Although Pu Fu carried out Xiong Lan's order to the letter, he was still a little worried about surrendering the Ming army again - Pu Fu didn't know how strong the Qing court was before, but after surrendering with Xiong Lan this time, Wang Mingde's officers told Pu Fu a lot about the strategic shape of the Ming army: Although Sichuan is very large, Shaanxi does not have to be small in Sichuan, and the population is more than Sichuan, and Li Guoying, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, has already taken all of Shaanxi, and Sichuan also accounts for half of it, and the victory or defeat is already obvious; There was even an officer who said that Governor Li, who controlled such a large territory, was nothing compared to the imperial court, and now the territory of the imperial court would go from the south to the north, and it would take at least two or three years to go.

Pu Fu felt that it was already far from Wanxian to Chóngqìng, or from Wanxian to Fengjie, and it would take more than ten days to walk, and Sichuan was even bigger. Pu Fu's relatives and friends before he became a soldier didn't leave Sichuan, even near Wanxian, if he heard that anyone had been to Shaanxi, it would be similar to a visitor from outside the world to Pu Fu. Although Pu Fu's knowledge has increased a lot after joining the army, he still feels hard to imagine how big this territory is when he hears the Qing army officer say that the Qing court's control of the territory will take a few years to go to Qiulaidi.

Since the Qing court controlled such a large area of land, Pu Fu inevitably felt a sense of fear in his heart, feeling that the emperor of the Qing court was much more powerful than the Wen Inspector who controlled Fengjie and the Three Gorges. Therefore, after detaining the captives, Pu Fu raised a question to Xiong Lan and Qin Xiucai, that is, whether it was too dangerous to fight against such a huge Qing court.

Qin Xiucai felt that ordinary soldiers were best fooled, and most of the soldiers couldn't even tell how far away from Sichuan was, whether there were more people in Yunyang County or Shandong Province. Because of his ignorance of the shape of the world, he did not have much fear of the Qing court; But this kind of officer is a little more troublesome, because he is not ignorant of the comparison of strengths, so he will be cranky.

"It is precisely because it is too far away that we are going to surrender to Mr. Deng." Qin Xiucai immediately explained for Xiong Lan: "From Sichuan to Běijīng, it takes several years to walk, and Mr. Deng will take half a month to come from Fengjie, do you say that this is the Tartar Emperor is powerful or Mr. Wait?" Seeing that Pu Fu was still a little unclear, Qin Xiucai shook his head and said: "If we don't surrender to Mr. Deng, it will take several years for the Tartar Emperor to know that Mr. Deng has come to fight Wanxian, and the emperor will always ask again, how many people did Mr. Deng bring to fight Mr. Xiong Qian, this can't help but ask, right?" ”

"Yes, yes." Pu Fu nodded hurriedly, agreeing very much with Qin Xiucai's words.

"It will take several years to go all the way from běijīng, and it will take several years to go back when the question is clear, even if it is only one question, or ten years younger." Qin Xiucai asked Pu Fu rhetorically: "Do you think we can hold Mr. Deng for ten years?" ”

"Ten years?" Pu Fu was taken aback, the first battle of Deng Ming's Wanxian County killed Tan Yi's blood, and hundreds of corpses were spread all over the mountains outside the city. Until now, sometimes in the mountains and forests north of Wanxian, you can still see the bones left after the war - Tan Yi's army is more than 5,000 people, more than twice the current Wanxian Xiongbu, and he was killed by Deng Ming in two hours - the Qing army officers sometimes talk about the battles of Huguang and Nanjing, those news did not have much touch on Pu Fu, but he still remembered the experience of the first battle in Wanxian County, when he went to Yunyang to see Deng Ming this time, although Pu Fu was much better than at the beginning, he was still very afraid: "Don't say ten years, It's ten days, well, even one or two days can't stand it. ”

After these words blurted out, Pu Fu immediately realized how stupid his worries were, and apologized to Xiong Lan and Qin Xiucai with a face full of shame: "Thank you Master for your advice, I am really confused about my humble position." ”

"It's okay, if you don't understand something, just ask me, or ask the master." Xiong Lan waved her hand generously and let Pu Fu go out, Xiong Lan was very satisfied with this person: because Pu Nu didn't ask whether it was right or wrong, and did what he told him, just like this time he was obviously worried, but he still did Xiong Lan's explanation regardless of it, and then questioned it, this kind of subordinate is relieved. As for the issue of ability and knowledge, this is not what Xiong Lan is concerned about, he himself is very capable, and there is a master Qin Xiucai who can discuss, and it would be best if his subordinates were all hard-working and resentful.

