Wu Ben Lang General Liang Dezhong arrived in Tengcheng, and six regiments of Yingyangwei were also heading north with him.

Previously, Tengcheng Yingyang Mansion had received an order from Pengcheng Wei Mansion, but the scouts sent out did not find rebels in Tengcheng, nor did they find traces of thieves in the neighboring Fan County. When they were confused, Liang Dezhong arrived. He heard that no rebels were found in this area, and immediately realized that the rebels had taken the small road and left the country. The direction was probably Hexiang and Gucheng line, and then went directly to Mengshan.

Liang Dezhong was very angry. He and Dong Chun were both veterans on the battlefield. Unexpectedly, they were played with by a group of small thieves today, and they were surrounded and blocked for nearly a thousand miles, but they still fled to the other party, which was a great humiliation.

Although Dong Chun must bear the main responsibility for this, his position as General Zuo Xiaogu could not be saved, and he had only a handful of time in Pengcheng, but Liang Dezhong's joint responsibility would definitely not be eliminated. Considering that the east expedition is imminent and the safety of the canal is crucial, Dongdu may not transfer two commanders of the Guards from Xuzhou, and it is very likely that Liang Dezhong will continue to serve as Xuzhou. Therefore, Liang Dezhong must do his best to suppress the thieves in the next time. It is best to make some achievements to redeem his sins. At least he will give Dongdu an explanation and save some face for himself. Otherwise, even if he makes a fortune by taking advantage of the east expedition, he will return to his hometown in the future and will be no longer glorious and will always be ridiculed.

Liang Dezhong made up his mind to kill all the thieves no matter what, and gave a death order to the military bureaucrats under his jurisdiction. The direction of the thieves' escape must be found out, otherwise they will be severely punished.

The commander made a harsh statement, and the people below dared not to disobey the situation. Wouldn't you be troubled if you do it perfunctorily? Soon, news came back, and the thief who fled from Qiao County left the country from Hexiang, and rested in a secluded place in Gucheng for a day, and then headed east to Mengshan.

The thief left the country, and was cautious and unwilling to provoke strong enemies in Lu County, so he fled directly into the vast mountains. In this way, the difficulty of suppression was greatly increased, because this was no longer a matter of Pengcheng County, but also involved Lu County and Langya County, and involved the interests of two regions.

Pengcheng County belongs to the Xuzhou area, Lu County and Langya County belong to the Qilu area, and are under different guard offices in military towns and garrisons. They are obeyed by the central government in administrative orders. Therefore, whether it is to carry out military operations or implement political and economic policies, the central government needs to order. Mengshan is located at the junction of the three counties, and the two major regions are connected. If the Zuo Xiaoweifu Mansion in Xuzhou is not the final word, and the Right Guard in Qizhou is not the final word. Only the central government has the final word. Only the Dongdu orders and coordinates between many military and political officials in the two major regions, and then mobilizes troops and food and weapons to carry out encirclement and suppression. However, it involves many complex interests, from top to bottom and entangled. The more mobilizes the troops, the more difficult it will be to have a result, and even contrary to the initial wishes.

"Zhi Niang, a group of lowly and vicious people, are so cunning, it's outrageous!" Liang Dezhong became more and more irritable as he thought about it, and he couldn't help but curse.

He finally believed Dong Chun's warning. There was a "black hand" behind this group of thieves. Among them, there were outstanding strategies. These thieves suddenly raised their flags to rebel before the Eastern Expedition was launched. Otherwise, a group of mobs would never be able to escape the siege of many Yingyang Mansions. And, beyond everyone's expectations, they fled into Mengshan.

This last move was too clever. Escape into Mengshan and taking advantage of the opportunity of coordination and unification between the Yingyang Mansion and the three counties in the two major regions to jointly encircle and suppress the opportunity, which gave himself a valuable breathing time. After the Dongdu ordered the suppression and coordinated the relationship between the Yingyang Mansion and the three counties in the two major regions, it was already winter. It was snowing heavily in winter, and the mountain roads were difficult and dangerous, and there was no way to attack in large quantities. When the spring flowers bloomed and the eastern expedition began, the whole country had to work hard to ensure the eastern expedition, and the Grand Canal that runs through the north and south of the Central and Earth is the lifeline of the soldiers in the Eastern expedition. The importance of its safety can be imagined. All the troops and governments along the canal will do their best to protect the canal. In other words, when the spring flowers bloom, the matter of suppressing the bandits in Mengshan will be completely shelved, and they can only watch the thieves grow and grow, and even go down the mountain to burn, kill and loot, directly threatening the safety of the canal.

By calculating this, only now is the best time to suppress the thieves. Taking advantage of the thieves being exhausted and unable to gain a foothold in Mengshan, the best way is to chase and kill them.

However, the national laws are like mountains and military disciplines are as iron. Although the laws of this dynasty are not harsh, law is law. No matter what your subjective wishes are, as long as you violate the law, you will have to accept punishment. The army in Xuzhou area without permission from the Dongdu will be equivalent to treason. Even if Liang Dezhong has 100 heads, it is not enough to cut off.

Just when Liang Dezhong was wandering and helpless, Wei Yunyue rushed over, "Ming Gong, Prince Cui, Prince Cui has arrived."

