On the first day of July in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, three days had passed since the plague appeared in the provincial capital.

At the beginning of the morning, the four gates of Chengdu were opened in advance amid the noise of the people. The people who had been waiting to go out of the city for a long time, carrying baskets, baskets, bamboo baskets, and carts, rushed out of the city gate under the loud urging of the county government officials. The sudden closure of the city for three days has delayed their lives and business, and now they have to hurry up and make up for it.

The people outside the city were crushed by two rows of sergeants, and they were stunned to watch the people in the city rush through the two rows of sergeants. Every city man had a large cloth covering his face, and only his eyes were on it. Most of the cloth covers are pieced together by each family with the remaining cloth heads, so the colors are colorful and green, and the styles are strange. There was also a woman whose cloth cover was clearly made of a baby's baizi clothes, and she made a big red face in the amusement of a group of concubines outside the city.

"When people enter the city, they must wear masks! This is the order of the palace and the government, and it is also the advice of Doctor Luo! If you don't bring anything with you today, go and buy it from a stall next to you. As long as 30 wen for one, it's really not expensive! The official at the head of the city straightened his voice and shouted to the protesting people in the city, "Don't pick up the masks that fall on the ground!" That's poisonous, it's going to be killed! ”

……

On the morning of that day, Zhu Pingjin welcomed another group of distant visitors at the Songlinshan Base, the largest military base in Shuangliu County. The visitors were Liu Hongting, Hong Qihui, Chen Youfu and Luo Jingyun, who were ordered to assemble at Songlin Mountain. Shu Guoping, Li Chongwen, Sun Hong, Song Zhensi, Wang Daniu, Liu Lianpeng, Jianshen Nida, and other major officers of the caravan at the Songlin Mountain base, who arrived at Songlin Mountain in advance, all came to the road from Renshou to Chengdu in advance to greet them. The path from Pengshan County to Songlin Mountain through Yongxing Field crosses this avenue. From here to the west to the Songlin Mountain base outpost, there is only a hilly road of ten miles.

Hong Qihui, Chen Youfu and Luo Jingyun left Yazhou for Songlin Mountain four days ago. When they left, they took the first platoon of the 5th Company of the Caravan Guard, and one platoon each of the Yazhou and Mingshan County Caravans, according to the order of the General Staff. Leaving Yazhou with them was Tan Sigui, the commander of the fifth company. He took the headquarters of the fifth company and two platoons down the river by boat, first went to Jiading Prefecture to supplement the formation with new soldiers, and then drove to Luzhou to obey Gao Dengtai's command. As for the remaining platoon, it was left to Wenyang Zheng as a seed.

The departure of Chen Youfu and Luo Jingyun from Yazhou was an integral part of the General Staff Staff's redeployment of northern and southern Sichuan in accordance with Zhu Pingjin's overall strategic concept.

At present, the general situation in Sichuan is that Chengdu is stable, southern Sichuan is empty, and northern Sichuan is tight. By making full use of the devastation caused by Zhang Xianzhong's exile in southern Sichuan and the opportunity of Gao Dengtai as a judge in Luzhou, the military presence of the royal government in Xufu, Luzhou, and Jiading Prefecture in southern Sichuan could be formed as soon as possible. Through this kind of military presence, it can also support the contribution of the royal government in the three prefectures of southern Sichuan and the occupation of land, forming a benign interaction between politics, economy and military.

South Sichuan is competing for territory, and North Sichuan is a real sword.

The local tyrants are essentially local thieves, and their infestation scope covers the vast areas east of the Jialing River and south of Bashan, such as northern Sichuan, eastern Sichuan, Baoningfu, Shunqingfu, Chongqing, and Kuizhoufu. Clearing out the local tyrants is a strategic task related to life and death for the Shu Palace. In order to start the military game with the local tyrants, it is necessary to draw elite soldiers and strong generals from all over the country to form a special detachment to defend the Xinzheng Dam in the southern county of Boryeong Province in northern Sichuan. This task force is Zhu Pingjin's strategic outpost and carries out important strategic exploration tasks. This task force is also an iron nail thrown by Zhu Pingjin. They should be firmly nailed to the land of northern Sichuan to provide a solid military base for the arrival of the successor troops.

