The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chongzhen ninth year, July [-]th.

At Pingdan, Hong Chengchou had already led the troops out of the camp, and Zu Kuan, He Renlong, Cao Bianjiao and other generals led tens of thousands of cavalry and rushed all the way to the north.

In Yan'an Mansion, only Cao Wenzhao and Liu Shaozong, the general soldier of Gansu, are confronting Li Zicheng, so Hong Chengchou has not completely relaxed even though he has achieved an unprecedented victory.

If Li Zicheng is not eliminated, there will be no peace in Shaanxi.

After Hong Chengchou led the troops to leave in a hurry, the control over all the remaining soldiers and horses naturally returned to Sun Chuanting's hands.

Before Chen Wang could go to see Sun Chuanting, he received the military order from Sun Chuanting to summon him.

Sun Chuanting did not move the camp, and the Chinese military tent was still on the mountainside of Beishan.

Chen Wang walked all the way up from the temporary camp at the foot of the mountain. At this time, there were not many people in the camp on the mountainside of Beishan, and there were only a few soldiers guarding the camp. It was not until he reached the position of the central army that there were gradually more soldiers on the road. stand up.

Most of the soldiers were sent out to clean up the battlefield. In the battle of Heishuiyu, as many as tens of thousands of people died, and the corpses piled up like a mountain.

Just cleaning the battlefield and disposing of the corpses would take a lot of time.

Moreover, part of the soldiers had to be separated to watch the prisoners, so the number of soldiers left in the barracks was naturally even fewer.

There were a total of more than 4 troops in the Chuang army. There were many casualties, and not many escaped. Most of them dropped their weapons and chose to surrender.

These captives are now placed in a valley on the east mountain of Heishuiyu, guarded by the guerrilla Li Yingke.

When he walked to the tent, Chen Wang met Zhang Er, a thousand rooster, and Huanglong, a Dou Gu.

When identifying Gao Yingxiang's corpse before, Chen Wang met the two of them, so he also remembered their appearance.

Sun Chuanting left more than a thousand soldiers for each of them, and let them each lead a battalion alone.

But now all the weapons and armor of the soldiers under their command have naturally been confiscated, and they are temporarily placed in a temporary camp, and special personnel are also sent to monitor them.

But just like Hong Chengchou took in Gao Jie, Sun Chuanting also took the two of them into his servants.

When they saw Chen Wang, their expressions changed, and they hurried to the side of the road and knelt down to salute.

The two of them chose to make merit anyway, but what Sun Chuanting promised them was nothing more than a guerrilla attack.

Chen Wang was originally a general in the Hanzhong Mansion, after beheading Gao Yingxiang this time, he fell into the favor of the superiors, and he is afraid that he will be able to rise to the top in the future.

Chen Wang's eyes flicked past the two of them, and he nodded as a courtesy.

In history, these two people have not appeared in history books since Gao Yingxiang's death, and they are not important figures.

Most of them died on the road of constant advance and suppression.

but……

Chen Wang had already walked past where the two were, but he slowed down.

Like Gao Jie, these two people were completely on the opposite side of the rogues.

Gao Jie put a hat on Li Zicheng, and he could only follow the Ming army all the way to Hei.

However, Zhang Er, a thousand rooster, and Huanglong, a Dougu, betrayed Gao Yingxiang. At present, no one in the battalion leader of the 72nd Battalion wants to kill them quickly.

Whether they really want to avenge Gao Yingxiang, or they want to use the heads of the two to establish prestige.

The two of them could only follow the Ming army all the way to the dark, and it was absolutely impossible for them to join the ranks of rogues.

The reputation of the two is extremely bad, and they were born in bandits, so they can be used to do some dirty work in the future...

With a plan in mind, Chen Wang happened to walk outside the tent of the Chinese army.

Sun Chuanting's personal guard outside the tent seemed to have reported him when he came, so he immediately opened the curtain.

Chen Wang lowered his head, calmed down a little, and then walked into the big tent.

"Humble job Chen Wang, knock on the gate of the army."

Chen Wang lowered his head and bowed down. Although it seemed that Sun Chuanting did not value form as much as Hong Chengchou, Chen Wang still did all the necessary etiquette.

"General Chen is exempt from ceremony. I have never paid any attention to red tape in running the army. I don't need to bow down for ordinary rituals."

Sun Chuanting's voice came from above.

"Take a seat."

Chen Wang responded, stood up and sat down on the seat in the direction Sun Chuanting pointed.

"You wait for me for a while."

Sun Chuanting leaned over the case, as if he was approving something, and there were several thick stacks of documents on his desk.

After listening to Sun Chuanting's words, Chen Wang naturally wouldn't bother him. Anyway, many things are not in a hurry now.

In the past, it would take a whole day to stand guard and guard, but now it is no problem for Chen Wang to wait a while.

Chen Wang didn't wait for a long time. After half a quarter of an hour, Sun Chuanting raised his head from a pile of documents.

"The four guards in Xi'an have serious abuses. These are all documents about the four guards."

Sun Chuanting put down the brush in his hand and sighed.

