In recent years, Wu Shigong walked around the camp with a group of guards, and they led people to wait for horses to walk around the school yard.

"My lord! In fact, the Nanyang Army and the headquarters sent out a town, plus the Guide Association sent troops from the third road, as long as there is one winter, our Runing Army can level Henan. Keep those bandits, trouble! Chi Ming said to Wu Shigong.

In order to make the classification of troops clearer. Wu Shigong upgraded the troops in Nanyang to an army, under the jurisdiction of the regimental training town and the Xiong Hammer Town, which was expanded from the Nanyang Army, a total of 18,000 men and horses in five regiments, and Zhou Xun was the commander of the Nanyang Army. In order to distinguish them, the Runing Army also canceled the name of the corps and changed it to "Xie". Therefore, the current establishment of the Runing Army from small to large is: squad-company-battalion-regiment-association-town-army. There is really a mixture of ancient and modern names.

Due to two consecutive years of severe drought. The banditry in the places where the Runing Army and the Henan official army were finally quelled flourished again. Although these bandits did not dare to approach the control area of the Runing Army, and it would not take much effort for the Runing Army to eliminate them, it always made people feel disturbed to have this group of flies "flying" on the side.

"What? Don't stay for a few days and want to move? Don't even pass the year. Don't you feel bored with my old man? Wu Shigong joked.

"How can that? How can adults get old? Chi Ming hurriedly smiled.

"Compared to you, I'm old. As soon as you entered my pro-soldier team this time, you immediately turned the pro-soldier team into the Young Guard. Who would dare to say that they are not old? Wu Shigong's joke caused a burst of daxiao. Although Wu Shigong is not yet thirty, he can indeed be regarded as an "old man" compared with Chi Ming and Huang Ding, who are less than twenty.

"The Young Guard? That's a good name! My lord! In the future, our pro-soldier team will be called this name! Huang Ding heard a term that Wu Shigong had inadvertently said, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"Okay!" Of course, Wu Shigong is indispensable, "But first of all, I have to test you, weishenme I don't send troops to central and northern Henan to sweep away bandits?" ”

"My lord! The Nanyang Army can't move now! A soldier on the side said.

"Oh? Your name is Zhao Kang! Tell me about weishenme? Wu Shigong said with a smile.

Zhao Dang immediately stood upright. said: "Compared with the bandits in central and northern Henan, the Zhang thieves in Gucheng are more threatening. The Nanyang army wants to protect the Nanyang iron mine, but also to block the Shaanxi thieves from invading Ruzhou, and also to prevent the Zhang thieves from rebelling again, so they must not move lightly. ”

Zhang Xianzhong's acceptance of the Ming court's appeasement in Gucheng was certainly an expedient measure, but it cannot be denied that he was wavering in his thinking at that time, and he also made some very deceptive actions. Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong bribed Xiong Wencan and other officials very much, and found many "godfathers" in the imperial court. Although the Runing Army is sure and sure that Zhang Xianzhong is a fraudulent surrender. However, it was impossible to send troops to exterminate Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army.

However, the Shanchuan Division and the secret agents of the Military Intelligence Bureau also found out: After Zhang Xianzhong was appeased, he accepted the official position of deputy general granted by the imperial court and also received some food and salary. And in contact with the court officials, Zhang Xianzhong also abided by the practice of Ming Dynasty officialdom as much as possible. Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong also went to Chuyang Port to meet Premier Xiong Wencan.

But in reality. Zhang Xianzhong always maintained the independence of the peasant army in Gucheng. Although he stretched out his hand to the Ming government to ask for food, he did not accept the Ming government's order to transfer him to suppress other peasant armies. Adaptation or severance will also not be accepted. On the surface, he had courtesy dealings with local officials and local squires in the Ming Dynasty. In his heart, he was on guard everywhere and maintained a high degree of vigilance. Under the cover of being "appeased", he made a lot of preparations for re-rebellion.

Militarily, Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army remained unarmed and unarmed during the period of "being fed", and constantly trained soldiers and horses, maintaining a system of being ready for battle. and built warships every day. Craft the best weapons. Buy horse-made utensils, do it day and night, but I am afraid that it will not be possible. Anyway, they are fierce and ready for rebellion.

And economically. Zhang Xianzhong also practiced tuntian in Gucheng, and used his position as a deputy general to order the local gentry to pay the collected rents to the military rations. Zhang Xianzhong also changed the valley city of Wangjiahe to Taiping Town, set up checkpoints in the town, and half of the goods were levied as the cost of raising soldiers. It not only protected civilian trade, but also obtained the necessary material equipment for the peasant army.

In addition, Zhang Xianzhong recruited a group of literati from the gentry as staff officers to help plan the advance and end of military aircraft. Among them, the more famous ones are Pan Duao, a student of Yingcheng County, Hubei Province, and Xu Yixian and Wang Bingzhen of Gucheng. Most of these people felt suppressed under the rule of the imperial court and joined the peasant army. For example, Pan Duao joined Zhang Xianzhong's team because he was indignant after losing the lawsuit because he was competing for land with the squires of his county.

The participation of these literati did something beneficial for Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army. For example, Xu Yixian once explained the "Art of War of Sun and Wu" to Zhang Xianzhong, helped the peasant army to make three-eyed firearms, maces, ambush crossbows, and guided the deployment of regimental and battalion phalanxes, and the methods of left and right battalions. As a result, the combat effectiveness of Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army has been improved to a certain extent.

