The walls were ruined and devastated, and puffs of black smoke still wafted over the city, which was what Chen Yue saw when he arrived outside Xi'an.

The Shun army retreated to the west, and when they left, they set a fire in the city of Xi'an, and half of the city was set on fire. After Li Yi and Yu Feng arrived with the vanguard, although they sent troops to put out the fire, the fire was not easy to extinguish at all, so they could only isolate the fire as much as possible, and barely kept half of the city from being burned.

"A thief is a thief, and he will not forget to kill and set fire until he dies! We really shouldn't be soft on them! Zhang Huang said hatefully.

Chen Yue shook his head slightly: "Li Guo and other leaders of the Shun army have no choice, the defeat is like a mountain, I am afraid that most of the Shun army and people have lost confidence, only in this way can they force most of the Shun army to go west with him." When they left, I'm afraid they didn't think about fighting back......"

Zhang Huangyan thought about it for a while, and also understood, if Li Guo and other leaders of the Shun army still wanted to return to Xi'an to regroup, they would never do such a thing as setting fire to the city.

"In other words, Li Guo will follow our deployment all the way to the west and attack the Western Regions?" Zhang Huang said happily.

Chen Yue said: "Whether the Shun army will go to the Western Regions or not depends on us, and only if we force them to continue to the west, can we achieve deployment." After all, compared to the sweetness of Longxi, the Western Regions full of yellow sand are also too desolate, if there is no way, I'm afraid no one wants to go there. ”

Most of the people of Xi'an Fucheng were coerced to the west by the Shun army, and only more than 1,000 people were left behind to escape the fire, and the entire city almost became an empty city.

Chen Yue ordered to repair in Xi'an for a period of time, and at the same time sent people to Huguang Henan to give an order, and fate sent grain into the customs.

After the Shun army ravaged the army, there was very little grain that could be obtained in various places, and the army continued to pursue the Shun army to the west, so it was necessary to transfer grain from other places, and the closest to Xi'an were Luoyang, Henan Province, and Xiangyang, Nanyang.

At this moment, the Ming army that entered Guanzhong was nearly 200,000, of which 100,000 belonged to the Northern Expeditionary Army of Chen Yue's lineage, and the other 100,000 were local armies in Shanxi and Henan.

Shaanxi Province is extremely vast, and it is impossible to exterminate the Shun army or drive the Shun army to the Western Regions in a short period of time.

And now that the south is troublesome, the imperial court has issued a holy decree urging Chen Yue to return. For Chen Yue, the remnants of the Shun army are already grasshoppers after the autumn and do not have much time, they only need to be cleaned up step by step, and the south and the imperial court need themselves even more.

In the next few days, Chen Yue convened the generals to discuss for several days in a row, and determined the next series of measures to deal with the Shun army.

After discussion, it was decided to take Yu Feng as the general of Pingxi, lead 10,000 cavalry and 100,000 infantry, pursue the Shun army all the way to the west, occupy Fengxiang, Gongchang and Linzhao and other Longxi prefectures, and then attack Xiningwei in the northwest. With Wu Ping as the general of Pingbei, he led his headquarters from Xi'an to the north to recover Pingliang, Yan'an, Qingyang and other prefectures, as well as Ningxia and Yulin.

The two armies cooperated with each other to completely recover the whole of Shaanxi and force the Shun army to the Hexi Corridor.

After recovering the guards of northern Shaanxi, Wu Ping led his troops back to Datong, Ma Chuang was the general soldier of Ningxia, and Li Yulin was the general soldier of Yulin, respectively guarding the defense line of the Great Wall of northern Shaanxi.

Yu Feng led his troops to continue to advance to Hexi, and completely forced the Shun army to the Western Regions. I will play the imperial court and open the Governor's Mansion of the Western Regions, and Yu Feng will be the first Governor of the Western Regions of the Ming Dynasty!

In terms of pacification and people's governance in Shaanxi, He Lu served as the governor of Shaanxi, responsible for imitating the model of Shandongbei and carrying out local reforms in Shaanxi. ”

Chen Yue told his final arrangements one by one.

"Thank you, Lord Wang!" He Lu was overjoyed when he heard this, and thanked Chen Yue again and again. followed Chen for more years, and has been working as a clerk, and finally became a feudal official.

As for the others, Wu Ping was originally in charge of Xuanda, and the only way to suppress the Shaanxi Shun Army was to return to the front line of Xuanda. As for Ma Chuang and Li Yulin, they have followed Chen for more years and made countless military exploits, and it is only natural that they should be appointed as the chief soldiers of a town.

And the happiest thing is Yu Feng, who commanded an army of 100,000 troops, the general of Pingxi, the governor of the Western Regions, this is a proper general, and his status has been comparable to Wu Ping, Li Yi, Jin Xin and other three generals.

