Shanxi, Pingyang.

As the sky gradually darkened, Luo Dianming stretched and walked to the backyard.

After arriving in Pingyang Fucheng for more than half a year, Luo Dianming collected too much information about the bandits, as well as the information about the civil and military officials dispatched by the court to exterminate the bandits, and sent them to Dengzhou continuously. According to Wu Zongrui's request, Luo Dianming has done a good enough job

.

There were fifty sergeants from the Dengzhou New Army who followed them to Pingyang Fucheng, and twenty of them had successfully infiltrated into the ranks of the rogue bandits. Many of them had become people trusted by the rogue bandits.

The bandits, large and small, also held some power, and these people became Luo Dianming's main source of intelligence.

Through constant investigation, Luo Dianming finally understood that in fact, the combat effectiveness of the bandit team was not as powerful as the outside world said, but it was not vulnerable. Regardless of the number of people, the internal structure of the bandit team was similar.

In Shaanxi and Shanxi areas, due to large-scale natural disasters, refugees continued to appear. These refugees became the main source of the rogue bandits' strength. Secondly, the sergeants of the guard army in the north mutinied, and many sergeants joined the rogue bandits.

, became the main factor in the strength of the rogue bandits.

The team of rogue bandits is generally composed of two parts, the old camp and the new camp.

The personnel of the old camp are the real power of the bandits. They are all elite soldiers trusted by the bandits. Whether it is fighting or camping, the old camp is on one side and is in charge of money and food. The new camp is the strength displayed by the bandits to the outside world and consists of personnel.

Most of them are refugees, and there are many old, weak, women and children.

The bandits in charge claimed that their troops numbered tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. They were talking about the new camp, and a steady stream of refugees joined them. The old, weak, women and children were the source of the troops and they had to be counted.

Once encountering an encirclement and suppression by officers and soldiers, the commander would often use the sergeants of the new battalion to face the enemy. Facing the well-equipped and well-trained officers and soldiers of the court, the sergeants of the new battalion were naturally no match. They would often be defeated like a mountain. If the officers and soldiers thought that

If the bandits completely fail and show signs of negligence or fatigue, the commander will immediately lead the sergeants of the old camp to launch an attack and defeat the officers and soldiers by surprise. If the imperial officers and soldiers are too brave, the commander will lead the sergeants of the old camp to quickly withdraw from the battle.

Let the sergeants of the new battalion entangle the officers and soldiers to preserve their strength.

Therefore, over the years, the officers and soldiers who encircled and suppressed the rogue bandits have achieved too many victories, but the main force of the rogue bandits has not suffered a devastating blow. There are more and more rogue bandits making trouble, and the scope involved has become larger and larger.

Another characteristic of rogue warfare is that it is mobile and has no base. It can fight wherever it goes. Money and food can be obtained by robbing the families of officials, gentry and scholar-bureaucrats along the way.

Governments at all levels, on the other hand, have a very obvious tendency to guard one-third of an acre of land. If a bandit enters their territory, they will be on guard and try every means to drive away the bandit. Sometimes they will even acquiesce in allowing the bandit to leave and not encircle and suppress them. Anyway, as long as the bandit is not with them.

It's enough to cause chaos within the area under their control. As for the rogue bandits attacking cities in other places and causing huge losses, it has little to do with them.

Not to mention the officials in Fuzhou and counties, the same is true for the governor of Shaanxi, Xu Dingchen, the governor of Henan, Yuan Mo, the governor of Henan, and Tang Hui, the governor of Huguang. Once the rogue bandits leave the area under their jurisdiction, everything will be fine.

There was no coordination among the government at all levels, and the bandits were too mobile. The results of the extermination of the bandits were difficult to imagine.

During this period, a nemesis of the rogue bandits appeared, and that was Cao Wenzhao, Lintao's commander-in-chief.

Cao Wenzhao was originally fighting against the Hou Jin Tatars in Liaodong. As the power of the rogue bandits gradually expanded in Shaanxi, the imperial court dispatched Cao Wenzhao and led the Guan Ning Army into Shaanxi to encircle and suppress the rogue bandits.

In about three years, Cao Wenzhao killed so many bandits that the leader of the bandits could not help but tremble whenever he heard Cao Wenzhao's name. If Cao Wenzhao led his troops, even if the bandits were about to capture a certain city,

They will also evacuate in a hurry.

Regrettably, Cao Wenzhao's relationship became generalized. Firstly, Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three sides, was not interested in him, and secondly, the Ministry of War. As a result, Cao Wenzhao, who had made numerous meritorious services, did not receive many awards from the emperor and the court. Instead, in August,

The Ministry of War believed that Cao Wenzhao was proud of his victory during the battle to suppress the rogue bandits, so he was transferred out of Shanshan and returned to Datong.

Cao Wenzhao's departure gave the bandits a big sigh of relief, and bandits in some places began to make trouble again. As for the garrison troops that encircled and suppressed them, compared with the Guan Ning Army led by Cao Wenzhao, they were too ordinary. In many cases, not only

Unable to defeat the rogue bandits, they were defeated by the rogue bandits instead. Many sergeants from the guard army joined the rogue bandits, allowing the rogue bandits to rapidly grow in strength in a short period of time.

