Half an hour passed.

When the troops stationed around the embankment on both sides of Shanghaipu to prevent the flood from breaking the embankment at night, led by Liu Sheng, the governor of the Left Army, began to come to the rescue, and the resistance of the White Lotus thieves in the city became weaker and weaker.

Most of the more than 1,000 elites of the White Lotus Sect led by Niu Zhen, the left protector of the White Lotus Thief, were lost in the city, and only a very small number fled in a hurry by driving boats along the water gate.

However, the city gates have been completely sealed, and these people are only surviving.

The fierce battle lasted until midnight, and now it will be dawn in a few hours, and tomorrow Jiang Xinghuo will definitely take the whole city of Dasuo, where can the remnants of the White Lotus hide, and how long will they hide?

In the east of the city, in the middle of an ordinary house.

The room was dimly lit, almost as if you couldn't see your fingers, and the air was so dull that it was hard to breathe.

"Ahem······ The man lying on the bed suddenly coughed violently, and at the same time, his body was still shaking desperately, as if he was in pain.

After a few moments, the man stopped coughing and slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes full of heavy exhaustion.

This person is none other than Niu Zhen, the left protector of the White Lotus Sect who retreated from the chaotic battle.

On the way to retreat, they continued to encounter the shelling of the Ming army, and the White Lotus thieves suffered heavy casualties, Niu Zhen was lucky to survive, but because of serious injuries and excessive blood loss, he was brought back by the White Lotus disciples in the city

By the time he did, he had fallen into a coma.

The White Lotus Sect's Left Protector Niu Zhen struggled to sit up, leaning against the wall, trying to take out the pill from his arms and eat it, but he was so weak that it became extremely difficult to even lift his arms.

"I'll help you."

A pair of jade hands pulled open the black cloth that covered the window lattice, and the moonlight shining through the window vaguely illuminated the bed.

In front of Niu Zhen, there stood a woman in a black dress with a veil covering her face, she quietly looked at the person on the bed, her eyes looked a little complicated.

This person is not someone else, it is the White Lotus Sect saintess Tang Yin.

Tang Yin's voice didn't look like a thirty beautiful woman at all, but was soft and pleasant, like a heavenly sound: "Give."

Niu Zhen took the White Lotus Sect secret pill and swallowed it without hesitation, the familiar taste echoed in his taste buds, and then he took a deep breath, feeling much better in his chest, and at the same time, there was also a burst of warmth in his abdomen.

After a while, Niu Zhencai asked, "How long have I been unconscious?" Tang Yin replied, "It's been almost an hour.

With that, she turned around and wanted to leave. "Holy Maiden." Niu Zhen hurriedly called Tang Yin.

Hearing this, Tang Yin paused, turned his back to Niu Zhen, and said quietly, "What's the matter?" "The Sect Master can be here?"

"I'm the only one here."

Niu Zhen opened his mouth to speak, but sighed again and finally gave up.

He is one of the two protectors of the White Lotus Sect, holding the most elite troops of the White Lotus Sect, he has always maintained a mysterious and hidden state before, and he has accepted the command of the sect leader Bai Yu in a single line, and he has no friendship with Tang Yin, so how can he pray to the other party to help him speak in front of the sect leader? What's more, this big defeat was obviously a matter of being caught, but it was made like this by himself, doesn't the sect leader need a scapegoat with a black cauldron?

"The leader of the sect is such a hero, and he is getting older, but he has no bodhisattva heart at all, and he acts viciously...... I'm afraid they won't let me go this time." The more Niu Zhen thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Niu Zhen's eyes were gloomy, and his heart was full of remorse and despair. Why are you so unlucky?

You call this terrifyingly powerful thing that can hit sixty or seventy paces a firebolt? No one told me before the war!

said that the city is empty of defense, and you only need to follow the water gate to drive straight in and capture Jiang Xinghuo? Who knew that Jiang Xinghuo still had such a secret weapon?!

After this battle, Niu Zhen's previous war creed was shaken.

