I

  Chapter 162 160【Suppress bandits and make money】

  Nanchangwei, Xiaochang.

Li Ruolian, the general soldier of Jiangxi, inspected the troops, and suddenly drew his sword and shouted: "The Luling Zhao thief has stolen the state capital, burned, killed and looted, and committed all kinds of crimes. Now I am ordered by the emperor to ask for it. With the help of all the lords, I will win the battle and win the capital. ! Let's go, let's go!"

  Li Ruolian is sixty-nine years old this year. In history, he was seventy-eight years old when he led the Jinyi Guards and died for his country at the gate of Beijing.

  If he hadn’t been the eldest son of a military household and had to inherit the military position according to the system, he would definitely have taken the Wen Jinshi examination instead of this nonsense Wu Jinshi. His younger brother Li Ruogui was a Jinshi Wen. During the reign of Tianqi, he served as the minister of the Ministry of punishment. He resigned because he could not be tolerated by Wei Zhongxian.

  By the way, his younger brother Li Ruogui was rumored to have held Emperor Tianqi in his arms when he was young, and Zhu Youxiao was given the title "Old Li with Golden Arms" after he ascended the throne.

   In Yuan Chonghuan's treason case, Li Ruolian was the presiding judge.

   Li Ruolian did not find any fault in the trial. Emperor Chongzhen was not happy, so he asked his superior Liu Qiao to interrogate. Liu Qiao found out evidence of Yuan Chonghuan's rebellion.

  Li Ruolian was demoted two ranks because of this, and after a few years of tossing, he was slowly promoted back, and now he was finally thrown by Chongzhen to be the general soldier of Jiangxi.

  In mid-May, harvesting of winter wheat has begun.

   "Don't trample on the crops!" This was Li Ruolian's first order.

  Both brothers Li Ruolian and Li Ruogui are well-known upright officials. But, the capital of being an upright official is that the family is well-off, and the ancestors have occupied many military fields. Before his younger brother was admitted as a Jinshi, he sold hundreds of acres of land at one time because he didn't have enough money.

   "Zai Xingong!"

   Came to the pier to board the ship. The governor Li Maofang, with his official Wang Siren, came to see him.

  Li Ruolian bowed his hand in return. Although they were unlucky in everything, there was one thing that went well. That is, Chongzhen withdrew the eunuchs last year, and the eunuchs have not been sent back until now, so there is no need to listen to the eunuchs of the supervising army.

  The three joined forces, with tens of thousands of infantry, and thousands of civilians were also recruited.

  With so many people, Wang Siren's navy couldn't hold them, so they had to use boats to carry food and grass, and the soldiers followed the boats on the shore.

  The farmers who were harvesting wheat, when they saw the officers and soldiers coming, they were scared and hid far away, and then looked at these people with resentful eyes.

  The three of them combined to train tens of thousands of soldiers, and at the beginning of the year they had lost more than 3,000, so they urgently recruited to make up the difference. How much money will this cost? The Jiangxi Third Division not only had to provide military salaries, but also remitted taxes to the imperial court, so they could only intensify the exploitation of the common people, and imposed more than a dozen kinds of miscellaneous taxes.

  Marching all the way south, because they were in a hurry, these officers and soldiers had no time to loot the people.

  Ten days later, they arrived at Linjiang Fu City.

(There is a mistake in the previous article. Linjiang Fucheng is not in Fengcheng City, but in Linjiang Town of Zhangshu City in later generations, sandwiched between Yuanhe and Ganjiang. Zhao Han must first attack Linjiangfu City in order to occupy Zhangshu Town. But there are so many mistakes chapter, the main plot cannot be modified, and we can only assume that Zhangshu Town is ten miles south of Linjiangfu City. The real situation is just the opposite, please don’t take it seriously.)

   "I met Li Fushuai, I met Li Zongzhen, and I met Wang Qian."

  The magistrate He Tianqu, with officials at the prefecture and county levels, went out of the city to welcome the arrival of the officers and soldiers. In order to save his life, he didn't care about the difference between civil and military skills, so he also respected Li Ruolian, the commander in chief.

  Li Maofang asked: "How is Zhao's movement?"

  He Tianqu replied: "Zhao thief camped on the other side of the river ten miles away, blocking any passing ships, and temporarily unable to find out the news."

   "Commander, set up camp first, then send spies." Wang Siren said.

  Li Maofang nodded and said, "Okay, let's set up camp first."

  He Tianqu said: "Several people came from afar, and I set up a banquet to cleanse the dust for the lords."

  Wang Siren frowned and said, "It's important to set up camp first."

  So, Wang Siren was in charge of camping, and Li Maofang and Li Ruolian were invited into the city to eat and drink.

   This kind of eating and drinking is also necessary to get closer to each other, otherwise it will be difficult to cooperate in the next war.

  The two sides set up camp ten miles across the river. Together with civilian husbands, sailors and local village braves, there were more than 18,000 officers and soldiers.

   On Zhao Han's side, the number of naval divisions plus the supply team is less than 4,000.