Yu Feng looked at Chen Yue with joy, he didn't expect Chen Yue to give him such an important task, according to his status in the army, such a thing should be in charge of Li Yi, thinking of this, he looked at Li Yi with some regret, but he didn't see any frustration on Li Yi's face at all.

Li Yi should have another task, and Yu Feng suddenly realized in his heart.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thieves have ravaged the Ming Dynasty for nearly 20 years, bringing countless disasters to the people of the world. However, this king remembered that most of the thieves were also suffering people, so he always had good thoughts and did not want to kill them all.

Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi and other bandit chiefs are stubborn and will never be willing to be appeased, and even if they are willing to be appeased, hundreds of thousands of Shun troops and their families may spend countless money and food to settle down. In the past few years, we have killed the Western thieves, the Northern Expedition to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and spent countless money and grain, and the treasury of the Ming Dynasty has long been empty. For the current Ming court, it is simply impossible to come up with the silver to house hundreds of thousands of Shunjun soldiers and civilians. Therefore, the best thing to do is to force him to go to the Western Regions.

Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Western Regions have been the territory of our China, but the imperial court is weak and now unable to operate the Western Regions, so the Shun army will be the pioneer of my Ming Dynasty's attack on the Western Regions.

Therefore, everyone, whether or not we can drive the thieves to the Western Regions is really related to my interests after thousands of years of the Ming Dynasty. Chen Yue finally said.

"Yes, Lord Wang!" Yu Feng and the others will say yes.

Nanyang's grain was the first to be transported into Guanzhong through Wuguan, and the Nanyang Basin experienced a year of peace and achieved a good harvest. After receiving the order of Chen Yue, the king of Qi, the local government of Nanyang did not dare to slack off, and immediately organized people to transport grain to Guanzhong.

With food, Yu Feng led the army to the west, and Wu Ping also took his headquarters all the way to the north.

Chen Yue took Li Yi and Zhang Huangyan, escorted by 10,000 troops, and went east out of Tongguan in the direction of Luoyang.

"Li Yi, this king sent Yu Feng to run the Hexi Western Regions and didn't send you, are you a little disappointed?" On the way, Chen Yue asked Li Yidao with a smile.

Li Yi smiled slightly: "The prince must have a more important task for me." ”

Chen Yue laughed, and pointed at Li Yi after laughing: "You, you really don't look like you're in your twenties!" ”

"Lord Wang, what are you going to do with General Li?" Li Yi hadn't spoken yet, and Zhang Huangyan on the side was a little impatient.

Chen Yue restrained his smile and said: "The Shun army has been defeated in successive battles, and the morale has long been extremely low. With Yu Feng's 100,000 troops there, it was enough to drive the thieves to the west of the river.

And the thieves in the Ming Dynasty are not only Shunjun! ”

Zhang Huangyan asked, "The western thief that the prince is referring to?" But the year before last, the western thief had just been defeated by the prince, and even the thief chief Zhang Xianzhong died at the hands of the prince. ”

Chen Yue shook his head and said, "The Western Thief can't be underestimated. Although Zhang Xianzhong died, several of his righteous sons were even more amazing. Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo are not ordinary people, and their abilities are by no means comparable to Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi and others!

Li Yi, you have always led the troops safely and have the ability to take charge of yourself, so I decided to let you deal with the Western Thieves! ”

Li Yi said: "Although the prince can rest assured, the general will definitely suppress Sichuan and arrest Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo in front of the prince." ”

Chen Yue nodded: "After returning to Nanjing, I'm afraid that this king will not be able to leave Beijing easily, and the future conquest will depend on you!" ”

Li Yi and Zhang Huangyan glanced at each other, and they both understood the meaning of Chen Yue's words. Chen Yue led his troops back to Beijing this time, and he must have mastered the imperial court. In the future, it is even more necessary to sit in the imperial court, and it is impossible to lead troops to the expedition as before.

"Alas, I prefer to lead troops to the expedition than to stay in the imperial court, which is more enjoyable." Chen Yue couldn't help but sigh.

Zhang Huangyan persuaded: "Don't worry, Lord Wang, Li Yi and the others will follow you to fight for many years, and they already have the ability to take charge alone." Compared to fighting, it is the center of the court that needs you the most. ”

......

Chen Yue set off with 10,000 troops, passed through Tongguan, and it took ten days to reach Luoyang, Henan Prefecture.

For more than ten years, Luoyang City has been broken by the Shun army several times, the city defense is extremely dilapidated, the people are displaced, and there is no one in ten, it is already summer, and there are few people in the fields scattered at all.

In fact, not only Luoyang, but also Kaifeng, Guide and other Henan provinces were also extremely dilapidated at this time. For Henan, which is located in the Central Plains, it has always been a place where soldiers must fight, and the people here are also the most suffering.