In the face of the dimensionality reduction strikes of new firearms and artillery, the so-called warriors under his command are particularly ridiculous.

The less afraid you are of death, the farther you rush, the faster you will die

。

What kind of group charge, it's simply queuing up to send people to the door!

Niu Zhen thought silently, now don't say anything about capturing Jiang Xinghuo, even his own life may not be guaranteed, although Bai Baiyu, the old horseman, is good to him, but it is because he has used it in the past.

And right now, I'm afraid that my ability to lead troops to fight has been greatly reduced in Bai Baiyu's eyes.

And the soldiers and horses are all lost, this is the family wealth that Bai Yu has saved for I don't know how many years! It's not comparable to those bandits in the Wuthering Mountains and forests on the front line of Taihu Lake!

Therefore, it is almost natural for the sect leader to kill him to appease the resentment of the people in the sect.

The current situation is difficult, seeing that Niu Zhen looked dejected, Tang Yindai frowned lightly, and her heart was even more irritable, and her tone became a little cold and distant: "If it's okay, I'll go first!"

After speaking, Tang Yin did not hesitate, and walked directly outside.

"Wait!"

But Niu Zhen suddenly stopped her.

Tang Yin stopped, turned his head to look at Niu Zhen, and asked, "What's the matter?" Niu Zhen gritted his teeth and whispered a word.

Tang Yin's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he looked straight at Niu Zhen. "You're crazy!"

After a long time, she snorted suddenly. "I'm not crazy, it's the only way."

Niu Zhen stared at the pretty cheeks that were faintly visible under Tang Yin's veil, and said word by word:

"In this battle, you have also seen it, it is impossible for us to fight against Jiang Xinghuo with this little capital! Jiang Xinghuo is a person who is decisive and well-planned, and he doesn't know how many hole cards he has in his hand, if I want to confront him head-on, I have no chance of winning at all! This kind of immortal-like existence is simply not something we can deal with!"

"We can't deal with it, so why don't we invite the childless mother out?"

Tang Yin's carefully planned matter of Pu Shen's request for life had already failed, and since he had been defeated in Jiang Xinghuo's hands for a while, of course he understood where Niu Zhen's sense of despair came from.

Therefore, at the moment, she is actually saying it angrily, and this kind of words is not appropriate, she will not say it at all in normal times, it can be seen that the current situation is really bad, and Tang Yin is also a little unscrupulous.

Seeing that Niu Zhen didn't speak, Tang Yin woke up and was stunned for a while.

"Do you think that even if the childless mother was really born, she is not Jiang Xinghuo's opponent? He's not an immortal, he's just a man!"

Niu Zhen smiled bitterly, "But what is the difference between Jiang Xinghuo's ability and that of an immortal? Calling for wind and rain, increasing the yield of acres of fields, killing people is like cutting grass..... All kinds of supernatural powers, it's the immortals, that's it, right?"

"He won't agree to us going dormant, but now, only by taking the opportunity to relocate and disperse the White Lotus Sect Helm can we have any hope of survival! You must not go head-to-head with Jiang Xinghuo!"

Niu Zhenqiang stood up with his weak body, walked to the window, looked at the south from afar, and whispered, "We must hurry up, otherwise the Ming army will attack the Taihu front line in a big way, and the entire White Lotus Sect will be finished!"

Tang Yin pursed his lips and stared at Niu Zhen noncommittally.

Niu Zhen continued, "I admit that I was indeed confused, and I shouldn't have listened to his nonsense and underestimated Jiang Xinghuo's ability....... But after all, this is his order, and I am indeed loyal to him, and I can only carry it out. However, this doesn't mean that I will watch as more than 100,000 members of my White Lotus Sect are slaughtered by the Ming army, right?"

"And, don't forget, it was his idea, but he won't admit he's wrong like I did."

Niu Zhen's eyes were gloomy: "After all, he will never make a mistake."

Tang Yin was silent for a while, and then said, "I don't understand what you said."

