Shen Shuren used the fine work sent by Liu Xiyao to stabilize the other party by using smoke bombs to stabilize the other party.

Liu Xiyao was greedy for non-existent "reinforcements", slowed down the offensive plan, and won an extra nearly a month of preparation time.

Of course, Shen Shuren would not waste this time, from late August to the end of September, he asked Shen Fu to hurry up the production of new lead ball shotguns and fixed ammunition, and frantically improve the combat readiness of firearms.

In the late Ming Dynasty, there was originally the idea of quantitatively loading ammunition in advance, and in Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Ji Xiao", it was also mentioned that the gunpowder and lead bullet needed for each shot of the musket should be separated by paper wrapping, such as three coins of gunpowder and three coins of lead bullet for a shot.

On the other side of the strait, at the end of the Oda Nobunaga era, 60 years ago, Japan also had the concept of "early cooperation", which literally translates to "advance (combining a piece of gunpowder and lead bullet)". It's just that the Japanese soldiers use thin bamboo tubes, load the ammunition in advance, and then pour it into the barrel before firing and compact, and they will not put the bamboo tube as a container into it.

This idea is actually more convenient than Qi Jiguang's paper bag packaging, after all, it is easy to pour it in wartime. After the Ming army fought with the Japanese army in Korea during the Wanli period, they also knew the existence of this kind of thing, and now some Ming generals with good vision have learned this trick.

With these foundations of the times, Shen Shuren made an integrated paper bullet shell with a little improvement to pack ammunition, and the acceptance was much higher, and there was no additional difficulty for soldiers to use it.

It is nothing more than the original dismantling of the paper bag or bamboo tube and pouring the ammunition into it before firing, but now it is changed to plugging and compacting the paper tube together -

Of course, musketeers with new paper shells wore a spiked iron wrench on their fingers. Before charging the cartridge, the bottom should be pierced and the hole should be tucked downwards into the gun to ensure that the gunpowder leaks out and contacts the ignition port at the bottom of the chamber.

The paper material used for the bullet casing, Shen Shuren also specially asked people to choose a relatively elastic one, and it was necessary to roll a few more layers to achieve an elasticity similar to that of leather. When you stuff it in this way, you can hold it tightly to ensure that it is pressed down, and after letting go, it will naturally fluff up a little back, and completely stuff the chamber to improve the airtightness.

After the successful mass production of these munitions, with small lead beads with high sphericity, the live-fire test effect is very good.

……

In addition to exerting his strength in weapons and equipment, on the other side, Shen Shuren did not forget to let Zuo Zixiong and Pizarro hurry up training.

After more than a month, the soldiers had mastered the basic Spanish phalanx tactics, at least on the surface, and they seemed to be disciplined.

A small number of elite troops also trained the Mandarin Duck Formation to prepare for the combat mission of being outflanked through complex terrain in preparation for war.

The tactics of using a spear to stab neatly do not require much martial arts, and the musketeers only need to practice the loading process, as for the aiming of the musket, it is not very important, anyway, the accuracy of the gun itself is not high, the general direction is right, don't be nervous when you are about to fight, don't be scared and forget to load, it is enough for the time being.

Anyway, the enemy to face in the first battle is only a third-line warlord among the thieves, and he is not a crack general.

While the soldiers consumed a lot of physical strength every day and practiced hard skills and tactics, the logistics department of the Shen family army did not forget to give the soldiers good food and drink to stabilize the morale of the army, and promote Shen Tongzhi's leniency to the poor people.

emphasized that "thieves do not produce, they will only kill and plunder, even if they temporarily give the poor a good life, they will eventually collapse because of the lack of succession, it is better to follow Shen Tongzhi to live a long and peaceful paradise life."

Of course, this kind of ideological education work is not easy, after all, the vast majority of the big-headed soldiers in this era are completely illiterate, and the time is in a hurry, and Shen Shuren does not have time to let people teach cultural classes.

Therefore, all unifying ideas must be organized and metaphorically used in the most simple language to ensure that the illiterate can understand them.

Originally, this work was handed over to Zhao Yunfan, the magistrate, and Gu Yanwu, who was having an idle meal recently. But the effect of what they did at the beginning was not good, Shen Shuren secretly asked people to spot check, and found that the soldiers couldn't listen to it at all.

