Chapter 130: A three-year gamble

"If the bandits cannot be eliminated within three years, I am willing to pay for their heads."

Seeing Zhang Yan also asking, Yue Su stood up and answered in an affirmative voice.

"Master Yue is really good at telling jokes now. The northern provinces are full of rogue bandits. If they can be eliminated in three years, wouldn't it be just an idiot's dream? I think it would be good if they can be eliminated within six years. It also depends on the weather this year.

If the years are bad, I don’t know what kind of trouble will happen. Mr. Yue said three years, aren’t you afraid that the law will be settled within three years, and if you are guilty of bullying, will you really lose your head?” Han Xu said coldly.

.

Zhang Yan now sends people from Dongchang everywhere to inquire about the current situation every day. Yue Su said that the bandits will be eliminated in three years. She really couldn't believe it and said: "Yue Qing's family, three years to eliminate the bandits is really not enough."

It's very possible. If everyone uses their lives, it would be good to be able to calm down within six years. The Ai family will feel relieved."

"Yes, the Queen Mother is right, Mr. Yue, I think you should take back what you just said, so as not to leave any excuses." Han Xu followed.

He seemed to be trying to persuade Yue Su again, but everyone could understand that he was trying to squeeze Yue Su out of his way. The officials of the Yue Party were itching with hatred, but they all looked at Yue Su longingly, hoping that Master Yue could take it back.

The bold statement of eradicating the rogue bandits in three years.

But Yue Su looked calm and composed, smiled faintly, and said: "Your Majesty, Queen Mother, since I dare to say that the bandits will be eliminated within three years, they will naturally be eliminated by then. Please be at ease, Your Majesty and the Queen Mother. If the three-year period comes,

If the rogue bandits are still able to be eliminated, I will still be willing to take my head as I said just now."

"ah……"

Seeing Yue Su say this again, all the cabinet ministers were dumbfounded. Is this possible? Yuan Chonghuan originally said that the Liao Dynasty would be pacified in five years, which was all nonsense. Your Lord Yue is even louder than Yuan Chonghuan. It will take three years to eliminate the bandits. You won't win.

With the fighting day by day, rogue bandits are scurrying around everywhere. Their strength is getting stronger and their numbers are increasing. The generals below are very self-respecting in raising the bandits. What can they do to eliminate them?

"The king is joking, Mr. Yue, please don't boast, lest the law be fulfilled when the time comes, how will you explain it to the world. You are the minister of Tuogu. Even if you really can't be purged by then, the emperor will not order to kill you, right?

." Han Xu said again.

"Master Han, what do you mean by this? From your tone, are you afraid that I will default on my debt after three years? That's fine, I will fulfill your wish now and issue a military order in front of you for three years.

Are you satisfied with the elimination of rogue bandits within the city?" Yue Su stared at Han Xu coldly and said loudly.

Han Xu was thinking this, but he didn't expect that Yue Su would point it out openly. He couldn't help but smile awkwardly and said: "Master Yue, what you said is inevitably a bit ridiculous. I also think about the country of the Ming Dynasty and for the sake of Master Yue. You are

Minister Tuogu, before the emperor personally takes charge, how can we be without my lord?"

"There is no need for Mr. Han to worry about it." Yue Su raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, Queen Mother, I would like to issue a military order in front of the emperor to eliminate the rogue bandits within three years. Please give me paper and pen to write now.

"

"Yue Qing..." How could Zhang Yan not see that Han Xu was provocative? She quickly said softly: "The military order is waived. Your majesty and the Ai family know your loyalty to the emperor and the country. In three years,

Even if we really can't eliminate it, it doesn't matter. As long as we can hit the bandits hard, that's fine. It's not too much to delay the elimination for a year or two."

"Your Majesty, Queen Mother, I have made up my mind. Please rest assured, Your Majesty and the Queen Mother. Since I dare to promise, there will be a way to eliminate the bandits within three years. Please give me paper and pen." Yue Su said.

"Then..." Zhang Yan saw that Yue Su was determined and could not persuade her. She was quite moved. She nodded and said, "Since the Qing family has made a decision, the emperor and the Ai family will not say more. The late emperor commissioned you to

In order to entrust the minister to Gu, you can see that the country and the country of the Ming Dynasty are entrusted to the Qing family. From now on, the Qing family will have arbitrary power in all matters related to peace and invasion. Come, please bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone to Yue Qing's family."

