After the boat went out of the mountains of northern Guangxi, it entered the long and narrow Xiangtan Basin, and through the tributaries of the Xiangjiang River that flowed through the territory, it was connected to the Hunan hinterland like the inverted maple leaf shaped Hunan Central Plain, which was also the so-called "lake wide and ripe, the world is full" agricultural area and large granary in later generations.

However, although the technology of enclosing fields to build polders has long appeared in the local area, it is still underdeveloped in this era; Many places are still occupied and divided by rivers, lakes and waters. After all, in this era, as the largest wetland in the south, Yunmeng Daze has not completely disappeared.

And between the mountains and rivers, there are also extraordinary, all kinds of barbarians and mountains are scattered. There are also water bandits and river thieves shuttling back and forth between Yunmeng and Daze, and they are hidden in the meantime. Therefore, under the rule of the Hunan Observer during this period, most of them were still generally known for their remoteness and sinisterness; It is regarded as one of the daunting paths of officials and the bad places of exile.

The only advantage over Lingnan, which is also a place of exile and a bad way to degrade officials, is that it is at least closer to Chang'an in the west and Luoyang in the east, and the water and land transportation is more convenient; However, in terms of the environmental suitability of climate and products, it is both humid and hot, and inferior to the land of Annam, which stretches through fertile fields for thousands of miles. Therefore, the real beginning of large-scale development had to wait until decades later after the establishment of Ma Yin's Chu regime.

However, in addition to the barrier of the five mountains and mountains, I learned that what happened in Guizhou was not accidental. But at least the rest of the city is relatively calm; Even if many of the big and powerful families that were the heads of the countryside were copied, they were just some small local riots that were about to be extinguished; But when they arrived in Quanzhou, which was adjacent to Hunan to the north, there was nothing but utter chaos and occasional desolation.

In the whole day of the voyage since the departure of the army, they have encountered at least a dozen waves of snoopers, although most of them are ragged and unkempt, and they look like they have fled from a distance.

The newspaper teams and winged rangers who went ashore to patrol the patrol also received more news and insights in the countryside far from the riverbank. Everywhere bandits were rampant, hungry people were scurrying, and new clumps and settlements were rising everywhere; And extremely vigilant against all foreign people and things.

The crowd roaming the roads did not seem to be afraid of the Rebels, and several attempts to follow and outflank the scout riders were easily dismissed by the experienced treasure troopers. But the information and judgment they brought were undoubtedly shocking.

Although these forces roaming in the wilderness in large groups could not for the time being threaten the small number of rebels stationed in the prefectures and counties, they may have hindered the navigation of the larger fleets; But civil chaos and disorder have already had other consequences; In a short period of time, many passing ships and merchant ships were looted and destroyed, leaving only the charred keel wreckage stranded on the river.

There are even some suspected human and animal skeletons scattered around, just looking at them being torn to pieces and scattered everywhere, people can't help but shudder a little.

After getting used to the relative safety and calm daily life outside the mountains, I felt particularly touched when I saw these familiar cruel things. Then it suddenly dawned on me that this is the most common thing in the troubled times of the world today, and the peace and busyness that I have received outside the mountains are only new things that have gradually appeared a year and a half ago.

"You can't afford to slack off. I also have to earn more land to marry a wife and have children. ”

He cheered and cheered himself up.

As more ships were collected under the city of Guizhou as a transport capacity, the actual speed of the march was further increased; Although this time he did not encounter the night water rise that Huang Chao encountered when he went north, he took advantage of the luck of going forward for hundreds of miles and passing several states;

However, in the case that most of the soldiers rested and stayed on the ship, the time of camping and lining up was saved, and it could also be said that the day was a hundred miles without any hindrance. (Not in a straight geographical line, of course, but in a circuitous way along a winding river.) ）

At this time, small entertainment activities such as storytelling, chess fighting, card plays, and singing songs in conjunction with propaganda means were able to be carried out on various large ships transporting troops. For a time, songs and folk songs of various tones and accents began to ripple one after another in these riverboats with sails like clouds, and dispersed many birds and beasts along the coast and the desolate atmosphere.

Then there were some boring and self-conscious people who were bored in the narrow space of the ship, and after obtaining Zhou Huai'an's permission, they were also able to be put ashore to carry out some small-scale military competitions such as shooting wild animals and capturing prisoners, and Zhou Huai'an even fired various colorful heads to encourage them. As a result, more than a dozen different flavors of local game were harvested, and some of the local stories were heard.

For example, the officers and troops from Jiannan Province and Qianzhong Province have already fought over, and the grass thieves from all over the country have abandoned and fled. For example, the headquarters of Huangchao has been wiped out in Jiangxi and died, and the rest of the army has surrendered to the imperial court, etc., there are different truths and falsehoods, and there is no shortage of exaggerated rumors.

This was the second time he had led his troops on the waterway (not counting the time at sea), so the ships carried by tens of thousands of troops were also divided into five formations at certain intervals for safety and security. Among them, the first, third, and fifth sequences are troop transport fleets that concentrate most of their combat strength, and also represent the response posture of the forward, rearguard, and Chinese army.

In the head and tail of each formation, the large ships have reserved the space and room for the operation of the corresponding bow and crossbow equipment, and there are healthy guards wearing the whole body to guard and stand by in case of emergency; And once the whistle blows, the lightly armed and unarmed soldiers in the rear cabin who are taking turns to rest and train will also quickly arm themselves and prepare to dock and line up for the enemy.

