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According to the establishment of the guard established in the 17th year of Hongwu, there are 5,600 soldiers in a guard, and there are 1,000 households, 100 households, general flags and small flags and other units in order.

However, with the passage of time, the military cantonment system gradually deteriorated, and a large number of "traitorous army" and "poor army" phenomena appeared, and the so-called "traitorous army" was the forcible occupation of military land by generals in the army, ranging from two to three percent or five to sixty percent, and even forcibly referring to the neighboring people's land as their own land.

The "poor army" refers to the poor people in the military households, who not only seize their land, but also lend usury, and under the rolling interest, the military households owe more and more debts, and have to be driven by the creditors as slaves.

Generals at all levels invaded and occupied Tuntian, eating empty salaries, and the situation became more and more serious, resulting in many military households having to flee, and there was a clear record in the Ganzhou Mansion Chronicles that by the time of Jiajing, there were only 5 people left in the Ganzhou Wei army of 2,760. By the time of Chongzhen, there were even less, and there were less than 1,800 people left.

Qin Mu heard that the so-called Huichang bandits, their leaders Ma Yongzhen and Gu Xiancheng were originally soldiers of the Huichang Thousand Households, and because they could not bear the pressure of the generals, they brazenly killed the officials to vent their anger and went up the mountain to the grass.

Thinking of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other anti-kings from all walks of life, it can be said that they died in the corruption of the military system.

Qin Mu sat in a tavern behind the mansion, drinking boredly, most of the officials in the Ganzhou Mansion were now busy rehousing refugees and raising military supplies, and no one paid attention to him, a small county that couldn't even go to his own territory.

In addition to Yang Tinglin being polite to him, Chen Shaoping, Gao Dingfang, Ma Sizhong, and Wang Gong were not very kind to him, Qin Mu smiled self-deprecatingly, maybe he was a little high-profile in his work, and before he arrived, he became famous in Jiangxi, which would make people look unpleasant!

The little girl sat across the table in a daze with her chin propped up, Qin Mu stretched out her hand and flicked it lightly on her head: "Girl, what do you want?" ”

Qiao'er pouted, rubbed her head and said, "I'm thinking, why are there so many refugees in this world?" I thought it would be better to go to Ganzhou, but I didn't expect that there would be more refugees here, what is going on in this world? Alas! ”

"Hehe, my family Qiao'er has learned to worry about the country and the people, yes, yes, pity me for the world, there are a lot of sorrows."

Qiao'er asked a little girlyly: "Childe, should we still go to Huichang?" ”

"Weishenme not going?"

"But, aren't the bandits from Huichang coming?"

"Ha, the mountain is high, how can it prevent the white clouds from flying!"

Meng Ke and the few people sitting at the next table heard this, and couldn't help but secretly exchange a look, if the thieves along the way before reflected Qin Mu's planning ability, then today's chaos in front of the yamen reflects Qin Mu's adaptability.

Coupled with the inexplicable sense of mystery on his body, Meng Ke and Huo Sheng did not doubt his words at all.

Liu Meng, who was sent out to inquire about the news, finally came back, Liu Meng was one of the hundred men and horses recruited by Qin Mu, because of his courage and loyalty, he was promoted to company commander by Qin Mu, and the title of company commander was casually installed by Qin Mu.

Meng Ke and a few people also surrounded him, Qin Mu signaled slightly, Liu Meng said softly: "My lord, my subordinates heard that the rebels are now divided into two roads, Ma Yongzhen led the North Road people and horses called 10,000, after capturing Ruijin to the north, and then to the west, even down Xijiang, Baige, Zhuangkou, Hefeng and other towns, and then break through the county seat of Yandu, now approaching Luojiang Town, only fifty or sixty miles away from Ganzhou City, Ganzhou Wei Commander Zhu Teng led a thousand men and horses to defend the South Snake Mountain of Luojiang Town, the two sides are facing off, and the war is about to break out;

My lord, my subordinates also found out a news, although Ma Yongzhen claimed to be 10,000 horses, but at most only a few thousand, and most of them were auxiliaries, used to maintain law and order in the occupied counties and towns, only 800 people and horses were really used for combat, these 800 people and horses were quite elite, Zhu Teng encountered it the day before yesterday, the two armies fought fiercely, and as a result, Zhu Teng was defeated by more than 1,000 horses, so he retreated to the South Snake Mountain on the west side of Luojiang Town. ”

After listening to Liu Meng's words, Qin Mu and Meng Ke exchanged a look, both of them couldn't help but be cautious, it seems that Ma Yongzhen is not comparable to an ordinary liuguan, and many people understand the truth that soldiers are not expensive, but there are not many people who can really resist the desire to expand the army.

Throughout the peasant armies that rebelled in the past dynasties, almost without exception they swelled rapidly, like a snowball, so even if the number of people developed rapidly in the early stage, their combat effectiveness was very poor, and their rise was vigorous, and their demise was also sudden.

Generally speaking, only after a few years of mobile warfare and under the law of survival of the fittest, can a crack army be slowly trained. There are almost no rebels like Ma Yongzhen who took the elite route from the beginning, and such rebels are often more difficult to extinguish.

