Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 306

(PS: The validity period of the monthly pass in January is only [-] hours left. For the sake of Gou Shao’s hard work and love for the people, friends, please check the bottom of the box again.)
"Zhang Butang, do you have any orders for summoning the last general to Chaiguan?" Seeing Young Master Zhang's sickly and dying appearance, Young Master Zhang has handed over the command of the Shaanxi-Gansu Army to Wu Zi, the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi. The reluctant Hong Chengchou suddenly thought of something.Excited, Hong Chengchou's voice trembled unavoidably, and he asked expectantly: "Lord Ministry, if you have any orders, please speak directly, the humble official will obey orders."

Young Master Zhang didn't answer directly. First, he asked Zhang Shitou to help him up from the hospital bed and sat on a reclining chair. Then he asked Zhang Shitou to bring a quilt to cover him. He closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time. Only then did the young master weakly ask: "Brother Yanyan, in the sixth year of the apocalypse, when you were still serving as the fifth-rank Liangzhe Cheng and announced the political envoy and secretary, did you know who recommended it to the imperial court and appointed him in an exceptional way?" You are the governor of Shaanxi?"

"It was recommended by Jiu Qiansui at the court." Hong Chengchou replied cautiously: "However, there are rumors in the court that it was you who recommended the humble position in front of Jiu Qiansui, and Jiu Qiansui trusted the Ministry most. I made this decision that shocked the government and the public - I just don't know if it really happened."

"That's right, it was indeed my recommendation in front of my father, so my father recommended you to the emperor to succeed Hu Tingyan as governor of Shaanxi." Young Master Zhang admitted frankly.Speaking of this, Hong Chengchou hurriedly left the table and bowed down, respectfully said: "Thank you for your appreciation, the humble official, the kindness of knowing you, I will never forget the humble official."

"You don't have to thank me. It is the duty of a courtier to promote the virtuous for the country. Besides, without my father's old face in the court, I can't push you to this position." Young Master Zhang waved his hand feebly , staring at Hong Chengchou again, and slowly said: "Brother Yanyan, you know, I actually regret this recommendation, you, let me down so much."

"Ah—?" Hong Chengchou never dreamed that Young Master Zhang would speak so impolitely. Dumbfounded, Hong Chengchou inevitably blushed—he knew that it was Young Master Zhang who strongly recommended him, and he had the opportunity to be promoted to four levels in a row. What kind of kindness and support is this for a low-ranking official with no power to change into a high-ranking official in the frontier?But when Young Master Zhang served as Governor of Xuan Da, and after Young Master Zhang was promoted to Governor of the five provinces, how many things did he do to Young Master Zhang?How much trouble did it cause Young Master Zhang?With ungratefulness so far, it's no wonder that Young Master Zhang wants to publicly express his dissatisfaction with him.Feeling guilty, Hong Chengchou could only blush and say: "I have some things in my humble job, I am sorry for the kindness of Master Butang, and I am ashamed of Master Butang."

"You misunderstood, I am not accusing you of driving the thieves to Shanxi, nor am I accusing you of what you did when I first took over as the governor of the five provinces." Young Master Zhang shook his head, forced a smile, and said with a smile: "In all fairness, if I were you, if the imperial court sent me a young boss in his teens, I wouldn't be balanced. This is human nature, and I won't blame you." Speaking of this, Mr. Zhang The young master put away his smile and said seriously: "What really makes me very dissatisfied is your ineffectiveness in suppressing thieves! - You should know it yourself. Since you took over Shaanxi for three years, how many censors have participated in the imperial court?" You and Mr. Sun Ge are not effective in suppressing thieves? How many censors and censors are impeaching you, which is a waste of state resources and does not work?"