And officials such as Xiong Wencan, the premier of the five provinces, are still insatiable. Because when Xiong Wencan was the governor of Fujian and the governor of Liangguang, he extorted a large amount of treasure by recruiting Zheng Zhilong. And after Zhang Xianzhong was appeased, he repeated his old trick, bribing thousands of gold, pearls and thousands of goods. made Zhang Xianzhong smile at his subordinates: "This is treating me as Zheng Zhilong." ”

It would be fine if the wealth was destroyed and the disaster would be eliminated, but those court officials not only extorted money, but also some people who hated the peasant army, and repeatedly secretly planned and suggested to the imperial court that they should take advantage of the opportunity of Zhang Xianzhong's troops to mobilize heavy troops to annihilate them. Ruan Zhitian, the magistrate of Gucheng County, was even ready to murder Zhang Xianzhong by poisoning.

So all of this proves that Zhang Xianzhong will definitely rebel. It's nothing more than a question of how and when to reverse. But as long as you look at the distance between Gucheng and Xiangyang, Nanyang and Runing, it makes the Runing army must prepare a force and be ready for Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion at any time.

Wu Shigong was satisfied with Zhao Kang's answer. However, he then took the school examination and said: "Tell me more, then why don't you transfer Jiaozheng Town and Ape Yue Town in Dabie Mountain?" ”

This time, Chi Ming hurriedly replied: "Use the eagle to fight the rabbit and eliminate the bandits in Dabie Mountain." Protect Runing. Guide to the south wing of the two places. ”

Wu Shigong smiled and nodded. If the Runing Army launches a full-scale war, the main battlefield will definitely be in the west and north. Therefore, it is quite important to maintain the security of the southern flank. Dabie Mountain has always been a gathering place for bandits, so only by eliminating this hidden danger can the Runing Army confidently and boldly launch military operations to the west and north.

In addition, if the Dabie Mountain area was controlled, plus the Tuntian Zhuangzi in Huanggang, Tongcheng and Lu'an, the Runing army could effectively threaten the officers and troops in Fengyang and the Beijing camp in Nanjing as long as they stationed a town here. This made it impossible for these two imperial armies to attack the Runing army casually.

"Then you know that Weishenme can't send troops!" Wu Shigong asked again.

Chi Ming and the others nodded and said, "Because after sending troops, Runing and Dekong will be empty." I am afraid that Shaanxi thieves will enter Henan again. ”

When the military grand strategy of "spreading the net on all sides" began, the Ming army was indeed smooth sailing, and good news was frequently reported. Moreover, the surrender of Zhang Xianzhong and Liu Guoneng also had a great influence on the leaders of the peasant army. In the encirclement and suppression of the Ming army from all walks of life, the momentum of the peasant army has been defeated.

However, Wu Shigong knew that in the future, Li Zicheng's peasant army would sweep through the whole of northern China. So it's definitely a temporary low tide now, and it's definitely going to come back in the future.

Moreover, now the main forces of the Ming army are concentrated in Shaanxi and Sichuan, and if the peasant army wants to wander, the most haode places to flee are none other than Henan and Huguang. And these two areas are the operational areas of the Runing Army. Therefore, Wu Shigong has been preparing for a decisive battle with the peasant army.

"It's a reason. What else? ”

"Guarantee the strength of our Runing army and wait for the big war in the future."

"That's one too. Is there anything else? ”

Chi Ming looked at them for a while, and they both shook their heads. Wu Shigong laughed all of a sudden: "You are by my side, you are not the light guarding me, you have to learn more!" Looks like I'm going to kick you to the War Department and stay there for a while. ”

"Let me tell you, there are also the following reasons: our Runing Army's financial resources can only support such a large military operation. No matter how much it is, it will have to eat a lot of food, and when it comes to a full-scale war, where will the food support come from? ”

"And don't forget! We are the Runing Army, and we can only fight in Runing and Guide. When we went to Nanyang and Huguang, we were taking advantage of it, and there happened to be a thief army there. But when you go to central and northern Henan, how can you do it without a conscription order from the imperial court? ”

"But don't be so discouraged, no one is born to fight. To be able to become my personal guard, you should be very good at fighting, but now you have to learn how to command and how to fight. In the past, Rusong and Xiao Xinzi were also studying, and I didn't release them until they were full. If you can't get full, I won't let you out!" ”

"No!"

After finishing the walk, Wu Shigong returned to the inner house. The housekeeper Liu Yuan went out to greet him. Wu Shigong asked, "Have you given out all the New Year's gifts?" ”

"It's all delivered!" Liu Yuan hurriedly replied, "But! However, everyone else accepted it, but Lu'an's grandfather didn't accept it. ”

"Huh?" Wu Shigong felt quite strange, "He doesn't accept it?" ”

"This ...... Grandpa sent a letter to my lord. ”

"Where is the faith?"

"I'll leave it in the study."

Wu Shigong returned to the study, opened the letter that Sun Chengxiu wrote to himself, and read it at a glance. The more he looked at it, the more angry he became, and Sun Chengxiu clearly wrote a letter of renunciation.

So after Wu Shigong finished reading it, he slapped the table and shouted, "Let Xue Zhinong roll over." (To be continued......)