Going all the way south to Pizhou, on the road, Chen Wang saw soldiers and horses passing by one after another, heading north.
It didn't take long for the documents of victory to arrive, and Zhenning was recovered. The rogue bandits had no idea that the Ming army would dare to advance at such a fast pace after being thwarted one after another.
Before Zhang Waijia could reach Zhenning, the bandits from Zhenning fled in all directions. Zhang Waijia then led his elite cavalry in pursuit, winning several battles in a row, capturing thousands of heads, and marched towards Ningzhou and Xiangle.
When the bandits heard that the Ming army was attacking again, they abandoned Ningzhou and fled north toward Anhua and Heshui in the central area of Qingyang Prefecture.
However, Zhang Waijia led a fine cavalry, one man and two horses, and soon caught up with the hungry people and troops who had fallen behind the rogue bandits twenty miles north of Ningzhou City.
The rogue bandits turned back to fight again, but their cavalry was routed by the fine cavalry led by Zhang Waijia, so they had no choice but to abandon the group and flee.
Zhang Waijia ordered the massacre of the remnants of the party. The official road in the north of Ningzhou City was almost dyed with blood. The blood gathered into a stream and flowed into the river. The blood drifted in the oars and corpses were scattered everywhere.
If Zhang Quanchang, the commander-in-chief, had not arrived in time to stop them, all those who had no time to escape would have been slaughtered by Zhang Waijia.
You must know that there are many Ningzhou residents and villagers around Ningzhou among them. They were all taken away and fled north together. Zhang Waijia did not distinguish them and treated them all as rogue bandits.
In the end, only more than 2,000 people were rescued by Zhang Quanchang. Zhang Waijia massacred more than 3,000 people with his troops, and more people fled into the mountains and wastelands.
Zhang Waijia advocated the suppression of bandits, and he had seen a lot of people who had surrendered and rebelled since they came from outside the customs. No one could punish Zhang Waijia. After all, when he raised the butcher knife, those people were classified as bandits.
South of Pizhou City, above the wilderness.
Chen Wang was riding a war horse and holding a whip in his hand, standing not far from the wall of Pizhou City.
Behind him were seven or eight fully armed cavalry, and more than thirty infantrymen, all wearing armor, holding long spears, and hanging knives at their waists.
Chen Wang lowered his head, and the helmet on his head blocked the direct sunlight.
The wilderness not far in front of him was covered with dilapidated shacks, which were dirty, dilapidated and messy.
The whole world was dark.
Chen Wang looked back at Pizhou City behind him. The gate of Pizhou City was still closed.
The soldiers on the city were densely packed, and people were walking around from time to time. Flags were flying over the city wall.
When thieves crossed the border, the city of Pizhou was not destroyed, but the villages and towns around Pizhou suffered.
Some people were abducted by the bandits and continued to walk northwest. However, the people who escaped into the mountains and forests and had a lucky escape returned home and found that everything in their homes was gone.
The houses were burned down, the food that had been hidden but not taken away was taken away, and even the immature crops in the fields were destroyed...
The bandits cut off their livelihood, and they lost everything they relied on for survival. They could only walk all the way to Pizhou City, hoping to get a bite of food.
But the city gate of Pizhou is always closed to them.
The tall city wall divides the inside and outside of the city into two worlds.
It was naturally impossible to open the city and let them enter the city. The magistrate of Pizhou sent the government officials in the city to gather these hungry people in the south of the city.
Every day in the morning and afternoon, a small amount of food will be transported into the city, cooked into porridge, and distributed in limited quantities.
The porridge and rice were scarce, so I could barely satisfy my hunger, trying not to starve to death.
The reason why Chen Wang led his troops here was to recruit troops.
The number of troops is 270, to fill the missing troops in that bureau.
More than thirty soldiers gathered around a large pot and formed a circular formation.
The big pot in the circle was spitting out white mist. Two young men in green clothes were working hard to burn the firewood under the pot.
In the large pot, the white rice porridge was constantly tumbling with bubbles.
The position Chen Wang chose was upwind.
The aroma of rice porridge floats with the breeze into the camp of hungry people not far away.
Soon, the refugee camp felt like a pot was exploding, and the hungry people rushed out after smelling the aroma of rice porridge.
In fact, when Chen Wang arrived with his troops, the hungry people in the shack had already discovered them.
But seeing the bright swords they were holding in their hands and riding tall horses, they didn't know what they were doing, so they didn't step forward and just watched from a distance.
Seeing them setting up the earth stove, and watching them pour big bags of white rice into the big pot, add water and start to cook porridge, no one dared to step forward.
After all, those people were wearing armor and looked like soldiers...
But when the rice porridge was cooked and the aroma wafted in waves, the hunger in their bellies made them completely forget about it.
After one person came first, more people gathered around the cauldron, and the surrounding area was immediately filled with water. Groups of ragged adults and children stared at the cauldron where rice porridge was being cooked.
In just half an hour, Chen Wang and others were almost completely surrounded by hungry people pouring out.
Around the cauldron, all the soldiers put down their spears and pointed at the hungry people outside as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Behind Chen Wang, several cavalrymen also pulled out the Yanling swords at their waists.
However, the three cavalrymen wearing arrow sleeves following Chen Wang did not draw their swords.
The three people following him were originally servants under Cao Wenzhao.
Three people, one with the surname Chen and two with the surname Hu.
Speaking of which, they are all related to Chen Wang.
A person named Chen, named Chen Gong, is his biological brother.
There are two people named Hu, one is named Hu Zhiyi and the other is named Hu Zhili, and they are his cousins.
They all followed Cao Wenzhao after Guang Ning and served as servants.
Cao Wenzhao gave three places. Chen Wang didn't think much and just asked for two cousins and a biological brother.
In this era, people from the same hometown and provinces would hold together for warmth, not to mention the ties between blood ties.
Seeing that more and more people were surrounding him, Chen Wang turned his head and nodded to Chen Gong beside him.
Chen Gong understood, rode his horse and walked a few steps forward, reaching the front of the cauldron, instantly attracting the attention of everyone outside.
Chen Gongsheng's handsome appearance and clear features make people feel good at first sight.
"We are soldiers from the camp from Datong who have temporarily settled in Pizhou. Currently, there is a temporary shortage of 370 soldiers in the camp, so we came here to recruit troops."
Chen Gong got straight to the point and didn't hide anything. When his voice fell, the buzzing whispers around him suddenly fell silent.
Serving as a soldier was already looked down upon by others, but now that the world is so chaotic, you just have your head tied to your belt.
Moreover, it is no joke to say that he is a soldier of Datong and has to leave his hometown...
But soon, Chen Gong's next words made the crowd commotion again.
"Settlement allowance, seven buckets of rice..."
…
Ming Dynasty: A bucket of rice weighs about eighteen kilograms.
