Chapter 304: A secret expression of thoughts, scholars follow the thief

Li Zicheng left Sichuan, passed through the Yunyang area of ​​Huguang, and entered Henan. Although Zuo Liangyu disdained to call him a small bandit, after entering Henan, various forces that had already been in Henan for a long time came to surrender.

The rebel army has always had a connection with Henan. When they were active in Henan during the day, many old subordinates stayed for various reasons. The names "Old Dangdang, One Dragon, Xiao Yuanying, Old Yuanying, Yidou Valley" sounded ridiculous, and more or less the refugee brigades participated by Shaanxi people.

Li Zicheng was known as the King of Chuang and was the leader of various refugees and riots. He had a very high reputation among the refugees. This time he entered Henan, the refugee teams who were originally in charge of their own affairs and were hostile to each other came to surrender.

After entering Henan, the tribes of less than a thousand people had become more than 100,000 tribes in just one month, and the camp that was about to be destroyed suddenly became giant beasts.

More than 100,000 troops suddenly appeared in western Henan, and the whole people in Henan were panicked. It seemed that the twelfth lunar month of the 13th year of Chongzhen must have been uneasy.

Henan Governor Li Xianfeng desperately sent messengers to the capital to ask for help. At the same time, Yang Sichang, who was still in the Sichuan commander, sent an urgent message, requesting to transfer the troops back to Henan and return to Henan to resist the bandits.

Li Xianfeng saw the strength of Shandong soldiers last time. This time the matter was so urgent, and he didn't care about any politeness in the officialdom. He directly requested to transfer Shandong soldiers to Henan for rescue in the memorial.

Yang Sichang, who was in charge of the Sichuan army, finally felt embarrassed. Zhang and Luo's troops gradually recovered their vitality. They were chased and beaten by officers and soldiers, but now they dare to set off on the field with officers and soldiers, and they won more than lose less.

The imperial court in the capital is now a little panicked, but he still has some hope for the troops of the five provinces led by Yang Sichang. He hopes that after Yang Sichang eliminates Zhang and Luo's troops, he can return to Henan to deal with the powerful Li Zicheng.

I don’t know if it indicates anything. Xiong Wencan, who was in charge of pacification in the five prime minister provinces, was beheaded and abandoned in the capital in November. Such a high-ranking official was often punished for death, which seemed not a rare thing in the Ming Dynasty.

Since it was confirmed that Chen Liu and Zhang Jiang were permanently stationed in the Huaihe area, Nanjing’s Ministry of War was in a state of great trouble. Yangzhou Prefecture and the Nanzhi Army stationed in Jiangbei all day long complained that it was the Huainan Army and often paraded in Yangzhou Prefecture, which was clearly not their jurisdiction.

Moreover, the army was acting rashly, and the merchants were disturbed by the local soldiers and stopped them. The Jiaozhou camp Huainan army did not let go of them at all, and they even spoke ill of each other, and even had the stance of taking action.

After so many years of military and Ma Taiping in Nanzhili, he knew what kind of material he was. He dared to turn against the other party, and often he could only retreat.

If the troops want to live a good life, they also need to look at the territory they are stationed and their ability to protect and deter the local area. At present, this territory is squeezed little by little by little by little by little by little by little by little, and they are not afraid to fight. They can only retreat step by step. The local businessmen, gentry, and the people gradually see something wrong and who is in charge.

The local soldiers and horses in Nanzhili were naturally unwilling to give up, but the people who transferred Shandong soldiers and horses to Nanzhili were the opinions of the Nanjing Ministry of War, local officials and the court to unify the government. The so-called broken teeth and swallowed them in their stomachs. As a result, the document stating the crimes of the Huainan Army was like snowflakes. The way Nanjing City handled it was to pinch its nose and send it to the Huainan Army to let them pay attention.

Chen Liu ignored these documents and did not even count the action of scratching the tickles. He only remembered Li Meng's instructions, and the limit was to avoid fighting against the troops and horses in Nanzhili. As long as you did not take action, you should try to go south as much as possible.

If people are about to starve to death, who cares about saltiness? Among the documents compiled by Zhou Yang and Ning Gangui, Li Meng found that even though he had a foot in Lianghuai Salt Industry and the protection fees given by salt merchants, the income growth did not jump as expected.

Because the chaotic areas in various places have increased, the area of ​​salt sales has become smaller, and the sales of salt are of course also affected.

