Wu Zheng said: "Brother Xuan's words are not right, and the concept is wrong. Let me ask, when I blocked the Tartar cavalry from the Three Realms of Lianghuwei in Shaoxing Prefecture and annihilated the Qing cavalry on Shining Street, did I have muskets? If our army can only rely on the superiority of weapons to win the battle, then how can it go on a northern expedition? To the north, most of them are flat rivers, and they are the plains suitable for cavalry battles. The battle losses between our army and the Qing army have always been high, and when it was high, it was three or four people who exchanged Tartars for one person, so it is said that this time all 30 of our musketeers in Taizhou were killed, and the Qing army only lost 10 people, and it was a victory in itself to pull the Qing army to use the same weapons as our army. What does Brother Xuan think? ”

After Zhang Huangyan thought about it, he nodded and stopped talking.

Wu Zheng turned to Zhang Guowei and said: "Zhang Gong, the brave deeds of these thirty musketeers should be notified to the whole army and the yamen of the six state capitals, and their families should be given preferential treatment, so that the warriors cannot be allowed to shed tears in the heavenly heroic spirit." ”

Zhang Guowei nodded and stood firmly: "It should be done to motivate the morale of the army, and you can also posthumously award the military position to increase the pension silver." ”

Wu Zheng thought for a while and said, "No." It is not appropriate to posthumously award a military position, so let's posthumously award the title. ”

Zhang Guowei also thought for a while and said: "These thirty people only had a military position before their lives, and they had no official positions, so they were awarded warriors?" ”

"Martyr!" Wu Zheng said in a deep voice, "But anyone who has made outstanding military achievements and died for the country can be awarded martyrs to show their merits." However, those who are given this title are supported by the government if their parents are still alive, those whose widows do not remarry, and those whose children are minors. ”

Everyone should be.

Zhang Guowei nodded solemnly and said, "Okay, this is good governance." Just do what the prince wants. ”

Wu Zheng turned to Mo Zhi and said: "Mo Lao, don't worry about the money you invested, it has always been profitable to sell weapons, as long as there are goods in the warehouse, you can also sell them to the Yongli Dynasty and the Great Western Army in the northwest." I estimate that in the future, the annual profit produced by our military workshop will be enough to cover the commercial tax of the year, if you don't believe it, let's make a bet. ”

Mo obsession comprehended the fastest, he was originally a businessman, he shook his head with a smile and said: "The old man doesn't dare to bet with the prince on this shadowless thing." ”

The five laughed in unison again.

Xiong Rulin said: "It stands to reason that the lower officials should not mention this matter, but it is indeed a little difficult to do, and I ask the prince to show it." ”

Wu Zheng said: "Although Lord Xiong said that he is his own person in front of him, there is no need to hide it. ”

In this battle, Jin Shanwei, Hangzhou Wei and Wang Ye personally led the musket battalion, with a total of nearly 6,000 casualties. Now that Jingjiangwei is being formed, the lower officials are worried that it is already difficult to recruit soldiers in the land of Liufu, and if they are forcibly recruited, it will cause dissatisfaction among the people, after all, it is now a truce, and second, it will affect the harvest of the next year...... Please also ask the prince to consider and consider. ”

Wu Zheng nodded and said, "I also thought of this." In the past three years, more than 50,000 soldiers have been recruited in the land of Sanfu, and it is really necessary to give the people a breather. This is also one of the reasons why I agree with Your Majesty and lead the army to the west, I think ah, the remnants of the Dashun army loyal battalion in Zhao'an Huguang, the Longwu Dynasty died, they lost the object to rely on, fought alone, and were not supported by the locals, life will not be easy. Therefore, it should not be too difficult to recruit them. ”

Xiong Rulin said: "Your Majesty should not agree to Zhao'an, after all, the Dashun Army is Li Zicheng's army, and the so-called revenge of killing his father is not shared." ”

Wu Zheng smiled: "So I have to go, otherwise this battle will really start." I wanted to integrate them into the Northern Expeditionary Army. ”

