Hearing the news brought by Lu Qi, Zhu Youzhen's face suddenly turned pale, and he almost instantly thought of how the gentry representatives in the capital would be when they heard about it.

As the so-called things hurt their kind, people mourn the same. The fate of the Huaiyuan Liu family, a local wealthy family in Henan, will inevitably cause the anger of these gentry. Once it is used by someone with a heart, I am afraid that even the New Deal will be implicated.

After taking a deep breath, the anger that faintly rose in Chongzhen's heart was suddenly suppressed. At this point, mere anger is no avail. After calming down a little, he opened his mouth and asked, "What are the details, didn't Xu Xianchun send the folds in detail?" ”

Lu Qi hurriedly sent the fold in his hand and said, "Commander Xu's fold is here. ”

Zhu Youzhen didn't pick it up, but simply said one word: "Read"

In Lu Qi's reading, Chongzhen finally calmed down completely. Zhang Xianzhong, a hundred households in brocade, was ordered to go to Tongbai to investigate the case of the attack on the official army of the grain collector, and found out that the bandits who attacked the official army were related to the Liu family in Huaiyuan. Zhang Xianzhong went to inquire about the case, but was resisted by the Liu family by force.

Zhang Xianzhong and others, who originally thought that going with more than 500 officers and soldiers would inevitably make the Liu family surrender and capture, retreated in front of the more than 1,000 Zhuang Ding and prohibited firearms gathered by the Liu family. Even Zhang Xianzhong himself was hit by an arrow, and the casualties of the officers and soldiers were even heavier.

Zhang Xianzhong, who returned to Tongbai County, asked for help from Xu Xianchun in Kaifeng; On the one hand, he rectified the defeated army, and co-opted the local squires who opposed the Liu family to investigate the detailed information about Liujiazhuang.

After receiving reinforcements, Zhang Xianzhong also heard from a fugitive in Liujiazhuang the detailed topography of several areas inside Liujiazhuang, as well as the distribution of drainage channels in the village.

At the same time, after the Liu family repelled the official army, they sent people everywhere to invoke their in-laws to speak for themselves. Henan's political envoy and several local officials in Henan said that the governor of Henan was mobilized and sent officials to Tongbai County to investigate the attack on Liujiazhuang.

This dispatched official was naturally bought off by the Liu family, and as soon as he arrived in Tongbai County, he ordered the dispatch of the strong men from all the townships who had been recruited to guard the county seat. He also ordered Zhang Xianzhong's subordinates not to go out during the period when he was investigating and closing the case.

Zhang Xianzhong pretended to obey the official's order, but that night he mobilized his men and horses to attack Liujiazhuang. The person in charge of the Liu family had just received the news from the county seat, so he felt that the major event had been decided, and held a banquet in the village. After all, under the tradition of the Ming Dynasty's noble and lowly martial arts, the soldiers who came to preside over the investigation were enough to restrain the officers and soldiers except for the Jinyi Guard.

Zhuang Ding, who was guarding the village, also relaxed because of this. Zhang Xianzhong's unit arrived in the middle of the night, rested for three hours, and launched an attack at about 4 a.m. Zhang Xianzhong personally led a team of elite soldiers to dig the exit of the hidden canal from Liujiazhuang, and then under the leadership of the fugitive from Liujiazhuang, he touched the Zhuangzi and opened the gate.

Due to the arrival of that soldier, he took away the local recruited township soldiers of Tongbai and the command of a part of the Henan Guard. Zhang Xianzhong made a quick decision, and only took away the people from his headquarters and a group of people sent by Xu Xianchun, with less than 800 people.

After the Liu family repelled the official army last time, they recruited some homeless people, and there were more than 2,000 strong men guarding the village. Zhang Xianzhong led the newly defeated army and went to the dangerous place himself, which boosted the morale of the officers and soldiers. And because of the laxity of the Liu family, it broke the village in one fell swoop.

After breaking the village, these sergeants couldn't help but indulge when they saw the Liu family's hundreds of years of business accumulation. And Zhang Xianzhong took a tacit attitude towards the venting of the officers and soldiers after breaking the village, which led to the tragedy of the Liu family.

After listening to Lu Qi's story, Zhu Youzhen frowned, paced back and forth and thought for a moment before he stopped and asked again: "Except for Liujiazhuang, have the officials and soldiers harassed other local villages?" Who led the rape * girl, and did Zhang Xianzhong participate in this matter? ”

Lu Qi lowered his head and carefully read the fold in his hand, and then said with some hesitation: "Only the matter of Lujiazhuang is written on the fold, and the minister thinks that the officials and soldiers should not have harassed other local villages.

As for the rape of the women of the Liu family, it was not written in detail on the fold. The ministers really don't know if this hundred households are involved in the rape of * women. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked back at Wang Chengen, nodded at him and ordered: "Go and call Lian Shanxiang over, I have something to tell him to do." ”

After Lian Shanxiang, who was checking the status of the palace guards on duty, received the order, he hurriedly followed the attendants sent by Wang Chengen to Chongzhen.

Seeing that most of the sun was about to set in the distance, Zhu Youzhen finally figured out how to deal with the case of the Liu family in Huaiyuan. He turned around and saw Lian Shanxiang, the head of the inner guard, standing aside.

