Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume VIII Troubled Times

Chapter 1 The military is shaking the sky and raising the prestige of the Han

Section 11 Downsizing of the Great Army (1)

Shanhaiguan.

Since the Wanli period of the first emperor, the weather in various parts of the Ming Dynasty has become more and more abnormal, especially in the northern provinces, droughts and locust plagues have been staged one after another, almost every year. This is the case in the Shanhaiguan area, the sky in August is like a blazing sun, extremely dry, there has been no rain in all parts of Shanhai Town for two months, this year is another year of drought, people everywhere are miserable, want to cry without tears.

On the school field in Guancheng, more than 40,000 Ming soldiers who were originally stationed in various parts of Shanhai Town have been replaced by the soldiers of the trapped camp and the Yingyang battalion, and they are all lined up at this time. Next to the military array, there were 2,000 heavily armed soldiers of the Hanwei Army's pacesetter battalion standing, and the phalanx composed of only 2,000 Hanwei soldiers and horses was even more desolate than the 40,000 people.

At the same time, with the assistance of 1,000 soldiers of the pacesetter battalion, Zhou Tianyi was directing the officials of the Planning Department to check the actual number of the 40,000 troops against the roster of the army, verify the identities of the soldiers one by one, and carry out the preliminary screening work of the downsizing of the army.

Liu Yunwei led Wu Xing, Gao Hongguang, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Nanxing, Zhao Shujiao, and Zu Dashou to stand on the platform, pointing at the tens of thousands of people in the audience from time to time.

Yuan Chonghuan stood beside Liu Yunwei, pointed to Zhou Tianyi and others who were busy under the hot sun and said: "Supervisor, you see, after Governor Zhou conducts a preliminary screening of these 40,000 troops, he will recompile a detailed roster, and at that time, the two generals Zhao and Zu will fully assist General Wu, conduct further verification of the officers and men of the army, screen out all the old and weak people, soldiers and ruffians, and select 10,000 elite troops from them and hand them over to the senior staff generals for training; The remaining tens of thousands of horses will be turned into tuntian soldiers on the spot, and the wasteland will be reclaimed in a suitable location in Shanhai Town for military cantonment. ”

Liu Yunwei nodded, and said with great satisfaction: "Then there is labor." ”

After speaking, Liu Yunwei raised his head and looked at the dazzling sun, and said secretly: "Actually, it is not difficult to reorganize these tens of thousands of troops, but the real difficulty is the Tuntian that is about to begin!" This year's farming season has been missed, so we can only reclaim the land for the military tun first, build some water conservancy facilities, and make some preparations. I hope that when the tuntian starts next year, the rain in the three towns of Jiliao will be normal, otherwise the 100,000 tuntian soldiers recruited by each town will not only be unable to produce food, but will also become a heavy burden on the three towns of Jiliao! ”

Just thinking about it, Zu Dashou quietly walked to Liu Yunwei's side and whispered: "Inspector, look over there!" ”

Liu Yunwei frowned slightly, and looked in the direction hinted by Zu Dashou, only to see that in a corner far from the school grounds, more than a dozen of the thousands of generals of the original Shanhai Town garrison were gathered in a circle, not knowing what they were discussing, and several of them secretly looked at Dianjiangtai from time to time.

Seeing this, Liu Yunwei couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, and asked Zu Dashou in a quiet whisper: "Whose subordinates are those people?" ”

Zu Dashou glanced at Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Shujiao, and Zhao Nanxing next to him, and replied in a low voice: "Inspector Qiqi, those people are all subordinates of the three generals. ”

At this time, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Shujiao, and Zhao Nanxing also found the dozen or so generals who didn't know what they were muttering in the distance, and the faces of the three of them suddenly became very ugly. Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Supervisor, the lowly position will immediately let those bastards scatter, and after going back, the lowly rank will strictly restrain his subordinates and prevent them from discussing big things!" ”

Liu Yunwei didn't say anything, not even a hint of blame, but said with a smile: "Haha, it's okay, they just talked together, and they didn't do anything out of the ordinary, just let them go." ”

After speaking, Liu Yunwei saw that all the affairs of the school were on track, so he led the generals back to the Jiliao Governor's Mansion.

After everyone sat down, Liu Yunwei said: "Since the matter of the downsizing of the army has begun, then the governor will talk about some other things. ”

Wu Xing, Gao Hongguang, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Nanxing, Zhao Shujiao, and Zu Dashou all mentioned their spirits when they heard this, for fear of missing something.

"Now the Tunshou Division has begun to recruit displaced people from all over the world to come to our Tuntian in the three towns of Jiliao, and the wasteland around Shanhai Town is also being measured; The previous 100,000 Tuntian soldiers have basically been reorganized, and the general is transporting the soldiers to the north; The money and grain governor's office needed for these two major events is also being allocated, and there will be basically no surprises, so the governor will not say too much. ”

Liu Yunwei paused and continued: "There are two main things that the governor wants to say today, one is the future arrangements of the four generals Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Nanxing, Zhao Shujiao, and Zu Dashou, and the other is the strategy for Jiannu. ”

Hearing this, everyone stood up even more attentively, especially Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Nanxing, Zhao Shujiao, and Zu Dashou, Liu Yunwei's next words were related to the future of the four of them.

"After the completion of the downsizing of the army, Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Liaodong, led the 10,000 elites after the reorganization to go north out of Shanhaiguan and garrison Ningyuan City to prevent the Jiannu army from going south, and at the same time, the governor will also transfer 10,000 Tuntian soldiers to go north with General Yuan to Tuntian on the spot to strengthen Ningyuan's defensive force."

