Although Gao Jie was a little shocked, he still tried to calm his mood.

"Your Majesty should be the sole judge of this matter, how dare the minister speak in vain?"

Zhu Cihong bowed his head slightly and said, "I want Gao Qing to lead the army to Shandong." ”

Without waiting for Gao Jie to respond, Zhu Cihong continued: "Shandong's geographical location is extremely important, and it can be attacked and retreated, and it is a place where soldiers must fight. After thinking about it, I felt that only Gao Qing had the ability to command the army to garrison this place. ”

Gao Jie hurriedly thanked him and said: "Thank you for Your Majesty's trust, you will definitely recover Shandong and live up to Your Majesty's trust." ”

Zhu Cihong promised Gao Jie again, saying that as long as he could hold Shandong, the imperial court would give him a knighthood, and it would not be a problem to be a prince or even a marquis.

The reason why Zhu Cihong chose Shandong as a high-ranking teacher was also after careful consideration.

First of all, Gao Jie is still quite backbone, and in history, he died at the hands of Xu Dingguo in Suizhou because of the Northern Expedition. The latter immediately surrendered to the Manchus after killing Gao Jie.

Therefore, Zhu Cihong did not have to worry about Gao Jie defecting to the Manchu Qing Dynasty at all.

As for Gao Jie's defection to Li Zicheng, it is even more impossible. Gao Jie kidnapped Li Zicheng's concubine, Mrs. Xing, and brought Li Zicheng a big green hat, which is unbearable as long as he is a man, right?

Now the world is in a three-legged trend, excluding the other two possibilities, Gao Jie can only rely on the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, using Gao Jie to take over Shandong is only a stopgap measure. When Zhu Cihong trains the new army, he will definitely slowly replace these old-style warlords. But until then, he could only rely on these warlords.

In the end, it's still hard to have no soldiers in your hands.

As the king, Zhu Cihong could not fully trust Gao Jie, and it was essential to choose one person to check and balance him.

Zhu Cihong already has a candidate in his heart.

"I decided to transfer Qin Gongming, the chief soldier of the Huai'an regiment, to accompany Gao Qing, so that Gao Qing can be more comfortable in Shandong."

If there is anyone in this world who is absolutely loyal to the Ming family, it is the Qin family. Although there were only 500 white pole soldiers left in the Laochuan Army under Qin Gongming, they were absolutely elite. As for the 1,000 people of Lu Zhenfei's patrol standard camp, Zhu Cihong was also ready to let Qin Gongming lead it together.

Although the remaining 20,000 township soldiers were certainly inferior in combat effectiveness to the battalion soldiers, Zhu Cihong was still ready to ask them to go to Shandong.

These village soldiers lacked field combat capabilities, but they were sufficient to defend the city. At this time, the whole province of Shandong was recovered by King Ji, and all Zhu Cihong had to do was to ask someone to take over the city.

Of course, if history had gone according to its original development, it was likely that Dorgon would have sent a detachment south to Shandong. But the number of people in this partial division will not be too much, which is just for these township soldiers to see blood and experience.

"Obey."

Of course, Gao Jie understood that Zhu Cihong arranged this way to balance him, but as a minister, all he could do was obey orders.

"If I'm not mistaken, Yuan Zhao should be fifteen this year, right? I want Yuan Zhao to study at the Huangming Military Academy, but I don't know what Gao Qing wants? ”

Zhu Cihong's words changed abruptly, and he talked about Gao Jie's son Gao Yuanzhao.

Gao Jie didn't expect Zhu Cihong to know his son's name, and he was moved. He hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, "Thank you for the dog, Your Majesty Longen." ”

He had also heard of this Huangming Military Academy before, and it was said that it was an official school appointed by His Majesty the Emperor, similar to the Guozijian that trained civilian officials, and was used to train high-ranking officers.

Moreover, the principal of the Huangming Military Academy is His Majesty the Emperor himself, if he can enter the Huangming Military Academy to study, he will be a veritable protégé of the Son of Heaven.

In this time and space, Gao Jie was not named Xingping Bo as in the original history, so Gao Yuanzhao was not the son of Xingping Bo, but just the son of an ordinary chief soldier.

In this case, of course, Gao Jie had to put some effort into paving the way for his son, but he never thought that such a good opportunity would be sent to the door on his own initiative.

Gao Jie also understood that the Son of Heaven asked his son to stay in Nanjing to study at the Huangming Military Academy, which actually meant to be a hostage. But in all dynasties, didn't the sons of military generals stay in Beijing as protons?

Since he has no objection, why should he care about this?

Besides, His Majesty has promised that as long as he guards Shandong for the imperial court, he will be knighted. As soon as he thought that he had the opportunity to become a marquis, Gao Jie was excited.

Zhu Cihong stepped forward and helped Gao Jie up and said, "Why is Gao Qing so polite, the tiger father has no dog." I believe that Yuan Zhao will be able to make great achievements for the Ming Dynasty like Gao Qing in the future. ”

Hearing this, the last trace of doubt in Gao Jie's heart was also swept away, and he cried: "My emperor Shengming, the ministers and the whole family are willing to serve Your Majesty to the death!" ”

......

......

Nanjing Jingying.

Lu Zhenfei frowned, looked at the thousand old and weak soldiers gathered on the school ground, and let out a long sigh.

He expected that the generals of the Beijing camp would be paid empty and drink the blood of the soldiers, but he never thought that there would be a serious shortage to this extent. Even the remaining more than 1,000 soldiers were as weak as firewood. Jingying should have been the most elite army of the Ming Dynasty, but now it is such a scene, how can it not be distressing?

Fortunately, His Majesty was far-sighted and asked him to preside over the formation and training of the new army. Otherwise, these Beijing soldiers alone would definitely not be able to fight a tough battle.

On the other side of the school grounds, there was a long line of recruits who were registered.

According to His Majesty the Emperor's requirements, not all applicants will be hired, and what Lu Zhenfei has to do is to screen and select suitable seedlings.

The Son of Heaven has a strict order, and the recruits must be innocent and hard-working sons of good families. Those ruffians and street thugs will never be allowed to enter the New Army.

These recruits are not immediately officially recruited after registration, but will undergo a round of intensive training. Only those who have passed the training camp can stay and become a member of the Divine Army.

"What's your name and where are you from? Why conscription? ”

The soldier recruited the soldier skillfully asked questions.

"My name is Liu Sanshui, and I am from Tianfu. My father and mother were starving to death, so I wanted to join the army and eat. ”

Behind the table, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy with a thin yellow face said timidly.

His clothes were ragged and his hair was dirty, but his eyes were very attentive, which made the eyes of the soldier recruit bright.

"Do you know that the new army recruited and trained this time is called the Shence Army, which is to be led by the Son of Heaven himself. If a soldier behaves poorly, he will be severely punished. ”

"I am not afraid of hardship, and I am willing to serve the court. All for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, for the sake of the Holy One. ”

Liu Sanshui plucked up the courage to throw out the prepared words one by one, looked at the little official with earnest eyes and said, "Please, let me sign up for the army." ”

The little official nodded, registered Liu Sanshui's name on the roster, and said in a deep voice: "You have passed the primary selection, get a set of training clothes, go to the east of the school to gather, and someone will arrange your accommodation." Now you are not a member of the Divine Army, and you can only stay if you pass a month's intensive training. ”

Liu Sanshui bit his lip and nodded, "Thank you, Lord for reminding me." ”

The little official's heart warmed, and the corners of his mouth hooked up a smile: "Next, continue!" ”

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