The peasants had to be trained before they could go to war, and it would take at least three or four months of training, at least to give these peasants the ability to fight the war that had just laid down their hoes.

After training for several months, it will take at least a few months to take them to war, so that it will take at least half a year to win or lose. And the current Jiangdong can't support half a year at all. First, there may be a grain shortage in the New Year, and if the war continues, the peasants and soldiers will not be able to go home to farm, and it will inevitably delay the spring plowing of the next year.

And if the war continues, the officials and gentry in other provinces are likely to follow Jiangxi's lead and betray the imperial court.

After analyzing so much, in a word, the imperial court can't afford it at all. It takes a few months to be able to resolve the battle.

Then it is not enough to urgently recruit these tens of thousands of peasant soldiers, and the army must be requisitioned from other places.

Therefore, Yuan Keli's method was very simple, that is, to transfer troops from Liaodong or simply from Henan.

"Sun Chuanting led the Trilateral Janissaries into Henan to suppress bandits, although the situation of anti-thieves in Henan is serious, but after all, some peasants who can't survive take risks, and compared with Jiangxi anti-thieves, the harm is lighter. It is better to let Sun Chuanting suspend the suppression of bandits and transfer the army to Nanjing. 30,000 Praetorian Guards, plus these 80,000 Jiangdong peasant soldiers, are enough to defeat the Jiangxi rebels! Yuan Keli suggested.

However, according to Wen Tiren and Sun Chuanting, the current situation in Henan is very good, Zhang Shize led his troops to capture Chen County, and the red turban thieves on the East Road were driven to the mountainous area of southern Henan. Sun Chuanting led the army to recover Luyang Ye County, and the Red Turban Thief on the West Road led the remnants of the army to retreat to the south of Nanyang. Sun Chuanting is dividing his troops to encircle and suppress, and he will soon be able to eliminate these rebels in one fell swoop. If the troops are withdrawn at this time, the Henan anti-thieves are likely to resurge. Zhu Youzhen said.

When Yuan Chonghuan led an army of 200,000 down the river, Zhu Youzhen did not think of transferring the Praetorian Guards in Henan to suppress bandits to the south, because in his opinion, Henan, which is located in the Central Plains, is more important. Because Henan is closer to Beijing.

If the Central Plains is in turmoil, Jiangnan and Beifang will be cut off by the Central Plains anti-thieves, and the Central Plains anti-thieves will even threaten Shandong, Hebei, and Beijing.

And if Henan is pacified, Jiangnan is lost, as long as the north is well managed, you can also calmly mobilize the Praetorian Guard to go south and recover Jiangnan!

"It's not the same as it used to be." Yuan Keli sighed, "If Your Majesty had not released slaves in Jiangdong, of course, it should be mainly to pacify the anti-thieves in Henan." And now, His Majesty's actions in Jiangdong have frightened the people of the world, and the gentry in the southern provinces are worried that His Majesty will spread the policy of releasing slaves and Juntian to the whole world. As long as the war in Nanjing continues, the ministers are afraid that the gentry in other provinces will choose to betray the imperial court to support Jiangxi, and the ministers are afraid that it will not be long before the southern provinces are in chaos. The situation may be out of control.

And the best way now is to completely pacify the rebels in Jiangxi with the momentum of thunder, arrest and interrogate Zhu Yousong, the son of the rebel Fu Wang, and behead Yuan Chonghuan and other rebellious ministers and thieves to set an example for the public, so as to deter the gentry of the world and make the gentry of the provinces dare not disagree. ”

When he said this, Yuan Keli's heart was very heavy. He is a native of Henan, so he naturally hopes that the Praetorian Guard can first pacify the Henan rebels and restore peace in Henan. On the contrary, if the Praetorian Guards withdraw from Henan, the Henan rebels will resurrect, and they will inevitably continue to attack the city, then his hometown Suizhou will probably be ravaged by the rebels.

