Chapter Forty-Five The Next Target

  Dagger shield hand and long gun soldier training Xiao Tianjian can be said to have no problem, but for cavalry and scout training, he has no experience at all, and can only let Yan Chongxi help come up with some ideas, letting Shi Rang and several other three-legged cat cavalry scouts explore on their own.

  Moreover, Xiao Tianjian didn't have time to let them train thoroughly, and soon sent Shi Rang and the others out to start collecting various intelligence within a radius of dozens of miles.

  The purpose of training troops is for expansion. It's not a solution for Lao Tzu to stay here, so Xiao Tianjian still needs to expand his forces as soon as possible.

  Shi Rang and Da Niu did not disappoint him, using some information obtained from Sha Er Bao's hands, they clarified the situation of various villages and fellow practitioners within dozens of miles in less than ten days.

  At the same time, they also picked up dozens of refugees on the road and took them back to their old nest, handing them over to Xiao Tianjian.

  Following Xiao Tianjian's orders, when they took in these refugees along the way, they only chose those who were single and had better physical fitness, providing them with food and enticing them to follow them back to their old nest.

  At this time, for these refugees, it's not just that having milk is like having a mother, even giving them a piece of coarse flatbread would make them regard you as their own grandfather. So there was no need to waste words, and Shi Yan and the others easily brought back more than 50 refugees.

  Xiao Tianjian did this not out of pity for the displaced refugees, but to recruit followers for himself. In the past, he had no food or money and couldn't even get anyone to follow him. Now that he has some savings, he has the conditions to expand his influence. It's not that he doesn't have sympathy for the refugees; after all, he also needs to make a living and knows their suffering from his own experiences of hunger. However, he is not arrogant enough to think he can save these poor people like a savior. For now, being able to protect himself is already a blessing, so he can only do this temporarily. As for those pitiful women and children, he can only harden his heart and ignore them.

  The Ming dynasty was thoroughly rotten and had reached the point of extreme misfortune. Externally, there were invasions by the Later Jin and Eastern Barbarians, which necessitated the dispatch of additional troops to Liaodong. Coincidentally, this coincided with a natural disaster - a severe drought in Shaanxi Province. As a result, the additional dispatch of troops to Liaodong led to the impoverished people rising up in rebellion. The rebellion by the impoverished people required suppression, which in turn necessitated the recruitment of soldiers, and the recruitment of soldiers required grain provisions. In the end, this only led to further increases in military expenditures, and after increasing military expenditures, the common people were even more unable to survive. Being unable to survive led to even greater unrest, and greater unrest necessitated the deployment of additional troops for suppression, which in turn required even more grain provisions... This cycle repeated itself, resulting in what is known as the Chongzhen paradox - the more you try to suppress it, the more chaotic it becomes.

  So, understanding this point, Xiao Tianjian would naturally not think of helping Chongzhen Emperor solve this problem. This was originally a dead knot, and the only way out could be that the Ming Dynasty was thoroughly destroyed, and a new order was established. Therefore, what Xiao Tianjian is considering now is not how to save the people, but rather how to survive and develop himself first.

  After Shi Rang brought these refugees back, Xiao Tianjian's subordinates expanded by another fold. However, after taking a look at these new refugees, Xiao Tianjian decided not to temporarily incorporate them into the team as soldiers. The reason was simple: even if they were asked to do some light work, it would be exhausting for them. These people, although selected by Shi Rang and others as relatively strong refugees, had been suffering from hunger pangs for a long time. Each of them was emaciated, with severe malnutrition, and their faces were pale. If they were allowed to participate in training directly, someone might faint or die on the spot.

  So Xiao Tianjian, even if he was in a hurry to use people, couldn't help but let these new arrivals rest and recover for a while, giving them enough food to restore their bodies before talking about training.

  These new refugees were full of curiosity about Xiao Tianjian's place, and when they saw Xiao Tianjian's stern subordinates, they were even more filled with reverence. Especially when they received the food given to them by Xiao Tianjian, they were all excited beyond measure, kneeling on the ground holding their rice bowls and repeatedly kowtowing to thank Xiao Tianjian.

  "Eat, eat! Don't rush, our boss is a righteous person and will make sure you're full! When you people are better, don't forget the kindness of our boss! Follow him well and do your job properly. If anyone is half-hearted, they'll be struck by lightning! Eat slowly, don't overeat..."

  Jiang Fuzi, this volunteer propagandist, kept on nagging, and those auxiliary soldiers also learned from Jiang Fuzi. While providing food and accommodations for these people, they constantly indoctrinated them with the kindness of Xiao Tianjian, who was holding the plate. With their presence, Xiao Tianjian wasn't worried that these people wouldn't stay to work with him. He himself also comforted these kidnapped refugees with warm words, leaving a very good impression of benevolence on them, making them even more at ease.

