Chapter 2 Expansion Plan The Task Force Collects Troops

Li Mao received Zhang Zhimu's instructions, and he did not dare to slack off, and he began to recruit troops in Jiangnan. The reputation of Yaogang is too big, and I heard that Yaogang people want to recruit, and there are many people who sign up. Li Mao is a person with a heart, and his priority for recruiting soldiers is that it is best to be literate, and then he must be young, because Li Mao knows that these soldiers are used by Zhang Zhimu when he is preparing to march into Jiangnan, and they will also exercise in the north for a period of time, so try to choose the younger ones. Every time there were enough 500 people, Li Mao would send someone to send them to the kiln gang. Fortunately, now the cargo ships and passenger ships from Yaogang to and from the south have a trip almost every few days, and it is easy to transport soldiers.

Every time a group of people arrives, Ouyang He will personally select them, and for those who have a little cultural skills, Ouyang He will pick them out and conduct special training first. Because this is Ouyang He's selection of students for the Yaogang Military Academy, which is about to be established.

Not only Li Mao is recruiting, but Tongguan is also recruiting soldiers from Sichuan and Huguang.

The expansion and recruitment of the Yaogang people is a thing that shocks all parties, and the first to bear the brunt is Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng understood that the purpose of the Yaogang people's army expansion must be to use troops. The Yaogang people had four divisions on the east bank of the Yellow River, two divisions on the north bank of the Yellow River, and two divisions at Tongguan, all of which were aimed at themselves. These armies are already terrible, and they are already rich for defense. After they recruit troops, they must attack. Whether the kiln people go south or west, they are facing themselves.

In this regard, Li Zicheng, who had been frightened by the Yaogang people, could no longer lift his spirits.

Prime Minister Niu Jinxing said: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. We were at a disadvantage when we attacked, and the kiln men were able to take advantage of their firearms, and I suffered a lot. Now, in turn, they are the attackers, and we can consume them massively with our fortified cities. We fought with them one city after another, and their numbers were insufficient. It just gave us the opportunity. When we attacked the city, we suffered a lot from them. Now the military advisor Song Xiance has organized a large number of craftsmen and created many **. If the kiln gang people come to attack, ours will also let them taste their awesomeness. ”

"Tongguan is also a strong city, and the Yaogang people occupy it in half a day." Li Zicheng said angrily.

"That's different, because of Tongguan, the emperor didn't want to hold on, and you didn't even keep a general. Isn't it? ”

"Do the prime minister and military advisors still think that the Yaogang people will attack the Central Plains of Henan?" Li Zicheng looked at Niu Jinxing coldly.

"That's right, Shaanxi doesn't have the market and business road that the kiln gang needs. The minister thought that they would definitely attack south. Niu Jinxing replied very resolutely.

"O you! Still don't know about the kiln people, you should study it carefully, what are the kiln people doing? Li Zicheng said, "Their target must be Shaanxi, otherwise Shanxi will not feel safe against us across the Yellow River." In particular, their occupation of Baotou and Dongshengzhou makes me firmly believe this. ”

After Li Zicheng finished speaking, he walked around the house a few times with his hands behind his back and said: "Is it possible for us to talk to the Yaogang people, we can give them out of Shaanxi, as long as we join forces, we can sweep the world." ”

Li Zicheng's words surprised Niu Jinxing, he didn't expect Li Zicheng to have such an idea, it seems that Li Zicheng was scared by the kiln people. But it can't be like this, "Your Majesty, by all means, even if we join forces with the kiln gang people to defeat everyone, the kiln gang people will still clean us up when they turn back." Wouldn't it be embarrassing for us if the kiln people didn't agree to join forces with us? ”

"They don't want to take Shaanxi for nothing?" Li Zicheng asked.

"Our Shaanxi can't give it to them for nothing." Niu Venus still doesn't understand.

"If you don't give it to us, you can't keep it, so it's better to exchange something with them that will be useful to us, such as the technology for making muskets." Li Zicheng revealed his true thoughts.

"We can try this. But who to send to negotiate with the kiln people? Niu Jinxing said.

"Li Yan's family is still in Henan." It seems that Li Zicheng has thought about this a long time ago.

