Chapter 32 Yangshawan

The valley where the stronghold is located is now a city.

The empire moved quickly. Not long after Zhu Bingkun's news came back, the production lines and craftsmen from there were sent over one after another, and the stronghold was quickly built into a fortress.

However, due to the lack of raw materials, several production lines cannot be started. The craftsmen organized themselves, prospected for minerals in the Danan Mountains, and started mining.

In a place with backward productivity and almost no industrial base, everything had to be started from scratch.

But Zhu Bingkun is not in a hurry. It will take more than two years for the empire to open up this world. Plenty of time for him to deploy.

As time passed, more and more complete information was collected, making Zhu Bingkun understand Yangnan Road better and better.

Another half month has passed, and all the power and military deployment of Yangnan Road have been controlled by Zhu Bingkun.

And there are dozens of soldiers who have infiltrated into the various forces in Yangnan Road.

Yangnan Road is generally divided into two major groups: the government and the aristocratic families, and the two major groups are almost like me among you, and you among me.

Except for Yangnan Daotai and some of his cronies, more than half of Yangnan Dao's military and political affairs are actually in the hands of local aristocratic families. There are people from aristocratic families in the army, people from aristocratic families in the officialdom, people from aristocratic families in business, people from aristocratic families in farming and animal husbandry, and even bandits and bandits, most of them have close relationships with aristocratic families.

Even the Taotai of Yangnan Road are members of aristocratic families, but they are not from local aristocratic families in Yangnan Road, but are descended from aristocratic families from other places.

Among these aristocratic families, there are hypocrites who have good reputations but secretly control the bandits, and bullies who are arrogant and domineering without any scruples. There are only a handful of two or three families that are not bad in terms of behavior and reputation.

There are also differences and conflicts among these aristocratic families. Some were extremely ambitious and wanted to take advantage of the chaos in the Sui Kingdom to go further, and even looked at the high throne. But some people think that this move is too dangerous. There is no court for thousands of years, but there is a family for thousands of years, and they are unwilling to start an uprising.

All kinds of contradictions were mixed together, making it such a mess that even Zhu Bingkun couldn't figure it out.

Yangnan Province officially has an army of 20,000 people, of which only 5,000 are directly controlled by Daotai. The other 15,000 troops are all in the hands of officers from major aristocratic families, and Daotai cannot mobilize them.

In addition, every large and small aristocratic family has its own armed forces. The number ranges from thousands to hundreds, and the combined armed strength of these aristocratic families is probably not less than 50,000, which is more than double the official establishment.

Not to mention the family's armed forces, most of them are entrenched in their own territory. Of the 20,000 official troops, 5,000 under the control of Daotai were stationed in Tiannanfu, the capital of Yangnan Province. Of the other fifteen thousand men, five thousand were stationed in the military camp near Jiangyang. Five thousand were stationed on the edge of Shiwan Mountain in the west of Yangnan Road to guard against the barbarians in Shiwan Mountain. The last five thousand were stationed on the bank of Mingzhou River in the south. , that is, Mingyang where Zhang Xin sailed south.

"It is not difficult to conquer Yangnan, but the existence of aristocratic families is a big obstacle." Zhu Bingkun said: "There are more than thirty aristocratic families in Yangnan Road. Except for the three families with good reputations and conduct, the others are guilty of serious crimes and have no existence. necessary.”

After a pause, he said: "I intend to send troops as soon as possible to capture Yangnan. I have few troops and although they are strong, it is not suitable to divide them. First capture Jiangyang, occupy Yangnan Road and go east to the stronghold, then recruit troops and go south to annex Mingyang. So Once this happens, both roads from Yangnan Road to the outside world can be blocked."

"The general wants to wipe out all Yangnan Dao families and officials?" one person couldn't help but ask.

Zhu Bingkun nodded: "Exactly."

He pressed the map and said: "The aristocratic family in this world has a great say. If the outlet of the aristocratic family is not blocked, it will lead to disasters outside Yangnan. The empire needs a stable outpost, and the Yangnan Road All hidden dangers must be eliminated. Yangnan Road has no soil for aristocratic families to survive."