  The next day.

  Wang Siren personally led the navy to the south, with more than 40 large and small warships.

   As for Zhao Han's navy, there are only more than 30 large and small ships. More than a dozen of them followed Fei Ruhe to the west, facing the officers, soldiers and navy, they could only temporarily avoid the sharp edge.

  Before Wang Siren reached the mouth of the river, he ordered the navy to stop. He dared not go any further, for fear of being ambushed. If the navy of the rebels rushed out from both sides of the Ganjiang River and the Yuanhe River, his navy would be surrounded.

  Standing on the bow of the boat, Wang Siren personally observed the enemy's situation, but the enemy camp stretched for two or three miles, with flags planted everywhere, and it was impossible to tell how many people were inside.

  Zhao Han didn't dare to send sailors to investigate the enemy's situation, so he sent his only sentry cavalry to look across the river at the camp of the officers and soldiers.

   It's very pitiful, Zhao Han has rebelled for so long, and he only has six horses under his command.

  In contrast to those northwestern rogues, when they set up an ambush to kill Cao Wenzhao this year, they directly dispatched tens of thousands of cavalry (historical records record that the thieves rode tens of thousands).

  Zhao Han's six horses are very precious, and they are usually taken care of carefully. One mare was pregnant and stayed in Fucheng without bringing it out.

  Five sentry cavalry rushed to the riverside, looking at the officers and soldiers camp across the river, they also couldn't see clearly what was going on.

   Both sides were caught blind, but the officers and soldiers took the initiative, because Wang Siren's navy was stronger.

  However, Zhao Han occupied a favorable terrain, and Wang Siren's navy did not dare to cross the river mouth, so they could only wait for the time.

  The two sides began to confront each other like this, sending small groups of elites to each other to test the strength of each other.

  Two days later, Fei Ruhe came back with troops to reinforce, leaving 500 Anfu soldiers in Fenyi County and Xinyu County each to guard the city.

   Zhao Han's infantry suddenly exceeded 5,000, of which 1,500 were Luling peasant soldiers, but their combat effectiveness was definitely stronger than that of officers and soldiers.

   After half a month of confrontation, the summer harvest has entered the busiest season.

   Mission groups, peasant associations, and grassroots officials, because they could not guarantee safety, simply divided the land in the newly occupied Xingan County. The tenants in Xiajiang County next door took the opportunity to revolt and not only seized the county seat, but also came to ask the mission team to take charge of the work of dividing the land.

  Xingan and Xiajiang counties are mountainous, only the land next to the Ganjiang River is relatively fertile, and most of the places are poor and remote.

  Zhao Han was not in a hurry, so he simply took these two counties and divided the fields during the summer harvest.

  As for Xinyu and Fenyi counties, which have iron mines, they only occupy the county seat for the time being, because the Fentian personnel cannot get through, and they are easily attacked by officers, soldiers and navy when they go north.

  …

  Confrontation in January, the end of the summer harvest.

   Li Maofang ordered He Tianqu, the prefect of Linjiang, to go to the countryside to collect food immediately on the grounds that the army rations were insufficient.

  Looking for fart food, Linjiang Prefecture only has three counties of Qingjiang, Xingan, and Xiajiang. Zhao Han now occupies two and a half counties, and He Tianqu's actual control area is only half of the counties left.

  Linjiang Mansion is not a big grain producer. It was upgraded to a mansion purely by commercial taxation. It can only be regarded as a state in other places!

  Li Maofang asked Fengcheng County in the north to send food. If there was no food, he would give money directly.

   To suppress bandits, we must suppress them, and we must make money.

  Historically, Li Maofang should be the governor of Shandong at this time. There are Bailian disciples inside, and Tartars watching outside. Under such circumstances, this guy dared to borrow money from the bandits. By the time he wiped out the Bailian sect bandits in Shandong, he had already made tens of thousands of taels of silver in his hands.

  The magistrate of Linjiang and the county magistrate of Fengcheng were overwhelmed by Li Maofang.

  But the rebels oppressed the country, so they could only exploit the gentry, merchants and farmers, and obediently sent money and food to Li Maofang.

  In the northern part of Qingjiang County, two thousand officers and soldiers were divided into several groups, and went to the countryside in person to collect food.

   "Open the door, open the door!"

  A big family was knocked on the door of the house, and the officer leading the team scolded: "It's a very important matter to command the commander to suppress the bandits. Immediately hand over two hundred shi of grain and one hundred taels of silver for military expenses!"

  The squire of the household argued: "In order to suppress the bandits, we have already apportioned twice this year. Why do we have to apportion so much?"

   "This family is secretly working with the bandits, go into the house and search for the rebels!" the officer shouted.

   "The military master calms down, the military master calms down, this old man is going to raise food and grass." The squire was so frightened that he begged for mercy.

  Not only do they have to give money and silver, but they also have to organize their own manpower to deliver the money and food to the military camp outside the city of Linjiang Prefecture.

