Yuzhou, Yangcheng County.

Xiao Jiu rode the brown-red horse under him, looking up at the towering walls of the county town, followed by a group of Lingshui County soldiers.

"Lord, let's go into the city quickly."

On the city tower, Jin Zi was wearing armor and waved his arms and shouted at Xiao Jiu and Xiao Zi's camp soldiers outside the city.

Xiao Jiu smiled slightly when he saw this, and then led everyone behind him into the city together.

Now that Yangcheng County has been taken, it is completely in the hands of Xiao Jiu.

The rebel army in Yuzhou was unable to organize an effective counterattack due to various reasons such as food and soldiers, and could only watch Xiao Jiu gradually encroach on Yangcheng County.

To have the current situation, Xiao Jiu only felt that he was a little lucky.

From the initial precariousness to the current county guard, there are too many hardships and adventures, and if you can survive, the element of luck accounts for a large proportion.

Of course, what is more important is that there is a group of subordinates who have always been loyal to Xiao Jiu to expand their territory and resolutely implement Xiao Jiu's orders.

Needless to say, after the land reform, Xiao Jiu's prestige among the people reached an unprecedented peak.

But for Yangcheng County, Yuzhou, a place that has just been accepted, Xiao Jiu is not much different from the previous officials, but he is more merciful in comparison.

This time, Xiao Jiu took the soldiers of Xiao Zi's battalion and rushed from Lingshui County to Lingshui County, in addition to seeing this city that nominally belonged to him with his own eyes, but also to fulfill his promise.

When the new army was formed, Lingshui County promised that the local people would carry out land reform in Yangcheng County after the rebels were driven out.

After hearing the promise given by Jinzi, the local poor people began to join the new army one after another, and supported the soldiers of the Xiaozi Battalion in Lingshui County to enter Yangcheng.

When Xiao Jiu entered the city, Jin Zi, who had become unsmiling on weekdays, narrowed his eyes with a smile.

"Owner of the village, you are finally here, the soldiers of the cavalry battalion have been waiting for a long time."

Xiao Jiu nodded slightly when he heard this, patted the back of Jinzi's hand and said slowly: "There are still some important things to deal with in Lingshui County before, and you have worked hard for this time." ”

Listening to Xiao Jiu's commendation, the smile on Jin Zi's face became even worse, and he was secretly in his heart.

Jin Zi led his cavalry battalion to take Yangcheng County by sweep, and it has become a shining light in the military group of Lingshui County, and with this prestige, there are already some second-in-command postures.

Xiao Jiu also has great trust in Jinzi, and since Jin Zi led the army to the expedition, he basically has not asked too much, and the other party has lived up to Xiao Jiu's high expectations.

As a result, Zhang Ben, who has been staying in his hometown since Xiao Jiu became the commander of Lingshui County, was overshadowed by gold.

Looking at the soldiers of the Xiao Zi Battalion who happily entered Yangcheng County, Zhang Ben, who was riding on the horse, was a little stunned.

Along the way, although Zhang Ben and Jin Zi have also experienced life and death together, but now the other party has made great achievements and he has done nothing, which really makes him lose his face.

"Don't think about it, there will be a time to show your strength in the future."

Looking at Zhang Ben, who was stunned, the old horse who accompanied the army reminded him of relief.

He knew that Zhang Ben must be holding a breath in his heart at this time, but he couldn't do anything about it, he could only comfort.

Zhang Ben nodded slowly when he heard this, his eyes looked at the towering city tower and secretly swore in his heart.

"One day, I'll let everyone look up to me."

Following Xiao Jiu through strong winds and waves, the old men such as Zhang Ben and Jin Zi are no longer the mountain bandits they used to be.

As their power continued to expand, they also began to think from the perspective of their superiors.

Ambition never takes root in the heart at an early age, but grows with age as the horizon broadens.

Zhang Ben and Jin Zi, as Xiao Jiu's right-hand men, although they don't have any great skills, they have always been reused because of their loyalty.

Now that the gold has turned into a dragon, Zhang Ben has also begun to secretly compete, vowing to make a difference.

Not long after Xiao Jiu led a group of soldiers from the Xiao Zi Battalion from Lingshui County into the city, Yangcheng County ushered in a vigorous land reform.

The land reform in Yangcheng County is basically a copy of Lingshui County, and Xiao Jiu has some Lingshui County soldiers who have gone deep into the grassroots to establish proletarian guilds.

Then, through the guild, militia groups were selected and organized in the local area to carry out activities to fight local tyrants and divide the land.

Unlike the peasant rebel army in Yuzhou, Xiao Jiu already had some experience in land reform in Lingshui County.

At this time, with reference to Lingshui County, everything became simpler to carry out reforms in Yangcheng County.

Xiao Jiu and his Lingshui County Group already have a mature plan for organizing a grassroots power structure in various villages and towns.

With the progress of land reform activities, some landlords in Yangcheng County who have been hereditary landowners for many years have been uprooted one by one, and many of the peasants who have been oppressed for a long time have cried with joy after they got their own land.

No matter how the dynasty changes, how can those high-ranking and powerful people ever see the sorrow of the people at the bottom.

Xing, the people suffer; Death, the people suffer.

Now it is different, as long as the land reform policy can be carried out smoothly, they themselves will be the owners of the land in the future.

