"Zhang Jiu, are there any wealthy families around here?"
The person leading the way ranked ninth in the Zhang family, so Xu Da called him Zhang Jiu.
"Commander, I know that there is a Wu Manor ahead. It is a wealthy family in Guanghan, with thousands of servants and mountains of money and food." Zhang Jiu said.
"Thousands of slaves?"
As soon as Xu Da heard this, he was immediately satisfied.
If they can defeat this wealthy family, their Ming army will not be deprived of food this time.
"Commander, the Wu family has long since taken refuge with Chen Zei. Many of the family members are Chen Zei's officers and generals. Now that Chen Youliang is leading troops to fight, many of the Wu family's children are following him."
"You mean, there aren't many soldiers in the Wu Manor now?" Xu Da heard it immediately.
After obtaining the grain and grass reserves of the powerful Wu family in Guanghan, Xu Da could use the grain and grass to recruit nearby refugees, and then together they would raise troops to attack Guanghan City.
Ever since Chen Youliang entered Sichuan, refugees in various places have had a hard time surviving due to the war.
Xu Da's original plan was to spread the banner widely after entering the hinterland of Sichuan, recruit nearby refugees to strengthen his momentum, attack Guanghan first, cut off Chengdu's connection with the outside world, and then attack Chengdu directly.
"The commander-in-chief is right. The Wu family has only one or two thousand soldiers at most, and the rest are old, weak, women and children, so they are not of concern at all." Zhang Jiu said, patting his chest.
The Wu family of Guanghan has always had a grudge against the Zhang family. Since Chen Youliang occupied Sichuan, the conflicts between the two families have become more and more serious.
"Okay, lead the way immediately!"
Xu Da said without hesitation.
Since he had already ventured into a dangerous situation, he naturally no longer looked forward and backward, and simply took down this powerful family to supplement his own strength.
Only in this way can the hope of capturing Chengdu be increased.
"Don't worry, Commander, I'll lead the way right now!"
Zhang Jiu immediately responded happily.
Xu Da then gave instructions to his left and right generals.
"You all go back to your headquarters, raise all the flags, and let the people of Sichuan know that the Ming Dynasty's King has entered Sichuan!"
After hearing this, several generals agreed in unison.
Xu Da then ordered the accompanying generals such as Hua Yun and Wu Liang.
"Scatter all your cavalry and cut off all the roads leading to the outside as much as possible. We can't let Chen Youliang know our arrival too early."
"Anyone who leaves Guanghan will be arrested and guarded first. If they disobey orders, they will be killed!"
After Hua Yun and others received the order, they immediately carried it out.
Now the whole of Sichuan is empty, and these cavalry are enough to be invincible.
"As long as we can capture Chengdu and pacify Sichuan, the Ming Dynasty's strongest military achievement will be mine."
Xu Da looked in the direction of Yingtian with a serious face and said silently in his heart.
As the flags of each army were raised again, tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry marched forward with unstoppable momentum.
It was Guang soldiers who first discovered these enemies emerging from the mountains and forests.
"Who are those people?"
A small group of patrolling Guanghan soldiers were puzzled by the large number of flags that suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Maybe it's because we won the battle earlier?"
One soldier craned his neck and said.
He saw colorful flags in the distance, but his lack of literacy prevented him from knowing which team they belonged to.
I just felt that the front was marching very quickly, and it didn't seem like the defeated troops were retreating.
"What kind of victory can we fight in this direction?"
The other person immediately said that it was not reliable.
"Maybe there was a victory in the west. I heard that the emperor went there!"
The little leader of the team said.
"Let's go take a look first. Anyway, it must be one of our own."
Several people think it makes sense.
This is the hinterland of Sichuan, and apart from the army of the Han Dynasty, it is impossible for other armies to appear.
A group of people walked quickly towards the front.
They had just walked not far when they saw a group of cavalry running out of the flag-waving team in front.
These cavalry seemed to be heading towards them.
"Hey, that's not quite right."
When the soldiers saw this, they couldn't help but feel in their hearts, and a bad premonition came to their hearts.
Almost instantly, the cavalrymen urged their horses to rush towards them at high speed.
Looking at this posture, it seems that they are about to surround them.
"No, retreat quickly!"
The little boss panicked, shouted, and immediately turned around and ran back.
At this time, the rapid sound of horse hooves had reached everyone's ears, followed by a sharp whistling sound.
"ah!"
"ah!"
Several screams sounded around them, and arrows were shot one after another. Two Chen Han soldiers fell down with howls.
"Spare your life, spare your life!"
When the few remaining soldiers saw this, they also knew that they could not run away. They all gathered together and hugged each other, begging for mercy to the surrounding cavalry.
"Who are you!"
A cavalryman on a black horse asked fiercely.
