"Long live our emperor! Hooray."

When Xiao Mazi Emperor Kangxi led Fuquan, Chang Ning, Wang Zhongxiao and others to ride their horses through the elite of the Eight Banners New Army, which had already launched a large array, tens of thousands of Eight Banner soldiers suddenly burst out with a tsunami-like sound of long live the mountain, which shocked Wang Zhongxiao.

This group of Eight Banners soldiers looks like elites!

No wonder this little pockmark was full of confidence when he rectified Wu Sangui, it turned out that there were really eight banners in his hands!

Well, at least these Eight Banners soldiers look like a strong army with their equipment, look at their morale like a strong army, and look at their physique as if they are a strong force - these days, foreign medicine has not been popular in Beijing! Although these Eight Banners don't play horseback riding much, wrestling is still quite popular, so their physique is still great, compared to Wang Fuchen's small standing soldiers, they are only strong but not weak!

Just when Wang Zhongxiao was shocked by the sturdy appearance of the Eight Banners in front of him, Kangxi had already led him to pass in front of the sixteen cavalry phalanxes, and then turned back to the position directly in front of the middle of the sixteen phalanxes.

A group of Eight Banner generals wearing cotton armor of various colors and a few civil officials wearing robes and gowns have gathered there to wait for the driver, the spirit of this group of people is also quite good, seeing Kangxi stopped his horse in front of them, he saluted Kang Mazi together, and shouted in unison: "Slaves (ministers) and others welcome the holy driver, long live my emperor, long live!" ”

Kangxi looked very satisfied, nodded and said, "Flat!" ”

Today's "military parade" is a surprise military parade, without notice in advance, even Fuquan and Chang Ning didn't know, and they were suddenly called by Kangxi. Wang Zhongxiao actually didn't know that at that time, he was in the Dongtangzi Yamen to report to the managing minister Fuquan the work of the opening of the Guangdong branch of the Credit Suixin Hall that he had just received, and now Wang Fuchen, Kong Sizhen, Shang Zhixin and his gang were still marching slowly in the Huguang area, but a team of Ruixin Hall men sent by Yang Qilong, under the leadership of the advance team led by Wang An and Wang Quan, arrived at Zhaoqing, the residence of the governor of Liangguang and Guangzhou, with a full 500,000 taels of silver.

Just halfway through Wang Zhongxiao's report, the guards who conveyed Kangxi's message arrived, so he stopped reporting and followed Fuquan to investigate the military situation of the Eight Banners New Army.

And this exploration, what a surprise!

"Well, it's a lot more elite than when I came back last time. The eight battalions of infantry and eight battalions of cavalry are all decent, and they really deserve to be my children of the Eight Banners! Well, all rewards! ”

Kangxi is real, as soon as he came up, he gave a reward to the sixteen battalions and eight banner soldiers below, tens of thousands of people, and one person will get tens of thousands of taels for one tael! He was really willing to feed his Eight Banners soldiers silver!

It is no wonder that those Eight Banners disciples in Beijing, regardless of whether they are full of flags, Mengqizi, Han Army, or Zhenghu, account opening, another household, and clothed people, as long as they have nothing to do, they all want to squeeze into this New Army of Eight Banners.

In fact, the life of these Eight Banners soldiers is not hard. According to Wang Zhongxiao's knowledge, although they had one exercise a day after entering the camp, this exercise was only two hours, and the rest of the time was spent in the barracks, and they could do whatever they wanted, but they couldn't go out. In this way, when Kangxi came to inspect, Yue Le and the others could quickly put together a town's troops, that is, eight battalions of infantry and eight battalions of horses.

Unlike the New Army, the New Army of the Eight Banners did not have direct artillery teams, baggage teams, and engineer teams, but transferred sixteen battalions under these teams when needed to be under the command of the two wings (the New Army of the Eight Banners was divided into two wings in each town) or the Minister of the President.

In addition, the main household, another household, and account opening banner people in the Eight Banners New Army can also bring house slaves into the camp! Ordinary soldiers can bring up to two people, that is, a soldier has two minions to serve, and there are even more!

And after these domestic slaves entered the camp, they also had to participate in military training, so that they could serve as auxiliaries and guards when they went into battle, and even fill in after the death of their masters.

So Kangxi's Eight Banners New Army has 30,000 on its books, but in fact, it has to count heads, and 60,000 can't stop it!

And these 60,000 people are only part of the armed forces of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty - although the number of Manchurian Bannermen is only 50,000, but counting the Han Army, Mongolians, account opening, another household, clothed people, domestic slaves, etc., now the total number of Dingkou of the entire Eight Banners Group from top to bottom is four or five hundred thousand!

