Now Li Guolou's power is monstrous, and he has long surpassed his status as a fourth-rank official, and being an escort is a guilty errand, but who dares to embarrass him. The date of departure on the edict issued by the imperial court was uncertain, and even the last date for the materials to arrive in Lanzhou was uncertain, but this errand was given to Li Guolou. As for the intermediate links, Li Guolou had the final say on the transfer of personnel and materials, and even gave him the power to mobilize soldiers.

The materials escorted this time were mainly military materials, mainly two 'Krupp' cannons, with a caliber of 120 mm and a range of 15 kilometers, and these two 'guns' were big guys, and their own weight exceeded 4,000 catties. Eight 'guns' of Krupp cannons, with a caliber of 80 mm and a range of 8 km, as well as 20 'guns' of smaller specifications, 100 'guns' of new howitzers, mortars, and bronze cannons, 2,000 'Mao' rifles, as well as a large number of 'flower' shells and bullets, and 10,000 pieces of military coats and other supporting military equipment. The materials are valuable, and most of them are imported. These supplies were transferred from Tianjin to the outskirts of Gyeonggi, in the Xishan Ruijian Camp. There were more than 1,000 long-term husbands and servants, more than 300 carriages and ox carts, and more than 100 camels.

These people are all living in the Xishan Jianrui camp, waiting for the escort to arrive with Lord Li Guolou. Zhang Xuefei, the commander of the Xishan Jianrui Battalion, was pulled up by Wu Peipei's ex-husband, You Gaoming, the commander of the Eight Banners of the Military Department, and for Wu Peipei's sake, he once lent Li Guolou two 'doors' of Fran machine cannons, which showed his might in the Battle of Balizhuang, and the two cannons destroyed the big 'gate' of Balizhuang.

Therefore, Zhang Xuefei is a good friend of Li Guolou, he is in the official pavilion ten miles away from the camp, with a group of officers to welcome the escort Li Guolou, how popular Li Guolou is, the officials in the court know. Don't look at the use of the second-level official now, it is the title of the fourth-rank official, as long as it is a smart person, he must be on his thick 'legs'", ". Do you want to know the most powerful prince today? , Prince Qing? Miserable? Tu Gu? スstep? Play? Star? Yellow shearwater?? And tame ρ dry up? 9 Zi Yu still D, Li Hongzao, Weng Tong? and other important ministers of the imperial court are even more in the same breath as Li Guolou, connecting each other and controlling the right to speak in the government.

The last time Li Guolou inspected the military camp in the Gyeonggi area as a minister, he had been to the Xishan Jianrui camp for three days, and everyone talked happily and had already become good friends who talked about everything.

Fan Ye, an artillery officer, also fought with Li Guolou in Balizhuang, and also accepted a bribe from Li Guolou and returned with honor. This time when he went to Lanzhou, Li Guolou had already named him and asked him to lead 200 military cadets to practice. This made him see another world, he was only a small colonel in the barracks, although he had the reputation of a sharpshooter, but this could not be eaten. The constraints of the Meng Yin system made him have very little room for promotion, and even the position of artillery management was out of reach.

But there are many things in the world that are unexpected. Li Guolou, a sesame officer of the Criminal Department, actually gave him the opportunity to be promoted quickly, and following Li Guolou to the west will be the biggest change in his life. Later, when he entered Xinwutang for further study, he was the proud 'protégé' of Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, and the principal Weng Tong? , Li Guolou, a scholar and politician, is also his mentor, and his career is bright. Even the battalion officers and sentry officers in the army were envious of him, regretting why they didn't personally lead a team of officers and soldiers to help Li Guolou suppress the bandits. These officers have nothing else to ask for, they just want to enter the Xinwutang for further study as soon as possible, get a good diploma, and be promoted as soon as possible.

