The Dingyuan Battalion and the Huaiyuan Battalion are the main forces aimed at field warfare in the Nanjing garrison camp established by Wang Lanping, and together with the Dingyuan Battalion, Wang Lanping regarded it as the capital of its establishment in the court, with a total of about 40,000 elites in the three battalions, and the supply of armaments and military rations in the six battalions has always been the best in the whole army.

Although the three battalions are all field troops, but there is also a division of labor, Cao Dingjiao's Dingyuan battalion is good at guarding, Chen Wanliang's Anyuan battalion is good at sneak attack, Huaiyuan battalion is mainly attacking, the three battalions complement each other, almost every ten days Wang Lanping will go to each battalion in turn to inspect it, one is that he is now in the court and the administration for a long time, so as not to be unfamiliar with the soldiers, the other is to check the armament and daily training, although Wang Lanping has not experienced the bottom of the soldiers, but also knows the hardships of the soldiers, and would rather treat the people badly than wronged the soldiers, Without them, there would be no self today, **************, drinking water is more important to think about the source.

In addition to the three elite battalions, Wang Lanping also has three other battalions, although not the main force of the field, but the equipment and supplies are far better than the Ming soldiers in the current guards, three meals a day, dry goods, three days to open meat, if you want to win the battle, it is necessary to let the soldiers have strong physical strength, to wartime can march like the wind, out of battle like a tiger, chase the enemy like a wolf, even if it escapes it has to be faster than a rabbit, which is inseparable from a strong physique.

The government and the opposition all knew that Prime Minister Wang Cheng had a strong army that had been dormant for a long time and was equipped with elves, and Wang Lanping was also proud of it, but at the same time, it also brought a lot of trouble, just one military expenditure made him have a headache almost every month a few days before the military salary.

Under the premise of such high requirements and high standards, not counting the 10,000 Yulinwei in the capital and the 30,000 people in the Nanjing garrison battalion, only these six battalions, the military salary and supply in January, then it will cost 100,000 taels of silver, and the normal consumption of weapons and uniforms during daily training, and 30,000 taels.

The only state capital that Wang Lanping could control and collect taxes now was the seven prefectures of Nanjing, with a population of less than 10 million, but he had to support 140,000 soldiers and a court court, plus an imperial family, and this financial burden was increasing day by day.

Wang Lanping felt that it was time to stretch out his hand, and if he wanted to unify the world, the first step was to unify Jiangnan, and the premise of unifying Jiangnan must be to solve the threat of Zhang Xianzhong in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the westward expedition was imminent.

As the date of the Western Expedition approached, the Sixth Battalion was also rapidly assembling, and the war materials were also urgently transferred from Yingtian Qifu, and everything was ready, just waiting for the date to arrive, and the 80,000 battalions would go straight to Sichuan.

But at this time, Li Dingguo suddenly found that the Anyuan Battalion and the Huaiyuan Battalion of the six battalions that had just been assembled were missing, and as the commander of the Nanjing garrison, he immediately reported the situation to Wang Lanping.

Unexpectedly, Wang Lanping was not flustered at all after hearing this, and calmly asked Li Dingguo to sit down and say.

Wang Lanping said, "Dingguo, you have done a good job, but if there is any disturbance in Jingshi and the surrounding areas that you think is different, you must notify me as soon as possible, but I know what you said, you don't have to interfere."

When Li Dingguo saw the prime minister's calm and calm appearance, he immediately understood seven or eight points in his heart, and estimated that the disappearance of the two battalions was the prime minister's order.

"So that's an order from the prime minister?"

Wang Gangping didn't answer him directly, and he snorted and laughed and didn't argue whether it was true or false.

"Dingguo, in a few days it will be the day I get married, you can pay more attention to the defense of the capital, there have been many expeditions to the west recently, and I don't have time to go to your garrison camp to see, just when you came, tell me, are there any difficulties, how do you get along with the generals?"

Li Dingguo didn't inquire anymore, and when he heard Prime Minister Wang Cheng talk about the garrison camp, his face immediately turned pale, and he said with a wry smile, "If you want to talk about difficulties, I won't mention it with the prime minister, and I will find a way to solve it, so as not to cause trouble to the prime minister and not burden the court."

As soon as Wang Lanping heard it, he knew that this kid was spitting bitter water, and said with a smile, "You don't need to wronged yourself, you are an official of the imperial court, and you are the court's money, you don't need to fight everything yourself, otherwise what do you want me to do as a prime minister, what else do you want the court to do, say, while I am still free today"

That's all for it, Li Dingguo gritted his teeth, "Since the prime minister said so, then Dingguo will be a woman, prime minister, since the garrison has approached his subordinates, the disadvantages are innumerable, and there are three main things that give me the most headaches."