Zhu Youzhen beckoned to him and said, "General Lian is coming over, I want to tell you to go to Henan to do a few things." ”

Lian Shanxiang hurriedly took a few steps and walked in front of Chongzhen. Zhu Youzhen looked at him for a while before saying: "There is a bit of chaos in Henan, if it is not handled well, I am afraid that Commander Xu and Li Du Yushi will be implicated because of this, and the new policy of the imperial court will be repeated." Lu Qi, you and General Lian will tell me what happened. ”

Lian Shanxiang listened to Lu Qi's brief introduction and finally had a general understanding of what happened. Although he was not aware of the impact of this incident on the new policy, he said with some righteous indignation: "This Zhang Xianzhong is really a big dog, not only blatantly violating the imperial court system, but also sending troops without authorization. also connived at the sergeants' murder, which greatly damaged the reputation of the imperial court, which can be punished. ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said, "What are you punishing?" In what name? ”

Lian Shanxiang replied with some surprise: "The governor of Henan ordered Henan Bingbeidao to thoroughly investigate the case of the Liu family in Huaiyuan, and the soldiers and horses led by Zhang Xianzhong were also controlled by Henan Bingbeidao. Violating the order of the military preparation road and attacking Liujiazhuang without authorization, this is against the imperial court order.

This article alone can already deal with Zhang Xianzhong. Not to mention, there were many violations of discipline by the officers and soldiers in this battle, and Zhang Xianzhong's ineffective management of the army was enough to punish military discipline. ”

Zhu Youzhen sighed and said: "If the imperial court wants to deal with Zhang Xianzhong and his subordinates, it must be announced to the world, is it possible that I will rehabilitate the Liu family in Huaiyuan?"

After rehabilitating the Liu family, should I rehabilitate other Henan gentry who have already been decided? The Henan New Army, the Wei Army, and the Shaanxi Border Army were driven by the imperial court to deal with the local heroes in Henan.

In the course of performing their official duties in Henan, how could these troops not have violated the law? Severely punishing Zhang Xianzhong and others for this matter, didn't it make me lose my military heart? ”

Lian Shanxiang was silent for a while, and then asked cautiously: "Then what Your Majesty means, but let the minister go to Henan to cover up this matter." ”

Zhu Youzhen pondered for a moment before he said slowly: "Such a big thing, it is estimated that it cannot be covered up if you want to cover it up." Besides, if the erring sergeants are not punished, what is the majesty of the court law?

The fact that the official army conquered Liujiazhuang must be publicized. However, the men of Liu's family were not killed by officers and soldiers, but the Liu family heard that the governor of Henan had sent troops to supervise the battle and capture Liujiazhuang, and he knew that the crimes he had committed were intolerable to the laws of the country, so he gathered the whole family together and set fire to it. ”

Lian Shanxiang's breath couldn't help but suffocate, but he didn't make a sound after all, and continued to listen to the emperor continue. Chongzhen continued to say to him: "The first thing you should do when you go to Henan is to find the governor of Henan and make a good confession to that soldier. The merit of this battle fell on that soldier.

The second thing is that the rest of the Liu family moved to Taiwan as soon as possible, and they were allowed to take away their belongings, but the land and other family property were not official. The confiscated Liu family's property was divided into three parts. One was reserved for the local government to compensate the local sufferers who had been scheming and plundering by the Liu family over the years, and the surplus property was used for water conservancy and road construction in the county.

One was handed over to the governor of Henan, and in addition to rewarding the meritorious officials, the rest was used to build the Henan water conservancy project. The other share was given to the officers and soldiers to quell the rebellion, rewarding meritorious soldiers and compensating the dead and wounded soldiers. ”

Speaking of this, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but pause with some hesitation. Lian Shanxiang couldn't help whispering: "Your Majesty's orders, the minister has already written them down, if there are no other instructions, the minister will go back to pack up and set off tomorrow." ”

Zhu Youzhen thought about it, and still said: "No, you will go to Wu Huai first and borrow a cavalry brigade from him, and you will be a veteran who has seen blood on the battlefield."

Since the Henan official army was able to be plucked up by Zhang Xianzhong, they attacked Liujiazhuang with fewer blows and more attacks. It can be seen that Zhang Xianzhong has won the heart of this army. You take an elite soldier with you, and you can deter unscrupulous generals in a pinch.

The army was originally in charge of killing, and it is understandable that there is too much killing when the battlefield is red-eyed. But there are two things that I cannot tolerate.

First, after the capture of Liujiazhuang, the sergeants who committed adultery with women, regardless of their official position, were all executed; second, outside Liujiazhuang, those who harass local people will be punished severely; As for the other offences, you can deal with them as you see fit.

The punishment of the Henan army this time is only allowed to be announced within the army, and must not be leaked to the outside world. As for Zhang Xianzhong, if he didn't participate in the incident of raping * women, bring him back and let him go to school to learn the rules. If he was involved in the incident, don't keep him. Reading him can be regarded as some merit, so he will find a place with beautiful mountains and rivers and execute him secretly. ”

Although he felt that the emperor's move was a bit of a fuss, Lian Shanxiang still agreed seriously, and then went down with Wang Chengen to receive the edict.

After a long explanation, when Lian Shanxiang went down, although the sky was still a little bright, the sun had already set.

Zhu Youzhen stayed in place for a long time, until the sky was a little dark, and he couldn't see the distant scenery, and then he said to Lu Qi beside him: "Go back to the palace." ”