Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

After confirming that Ma Lingqi was indeed a good fighter, Zhang Shikang, for his own safety, of course agreed to Hong Xiucheng's proposal.

Although this was a bit reckless, Ma Lingqi herself didn't mind it, and there weren't many people in the barracks who could beat or bully her.

So Zhang Shikang asked Ma Xianglin what he thought, but Ma Xianglin made the decision right away and was even very happy, which left Zhang Shikang confused.

According to the established plan, in the next three days, both the Guards and the White Spear Soldiers began a general mobilization.

Food, military supplies, chariots, etc. have already begun to be prepared in full swing. Qin Liangyu originally planned to bring a number of craftsmen to temporarily build siege equipment, but was rejected by Zhang Shikang.

In addition, Zhang Shikang also borrowed more than 50 troop transport ships from the Zheng family, entered the river from Yingtian Prefecture, and arrived at the designated river area yesterday.

As for possible attacks across the river, Zhang Shikang had considered using warships to deal with it.

However, the rivers in Sichuan are already considered the upper reaches of a major river, and some winding places are not suitable for large ships to navigate at all.

If only small and medium-sized warships were used, they would not be of much use, so Zhang Shikang simply gave up.

On August 24, Zhang Shikang and Qin Liangyu led an army of 60,000 and headed straight for Wulong County, which was the closest to Shiqu City.

In order to prevent Li Zicheng from launching a surprise attack from behind, Qin Liangyu left 20,000 troops to defend key locations along the Shiqian line.

Two days later, when the army arrived at Wulong County, the gates of Wulong County were wide open.

The bandit troops in the county town had retreated long ago. They looted the county town before leaving, and many landlords and wealthy people who had survived before suffered.

What made Zhang Shikang most angry was that when this group of bandits evacuated, they did not even spare the common people and looted all their food and money.

The only thing to be thankful for is that Zhang Xianzhong did not lose his mind and kill civilians.

There were not many people in Wulong County, only more than 30,000. After Zhang Shikang and Qin Liangyu discussed it, they had to withdraw part of the military rations to feed the common people first.

Then he quickly sent orders through the factory guards to the provincial governments in Huguang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, asking them to buy grain locally immediately.

At this time, the seasonal grain in the south and north of the Yangtze River had just matured. Compared with Yang Sichang's violent collection the year before, the court's use of silver to buy grain was much more moderate.

The army did not stop and passed through Pengshui County, Youyang Xuanfu Division, Pingchadong Division, and Shiyedong Division along the way.

Wherever they passed, there were no bandits to be seen, but all their properties were looted.

The most unlucky ones were the chieftains of Youyang Xuanfusi and others. They had already surrendered to Zhang Xianzhong, but when the disaster was imminent, they could not get Zhang Xianzhong's trust.

The leaders were all killed, but the house was still looted.

Zhang Shikang did not show any mercy to these chieftains who were like fence-sitters. He wrote to his brother Chongzhen, requesting the abolition of their hereditary official positions.

At the same time, he began to appoint local people of fame and reputation to temporarily serve as county magistrates.

The chieftain system existed throughout the Ming Dynasty. There were many chieftains in Sichuan, Yunnan, and even Guizhou.

The official positions of these chieftains were basically hereditary, but the Ming Dynasty rarely received much tax from the places where the chieftains were located.

The Ming Dynasty gave great preferential treatment to ethnic minorities in various places, even to a degree that exceeded what Zhang Shikang believed.

These chieftains not only controlled the local economic lifeline, but also had their own military forces.

However, they did not play much of a role in the previous chaos in the Ming Dynasty, except for the White Spear Soldiers of Shiqu.

This is certainly unreasonable.

After seeing the local situation, Zhang Shikang immediately thought of four words.

Change the system of native peoples to Han people.

But it was obviously inappropriate to talk about this matter at this time. Zhang Shikang only appointed officials to manage it first, and he could only discuss it with his brother Chongzhen after the war.

However, he believed that this was very necessary. Not only would it improve the connection between the people in these areas and the imperial court, but it would also allow more taxes to be collected instead of being intercepted by the hereditary chieftains.

The Ming Dynasty does not support termites.

After dealing with the Tusi rebellion in the southwest of Chongqing Prefecture, the army returned to Wulong, where they safely crossed the Qianjiang River on a troop transport ship.

Qianjiang River, also known as Fuling River, is a tributary of the Yangtze River, so it is not very wide. Zhang Xianzhong did not choose this place to block the attack.

The three cities of Fuzhou, Nanchuan and Ba County to the west of Qianjiang are still the same as those to the east of Qianjiang.

Zhang Shikang couldn't help but admire Zhang Xianzhong. Damn, he was really patient. He ran away without hesitation.

Not only did they withdraw their troops, they also looted the city, not only supplied themselves but also passed the burden to the court. Zhang Shikang could not just ignore it.

Therefore, Zhang Shikang felt very angry along the way.

It was not until the army arrived at Jiangjin County that Zhang Shikang finally saw Zhang Xianzhong's main force through a telescope.

Both sides unexpectedly chose Jiangjin area as the location for crossing the river and counter-crossing the river.

The river in Jiangjin area is very winding. As it flows eastward, it forms a "J"-shaped bend in Jiangjin area.

Not far downstream of several bends, the narrowest part of the river is less than four hundred steps, and the flow rate is slower than in other areas.

Qin Liangyu looked at the bandit army on the other side of the river with some worry. She wanted to suggest crossing the river from the narrowest part.

After all, the narrower the river, the faster the crossing speed and the safer it is.

However, Zhang Shikang rejected this suggestion and instead chose a crossing point further downstream, in a river area about 600 steps wide.

According to the Ming Dynasty system, one step was approximately equal to 1.5 meters. By conversion, the width of that territory had reached more than 900 meters, nearly one kilometer.

More than fifty troop transport ships had already arrived at the south bank of the river in Jiangjin area, and 60,000 troops were ready for battle.

Although Qin Liangyu didn't understand, she was mature and prudent. She had already realized that Zhang Shikang must have some trump card, so she didn't object.

Zhang Shikang looked at the other side of the river for a long time before he finally put down the telescope and said to Qi Dazhu behind him:

"Zhu Zi! Pull out our big treasure!"

"I obey your command!" After Qi Dazhu bowed and accepted the order, he ran towards the rear of the military camp.

After the Imperial Guards officially formed the artillery battalion, Zhang Shikang selected Qi Dazhu as the commander of the artillery battalion.

As a veteran of the former Beijing Camp, Qi Dazhu experienced a series of wars after Zhang Shikang joined the Beijing Camp. He can be said to be a model of climbing from the bottom to the position of deputy general.

Although Qi Dazhu was not well educated, he had a strong talent and ability to learn firearms.

When selecting the commander of the artillery battalion, he defeated more than a dozen opponents with his actual operational ability and was recognized as the artillery king of the Guards.

A quarter of an hour later, four rows of large blocks covered with sackcloth were lined up on the mudflats on the south bank of the river.

At Zhang Shikang's command, the artillery opened the numbness.

What caught everyone's eyes was the yellow 24-pound bronze cannon that Zhang Shikang relied on as his most important weapon.

……