Gao Junshan set up a command headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army, and he was of course the commander-in-chief of this command after driving the expedition himself; because he was fighting abroad, he used the sons of Chongwen, who had accepted the new military theory and ideas, to serve as the chief and deputy chief of staff.

The deputy commander-in-chief of the headquarters is Zhou Shichen, the secretary of the military department, the chief of staff is Jiang Guorong, the commander of the garrison, and the deputy chief of staff is Dai Zicheng, the deputy commander of the garrison.

Under the jurisdiction of the Western Expeditionary Army:

The 1st Division of the Army, 8,000 people. Although it does not have heavy weapons, it has the strongest firepower and is very well equipped, and its senior commanders are equipped with telescopes and pocket watches, and its combat effectiveness is almost the same as that of modern divisions.

1st Marine Brigade of the Navy, 6 thousand people (selected from the 16 thousand men of the Marine Brigade). This brigade has the experience of suppressing the Jurchens, killing people without blinking an eye, and fighting bravely.

The 1st Mixed Brigade, 20,000 men. After the first mixed brigade entered the Mongolian steppe, it was streamlined, and in the Mongolian steppe, there were a large number of good horses, so Cao Bianjiao's heavy cavalry regiment was upgraded to the first cavalry brigade, Li Hu's musket regiment and infantry regiment were merged and upgraded to the second cavalry brigade, and the Mongolian cavalry regiment of Wuliji was also upgraded to the Mongolian cavalry division.

Mongol cavalry division, 30,000 men. After Uliji's Mongol cavalry regiment entered Mongolia, it developed rapidly and soon became a cavalry division of 30,000 men.

The total strength was 64,000 men.

Gao Junshan also brought the Persian Shair into the headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army, and he had a plan to send Shail back to Persia and unite with Persia to fight the Rakshasa Kingdom.

Before the expedition, Gao Junshan hoped to wait for the arrival of the time shuttle, and he had already transmitted the required equipment to the headquarters through the neutrino rice-vegetable exchanger, if the troops were equipped with transmitters, then the coordination ability of the troops could be greatly improved.

In October, Cui Zhongping came to report the good news, the corn he planted harvested 600 stones, Gao Junshan greatly rewarded Cui Zhongping, promoted him to the Tuntian staff wailang, the official to the sixth grade, and gave him greater rights, and gave him the task of promoting the planting of corn to do.

In the days that followed, Gao Junshan devoted himself to the preparations for the Western Expedition, and he handed over the government of Huaxia to Bailisha to manage, and particularly important matters were voted on by the ten auxiliary ministers after deliberation.

The temporary headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army was located in the imperial city

The soldiers and horses did not move, and the grain and grass went first. Of course, Gao Junshan understands this truth. He summoned Shang Shufang Tingjian of the Logistics Department and asked him to prepare 200,000 horses to transport supplies for the Western Expeditionary Army.

Before the expedition, the command sent several reconnaissance detachments into Xinjiang to spy on the military situation of the Rakshasa Kingdom.

The temporary headquarters was set up in the palace, and Gao Junshan collected some information about the Rakshasa country, and studied and analyzed it with Zhou Shichen, Jiang Guorong, and Dai Zicheng.

The ruler of the Rakshasa was a very young emperor, less than seventeen years old, named Alexei Mikhailovich, and his father, Emperor Mikhail Romanov, was the first tsar of the Rakshasa country, and shortly after his death, the young Alexei Mikhailovich succeeded to the throne as the crown prince.

Alexei Mikhailovich was born in Moscow on March 19, 1629. As a prince, Alexei received a good education from an early age. His father, Tsar Mikhail Romanov, appointed Morozov, the most famous scholar of the time, as his teacher. Under Morozov's tutelage, Alexei began to read and write at the age of five, reading the Psalms and Acts of the Bible at first, learning to write at the age of seven, and at the age of nine in a church choir. By the time he was twelve years old, he had accumulated enough books to build a small family library. In addition, Alexei studied grammar, geography, diplomatic etiquette, musical instrument playing, mounted archery and other subjects. In this way, Alexei became one of the most learned people in Russia at that time in his youth.

In 1643, Tsar Mikhail issued an edict to the whole country of Rakshasa, and Alexei was officially made the crown prince. Two years later, in June 1645, Tsar Mikhail died of illness and was succeeded by Alexei, who was only 16 years old, becoming the second tsar of the Romanov dynasty.