However, it is a little added that the private port ships belong to Jiaozhou camp, and the number of ships has increased to more than 40. This sea trade business is the only increasingly prosperous business in the troubled times.

The benefits of establishing a military farm in Jiaozhou are now reflected. At least there is no need to worry about food supply, and local public security is much more stable due to the existence of the food supply. However, the development of military farms has gradually stagnated, and the growth of both manpower and land has become extremely slow.

The reason is very simple. The land in Shandong has been concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people. If the merger continues, it means that these big families have annexed each other.

Moreover, those civilians and small and medium-sized landlords who supported it found that the famine was not impossible to survive. At least the drought was not that serious. Shandong had locust plagues in Yanzhou and Dengzhou, but they were controlled in one or two counties and did not spread.

The construction of water conservancy and other agricultural development measures organized by Tuntiantianzhuang, and the use of so much manpower to do, actually improved the environment of Shandong to some extent. It is true that the disaster in the world is great, but Shandong has improved a lot to some extent.

The military farming gathers people to support the people, and the farms sends grain to the countryside to send troops. This system has almost become the purpose of Jiaozhou Camp. Chen Liu and Zhangjiang are stationed in Lianghuai, and there are also shopkeepers of Lingshan Trading Company who have purchased land in large quantities and recruited local refugees to farm, as well as those farms built to recruit refugees in Henan.

This system is quite large in Huai'an Prefecture. If anyone asks, these merchants in Jiaozhou are all very upright. We are coming to the Lianghuai area to buy industries, which is reasonable.

On the second day of the twelfth lunar month of the 13th year of Chongzhen, Li Meng finished reading the two battalions from Nanzhili at school and went to the house where Sun Chuanting was located.

This place has to come and take a walk every now and every now and persuade people to recruit them. Li Meng thought that Liu Xuande invited Zhuge Liang to visit the cottage three times. After Sun Chuanting moved into this house, Li Meng came more than a dozen times.

Sun Chuanting's attitude was also strange. In addition to ignoring the previous two times, the following times were also a brief chat and asked about the military, civil and economic affairs of the Jiaozhou camp. These things made Sun Chuanting quite curious. He couldn't figure out that Li Meng, a military general who came from a salt trader, would have so many ideas to do these things.

Under his own control, the initiative is in his own hands. Li Meng was not anxious. Under Liu Fulai's guidance, although he put him in house arrest in the yard and could not contact him except Li Meng himself and other personal guards, the various information in the Di News, Tang News, and Jiaozhou Camp system, except those top secrets, were sent to Sun Chuanting's room.

There are also Zhou Yang and Ning Gangui's copywriting documents for handling government affairs every day, and Sun Chuanting did not act anyway.

When he sent him, Sun Chuanting read it in detail as much as possible, but except for asking Li Meng, he did not give any suggestions. He seemed to be reading those novels and poems that relieve boredom.

When Li Meng went over, he occasionally talked to him about what Jiaozhou Camp has done recently. Sun Chuanting listened very carefully, but the way of evaluation made Li Meng very angry, for example, he often smiled faintly.

This time when Li Meng came over, Sun Chuanting's study was almost overwhelmed by paper documents. Sun Chuanting looked at a booklet nailed with thread. His beard had not been sorted out for a long time and was very sloppy.

"If Mr. Sun thinks there is any shortage of food and clothing, he will say something to the guards outside the door."

Li Meng sat on the chair opposite and said without saying anything. Sun Chuanting looked at the document without raising his head, and replied in a deep voice:

"I'm sorry, General Li is very worried. This place is very better than Zhao Zhuo. I'm very comfortable."

Recently, there is nothing worth talking about for Li Meng. After a word of hello, the room was very awkward and quiet. Li Meng also felt quite awkward. He wanted to stand up or say directly: Sir, I would like to help me. I just regret that I didn’t read the Three Kingdoms more in modern times and this era, otherwise I would use the joke of “three visits to the cottage” here, which is really suitable.

"I saw General Li's method of farming in the recent past, which is indeed a wonderful method, but what's even better is that it is really hard to turn the people of Shandong's land into your General Li's own property!"

Li Meng just smiled and replied:

"This kind of high-level method was made by Zhou Tongzhi. Li was good at military affairs, and this civil affairs and economy are indeed not good at it."