"The current Xi'an Four Guards can't be used as a barrier for Xi'an. Even if the Four Guards of Xi'an are close to the provincial capital, the rest of the places will only be worse..."

There are bandits everywhere, but there are no soldiers when you ask soldiers, and no pay when you ask soldiers.

This was the first and most urgent problem that Sun Chuanting encountered after he took office as governor of Shaanxi.

If there are no soldiers, they will be recruited. The first thing Sun Chuanting did when he took office was to select the elite and brave soldiers from the barracks of the guards in various places in Qin, and they were included in the supervising battalion as soldiers.

But there is no way to change the rate out of thin air without paying, and the tax collected every year has its own fixed amount.

However, Sun Chuanting already had a plan when he played the right match at the front of the palace. He successfully obtained Chongzhen's permission and the privilege of raising his own salary.

This is also the reason why Sun Chuanting defeated bandits repeatedly and almost wiped out the whole of Shaanxi during his tenure as the governor of Shaanxi.

It is precisely because of the privilege of raising their own salaries that Sun Chuanting's battalion soldiers are almost all paid in full, with few deductions, so everyone dares to fight and the generals serve their lives.

Sun Chuanting in history, after defeating Gao Yingxiang, began to rectify various ills in Shaanxi Province.

Sun Chuanting's first policy was to reorganize the guards, to increase classes in Qingtun, and to benefit the people.

To put it simply, it is to reorganize the guard, check and clear the fields.

The first rectification is the front, back, left, and right four guards in Xi'an Mansion.

The current Sun Chuanting is probably also preparing to start to eliminate the ills.

As the governor, Sun Chuanting has the power to manage various health stations in Shaanxi Province.

Not long after taking office, Sun Chuanting found out most of the things and found out the shortcomings of the guard.

The original guards and fields have already become empty names in various places, and the original system of "giving land to the army and supporting the army with the land" has already completely collapsed.

Most of the original settlements of the various guards and armies were annexed, or the fields were bullied and hidden due to the exchange of military rations.

The guards are poor, the sergeants are miserable, and even the generals are rarely wealthy.

What Chen Wang wanted was to take advantage of Sun Chuanting's shareholder style of wanting to increase classes in Qingtun to control the power of the internal guards in Hanzhong Prefecture.

Sun Chuanting paused for a moment, remembering his original purpose, so he didn't continue the topic of Xi'an Four Guards.

"You should know that you will be able to be promoted to lieutenant general after the military merits are reported and the merits are judged this time."

Chen Wang nodded. He had calculated that most of the time he would only be promoted to the rank of deputy commander.

And because of my age, I am afraid that I will not continue to be promoted for subsequent meritorious deeds. At least I will not be promoted again until I am 30 years old, or I will be promoted again after making great achievements such as beating Gao Yingxiang.

"The army has a lot of trust, and the humble job can only be done with all your heart."

Sun Chuanting waved his hands. He had heard too much of these empty words since he took office.

"The strategy has been decided, and you will lead the troops back to the Hanzhong mansion in a few days."

"There are more than 30 thieves gathered in the two places of Xunxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Guoneng and other thieves are among them."

Sun Chuanting stared at Chen Wang and said in a deep voice.

"As far as I know, last year, the civil uprising in Fengxian County, Hanzhong Prefecture, affected many people. The black killer Zhang Yuan made a riot in Xixiang, and the guards and militiamen who attacked and suppressed had many casualties."

"Now there are only 3000 or [-] people left in the main army of the Hanzhong Mansion's Internal Guard. Of course, this is the number on the roster."

Sun Chuanting frowned slightly, with a solemn expression, and asked while leaning on the back of his chair.

"It's not a secret that the guards are corrupt and there is a shortage of places. You tell me the truth, how many people are capable of fighting in the Hanzhong Guards, and how many militias are there."

It is indeed no secret that the guards are corrupt. All the generals in Ming Dynasty are doing the thing of eating empty salary and drinking soldiers' blood. Those who don't do it can't afford to support soldiers, let alone fight.

However, Chen Wang thought for a while before answering Sun Chuanting's question.

"The militiamen in each city were recruited according to the old rules, and they increased during the war. There were three hundred in the small city, six hundred in the middle city, and a thousand in the big city. The four counties of Pingli, Xunyang, Baihe, and Shiquan were destroyed in the flames of war."

"There are currently thirteen cities left in Hanzhong Prefecture, with a total of 900 registered militiamen. Actually, there should be only a lot more, but the militiamen can only defend the city and are unable to fight in the field."

The militia is generally managed by the local officials, and the selection of soldiers is basically selected from the towns and cities, and there are some family members of the rich gentry and wealthy households to fill in. Most of their expenses are raised by the localities themselves, and some of them are donated by the people of the towns. Another part is from wealthy gentry and rich households.

After all, after the city was broken, the wealthy gentry and wealthy households in the city were the first to suffer, and they all knew it very well.

Therefore, the militia is generally full, or even exceeded.

Chen Wang lowered his head slightly and continued to report.

"The guards of Hanzhong Mansion have suffered heavy casualties after several battles. Now there are actually more than [-] soldiers. Half of them are assisting in the defense of Xing'an City, and the other part are assisting in the defense of Hanzhong City to protect the safety of King Rui."

