After listening to Yang Sichang's words, Chongzhen took a deep breath and said: "Since Aiqing has found out clearly, let's talk about it!"
"I obey the decree!"
Yang Sichang gave a respectful salute and then said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, I have found out that Pang Gang was involved in building a warship and recruiting sailors to form a navy in Qingzhou last year, and the scale was quite large. According to the spies, Qingzhou now has at least 20 large ships with more than 2,000 materials, and 100 ships with 1,000 materials, all equipped with artillery. Just a few months ago, they had a battle with the navy of Fujian guerrilla general Zheng Zhilong, and sank Zheng Zhilong. Dozens of warships. As for Pang Gang on land, he also recruited nearly 30,000 troops without authorization. Despite this, Pang Gang was still not satisfied. They continued to expand their troops in Jinan by 20,000 a few days ago. If the recruitment is completed, then Pang Gang will have 50,000 troops under his command, and I have also found out..."
"enough!"
A deep angry shout interrupted Yang Sichang's report. Chongzhen, who had already stood up at some point, had his hands tightly clasped together, and veins were exposed on the back of his trembling hands.
Chongzhen pointed his trembling finger at Yang Sichang and shouted angrily: "You... you are all just a bunch of losers, losers!"
The shocked Chongzhen no longer knew how to describe his feelings. He did not expect that in just over a year, Pang Gang would quietly develop such a powerful army in Shandong, and There is even a big money-consuming company like the navy. In fact, the reason why the emperors of the Ming Dynasty listened to the instigation of the civil servant group and ordered the ban on the sea was because they did not see the benefits of maritime trade, and secondly, the navy has been a waste of money since ancient times. As a big money-burning household, the amount of silver needed to maintain a navy was so huge that it was enough to drag down the fragile finances of the Ming Dynasty. During the Chongzhen period, only Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty was still struggling to maintain a navy with only one navy. The navy of more than ten broken ships.
But now Yang Sichang came to report to him. He said that Qingzhou already had a navy with at least a hundred ships. This made Chongzhen, who claimed to be the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so embarrassed. Could it be that his majestic emperor of the Ming Dynasty was not as good as a second-rank official? Can you do it?
Facing Chongzhen who was furious with thunder, Yang Sichang silently knelt down again. He knew that Chongzhen, who was so angry at this time, would not listen to any words.
"It is in vain that I value him so highly, but he... is actually so domineering. I swear to punish him! Assemble... the army..."
While Chongzhen was saying some words that others could not understand, his hands were still moving unconsciously, his face was flushed abnormally, he was gnashing his teeth and roaring, he was very excited, and it took a while before he gradually calmed down.
"Okay, Yang Aiqing, get up first!"
After calming down, Chongzhen took a deep breath and waved his hand for Yang Sichang to stand up. After Yang Sichang stood up, he said again: "Yang Aiqing, yesterday the Governor of Henan Province Liu Yuliang came to report. The rogue bandits are raging in Henan. They are attacking Luoyang first, but Luoyang is only There are thousands of soldiers. He sent another memorial asking for reinforcements. Now you are still shouldering the burden of being the Minister of War, where do you want to mobilize the troops?"
Yang Sichang smiled bitterly. "Your Majesty, I forgive you. I have one more thing to report to you."
"Oh, is there anything else?" Chongzhen frowned again, "What's the matter?"
Yang Sichang lowered his head and said: "That's right...According to reports from spies, Pang Gang has led the Qingzhou Army straight to Luoyang. I'm afraid it's almost to Luoyang now."
"What!" The tea cup in Chongzhen's hand suddenly fell to the ground...
Let's say that after Magistrate Wei Hui came out of the yamen, he led a group of yamen servants to borrow grain from the rich gentry in the city. They worked all night and finally collected three thousand shi of grain. Early the next morning, he borrowed grain.
Taking the opportunity to accompany Lu Weiqi and the others out of the city, he also sent food and livestock to Pang Gang's military camp.
After Pang Gang received the food and livestock, he was not worried about it. After meeting with Lu Weiqi, he ordered the whole army to set off and move out of camp. Watching the mighty army move westward after setting off, Fang Shoudi felt ashamed and angry again.
Welling up in his heart, he stomped his feet with hatred, "Vulgar warrior, just wait for my impeachment!"
Pang Gang naturally had no intention of paying attention to the hatred of a small person. After they were on the road, the army began to move towards Huaiqing Mansion. Huaiqing Mansion was the gateway to Luoyang. As long as they passed Huaiqing Mansion, they would reach the ground of Luoyang.
Two days later, Pang Gang's team arrived at Huaiqing Mansion. Since Lu Weiqi and the others were worried about Luoyang and feared changes, Pang Gang and others did not stay in Huaiqing Mansion, but directly bypassed Huaiqing City.
.
After passing Huaiqing Mansion, Pang Gang found that the situation here was even worse. Pang Gang was riding on his maroon horse, looking around, and his heart was twitching.
