"Report!"

When Wang Puzheng was discussing the issue of racial integration with Liu Qingyan and Liu Ru, Tang Sheng's loud voice suddenly sounded outside the door, and Tang Sheng had just rushed back from Shanhaiguan.

Wang Pu turned around and responded, "Come in." ”

In the sound of heavy and rhythmic footsteps, the tall Tang Sheng entered the hall proudly, saluted Wang Pujiao's military salute, and said loudly: "Salute!" ”

Returning the military salute decently, Wang Pu asked, "Tang Sheng, is there any situation at Shanhaiguan?" ”

Tang Sheng said: "Back to the Hou Ye, there is no situation." ”

"The defense of Shanhaiguan has been arranged?"

"It's all arranged."

"Hmm." Wang Pu nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Do you know what the purpose of calling you back to Yanjing this time is what?" ”

Tang Sheng shook his head and replied in a humble voice: "I don't know. ”

Wang Pu stepped forward and patted Tang Sheng on the shoulder, and said: "From today onwards, you will be the commander of Beizhi, control the three battalions of the Central Army stationed in Beizhi, and your task is to defend Beizhi Province, resist the possible invasion of Jiannu and Tatar, and if necessary, you have to cooperate with the Beizhi security team to take military action against Jiannu or Tatar." ”

"Yes." Tang Sheng kicked his legs and responded excitedly, "Thank you Master Hou for cultivating." ”

With the growth of the Central Army and the promotion of Wang Pu's status, the old subordinates who followed Wang Pu in the past were gradually promoted.

In addition, the local military and political structure of the Ming Dynasty has gradually changed, and the old governor and guard system is fading out of the historical stage, replaced by a new governor and admiral system, the governor is the highest governor of a province and enjoys local military and political power, but the governor is not controlled by the governor, only by the central army command.

Because the commander led the Ming Central Army, not the local security team.

This kind of military and political structure was also gradually formed by Wang Pu after a long period of deliberation, and such a structure could ideally ensure the expansion and invasion of the Han nationality abroad, and at the same time would not form a situation of warlord division in the provinces and the provinces that were newly incorporated into the imperial rule in the future.

Because the governors of each province enjoy all the military and political power of the locality, and are not only in charge of the money and grain affairs of a province, but also in charge of the security forces of a province, under the impetus of the order to kill Hu, the local governors can effectively deploy the money, food, and force in their jurisdictions to carry out continuous expansion and aggression against the surrounding barbarian foreign tribes.

The presence of provincial central garrisons could both provide armed support to local governors and at the same time deter ambitious local governors.

In order to prevent the local governors from attracting the governors stationed in the provinces to sit on the throne and claim the throne, and also to prevent the governors stationed in the provinces from colluding with the local governors to form a situation of warlord separation, after the unification of the Ming Dynasty in the future, Wang Pu will also adopt a rotation system for the central army garrisons and commanders of the provinces, that is, every three or five years to change the garrisons and governors of the provinces.

At the same time, it is necessary to maintain a considerable number of standing forces of the central army in the north and south of Beijing, and the total strength should not be less than 500,000 people, so as to form an absolute military superiority over the provinces under the rule of the Ming Empire.

During Wang Pu's lifetime, this standing armed force of the Central Army was of course under Wang Pu's control.

However, Wang Pu also basically thought about the arrangements for military forces after his death, that is, to establish a system similar to that of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to decentralize the power of the Central Army Command, and the Central Army will no longer have a supreme commander, and that the chief of the general staff elected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff will preside over the permanent military affairs, and the powers of the chief of the general staff will be constrained by the joint conference, and the joint meeting can dismiss the chief of the general staff at any time if necessary.

This is to ensure Wang Pu's absolute control over the Central Army, or to ensure the absolute control of the Central Army by the Joint Chiefs of Staff after Wang Pu's death, because among the many central military battalion-level officers, even if one or several officers have problems, they can only control a small number of troops, and they cannot set off too much storm, let alone subvert the rule of the empire.

In the event of a major war, when it is necessary to mobilize several or even dozens of battalions of the Central Army to participate in the war, the commander is elected from among the members of the joint conference; once the war is over, the commander unconditionally surrenders the command, and the battalions of the Central Army participating in the war still return to the barracks in the north and south of Beijing.