Hong Chengchou's old face blushed again, and when he was about to defend himself unconvinced, Young Master Zhang waved his hand forcefully, and said decisively: "Don't explain any objective reasons to me, and don't say that Shanxi-Gansu is a big land, and thieves are hard to find—Shaanxi-Gansu again Greatness is as great as my Ming Dynasty? Why can four thousand Qi’s troops wipe out the Japanese pirates in my Ming Dynasty? Don’t tell me that there is a shortage of food and wages. Back then, I attacked the Tatars in the north and raided Shengjing. Annihilated hundreds of thousands of enemies, what food and military pay? In the seventh Taizhou war in Jiajing 40 years, Qi's army was out of food for half a month, and could only eat bark and grass roots to satisfy their hunger. They still killed the Japanese pirates and killed dozens of enemies with less than a hundred casualties. Times! Others can do it, why can't you?!"

"Humble and incompetent, please punish the minister." Hong Chengchou became dejected - he really couldn't compare with these perverts.Young Master Zhang coughed for a while, and said in a slow tone: "Brother Yanyan, I don't mean to punish you, I just want to tell you that a good opportunity in life is rare, if you finally catch it once, you have to grasp it well! Pass this village, Don't even think about having this shop next time!" After finishing speaking, Eldest Young Master Zhang asked again weakly: "Brother Yanyan, I think, you don't want to be Hu Tingyan's second either?"

"Master Butang has taught us that in the future, I must work hard to do my job in the humble position, do my best to suppress thieves, and strive to pacify Shaanxi and Gansu as soon as possible, wipe out the rebellious thieves, report the country's grace, and live up to the expectations of the people, and will not let down the lord Butang's knowledge. En!" Hong Chengchou replied solemnly.Young Master Zhang nodded feebly, took the decoction handed by Zhang Shitou, slowly sucked it, coughed and said: "It's good to have this heart, but don't blame yourself too much, the previous Shaanxi-Gansu war against thieves It’s not going well, and the responsibility is not entirely on you. You still have Mr. Sun Ge on your head. Mr. Ge cherishes the people and refuses to kill lightly. Find a balance between offense and defense, and suggest that the court reuse the seasoned and prudent Sun Ge to preside over Shaanxi and Gansu. With your courage and determination, how can there be so many obstacles?"

"Zhang Haogu is trying to provoke the relationship between me and Mr. Sun Ge?" Hong Chengchou came to his senses.Young Master Zhang observed Hong Chengchou's thoughts and said, "Brother Yanyan, do you think—I'm trying to sow discord between you and Elder Sun Ge?"

"I don't dare to be humble." Hong Chengchou replied duplicity.Young Master Zhang handed the medicine bowl back to Zhang Shishi, coughed and said: "You don't need to hide it, my words are a bit suspected of sowing discord, but I can tell you clearly - I really didn't intend to sow you and Mr. Sun Ge , I’m just preparing for the future without Mr. Sun Ge on the Shaanxi-Gansu battlefield.”

"Are you preparing for the future without Mr. Sun Ge on the Shaanxi-Gansu battlefield? What do you mean?" Hong Chengchou vaguely understood what Young Master Zhang meant, but he didn't dare to say it clearly, he could only ask tentatively.Young Master Zhang smiled lightly, and replied: "Brother Yanyan, everyone is a straightforward person, and you don't need to beat around the bush when speaking in front of me—you should also know very well in your heart that the important town of Xi'an was lost, and the people in the city were poisoned by thieves. Confess to the people of the world, the imperial court always has to find someone to take the blame! And this person, according to my analysis, is probably Mr. Sun Ge! Of course, you may also become this scapegoat!"

Hong Chengchou didn't dare to speak anymore, his heart was up and down, feeling uneasy.Young Master Zhang smiled again, coughed and said: "Don't worry, you were recommended by me to my father, and it was my father who strongly recommended you to the emperor, so you were promoted in an exceptional way—in order for our father and son not to be slapped in the face by the people in the world, we will not be slapped. I have to protect you." Hong Chengchou was overjoyed, and hurriedly kowtowed to Young Master Zhang and said, "Thank you for the protection, Mr. Butang, and also thank you for the protection of Nine Thousand Years."

