In Nanjing, the chief envoy Xue Xiaowen was thinking about something.

In recent years, Zhang Hu's headquarters has been moving around Baoning (today's Langzhong), Shunqing (today's Nanchong), Kuizhou (today's Kaijiang of Da County) and even Changshou Fuzhou (today's Fuling) in northern Sichuan. Earlier, the imperial court's Huguang elite

Being held back by Guan Shengyun, the resources that could be mobilized in the nearby areas were very limited. Zhang Hu had not yet conquered northern Sichuan. The two sides had been facing off in Wan County for a while, and the war in these two places in Hubei and northern Sichuan was in a stalemate.

For Zhang Hu, it was a pity that Gansu and Shaanxi could not spare the strength to attack southward along the line of Hanzhong and Baoning due to banditry and protracted drought. The Chengdu Prefecture could have sent troops from the southwest to the north to encircle it, but the ineffective King of Shu was restrained at every turn.

The vassal king was doing nothing but taking care of himself, but no one could bear the label of "he was so happy that he was so successful that he betrayed the clan and the vassal and ignored the danger." In Chengdu and Chongqing, they just sat back and watched with troops to protect themselves. When Zhang Hu asked for food at the door of his house, he was short of people.

Just taking them prisoner was nothing. The imperial army in Yunyang, Kuizhou Prefecture (Fengjie) was already exhausted.

Although Guan Shengyun is not as big as Zhang Hu, he has fought thousands of miles, has brave soldiers and strategic plans, and is a prosperous grain-producing area. He has fought vigorously with the local officials and soldiers, and he is not greedy for merit and has a firm control.

Live in a few strategic locations and operate with peace of mind. Over time, everyone will relax.

Like most officials in the court, Xue Xiaowen knew very well that Zhang Hu and other so-called giant bandits were not the real threat to the court—Guan Shengyun was the real thorn in his side!

Zhang Hu has been in trouble for many years. Since he came out of Shaanxi, he dragged the refugees into Sichuan, and then caused harm to Huguang. Faced with heavy siege and was unable to do anything, he ran back to northern Sichuan again. Although the momentum is terrifying, it has no foundation, and even more

He didn't have any long-term plans, he was just a bandit who was defeated wherever he died, and lived one day at a time. The same was true for other bandits of a certain scale.

Guan Shengyun is obviously different.

He also came out of Shaanxi and swaggered out of Tongguan and went down to Shaanzhou. He was not discovered until the troops reached Luoyang. When the imperial court mobilized all its forces to annihilate him in Luofu, he did not expect that this guy immediately disappeared.

With one shot, he massacred Nanyang and then went straight to Huguang! Just talking about the thousands of miles of leap from northern Shaanxi without anyone noticing, even with the deception and connivance of the local and central government patrons, it is really not something that ordinary people can do.

Afterwards, the official circles of Henan and Shaanxi were quarreled in the court, so what? Xue Xiaowen himself estimated that the Holy Emperor had already understood what was going on, but in the face of the intricate bureaucratic group, he could only just let it go.

If it was said that he was good at using troops when he attacked east and west, but once he entered Huguang, he immediately showed another, more terrifying side: his administrative ability. The Guan thieves did not wreak havoc like the poor and crazy local bandits like Zhang Hu.

Yunyang Prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture, and De'an Prefecture have taken root in the area. Although Huguang is not a matter of his own, Xue Xiaowen, who can serve as the governor of Zuo, South Zhili, has long sensed the threat through the few words in the imperial newspaper - recently

The thief who is so close is like a sharp knife against your lower abdomen. You never know when it will stab you and kill you.

However, Zhang Hu made too much noise, and every time he came out to cause trouble, it would affect several provinces and attract everyone's attention. Local officials had their own backers in the court, and it goes without saying that money and food were lost in various places.

, a large part of them will go through several rounds, and finally end up in the pockets of adults! Whoever says that Guan Shengyun, who has not yet matured, is the most threatening at this time, will definitely be criticized by everyone as a bully, afraid of the strong, and afraid of thieves like a tiger——

Knowing in your heart and saying it with your mouth are two different things. There are some bastard things that everyone knows, but they can't tell them. Sometimes you know that you are trying to stop the boiling water, or even put out the fire, but you still have to work hard, otherwise, everyone in the officialdom will be confused.

I can’t tolerate you!

This is the Ming Dynasty.

Okay, then everyone will focus on dealing with Zhang Hu first.

No way!

The core of the word "liu bandit" is the word "flow". The provinces work together to contain them and prevent them from "flowing", which is half the success: tens of thousands of people are tens of thousands of mouths, and hundreds of thousands of people are even hundreds of thousands of mouths.

. They have to eat with their mouths. No matter where they are blocked, sooner or later they will eat each other - it is very possible that the hungry guys just tied up Zhang Hu and asked him to surrender. It's a pity that everyone in the place has their own

My little calculation: Don't block me here, otherwise when the giant bandits are wiped out, other places will celebrate, and I will live in the dirt for a few years? Why?

From the governor's envoy to the magistrate, everyone was making small plans. As a result, the encirclement was naturally full of loopholes, and Zhang's thieves could come and go freely. The manager carrying Shang Fang's sword could only stamp his feet aside and be helpless.

Xue Xiaowen asked himself, if his official position was in Huguang, Sichuan and Shaanxi, he could only do this: even if he wanted to "put justice first", he could not let his superiors promote and protect him, while his subordinates who helped and maintained him were disappointed.

Right? Even if the slightest thought is revealed, the black gauze hat will be taken off first - but Zhang Hu still cannot be destroyed!

