On the second day of the second month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, in the envious eyes of everyone, Wang Tao, the deputy general of the Dengzhou Army, was newly appointed and led 9,000 troops to guard Hejian Mansion.

By this time, the imperial court had not given any orders or recognition to Shandong, and Li Meng's duty to guard the town was still Shandong and Lianghuai, but the Jiaozhou battalion took care of its own preparations and plans, and when the Tartars entered the Kou, Sun Chuanting, the inner tent and Xi advisor, mobilized the village guards and armed salt from all over the country into Jinan Mansion in various Tuntian Granges for use as a general reserve.

This force of nearly 20,000 troops, although not used in the end, was tantamount to an indirect exercise, and concentrated for nearly two months according to the training of the regular army.

To a certain extent, these mobilized guards and armed salts reached the level of recruits from the Jiaozhou battalion, and when preparing for the troops stationed in Hejian Province, they were just choosing the right ones among these people.

Although the army turned back to Shandong, there were still 2,000 people from the old battalion left in Botou Town, Nanpi County, on the side of the canal, and the defenders of Hejian Province were to use these 2,000 people as the backbone and supplement the new army with 7,000 soldiers. This is a big irregularity, at least it is a violation of the king's law, and at a large level, it is directly a rebellion.

Shandong's soldiers, horses, grain and grass are all uniformly allocated and supplied by the old battalion, which is also a means to avoid the dissenting intentions of the troops stationed there.

This is different from the Ming army, except for a small number of troops who can receive salaries, most of the officers and soldiers are self-raised on the spot, to put it bluntly, it is blunt extortion or robbery, the local misery, the contradiction between the military and the people is great, and the Jiaozhou battalion is to avoid this drawback.

However, the officials and gentry of Hejian Mansion have never been happy about the situation that they do not need to supply food and military salaries from their own homes, but they are very resistant. I want to do my part for Lord Lee's army.

The two battalions stationed in Botou Town now received enough labor supplies for them to use for half a year, but they still sent them in a steady stream, and the officers and soldiers of the two camps jokingly claimed that they were guarding the warehouse.

In addition to the overtures of officials and gentry, there have always been a large number of civilians gathered around the garrison of Hejian Province. After that great victory, cleaning up the battlefield made many civilians who came over cheap, and these ordinary people who avoided officers and soldiers on weekdays were like hiding from bandits, so they knew that there were good soldiers in the world who did not harass the people.

Moreover, these soldiers and horses from Shandong recruited the people to do the work, and they were all paid for it, and it was difficult to find a job to subsidize the family in such a year. What's more, the Jiaozhou battalion has just defeated the Tartars, and the people in the area of Beizhili have experienced the scene of the Tartar army a few years ago, the Ming officers and soldiers fled, the officials fled, and the people also fled. The Tartars are really invincible, but they were defeated by the soldiers and horses of Shandong, and the soldiers and horses of Shandong are not even more invincible. Besides, everyone has seen the spiritual outlook of the soldiers in the Jiaozhou battalion.

The young people of Hejian Mansion saw this scene. I heard that the soldiers in the Jiaozhou camp can get enough food and salary. And as a military dependent. There are tax exemptions. There are also various economic and status discounts. Each one is moved. Even though he is a good man, he is not a soldier. But if the army is good enough. Naturally, good people will vote.

It's an interesting situation right now. Although Shandong does not need personnel and materials. But the people of Hejian Mansion in Beizhili still sent it over enthusiastically. Don't let them be terrified.

But in the midst of it. There was also a discordant vignette. In the weapons room, Tianjin firearms craftsmen made Yamen and the local supervisor came to Jinan. Go to the shogunate of the shogunate of Zhendong to ask for a dignitary.

Heavy firearms of the Ming army. The quality and power of firearms are terrible, not to mention. The annual output is really a lot. There are three manufacturing centers. One is Guangdong. Macao and Nanyang have a large number of Western firearms and related craftsmen. Either input or casting is relatively simple. The other is Nan Zhili. This is the center of South China. Naturally, there will be preparations. The largest one is Tianjin, where the firearms craftsmen build the yamen.