These words made Zhang Guowei frown, "Lord Wang, this is not appropriate." First, if they are reorganized, Your Majesty will definitely not follow them, and it is not worth it to cause the prince and His Majesty to fight against each other for them. The second is that they have tens of thousands of people, according to what the prince said, the imperial court wants Huguang land and population, that is to say, if it is really necessary to integrate into the Northern Expeditionary Army, our land of six prefectures will suddenly have to support tens of thousands of more troops, and we can't afford it. ”

Wu Zheng nodded and said, "What Gong Zhang said is reasonable. This is something that needs to be carefully considered. I used to think that from these tens of thousands of people, 20,000 to 30,000 troops should be reorganized, and the old, weak, wounded and disabled would be dismissed, and anyway, Songjiang New Town would need a lot of manpower, and it would not leave them without food and clothing. But even if we add 20,000 or 30,000 people, it will be a big burden for us. ”

Zhang Huangyan suddenly said: "The key to this question is whether we need this army, if not, then all of them will be dismissed as people, and if necessary, according to what the prince said, 20,000 or 30,000 troops will be reorganized." As for how to provide for it, it is nothing more than land and population. ”

Wu Zheng smiled and said, "It seems that Brother Xuan has thought of a way?" ”

Zhang Huang said with a straight face: "How many troops will the prince bring with him on his expedition to the west?" ”

Wu Zheng thought for a while and said: "What the emperor means is that I will be the commander, with a guard, and then Liao Zhongping will lead 10,000 people, and Xia Wanchun will lead 10,000 Jianyang guards to form a westward expedition army." ”

Zhang Huangyan nodded and said: "The 30,000 army marched westward, according to the judgment of the prince, how will the Dashun army respond?" ”

Wu Zheng pondered for a while and said, "I haven't dealt with them, but according to their current strength, they should fight." ”

Zhang Huangyan shook his head and said, "No." They should retreat. ”

Wu Zheng was stunned.

Zhang Huangyan continued: "They should retreat, and they must retreat south. ”

Wu Zheng was a little confused.

"They are afraid of the prestige of the prince, and retreat in the direction of Nanjiujiang Mansion, and the prince naturally has to chase after him. As soon as this escape was pursued, the Dashun army came to Jiujiang City. According to the current garrison of the Qing army in Jiujiang, there are only 6,000 people, and the surrounding provinces range from one to two thousand people, even if they can catch up with the reinforcement of Jiujiang, it will be 10,000 people, but in the face of five or six times the Dashun army, I am afraid it will be difficult to resist, right? ”

Wu Zheng's heart flashed.

Zhang Huangyan smiled and said: "Of course, if the Dashun army is slow to attack the city, the prince's expedition will naturally have to rest. It wasn't until the Dashun army captured Jiujiang that the prince arrived, and he was planning to strike with all his might, not wanting the Dashun army to be afraid of the prince's tiger might and abandon the city and flee, and the prince easily recovered Jiujiang, which was occupied by the Dashun army, naturally had nothing to do with the Qing court. ”

Wu Zheng laughed, and the other three also laughed.

Zhang Huangyan said with a smile, "As soon as Jiujiang fell, the Dashun army continued to go south to Raozhou and Guangxin, and the Qing army in these two prefectures was less than 3,000 people, and it was effortless to capture them. And the prince followed the pursuit all the way, and the two mansions of Lianke were naturally not a problem. And the Dashun army is already at the end of the crossbow, and in the face of the prince's 30,000 army, he can only bow his head and be a vassal. In this way, Jiujiang, Raozhou, and Guangxin can all be recovered, and the Qing court can't say anything. ”

Wu Zheng laughed and said, "Zhang Cangshui, I just found out today that you are really yin." Ladies and gentlemen, you will have to guard against him in the future. ”

The rest of the people laughed, but Zhang Guowei suddenly stopped laughing and said: "Although this strategy is good, Xuan Zhu seems to have thought about it a little less. ”

Zhang Huangyan was stunned.

Wu Zhengzheng said: "Then Zhang Gong will talk about it in detail." ”