In Sichuan, there are many former generals of the Ming army, who are high-ranking and heavy-handed, except for Ding Xianjue, the deputy general of Tongjiang, Guo Chengda, the general of Mahu, and Liu Jizu, the hereditary commander of the Mahu garrison Chengdu Zhongwei, and a few other Zhu Pingjin have not yet met, and the rest are all standing at the bottom of the steps.

These fifteen generals are members of the Ming bureaucracy and nodes in the Ming military system.

As Ming officials, they held the imperial court's Yulu; As military generals, they have soldiers and weapons in their hands.

They controlled the military camps and passes, and were alternative but legitimate large landowners and big businessmen; They controlled the military guards and were one of the nuclei of the local upper ruling class.

Without them, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's rule would have collapsed; Without them, the southwestern minority areas would not be able to maintain long-term peace and stability.

Under the political oppression and economic temptation of the Shu Wangfu and the Sichuan civil government in collusion with them, under the two-sided military attack of the national protector army and the thieves and bandits, and under the predicament that the imperial court was thousands of miles away, they took the initiative or were forced to choose to submit to the hereditary top nobleman Zhu Pingjian, and to seek the survival and development of themselves and their groups by submitting to the interests of themselves, their families, and the private soldiers and battalions under their jurisdiction.

However, this submission is only manifested in verbal vassals, and in the form of acceptance of reorganization, and once the court or the supreme emperor makes any moves, whether their submission can be maintained, and for how long, is still unknown.

Most of the troops they led have been reorganized into the number of the Protector Army, but the inner slap is still the same as that of the Ming official army: the military style is corrupt and the military discipline is lax, and nepotism is left and right. Officers are busy getting promoted and making a fortune, and the style of warlords is prevalent; The soldiers fought for some reason, and they had a serious mentality of eating food and selling their lives.

No matter how many troops they have, no matter how strong their equipment, how generous their treatment is, and no matter how advanced their tactics and technology are, they cannot make it a loyal army, a mighty army, and a victorious army, and it will become an invincible and powerful army that can be released in the hands of Zhu Pingjin to sweep the world.

The fundamental law of the universe is the law of entropy increase. To put it simply, the process of development of all things follows the evolution from order to disorder.

Zhu Pingjin's current mission is to do the opposite, bringing a group of people with evil intentions into the track he has set, so that their external behavior and inner thoughts will change from disorder to order, and the difficulty can be imagined.

Zuo Liangyu collapsed under Kaifeng City, the situation in the Central Plains became more and more corrupt, and there was not much time left for Zhu Pingjian.

The comprehensive integration of Sichuan's military forces must be accelerated in depth and breadth. It is imperative to comprehensively reorganize the official army in Sichuan according to the standards of the National Protector Army.

However, integration and reorganization will inevitably touch the sensitive interests of many people.

How to smoothly advance without leaving chaos and without leaving hidden dangers, this thorny problem has been nakedly placed in front of Zhu Pingjin and his henchmen and advisers, and has become a hurdle that cannot be bypassed.

Shu Guoping suggested using the method of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin to strengthen the weak branches to expand the lineage and weaken the miscellaneous cards.

The General Staff Department is in the process of greatly expanding the guard troops, setting up 120 rack battalions as reserve units, and enriching the battalions and regiments of infantry cavalry with support arms such as artillery, engineers, baggage troops, sanitary troops, reconnaissance troops, communications troops, and military police, so as to build a so-called "modern composite army." This is an excellent opportunity for operation.

Sun Hong suggested that the organization should be mixed with sand, the organizational structure should be disrupted and shuffled, and the two basic systems of supervising the army to the company and supplying the company should be resolutely implemented, so as to pass on the good tradition of the night study class. We will take advantage of this large-scale rebellion to carry out a re-education of the whole army on the purpose of army building and a major rectification of military style and discipline.

Cheng Xiangfeng suggested that the tiger should be diverted from the mountain, so that those small military groups that rely on local forces for support will lose their roots. He also suggested that the strategy of killing three soldiers with two peaches should be used to provoke contradictions between the old generals of the official army and the old generals with official positions and powers, so that the Shu Wangfu could obtain the maximum benefits quietly.

Recently, Ma Gan, a full-time military officer who has often stayed by Zhu Pingjian's side, suggested that in order to carry out an in-depth reorganization of the army in terms of organization and system, in addition to going deep in terms of ideology and military discipline, it is also necessary to pay full attention to and make use of the contradictions between the soldiers and generals of the old army.

He took the struggle between Zhang Zuokai and Cheng Weiguo in the Battle of Yuxi as an example and pointed out that in dealing with the upper echelons of the army, it is necessary to first win over the lower ranks of the army and the officers. As long as the vast number of lower-level non-commissioned officers and officers are stabilized, the army will also be stabilized. In the words of some people, this is called mobilizing the masses to fight for leadership.

Cai Shaoyun, who is far west of Dazhou, also made a proposal according to Zhu Pingjin's request. He pointed out that the in-depth cooperation between Feng Ruhu and Ding Xianjue should be established or retained, and a common enemy should be established or retained, and the struggle should be fought in unity, cooperation in struggle, and gradual integration in cooperation.

He also pointedly suggested that we should not despise some of the practices of declaring determination and loyalty in the folk and military traditions, such as swearing to the sky, cursing, inviting the gods, burning yellow paper, drinking blood wine, kowtowing to Guan Erye, and so on.

The art of struggle left by the ancestors of the Chinese for thousands of years is so perfect, subtle and unobtrusive that it deserves in-depth study by all mankind in the world.