Only then did Shen Shuren personally intervene, clicked, and provided Gu Yanwu with some persuasive ideas. Let a scholar like Gu Yanwu be more empathetic to the illiterate poor.

"Don't talk about those great truths of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom, you can analyze with them that the thieves don't pay attention to production, and the distribution of money and food is unsustainable.

He needs more and more territory to get bigger and bigger, more and more believers to grab the new and return the old, and in the end, if the entire Ming Dynasty is finished by the scourge, there will be no grabbing, and what he said before can't be fulfilled!

How to phrase and how to organize yourself, in short, let the soldiers distinguish the difference between a saturated meal and a full meal, and follow me to mix it up for the time being, not necessarily eating meat and drinking in large bowls, but fortunately, it lasts. ”

After all, Gu Yanwu has the skills of a great philosopher, and after being dialed so simply, he quickly exerted the curative effect that an excellent tool person should have.

However, after Gu Yanwu carried out the brainwashing work according to the new ideas, as the practice deepened, he gradually thought of some questions, and couldn't help but come back to ask Shen Shuren:

"Brother Xian, I modified this set of rhetoric you taught, and after preaching to the non-commissioned officers and new officers, the effect was really good, but some officers also raised doubts:

They feel that you have really benefited the people by taking office as a new official in Huangzhou, and now Huangzhou does not have to bear national taxes, as long as you use local money and grain to defend yourself.

However, what if you are transferred after beating Liu Xiyao? When the imperial court asked Huangzhou to pay taxes and pay money and grain to support the great cause of suppressing thieves and training troops in other places, what should I do if I changed to a ruthless one? You are just a liuguan, and the 'fullness' you promised is just water without a source and a tree without roots. ”

The problem summarized by Gu Yanwu can be regarded as a stubborn disease that cannot be solved for two thousand years.

To tell the truth, the system of liuguan is only conducive to the centralization of power and the rule of the emperor, and at the same time, it has the greatest advantage of avoiding civil war.

However, if it is really said that the local officials have restrained themselves in the looting of the common people and have restrained themselves in the remnants of the people, then the system of the officials is still inferior to the system of the world officials and even the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty.

At least the people under the official division are their own people, and they don't look up and see each other when they look down. The lord more or less hopes that the people can at least live, and not run away to be the people of others, and keep a hand when they loot.

After the official system, anyway, the local government is not official, whether it is three years or five years, and after doing it and leaving, of course, it is necessary to do everything possible in these three or five years to recoup the capital, especially those who spend money to buy officials, and the squeeze on the return on investment is even more squeezing.

Shen Shuren can brag, but his boasting obviously exceeds the upper limit allowed by the laws of the Ming system, which is a bit fake, and those who know a little bit about the laws of the court among the officers will not believe it.

So far, Shen Shuren has no choice but to take a little risk.

Anyway, he will never go back to Beijing City even once in his life to become a Beijing official. Even if you say the wrong thing, it will take a considerable amount of time to spread it, and you are not afraid of being liquidated by Chongzhen.

Shen Shuren was forced to be helpless, and he also quietly told Gu Yanwu to the bottom:

"Brother Tinglin, this matter has to be bothered by your clever hands to master the scale, you have to learn to analyze with them, saying that after Huangzhou is pacified, the imperial court may promote me to the prefect, and after the whole territory of Anqing Luzhou next door is also cleared, I may be a soldier, in short, I can't leave this land for three or five years."

In the future, the world is so chaotic, who can say it well. In short, this Yinghuo Mountain area is relatively isolated from the world, and by then I have already been unable to insert a needle into the water, and the Yangtze River waterway is controlled by my Shen family, and I will find a way to benefit my old brothers for many years. ”

Although these words did not explicitly say that they wanted to divide the territory, they at least revealed some meaning of "listening to the tune and not listening to the announcement", revealing the ambition of "I have managed a good territory, and I will follow me for a long time in the future".

Fortunately, the Yangtze River waterway is controlled by the Shen family, and the locals can't get out, and they can't go out of the Dabie Mountain.

