Chen Yue and his subordinate Xishan Army stayed in the coal yard outside Xibianmen for three days, first, to accept the materials hanging down from the city, and then to determine where to go next.

The Xishan army recovered Fangshan and killed more than 100 Manchu Tartars, and the imperial court could not help but reward them, Chongzhen gritted his teeth and allocated more than 5,000 taels of silver from the 10,000 taels he had just arrived, as a reward for killing Manchu Tartars. At the end of Chen Yue's face to the saint, he also asked for some weapons and armor to be used to recruit troops, and Emperor Chongzhen agreed to Chen Yue's request and personally issued an order to the military department, ordering him to meet Chen Yue's request.

According to the normal procedure, even if the emperor gives an order, it will take a long time to rip off the skin before the things can be allocated. However, after Chen Jianghe secretly stuffed a silver ticket of 3,000 taels into the hand of a director of the military department, everything was easy to say.

The director personally took Chen Jianghe to the warehouse managed by the Ministry of War, opened the warehouse door and let Chen Jianghe choose. In the end, it is a country's arsenal, and there are really some things in it, all kinds of tattered weapons, and most of the weapons and equipment are shoddy to cope with errands, and there are very few people who can use them.

According to Chen Yue's instructions, Chen Jianghe did not choose a musket, this thing is of too poor quality, and it is likely that he will not hurt the enemy before he hurts himself. The main choice of bows and crossbow shields, at the bottom of the arsenal sealed thousands of strong bows, many strong bows can be traced back to the civil fort and even Yongle period, due to the gradual popularization of firearms, bows and arrows were gradually replaced by firearms, and later the formation of archers has disappeared in the Ming army sequence, but replaced by a large number of firearms. However, the previous bows and arrows were preserved, and the bows were covered with grease and wrapped in silk cloth, and placed in wooden boxes, and the bowstrings made of ox tendon were placed in separate boxes. Thanks to proper storage, the bows have remained in their original appearance over the years, showing no signs of decay.

The reason why Chen Yue asked for a strong bow was mainly because he was not at ease with the fire gun made by the military department, and it would take time to make it himself, so he used the bow and arrow to make the transition first. These bows are to be installed on vehicles with crossbows, and there must be at least two of them in a vehicle. After the ambassador of the arsenal got the hundred taels of silver tickets given by Chen Jianghe, he happily commanded Kuding to carry the bows and arrows out and carry them to the carriage brought by Chen Jianghe.

After receiving 200 strong bows and 500 shields, Chen Jianghe took his family to transport the weapons to the head of Xibianmen City, and then hung down the city wall with ropes, and naturally there were soldiers of the Xishan Army below to receive them.

In a house in the coal yard, the main figures of the Xishan Army gathered together to discuss the next move.

Now Chen Yue has been appointed as the Jingxi Military Reserve Road, responsible for the armament and defense of Zhuozhou, Fangshan, Liangxiang, and Changping counties west of Shuntianfu, but he did not specify the specific station, so the next move needs to be carefully studied.

"In several counties in western Beijing, Fangshan has just been captured by the Manchus, and the city is dilapidated, which is not suitable as a station. The inner countryside is too close to Beijing, and the city is narrow and there are not many people, it is not good to go there, Changping is said to be your jurisdiction, in fact, it has been under the jurisdiction of Xuanfu Town, Miyun General Tang Tong has an army in Changping, if we go to Changping, there will be a conflict with Tang Tong, so the best place to go is Zhuozhou. Shan Minglei, the town magistrate, talked eloquently, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of various states and counties.

Yang Zhengping and Iron Lion, who attended the meeting, nodded and agreed with Shan Minglei's analysis.

"Although Zhuozhou is good, it is located in the plain, and Mantar just went south to Shandong not long ago, although it did not attack Zhuozhou, but if it is attacked by the way when returning, it is too dangerous." The scribe He Lu disagreed.