As far as Qin Xiucai knew, the Wanxian army was far more afraid of Deng Ming than Gao Mingzhan and Wang Mingde. Although Qin Xiucai didn't admit it, he was actually the same, Qin Xiucai was beside Tan Hong when he first met Deng Ming, after the thousands of troops were defeated by Deng Ming with a group of stragglers, Qin Xiucai didn't have the courage to fight against Deng Ming, and felt that he had no power to fight back in front of the other party. It is precisely because of this psychology that Qin Xiucai opposed surrendering to the Qing army before, but this time he agreed with Xiong Lan with both hands anyway. The other people's knowledge is not as good as Qin Xiucai's, and Tan Hong's status in their minds is also higher, since these people originally regarded Tan Hong, who was like a god, was escorted by Deng Ming, their fear of Deng Ming has already begun. The second is the battle of Wanxian, which gave these people a huge visual impact, after the end of that battle, many of Tan Hong's officers were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, and the vast majority of them did not kill as many chickens as Deng Mingtian in their lives.

And Gao Mingzhan and Wang Mingde obviously did not appear with such momentum, Xiong Lan had figured out their movements as early as before they arrived, and the preparations for surrendering to the Qing army had been completed. When they saw thousands of Qing troops arriving at the city, many people in the Wanxian garrison even had this association: It was similar to Tan Yi's soldiers and horses at the beginning, if Mr. Deng was there, it was estimated that it would be sent away in another afternoon.

After Pu Fu returned this afternoon, he brought back to the Wanxian garrison the news that Deng Ming was not far from the city, and as a result, Xiong Lan did not need to do any more incitement work, and everyone immediately reached a consensus and immediately turned against him to make meritorious service to atone for his crimes.

Afterwards, there were some officers who were as afraid as Pu Fu, thinking that if Deng Ming left again, and the Qing army came again, it would not be easy for them to surrender and save their lives, Xiong Lan didn't think so at all, he said to Qin Xiucai: "If Mr. Deng comes to attack the city, my gang will definitely not resist, even if they muster up the courage to fight, their soldiers can run first." ”

"The owner is right!" Qin Xiucai knew that what Xiong Lan said was indeed the truth, and if he really fought, he could only count on the Qing troops left by Wang Mingde, but most of them were also strong men, and they still wanted to block Deng Ming with hundreds of armors? If it was so easy, how could the Qing troops in Huguang and Nanjing be crushed for thousands of miles, and even the governor was killed by two? Although the Yamen, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, desperately propagandized, claiming that Deng Ming had been defeated by Yan Zhan in Wuchang, Xiong Lan and Qin Xiucai obviously didn't see it that way: "If you can't pass a single pass in front of you, what's the use of thinking about things in a few years?" ”

In order to comfort Xiong Lan, as if to comfort himself, Qin Xiucai said: "As soon as Mr. Deng heard that Sichuan was in danger, he hurried back, which shows that Mr. Deng will not give up Sichuan." With Mr. Deng here, are you still afraid of any tartars? ”

Xiong Lan nodded, when he first heard that Deng Ming went to Huguang, he was also very disappointed, and felt that the other party would not pay attention to Sichuan. Xiong Lan is also deeply afraid of Deng Ming, and knows very well that she is not an opponent at all if she fights; also has similar considerations to Qin Xiucai, to first try to get through the current difficulties; However, in addition to these two points, Xiong Lan occasionally had a strange idea, which he had never mentioned to any of his henchmen, including Qin Xiucai and Pu Fu.

"Although I am a concubine and a child, but my father, biological mother, and grandmother are all Han, although this hair and clothes are not worth changing with this life, but ......" Everything has been done, Xiong Lan was waiting for Deng Ming to come to Wanxian, this idea suddenly came up again: "But if there is a choice, it is best to keep your hair." Thinking of this, Xiong Lan reached out and touched her bare brain. But as usual, this thought was only saved for a moment, and Xiong Lan immediately drove it out of her mind, and laughed at herself: "I don't want to cut off my head and keep my hair." ”

Xiong Lan couldn't help but feel ridiculous that he would have such a pedantic thought, which was why he had never mentioned this idea to his henchmen - Xiong Lan couldn't believe that he would think like this, let alone his subordinates.

…… Deng Ming came to Wanxian City again, Xiong Lan took the officers and soldiers of Wanxian County out of the city, and greeted him with the traditional Xiong etiquette, that is: the officers all tied their hands and knelt on both sides of the road according to the order of their official positions.