Although Sun Chuanting was still looking at the document in front of him, he was listening carefully. After listening to Li Meng's words, he sighed, threw the document on the table, and said slowly:

"This method is not considered a great master. I also did it when I was in Xi'an Prefecture. However, as soon as I left, the fields became the property of the King of Qin."

At that time, Shaanxi's military preparations were slack and the military supplies were empty. After Sun Chuanting became the governor of Shaanxi, he farmed in the Xi'an Prefecture area for almost two years and accumulated more than 100,000 taels of silver, 20,000 troops, and enough military rations. This was Sun Chuanting's proud experience, but compared with Li Meng's methods in Shandong, it was really a shame.

"I was still the governor of Shaanxi on that day, but even if I was busy farming around Xi'an Prefecture, I would have restrained a lot of people. The fields around Xi'an are the most fertile places in Shaanxi. They are either the vassal kings or the noble family business. When they move, they immediately clamor to the court. Looking at your document, General Li was just a general when he was in charge of military farming. How could he do such a big thing?"

Li Meng listened to Sun Chuanting's feelings, and when the other party asked, he couldn't help but be happy. He thought that this was the other party's affirmation and praise of the Jiaozhou Camp system, and he should also be cautious in his answers. Perhaps persuading the other party is a good start, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't find a suitable word, so he simply spoke:

"In fact, this is not as difficult as Mr. Sun thought. Some of the fields were sent, some were bought, gathered together, and then recruited refugees."

When Sun Chuanting heard what he said, he said with a smile:

"What General Li said is straightforward. Is it really that simple?"

Li Meng laughed, and said something else. He didn't know if the former governor and former governor had the so-called "conscience" or "spiritual cleanliness" of a literati. It would be better to spread the actions of Jiaozhou Camp a little bit, and he said with a smile:

"There are also some that don't sell, and they just sell them when they hold the knife around their necks..."

After saying this, Li Meng stared at Sun Chuanting, but saw that Mr. Sun had no angry or disgusted expression on his face, but instead treated him very casually.

Of course, Sun Chuanting did not have clean hands when he was in Xi'an Prefecture. Speaking of this, Li Meng's impression of Sun Chuanting became much better. Such a big man who is used to the world and has a clear understanding of many things. They not only know how to do Li Meng's many ways, but also understand them very well.

For example, literati like Sun Hedou are too angry, while Zhou Yang had a very strong psychological struggle at the beginning. He once cried to Li Meng after drinking, "I thought I was a talented person with a strong heart, and my heart was as hard as stone. Seeing that people who died and were displaced because of their own methods still couldn't sleep all night, I felt guilty and uneasy."

The same is true for the talented man Yuan Wenhong. According to the report of the Shandong Salt Gang surveillance, Yuan Wenhong once sighed to his wife, "Now he has no face to talk about the righteousness of the saints."

If this mentality changes, it will naturally be loyal to the Jiaozhou Camp system. If it cannot be changed, there will be hidden dangers after all.

Li Meng was extremely disgusted with this mentality, thinking that I would provide you with food and clothing, and give you status. Every time I, Li Meng, are you still waiting to die of starvation in the countryside. Why are you still full of food, but you still remember the great reputation and teachings of saints? It's really inexplicable.

Therefore, in the Jiaozhou camp system, the status of soldiers is one step higher than that of literati, because officers and soldiers know who gives them enough food, they will work hard for them.

Sun Chuanting could see clearly, which means that he would not have any obstacles in terms of morality and morality at least.

"Although General Li is a little more fierce, I am trying to pacify the bandits, restore peace to the world, and repay the emperor's kindness. But what you General Li does is probably for your own selfish interests and your overwhelming ambitions!"

Li Meng smiled bitterly. It seemed that he was still wishful thinking. However, looking at Sun Chuanting's slightly questioning expression, Li Meng sneered and asked:

"Mr. Sun, what kind of kindness does this emperor deserve to be rewarded..."

After saying this, Li Meng felt that his heart had been beating violently for a few times. Since this era, although the emperor who had never seen him in the capital made all kinds of confusing decisions, the identity of the world and the awe and fear that everyone around him knew more or less affected Li Meng.

Although it comes from modern times, Li Meng did not dare to neglect Emperor Chongzhen. This may be an influence under a general environment and atmosphere.