In the north. Fight against the outcasts and fight against the Tartars. There were also nine important lands to defend against the Mongols. This was the most important part of the Ming Dynasty's military activities. Firearms are supplied. In addition to the firearms workshops owned by each locality. It is the firearms battalion made by the craftsmen here in Tianjin.

The places where they served in the battalion were all so-called artisans. It is almost equivalent to prostitutes and butchers. Generations cannot be passed down from good ground. In addition to the manufacture of exquisite utensils in the capital, these craftsmen are still attentive. Elsewhere they were treated like slaves. Officials and supervisors are also greedy for ink. This work efficiency and sense of responsibility are naturally not worth mentioning.

The quality of firearms is extremely poor, the output is extremely poor, this is the whole situation of firearms manufacturing in Tianjin, the Manchu army came to the south, after breaking through the Tianjin Sanwei, directly caught all these craftsmen who made firearms, let them follow the army forward, even if it is a burden, they have to take it with them, although the place that can be used is to repair the North Korean firearms, but after these craftsmen are brought to the outside of the customs, they will definitely be of great use.

After the soldiers and horses of the Tatar land were completely annihilated in Hejian Province, these craftsmen were not allowed to go home, and these craftsmen were also of great use to the Jiaozhou battalion, which lacked skilled craftsmen.

When Mengyuan ravaged the world and crisscrossed the east and west, whether it was the city in the east or west, most of them were slaughtered after the siege, and the only ones who could be spared were beautiful women and various craftsmen, which showed that it was a great wealth.

This is also one of the war dividends obtained by the Jiaozhou battalion after this battle, and it is the most immediate benefit, these craftsmen thought that they were rescued by the official army, and they might be returned to Tianjin to work again, the craftsmen did not have anything to be happy about, in the camp of the Tatars, they could actually eat enough, which was much stronger than the identity of the semi-slaves in Tianjin, so the Tatar soldiers and horses were completely annihilated, and many craftsmen were not happy.

However, the mood of these craftsmen was immediately high, the middle and senior officers of the Jiaozhou battalion attached great importance to technology, and everyone also knew how tight the manpower of the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau in Laiwu and Jining was.

Li Meng, the general of Zhendong, immediately made a decision, none of these craftsmen could be put back, and all of them were brought back to Shandong, and it was the quartermaster who was sent to accept the craftsmen.

After I went, I didn't say any lies, first killed pigs and sheep and slaughtered white flour cakes, and then I was surprised by the opening fee of five taels of silver per person, and then I recorded the relatives and families of each craftsman who were still in Tianjin. and promised that Shandong would be responsible for taking them over and settling them.

This kind of treatment was much better than the Tartars' full meal, and the craftsmen were naturally willing, and the Jiaozhou battalion also promised that although the craftsmen worked in the government-run Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau in Shandong. But it is also a piecework wage, and it will never be bullied.

The efficiency and quality of the firearms workshops in Tianjin are extremely low, and a large reason is that these craftsmen do not have the slightest enthusiasm for labor, and they are beaten and scolded for the things they produce, and they are not paid at all, so how can they afford to raise their spirits.

The promise made by Shandong can be said to be scratching the itch, and this time, the performance of the craftsmen can be described as scrambling, lest the Jiaozhou battalion will not let them go to Shandong.

After returning to Jinan. Sun Hedou, Guo Dong and Ding Xu originally planned to spend the New Year in Jinan City, but they were also busy, taking advantage of this big victory and the opportunity of the Spring Festival. Relax with a carnival.

But I heard that all the craftsmen in the Tianjin artisan camp were brought to Shandong, and the three of them were overjoyed, and they didn't need to spend this year, they were all busy accepting and placing these craftsmen.

It is one thing whether these skilled workers who have been passed down from generation to generation have the enthusiasm to work or not, but they are more suitable to enter the manufacturing industry than those farmers and soldiers, and what the Jiaozhou Battalion Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau lacks is this kind of skilled, experienced, and large-scale production experience.

Although it cannot be compared with the industrialization of later generations. However, the workers and craftsmen of the Jiaozhou Battalion Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau are also a completely different kind of people from the peasants, and in the production of weapons and various equipment, they have been trained from scattered peasants and civilians to workers with a sense of discipline and cooperation.

