Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 110 After Yang Xian saw Zhang Cheng’s rebel army, he decided to join!
The next day.

The sky is cloudy and sunny.

The early winter wind blew rustlingly, making people tighten their necks.

Yang Xian himself had to rub his hands and frown as he walked on the street of Waliang Lei.

Last night, after listening to Ying Guangzu's account, he couldn't help but become more interested in the rebels here.

He really wanted to know what kind of rebel army made Ying Guangzu, the former Chengdu County Prime Minister, begin to hope that the government army would massacre all the people here, regardless of age or sex.

But Yang Xian discovered that the city of Waliang Lei was actually very orderly now.

Although many people in the city carry knives, there are also many slogans such as "Restore China," "Escape from Slavery," and "Reducing Rent and Interest Rates" posted on archways everywhere, which are particularly eye-catching!
But he didn't see any vandalism, smashing, and looting, and the business here was quite prosperous, and many people were even bartering for food.

Therefore, Yang Xian further increased his interest in knowing about Zhang Cheng's rebel army.

After all, the scene he most wanted to see in his life was actually this orderly state.

As a northern scholar, he traveled to many places from north to south.

And he found that order was very poor in both the areas ruled by the rebels and the Yuan soldiers. Therefore, many landlords formed strongholds to protect themselves, and many merchants relied on people with swords to survive.

Therefore, Yang Xian decided to go to the countryside where Ying Guangzu said the rebel army would focus its layout.

But as soon as Yang Xian left the city, followed the official road to the mainland, and was about to enter a small fishing village near the river, he was stopped by two strong men emerging from the reeds holding bows and arrows.

Among them, one Minzhuang named Sun Jiu asked: "What are you here for?!"

Yang Xian turned pale with fright. He really didn't expect there were archers in the countryside. After calming down for a while, he replied truthfully:

"I want to meet Mr. Zhang."

"Then raise your hands, you and your entourage."

Sun Jiu said something.

Yang Xian and his entourage honestly raised their hands.

Then, Sun Jiuji ordered: "Bindfold their eyes! Then take them to Wang Shenzheng."

So, Yang Xian and others were blindfolded and led into the village like prisoners.

Wang Shenzheng is Wang Guangyang.

The current position of the rebel army is still relatively chaotic. In addition, Zhang Cheng is now nominally under the leadership of Guo Zixing. Therefore, the official system of the rebel army has not been reformed yet. Wang Guangyang is only allowed to serve here in the name of the political officer awarded by Guo Zixing. Chief executive.

Wang Guangyang was also a scholar-bureaucrat.

Therefore, Zhang Cheng also asked him to be responsible for entertaining the scholars who came to see him.

Since Zhang Cheng left Chuzhou to develop independently, some scholars did come to see him. Therefore, Zhang Cheng had to have someone specifically responsible for this matter.

As for why Yang Xian entered the village blindfolded.

This is because Zhang Cheng asked each village and community to give full play to their ingenuity and strengthen the defense system, setting up various complex roadblocks and various tunnel fortresses. Unless they are within the rebel army, it will be easy for them to Unable to recognize the code and trapped in the trap.

Therefore, outsiders need to be led by sentries to enter the village smoothly. However, in order to prevent Yuan Tingxizuo, who is visiting in the name of visiting but actually coming to find out the truth, from sneaking in, outsiders generally need to be blindfolded when entering.

What's more, this area is mainly composed of plains. Since Zhang Cheng wants to take root in the countryside, he naturally has to strengthen his awareness of prevention, so as to ensure that the Yuan soldiers cannot destroy this place when they come here in the future, and even the "Three Lights" will be difficult to eliminate. here.

of course.

Yang Xianze felt as if he had entered a bandit's den.

Because he couldn't figure out why this rebel army clearly occupied the rubble fortress and why its leader still hid in the countryside, even setting up such a complicated confidentiality system.

But soon.

Yang Xian stopped paying attention to it because he was attracted by the large-scale school that appeared in front of him.

Yang Xian only saw the name "Rebel Lecture School" written on the plaque of this school. The Lecture School had a large number of rooms with the names of "Literacy Class" and "Newspaper Reading Class" written on them. In the rooms, many young children were reading "Restore Our China" aloud. ” or “Save my Han people”.

then.

Yang Xian saw that there was a large piece of paper filled with text in the newspaper column at the gate of the Lecture School. There was a lot of content written in regular script on the large paper. The content was about the current development of the rebel army, the situation of Hu Yuan's encirclement and suppression of the rebel army, and There are information on land allocation, public announcements by the presidents of each society and the heads of the capital, and even a calendar chronicling the Yellow Emperor's years and provocative articles and poems.

Yang Xian couldn't help but read on, and saw content teaching people how to prevent epidemics, how to better farm, weave and fertilize, and even maternal and child health information.