If there was no such number, Kangxi would not dare to fight the idea of destroying the four feudatories now!

"Hooray! Banzai! Hooray"

After Emperor Kangxi announced the reward, the tens of thousands of Eight Banner soldiers outside the Fengtai camp cheered like a tsunami, and it took a long time before they quieted down again.

At this time, the group of officials wearing cotton armor and robes had already bowed down in front of Kangxi Ma and stood in a row. Standing in the middle of the room, of course, were the three presidential ministers Yue Le, Ezha, and Le Erjin, but Kangxi didn't come to them today, so he raised his horsewhip and pointed to a tall, brown beard standing on the side, and a "foreign minion" with a brown and yellow pigtail on the back of his head, and said with a smile: "Master Nan, come here!" ”

Master Nan is Nan Huairen, Emperor Kangxi's mathematics teacher and the "chief engineer" of the arsenal of the office!

Hearing this, Nan Huairen hurriedly picked up his robe, ran to Kangxi in a hurry, and then flicked his sleeves, which was another standard salute, "Chen Nan Huairen respectfully invites Saint An!" ”

"Flat." Kangxi smiled.

"Your Majesty." Nan Huairen stood up and bowed.

Kangxi asked with a smile: "Master Nan, I am here to see General Weiyuan's cannon today, can I use it?" ”

Nan Huairen replied triumphantly: "Back to the emperor, the minister has just led people to try the Weiyuan General Cannon, which weighs five hundred and sixty pounds, which is still light and powerful, and can fire thirty pounds of flowering bombs, which can be called an artifact of peace thieves and rebellion!" ”

Kangxi was overjoyed when he heard this: "Okay! Push it over and show me! ”

"Huh!" Nan Huairen waved his hand and shouted: "Push General Weiyuan over and let the emperor see how powerful it is!" ”

Someone at the bottom immediately answered, and then I saw a mortar cannon placed on a four-wheeled cart that looked like a bronze bell being pushed up by several Eight Banner soldiers.

This mortar cannon is cast very large, much larger than the mortar cannon that Wang Zhongxiao let people cast to fire twelve catties of flowering shells, and the kind of twelve catty mortar cannon used in Suzhou is very light, not counting the gun carriage (gun carriage) is only more than 100 catties, and two strong men can carry it away.

And the Weiyuan General Cannon cast by Nan Huairen for Kangxi looks like it has five or six hundred catties, and it is inconvenient to move.

At the same time that the cannon was pushed up, another team of people also followed with a wooden shelf, and then in a place where Kangxi could see clearly, he found a flat ground and put the wooden shelf away, and then the cannon placed on the four-wheeled vehicle was pushed to the edge of the wooden shelf, and then more than a dozen strong men tied the cannon with ropes, and then inserted seven or eight flat poles into the ropes, and under the command of Nan Huairen, they worked together to pick up the five or six hundred catties of mortars off the gun carriage and press them on the wooden frame. It's hard to watch!

It is clear that this cannon is not very mobile on the battlefield.

Although this cannon has no mobility, the thirty-pound flowering shell looks quite scary!

A white-faced and beardless eight-rank civil official of about twenty years old commanded several Eight Banner soldiers wearing cotton armor to very skillfully stuff gunpowder and a flowering shell into the thick and short barrel of the cannon, and then pressed it with a pusher, and then saw one of them take out the fire fold, first lit the fuse of the flowering bullet stuffed into the muzzle of the cannon, and then lit the fuse at the fire door at the tail of the cannon.

After the firing was finished, the artillerymen did not flash the man, but stood very firmly by the side of the gun, covering their ears with their hands - it was obvious that they were confident in the quality of the gun, at least not to explode.

And Nan Huairen didn't even cover his ears, just stood there "practice", one hand kept gesturing the cross in the air, and chanting a mantra in his mouth, Wang Zhongxiao stretched out his ears and listened, as if it was "Hallelujah."

"Boom"

Just as Nan Huairen was chanting the mantra, a dull roar came! The cannon that looked like a "black cauldron" trembled, and then I saw a puff of white smoke spew out of the muzzle, and a black thing erupted from the muzzle like lightning, and then flew over Xiao Erli at a very fast speed, slammed into an open field, and did not explode immediately - no fuse was triggered!

"Hallelujah! Hallelujah" Nan Huairen's "mantra" was recited louder, and the Eight Banners soldiers who followed him to learn to fire cannons also recited the mantra together: "Hallelujah! Hallelujah"

"Boom!"

This "cannon spell" was quite spiritual, and the flowering bomb suddenly turned into a cloud of black smoke with a loud bang, and it also covered a large area of land.

