In the Xiangyang Gucheng of Huguang, the official army recaptured the city again.

However, at this time, the city turned into ruins. Zhang Xianzhong had already evacuated Gucheng and went north to Junzhou to meet with Cao Cao. This place where he once deceived his rest and recuperation was robbed by him and set a fire to burn it into white.

A large mansion in the city that was temporarily cleared was used as the temporary headquarters of Prime Minister Xiong Wencan. At this time, Xiong Wencan was looking down at a letter.

In front of him was an officer reporting the matter. "Guerrilla General Liu Jun requested to withdraw military pay and his troops' armor, etc.."

Xiong Wencan is sixty-four years old this year, with gray hair and beard. He used his majestic nasal sound, and he responded to his subordinates' reports, but his eyes never left the letters in his hand.

This letter was a letter sent by his wife, brother-in-law Yao Minggong, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, from the capital. The content of the letter is extremely important, and it is exactly what he has been waiting for and looking forward to during this period. He has read the letter several times, but he still can't bear to let it go. Now he starts it again.

Half a year ago, Zhang Xianzhong and other bandits were poor and asked to surrender to the court. At that time, the Huguang Inspector Lin Mingqiu, Governor Kong Fangzhang, General Zuo Liangyu and others agreed to surrender, but in the end Xiong Wencan ignored the opposition and accepted the request of the bandits. Others thought that the reason why he agreed to accept the request of the bandits was because he had successfully surrendered Zheng Zhilong on the coast, and then Zheng Zhilong wiped out the pirates Li Kuiqi and Liu Xiang.

In fact, they didn't know that it was not his decision to agree to Zhang Xianzhong's request for surrender at that time. It was from the emperor and Yang Ge tribe. At that time, the emperor and Yang Sichang were determined to rush to draw troops to the north, so he insisted on recruiting bandits. He was just the one who came forward.

But who would have thought that the bandits would rebel in just a few months. Even Xiong Wencan felt that many bandits had indeed sincerely invited surrender, but many officials such as Lin Mingqiu and Zuo Liangyu were planning to take the opportunity to catch all the bandits who were surrendered. It was precisely because Zhang Xianzhong knew their plan that he could not have been anxious to rebel again. If it weren't for this, even if Zhang Xianzhong wanted to rebel, he would not have rebeled so quickly.

But no matter what, Zhang Xianzhong was ultimately rebelled, and the court also needed someone to be responsible for it. Neither the emperor nor Yang Sichang would come forward to take responsibility, so he would take the blame in the end.

His wife and brother Yao Minggong had informed him that the emperor had already given Yang Sichang the Shangfang sword and urged Yang to go out of Beijing to supervise the army. Yang Sichang held the Shangfang sword and came for him. Those days, he was really desperate, and even thought about committing suicide for a while.

He once asked his wife and brother for help, but even Yao Minggong, as a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, could not help him at all. If he didn't come out to take responsibility for this matter, would he have to let the emperor take responsibility for it himself?

Fortunately, there is no way out, and the great victory in Qihuang finally gave him a glimmer of hope.

He wrote a letter of ten thousand words before and submitted the emperor to the emperor, and also sent his family to bring 100,000 taels of silver to Beijing for activities. He hoped to take advantage of the opportunity of great victory to overcome the difficulties.

The 100,000 taels of silver had been spent completely, and finally the family brought the letter back.

There were no too many polite words in the letter. His wife and brother told him that the emperor was in a better mood now because of the great victory in Qihuang. He received reliable news that the emperor had issued a secret decree to Yang Sichang and would not be punished for the time being, and would allow him to take the blame for his crime and atone for his sins.

Yao Minggong told him in the letter that if he wanted to overcome this disaster, he had to win a few more battles. In the end, he could capture and kill Zhang Xianzhong, and he had to be fast. The emperor didn't have much patience and couldn't wait for too long.

