Looking at the map, Zhu Cixiang frowned. It seemed that the bandits in the Huoshan area had to be eliminated. Otherwise, the fifth battalion of Gezuo alone could contain half of the troops in the Central Plains of the Ming Dynasty. Li Zicheng in the north has now gone to Gansu. After all, he has not been eliminated yet.

Drop it, this is not the way to go.

However, the area of ​​Huoshan Mountain is also too large. Huoshan Mountain is only a part of the Dabie Mountains. The Dabie Mountains are more than 700 miles long and 300 miles wide. The hundreds of thousands of rogues seem to be a lot of people. Once they enter the Dabie Mountains, no matter where they hide, the officers and soldiers will hide.

It's hard to find no matter what.

Zhu Cixiang said thoughtfully: "Have you ever asked anyone to infiltrate the bandits to understand their situation?"

Shi Kefa smiled and said: "Your Highness is wise. I did send someone to sneak into the bandits, and I also found out some information about the bandits."

Zhu Cixi looked happy and said: "How?"

Shi Kefa replied: "Currently the bandit leaders in the Central Plains include Huang Hu Zhang Xianzhong, Cao Cao Luo Rucai, Lao Hui Hui Ma Shouying, Ge Liyan He Yilong, King Zuo Jin He Jin, King Liu Xiyao of the Reformed World, and King Lin Chengcheng of the Troubled Times. The first two together.

The soldiers formed one unit, and the last five formed one unit, known as the "Five Battalions of Ge Zuo"."

Shi Kefa moistened his throat and continued: "Among these people, Lao Huihui Ma Shouying is the leader. Several bandits respect him as the leader of the alliance and the general in charge of the dish. This man was born in the border army and is quite capable. He allows the bandits to hide in Huoshan.

His idea."

Zhu Cixiang frowned and said: "This old man is the one who forced Zuo Liangyu to commit suicide? He was also the one who killed the commander-in-chief Wang Jinzhong who came to persuade him to surrender in the Xichuan military camp in Henan in the ninth year of Chongzhen's reign, and then moved away to the camp?"

Shi Kefa was surprised and said: "Why does Your Highness know this thief so well?"

Zhu Cixiang said lukewarmly: "After Gao Yingxiang was killed, this thief still dared to show off his power in Kaifeng, severely beat Zuo Liangyu, and opened up a new battlefield. He even dared to kill the general soldiers who went to recruit him in person. The imperial court had long regarded him as a "repetitive"

Even if he wants to surrender to someone who is a swindler and a stubborn person, I will not agree to it!"

Zhu Cixiang asked again: "Where is Zhang Xianzhong? Is he willing to succumb to Lao Huihui?"

Zhu Cixiang was still more concerned about Zhang Xianzhong. This man was as famous as Li Zicheng. He also established a Daxi regime in the late Ming Dynasty and served as a local emperor for a few days.

There are many versions of Zhang Xianzhong’s early life. Some say he worked as a policeman, and some say he did business. What Zhu Cixiang is most interested in is the story of Zhang Xianzhong selling dates. It is said that when Zhang Xianzhong was ten years old, he followed his father to Sichuan Zizhong to sell dates.

, the father and son tied the donkey to the stone tablet at the door of a wealthy family, hoping to wait until the dates were sold before going to take the donkey.

When the father and son went to look for the donkey after selling the dates, they saw the rich man's servant beating his own donkey. The reason was that the feces and urine of Zhang Xianzhong's donkey had stained the rich man's stone monument. Although Zhang Xianzhong and his son apologized, the rich man's

But the servant refused, and Zhang Xianzhong and his son had to kneel down and lick the feces and urine on the stone tablet clean with their tongues.

When encountering a ferocious naughty man in a foreign land, there was no response from the sky and the land had no door. Zhang Xianzhong and his son had no choice but to swallow their anger and knelt down to lick the donkey excrement on the stone tablet clean one by one...

It is said that Zhang Xianzhong hated Sichuan people since then. Zhu Cihong didn't know whether this was true or not. He thought that one day he would capture Zhang Xianzhong alive and ask him in person: Have you ever licked shit?