  "With the reconnaissance mission, we've basically figured out the situation within tens of miles around us. In recent years, this area has been frequently ravaged by large bandits, and smaller villages have almost all been wiped out. The remaining villages are mostly larger ones, especially Li Family Village, which even has cannons on its walls. With our current manpower, it's unlikely we can take it down easily!"

  Moreover, there are several gangs around the mountains nearby who do similar things to us. The younger ones have also inquired about them and found that they started their businesses earlier than us. Even the smallest gang has more than 200 people. If you want to try to take advantage of them, it's probably not going to be easy!

  However, this trip out, the little ones didn't run in vain. According to Feng's hint, they went to investigate two villages in the north. These two villages are relatively small and easier to attack. They don't have many village guards, are located in a remote area, and haven't suffered much from war, so there should be plenty of spoils! Moreover, they are far from the county town, so if we take action, the officials and soldiers inside the city won't come to intervene. Let's start with them first!" Shi Yan returned and reported to Xiao Tianjian about their gains from this trip out, using stones on the ground to lay out the positions of the villages and the location they were currently in, represented by a small wine cup. This basically allowed Xiao Tianjian to understand the situation in this area.

  "Right! Let's get moving, we can't just stay here like this. With over a hundred people, the daily consumption is not small. The food we brought from Zhaojia Village and Guchuang won't last long at this rate. We should go out and do something about it! If we wait until there's no more food before looking for some, it might be too late!"

  Several newly appointed squad leaders were also listening to Shi Yan's report alongside Xiao Tianjian. Zhao Erdui, who had made contributions in the Battle of Guchuang and was promoted and rewarded with a few taels of silver, reminded Xiao Tianjian eagerly. He felt that going out to do something would bring benefits, and following Xiao Tianjian would indeed give him hope for a bright future. Compared to before, he now had a more daring attitude towards battle.

  Xiao Tianjian stroked his chin, where a short stubble had just grown out, and looked at the stones that Shi Yan had arranged on the ground. He felt a little regretful in his heart. In this era, he still hadn't seen a map of this world. Everything was based on hearsay and then constructed in his mind to form a rough map, and then make judgments. This way of doing things was very passive, and many times he couldn't understand the detailed situation.

  Although Shi Ran is now using stones and other objects to outline a rough map, he can't see the terrain of these places. He has to go there himself to take a look at the situation. This not only wastes time but also affects his judgment. It seems that in the future, it's necessary to let scouts learn some methods for drawing maps, especially when it comes to terrain. They should understand how to do this and be able to sketch out a rough map at the very least. This matter is quite important for his future development.

  But he also knew that this requirement was still a bit too much for Shi Yan and the others at present, so he had to temporarily dispel this idea. He pointed to the stones on the ground and asked Shi Yan: "You said that these two villages are how far from here? Also, what is the terrain of the two villages like? Which one is more suitable for us to take action? And have you investigated the strength of the village guards in their villages?"

  Shi Rang nodded and said, "If we go back to the Palm Plate, these two Zhuangs are called Siling Fort and Fanjia Fort. They are more than 40 miles away from us, the road is not easy to walk, far from the official road, in the mountain canyon, so few people run there. Siling Fort was built by four Lin surname households together, they are not as wealthy as other big households, but they are a family, so they joined forces to build this Siling Fort. The four families have more than 300 people, including their tenants, and several dozen Zhuang Ding. Geographically speaking, Siling Fort is built in the middle of two mountains and a valley, we should be able to find a way in!

  That Fan family village was a large estate of the Fan family, built on a mound. The wealthy old Fan family was said to be very rich, with over 100 tenant households. Compared to Liu Family Village we visited last time, it's not much less. However, this guy is extremely stingy. When building the village, he didn't allow the tenants to live inside the village and instead built his own estate on the mound. The tenants all lived outside the estate and were only allowed in when there was an emergency. Otherwise, they had to return to the outside of the estate. It's really hateful!

  "This Fanjia Fortress is built on the Tuliangzi, the fortress is not big, and there are not many Zhuang people inside, but the wall of the stockade is very high. Looking from a distance, it's not easy to get started. I think the Four Lin Fortress is easier to get started!"

  As for Shi Yan's report, Xiao Tianjian was already quite satisfied. Although it couldn't be considered very detailed, the fact that Shi Yan could do this much was already not easy. After all, he used to be an outsider and had only recently started doing this, so one couldn't demand too much from him. Experience needed to be accumulated bit by bit, and with time, Shi Yan should become a skilled forecaster.

  Passing friends, if you think "Cold Wind" is still worthy of your attention, please give it a collect! If you have tickets, please help vote for the scene too!)

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