"This is more complete than the official report!"

"Have these rebels reached the stage of running a newspaper?"

then.

Yang Xian also discovered that there was intensive sound of hammering iron coming from the courtyard downstream of a stream next to the lecture college, and outside the courtyard, there was a scene of people queuing up to receive farm tools and weapons.

"He also made his own weapons and distributed weapons and farm tools to the people!"

"This is our Wang Shenzheng!"

When Yang Xian was horrified, Sun Jiu brought Wang Guangyang here.

When Wang Guangyang saw Yang Xian, he recognized him: "Xiwu?"

"Chaozong?"

Yang Xian also shouted in shock.

In this era, the group of scholar-officials was not very large, so most of the scholar-officials in the same place knew each other.

Wang Guangyang and Yang Xian are no exception.

Therefore, Yang Xian took the initiative to ask: "Why are you here?"

Wang Guangyang said: "It's a long story. Ever since I took a quick look at Chuzhou, I followed Mr. Zhang in a daze."

Yang Xian nodded after hearing this, and then said to Wang Guangyang: "It is obvious that Mr. Zhang intends to mobilize the people to cause rebellion in the world. He not only runs schools to enlighten the people, but also distributes weapons to the people to promote farming. Through "China News", ordinary people can be informed about world affairs, and through "China News", they can also encourage people to rebel."

"That's right!"

"Many of these people are starving people who are forced to survive by being exploited by exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. They starve to death every day and don't know who they are. Now, because Mr. Zhang wants to focus on the countryside for development, he can protect them from being exploited by officials and from being harassed by soldiers and bandits."

"In addition, according to Mr. Zhang, they can't just rely on good officials and heroes to save them, they have to learn to save themselves, because good officials and heroes will be unable to support themselves because of the strength of evil forces, so they are given weapons and asked to learn how to save them. How to analyze world affairs, how to organize and mobilize, and how to promote new bureaucrats who are outstanding and capable among them to fight against the old bureaucrats.”

After Wang Guangyang said that, he asked Yang Xian: "Why did you come to see Mr. Zhang?"

After Yang Xian thought for a while, he said, "I'm here to seek refuge with Mr. Zhang."

"Design?"

Wang Guangyang asked in surprise.

Yang Xian said seriously: "Of course! Mr. Zhang is here to develop the people, restore production, and restore order. He is obviously the one who can truly win the hearts and minds of the people in the world. How can I, Yang Xian, be against the people of the world?"

then.

Yang Xian added: "To be honest, I came to see the situation of Mr. Zhang's rebel army secretly on the orders of my master. The reason why my master sent me here was because he wanted me to deal with Mr. Zhang, but I think There is no need for me to deal with Mr. Zhang anymore. When I deal with Mr. Zhang, I am undoubtedly going against the people of the world."

"This is not what I want!"

Yang Xian cupped his hands and replied.

Wang Guangyang also bowed his hand to Yang Xian. then.

Wang Guangyang smiled at Yang Xian and said, "Then I will take you to see Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Cheng was in the newly built dock at this time instructing the shipwrights to build a new type of small sailboat that lowered the bow and stern buildings and integrated the ship building into the hull.

This kind of sailing ship is convenient for erecting more and larger cannons, and can attack enemy naval and land forces from the side. At the same time, because the height of the bow and stern is lowered and integrated into the hull, it is less exposed to the wind. Therefore, when the wind is against the ship, the ship The speed is also very fast.

Zhang Cheng built such a boat to prepare for crossing the river to harass Yuan soldiers in the future.

Because he very much agreed with Zhu Wenzheng's idea that he could cross the river at any time to harass the Yuan soldiers.

"Yang Xian?"

Zhang Cheng was quite surprised when he learned that Yang Xian came to see him.

He really didn't expect that he would recruit Zuo Cheng, the future Zhongshu of the Ming Dynasty.

"Let him come to me!"

Zhang Cheng hurriedly put down the drawings in his hands as he spoke, leaving Zhu Wenzheng to continue studying with a few local old shipbuilders while he himself came to the house near the dock.

Soon, Wang Guangyang came in with Yang Xian and met Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng looked at Yang Xian and saw that the middle-aged man in front of him was plump, with sharp eyes, and a black beard on his upper lip, which made people feel serious just looking at him.

"Why does Xiwu want to see me?"

After three rounds of tea, Zhang Cheng asked first.

Yang Xian was also looking at Zhang Cheng.

He could see that although the Mr. Zhang in front of him was younger than him and his skin was fairer than his own, and he looked like he was not from an ordinary family, he was obviously well-educated, so he treated him with courtesy and respect, and there was no hint of arrogance in his expression. gas.

of course.

What Yang Xian didn't know was that Zhang Cheng paid more attention to him because he knew that he was not an ordinary person in history.

but no matter.