At the same time, in a green building a few miles away from here, Bai Yu, the leader of the White Lotus Sect, stood in front of the window on the third floor, witnessing the scene of the White Lotus Sect's elite being chased and killed by the Ming army after the rout.

The old man's face was cloudy, and he gritted his teeth and whispered, "Niu Zhen! Incompetent! In vain, I have lifted you up like this! Damn it!"

After that, he actually covered his chest and gasped for a moment

, only to calm down the agitation in his heart.

However, even so, the old man's head was still a little dazed, and he was sullen and not very conscious. As soon as he finished speaking, a black-robed man hurriedly walked in.

"See the Master, the matter has been clarified."

"Hmm." Bai Baiyu turned his head to stare at the black-robed man and asked, "How did our army rout?" Tell me about the specifics."

"Sect Leader Qiyu, his subordinates personally led people to interrogate several defeated soldiers, and after investigation, it was found that the Ming army used secret weapons!"

"Secret weapon?" Bai Tianyu frowned and fell into deep thought, "No wonder it will be so miserable, it turns out that there is a secret weapon, but where does this thing come from?"

The black-robed man informed Bai Bai Yu of the news he got from the mouth of the rout, and when Bai Baiyu heard that the Ming army's guns could shoot sixty or seventy steps, and the artillery could easily use mules to pull the horses to the street to open fire, Rao was such a well-informed person as him, and he still couldn't help but gasp!

You must know that this kind of sharp weapon is simply the existence of God blocking and killing God and Buddha blocking and killing Buddha!

I'm afraid that the lifeless mother is here, and in the face of this real physical damage, she can't resist it, right?!

You must know that before the opening of the Age of Discovery, Huaxia's gunpowder technology and cannon casting technology were not said to be the world's leading level, and they were definitely not too far behind, and there was no generation difference between versions.

Therefore, Bai Baiyu has seen thousands of pounds of stone cannons of the Yuan army since he was young, and when he followed the Red Turban Army uprising, he also saw the iron cannon used by Chen Youliang in the troubled times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, but no matter what it is, even the heavy artillery developed and used after the founding of the Ming Dynasty cannot be quickly maneuvered.

And there were a lot of firecrackers in the Ming Dynasty before, but the firecrackers in Baiyu's cognition, that is, the original firecrackers that have not been replaced by the firestrings, the material standards and process standards required are often not up to standard, and the yield rate is extremely low.

According to the narration of the man in black, the Ming army should be holding a powerful artillery in his hand, at least the same power as the previous three-thousand-pound general cannon, but the weight will definitely not be particularly heavy, because some people saw that the Ming army could achieve rapid maneuvering of artillery on a flat stone road with four war horses.

Bai Baiyu pondered for a moment, and finally thought of only one possibility: "The Ming army may have some secret method for making artillery, otherwise it is absolutely impossible to have such a powerful and mobile new weapon." "Jiang Xinghuo."

The old man's eyes looked at the Shanghai County Government in the distance. "Did you do that too?"

After a pause, the man in black added, "In addition, the sect member who fled also said that this Ming army's firearms are not fired all at once, but every once in a while, they can shoot a projectile."

"According to the inference of the subordinates, the Ming army is not only a tactical advantage in the queue, but also has a much faster launch speed than the original firecracker, which can even be said to be a world of difference! Some people also saw that the Ming army had a weapon similar to a short knife, which could be carried by the soldiers and used in conjunction with the firecracker, and when it came to close combat, it was like a spear...... Therefore, the charge of the warriors in the sect, even if they rushed in front of the Ming army, could not break through the barrier of the gunline."

"If that's the case, it's even more troublesome."

Bai Baiyu was stunned for a moment, shook his head and sighed.

The black-robed man hesitated for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Sect Master, have you considered giving up on confronting the Ming army head-on?"

"Give up?"

The old man sneered: "This seat has been walking on the rivers and lakes since he was a child, and since the Red Turban Army uprising, how many years have he been crisscrossing the rivers and lakes? How can you give up so easily? What's the matter, you were scared of Jiang Xinghuo?" The black-robed man did not dare to speak.