The people who came out of the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau often have a quick understanding of the combat instructions and combat techniques of the Jiaozhou Battalion, as well as the operation of weapons, and have a very in-depth understanding, and pay more attention to teamwork, which is the best source of soldiers.

Therefore, the recruits who are most popular among officers at all levels of the Jiaozhou battalion. It is the young people who come out of the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau, and these people can quickly become the backbone of the army.

However, because the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau could not compete with the army and agriculture for labor, the number of artisan workers has always been very small, not only because the salary is very high, but also because they are easily reluctant to let young people go out to join the army, although the enthusiasm of the young people of the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau to join the army is extremely high.

Another place that can produce similar sources of troops is the iron ore mine in Laiwu and the coal mine in Yanzhou, and the miners in these two places are also particularly popular with the army, but the production of these two places is directly the source of raw materials for the local weapons manufacturing. Joint management of the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau and the Lingshan Commercial Bank. It is also necessary to ensure production, to ensure the number of workers. You can't let people go.

The competition for the manpower of the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau is so fierce in all aspects, although the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau strictly controls it, and can meet the huge needs of the Jiaozhou battalion with this limited manpower, it is still overstretched and embarrassed, and there is no chance to do some technological innovation and other things.

This time, more than 4,000 skilled craftsmen are really a relief in the snow, and they have suddenly raised the manufacturing capacity of the Jiaozhou camp to a higher level, how can they not make the three people of the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau ecstatic.

When the three leaders of the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau were counting the receiving places here, the superintendent in charge of the Tianjin Firearms Manufacturing was gloomy.

Before the Tartars came to the ground, the common people of the small households and the craftsmen in the semi-slave state could not run, but these dignitaries ran faster than one another, and this supervisor ran to Tongzhou City early to hide, but the Tartar army was annihilated, and when the supervisor returned to Tianjin, he could not start work.

Not to mention the more than 4,000 craftsmen who were taken captive, there were still some young people such as apprentices left in Tianjin, these people were not in the archives, and the Tartars did not know, so they escaped.

The crux of the matter is that these young people and their families, as well as the families of the craftsmen, have been constantly moving and leaving during the period when the superintendent returned to Tianjin.

You must know that the craftsman does not have complete personal freedom, and he cannot leave the location of the craftsman without authorization, but there are no defenders in Tianjin, and the city defense is also dilapidated and abnormal.

In addition to picking up the families of those craftsmen, the envoys and troops sent by Shandong also vigorously recruited those capable apprentices to be apprentices on the construction site. Not to mention these foremen and family members.

Under such a relocation, the entire Tianjin Sanwei is becoming more and more deserted, but the imperial court is urging this side more and more tightly in order to arm the army.

This supervisor has no way at all, and now even if he wants to spend money to transfer, it is impossible for him to transfer his position, his position is a hot potato. No one wants to take it, and there are no craftsmen, sooner or later there will be a big mess, this responsibility, everyone is still counting on this supervisor to carry it down!

The only way for the work supervisor who was forced to be helpless was that Shandong's work did not conform to the king's laws and regulations, so he might as well go to the door to talk about the rules and regulations, and if the other party was willing to accept money, then give a heavy gift. Maybe things can turn around.

remembered that in order to find an errand outside, he gave Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun almost eighty percent of his savings, and the work supervisor became more anxious. Although the oil and water in the field of firearms manufacturing are not as lucrative as those of the tax inspector and the mine supervisor. You can withdraw silver taels to buy raw materials, extort silver taels when taking weapons from all over the country, and drive craftsmen to do private work, which is in and out, and there are many benefits, but now is not the time to protect this errand, but to save your life.

"Please also ask this benevolent brother to help more, our family has been waiting here for two days, when will General Li have kung fu." Let our family go in and see you, there is something important to do!! ”

The firearms supervisor Kaoren secretly handed a silver ingot to the head of the guards of the Zhendong General's Mansion with a smile on his face, and scolded in his heart, saying that when he visited the commander of the East Factory and the cabinet bachelor, he stuffed silver into the porter when he was still in the ministry, which was a common practice, and it was so troublesome to go out of Beijing to meet the local generals.