And after receiving the land, they don't have to pay high taxes and rent, which they didn't dare to imagine before.

In addition, Xiao Jiu also reorganized the Xiao Zi Battalion and the new troops newly recruited in Yangcheng County.

Xiao Jiu divided his soldiers into two divisions to establish the Lingshui Military Region and the Yangcheng Military Region, with Jin Zi and Zhang Ben serving as their respective commanders.

Although both armies carried the banner of the Xiao Zi Battalion, they were actually divided into two groups.

In this way, Zhang Ben and Jin Zi were both promoted.

Jin Zi gained more soldiers, and Zhang Ben became a general who led the troops alone.

After that, Xiao Jiu will gradually shift the focus of power to Yangcheng County, after all, he still has the name of a Yangcheng County Guard.

For the new army formed by Jin Zi in Yangcheng County, Xiao Jiu didn't want to promote too many people in a short period of time, so the status of those old people who followed Xiao Jiu in Lingshui County also rose.

Those who followed Xiao Jiu all the way from Hare Mountain to the current one with the lowest rank also became centurions.

It's not that Xiao Jiu doesn't want to reuse those who have real talents and learning, it's just that his own development is too fast now, so he can only let him reuse some henchmen who know the roots.

In addition, Xiao Jiu also decided to transfer the military rations he had hoarded in Lingshui County to Yangcheng County in batches.

There are also multiple considerations for doing this, first of all, Zhang Ben is leading the troops alone, although Xiao Jiu still trusts Zhang Ben, but once someone secretly intersperses and provokes, Lingshui County, which is independent of the military and government, will definitely make a lot of trouble for itself.

Secondly, Xiao Jiu wants to continue to expand the army in Yangcheng County, and now the situation in the world is turbulent, and only by seizing the military power can he think about other things.

Now there are still a large number of rebel rebels entrenched in Yuzhou, and there are some big families who are hindering them behind their backs, which strengthens Xiao Jiu's idea of expanding the army.

Even if you tighten your belt, you have to pull the army up, otherwise once the enemy comes in, everything you have now will eventually become someone else's wedding dress.

After determining these, the entire Yangcheng County was completely mobilized, and it was in full swing in the context of land reform.

During this period, Xiao Jiu also organized the newly established New Army to go out to various towns and villages to suppress the landlord rebellion and the threat of mountain bandits in the territory, which was also the first time to train soldiers.

As long as this momentum continues, Yangcheng County will inevitably be a new atmosphere before the Chinese New Year.

After everything was arranged, Xiao Jiu moved the headquarters from the county government in Lingshui County to the city lord's mansion in Yangcheng, and Li Luoyao was also taken over.

Xiao Jiu roughly counted the soldiers in his hand, counting that the new army that had just been formed already had a strength of nearly 20,000 troops, and it would continue to expand the army in the future.

Two-thirds of the troops were the Yuzhou New Army in Yangcheng County, and most of the soldiers in Lingshui County were still stationed in Lingshui County because they were unable to leave their homeland.

It's just that the generals of the new army in Yangcheng County are all Qingzhou people, and they also adopt new training methods, and the overall efficiency has greatly increased.

Now Xiao Jiu has actually become a powerful figure with heavy troops, and those who didn't take Xiao Jiu seriously have to start re-examining Xiao Jiu with a different eye.

Needless to say, the Kyoto Imperial Court naturally threw a wooing attitude to Xiao Jiu.

Dazai Li Li, who was previously stripped of power, was also able to regain his position as a pivotal figure in the court because of his son-in-law Xiao Jiu.

At the same time, Wen Jie, who was crowned as the governor of Yuzhou, also launched a series of layouts in Yang County, Qingzhou.

……

Qingzhou, Yang County.

Wen Jie, accompanied by a group of officials, climbed the tower of the county seat of Yangjun County and was test-firing the cannon that had just been sent from Lingshui County.

Wen Jie watched several Xiao Zi battalion soldiers from Lingshui County load their shells in an orderly manner, and did not dare to let go of any detail.

He had seen the power of cannons on the battlefield before, but he was also a little curious about how to use this weapon.

When the cannonballs were loaded, the soldiers got up from the cannon placed on the tower and reported to Wen Jie.

Seeing that the preparations were ready, Wen Jie slowly nodded and motioned for the artillery soldiers to continue.

The soldier who fiddled with the cannon didn't talk nonsense, and directly lit the fuse and fired.

As the lead on the butt of the cannon barrel gradually shortened, the people on the castle tower shrank their hearts to their throats.

"Peng~"

With a loud bang, the cannonballs burst out of the thick barrels and blasted out of the city, blasting a puddle of debris on the ground outside the city.

When the cannon sound passed, the officials of Yang County on the city tower looked down at the city, and they were all so shocked that they were a little speechless.

"Okay."

I have been paying attention to the whole process of the cannon firing and felt the amazing power brought by the cannon, and I couldn't help but applaud, and everyone around me echoed it.

Wen Jie purchased cannons from Xiao Jiu in order to prevent Qingzhou Lu Yaoliang and some families from leading troops to come, and now having this weapon also gave him more confidence in his heart.

Wen Jie faintly felt that these wealthy families in Qingzhou couldn't wait, but they didn't know how many families this war would destroy?