That's right, even if the Holy Emperor issued a strict decree to let the bandits run away or hold them accountable, it would not work. Not to mention the quarrels between the government and the central government in order to shirk responsibility, even at the prefecture level, and even prefectures and counties, there are often intricate relationships. A while ago, Shaanxi and Henan

This is a ready-made example: Henan Province angrily accused Shaanxi Province of plotting against the neighboring thieves, and Shaanxi Province plausibly asked the other party to provide real evidence - they had already done their homework: they were "real strong thieves" who had been found to be unmistakable.

heads, military reports of great victories and commendations from the Holy One, and the training and mobilization plan of the garrison and military towns approved by the Ministry of War in advance. As for the distribution of food, salary and military resources, not only the receipt form of the garrison, but also the daily consumption is accurate.

The records of every copper plate and every spoonful of rice and beans... You have imposed brutal taxes on your own body and forced the people to rebel, but you have slandered others. Where is your conscience? At that time, the governor of Henan Province and the chief envoys on the left and right called two princes with one word to give them to you.

I thought I was sure of victory by endorsing it myself, but how could I expect that the prince of Shaanxi would also jump out to support the province! This war of words has been going on for so many years, is there any conclusion?

No!

So, the only solution is to mobilize the border troops?

However, it is obviously unrealistic: there are so many rogue bandits, it won’t help if the frontier troops come too little, but if there are too many… what should we do if the northern barbarians come? Well, even if the northern barbarians don’t come - the old rule is that when the troops leave, they must send double blows.

Salary, right? Not to mention double salary, I have owed the basic salary for so many years, you pay for it?

This is a big pustule that is rapidly expanding. If it waits for it to rot by itself, the empire will lose at least half its life. The best way is of course to poke it as soon as possible, but the first person to poke it will definitely be sprayed with pus and blood.

It’s all over your head and body! From this, everyone understands that there is only one real way: pretend not to see it and let no one care!

The harm done by rogue bandits depends on one's own destiny.

As a result, today, what Xue Xiaowen feared most finally happened.

After a period of business, Guan Shengyun's wings have gradually matured. Now it seems that he has contacted Zhang Hu, who has been a bandit for many years and keenly seized the opportunity. The two giant bandits colluded... From this, we can see that years ago,

Guan Sheng Yunbei's invasion of Shaanxi was planned in advance! Customs Sheng Yun had already mastered this trick, and no one expected that he would actually teach Zhang Hu this time!

Years ago, Guan Shengyun seemed to be possessed by an evil spirit. He left Huguang, who was doing well, and suddenly led his army to the west. The officialdom in Huguang breathed a sigh of relief, secretly glad that the devil finally went to join Zhang Hu to harm Sichuan, and he was now considered clean.

Due to the strict orders of the imperial court and to avoid causing trouble for themselves by escaping back again, Henan and Huguang mobilized large armies to follow Guan Shengyun step by step. Needless to say, senior military officers received orders either explicitly or covertly: to block the Guan thieves.

Just turn back and flee, never waste the fight - any greedy guy who angers him will come back and kill you first! Unexpectedly, this guy rushed to Shunqing Mansion and put on a show of force.

In order to attack Chongqing, they suddenly went north along the Qujiang River and plunged from Baoning Prefecture into Shaanxi. Now the officials of Sichuan Province were a little relieved. Although they were puzzled, they were also sincerely happy: the knife on the lower abdomen

Finally left. Today, it seems that I was still careless. I really didn’t expect that this guy would play such a big game!

The Guan thief himself was a member of the Yulin Guards, so he was familiar with the roads when he returned to his hometown. For more than a year, he not only caused chaos in Shaanxi again, but also disturbed Henan from time to time. This move completely attracted Zhang Hu to the court.

Attention: Urgent documents from all over the country were flying in like a snowflake, and everyone's eyes were fixed on Guan Shengyun.

In order to guard against the northern invaders, the elites of the nine sides could not move. To deal with Guan Shengyun, they could only rely on the power of the local guard. Guan Shengyun had no scruples, and this trip was originally intended to attack the east and the west. The louder the noise, the better. Wherever he went, he was eaten and looted.

The light and then the fire burned it all! This created a situation similar to Zhang Hu's fleeing situation: the officers and soldiers could not pursue him! Behind Guan Shengyun was one or two hundred miles of white land. The officers and soldiers who were chasing after him had to bring their own food and grass supplies if they wanted not to starve.

——How can we catch up with this? And interception is even more impossible. The local officials have drawn the limited surrounding guard troops to their side to embolden them, and sent them out to intercept? They are crazy!

Guan Shengyun's food was plundered openly. How could the imperial court do this? In fact, it's not that he didn't want to do it. It was just that he couldn't rob Guan Shengyun. Moreover, despite the fact that there were only a few soldiers who could fight, there were too many people opening their mouths to eat, so they had no choice but to rob Guan Shengyun.

Diversion to the north, and then transportation to Shanxi and Shaanxi - such a large circle, the manpower and material resources consumed along the way were astronomical, and soon they were overwhelmed. Strategically, they could only gradually switch from offense to defense, which gave Zhang Hujue

Good opportunity. These two guys must have discussed the time beforehand. Zhang Hu’s headquarters suddenly made a desperate move and rushed out in full force, sweeping down the Yangtze River like a mountain torrent, sweeping through Yiling (now Yichang), Jingzhou, Yue

Prefecture (today's Yueyang) and Hanyang, although they passed by these fortified cities without attacking, they robbed thousands of civilian ships, large and small, and carried away the people along the way. The number quickly expanded to 200,000 or 300,000 people like a snowball.

, like an unstoppable mudslide, flowing down the Yangtze River and heading straight for South Zhili! Zhang Thief finally captured Jiujiang with lightning speed and used it as a base to attack South Zhili.

, take hold.

The knife pressed against his lower abdomen came back, and this time it was a bigger one. Xue Xiaowen couldn't help but worry.
Chapter completed!