Fan Ye's direct commander Zhang Yi has an old-fashioned square face, it is rare to see a smile, and he is famous for being mean and unkind to his subordinates in the Xishan Jianrui Battalion, but now he is smiling at Fan Ye, and said kindly: "Officer Fan, don't forget the old army, the promotion of the old brother will depend on your snort in the future". ”

In the army, the 'doors' and households see the old, the officials crush people to death, and the commanders are promoted, and it is the turn of the favored subordinates to rise and rise. Fan Ye, who had never had a chance to get ahead in his life, also had times when he raised his eyebrows, but he was proud, his face remained respectful, and he replied respectfully: "Zhang Sentinel, where will the lower officials forget their mother's family, maybe they will come back, and then ask Zhang Sentinel to take in his subordinates, don't let the lower officials become children without a father and a mother." ”

Zhang Yi listened to it, his square face turned into a round face, and his facial features were huddled together and laughing. Wang Qing, the battalion officer next to him with a face full of 'meat', shouted: "Officer Fan, what kind of fart are you farting, you don't have a father or a mother, is it possible that you are a wild seed." ”

Soldiers just like to make this kind of joke, although Fan Ye was scolded, he still laughed with him, and the other officers also laughed.

Dutong Zhang Xuefei didn't hold back and laughed a few times, quickly held back his smile, his expression became serious, and he covered his mouth and coughed a few times. Li Guolou originally had a disorderly 'private' life, and he got involved with Wu Peipei, the widow of his old chief, and the rumors in Beijing were so bad that the 'women' and children knew it, and he had already told it as a joke when he was drinking in the barracks, and there was no regret in the world about the 'medicine', just say it. Now it is even more taboo, and the matter of the Old Summer Palace has caused a chain reaction in the imperial court. If the joke goes too far, it's the head falling to the ground.

Hurriedly turned to look at the subordinates behind him, glared at the bull's eye, and shouted: "Wang Yingguan, take care of your stinky mouth for this official, except for drinking at night, you are not allowed to tell jokes." You too, don't tell any jokes between men and women, do you hear clearly? ”

"Zha! Lord Guardian, my subordinates heard me clearly. "More than a dozen officers, the march salute did not dare to be a little presumptuous. How can you not know the depths, Zhang Xuefei was suddenly promoted from the deputy position to the main position, who took the 'door' road for him, do you still have to guess?

Why did Li Guolou put the large army in the Xishan Jianrui Battalion, and the second-rank military attache greeted a fourth-rank civil official who was demoted to the second rank, which was not in line with the official etiquette and did not make sense, but everything was reasonable. The supply, restructuring, and replacement of new equipment of the Xishan Jianrui Battalion all depended on Li Guolou's snort. The people of the Xishan Ruijian Battalion will be Li Guolou's cronies in the future.

The Xishan Jianrui Battalion is under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Jianrui, and is an important army to defend the capital. The 2,000-man establishment was full to deter all rebels who dared to invade the capital.

The Jianrui Battalion was established in the 14th year of Qianlong, and the predecessor of the Jianrui Battalion was a ladder unit established in the 13th year of Qianlong. In the twelfth year of Qianlong, Sichuan Province's Dajinchuan Tusi Shaluoben invaded the neighboring parts and provoked incidents. In order to quell the war 'chaos', in the thirteenth year, Qianlong sent Zhang Guangsi, who had made meritorious contributions to the army, to suppress it. However, Tusi relied on the local unique stone blockhouse buildings to resist, coupled with Zhang Guangsi's improper use of personnel and inappropriate command, resulting in the Qing army being unable to attack for a long time and suffering heavy casualties. Qianlong believed that "at the beginning of the founding of the country, those who climbed the city with the thin 'meat' of our banner ladder could not bend the index, so as to attack the tower, what a Fuke!" Therefore, "the one who lives at the foot of the West Mountain is also set as the stone tower, and the people of Jian Fei are accustomed to it." ”

How much of a role did the Yunti troops play in the First Battle of Jinchuan? Fu Heng arrived at the military camp in December of the thirteenth year of Qianlong, and in the first month of the fourteenth year, Shaluoben surrendered, at this time, in addition to the 300 cloud ladder soldiers who arrived first and the soldiers brought by Fu Heng, most of the cloud ladder soldiers were still on the way. Moreover, the end of the first Jinchuan Battle was mainly due to the pressure of the army, Sha Luoben knew that it was difficult to resist, and Qianlong also wanted to get out as soon as possible because of the difficulty of the national strength and allowed him to surrender. Even if the ladder soldiers who arrived early captured a few stone blocks, they played a negligible role in the battle situation, and it was not the main reason for Salo to run out and surrender.

