Chapter 43: The Concept of the New Army

On the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year, I invited the Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing back in the Ningqian Palace, and I was accompanied by Quan Jiu and Yu and other three side concubines.

At the dinner, Xie Daoqing was full of smiles, just like an old lady from an ordinary family, kind and kind, kept talking to everyone, and told Quan Jiu to be careful on the road from time to time and take care of my daily life and diet.

For the first time, I felt that this Xie Daoqing was a bit of a mother-in-law, not at all like the strong and indifferent Queen Mother before. However, this feeling is still very warm, and it seems to have made a good start for this Xianchun first year.

On the third day of the first lunar month, I got up very late, and it was not until noon that I took Quan Jiu to Huiji.

It is more than 100 kilometers from Lin'an to Huiji, and it is expected to take two days at most.

The accompanying guards were led by Lan Yu and a hundred imperial guards under Shen Mo's command, and because Yun Zhongfei took fifty guards to protect the Gunpowder Division at the foot of Luoshi Mountain, I didn't add more people.

In my team, in addition to Lan Yu, Shen Mo, Wen Zhang, and a big master like Yuan Jian, Yuan Jian was originally going to transfer Ye Dongsheng and Yao Chaohui to him, but I felt that there was no need for this in my own territory, and there were a lot of things about the dragon's teeth, so I refused to escort the two.

Among the Wenchens, I only brought Lu Xiufu and Wen Tianxiang, and as for why I accompanied Quan Jiu home to save relatives, I didn't ask much.

The Son of Heaven drove six times as an act of the ancient ritual system in China. When the emperor level went out, the car he rode was pulled by six horses, that is, the famous "Son of Heaven drove six", and the rest of the auxiliary cars could only drive four.

I followed the caravan on a luxurious four-wheeled carriage pulled by six horses, which had a lot of space, beds, chairs, and other simple furniture, including a stove for boiling water. Quan Jiu only brought two palace maids, sitting in a carriage pulled by four horses in the back, and the last carriage was a gift, which was nothing more than some Lin'an specialties, Yuan Jian Xiaoqi and others also rode on horseback like the guards.

Three carriages lined up in the center, and several imperial guards cautiously circled around. There are very few pedestrians on this official road, and few people go out in this era before the fifteenth year

The first time I traveled in this kind of carriage, it was fresh at first, but it didn't take long for me to feel that it was still quite bumpy, after all, the carriage was not as stable as the car, and the official road at this time was far less flat than the road in later generations.

After a while, I slowly got tired and spent the afternoon of the first day in a daze.

The next day, I started to get used to it, maybe because I insisted on practicing martial arts for two months.

"Xiao Qi, go and call Yuan Jian, Wen Tianxiang, Lu Xiufu, and Wen Zhang."

When I was just about to make tea, the four of them had already arrived.

"Wenzhang, you are the youngest here, you are in charge of pouring tea."

"Yes, Your Majesty, Your Majesty's car is really big."

I smiled and said, "I have called you here to discuss the future of our new army. After Yun Bofei returned, the chances of successful musket development increased greatly, and at that time, I would equip all the new army with muskets and use firearms against the Mongol iron cavalry. ”

Wen Zhang poured tea and said, "Can the emperor's musket be so useful?" The minister thinks that it is still the minister's fist that works. ”

I took a sip of tea: "In the future war, muskets will definitely replace the existing swords, guns, bows and arrows in an all-round way, and even your master Daofa, Mr. Yuan, etc. will be difficult to match, you don't need to question this, you will know when the time comes." Concubine Quan's hometown has a large mountain villa, built on the mountain, sparsely populated, not far from Lin'an, a few hours away, I plan to build a secret military camp there, the number of people is about 1,000, according to the way of the young guard, after the musket is developed, all with firearms as weapons, and based on this, gradually expanded, and finally I will establish a new army of more than 100,000 people, completely replace the existing border army, the forbidden army. Before this new army is formed, I still need to be careful, lest Jia Yidao and others take the opportunity to make trouble. By the way, Song Rui, Junshi, have you made any progress in the contact between the two of you and Xiang Jun? ”

"I have been in contact one after another, because Jia seems to have many eyes and ears in the Xiang army, and the ministers are also cautious, and some of the Xiang troops in Yangzhou, Jiangxi Province have expressed their allegiance to Your Majesty."