Shut down

After seeing Deng Ming's arrival, the Wanxian officers who had passed the Xiong clan etiquette shouted in unison: "Capital crime!" ”

"Well, get up, didn't you already say it beforehand? Anyway, I don't care. Deng Ming did not release Xiong Lan like Wang Mingde, but beckoned to the soldiers behind Xiong Qian: "Untie your Qianzong." ”

Last time, when Xiong Lan surrendered to Deng Ming, he also tied a live buckle with his eyes, but this time he tied a genuine dead buckle, and it was tied very tightly, and the soldiers tossed for a long time before Xiong Qian untied it.

"Xiong Qianzong didn't make any meritorious service in the last battle of Wanxian, so there was no reward afterwards, but he was just given the title of Mr. Qian." After Xiong Lan's rope was untied, Deng Ming said in front of everyone in Wanxian County, although there is nothing wrong with this reason, it is actually not the main reason, in the final analysis, Xiong Lan's background is despised, and everyone knows this: "But in fact, Xiong Qian is the lord of Wanxian County, and he immediately manages the army and the people." I have already said to Inspector Wen that from now on, Xiong Qian will always be the county commander and garrison of Wanxian County, with the rank of guerrilla. ”

Xiong Lan hurriedly thanked her, under normal circumstances, officials who got official positions should swear allegiance to the imperial court, but Xiong Lan's skin was not thick enough to this point, and she only said that she must work hard and not disappoint Wen Anzhi and Deng Ming.

Deng Ming also knew this, nodded and said that he was very satisfied with Xiong Lan's statement, as for the prisoners who were captured by Xiong Lan, Deng Ming also made a decision on the spot: all the officers were sent to Fengjie for detention and waited for Wen Anzhi's disposal; As for the ordinary soldiers, they were all handed over to Xiong Lan, whether they were used for reclamation or to replenish the soldiers, he could decide in a word.

Then Deng Ming inspected Wanxian again, and then this opportunity, Xiong Lan took the opportunity to show Deng Ming his governance skills, although Wanxian only had 2,000 soldiers, but Xiong Lan reclaimed a small 10,000 acres of military tun, and this year more than 15,000 stone of grain. The yield per mu is already comparable to that of Fengjie and other places, considering that Xiong Lan only took office this year, and Wanxian County has just changed hands, Deng Ming feels that this achievement is not bad.

Whether it is Fengjie or the Three Gorges, the yield per mu of Juntun is generally just over one stone, about half of the civilian land, and the fields that soldiers can be responsible for are also relatively small, and an average cantonment soldier can cultivate two or three acres of land. The land area of the reclamation soldiers in Wanxian County is more than doubled, and the yield per mu is okay, Deng Ming asked about Xiong Lan's experience, and if it is good, he can introduce his experience to Fengjie and other places.

Xiong Lan was naturally a god of jīng, and listed all the rewards and punishments he had painstakingly figured out this year, and carefully told Deng Ming about it.

After hearing this, Deng Ming also felt very good, so he praised Xiong Lan a few words, and then studied the matter with the guards.

Although these guards had experience in warfare, except for Ren Tang, the others had no experience in how to govern internal affairs, and they were not very interested.

The so-called experienced Ren Tang is actually half a bucket of water, fortunately, there are many Fengjie soldiers with him, Deng Ming finally found a few people who had been engaged in reclamation work, told them Xiong Lan's regulations, and asked them what their opinions were.

The officer who had been in charge of the reclamation was obviously dissatisfied with Xiong Lan's regulations, but at first he didn't want to tell Deng Mingming why it was not feasible, and he couldn't withstand Deng Mingming's repeated inquiries, and finally said: "Commander, there are only 2,000 people in Wanxian, of course things are very easy to do." ”

According to these Fengjie officers, the main reason for the low output of the military cantonment was that the tunding was lazy, and the wise people of the past racked their brains on this problem and devised a variety of rewards and punishments, but the results were not great. For example, the simplest problem of carrying water, only when the officer supervises, Tunding will honestly carry water, and will be lazy in places where the officer can't see. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to formulate regulations to stipulate how many buckets of water must be carried by the tunding who is responsible for carrying water, and if he fails to do so, he will be punished; As a countermeasure, Tunding will try to use small barrels to reduce the amount of labor; If the size of the bucket is specified, the tunding will try not to fill it.

In the mouth of the Fengjie officer, this is actually a competition that is one foot high and one foot high. Xiong Lan has just taken over Wanxian, and she wants to rush out some achievements to show the above, and it is normal for the yield per mu to be slightly larger; Moreover, there are not many people in Wanxian County, Xiong Lan can directly go to the front line to supervise, and it is not easy for the people below to play head and shoulders.