He was slandering here, and the leader of the guards directly threw back the silver ingot, and said with a cold face:

"Father-in-law. Don't be difficult to do, do my handsome have time to see you, and it's not our subordinates who can be the master, according to the rules to hand over the post and ask to see it!! ”

Turning his head to see that there was already a long line of guests asking to see the concierge of the General's Mansion, Si Kaoren's face suddenly became bitter, he stepped forward and said in a low pleading:

"This brother, our family came from an errand in Tianjin, and it is a long way. It's tight over there. If the handsome man doesn't give an answer, our family's head will fall to the ground. Please also do well, please open a back door to pass down, our family must be rewarded! "The guards of the Zhendong General's Mansion are within the scope of the responsibility of the pro-soldier camp, and these officers and soldiers in the pro-military camp are all people with a good future, so naturally they will not take this small profit.

The leader of the pro-soldiers guarding the door stared at Si Kaoren a few times, and the supervisor of the firearms thought that things had taken a turn for the better, so he hurriedly put his hand into his pocket, ready to take out a gold ingot, but the leader of the pro-soldiers walked away again, which made Si Kaoren wonder for a long time, what he didn't expect was that the leader of the pro-soldiers received a message from the housekeeper Rosie, saying that he was staring at the eunuch from Tianjin, and did not let him leave.

The leader also wondered why he didn't let him go since he didn't meet, so he took a few more looks.......

Since the victory was confirmed, the gentry of Shandong, Lianghuai, and Henan began to congratulate them with various reasons, and people from Jiangnan and Fujian also came.

For these local powerful factions and big businessmen, Li Meng can see each other, and the smiles on each other are relatively polite, although there may not be any contact at present, but after all, they have a communication with each other, and they will see each other in the future.

From the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the various arrangements of the Jingshi are one thing, but receiving these guests who come to visit makes him tired and irritable, and by February, he has already chosen to meet the guests.

Outside, when Si Kaoren was entangled with the leader of the pro-soldiers, he was watching Li Hong exercise in the backyard, since that competition, Wang Hai arranged for several veterans of the pro-military camp to come over as teachers, and at the same time, the housekeeper Luo Xi and Guo Dong's mother-in-law added a gap between the backyard and the inner courtyard to avoid collision.

Now the backyard is completely a martial arts arena for Li Meng and Li Hong, father and son, Li Meng is doing pull-ups while holding the horizontal bar, this kind of equipment is still purchased in the inner mansion after he became a general, when he was a soldier, he was excellent in the army.

And Li Hongzheng is jogging around the yard under the supervision of an instructor, and the amount of exercise for children is not too much, but his face is also red.

Since Li Meng's return to Shandong, in addition to the victory, the most talked about by the inner house and his cronies in the civil and military forces is that Li Hong is indeed the successor of the military general. It is very telling that such a naughty and playful child, as soon as he receives the military training of the warriors, immediately becomes well-behaved and diligent.

At least there are successors to Li Meng, which is undoubtedly confirmed.

Outside the backyard courtyard walls. The sound of horses' hooves, the dismounting of the horse, the pro-soldiers, and soon a messenger strode in, and as soon as he entered the backyard, he immediately reported:

"Marshal, the Laiwu messenger of the horse team has returned home!"

Li Meng got down from the horizontal bar, and the soldiers on the side handed him a handkerchief, Li Meng wiped his sweat and took the letter. According to the rules, the soldier showed the letter to the recipient to check that it was accurate. Only then did he bow and retreat, Li Meng tore open the letter and took out the letter inside.

The handwriting on the letter is neat, and the foundation of some calligraphy is the letter of Ding Xu, the mine supervisor, most of these eunuchs from the inner court have a higher education level than the average level of scholars in this era and various special official clerical training, and Ding Xu is naturally the same.

Li Meng walked under the eaves and read the letter in three lines, after a little muttering. Nodding, he greeted loudly:

"Five of the pro-soldiers on duty are here!!"

At least two hundred pro-soldiers were on standby on the periphery of the place where Li Meng was, and before the words fell, five pro-soldiers immediately ran over, and Li Meng opened his mouth and ordered:

"Just outside the main gate, there is a eunuch from Tianjin, who politely grabbed him and took him to the military camp on the edge of the south gate!"