But he is now a minister of the imperial court and the head of the march with the rank of secretary of the military department, so he naturally has to devote himself to the country and not just for his own selfishness. Therefore, he had to reluctantly advise the emperor to withdraw his troops from Henan.

"Your Majesty, instead of withdrawing troops from Henan, it is better to transfer the Liaodong Praetorian Guard to the south." Li Dingguo said suddenly.

Now there are more than 60,000 people in the Liaodong Praetorian Guard, and since Jiannu withdrew from Liaodong, except for occasional attacks on the border, there has basically not been much war in Liaodong. Rather than the tens of thousands of Janissaries idle, it is better to transfer them south to quell the rebellion.

Zhu Youzhen shook his head with a wry smile, and said to Wang Chengen: "Companion, let's show you the Lu Xiangsheng performance you just received." ”

"Yes." Wang Chengen agreed, took out a copy of the recital from the thick pile, and handed it to Yuan Keli.

Yuan Keli sighed slightly after reading it, and passed the song to Li Dingguo.

Li Dingguo took it and looked at it, and saw that what was written on the song was the news that Jiannu sent troops to attack. At the end of November, the slave chief Huang Taiji suddenly led 50,000 Mongolian cavalry to attack the Horqin grassland, and after sacrificing several Mongolian tribes on the grassland, he appeared in Liaobei, crossed the border wall that had not yet been repaired, and attacked the area of Kaiyuan Tieling. Lu Xiangsheng was mobilizing a large army in Shenyang to prepare for a big battle with the Mongol cavalry heading south.

"Although Your Majesty sent the Praetorian Guards to recover Liaodong, but Jiannu died without stiffening, and borrowed Mobei Mongolia to return his soul, if he continued to draw the Liaodong Praetorian Guard, I am afraid that Jiannu will take the opportunity to attack Liaodong. Not only could the Liaodong Praetorian Guards be transferred, but they also had to prevent the Jiannu Hui from attacking Xuanda and even Hetao. Yuan Keli sighed.

That Huangtai Jiming knew that there were 60,000 Praetorian Guards in Liaodong, and their strength was very strong, but they attacked Kaiyuan Tieling, and their behavior was very suspicious. Compared with Liaodong, after Sun Chuanting dispatched 30,000 Praetorian Guards to the south, the forces of Xuanda and Yansui Town were relatively empty, and Huang Taiji's real target was likely to be Xuanda or Hetao

"I have ordered Cao Wenzhao to go to Xuanda Yansui. If Jiannu really attacked Xuanda, Cao Wenzhao would recruit peasants and soldiers to help defend the border wall, and it should not be a problem to block Jiannu. Zhu Youzhen said.

Yansui Town has long carried out the township reform, large-scale training of peasant soldiers, all young and strong men, when the farm is not working, will be drilled, and the weapons issued are soldiers. Although Xuanda was restructured later, it has been a year or two. If Jiannu attacked Xuanda Yansui and urgently recruited, it would not be a problem to recruit hundreds of thousands of peasant soldiers. These peasant soldiers were naturally inferior to the regular Janissaries, but they were more than enough to defend the border walls. In this way, the Mongolian tribes in the Hetao may not be able to scruple, if Jiannu attacks the Hetao, the Mongolian tribes that have been annexed are likely to be in chaos, and I don't know how many tribes will choose to betray the Ming Dynasty and surrender to Jiannu.

But these can't be taken care of at the moment, after all, the Mongols are not their own people, or if they betray, it will be troublesome at most, and Zhu Youzhen is not distressed. The top priority now is how to pacify the foreign enemy.

Although it is important to pacify internal troubles, but foreign enemies should not be underestimated, if Jiannu is allowed to seize Liaodong again, then the Ming situation may return to the past. This kind of situation is not only Zhu Youzhen, but also people of insight like Yuan Keli do not want to see it.

