The sixth day of the fifth month of the 31st year of Hongwu

The border troops guarding Kaipingwei carried out a big exercise. Standing on a high place, you can see the generals wearing vermilion jackets, wearing bright helmets, holding waist knives, spears, iron boring, or long cards, rattan cards and other standard weapons, according to the flag official order, with the sound of drums to form different military formations, players in front, swords and spearmen in the back, and another firecracker soldiers in the team, there is mutual cooperation between actions, the sound of swords and soldiers Tiege broke out of the air, and the murderous spirit rose to the sky.

On the platform of the general in the middle of the city, the commander of the Kaiping Guard, the commander of the Tongzhi, the commander of the servants, and the thousands of households are all wearing armor and helmets, pressing the handle of the sword, the face is solemn, and the changes in the battle are staring.

Suddenly, the drum beat changed, and three horse teams galloped out from outside the formation, the leader, one was Shen Xuan, the deputy of the Xicheng Wei Thousand Households, and the remaining two were all Wei Zhong Baihu, born as soldiers, and were promoted with their courage and skill. Horsemen are wearing mandarin duck battle jackets, horses neighing, waving long knives, rushing left and right, as if in actual combat.

The blade passed, like snow flashing, and the wooden grass men stopped and broke one after another.

Smoke and dust billowed out, drums sounded again, and the formation changed again.

Suddenly, the border army launched several cherry cannons, three general cannons, and Hongwu 21 cast bronze cannons, about 30 steps away from the military formation, with a stake to stabilize, in turn filled with iron balls, gunpowder, soil, and several cannons were fired at the straw men all over the place.

The cannon roared, the fire ignited, the wind passed through the thick smoke, and the three armies in the school field raised their arms and shouted in unison.

"Good!"

Commander Wei made Xu Zhong shout, and his subordinates knew the same thing, and thousands of households praised at the same time.

"Such a monarch, why not be afraid of the remnants!"

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the military tun was implemented, and the Beijing Guard and other ground guards were called the guards, and the border guards were called the border army. Most of the guards defend the city in two, eight in tuntian, and once in three to five days. The border army mostly defended the important places, three more points to defend the city, seven points to the tuntian, or four points to defend the city, six points to the tuntian, and the exercise was subject to three days. For example, the guards of Kaipingwei, Quanningwei and Liaodong and other places are more important to defend the city than Tuntian, and the training of soldiers is even more important than elsewhere

The neighbor who likes to rob lives on the opposite side, not to mention being lazy, and the slightest negligence is no different from suicide. Even if you don't get killed by the Tartars, you can't dodge a knife if you are given a copy of the matter.

Moreover, the army in the early Ming Dynasty was brave, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as a large-scale killing. As long as you dare to find fault, you can almost see who beats whom, arrests whom, kicks whom, and beats until you are satisfied. Compared with farming, archery, galloping, and killing the enemy with a knife are more suitable for these border soldiers who are adapted to the battlefield and like to talk to their neighbors with their fists.

The bigwigs on the point general platform watched with great interest, and the old border soldiers who rushed to kill in the formation were also at ease, and the strong men who were hooked up were also proud of their physical strength. Enjun, who was born in a literati, is a little worse, and he is used to shaking the pen, but he is really not used to playing with knives, guns and sticks. mixed in this backward team, there is also Meng who was promoted to Xiaoqi with the merit of beheading.

On the side of Mayday, sweat still soaked through the jacket and blurred the vision.

His steps seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and his hands were so shaky that he could barely hold the waist knife.

At first, he thought that it was just a simple arrangement of troops and following orders, and it should be no problem. Who knew that the seemingly simple action was so physically exhausting, there were all honest people around, swinging knives and spears, every time he used all his strength, even the roar was like tearing his throat, Meng simply wanted to make a show and save some effort.

If it continues, it will be like killing people, and if it can last until the end, Meng Shishilang will be thankful.

Meng's eyes began to darken, and he could barely hold on to the ground, and the drums suddenly accelerated, and after a thunderous sound, the drill had come to an end.

The cavalry rode out of the battle formation, and the generals in the formation also regrouped, Meng supported his body with his waist knife, and moved mechanically. He gasped for air, as if there was a bellows pulling in his chest, and every time he gasped, there was a burning pain in his throat. There was a buzzing in the ears, the sound heard was no longer clear, and the people and scenery in front of me gradually became distorted.

No way!

Meng gritted his teeth hard, and if he made a mistake during the exercise, he would be reprimanded at the least, with a military staff at the worst, and at worst, he would have to be served by a sword and axe.

Just when he could barely hold on, a large hand grabbed his elbow and quickly let go, without a trace, but kept him from falling in public.

Meng turned his head sideways, and happened to see the archer Gao Fu walking behind him, pulled the corners of his mouth, and thanked him silently.

But he was too happy, he didn't know the previous Shen Baihu, and now Shen Deputy Qianhu stopped not far away, condescendingly, taking in this scene.

At the end of the exercise, the bigwigs of the guard station were quite satisfied with the performance of their subordinate generals, and after encouragement, they returned to their respective duties.

The military attache has the style of a military attaché, and there are not so many tirades.

This also indirectly saved Meng, and his whole body was about to collapse, and he was almost carried out of the school by two foot soldiers of the same banner.

"Xiaoqi, there will be a big in three days, you ...... like this"

The two foot soldiers had eaten at Meng's house and had a benefit, so they wanted to remind them out of good intentions, look at Meng's figure, and they couldn't say the rest of the words.