"Don't waste the chess pieces you planted before, and escort this seat out of the city tomorrow by that route."

After speaking, Bai Baiyu turned around and walked to a secret room in the Qinglou, and ordered, "Immediately send a group of secret guards from the torture hall to execute the left protector Niu Zhen."

The black-robed man nodded This is the rule of the White Lotus Sect, the canon rules cannot be insulted, Niu Zhen buried the elite of the sect, and he should be punished by the canon.

What's more, with the sect leader being so ruthless, how could he not find a suitable scapegoat for the responsibility for the failure of a major operation?

Who is the right scapegoat?

Who else could there be other than Niu Zhen, who was directly responsible for commanding the battle and had a high enough status? "Remember, be quick! Don't drag mud and water!"

The black-robed man promised and said, "Subordinates obey!"

The sound of soldiers on the streets has stopped, and the city of Shanghai under the cover of night is particularly quiet. In the county office, two men in official robes were sitting at a table drinking tea.

"Lord Prefect, I heard that this new type of firearm and artillery was made by the craftsmen of the Inner Court Military Bureau and the Ministry of Industry Weapons Bureau under the personal guidance of the National Teacher?"

Zhang Shouyue, the magistrate of Shanghai County, asked tentatively.

"Since this is the case, Director Sun of the Ministry of Industry has told this official about this, and it is absolutely true." Huang Ziwei, the prefect of Songjiang, was very interested tonight, and replied with a smile.

"The national teacher is really a genius."

Zhang Shouyue sighed sincerely, and then changed his words: "Lord Prefect, the lower officials are working with you for the New Year, they know your difficulties, and they have to be hindered by the gentry in everything...... Now that the National Teacher is here, you can be considered to be able to show your strength!"

Huang Ziwei put down the teacup and looked at the Shanghai magistrate in front of him, who actually didn't have a deep friendship with him, or was closer to the gentry, which was quite meaningful.

"You came to tell me these words?"

"Hundreds of thousands of people in Shanghai County think the same way."

Huang Ziwei smiled, what people think so, I'm afraid that the local gentry want Zhang Shouyu to express his attitude euphemistically.

"Show your strengths, this official is also the fist and foot stretched out by the imperial court, and wherever the national teacher asks this official to fight, he naturally has to fight."

"The national teacher won't make a move on his own people." Zhang Shouyue smiled with him.

Huang Ziwei knocked on the teacup, almost no longer concealing: "The law-abiding gentry are their own people." "Xia Guan understands, understands!" Zhang Shouyue said again and again.

However, although the words were explicit, seeing that Huang Zhifu did not mean to take care of it, Zhang Shouyue's heart was relieved.

When the national teacher first came here a few days ago, the local gentry could not be called happy to cooperate.

After all, they had all heard about how the national teacher forced the gentry there to pay for grain in Huating County. But if it weren't forced by the situation, who would be willing to donate their family's food to the imperial court?

However, as the saying goes, the current situation is very different.

Dahuangpu-Shanghaipu, as soon as this waterway is opened, the defeat of the White Lotus rebels in the Taihu Lake area is decided.

And tonight, the White Lotus Sect opened the city gate by some means, and it seemed that it was going to kill the national teacher and his party, but to everyone's surprise, it was easily killed by the army equipped with new firearms and artillery in the hands of the national teacher.

The one-sided slaughter of the fire gun team, as well as the white lotus thief being lined up to be killed, this scene was witnessed by many people, so the news spread all over the city.

The difference in combat effectiveness can be easily seen as long as it is an individual, regardless of whether he knows the soldiers or not.

Therefore, the military victory can easily affect other aspects, and seeing that the mud of the White Lotus Sect can't support the wall, it really can't be done...... It seems to outsiders that this is indeed the case, they have already opened the city gate and raided, it can be said that they are unprepared, it should be a pot like Li Yuxue's night attack on Caizhou, right?

