After Huo Bingxiang was taken back to Jinding Mountain, he and his men were all treated by the military doctors in the cottage. In the conversation that followed, Zhang Mengcheng learned that the businessman was not doing a big business, but he had a wide range of contacts.

From cloth, tea, grain, ironware, livestock, etc., as for the private salt that he likes to see, Huo Bingxiang, who has been carefully treated, also happily admits it.

Although Zhang Mengcheng has also been in contact with many businessmen in Jindingshan, in line with the principle that having one more friend is not a bad thing, Zhang Mengcheng and Huo Bingxiang have made good friends.

Huo Bingxiang not only agreed to act as an agent for the operation of various products of Jindingshan, but also expressed the hope of deepening the friendship between the two sides, and he hoped that through Zhang Mengcheng's breakthrough, he could once again obtain business contacts with the Cypriot Mongolians.

It turned out that Huo Bingxiang had a lot of activities on the West Road a few years ago, and his old relationship was not Li Ruozi, but Chen Sanhuai, the original general of Ningsai. Since the thieves started, Huo Bingxiang has gradually moved away from this area. Now with the protection of Zhang Mengcheng's local forces, Huo Bingxiang is also very happy to run his business here.

After a short period of recuperation, Huo Bingxiang could only force himself to go on the road with injuries because he still had important things to do. Although his goods and carriage were damaged a lot, with the help of Zhang Mengcheng, Huo Bingxiang had replaced them with a four-wheeled carriage produced by Jindingshan, as well as some grain and wool products from Jindingshan.

Just by throwing off the food, Huo Bingxiang can easily earn back the capital this time in the field. and pensions for the dead and wounded men. Moreover, the four-wheeled carriage is a rare thing, Huo Bingxiang also knows how much convenience it can provide for himself in the future.

Zhang Mengcheng, who traded with him, did not lose money, because he got some more precious silk cloth in northern Shaanxi, and a lot of tea bricks that were very precious to the Outer Mongolians. What's more, Huo Bingxiang has promised to help Zhang Mengcheng collect flintlock pistols, which are relatively rare in the Ming Dynasty. Although Huo Bingxiang may not be able to collect much, his path is always much broader than Zhang Mengcheng's.

Time passed like this, and the officers and troops continued to win victories in the field. Cao Wenzhao and Yang Jiamo fought several more battles, and the thieves who had fled to the Pinggu area had been completely eradicated. Wu Fu has already discussed with several powerful figures, including Hong Chengchou, and plans to clean up the thieves in Iron Horn City in the near future.

And Wu Hongqi, a problem figure that Zhang Mengjin and others need to face, has now returned to Ningsai. It's just that Dai Junen seems to have deliberately let Zhang Mengjin and others avoid him, and temporarily gave Zhang Mengjin a new task.

It's just that the location of this mission is not far away, just around Jintangshan and Wuqiying in Ningsaibao and Baoan County. In fact, there are no thieves or bandits in this area, even if there were before, they are now included in their own stockades by Jinding Mountain.

Zhang Mengcheng and Yu Baocheng used to recruit top smokers who fled from Huanxian in Jintangzhai. This time, Dai Junen's order only asked Zhang Mengjin and others to guard against thieves who fled from other places. It's just that Zhang Mengjin met another old acquaintance here, and he still has to listen to his command. This person is Zhang Yingchang, deputy chief soldier of Dingbian, and his troops have also been transferred.

Two brave military attaches on Yansui West Road gathered elite men and horses here. Fools can see that their mission is not just to intercept, but to prepare to launch an active attack on the thieves. It seems that the time to enter Iron Horn City is indeed not far from them. If the thieves in Iron Horn City, and even the entire Dongchuan are wiped out. I don't know if the people around me at that time would accept the existence of Jin Dingshan.

However, these things cannot be inferred now, so Zhang Mengcheng is not easy to guess. He was now deeply shocked by another piece of news. The thieves in the east did not touch the mud Zhang Cunmeng, and he had been defeated by the official army.