"You don't have to thank me, just listen to me." Young Master Zhang shook his head, and then said slowly: "Old Sun Ge is highly respected and won the hearts of the army. For the sake of the plan to suppress the bandits, if he can be preserved, I will try my best to preserve it. But if it is true I can't keep it, I have to prepare for the future great cause of suppressing thieves in Shaanxi and Gansu, I don't want Yang He and Hu Tingyan and other trash to come to Shaanxi and Gansu to make up for it—understand? My brother Yanyan, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu!"

"Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu?" Hong Chengchou was taken aback, and hurriedly kowtowed and said, "I don't dare to spy on high positions. Please take back this statement." Some responsibilities, the imperial court will not agree to..."

"If you are guilty, can you just redeem your crimes?" Young Master Zhang said lightly, "Brother Yanyan, your luck is really good. The battle to wipe out the main force of the Shaanxi-Gansu rebels has reached the final critical moment, and I happened to be ill again. The doctor said that you must rest for more than half a month and not continue to work hard. I plan to go back to Hanzhong to recuperate. On this battlefield, besides me, you have the highest official position. You should be the one who takes over the command of the entire army. The whole army wiped out the remnants of the rebels! The army of rebels surrounded by us is as large as [-]. If you can wipe out these [-] rebels, you will not only lose the responsibility of Xi'an and will not be held accountable by the court. Things can basically be obtained." Speaking of this, Young Master Zhang smiled again and asked: "Understood? Brother Yanyan, this time, don't let me down again, and don't let my father lose face again. .”

"Your Excellency is saying that all the command of the Shaanxi-Gansu Army should be handed over to humble officials?" Although he had vaguely guessed what Young Master Zhang meant, after Young Master Zhang said it himself, Hong Chengchou was still overwhelmed with excitement.Young Master Zhang nodded slightly, and corrected: "Not only the Shaanxi-Gansu Army, but also the white soldiers of Sichuan Qin Liangyu's General Army, as well as my direct descendant, the Slaughtering Army, are entrusted to you to command - the Slaughtering Army is my lifeblood." Brother Yanyan, you have to make good use of them."

"Humble job, humble job..." Hong Chengchou was so excited that he couldn't believe his ears—ah Tu Nujun!That slave-slaughter army that swept the world and was invincible in all battles!It was handed over to him like this!With this army, let alone a mere 20 thieves, even 30 or [-] would be a piece of cake? !

"My lord, this is a big matter, and a low-level job has little virtue. I hope you will think twice." Although he was about to be knocked out by this super big pie that fell from the sky for nothing, after waking up, Hong Chengchou became humble .Young Master Zhang waved his hand weakly, and replied: "Don't think twice, I have considered it very carefully, and you are the one who can take over from me to command the entire army to wipe out the remaining thieves. Besides, you are my father The person who recommended it should also give you a chance to prove that my vision is perfect."

"Since my lord insists, I don't dare to shirk my lowly job." With a modest statement of the letter, Hong Chengchou, who was also very aggressive, quickly knelt down to Young Master Zhang, clasped his fists and said solemnly: "Master, please don't worry. To live up to your expectations and Nine Thousand Years’ trust, not one of the hundreds of thousands of thieves can get away! The Lord’s slave slaughter army will be used with caution by the humble, and return them all to Lord Ministry!”

"Very good, then I can go back to Hanzhong to recuperate with peace of mind." Young Master Zhang nodded feebly, coughing and said: "After calling all the generals to announce this decision, I will leave this evening, and I will only take away the slave soldiers. 500 people, the rest is up to you, I will also leave you the sniper team, all of them are the best of the best among the best, you have to protect them well, don't let them It is the right way to go to the battle and let them shoot coldly in the back and kill the thieves."

"Yes, sir, please rest assured." Hong Chengchou agreed ecstatically.Young Master Zhang reminded again: "Brother Yanyan, there is an express regulation in the imperial court that the new muskets are only allowed to be equipped by slave soldiers, you have to remember that."