The five pro-soldiers were still a little puzzled. But the commander's order is everything, immediately is to take the order, quickly run out, in fact, this order is very interesting, politely arrested, the five personal soldiers pondered, or the weapon on the body was unloaded, so as not to have anything unceremonious.

"Mr. Yuan, you write it down. Weapons Manufacturing Bureau Sun Hedou, Guo Dong, Ding Xu. Now send a craftsman head to the present, according to Ding Xu's example. So that they can do their best for my use! ”

Yuan Wenhong, who was beside him, wrote down the letter, and Li Meng said again:

"This letter was sent to Laiwu together with the carriage that shipped Si Kaoren, and a few more people were sent to escort it, just now I received a reply from Laiwu, Ding Xu has dealt with this Si Kaoren, although people are greedy, but it is said that they have their own experience in the production and technology of craftsmen, so that people can still make the best use of their talents in my Shandong, so they will not let go."

It turned out that this was the case, and the main bookkeeper Yuan Wenhong understood why Li Meng sent a fast horse to Laiwu the day before yesterday to ask, although this person did his best, but the way to achieve it was too interesting, Yuan Wenhong couldn't help laughing, and bowed down to arrange this task.

Calculating, Tianjin's firearms and weapons manufacturing forces, craftsmen and craftsmen have been almost migrated from December to February, most of them have moved to the heart of Shandong, and now even the leader who urged the craftsmen and craftsmen to do the work, the industrial supervision department Kaoren was also sent to the weapons manufacturing bureau in Laiwu.

Now, in the dialect of Shandong, the Jiaozhou battalion has made the firearms and weapons manufacturing force of Beizhili "even the pot end", and there is not even a slag left.

If the Jingshi Imperial Court wants to arm more troops, and if it wants to maintain the combat effectiveness of the current troops, it must give them enough weapons and equipment, but the most important Tianjin origin has been lost, and if it wants to replenish, it can only be through Nanzhili and a few places in Guangdong and Shanxi.

Among these several locations to choose from, Shanxi is transported to North Zhili, 6 is a lot of trouble on the transport, and the output is quite limited, while South Zhili and Guangdong have sufficient inventory and production capacity, and the problem is mainly to transport access canals, which are firmly pinched in the hands of the Jiaozhou battalion, and it depends on the face of the Jiaozhou battalion if you want to transport it over.

Inadvertently, Li Meng pinched Daming's neck and added a little strength to his hands, and the lifelines were controlled by Shandong one by one, and Shandong's voice in the world was also more coarse and atmospheric than before.

As long as the mind is clear, this is enough......

But for Li Meng, the unexpected guest was not the dizzy work supervisor Si Kaoren, but an envoy sent by a member of the Beijing Division.

At noon on February 20, I could already see a little spring in Jinan, and Li Meng's family had lunch in the inner hall, but they ate seafood. This era is different from the modern kind of so-called fresh seafood that can be eaten even in Gansu, and in Jinan, it is not easy to eat some seafood.

The provinces of Denglai are some distance from Jinan, and on the road, fish, shrimp and crabs are often perishable, and it is too expensive to transport them. Li Meng's style of acting is simple, so naturally he will not do such an extravagant move.

The reason why there is this blessing is because the weather is cold, the Dengzhou Mansion and Laizhou Mansion, which have been blocked and guarded for a long time, opened the port, and the fishermen went to the sea to catch the first net of fish and shrimp, which was accepted by the salt merchants and salt dealers in these places, and the best goods were selected and stored with ice, and transported to Jinan by fast horses.

For Li Meng, this seafood is a trivial matter. The happiness of the whole family is important, and the old eunuch Liu Fulai has recently eaten a few chopsticks.

Mu Yunyao is pregnant. These relatively obscure things don't dare to touch, but the whole family is still elated, if outsiders don't know to see it, they will be startled, everyone thinks that this Li Meng of Shandong has private salt, gold, sea trade profits, rich rival country, eating and drinking must be luxurious and abnormal, more than the palace and Jiangnan rich have to pay attention to a few points, but if you really see it. It will be seen that the life of the Li family is just a high-class family, everyone can eat better and dress better, but that's all, the word luxury is not seen in the Li family.