But from what time, I felt that the mysterious halo on Emperor Chongzhen began to fade slowly. The emperor, who was originally high and the ruler of the entire Ming Dynasty, gradually became a fool who listened and believed, and became more and more confused as he became busier and more chaotic. Li Meng's awe became less and less, and now he can say it directly.

Li Meng's actions were mixed with all kinds of strange intentions, but they never said it. Both him and those around him had a tacit understanding.

But unexpectedly, at such an opportunity, everything was revealed. When Sun Chuanting heard this, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and suddenly appeared on his face, staring at Li Meng and said coldly:

"You are the emperor of the present day, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty is what you said, it is indeed a wolf..."

Li Meng was so relaxed. Although Sun Chuanting was angry, he did not leave his seat and did not act arrogantly. Of course, he could take out the imperial prisoner from the imperial prison. Looking at the various actions of Jiaozhou Camp these days, he must have been mentally prepared for what the loyal ministers did there.

"Mr. Sun, if it were the Emperor Shengming, why would Mr. Husband issue an edict to be tried?"

Speaking of this, Li Meng finally figured out when he completely lost awe of Emperor Chongzhen. It should be after Yang Sichang entered the center.

Emperor Chongzhen, who was once considered a tragic figure and was born in the wrong era, gradually revealed his prototype. Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be the culprit of this era. If he did not do things, the world would be able to maintain these ministers, but he could still maintain it. He wanted to do things, do one thing badly, and the situation would be broken, and it would be 80% of the credit for Emperor Chongzhen.

Sun Chuanting was imprisoned and was waiting for trial. The charges were completely false. A serious official who had made contributions or even made great contributions was issued to prison for trial because of Yang Sichang's four words "with resentment" and was sentenced to prison for trial.

There are also many of the cabinet bachelors, ministers, ministers, governors, governors, generals, etc. who have been killed and demoted in recent years. They have many crimes that are not as severe as the punishment or tolerable, but Emperor Chongzhen has been punished severely without discrimination.

The replacement of people like a central revolving lantern is naturally not stable. Without a stable core, the entire Ming Dynasty is in chaos.

My family matters are known to Sun Chuanting, saying that the emperor is wise and wise, is similar to scolding people. Li Meng's rhetoric made Sun Chuanting stunned for a while, smiled bitterly, and sighed:

"General Li invites you back. I still have a lot of things to see here. Let's talk about it later!"

Every day, you look at these things for leisure, not to mention them as official affairs. Li Meng whispered a few words in his heart, and stood up with a smile and said goodbye.

At this moment, two personal guards outside greeted him and walked in with a few documents. After saluting, the personal guards reported:

"Master, this is the Tangbao and Dibao that I have just arrived in the past two days, as well as the following documents and information. According to the old man's instructions, he copied it and sent it over."

Li Meng nodded, thinking that he had just left like this and gave up halfway this time. He would still sit for a while. He was really frustrated. He was a provincial town and was humble here, but Jiaozhou Camp is really short of talents now, and as the commander, he also has the responsibility to recruit and request.

Seeing Li Meng sitting there, Sun Chuanting had nothing else to say, but instead said slowly:

"Take the recent papers and clean them up on the table."

The two personal guards looked at each other, and they were a little angry and helpless. Sun Chuanting was indeed a high-ranking person, and it was natural for the servants to be so. But even if Li Meng was not here, he strictly required to treat him politely. He had to clean the table and hand over the bound dibao and the documents of the Tangbao to Sun Chuanting.

After the two personal guards went out, Li Meng remembered the divine newspaper and the Tang newspaper in the past two days. He had not read it yet. It was not enough to finish the military troops of the two battalions in one or two hours. However, what made Li Meng feel relieved was that Chen Liu and Zhang Jiang did not relax in training in the two Huaihe Rivers.

Although the two battalions that were rotated back this time were mainly recruits, they were much more experienced in the formation of soldiers. They seemed more murderous than those of the "half-old" soldiers stationed in Shandong.

Li Meng also understood in his heart that the training of each unit is now in a desperate situation, and it is not easy to distinguish the level from the training. What everyone lacks is practical experience. The two Huaihe Rivers have not yet been completely peaceful. The Huaibei Army and the Huainan Army have been fighting in large and small battles. The soldiers have seen blood and killed people, but of course they are different.

With a "bang", the sudden sound scared Li Meng. The door of the study was immediately pushed open halfway, and several personal soldiers looked inside nervously.
To be continued...