With Jindingshan and Artemisia Peak working together to defeat Sha Liluo, Jindingshan and Artemisia Peak have entered the stage of cultivation. By October of the second year of Chongzhen, both families felt that they had almost rested, so they turned their eyes to the outside world.

From time to time, Cai Xiaozi sent his subordinates to Ansai to develop his tentacles in neighboring counties. The cavalry under Zhang Mengjin appeared in the Qingyang Mansion next door from time to time to collect grain, and the territory of some small forces in the north was also annexed by him. Due to the two forces in the east and northwest of Baoan, Artemisia Peak and Jinding Mountain, the other Xiaoxiao were either annihilated and dispersed by the two, or directly absorbed and absorbed.

And many villages on the security ground, after a year of survival competition, the fallen have become the nourishment of the survivors. What is left behind are some village associations with a little accumulation and a certain amount of force. Under the balance of power in the ring, the ground has become the calmest place in the entire Yan'an Mansion.

Zhang Mengcheng watched this survival drama, and finally vividly understood how the eighteen villages of rice fat and the ninety-eight villages and ringing horses recorded in the history books of later generations came about. At present, in the east and northwest of the security guard, under the authority of Cai Xiaozi and Zhang Mengjin, these armed stockades do not dare to make any changes. But if natural disasters continue to worsen, or if external forces strongly upset the balance of power, then the situation here will inevitably change dramatically.

In other parts of Baoan County, the two big bosses in the south failed to eat each other in the end. The two sides stopped fighting, and both made a mess of each other's territory, and their strength did not rise but fell. In order to gather supplies, they gradually extended their claws to the north, and the southern rangers came to harass them from time to time. Many of the affiliated villages on the territory of Jindingshan have petitioned Zhang Mengjin, hoping that Jindingshan can come forward to put down these looters.

It is ironic that a country should rely on bandits to maintain local law and order. However, this is not new, Zheng Zhilong in the south was recruited by the imperial court in the first year of Chongzhen, and the southeast coastal defense of the Ming Dynasty has been essentially entrusted to Zheng Zhilong's private fleet. When they heard the news, all the brothers of Jindingshan regarded Zheng Zhilong as a model.

Zhang Mengjin expressed his willingness to deal with the petition of the affiliated village, but he needed to communicate with the two leaders in the south first. Zhao Wankui and Yu Baocheng, who went to inquire about the news, had already set off a few days ago and should return in the near future.

Now there are many men, women and children in Jindingshan Cottage, and the total population has rapidly swelled to 1,513 people. Zhang Mengjin reorganized the armed forces in the cottage, removing 325 Ding Zhuang and 731 old and weak women and children. There were 457 armed men in Jindingshan.

Among them, there were 137 cavalrymen, equipped with a full set of helmets, body armor and arm guards, as the core armed force in the stockade. Moreover, they are the only troops who still maintain daily training, except for dyeing their clothes and armor black, and wearing border army-style armor, they are no different from the Ming cavalry in the victory map.

These cavalrymen were mainly divided into six teams, and trained for four hours a day, taking turns to train on horses and under horses. The horses are ridden for a day of training, and a day of rest and grazing outside. Each team member has one day off every 10 days. The six teams are:

There are twenty-three members of the Guards Cavalry Team, and Zhang Mengjin is in charge of the team. In wartime, they were placed behind the battle as a reserve.

There are 42 cavalry members of the Chinese Army, Zhang Mengguang in charge and Zhang Mengcheng in deputy management.

There are twenty-five cavalry members on the left flank, Zhou Shaoteng in charge and Zhang Zhaoen in deputy management.

There are 25 cavalry members on the right flank, Ma Xiangzhong in charge of the team, and He Zongwei in the deputy team.

The left sentry cavalry team is eleven people, and the team is Fan Shunjiang.

The right sentry cavalry team is eleven people, and the team is in charge of Che Jibao.

The infantry team is currently in the busy agricultural season, and in order to save food, it does not train every day, but requires itself to train in their free time, and conducts joint training in the form of a joint camp every five days and half a month.

Among them, there are 82 people in the bow team, Ma Xiangbo in the management team, and Wei Heyong in the deputy management team. Each officer was armed with a bow and a quiver with thirty arrows. In addition, each person is equipped with a big stick.

There are 173 people in the gun team, Zhiqing in the management team, and Yu Baocheng in the deputy management team. The soldiers were armed with only one spear, and forty-five of them were armed with various types of armor.

There are sixty-five knife players, Zhao Wankui and Li Yang. Each person is equipped with a rattan or long card and a waist knife. He also wears a short armor to protect his torso, and a helmet that has been eliminated by the cavalry.

Next to a branch in Luoshui not far from the Jinding Mountain cottage, dozens of horses, large and small, are leisurely drinking water and grazing by the river. The herd consists mainly of Mongolian horses and Hequ horses, with the occasional two or three tall Yanqi horses. The peony horse (mǔ mǎ, stallion), the horse (pìn mǎ, mare), and the gelding all seem to be well cared for. The age range is roughly between 5 and 13 years old.

Most of the horses in this belong to the cavalry team of the Jinding Mountain Chinese Army. Today it was the turn of the horses of the Chinese army to rest, so except for two people in the Chinese cavalry team, everyone else was training under the horses not far away.

Taking care of the horses were a few experienced old men, as well as a group of older students in Zhang Mengcheng's school. An old man has the most children around him, and under his teaching, the children do work such as feeding horses, harvesting horse grass, and picking up horse manure. And the other old men, each with a few children next to him. Some of them were washing their faces and brushing their horses, others were examining their mouths, while one of the remaining old men was using a guillotine to cut the horse grass collected by the children into a certain length. Usually these are mostly the work of the cottage cavalry, but today they have become extracurricular teaching for children.

The children in the school behaved quite positively, and Mr. said that those who were lazy would be beaten in the palm of their hands, and they would be punished for copying and reciting homework. But if they do well, in addition to rewarding them with a baked sweet potato, they can also teach them how to ride a real horse, and they are already tired of riding wooden racks in physical education class.

After a shout, one of the children happily ran to the gentleman's place. With the help of my husband, I was able to ride a pack horse for practice.

Guan Yuze, who got off the horse, stretched his body for a while, and then came to the side of the old man with a guillotine. In fact, in the past few months since Guan Yuze joined the cottage, his second uncle Guan Zhiqing has taught him to ride a horse. After riding the second uncle's war horse, I felt a little uncomfortable with the pack horse I just ridden.

He learned a lot from the cottage teaching, and now he can write more than 200 words. I also know how to use the strange talisman taught by my husband to make daily calculations, how to use and maintain weapons and armor, how to deal with wounds, and so on. In addition, he always remembered Zhang Mengcheng's teachings, always straightened his waist, spoke loudly and clearly, and paid attention to politeness.

Therefore, Guan Yuze's mental outlook today has changed greatly compared to before. The second head of the house, Guan Zhiqing, was very happy to see these changes, and always told Zhang Mengcheng that he would have a son in the future, and he would also let Zhang Mengcheng teach him.