Chapter 501 Family Affairs Two Heroes

"Master General, the magistrate of the King of Dongchang Prefecture urgently reported it."

The only messenger who could get so close to Li Meng's tent late at night was the messenger who delivered the message. He had to be a messenger who was one step ahead, but the situation had reached this point, so why should I be so anxious?

Everyone in the military tent was extremely awe-inspiring. When the army came to fight, the most feared thing was the retreat and family affairs. Moreover, the one who came to report the news was the prefect of Dongchang Prefecture.

Among the six prefectures in Shandong, three prefectures were vacant, local magistrates were in charge, and three were in office. These three were in office, expressing their loyalty to Qi Guoqi.

If the letter from General Denglai Zhao Neng was good, it was the first urgent report from this civil servant. The first thing that made people think of was the bad news. Li Meng, who was sitting in the head, looked calm and ordered:

"No need to stop me, let the sender come in directly!"

The sound of horse hooves stopped not far away. People in the military tent could hear their personal soldiers coming up to search their bodies, and then hurriedly ran in.

Everyone in the room, even Yuan Wenhong, who was drafting a copy, stopped writing, looked at the door of the handsome tent, the curtain was lifted by his personal soldiers, and ran in one person stumbled in. He looked at him but didn't understand the rules, and looked up and saw that everyone in the handsome tent was all high-ranking officials and generals.

This was when I woke up, I took a step and knelt down directly. The sound of breathing was extremely heavy, and anyone could hear it. The man was dressed in a salt dress. Seeing this dress, it made people feel even more uneasy. The messenger tried his best to swallow his saliva from kneeling down, trying to moisten his throat, but he couldn't say it. It was because of the hard work on the road and his throat was extremely dry.

"Give him a drink and bring the letter!"

It was Li Meng who spoke, and then everyone moved. Huang Ping took a skin water bag over. The messenger didn't even care about thanking him. He took the water bag and drank it.

Huang Ping took the letter from him and took a few steps to Li Meng's hand. Li Meng took the letter and looked at the fire paint mark on it that was stained with some stains and a little old. He saw that no one had touched the letter.

He opened the letter here, and the attention of the civil and military people below changed. However, Yuan Wenhong was stunned and continued to write there.

The content of the urgent letter should not be much. After reading it, Fang Qiang held the letter in his hand and asked:

"What is your origin and in that organization?"

After drinking the water, the messenger knelt there and was a little at a loss. Many rumored big shots suddenly appeared in front of him, which was indeed panicking. When Li Meng heard Li Meng speak, the messenger kowtowed and replied loudly:

"The villain is Han Cai, who is the armed Yanding Brigade of Dongchang Prefecture and the Liaocheng Squadron of the Fucheng!

A salt brigade ranges from 2,000 to 6,000 people. Now there is an armed salt brigade in each prefecture. A squadron is stationed in a large county, a small county is stationed in a small county, and Liaocheng is Dongchang Prefecture City. In addition to the city stationed, there is also a salt brigade specializing in staring at officials.

As the prefect of Dongchang, the magistrate of Dongchang has long been a officials who have lost sincerity, this team has the responsibility of protecting and some subordinates. Li Meng continued to ask:

"Have you ever been a soldier?"

"Report to the general, the villain turned out to be a spearman from the Yanzhou Army. He was injured in his legs while transporting supplies and was at home. After his legs were healed, he directly replenished the armed salt steak."

"Can you know the rules of keeping confidentiality in the army?"

"Remember it firmly, please rest assured by the handsome man!"

"Go down and have some meals and rest. Except for Commander Huang, who is following your personal soldiers, don't talk to anyone, and you can't talk to this personal soldiers about Shandong and you. Do you understand?"

"Please rest assured, the villain knows the importance of doing things and will not say a word!"

After this answer, the salt dick who was delivering the letter kowtowed a few more times. The personal soldiers commander Huang Ping called a personal soldiers, gave a few words of advice, and took Han Cai to leave the commander's tent together.