The scenery presented to him at this time was miserable, surrounded by a vast expanse of yellow and white. There were no leaves, no bark, no blades of grass, because they had all been eaten by hungry people.
Since the trees have no bark, their bare trunks are trembling in the wind in the loess soil. When a gust of wind comes, they are covered with dust.
There are no rivers visible on the ground, because they are all dry. The fields and rivers are all seeping cracks, and "dark clouds" pass by one after another in the sky. This is the effect of overwhelming locusts flying in.
Most of the villages and towns on the road were deserted. The road was littered with corpses, skeletons, and all kinds of dead people. Even those who were alive had a pair of green eyes open, as if they were dizzy from hunger.
Performance. There are also groups of people going to cut the flesh of the dead to eat. Abandoned dead babies can be seen everywhere.
"Insect plague, that's a locust plague!"
Pang Gang's heart trembled and he cried out. He knew the harm of locust plague all too well. There is an old saying in China that "when drought comes, locusts come out." It seems that Henan Province must have suffered a severe drought this year, otherwise it would never have appeared.
Such a massive locust plague.
He quickly rode to Li Xianfeng's carriage, opened the curtains and said to him urgently through the window: "Master Li, has the locust plague in Henan become this serious?"
"Yes!" Li Xianfeng said with a wry smile: "People in Pangda have also seen that most of our western Henan Province has been hit by disasters. Many farmers have lost their harvest and many people have starved to death. The situation has reached a very critical point.
The situation has reached a very critical point after Chuang Ni and others entered Henan. Now you understand why I and Mr. Jie Ru are urging you to leave."
"I understand!" Pang Gang sighed. Henan has been known as a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. It is also a place of four wars. Whenever there is a war, both sides will definitely take the lead in fighting for it. Now it has been hit by a locust plague.
It’s true that misfortunes never come singly!
Pang Gang lowered the curtains and walked away with a heavy heart. Pang Gang, who was riding on a red horse, was marching. At the same time, he thought of the things sent by Wei Hui Mansion the day before yesterday. He summoned Meng Qing, the counselor who was in charge of the army's baggage. , "Counsellor Meng, how is the army's food and grass replenishment going?"
Meng Qing was in good spirits. He was wearing a lightweight fine steel armor. Due to adequate nutrition and regular exercise, his face was very rosy. After hearing Pang Gang's question, he smiled and replied: "Don't worry, sir, with that With three thousand shi of grain, we have not only replenished all our losses these days, but also have some surplus. We won’t have to worry about food issues within a month.”
"That's good!"
Pang Gang sighed. He looked at the dead bodies flashing by the roadside from time to time, and felt panicked in his heart. Logically speaking, it has been almost three years since he came to this era, but he still couldn't get used to some things. In later generations, society If one person starved to death, it would be big news that would shock the whole country. But like now, people who starved to death were lined up for more than ten miles.
For this reason, Pang Gang finally understood why some people in later generations would say that the old society was evil. The word "emotional starvation everywhere" is really not just talk, it is a living reality in front of us!
"We can't go on like this." Pang Gang secretly clenched his fists. This troubled world must come to an end. Otherwise, if history continues to develop according to its original inertia, what would be the point of his coming to this era.
At the same time, to the west of Huaiqing Mansion, Gu Chen led a team to walk on the desolate land. As he walked, Gu Chen inspected the terrain in front of him. Years of military service have trained him to be very alert on the battlefield. And experienced. After so many tests of blood and fire, they have reached the pinnacle in terms of experience, martial arts and skill.
"Gutou, there is a river ahead!" A man in front of Ye Bushou sounded with surprise in front of him. When Gu Chen saw it, there was a small river in the distance. It didn't dry up and was still flowing freely. Then he saw that there were some trees and undulating hills on both sides of the river, which were very conducive to infantry fighting. Gu Chen was moved in his heart and raised his hand to stop everyone from advancing. Six or seven Ye Bushou immediately reined in their horses.
Gu Chen said coldly: "Everyone, be careful. This is a good place to set up an ambush. Now everyone is looking for a place to hide."
After saying that, Gu Chen took out a telescope from his bag and looked at the hills four to five hundred steps ahead. He used the telescope to carefully observe the movements of the hills not far away. It's good to have a telescope. Stand tall. You can see far and things that are invisible to the naked eye can be seen very clearly with a telescope.
In the Qingzhou Army, the telescope is a rare thing. It has always been equipped with officers above Qian Commander. In the past, this telescope was awarded to Pang Gang as an exception because of his great achievements. It was also engraved with the signature. Just because of this , can make Gu Chen stand tall in front of the rest of the officers who have not collected the night.
"Well, that's..."
Gu Chen, who was observing with his telescope, suddenly focused his eyes. A group of people wearing various costumes appeared in the lens of his telescope. The densely packed figures were all over the hills. Gu Chen roughly counted at least seven or eight thousand people. , even though they were all sitting as low as possible on the ground, there were still many people talking, and it was obvious that their military discipline was not very strict.
"No, those are rogue bandits. They want to ambush our army!" Gu Chen's expression changed a little.
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