In the fourth year of Hongxing in the Ming Dynasty, when the end of the year was approaching, the banks of the Yangtze River were already cold and windy. In the waiting hall next to the Xihua Gate of Wuchang Donghu Palace, there were two military attachés in scarlet robes talking in the corner.

"You kid is too unreasonable, marrying such a woman and coming back, this is to ruin my Li family's style!"

The person who lectured was Li Ruolian, who was currently the deputy military advisor and military academy envoy of the Generalissimo's Mansion.

"Fanpo can give birth, look at her figure, breasts, and ass, that is to be able to give birth! Aren't you pregnant now? There are three unfilial pieties, and no queen is great! My nephew doesn't have a son yet, and marrying a woman who can give birth to a woman is filial piety, and I am a filial son! ”

The reply was Li Shaoyou, the temporary ambassador of the Ming Empire to the Holy Roman Empire, this guy was already sharp-toothed, but now that he is a diplomat and has been trained in the world, he can even more talk.

"You are still a filial son...... Have you asked your dad? Your father's son, the most unscrupulous is you! ”

Li Ruolian continued to scold with a straight face.

"Uncle...... I'm out now, and when I see the emperor later, I will definitely be a hero of overcoming difficulties, and maybe I can be knighted and glorify my ancestors. ”

Li Shaoyou is still full of words. He was indeed not a filial son before, he didn't have enough money to spend on his own, and he didn't marry a wife and have children when he was old, and he especially liked to run to places like Qinhuai River...... But now he's out of the picture!

This time, he brought back more than 700 Arab horses (more than 200 died on the way), more than 300 European oceanic horses (not including his wife), a Dutch-built warship, dozens of Dutch sailors, as well as a lot of guns and ammunition, as well as countless raw materials for machinery and equipment, as well as many Western technical books, and many Dutch single mechanics who died of their wives or were not married at an old age, oh, and there is also a prince of Kong, who is said to be the first warrior in France......

and "Ambassador Li's Journey to the West" written by himself!

It's all a credit!

Although Ji Kun accounts for the lion's share, he, the deputy envoy, can always get a small half of the credit, right?

"You ......"

Li Ruolian was about to continue to reprimand, when he heard a male duck shouting: "Li Shaoyou!" Who is Li Shaoyou? ”

Li Ruolian looked back and was stunned, it was Huang Xiaobao, the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi!

After Huang Dabao went to Beijing to mourn, he was the biggest in Donghu Palace. That is to say, now the eunuch has no power, and if he wants to put it aside, he is the "inner minister", and he is an existence that can compete with Wei Zaode!

"Grandpa Huang, why are you here in person?" Li Ruolian immediately went up to greet him.

"Deputy Military Division Li?" Huang Xiaobao was stunned, "You are not on the list of people who want to be seen!" ”

"I'm here with Li Shaoyou." Li Ruolian pointed to his nephew, "He is my nephew." ”

"Oh," Huang Xiaobao smiled, "then let's come together...... The emperor was anxious to see him. ”

At this time, the people in the entire waiting hall cast envious glances - there are rules for waiting for the meeting, you have to report to the celebrant in advance, and then the celebrant will arrange when to meet according to the situation, and the order of the audience will not be changed after the arrangement is made, unless the emperor is really in a hurry to meet.

At this time, Huang Xiaobao said again: "Everyone else should go back...... The emperor doesn't have time to see you today, so I'll arrange it again when I go back to the celebrant committee. ”

Just see Li Shaoyou!

Is this going to be of great use?

......

"Kneel, come forward to speak, give a seat!"

Zhu Cihong and the others are a little impatient! Seeing Li Ruolian and Li Shaoyou walking in, he didn't let them kowtow, but made them feel like they were sitting down and talking.

"Thank you, Your Majesty for the ......"

"Your Majesty, please Saint Ann."

Li Ruolian and Li Shaoyou hurriedly thanked them and asked for peace, and before their buttocks touched the chair, Zhu Cihong spoke.

"Who is the first warrior of France, Prince Kong? What's the last name? What is it called? Where is the fief? ”

This question made Li Ruolian and Huang Xiaobao on the side confused.

Of course, Prince Kong's surname is Kong...... And that Hercules Yan Shenggong is my own family!

"Your Majesty," Li Shaoyou hurriedly got up and replied, "This Prince of Kong has the surname Bourbon, and he is called De." ”

That's Louie. Morality. Bourbon!

