Chapter 1138: Fighting the Rebellion in the South, Going South to Youyang
Zhou Chen led his troops from Bianjing City, all the way south, and then began a journey to suppress bandits.
The reason why Emperor Zhaode's rebel army was so powerful was not because it was strong, but because it dispersed into many waves and rebelled in various parts of the south.
They are said to be rebels, but in fact they are no different from bandits and bandits. There are even some government scum, because what they do is really no better than bandits.
If the big cities couldn't be conquered, they would do evil in the small towns, robbing farmers, rich households, and caravans. In short, they didn't look like rebels at all. They were just a group of people who couldn't survive and formed selfish gangs.
faction to rebel against the imperial court.
But because of this, it is more troublesome to eliminate them, because they will not get together at all, they all work independently, and some even rob wherever they go.
Zhou Chen's purpose is to suppress the rebellion and wipe out all the rebels, so this is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task that cannot be completed in a short time.
Of course, their main target is the rebel leader, Emperor Zhaode, Nong Zhigao.
It's just that this guy is very cunning. His presence has been reported all over the south. No one knows where he is exactly. It's really not easy to catch him.
Faced with this situation, Zhou Chen was not in a hurry. He first led his troops to the south, identified several places where the rebels were making the most noise, and then began to eliminate them one by one.
With the official decree, the local Xiang army had to listen to Zhou Chen's dispatches even if they were reluctant. Therefore, although Zhou Chen only brought 10,000 dragon guards, he could mobilize the local Xiang army militia, so he was not afraid of a shortage of troops.
In the process of wiping out the rebels, Zhou Chen appointed Gu Tingye as the vanguard general and asked him to lead the troops into battle.
Gu Tingye was indeed a brave man. He often served as a soldier and killed many rebels.
…………
Bianjing City!
It had been almost half a month since Zhou Chen led his army to leave. On this day, the old lady of Shengfu got married to the eldest son of the Sheng family in Yuyang's hometown. She missed the old lady of the eldest family, so she decided to go back to Youyang to meet the old lady.
sister-in-law.
They are all elderly people, and no one knows how long they can live. The last time I saw the old lady of the big house was when I got married in Hualan. Several years have passed in the blink of an eye, so the old lady is thinking about this time.
Take advantage of the excitement to meet the old lady in the big house, otherwise it’s hard to say whether we’ll be able to see her again in the future.
However, she did not plan to go alone. Instead, she asked Sheng Hong for Minglan and planned to take Minglan to Youyang.
Sheng Hong naturally had no objection to this, and specially prepared many gifts, arranged for ship guards, maids and envoys, etc.
After nearly a month of preparation, the day of departure was finally approaching.
When Hualan learned that the old lady was leaving, she was naturally very worried and came to Sheng Mansion several times to visit the old lady.
Because the old lady and Minglan were leaving tomorrow, Hualan came to Shengfu again today.
In the Shou'an Hall, Hua Lan reluctantly pulled the old lady.
"Grandma, why don't I go with you tomorrow? Nowadays, the rebels are raging in the south. Even the officials have been sent to the south to suppress the bandits. The journey to Youyang is not peaceful. You and the Sixth Sister are going. I'm really worried.
Don't worry."
The old lady gave Hua Lan a slap and said: "You kid, what nonsense are you talking about? Now that Sanlang is out to suppress bandits, you are the head of the Hou Mansion. You are the eldest lady of the Hou Mansion. If you are not here, who will be in this huge Hou Mansion?"
Help you take care of it? It’s not like I’m too old to move, not to mention there’s a girl named Ming. You don’t have to worry about me. Taking good care of the Marquis Mansion is what you should do.”
She also knew that her granddaughter was worried about her and for her own good, but she didn't want Hualan to delay her important affairs for her own sake. As the head of the family, how could she be away from home for a long time, let alone two children at home?
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Hua Lan also knew that what she said was unrealistic, but she was just worried.
"Grandma, I really didn't mean to scare people. The south is really unstable right now. Do you have to go this time?"
The old lady sighed: "Actually, Chang Wu's marriage is secondary. When I go to Youyang this time, the most important thing is to see the old lady in the big house. She is the best relationship with me. She has been sick for several years now."
, it’s even worse to come in, she wrote me a letter, thinking about me; I don’t have much time left, so I want to go back and see her.”
"Grandma, what are you talking about? You are so energetic and energetic. You will definitely live a long life. Don't say such depressing words."
