In the twenty-seventh year of Hongwu, the Banzhou Propaganda Division, which originally belonged to the Guizhou Capital Division, was changed to the Sichuan Political Envoy Division.

Now, after Zhu Gaoxu occupied Sichuan, he ordered the political envoy to send a decree to the Banzhou Propaganda Department, but it did not play a role for a while; It was not until Zhu Gaoxu's more than 100,000 troops arrived that the Banzhou Xuanwei Division was occupied by the forward army.

Today is the last day of the fifth year of Yongle, and it is the Chinese New Year's Eve, but the various units of the Han King Army are still marching. Zhu Gaoxu's Chinese soldiers and horses will arrive at a small post station in the south in the afternoon before setting up camp.

The mountains on both sides of the avenue are very large, and Zhu Gaoxu estimated that if you want to go from the east mountain to the west mountain, I am afraid it will take at least a whole day!

Although Banju is in the south of Sichuan, the weather is colder. There was a freezing rain here the day before yesterday, but fortunately it stopped quickly. The rain was mixed with ice particles, and Zhu Gaoxu rarely encountered such weather.

Zhu Gaoxu rode on the horse, looking at the mountains on the left and right, looking up at his head for too long, and his neck began to ache.

Suddenly, through the bright sunlight, he noticed a faint figure in the mountains and forests to the east. After a while, more and more people came out of the woods. Someone in the army shouted, "Didn't the forward scouts inspect Dongshan?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu didn't say anything, he was still very calm, and continued to look at the scene on the hillside...... After all, in this day and age, it is very difficult to assemble a large army; The movements of the main forces of the enemy army were known to Zhu Gaoxu thousands of miles away. It is impossible for there to be a large army in the Banshu area, so naturally there will be no sudden ambush of large troops; At this time, the lethality of weapons is limited, and if the troops are insufficient to ambush the army, it will be an egg hitting a stone.

A group of Han army rangers left the main road and ran towards a mountain road to the east.

At that moment, the men on the hill held up a flag, a patchwork of gray rags. Zhu Gaoxu squinted his eyes and looked carefully, and finally saw the words written on the cloth clearly.

There is a big black letter written on it: Ming.

Then, the people who had already walked out of the mountains and forests knelt down on one knee to the banner of the Han Dynasty's Chinese army, as if they were silently saluting.

"Wear the blue!" Zhu Gaoxu blurted out.

According to the definition of Ma Peng (Yao Fengji), the commander of Yuezhou Wei: the people who wear green are Han people, and the Han soldiers who have fled.

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly remembered that before he set out for Guizhou, he ordered the Third Division of Sichuan to issue a decree that spread to various places.

According to the decree, the "people in blue clothes" who fled from Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan were once guarded by the Ming Dynasty and had contributed to protecting the country and the people. Therefore, the Han royal palace decided that during the five years from Hongwu to Yongle, the fugitive military households were pardoned for their sins and allowed to return to their hometowns for the people; If you go to the capital and the government to surrender yourself, you will be allowed to restore your military status, pay your salary from the Han king's army, and be with the soldiers of the Han king's army, and there shall be no mistake.

Unexpectedly, the first batch of people wearing green came to vote soon. With role models, there will be more and more in the future!

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the flag in the distance, his face was a little moved, and he showed a smile of relief. He said in his heart: In this world, there are always grass, sheep, and people, but if there is a flag that can organize the sheep, it is difficult to guarantee that they cannot become people. The key is organization.

He turned his head and pointed to a guard commander and military general, "You go and call Hou Hai over, you have been busy these days." Those who wear green will first be given military rations, then their military registration will be verified, their military registration will be registered, their clothes and weapons will be issued, and their salaries will be paid, and they will be organized into an army. ”

"The last will be ordered!"

The army continued on its way, and by the afternoon the Chinese army had set up camp at a small post station. Pigs, sheep, bacon and other materials requisitioned or traded by the baggage battalion from the Banzhou area also arrived, and everyone had to celebrate the New Year in the camp.

The crackling of firearms was heard outside the inn, and red couplets were pasted outside the lobby. In the noisy camps, there is gradually a festive atmosphere.

It may be that the baggage camp divided the pigs and sheep for the people who wore the blue, and there was a shout from the camp of the people who wore the green, "The king of Han is the king of the brothers!" ”

It is indeed the first time that the term "wearing blue" has appeared in the official newspaper. They are military households that are easy to ignore, and if Zhu Gaoxu hadn't heard Ma Peng talk about it, it would have been unheard of. However, the names of these folk circulars in the Han Dynasty can also be written in official documents; Just because of this incident, military households everywhere already knew the attitude of the Han Palace.

The camps were celebrating the New Year, but Zhu Gaoxu was busy reading the newspaper in the lobby of the post station.

The reports of the generals in the army, as well as the official documents of the various officials in Sichuan and Yunnan, were sent to the Chinese army, and Zhu Gaoxu had to ride a horse during the day, but he couldn't see it, so he stopped and was busy dealing with this matter.

Miao Jin brought a cup of tea and placed it on a strange table next to her. The table is square, but there is a round hole in the middle where a fire can be lit, reminiscent of the hot pot table of later generations.