"It's not that no one has thought of these ideas, there are more ways than here in Wanxian, and they are still fine, but in the end they still don't work at all." Officer Fengjie claimed that this was only the reason he said to Deng Ming on the surface, and some reasons were tacit among the people below. That is a complex network of human relations, relatives and friends need to open one eye and close one eye when they are lazy, and the officer in charge also needs to get a little oil and water for his own use. Wanxian may have less of this loss now, so it seems to be more efficient, but in the long run, this efficiency will definitely continue to decline.

However, even for one reason or another, Juntun still has many advantages over Mintun, and it is also a common method used by Kuidong. However, the Fengjie cantonment officers did not mention it to Deng Ming, because they had all heard rumors that Deng Ming did not plan to adopt the military tun model in western Sichuan. There are not many experienced people, and no one among them wants to upset the big guys, especially the big guys who grasp the future, life and death of the people below.

…… Guiyang.

In recent months, Wu Sangui's mood has not been very good, and after receiving the promise to give him the Yunnan feudal domain, Wu Sangui has always wanted to work hard to forge ahead, recapture Kunming as soon as possible, and get his fief in his hands. For this reason, Wu Sangui even adopted the model of fishing in the dry water, collecting half of the output in Guizhou as a tax.

At the beginning of the year, when Wu Sangui decided on this policy, he thought that this high tax would not last long, and after this year's harvest, he would definitely be able to ask for a large amount of materials from the Qing court. After taking Yunnan and driving Li Dingguo away, Wu Sangui's military expenses can be greatly reduced. Wu Sangui originally planned that at that time, he could continue to ask the imperial court for a large amount of supplies under the pretext of the unstable border, and then reduce taxes in his fiefdom, so that the vassal state could be quickly restored.

But with the development of the Huguang War, Hu Quancai intercepted and embezzled a large amount of materials that should have been given to Wu Sangui without saying a word; What's even more annoying is that the incompetent Hu Quancai was defeated and died. Wu Sangui sadly thought that the things that should have belonged to him turned out to be cheaper than Deng Ming.

Upon learning of Zheng Chenggong's invasion of the Yangtze River, Wu Sangui concluded that he was unlikely to get more supplies this year, and that the Qing court would no longer want to invest a lot of resources in the southwest, regardless of the success or failure of the Min army: even if Zheng Chenggong could be defeated, the Qing court's tax-paying land would be a mess; If the Min army succeeds, then Wu Sangui is estimated to receive an order to withdraw from the southwest and counterattack Jiangnan.

The situation did develop in the direction that Wu Sangui expected, Deng Ming also went to the southeast to get involved, when he saw the long row of duty-free areas listed in the newspaper, Wu Sangui sighed, knowing that the southwest would not want to get any supplements this year, even if it was difficult to say how many there would be next year.

Since Wu Sangui couldn't get anything from the Qing court, he had a lot of resistance to the 100,000 troops that fed Guizhou: although Wu Sangui had managed to blow away many reinforcements such as Geng Fan and Shang Fan, there were still too many remaining troops, and after the Qing court did not replenish them, these people were eating Wu Sangui's fiefdom.

Today, Wu Sangui found Zhao Liangdong and took out a letter to him: "Li Guoying, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, has sent a letter, saying that Deng Ming has returned to Huguang......" Now Li Guoying has not yet received the exact news of Deng Ming's whereabouts, and Deng Ming's next move is just speculation, but Wu Sangui said categorically: "Deng Ming is bound to Tuchuan, if Tuchuan is bound to take Chóngqìng, and connect western Sichuan and eastern Sichuan into one." If it is determined by Deng's name, it will take a lot of trouble for the imperial court to pacify Sichuan. ”

In the previous months, Wu Sangui had been trying to pass on some of the expenses of the troops to the surrounding provinces, and although he had succeeded in giving them to some people in Liangguang, he had not been able to make a breakthrough with Zhang Changgeng in Huguang -- although he had lost half of Hubei, Zhang Changgeng refused to ask the imperial court for help; Zhang Changgeng also claimed to Wu Sangui that if he sent reinforcements privately, then Huguang would definitely not bear the food and salary of the reinforcements, and they needed to bring their own dry food, and Huguang would not repay the king of Pingxi with silver and grain for this.

Wu Sangui's evaluation of this was that he wanted money and his life, and he was full of resentment, hoping that Deng Ming would also slaughter Zhang Changgeng, and replace him with the governor of Huguang, who valued his life more, to come to power, but unfortunately Deng Ming disappointed him.

"Li Guoying asked us to send troops to help him, and he has already asked the imperial court for help, Guizhou and Sichuan are neighboring provinces, and it is also appropriate to help each other." Wu Sangui said as he observed Zhao Liangdong's face: "Would the general like to go to Chóngqìng?" ”