"Hua'er, I'm not saying this in a depressing way, but at my age, I know one thing in my heart: once we see each other, we'll miss each other. So this time, I will definitely go back. As for you, just stay in the capital.
Just take care of the Marquis Mansion for Sanlang and the children, don't miss me."
Hua Lan refused and said, "You are my grandmother. I don't miss you, but who do I miss? It's okay if you don't let me go, but you must reassure me. The official left me a lot of capable guards before he left.
, take them with you when you leave."
"No, really no need." The old lady waved her hands repeatedly.
"Grandma, the south is really unstable. This is my granddaughter's filial piety. If the officials know about it, they will definitely do the same. Just follow me, otherwise I will worry about you at home."
Seeing Hua Lan's persistence, the old lady clapped her hand and said happily: "Okay, then I'll follow you, you kid."
In fact, she didn't take it too seriously. She just thought it was just a few guards and it was no big deal.
"Hua'er, does your father still ignore you these days?"
Hua Lan's face changed slightly, her smile stopped, and she pretended to be calm and said: "Grandma, you don't have to worry about me. My father and I are biological father and daughter after all. He is just annoying me, but it won't last long."
"Your father is such a respectable person. He must have been very angry when you did that last time."
Sheng Hong was raised by the old lady, and she knew his temper best, and she looked dissatisfied.
"I saw everything that happened that day. I don't blame you, but he himself is to blame. A concubine is so pampered that she can't tell the difference between legitimate concubine and concubine, good or bad. A prosperous manor is being ruined.
The mess they made is all your father's responsibility."
Although it is not a good thing to say something bad about your son in front of your granddaughter, the old lady's opinion of Sheng Hong has changed for a long time.
In the past, when Sheng Hong needed to rely on her, he was very obedient to her, but since the Sheng family gradually got better, he became the master, and took Lin Sushuang as his concubine, everything has changed, and he has become more and more fooled by her.
, the father-in-law’s yin and yang went against his will.
In fact, she knew that they were not mother and son, and their relationship was destined not to be too close, as long as they maintained superficial harmony.
But Sheng Hong doted on his concubines and killed his wife, making the Sheng Mansion into a mess. If she hadn't managed to keep it under control, I don't know what kind of ruin the family would have been in.
She has no hope for Sheng Hong, but the next generation of the Sheng family are all good children.
Needless to say, the eldest son Sheng Changbai is much more capable than Sheng Hong was back then. The eldest daughter has become the Marquis's wife, and the Sheng family is about to become even better.
But Sheng Hong was better off. For the sake of a concubine and the erring concubine, he couldn't distinguish the priorities and only relied on his own preferences to deal with family conflicts. In the end, he and his own daughter were in such trouble that they didn't say a word for more than a month.
.
What made her even more dissatisfied was that for more than a month, Sheng Hong basically stayed at Lin Xiaoniang's place to spend the night. He didn't talk to Wang Ruofu very much, and he didn't often go to Wang Ruofu's place to spend the night. During this period, he even talked to Wang Ruofu.
We argued several times.
Such behavior is not even remotely Qingliu's style, if only it was from the past.
But the problem is that now Sheng Changbai is married and his daughter-in-law is staying at home. If Sheng Hong's actions fall into the eyes of his daughter-in-law, what does the daughter-in-law think? What does the daughter-in-law think of her mother-in-law?
This is no longer a matter of shame for Wang Ruofu, the mother-in-law, but a matter of the family tradition of the Sheng family.
"Fortunately, Changbai is a good boy. He is different from your father. Changbai's wife is also a good one. I like her very much."
Although the old lady is not close to Sheng Changbai, she still likes Sheng Changbai. She is even more satisfied with Sheng Changbai's newly married wife Haishi. Haishi is more elegant and a matron of the house than her daughter-in-law Wang Ruofu.
temperament.
Speaking of her younger brother and sister-in-law, Hua Lan also smiled.
"Grandma is right. Changbai and his sister-in-law are both good children. It's a coincidence that my courtyard in the Hou Mansion is called Chaoyun Pavilion, and my sister-in-law's maiden name is also Chaoyun. It's really fate."
The old lady also burst out laughing. This thing was really a coincidence. Who would have thought that such a coincidence would happen.
Hua Lan added: "Grandma, don't worry about me. There is nothing between me and my father. I don't care about it a long time ago."
She was dissatisfied with Sheng Hong's behavior that day, but after she vented her anger at that time, she didn't have much resentment anymore.