According to intelligence analysis: the Rakshasa country is facing the prying eyes of the powerful in Europe, and it has a strong enemy Sweden in the north, occupying a large area of land north of the Pskov-Novgorod line and the Baltic Sea coast, and firmly controlling the trade routes from the Rakshasa country to Europe; To the west are his feuds, the kingdoms of Poland and Lithuania, which occupy a series of important towns led by Smolensk, and threaten Moscow at all times.

Jiang Guorong, chief of staff who has read these materials, said: "The enemy of the enemy is our friend, and it is necessary for us to form an alliance with Sweden and Poland. ”

Gao Junshan said: "Let's wait and see, the cultural differences between Europe and Asia, Sweden and Poland will not necessarily form an alliance with us, or don't take the initiative to contact them, when we show our momentum, they will look for us." ”

Zhou Shichen said: "What Your Majesty said is extremely true, who wants to form an alliance with a thin weakling? Only if we prove that we are a strong person with our own strength, there will naturally be people who come to cling to us. ”

Gao Junshan was about to warn them that Europeans were not so easy to deal with, Sun Kewang came to report at this time, and Feng Shuangli had something important to report.

"Please ask him to wait for me in the imperial study of the Heart Palace."

……

Gao Junshan returned to the imperial study, and Sun Kewang invited Feng Shuangli, who was waiting outside, in.

Gao Junshan asked, "Is there something important to see me in such a hurry?" ”

Feng Shuangli said: "Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang in Jinling have news that they have a way to make Zhu Youxiang's small court chaotic. ”

Gao Junshan was interested and asked, "Tell me quickly, what is the solution?" ”

Feng Shuangli replied: "Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang listed the three major suspicious cases of the previous dynasty, saying that they could refer to these cases and lay down some mysteries to create chaos in Zhu Youxiang's court. ”

"What are the 'three major mysteries'?" Gao Junshan asked.

Feng Shuangli explained: "It is the 'Attack Case', the 'Red Pill Case' and the 'Palace Removal Case' of the Wanli, Taichang, and Tianqi Dynasties. ”

"Be specific."

"During the Wanli period of the previous dynasty, the crown prince caused fierce controversy in the imperial court. Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of Emperor Wanli, was born to the queen of the Empress Dowager's palace and was very cold; And Zhu Changxun, the third son of the emperor born to the favorite concubine Zheng Guifei, was loved by the Wanli Emperor, and the Zheng family and the Wanli Emperor 'swore a secret oath' to establish Chang Xun as the crown prince.

"The courtiers fought hard to establish Zhu Changluo according to the law of the crown prince and no heir, but the Wanli Emperor always delayed with various excuses, until the empress dowager exerted pressure, and began to set up Zhu Changluo as the crown prince in the 29th year of Wanli, and also named Changxun as the blessed king.

"This is the dispute over the national capital of the Wanli Dynasty over the establishment of the crown prince for fifteen years."

Gao Junshan sneered: "The throne is inherited, and the father dies and the son succeeds; There are grandchildren, and there are no grandchildren; The emperor has no heirs, and his brother dies with his brother. Such a simple truth, they have been arguing with the court for fifteen years in order to appoint who is the crown prince? ”

"Exactly."

Gao Junshan sighed: "No wonder the Ming Dynasty is over!" ”

Feng Shuangli continued: "In the end, it was the Wanli Emperor who gave in to the Donglin Party and officially canonized Zhu Changluo as the crown prince, but then something happened when a man named Zhang Cha broke into the prince's bedroom alone with a wooden stick and injured the eunuch guarding the door.

This incident is reminiscent of Zheng Guifei instructing Zhang Cha to assassinate the crown prince. However, Emperor Wanli did not investigate deeply, but only judged the perpetrator Zhang Cha to be insane, and killed him in a hurry. This is the beginning and end of the 'Assault Case'. ”

"What does that mean?" Gao Junshan asked.

Feng Shuangli analyzed: "On the surface, this matter seems to be Zheng Guifei's intention to murder the crown prince Zhu Changluo and failed, it seems to be the emperor's family matter, but in essence, it is an open and secret struggle between the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party. Although Emperor Wanli personally handled and closed the case, this matter has always been full of suspicions. ”

"This has something to do with the Donglin Party," Gao Junshan asked, "so what's going on with the 'Red Pill Case'?" ”