The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 393: Gathering Strength
Yingzhou and Haozhou were both under the jurisdiction of Fengyang Prefecture.

Yingzhou is located to the west of Fengyang Prefecture, at the southern end of the Huanghuaihai Plain, and the western part of the Huaibei Plain. The entire area is plain with flat terrain.

It is right on the main road from Fengyang Prefecture to Guide Prefecture in Henan.

Bozhou is located in the northwest of Fengyang Prefecture and borders Yingzhou in the southwest.

The entire territory is long and oblique from southeast to northwest, with the terrain of Bozhou being high in the northwest and low in the southeast.

From Haozhou, you can go to Kaifeng and Runing in Henan.

Bozhou is located in the heart of the Central Plains.

Historical records.

“Although it is located in a remote place, it is actually a thoroughfare connecting the north and the south, and the key to Central China.”

The two cities have important geographical locations. As long as we defend the two cities, we can cut off the westward advance of the Wanmin Army.

However, it is not easy to defend the two cities.

Yingzhou and Haozhou are both of great strategic value, but their cities are not strong and their moats are not secure, nor do they have reliable geographical advantages.

The two armies clashed in the Plains Battle, and there was no frills in the battle formation against the enemy. It was a fair battle.

It might be a problem to leave all this to other generals.

But now everything is in Chen Wang's hands, so it cannot be considered a problem.

Both Yingzhou and Haozhou states established garrisons in the early Ming Dynasty.

There is Yingchuan Wei in Yingzhou and Wuping Wei in Haozhou.

After Chen Wang sent troops to the two guards, the two garrisons naturally came under Chen Wang's jurisdiction.

From Sun Chuanting, Chen Wang also obtained certain authority to act at his own convenience.

Therefore, it is legitimate to bring Yingchuan Wei and Wuping Wei under jurisdiction.

West of Haozhou City.

The Weicheng of Wupingwei had become the stronghold of the Hanzhong army at this time.

The Wuping City Wall, which used to be of a single color, now has flags of various colors fluttering on it.

Not only were there more colors on the city walls, but outside the Acropolis, a sea of ​​flags fluttered in the strong wind.

At a glance, there were military tents everywhere where soldiers were stationed.

In Haozhou alone, as many as 20,000 soldiers and horses have gathered.

Wuping Weicheng, Wei Commander's Hall.

The architectural layout of the official hall of the Wei Command Post and the official hall of a thousand households are similar, both of which have a yamen in front and a residence in the back.

The main gate, lobby, second hall and third hall are all on the central axis of the Acropolis, but their specifications are higher and they occupy a larger area.

This official office was originally the residence of the commander of Wuping Guard.

However, after Chen Wang led his troops to arrive, the commander of Wuping Guard was very tactful and moved out of the official hall with his family and gave up his residence.

Shortly after noon, the weather gradually turned colder again.

In the west hall of the lobby, the food has been placed on the dining table.

There were many kinds of dishes on the table, and most of them were meat, which was considered a sumptuous meal in those days.

Chen Wang sat alone at the dining table, eating slowly.

When marching and fighting, the only time you can have leisure time to eat slowly is when you are on garrison.

During wartime, people basically just ate a few bites at random. Many times, they couldn't even get a hot meal and could only eat the dry food they carried with them.

Outside the hall, accompanied by a burst of hurried footsteps, Chen Gong's voice came from outside.

"Big brother."

Before I saw the person, I heard his voice first.

Chen Wang raised his head and looked outside the door, and Chen Gong just walked into the hall.

"Have everything been found out?"

Chen Wang raised his chopsticks and pointed to the seat next to him.

“Dongpo meat!”

Chen Gong's eyes lit up and he laughed happily.

"I haven't had a good meal in these days. Today I can finally have a good meal."

As Chen Gong spoke, he took off the sword at his waist, then walked forward and sat down, eagerly filling a bowl with rice.

However, Chen Gong did not forget to reply to Chen Wang.

"The details have been found out."

"I never thought that a small guard commander would have so many things under his control."

Chen Gong picked up a piece of Dongpo pork with chopsticks in one hand, and with the other hand he took out a booklet from his bosom and placed it on the table.

Chen Wang picked up the document and his eyes narrowed slightly. Even though he had seen a lot of wealth of rich and powerful families, he was still a little surprised.

The document records the property in the name of the commander of the Wuping Guard.

There were more than 170 hectares of land and more than 1,000 houses and shops.

"Zhili is Zhili. It is much stronger than Shaanxi."

Chen Wang put down the document in his hand and sighed.

"Oh, it's a bit ironic that the commander of the Wuping Guard was originally named Shi, not Zhao."

Chen Gong said while eating.

