Since the defeat of the Songjiang water bandits, Tongcheng has been relatively peaceful for more than a year.

Lekede huddled in Wuchang Mansion and fought with the Ming army along the Yangtze River, and the Qing army occasionally harassed Chongyang and Puqi, but never invaded the more remote Tongcheng.

After more than a year of recuperation, Tongcheng gradually recovered, no traces of the war can be seen, the city wall has been renovated, the population in the county has increased rapidly, the years of war and chaos, as long as there is no big war, it is much safer to live in the city.

A few months ago, Bu Zuowen had been transferred to Baoqing Mansion in Hunan as a pusher, although this was a horizontal transfer, but after leaving the front line, Bu Zuowen was satisfied. The new Tongcheng County Commander is named Xu Chongshan, who turned out to be the person of Fu Shangrui, the governor of Biyuan, and also belonged to He Tengjiao's faction.

In addition, there are people who block Yinxi in Tongcheng. In terms of administrative division, these counties of Tongcheng belong to Wuchang Prefecture, which also belongs to Hubei, although most of Wuchang Prefecture is in the hands of the Qing army, but the Ming army also occupies Tongcheng, Chongyang and Puqi three counties, Du Yinxi appointed a Wuchang Prefecture prefect, named Chen Shuyu, set up the government in Tongcheng, to manage these three counties.

In the final analysis, everyone is still fighting for the money and grain of these three counties, only with land can taxes be paid, and only with taxes can soldiers be raised, the contradiction between He Tengjiao and Du Yinxi has been made public, and the magistrates below are also fighting non-stop.

Because Yuezhou Mansion is in the middle, these three counties are like an enclave, and they are not next to each other's territory, and He Tengjiao once had the upper hand in this battle. After the Gongyi battalion left Huguang, He Tengjiao's troops entered these three counties, and with the support of the army, the Wuchang Mansion Yamen that blocked Yinxi was hollowed out, and all the money, grain and taxes were sent to Hunan.

But no one expected that it would take less than half a year. Wang Kefan suddenly came back......

Outside the south gate of Tongcheng, a group of civil and military officials stood on the side of the road to greet Wang Kefan.

The military generals were headed by Wang Sheng, as well as Zhou Guodong, Teng Shuanglin, Quan Xi, Heiyu, Song Jiang, etc., all of whom were from the Gongyi Battalion, and the civil officials were Chen Shuyu, the prefect of Wuchang Prefecture, Xu Chongshan, the commander of Tongcheng County, and their subordinate officials, and there was a clear distinction between the two groups.

Xu Chongshan belongs to He Tengjiao's faction, and has always been fond of Chen Shuyu, the nominal prefect of Wuchang. But he was very polite to Wang Sheng and others...... He had already heard the rumors, He Tengjiao was ready to give up the entire Yuezhou Mansion to Wang Kefan, the three counties of Tongcheng must also be people's territory, and they would have to live on their noses in the future, of course they couldn't get up.

"General Wang. Is it too simple for us to wait only at the city gate to meet the military gate? Xu Chongshan felt that he should welcome him from afar. Wang Kefan served as Admiral Cao Jiang. has just returned to Huguang, and it is necessary to welcome at least ten miles away, which is in line with the practice of officialdom.

"No need, the military gate doesn't like to be sent away, and besides, send these drum guards back as well. It's all imaginary scenes, and it's not interesting. Wang Sheng has received a notice from Wang Kefan that he wants to return to Huguang in a low-key manner, and all kinds of ceremonies are simple.

The Jinggangshan area has just been recovered. Fan Wenqin held a grand welcome ceremony, which could show the military prestige and calm the people's hearts, but Tongcheng has always been under the control of the Ming Dynasty, and there is no need to waste people and money, and waste manpower and material resources in vain.

"Oh, well, it's all up to General Wang's orders......" Xu Chongshan was a little distressed. For this welcome ceremony, he spent a lot of effort and organized hundreds of people to rehearse carefully repeatedly, just to make a show in front of Wang Kefan and slap a sycophant, but he didn't expect to be rejected by Wang Sheng.

Then withdraw! Under the command of Xu Chongshan, the drum troupe and the honor guard entered the city in disgrace. At this time, there was a faint noise of people and horses on the official road, Xu Chongshan looked up, a large group of thousands of people was walking towards the city gate, and Wang Kefan's banner was in front of the team.

The officials on Chen Shuyu's side all knelt on the side of the road, with soft pads under their knees.

"Oops! I forgot to bring a mat! Xu Chongshan was also ready to kneel on the side of the road to greet him, but found that he had forgotten to prepare a cushion, he didn't care about reprimanding his subordinate officers, and took off his official uniform and prepared to kneel directly on the ground.

"Xu Zhixian doesn't have to be like this, the military gate actually doesn't like to bow down, and it doesn't hurt if you stand." Wang Sheng stopped him, the ground was dirty, but Xu Chongshan was wearing a new official uniform, it was easy to kneel, but it was ugly to stand up.

Except for special occasions, Wang Kefan has always disliked others kneeling to him, and the soldiers of the Gongyi Battalion all know his temper, and usually hold his fists to salute, and he will only bow until the sky, Xu Chongshan just doesn't kneel, and Wang Kefan doesn't care at all.

"Hey——, what's going to do that? When the lower official saw the military gate for the first time, he must not lose his courtesy! Xu Chongshan insisted on kneeling, and Wang Sheng no longer persuaded him, so he let him go, and stood beside the road with everyone in the Gongyi camp, watching Wang Kefan's banner gradually approach.