Zhang Cunmeng and Liu Minyue, another leader of the bandits, went to Shanxi, where they were still captured by the officers and soldiers, after which they were escorted to Suide and beheaded. And the person who caught this thief was actually Zhang Mengcheng's brother-in-law Cai Zhongming.

Time was about to go back to before, Dai Junen sent Cai Zhongming to assist in the defense of Yansui Middle Road. At that time, the non-muddy troops were making a fuss everywhere, and the officers and soldiers finally withstood the pressure and made up their minds to eradicate the thief. At that time, the threat of not being muddy in the eyes of the officials and soldiers was already at the level of Shen Yikui.

Zhang Fuzhen searched everywhere and gathered many good ministers and generals of the Ming army. The civil and military officials who participated in the crackdown on the thieves this time were: Zhang Fuzhen, governor of Yansui, Fan Yiheng, commander of the Yulin soldiers, Wang Chengen, deputy chief soldier of Gushan, Hou Gongji, Dusi Ai Wannian, Tang Tong, deputy general Bu Yingdi, guerrilla Wen Dingxin, and Fei Yizai, Zuo Guangxian, Cui Chongheng, Ding Shihu, Zhang Tianli, and He Renlong, who were recommended.

If you just listen to the civil and military list of the thieves this time, it will definitely make people feel that Yansui Town has gathered tens of thousands of heavy troops this time. However, in fact, the officers and troops who participated in this attack only gathered more than 3,000 horses.

This number is too low, just counting the combat strength of Zhang Mengjin and Cai Zhongming in Ningsaibao, it can reach more than a thousand people. But this is based on the special situation of Ningsaibao, and the officers and soldiers in other places don't have to think about it.

Zhang Fuzhen also felt that his troops were a little too poor, so he transferred men and horses to Yansui West Road. Originally, according to Zhang Fuzhen's meaning, he planned to recruit Zhang Mengjin, who had left a good impression when he had quelled the rebellion in Ningsai before, to help.

But time waits for no one, Zhang Fuzhen had no choice but to accept the recommendation of his friend Dai Junen in the same year, and transferred Cai Zhongming's 300 men who happened to be in the middle of the defense.

After Zhang Fuzhen assembled his 3,300 men, he immediately began to encircle and suppress the mud. First of all, he was defeated in Jiazhou without mud, and won more than 300 first-class pieces. Most of the thieves fled in all directions. However, Arima Qiangkou returned to his old nest in Xichuan, intending to continue to resist the mountain range.

At this time, the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, arrived with his troops, and after a series of strange ambushes and strategic lure, Zhang Cunmeng, who did not touch the mud, was finally lured out of Xichuan. Later, he was defeated by the official army, and was intercepted and killed by the official army in the Hejin area.

Not muddy, he had to continue to flee to Hanyu in panic. And at this time, Cai Zhongming took his elite cavalry and followed Hong Chengchou's love general Ma Ke to launch an assault on the mud.

Invincible without mud, he fled again with twenty-seven cavalrymen and crossed the east side of the river. Cai Zhongming led his subordinates and continued the pursuit unrelentingly. Just like in the leap November of the fourth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Mengjin led the team to pursue without mud, and pursued for more than 30 miles in a row. It's just that this time Cai Zhongming learned the lesson of Zhang Mengjin and chose to keep pursuing.

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"Big brother, we've been chasing for more than thirty miles. There is still no shadow of mud, is it that we are chasing the wrong direction? "Cai Zhongguang, an outstanding cavalry commander of the Whirlwind Team, naturally participated in this pursuit of the muddy operation. After the death of Cai Xiaozi's ninth uncle, Cai Zhongguang has faintly become the bravest general at the top of Artemisia.

Cai Zhongming saw that he had never found the target, and he also wondered if he had chosen the wrong direction. He turned his head to look at Sun Shoufa on the side, the guard with an iron whip and his subordinates still insisting on pursuit.

According to Cai Zhongming's understanding, cavalry should be equipped with light weapons such as sabers and line guns in order to facilitate combat. It is more conducive to the training of their own troops, and also ensures the uniformity of the team during combat.