She glanced over here and saw that Zhu Gaoxu was writing hard and was about to leave. Zhu Gaoxu said without raising his head: "I haven't spent Chinese New Year's Eve together for many years." ”

Miaojin turned around, "I was still in Jingshi last time...... " She suddenly remembered something, and her voice stopped abruptly.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced up and saw that her cheeks were flushed.

He recalled a little, and also remembered the last Chinese New Year's Eve in Beijing before Fan Yunnan. He had in his mind the scene in the carriage, and from time to time the fireworks lit up the dark carriage, and the beautiful and moving pictures flashed one after another, like pictures.

"It's really in Jingshi." Zhu Gaoxu put down the brush in his hand, "But the first thing I thought of just now was that Chinese New Year's Eve in Beiping. Maybe it's the well in King Yan's mansion, it's really terrible at night, and I have a deep impression of what I'm afraid of. ”

When Miaojin didn't speak, her beautiful face seemed to be able to speak. She dodged with shame on her face just now, but now a richer expression appeared, as if she was a little grateful and seemed to sigh a little.

Her red lips opened slightly, and she just wanted to speak, but a voice came from outside the door first: "Lord Yu, the 'Guardian Palace' sent someone to deliver a letter, and I just arrived at the camp." ”

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Miaojin, who was facing away from the door, and said loudly: "Let it in, Nansi or Beisi?" ”

The visitor replied: "Back to the prince, the messenger carries the news of the North and South Divisions. ”

The so-called Imperial Mansion is equivalent to the yamen of the Jinyi Guard. Originally, the Han Dynasty set up a spy agency, in order to cover people's eyes and ears and call it "the palace guards the hundred households", after Zhu Gaoxu raised the army, he expanded the scale and changed it to "guard the palace", and set up two divisions in the north and south; It is the same as the establishment of the imperial court brocade guard...... The North Town Fu Division is responsible for prisons and spies, while the South Town Fu Division's duties include the study of weapons.

A moment later, a messenger walked in and saluted and presented his things. In addition to the letters, there was also a firearm wrapped in cloth.

It must be a new firearm developed by Nansi! Zhu Gaoxu took it out with great interest, and after looking at it for a while, he quickly showed a disappointed expression. This is not a novelty, but a copy of the "magic spear" captured from Annam.

Although this thing is a little farther than the Ming army's copper firebolt, the arrow clusters used are more troublesome to manufacture than the projectiles of the copperfire...... And there is a big disadvantage, the penetration of the arrow cluster is not as good as the projectile, probably the reason why the arrow cluster cannot rotate after the chamber, is it because there is no rifling line?

The biggest problem is that there is no essential difference between the "magic gun" of Annan and the Ming army's guns; Again, it is a cast pipe, and it is to be lit with an open flame.

Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and told the messenger to go first. He put down the fire hammer stupidly, turned his head and asked, "What did Miaojin want to say just now?" ”

"I forgot." Miaojin's expression regained her composure.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at her and didn't force it.

He sat for a while, then pointed to the fire gun on the table and said, "The Han Palace's Mansion can't just imitate, but also create it yourself." If something like this is made, it won't have much effect, and with the craftsmanship of all parts of the Ming Dynasty, the enemy army can easily imitate it. ”

He picked up the brush and brought a blank piece of paper to reply to Nanji. But when he lifted the pen, he quickly put it down again.

Zhu Gaoxu remembered the posture of the sergeants setting fires, and he always felt very strange. It's like you're holding a spear, and it's located near your chest...... This is completely different from the posture of firing a gun that Zhu Gaoxu experienced from various films, television, and military training, and he had the impression that shooting a gun should be aimed with his eyes.

The posture of the Ming army is completely impossible to aim, which is one of the reasons why the hit rate of the fire gun is very low; But the soldiers could not change their posture, because when they set the fire, they had to free one hand to point the lead, so they had to clip it under the armpit first.

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a while, then wrote in a reply, asking Nansi to find a way to test and change the ignition device of the firebolt so that he could hold the torch with both hands and aim.

He then busily tore open Kitaji's letter and said, "I'll finish reading this letter, let's go around the neighborhood." ”

"The big war is coming, and the king of Han should focus on major events." Miao Jin persuaded softly.

Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile: "On the afternoon of Chinese New Year's Eve, I spent an hour walking with Miaojin, can't I be defeated for this reason?" ”

Miaojin listened, and a smile appeared in her bright apricot eyes.

Zhu Gaoxu opened the letter and looked at it, and the smile on his face quickly disappeared. He raised his head and said: "Qu Neng is really very discerning, the enemy army in Huguang is going to reinforce Guizhou, and the commander is Wu Gao." ”

"Marquis of Jiangyin." Miaojin responded. She was born in a family of eunuchs, and she seemed to be a treasure to those high-ranking and powerful former ministers.

Zhu Gaoxu had a thoughtful expression and didn't say anything more.

He thought that Wu Gao would definitely take the road of "entering the lake and wide road" to Guizhou.

Zhu Gaoxu has experience, and led the army through the Luzhou Road in Wusada, and now in the Yubojian Road. This kind of mobilization can easily take hundreds of miles or even thousands of miles, and the army takes the official roads that have been repaired several times, and it is easy to be congested or poorly supplied if the arrangement is slightly improper; The march in the southwestern mountains, along the main road, is still the same, if it is difficult to find another way.

"Does King Han still want to go out?" Miaojin's voice said.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded: "I said it just now, let's go." ”

Miao Jin said: "I'll go and get the hat." ”