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In just a few days, Qin Mu occupied a large area of Yiyang, Xiangyin, Zhuzhou, Ningxiang, Liuyang and other areas around Changsha. At the same time, he spent more than 1.5 million taels of silver and raised 100,000 troops.
This speed of swallowing the sky is definitely not a fantasy in such a chaotic era. Over the years, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng have failed countless times, sometimes with only a few dozen soldiers left. But as long as they suddenly capture a state or a county, they can immediately raise tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops. The means they use are nothing more than opening warehouses to release grain and throwing silver.
Qin Mu is doing the same thing now. He has seized more than 8 million taels of gold and silver treasures in Changsha. He doesn't need to recruit soldiers, and his 2,000 men can't transport them away.
In this day and age, if you have money and food, you don't have to worry about no one working for you. If Qin Mu wants to recruit, even 200,000 is not a problem. But he thinks that everything should be done in moderation. Recruiting too many people would be a burden.
Of course, there is no need to go into detail about how powerful his 100,000-strong army is. If they fight desperately with the Qing army outside the Great Wall, 1,000 Qing soldiers can probably destroy these 100,000-strong army.
But the person we have to deal with now is Zhang Xianzhong, whose troops are also a newly assembled, untrained mob.
Let’s not talk about the eldest brother, let’s just see who can kill the other first.
Qin Mu was in a very relaxed mood. The strategic goal of besieging Wei to save Zhao had been achieved. Even if he could not take the spoils of Changsha City away and his 100,000-strong army was defeated, it would not be difficult to run back to southern Jiangxi with the original 1,000 veterans. There were nearly 10,000 war horses. As long as he could keep the fruits of victory, it would not be a wasted trip.
As soon as he heard that Sun Kewang's 50,000 troops were heading south, Qin Mu immediately ordered Ling Zhan to lead 20,000 new soldiers to take over the defense of Xiangyin County north of Changsha, and to withdraw Su Jin's more than 2,000 cavalry to fight in a mobile manner. The so-called mobile warfare means fighting when you can, and running away when you can't.
Anyway, the two thousand cavalrymen that we have finally raised cannot be defeated here. After they are trained strictly in Ganzhou, they will be used to fight the Jiannu to death.
In Zhuzhou in the south, two generals, Meng Ke and Huo Sheng, were leading an army of 50,000 to attack and seize the city. Once Zhang Xianzhong came back, they would defend Zhuzhou to the death and consume Zhang Xianzhong's army of more than 100,000 to death under the strong city.
Thirty thousand new recruits were left in Changsha City and trained day and night by Liu Meng. This is called sharpening the sword before the battle. It is better to train one day earlier than one day later.
In the late autumn of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, the weather was a little cool, and the leaves of the sycamore trees in the courtyard of the governor's office were almost all gone. A continuous autumn rain washed the tiles clean, and the water flowed into lines under the eaves, like strings of beaded curtains, and a sense of autumn charm quietly emerged.
The current governor of Huguang is He Tengjiao, who took office in May. Not long after, Zhang Xianzhong's 200,000-strong army arrived, and He Tengjiao was forced to flee to Jiangxi. It is said that he is now staying in Nanchang.
He Tengjiao was appointed as the governor of five provinces during the Southern Ming Dynasty, and also accepted the surrender of the remnants of Li Zicheng. He is very famous, but now he has to stay in Nanchang.
Officials in Huguang were either leaving or being demoted. Looking at the entire Huguang region, Qin Mu was the highest-ranking official who still held the banner of the Ming Dynasty, so it was natural for him to live in the governor's office.
Although they knew that Zhang Xianzhong and Sun Kewang had a combined army of more than 200,000 troops coming to attack them, seeing Qin Mu's calmness, and the fact that everyone had seen the one-on-ten battle outside Changsha, the officials in the government office also seemed calm. All military and political affairs were handled in an orderly manner.
In the second hall, Zhuge Min, an aide, looked at the continuous autumn rain outside the eaves and sighed: "I'm afraid this rain won't stop for a while. This rain comes at the wrong time!"
Qin Mu did not understand why he sighed for a moment. Now his 100,000-strong army had basically stopped expanding and was preparing to rely on the two cities of Xiangyin and Zhuzhou to consume the two rebel forces of Zhang Xianzhong and Sun Kewang. In other words, he was actually on the defensive. From a military point of view, rain was more beneficial than harmful to the defending side.
Seeing Qin Mu looking at him, Zhuge Min said quickly, "Sir, Changsha is surrounded by fertile fields that are rich in grains. The autumn crops are almost ripe now. If it doesn't rain, we can harvest them early, but there will be losses. But if the rebels come, they will be spared from destruction by war. Moreover, after the harvest, our army will have no worries about food and grass. At the same time, it will be helpful to build strong defenses and clear the fields, making it difficult for the rebels to get food and grass from the fields."
It is true that one person's plan is short, but three people's plan is long. Finally, these aides were not in vain. Qin Mu said happily: "Mr. Zhuge is right. How about this? This matter will be handed over to Mr. Zhuge for full supervision. Once the rain stops, urge the people to harvest the autumn grain as soon as possible."
"I obey your orders."
Zhuge Min stole the limelight. Li Yuan and He Liang looked at each other quietly and fell into deep thought. Li Yuan spoke first, "Sir, Zhang Xianzhong's army of nearly 200,000 is heading back to Changsha. If they are blocked at the gate of Zhuzhou, the supply of food and grass must be an urgent problem to be solved. The area east of Zhuzhou to Pingxiang is mostly mountainous, and the grain production is not abundant. If we can send more spies to burn the grain, so that Zhang Xianzhong cannot get the autumn grain supply from the fields, it will not be difficult to drag down his army."