Yang Xian's first impression of Zhang Cheng was very good.

Yang Xian also respectfully informed Zhang Cheng of his intention.

"Liu Bowen should still regard us as bandits, right?"

Zhang Cheng smiled and asked.

Yang Xian said: "My master doesn't know what's going on, so he listens to you. But my master is not a person who only listens and believes, so he sent me here to have a look!"

"Did Xiwu see anything?"

Zhang Cheng asked.

"After reading this, I just want to join Mr. Zhang's rebel army, overthrow Bao Yuan, and follow the laws of heaven and the people."

Yang Xian replied at this time and bowed to Zhang Cheng:

"Please also ask Mr. Zhang to take you in, even if you make me a small official, that's enough!"

"Gai Yin, I have been determined to bring peace to the people since I was a child, and I have not hesitated to study hard for this purpose, not for my personal wealth. Now in this world, I only see Mr. Zhang here truly enlightening the people's wisdom and peace of mind, so how can I, Yang Xian, not follow suit? !”

After Yang Xian said that, he looked up at Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng said: "I may not be able to succeed here."

"I don't care whether I can succeed or not, I only care about whether I have the chance to realize my lifelong ambition."

Yang Xian replied.

Zhang Cheng knew that Yang Xian was originally famous for his intelligence work in history. He served as Zhu Yuanzhang's inspector and reported many illegal activities of powerful people, including the Confucian scholars around Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew Zhu Wenzhong, who were also imprisoned because of his reports. However, when he came to Zhongshu Province, he fell into too much party strife and was eventually killed because of the party strife.

Zhang Cheng, however, wanted to continue to develop Yang Xian's talents as a spy, so he said: "You will serve as the director of our Guards Department, and you will be responsible for inquiring about various information from the outside world, contacting people in the scholarly community, and letting them be used as much as possible for us. After all, you are also People in the scholarly community can make friends with them and know them well."

Yang Xian cupped his hands and said yes, and bowed to Zhang Cheng to thank him.

then.

Yang Xian said: "I have something to tell Mr. Zhang."

"what's up?"

Zhang Cheng asked.

Yang Xian glanced at Wang Guangyang.

Wang Guangyang was quite shocked, but then he took the initiative to retreat.

Yang Xianze then came to Zhang Cheng and said: "According to my friends in the province, Zhongshu Youcheng Duo'er, just on Tuotuo's orders, has mobilized all the soldiers from Jiqing to cross the river to suppress the rebels and divided them into several groups. Among them, Wanhu Buri led more than 10,000 troops here, hoping to capture the Waliang fortress and cut off Liuhe's retreat. They are expected to arrive at the Waliang fortress in the later half of the year."

Zhang Cheng nodded.

Yang Xian continued: "Duo'er only wanted to capture Liuhe because of Tuotuo's orders. However, during the encirclement of Liuhe, Waliang Barrier was captured by the rebels. Naturally, he could not ignore it."

Zhang Cheng nodded, called Wang Guangyang in, and asked, "How was the production of the bronze cannon I ordered you to supervise?"

"Six gates have been built."

Wang Guangyang replied.

Zhang Cheng said: "Continue to build. According to the intelligence, the Yuan soldiers will not arrive until the end of the year."

Wang Guangyang raised his hand and said yes.

The Yuan soldiers did not know that Zhang Cheng's troops had already learned about their march. Therefore, Wanhu Buri led the army to Waliang Base, and Zhang Cheng's troops had completely withdrawn to the Waliang Base area.

"Where did the demon thief retreat to?"

Bury had no choice but to ask the local eunuch Ying Guangzu.

Ying Guangzu said: "Towards Chuzhou! Please ask the government and army to destroy this bandit army. They have been inciting the unruly people to rebel during this period, and they are very rampant. If they cannot be wiped out, they may cause a lot of trouble!"

"I know that once their main force is eliminated, I will clean this place!"

After saying this, Buri took Yuan Bing and headed towards Chuzhou.

As a result, Bury's troops were ambushed by Zhang Cheng in the river area and were fired upon by thousands of firearms. Almost the entire army was wiped out. Bury himself was even captured by the militiamen hiding among the local reeds and water plants while fleeing. .

Zhang Cheng was very happy and told Mao Guang: "Send a message to the direction of Chuzhou to reassure them that the Yuan soldiers who invaded Chuzhou have been defeated!"

"Yes!"

Then, Zhang Cheng told Hua Yun: "Go back to Waliang Lei immediately and announce to the stubborn local gentry that we are back!"

Later, Zhang Cheng said to Zhu Wenzheng: "According to our original plan, you immediately lead the Shenji battalion to cross the river by boat to gather for celebration. If you attack it, you will rescue it. Remember, you cannot stay for a long time, and you must be prepared to come back at any time!" "

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)