The eunuch outside the study received the order and immediately fetched a table, pen, ink, paper and inkstone. Yue Su did not hesitate, spread the paper flat on the table, and started writing with a pen. Soon, the military order was finished, and Yue Su handed it to the eunuch.

Presented to Zhang Yan.

The contents of the military order were very simple. At the beginning, I wrote some words of thanks to the late emperor and the emperor for their trust, and at the end was a promise to eliminate the rogue bandits within three years. If the order could not be completed, I would die to apologize.

Zhang Yan read it and was even more moved. She read it once, but did not show it to other officials. Then she sealed it and kept it herself.

It can be said that the military order issued by Master Yue spread throughout the entire capital within one day. Officials and dignitaries in the capital secretly said that Yue Su was brazen and planned to wait three years to see Yue Su's jokes.

But ordinary people have unwavering faith in Master Yue. They all believe that since Yue Qingtian dares to say that the bandits will be eliminated within three years, then he will definitely be able to eliminate them. There is nothing in this world that Yue Qingtian cannot do.

Of course, there are also many people who are worried about Yue Su. They all say that if Mr. Yue promises to clear up any cases within three years, then he must not have run away. But this is a war, nothing is 100% guaranteed, and everything is changing on the battlefield.

Chang, who dares to say that we will definitely win?

For a time, Yue Su attracted almost everyone's attention. Some people wanted to watch the excitement, some believed in it, and some were worried. Of course, everyone also wanted to see what Master Yue was going to do now.

Yue Su now has the power to suppress the bandits, which means that he can make the final decision on all matters concerning the suppression of bandits. The next day, the cabinet issued several instructions one after another. The first one was to ask Henan Governor Zhang Wo to return

At home, Xiong Wencan, the chief envoy of Shandong Province, was appointed as the governor of Henan. The second step was to rebuke the Duke of Wei and the governor of Southern Zhili for their incompetence, asking them to strictly guard the borders and make up for the loss. The third step was to order Wu Sinan, the governor of Xuanda, to strengthen armament and strengthen training of soldiers.

, if the army is short of food, pay, and equipment, feel free to ask the court. However, if you just want things without doing anything, and the combat effectiveness of the army has not been improved, your head will be killed. The fourth way is to transfer Shanxi Governor Wu Rumeng to Shandong

Governor, the former governor of Shandong was transferred to Shanxi. There were two more orders given to Wu Rumeng. In addition to strengthening military equipment, they were to strictly guard the borders and wipe out any bandits who broke in. The fifth order was to order Kong Youde, the commander-in-chief of Fujian Province, to step up his time to supervise the construction.

We must not cut corners on warships. In addition, we must recruit more brave soldiers to strengthen the navy's combat power. It must not only be majestic on the water, but also cannot lose to the army when it comes to battle.

Many people can't understand these five decrees. If your Lord Yue doesn't allocate troops and reinforcements, will it be effective if you just make some personnel changes? Moreover, Henan has the most rogue bandits. Just let Xiong Wencan go. How capable is he?

Yeah? Especially the last decree, what does the suppression of bandits have to do with letting Kong Youde build more warships?

But whether you understand it or not, Mr. Yue has arbitrary power to suppress bandits. You don't need to understand what he does.

Let's talk about the rogue bandits, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xianzhong. After they captured Fengyang, they became famous and went north along the road to enter Shandong.

Here in Shandong, although the year is not good, we have not been harassed by large groups of bandits. That is to say, sporadic bandits occasionally come in, but they are beaten away by the government. But this time it is different. The invading army took advantage of the power of capturing Fengyang.

, fighting all the way, there were tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. Now Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng's troops are also different from what they used to be. Each family has thousands of cavalry, and their combat power is amazing. Most of the attention of the Shandong defenders is on

At the junction with Henan, I really didn't expect that the rebel army would come from the territory of South Zhili.

Some officers and soldiers couldn't resist at all, and those who were killed were on their backs. The intruders fought all the way to Dengzhou. The governor of Dengzhou and Mo Wenlong had a tacit understanding, because they both played at sea, and most of Mo Wenlong's previous food and salary came from Dengzhou.

Going to sea for supplies. The governor of Dengzhou approached Mo Wenlong for help. Mo Wenlong did not dare to send troops without permission, and wrote to Mo Youjian, hoping that he would send troops from Tianjin to reinforce. Of course, given Mo Youjian’s current relationship with Mr. Yue

, you can send troops just by saying hello.

