After recovering the city of Nanyang, Zhao Dangshi sent people to find the corpses of civil and military officials such as the fierce tiger of the Dumen president, Yan Yueyu, the prefect of Nanyang, and Yao Yunxi, the prefect of Nanyang, and presided over the memorial. At the beginning of November, the Chuang army dispersed and began to attack Yanling, Tongxu, Taikang, Xiping, Yanshi and other counties. The military danger was suspended, and Zhao Dangshi left the Hun camp and the Zhenxiao camp to continue to guard the city, and led the rest of the soldiers and horses south to return to Xiangyang Mansion.

Since Zhou Yuji, the old general of the Governor's Gate and the Yongwei Battalion, was attached, the corresponding establishment within the Zhao Battalion was quickly determined.

In addition to Zhou Jin's Zhenxiao camp remained unchanged, a new second battalion was established. One of the Changning battalions, similar to the left and right battalions of Feijie, are all horse troops, which are mixed by Zhou Yuji and Liu Guangzuo's original department, with more than 1,000 people, and Zhou Yuji, the commander of the camp, and Liu Guangzuo, the middle officer; The 21st Chong Battalion, supplemented by Min Yiqi and Lang Qigui's remnants, was combined into 2,000 troops, and the battalion officer Min Yiqi and the Chinese officer Lang Qigui were under control.

In this way, there are now 17 battalions under the Zhao camp, including the Wuqi Battalion, the Xiaojie Battalion, the Qihun Battalion, the Feijie Left Battalion, the Feijie Right Battalion, the Changhong Front Battalion, the Changhong Left Battalion, the Changhong Right Battalion, the Guoan Battalion, the Wuya Battalion, the Changning Battalion, the Zhenxiao Battalion, the Yichong Battalion, and even the Training Battalion, the Tuntian Left Battalion, the Tuntian Right Battalion, and the Tuntian Rear Battalion.

The battalion heads are complicated, and the problems of equal rank among the officers in charge of each other, and sometimes affecting the distribution of command power, are also prominent. Therefore, after discussing with Gu Junen, Chang Zeyu and others, Zhao Dangshi believed that it was necessary to add another type of "dispatch" on the basis of the military position and the original position of the Soldiers and Horses Commandery, which would be dismissed immediately after the fact, and it would only be used to clarify the subordinate relationship of each army in the case of temporary wars, and it would be appointed by the Soldiers and Horses Commandery.

According to the actual situation at present, the "commander-in-chief of the army" and his deputy "deputy commander-in-chief of the army" have been first decided, and if the candidates for the deputy posts have the same qualifications, they will be divided into "deputy commander-in-chief of the left of the army" and "deputy commander-in-chief of the right." For example, Xu Hui thus became the "commander-in-chief of the front armies in Yunyang and other places", while Qin Jinxiao and Li Yanlang were respectively "the left deputy commander of the front armies in Yunyang and other places" and "the right deputy head of the front armies in Yunyang and other places". In the same way, Hou Dagui was the "head of the front army in Suizhou and other places", and Guo Ruke, who was only appointed to guard Nanyang Mansion, was also newly promoted to "head of the front army in Nanyang and other places".

In addition to Zhao Dangshi, who also led an army, Hou, Xu, and Guo were the three most relied on generals in Zhao Ying, and they were also the only three army commanders who had the power to deploy troops independently.

After returning to Xiangyang Prefecture, Zhao Dangshi wrote letters to the other state and county officials in Nanyang Prefecture who had not been poisoned by the intruding army, stating to them the fait accompli of sending troops to defend the territory, so as not to cause panic among these officials because of the presence of his troops in the prefecture. This is a necessary move, and it is also etiquette, and it is the first step in Zhao Dangshi's attempt to legitimize his theft of Nanyang Mansion.

At the beginning, Yan Yueyu took the initiative to ask for the fierce tiger to lead the army to assist in the defense, which was actually a portrayal of the general mentality of these officials, and they naturally would not have any dissatisfaction with the deployment of Zhao Ying's soldiers and horses in Nanyang Mansion.