Of course, Zuo Liangyu and Zhang Xianzhong didn't want the Yaogang people to be too strong, and they had no choice but to pay attention to the recruitment of the Yaogang people. They were not sure about the specific direction of action of the Yaogang people after the expansion of the army, but they were sure that the Yaogang people would not be satisfied with that little place in Shanxi.

When he got the news of the recruitment of the Yaogang people, he was happy that Emperor Chongzhen hoped that the Yaogang people would recruit troops, in that case, the Yaogang people would send troops to attack Li Zicheng. As for the threat to himself after the Yaogang people became strong, Emperor Chongzhen did not think too much about it. He understood that if his current throne was not supported by the Yaogang people, he would have been unable to sit still.

Huang Taiji was also very concerned when he heard the news of the expansion of the Yaogang people, but he knew that the Yaogang people were not threatening them for the time being, but he didn't know the next direction of the Yaogang people's actions. He was still calculating whether to take advantage of the kiln gang to attack in other directions, and he had no strength to take into account the north, and sent troops to recapture the Mongolian steppe.

No matter what others think, the kiln people still act steadily according to their own plans. After careful analysis and research, Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He formulated a plan for the expansion and change of the Yaogang People's Army. The plan is:

The infantry was expanded to sixteen infantry divisions, four corps, and four divisions each; The cavalry was expanded to six cavalry divisions, two corps, and three divisions each.

Liu Yun served as commander of the army and concurrently commander of the infantry; Liu Chenghuang served as deputy commander of the army and commander of the cavalry; Li Weiren was deputy commander of the army, concurrently serving as commander of artillery and engineers; Li Jing served as the commander of the army and the commander of the special forces.

Because although the four divisions deployed along the Yellow River could be liberated after the defeat of Shaanxi, it was necessary to expand the defensive forces to the west, north, and south, and after the army went out, the defensive strength of Shanxi would be increased to prevent the back from being attacked. Although the Taihang Bajing Yaogang people in Shanxi did not occupy it and gained the trust of Emperor Chongzhen, they also left hidden dangers, and external forces could easily enter Shanxi through these channels.

For the sake of safety, it is also necessary to leave one army guard as the central defense force with Yaogang as the central defense force, two divisions at Yaogang, and two infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions at Hukou and Guanwai. The north bank of the Yellow River and Tongguan, as well as Hongze Lake and Wuluo Lake, were one army, and two corps and four cavalry divisions were freed up to fight. If necessary, the two armies left behind could devote half of their strength to the expedition to support, and at that time the militia should be organized to train for defensive purposes.

Regarding the expansion of armaments and warfare, Zhang Zhimu still doesn't have to worry too much, but he still has no bottom in his heart about the effect of the huge task force sent by Yaogang. These things are also a big test for the kiln people, you think that the original system is unreasonable, then you need to come up with a more reasonable system. However, Yaogang has not yet taken power in the whole country, and if it comes up with a policy that is too radical now, it will arouse some forces to resolutely resist. Therefore, it needs to be more prudent, but any reform will infringe on the interests of some people, and it will not work if it is too soft.

In fact, the sexual system designed by the Ming Dynasty still has its rational side. The Ming Dynasty divided the country into two capitals and thirteen divisions, a total of fifteen second-level administrative units. The two capitals are the two capitals are the Jingshi (i.e., the North Zhili) and the Nanjing (i.e., the South Zhili); The Thirteen Political Envoys are referred to as the Thirteen Divisions, which are Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Huguang, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Fujian.

In order to prevent the concentration of local powers, the localities have set up "three divisions" of commanding and proclamating political envoys, and prosecuting and prosecuting envoys, which divide the military, political, and judicial powers of each province. However, it was gradually taken over by the system of governors, who often became the supreme governors of the provinces.

The powers of these three divisions often overlapped with the full power of the feudal kings in various places, and they were often very chaotic.

The election of Yaogang people can only start with elections at the village and town level, and after the villages and towns are finished, elections at the county and state levels will be held. States and counties elect not only the chief executive, but also the senators. At present, there are three organs at the county and state levels: the executive, the Senate, and the judiciary.

The work of the Task Force is mainly to educate the population about the benefits of elections and to let them know that they can elect their preferred officials. Another task is to crack down on election bribery and election threats.

