[Thanks; Period, sword qi Ling Tian, the mountain does not speak, and I dream of beautiful rewards! 】

Datong's recruitment work has finally ended, and so has the great military exercise.

And the best appreciator Cai Maode also left satisfied, Cai Maode walked very low-key, quietly, and the only people who saw him off were Zhou Yuji and his son and Yan Su, the prefect of Datong.

Since Zhou Huchen came to Datong, he has been strengthening the armed forces, and now that the situation has finally formed, it is natural that Zhou Huchen, who has time and energy, has also begun to attach importance to intelligence work.

In the first month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng was called "King Xinshun" in Xiangyang, and really began to establish political power, divided officials, appeased the poor in exile, "gave cattle seeds, helped the poor, gave cattle a livelihood, and engaged in farming", and "recruited people to cultivate fields and collect their seeds to pay the army". In March, Li Zicheng annexed his army and killed Cao Cao, Luo Rucai, He Yilong and others. In April, Yuan Shi, the leader of the small Yuan camp, rebelled and was killed.

Zhang Xianzhong, who has always avoided Li Zicheng, is now also thriving, and it was also in the first month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen that Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to capture Danzhou by night. In March, even under Danshui, Huangzhou, and Macheng, the officials guarding the city fled when they heard the news. In the area of Macheng, Zhang Xianzhong easily recruited tens of thousands of people, and Huguang was in danger.

According to the habit of the past, the peasant army had always resorted to mobile warfare, attacking cities and plundering land just to continue its great cause of revolution and food, but as Huguang, the best and largest grain-producing area, was taken and tasted the sweetness, these peasants, who had always been poor, were reluctant to leave anymore, and they began to divide their troops and defend them.

For these peasant armies, this was a radical change. For the Ming court, the consequences were undoubtedly more serious, due to the lack of soldiers and major generals, no food and no pay, and no ability to clear the bandits. The situation collapsed beyond measure, the incompetence of officials at all levels, and those inaction, the Ming court fell into silence temporarily, and everyone knew that an undercurrent in the court was inevitable.

These news are not difficult to get, because, in addition to the official news, Zhou Huchen also has those Jin merchants who are providing him with some information. The Jin Shang Group has actually completely given up resistance, the silver and food have been given, and a lot of secret actions have been done, but unfortunately, there is no sound, and in desperation, in order to prevent Zhou Huchen from being angry and sweeping again, in order to please this soft and hard Zhou Shaoshuai. The Jin merchant group, which traveled throughout the northern land, started to trade without capital, and they began to provide information to Zhou Huchen.

It was a rare period of peace, lasting at least a few months. There will be no major events during this time, Zhou Hu has decided, he is going to a place, he is going to that place to get some people and things, and continue to add some confidence to himself.

Entering May, Cai Maode's letter has finally arrived.

――――――――――――――

It was dawn, and the first rays of morning light had just emerged.

The south gate of Datong Mansion City opened somewhat unexpectedly in advance, and nearly a hundred fierce knights with weapons roared out, and these knights were accompanied by an empty horse. Two hundred war horses rushed up to the official road like a mad dragon, and nearly a thousand iron hooves stepped on the yellow earth to make a unique melody that shook people's hearts.

The yellow dust was billowing, and these knights equipped with two horses were out of the field of vision of the Datong Mansion guards in a blink of an eye.

Running all the way, these brave knights almost never stopped easily, except for changing horses and taking a nap, they were all the way south.

It's only early summer, but the weather is surprisingly hot, the scorching sun is scorching the earth, and the scorching air is inhaled, making it almost impossible to breathe. A knight, covered in dust and galloping at the front, turned his horse's head and approached an unusually young knight.

"Young master, the first two miles are the mouth of the magnetic kiln, do you want to sharpen it?"

is also covered with dust, due to the continuous washing of sweat, this young master is no different from everyone, he is a big five-flower face, not who Zhou Huchen is.

Except for Zhou Huchen, all of the hundred knights with two horses in this line are the family members of the Zhou Mansion, and their task is to protect Zhou Huchen's next Jiangnan and complete a task that is very important to Zhou Huchen.

