Mei Zhihuan had already contacted the river boats. Several large ships specializing in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River took over Mei Zhihuan's employment and organized hundreds of large river boats.

After dawn, the five newly formed Biao battalions under Mei Zhihuan and the Fubiao battalion of Li Changgeng's Fubiao battalion were formally dispatched after Mei Zhihuan made a simple mobilization and oath.

The river boat had already sailed directly to the Jushuihe Wharf outside the county town, where the troops of the Sixth Battalion boarded the boat and then went straight into the Yangtze River.

From the Huangzhou Riverkou to the destination of Fengjie, Sichuan, the journey is thousands of miles. Nearly 20,000 people and horses are carrying a lot of baggage. If you advance by land, it will take more than half a month to walk forty or fifty miles a day. The military situation is urgent, and the situation will be different after half a month. I took a river boat to go up the river. Because this section of the Yangtze River belongs to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the river surface is wide and the waterway is safe, so the big river boat can travel more than 300 miles a day, and it only takes three or four days to go from Huangzhou to Fengjie.

Hundreds of large river ships formed a dense fleet, with thousands of sails competing to cover the river and the sun. When sailing on the Yangtze River, it feels like you are on a highway. Not only is it fast, but the most important thing is comfort.

"Last night, Youqing and I discussed it carefully again." Mei Zhihuan stood on the deck and said to Liu Jun, "Although Zhang Zhe set up an ambush in Fang County to defeat Zuo Liangyu and Luo Dai's tribes, they are now rebelling, and their strength is far inferior to the original momentum. Once Zuo Liangyu was defeated, the court was furious. Yang Sichang would launch a large-scale encirclement and suppression next. As long as Zhang Xianzhong was not stupid, he knew that Huguang would not be able to stay there."

Li Changgeng also said on the side, "Zhang Xianzhong cannot go to Henan. There is Xiangyang blocking the road. He cannot get around it, nor can he go east and south, so they can't get around Xiangyang either. Therefore, there are only two roads in front of Xianzhe, either rushing northwest into Shaanxi or fleeing southwest into Sichuan."

Liu Jun also agreed with this analysis, "But why do gentlemen think that the thief will definitely choose Sichuan?"

Judging from the movements of the bandits over the past few years, Shaanxi was the place where the bandits broke out at the beginning, and many bandits who are still wandering now have originated from Shaanxi. In history, these bandits have indeed returned to Shaanxi several times. First, it is naturally because many leaders and backbone leaders of the bandits are mostly from Shaanxi, and they are more familiar with Shaanxi. Second, it is because the situation in Shaanxi is more beneficial to the bandits. Shaanxi has been completely destroyed in recent years. There are countless people in the pass who can no longer survive. As long as they go back, they can raise an army with a shout.

"It would be good if they could go back to Shaanxi, but because of this, Yang Sichang would definitely be on guard against this. There would definitely be troops intercepting the Shaanxi border, and it would not be so easy to kill it. Another thing is that Shaanxi has been ruined over the years. Even if they go back, they have nothing to rob. However, Sichuan is different. As long as they can break into the western Sichuan plain, it will be almost difficult to stop them again. Moreover, Sichuan is rich, and Yang Sichang and others will put their defenses on the border of Shaanxi."

Reverse thinking. Or in other words, Mei Zhihuan and Li Changgeng quickly concluded that Zhang Xianzhong was most likely to break into Sichuan.

"If Zhang Xianzhong wanted to enter Sichuan, with his current location, he could only enter from the east of Kuizhou Prefecture. The first city in eastern Sichuan that stood in front of them was Dachang City." Mei Zhihuan said.

Dacheng is the northeastern city of Kuizhou Prefecture, it is connected with Yunyang Prefecture in Huguang and is close to Shaanxi. If Mei Zhihuan and his wife really predict it accurately, then they can quickly reach Kuizhou Prefecture through the Yangtze River waterway and get to Dachang first.