In the Ming Dynasty, military positions in the garrisons were hereditary. The son of a garrison commander was still a garrison commander, the son of a captain was still a captain, and the son of an ordinary military household was still an ordinary military household.

So logically speaking, the current commander of Wuping Guard is still surnamed Shi.

"The reason why Zhao was able to become the commander of the guards was because he reported the then commander of Wuping Guard Shi Xi to the court for his crimes of bullying the people and taking bribes, and thus replaced him."

"Now their descendants are following the same old path."

Chen Gong shook his head and said.

"However, there are too many such incidents now, and the court cannot handle them all."

Chen Wang took the chopsticks, gently pushed the documents on the table away, and said.

"The emperor is far away, and the court's laws cannot scare people."

Even in the later information age, there are still village tyrants and township tyrants, let alone in this era of inconvenient transportation.

“These are all recorded in the files of the Inspectorate.”

In this era, robbing is always the fastest way.

Decadent and backward things should be swept into the dustbin of history.

The collection of these evidences can be used, firstly, for later settlement of scores, and secondly, to force these officials and officers to submit and obey orders.

Officials and officers in these places could rely on their power to plunder ordinary people and accumulate enormous wealth.

Then Chen Wang can naturally rely on his current power to rob them.

Chen Wang has too many troops to support, so the income from the basic base alone is naturally not enough to cover the expenses.

It is certainly not acceptable to do as Zuo Liangyu did, where he only paid the elite servants and only paid half of the wages to the rest of the soldiers in the camp, or even delayed their payment.

The silver salary sent by the court was not enough.

Although the silver obtained from Li Yan was a lot, it was not a long-term solution to live off the wealth.

It just so happened that the local guards officers, gentry landlords, and wealthy merchants had accumulated large amounts of silver, money, and food.

Whatever the common people have, it is much easier to snatch it from the hands of these rich people.

It is nothing more than pretending to be bandits, making up some excuses and fabricating some charges.

Just like the methods those people use to oppress ordinary people.

Oh yes.

There is no need to fabricate any charges. Among these local gentry and powerful people, there are very few who have clean hands.

If there really were kind-hearted families who were generous, caring for their neighbors and helping the common people, then there would naturally be no need to raise the butcher knife.

"Where are the militiamen from Kaifeng?" Chen Wang put down his bowl and chopsticks and asked.

"We have arrived in Shenqiu and will soon cross the border with Henan Province. It will only take two days to walk to Yingzhou."

Li Yan was still in Fengyang, and there were still tens of thousands of Wanmin troops entrenched in the Fengyang and Suzhou areas.

Although the probability of the Wanmin Army attacking the west is very small, the probability of the Wanmin Army wanting to sneak into Henan is not zero. As the saying goes, it is better to be prepared.

If you are not prepared and something unexpected happens, resulting in failure, then the gain will be counterproductive.

Henan has now become one of Chen Wang’s bases.

Although Henan was severely hit by the disaster and continued to suffer from disasters in the following years.

However, Henan has a large population and is located at a strategic point, and has always been an important military location.

By controlling Henan, one can advance to challenge Zhili and threaten Shandong; if one retreats, one can look west to Guanlong and south to Huguang.

Now Henan is under Chen Wang's jurisdiction, and handing things over to others has never been Chen Wang's character or role.

It just so happens that Kaifeng’s militiamen have not been mobilized for some time. If there is any further delay, I’m afraid that Kaifeng’s militiamen will become ordinary citizens again.

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Now that Chen Wang has the power to mobilize troops, it is reasonable for him to mobilize the community soldiers in Kaifeng to assist in the defense.

Originally, in history, the social soldiers, the presidents and vice-presidents of branches, and the president of the head office were all managed by famous people in each society.

However, Chen Wang was in Kaifeng at the time, so he naturally did not follow such an arrangement. Instead, he placed his trusted followers in positions and recruited ordinary strong men. Not many people from wealthy families joined the army, and they basically could not get a position in a military academy.

This powerful militia in Kaifeng City has actually always been under the control of Chen Wang.

In the Battle of Kaifeng, Chen Wang had won the hearts of the military and civilians in Kaifeng city with his feat of rescuing Kaifeng and defeating the enemy.

When selecting community soldiers, most of them are young and strong men in their twenties.

At this age, one is full of vigor and vitality.

In the Battle of Kaifeng, they all saw blood and fought for their lives on the battlefield.

Also on the city wall, one saw the scene where Chen Wang led 3,000 Hanzhong cavalry to defeat the Wanmin Army with the momentum of a tiger.

When Chen Wang left Kaifeng, many militiamen spontaneously organized themselves and came to ask for orders, wanting to join Chen Wang's army and join the ranks of Hanzhong Town.

Most of the Kaifeng militia were poor citizens. The world was difficult and natural disasters were constant, making it difficult for them to make a living in the city.