"Hooray! Invincible"

The Eight Banners shouted again.

Kangxi smiled when he saw it, turned around and boasted to Fuquan and Chang Ning: "Look, this cannon, even if you take it, you can't stand it!" ”

Not necessarily! Wang Zhong said with filial piety: Now Ao Bai is not afraid of cannons, but Wu Sangui, Wu Yingqi, and my father-in-law Wu Guogui can withstand it, then I don't know!

"Brother Huang, we have such a powerful cannon, can we immediately send troops to level Yunnan?" Prince Gong Changning was already a little eager to try, if he wasn't a minor, he would have wanted to ask his brother for an errand to go south to Pingwu. How much fun it is to fight! He didn't have to read, practice, or write articles all day, let alone do the arithmetic problems assigned by his brother - how difficult it was!

Kangxi turned his head and asked Nan Huairen, who looked relaxed: "Master Nan, how many Shenwei General Cannons do we have now?" ”

"Back to the emperor, the minister has now led people to cast sixteen Weiyuan General Cannons!"

Kangxi nodded, "Will the people below use it?" ”

"This has to be learned," Nan Huairen said, "but it is not too difficult, and the minister can send the worship of the Qin Heavenly Prison to teach." ”

Kangxi thought for a while and said, "There are sixteen Weiyuan general cannons that can be used in a town first, and let Qin Tianjian's master go south with the team, and teach all the way. Can it be done? ”

Kangxi is obviously a little anxious - because there is less and less news from Yunnan during this time, Kangxi estimates that Wu Yingqi's power is likely to become more and more stable!

If you can't send Wu Yingxiong over as soon as possible, the battle of Pingyungui will be difficult to fight!

Nan Huairen didn't know the bottom of his heart, so he turned around and shouted: "Wen Kai!" ”

The eight-rank civil official who had commanded a few Eight Banners artillery just now trotted all the way to Kangxi when he heard this, and he also flicked his sleeves and made a thousand salutes: "Minister Dai Zi respectfully invites Sheng'an." ”

"Straps?" Kangxi was stunned, "What belt?" In flags? ”

"The minister's surname is Dai, the one who wears a hat, Zi is a Xin on the side of the wooden word, the minister is not in the flag, he is a Renhe person in Hangzhou, Zhejiang."

Dai Zi?

Wang Zhongxiao immediately remembered who this person was? Isn't this the firearms expert of the early Qing Dynasty? Last time, when he was in Zhejiang, he inquired with people, but no one knew about his existence, why did he sneak out of Beijing in the blink of an eye and get into the Qin Tianjian?

Kangxi asked, "How did you come to Beijing?" ”

"The minister's father, Dai Cang, and the governor of Liangjiang, Duolong, have an old relationship, so they recommended the minister to the multi-system military curtain, and the multi-system army knew that the minister liked to fiddle with firearms and gunpowder, so he recommended the minister to Master Nan."

It turned out to be Doron's dry!

Wang Zhongxiao thought to himself: This Duolong became the governor of Liangjiang because of me. This is really lifting a stone and hitting Wu Sangui's feet!

"Oh," Kangxi thought for a moment, "then can you teach the gunners under you to use this kind of cannon?" ”

"Your Majesty, the ministers can take them with them."

"Belt?" Kangxi was stunned, "How do you bring it?" ”

Dai Zi said: "Your Majesty, this kind of artillery is a cannon that is shot into the sky, and it cannot be aimed directly, you have to measure the distance first, then calculate the angle of the gun, and then calculate the medicine bag, and the range, the angle of the gun, and the medicine bag are the most difficult." But as long as the sixteen cannons are used together, and the minister measures the distance, calculates the cannon angle and medicine bag, and lets each cannon fire according to the cannon angle given by the minister, then there is no difficulty. ”

You're a bully! Wang Zhongxiao said: It is difficult to measure the distance, calculate the angle of the cannon, and add the medicine package. There is no need to calculate on the spot, just calculate how much gunpowder to add at what distance and at what angle in advance, and then write it in a notebook for the artillerymen to carry with them! No, I'm going to have to frame you for such a traitor!

"Wang Datou!"

When Wang Zhongxiao was thinking about framing the traitor, Kangxi suddenly called him a throat.

"The minions are here!"

Wang Zhongxiao hurriedly turned over and dismounted, ran to Kangxi and said a thousand salutes.

Kangxi said: "You take this Dai Zi with you, remember, if you really want to go to the battlefield, you must protect him!" ”

"Minion Command!"