"Okay, I guess everyone is tired, let's have lunch at Ciyaokouguan!"

Ciyaokou Pass is 17 miles south of Hunyuan Prefecture in Shanxi, is located on the left side of Heng Mountain, the road leads to Lingqiu, the fort was built in the early Ming Dynasty and set up the inspection department, also known as Cixiakou. Since the Tang Dynasty, magnets have been abundant here, hence the name.

The city in front of me is not large, and the very old city wall shows that it has been built for many years. There were only a dozen people in the small inspection division city, and these inspectors saw a hundred fierce knights appear from a distance, and the frightened inspection division soldiers in front of the city gate hurriedly closed the city gate that was nothing.

When a family member reported his name, the Jiupin inspector in the city turned pale with fright.

It's not far from Datong, and it's impossible that it hasn't heard of Zhou Yuji, the chief soldier of Shanxi, who has just taken office. What is the concept of Zhou Yuji's eldest son, he is not qualified to face a small inspection at all.

The inspector knew very well that these people could not be fakes, and that two hundred strong war horses could not be owned by anyone, so the tattered city gate was opened again.

The Magnetic Kiln Mouth Inspection Division is too poor, and the clothes of these inspectors can only be described as miserable, and as for the inside, there is simply nothing.

Seeing this situation, Zhou Wanjiang, the head of the family, began to shout helplessly: "I can't eat this meal? Young master, bear with me! ”

It's true that there is no way to eat, this inspection department does not have enough food, and the meal of more than 100 people only needs one meal to eat it all, and they have to continue to rush in the afternoon, but what about the war horses?

"Give them the money, and hurry up to collect some food, the war horses can't go hungry." Zhou Hu is also very helpless, this inspection department is simply poor enough:

The inspector of the magnetic kiln pass is surnamed Yan, this Yan inspector has been waiting on the side with low eyebrows, this young marshal is not satisfied with his expectations, what kind of life the eldest son of the general army of a province lives on weekdays, they can only imagine these poor people in the lower class out of thin air.

In order to prevent the young marshal from losing his temper, Yan Patrol hurriedly explained: "Young marshal, you must take care of it, our place is poor!" Not only are these subordinates poor, but the people are also poor, even the occasional businessmen who pass by here are also small merchants and hawkers, how can there be any oil and water, it would be good for these subordinates to live! ”

Zhou Huchen frowned: "Is there no food supply in the place?" ”

"Young marshal, how did you know that the existence of this Magnetic Kiln Mouth Inspection Division is already thankful!"

Turning his head to look at this Yan Inspector, Zhou Hu did not speak.

Yan Patrol bowed again: "Young Marshal, you don't know, this inspection department should belong to the local generals, but where is there an army around here, who cares about us?" For many years, the army did not care, the local government did not provide food and salary, and these subordinates could only rely on their own land, businessmen who had contacts to give some customs fees to live, and nearby squires gave some donations from time to time, which barely maintained and did not disperse, and it was not easy for subordinates! ”

Looking at the inspector who was about to cry, Zhou Huchen understood, it seems that this inspection department belongs to both the army and the locality. As for the gentry's donations, it is nothing more than to maintain the peace of the place, and it is still meaningful for the local area to continue to exist in this inspection department.

Zhou Huchen began to be silent, he had no choice, in Datong, it is estimated that there are many such inspection divisions, the emperor is far away, no matter how strong his ability is, he can't take care of it, besides, the big war is imminent, Zhou Huchen does not have such time and energy.

Not long after, the inspector of the inspection department who went out to buy things came back, more than 100 people made do with a meal, fed the war horses, Zhou Huchen and his party took a short rest and threw a few ingots of silver to the inspection department and went on the road again

Since the beginning of Hunyuan Prefecture, it has entered the mountainous area, although it is only a remnant of the mountainous area, but the road is becoming more and more rugged and narrow, fortunately, there is still an official road, and Zhou Huchen and his party can still move forward along the only official road without getting lost.

It was a somewhat difficult journey, stumbling out of the Shanxi territory, and when darkness was coming, a group of people appeared in Fuping County, Zhending Prefecture.

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