Because the relationship between the commander and the soldiers of the battalions of the Central Army is only the relationship between the commander and the commanded, and they do not usually train and live together, the allegiance of the officers and soldiers of the Central Army can only be the Ming Empire, not a certain commander, which can avoid an ambitious commander from becoming a great warlord by controlling the Central Army, and eventually posing a threat to the ruling institutions of the Ming Empire.

Of course, in order for this military institution similar to the Joint Chiefs of Staff to function smoothly, there must be a prerequisite, that is, the Ming Empire must have the same sound administrative structure! In the absence of a sound administrative structure, the military structure envisioned by Wang Pu would be a complete castle in the air.

How to form a new and sound administrative institution on the basis of the current administrative institution of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Pu did not think about it, but he was most inclined to the constitutional monarchy, which not only retained the imperial system of the Ming Dynasty, but also retained the royal blood of the Zhu family, but the state apparatus was no longer in the hands of the emperor, but must be in the hands of the cabinet.

However, all this is only Wang Pu's preliminary idea, and it is still too early to be realized.

After all, the internal and external troubles of the Ming Empire have not been completely settled, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng are still in Sichuan and Shaanxi to claim the king, Wu Sangui, a great Han annihilation, is still in Shanxi, and Wang Pu is only less than thirty years old, and it is still very early from the twilight of his life, Wang Pu has enough time to operate slowly.

■■■

In the middle of December of the first year of Longwu [1644], three mixed battalions that had been urgently transferred north from Nanjing rushed to the outside of Yanjing City.

After handing over the defense of the Beizhi to Tang Sheng, the new governor of the Beizhi, Wang Pu immediately led the main force of the Central Army to the south and entered Henan Province through the Daimyo's Mansion.

At this time, the main force of the Central Army was still almost three baggage battalions, three musket battalions and one artillery battalion, because the mixed battalion of Scarface and Tang Sheng had already been established, and the three mixed battalions stationed in Beizhi and the two mixed battalions stationed in Shandong were all newly transferred from Nanjing, and no troops were drawn from the main force of the Central Army.

When Wang Pu led the main force of the Central Army to Henan, the Henan Army led by the Red Lady was facing a crisis of infighting.

As early as when she returned to Kaifeng, the Red Lady had already announced her decision to all the soldiers of the Righteous Army, and would accept the reorganization of the Central Army within two months, and set up the first to eighth battalions of the new Central Army Cavalry.

For most of the rebels, this was a natural result, or rather an encouraging one.

After all, the Central Army's courage and good fighting and well-equipped have long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the soldiers of the Righteous Army, and what especially makes the soldiers of the Righteous Army happy is the generous salary of the Central Army.

In the Central Army, even if they are newly recruited recruits, they can also receive 24 taels of silver every year, and veterans who have completed a year can receive 36 taels of silver, and then increase by 12 taels every year after that.

There is also a reward after winning a battle, or a pension after the death of the battle, not to mention, in short, being able to become a soldier of the Central Army has become the lofty ideal of the vast majority of Han young people at that time, and even many talented or children who have repeatedly failed to join the army have begun to enthusiastically join the army.

However, not everyone is willing to change their ways and join the Central Army, especially Li Hu, Li Yu and other Li family children The resistance is the most serious, although the Red Lady is now the supreme commander of the Henan Army, but the Henan Army is fundamentally still the Li family's army, but if it is absorbed by the Central Army, it has nothing to do with the Li family.

As vested interests, the Li family naturally did not want the Henan Army to be absorbed by the Central Army.

Recently, the Li family led by Li Hu frequently convened the generals of the army for secret meetings, and the city of Kaifeng seemed to be calm, but in fact it was a turbulent undercurrent.

By all indications, it seems very unwise for the Red Lady to announce this decision prematurely.

Because of the premature announcement of the Red Lady, it gave those with ghosts and external forces enough time to react, so that they could collude with inside and outside and plan calmly, but on the other hand, announcing this decision in advance could allow these people with ghosts to jump out on their own, preventing them from being forced to join the ranks of the Central Army due to the situation.

In fact, it was Wang Pu who deliberately asked the red lady to do this.