"Can we arrive at Dachang City first in front of Zhang Xianzhong?" Liu Jun asked.

"We can reach Qutang Pass in Kuizhou in three days at most, but Zhang Xianzhong had to reach Dachang, but he could only cross mountains and ridges and walk the mountain road. The road was not as smooth as the Yangtze River channel." Mei Zhihuan said confidently.

"The most important thing now is that you cannot let Zhang Xianzhong enter Shaanxi. Perhaps we should inform Yang Ge's troops to send troops to block the road to Shaanxi." Liu Jun reminded, and this was also for Mei Zhihuan's consideration. After all, although he was the new prime minister, the matter of bandit suppression in the Central Plains was still under the command of Yang Sichang, the auxiliary minister of the military commander of the Shidao. Notifying Yang Sichang was not only for cooperation but also for the sake of respect.

"No." Mei Zhihuan rejected Liu Jun's proposal again, "Our actions must be kept confidential, and there is any leakage. It is possible that the thief may know that it will be difficult for us to intercept them at that time."

"But what if Yangge's troops also think that the thieves were going to enter Sichuan and deployed troops to prevent the thieves from entering Sichuan, what if the troops on the border of Shaanxi are insufficient and the thieves are allowed to enter Shaanxi?"

"According to my understanding of Yang Sichang, he would definitely think that the thieves would enter Shaanxi and that the Ministry of War would be placed on the Shaanxi border."

Huguang, Xiangyang.

Yang Sichang received Chongzhen's latest decree and took out Shangfang's sword and took over Xiong Wencan, the Prime Minister of Bandit Suppression who was recommended by him, and officially took over the command of the bandit Suppression.

He changed the former Prime Minister's Office to his own governor's office, and asked his subordinates to raise the flag of General Yanmei. This General Yanmei came from a poem given by the emperor when he personally summoned him before leaving the capital. Yanmei is now temporarily the general, and the general is majestic and fine Liuying camp. He has eliminated the atmosphere of the enemy from then on, and he hopes to educate and improve people's livelihood.

In ancient times, salt and plum were important essential products in life, and later it was used to refer to the pillars of the country. Chongzhen called Yang Sichang the salt and plum in the future, which shows his trust in him.

Yang Sichang also liked this comment very much. After leaving Beijing, he made a special flag embroidered with General Salt Plum, along with the flags such as the Supervisor.

After replacing Xiong Wencan, Yang Sichang convened the military affairs meeting of the General Supervisor Liu Yuanbin, the Supervisor Wan Ji, General Chen Hongfan and others.

Yang Sichang was only in his early fifties this year, from Wuling, Huguang. He was born in a scholarly family. His grandfather Yang Shifang was a famous scholar in Wuling. His father Yang He was a Jinshi in the 32nd year of Wanli, and Yang Sichang was only six years later than his father and also passed the Jinshi. In the chaotic times of the late Ming Dynasty, Yang Sichang and his son were both famous for supervising the army.

Yang Sichang's father served as the Right Minister of the Ministry of War and was the governor of the military affairs of the three borders of Shaanxi. After Yang Sichang entered the official career, he served as a professor at Hangzhou Prefecture, a doctor of the Imperial College in Nanjing, and a junior official of the Ministry of Revenue. In the third year of Tianqi, he was excluded by the eunuch party and resigned as an illness. In the first year of Chongzhen, he became the deputy envoy of Henan and was promoted to the right deputy governor. Later, he was promoted to the right assistant censor, governor Yongping, and Shanhaiguan. He was famous for his military knowledge.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, he was appointed as the Right Minister of the Ministry of War and the Right Censor, the Governor of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi Military Affairs. He returned home because his parents died one after another. In the tenth year of Chongzhen, a peasant uprising swept the Central Plains. He was appointed as the Minister of War, presided over the rebellion of the bandits, and formulated a plan of encirclement and suppression of the "Four Directions, Six Corners and Ten Countries".