Time still passed quietly, but the confrontation with Li Zicheng made Zhao Dangshi feel more urgent about development. Li Zicheng solved the hidden dangers in the south through the battle of Nanyang, and now began to sweep away many small forces in Henan. In view of Zuo Liangyu's constant fear, it is very likely that the Chuang army will regroup its main force during the period from the end of this year to the beginning of next year and attack Fengfu City again. Once the city of Kaifeng fell, the Henan official army would lose all the strong strongholds that could hinder the advance of the invading army, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the whole of Henan completely fell into the hands of Li Zicheng. At that time, the voice of the army is bound to be stronger than it is now, and if Zhao Ying does not try his best to develop and catch up, it will not be a distant thing to face the autumn of survival.

Soldiers must be trained, artillery must be built, fields must be cultivated, and aid must be concluded...... Countless events are coming, which will drive Zhao Ying's chariot forward at a stronger speed.

After settling the military affairs of Xiangyang Mansion, Zhao Dangshi rushed back to Fanhecheng to deal with some affairs, and the most important thing was to listen to the report of Lu Qiqing, who had rushed to Sichuan to mediate business affairs. I heard that he had actually returned to China for a long time, but because Zhao Dangshi had been in the military during this time, he delayed the meeting.

When Zhao Dangshi walked into the meeting hall of the Three Military Mansions, he was taken aback first. I saw that in addition to Lu Qiqing, who had a lot of tan, and Zhu Changfa, the son of the Xiang Domain, who got up to greet him. However, Zhu Changfa was already named the king of Guiyang when he served the crown two years ago, so he has officially become a young prince now.

During the time when Zhao Dangshi was stationed in Xiangyang Mansion, he often went to Xiangwang's Mansion and met Zhu Changfa often, and the two had a close relationship like brothers. But etiquette is important and cannot be ignored, Zhao Dangshi still bowed down to Zhu Changfa, and said: "I have seen the prince." ”

Zhu Changfa smiled and said, "Brother Zhao and I are still polite." Come, sit, sit and speak. "Breathing and drinking, as if he regarded this solemn Sanjun Mansion as his own home.

"I don't know ...... the prince is here today"

Before Zhao Dangshi could finish his question, Zhu Changfa said while eating the dried fruits on the table next to the chair: "It's okay, it's okay, let's let Lao Lu talk about official business first." ”

When Lu Qiqing heard this, he laughed embarrassedly twice, Zhao Dangshi wondered in his heart, it is difficult for Zhu Changfa to go out of the house, how can he seem to be very familiar with Lu Qiqing, who has been running outside all the year round?

"Lord, then the subordinates will ......," Lu Qiqing said, his eyes moved to Zhu Changfa. Zhu Changfa was like no one around, munching on candied dried fruits, treating himself as air.

Lu Qiqing first talked about the situation of negotiations with Sichuan businessmen. Similar to the previous plan, in mid-October, all kinds of commercial goods and materials needed by Zhaoying have begun to gather from Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Yunnan to the Confucian family in Yankou Town, and then take the Confucian family as the axis, and then transfer them to Xiangyang Mansion. The trade road from Kou Town to Xiangyang Mansion is dominated by waterways, and Yankou Town is the starting point, entering the river through the Jialing River, and then arriving at Huguang along the river.

Yankou Town is located in Dingyuan County, Chongqing Prefecture, the Confucian family has been operating for many years, and has a wide range of contacts in Chongqing Prefecture, and the waterway transfer in Chongqing Prefecture is foolproof. In order to ensure the smooth flow of waterways and the stability of goods, this waterway of Kuizhou Mansion has set up a number of transfer stations with people to take care of, and there are warehouses for the fleet to rest or temporarily place goods, so that the safety of transshipment can be greatly guaranteed.