Li Meng looked at the expressions of the civil and military officials in the military tent and said calmly:

"If the content of this letter is not told to you, you must be uneasy. The Longhua Education Rebellion in Linqingzhou is said to have killed officials in the state and rebelled with flags!"

Although Li Meng said this in an understatement, everyone who heard it was shocked. The Longhua Sect is a branch of the White Lotus Sect. Since the late Southern Song Dynasty, the White Lotus Sect has committed rebellion in that dynasty. It is simply a professional rebellion cult.

Linqingzhou was the fourth richest city in Shandong before Li Meng started his family. Although it is one place behind, the wealth is even greater than that day. It has a large population and wealth. If such a city is controlled by a cult, if someone is instigated by those unstable places, it will cause chaos. Now the soldiers are fighting outside. If there is chaos in the base area, wouldn’t the soldiers have a collapse in their morale?

After everyone looked at each other, the first one was Yuan Shizhong, a guerrilla guerrilla in northern Henan. As a general in Henan, it was the most suitable one for him to speak. Yuan Shizhong clasped his fists and said:

"Master, the land of Shandong is the foundation. Shunzhe is already a situation where the lights are gone. The destiny is in Shandong. There is no hurry to annihilate Shunzhe. It is better to send a light cavalry back first. It is not too late to advance when the situation in Shandong is determined!"

After Yuan Shizhong said this, everyone in the military tent showed a look of agreement. With Shandong's military strength, there was no suspense to defeat the Shun Army. It was a safe way to determine the situation in Shandong and fight again. Li Meng did not comment, put the letter paper on the lamp, and said with a sneer:

"Everything remains unchanged. The camp will be launched early as planned tomorrow and will fight Li Chuang!!"

Seeing that the people below were still trying to persuade him, Li Meng stood up and shook his head and said:

"Linqingzhou, at least I have 600 armed salt gentry, which is quite close to Yanzhou and Jinan prefectures. How many soldiers are there in the Yanzhou army, Denglai army, and the armed salt gentry in other places? These soldiers and horses cannot be put down any chaos."

Li Meng was indeed not worried. The current situation in Shandong was Sun Chuanting and Yan Jizu, as well as Zhou Yang and Ning Qiangui. These people had great power in their hands. Even if there was chaos, they would be pacified in an instant. Li Meng had confidence in them and he also had confidence in himself. Shandong was governed by him, and a large number of hungry and disaster victims in the neighboring Northern Zhili and Henan all escaped to survive. Is there anyone who is unwilling to ask for such a good situation and wants to rebel and rebel? What other benefits can he get?

"My dear lords, since Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, there have been nearly three hundred years of inheritance, and the white lotus has caused countless chaos. Have you ever heard of any chaos in a state?"

The chief clerk Yuan Wenhong stopped writing and said with a smile. Li Meng finished speaking with a firm heart. Yuan Wenhong added this again. Everyone felt much more at ease. Li Meng said loudly:

"Success or failure depends on the battle tomorrow. You all go back to the camp to rest. Tomorrow, make a meal and set off the camp at the second hour of Yin, and fight with Li Chuang!!"

At this time, even if there were any questions in my heart, I would put them back in my stomach. Everyone agreed with their fists and made a big promise and made their own arrangements.

The personal commander Huang Ping was still standing in the tent. He had to wait for Li Meng to sleep before he would rest. When the person left the tent, Li Meng sat in his seat and said to Huang Ping:

"Send someone to the Inquiry Department to send an expedited letter, ordering Tian Zhengshi, General Denglai, and armed salt dynasties of various governments to cooperate in the investigation. After life is getting better, many people start to think randomly and feel uneasy."

At this time, Li Meng was not as confident as before, but rather tired as before. Huang Ping quickly bowed and agreed. Yuan Wenhong next to him had already finished writing the food and grass support document from that place, and handed it to Li Meng with both hands. Li Meng browsed a little, called the personal soldiers who were handing them on the seal, and stamped them with a large seal. Li Meng exhaled and said again:

"Strictly investigate and deal with it strictly, the main evil, the mastermind, and the assistants must be beheaded. All these people, relatives and friends enter the military farm and treat them as enemy prisoners of war. All those who were bewitched were demoted to military farms. They were not allowed to be civilians or join the army to serve as officials within five years!"