Both southern and northern Sichuan have to draw troops and transfer generals, but there are only two options for Chengdu and Yazhou. Zhu Pingjin chose Yazhou. The reason is that Yazhou is not far from the three prefectures in southern Sichuan, and it has the advantage of waterway transportation along the Tsing Yi River, Min River, and Yangtze River, so it is very convenient to transfer troops and transport grain. At present, Yazhou clearly has Zhizhou Wang Guochen and Qianhu Chen Fajie, secretly has Wangfu Ya, Qiong, Jiading, and Tianquan offices, and Tianquan Tusi is stationed in Feixian Pass to provide support, and the situation in all aspects is relatively stable, and it is expected that there will be no changes in the short term.

The transfer of troops from Yazhou does not mean that Yazhou's troops are weakened. On the contrary, with the full spread of the construction of the village protection team, the military power of the Shu Wangfu is expanding dramatically in all parts of southwest Sichuan, centered on Chengdu and Yazhou.

After Chen Youfu, Luo Jingyun, Tan Sigui and others were transferred, the remaining platoon of the Fifth Company and the Yazhou County Guardian Brigade were reorganized to form a new Yajia Guardian Brigade.

The Yajia Huzhuang Corps is headed by Song Zhensi, Hong Qihui is the supervisor of the corps, and Cao Santai is the deputy supervisor, and the three of them jointly form a military and political committee, which is actually in charge of Hong Qihui and Cao Santai. The Yajia Guardian Brigade temporarily has jurisdiction over three counties of Yazhou, Mingshan, Lushan and Yingjing, and a total of 11 brigades in six counties of Jiading, Hongya, Jiajiang, Emei, Qianwei, Rong and Weiyuan, with its headquarters in Yazhou.

Of these 11 brigades, except for Yazhou, Jiading, and Mingshan counties, which each had a relatively complete backbone squadron, the rest were still basically on paper orders. The main reason is not the lack of soldiers, but the lack of qualified cadres. The current squadron leader of the Yazhou Cadre Squadron is a grass standard half a year ago, and Wen Yangzheng, who has just been out of illiteracy in the study class a few days ago. Lao Wen replaced Chen Youfu and continued to impersonate Chen Youfu, a hundred households in Yazhou. The supervisor of the Mingshan County Brigade is Cao Santai's adopted son, Cao Side, the eunuch in charge of Mengdingshan Wangzhuang. The squadron leader of the backbone squadron is temporarily vacant, and the acting deputy squadron leader is Luo Genzhu, a native of Pengxi County, who was born in the old third company of the caravan. The supervisor of the Jiading Prefecture Brigade is Tang Mo, a member of Yazhou. The squadron leader of the backbone squadron is Wang Jing, a hereditary hundred households who has undergone military training in Bifengxia and was born as a left guard. The deputy squadron leader is Gao Ronghuan, a cavalry leader of Tianquan Tusi.

Because the two prefectures of Qiong and Mei are relatively close to Chengdu Prefecture, Zhu Pingjin adopted his wife's advice in May and included the two prefectures in his direct management of the Chengdu Zhuangzhuang Corps. Song Zhenzong, Liu Hongting, Shu Guoping, Cao Sanbao, and Li Sixian concurrently served as the commander-in-chief, deputy commander-in-chief, supervising the army, and supervising the army, respectively, and jointly formed a regiment-level military and political committee.