But the result?

On the contrary, it was easily won by the national teacher!

As a result, the attitude of the local gentry in Shanghai County took a 180-degree turn, and they urgently contacted their agent Zhang Shouyu to express his position with the prefect of Songjiang.

Why did you look for Huang Zhifu instead of directly looking for the national teacher?

This is because now everyone knows that Huang Ziwei, the prefect of Songjiang, has vaguely become the right-hand man of the national teacher, and all the actions of the national teacher in Songjiang Mansion during this period are basically Huang Ziwei's help, which can be said to have no credit and a lot of hard work.

And once the chaos in Jiangnan is calmed down, this Huang Governor will have a bright future!

The prefect of Songjiang is the fourth product, take a step forward, but he will enter the center as a little Jiuqing.

Even if you stay put, and then help the national teacher preside over the local law change, accumulate some qualifications and merits, and then transfer to the center, no

Is it also a skyrocketing pattern?

It must be known that although the president's law change affairs yamen does not clearly stipulate what grade of yamen it is, the vice presidents and officials are all serious national princes and squires, not to mention the same level as the six departments.

Isn't it all the national teachers who have the final say on the personnel there? Raise Huang Ziwei to a vice president, and take half a step to turn around, that is, to enter the sixth department as a waiter and a scholar, and it is also a smooth road.

Who doesn't want to progress? Zhang Shouyue also thought, therefore, not only on behalf of the local gentry, but also on behalf of the local gentry, he himself also stammered the prefect who was held in mid-air by the gentry in the past, and there was a way to stand in line and change the law in the future.

After all, smart people can see that changing the law may not be successful, but taking this road, making meritorious achievements and promotions must be fast!

Huang Ziwei also experienced the different attitudes of others towards him, and naturally there was a trace of happiness in his heart, but he also knew that all this was brought to him by the national teacher Jiang Xinghuo, and he didn't dare to promise anything indiscriminately, but just scribbled a few perfunctory words about Zhang Shou.

At this moment, someone suddenly came to report.

"Governor Huang, the national teacher asks you to come over to discuss the matter."

In Zhang Shouyue's envious gaze, Huang Ziwei got up, saluted slightly, and then walked towards the Yaneitang of Shanghai County, which was occupied by the national teacher.

At this time, the entire inner hall of the yamen was already full of people, and everyone was extremely excited. These people, of course, are not civilians, but soldiers.

More than an hour ago, Zhu Yong and the musket team led by him finally stopped attacking and slowly retreated to their original places.

The cavalry team and the city defense army, under the leadership of their respective commanders, continued to chase and fight the defeated White Lotus thieves.

It was only now that the count of casualties and results began.

When you don't know how much you don't know, you don't realize how terrifying the killing efficiency of the new way of warfare is.

When comparing the list of battle-damaged personnel of the Ming army and the severed head of the White Lotus Thief, the soldiers were surprised to find that against this group of elite White Lotus Thieves, their psychological expectation was that the exchange ratio of one to five and one to ten was already a great victory.

However, the statistics on paper are 1 to 40!

If you deduct the casualties of the city defense guards, the battle loss ratio between the two sides has reached an astonishing one to one hundred! Yes, only a dozen people died in the fire and cavalry teams, and the White Lotus thieves of more than a thousand people were almost wiped out!

This result deeply shocked these officers who had just come out of the Battle of Jingjing.

Although the enemy is not particularly strong, although this is only a local peaceful battle, this figure can already fully explain the problem.

In particular, the victory of this battle is a hasty counterattack after encountering a well-planned surprise attack by the enemy, which is particularly rare.

Just imagine, if the two sides face each other and the two armies face each other, who can be sure that the battle loss ratio will not be more amazing?

At this time, Zheng He recalled Jiang Xinghuo's prophecy about the evolution of future military technology and warfare methods in the edict, and he had a feeling of sudden enlightenment.

When Jiang Xinghuo bragged every cow in prison, he began to gradually become a reality in front of everyone.