Yuan Wenhong was also unable to calm down, so he quickly wrote another order to hand it over to Huang Ping who was waiting. At this moment, Li Meng was not worried, but just irritable.

The soldiers had already rested early. After Li Meng finished everything, he also turned off the lights to sleep. This night was mentioned in many memoirs and notes in the future, and even literary works, with various descriptions. On the eve of the war, Li Meng was calm and composed, commented on the situation, how the generals admired the generals, how the gentry and righteous people of all walks of life understood the righteousness, and helped Jiaozhou Camp.

But the personal soldiers guarding Li Meng's camp had other secrets. For example, when they were out of the lights and went to bed, they vaguely heard the general cursing in the military tent:

"I'm really crazy!"

This night was extremely quiet. Two regiments in Li Meng's camp were rotating at night, preparing to deal with possible harassment from the Shun Army, but they did not wait.

In the late September of Henan Province, it was the darkest time, but the camp of Jiaozhou Camp began to become noisy at this moment. Shandong soldiers were extremely nervous about this time. There were mechanical clocks specially bought from the West to determine the time. Each battalion had special officers coming to check the time before going to bed every night, and only when they were in action would be done.

When we set out at the second hour of Yin, we had to prepare breakfast at the same time. The troops of more than 40,000 people needed even more supplies and supplies than the troops themselves.

Henan Governor Li Xianfeng naturally knew whether the logistics arrangements for the army were good or bad. First, it was to show his ability, and second, it was to determine his position in the Shandong system in the future.

Realizing these two points, Li Xianfeng was so energetic that he worked hard to recruit the civilians of Kaifeng Prefecture and Guide Prefecture, and allocated the food and grass stored on the Yellow River and the local military farms. He was full of energy. The officials below were considering similar to him, and no one dared to relax.

Although Kaifeng Prefecture has only three or four counties under the control of Shandong, all prefectures and counties in other non-controlled areas are very active. When the Shun Army arrived, all the officials who surrendered or led their relatives to the mountain to establish villages, the landlords and gentry were active. Those with great power took the banner of Shandong to besiege the local troops of Shun Army. Those with little power also secretly informed Shandong and Kaifeng.

As for the line from Kaifeng City to Wuchuan, Xuchang and Xiangcheng, along the way, many landlords and gentry took the initiative to join the army to help, either transporting food and grass to the army, or daring to take the lead. If Shandong was willing to accept these landlords and militaries as soldiers, their current military strength would probably be more than 100,000.

With the operation of the Ming officials in Kaifeng City and the assistance of local gentry and landlords, the trip of Shandong soldiers and horses from Kaifeng has been very smooth.

Although it was quite difficult for troops with cannons and many food and supplies to march on muddy and wet ground, the speed was not much slower than when the weather was sunny, and because of the help of these local snakes, the inquiry of the Shun Army's intelligence and the blockade of the Shun Army's sentry detectives have always done a very good job.

Compared with the Shunjun side, such things have always been ignored. Once the policy of torture and salary was released, it was actually a complete break with the backbone of the society of this era.

To this day, in the so-called controlled territory of the Shun Army, large villages with thousands of people, even tens of thousands of people have emerged one after another. These people are local powerful people and bandit soldiers and horses incompatible ways. These are all hidden worries and future troubles of the Shun Army.

After breakfast, the two regiments and military officials who were on duty last night drove the civilians and Ding Zhuang to pack up the camp, while the soldiers lined up to prepare for departure.

When it was dawn, someone in Shunjun's camp also rang a clapper, which was a signal to get up. Li Shuangxi, the leader of the personal guard who was resting next to the camp of Chuangwang, did not sleep well all night.

Although Li Shuangxi is not old, he is an old general who has fought for nearly seven years. He has experienced all kinds of bloody battles of victory and defeat. However, this night, he couldn't sleep well no matter what. He tossed and turned around and thought about things. In the past, he would snore when he touched the pillow, but this night he always thought of Liu Tichun and Liu Fangliang, and those old brothers he had known before.