They saw the Hanzhong Army's prosperous military appearance, the Hanzhong Army's powerful military force, and also saw the path to promotion.

In addition, Chen Wang's spies and spies secretly fanned the flames.

In troubled times, rely on the swords and guns in your hands to fight for your life.

I hope he can bring honor to his family and give his wife and children a title.

It's better than doing nothing, being hungry, and struggling to survive every day.

"Eight thousand four hundred community soldiers..."

Chen Wang's eyes narrowed slightly. These 8,400 militiamen had already become part of his power since they left Kaifeng.

The more power he had in his hands, the more at ease Chen Wang felt.

"The Chenzhou Guards have already arrived in Yingzhou."

"Yingzhou now has more than 12,000 soldiers and horses."

Chen Gong reported to Chen Wang while eating.

Yingzhou was governed by Hu Zhiyi, whose headquarters consisted of 7,000 new troops from Henan and 3,000 local soldiers, totaling 10,000 people.

"By the time the Kaifeng community soldiers arrive, our strength will have reached 20,000."

Chen Wang nodded. With the arrival of Kaifeng community soldiers, the defensive capability of Yingzhou City was already sufficient to resist the attack of the Wanmin Army.

"Brother, why don't you eat anymore?"

Chen Gong looked at Chen Wang in confusion, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and asked.

"Because someone is coming."

"Someone?"

"We'll find out later."

During the conversation, a personal guard came in from outside the hall.

"Gao Qian, the deputy general of Henan, invites you to see me."

Chen Wang nodded slightly and raised his hand.

The guard bowed, understood the meaning and left the hall.

The two battalions of guards and regular soldiers directly under his command had only more than 8,000 people.

There are about 20,000 troops stationed in Haozhou, most of whom are from Henan brought by Gao Qian.

Even at the entrance of the hall, Gao Qian had already saluted, then walked closer and knelt down.

"I am humble and respectful to the commander-in-chief!"

Gao Qian was wearing a helmet and a military uniform. He pushed the golden mountain and overturned the jade pillar and bowed down to it.

Logically speaking, as the deputy general of a province, there is no need to show such great courtesy to Chen Wang.

But Gao Qian knew clearly how he came to be the deputy general.

Originally he was just a guerrilla, and a guerrilla who wanted to rebel on the battlefield.

It was Chen Wang who saved him from the death penalty for wanting to rebel and helped him rise from his guerrilla position.

He first served as a lieutenant general, and was later promoted to deputy general. Until now, he has been in charge of a group and guarded an area.

Chen Wang didn't let Gao Qian get up.

For these old military generals, it is safest to use the old methods to control them.

Lord, king, minister, father, father, son.

In Gao Qian's mind, he is now his benefactor.

In this era, the status of a benefactor is no less than that of a king or father.

This can be seen directly from Zuo Liangyu's actions.

No matter how arrogant and domineering Zuo Liangyu was, when Hou Xun, his benefactor, sent him a transfer order, Zuo Liangyu would still carry it out with all his heart.

In this era, if you turn your back on your benefactor, your career will basically be over.

"You fought well in the Battle of Quwangpu."

Chen Wang took the teacup from the side, took a sip, and then spoke.

Gao Qian was ordered to rush to the rescue and encountered the Wanmin Army in Quwangpu.

With only 8,000 men against the Wanmin Army of nearly 20,000, he eventually led his troops to a safe retreat and even gained some small gains.

This indeed made Chen Wang look up to Gao Qian.

"It is truly an honor for me to be able to see this with my own eyes!"

The team is expanding now, and it is the right time to recruit people.

It is natural that the generals and officers at all levels in the army cannot only be relatives of the Chen and Hu families. This will inevitably become a hidden danger in the future, so it is necessary to promote outsiders.

Foreign generals such as Zhou Yumao, Zhao Huailiang, Gao Qian, Chen Yongfu and Chen De need to be used.

Chen Wang encouraged him a few more times.

Gao Qian answered respectfully, then left the West Hall, ending the audience.

Chen Wang watched Gao Qian leave.

After the Battle of Kaifeng, taking advantage of the issue of armaments, he took over the Military Equipment Bureau of the Nine Guards and Three Offices in Henan and the Miscellaneous Equipment Bureau in Kaifeng from the then Governor Gao Mingheng.

There is also temporary command of Henan troops.

Later, the temporary command authority was weakened by Chen Yongfu and other Henan camp generals.

Now, the command of the entire Henan Camp Town is back in his hands.

The military equipment bureaus in various places have almost completed their integration.

Thanks to the damage caused by the Wanmin Army, the military garrisons in various parts of Henan have been infiltrated by the Supervisory Office and become like a sieve.

Many new guard commanders have already pledged their allegiance.

The huge war machine of the Hanzhong Army was ready to launch.