Naturally, Shi Kefa didn't know that the crown prince was thinking about whether he licked shit or not, so he replied: "Zhang Xianzhong is really not willing to submit to others. In terms of strategy, he is not as good as Ma Shouying, but in terms of combat bravery, he is much better than Ma Shouying.

So he likes to go out alone with "Cao Cao" Luo Rucai, who is famous for his treachery."

Zhang Guowei chuckled and said: "Your Highness, I heard that several leaders of the fifth camp of the bandits Gezuo are gradually starting to get into discord. In addition, Zhang Xianzhong is disobedient to Ma Shouying. This may be our opportunity. We can take the opportunity to recruit them!"

Zhu Cixi waved his hand and said: "Let's not discuss the matter of surrendering for the time being. We will wait until I convince them! Without the deterrence of absolute force, even if they are surrendered, they are just here to make a living. When they are full, they will continue to rebel. This kind of thing is done by thieves

Is it still less?”

"This..." Zhang Guowei didn't know how to open his mouth for a moment, so he could only wait for the crown prince to encounter a wall with the thief before mentioning it.

Zhu Cixiang pondered and said: "What Zhang Qing just said, why do rogue bandits gather tens of thousands of troops in a moment when the old camp is there? Why are there more and more rogue bandits? The more they suppress, the more they do?"

This question goes straight to the root, leaving Zhang Guowei and Shi Kefa not sure how to answer. In fact, they know the reason, but there are some things they cannot say in front of the royal family...

Shi Kefa gritted his teeth and said: "Every time the bandits break into a city, they will rob everything in the city, and they will also coerce the people to serve as starving soldiers. The people have no money and food. In these days of constant natural disasters, if you don't follow them, you can only

Starve to death. If you follow the bandits and capture other cities, you may be able to rob some money and food..."

Zhu Cixiang said coldly: "Will the people who are being held hostage be so willing to follow the thieves? Would you be willing to do it to the person who stole everything from you?"

Seeing the Crown Prince staring at him, Zhang Guowei gritted his teeth and said: "Your Highness, the government has no jurisdiction over the exiled people, so they can only be allowed to wander and join the ranks of bandits."

Zhu Cixiang sighed lightly. In the final analysis, it was the people who encountered difficulties in survival. Ordinary people rebelled because they had no food to eat. I have never seen anyone who wants to be an emperor after being full.

Thirty acres of land, one cow, a wife and children, and a life of hot bed can satisfy all their fantasies about the future. Zhu Cixiang felt at this time that suppressing the bandits was a political issue, not a military issue.

If you want to completely eradicate the bandits, you can only calm the people's hearts first, and if you want to calm the people's hearts, you must first let them have food to eat. Now that there is a shortage of food during the disaster, food comes from the land, and there is too much idle land along the way...

....

Zhu Cixiang then asked Zhang Guowei and Zhu Dadian if there was any problem in providing follow-up food and grass for the Yongwei Camp. The two assured them that there would be no problem and they would get as much as they asked for.

Although various places were affected by disasters, the Jiangnan area was still a fertile land and was the largest grain-producing area in the Ming Dynasty. The conditions were much better than those in Henan, Shaanxi and other areas. There was no problem in providing food and grass for the 20,000-strong army for a long time.

Later, Zhu Cixiang made a simple arrangement, asking the two to strictly guard against rogue bandits along the Yangtze River, mainly to defend Luzhou, Anqing, Chizhou, Nanjing and other places.

After everyone dispersed, Zhang Guowei and Shi Kefa returned to Nanjing and Anqing to sit down respectively. They walked on the same road and started chatting.

The smile on Zhang Guowei's face gradually disappeared and he said: "Xianzhi, what do you think?"

Shi Kefa said: "It seems that His Highness is interested in the land of Fengyang Mansion..."

Zhang Guowei smiled bitterly and said: "I just hope that our Highness will just think about it and never make an unwise choice."

Shi Kefa frowned and said: "Brother Yu Sheng, I'm not worried about the situation here in Fengyang. I'm worried about His Highness's attention to land in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The land over there is much better than here..."

Zhang Guowei was shocked and said: "No way? If that's the case, it will be a disaster!"

The Donglin Party wanted to support the crown prince in Jiangnan. If the crown prince wanted to attract the attention of the landlords in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they would become enemies of their Donglin Party...
Chapter completed!