"Over the years, there have been one battle after another, and there are so many things going on in the world that I don't have enough time to train new soldiers. If you can train 200,000 Praetorian Guards, why worry about having no soldiers available? Zhu Youzhen sighed.

From his ascension to the throne to the present, for more than four years, Zhu Youzhen has devoted all his energy to training troops, but he still has only trained more than 100,000 Praetorian Guards, not because he does not want to train more troops, but because he has no time at all, and there is not enough money and food.

"Alas!" Yuan Keli also sighed, but he slandered in his heart, it's not that he doesn't have time, it's the emperor that you're too anxious! From the winter of the second year of Chongzhen to the spring of the third year of Chongzhen, he fought with Jiannu and recovered Liaodong, and in the third year of Chongzhen, Sun Chuanting led his division to Mongolia and captured the Hetao. And in the fourth year of Chongzhen, that is, this year, the emperor chose to tour the south again, to brazenly implement reforms, and to overthrow the gentry of the world. But if the emperor slows down and spends a few years running the army, where is there no time to train the army?

"The Praetorian Guards in Liaodong can't be transferred, so the Henan Praetorian Guards can only be transferred. Henan anti-thieves put aside first, and wait until they defeat Jiangxi anti-thieves. Yuan Keli proposed again.

"It's really a gourd and a scoop, okay, just follow Yuan Shangshu and requisition the Henan Praetorian Guard to go south!" Zhu You sighed.

"The requisition of the Henan Praetorian Guard must be carried out secretly and without great fanfare, and our Zhenjiang peasant soldiers should still make a big show and make preparations to reinforce Nanjing at any time to attract the attention of the anti-thieves." Li Dingguo suggested. Li Dingguo doesn't understand politics, all his thoughts are devoted to fighting, plus he is young and has a strong desire to perform.

"General Lee's." Yuan Keli said, "In terms of strategy for the time being, the first thing that should be agreed is how many troops to be requisitioned. Will they all be requisitioned, or will they keep a part of the army in Henan? ”

"Since the troops are here, of course, the more the merrier. In this way, the Jiangxi anti-thieves have been overwhelming. Li Dingguo said as a matter of course.

"We must draw enough troops, and the situation in Henan should not deteriorate too much." Yuan Keli explained.

"Is there anything in this world that can have both? Since the decision was made to transfer the Henan Janissaries, Henan's defense could be handed over to the local army. If you have to take care of both ends, you may not be able to please both ends. Li Dingguo shook his head and said.

"What Yuan Shangshu said is always a country," Zhu Youzhen glanced at Yuan Keli deeply, knowing that he still didn't want the situation in Henan to deteriorate too much, "But Li Dingguo's is not bad, since he has made a decision, he can't look ahead and look backwards." It is planned to give Sun Chuanting, Wen Tiren, and Zhang Shize, and let Sun Chuanting and Zhang Shize lead their troops out of Henan respectively, march from Wuchang, Luzhou, and join forces in Nanjing. Henan, temporarily maintained by Wen Tiren. ”

"Yes." Wang Chengen agreed, and the short man who was sitting next to him began to write hard, and soon drafted several holy decrees.

After reading it, Zhu Youzhen ordered: "Stamp it out." ”

In the following time, everyone began to discuss the reorganization and training of peasant soldiers.

"With more than 1,000 veterans under the last general as officers, we can put up a shelf in the shortest possible time. However, in order to form combat effectiveness, it is necessary to have a certain amount of time to run in, to practice, and the other is the issue of weapons. Although the peasants and soldiers brought their own weapons, they were all rattan bamboo guns, and there were not many knives and arrows, let alone firearms and artillery. Such weapons and equipment are not as good as anti-thieves, and they can't be pulled to the battlefield at all. Li Dingguo Road.

"I have already ordered the delivery of weapons from the Beijing Ordnance Division, and a few months ago I also ordered the Haimao Trading Company to customize a batch of weapons from Guangdong, it should be almost there, right?" Zhu Youzhen said.