Mo Youjian led the navy to help Dengzhou. Seeing the reinforcements coming, the rogue bandits knew that it would be difficult to capture, and they were afraid that Shandong soldiers and horses would come to encircle and annihilate them, so they took a detour and entered Henan. After entering Henan, the three families divided their forces, and Zhang Xianzhong stayed in Henan.

, expand strength.

Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng rushed to Dengzhou. Dengzhou is located at the junction of Henan, Hubei and Shaanxi. It is known as the Grand Pass of the three provinces and is the gateway to southwest Henan. However, the reputation is useless. Once the rogues arrive, they will directly break through the pass and then directly

Taking Yunyang and capturing Yunyang, Gao Yingxiang and Li Zi divided their forces. Gao Yingxiang went to Hanzhong, and Li Zicheng rushed to Bazhong.

Since Sun Chuanting became the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, he has been killing rogue bandits fiercely. At the Xingyang Conference, Li Zi divided his troops and oriented themselves, and many rogue bandits broke into Sichuan and Shaanxi. With the rogue bandits dispersed, Sun Chuanting had some troubles when he was suppressing them, so he had to

Divide the troops. Some of his generals can fight, and some cannot. For example, Zuo Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao have won many battles, while other generals have often suffered setbacks.

Li Zicheng entered Bazhong and met his fellow Red Army comrades, Li Dusi, Ke Tianfei, Lun Shiwang, Guo Tianxing and other rogue bandits. These few were beaten by Cao Wenzhao's troops and ran away. When they saw Li Zicheng

As if they had seen a savior, they all attached themselves to each other. Li Zicheng hated Cao Wenzhao deeply. Now that he had a strong army, he also wanted to fight Cao Wenzhao again. Therefore, Li Zicheng led various bandits to ambush the people who were chasing them.

Lieutenants Liu Chenggong and Ai Wannian, among whom Liu Chenggong was seriously injured and escaped, while Ai Wannian was killed in battle.

Cao Wenzhao had a close friendship with Ai Wannian. When he heard that Ai Wannian had died in battle, he was furious and led his army to hunt down Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng asked his Red Army comrades, Li Dusi, Ke Tianfei, Lun Shiwang, Guo Tianxing and other rogue bandits to fight Cao Wenzhao first. They fought and ran, and led Cao Wenzhao to a place called Jiutouyuan in Yunyang.

place.

Cao Wenzhao had a total of 5,000 soldiers and horses. Even though there were nearly 100,000 rogues, he was not afraid. After fighting with the rogues for so many years, he always regarded the rogues as a mob. After winning several consecutive victories, the troops inevitably began to underestimate the enemy.

On his part, his nephew Cao Bianjiao led two thousand troops in front, and he led three thousand in the rear. They kept shouting all the way. But when they entered Qiutou Plain, the rogue bandits suddenly came out, separated Cao Wenzhao's troops, and besieged Cao Bianjiao first.

Cao Bianjiao didn't fight for a while, but turned around and fled. Cao Bianjiao didn't know what the plan was, so he pursued him and was led to the Diaoling Pass area. As a result, the officers and soldiers were scattered at both ends, and it was difficult to look at the head and tail. Li Zicheng led his army to attack Cao Wenzhao.

Headquarters,

Even though Cao Wenzhao only had 3,000 troops, he was still unstoppable and defeated countless enemies. However, after all, the enemy was outnumbered and we were gradually unable to support him. Seeing that the situation was not good, Cao Wenzhao decided to retreat, but suddenly a soldier pointed at him.

Cao Wenzhao shouted: "General Cao, save me!"

The bandit didn't know it was Cao Wenzhao. When he heard this, he rushed towards Cao Wenzhao with all his strength. Cao Wenzhao wielded a sword and fought to the death. He was injured in more than ten places, but he still broke out and fled to Jijiashan. Enter.

Behind the mountain, Cao Wenzhao was trapped and out of horses, his wounds continued to bleed, and he had no soldiers around him to fight. The bandits surrounded him in large numbers. Cao Wenzhao looked up when he saw the breakout, looked up to the sky and sighed, kowtowed three times in the direction of the capital, and then drew his sword and committed suicide.

.

The death of Cao Wenzhao was a major turning point in the battle between the Ming Dynasty and the rogue bandits. From then on, the rogue bandits' morale was greatly boosted and they believed that there was no one invincible in the world. However, the morale of the Ming army was damaged. Fortunately, Sun Chuanting achieved a great victory on the other side of the battlefield.

, to stabilize the morale of the military.

As for Cao Bianjiao, he later broke through the siege and cried bitterly when he learned that his uncle was killed in battle.
Chapter completed!