This sense of unreality has become more and more intense.

Zheng He has been a little incomprehensible until now...... Or rather, it's hard to believe that this amazing result.

And Zheng He knows very well that this battle report, which does not contain any water and can be said to be full of gold, will cause much uproar in the Ming military circles after it is transmitted back to Nanjing!

"The new firearms of the national teacher are really powerful!"

"The national teacher is really a god! These nearly 2,000 White Lotus thieves had the advantage of a surprise attack, but they were really destroyed by our backhand!"

"The national teacher is mighty! Our army is strong!"

Huang Ziwei looked at the atmosphere in the hall like boiling water, silently picked up a place to sit down, and waited for the national teacher to come.

As soon as Jiang Xinghuo Fu entered the door, he ushered in countless warm welcomes.

The soldiers hammered their breastplates with their fists and stood up respectfully to salute the national teacher, which was almost their highest respect.

The old officers can still hold on, but the younger generation can't sit still for a long time, especially those military cadets, who are even more eager to hold Jiang Xinghuo.

Under the teaching of President Jiang, how honored should it be to personally create an army that will determine the shape of future warfare?

Who can say that two generations after the founding of the Han Dynasty, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing came out, and at this moment, just like that time, Daming also reached this point in time, among these people, why wouldn't there be a figure like Wei Qing and Huo Quai?

"Haha, happy!"

Zhu Yong excitedly slapped the firearm in his hand, his face turned red with excitement, and he frantically crushed and slaughtered the enemy, this feeling was like the refreshment after eating and drinking.

"Report!"

At this time, Xu Jingchang hurriedly came: "All the White Lotus thieves who are still resisting have been killed!"

Jiang Xinghuo snorted lightly, and then said: "Let the sons and daughters work harder, increase the search intensity, and continue to search for the remnants of the White Lotus Party, especially pay attention to those caught fish hiding in private houses, knock on the door to confirm from door to door, and absolutely do not allow the fish that slip through the net to cause disaster to the people in the market."

"The student obeyed!" Xu Jingchang agreed, and wanted to leave. "Wait!"

Jiang Xinghuo suddenly stopped him: "Do you remember what I told you before, if the White Lotus Thief surrenders, then it's okay, collect the weapons first, and then dispose of them, don't let them jump over the wall in a hurry, the people are innocent...... But if you stubbornly resist, you don't have to be polite."

"Students understand!" Xu Jingchang nodded solemnly.

At this time, Huang Ziwei hurriedly walked up to Jiang Xinghuo, and repeated what the local gentry in Shanghai County had entrusted Zhang Shouyue to him to say to him just now, and repeated it to the national teacher.

Jiang Xinghuo bowed slightly, and said, "However, if you want to be a law-abiding gentry now, it's still a little late, and the price code will be more."

"What do you mean?"

A smile flashed in Jiang Xinghuo's eyes: "The land around Dahuangpu and even Shanghaipu, especially the land suitable for growing cotton, has to be given up to the national division."

Huang Ziwei nodded clearly, this is the proper meaning of the question, and the price code offered before is naturally not applicable now.

Otherwise, this great victory was not fought in vain?

"In addition, after searching the whole city tomorrow, the national division will supervise the delivery of grain and grass to the front line of Taihu Lake to completely quell the rebellion of the White Lotus Thieves, so before leaving, we must invite the local gentry to have a meal...... All food must be given to the national division; The gentry also had to contribute to the establishment of the Greater Huangpu New Town and the handicraft workshop area of the cotton textile industry."

Jiang Xinghuo's distant gaze looked at the southeast.

What is he doing with all his might, what is he doing these days? Isn't it just to find a piece of land for the dragon to hatch? Isn't it to promote the progress of history?

Right now, he's about to achieve his goal. "Otherwise.

Jiang Xinghuo's smile froze.

"The national division doesn't mind a few more heads of the rebels, and all the officers present are probably eager to kill a few more White Lotus Sect internal responses.