"I understand, my lord, please rest assured." Hong Chengchou knew that Young Master Zhang was reminding himself not to shoot new-style muskets, so he quickly agreed with understanding.Seeing that Young Master Zhang stopped talking, Hong Chengchou tentatively asked: "My lord, one hundred thousand rebels have been surrounded by our army, there is no way to go to the sky, and there is no way to go to the earth. If the leader of the rebellion proposes to surrender, what should I do? Please show me, my lord."

"You can figure it out." Young Master Zhang said casually, "On the battlefield, the military situation is changing rapidly, and I can't give you hard and fast rules to limit your fists and feet. But you have to remember that most of these thieves come from In the disaster-stricken areas of Shaanxi, after surrendering, they will be expelled back to their original places in the future, so even if you recruit them, you must ensure that they will have food to eat and clothes to wear in the future, so that they will not surrender and turn back, and their efforts will be in vain—if these The rebellious thieves are the same as before, surrendering and rebelling, working to no avail, and the court has pursued them, I really don't know how to help you."

"Your Excellency, do you mean...?" Hong Chengchou wanted to ask.Young Master Zhang coughed violently again, his face was blue and his mouth was white, and he was out of breath. Zhang Shitou hurriedly gave Young Master Zhang a hammer and shouted: "Come on, the young master's illness has occurred again!" , Hurry up and pass it on to the doctor, the doctor!" Seeing this, Hong Chengchou had no choice but to shut up obediently, and retreated to the side to watch the soldier doctor rescue the seriously ill and dying Young Master Zhang.

After tossing for a long time, Master Zhang finally calmed down, and immediately ordered the promotion of the tent general, and handed over the command of the entire army to Hong Chengchou in public, ordering the generals to obey Hong Chengchou's command, work hard, and contribute to the eradication of the remaining thieves.Although Qin Liangyu's mother and son and the generals of the Ming army wondered why Young Master Zhang's illness came so quickly, seeing how Young Master Zhang was dying and hearing that Young Master Zhang had relapsed from overwork, they didn't think much about it. Respectfully agreeing, Ma Xianglin whispered to his wife Zhang Fengyi, "Ma'am, you see that this minister is in poor health. If my younger sister follows him, will it be all right?"

………………

Respectfully sent off Young Master Zhang, Hong Chengchou, who was elated, immediately sent a messenger to copy the order to inform the Shaanxi-Gansu Army of the news that Young Master Zhang had handed over the command of the entire army to him, and ordered him to ride on his head for the past few days. Wu Zimian, who was peeing, sealed off all roads and roads, and sent troops at noon on the second day of April to cooperate with the Xuanda army and the Sichuan army to launch a general attack on the rebel army.On the second day of April, the high-morale Ming army attacked according to the order, and at the same time sent troops from Feiqiu Pass and Chai Pass to launch a general attack on the main force of the rebels trapped there.After a bloody battle, the Ming army won a complete victory, killing nearly [-] enemies, but their own losses were quite small.In the next two days, the Ming army, which was sure of victory, launched a strong attack for two consecutive days, and gained a lot of gains. The rebel army suffered heavy casualties, and the ditches were full of corpses.

The three consecutive victories stabilized the morale of the army and consolidated his command authority. On the fourth day, Hong Chengchou quickly changed his strategy from a strong attack to a blockade, considering that the main force of the rebels was desperately resisting and the number of casualties of his own army was gradually increasing. Torture the enemy with hunger to reduce the morale of the enemy, so as to win at the least cost in the future.However, after the rebel army failed to break through several times in more than ten days, the rations looted in Xi'an City were completely exhausted, the soldiers were exhausted and hungry, everyone was eating each other, and the remnant army was close to collapse.Faced with such a predicament, Wang Ziyong, Wu Yangui, Ma Shouying and other surviving thieves sent envoys to see Hong Chengchou again, begging Hong Chengchou to surrender and save his life.In this way, the thorny question that Young Master Zhang was most afraid of finally fell into the hands of Hong Chengchou...