Yuan Chonghuan got up and clenched his fists and said, "Humble and deserved!" ”

After the 40,000 Tuntian soldiers raised in Shanhai Town were fully established, the guerrilla general Zu Dashou was promoted to a staff general and led 20,000 troops to garrison Jinzhou City. Now Jinzhou City is at the forefront of the battle against Jiannu, I hope General Zu will do it himself! ”

Zu Dashou was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately got up and hugged his fists and said: "Please rest assured, there is a humble position, and Jinzhou City is as solid as gold!" ”

Liu Yunwei smiled and nodded, and continued: "Promoted to deputy general Zhao Shujiao as the chief military officer of Shanhai Town, leading 10,000 Tuntian soldiers to guard Shanhaiguan. ”

Zhao Shujiao was overjoyed when he heard this, and clenched his fists and said: "Humble duty is ordered!" ”

And Yuan Chonghuan and Zu Dashou were also slightly sideways, they didn't expect Liu Yunwei to choose Zhao Shujiao as the chief military officer of Shanhai Town, and they were a little surprised in their hearts.

Finally, Liu Yunwei said to Zhao Nanxing: "General Zhao, this governor received an order from the imperial court yesterday to recruit General Zhao as a servant of the ministry, and ordered you to do so without delay. ”

Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou, and Zhao Shujiao were all taken aback when they heard this, while Zhao Nanxing was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then sighed slightly and said, "Humble duty is ordered." ”

Seeing this, Liu Yunwei also sighed slightly, stepped forward and patted Zhao Nanxing's shoulder, and said: "General Zhao, no matter where you are, you are loyal to the country, as long as you have a great understanding in your heart, you don't have to stick to a certain place." ”

Zhao Nanxing smiled a little unnaturally and said, "Don't worry, the superintendent understands that he is just leaving the soldiers, and the lowly is a little uncomfortable in his heart." He retired first. ”

Looking at the back of Zhao Nanxing's departure, Liu Yunwei shook his head and sighed slightly in his heart. Then, Liu Yunwei said to the remaining Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou, Zhao Shujiao, Wu Xing, and Gao Hongguang in the lobby: "The last thing, when the affairs of the army are completed and the various departments go to the garrison to be stationed, my three towns of Jiliao will begin to plan for the expedition to Liaodong, the defenders are responsible for defending the rear, and the battalions of the Hanwei Army are responsible for the expedition to Liaodong!" ”

The next day, Zhao Nanxing left Shanhaiguan with three retinues and went to the capital to take up his post. The downsizing of the army in Shanhai Town is still in full swing, and it only took Zhou Tianyi three days to complete the verification of all the original more than 40,000 soldiers in Shanhai Town. After careful inspection, the actual strength of the original army of more than 40,000 in Shanhai Town was only more than 29,000 people, and the situation of generals at all levels in Shanhai Town eating empty salaries was so serious that it far exceeded Liu Yunwei's psychological expectations.

"How can such a battalion fight! How can such a general lead troops! ”

After Liu Yunwei got the news, he was very angry, and immediately ordered a strict investigation of generals at all levels who ate empty salaries, and all the generals under his command who accounted for more than 20% of the total number of soldiers under his command were dismissed on the spot, regardless of the size of their official positions, and their family property was confiscated to offset the military expenses!

As soon as this order was given, Zu Dashou, Yuan Chonghuan, and Zhao Shujiao were all shocked, and immediately jointly asked to see Liu Yunwei, wanting to persuade Liu Yunwei to take back his life, but they were reprimanded by Liu Yunwei.

"Look at it, the army of Shanhai Town has so many generals who eat empty salaries, and the army of Shanhai Town is completely rotten! What is the reason why you do not carry out the orders of the Governor, but even come to dissuade the Governor? ”

Yuan Chonghuan said anxiously: "Supervisor, I know that the adult's order is right, but if this order is really implemented, it is estimated that there will be no one in ten of the original generals at all levels in Shanhai Town, and those thousands of generals will immediately rise up and make trouble!" ”

Hearing this, Liu Yunwei sneered and said, "Hmph! The Governor once said that whoever disobeys the order and does not respect it, do not blame the Governor for not being merciful! If those generals begged for death, the tens of thousands of Hanwei soldiers under the command of Ben Du would not mind giving them a ride! ”

Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Shujiao, and Zu Dashou suddenly changed color when they heard this, and their hearts were all shocked, and a thick fear surged into their hearts. The twenty-year-old Jiliao Governor in front of him not only has great talent, but can organize the hundreds of thousands of troops in Shanhai Town, Jizhou Town, and Tongzhou Town in an orderly manner, but also has great determination! Once the matter is decided, even if it encounters a big problem, it will never turn back, it is really a god who blocks and kills God, and a Buddha who blocks and kills Buddha!

At this moment, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Shujiao, and Zu Dashou didn't dare to say anything anymore, and they all said that they would try their best to restrain their subordinates and assist Liu Yunwei in stabilizing the situation. Who knew that Liu Yunwei said: "The three generals have been working very hard recently, and it is not good for this governor to let you run around anymore. In this way, let Gao Hongguang, the general of the Yingyang Battalion, be responsible for the investigation of the issue of empty salaries, and the three generals will be able to keep an eye on the downsizing of the army with peace of mind. ”

Gao Hongguang immediately clenched his fists and said: "The last general will be ordered!" ”

After finishing speaking, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Shujiao, and Zu Dashou were all stunned on the spot, and the three of them secretly said in their hearts: "It's over!" I hope that those subordinates who don't have long eyes can quietly wait for disposal, otherwise even their lives will be difficult to protect! ”