But obviously, she gave up, but her father Sheng Hong did not. More than a month later, he still had a lot of resentment towards her. Even if he greeted her, he would either ignore her or act weirdly.
Hua Lan accompanied the old lady and talked for a long time.
The next day, she went to see the old lady off in person and brought the guards with her.
When the old lady saw the dozen or so guards that Hua Lan had brought, she was immediately shocked. She was unwilling to take them with them, but she couldn't resist Hua Lan and finally had to take them with them.
Hua Lan called Minglan over again and gave them some instructions before sending them off by boat.
After bidding farewell to her grandmother, she was about to leave, but was surprised to find that a ship was following closely behind the ship that her grandmother and the others had just left.
She looked familiar, so she asked her subordinates to inquire, and soon got the answer.
"Is the boat belonging to Duke Qi's family the Young Duke of Qi? Is he doing it for Sixth Sister?"
Hua Lan was confused, but she only had this explanation, but this matter made her a little worried. The young master Qi was indeed good, but his sixth sister was not a good match for Qi Heng. If it continued like this, would it be a good thing or a bad thing?
It's really hard to say.
Thinking of this, while she was worried, she couldn't help but think of herself.
In fact, she and Zhou Chen were not a good match at the beginning, but Zhou Chen's situation was different from Qi Heng's, and another point was that her mother-in-law was also different from the Princess Pingning.
South of Jiangling, Zhou Chen is currently stationed here with his army.
He has been leading the army to suppress bandits for some time, and has killed many bandits, but the whereabouts of Zhaode Emperor Nong Zhigao have not yet been found.
On the contrary, they captured several rebel leaders and tortured them severely, but the answers they received were not satisfactory either.
There are many answers. Basically, these people have never met Nong Zhigao, but they have some contact with him, but there is no more information.
Zhou Chen estimated that either Nong Zhigao was hiding deeply, or he was already dead, and the current Emperor Zhaode was simply someone using Nong Zhigao's name to stir up trouble.
It's all possible, so it's impossible to be sure.
To Zhou Chen's surprise, he received a letter from home, sent by Hua Lan. The letter told him that his grandmother and Minglan went to Youyang, and she sent a dozen guards to follow them.
When Zhou Chen learned about this, he couldn't help but think of the incident in the plot where the old lady and Minglan encountered water bandits. If Gu Tingye hadn't rescued them in time, Minglan would have probably suffered an accident.
But now Gu Tingye is with him as a vanguard general and is not with the Cao gang. Even if Minglan is in danger, Gu Tingye cannot save her.
Fortunately, Hualan was worried about the safety of the old lady and brought a dozen guards with him. They were all elites he had trained. Even if they encountered water bandits, as long as they were not surrounded, they should still be able to protect the old lady and Minglan.
After thinking about it, he still called Gu Tingye over. It happened that Shitou beside Gu Tingye also came with him to join the army, so he asked Shitou to write a letter to his brother and sister-in-law who were making a living in Caobang, asking them to take care of him along the way.
When you encounter the Sheng family's boat, help protect it.
After doing everything he could, Zhou Chen began to concentrate on suppressing the rebellion.
In the blink of an eye, more than a month has passed. Under the counter-insurgency momentum of Zhou Chen's autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves, the rebels in many places in the south have been eliminated, but the leader of the thieves has still not been eradicated.
The momentum of the rebels has become weaker and weaker. Zhou Chen specially picked strong rebels to fight. The rebels in many places were dispersed by Zhou Chen and turned into small groups of rogues. Although there are still some
A threat, but no longer enough to threaten the government.
After suppressing the rebellion along the way, he also discovered a problem, that is, not only were there many rebels in the south, but there were also not a few bandits and bandits.
Some remote mountain peaks, rivers, and traffic arteries often gather one or more groups of bandits. Because they are familiar with the terrain and environment, it is extremely difficult to eliminate them even if they send a large number of officers and soldiers.
Because there are too many, they are scattered too widely, and they will be scattered in a single fight. Even if Zhou Chen wants to destroy them, he really does not have the strength and energy.
These bandits and bandits are like weeds. Weeds cannot be burned away but will grow again when the spring breeze blows.
The local government would often report these bandits to the court as rebels. Unexpected court officials and officials thought that there were really many rebels in the south.
In order to deal with the rebels as quickly as possible, Zhou Chen divided the army into three parts. He led two armies, and asked Gu Tingye to lead the two armies. Another commander led the two armies to clear the rebels from three directions to improve efficiency.