Luo Dianming carefully sorted out all the information, big and small, and quickly sent it to Dengzhou. As for the twenty sergeants, Luo Dianzhao also strictly followed Wu Zongrui's requirements and ordered them to lurk in Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang, Chuang General Li Zicheng, and Eighth King Zhang Xianzhong.

As well as the army of Lao Huihui Ma Shouying and others.

What made Luo Dianming feel strange was that Wu Zongrui didn't seem to be particularly concerned about the rogue bandits. Although Luo Dianming sent a lot of information and also made some suggestions to weaken the rogue bandits, none of them got Wu Zongrui's approval.

A gust of cold wind blew. Looking at the full moon in the sky, Luo Dianming fell into deep thought.

A sergeant came to the backyard holding a document.

Luo Dianming quickly concentrated his attention, took the document, and strode towards the side room, followed closely by the sergeant.

After opening the document, Luo Dianming looked carefully, while the sergeant stood aside.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Luo Dianming finished reading the document with a slightly disappointed look on his face.

The sergeant clearly saw Luo Dianming's expression.

"General, do you have any orders?"

Luo Dianming shook his head.

"Without any order, Qibele Abatai of Houjin led the Tatars of Houjin, who wanted to occupy Lushun Island. They were defeated by Luo Dianzhao and Niuben and returned to Liaodong. The imperial court was about to set up governors of five provinces to command

Regarding the suppression of bandits in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Sichuan and Huguang, the Governor's Office is likely to be established in Pingyang..."

When he said this, Luo Dianming suddenly understood something.

"No, we are also in Pingyang. If the Governor-General's Office of the five provinces is established in Pingyang, will your Excellency let us pay attention to the affairs of the Governor-General's Office of the five provinces..."

Just as Luo Dianming finished speaking, the sergeant spoke.

"General, I don't think so. If your Excellency has such an order, it will be explained in the document."

Luo Dianming looked up at the sergeant and nodded slightly.

"You're right. Okay, that's it for today. You can go and rest."

...

The sergeant exited the wing, and Luo Dianming picked up the document again, looked at it carefully, and murmured to himself while reading.

"What do you mean, sir? I have been in Pingyang for a while, and I have detected so much information about rogue bandits. However, my lord, I have not made any decisions. I only want to know the movements and information of rogue bandits. If you only need to do these things well, where is the need?"

It's the same if I stay in Pingyang Fucheng and send others here."

Dengzhou, governor's office, wing room.

Wu Zongrui lowered his head and looked at the information about many matters related to the rogue bandits, while Liao Wenru stood quietly on the side.

Finally, Wu Zongrui raised his head and placed the documents on the table.

"Brother, the imperial court is about to accept the appointment of the governor of the five provinces. According to the information from the capital, the Ministry of War recommended the governor of the three provinces, Hong Chengchou, to be the governor of the five provinces and be responsible for the suppression of the bandits. I think that if Hong Chengchou is responsible for the suppression of the bandits, then the bandits may be

will be completely wiped out..."

Wu Zongrui smiled.

"Wen Ru, your thinking is too simple. If the rogue bandits were so easy to exterminate, they would have been wiped out as early as about three years after Chongzhen. Judging from the information provided by Luo Dianming, the rogue bandits are getting stronger and stronger in combat effectiveness. Many times they can

Directly fighting against the imperial army. In my opinion, it is not too difficult to completely eliminate the bandits. Unfortunately, the people in the court, even if they are responsible for exterminating the bandits, still think of their own interests.

How can they completely eliminate the bandits due to the intrigue among them? I predict that the bandits will become a serious problem for the emperor and the court."

"Brother, will the emperor and the court allow you to exterminate the bandits?"

"No, I will never get involved in this matter. You just mentioned Hong Chengchou, the governor of the three provinces. I think it is unlikely that Hong Chengchou will serve as the governor of the five provinces. He will definitely be in Yansui, Datong and Xuanfu. There is a lot of pressure, and there are often

The Tatars of Houjin are in and out. If we relax our vigilance, the Tatars of Houjin are likely to take the opportunity to enter the pass and plunder, and then Beizhili will not be stable again."

"Well, will the imperial court send other people to serve as governors of the five provinces?"

"It should be like this. The emperor and the imperial court have always regarded the Houjin Tartars as a serious threat. As for the rogue bandits, they have not paid special attention to them. So far, I have not seen the emperor making up his mind to completely wipe out the rogue bandits. The Ministry of War also has different voices, and they are both suppressing and supporting them.

The situation still exists. Maybe the emperor still thinks that the bandits are peasants who have no choice but to rebel because they don't have enough to eat."

Liao Wenru couldn't help it.

"Brother, I think you can fight for it. If you can take on the task of exterminating the bandits, you can take out the Denglai recruits and let the sergeants experience a fight. It would be good."

Wu Zongrui looked at Liao Wenru, with a hint of cold light in his eyes.

"Wen Ru, don't have such thoughts anymore. Are you thinking about letting the Denglai recruits make wedding clothes for others? After so many years, the Denglai recruits have grown to such a large scale. The imperial court has never given out one tael of silver or one stone.

Food is completely dependent on ourselves. Whether they are rogue bandits or Houjin Tatars, these are matters that the emperor and the court should take into consideration. If they do not harm the interests of our Denglai recruits, we will just stand by and watch. If they attack us,

Then we will fight back without mercy..."
Chapter completed!