The second and fourth sequences in the center are the baggage transportation sequences of materials, armor, vehicles, and livestock that are not scrupulous; Then, between the beginning and end of the two sequences, there are lights (night) and flag colors (day) within the field of vision to keep in touch and convey orders;

In this way, in case of any unexpected situation and accident, the first two armed forces can be supported and echoed, and then there are the rangers who go ashore and the boats that row quickly to and fro, as auxiliary means of communication and vigilance; It can be said that except for some hidden dangers such as stranding and bottoming out of river reefs that are difficult to avoid during the dry season, it is basically safe to travel.

Therefore, in this somewhat dull and boring journey, there are no unsightly forces jumping out of the way, or rather, becoming the object of practice for most of the soldiers who are a little bored on the boat;

The only accident and hiccup during this period was that when the ship was slowing down at night, someone climbed onto the gang of a certain transport ship in the fourth formation under the cover of darkness, and stole the leftover food prepared by the ship's dormitory for the next morning service. Then because the greedy mouth was held up and couldn't walk, he made a noise and was caught red-handed.

Then the next day, I found that it was a few young men and women who were so thin that they couldn't distinguish their genders, so as Zhou Huai'an's personal punishment and redemption, they were left on the boat to do the tedious work of dealing with filth and garbage.

When Haohao Tangtang's fleet arrived in Yongzhou, Zhou Huai'an no longer had much patience to negotiate and go through the process of greeting and sending off. In the midst of the noise of chickens, flying dogs, jumping and crying, he quickly went ashore and occupied the dock and seized the city gate non-stop.

Zhou Huai'an faced the officials who were driven over with panicked faces and a dozen or so overwhelmed and disheveled generals of the Righteous Army, and officially announced the annexation of the local garrison of the Righteous Army, and established the second Taiping Army Grain Station.

However, the situation of the local rebels who were finally inspected was also quite worrying; In other words, the comfortable life of living in the city made these lowly rebels degenerate and decay very quickly.

Therefore, it is claimed that there are 3,400 men and horses in five battalions on the left and right sides of the city, but less than 2,000 men are actually in the battalion; If this is the case, there is no shortage of false reports in the rebel army in order to make a statement.

For example, if there are 100 people, they dare to call themselves captains, and 500 people are miscellaneous generals, and if there are more than 1,000 subordinates, they will be embarrassed to go out to meet people. For example, when there were tens of thousands of people under Huang Chao's command, he already dared to call "the commander of a million rebel armies in the sea", and once he was coerced by hundreds of thousands of troops, he simply opened the palace and called Wang Jianyuan and separated many officials and subordinates.

However, among these two thousand people, there are also a large number of old, weak, sick and disabled, and there are only eight or nine hundred young and strong soldiers who can really be used. And most of those rebel generals are pro-soldiers, pro-entourage, and township party or something; The other soldiers were barely able to pick up swords and guns, pretending to scare the subordinates; And in their camp, there are women and children running around the ground.

And in such a strange situation, which is both inside and outside, they have not been colluded by the potential resistance forces in the city and the active soil groups outside the city, and it is really a rare anomaly.

In this case, Zhou Huaian also gave them three choices:

One is to join and accept the transformation of the Taiping Army, starting from the deputy of the corresponding rank, but if the failure to do is not qualified, he will be sent to the army and accept the repatriation of disarmament and return to the field.

One is to give up his ministry and cadres in the original army, and take all the existing fine and net worth with his family members to move to the outside of the mountains, and live a more stable and prosperous life under the rule of Guangfu.

The other is to take the subordinates who voluntarily followed, and give a certain amount of Ziliang to help them go north to join the Yellow King's main formation.

"We all know the benefits of Guangfu."

One of the elders, the eldest with gray hair and wrinkled faces, who always looked sad, scratched his head and sighed

"I don't know what other rules and regulations there are, lest I accidentally violate it and I won't be able to wipe my face."

"There are no special rules. As long as you don't act as a traitor and oppress the people, it's fine. ”

Zhou Huai'an said lightly.

"There is everything in the local area, can't you buy it if you have money,。。

As a result, after some face-to-face coveting, almost all of the three lieutenants and five generals of the city's righteous army chose the second path; But no one has chosen the third path, obviously although their will and body have been corrupted by a comfortable life, their basic intelligence and common sense are still there.

The only other general with long cheeks and slightly curly hair chose the first suggestion, which made Zhou Huaian look up to him a little. After all, those who dare to take risks and seek advancement and opportunities in the new system still have some ability and ability, and should be encouraged.

"I don't know what you call it. Where is the hometown? ”

Therefore, Zhou Huaian asked kindly.

"Don't dare, in Xia Gao Jichang, a native of Kipshi, Shaanzhou (now southeast of Sanmenxia, Henan), since the first year of Wang Ba, he has been a righteous teacher in Bianzhou."

The other party said respectfully.

"He also did not give up on the right side of Menggai (Hong), and was promoted to a military academy in front of the Hongzhou Formation."

"Since you have the courage to break the formation, you can make the best use of things."

Zhou Huai'an smiled and listened to his own words.

"I am lacking a teaching Sima, you can let it ,。。"

"Humble. But by the army sent. ”

He was also slightly stunned, and then responded with a happy face.

Although I don't know what his specialty attributes are, but to accept such a symbolic figure by his side; Even if it is only used as a mascot and decoration, it will still have benefits and exemplary significance for the bloodless collection of more other rebels in the future.

(End of chapter)