The timid and cowardly prefect of Qiao County, Xu Minlian, of course did not dare to say anything false in the six-hundred-mile emergency report to Dongdu. After the pier ambush was easily won, Chen Yingliang immediately organized the Yongcheng local army to attack the city. The lair in Mangdang Mountain launched a counterattack, with the Nationalist Army as the vanguard and the captured bandit soldiers as the guide, they did not spend much effort to kill them in front of the gate of the Tian Bandit cottage located deep in the forest. Before that, Chen Yingliang asked Xu Minlian to urgently transfer the troops stationed in Qiao County to the east of Mount Ji, and also used the captives as guides to attack the stronghold of Zhang Qian's gang at Ji Shan, leaving no time for the enemy to breathe.
Rather than attacking the fortress, it is better to say it is to fight against the bandits, because after Chen Yingliang pulled Xu Minlian to make a public promise to break the bandit's fortress, he would distribute half of the spoils to the participating teams. The soldiers immediately screamed like chicken blood. When attacking the mountain, they all scrambled to be the first, and they were injured and refused to retreat. However, the Tian Bandit team had just been hit hard. Even Tian Heishe was killed at Yongcheng Wharf, Tian Baishe He was seriously injured and unable to control the team, so naturally he couldn't stop the Sui army from attacking fiercely. After defending for less than half a day, he was forced to abandon the stronghold and flee for his life. , seized a large number of stolen goods previously robbed by the Tian bandit team, and captured more than 500 enemies, while Tian Baishe disappeared with a few cronies in the melee.
After taking down the Tian Bandit's cottage and learning that Fang Kuang's troops from Qiao County still hadn't captured the precarious Zhang Qian's cottage, Chen Yingliang first burned the Tian Bandit's cottage to ashes with a torch, and then immediately turned around and headed south. The Yongcheng garrison who had tasted the sweetness went to reinforce the Jishan battlefield, and in view of the unfavorable terrain, they did not blindly attack. They adopted Ma Sanbao's suggestion and asked the little bandit soldier He Er who Ma Sanbao rescued to lead the way, cutting off the two roads flowing into Zhang Bandit's stronghold. The creek made the enemy run out of water, so they were forced to abandon the stronghold and flee for their lives. Then they easily broke through Zhang Bandit's stronghold, beheaded the stubborn bandit leaders Wang Wu and Zhang Wancheng, and also completely eradicated Zhang Qian's bandit gang.
So far, the two major gangsters in Qiao County that have harmed the canal of Tongji Canal for nearly two years have been completely wiped out. Tian Heishe and Zhang Qian, the two big bandits, have both subdued the law. Only Tian Baishe is missing, but it is destined to have no power to threaten Tongji Canal. For the safety of the canal, the common people and merchants who were once miserable because of the rampant thieves in the Tongji Canal were happy. Chen Yingliang's prestige in Qiao County was greatly boosted, and the common people and merchants praised it, but the thieves and bandits were as fearful as a tiger.
For the ambitious Chen Yingliang personally, the harvest is far more than just fame and official positions. The most important thing is that after the two big gangs of the Tian family brothers and Zhang Qian are completely eradicated, the Tongji Canal in Qiao County will definitely To obtain a period of peace and tranquility, Chen Yingliang, who had to ensure the smooth water transportation of the Tongji Canal, was able to free up his hands and concentrate on building his own direct lineal army. Provide enough soldiers to choose to build an army.
Knowing the history and knowing that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty would not be able to make it for a few days, Chen Yingliang naturally refused to waste any time. As early as when he was besieging the easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack Zhang Qian bandit village, Chen Yingliang had already begun to screen and select prisoners to form an army. The screening condition is that the middle-aged prisoners between the ages of fifteen and forty-five can stay and join the army, and then let these prisoners identify each other's crimes. Those who kill innocent people or rape civilian women will be executed. Food rewards, the result was very fast. After breaking Zhang Qian's stronghold, Chen Yingliang got about 1,100 captives with relatively clean records as soldiers, and more than 100 reliable soldiers who took the initiative to expose the crimes of their companions. As a grassroots officer, as for the other old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers, Chen Yingliang left them all to Xu Minlian to deal with them, and didn't care about their life or death—this was the benefit of having a weak boss.