   To the gentry, the officers and soldiers are still polite, but there is no bottom line in the treatment of the common people.

   Live in a farmer's house at night, see the beautiful big girl and young daughter-in-law, directly break into the boudoir to do whatever they want. In a few days, more than a dozen women from good families committed suicide, causing complaints from the surrounding neighborhoods.

   Li Ruolian, the commander in chief, and Wang Siren, the minister of Qin, went to see Li Maofang together.

   "Governor Li, are you here to suppress bandits, or to disturb and harm the people?" Li Ruolian scolded angrily.

  A military general angrily scolded the civil servants for being too cruel...

  Li Maofang explained with a smile: "I don't know when the thieves will be wiped out. The military rations for the officers and soldiers are not enough, so we must raise them early."

  Wang Siren said angrily: "Where is the military ration not enough? It's enough for another two or three months!"

   "Two or three months is not enough, at least half a year's food and wages must be raised," Li Maofang said with a smile, "Don't worry, you two, someone is here, take out the box!"

  Two wooden boxes were carried out, each containing a thousand taels of silver.

   "Shameless!"

  Wang Siren cursed, turned and left.

  Li Ruolian was so angry that his hands trembled, and he really wanted to chop the governor down with a knife.

  Both of them did not accept money. After they left, Li Maofang sneered and said to himself: "Why are you pretending to be clean? Where do you get your military training and salaries? Isn't it from the people? Are you clean without your own hands?"

  Li Maofang began to give money to civil and military officials. From the prefect of Linjiang to the county magistrate of Qingjiang, and then to the generals under Li Ruolian and Wang Siren, they were all fed by his money.

  So, everyone supported Li Maofang wholeheartedly, and focused their energy on making money.

   Anyway, the confrontation lasted for a month. If the rebels dared to attack, they would have already attacked. Since the rebels didn't dare to come over, and I didn't dare to go over here, why didn't I take the opportunity to make more money?

  On the contrary, Li Ruolian and Wang Siren, two upright officials, were isolated by all the officials, as if they were abnormal.

  Wang Siren found Li Ruolian in secret: "General Town, we can't go on like this, otherwise the morale of the army and the people will be lost!"

  Li Ruolian asked: "You have been with him for a year to suppress the bandits. Has there been such a thing before?"

"Oh, he also fished before," Wang Siren sighed. "When he suppressed the bandits in Duchang County, he sent troops to loot everywhere. I could only turn a blind eye. But now, the rebel army is ten miles away. On the other side, if he does something like this, big trouble will happen!"

   "What are you going to do?" Li Ruolian asked.

Wang Siren said: "The Zhao bandits in Luling are treacherous. If they don't move their troops after a month of confrontation, they must set up ambushes on the Ganjiang River and the Yuanhe River. If our navy dares to cross the river mouth, they will definitely be attacked from both sides. Most of them will use a large number of small boats. Carry out a fire attack. The navy cannot move, and the terrain is not good for our army. My original intention was to send elite soldiers to go south by land to sneak attack Xingan County, which was occupied by the rebels. There is no way to sneak around the checkpoint."

   "If you can't make a sneak attack, how else can you fight?" Li Ruolian had no battlefield experience.

Wang Siren said: "Cross the river and fight the rebels. We have more than 10,000 troops, and I have trained 500 archers. It may be possible to win the battle. We can't waste it here, my generals The military discipline has been corrupted, and in the past two days, they led troops to plunder the people."

   Li Ruolian's generals are even more so, they are the command envoys, thousands of households, and hundreds of households recruited temporarily. These guys have never fought any battles, and they are good at exploiting military households. Now they are completely exposed by Li Maofang.

   "Can you attack the enemy camp at night?" Li Ruolian asked.

  Wang Siren shook his head and said, "It's useless, there are too many enemy checkpoints. Last time I led troops to attack at night, and the enemy camp was three miles away, and the bandit's sentinel blew the suona."

   "Then fight!" Li Ruolian clenched his fists.

  In fact, Zhao Han’s military rations are almost unsustainable, and he can last for a month at most.

  But Li Maofang, the governor, gave a divine assist, and the military discipline was so corrupted that Li Ruolian and Wang Siren could not tolerate it, forcing the two to fight head-on in advance.

  This place is nonsense. It is either mountain or water, and the troops on both sides are stretched. As long as more sentries are sent to guard against sneak attacks, no matter how powerful the commander is, he will not be able to play tricks.

   Can only be tough from the front!

   And even if it is tough, it must be the officers and soldiers who cross the river on their own initiative.

  Because Zhao Han's navy was not strong, he dared not cross the river to fight a decisive battle with the officers and soldiers, for fear of being defeated by the officers and soldiers on the river. According to the terrain where the two rivers meet, more warships and fireboats should be prepared to encircle the officers and sailors who dare to cross the river mouth.

   Li Ruolian and Wang Siren approached Li Maofang and proposed a plan for a decisive battle across the river, and immediately quarreled with Li Maofang.

  Li Maofang hasn't earned enough money yet...

  (end of this chapter)