The little leader of Chen Han soldiers saw this and immediately replied.
"We are the soldiers of Wu Zhifu in Guanghan!"
"Prefect Wu?"
The cavalryman looked confused, as if he had never heard of a prefect.
When several Guanghan soldiers saw this, they felt panic.
These cavalrymen who killed their two companions all had accents from the northwest, and were definitely not from Sichuan!
They all vaguely guessed that these cavalry must be enemies!
At this moment, another group of cavalry rushed over.
The leader was wearing shining armor, and he looked like a general with a high official position.
"Commander, these are all soldiers from the Guanghan Prefecture!"
When Xu Da heard this, he was immediately overjoyed.
What a coincidence.
"I am General Xu Da of the Ming Dynasty. Under the imperial decree of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I am going to defeat the Chen bandits in Chengdu. Are you willing to serve the imperial court?!"
When several Guanghan soldiers heard this, they were all dumbfounded.
They never expected that this large group of troops turned out to be soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty.
They all come from the mountain road!
Aren't the northern passes of the mountain road guarded by soldiers and horses from the Han Dynasty?
How could so many Ming troops arrive in Guanghan without any news coming?
but.
These things are no longer their concern.
What these soldiers want most is to survive.
"Yes, yes!" said the leader of the Guanghan soldiers.
"Yes, yes, we are all willing to serve!"
"We are all willing to serve the Ming Dynasty!"
Xu Da saw that these small fish and shrimps were quite sensible, so he gave the order straightforwardly.
"Well, I will give you a chance to make meritorious deeds!"
"You lead the way, first help me trick me into opening the gate of Wu Manor, collect some food and grass, and then open the gate of Guanghan City!"
Xu Da already knew from Zhang Jiu that the Wu family manor was strong and huge, with two gates alone. It could be said to be a real large manor.
If there is no internal response or surprise attack, I'm afraid it will take some effort.
Led by these surrendered soldiers, they quickly arrived at Wu's manor.
The servants at Wu Manor were obviously very familiar with these soldiers.
Then, a cloud-piercing arrow sounded.
The main force of the Ming army hiding in the woods in the distance easily captured the Wu family manor and obtained a large amount of food and grass.
Later, Xu Da came up with a trick to open a warehouse to release grain.
The large amount of food soon attracted many poor people in the surrounding areas to join the ranks of the Ming army.
These poor people do not have enough to eat on weekdays.
Now that they saw a large amount of food, they rushed over one after another.
Xu Da led the Ming army to march in the front, while many people holding farm tools in the back were bluffing to intimidate the enemy.
This trick really worked.
When Xu Da led his army to arrive at the foot of Guanghan City, the defenders of Guanghan City were frightened out of their wits. The Ming army only launched a tentative attack and easily captured Guanghan City.
Immediately, Xu Da ordered people to move all the materials in Guanghan County and opened the warehouse again to release grain.
Gathered all the young men in the entire city.
In just half a day, Xu Da had more than 15,000 new soldiers under his command.
Less than two days.
Xu Da's army surged from less than 10,000 to more than 30,000.
Xu Da knew that without further delay, he must fight to the gates of Chengdu as soon as possible, otherwise the Han troops around Chengdu would inevitably gather in Chengdu after getting the news.
By that time, Xu Da's 30,000 soldiers may not be enough.
In order to motivate his soldiers, especially those newly recruited local soldiers from Sichuan, Xu Da not only opened a warehouse to provide grain, but also took out all the gold and silver treasures in Guanghan City and rewarded them to the soldiers.
Encouraged by food and gold and silver, the morale of these soldiers was high.
Xu Da led this army to attack Chengdu with murderous intent.
Chengdu is now just an empty shell, and most of the troops were taken away by Chen Youliang to attack Tubo.
In the huge Chengdu, only Chen Youliang's son, Chen Li, the crown prince of Chen Han, commanded eight thousand soldiers and horses to garrison.
The young Chen Li is no match for Xu Da.
Under Xu Da's fierce attack, Chen Li could not stop Xu Da's edge.
In less than a day, Xu Da captured Chengdu!
At this time, let alone Chen Youliang, who was far away in Yunnan, did not know about the fall of Chengdu.
Even other state capitals close to Chengdu didn't know that the Ming army had captured Chengdu!
...
Ming Dynasty, Hongwu six years, spring.
Jiangnan in late spring is so beautiful!
A painting depicting the style of Yingtian Mansion was now in Zhu Han's hands.
Zhu Han held the painting book in his hand and looked at the scene above carefully.
I couldn't help but feel very happy.
He was not only happy about Yingtian's new appearance in the painting book, but also happy because of the painting book.
The painting is not the usual freehand ink painting, but is drawn with charcoal pen.