Most of the men who wielded broadswords, heavy axes, iron whips, and sledgehammers were stupid hats that pretended to be good, and he hacked many of them to death over the years. However, there are some exceptions, these people can become like immortals with their own skills. (Note 1)

Just like the proud warrior Big Knife Bear under Sha Liluan's men before, that guy was holding a five-pound Glaive Knife. In a battle with Artemisia Peak, the big knife bear led a dozen brave horsemen and defeated the hundreds of troops on Artemisia Peak.

In that assault, the Glaive of the Great Sword Bear had almost slashed in front of Cai Zhongming. If it weren't for the ninth uncle, who was still alive at the time, who fought desperately to stop the other party, Cai Zhongming would have gone to see Hades that day. After that day, the soldiers at the top of Artemisia suffered heavy casualties and were disheartened. Thanks to the response of Zhang Mengjin and his gang, Artemisia got a chance to breathe and gather people's hearts to rise again.

It was after that battle that Cai Zhongming began to carefully train his troops, and also painstakingly studied his sword skills, hoping to find a place in the future.

Although in the subsequent battle with Jin Dingshan against Sha Liluan, the performance of his soldiers was indeed satisfactory to him. But the big sword bear that became his nightmare finally died in the hands of Zhang Zhaoen of Jinding Mountain. Therefore, Cai Zhongming has been looking for an opponent like Dadao Xiong, hoping to test his strength.

And not far away, Sun Shoufa, who was also chasing with his subordinate cavalry, made Cai Zhongming feel the sense of oppression that the big sword bear gave him before.

The Ming garrison used a pair of iron whips, and like the big sword bear before him, he always charged at the front, tearing through the enemy's defenses with his own martial prowess. And the cavalry behind him took advantage of this opportunity to fight in the chaotic enemy army.

"It's all come to this, let's keep chasing. Zhang Monkey (Zhang Mengjin) pursued without mud that day, perhaps because he did not insist on the pursuit, so he missed a great achievement. Since this opportunity is in our hands, we can't give it up as easily as he did. Seeing that Sun Shoufa was still pursuing, Cai Zhongming didn't want to give up.

Now that the eldest brother has made a decision, Cai Zhongguang can only insist on implementing it, otherwise it will damage the prestige of the eldest brother. In this pursuit, many of the pursuing cavalry had to leave the team because their horses were exhausted.

Now the mugwort cavalry who is following the eldest brother's pursuit, plus him, there are only thirty-five people left. Cai Zhongguang felt that if he still couldn't catch up with the target, the war horse he sat on would also die of exhaustion soon after.

Sun Shoufa and Cai Zhongming, who were pursuing, and many cavalrymen left the team one after another. When they only had sixty-three horses left, they finally found the figure in front of them that was not stained with mud.

At this time, the other party didn't look very good, and without mud around him, there were only twenty-seven cavalrymen left. It seems that the other party has no ability to escape anymore, and they plan to crush the few pursuers behind them in one fell swoop, and then escape easily.

"Queue, queue, the fourth (Cai Zhongguang) you stay behind me, don't talk so much nonsense." At this time, Cai Zhongming actually chose to use a wedge-shaped formation to fight the opponent. Maybe it was because Sun Shoufa next to him was also in front of the formation, posing as a head charge.

"Kill." There were no superfluous words, and after a shout of killing, the officers and cavalry and the non-muddy retinue rushed towards each other. The officers and soldiers were clearly superior in numbers, and either of the two wedge-shaped formations was more numerous than the men and horses who did not stick to the mud.

And there was no suspense in the battle after that, Sun Shoufa broke through the opponent's formation. And Cai Zhongming directly cut off the arm on the right side that was not muddy.

After that, the victorious officers and soldiers returned to Suide with the seriously wounded Zhang Cunmeng (not mud) and another big leader, Liu Minyue. And this time, after a simple trial, the captives were beheaded by the order of Zhang Fuzhen, the governor of Yansui.