Among them, the more important transfer stations are Zhongzhou Cang, Wanxian Cang and Wushan Cang, all of which are jointly built by the Confucian family and Zhaoying. But having a warehouse is not enough, how can outsiders not worship the local wharf? Therefore, in addition to visiting merchants, Lu Qiqing's other important task was to get through these local powerful factions and ask them to take care of the local warehouses. Through Kong Qingnian's introduction, Lu Qiqing was able to find his way one after another. In Chungju, Tan Hong was a guerrilla for Shibaozhai; In Wanxian County, it is Wang Xiang, the former general of the front battalion of Yunyang Town; In Wushan County, Liu Gui, a staff general of the Daning battalion.

Tan Hong and Wang Xiang were both old opponents when Zhao Ying first entered Sichuan, but these two people were not ashamed to lose to Zhao Ying, who let Zhao Ying now dominate Chubei, Zhao Dangshi and prosperous officials.

Especially Tan Hong, who admires Zhao Dangshi very much, never calls him by his name in front of people, and keeps saying "Zhao Zongzhen", "Zhao Shuai", "Zhao Gong" or "Zhao Shaobao", and when he meets people, he mentions that he once fought against Zhao Ying, as if that time was the peak of his life. Tan Hong's family often followed his grandfather and father out to "hunt" when he was a child, and it was almost common for him to rob the people of neighboring states and counties and rob his assets. He himself was later in charge of the army, and often went out to plunder the population and attack caravans, so to speak, seven soldiers and three bandits. The habits are similar, so he has a natural good impression of Zhao Dangshi and an involuntary yearning for Zhao Ying's career.

Therefore, as soon as he heard that Lu Qiqing was doing things on behalf of Zhao Ying, Tan Hong, who was currently stationed in Shibaozhai in Zhongzhou, readily agreed to help thoughtfully, and in addition, he also took the initiative to propose that he could match up and let Tan Yi, the clan brother of Wanxian Tiansheng City, take care of the Wanxian warehouse over there, and Lu Qiqing had no reason to allow it.

Wang Xiang is not an enthusiastic young man like Tan Hong, he has no feelings for Zhao Ying. However, Lu Qiqing learned that he had some troubles at the junction of Kuizhou and Boryeong, so he prescribed the right medicine and successfully obtained his support.

Liu Gui also fought against Zhao Ying and had a bad impression of Zhao Ying. However, this person was greedy for money, and when he offered gold and silver treasures, his impression of Zhao Ying was immediately very good. Cooperate with Zhao Ying, no problem.

In addition, every year, the warehouses will convert part of the profits of the whole year's freight value into a reward and gift money to the "protectors" of these local warehouses, which can be regarded as Zhao Ying's intention to formally establish a cooperative relationship with them.

After Lu Qiqing finished speaking, he took tea and moistened his mouth, and Zhao Dangshi asked: "What troubles does Wang Xiang have at the junction of Kuizhou and Baoning?" After thinking about it, he said, "Could it be related to Mr. Qin?" "Together with Lu Qiqing, there are also Qin Qigong, Deng Longye, Zheng Shiqi and other people who pioneered Sichuan.

"The Lord is clever." Lu Qiqing sighed, "The subordinates were just about to talk about their situation. ”

"How's they going?"

"Mr. Qin is strategizing, General Deng is brave and invincible, and the development of Sichuan is in full swing." Lu Qiqing said with a smile, "The subordinates and others separated when they arrived in Yankou Town, and they didn't have much contact during the period, but when the subordinates returned to Yankou Town two months ago, Kong Dangjia handed over the two letters to his subordinates. It is all written by Mr. Qin, one is my enlightenment, and the other is the Lord's enlightenment. As he spoke, he took out the letter from his placket and handed it to Zhao Dangshi.

When Zhao Dangshi read the letter, he continued: "The letter to his subordinates said that there have been thieves in Shaanxi who have recently invaded Sichuan and gathered in the Baizhangguan area of Guangyuan County. ”

"Wang Xiang is one of them?"

"Exactly, but the lobbyists he sent met an opponent, because Yang Zhan, the garrison of Guangyuan, also happened to have the idea of ambushing these thieves."