"2000 people..."

Sun Chuanting frowned slightly, he did not doubt the number Chen Wang said now.

"If I remember correctly, Zhou Yumao's battalion has only 3000 soldiers and more than a thousand auxiliary soldiers. You have more than [-] soldiers and about [-] auxiliary soldiers."

Sun Chuanting tapped on the desktop, and looked at the map on the side of the desktop.

"That is to say, now the entire Hanzhong Mansion, counting the guards and auxiliary soldiers, only has more than 9000 people, less than ten thousand."

Chen Wang nodded and replied.

"Junmen remembers well, there are a total of 600 people."

"However, because I heard that the rebels were marching westward on a large scale, I temporarily recruited some people from among the captives and bandits to serve as civilian husbands and auxiliary soldiers to help defend Xing'an."

Sun Chuanting's eyes moved slightly, turning from the map on the desktop to Chen Wang.

Four thousand auxiliary soldiers, two thousand combat soldiers, this ratio is a little too big.

Although Sun Chuanting had only served as a governor in the Mainland before, he had been in office for nearly two months.

He also knows the real situation of the auxiliary soldiers in each battalion.

"Recruiting auxiliary soldiers reduces the burden on the soldiers and can also increase the combat power of the headquarters. I have no objection to this matter."

Sun Chuanting thought for a moment, then made a point.

"However, they were rogues after all, and General Chen Shen must restrain the military discipline of the headquarters."

Chen Wang understood what Sun Chuanting meant, thought it over, and explained.

"The selection of auxiliary soldiers from humble positions is all selected from the sequence of rogue and hungry soldiers, and selected according to the selection method in the "Ji Xiao New Book"."

"The rogue cavalry are brave and brave, but many of them are rebellious and have a bad military discipline. These people are difficult to restrain, and they burn, kill and loot. They are used to bullying and cannot fight tough battles."

A flash of astonishment flashed in Sun Chuanting's eyes, most of the generals and schools recruited auxiliary soldiers were selected from the elite cavalry army among the rogues.

Because the fine cavalry army is basically veterans who have gone through several battles, with extraordinary skills and fierce fighting.

However, what Chen Wang said had some truth. The reason why he reminded Chen Wang to pay attention to military discipline was because he knew a lot about the situation.

Both Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong had many so-called auxiliary soldiers, and the prefectures and counties along the road suffered a lot from them. However, due to the lack of troops for the campaign, they needed to rely on them, so they could only let it go.

"The teacher said that you have general talent, so it seems that you are right."

Sun Chuanting took another high look at Chen Wang in his heart, no wonder Hong Chengchou was relieved to let Chen Wang guard Hanzhong Mansion alone.

"However, there are still too few soldiers in Hanzhong Mansion to fight. There are more than [-] bandits in Xunxiang and Xunxiang. If they go west again, I'm afraid the counties in Hanzhong will be ravaged again."

Sun Chuanting pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice.

"Moreover, the relationship between Hanzhong Mansion and Guanzhong Shuzhong is even more important."

"Nowadays, some chieftains in Sichuan Province are not peaceful. Some Sichuan soldiers need to guard against the chieftains, while the other part is rushing to help Huguang. Now Shangnei is quite empty. Once the rogues flee into Sichuan, the impact will definitely be serious."

"I called you here this time to ask you what you need to defend Hanzhong."

Chen Wang's expression moved slightly, he was really about to fall asleep, so he came to the pillow.

"Hanzhong Mansion has a lot to do with it, and its defense is heavy. The troops under the humble rank are weak, and they don't dare to entrust them with big things. There are indeed difficulties."

Chen Wang lowered his head, lowered his voice a little, and made himself look more sincere.

"The humble official knows that there are bandits everywhere in the province, and there is a serious shortage of troops to attack and suppress, so I dare not ask for reinforcements."

"Although the Hanzhong Guards suffered heavy casualties and are in a downturn, if they can be unified, they will be a considerable force that can be relied upon."

"Many fields in Hanzhong Mansion have been destroyed due to military disasters, and there are a lot of scattered people. The humble official thought that these people could be classified as military households to make up for the vacancies in Hanzhong Guard."

"Humble officers are good at training soldiers. Although the guards are unbearable, they are also confident that they will be trained into a strong army."

Chen Wang kept his tone as calm as possible, and said solemnly.

Chen Wang lowered his head and didn't hear Sun Chuanting's response for a long time.

Sun Chuanting didn't speak, and Chen Wang naturally didn't raise his head either. Doing anything at such a moment is superfluous.

Sun Chuanting stared at Chen Wang who was sitting down with his head bowed, carefully recalling what Chen Wang said.

At present, his military strength is indeed insufficient, it can be said that it is stretched, and it is true that he does not have any extra troops to assist Hanzhong Mansion.

However, the threat facing Hanzhong Mansion is real, and it urgently needs to replenish its strength.

If the Hanzhong Guards were handed over to Chen Wanglai for training, most of the problem of the lack of combat power of the Hanzhong Army would be solved...