Wang Pu doesn't want some thieves with ghosts to mix into his Central Army, as the saying goes, a rat poop spoils a pot of porridge, Wang Pu has been running the Central Army for many years, and it is not easy to have today's situation, of course he does not want the current good situation to be ruined on a small number of people with ghosts.

Even if he will lose some strength because of this, Wang Pu will not hesitate to do it.

For the Central Army, the establishment of eight cavalry battalions seems to be too large, not only because the annual salary expenditure of 40,000 soldiers is not a small amount, but also because the logistics support of 40,000 war horses is a heavy burden.

Although the current treasury is very solid because of the auction of the official industry, and the silver in the treasury alone is tens of millions of taels, but Wang Pu has to be prepared for danger in times of peace, once these family funds are exhausted and the industrial and commercial forces have not been able to raise their heads, and they cannot increase taxes on the treasury, what will Wang Pu use to support the huge number of central troops at that time?

It would be ideal if the establishment of eight cavalry battalions could be compressed into four, and Wang Pu's psychological bottom line was six cavalry battalions.

■■■

Kaifeng, Li Hu's mansion.

It was the dead of night when two travelers dressed as merchants quietly arrived and knocked on the door.

Hearing the knock on the door, the doorkeeper yawned and opened the door, muttering, "It's so late, who?" ”

The night walker dressed as a merchant said: "We are merchants from Shaanxi and want to see your general." ”

"Merchants from Shaanxi?" Jiading was stunned for a moment, and said in a condensed voice, "You wait." ”

After that, he closed the door again, and after about a cup of tea, the family appeared again, and respectfully let the two merchants into the Li Mansion, and led them all the way to the East Warm Pavilion of the Li Mansion.

Li Hu was waiting in the East Warm Pavilion.

Seeing these two merchants, Li Hu looked up and down for a while, frowned, and said, "Where are the two eyes tight?" ”

One of the merchants smiled and said, "As the saying goes, once born and twice cooked, when we meet next time, won't the general know you?" ”

Li Hu frowned and asked, "Are you really from Shaanxi?" ”

"Nope." The merchant smiled and shook his head, "We are from Shanxi. ”

Li Hu's face changed slightly, and he said in a condensed voice: "Shanxi? Wu Sangui's people? ”

The merchant shook his fist to the northwest and said loudly: "I am a staff member under the tent of the king of Pingxi!" ”

"What King Pingxi?" Li Hu said coldly, "It's the Great Han who annihilated Wu Sangui!" ”

"Hey, don't say what General Li said so ugly." The merchant smiled and said, "The king of Pingxi is not a great Han annihilation, the king of Pingxi borrowed the Qing army to enter the customs just to chase down the traitor Li Zicheng, but he never thought of being a slave of Jiannu, let alone betraying the Ming Dynasty, as for the Han annihilation, it is completely a slander of the king of Quanyu......

"Gotta it, don't tell me it's useless." Li Hu said impatiently, "What is the purpose of you coming to me?" ”

The merchant suddenly said, "Doesn't General Li know that he is dying?" ”

Li Hu was furious and said, "What do you mean? Don't think that if you are Wu Sangui's people, Lao Tzu will not dare to touch you! ”

"Haha." The merchant laughed and said, "As the saying goes, if people don't know, unless you don't do it, General Li colluded with thieves to kill his brother Li Yan, in fact, it has long been known to the Red Lady, and the reason why the Red Lady can't bear it is because of Wang Pu, because Wang Pu wants to keep your incense bait and hang Li Zicheng, a big fish!" ”

Li Hu couldn't help but gasp when he heard this, and his face changed again and again.

That's right, Li Hu has indeed secretly hooked up with Li Zicheng, planning to launch a mutiny before the Central Army enters Henan, eliminate the Red Lady and control the Henan Army, especially the 40,000 cavalry!

But the Red Lady is strict in governing the army, since becoming the commander of the Henan Army, a large number of brave and warlike generals have been promoted from the bottom of the soldiers, the children of the Li clan have been marginalized, and the 40,000 cavalry have completely become the cronies of the Red Lady.

So Li Hu thought of Li Zicheng and tried to use Li Zicheng's strength to settle the red lady.

But now, the staff sent by Wu Sangui told Li Hu that all this was a trap designed by Wang Pu and the Red Lady, and the purpose was just to lure Li Zicheng into taking the bait. That's intriguing in itself.

(To be continued)