General's Palace, Main Hall.

The chief military officer of the Ming Dynasty has never had a fixed rank, and in the past, he used to fill the official position of commander and envoy, so as to determine the grade.

It's just that in the chaotic times at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the battalion system developed greatly, and the guard system basically collapsed. Therefore, at this time, the chief military officer was no longer filled by the general of the guard, although there was still no fixed rank, but it was already the highest official position of the martial artist.

At this time, Liu Yan sat in the center of the golden knife, and the next Chen Xun, Wang Bo, Wang Yue, Zhang Yi, Miao Shao, Xu Ming, Shen Tuo, Qian Qiao, Xun Jingyun, and Jia Hongyu were on the left, and Wang Weizhen, Tian Huixu, Zhang Lei, Zhao Min, Yue Ming, Song Gongming, Bao Xuezhen, Tan Xiaoda, and Xu Le were on the right.

Just yesterday, the promotion list reported by Liu Yan had been approved and sent back by the Ministry of War, and Liu Yan gathered everyone to prepare to announce the latest appointment.

Looking at the subordinates present, Liu Yan felt a lot of emotion in his heart, he came step by step, and finally sat in the position of chief military officer, it can be said that from today on, it will be a watershed in his journey, and in the future, the authority and strength in his hands will no longer grow slowly, but will increase by orders of magnitude!

"Your Excellency?"

Next to him, Wang Weizhen said with a smile: "My lord, everyone is here, let's start." ”

Liu Yan nodded, and everyone fell silent instantly.

"In this thousand-mile expedition, our army opened victoriously, beheaded Zhang Xianzhong and Zhang Wenxiu, severely damaged the army of thieves, and played the prestige of our new army. Among you, those who went out with the army fought bloody battles and made great achievements, and those who stayed behind to help the people and stabilize the place were also highly laborious, so this time you have all been promoted! ”

After saying that, everyone said with a bang, this is a happy situation, Liu Yan looked at the warm atmosphere of everyone, and waited with a smile for a while, and then everyone quieted down again.

Then Liu Yan took out the reply from the Ministry of War and handed it to Wang Weizhen, saying, "Wang Tongzhi will announce it." ”

"Yes!"

I saw Wang Weizhen excitedly unfold the official document, clear his throat, and began to read it.

This time, the officers and men of each battalion of the new army were promoted to one level, and Qian Jian served as a commander with the rank of a thousand commanders, and now he has been promoted to a commander, still commanding the artillery battalion.

Chen Xun, Wang Yue, Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Shen Tuo, Miao Shao, and Xu Ming were promoted to commanders, and the commanders of each battalion were promoted to commanders, and the rest of the meritorious officers and men were promoted.

For example, Shen Wen was promoted to a captain in the left part of the rear camp, and the old boss captain Lao Bai was also promoted to the flag commander with the merits of three thief heads.

Xu Mingde, the flag chief of the Zhongying Night Guard, was promoted to the night sentry chief, and Xiao Dongzi was also promoted to the flag commander.

At the same time, the strength of the seven battalions of the new army also increased, and Liu Yan added a ministerial-level structure under the battalion, and the commander was the commander.

After the increase in the number of formations, the strength of each battalion has increased almost fourfold, and each battalion still adopts the three-three system, with one battalion under three departments, one under the jurisdiction of three generals, one under the jurisdiction of three posts, one post under the jurisdiction of three flags, and one flag under the jurisdiction of four teams. However, the baggage troops assigned to the ministerial and general levels have been changed from one post to one flag, and the strength of the troops has been reduced.

Moreover, according to the experience of previous wars, with the continuous increase of the firepower of the new army, it is rare for the enemy to rush to the front of the battle, and only the Qing army can rush over with casualties.

Therefore, Liu Yan decided to change the types of troops in each banner from the original two captains of gunners and two teams of bird-gunners to one team of gunners and three teams of bird-gunners. There were fifteen men in each team, and the number of swordsmen and shieldmen was reduced from four to two, and the number of birdmen or pikemen was increased from ten to twelve.

After the expansion, the strength of the first battalion of the new army has increased from more than 3,000 to more than 12,000, and a single battalion has the strategic combat strength to stand alone.