Li Shaoyou continued: "As for the fief, it is in Conte County, Champaign, France, because he is a close relative of the King of France and a hereditary iron king, so he is called Prince Condé......"

Zhu Cihong was surprised: "Isn't that the Great Kong Dynasty?" ”

"No, it's not Da Kongdai." Li Shaoyou said, "He's not big at all, he's short and frustrated, just a small man." ”

That's right!

Zhu Cihong said in his heart: That is the Great Kong Dynasty! The elf generals of France are feared by all of Europe...... Why did this guy kidnap Ji Kun and bring him to China?

"Where is Prince Condé?" Zhu Cihong hurriedly asked.

"Still ...... in Shanghai"

Zhu Cihong said: "Quickly announce that Li Yan, Wu Xiang, Wu Sanfu, and Zheng Zhilong have entered the palace!" ”

......

Li Yan is still serving as his military division, Wu Xiang is still the secretary of the military department, and Wu Sanfu is leading troops outside to return to Wuhan for the New Year. It's the end of December now, and all the yamen are on vacation, and the thoughts of the officials are also on the New Year-the yamen also have to celebrate the New Year! The Chinese New Year's Eve dinner must be arranged, the big red envelope must be prepared, and people will be arranged to work overtime, and many people will return to their hometowns, and there are a lot of things!

Li Yan and Wu Xiang were busy in the yamen, and they were all announced by the eunuchs to the Donghu Palace to see the driver, but they found that Li Ruolian, Wu Sanfu, and Zheng Zhilong were all there, and they were all nervous.

Is this going to war?

During the Chinese New Year, the enemies of the Ming Dynasty did not take a break?

"Sit down...... There is something important to discuss. When Zhu Cihong saw that everyone was gathered, he beckoned them to sit down.

After several people saluted, they all sat down, and then they all looked at Zhu Cihong with an excited face.

So happy, could it be that Dongyu has already started infighting?

Zhu Cihong spoke, "My Daming now has enough food and equipment, and some good horses, the only deficiency is the lack of generals." ”

Lack of talent?

Wu Xiang glanced at his son Wu Sanfu, and both father and son looked aggrieved.

They've worked hard!

"But now there's a way to make up for that weakness." Zhu Cihong said, "The recent mission to Europe has returned, bringing back many foreign generals, one of whom is the first general in France, which is quite outstanding!" ”

"Your Majesty," Wu Xiang asked, "do you want to make great use of foreign generals?" ”

Use the Prince of Condé to fight with Duoduo and Azig?

That's not good......

"It's not about making great use, it's about making good use of it." Zhu Cihong said, "It is better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish." No matter how powerful the foreign general is, after all, it belongs to someone else. To use them to command the war, it is better to ask them to be gentlemen to teach our own generals the Western art of war. ”

Of course, China also has many good tactics, some of which stress strategy and some teach tactics. For example, Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Discipline and Effectiveness", "The Actual Record of Military Training" and Mao Yuanyi's "Wubei Zhi" are all very powerful military works.

In particular, Qi Jiguang's "Actual Record of Military Training" is a military book with high practical value. Many of its contents are still selected into the teaching materials by the lecture hall, and now the middle and senior generals of the Ming army are familiar with the contents.

However, after all, Zhu Cihong's new army adopted the Western-style Morris phalanx as its main field tactic, so it could not completely use the "Actual Record of Military Training," the "New Book of Discipline and Effectiveness," and the "Records of Military Preparation" to train officers. For this reason, Emperor Zhu began to introduce Western instructors to help train the troops a long time ago, and also opened a martial arts hall with Western officers as instructors to train new-style officers.

However, the level of Western officers he had previously recruited through the Portuguese and the Dutch was uneven, and he had no experience in commanding larger troops. At best, they have served as middle and low-ranking officers in the European theater, commanding troops of dozens, hundreds, and hundreds, and at most, hundreds of troops, and they are all infantry and artillery officers, and there are no cavalry officers, let alone staff officers.

Therefore, Zhu Cihong's new army is actually a combination of a large number of infantry battalions and regimental artillery companies, and its combat effectiveness is not weak in terms of individual performance, but once a large corps is formed, it will not be able to exert its strength, and it will be far from reaching the level that can crush the Qing army.

Zhu Cihong said: "We have to let the lecture hall open a cram school for generals, invite Prince Kong Dai and his people to teach, and let the officers above the battalion level come to study!" ”