While screening the captives to form an army, the Baoguo Army, who had been delayed in Qiao County for a long time, also bid farewell to Chen Yingliang and continued to go east to Jiangdu. Now, it can only be a group of old friends saying goodbye again. In addition, Pei Renji, who had received the news, finally sent a military general to welcome his daughter back to Luoyang. Although Chen Yingliang, who was entangled with this little pepper, cheered for it, he was somewhat disappointed and felt a little bit of conscience at the pier to bid farewell to Pei Cuiyun. , Thank you Pei Cuiyun for the many help you have given me these days.
It's a pity that the contemporary Chen Shimei and Chen Yingliang had a rare conscience. When they went to see off Pei Cuiyun at the pier, Pei Cuiyun refused to give Chen Yingliang any good looks. As for the reason, it was because when Pei Cuiyun asked Chen Yingliang to fulfill his promise, and demanded that Chen Yingliang immediately terminate the engagement with the eldest grandson Xiaoluoli, Chen Yingliang denied that Pei Cuiyun only got the head of Tian Heishe and let Tian Baishe run away, and that Pei Cuiyun did not complete it. It was an agreement, so I didn't have to fulfill my promise to agree to any conditions of Pei Cuiyun. As a result, Pei Cuiyun was of course furious and broke up with little Chen Shimei.
Seeing Pei Cuiyun boarding the boat with a pretty face and leaving, Chen Yingliang shook his head and smiled wryly, but he couldn't help feeling somewhat guilty, regardless of his brother-in-law and eldest grandson Wuji, who was beside him, and sighed: "There is no destiny, otherwise, this girl might She is really my good wife. It's a pity that there is no fate."
Hearing the words of the future brother-in-law, Changsun Wuji did not complain for his younger sister, and said, "Brother, it's a pity that Miss Pei came from a famous family. Dr. Pei would never agree to let her be your concubine, otherwise , I dare to make the decision for my younger sister and agree with you to take her as a concubine, she is a good girl, a rare good girl."
"What are you talking about? It's all in the past, let him go in the past." Chen Yingliang shook his head with a wry smile, looked up at the gray sky, and sighed: "The Nationalist Army is gone, Pei Cuiyun is gone, all good helpers are gone." Let’s go, it’s up to us next time. The road is difficult, Wuji, you are my brother-in-law, and you must be prepared to suffer when you accompany me on this difficult road.”
The eldest grandson Wuji, who had already tasted the warmth and coldness of the world at a young age, nodded silently, and knew that Chen Yingliang's next road would definitely not be so easy. The uncle and uncle Lang felt sad, but they didn't notice that Pei Cuiyun was quietly lifting a corner of the curtain in the cabin, secretly Looking at Chen Yingliang's figure, he said softly, "Take care, heartbreaker, don't forget me."
Chen Yingliang's next road is indeed difficult. Although more than 1,100 gang prisoners have been reorganized into an army, their morale and fighting spirit are very low, and their loyalty needs to be tested. For Chen Yingliang, who is good at political commissar tactics, this is not a problem. Big, the most troublesome thing is the problem of money and food. The new army needs food, drink, weapons, armor, clothes and flags, food and horses. Even if the governor of Qiao County knew about it, Chen Yingliang had to reach out to the prefect Xu Minlian for the money and food.
Fortunately, because the aftermath of the extermination of the two major bandit gangs has not yet been dealt with, Qiao County prefect Xu Minlian is still stranded in Yongxian City. After discussing the issue of money and food, what made Chen Yingliang's nose crooked was that Xu Minlian not only refused to pay money and food honestly, but also persuaded Chen Yingliang not to form so many county soldiers, suggesting that Chen Yingliang should use Qiao County's troops as he did in Luoyang, the eastern capital. The old officers and soldiers can be expanded to four regiments as the backbone. There is no need to support so many Qiuba uncles, which will increase the burden on the people and easily arouse suspicion.
As for the reason, it is also very simple. Xu Minlian felt that the black and white thieves and Zhang Qian had already been dealt with, and there were only a few small bandits left in Qiao County. With the current strength of the Qiao County officers and soldiers, it was already easy to deal with these small bandits. So naturally there is no need to form so many county soldiers.
Hearing Xu Minlian's reasons, Chen Yingliang, who is still kind, had a rare squall. He stood in front of Xu Minlian and yelled, "The black and white thieves and Zhang Qian have been wiped out, so we can rest easy in Qiao County? Xu Taishou , you are not dreaming, are you? The current world is so chaotic, how many refugees are starving to death in Qiao County, and how many rascals who don’t want to pay food and taxes, can you count them all? People are hidden thieves, as long as someone raises their arms and shouts, they will immediately respond, and when the time comes, we will go to expand the army and prepare for war, is it too late?"