With such an innate condition, is it useful just to remind you?

Meng barely straightened up and waved his hand, he knew his situation, it was indeed not a way to go on like this. He can't become a fat man by eating in one breath, he imagined waking up eight pack abs overnight, but reason told him that this kind of imagination was completely unrealistic and purely a pipe dream.

After leaving the school grounds, drinking water, and resting for a while, Meng finally regained some strength.

After the exercise, he still had to be on duty, and showed the waist card to the foot guards guarding the city gate, and several people returned to the lookout pier ten miles north of the city.

Climbing to the top of the mountain and seeing the changes in front of him, Meng, who had been depressed for a long time, could finally feel a little comforted.

When the earth wall of less than one meter has been bulldozed, the soil pit has also been filled, and an earthen fort has been rebuilt on it, the appearance refers to the hollow enemy platform built by Qi Jiguang on the Great Wall, the interior is reduced to two layers, the middle is horizontally long wood, the outer wall is reinforced with gravel, the windows are opened on all sides, and the door is left on the southeast side to enter and exit. Firewood, grass and wolf dung were piled up on top of the earthen fort to warn of the acropolis.

Due to the limitations of materials, its sturdiness is definitely not up to Qi's standards, and there are no piers that are horns of each other, and the defense capability must also be discounted. But this place is located on the top of the mountain, as long as it can resist the bows and arrows of the Northern Yuan cavalry, and can withstand the knife slash, it is enough. It is impossible for the Northern Yuan cavalry to use siege equipment to deal with this half-tofu scum project, right?

Artillery firecrackers? I'm sorry, the Northern Yuan is a little poor now, and the Ming army is too strong, and the heavy artillery is really not conducive to the great cause of robbery.

Straight on fire? They also need to be able to climb to the top of the mountain.

To sum up, Meng is still quite satisfied with this semi-tofu slag project. I was even more satisfied with the hands-on ability of his subordinates, especially the craftsman who borrowed from miscellaneous sentences, and with his verbal description, it was a miracle that a simple drawing could not be more rudimentary.

Looking at this nondescript pier-type earthen fort that has not yet been fully built, all the soldiers who participated in the construction felt a burst of excitement, and something called "sense of security" spontaneously emerged.

"And thank you to the good brothers of the Miscellaneous Bureau."

patting the exterior wall, which was much stronger than before, Meng sighed very much.

The Miscellaneous Bureau was set up in the Acropolis, mainly responsible for the manufacture and repair of weapons, which gathered a large number of multi-skilled talents, in addition to completing their own work, but also often contact the outside work, earn some extra money to improve their lives, as long as it is not excessive, basically no big problem. After all, everyone has to live.

Before Meng could finish sighing, the former military department Arsenal Shilang suddenly poured a basin of cold water on him, with ice ballast.

"Xiaoqi built this fort, have you ever reported to Shangguan in detail?"

"General Banner Ma has been reported, and General Banner does not need to be reported one by one."

"Did Xiaoqi ever explicitly say that he would build a fort?"

Meng shook his head, only saying that improving the pier platform is also to leave a way back for himself, what if it doesn't work out? In the eyes of others, I am afraid that he will be regarded as a bombastic scholar, and it is not easy to prove that he is a real feat, and he doesn't want to cause trouble again. The blood in front of the door of the hundred houses was a knife across his neck.

The face of the former Langzhong suddenly changed, "Yu Xiaoqi, this matter is inappropriate, it is inappropriate." ”

It is customary to repair walls and dig pits, and there is no need to report at all. You can build a new shape and more practical value of the earthen fort...... It will not investigate the issue of Meng's illegal construction in the military area, but it will involve another thing - credit.

Killing the enemy on the battlefield is a meritorious achievement, and consolidating border defense is also a meritorious achievement.

If Baihu learned about this first, Ma Zongqi was afraid that he would be quite angry, and even doubt whether Meng really took him seriously.

This is the kind of thing that is most taboo for new officials to take office. Not only Meng, but even his subordinates couldn't get any better.

Realizing his negligence, Meng mouthed bitterness, "It's wrong." ”

Lord Qianlang smiled bitterly, "Xiaoqi doesn't have to blame himself, and Xiaoqi's concerns are reasonable." Manpower is always invincible, and everything is not perfect. This fashion is not too late, or it can be remedied, Ma Zongqi ......"

Without waiting for the former Langzhong Lord to teach Meng the method of making amends, Deputy Shen Qianhu had already sent someone to invite him.

"Meng Xiaoqi, please."

Looking at the border soldier who spoke, Meng wanted to say, brother, don't laugh if you don't like to laugh, if you don't laugh or something, it will make him have the illusion that the strong man will never return.

In the Xicheng Qianhu Office, Zheng Qianhu and Shen Deputy Qianhu sat in the main hall, both wearing cyan military attache uniforms, with a right side of the collar, small miscellaneous patterns, black gauze heads, and black horn belts.

Zheng Qianhu is ashamed and mighty, and Shen Deputy Qianhu is like a cold bamboo gentleman, sitting calmly.

In contrast, the momentum is not weak at all.

The heat in the teacup slowly dissipated, and the two were looking at a rudimentary drawing. Liu Chengshi, who was in the experience division, sat on one side, slightly apprehensive in his heart, and wanted to open his mouth repeatedly, but swallowed back when the words came to his mouth. Several craftsmen from the Miscellaneous Manufacturing Bureau stood under the hall, not daring to raise their heads, and sweat was already dripping from their foreheads and necks.