The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

"Chang Guoan's camp is located on Daliang Mountain, about eighty miles north of Yunxi County. This was originally a gathering point for mountain residents on the map with about a thousand people."

Hu Zhili sat on the chair and reported to Chen Wang the situation during this period.

"Chang Guoan has about [-] elite cavalry and [-] horse troops under his command. These are basically his direct descendants. The rest are newly recruited infantry, about [-] people."

"Most of these newly recruited infantry are victims fleeing famine in Henan, and some are mountain people in the mountains."

The Tang newspaper said that Chang Guo had more than [-] soldiers and horses, but he was actually misled.

The Ming army was reported to have [-] troops, but in reality it only had [-] troops. Chang Guoan claimed to have an army of [-] troops.

"Twelve thousand people... This Chang Guoan is considered a talent, and he is worthy of being the leader of the thirty-sixth battalion."

Chen Wang raised his eyebrows slightly. At that time, there were three peasant armies in Baituguan. They were led by Xiao Qin Wang Baigui, Tuotian Wang Chang Guoan, and Zhengshi Wang Guoning.

Chen Wang captured and beheaded Bai Gui, the young king of Qin, and let go of Tuotian Wang Chang Guoan and Zhengshi Wang Guoning.

When he drove Chang Guoan north, those who escaped with Chang Guoan were all cavalry and horse troops. Most of Chang Guoan's infantry were captured by him, and a small number fled to other places in a panic.

Chen Wang did not send many troops to chase Wang Guoning, who fled to the south. When Wang Guoning escaped, most of the infantry of the peasant army that was defeated at Baituguan fled to the southern mountains with Wang Guoning.

At that time, those who escaped with Chang Guoan were all fine cavalry and horse troops, about [-] people.

This quantity is also under Chen Wang's control.

After all, if there are too many people, Chang Guoan may be unwilling to cooperate and have other intentions.

And if the number of people is small, Chang Guoan will not be able to cause too much turmoil to achieve Chen Wang's goal.

Four thousand people happened to be a good number.

Chen Wang's plan was to keep Chang Guoan stirring up trouble in northwest Yunxi, and take the opportunity to coerce Wang Aoyong, the governor of Yunyang, to obtain a detailed map of the Yunxiang Mountain area. Now Chen Wang has already got the map in his hands and achieved the first goal. step purpose.

"The six thousand newly recruited infantry are not much of a threat, but the total number of horse troops and elite cavalry is one or two thousand more. It seems that Chang Guoan still has other ideas in mind."

A fierce light flashed in Chen Wang's eyes.

Chang Guoan now has six thousand elite cavalry troops, which is almost one or two thousand more cavalry.

Chen Wang currently does not have many cavalry under his command. He only has a thousand headquarters and the size of a thousand cavalry.

Zhang Er and Huang Long each have a division of cavalry, and together they have a thousand cavalry.

Yunyang's native soldiers were basically infantry, and only a few scouts and generals were mounted on horses.

After the Sichuan troops moved their camps, he had only two thousand cavalry available.

Chang Guo's elite cavalry army was only four thousand, and two thousand cavalry were enough to suppress Chang Guoan.

But now there are [-] elite cavalry troops under Chang Guoan's command, which is almost one or two thousand more, but the two thousand cavalry under his command are already somewhat insufficient.

"Don't report too many casualties for the Zhang Er and Huang Long battalions. One or two hundred people are enough. To report too much is too false and cannot be covered up. However, you can report more lost weapons."

Chen Wang held a wooden stick in his hand, fiddled with the brazier in front of him, and gave instructions.

"We should have fewer firearms. The Ministry of Industry's firearms are getting worse year by year. We can use any number of swords and guns. We don't lack these, but we must provide them."

Although there are some things, they must be mentioned, otherwise many things will not be explained in detail.

"The main thing is to wear armor, cloth face armor, chain armor, not cotton armor."

The charcoal fire in the brazier became a little redder, and Chen Wang put down the wooden stick that was playing with the charcoal fire, then gently clapped his hands and dusted off the dust on his hands.

"The Ministry of Industry's cotton armor is as thin as paper. It can't even defend against a three-eyed blunderbuss. It's just a look-alike."

Of the more than [-] cotton-padded armors sent by the Ministry of Industry not long ago, only more than [-] are barely usable.

The rest of the cotton armor was so thin that it couldn't provide any protection at all. It couldn't even keep out the cold. It was simply better than nothing.

On the other hand, the chain armor's protection is pretty good. After all, chain armor is clear armor, and the pros and cons can be seen at a glance, unlike dark armor such as cotton armor and cloth-faced armor.

