The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Sun Chuanting's faith is not only a verbal promise, but also an action.

When Chen Wang led the troops to return to Hanzhong Mansion, Sun Chuanting distributed more than [-] collar cloth face armors, matching arm coverings and helmets from the captured ones.

Even at the end, Sun Chuanting paid him back two months of military pay.

Sometimes it's just a trick of fate. After Gao Yingxiang died, the rain stopped.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, many places in Shaanxi Province not only fell into drought again, but also broke out locust plagues, which can be described as worse.

However, Gao Yingxiang encountered a heavy rain that lasted for nearly ten days in July.

Chen Wang led his troops back to Hanzhong from Meridian Road. For more than ten days, there was no rain.

By the time they arrived outside Hanzhong Mansion and Shiquan City, it was already the fourth day of August.

There are four cities in Hanzhong Mansion that were captured by the bandits, three of which are in the east of Hanzhong Mansion, near Xing'an City.

Shiquan was the fourth city that was captured by bandits. It was from Shiquan that Gao Yingxiang entered the Meridian Road, and then went all the way north into the plank road, and finally turned into the Tangluo Road.

At this time, order has been initially restored in Shiquan County.

After Chen Wang led the troops to Shiquan, he had just ordered the camp to be set up. Before he got off his horse, a group of cavalry came galloping quickly from Shiquan City.

The person who came was none other than Zhang Kang, the current commander of the defenders in Shiquan City, Hanzhong Wei Baihu.

"Han Zhongwei dispatched a hundred households to Zhang Kang, and kowtowed to see the general."

Chen Wang pulled the reins and rode on the horse. Looking at the middle-aged strong man in red arrow clothes kneeling not far from the horse, he raised his whip.

"Get up."

The clothes on Zhang Kang were a little pale, and Chen Wang noticed that there was still a patch on Zhang Kang's bottom.

His whole body was covered with wind and dust, only the waist knife around his waist was clean and tidy.

Hearing Chen Wang's voice telling him to get up, he quickly got up from the ground, and then greeted him with a smiling face.

"How many people are there in Shiquan City now?"

Chen Wang looked up at Shiquan County not far away, and then moved his gaze to Zhang Kang.

"There are about two to three thousand people in the city, and the exact number is not clear."

"The number of people in the city is not under our control. The magistrate sent a special person to take care of them."

Soon after the rogues withdrew, the news of the fall of Shiquan County was also learned by Lin Daoquan, the prefect of Hanzhong.

After confirming that the rogues had indeed left Hanzhong Mansion, Lin Daoquan sent officials to collect the villagers in Shiquan City and re-established order.

In the midst of chaos, the officials who were responsible for collecting the victims and rebuilding the city naturally could not take a small number of yamen servants to their posts.

So Zhang Kang was sent over to guard Shiquan with the people in the institute.

Zhang Kang tilted his head and thought for a while, then replied cautiously.

"Master Qianhu told us to watch over the city and take care of the gangsters who steal and fight."

Can be transferred to Shiquan City, which has just been breached by the Chuang army, and the city defenses have not been repaired.

Zhang Kang naturally didn't have many supporters in Weizhong, and he didn't have any background. After all, this was a hard job.

Facing Chen Wang, who was a general at this moment, he was naturally cautious, for fear of doing something wrong or saying something wrong.

"I will be stationed here for a while. There is nothing else going on here. Go back first."

From Zhang Kang's mouth, Chen Wang got a lot of news about Shi Quan, and also had a preliminary understanding of Shi Quan's current situation.

Chen Wang waved his hand, and then issued the order to evict the guest.

Naturally, Zhang Kang didn't say anything else, and after another salute, he returned to Shiquan City with a few servants.

A large section of Shiquan's city wall was damaged, and most of the houses in the city were also damaged to varying degrees.

The most severely damaged area is where the county government is located.

The magistrate of Shiquan County was drowned to death when the city was broken, and the county government was set on fire by the army who broke into the city, and now most of it has been turned into coke.

The officials in the county were basically killed by the invading army. Most of the people in Shiquan County were coerced into the army, and only a very small number survived.

Some of the guards guarding the city surrendered to the bandits, and some died in battle. More than 100 corpses were found.

Most of the rich and powerful gentry in Shiquan County were slaughtered by the rogues. The rogues had a clear target and put them on them.

In this season, the lives of ordinary people are basically in extreme hardship, so what can be snatched from them.

Ordinary people basically would not encounter life-threatening danger when encountering rogue bandits, who would engulf them into the army, and rogue bandits mainly targeted wealthy gentry, officials and merchants.

Most of the rogues came from poor backgrounds, so they were quite hostile to these wealthy tyrants, officials and merchants, and after looting their money, they basically would not spare their lives.

Therefore, in Shiquan County, most of the rich and gentry did not survive. The only two or three families who survived escaped into the mountains and forests in advance, and they were lucky enough to survive without being discovered by the rogues who searched the mountains.

In other words, most of the land in Shiquan County is now unowned.

Chen Wang dismounted from his horse and walked to a temporary hut. At this time, the prototype of the camp had almost been built, and everyone was busy in full swing.

Chen Wang was sitting on the chair under the thatched shed, Zhao Huailiang was arranging camping, the only people following Chen Wang were Chen Gong, Zhou Yumao and Du Wugang.

Chen Gong and Zhou Yumao sat down with Chen Wang, while Du Wugang stood by the side of the hut and didn't come in, and didn't sit down with him.

Du Wugang was a member of the Qianhu Office of Xing'an Qianhu. When Xing'an was besieged, he commanded the guards in the city and also managed the militia.