Because the people of Yaogang have always left a good impression on the psychology of the people in Shanxi, they don't know how many Shanxi people they saved by donating food in the year of the disaster. Now they have sent people to help them resume production, and the officials they have sent have helped the needy families without collecting money and food, sending seeds and livestock. Therefore, after the team of the kiln gang people went to various places, it was still very popular.

They also cracked down on some people who bribed and threatened the election in the election, and these things were also published in the newspapers, which played a very good role in promoting the election.

Until autumn, the whole Shanxi ushered in a bumper harvest year that had not been seen for many years. Except for the unfinished tasks on the Qinshui side, the work teams in various places basically completed their tasks and withdrew to the kiln post one after another.

On the Qinshui side, the old owner Qiu personally led the team over. He also did a lot of work with the old man, and he said that it was all good. Some people just don't listen, they think that it's their world, and no one else can interfere. Some of them have already been explained by Qiu's old owner, and they have all changed their hexagrams.

This reminded Zhang Zhimu of the state of disobedience to the government in many tribal leaders in the Arab world in his previous life.

However, Zhang Zhimu said: "You don't need to be discouraged, after a few months of our work, the people there know our ideas, which are good for them, but they are afraid of those owners and dare not squeak." When we have our hands free to clean them up, the people will not die for them. ”

"Hey! I said everything I had to say, and they just couldn't listen to it. "Old Qiu's family is very helpless.

"Don't be ashamed of your face, we don't have to give them face." Chen Yufeng said: "After we finish cleaning up Shaanxi, we can clean up these shameless things in Qinshui, and we can develop southward." ”

"I think we're going to make a place on the other side of the loop and move them all there. Then they demolished all their castles and built utilities. Some people in the past of new immigrants. Ouyang He said: "They must not be allowed to go back." For them, we have to act suddenly and deal with them all at once. Without waiting for the other villages to react, they will be solved one by one. ”

"I'll see it!" Yan Boju said: "I now find that they seem to think that we dare not touch them, and the more we tell them, the more they feel that there is nothing, and they think that we will be done talking." I think we need to give them something real. We prepared our chariots and horses before we acted, and suddenly surrounded their castle, killed those who resisted, tied up those who were captured alive, and sent them away from exile overnight. ”

Li Yan said: "Although our task force went to various prefectures and counties to cooperate with officials in their work, we felt that it was also a kind of exercise for us to participate in the task force. Everyone didn't think too much about it before, but after going down this time, they all have time to think about it. Many people told me that after coming down, they knew that our kiln gang is really a terrible place, we have been in the kiln for a long time, and we no longer know what the outside world is like, and we feel that we are living a comfortable life in the kiln, and we feel that it is justified. When team members educate others, they are also a good educator for themselves. ”

Yan Xing also said: "Doing this kind of work is too tempering. All sorts of things can happen. ”

After the team was withdrawn, Zhang Zhimu called several giants of the kiln together for a meeting. The main thing is to introduce to them that Yaogang is now about to enter the preparatory stage of the western expedition and the army expansion plan that has been formulated.

Everyone was very excited when they heard this, and Yan Boju said, "Zhimu! After we went down, we realized that the people of Shanxi really welcomed us! They know best who can do them good. As for the defense of Shanxi, you can rest assured that as long as it is well organized, the people of Shanxi will rise up with us to defend Shanxi. We don't need to keep too many troops in Shanxi, our police force should be trained well and lead the people. ”

"We can get the people to support us, and that's our magic weapon. In the future, when we enter Shaanxi, we will also bring these magic weapons with us. "But we still have more than a year to test the results of our work. Therefore, the tasks of the task force are not yet complete, and you still have to keep in touch with the places where you work from time to time to keep abreast of their situation. ”

After the meeting, Li Yan specifically talked to Zhang Zhimu about one of his thoughts, "Mr. Zhang, when I was working below, I have been observing our officials, and I think they are very competent for their work and very dedicated. This is completely different from the officials of the imperial court in the past. In particular, they have all been officials before, and now they have the opportunity to become new officials, and they are very experienced in handling government affairs. It's something you can't learn in school. Therefore, I have an idea, can we recruit some former officials at the Yaogang School of Commerce, Trade and Politics, train them, and exercise them so that we can use them. Even the graduates trained by our Yaogang College of Commerce and Politics may not be able to use them immediately, and it is very important to deal with those complex government affairs experience. ”