Cloth armor can still be used. The lack of nail pieces is a big deal. In addition, there is a ready-made cloth armor body, which can save a lot of man-hours and costs.

Chen Wang put his hands on his knees, propped up his body, turned to look at Hu Zhili and asked.

"If my guess is correct, Chang Guoan probably hasn't sent anyone here in the past few days to discuss the recruitment we discussed before."

"Chang Guoan indeed did not send anyone over to discuss this matter."

Hu Zhili looked gloomy and nodded in reply.

"From the seizures in Yunxi County, we got a total of [-] taels of gold, more than [-] taels of silver, [-] shi of grain, and more than [-] pieces of silk. The details have been recorded in the books. I don't know the status of the gold and silver. Compared with the grain, The actual amount is at least [-] shi less."

Yunyang Prefecture has developed commerce, and Yunxi County is also an important place for trade routes, so there are many commercial banks in it.

The reason why we were able to obtain so much gold, silver and grain was precisely because there were two grain stores in the city.

As early as Baituguan, Chen Wang had already arranged for people to enter Yunxi, Shangjin, Yunxian and other places to explore the local situation.

These people were all recruited by Hu Zhili when Chen Wang first entered the Hanzhong Mansion and set up an inspection office to act as eyes and ears.

This time the Supervisory Office was restructured into the Military Law Office, and after the Supervisory Office was established under the Office, all these people were transferred to the Supervisory Office.

Hu Zhili now leads the Military Justice Department, and the Supervisory Office is under his direct control, so he naturally understands the situation in Yunxi City.

Chen Wang stretched out his hand to warm the charcoal fire, and with the help of the warm light of the charcoal fire, his palms slowly became warm.

"They will definitely withhold the gold and silver. In such a large Yunxi County, with so many merchants, what's the difference between having only [-] taels of gold and a fantasy?"

Chen Wang was not surprised about the withholding of gold and silver. Before Chang Guoan conquered the villages and towns around Yunxi and Shangjin, he didn't even send a tael of gold.

Antiques from prosperous times and gold from troubled times. The price of gold is extremely high now. It is normal for Chang Guoan to hide the seized gold privately. Chen Wang has always turned a blind eye to this.

But if the food is short of [-] shi, it is not a small matter.

"Withholding gold and silver is just greed for money, but hoarding food is having second thoughts and ulterior motives."

Chen Wang naturally knows very well about Chang Guoan's current psychology.

"Plans always dare not change..."

Chen Wang sighed. Many times, the designated plan would not be implemented smoothly due to many uncontrollable factors.

His original plan was to support Chang Guoan and use him as a pawn, and then eliminate the gentry and landlords in Yunyang Mansion step by step.

While obtaining gold, silver, grain and grass, it also weakened the control of the local gentry over the Yunyang Mansion, so that the Yunyang Mansion could better accept it in the future, or even complete the actual control of the Yunyang Mansion in advance.

But now Chang Guoan has two minds, but he is not willing to be a chess piece. "It seems that in the Battle of Baituguan, these bandits still don't know how big the gap is between them and us."

Chen Wang stared at the red charcoal brazier in front of him. The expression on his face did not change much due to the news reported by Hu Zhili. He just sighed.

"But this is just right. They just recovered Yunxi County and beheaded hundreds of people. This explanation is indeed not enough to deal with the imperial court."

Chen Wang's expression was calm and unruffled, and his voice was very low.

But it is this light sentence that determines the life and death of many people.

……

On December [-], the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the New Year was approaching, and the sky and the earth were already a vast expanse of snow.

In the north of Xunyang Mansion, Daliang Mountain was ablaze with red.

The loud shouts of killing startled the birds and beasts in the mountains and forests. The entire wilderness was filled with birds and beasts that were awakened from their sleep.

A crow was frightened from between the trees on the cliff. With the loud cry of killing, the crow flapped its wings, flew past and took off.

Under the cover of night, the surrounding areas were dark, except for the bright light on Daliang Mountain.

Under the night sky, countless firelights danced in the dark crow's eyes.

Daliang Mountain was ablaze with red, and the fire was soaring into the sky, as if it was burned by heavenly fire.

One torch after another was raised high, and seas of fire continued to surge around the foothills of Daliang Mountain.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

The huge roar sounded like thunder, and the thunderous sound lingered and echoed in the mountains and valleys.

Orange-red flames suddenly lit up in the darkness, and then fell quickly. Soon after, a popping sound like exploding beans echoed throughout the valley.

The deafening shouts of killing swept towards Daliang Mountain in waves.

There are moving heads all over the mountains and plains, and there are dancing fires everywhere you look.