Chengdu is the base of the royal forces, and it is also the key area for the construction of the village protection team, so the scale of the Chengdu village protection team is extremely large, with a total of 22 state and county village protection brigades. In addition to the 11 counties in the irrigation area, it also has jurisdiction over 11 prefectures and counties in Chengdu Prefecture, including Renshou County, Jianzhou, Ziyang County, Hanzhou, Shifang County, Mianzhu County, Deyang County, Chongqing Prefecture, Xinjin County, Pengshan County in Meizhou, and Pujiang County in Qiongzhou. Most of these brigades are large and small, lacking soldiers and major generals, with uneven personnel and confused thinking, and various problems emerge one after another. In order to speed up the construction of the village protection team, Zhu Pingjin on the one hand looked for and trained cadres everywhere, and on the other hand, set up two red flags for the construction of the village protection team for various prefectures and counties.

Renshou County, led by Li Chongwen, He Tingda, and Lu San, and Pengshan County, led by Liu Hongting and Liu Sangen, are the first red flag for the construction of the village protection team.

The characteristics of this red flag are that it is well-organized, fully mobilized, well-trained, and ideologically unified. These two counties have built a brigade headquarters in Wangzhuang (Dazhuang) at the county level, under the jurisdiction of a backbone squadron and a shelf squadron, and all personnel are out of work. Because of the lack of sufficient cadres, the squadrons in these two counties are under the unified command of the backbone squadrons, and the training and equipment are relatively perfect. The backbone squadrons are stationed inside and outside the county in peacetime, and can be pulled out in a relatively short period of time as a mobile force to stabilize the locality.

In addition to the units directly under the brigade, the two counties also established a training squadron in each township-level Wangzhuang (Zhongzhuang). Except for a few instructors, the rest of the training squadron personnel are not out of work. Concentrate on training during the slack season, and return home when the farm is busy.

In addition, the two counties have stationed troops from two squads to one squad at several military points in the county, such as Niujiaozhai in Renshou County and Jiangkou Town in Pengshan County. These troops can be the sending troops of the backbone squadron, such as the one stationed at the mouth of the Pengshan River; It can also be a direct subordinate unit of the county brigade, such as the Renshou Niujiaozhai Independent Garrison with a post of 25 people.

Hanzhou, led by Tao Xiansheng, is another red flag for the construction of the village protection team.

Tao Xiansheng arrived in Hanzhou (Note 1) for only one month, so the erection of this red flag was somewhat accidental. Tao Xiansheng took the first company and two platoons of the caravan to escort Luo Yuhong back to Chengdu. After completing the task, he was ordered to go directly around Chengdu and drive to Hanzhou, about 100 miles northeast of Chengdu.

Hanzhou is a prefecture under the jurisdiction of Chengdu Prefecture, and in addition to the state capital, it has jurisdiction over three other counties: Shifang, Mianzhu and Deyang. The three counties in this state are all places with developed agriculture, each with hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land. But the palace is in the local area, and there is only one Wangzhuang that was dedicated decades ago. This Wangzhuang has about several hundred acres of paddy fields, located on the edge of the Tuojiang River, and is separated from the city wall of Hanzhou by seven or eight miles.

The General Staff ordered Tao Xiansheng to "rely on the local Wangzhuang in Hanzhou, recruit soldiers on his own, and establish a squadron of Hanzhou Backbone Guard." As soon as Tao Xiansheng arrived in Hanzhou, he found himself in an embarrassing situation with no village to protect, or even no village to eat. To this end, he carried out the orders of the General Staff according to his own understanding. Since Hanzhou includes the three counties of Shifang, Mianzhu and Deyang, then he, the backbone of Hanzhou's squadron, naturally includes one state and three counties. Therefore, Tao Xiansheng left one squad to recruit troops near Hanzhou City, and he took the remaining five squads to Shifang County, Mianzhu County, and Deyang County. Basically, according to the rhythm of one county in three days, it has taken a big turn. One day of marching, two days of setting up stalls to recruit troops. recruited people, and the class was expanded into a team of village guards on the spot. When he finishes this big circle, every state and county in Hanzhou will have one or two village protection teams!

