Lin Yi only had 8,000 men when he left Miyun this time, and now after these months of suppressing bandits, in addition to the casualties and attrition of the war, the number of troops has not only not decreased, but more than doubled.

Moreover, Yang Sichang, the secretary of the military department and the first assistant of the cabinet, has already agreed to their establishment, and the problem of raising the food and salary of so many new people will be solved, no matter how empty the imperial treasury is, and Emperor Chongzhen will make it difficult to increase the number of troops, increase the salary and suppress the thieves, it is necessary to save them from recruiting troops and horses, and they will fully support it.

There is no need for Lin Yi to raise food and salary for them privately.

Increasing so many soldiers and horses at once, if it is not for the imminent suppression of thieves, this is evidence of the crime of having two hearts for the imperial court, if it is played again by those officials and imperial history, not to mention that the imperial court has increased the amount of food and salary, it must be punished for the crime of rebellion.

Now Lin Yi has no worries, it can be said that for him, the environment of the government and the opposition is very good, and he can throw off his arms and do it boldly.

Lin Yi reorganized the 22,000 men and horses, disrupted the original sequence, the guard battalion and the women's battalion remained unchanged, and the remaining men and horses were organized into six battalions, that is, a total of eight battalions.

The average number of people in one to six battalions is about 3,500 in one battalion. The first battalion was a musket battalion, led by Dongsheng, with a total of 3,600 people, all of whom were all muskets.

The second battalion is still designated as an artillery battalion, with a total of 3,400 people, led by Wang Qi, and the red-coated cannons pulled out this time plus a few tiger squat cannons, there are more than 80 cannons, and there are more than 20 red-coated cannons in Miyun's hometown, and Lin Yi now has more than 100 red-coated cannons.

The three battalions are standard battalions, led by Gan Bao, and the number has also increased to 3,500 people, and all of them are cavalry, and the standard battalion still has archers, musketeers, shield bearers, and is equipped with dual weapons, and their team is mainly a combination of the original Guanning Iron Cavalry and Tianxiong Army.

Therefore, they were designated as the standard battalion, because this is Lin Yi's trump card battalion, relatively speaking, the troops are complete and the combat effectiveness is the strongest.

The remaining four battalions and five battalions are all 3,000 people, the fourth battalion is Jiang Xingyuan, the fifth battalion is Yang Fang, the sixth battalion is Wang Jian, and the sixth battalion is still in charge of grain, grass and supplies, with a total strength of 4,000 people.

This is the largest battalion, because it has to supply the 22,000 men and horses with food, grass, ammunition and other logistical supplies.

After this reorganization, among the general army at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Lin Yi's team was among the best in terms of both the number of soldiers and the comprehensive combat effectiveness.

But he didn't dare to say that it was second to none, because Lin Yi knew that Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui, Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, Huang Degong, Cao Bianjiao, etc., the strength of these general soldiers is very strong, whether it is in terms of the number of troop wheels or in terms of combat effectiveness, they are all prestigious.

Seeing that the number of people in other battalions has increased, but the women's battalion is still a few dozen of them, Xiaoying and Zhezhe came to Lin Yi to give advice, asking for the recruitment of female soldiers and an increase in the establishment.

Lin Yi smiled and comforted them: "I think I have fewer officers and soldiers, don't worry, I will have the opportunity to increase the number of women's battalions for you in the future."

"Words have to be counted, our women's battalion will also increase to 3,000 people, we will also fight, and we will definitely not lose to the men's battalion."

"Okay, okay." ……

As the team expands so much, we must first maintain stability. Of course, this depends on military discipline, and more than 10,000 people have been born as thieves, and the rectification of discipline alone will be abolished for half a month. No matter who they are, everyone is equal before military law. No one complained about this ironclad rule.

As Lin Yi's deputy general, Zu Keyong was in charge of the discipline and training of the whole army, Wang Jian was in charge of logistics, and Lin Yi was in charge of the overall work.

After a month of training, all the banditry on these thieves was removed, and more than 10,000 thieves were all integrated into Lin Yi's regular army.

Next, the training began, and each battalion selected its own location, on the north bank of the Baishui River, and more than 20,000 people conducted a drill with all their personnel.

Including Lin Yi himself, he must practice martial arts for more than two hours a day.

Yang Sichang took the three general soldiers, of course, he couldn't stay where he was, because of the battle with Luo Rucai at the Baishui River, the three general soldiers did not participate in the battle, so there was no need to stay and train the men.

Yang Sichang urged them to go to Xing'an to encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong.

A few months later, in May 1640, news came that Zhang Xianzhong had suffered defeats at Chengpingguan and Xing'an, and fled into Sichuan, and the trilateral governor Zheng Chongjian and Shaanxi governor Ding Qirui took Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong, united with Sichuan's men and horses to continue to pursue and encircle Zhang Xianzhong.

Yang Gebu took Zhu Dadian, the general soldier of Nanjing, and Hu David, the general soldier of Baoding, into the Nanyang area of Henan to encircle and suppress Li Zicheng's men.

Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Shandong, because of the great hunger in Shandong, some displaced people rebelled, and Yang Sichang asked him to take his troops back to Shandong to suppress the people's rebellion.

Lin Yi knew that the turbulent era was coming. Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and Huang Taiji in Liaodong, these stubborn enemies of the Ming Dynasty are all the henchmen of the imperial court. As one of the chief military officers relied on by the imperial court, it was a matter of time before he fought against them.

The holy decree of the imperial court or the military orders of Yang Sichang and Zheng Chongjian will arrive soon.

Therefore, Lin Yi stepped up the training of people, in addition to practicing martial arts every day, he also personally went to various battalions to guide training.

The training of the eight battalions actually doesn't need him to worry much about now, because it has become a rule for veterans to lead new recruits, but he still has to go around the battalions every day. The soldiers trained very hard and very exciting, Lin Yi felt very satisfied with the training results of several months, the more than 10,000 thieves who were recruited, not only did they get rid of the banditry, but their combat power was improved, and Lin Yi's original men and horses were basically on par.

In other words, after several months of rectification and training, more than 10,000 Luo Rucai's thieves have all been digested and absorbed by him, and they have all become his new combat power.

On this day, Lin Yi was commanding and training in the women's battalion, and suddenly the holy decree arrived, and the herald was Lu Jiude, the eunuch of Dongchang.

Of course, Lin Yi is no stranger to this person. This is a rising star among the eunuchs, for the eunuchs of the Beijing camp, well versed in the armor, many times to supervise the thief, can be called the general among the eunuchs, but more than Gao Qiqian and others to supervise the teacher, the famous general of the Beijing camp army, Huang Degong, and later Gao Jie and others, have followed him to mix, in the extermination of thieves outstanding achievements, won the trust of Emperor Chongzhen.

According to the original historical development, after Wang Chengen accompanied Emperor Chongzhen to hang, the northern capital of the Ming Dynasty fell. Lu Jiude's running in the four towns of Jiangbei, and Shi Kefa, who stayed in Nanjing, helped Zhu Yousong, the little fortune king, to the throne of the Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, known as the Hongguang Emperor in history, and opened the curtain of the Southern Ming regime.

Now he came to pass the decree on behalf of Emperor Chongzhen, a group of thousands of Beijing soldiers, pulling large carts and small cars, traveled long distances, and came to southern Shaanxi from Yanjing, the purpose of which was of course to reward Lin Yi's army.

accompanied by Ding Qirui, the governor of Shaanxi. When this Lord Ding Futai heard that the angel official was coming, he greeted Zheng Tongjian, the governor of the three sides, from the front line of the suppression of bandits in southern Shaanxi, and came to greet the angel officer, and then Lord Futai waited all the way and came to Lin Yi's military camp together.

Lin Yi, Zu Keyong and others hurriedly lined up to take the angel officer and the governor into the barracks, and after the Xiang'an platoon was arranged, Lin Yi, Zu Keyong and others knelt down to receive the order.

Lu Jiude read the decree aloud in his distinctive voice:

Fengtian carrier, the emperor said. Thieves poison living beings, and all people live in fire and water. I cherish the community, miss the common people, and amnesty the world. Nai these thieves have the grace of God, capricious, thief nature does not change, evil does not fall, only send heavy troops to exterminate, return the world to peace.

Lin Yi, the general soldier of Miyun, did not hope for me, was ordered to suppress thieves, invincible, and was really a model for the people, I was very comforted, tired and rewarded, promoted to the commander of the thief, rewarded with flying fish clothes, and gave wine and meat and subordinate troops. Chin this!

"Thank you, Lord Long." Lin Yi kowtowed to the holy decree, and after Lu Jiu finished reading it, he gave the holy decree to Lin Yi.

Lin Yi knew that the title of the commander of this level thief was certainly not small, at least much larger than the current Miyun General Army. After being crowned as the commander of the Ping Thief, he will be promoted to what kind of earl, otherwise He Renlong would not have lost his life because of such a title.

It is said that He Renlong made many military exploits in the process of encircling and suppressing Zhang Xianzhong. Yang Sichang once promised him that he would be named the commander of the flat thief, but later Yang Sichang actually gave this flat thief commander to Zuo Liangyu. He Renlong was greatly annoyed, and from then on he also learned from Zuo Liangyu, Yang Feng Yin disobeyed, according to the soldiers, and played the governor Fu Zonglong and the right Du Yushi Wang Qiaonian to death, Emperor Chongzhen issued a secret decree, so that Sun Chuanting slaughtered him.

Now that the imperial court has crowned itself as the commander of the Ping Thief, it can be seen how glorious it is, and it is also rewarded to wear a flying fish suit, which is an official uniform second only to the python suit, which looks really long.

After Lin Yi received the order, he immediately issued an order to unload the royal wine and meat, and put on a banquet to reward the three armies.