Qin Mu asked in a deep voice, "What about the other way?" ”

"Lord Hui, there is also a way to the rebel second leader Gu Xiancheng led the South Route Army, from Huichang to the southwest, first to break through Anyuan County, Gu Xiancheng and Ma Yongzhen are different, after he broke through Anyuan County, wanton killing and plundering, opening warehouses to recruit troops and horses, the number of people suddenly increased to more than 8,000 people, and then ravaged Chongshi, Banshi, Xintian, Anxi and other villages and towns, where they passed, the gentry and rich households were killed and plundered, and the people were coerced to follow the thieves, the number has increased to 12,000 people, and claimed to be 80,000, and now it is approaching Xinfeng County in the south."

In the county under the jurisdiction of Ganzhou Prefecture, there are now four occupied by the rebels, Xinfeng County is not guaranteed, when Qin Mu came, he just planned to suppress the bandits, so he only recruited a hundred people, but the situation changed too quickly, and the fight against mice turned into fighting tigers.

Meng Ke asked quietly, "What are your plans next?" ”

Qin Mu didn't answer and asked Liu Meng: "What is the relationship between Ma Yongzhen and Gu Xiancheng?" ”

"My subordinates haven't heard about this."

"Go now, be sure to find out."

"Yes, sir." Liu Meng clenched his fists and immediately turned to leave.

Ning Yuan asked, "My lord, I feel that the rebels on the two sides are not in harmony. ”

Meng Ke replied helpfully: "Ma Yongzhen on the North Road and Gu Xiancheng on the South Road have a completely different style, and now Gu Xiancheng is desperately recruiting soldiers and horses, as long as Xinfeng County is captured, its momentum will overshadow the big boss Ma Yongzhen, in my opinion, the two parted ways, and even dog-eat-dog is only a matter of time." ”

Qin Mu said lightly: "The key is whether it is sooner or later, if Zhu Teng can't support it first, and Ma Yongzhen and Gu Xiancheng take Ganzhou before they tear their faces, what does it matter to us whether they tear their faces in the future or not?" ”

Meng Ke nodded and replied: "There are tens of thousands of refugees in the city, why don't you recruit some more people from it, and then go out of the city to find fighters, Gu Xiancheng's men and horses on the south road are all refugees who have just pulled up, the number has grown so fast, it is just a group of rabble, and they can still rush up in a good fight, if they are attacked, or attacked, the more people they will bring, the faster they will collapse, and there is nothing to fear." ”

"No money!" Qin Mu replied simply, the little money he brought when he came has now been almost used, raising an army is indeed a huge cost, he has more than 100 people, and in only a month, two thousand taels of silver has basically been spent.

Now the officials of Ganzhou City do not treat him well, and it is one thing to allow him to recruit troops among the refugees in the city.

Cui Feng asked in surprise, "Are you ready to stand by and watch?" ”

Huo Sheng, Ning Yuan, and Ling Zhan also looked at him together, judging from what Qin Mu had done along the way, he didn't look like a person who was willing to be lonely, he ate and lived with a hundred of his subordinates, and practiced hard to the death, did he really plan to kill a few bandits?

The eyes of the four of them looking at Qin Mu were a little eager, and they could even be said to be terrifying, because the four of them were all extremely fierce men, staring at a person so scorchingly, it was similar to a tiger servant.

Qin Mu was calm and calm under their gaze, smiling without saying a word.

Meng Ke glanced at the four of them and said softly: "Only by knowing yourself and knowing your opponent can you survive a hundred battles." ”

Huo Sheng and the four of them suddenly realized that if Qin Mu planned to stand by and watch, he would not send Liu Meng's men out to find out the news, and not only to find out the situation of the rebels, but also to find out the official situation in Ganzhou, so that when he made a move, he could maximize his benefits.

It's just that Qin Mu gives people the feeling that they are too calm, which inevitably creates an illusion that they have nothing to do with themselves and hang high.

After thinking about these things clearly, Huo Sheng took the initiative to ask Ying: "My lord, Xinfeng is one hundred and fifty miles away from here, and he will go out of the city immediately, and he will return tomorrow evening, and ensure that Gu Xiancheng's situation is clear to the adults." ”

"Then there will be labor." Qin Mu responded with a smile.

Ning Yuan next to him also said: "I'm going to visit Ma Yongzhen, this person is quite interesting, I like it!" ”

As the saying goes, a thousand armies are easy to obtain, but a general is hard to find, Ning Yuan and Huo Sheng have this performance, although Qin Mu is silent on the surface, he is very happy in his heart, Qin Mu is confident that sooner or later he will let these fierce people be willing to use for themselves.

At this time, Yang Tinglin, the prefect of Ganzhou, was recruiting the rich gentry in the city, ready to move them with affection and reason, so that the rich households in the city were willing to donate money and grain.

The result? Qin Mu was looking forward to Yang Tinglin getting a result that would surprise him.

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PS: Let's talk about the update today, for some reason, this week temporarily every day, I hope you understand, Hyway is now miserable, the original jihua in a month and a half to update three to four hundred thousand words, so that it can be on the shelves at the beginning of the month, now it has become like this, clicks, collections, recommendations, the amount is bad, there is no doubt that this is a very big blow to me, but dear, Hyway will not give up, will still persevere, painstaking people, may the sky not pay, may everyone support a lot, a lot of encouragement!.

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