"Great idea! I have asked Li Mao to recruit some cultural people in the south, and we can also recruit some officials who have lost their positions, as you said. In fact, there are many officials in Shanxi who Li Zicheng ran away when he came. They can't be blamed for that entirely, we can bring them in, and as long as they can accept our philosophy, we can use them. However, such people need to work and study in the kiln for a period of time. Because if their brains want to turn around, like we sent out, it won't work for a while. ”

"What Mr. Zhang said was," Liu Yun said, "I have another idea, I want to merge those of us who are engaged in law into the Yaogang College of Commerce and Politics." In this way, we can also bring out the talents of those of us in other areas. Those people have been studying hard since they were children, and many cultural courses can also be taken by them. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Then why don't you call your college the School of Commerce, Law and Law?" ”

"Okay, let's call it the School of Commerce and Law." Li Yan agreed.

When Zhang Zhimu discussed with Yan Xing and Lu Chengxiang about preparing to recruit officials, Lu Chengxiang smiled and said: "There are too many such people in Shanxi, but we can't use methods such as newspapers to recruit." We need to send people one by one to ask for it. ”

"Yes, yes! We'll just go and please. Zhang Zhimu understands that such people are very good-looking, and after reading the newspaper, they are moved and embarrassed to come by themselves.

Yan Xing said: "Mr. Lu, you make a list for me, and I will personally invite it." But I'm going to see if they're the same piece of material first, and if it's a wine bag and a rice bag, I don't want them. ”

"Huh! We also need to understand how they are officials, and if they are traitors, we can't ask for them. Li Yan said: "The officials we inspected this time basically did not find any major problems, and it was not easy at all. This is also one reason why our officials are generally popular. The Qing officials are welcomed by the people. ”

The graduate distribution plan of Yaogang College was finally decided by Zhang Zhimu with his personal participation. However, it was already a month later than originally scheduled.

However, this has also greatly increased the value of graduates, most of whom stay in the kiln to work, and a very small number of them have to return home. Most of those who return home are from well-off families and need to go back to serve their families. A graduate of Kiln Gang College, the status of this era is simply incredible. It is a great honor for any family to have such a child come back and participate in the affairs of the family.

Zhang Zhimu and several giants of Yaogang attended the graduation ceremony and went to Lingshui Wharf again, because the first all-steel-hulled warship in Yaogang was about to be launched. The naming ceremony and launching ceremony of the warship took place at the same time.

According to Zhang Zhimu's suggestion, all all-steel-hulled warships should be named after the city, and the ship's side number should be represented by three digits. The training ship is represented by a two-digit number.

Also according to Zhang Zhimu's suggestion, this first warship was called Xiurong. The ship's side number is 101.

Fan Chengkun decided that Mu Yi would personally serve as the captain of the Xiurong. Because this is a brand new warship, someone needs to sum up the experience of piloting and fighting from this ship. This matter must be Mu Yi and Shi Xiu. However, Shi Xiu has been participating in the mapping work outside, so this matter can only be done by Mu Yi.

Being able to be a captain on such a ship is the dream of all naval generals. Mu Yi is no different. This ship is equipped with the most advanced things in the kiln. There can be hot and cold air in the cabin, and the ship is equipped with its own cold storage and cold storage, which can store a lot of food. There is also a place for the crew to rest and play. The ship is equipped with two high-power radios, which can keep in touch with Lingshui Wharf no matter where it is, because Yangchang and they have helped Fan Chengkun build a communication command center for high-power radios in Yaogang. This command center can maintain voice and telegraph contact with any ship in the kiln at all times.

Just when Zhang Zhimu and the others were about to take a boat to Lingshui Wharf, a staff officer ran to the wharf to inform Zhang Zhimu and said, "Gonggong Li is here, saying that there is a holy decree to come." ”

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The Song army occupied Hokkaido, and Yuankou landed on the island of Kyushu. Opening up the Japanese battlefield. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".