Cao Huachun's henchmen, Lu Jiude, Liu Yuanbin, as well as Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong, and Sun Yingyuan, formed a new battalion and recruited new soldiers, and soon began in late October of the seventh year of the Apocalypse.

Compared with Xiao Xuan, in the midst of political struggles and even power, he relied on the support of Pang Tianshou and others to select and pull up the team of 500 people in a hurry. The conditions of these cadres under Cao Huachun are much more favorable. Although the condition of being a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy soldier is really a bit harsh, the scope of the selection of soldiers at this time can finally be placed in a broader range. Tens of thousands of adaptable teenagers from the surrounding counties, whose economic conditions were much poorer than those in the capital and even in the neighboring places, soon rushed to the crowd and set up the cronies of the family members brought from Liaodong at the recruitment points in various places, and even many people from all parts of the northern Zhili, including Baoding Mansion and Hejian Prefecture, also heard the news.

After all: in the case that many people rush to enter the palace to be eunuchs, and the emperor's pro-army who does not need to be corrupted but can obtain a similar status to do things on errands, in the eyes of the common people in many places in this era, it is completely different from going to Liaodong to risk their lives, or being a soldier in an ordinary place.

Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, and even Sun Yingyuan and other people who were selected and sent out to do errands, and the more than 100 pro-soldiers who had been following from Liaodong to Beijing were also very capable, and without much effort, they selected 3,000 teenagers who were relatively qualified in age, figure, and even all aspects from the school-age teenagers who were close to 100,000 people, and also brought the direct relatives of these selected teenagers to the capital according to Xiao Xuan's requirements.

When Xiao Xuan personally inspected these young recruits selected from the surrounding areas of the capital and even from all over Beizhili, although he had expected it before, he still felt a little beyond his psychological preparation. These five battalions plus the reserve battalion have a total of six battalions of about 3,000 young recruits, and the quality of the young recruits can be said to be significantly better than those teenagers who formed a new battalion of 500 for the first time.

Regardless of anything else, just from the fact that the first few thousand people stood in line, although it took a long time and the standing was not very neat, there were few people who made a noise, it was much better than the first five hundred people he had selected from the seven or eight thousand young men in the capital. However, after many days of strict training and management, the first batch of officers and men of his own army became somewhat disciplined.

In addition, many of these children are from military families, or even from military families. The physical condition is not as bad as I imagined. More than 200 people can ride horses, and more than 500 people have archery skills. Although it is only a hunting bow that can open four or five buckets at most, it is obviously stronger than his own thousands of soldiers.

Of course: Xiao Xuan believes that combat effectiveness is not only about the source of soldiers, but also in training investment, firearms use methods, and armor equipment. With the foundation that the guards battalion led by himself is not too bad, as long as he, the emperor, said at the beginning that it counts, and the newly established Yongwei battalion should still be able to do it in terms of combat effectiveness.

However, at this moment, Cao Huachun, who came with Xiao Xuan, said in a tone that was not out of sight: "There are already many pro-soldiers here. All of these teenagers could ride horses and shoot archery, as well as outstanding children, who could make up a thousand and eight hundred. His Majesty did not have very good conditions when he first formed the new army, but now from these 3,000 people, about 1,000 excellent and somewhat martial arts teenagers have been selected, which can just expand the strength of the Guards, so to speak, they can barely be regarded as the children of the Gyeonggi area. . . As for the number of the Brave Guards, it was always easy to put together ... ”

Xiao Xuan guessed that Cao Huachun must have something to say, and he was also ready to accept the new teenagers and expand the auxiliary battalion and enrich the combat team. I didn't expect Cao Huachun to be so generous to send any of the young men who were familiar with martial arts to him.

If it is said that those pro-soldiers under Zhou Yuji and Huang Degong should be sent over so that there are some potential suspicions of mixing sand, these thirteen or fourteen-year-old teenagers with traceable family backgrounds are not very likely to be mixed with sand. After all, it hasn't been long since the beginning of this matter.

It was also at this time that Xiao Xuan's suspicion of Cao Huachun and others in his heart couldn't help but be a little smaller, and at this time he said earnestly: "Gonggong Cao, to tell you something, since I ascended the throne these days, I was very worried that some old people in the past had some of their own thoughts because of my somewhat different way of doing things, and now that I think about it, I really doubt people who shouldn't be suspected, and I want to accompany Gonggong Cao, who has followed me since I was a child... ”

"The Holy One must not say that, torture and kill the slave and maid..." Hearing this, Cao Huachun couldn't help but panic a little even though he was well-informed. Of course, there have been cases in history when the emperor issued an edict, but it was just a need for power, and he took the initiative to do this to the people around him without being passive, which was something he had never thought of.

Huang Degong and the others didn't care about it at this time and said: "If the Holy Lord feels that the personnel is a little overstaffed, he can also send the hundreds of people who are at the bottom of the guards to guide the newly established Yongwei Battalion, so that even if it is relatively balanced, the combat effectiveness will be easy to rise." Compared to those children who have not received decent training at all. Even those who are eliminated from the final election in the camp of the Holy Relatives should be able to play a greater role... ”

Of course, Xiao Xuan understood that Huang Degong was a person who was not very good at talking, but the inner meaning of this could not be clearer: the newly established Yongwei Battalion was willing to accept the complete influence and control of the people around the emperor from the source of soldiers and even the officer level. At the same time, thinking about it, Xiao Xuan also understood that by doing so, he was actually risking offending some people and being framed in his daily military training.

Thinking of this, although Xiao Xuan's suspicion of Cao Huachun and other cronies had not been completely lifted, he was mostly relieved. It seems that Cao Huachun and his subordinates are also loyal and capable people. Why didn't Chongzhen in history take advantage of such good conditions to create a new army that could fight? In terms of the experience of the past month, Xiao Xuan always has a feeling. Compared with the Emperor of the Apocalypse, there are many people around Chongzhen who can be used and loyal, even among the six departments, not all of them are some corpse vegetarians. It stands to reason that there should be complete manpower and financial resources to build a cronies who are not inferior to the Tianxiong Army or the White Pole Soldiers.

What Xiao Xuan didn't know was that there was indeed such a Yongwei battalion in charge of Cao Huachun in history, and this Yongwei battalion could also be called capable of fighting according to the standards of the Ming army in this era. The great defeat and trough of the peasant army at the beginning of the novel "Li Zicheng" are indeed related to the successive victories of Chongzhen's nine-year Yongwei Battalion. In the later battles against the Manchus, the Yongwei battalion also performed a lot. Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong and other "famous generals" are also from the Yongwei battalion of the Son of Heaven's pro-army system.

Of course, at this time, the Yongwei Battalion, which was reborn many years earlier than history, also came because of Xiao Xuan's possession, and finally avoided the fate of separation and destruction.