Yang Zhan...... What is the origin of this man? ”

Lu Qiqing replied: "This person is a martial artist of Chongzhen for ten years, brave, generous and righteous, and has a great prestige in northern Sichuan. Compared with Wang Xiang, the attraction is naturally greater. He added, "Wang Xiang is unwilling to give up the warlike thieves, but there is no good way, but it just so happens that Mr. Qin is also dealing with that thief, because I told Wang Xiang that I can muddy the water and make the greatest benefit for him, so he agreed to take care of Wanxian Cang for my battalion." ”

Zhao Dangshi read the letter at this time, put it on the table and said: "Mr. Qin said in the letter to me that he would also take the thieves in Baizhang Pass for his own use." ”

Lu Qiqing nodded and said: "Mr. Qin is resourceful, if he goes out, Wang Xiang and Yang Zhan seem to have nothing to do." ”

Zhao Dangshi said with a smile: "It is not known yet, wait and see what happens." The Sichuan affair has just started, and if it can collect veterans of a hundred battles, it will be of great help. He pointed to the letter, "The letter is full of recent details from his side, so I won't go into detail." ”

Lu Qiqing arched his hand and said, "Yes." The first batch of goods shipped from Sichuan had just been unloaded from the wharf in Xiangyang Prefecture at the beginning of the month, and now they are all counted and warehoused in Fanhe City, and everything is going well. In two months, there will be another batch of ......"

Zhao Dangshi chatted with him for a while, and his eyes moved to Zhu Changfa. was discovered by Zhu Changfa and smiled back.

"Tell me, how did you two get together?" Zhao Dangshi didn't ask Zhu Changfa, but asked Lu Qiqing.

Lu Qiqing was hesitant, and he couldn't say why for a long time, Zhu Changfa couldn't help but say: "There's nothing bad to say, I sneaked out of the palace and pretended to be the envoy in charge of carrying the luggage and mixed into the team in Sichuan." ”

"Lord, it's the subordinates who are careless, and they don't ...... until Yankou Town Only then did I find out the identity of the prince, otherwise I would ......" Lu Qiqing explained nervously.

"Don't be stubborn, even if you recognize me in Xiangyang Mansion, you won't be able to drive me away!" Zhu Changfa glared at him, and Lu Qiqing immediately hung his head and was silent.

Zhao Dangshi smiled bitterly and said: "Lord Wang, going to Sichuan is not going down to the south of the Yangtze River, the road is far away and dangerous. You don't have to go that far. If there is a ...... of three long and two short"

"You think I'm going out to play?" Zhu Changfa shook his head, his posture was so unpleasant, "To tell you the truth, if there is no help from this prince this time, I am afraid that you will go to Ruifan to propose marriage!" ”

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In November of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, a brief situation of each army and battalion of the Zhao camp

Zhao Dangshijun

Military Commander-in-Chief Zhao Dangshi, Left Deputy Commander of the Army, Zhou Yuji, and Right Deputy Commander of the Army Han Gon

Feijie Zuoying Han Gon

Feijie right camp Ma Guangchun

Changhong Qianying Chen Weifu

National Security Camp Lu Zhenguo

Wuya Camp Liu Shijun

Changning Camp Zhou Yuji

One Chong Camp Min Yiqi

Training camp Zhang Miaoshou

Tuntian Zuoying Zhang Guangcui

Tuntian Youying Zhang Jingchun

Hou Daguijun

Military Commander-in-Chief Hou Dagui and Deputy Military Governor Bai Wang

There is no camp Hou Dagui

Tuntian Houying Shi Meng

Xu Hunjun

Xu Hui, the commander-in-chief of the army, Qin Jinxiao, the left deputy commander of the army, and Li Yanlang, the right-deputy commander of the army

Xu Hui

Changhong Zuoying Xu Qizuo

Changhong Right Camp Ma Tingshi

Guo Rukejun

Military Commander-in-Chief Guo Ruke and Deputy Military Commander Zhou Jin

Qihun camp Guo Ruke

Zhenxiao camp Zhou Jin