On the evening of 6 April, that is, on the eve of Song Zhensi's troops marching into Meizhou, Zhu Pingjin finally made a decision, besieged Meizhou without attacking, and gave Liao Daheng a perfect excuse to mobilize soldiers and generals from all over Sichuan, and with the help of the Songlin Mountain base not far away, the officers and troops who came to the aid were unified and reorganized, which was the result of the collective wisdom of his confidants and advisers.

Zhu Pingjin brought the monk Poshan before leaving, also because the monk Poshan has been preaching the Dharma in eastern Sichuan for many years and has a huge influence.

Of course, Zhu Pingjin also understands that politics is, to a certain extent, the art of balance, the balance between struggle and compromise, and the balance between interests and risks.

These old generals of the Ming Dynasty under the steps, whether he likes it or not, Zhu Pingjin must face it.

As long as they are willing to give in submission, he must give something in return. But this reward must be given in a way that is acceptable to oneself, in a way that leaves no or less sequelae.

The dazzling light climbed over the high courtyard wall, bringing light and heat at the same time, making Zhu Pingjin dizzy.

He waved his hand casually, turned around and entered the room without saying a word, and disappeared his figure behind the seated statue of the Bodhisattva, and also threw a group of dumbfounded generals in the courtyard to stare at each other.

Fortunately, soon a eunuch came out to spread the word:

The prince has a purpose, so please go in one by one and talk alone.

The rest of the adults should go to the side room to have a tea break.

Here's the order of the conversations:

The first, Lord Wang Xiang;

Lord Ding, you are the next one;

The third is General Zeng Yingzeng......

……

On July 13 of the 15th year of Chongzhen, it was an uneventful day in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

On this day, Zhu Pingjin, the son of Shu, spent a whole day talking with many old Shu generals in the Lingyan Temple outside Meizhou City, which lasted until late that night.

Because it was a separate conversation, the content of the conversation was unknown to outsiders.

Later, according to the account of the attendant eunuch Zhang Wei, he walked out of the meditation room

The generals had different expressions: excited, depressed, smiling, or solemn and sad. But without exception, everyone is sonorous, as if a big war is imminent.

Two days later, the besieging troops of the Protector Army, supported by 54 15-pound medium howitzers of the 1st Artillery Regiment, began a general assault on Meizhou City.

The five new-type Centipede Type 3 galleys of the First Brigade of the Naval Division of the National Protector Army also fired at the east gate of Meizhou with 10 15-pound naval guns on board.

In the earth-shattering artillery fire and shouting of killing, the troops of the 11th Regiment of the Protector Army took the lead in the city and erected the red and bright military flag of the Protector Army on the wall of the north gate of Meizhou.

At the same time, some militia groups in the city, led by Wang Yuanchang, a Gongsheng in Meizhou, Lan Can (Note 1), and Chen Denghao, a righteous man with a mixed name of Iron Footboard, suddenly turned against the water and launched an attack on the base camp of Meizhou rebels, the state government.

Thousands of soldiers of the Protector Army shouted, rushing forward like an undulating tide, passing past Zhu Pingjian, the son of Shu who came to the city to supervise the battle, pouring in from the four gates of Meizhou, and planting the flag symbolizing victory at the highest point of the city tower.

However, the rebel forces will never be willing to perish, and they will definitely fight the trapped beasts, even at the cost of the lives of thousands of people.

The sudden fire started in the state office and quickly spread to the surrounding houses.

Under the blazing sun, the rising flames devoured one house after another like gluttony, and soon swept the whole city.

The troops entering the city had swords, guns, and firearms in their hands, not buckets and brooms, and they were completely helpless against the flames that rushed in front of them. Just as the soldiers were in a dilemma in the advance of the wall of fire, the decree of the prince came in time:

The whole army immediately retreated to the ring defense line outside the city to prevent the enemy from escaping. The rebel troops and the fleeing civilians were withdrawn together, and after screening, they were sent to the designated area to repair and stand by.

The Meizhou fire burned for a whole day.

When night fell, the city's flames reflected the low-hanging lead clouds. The tall walls appear a solemn black color against a bright background, like the stone monuments of a cemetery.

At dawn on the second day, a majestic rain fell from the sky, and in an instant, the rain stopped and the clouds opened, revealing the smile of the sun.

The commander-in-chief of the siege, Liu Zhenfan, reported that the buildings in Meizhou City were all gone, and all of them were reduced to ashes, including the most prestigious Sansu Temple. No living people have been found in the city, and no one is presumed to have survived. Even the city's ponds were boiled by heat, boiling all the creatures that had fled.

However, as soon as Liu Zhenfan's urgent report left, the report of the guard regiment arrived.

A wooden foot basin was found in a well somewhere in the city. There was a newborn under one month in the footbasin. Although this baby is covered with black smoke, there is still a trace of breath in his mouth and nose.

Zhu Pingjin hurriedly ordered the baby to be sent to the military hospital for rescue. After that, he refused an exclusive interview with the brothers of the Fuxing Newspaper and came to the earthen embankment around the city.

There, the monk of Poshan had already led many monks and believers to set up stalls to do transcendent rituals in the face of the bare city walls.

A baby who doesn't know whether he is alive or dead has witnessed the city of Meizhou, the hometown of literature that shocked China, and the base camp of the opposition forces of the new deal in Shu, and in this way, in a tragic way of self-destruction, he achieved the complete unification of Shu by Zhu Pingjian, the son of Shu.

In the early morning of July 16, when the embers of Meizhou City were not extinguished, the prince of Shu issued an order:

The armies under the city were reorganized and a number of brigade-level units of the National Protector Army were formed.

Note 1: Wang Yuanchang and Lan Can are recorded as Xinjin people in historical materials, and the plot here needs to be changed.

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