Listening only to the sound of hooves, Wang Kefan rode a horse to come to him, Chen Shuyu, Xu Chongshan and others bowed their heads and kowtowed, chanting in unison to see the military gate.

"Get up." Wang Kefan threw off his horse and walked towards the crowd.

Chen Shuyu and Xu Chongshan were overjoyed in their hearts, and they got up and were about to say hello, but Wang Kefan only nodded to them, walked in front of them, came to the back of Wang Sheng, and bowed his hand to Quan Xi: "I have been away from Huguang for half a year, and I have worked hard Brother Quan Xi......"

……

In the northwest corner of Tongcheng County, there is the military camp of the Gongyi Battalion, and in the Chinese military tent, Wang Kefan is talking to Quan Xi.

Wang Kefan first introduced the situation of the Longwu Imperial Court, Quan Xi did not care about the cabinet and other high-level officials, only had some feelings for the name Jinyiwei, but he was born in the Jinyiwei of the Hongguang Imperial Court, and the Jinyiwei of the Longwu Imperial Court was broken and rebuilt, and the current Jinyiwei has nothing to do with him.

At the beginning, the Gongyi battalion left Huguang, leaving behind some logistics institutions, such as the repair office, the trial bureau, the sailors and cavalry, as well as the families of some soldiers, all of which were taken care of by Quan Xi.

This large group of people with all kinds of bottles and cans, has lived in Jingzhou Mansion and Changde Mansion for half a year, although Du Yinxi and Li Guo take good care of them, but after all, they are under the fence, and they are constantly troublesome in many trivial matters. Quan Xi always kept an eye on it, watched it tightly, did not have any problems, and brought all the household belongings back in a complete way, and returned to Zhao completely.

In addition, the work that should be done was not left behind, the training of the sailors and cavalry was very tight, the production of the repair shop was in good order, and the ability to manufacture various weapons was constantly improved, which laid a good foundation for the Jinggangshan Arsenal.

In addition, the people of the trial bureau were not idle, although they did not have any cases to try, Quan Xi used his professional expertise to send them to collect intelligence. From Jingzhou Mansion to Changde Mansion, and even to the mountainous area of Xiangxi, dozens of people from the trial bureau spent half a year running all over the area, making statistics on the geography, hydrology, customs and customs of this area, and sorting out a more detailed map.

Two copies of this map were made and handed over to Du Yinxi and Li Guo respectively, and the originals are now on Wang Kefan's desk.

"Brother Quan Xi, this map is too important, it is worth 10,000 elite soldiers!" Wang Kefan did not hesitate to praise himself, the terrain of Xiangxi is complex, there are a large number of ethnic minorities living in large numbers, it is likely to become the battlefield of the Huguang battle, but the original map is too brief, and the Gongyi battalion is also very unfamiliar there, and it is not advantageous to fight.

"May I ask the military gate, did you order the drawing of a map of Xiangxi, is it to fight a decisive battle with the Qing army here?" Quan Xi asked.

"It's hard to say now, Kong Youde may not listen to my command! But if the loyal battalion can't withstand it in Hubei, it can only retreat to Xiangxi, so it is necessary to prepare early. ”

Kong Youde went south to Huguang for several purposes, in addition to conquering the city, but also to eliminate Li Guo's loyal battalion, as well as more than 100,000 officers and troops in Hunan, compared with the Hunan official army, the loyal battalion is a greater threat to the Qing army, and fierce battles will inevitably break out between the two sides.

"Do you want to help the loyal battalion?" Quan Xi asked again.

"Yes, the Loyal Battalion is also my subordinate now, and it is good to kill the Tartars, of course I have to help." Wang Kefan smiled and nodded.

The strength of the Gongyi battalion is still too small, and the experience of several major generals is not enough, in terms of comprehensive strength, the loyal battalion with an army of 200,000 is the strongest force in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and they must not be allowed to be wiped out by Kong Youde.

"What about Hunan? If the Tartars want to enter Hunan, what should the military gate do? Quan Xi asked again, with a faint worry in his expression.

"Well...... let's wait until the fight starts, and see how the battle develops." It was a matter of overall planning, and Wang Kefan was reluctant to say much before the war.

"According to the humble position, we must guard Changsha, first guard Changde, if the Gongyi battalion can't hold the Yuezhou Mansion, don't fight hard with the Tartars, retreat to Xiangxi to support Hunan, please think twice!" Quan Xi's words were held back for many days, and he finally said them at this moment, as if he had been released.

"Okay, I'll think about military matters, you don't have to worry about it."

Wang Kefan also planned to ask for some food and salary from He Tengjiao, but he didn't want to show his bottom too early, so he diverted from the conversation and said: "Now that the enemy is in a hurry, I plan to add a burden to you, how about it?" ”

"Please command!" Quan Xi has just handed over the task and is considering what to do next.

"I plan to set up an intelligence bureau, in addition to spying on the military, but also to eliminate the Tartar spies, if someone in the government and the army commits a crime, the intelligence bureau is also responsible for investigating the case, and Jinyiwei is actually the same. Well, this intelligence bureau is under the name of the Gongyi Battalion, and it is directly responsible for me, and it is as low-key as possible on the bright side, of course, when it is time to deal with the government, there is no need to hide it. "Wang Kefan's stall is getting bigger and bigger, and he can't just rely on Li Si and those Jianghu to collect intelligence, but also establish his own intelligence department.

"Okay, this is my old job, please rest assured, I will do a good job!" Quan Xi's eyes lit up, he was not good at military affairs, and he didn't like administrative work, or this intelligence bureau had an appetite. (To be continued......)