"Okay, if there is a problem to solve, let's talk"

"I'll put it simply, lack of money, lack of morale, lack of prestige, and some other trivial things are not worth talking to the prime minister."

Wang Lanping frowned when he heard this, don't say that you lack these three things, which general of the sixth battalion will come to the Prime Minister's Mansion every few days to toss around, now it's okay, even the garrison camp has been found, the mouth is really owed, which pot is not opened.

Since the problem was raised, they had to find a way to solve it for them, Wang Lanping turned around and walked behind the desk, and took out a few books from the drawer, which were the roster of the garrison camp and the military expenses reported in the past.

When these things were reported, Wang Lanping didn't have time to pay much attention to them, but now he flipped through them roughly, and sure enough, the monthly salaries of the 30,000 soldiers in the garrison camp seemed to have never been paid on time and in full quantities, and now it is May, and the military salaries in March have not been paid, and it is already a miracle that the soldiers of the garrison camp have not mutinied.

He took a cursory look at it, and soon closed it again, and raised his head to Li Dingguodao, "Blame me for the lack of military salary, the Western Expedition is a major event in the DPRK and China, and I have been focusing on this matter these days, and I don't care enough about the affairs of your garrison camp, most of the soldiers in the garrison camp are native people, maybe they rely on this few military salaries to support their families, and they don't have a military field in Jiangning County like the soldiers of the six battalions, why, do you feel that the garrison camp was born by a little daughter-in-law, and it is I, the prime minister, who is biased?" ”

Li Dingguo did not refute, as the commander of the garrison battalion, he had the responsibility and obligation to let his soldiers live a good life, but compared with the sixth battalion, it was really like a little daughter-in-law, and it was also reorganized by Xiangshan, and the treatment was one day and one earth.

Li Dingguo snorted and said, "Our garrison battalion can't compare to the sixth battalion of Jingwei, and it almost deserves it, but that's it, the military salary has never been on time, Prime Minister, if it goes on like this for a long time, my subordinates can't explain it to the soldiers."

Wang Lanping saw that he said with a bitter face, so he smiled and walked to him and sat down, "Don't worry, whether it is the Jingwei Battalion or the Garrison Battalion and Yulinwei, they are all formed by me, I don't treat anyone badly and I don't favor anyone, you also know that it is not a long-term solution for the imperial court to favor Jiangnan, if you want peace in the world, you have to come from the battlefield, fight, and the first to die is the brothers of the six battalions, can you figure this out?" ”

Li Dingguo nodded, "The subordinates naturally understand this, but some of the people under them are dissatisfied, but I believe that they will also understand after the Western Expedition."

Wang Lanping knew that he was a master who did what he said, and smiled approvingly, "Well, as for the fact that this military salary cannot be paid on time, alas, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and if you are not in the household department, you will not be able to understand how difficult it is to be in charge of a country's finances, I can't promise you anything today, but I believe in you, gritted my teeth, insisted, and waited for the court to ease up, I will definitely double the compensation for the soldiers, the court is not happy, the soldiers are also suffering, I can't help you with the pacification of things, and seek government in its position, you have to find your own way, I can let the court give you a loyal and righteous marquis at any cost, but if you are not competent in the military affairs of this garrison battalion, you should dismiss yourself as soon as possible, are my words hard to hear? ”

The words are hard to hear, but the reason can convince people, Li Dingguo arched his hand and said, "Dingguo will do his best"

Wang Lanping waved his hand and said seriously, "What I want is not for you to do your best, but to do a good job, military affairs are not child's play, but I believe in you, you have the ability in this area, but you haven't adapted yet."

Li Dingguo's heart was hot, "Prime Minister Xie Cheng is cold, his subordinates must do their part"

Wang Lanping nodded with satisfaction, "Well, okay, I will also give the bottom, before my army sets out, I will definitely urge the financial secretary to pay the military salary of the garrison battalion in March and April at the same time."

Li Dingguo was overjoyed, "My subordinates thank the prime minister for my brothers"

Wang Lanping asked him to sit down, and continued, "You just said three points, this can be regarded as helping you solve the problem of money, as for the morale and prestige you said, how do you want me to help you?" ”

Li Dingguo said, "Let's talk about morale first, training for a thousand days, used for a while, the garrison camp has been formed for more than half a year, but I have never actually had the experience of fighting in battle, and the soldiers don't know how many catties and taels they have, and the boring drills every day make the soldiers tired and their morale is sluggish."

Wang Lanping's face sank when he heard this, and he said unhappily, "As the commander of the garrison, it is your duty to let your soldiers always maintain a morale that the brave will win when they meet on a narrow road."