Yue Qijie, the governor of Henan, led a group of officials to welcome Chen Yue's arrival in Luoyang.

Some time ago, Yue Qijie took the local Ming army in Henan to cooperate with Li Yi to attack Li Guo who occupied Luoyang, after Li Guo retreated to Tongguan, Li Yi forcibly incorporated Yue Qijie's Henan soldiers, and took Henan soldiers into Guanzhong, Yue Qijie suddenly became a light pole governor.

Although there was resentment in his heart, Yue Qijie did not dare to show it at all, and his attitude was extremely respectful when he greeted Chen Yue.

That night, Yue Qijie led a group of officials and gentry in Luoyang to host a banquet to entertain Chen Yue and his party, and Chen Yue took his subordinates to the banquet happily.

Although Chen Yue was smiling, all the officials and gentry were silent. Now Chen Yue's power is immeasurable, and according to the news of the imperial court, he is about to enter the court and govern, and he will be the man of the Empress of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Another purpose of Yue Qijie's banquet to entertain Chen Yue was to be entrusted by the gentry in Henan to intercede with Chen Yue, after all, the changes in Beizhi and Shandong deeply stung them.

In the past few months, news has come from Beizhi and Shandong from time to time, all of which are news that the gentry have been raided and their land wealth has been robbed, and the gentry in Henan have long been frightened.

And now Chen Yue's power makes them dare not resist at all, so they can only try to surrender, hoping to be forgiven.

So, at the banquet, a cadre of gentry praised Chen Yue to the fullest, and sycophants rolled in like a tide.

After touting, he offered a gift, "Your Royal Highness King Qi, you led the army to exterminate the thieves and restore the peace of the place, it is really hard work, please smile at the small gift, it is me to wait for a little heart." ”

While the wine was drunk, the representative of the gentry, a man surnamed Wang, presented Chen Yue with a gift list.

Chen Yue unfolded it and looked at it gently, and saw that the first line said, 200,000 taels of silver, as well as grain, cattle and sheep wine, etc., all of which were used by the army.

Not to mention anything else, 200,000 taels of silver, this is a lot of wealth!

Of course, for the Jiangnan gentry, 200,000 taels is really nothing, but for the war-torn north, although many squires own far more land than in the south, where is the wealth accumulated by farming as much wealth as the southern gentry get by industry and commerce?

Therefore, for these Henan gentry, 200,000 taels is already a lot, and it is definitely not something that any one can get alone.

Chen Yue looked at the gift list, and all the squires looked at Chen Yue with hopeful eyes, this was already their last hope.

"After the turmoil in the north, it is a time to recuperate, and you squires are the leading figures of the place, and the restoration of the place depends on your support."

Finally, Chen Yue spoke slowly, and the words he said made the squires happy in their hearts.

"However, you also have to think about why there has been such chaos in the north over the years, and why so many people have taken risks. Isn't it your responsibility? Chen Yue's words changed sharply, and his tone became sharp.

"Please also ask His Royal Highness the King of Qi to teach, and we will keep it in mind." Wang Juren hurriedly stood up and said respectfully, and the other squires also hurriedly stood up when they saw this, and listened to King Qi's instructions.

"There is nothing to teach, in fact, it is very simple, the reason why the people rebelled and became thieves was because they could not survive anymore. And the reason why you can't survive is to a large extent forced by you people! Chen Yue said coldly.

"I can't wait!" Wang Juren and the other squires were terrified, and suddenly knelt on the ground. persecuting the people to rebel, how dare they bear such a charge?

Could it be that the King of Qi still refuses to let himself go, is the rumor true, the King of Qi wants to eliminate the squires of the world? These people couldn't help but think in their hearts.

At this time, Yue Qijie, the governor of Henan, who was sitting beside Chen Yue, couldn't help but say: "King Qi, the world is in turmoil, and thieves rebel, there are many reasons, can't they all be pushed on their heads, right?" ”

Because of the gentry's crying and begging, because everyone was in the same breath, Yue Qijie reluctantly agreed to make peace. And now Chen Yue's words shocked Yue Qijie, could it be that Chen Yue wanted to take this opportunity to wipe out the Luoyang squires? If Chen Yue really wants to make a move, now there are Chen Yue's subordinates inside and outside the city, although Yue Qijie is the governor of Henan, he only has some government officials in his hands, and he is powerless to resist at all.

"Of course, you can't put it all on them, but most of the responsibility should be borne by them." Chen Yue said coldly, "Lord Yue, you are a two-rank jinshi, you have read far more books than this king, and you have also been a herdsman official for many years, so you should know the suffering of the people." Why did Da Ming get to where he is now? Don't you have any doubts in your mind? ”()

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