's house, Geng Zhangguang tested this thing. Even if he used a donkey to pull a millstone to grind it, it could not bend the iron rod. Geng Zhangguang tried all methods and could not bend the iron rod.

The only time I invited a blacksmith from the city was to have the iron bar deformed after it was red-hot and hammered.

Such a magical weapon, when he first met Liu Zhenhua, he had a lot of people at his disposal.

He said he got it from rogue bandits, but Geng Zhangguang didn't believe it.

It's just that others don't want to say more, and he can't get to the bottom of it.

"This magic weapon is five feet long. It can be made into a sharp spear with a wooden handle or wrapped with cloth."

"This time in the battle, I can hold this magical weapon and let the thief feel the strength of this magical weapon."

Geng Zhangguang reached out and touched the magic weapon in the box, looking like he couldn't put it down. He didn't even tell his father about this.

He knew that if his father knew about it, he would be shocked after a test and send his own soldiers to rush the magic weapon to the capital for [-] miles.

"This thing is so strong. If it is made into heavy armor, it can not only withstand weapons, but can even prevent fire weapons."

Geng Zhangguang could even imagine how his father would play.

Since the emergence of firearms, heavy armor has been eliminated. People have put on light armor, but light armor cannot protect against arrows, so it is always difficult to choose between the two. Now that this magical iron is finally available, the court must not go crazy. .

When the time comes, things will be troublesome again, so Geng Zhangguang decided to hide the matter. Then Liu Zhenhua had a lot of people, and he went to Shaanxi, the most chaotic place. It is estimated that it will not be long before he appears in the court's sight. If he does this It’s not considered harming Ming’s interests.

"I just don't know how Liu Zhenhua is doing now."

Liu Zhenhua was in a hurry that day. If not, Geng Zhangguang would have wanted to go with him for a while.

Shaking his head, Geng Zhangguang wrapped the iron rod in silk satin, and then took it to the blacksmith in the city.

He also thought about using this magic weapon as a gun. The owner of this weapon, Liu Zhenhua, probably didn't know how to forge this magic weapon to make it more suitable for killing enemies.

"It's a pity that we don't have the time or financial resources," Liu Zhenhua looked at the steel bars in the mall. He stood on the city wall of Yonghe County. He said it was a city wall, but in fact, a mound of earth was more suitable.

With a four-kilometer city wall, most of the buildings in the city are made of wood and straw, giving it the appearance of a run-down small county town.

If it weren't for its special geographical location, Liu Zhenhua really wouldn't want to waste time here.

"If the opponent attacks the city, we can send out cavalry to deal with it," Liu Zhenhua looked far away. This Yonghe County can be regarded as a large flat area picked out among the many ravines. The first five miles of the city are almost flat, which is very suitable for cavalry attacks.

Every day Liu Zhenhua delays, there will be 45 more horses.

After taking Yonghe, and then using Yonghe as a springboard, it is best to take Pingyang Mansion, which is the largest city in Shanxi besides Datong and Taiyuan.

Pingyang Prefecture has a tall city, and there is also Wengcheng. You must know that none of the cities built by Liu Zhenhua in the past had such high-end gadgets.

Although this also means that it will be somewhat difficult to win the city, the benefits after winning it will be huge.

"Kitchen King, there is no food in the city. The landlords don't have much food in their homes, and gold and silver are even scarcer."

Zhao Shitong came to report that Yonghe County was poor from top to bottom. There was no food in the official warehouses, and there was not much food in the homes of the landlords in the city. The calculated food was not even enough to feed the 3000 people in Yonghe County.

"There are towns and villages around. If you bring 500 people every day, you must also control the surrounding towns and villages."

Liu Zhenhua's question seemed a bit misleading, but he gave Zhao Shitong an answer.

"Go."

"As ordered!"

Yonghe County has a small population and is somewhat barren, but since it has been placed under his command, Liu Zhenhua certainly cannot say that he will get less food just because there is less food.

After the soldiers and horses sent by Shanxi are dealt with, Liu Zhenhua will use part of his reputation to exchange for sweet potato seedlings. What Chongzhen failed to do in the late Ming Dynasty, Liu Zhenhua will do it.

His sweet potato noodles should be regarded as high-quality sweet potatoes. They are definitely high-yielding and delicious. He, Liu Zhenhua, wants all the people of Ming Dynasty to eat these sweet potatoes.

"When we get to the south, we can also experiment with the rice in the mall."

Liu Zhenhuan's eyes moved slightly, thinking of the old man who fed all Chinese people.

No matter how bad the rice in this mall is, it is better and more productive than the rice in ancient times.

"I don't know how long Yang He can keep it secret."

The imperial court sent Yang He to suppress the rebels, but Liu Zhenhua felt that after the arrival of the three governors, northern Shaanxi became more chaotic.

If the court knew about it, he would definitely be held accountable. If the five ruthless men of the late Ming Dynasty were to come, Liu Zhenhua felt that his life might not be so easy.

Of course, if Liu Zhenhua is allowed to develop peacefully until the end of the year, it will not be easy for anyone.

Yang He listened to the reports from the soldiers below. The Stove King had captured Yonghe effortlessly and was stationed in Yonghe before he left.

To be honest, Yang He was happy to see this scene. After all, although he was the governor of the three sides, these three sides did not include Shanxi. If such a big disaster as the Stove King came to Shanxi, he would not have to worry about the Stove King, and the emperor would have reason to respond when asked.

But Yang He knew that the Stove King was very ambitious. Although he was stationed in Yonghe, he did not give up Yanchuan, Yanchang, or even the newly conquered Qingjian.

It's obvious that he wants to expand his territory. This person's goal is probably the powerful Ming Dynasty.

Yang He felt a deep chill. Now that Shanxi Governor Geng Ruchi was willing to send five thousand soldiers to help him suppress the bandits, it was a good opportunity.

However, Yang He always felt that the plot seemed a bit familiar.

(End of this chapter)