"I would like to say that the overall situation of the campaign must be reviewed, the military pay must be fully planned, and the supervisor must do his best. I would like to state three important matters again. I specifically request the Ministry of Public Security to ensure their implementation, so that we can deal with the thieves as soon as possible...
…”
In the dark wilderness in the southeast of Dingyuan County, Huaixi Province, there are some bright and huge lanterns, swinging in the wind in the cold night. Around those lanterns, dense camps can be vaguely seen.
Next to the tall pole of the largest lantern is a handsome tent. The curtain has not been lowered. A middle-aged man with a thin cheek is standing in front of the door. He is tall. Although it is the middle of winter, he is wearing a scholar's uniform and a square hat.
He was wearing thin clothes and seemed to be weak, which seemed incompatible with the military camp in the wilderness at this time. However, he was in the midst of thousands of troops, but his expression was calm, his eyes were slightly squinted, and he was listening to the low voice of his subordinates behind him.
The middle-aged man said, "I will add a few sentences here to briefly explain the title. Since I took office, it seems that there have been five books on this important strategy for suppressing bandits. I am the prime minister of the five provinces. After all, I am appointed by the emperor to serve.
It’s not for discussion.”
The subordinates behind him agreed and made changes on the desk. The middle-aged man at the door slowly turned around and returned to the tent. The guard in front of the door immediately lowered the curtain to block the invading chill.
"Leave it on."
The guard quickly opened the door curtain again. The middle-aged man did not sit down. He stood in front of a small table. On the knife holder above was a two-handed knife. The blade was wider than the commonly used waist knife and the weight should be more than twice that of the waist knife.
He easily lifted it with one hand, but did not pull out the blade.
He is the newly appointed Prime Minister of the five provinces, Lu Xiangsheng. He also served as the governor of Huguang for the past two months. His official title is "The Prime Minister is directly under the direct control of Henan, Shandong, Chuanhu and other places, military affairs inspector, Huguang and other places, the right deputy capital censor of the Procuratorate".
The title of the official position has thirty-two characters, which is eight times that of Pang Yu's Anqing garrison, which is enough to reflect the huge gap in status.
The subordinate looked up and said, "The Prime Minister has won two victories in Henan and Central China. I think the Emperor can see it."
"Although there were two victories in central Henan, the thieves later entered Nanzhi, Hanshan, Hezhou, and Quanjiao and were defeated one after another. It is not time to talk about previous achievements. They had to defeat a large force like Nanzhi." Lu Xiangsheng said softly.
Putting down the knife, "Read your own."
"...The thieves have been on the rampage for eight years, running wildly across seven provinces, with a crowd of 4 to 50 million, and divided into more than 100 battalions, and their power has been established. The harm they caused has been unheard of in previous generations, and it is even worse if it is regarded as divination.
The ministers and governors are fighting but not defending. However, the ministers in the provinces should still fight and defend. The troops who are both host and guest are indispensable..."
Lu Xiangsheng was standing in the tent. Hearing this, he interrupted and said, "After fighting but not defending, add a sentence of suppressing but not blocking. After fighting and defending, add suppressing and blocking."
After thinking for a moment, the subordinate said, "Your Excellency, I have thought carefully. There is a real difference between fighting and defending. What the local ministers want is to protect the county and city. There are few but thieves outside. If you fight and defend, you can only defend the city."
In other places, thieves are allowed to run rampant, bandits are running amok, and the atmosphere of thieves is getting more and more rampant. Local ministers must work hard, otherwise the prime minister and governors will still suppress but not block, and it will be easy to defeat the thieves but difficult to destroy them.
also."
Lu Xiangsheng sat down on a square stool, pondered for a moment and then said calmly, "The emperor has made clear the previous five copies of the key strategies for suppressing the bandits, and the subordinates have reviewed them and sent them to the governors of each province. Recently, they have achieved some results, but
This time when the thieves entered Nanzhi, Governor Feng and Governor Yingtian only defended the city but did not fight. It is possible that the city collapsed without a fight, let alone suppressed it. We still need to vigorously supervise."
"There are no heavy troops in the south, just like elsewhere. Seeing that the thieves are strong, they start to set up troops. Governor Feng only wants to defend the central capital. Taking advantage of Yang Yipeng's experience, he will not send troops outside, but Ying Tianna
Bian, last year he defeated the Scorpion Block in the North Gorge of Tongcheng and beheaded hundreds of people. The leader was Shi Kefa, who organized the troops and prepared the road."
"If he can block Anqing, it will be considered a great achievement. I hope that Jiangpu and Yangzhou can have such soldiers and horses, so that they can destroy this big force this time. Yuanru, please continue reading."
The subordinate responded. He was Lu Xiangsheng's Chinese guerrilla Zhou Yuanru. He was also a guerrilla in the past. He was in charge of Huguang's capture and signing of the capital. This man was good at literature and martial arts. When Lu Xiang was promoted to the governor of Huguang, he admired Zhou Yuanru's talents very much.
After being promoted to the premier of the five provinces, he specifically requested the emperor to transfer this person to the Central Army, but he was regarded as Lu Xiangsheng's most important confidant. Although the position was still that of Huguang Dusi, there was a shortage of guerrillas, but with Lu Xiangsheng's appreciation, he would definitely have a bright future in the future.
of.
Zhou Yuanru immersed himself in recording Lu Xiangsheng's opinions. This manuscript was a version that had been polished by the book office. Since it was sent to the emperor, it had to be personally reviewed many times by Lu Xiangsheng before being sent to the capital.
"...the governors and ministers are called generals, and their responsibilities should be matched with their powers. Suppressing troops cannot be assigned, and clear edicts have been issued repeatedly. Each province's ministers have the important task of enclosing borders. There are thieves in one place, and they ask for help in another place.