"It's really a greedy person who is afraid of death, no wonder he will surrender to Mantar!" Shan Minglei glanced at He Lu contemptuously, and said: "We formed an army to fight against the Manchus, Zhuozhou has a high city and a deep trench to defend, why are you afraid of the Manchu Tartars attacking the city?" ”

He Lu blushed and stopped talking, at this time, he knew that his foundation was still shallow, and he had no confidence to fight in the ring with Shan Minglei.

"We need a lot of money and food to recruit the army, and only the rich Zhuozhou can provide it for us, not other places." Shan Minglei's last sentence left others speechless.

Chen Yue frowned, closed his eyes slightly, and gently tapped the armrest of the chair, secretly thinking in his heart. Although Shan Minglei's proposal is good, it is not the most appropriate, because the most important thing for the Xishan Army is to recruit troops in the next step, and Zhuozhou City is not a good place to recruit soldiers.

"Lord Binggen!" Seeing that Chen Yue had been silent, Shan Minglei couldn't help but shout.

"Hmm!" Chen Yue opened his eyes and looked at everyone with blazing eyes, "Although Shan Zhenfu's proposal is good, there is one place missing, and that is the source of soldiers." I have long said that our Xishan Army must not recruit troops from the city. ”

"We are stationed in Zhuozhou, but we can send people to the countryside to recruit soldiers!" Shan Minglei said.

Chen Yue shook his head: "Zhuozhou is not Xishan Town, and the people in the countryside are not facing the direct threat of Mantar, so how many people are willing to apply?" The military households in the guard house are still fleeing, how can the people who farm the land want to become lowly military households? ”

In the Ming Dynasty, the concept of good men not being soldiers has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, as a soldier is a matter of military households, ordinary people as long as they have food to eat, everyone is willing to be a soldier, and most of the people are bound by the land, controlled by the gentry, the gentry do not want their tenants to run to be soldiers one by one, so there will be fewer people to farm for them. Chen Yue is now unwilling and has no energy to fight with these gentry.

"Didn't Lord Bingxian say that urban soldiers are not good, and it is better to recruit soldiers from the countryside? Why can't it work again? Zhuozhou can't do it, where are the people willing to be soldiers? Shan Minglei asked aggressively, but what he thought was a reasonable suggestion was rejected by Chen Yue, which made him very unconvinced.

"Lord Bingxian must be confident, so don't sell it." Yang Zhengping has been following Chen Yue for the longest time, so he naturally understands Chen Yue's temper, and when he sees the faint smile on the corner of Chen Yue's mouth, he knows that he must have made up his mind.

"Haha, the official has already made up his mind, let's go to Xishan Town!" Chen Yue said with a smile.

"Ahh Everyone present was shocked, they didn't expect Chen Yue to put the garrison of Bingbeidao in Xishan, which was a remote place, far worse than Zhuozhou or even Fangshan.

"Although Xishan Town is remote, it has a unique advantage, that is, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are not many people in a radius of hundreds of miles from Xishan Town to the north?" Chen Yue said with a smile.

"Lord Bingxian, your idea is to fight those coal miners in the north?" Shan Minglei was the first to react and asked in surprise.

"Of course, in the north of Xishan Town, there are dozens of coal mines and tens of thousands of mining potters, and these are the best soldiers." Chen Yue said with a smile. Compared with the scattered peasants, the coal miners are undoubtedly better organized and more suitable for recruitment, and the Qi family army was recruited from the miners in the mountains of Yiwu.

Shan Minglei has read Ji Xiaoxinshu and other military books, and naturally he has also heard about the deeds of the Qi family, so there is naturally no problem in recruiting soldiers from the miners, but he has other questions.

"How will we solve our rations?" Although a large amount of money and grain was seized from the Mantars not long ago, it may not take long if they sit on the empty side.

"There are endless mineral deposits buried under the western mountain, and they can be sold for money when they are dug up, so how can there be less food?" Chen Yue said with a smile.