"Listen to my orders!"

"Here!"

"At midnight tonight, the troops will be sent to the Jiangyang camp." Zhu Bingkun pounded his fist on the table: "Destroy the Sui garrison and march south to Jiangyang before dawn!"

"Got the order!"

...

Jiangyang Camp is located in Yangshawan, fifteen miles east of Jiangyang City. General Zhang Zhaohu led 5,000 troops to garrison there. Yangshawan faces the Yangtze River and is backed by Cuiping Mountain. The military camp is built in the shadow of Cuiping Mountain, halfway up the mountain. The terrain of the walled city is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Before nightfall, Zhang Zhaohu personally inspected the walled city. Zhang Zhaohu is not from a noble family. As an ordinary citizen, it is not easy for him to reach this stage.

Zhang Zhaohu is in his early thirties and in his prime. He has a tall build and a serious face, which is convincing. More than ten years ago, before he had even won the title, Zhang Zhaohu joined the army. For three years in Northern Xinjiang, he made great achievements with one sword and one shot, but managed to become a general with a hundred men.

Later he participated in the second and third cross-sea battles. Among the Sui army, which was generally severely damaged and defeated repeatedly, he won many battles. Not only was he unique, but he was also extremely rare. Such an achievement, but now he is only a partial general, leading 5,000 men.

The aristocratic family is in power, but there is also serious strife in the army. Without an identity background or aristocratic family background, no matter how great your achievements are, it is difficult to be reused.

Zhang Zhaohu was disheartened and turned down his appointment in Northern Xinjiang. He returned to Yangnan Road, the land of his birth, and became a general. He married a daughter of the Mu family and joined the Mu family, a local aristocratic family.

The five thousand troops stationed here in Yangshawan are actually controlled by the Mu family.

Zhang Zhaohu joined the Mu family not because the Mu family was the most powerful local family, but because the Mu family had the best reputation among the local families. They are also one of the three families known to Zhu Bingkun whose words and deeds are consistent.

Zhang Zhaohu has his own arrogance, strong martial arts and outstanding military strategy. If he cannot be convinced, he will definitely not join.

After returning to the Mu family, he turned these five thousand people into elite soldiers. It can be said that the most elite soldiers in the entire Yangnan Road must be these five thousand people.

Zhang Zhaohu has been a partial general of Yangnan Road for more than three years, and he has never slacked off during these three years. Even though Yangnan Road is located on the southwest edge and has not been affected by the general trend for the time being, he has never relaxed. This is a standard soldier and a strong general.

After the inspection, Zhang Zhaohu returned to the general's dormitory to deal with some paperwork.

There is no paper in the army. As the leader of this army, he is responsible for everything, including logistics, and he is also responsible for it personally.

"The army's food supply is less than half a month. Make a note of it and send it to the channel early tomorrow morning to ask for food and salary."

The clerk quickly wrote it down.

"A lot of scrapped and damaged ordnance has been accumulated. It will be sent back to Tiannan for repair tomorrow."

...One by one, Zhang Zhaohu handled them in an orderly manner.

After the processing was completed, Zhang Zhaohu picked up a stack of documents and put them away before speaking to the secretary.

"The situation is currently in turmoil. Mingzhou across the river to the south is already in chaos. I don't know when it will spread to Yangnan." Zhang Zhaohu sighed: "I think when I joined the army, the world was peaceful and the people lived in peace and harmony. Who could have predicted It’s only been ten years, and it’s still like this.”

The secretary was a young scholar. Hearing this, he smiled and said: "The second generation has gone his own way and is alienated from the world. In the current situation, that foolish king has to bear most of the responsibility."

Zhang Zhaohu was silent, and after a moment he said, "The head of the family said earlier that he wanted to expand the army, but I don't know whether he should take it seriously or not?"

The secretary said: "I'm afraid we can't do it for the time being. Daotai and other aristocratic families are suppressing it very hard."

Zhang Zhaohu sighed: "In such a situation, we are still constraining each other. When something big comes, what can we do?"

The secretary also sighed repeatedly: "Aristocratic families are like-minded, and even if they have conflicts, they must be resolved through gentle words."