Lifelike sketches.
Although it still seems very immature in some details, it basically has the appearance of later sketches and portraits.
"Not bad!"
Zhu Han praised twice.
"Did you draw all of this picture book?"
Zhu Han asked a woman next to him.
"Your Highness, these paintings are all painted by me!"
After hearing Zhu Han's question, Zhou Zhiruo immediately answered.
"Haha, that's awesome! Zhiruo, you can be regarded as the originator of a new school of painting!"
Zhu Han took Zhou Zhiruo back to his seat on the Grand Master's chair.
As Zhu Han's concubine, Zhou Zhiruo was born in a Jiangnan merchant family. She was not only proficient in poetry and calligraphy, but also extremely talented in painting.
Therefore, after Zhou Zhiruo entered the palace, Zhu Han quickly discovered her talent.
Zhu Han gave her the sketching technique of drawing with charcoal.
The genius Zhou Zhiruo quickly understood everything.
During Zhu Han's time on the expedition, Zhou Zhiruo made great progress in sketching technology.
Now that the results are in hand, they far exceed Zhu Han's expectations.
"I just followed His Highness's instructions and scribbled random things. I can't be considered the originator."
Zhou Zhiruo said coquettishly while leaning half in Zhu Han's arms.
"Haha, I just taught you a few random lessons. You are the one who truly understands it. Naturally, you are the originator of this painting school."
As Zhu Han spoke, he exerted a little more force on his hands.
Zhou Zhiruo noticed Zhu Han's dirty hands, and his pretty face suddenly turned red.
In the palace in broad daylight, she was extremely shy.
Zhou Zhiruo quickly changed the topic.
"Your Majesty, drawing and painting are just a little skill for beginners, just for fun. They are not worthy of His Highness's praise."
"This is not a new skill."
Zhu Han smiled softly and then continued.
"These drawings are extremely precise. They not only replicate the scenery on them, but also paint the customs of a place on the paper."
“With such a detailed picture, one can know from thousands of miles away what seeing is believing.”
Zhou Zhiruo was still a little confused when he heard this.
"Then what's the use?"
"What's the use? It's very useful!"
"Your Highness, can you tell me?" A young academic like Zhou Zhiruo is full of curiosity.
"Not only can you draw mountains and terrain, but you can also draw local customs and products, and you can also draw shadows and graphics for people."
Zhu Han talked about a lot of benefits.
Finally, Zhou Zhiruo finally understood.
With the painting skills I have mastered, painting landscapes and architecture is secondary.
According to Zhu Han's intention, the most important thing was to draw the mountains and terrain of the Ming Dynasty.
"Now the Ming Dynasty is fighting in all directions, and all kinds of terrain and mountains are the top priority!"
Zhu Han had seen the mountain and river maps "treasured" by the Song and Yuan Dynasties and other imperial officials.
For the situation in the Central Plains, these freehand maps are somewhat useful.
Once you get to the remote places ruled by Ji Su, you are completely blank and there is no reliable map at all.
There is no map information left at all about the places where the battles were fought.
"As long as you have such a detailed map, it is like having clairvoyance, and you can plan your march and formation in advance."
Zhu Han said again.
These rudimentary sketches in Zhou Zhiruo's hands have already used detailed scales.
With a little improvement, you can make military maps one by one.
Coupled with the iconic sketch scenery, the accuracy of the orientation can be completely achieved.
In the late Qing Dynasty, a large number of European, American, Japanese and Russian travelers and explorers went deep into the mainland of China one by one. They were called expeditions, but in fact their purpose was military mapping.
And the results were one basket after another.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the people dispatched by the Japanese pirates went to the extreme, and even a river or a temple would be drawn exactly on the Japanese pirate map.
When the Japanese pirates invaded in full force, some national troops who went out of the province to fight the war did not even know the local terrain as well as the Japanese pirates.
"Zhiruo, I have one more thing that I want to leave to you to handle personally." Zhu Han said.
"Your Highness, just ask." Zhou Zhiruo replied.
Zhu Han then ordered someone to bring up a wooden box.
Zhou Zhiruo became curious.
Although this wooden box is not big, it seems to be quite heavy.
The two strong guards had to work together to lift it up with great difficulty.
Zhu Han pulled Zhou Zhiruo to the box.
He opened the box.
I saw that the box was filled with gold and silver!
A whole box of gold and silver.
Only then did Zhou Zhiruo understand.
No wonder the two guards were working so hard just now.
The gold and silver in this box probably weighs more than two hundred kilograms.
"Your Highness, what are these gold and silver?"
She soon discovered the difference between this box of gold and silver.
The gold and silver here are not ordinary gold or silver ingots, nor are they special shapes of gold vessels.
But gold and silver coins one by one.