"Even if the money and food situation in our county is better and there are fewer rebellious thieves, what about the surrounding counties?" Chen Yingliang took out the map of Qiao County again, pointed at the surrounding counties and shouted: "Liang County in the north of us, Meng Haigong's tens of thousands of thieves are occupying the mountains around Zhouqiao, and the troubles are getting bigger and bigger. The remnants of Han Xiangguo's thousands of people are still invincible, and they are still wandering in the counties of Liangjun! To the east, the East China Sea bandit Peng Xiaocai has died Fleeing into Pengcheng County, Pengcheng stayed behind Dong Chun Dong stayed behind and sent troops to conquer, but because Langya Mountain was high in dense forests and sparsely populated, it was impossible to find the main force of the Peng thief. Peng Xiaocai also ran away every time he robbed, playing hide-and-seek with Dong Chun all the time , and Miao Haichao in Xiapi, Du Fuwei who is fleeing to the south, these rebels may flee into our relatively affluent Qiaojun at any time, and when the time comes, we will regroup and prepare for war, will it be too late?"
"These rebels are no worse than the black and white two thieves and Zhang Qian we just exterminated. The black and white two thieves and Zhang Qian only have four to five thousand people in total. They can only be regarded as a small group of bandits, but these big rebels, there are several at every turn. Tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, with this little force in our hands, how could we be able to resist them if they came suddenly? Xu Taishou, you are also a scholar, don’t you understand the truth that everyone is innocent and pregnant with crimes? ? Our Qiao County is relatively peaceful and has more money and food. How could those hungry thieves let us go?!"
Frightened by Chen Yingliang's angry appearance, and feeling that Chen Yingliang's words were quite reasonable, the weak Xu Minlian finally changed his words, and asked cautiously: "Chen Zanzhi, in your opinion, how many people should we expand the army to?"
"This year we will first expand to fifteen regiments! Next year we will expand to at least twenty-five regiments!"
Chen Yingliang's categorical answer caused Xu Minlian to fall directly to the ground again. He lay on the ground and wailed that Qiao County was only a second-class county and could not support so many county soldiers. He begged Chen Yingliang to slightly reduce the number of military expansion, but Chen Yingliang did not move an inch. He refused, and moved out the accounts of Qiao County's money and food collected before, and confronted Xu Minlian one by one, pointing out that the money, food and taxes in Qiao County can fully support so many troops, and proposed to charge passing merchants a flat fee. Donations from thieves, exploiting merchant ships and civilian ships to support the army, whatever they said, Xu Minlian reluctantly agreed to his army expansion plan, forcing Xu Minlian to spend a lot of money and food to expand his army and prepare for war.
"Let's expand to 15 regiments to coax him, and wait for the world to improve a little next year, and then find a way to prevent him from continuing to expand the army." This was Xu Minlian's real thought when he agreed with Chen Yingliang's army expansion plan, but unfortunately, it didn't take long At that time, when Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty sent the imperial edict appointing Chen Yingliang as the governor of Qiaojun, Xu Minlian and the prefect Xu also fell to the ground for the third time, because the prefect Xu knew that he could no longer stop Chen Yingliang from expanding his army. There is no way to refuse Chen Yingliang's request for money and food anymore.
This imperial edict issued by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was a reminder to Xu Minlian, but it was a timely rain to Chen Yingliang. With the power to depose civil and military officials in the county, Chen Yingliang seemed to be the local emperor and vampire of Qiao County. At the same time as vigorously recruiting troops, the first order was to order the magistrates of the seven counties of Qiao County to mine iron ore to refine pig iron under the pretext of ensuring the smooth flow of water transportation through the Tongji Canal, so as to supply their headquarters, Yongcheng, to make weapons and armor and equip the new county soldiers. The second order is to ask the seven counties to supply saltpeter, using the ancient earthen nitrate technology that has appeared in this era to boil saltpeter, and supply it to Yongcheng for military use. The foundation of the house was made from old soil to make nitrate to satisfy Chen Yingliang's bottomless appetite.
In fact, Chen Yingliang only made things difficult for the subordinate officials on these two points. In terms of specific government affairs, Chen Yingliang was more magnanimous and laissez-faire. The subordinates extorted bribes and forced them to scrape the land three feet high to bribe themselves. The official voice was not bad-but it was not that Chen Yingliang didn't want to, but that Chen Yingliang didn't have the time and energy to do it. It has been invested in the expansion training of the army and the forging and development of weapons.