"Your Majesty, because the canal is frozen, the ships cannot go south, and the weapons provided by the Ordnance Department can only be taken by land, and now they have just arrived in Xuzhou, and I am afraid it will take more than half a month to transport them to Zhenjiang." Jin Yiwei commanded Liu Wenbing, and said respectfully.

"Why is it so slow?" Zhu Youzhen said dissatisfied.

"Among them, there are 10,000 guns, more than 100 artillery pieces, and as many as 20 Hongyi cannons weighing 3,000 catties. Liu Wenbing explained.

In the past few years, because Zhu Youzhen has money in his hands, the Beijing Ordnance Department has opened full firepower and built weapons at full capacity. It can build more than 20,000 Lumi guns and nearly 1,000 artillery pieces of various types every year, but it still can't meet the growing number of troops, so that many weapons still need to be purchased from Guangdong and other provinces.

After learning that the Jiangxi rebels would attack Nanjing along the Jiangdong, Zhu Youzhen made the decision to arm the Jiangdong peasants, and then sent someone to the Beijing Ordnance Department to send an edict to immediately transport the weapons in stock to Jiangdong. However, Beijing is 2,000 miles away from Jiangdong, the distance is too far, and the canal freezes in winter, so the transportation speed is too slow, and it has not been transported to Zhenjiang until now.

However, when this batch of firearms arrives, it will be able to arm at least 20,000 peasant soldiers, and it will be a little more confident to defeat the Jiangxi rebels.

"When the firearms arrive, it will take at least a month for the soldiers to use them, and if the firearms are really used, the training will not be successful in three months." Li Dingguo told the truth.

"You can teach them how to use firearms, and it doesn't matter if you shoot accurately or not." Yuan Keli said with a smile, "Anyway, these peasant soldiers are also suspicious soldiers, and they are not needed in a real war." ”

Li Dingguo shook his head, no more. Zhu Youzhen handed over the matter of training peasant soldiers to him, according to Li Dingguo's thoughts, how could he be a suspicious soldier himself? At the beginning, there were only 3,000 subordinates in Wuhu, and he dared to fight hard with Yuan Chonghuan's 200,000 troops, but now he has 80,000 peasant soldiers under his command, how can he be willing to only play a role in restraining him?

I must train these peasant soldiers quickly, and then take them to the battlefield to fight against the thieves, and make a contribution to defeating the thieves! Li Dingguo secretly swore in his heart.

After another half a month, the weapons of the Ordnance Department finally arrived in Zhenjiang. At this time, Li Dingguo had already trained the peasants for half a month, and the peasants and soldiers already had a certain foundation, and under his strict training, the peasants and soldiers marched in an orderly manner, as if they had already had a trace of the rudiments of a strong army.

When the weapons arrived, Zhu Youzhen ordered them to be distributed, but the 80,000 peasant soldiers could only arm more than 10,000 people, and the others still used cold weapons.

It would be good to wait until the weapons purchased by the Haimao Trading House from Guangdong arrived, Li Dingguo and his subordinates. According to the plan, the Maritime Trade Merchant Guild will purchase 15,000 guns from Guangdong, so that 25,000 guns will be trained and trained, and the equipment rate of guns is already very high.

However, suddenly a sea ship came to Zhenjiang and brought a piece of news, but Guangdong's fire guns could not be counted on.

Half a year ago, the Haimao firm placed an order for 15,000 firecrackers for many blacksmiths in Foshan. Foshan iron smelting is very developed, there are thousands of blacksmiths, and it is no problem to build 15,000 guns in half a year. However, the news came from Guangdong, just last month, thousands of people in Guangdong suddenly rebelled, and in just half a month it grew to tens of thousands, Foshan has been occupied by anti-thieves, and the weapons that should have been delivered to the maritime trade firm have been seized by the anti-thieves, and they will never be able to reach again.

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