"What? Could it be that Chang Jing still wants to subdue the Zheng family in the future? Listening to Wu Shigong's strategy, Deng Qifan was also a little surprised, he still thought that the interests on the sea were not so great, and it would be fine if the Runing Army could unify the mainland.

"It's a long way off!" Wu Shigong replied with a smile, "But if the Zheng family returns to obedience at that time, then everything will be fine, otherwise, I will not hesitate to work hard for a few more years to establish a water division and completely destroy the Zheng family." Brother Yuan didn't know that there was a huge amount of silver on the sea! ”

The mainstream idea of the Ming Dynasty at that time was: I would rather have a bed on the mainland of the Ming Dynasty than a room overseas. Even the "Sea Overlord" Zheng Zhilong is no exception. And at this time, there was no such thing as "sea power theory", so Deng Qifan was a little reluctant to agree with Wu Shigong's words.

But this matter is too far away after all, and if the Runing Army starts to attack the sea, it also proves that the Runing Army has unified the mainland, so there is no need for Deng Qifan to pour cold water on it at this time. So he laughed it off and diverted the subject.

"This time, Yan Fu was quite capable, and he only fell into the punishment of demotion. The land of Shandong and the wharf of Denglai can be cashed in. Long respect! Do we have a Zhuangzi and a garrison there? ”

Wu Shigong shook his head and sighed: "The whip is beyond reach. This time, the Tatars have entered the customs and have reached Jinan, and it is not particularly safe to set up Tuntian Zhuangzi there. If you want to protect it, you must garrison at least 3,000 troops at Zhuangzi. But we have already borrowed so much silver, and the direction of the army will definitely be Huguang and Shaanxi. It is absolutely impossible to use soldiers on both sides, otherwise it will be a taboo for soldiers. If you can't chew more, it's better to sell the land of Shandong first. ”

"As for the wharf, you can go to Kou Fenghai Nawei to find a place, the construction and management can be done by the Zheng family, and we can send a marine regiment to protect the wharf. Close the door and say a word, although this time there was a tie with the Tartars. But the losses of our Runing army are indeed too great, and we have not gained any benefits yet. The strength is a little insufficient! ”

"Chang Jing has this heart, my heart is at peace! Why is the Runing Army worried? Deng Qifan immediately smiled and exclaimed.

After the victory of the Runing Army this time, although the world shook and the admiration was continuous, the territory under its control did not expand by one acre, and the number of troops it had was reduced by more than 10,000. So these days, Deng Qifan is looking for an opportunity to persuade Wu Shigong to sober his head. Unexpectedly, today I heard that Wu Shigong understood the current situation of Runingjun very well, which made Deng Qifan very pleased.

"The top priority at the moment is General Li and Jiang Garrison." Wu Shigong pointed out the key points facing the Runing Army at present.

After returning to Runing, Wu Shigong immediately began to arm Jiang Cheng's troops, expanding them to a group of 7,000 men and horses (the military system of Runing's army changed when he returned this time. This is described below). And Jiang Cheng became the leader of this association. Although Wu Shigong arranged for a large number of officers and troops of the Runing Army to join this association, Jiang Cheng had already surrendered to Wu Shigong with all his heart at this time, so he did not object to such an approach, but was quite happy because he was reused.

However, Li Lu was a little tired of fighting on the battlefield, and he proposed to Wu Shigong that he would tell the court to return to the capital. I don't want to serve as the chief soldier of Nanyang anymore. Of course, given the relationship between Li Lu and Wu Shigongliang. Li Lu also completely entrusted his troops to Wu Shigong.

Get Li Lu's troops in plain detail. Of course, Wu Shigong welcomes it. But Wu Shigong didn't want Li Lu to say goodbye to old age. After all, if the imperial court sends another Nanyang general soldier, the Runing army will lose its interests in Nanyang Mansion. So these days, Wu Shigong has been persuading Li Lu to keep his official position, so that he still nominally occupies the position of the general army of Nanyang.

Deng Qifan also nodded and agreed with Wu Shigong's idea. He said: "Actually, it's best to let Chang respect you and be in charge of Nanyang Mansion." However, Chang Jing's matter in Texas this time is a bit reckless, and I don't know what reward the court will give you. ”

"I don't think about any rewards. At that time, it was unbearable, so I wanted to give a warning to those who were greedy for life and afraid of death. After all, we are still officers and soldiers. It is not necessary to fight alone in the future, but to let other officers and soldiers understand: Don't provoke our Runing Army, otherwise, we will definitely have revenge. Wu Shigong said.

Listened to this. Deng Qifan smiled. Anyway, it has already happened, and it is difficult to undo, so there is no need to dwell on it. He asked, "Then after borrowing so much silver this time, how many men does Chang Jing want to expand the Runing Army to?" ”

"I've calculated with Uncle Wynn, and I'm going to expand to 70,000!" Wu Shigong replied.

"Seventy thousand? Is it too much? It's calm around us right now! ”

"Since I have already borrowed it, I have to seize more land and return it as soon as possible, and it is no longer possible to make a big move. The Shanchuan Division and the Military Intelligence Bureau came to report that the Zhang thieves and Luo thieves in Gucheng and Fang County were simply fraudulent surrenders, and they would rebel at any time, so we must also prepare early. Besides, no matter whether those Shaanxi bandits really surrendered or surrendered by fraud, we must force them to rebel again as soon as possible. ”

Wu Shigong now hopes that the peasant army will once again make a mess of Huguang, Shaanxi, and Sichuan, and that the Runing army will just take advantage of the situation to enter these areas, control more territory, and rob more property and population. However, the Runing Army will not completely wipe out the peasant army, that is, it must raise its own self-respect and constantly enhance its own strength.

Therefore, after summing up the battle of Bloody Ridge with the Qing army, the Runing Army carried out certain changes in the military system, and the biggest change was to expand each infantry regiment to four battalions of more than 2,000 people.

Wu Shigong found that in this confrontation with the Qing cavalry, the phalanx of 1,000 people was no longer able to resist the collision of a large number of cavalry, so he expanded the scale of the phalanx and increased the number of musketeers in each phalanx to prepare for the future confrontation with the cavalry group.

Therefore, the current Runing Army will form a phalanx with each infantry regiment to form a large phalanx of forty by forty, increasing its thickness and blocking the cavalry charge. In addition, each infantry regiment had 400 musketeers, which would also minimize the density of cavalry ramming the array.

And each association of the Runing Army still had three infantry regiments. This also allows each co-op to line up the left, center, and right phalanxes, and can fight independently. Each town will be reduced to two associations of more than 18,000 horses. Other regimental, co-subordinate and town-subordinate artillery and cavalry were also adjusted.

The establishment of the six towns of the Runing Army remained unchanged, and there were three independent associations of Li Lu, Jiang Cheng and Guide Shumo, and there was also a naval division and a marine combat association of the naval division. The establishment of the militia will be abolished and will be incorporated into the troops of the Runing Army.

Therefore, if the Runing Army were fully formed, the final total strength would exceed 140,000. However, due to the lack of food, personnel, horses, and equipment, it has been temporarily expanded to 70,000 people, which is equivalent to a half-staffed state.

But in any case, because borrowing solved the most difficult financial problems, the Runing army had already begun to explode. (To be continued......)