Yao Minggong also revealed something. The emperor seems to appreciate Liu Jun very much, and the emperor seems to be preparing to re-activate some Qihuang officials who were dismissed from office twice by the eunuch party and Wen Tiren, such as Mei Zhihuan, Li Changgeng, Li Shuchu, etc., to give him the opportunity to have more friends with them.

The letter then talked about the emperor's preparations to transfer Sichuan Governor Fu Zonglong into the court to take charge of the affairs of the Ministry of War, and said that he was already working for him. As long as he could give one or two more good news, he might be able to transfer him back to Guangdong and Guangxi and continue to be the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Xiong Wencan couldn't help but shake his head. He didn't believe that he could go back to become his governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and he could overcome this difficulty safely and then seek a retirement to return home. He was very satisfied. As for the suppression of Zhang Xianzhong, he found it difficult. Zhang thief was cunning and had no strength to compare with the officers and soldiers, but they were wandering around and could not catch anyone at all.

But now the emperor is only focused on Zhang Xianzhong, saying that Zhang Xianzhong invaded Fengyang's ancestor tomb in front of him, and he has repeatedly surrendered and rebelled, which is very bad. Therefore, others may be able to be appeased, but the thieves will not forgive him. Judging from the emperor's meaning, if he cannot take Zhang Xianzhong down, even if he wiped out many bandits, it will be useless.

Moreover, the emperor didn't leave much time for him. Yang Sichang is still in Xiangyang City and may show off his Shangfang sword at any time.

"Where are Zuo Liangyu and Chen Hongfan's troops now?" Xiong Wencan asked.

"General Zuo and General Chen have just recovered Junzhou, and the two troops are still in Junzhou."

Xiong Wencan snorted coldly, "Recover Junzhou?" Xiong Wencan was dissatisfied with Zuo Liangyu. When he was just transferred to Prime Minister, he heard that Zuo Liangyu was also a powerful general in Guanning's army, so he specially transferred Zuo Liangyu and his six thousand soldiers to his command to serve as a model soldier.

As a result, as soon as Zuo Liangyu entered the Biao camp, he had conflicts with the two thousand bird gunmen he brought from Guangdong all day long. In the end, in order to appease Zuo Liangyu, he transferred the two thousand Guangdong bird gunmen back to Guangdong. In the end, he did not achieve the expected results, but made Zuo Liangyu become more domineering.

From now on, Zuo Liangyu, the general, ignored him as the prime minister and was completely unable to dispatch it. Xiong Wencan was fed up with this guy. But except for the title of prime minister, he had no strong soldiers under his command, and often he could only stare at him, and he could not control this domineering general.

Just as he had ordered the two general soldiers of Zuo Liangyu and Chen Hongfan to attack Zhang Xianzhong, but the two of them ignored his orders at all. Every time they were slow, Zhang Zhe would wait for the front foot to leave, but they would always report good news. They would recover Gucheng today and Junzhou tomorrow, which was all nonsense.

Now Zhang Zhe has already gone to Fang County, Yunyang Prefecture, but Zuo Liangyu and Chen Hongfan are still in Junzhou, north of Xiangyang.

After all, it was because of the lack of soldiers and generals under his command, otherwise these domineering generals would not dare to ignore his orders so much.

"How many soldiers did Liu Jun have just said now?" Xiong Wencan asked.

"Since the Battle of Hutou Fort, Liu Jun has been recruiting troops and horses. Now he has a battle barracks and a baggage battalion. The two battalions have no less than 7,000 troops, and they have many firearms and many artillery."

Xiong Wencan was shocked, "Don't Liu Jun only has 600 subordinates?"

"It turned out that there were only 600 subordinates, but they had been recruiting troops during this period. Moreover, Liu Jun was deeply supported by local gentry in Qihuang and raised a lot of food and money by himself. In addition, as far as we know, Liu Jun also has his own firearm shop, which is quite large in scale and cannons, and even produce some small cannons less than 100 kilograms."

Xiong Wencan was completely shocked by the number of the 7,000 people. It suddenly increased tenfold.