In continuous battles, the officers and troops led by Hong Chengchou and Zhang Fuzhen did not touch the mud except for eliminating the big thieves. He also cleared more than 30 leaders of Xichuan and killed more than 400 robbers. Because of the fear of the thieves who surrendered, they rebelled again after the official army left. Therefore, the officers and troops were ready to implement some more strategies before leaving Xichuan. (Note 2)

After that, Zhang Fuzhen released another captive, Li Chenglin, and the price that the other party needed to pay was to confess more than 300 of his subordinates who had surrendered without sticking to the mud.

Then Hong Chengchou summoned these people outside his military tent through the list he received, in the name of appeasement and hospitality. And after the signal of the trilateral governor Hong Chengchou, Zhang Tianli and Tang Tong and others, who were lying in ambush, killed them all without mercy.

After Hong Chengchou killed Wang Zishun, Miao Dengyun and others at the beginning, he once again used his own trick of killing and surrendering in the fifth year of Chongzhen. Although he and the reputation of the government were damaged again, the effect of quelling the thieves was very significant, and the thieves who had lost their leaders did not rebel again.

Xichuan, a thief's nest that has accumulated for many years, was finally cleaned up by the official army. Now the officials and troops in Shaanxi, under the command of Hong Chengchou and others, have begun to shift their attention to the other two thieves' nests. One is the Lubaoling Ridge, which stretches through the central part of the county and Yijun. The other is the Iron Horn Castle, which once caused the official army to suffer defeat and is located in the territory of Dongchuan in Huanqing.

PS: Note 1: Friends who have read a lot of books should have guessed it, this is the paragraph in Qi Jiguang's "Practical Records of Military Training" miscellaneous volume five military weapons system. "Immediately he is only light and sharp, he is like an axe, a hammer, a hammer, a sword, a hook and sickle, etc., he is bold and skillful, and can enter and exit the battle alone, and occasionally there are others, he cannot teach the soldiers, and he cannot be a great enemy."

As for the glaive knife, although there are indeed many seventy or eighty catties, or even one hundred or dozens of catties or even heavier broadswords. However, there are also some long-handled knives used in actual combat, such as the glaive knife mentioned in the martial arts preparation of "Jingguo Xiongluo", which is seven feet and five inches long, and weighs a total of "five catties of official scales". And in Western European countries, there is no shortage of similar weapons. Therefore, if the design of the Glaive is suitable, and if it is paired with reasonable tactics, it does not necessarily mean that it can only be used to "practice and show strength, but it cannot be used in battle".

Note 2: Regarding the nest of thieves in the late Ming Dynasty, two records of Xichuan and Dongchuan appear frequently. In the author's novel, the Iron Horn City of Qingyang Mansion is located in Dongchuan, while the non-muddy nest in the east of Yan'an Mansion has become Xichuan. Seeing the readers here, there must be many people who are puzzled. In fact, there are many places with the same name in Shaanxi. There are four Xichuan alone, one is located near Suide, although it is not on the map, but people still call it. The second is located in the north of Huanxian Xichuan, which is to the west of Dongchuan mentioned earlier. The third is Xichuan in the west of Yan'an Fucheng, and the main stream is in the south of Ansai County. The fourth is the last one, located in Xichuan, west of Yichuan County.

The above four places are not easy to find on the map, and they are all related to rivers. However, in history, the position where the peasant army had more activities at the end of the Ming Dynasty was the first two Xichuan. To put it simply, there are Xichuan and Dongchuan in the north of Huanxian County, and there are also Xichuan and Dongchuan near Suide. Moreover, the area near Suide is even larger, and there is even a saying of Nanchuan around it.

The Xichuan of Suide is named after the Dali River. The river originates at the eastern foot of Baiyu Mountain and flows into the Wuding River to the east. There is also the Yokoyama mountain range to the north. Because it is on the west side of the Wuding River, the Xichuan in the narrow sense refers to the Dali River. In a broad sense, Xichuan is the Dali River Basin. And it is here that the 17 posts and 64 villages of Xichuan in history were set up.