The monstrous sea of ​​​​fire, accompanied by the chilling shouts of killing, quickly spread towards Daliang Mountain, like a prairie fire, like a strong wave of sound!

Daliang Shandong, on the mountainside of a rocky mountain.

What should have been a bare mountainous area was filled with Hanzhong soldiers.

Countless torches illuminate half of the rocky mountain almost like daylight.

The bright armor is like the snow of three winters.

Chen Wang stood on the stone platform, holding the Yan Ling Dao at his waist with one hand and holding the riding whip in the other. He tilted his body and stared at the Daliang Mountains not far away that had turned into a sea of ​​fire.

The sea of ​​fire, as bright as the stars, reflected the mountains and rivers red, and also reflected the shirt on Chen Wang's body.

When Chang Guoan wanted to break away from Chen Wang's control, everything was doomed.

At first, Chen Wang pretended not to notice all the little moves Chang Guoan made in private, and Chang Guoan became paralyzed and careless.

With the help of detailed maps of the Yunxiang Mountain area, the blockade of Daliang Mountain was finally completed on the evening of the [-]th.

After two days of indiscriminate bombing, the bandits made several attempts to break through without success, and their morale had already hit rock bottom.

"All the mountain roads leading to everywhere on Daliang Mountain have been blocked. The Second and Fourth Thousand Headquarters have broken through the mountainside camp of the rogue bandits, and the rogue bandits' defensive positions have completely collapsed."

Hu Zhiyi, wearing bright armor and a bright helmet on his head, stepped forward, stood beside Chen Wang, and reported the details of the battle to Chen Wang in a deep voice.

"It is expected that the battle will be resolved at dawn and all the camps of the Daliang Mountain bandits will be broken through."

"However, the follow-up clearing work may be more troublesome. The Daliang Mountains are vast and many places are difficult to explore. However, if there is no shelter and food in the mountains in the cold winter, ordinary people cannot persist for long. After the army withdraws from the siege, only two thousand headquarters will be able to blockade Daliang. In mountainous areas, there is no way to survive.”

Compared with four years ago, Hu Zhiyi has made outstanding progress, and his arrangements are orderly and comprehensive.

Hu Zhiyi and Chen Gong are completely opposite sides.

Chen Gong is impulsive and irritable, much like the former Cao Bianjiao, and he is only a little more honest in front of Chen Wang.

However, for so many years, Chen Wang has been taking Chen Gong with him to teach him, so Chen Gong's character has become a little calmer.

Hu Zhiyi is steady and mature, does things calmly and unhurriedly, can control his emotions well, has a strong government and a strategy.

Hu Zhiyi led troops in several battles and commanded the layout in a calm and measured manner, and gained a lot.

When he was guarding Xing'an Prefecture, he took care of the entire city's defense in an orderly manner.

Afterwards, Chen Wang led his troops north to King Qin, and Chen Wang handed over all the affairs of Hanzhong Mansion to Hu Zhiyi.

After Chen Wang came back, the layout of Hanzhong Mansion did not change much, and its development did not slow down.

According to Hu Zhiyi's ability, it is not difficult to be sent as a general to take charge of a battalion. After training, it is not difficult to take charge of a town.

"The Supervisory Office has found the place where Chang Guoan's grain is stored. It already knows that the First Cavalry Thousand Headquarters has been ordered to take over. According to the prisoners, there are about [-] shi of grain stored in the mountain."

"The gold and silver have been hidden in the camp by Chang Guoan. When dawn comes, we should be able to know how much there is."

In total, Chen Wang also harvested a total of [-] taels of silver, [-] shi of grain, as well as some cloth, silk, jewelry, antiques, etc.

This money is enough for Chen Wang's military expenditure for the next year, and he is still rich. This can be regarded as completely solving the problem of insufficient money at this stage.

After the cloth, silk, jewelry, antiques, and merchandise were sold, there was another sum of money.

And these [-] stones of grain gave Chen Wang enough confidence to deal with the future situation.

Originally, Hanzhong Mansion had accumulated [-] shi of food. If you include [-] shi, it would be [-] shi.

If all the [-] shi of food were used as military rations, it would be enough to support [-] troops for about two years.

These are the cornerstones of future development and the key to victory.

Countless dancing firelights reflected in Chen Wang's eyes.

The howling north wind brings sounds among the mountains and valleys.

The deafening shouts of death, the sounds of fighting with swords, the wails of pain, the cries of fear, countless voices all converged together, intertwining into a desperate movement.

The music has twists and turns, but Chen Wang's expression remains as calm as water.

The beauty of the country has attracted countless heroes to bow down.