Hearing the sound of the clapper, he turned over and got up from the bed, tidied up his clothes and armor, hung up his weapons, stepped on his tent, looked up at the sky, although there were still many clouds, he could see some sunny meaning. It had been cloudy for so long, and he should be in a good mood when he saw this sunny day, but this made Li Shuangxi even more depressed, and muttered there:

"This thief, it's sunny when it should rain..."

Shandong Bianmaduo firearm. In rainy days, this firearm will always have problems when used, but the weather is also towards the other party, which really makes people feel uncomfortable.

"Commander Li, Prince Chuang has woken up."

Walking to the edge of the camp, several personal soldiers guarding the King's tent told him, and Li Shuangxi hurriedly walked a few steps into Li Zicheng's handsome tent.

The King of Breaking Li Zicheng's face was still good. He seemed to have a good sleep last night. When he saw Li Shuangxi coming in, he stood up and said with a smile:

"Every breakfast soon and follow me to inspect the battalions."

Seeing King Chuang so relaxed and calm, Li Shuangxi was also confident and nodded heavily. Before he could move, Li Laiheng hurriedly walked in and said:

"The prince of the rebellion, the soldiers of the Lu thieves are still one and a half years away, and they are about to arrive here. Liu Zongmin sent the cavalry to harass him, but he could not find any loopholes. He could only return and send a light cavalry to inform him first."

Li Zicheng nodded and said in a solemn voice:

"After breakfast, each battalion prepares to line up in front of the battalion to fight against the enemy!!"

Li Laiheng agreed heavily, turned around and went out to arrange the camp. Li Shuangxi followed the King of Chuang to the outside and got on the horse together. Finally, he couldn't help asking:

"Prince Chuang, can we just wait here for him to come to Shandong? Isn't that..."

Although I said halfway, the meaning was to understand that all aspects of this battle had to be considered clearly. However, the Queen of Chuang moved the camp and the entire position was arranged, but there was no action next. Waiting to wait for the other party to come to attack? This is too simple.

Li Shuangxi, the commander of the personal guard, was a confidant. Of course, Li Zicheng would not hide anything from him. The King of Chuang immediately pointed to the outside of the camp and said:

"Is there a place so open between Xiangcheng and Jiaxian?"

Li Shuangxi thought for a moment, shook her head slowly, and Li Zicheng said with a smile:

"The most powerful thing we can fight is the forty thousand cavalry, but if these forty thousand cavalry are fighting in a narrow place and can rush up to 4 thousand, then the forty thousand cavalry is at most 8 thousand. The wider the place, the greater the power our cavalry will be, and of course we have to choose here."

Looking at Li Zicheng's calm and composed appearance, he couldn't tell that the battle was about to happen. Li Shuangxi also felt much more relaxed, and listened to the King of Breaking to continue:

"Look, we camped here, which is a gentle slope. If Li Meng brought his troops here, he would definitely be rushing from bottom to top. The whistle detectives rewarded him. Most of the Shandong troops were infantrymen. This way of walking from bottom to top was somewhat hindering. Do you still remember the time of Wo Shui?"

Speaking of this, Li Shuangxi also remembered that on the Wo Shui side, Shandong soldiers lined up on the gentle slope of the river. Li and Luo's refugee coalition really suffered a lot on this slope.

"I think about the battles that Shandong soldiers have fought. He often attacked others when he took the initiative to attack others. He was always there to line up and wait for others to attack. Is this time he is good at defending and attacking in Shandong? Let's set up this formation first and let them move first. As long as they can hold up the attack ahead, the two wings led by Hao Yaoqi will press over, and the chance of victory will be great."

The more Li Shuangxi heard it, the happier he became. He was so sure of Shandong. He was about to say a few words of congratulations, but Li Zicheng, the King of Chuang, speeded up the horse speed. He hurriedly followed and heard the King of Chuang, saying with a smile:

"Double Joy, what did you look like when you are the most difficult?"
To be continued...