"Okay, I agree with what Mr. Li said. I will send a message to Meng Ke and ask him to act according to the plan." Qin Mu smiled happily. He was happy to see the healthy competition among the three people. Only competition can bring motivation. Otherwise, it would be a waste to keep these people.
He Liang saw that he was the only one among the three staff members who had not offered a good plan. How could this work? After a change of mind, he resolutely said: "If you want to alienate Sun Kewang and Zhang Xianzhong, a bounty list alone is not enough. I am willing to go to Sun Kewang's army in the name of negotiation. If I can delay Sun Kewang for a while, Zhang Xianzhong will surely become suspicious of him."
"Mr. He, are you sure? If you are not sure, forget it. Although the two armies do not kill envoys when fighting, but..." Qin Mu felt a little embarrassed. After all, he was not honest about this matter. When Zhang Xianzhong sent the envoy Lin Hongwei to Yuchun Mountain, although he did not kill Lin Hongwei, he sent him to Yuanzhou and handed him over to Lu Daqi. This was no different from killing Lin Hongwei.
He coughed twice and continued, "But Sun Kewang is a real rebel. He may not abide by the rule of not killing envoys when the two armies are fighting. It is too dangerous for you to go. If you are not sure, it is better not to take the risk."
He Liang had already said this. If he retreated now, wouldn't it make Qin Mu, Zhuge Min and others look down on him? He stood up and bowed solemnly, saying, "A man will die for his friend. How can I not repay your kindness, sir, even if I have to sacrifice my life? Don't worry, sir. I dare not say that I am 100% sure, but I still have 60%. However, this matter requires your cooperation in Changsha."
"Okay, sir, tell me quickly, how do you need me to cooperate with you?"
"Sir, the rebels must have spies in the city. You might as well pretend to be unambitious and indulge in wine and women, and then you can humble yourself to Sun Kewang's army..."
He Liang moved closer to Qin Mu, speaking more and more quietly, so that even Zhuge Min and Li Yuan on the opposite side could not hear him, and he felt like he was being scratched by a cat;
If He Liang could really accomplish this, then the credit would definitely be higher than theirs. As a staff member, it mainly depends on whether the boss values him or not. Naturally, there would be competition among the three of them. However, He Liang was willing to take such a risk, and his kung fu was better than theirs, which was beyond reproach. Zhuge Min and the other two could only sigh inwardly.
After He Liang whispered for a while, Qin Mu said loudly: "Okay, I have no ambitions to begin with, and I prefer this job of indulging in wine and women. Mr. He, please go ahead with confidence. I will go and indulge in wine and women in a moment, hahahaha..."
Qin Mu laughed so hard that Yang Shen, who was sitting outside, couldn't help but roll his eyes. He thought to himself, "You don't have great ambitions, do you?" In just a few months, he went from being a small magistrate to where he is today. He stirred up the situation in the entire Jiangnan region. After entering Changsha, he won the hearts of the gentry and the wealthy, and the hearts of the ordinary people. He schemed everywhere. Do you also have no ambitions
As for being addicted to wine and women, he had never been seen drinking since he captured Changsha. The beauties in Prince Ji's Mansion were as beautiful as jade, but he didn't even look at them for a second. It is said that when he went to "patrol the mountain" that day, he just held the beauty in his hands and never really took her to bed.
At his age, full of vigor and vitality, he is so restrained that it really makes people wonder if he has a health problem.
If Qin Mu knew what Yang Shen was thinking, he would probably rush to his house immediately, drag his sister to the bed, and prove to him with facts whether there was something wrong with his body.
In fact, he didn't mind cuckolding Zhang Xianzhong, but now was not the right time. As the saying goes, if the leader likes something, the subordinates will like it even more.
The war was fierce and dangerous at the moment. If he really pushed Zhang Xianzhong's wife down, those guys under him would probably become even more violent, and then it would be difficult to lead the team.
So he really just took advantage of the beauty that day. The palace door was not closed at that time, and Zhu Yijin and others who were guarding outside knew it very well.
Just as He Liang finished talking about his plan, Huang Lianshan came in quickly from outside. He now enjoyed a privilege that he could meet Qin Mu directly even when Qin Mu was sleeping in the middle of the night without informing him in advance.
"Sir, good news, there is good news. It came from Chenzhou. Generals Ma Liuliang and Han Xiu led 500 troops to attack Chenzhou but failed. Then they pretended to be defeated, lured the rebels of Chenzhou to chase them, and then set up an ambush halfway, defeated the rebels of Chenzhou in one fell swoop, and captured Chenzhou."
"Oh!" Qin Mu raised his eyebrows and asked with a look of joy, "Is this news true?"
"Sir, this is the news our people sent back from Hengyang, and they did see defeated soldiers from Chenzhou fleeing back to Hengyang, so the news should be reliable."
"Okay, pass on my order and let Ma Liuliang lead his troops as soon as possible... No, let Ma Yongzhen attack together and attack Hengyang with all our strength, and try to open up this strategic road from Changsha, Zhuzhou, Hengyang, Chenzhou to Ganzhou." Qin Mu seemed very ambitious. Once this channel was opened, the things in Changsha could be transported to Ganzhou.
"Yes, sir."
.(To be continued..)
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