Cui Deben? What did he come to suppress the thieves? Not that? Although the thieves were "swaggering" by the Wei Mansion, they were "swaggering" around Pengcheng, causing the military and political chief of Pengcheng to fall into a big fuss and lose face, everyone has the responsibility for this matter. Although the Wei Mansion is completely shameless, the county government is also ashamed of, so everyone has tacit understanding and buried the truth in the Sishui River and rotting it in their stomachs, and never mention it. When reporting to the Dongdu, they said that the thieves were powerful, with a crowd of 100,000, covering the sky and overwhelming mountains and seas. The main forces of the Wei Mansion in Pengcheng were not there, they were weak and could not defeat the thieves, but the thieves rushed over. Dong Chun was "falling" anyway, and there was no need to be unable to save them. Now he gave others a convenience and gave himself a way out in the future, so he also thought it out and took the initiative to take the responsibility.

As the second administrative chief of Pengcheng, Cui Deben would definitely remain in Pengcheng after his boss took all the responsibilities. However, although his family background was prominent, he was not qualified to serve as the prefect and had to continue to be the county magistrate. Cui Deben certainly wanted to be the prefect, and the geographical location of Pengcheng was important, and the prefect of Shangjun was the third rank. The Shangjun was the second rank, and the left and right rank of Shangshe was the second rank, the six ministers, the nine temples, and the generals of the Weifu were the third rank. By analogy, it can be seen that the third rank was the high status, the heavy power, and the small number of people in the dynasty.

Cui Deben was born in the most powerful family in Shandong, and Cui was even more powerful in the court. If he could make outstanding achievements in Xuzhou, there would be some hope for the prefect to be promoted. In the current situation in Xuzhou, if he could successfully suppress the thief, it would be a great achievement. Just imagine that even Dong Chun, a famous general in the Guards, was unable to kill him, Cui Deben successfully suppressed him. Such achievements are not impressive enough?

Cui Deben was really here to suppress the thieves, but he was the Chief of the Pengcheng Administrator. The Chief of the dynasty once had the power to command the military in a special period. However, after ascending the throne, he was determined to reform and implement a series of new systems, including depriving the local administrative chief of this privilege. Unless authorized by the emperor and the center, the Chief of the local administrative chief would not be allowed to control the military. Cui Deben then thought of a compromise, settled the second best, and took the initiative to help Liang De suppress the thieves. It would be impossible to monopolize the great contribution, so it would be okay to get a piece of the pie?

Liang Dezhong is a local aristocrat in Guanzhong. He belongs to the same aristocratic group as Wei Yunyue, the general of Yingyang Mansion in Peicheng. Cui Dezhong belongs to the Shandong aristocratic group. The Guanlong people and Shandong people have a deep hatred, and it is too difficult to cooperate. But Cui Dezhong was confident and Shi Shiran came. He calculated that the thieves would leave the country and flee to Mengshan, and Liang Dezhong had no courage to cross the border and chase him. However, Liang Dezhong was eager to make contributions, so he had a foundation for cooperation.

Liang Dezhong saw through Cui Deben's shameless tricks at first sight and immediately sneered, but now Dong Chun has not "left" yet and is still the "boss" of Pengcheng. He still has to be low-key and find allies, and Cui Deben is his ally. In addition, if he wants to make a fortune in Pengcheng, he must establish a good relationship with Cui Deben. Otherwise, once Cui Deben captures evidence of his violation of laws and regulations and submits impeachment, given Cui's power in the court, he will be able to find a place to cry. Therefore, even though Liang Dezhong saw through Cui Deben's intention to seize credit, he had to "low down" considering his personal interests.

Instead of letting others rob, it would be better to take the initiative to "send". It was a favor after all, so Liang Dezhong happily greeted him.

The official rank of the county magistrate of Shangjun is the fifth rank, and the official rank of the Wu Ben Lang General of the Weifu is the fourth rank, which is two levels away. According to principles, Liang Dezhong should have waited for Cui Deben to come to see him, but in fact, the rank between the two is exactly inverted.

Since the prosperity of the Wei and Jin dynasties, many etiquettes in the officialdom have not determined the size of the official position, but the rank of the nobles. For example, the Cui family is not only the number one wealthy family in Shandong, but also the super wealthy family in Zhongtu. It is the highest among the nobles, and even the royal family has to marry them to consolidate their reputation. Therefore, even if you are the priest in the officialdom, if your surname is lower than the Cui family in the aristocratic rank, then in informal occasions, you will be respected by Cui family, otherwise you will be "rude" and will be ridiculed and rejected by your noble colleagues.

Since the beginning of the previous emperor, this dynasty implemented political reforms aimed at centralization, curbing and cracking down on aristocratic families and attempting to completely destroy the aristocratic politics that has lasted for more than 400 years since the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The most important reform was to abolish the nine-rank Zhongzheng system's official selection system, which was actually abolishing the traditional aristocratic hierarchy. This system is the basis of aristocratic politics, which shows how difficult the reform is. The reformists of this dynasty promoted it with high profile and implemented the "respect for officials"

It is the principle of the high and low of official positions to replace the "shang surname" that is, the new aristocratic hierarchical ordering system based on the principle of the high and low surnames of surnames. This wish is good, but the reality is that the concept of aristocratic family has lasted for more than 400 years and has long become the core part of the etiquette culture of Middle-earth. How can it be changed overnight? As long as the concept of aristocratic family exists, as long as the ranking of aristocratic hierarchical exists, the so-called "shang official" and "shang surname" principle are just a new family to replace the old family, and the old wine in the new bottle is meaningless.

Liang Dezhong, a senior military officer, respectfully welcomed Cui Deben, an intermediate civil servant, into the lobby, invited him to the top, and then accompanied him to the side seat, informed him of the complex situation of the current thieves, and then took the initiative to ask for advice. Since you are here, you will not be so thick-skinned that you are waiting for the credit to come to your door. Even if you are pretending, you have to put some effort into it, right?

"I have a plan to solve the general's urgent need." Cui Deben stroked his long beard and said casually.

=

=
Chapter completed!