"My official, Fan Shutai, was ordered to go to Datong Prefecture to investigate the people's situation. After I arrived in Datong, I disguised myself and walked around the streets... I was shocked to hear that there was a big bandit in Shanxi, named Pei Xiaoer.

This man founded the Pei family army and now has 100,000 troops. He has occupied the three counties of Anyi, Xia County and Wenxi County. He has carried out perverse actions, causing the people to be displaced. He has set up government offices and given the title of honor. He is actually a great thief of the country...

..”

In the memorial, Fan Shutai described in detail the size and composition of Pei Xiaoer's Pei family army in southern Shanxi, and pointed out that compared with other bandits, sitting bandits like Pei Xiaoer were even more of a nuisance to the imperial court. Bandits roamed everywhere,

It was nothing more than robbery and murder. He did not have a complete set of administrative agencies composed of scholars. But at that time, the people's support was not there, and all the troops of the rogue bandits were just castles in the air without a foundation.

But Pei Xiaoer is very different from sitting in the bandit. Sitting in the bandit means stability. Corresponding government agencies will be established, and as time goes by, people's hearts will succumb to him, allowing him to obtain a steady stream of money, food, and soldiers, etc., and destroy them.

It was extremely difficult at the time, and if she grew up in the future, she might be another replica of the Jianzhou Jurchen.

Finally, he said: "The people are hanging upside down, trapped in water and fire, suffering day and night, waiting for the king's master. I also hope that your majesty will be aware of it and send troops as soon as possible to cut off the heads of the thieves and save the people from the fire and water."

Even though the officials of the Ming Dynasty were constantly fighting internally and in a complete mess externally, this did not mean that they were stupid. They could still clearly see who was the greatest threat.

Is there such a thing? Chongzhen suddenly opened his eyes wide and glared at the ministers. He had never heard anyone report this before, but now it was suddenly revealed that the scale of the Pei thieves had reached a level that was so overwhelming that it was difficult to control it.

If I hadn't photographed Fan Shutai and visited Shanxi, I might still be kept in the dark.

Chongzhen was angry, surprisingly angry. What he was most worried about was not corruption or bandits, but officials colluding for personal gain and colluding to deceive themselves. At the same time, Chongzhen was also afraid. What he was afraid of was that even though this matter was exposed,

came out, but how many things have not been revealed? How many things are you still kept in the dark about?

Chongzhen angrily slapped his hand on the armrest of the dragon chair and said, "Why didn't you report this matter earlier? Do you have to wait until the thief becomes powerful?"

When the emperor was angry, he laid down millions of corpses and left them with blood. Although Chongzhen did not kill like this, he killed not only 1,000 but also 800 people.

Seeing that Chongzhen was angry, all the ministers knelt down and begged for punishment: "I am guilty."

"Guilty, guilty. They will say guilty all day long. Won't you think of a way to put an end to this?" Chongzhen was angry at the top. Seeing that the ministers below were just kowtowing and no one dared to speak, he immediately became even more angry and called out: "

Zhou Yanru, you are the chief minister, can you tell me why this happened?"

Zhou Yanru was called out by Chongzhen and walked to the center. In fact, he had just learned about it, and no one had ever reported it before. But think about it, bandits suddenly appeared in the world, and countless states and counties were conquered. Like Pei

Xiao Er, who only conquered three counties, is at best of a bad nature and needs to be dealt with early to avoid causing a catastrophe. To be honest, he will not be reported to his side, and he will be directly suppressed by the local governor.

But he couldn't say this to Chongzhen. He could only say: "Your Majesty, maybe the governor of Shanxi thought he could suppress it and didn't have time to retaliate."

Zhou Yanru's words obviously did not satisfy Chongzhen. Wen Tiren stood up and said calmly: "Your Majesty, I think it must be the result of the people below forming a clique for personal gain and deceiving the imperial court."

As soon as Wen Tiren finished speaking, he heard that Zhou Yanru felt chills all over his body and the hairs on his hair stood on end. He said what did this mean? The people below are forming a clique. If he just spoke for the people below, wouldn't he also become a rebel against the clique below?

?You must know that what Chongzhen hated most in his life were people who formed cliques for selfish ends.

Sure enough, Chongzhen's face turned cold. He looked at Zhou Yanru coldly and said, "Chief Assistant, what do you think?"

Zhou Yanru gritted his teeth and suddenly knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, I think Lord Wen's words are inappropriate."