, One place needs soldiers, another place needs coordination, and it should not be like Wu and Yue. How can we support the divisions? If I pretend to be peaceful, I can still mediate and accommodate. If I use troops to suppress bandits, how can I tolerate grievances and wandering."
When Zhou Yuanru read this, he raised his head and said, "The lower officials will still write down the governors and ministers, and give advice in the name of prime minister and governor, so as to prevent those ministers from becoming enemies of you."
Lu Xiangsheng nodded. Among the officials in the world at this time, the only one most similar to him was the governor of Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou.
It's not out of selfish motives, but it also slightly reduces the hostility of those local officials.
He stood up and walked to the table, reached for the title book and pondered for a moment, then said, "This item can be written like this. Among the three items, the military pay needs to be fully raised, so use more pen and ink."
Zhou Yuanru said in a low voice, "Young man understands that the Chinese army has been having difficulty moving in recent days. If we follow the previous proposal, each day of the cavalry will be worth one cent and two cents for salt, grain and grass, and the infantry will be worth six cents for each day. In recent years, there has been a shortage of troops caused by thieves and the price of grain in Huguang and Henan."
Tenggui, one stone of grain is worth 2,267 qian, millet is 2,212 qian, and beans are worth 1,278 qian. The household price is still the original price, which is only one-third. All of these must be considered by the emperor.
It’s good to check your talents.”
"The Ministry of War has decided to set up a total of 100,000 troops in the five provinces, but each province is actually only 178,000. However, the monthly silver consumption has reached 260,000 taels, and the annual fee is more than 3 million, but not all of them may be used for practical purposes." Lu Xiangsheng
Putting the manuscript back in front of Zhou Yuanru, he said in a calm tone, "In the past, we used weapons instead of weapons to suppress thieves. This is to suppress today's thieves. If there are more thieves, then more troops will be added. When the troops are gathered, pay will be discussed. But before the pay arrives, the troops will not be there for a long time."
The army is already in a backward situation and is always in danger. Once there is a lack of pay, the soldiers will immediately turn into thieves. At this critical moment, it is necessary to recruit foreign and domestic troops without hesitation and not worry about the suffering. Only then can there be any hope of destroying the invaders.
"
"Then the villain here added some words and ink, talking about this salary. Every time you ask for salary, you may not get it, and you can't pay it. On the contrary, some officials have gained a reputation, and they take the opportunity to send out heavy troops to knock out the bones and suck out the marrow. The momentum is like fighting a fire with salary.
"If one thief is eliminated, a hundred will follow; if a hundred thieves are eliminated, a thousand will follow. If the people are not exhausted, the thieves will not be exhausted. What can be done about it?"
Lu Xiangsheng said softly, "You cannot say such words to others outside this big tent."
Zhou Yuanru paused and said, "The official said these words with some fear in his heart, but it is true that things in the world are difficult."
At this time, there were footsteps hurriedly arriving outside the tent, and both of them stopped talking.
A dark figure stopped in front of the door. After seeing Lu Xiangsheng through the firelight in the tent, he immediately knelt down and said, "Let the Prime Minister know that Ye Busuo stopped the two Tang and Ma people from Chuzhou on their way to Fengyang on the official road and reported the bandits from Jiangpu."
As big as Chuzhou, there are no less than 100,000 people, including the Eight Thieves, the Sweeper King, the Scorpion Block, the Chutaitian, and the Flying Mantian."
Lu Xiangsheng stood calmly in the tent and asked the sentry, "Have you verified Tang Ma?"
"The villain has checked their accents, military badges, and newspaper numbers respectively, and asked the governor's Yamen about the handover documents. There are no mistakes or omissions."
After hearing this, Lu Xiangsheng looked at Zhou Yuanru. Zhou Yuanru stood up and said, "The bandit turned around and headed north. Gao Scarzi will not go to Yangzhou."
"At dawn, when we prepare food, the whole army will go to Chuzhou. Let General Zu's troops go ahead and pursue them with all their strength. Not a single soldier will be sent to other places." Lu Xiangsheng turned to the sentry, "Bring the two Tang horses to the big tent.
I will personally question you later."
Seeing this, Zhou Yuanru said, "There are still two hours until dawn. Sir, you should rest for a while."
Lu Xiangsheng shook his head, "First check this article, and then ask the two Tang horses. After that, I will check the provisions of each department with my officer, and decide on the order of tomorrow's march, camp and accommodation."
"It's been eight years since the thieves rose, and it won't be possible to destroy them in one day. Your Excellency, we are the capital of the country, so please don't overwork yourself."
Lu Xiangsheng waved his hand, took the knife from the knife holder, held it in front of his chest and slowly walked to the tent door. The light of the lantern above his head could only vaguely illuminate the nearby scenery. On the dark skyline in the distance, the tents
The top of the camp outlines undulating curves, and the lanterns above each bright camp emit different colors, which looks a bit illusory in the dark night.
"You keep reading."
Zhou Yuanru lowered his head to look at the manuscript, and after a moment he whispered, "Today, the officials in the border areas are suffering a lot of hardships. Under the cold rain and wind, in the mortal world and the red sun, they are fighting with iron horses and gold, and they are always putting their lives on the front. How can it be so special?"
The honor of being an official has never been achieved... (Note 1)
As Zhou Yuanru recited in a low voice, Lu Xiangsheng, the prime minister of the five provinces, stood in front of the tent, feeling the coldness from the scabbard with his hands, and said softly, "The world is difficult, and there must be someone who knows what cannot be done and does it."
…
Note 1: Lu Xiangsheng's "The Three Great Opportunities of Dangerous Bandits"