When Chen Wang decided to go out of the city to pursue Gao Yingxiang, Du Wugang volunteered to go with him.

After a short thought at that time, Chen Wang agreed to Du Wugang's request.

Du Wugang followed Chen Wang all the way north, and finally entered the Heishui Valley.

In the Battle of Heishuiyu, the cavalry who attacked the rear of Yukou Chuangjun was led by Du Wugang and Zhou Yumao.

Zhou Yumao is a guerrilla, so he can sit naturally, but he is only a thousand households, and his level is not enough.

As for Chen Gong's level, he also sat down, but Chen Gong is Chen Wang's younger brother, and the two are related by blood, so they are naturally different from other people.

"Come and sit down."

Chen Wang saw through Du Wugang's psychology and knew that he was afraid to sit, so he raised his finger and pointed to the chair in front of him.

Du Wugang hurriedly bowed his head to salute, he was stunned for a moment, then he became happy, ran into the thatched shed with small steps, and sat down respectfully.

The ranks in the military are strict, and Chen Wang being able to allow him to sit on the side is a sign of approval.

Du Wugang has been a deputy thousand householder for many years. He is in a guard station in the interior. He has no military achievements, and his relationship background is not strong. There is almost no hope of promotion.

The arrival of rogues is a crisis, but also an opportunity.

He chose to take the initiative to volunteer and join the pursuing army even at the risk of danger. He just didn't want to be a guard for the rest of his life. Now that he finally entered Chen Wang's eyes, he couldn't hide his excitement.

Chen Wang didn't pay too much attention to Du Wugang's excitement. There were two reasons why he chose to accept Du Wugang.

One is that Du Wugang is not as unbearable as an ordinary guard officer. Although he also eats empty salary and blood, at least the soldiers under his command can still fight, and he dares to fight and can fight.

The second is because Du Wugang is now a thousand households of the Xing'an Thousand Households Office, and is in charge of a Thousand Households Office.

Except for Xing'an in the eastern part of Hanzhong Prefecture, the three counties of Pingli, Xunyang, and Ziyang were all trapped and ravaged.

In the eastern part of Hanzhong Prefecture, there is only one Qianhusuo in Xing'an Qianhusuo, and these lands will naturally be assigned to Xing'an Qianhusuo at that time.

"Although the military merits have not been completed yet, the reward for me has basically been determined."

Chen Wang leaned back on the seat, glanced over the faces of several people, and lowered his voice slightly.

"Although Gao Yingxiang is dead, there are still hundreds of thousands of rogues entrenched in Xunxiang and Xunxiang."

"The threat of rogue bandits is increasing day by day. As an important place, Hanzhong Mansion is preparing to set up a town. I should be the first deputy guard of Hanzhong Town without accident."

Zhou Yumao's body subconsciously leaned forward, and there was a trace of eagerness in his eyes.

Chen Wang's promotion along the way can be described as a steady rise.

The 26-year-old deputy chief soldier is rare in any season.

But thinking about Chen Wang's military achievements, everything can be figured out again.

He has military merits, knows how to fight, and his background is not bad.

Chen Wang used to be Cao Wenzhao's servant, and Cao Wenzhao is now the commander in chief of aid and suppression in the pass, and Cao Wenzhao is Chen Wang's backer.

However, Cao Wenzhao had a good relationship with many important officials in the imperial court. The original censor Wu Wei had been speaking for Cao Wenzhao.

Now Cao Wenzhao has won the favor of Hong Chengchou, and Hong Chengchou is now Cao Wenzhao's backer.

In this way, Chen Wang can actually be regarded as Hong Chengchou's direct lineage.

Zhou Yumao sighed in his heart, he was born as a Wu Jinshi, he is 37 years old now, but he is just a guerrilla.

A mere guerrilla with the qualifications to stand in a team, there is no way to compare him with Chen Wang.

But Zhou Yumao was not jealous of Chen Wang's promotion, because he was now serving as a guerrilla under Chen Wang's command.

He is very clear that as long as he keeps following Chen Wang's footsteps, as long as he keeps up with Chen Wang's footsteps, he will never be a small guerrilla forever.

The same is true for Du Wugang and Zhou Yumao, with eager eyes, Zhou Yumao doesn't want to be just a guerrilla all the time, so why does he want to die in Xing'an City.

The world is vast and the scenery is infinite, he wants to jump out of the huge cage of Xing'an.

Chen Wang saw the performance of the two of them in his eyes, and he was a little more determined in his heart.

"In recent years, the Hanzhong Mansion has suffered repeated military disasters, and the Hanzhong Guards suffered repeated losses during the suppression of the rebellion."

"So in addition to being the deputy commander in chief, I will also take the post of commanding officer of the Hanzhong Guards, responsible for rectifying the guards, increasing classes in Qingtun, and training soldiers."

Chen Wang raised his head, his eyes were burning, staring at the broken Shiquan City not far away.

Shiquan is located in the central area of ​​Hanzhong Mansion, almost in the center. Whether there is danger in the east or west of Hanzhong Mansion, they can rush to support in time.

He planned to use Shiquan as the center to radiate the entire Hanzhong Mansion.

Moreover, Shiquan County was severely damaged, and most of the rich and wealthy gentry were killed by the Chuang army. There were few people in the land, and the constraints on development would be minimal.

Along the way, he has experienced life and death several times, experienced all kinds of difficulties, fought endlessly, and hardly had a moment of rest.

Now, he has finally reaped a region where he can develop steadily, has turned a new chapter, and can finally flex his muscles and stretch his ambitions.