Because Mu Yunyao was pregnant, Li Meng and Yan Ruoran's thoughts were particularly biased towards her, and Gu Hengbo and Liu Ru were also very clear about their status in the mansion. I didn't feel jealous or anything like that.

Let the two of them participate in confidential matters, both inside and outside the house are respectful and abnormal, which is much higher than the joke career back then, not to mention that Li Meng and Yan Ruoran are very good to them, it is said that the status of the concubine is equivalent to a slave, and they have to stand aside to serve when they eat, but Gu and Liu can sit at the table equally, this kind of treatment has made them satisfied.

At the dinner table. Mu Yunyao's performance can only be described as a forced smile. When a woman is pregnant, she is often sensitive and fragile, and it is easy to get into the horns.

"Yun Yao. Kaifeng City, I am already arranging, there will be no danger in your home, you can relax that is, now that you are pregnant, if you are in a bad mood, it will affect your body and your child. ”

During the banquet, Li Meng was relieved, of course he knew why Mu Yunyao was worried, Hejian Mansion annihilated the Tartar army, and Shandong's originally unknown strength suddenly appeared in front of the world, and even Shandong did not expect that he would be so powerful.

The Jiaozhou battalion, which has always been in obscurity, has suddenly become a role that attracts the attention of the world, and many things cannot be planned slowly, but must be carried out step by speed.

But Kaifeng City has always been lonely on the south bank of the Yellow River, whether it is the Ming army or Li Meng's soldiers and horses are not involved, more importantly, Mu Yunyao knows that if the Jiaozhou battalion wants to make a move on Kaifeng City, it will really be a bad day, I am afraid that Zhou Wangfu will die and report the idea of life and death with the Ming Dynasty, then the jade will be burned.

Although there was an endless exchange of letters between the Zhou Wangfu and the Zhendong General's Mansion, Mu Yunyao was still worried, if it wasn't for Yan Ruoran to stop her, she would have sent the Salt Gang to kidnap people directly in the city.

Hearing Li Meng's persuasion, Mu Yunyao nodded, the expression on his face softened slightly, Li Meng shook his head, and said again:

"No matter how you bargain this time, Kaifeng City will definitely be controlled in the hands of Shandong, and when the time comes, Yun Yao, you can rest assured that the treatment of Zhou Wangfu will not be inferior to now."

Don't look at the Zhou Wangfu is a first-class vassal king, and the wealth has accumulated a huge amount, but after all, it is mainly to collect land rent, which is not comparable to Li Meng's gold mines, private salt, and sea trade at all, and it is extremely easy to maintain this treatment, not to mention that if it really comes to that day, many officials in the palace can be abolished, and without these people's greed for ink, they can save a lot, to put it bluntly, they are just raising a relative, Li Meng is not stingy.

With all kinds of relief, Mu Yunyao finally relaxed, because there was a persuasion process, the lunch time was a little longer, and before he finished eating, a maid came to report that it was Mr. Yuan, the chief secretary of the General's Mansion, who asked to see him.

Yuan Wenhong is a traditional scholar, and he rashly asks to see him during the main family's meal, this move is too rude, he will definitely not be able to do it, but if he does this, there must be something important.

Li Meng was also puzzled, but he didn't have the heart to eat, so he said hello to the relatives on the table. walked to his study, where Yuan Wenhong was waiting.

"Marshal, Wu Xiang, the governor of the Central Military Mansion in Beijing, sent his family to visit?"

The Central Military Mansion, today's Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies is a completely fictitious title, and there are not too many nobles with the title of Governor in Beijing, and it is not worth anything at all. There are so many people who have come to visit these days, and there are many officials behind him, why is this person so anxious.

Seeing Li Meng's hesitation, Yuan Wenhong was about to remind him in a low voice, but Li Meng clapped his hands and said with a smile:

"I always talk about my son on weekdays, but when Lao Tzu comes, I can't remember it."