"Well, don't be hasty in this matter, lest it be self-defeating." I continued, "I plan to recruit the new army of Huiji as a concubine, and now there are many refugees from the north, these people often have national hatred and family hatred, and have little to do with the people in the court, so they can be selected from them, plus the rural youth in the Huiji area, I estimate that the problem of military resources should not be big. Wen Zhang, you need to train a group of young people with excellent quality and good conduct in the Youth Guard as soon as possible, and flood the new army of Huiji, in addition, Junshi, you go back and repair a letter to Master Li, and ask him to privately send generals who are good at training and leading troops to come to Huiji to serve as instructors, the number of people is about 20, but they must be loyal people. ”

"Obey." Lu Xiufu, Wen Zhang responded.

"Wen Zhang, you remember that I said when you recruited Young Guards, you have to pick a good eye."

"Back to the emperor, the minister remembers."

"You all know the style of the musket, and there are similarities between the musket and the musket of the future." I took Wen Zhang's long sword in my hand, held the scabbard with both hands, closed one eye, made an aiming posture, and said, "This is the shooting action of the musket in the future, and the range of the musket will be from 100 meters to 100 meters away, so I ask the young man's eyesight to be good." ”

Wen Zhang took the sword back and tried it according to my posture, but he was still at a loss.

I know that Wen Zhang doesn't understand at all, and he doesn't explain: "Regarding the training of this new army, I will divide it into two steps, one is to focus on training the physical strength, endurance and teamwork of the new army according to the basic training model of the existing Youth Guard, and the fighting ability of individual soldiers can be reduced. After this step is basically passed, you can carry out firearms simulation training. ”

"Wait, Your Majesty, what is simulation?" Wen Zhang asked.

"There are two kinds of firearms and equipment for the new army, one is a musket, the other is a grenade, I don't know the specific success time of these two firearms, before that, I will make a batch of similar things to replace training, such as grenades, I will use stones instead, so that the new army can throw stones, fast, accurate, far. Once the official firearms are out, they will be able to get around with ease. Another example is the musket, I will make a batch of molds according to the style of the musket, so that the new army can carry out aiming training, and I will be able to maintain these basic postures for a long time. ”

Wen Zhang nodded and said, "This is feasible." ”

"Song Rui, Junshi, and Wen Zhang, the three of you will participate in the command of the new army in the later stage, as for the combat methods of the new army, I will tell you again after the firearms come out, you just need to remember that you must be open-minded."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Okay, I've been sitting in the car for most of the day, let's go out and ride a horse."

I have never ridden a horse, but fortunately, Zhao Yu will, I rode on a horse, tightened the reins, and I also looked good, but I didn't dare to be too fast, and Yuan Thorn next to me followed closely, as if I was afraid that I would fall.

In the evening, we came to a forest, which was so dense that we could not see it except for the trees in front of us.

Shen Mo, who opened the way in front, came to me and said, "Your Majesty, are you camping here tonight?" ”

"How far is it from here?"

Shen Mo pointed to a road next to the mountain forest and said, "Go back to Your Majesty, go along the official road for about five miles, and you will reach the boundary of Huiji." ”

Quan Jiu said: "Official, this mountain forest is huge, and you can reach Huiji City through the mountains and forests, and the distance is much closer, but horses and vehicles can't pass, if we follow the official road, we still need to walk for half a day to reach Huiji City." ”

I thought for a moment and said, "Then let's camp here, we don't have to hurry, let's rest for the night and set off tomorrow morning." ”

Shen Mo said: "Yes, Your Majesty, the minister will arrange it." ”

Yuan Jian looked at the mountains and forests, and suddenly said to Lan Yu, "Take a few people into the woods to have a look." ”