As time passed day by day, under Chen Yingliang's strict order, the soldiers of the five regiments had all been replenished, and the ten regiments formed under the banner of the county soldiers had also been recruited, and all of them were assembled in Yongcheng County. He was in charge of the training by himself, but Chen Yingliang was troubled by the manufacture of weapons and armor. Fortunately, the swords and guns seized from Mangdang Mountain and Jishan Mountain were enough for ten regiments of local soldiers, and they could be used to build slowly. The replacement of standard weapons, but the manufacture of armor and bows and arrows is not so easy. It consumes both materials and time, and it cannot be done overnight.
Fortunately, Chen Yingliang also has a more reliable staff member called Changsun Wuji. Seeing that Chen Yingliang was troubled by the lack of armor and bows and arrows, Changsun Wuji suggested: "Brother, why don't you make a seal and ask the court for help? The emperor Currently in Luoyang, the eastern capital, not too far away from Qiao County, you can directly submit a form to him and ask him to pull out a batch of weapons and armor for you, won’t you be able to solve this problem directly?”
"Am I looking for death?" Chen Yingliang gave Changsun Wuji a white look, and said, "I took advantage of the loopholes in the imperial court's decree to expand the township soldiers, and even asked the court for weapons and equipment for the township soldiers. No wonder the emperor didn't suspect that I was planning to rebel. "
"Others may be suspected, but you won't be, brother." Changsun Wuji said with a smile: "You forgot, brother, the number one celebrity in front of the emperor, Zuo Servant shot Pei Ju, and that was your distant uncle. , why do you have to worry about being suspected? Besides, now you have a good excuse to ask the court for weapons and equipment, even if you can't get it, it won't cause any trouble."
"What excuse?" Chen Yingliang asked.
"It was reported the day before yesterday that Du Fuwei, the great bandit of Qi County, has fled all the way south and has reached Xiapi. He has been recruiting and accepting rebels along the way. The number of rebels has reached more than 20,000. He is unparalleled in Xuzhou." Changsun Wuji suggested: " Brother, you might as well make an excuse to say that you heard the news of the rebels, saying that Du Fuwei intends to flee to Huainan, and the main force of Pengcheng staying behind Dong Chun was restrained by the rebel Peng Xiaocai in the territory of Langya, unable to stop the rebel Du Fuwei from fleeing. Huainan, brother, in order to be on the safe side, you asked the imperial court for weapons and equipment for the local soldiers, to form combat power as soon as possible, and to be ready to face Du Fuwei's gangsters at all times."
"Such an excuse is too far-fetched, right?" Chen Yingliang smiled wryly.
"It may be a bit far-fetched, but benefiting the country and the people is exactly what the emperor wants." Changsun Wuji changed a serious face of youth and maturity, and said solemnly: "Brother, you once said that the emperor is a tyrant today, but he is not a fool. , I will definitely not mind another minister capable of suppressing rebellion in the court. As for Pei Ju and Prime Minister Pei... I think he is a treacherous prime minister and a bright prime minister, but he is definitely not a mediocre prime minister. I know what is important and what is right and what is wrong. If he can support the second Zhang Xutuo, the emperor must be very happy, and he will be honored."
"This..." Chen Yingliang was taken aback for a moment, and then he realized that Changsun Wuji's words went straight to the core—people like Sui Yangdi and Pei Ju, although they might mind their purpose of expanding the township soldiers in Qiaojun, they certainly wouldn't mind Then cultivate a Zhang Xutuo who is invincible in the counter-insurgency battlefield, and quickly cultivate an accomplice and lackey who can increase their face, gain prestige and solve troubles for them.
"In this way, I can give it a try." Chen Yingliang thought in his heart, thinking that it was not bad for him to impress Emperor Sui Yang, and at the same time, Emperor Sui Yang happened to have many backers around him, so he would definitely be able to help him With a reliable backer, even if this matter fails, the consequences will not be too serious. Only then did Chen Yingliang make up his mind, and said in a deep voice: "Let's do this, I'll write the memorial first, and you go to Dongdu with some gifts, and give Pei Ju a New Year's greeting on an excuse for me, and take the opportunity to hand over the memorial and ask Pei Ju to pass it on. Pei Ju's attitude towards this matter."
"If Pei Ju thinks it's not right, then you can just bring the memorial back, and there won't be any troublesome consequences. If Pei Ju thinks it's feasible and agrees to pass on the memorial, then you can go to Yu Wenshu to send a New Year's greeting and give me a gift too." I beg Yu Wenshu to help me with this matter, he is the number one favorite in front of the emperor, he speaks his words, and with his help, this matter will be more secure."