During the fourth period of Chongzhen, Yang Sichang's father Yang He was arrested for failing to recruit thieves. Yang Sichang asked for three resignations and was sentenced to death.

Yang Sichang is eloquent, skilled in writing and writing, and has a broad mind. Whenever he summoned Emperor Chongzhen, he always impressed Emperor Chongzhen with his thoughts and talks. Every time he summoned him, it exceeded the prescribed time, which made Emperor Chongzhen feel that he met him too late, and then he sighed as a loyal minister: "I hate you to use him too late."

It can be said that although Yang Sichang entered the cabinet in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, he was extremely trusted by Chongzhen in the court. This trust was even a bit shocking. Chongzhen changed countless auxiliary ministers in the dynasty, but few people trusted Yang Sichang. Although he was not the chief minister, the trust he could get was more than that of the chief minister and was truly powerful.

In the eyes of Dangjinzi, Yang Sichang was the most important official in the court.

This time he left Beijing, he also burdened the emperor's unlimited trust and expectations. However, the defeat of Zuo Liang Yufang County made him a little passive. Many officials in the court had previously impeached him, but the emperor stood up to defend him and still trusted him.

But in secret, the emperor also sent him a secret decree to step up the suppression of bandits.

Yang Sichang took Xiong Wencan and felt a little depressed. He wanted to give Xiong Wencan some time so that he could defeat the thief, but unexpectedly, this caused Fang County to be defeated, which made him extremely embarrassed. He finally got rid of the impeachment of the ministers in the court.

Although he got rid of impeachment, the emperor successively activated a group of ministers from Huguang, Mei Zhihuan, Li Changgeng, Li Shuchu, and Yuan Jixian. The re-opening of these people made him feel a little urgent and crisis.

After the eunuch Liu Yuanbin, civil servant of the military supervisor, Chen Hongfan and others arrived, Yang Sichang walked out wearing the big red bullfighting robe he gave him.

Yang Sichang was a little unhappy when he glanced at everyone. He had previously summoned the governors and generals of various provinces to come to meet for the meeting, but now, only these have come. The new Prime Minister Mei Zhihuan had no news, and the third governor of Huguang, Yunyang, and Henan were not seen.

Even Zuo Liangyu, who was newly defeated last time, still stationed troops in Junzhou.

He suppressed his displeasure and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, Your Majesty is very dissatisfied with the current situation of bandit suppression. Your Majesty ordered us to eliminate the thieves before the end of the year, and I will only give you one month."

Everyone in the seat couldn't help but change their color slightly, and it was only a month's deadline. How could this be possible?

"The next step is to judge that the thief in Xian will definitely try to jump out of Huguang to avoid the encirclement of the government troops, and after jumping out of Huguang, they will inevitably jump into Shaanxi. For this reason, we must block the front and intercept the thief in the future, and we must not let the thief in escape. We must encircle them in the Yunyang area and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

"Now, the generals are mobilized by our military orders. They ordered Shaanxi, the three-border Governor Zheng Chongjian to lead his deputy general He Renlong, and the Li Guoan Ministry immediately entered Xixiang, Hanzhong to set up an anti-interception."

"I ordered the general of Huguang Zuo Liangyu to lead the deputy generals Liu Guoneng, Li Wanqing, Wang Guangen, Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shengheng, and Liu Hongqi to enter Xing'an, Shaanxi, Pingli and the two places to defend and intercept."

"Sichuan Deputy General Zhang Zukai led his troops to Dachang City, Kuizhou."

"Henan General Chen Hongfan, Deputy General Chen Yongfu, Sichuan General Fang Guoan and other other units followed their officers to chase and suppress the thieves."

"I have issued the orders of generals, and the military orders are as high as a mountain. If anyone dares not follow the orders of military orders, I will ask for a sword to be used to make the right result."

"Abide by the order of jinxing" is to be continued
Chapter completed!