What's even more amazing is that Tao Xiansheng's recruitment is not simply recruiting soldiers, but recruiting people and people together. Those landlords and yeoman farmers who brought their land to the dedication, he liked it the most. The land entered the palace, and the people also became the members of the village guards. The rent of the donation is discounted to the subsidy of the village guards, and there is still a balance after the discount! As a result, Tao Xianshengkong gloves and white wolves started a large industry from scratch. Tao Xiansheng's report also rushed on the muddy road from Hanzhou to Chengdu, and the four key village guards in Hanzhou were greatly overcrowded. As for the four county-level Wangzhuang, they were built in an instant.

Zhu Pingjin received Tao Xiansheng's report and immediately spoke highly of his actions. Zhu Pingjin believes that Tao Xiansheng "creatively" carried out the order in accordance with the basic spirit of the order in view of the ambiguity of the words in the written order. It's not "picking sesame seeds", it's "picking grapes"! At the same time, it is believed that he has "highly integrated" military means with political propaganda and economic effects, so as to maximize the interests of the royal government. For this reason, Zhu Pingjin agreed to Tao Xiansheng's request, temporarily expanded the establishment of the Hanzhou Cadre Guarding Squadron into a Guardian Brigade, with four backbone squadrons and four frame squadrons under its jurisdiction, and appointed Tao Xiansheng as the deputy captain and deputy supervisor of the Hanzhou Guardian Brigade, acting captain and chief supervisor, and commanding the above-mentioned troops. In order to expand the demonstration effect, Zhu Pingjin also instructed Cheng Xiangfeng to organize a number of copies of Tao Xiansheng's transcript (TEN) and distribute it to all relevant units for study together with his own will. As soon as the study materials were released, Tao Xiansheng immediately became a celebrity in the palace, and quickly set off an upsurge of learning Tao Xiansheng's advanced deeds in Wangzhuang, a county in various prefectures.

In this boom, there is only one person who has made a different voice, and that is He Zengshan from Huayang County.

After receiving the study materials issued by the Shizifu, He Zengshan immediately wrote a report and submitted it. It means that Huayang County, where he is located, is one of the first counties in Chengdu, and the county seat is the provincial capital, and forty percent of the county citizens are citizens, all of whom live in the city and on the edge of the city; Huayang County also has the Tuntian of the left guard of the palace and the mausoleum of the Shu kings of the past dynasties, and there are two or three county citizens who are the military members of the guard; The rest of the common people intermarried with the soldiers of the left guard, and their status has long been "unexaminable". Juntian, Mintian and Wangfu Zhuangtian are intertwined, and it is impossible to distinguish the cadastre. A few Wangzhuang on flat land are "extremely small and undefendable, and there is no danger of strangulation".

He Zeng said that he understood the potential operational directions of the Huayang County Huzhuang Brigade, one was Longquanyi in the east and Ma Junzhai in the southeast, the second was the east gate of the provincial capital, and the third was the unstable elements of the left guard, and each combat direction required him to concentrate his forces to the greatest extent. For this reason, he put forward his own suggestions and requests: Do not set up a township-level village protection team in Huayang County, but concentrate all military forces at the county level. If he is allocated another 200 guards selected from the guards, plus the newly recruited Zhuang Hu and the old foundation originally brought from Renshou County, he can train three squadrons (companies) to dare to fight!

He Zengshan moved against the tide. So after his report was submitted, he was pressed by He Youyi's thoughts for a whole day. It wasn't until the second day that Cheng Xiangfeng, Zhu Pingjin's big secret, was ordered to investigate, and He Youyi asked He Gui to hand over the report. He Gui waited at the door of the side hall with apprehension, and when he saw Gonggong Qin taking out the folded excerpts approved by the prince, he immediately stepped forward to find out his father's recital. When I opened it, the prince wrote the following sentence from left to right in the blank space of the report:

It is very good and comforting to adapt measures to local conditions and seek truth from facts

At the end of the epilogue, Shizi draws a symbol that he can't read.

It was straight and straight, and there was a heavy point at the bottom.

Note 1: Hanzhou, now known as Guanghan City, is a famous city in China. Sanxingdui culture out of the land. The hometown and place of fortune of the famous contemporary gangster tycoon Liu Han brothers.