Li Dingguo saw that the prime minister was angry, and hurriedly said, "No, no, prime minister, Dingguo doesn't mean that, Dingguo thinks that if the brothers of the garrison battalion and the brothers of the Jingwei Sixth Battalion can conduct actual combat drills, it may be easier to find out the shortcomings of his subordinates."

"Oh?" Wang Lanping's face was moved when he heard this, "Actual combat exercises, well, that's right, okay, I'll just say that I won't be wrong, you kid has this talent, okay, but it's not just the garrison and the Jingwei battalion, let Yulinwei also participate, the three armies competition, I will let the Military and Political Department handle this matter tomorrow, and I will personally preside over it for you to discuss the details."

Li Dingguo was overjoyed, today is here, "Prime Minister Xie, the garrison camp will go all out"

Wang Lanping is also very happy, he has always taken away most of the elite for his western expedition, and he is worried about the real strength of the garrison battalion, and he may have to worry about both ends as soon as he leaves Nanjing, and now he is taking advantage of this military exercise to see the real strength of the garrison battalion.

"Okay, what do you mean by prestige?"

"Cheng Xiang, Dingguo starts from the bottom, Meng Cheng Xiang broke the rules, rose to seventeen levels overnight, Dingguo Mingsense is within five years, but the Chinese military force is not convinced, and other generals in the garrison battalion also have many complaints"

Wang Lanping nodded, "I understand what you said, you are not like Song Dali and Cao Dingjiao, they are real swords and real guns from the battlefield to earn military merits, it is reasonable not to be able to convince the public, and if the people are not convinced, the prestige is not shown, the biggest difference between the military generals and the civil servants lies in this, the civil ministers are good at Taoguang and obscure, and the military generals rely on the aggressive and heroic spirit, I can't help you with this, the prestige is earned by yourself, just like your Li Dingguo's status in my heart, you value love and righteousness, loyalty and courage are all I have seen with my own eyes, You earned it yourself, and you have to figure out how to do it in the army."

Li Dingguo was said to be embarrassed, and said, "Yes, the lesson of the prime minister is that Dingguo must reflect on it, and he will benefit a lot today, so he will no longer disturb the prime minister's rest, and Dingguo will leave."

When he said that he was leaving, Wang Lanping noticed that the sky was completely dark, and he didn't know what time it was.

**

Songjiang Mansion (now Shanghai).

In this year, Songjiang Mansion is insignificant in all the prefectures and counties of Daming, and it is inferior to a general inland prefecture and county, especially after decades of Japanese rebellion in previous years, the livelihood of Songjiang Mansion is withered, the land is barren, and most of the people flee to the mainland to avoid the attack of the Japanese invaders.

After five days of drifting at sea, he finally arrived at the mouth of the Songjiang Mansion on the third day of the fifth month.

Seeing the appearance of the land, Zheng Jiasi's pretty face was full of gloom.

A young general dressed in the uniform of a thousand households of the sailor walked behind Zheng Jiasi on the edge of the deck and arched his hand, "Miss, there is Songjiang Wharf ahead, please come down and ask Miss, do you want to go ashore now?" ”

Zheng Jiasi didn't look back, and said indifferently, "Is there no one over there to pick it up?" ”

Since there is an envoy to send relatives, this envoy must be indispensable, but now there are only empty beaches and wharves with strange rocks on the shore, which is far worse than the sea ship wharf in Quanzhou.

It is also true that there is no shipping in Songjiang Prefecture, and the trade routes are mainly based on the inland water transportation and river transportation, and it is said that the wharf is actually no different from other beaches, but there is one more Shenzhen port that can land than other places.

The young general looked at the shore, "Otherwise, the general will send a small boat to take a look, maybe Prime Minister Wang will be on the shore."

The sea breeze was sparkling and sparkling, and a few petrels swept by, and the warships that arrived first had already lowered their masts on the shore.

"Shi Lang"

"Youngster"

Shi Lang, who had been a powerful man in history, was still a young general who was just twenty years old at this time, and with the experience of growing up by the sea since childhood, he soon became Zheng Zhilong's right-hand man, commanding 20 warships.

Zheng Jiasi had beads in his apricot eyes, looked at his hometown in Fujian, which was already thousands of miles away, and said quietly, "I don't know if this trip is a blessing or a curse."

Shi Lang arched his hand and said, "Miss, there is a sentence that the young general doesn't know whether to say or not."

"But it's defenseless!"

"Yes, I'm afraid that Prime Minister Wang Cheng is not marrying a young lady, but the prestige of Lord Zheng"

"You really shouldn't say it"

"Yes, it's the young general who is abrupt, and the young general is just complaining for the young lady"

"I thought that since I had come here, there would be no turning back, you go and inform Mr. Gan, and go ashore to see if anyone will come to pick you up" (To be continued.) )