After Gu Yanwu heard this, he was also shocked, and he was a little suspicious of whether Shen Shuren had different aspirations, but Shen Shuren said to him with clear eyes: "It's just a matter of urgency, for the sake of thieves, for the sake of morale, I take some notoriety risks, and there is no way, who knows in the future." Let's take it one step at a time. ”

Gu Yanwu was silent for a long time and didn't dare to speak, and he also knew in his heart that Shen Shuren was telling the truth. He is only a six-grade acquaintance now, how can he have too much ambition?

Shen Shuren just wanted to keep the place where he had contributed to regain peace and prevent the situation from being ruined by other officials.

Just like Cao Cao really just wanted to be a general of Han Zhengxi at the beginning, this is not a lie.

That's it, the rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of the husband. Huaxia clothes and the world are more important than one family and one surname, and the Ming Dynasty is like this, let's see if Brother Shen Xian can create a miracle.

After accepting this setting, Gu Yanwu actually had the consciousness of following him all the way to the black.

Subsequently, Zhao Yunfan and Zhao Zhixian, who shared the "ideological education work for the soldiers" with Gu Yanwu, also noticed something. At first, he also struggled in his heart, but in the end, he was slowly pulled into the water by Gu Yanwu and accepted this setting.

If you are in a hurry and do not unite around Shen Tongzhi, it is impossible to get through this crisis.

……

More than a month has passed so intensely. The Shen family's armament, training, morale, and cohesion have made great progress.

As early as mid-September, Liu Xiyao's cavalry began to harass and reconnoiter along the narrow river plain on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

Huanggang County is sixty miles away from Qishui County in a straight line, and Qishui County is sixty miles away from Qizhou County, so the garrison base of Liu and Shen is actually only one hundred and twenty miles apart. The cavalry entered the harassment, and the march was still very convenient, it could be called coming and going like the wind, entering the country one day, and returning the next day.

Shen Shuren also did not move, did not clash with Liu Xiyao, but only moderately implemented the policy of clearing the wilderness with strong walls, showing weakness to the enemy.

On the other hand, Shen Shuren also knew that this was the manifestation of his successful deception, so he did a full set of acts, and also allocated a support fleet of his family, and according to the day when the false information was leaked, he went to the Yangtze River estuary in Qishui to show his face.

In this way, Liu Xiyao became more and more convinced.

Another day later, as Shen Shuren's "arms supply fleet" entered the town of Huangqikou at the mouth of the Qishui River, preparing to go upstream and enter the county seat of Qizhou again, Liu Xiyao's troops finally attacked.

Liu Xiyao got the information in advance, gathered all the cavalry under his subordinates, as well as the soldiers who could make up their mounts to march quickly, all together, set off at night the day before, and walked an all-night rapid march overnight, and rushed to Huangqikou Town to intercept the official army.

The chief general of this cavalry unit is Liu Xiong, the eldest son of Liu Xiyao, and Liu Xiyao is not at ease to hand over all the cavalry to outsiders.

Before leaving, Liu Xiyao also instructed his son: "Your cavalry is a long-distance attack, it is not suitable to attack the fortifications, if you can directly enter the dock and rob the fleet, then do it." If the officers and soldiers are on guard and you don't have enough manpower, it's good to surround the town first, and then block the Qishui waterway. Hold out the time, I will arrive at most half a day late with my own army. ”

Liu Xiong was only in his early twenties, and he was strong-blooded, and he did not find it difficult for the task assigned by his father, so he left first with the cavalry in high spirits.

And Shen Shuren, on his side, also knew that the bait he released was very attractive, and he had quietly asked Zuo Zixiong to take two thousand elite soldiers to Huangqikou Town in advance to deploy defenses, and also brought three hundred Spanish turtledoves, one thousand bird guns and Lumi guns.

The rest of the men and horses defended Qishui and Qizhou counties respectively, the most important Qizhou was divided into 2,000 people, and there were only a few hundred regular soldiers on the Qishui side, and the rest relied on the people to stand on the city wall to fill the defense line.

Fortunately, the target of Liu Xiyao's first wave of sneak attacks is very clear, and Shen Shuren's deployment is no problem.