If Liu Jun could be transferred and he was organized into his own prime minister's battalion, then his subordinates would have a considerable force. At that time, Zuo Liangyu would not dare to ignore his orders anymore.

"You go to Macheng immediately and transfer the second battalion of Liu Jun's troops to Xiangyang immediately. Well, now I have only one battalion under my command, so the original battalion was changed to the battalion of the second battalion, and Liu Jun's two battalions were organized into the battalion of the left battalion of the left battalion of the Biaoxia. Liu Jun was the guerrilla battalion officer of the left battalion of the Biaoxia. He was also appointed as the Prime Minister's Central Military Officer. He was transferred to his battalion and reported to Xiangyang immediately."

As a prime minister, Xiong Wencan can have an elite model soldier, with a number of thousands or tens of thousands. It turned out that Xiong Wencan wanted to use Zuo Liangyu as his model soldier. However, Zuo Liangyu was so domineering. Now he only has 3,000 model trainers under his command, and they are all just miscellaneous soldiers.

In addition to being the head general of the first battalion, Xiong Wencan also generously asked Liu Jun to be the chief officer of the lower-level army. This central officer is equal to the superior of the general of each battalion, and is equivalent to the chief officer of the third battalion. This is also considered Xiong Wencan's appreciation and trust in Liu Jun.

"Then Liu Jun is asking for money and weapons?" The officer was surprised by the Prime Minister's appreciation and importance to Liu Jun, and was envious.

Xiong Wencan thought for a while, "I don't save the weapons here, but since Liu Jun himself has a firearm shop and there are channels to buy it from Guangdong, I will directly withdraw the money and let him buy it by himself. When you go, I will give you 50,000 taels of silver to Liu Jun, tell him that this is the money I gave him, and when he leads his troops to Xiangyang, I will add another 50,000 taels of silver."

Xiong Wencan has invested a lot of money for his own future. Half of the 100,000 taels of silver were squeezed out of the court's money, and half of it was his own. Although, the so-called his own was just a bribe received from the thieves and other bandits.

But no matter what, he has indeed invested a lot in order to get out of the current predicament as soon as possible.

Liu Jun, I hope you and your Nine-Headed Bird are not false.

Xiong Wencan is a tall and thin man with a dark face, a tall nose, and a very majestic white beard. Although he is over 60 years old, his body is still strong and his eyes are very vivid. He has always had a prosperous official career in recent years, especially when he served as the governor of Fujian on the coast, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and the governor of Guangdong. He has a close relationship with the Maritime Trade Group, especially with the Zheng Group. He recruited Zheng Zhilong, wiped out pirates such as Liu Xiang, and won beautiful political achievements. At the same time, he also made a huge family business.

In fact, he was reluctant to come to the Central Plains to be the prime minister of the six provinces of the bandit suppression. How could he live a leisurely life on the coast?

"Master, Liu Jun also made a request, hoping that the master would approve it."

"What are the requirements?"

"Liu Jun wants to recommend his subordinate Zhang Shan to take up the position of Macheng garrison."

Xiong Wencan originally promoted Liu Jun as the garrison, and for this reason he specially established the position of Macheng Guard. However, after Liu Jun was the garrison for a few days, the emperor appointed Liu Jun as a guerrilla general. In this way, Macheng Guard completely became a situation where there were neither officials nor soldiers. Originally, Xiong Wencan planned to withdraw the garrison directly, but Liu Jun set his sight again.

After thinking about it, Xiong Wencan waved his hand, "I'll let him go, and Zhang Shan will serve as the garrison of Macheng. However, tell Liu Jun that I can let Zhang Shan serve as the garrison, but he has to recruit this soldier by himself. Liu Jun's two battalions of 7,000 troops must be pulled to Xiangyang by a large number of them."

"I understand."

"Go, go early and come back early." (To be continued, please search Piaotianwen, novels are better, updated and faster!

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Chapter completed!