In order to cover up the Jinchuan war with hard work, and at the same time to boast about himself, after the battle, Qianlong held a celebration banquet to reward the meritorious soldiers. For the cloud soldiers he single-handedly formed, he was even more gracious.

Due to the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance and the profound lessons of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's attack on the two Jiangnan camps, I knew that after the cannon, there was no need for the ladder soldiers to charge into battle, and a few 'flower' bombs could break down the ordinary city wall. This made the establishment of the Xishan Jianrui Battalion and the 'drill' training mode learn from Zuo Zongtang's Chu army, and it is no longer a single cloud ladder soldier. Artillery began to be trained, and the names of the officers were the same as those of the Chu army, and the officers were also changed to the names of battalion officers, sentry officers, pipe bands, team officers, and army commanders.

But the current Xishan Jianrui Battalion is not slower than the other Eight Banners soldiers and horses, not that they are not well equipped and have poor weapon 'sex' ability, but they dare not fight. Relying on the solid military fortifications of Xishan to enjoy its success, except for the large and small Jinchuan in the Qianlong period, in the next hundred years, this army has not made any military achievements, and has always guarded the Beijing division has never walked to the plain.

After Lai Wenguang was led by Li Hongzhang to lead the armies to 'swing' level, he entered the large army of West Twist led by Zhang Zongyu in Shaanxi, and used the ability to return to the horse gun to take revenge, taking advantage of the slackness of the official army, when Liu Mingchuan, the general of the Huai Army, returned to his hometown from illness, he led 50,000 twisted troops to quietly leave Shaanxi, crossed the Yellow River from Yichuan to Jizhou, Shanxi, and pounced on Zhili from the southeast of Jin Province to go straight to Beijing. With the strong "character" of the war horse's swimming, it hit the Gyeonggi area, which is only a few dozen kilometers away from the Beijing Division. But it was this army that shrank in the camp and did not dare to intercept the large army of the West Twist, but only dared to defend the old nest, and finally used it all on the tall city wall of the West Mountain.

The Empress Dowager Cixi was furious, and the decree was like a lightning bolt, and Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, "had a negative appointment, and there was no way to dispatch it", and the military aircraft department was strictly discussed.

For this reason, Li Hongzhang also plucked out the 'flower' feathers of his eyes, stripped off his yellow coat, and was removed from the post of first-class lieutenant. In the end, Li Hongzhang relied on the courage of Liu Songshan and other Huai army troops to fight and enclose the eastward twist of the west twist in the trap of the Grand Canal. Gradually wiped out most of the Twist Army, and Zhang Zongyu was also 'forced' to commit suicide by throwing himself into the river. Nowadays, the Shaanxi and Gansu regions are dominated by the Hui 'chaos' and a small part of the Twist Army, and the West Twist Army has been wiped out. And Liu Mingchuan was affected by this incident, and later the "inscription battalion" bombed the camp before the battle in the Shaanxi and Gansu regions, so he was deprived of his official title by the imperial court and became Bai Ding.

The Xishan Jianrui Battalion has lost its mobile 'nature', and it can still defend itself if it has military facilities, so that this unit can pull out and suppress bandits and fight in a mobile 'nature', that is, even the Empress Dowager Cixi did not dare to issue an order, and she also knew that this was an army defending the city, and did not dare to let this 'elite' army of the Eight Banners be pulled to fight in the Shaanxi and Gansu regions.