There was no other way. He just said that the people below were fine. Now Zhou Yanru could only pretend to be fat. He turned around and asked Wen Tiren: "Mr. Wen, how can you accuse someone of innocence without any evidence?"

Wen Tiren looked at Zhou Yanru and smiled slightly, lowered his head and did not defend himself. In fact, sometimes the power of silence is more convincing than a thousand words.

Sure enough, Chongzhen did not follow Zhou Yanru to question Wen Tiren, but said coldly: "Master Zhou, you are tired, go back and rest first."

Zhou Yanru's eyes were focused, and even his face, which was usually emotionless and emotionless, could vaguely see his despair, and he said in a low voice: "Yes, I will retire."

After Zhou Yanru left, Wen Tiren became the first person under Chongzhen. This is the time to show his ability. Wen Tiren said: "Your Majesty, I have a plan to defeat Pei Xiaoer."

"Oh? Tell me about it?" Chongzhen became interested and asked in a more comfortable position.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I think that the Taiyuan thieves seem to have a large number of troops, but in fact most of them are just the people who are holding them hostage and cannot be defeated.

Now the officers and soldiers are divided into three groups to jointly attack the Taiyuan thieves. As the saying goes, how can you kill a chicken with a bull's sword? I think that there are too many officers and soldiers, so I can divide some of them to attack the Wenxi and Pei thieves.

In this way, even if we cannot defeat the Pei thieves in one fell swoop, we can still hold them back. When our Taiyuan officers and soldiers defeat the Taiyuan thieves, with the power of victory, we will march south and cooperate with the officers and soldiers who confront the Pei thieves. We will definitely defeat the Pei thieves.

This will relieve Shanxi’s worries.”

"Great kindness." Chongzhen stood up with a high-five and walked back and forth for a few steps, thinking over the details again and again. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was a brilliant plan. He looked at Wen Tiren with approval and said with emotion: "If only all the officials in the world could be as loyal as Wen Qing.

As a country, why should the Ming Dynasty worry about not being revived?"

"Your Majesty is so complimentary." Wen Tiren said modestly.

"Then according to Wen Qing, who is more suitable to send south to attack the Pei thieves?"

"Your Majesty, I believe that the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, is smart and studious, and is well versed in military matters. He has experienced military exploits in Shaanxi and can be said to be the first candidate to go south."

"What about Taiyuan?" Chongzhen was a little worried.

"Your Majesty, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Cao Wenzhao is brave and good at fighting. With him as Commander-in-Chief of Shanxi Province, together with the assistance of Lu Xiangsheng and Zhang Zongheng, we will surely be able to pacify the Taiyuan bandits and ensure peace."

"Okay, I will follow your plan and send people to Shaanxi immediately. Tell Hong Chengchou to immediately change direction and attack Xia County, Anyi from Shaanxi. We must put down the leader of the thieves, Pei Xiaoer."

"Your Majesty, you are wise."

On the other side, Jiexiu, Shanxi.

After Pei Xiaoer invaded Jiexiu, he immediately sent troops to arrest all the Fan family members they could find and imprison them in the county jail. At the same time, he sent people to select a distant relative from the Fan family, but there was some confusion.

The famous Fan family mentioned Pei Xiaoer's courtyard.

"There is something I need you to do," Pei Xiaoer circled around Fan Wenfeng who was kneeling on the ground, "Are you willing?"

"I wish." Fan Wenfeng didn't know what Pei Xiaoer asked him to do, so he just kept kowtowing.

"What I want you to do is not complicated." Pei Xiaoer knelt down, stared closely at his face, took out a letter from his arms and said: "Give this letter to your head of the Fan family and tell him, if

If you want to save the lives of the entire Fan family, let Pei Zhuer go free. If Pei Zhuer is harmed in any way, you Fan family members will fight for his life."

Fan Wenfeng was overjoyed and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that his life had been saved. He hurriedly said to Pei Xiaoer: "Yes, general, I will definitely tell the head of my family."

"Remember, you only have ten days. In the past day, the lives of your Fan family will be gone."

"Ten days?" Fan Wenfeng hesitated slightly.

"What? Too few? Then I'll find someone else." After saying that, Pei Xiaoer got up and walked outside.

"Enough, ten days is enough." Fan Wenfeng quickly agreed. If he passed this time, he might never be able to leave again.

"Well, you can get out."

"Yes, yes, I'll take my leave." Fan Wenfeng raised his head cautiously and glanced at Pei Xiaoer. Seeing that he looked indifferent and didn't want to lie to him, he stood up carefully and slowly backed out, waiting for him to pass a corner.
Chapter completed!