Wang Zhongxiao stood up, and that Dai Zi saluted Wang Zhongxiao with a panicked face - although Wang Zhongxiao was wearing a yellow coat without a complement, the warm hat on his head was filled with the coral top of a second-rank official!

Can a second-grade official protect an eighth-grade official Dai Zi without panic?

Kangxi waved his hand to let Wang Zhongxiao and Dai Zi retreat, and then shouted again: "Prince An, King Shunchengjun." ”

Then Yue Le and Ezha came up.

Kangxi said: "Uncle Wang, Shuncheng County King, Sun Sike's green battalion soldiers are marching quickly, and now they have passed Langzhong and will soon arrive in Chengdu." In addition, Mo Luo, the governor of Shanxi, also mobilized more than 10,000 Ganshan green battalions and a large amount of grain and grass to Hanzhong, ready to enter Sichuan at any time, and the two of you should also set off as soon as possible!

In the name of escorting Wu Yingxiong to the south, he sent troops. There is no need to drive into Yunnan and Guizhou, as long as it is pressed to the border of Yunnan and Guizhou, forming the trend of Mount Tai pressing the top, and then waiting for it to change! ”

After listening to Kangxi's words, Wang Zhongxiao also took a deep breath.

Kangxi finally made a move!

And it is very methodical, not impatient at all, although Wu Sangui even used the trick of pretending to be dead, but Kangxi is still based on sleepiness!

And once the army sent by Kangxi has gained a firm foothold in Sichuan, then Wu Sangui will have to repeat the mistakes of the past, and can only march to Wu Sangui through Huguang, which is covered with water networks, are you ready?

Kangxi sent Yue Le, the prince of An, to escort Wu Yingxiong, the prince of Pingxi, to govern the domain, and at the same time sent Ezha, the king of Shuncheng County, to enter Chongqing in the name of Liu Yihu, the remnant of the thirteen families in Kuidong, and informed the Quartet in the form of a Ming edict, and also told Wu Sangui and Wu Yingqi, who were far away in Kunming.

Of course, this is Kangxi's conspiracy, clearly telling the world - Wu Sangui is no longer good, Wu Yingxiong is going to take over, if Yungui is not satisfied, then the court soldiers are not welcome!

On Wuhua Mountain, Wu Sangui, the "very good" king of Pingxi, was sitting in his study in Liecuixuan, holding a copy of Mingfa sent by Li Benshen, the governor of Guizhou, and looking at it carefully over and over.

And the few people around him all looked a little solemn.

After all, Wu Sangui has been practicing the path of "supporting the army and being loyal to the Qing Dynasty" all these years, and now he is still a little nervous if he really wants to rebel against the big guys!

And Wu Sangui's "pretending to be sick" also pretended to be a little unfavorable. Many accomplices who were not so close to him didn't know if he really couldn't do it or pretended to be bad, and saw that Kangxi was pressing Yunnan step by step, very methodical, and they all began to retreat one by one, and they didn't have much contact with Wuhua Mountain.

Of course, there are exceptions! Guangxi general Sun Yanling is an exception, he has now left his station in Guilin, and slipped to Wuhua Mountain in Kunming to visit Wu Sangui's "illness", and saw that Wu Sangui was like a dragon and a tiger, so he settled down, and he was also in Wu Sangui's study at this time.

Seeing that the big guys didn't squeak, this one was also quite fit, that is, much shorter than Wang Fuchen, Wang Zhongxiao and his son, and the Guangxi general, who was one size smaller, gritted his teeth and said: "Lord Wang, if you feel that you are not sure about starting a war in Sichuan, it is better to sweep the two Guangxi first." Now Wang Fuchen, Kong Sizhen, and Shang Zhixin have not yet arrived, and all the armies in Guangxi have listened to me and the horse army, and the general soldiers of Huizu and Liu in Guangdong can respond internally, as long as the army of the prince arrives, the two Guangxi will definitely be smooth. Don't underestimate today's two broads. Now the north is withering, the two Guangzhous are still well-off, and there are Haoao sea trade, from where you can also buy Western guns and sharp weapons, if the prince has two Guangzhous to connect Yunnan and Guizhou, and then divide the troops to the north to attack Huguang, Fujian and Zhejiang, and finally attack the two rivers, half of the country is at your fingertips! ”

After listening to Sun Yanling's words, Wu Sangui just shook his head and smiled: "Sun Junmen, how can anyone who has used Guangdong as the basis for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains since ancient times?" But don't worry. Kangxi sent a large number of troops into Sichuan, but he was in my arms, and you went to Guangxi to deal with Wang Fuchen for a while, and when I pacified Sichuan and Shaanxi, I came to Liangguang to help you! ”

(End of chapter)