"Do you want to accept the surrender of the rebels?" Although the conditions put forward by the rebel army are very simple-as long as they can survive, they can go to jail for trial, but Hong Chengchou, like Master Zhang, also considered accepting the surrender of these rebels. Afterwards, "These rebels are old rebels. Now they have nowhere to go. Surrender to me and accept their surrender. They walked out of this valley and rebelled again. The court and Zhang Butang pursued it. The unlucky people It must be me. And even if they didn’t rebel immediately, the famine in Shaanxi and Gansu is severe, and there are still many people stationed in various places who don’t have enough to eat. Where can they go to find so much food to feed them? Don’t we have to continue to rebel? When the time comes, the court and Zhang Butang will blame me, and I will be the one who is unlucky! But if they don’t accept their surrender…….”

At this point, Hong Chengchou fell into a conflict. He wanted to refuse these thieves to surrender, but he was also worried that the thieves would fight to the death if they had nowhere to go, which would cause huge casualties to the self-army. If he let the cooked ducks go away, then he really has to learn from Zuo Liangyu and plead guilty in front of Young Master Zhang, and he already has the hopeful position of governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. I am afraid that he will say goodbye to himself forever in this life— How correct are Young Master Zhang's words?After passing this village, there will be no such shop!But if the surrender of these rebels is accepted, how will the remaining [-] or [-] rebel soldiers and their families be settled?Where do you go to find so much food to appease them?Who will take the responsibility for himself if something goes wrong?

After repeated calculations, a thought suddenly appeared in Hong Chengchou's mind - Bai Qi!When I first thought of this idea, even Hong Chengchou was taken aback. He never dreamed that he would have such an idea, but when Hong Chengchou tried to get this idea out of his mind, Master Zhang The words he explained to him echoed in his mind again, "If these thieves are like before, they come back again and again, to no avail, and the court pursues them, I really don't know how to help you." A new idea also gradually appeared in Hong Chengchou's mind, "Zhang Butang was able to become the governor of the five provinces at a young age. Apart from having a good godfather, isn't it mainly because of his military exploits? Without him, in Shengjing Mo The blood flowed into rivers and the corpses piled up like mountains. No matter how hard Nine Thousand Years stood up, the emperor and the court would hand over the five provinces' troops to him, right? Even Nine Thousand Years himself might not have the guts to send Half of the imperial family property should be handed over to Zhang Butang?"

It was night, and the lights in Hong Chengchou's handsome tent remained on all night. On the morning of the next day, which was also the morning of April 8th, the ninth year of the Great Ming Dynasty, Hong Chengchou summoned the envoys of the rebels and decided to accept the remaining [-] rebels. The bandit soldiers and their families, women and children surrendered on the condition that the bandit army must lay down their arms unconditionally, and then the Ming army would escort them to Shaanxi and deport them back to their original places.After the envoys of the rebels reported back to Wu Yangui, Wang Ziyong, Ma Shouying and other thieves, although the thieves had doubts, they had no choice but to obediently accept Hong Chengchou's conditions, all gave up their weapons, and surrendered to Hong Chengchou.

Two days later, on the night of April 21, after the thieves and soldiers were relieved of their vigilance with a simple ration that could barely survive, a major event that will always be engraved in the annals of Ming Dynasty took place outside the Feiqiu Pass. The 8 three rebels who surrendered unconditionally and their families were massacred!Only four of Luo Rucai's beautiful wives and concubines were spared, and they were privately taken as concubines by the notoriously lustful Hong Chengchou.Overnight, blood flowed in the valley south of Feiqiu Pass, and corpses piled up like mountains. Hong Chengchou, who was once famous in history for massacring Wang Zuogui's troops, also spread his name even more resoundingly throughout the court and the field during this night. , shocked the land of China!

When the news spread to Hanzhong, Young Master Zhang, who was convalescing in Hanzhong City, cried three times in public and fainted on the ground...

(End of this chapter)