Yuan Wenhong, the chief bookkeeper, laughed a few times and said:

"It's also strange on the student's side. It is said that at present, it is also out of touch, but it suddenly came to the door, and I really don't know why! ”

Li Meng, who was sitting in the chair, smiled leisurely:

"Annihilated 37,000 Tartar soldiers and horses. Others don't think so, his Wu family is the head of the army who has eaten military food in Liao Town for generations, but they know that this is powerful, of course they have to come over to express it. ”

Yuan Wenhong pondered beside him for a while, as if he was thinking about some details, and then he spoke:

"According to the estimates of various places, Wu Sangui, the general soldier of the Ningyuan regiment, can have more than 3,000 pro-soldiers in his hands, and it is estimated that there will be 70,000 soldiers after the battle of Songshan. There are more than 10,000 soldiers in the general army of Shanhaiguan, and they have always been attached to Wu Sangui, and then collected in the area of Ningyuan and Jizhen before the battle, and 100,000 soldiers and horses still gathered together, compared to these grass-headed soldiers in Beizhili, they are indeed elite. ”

Liaozhen is vast and sparsely populated, and from the time of its opening, military generals at all levels were actually landlords of all sizes, and the soldiers were their serfs and tenants. There is no shortage of money and food in the hands of the Liaozhen generals, and there is also the money and property that the imperial court has looted and exploited in the Guannei to supplement, and the proportion of their family members and soldiers is much higher than that of the military generals in the Guannai.

Of course, the elite that Yuan Wenhong said was just the elite of those straw bales in Beizhili, so his tone was very relaxed when he said it.

What Li Meng said was that he knew that he was powerful, and he said that the Liao Zhen Ming generals outside the Guanwai had fought with the Tartars for several generations, but there were basically no victories. It's just a non-stop failure. Of course, he knows how powerful the Tartars are.

Wu Xiang, the governor of the Chinese military government, was still white two years ago because he escaped from the battle. When Wu Xiang's relative Zu Dashou surrendered to the Tartars, his status in the Beijing division was even lower, but Wu Sangui collected the defeated troops in Songshan, guarded the territory from Ningyuan to Shanhaiguan, and had the strength of nearly 80,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, the court could not ignore it, this is what made Wu Xiang serve as a fictitious title of the governor of the military government, named Rongyang in Beijing, in fact, as a hostage to control foreign generals.

Wu Sangui in these years of the Ming Dynasty is known as the champion of the three armies, invincible, the source of these two frightening titles is very simple, when Wu Xiang fought with the Tartars outside the pass, because the enemy rushed forward, was surrounded by the Manchu soldiers and horses, the Liao army was already ready to give up Wu Xiang, collect troops back to the camp.

Only Wu Sangui led dozens of family members to rush into the Tartar formation, and rescued Wu Xiang from the Manchu army, this insignificant victory and bravery, but it was extremely dazzling in the Ming army that failed everywhere, Wu Sangui became famous, and was immediately praised, and Jane climbed to today's high position step by step in the emperor's heart.

Up to now, rushing into the Tartar formation and cutting a few levels, the literature records are all vague, and the Jiaozhou battalion has wiped out nearly 40,000 Tartar troops.

It is immediately clear who is higher and who is lower, how shocked Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui should be after knowing the news of Shandong's victory, Li Meng can almost imagine it.

The Wu family's request to see, even the calm Yuan Wenhong couldn't help but be a little overjoyed, and said with a smile:

"The student congratulates the marshal first, look around, the land of the nine sides, all over the five northern provinces, the only one who still has some strength is the Liao soldiers of the Wu family, but today he took the initiative to find the marshal to show goodwill, this is really a wish."

Li Meng also had a little smile on his face, but he was not so optimistic, and replied with a smile:

"If that's the case, it's naturally best, but these people think too much about themselves, and they think too highly of themselves, maybe they have to come over to talk about the conditions, Ben Shuai really wants to know, what can his Wu family come up with to talk about, those thousands of family members or those tens of thousands of serfs?"

"When will the marshal see the envoy sent by the Wu family?"

"Hang him for a few days, and then let your clerks go over to meet, the general of the defeated army, also holding such a big shelf? It's not us who are in a hurry! ”

In Li Meng's impression, Wu Sangui is one of the synonyms of traitor and betrayal, and Li Meng is extremely disgusted, but now Wu Sangui and the forces of the Wu family are the ones who take refuge in him, not the Manchu Tartars.

Li Meng finally determined one point, the butterfly that traveled through time and space was big enough to flash its wings, and history changed...... laugh