Of course, such a large-scale expansion also means a surge in military spending. The military salary expenditure of a war battalion has increased from more than 16,000 taels per month to more than 46,000 taels, and although the strength of the whole army has increased from more than 28,000 to more than 88,000, the military salary has also surged from more than 123,000 taels of silver per month to more than 338,000 taels!

If we add in the consumption of cavalry battalions and horses, and the expenses of food, equipment, clothing, and other expenses for the officers and men of the whole army, the new army's military expenditure for a month will be at least 600,000 taels of silver to cover it!

At this time, after Wang Weizhen read out the promotion of everyone in the new army and the order for the expansion of the new army, everyone also gasped.

With such a large-scale expansion, I am afraid that the income of the workshops will not be able to support it.

Sure enough, I saw Liu Yan say: "Last night, I already learned from the commercial officer Song Qianhu that the output of the workshops in various places has been increasing, and now the monthly income is about 530,000 taels, which can basically cover the expenses after the expansion of the new army. ”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Liu Yan then said: "In addition, the Chamber of Commerce also has a stable income, and the Chamber of Commerce membership fees and business taxes also have an income of more than 200,000 taels of silver per month, and now our family background is still okay." ”

The crowd was completely relieved.

Liu Yan said to Wang Weizhen: "Okay, let's continue to read it." ”

"Yes."

This time, Xun Jingyun, the pacification officer, Bao Xuezhen, the medical officer, and Yue Ming, the money and grain officer, all went to battle with the army, and Liu Yan promoted the three of them to commanders.

Tian Huixu, Wang Weizhen, Zhang Lei, Zhao Min, and Song Gongming who stayed behind were also promoted.

Zhang Lei, because of his meritorious service in leading the people to fight drought, was promoted to commander Tongzhi, and commander Tian Huixu and commander Tongzhi Wang Weizhen sat in the rear, and they were also promoted to commanders. Zhao Min and Song Gongming contributed to raising money and food for the army, and were promoted to commanders.

As for Tan Xiaoda and Xu Le, because the two of them are not officials in the health system, Liu Yan specially asked the court for credit for the two of them, and applied for the six-rank civil official status, and they were suspended in the Ministry of Industry.

Wang Weizhen announced that it was over, and everyone was overjoyed.

Then Liu Yan said: "My Qinglai Town is a newly built town of the imperial court, and the seat of governance is set in Qingzhou Fucheng. The official decided to go to Qingzhou Mansion three days later to take office. ”

"Since this official is the chief military officer, he has the right to open the mansion, so your position will also change accordingly."

Liu Yan commanded Chen Xun to serve as the guerrilla general of the Jimo battalion, temporarily led the military affairs of the Jimo battalion, led the soldiers of the former battalion to garrison the Jimo camp city, and divided the troops to garrison Lingshanwei, Aoshanwei, Dasongwei and Andongwei. This is where Liu Yan's foundation lies, with Chen Xun leading the troops in charge, Liu Yan is down-to-earth.

Subsequently, Liu Yan commanded Wang Yue to serve as a guerrilla general in Laizhou, and led the soldiers of the rear battalion to garrison various places in Laizhou Prefecture.

With Wang Bo, Zhang Yi, Shen Tuo, Miao Shao, and Xu Ming as guerrilla generals, together with Qian Qiao, the commander of the artillery battalion, everyone went to Qingzhou City with Liu Yan to take up their posts.

In addition, Zhang Lei, the official of Guantun, Yue Ming, the official of money and grain, Song Gongming, the commercial officer, Xun Jingyun, the official of Zhenfu, and Bao Xuezhen, the medical officer, went to the capital of Qingzhou with the official to manage the relevant government affairs of the town. Zhao Min was reappointed as the administrative officer and accompanied him. ”

"Yes!"

"Jia Hongyu, the defense officer of the Thousand Households in the Shengling Mountain Guard, is the commander and the integrity officer of the Great Song Guard."

Jia Hongyu didn't expect that he would also be promoted, so he immediately bowed and said loudly: "Subordinate Xie for the promotion of Lord Xie!" ”

Liu Yan said with a smile: "Da Songwei is very close to the Wendeng camp and the Dengzhou camp, Brother Jia must manage it well and don't slack off." ”

"Don't worry, my lord, the last general will definitely guard the Great Songwei!"

At this time, Liu Yan looked at Wang Weizhen and said, "Commander Wang's envoy will stay in Jimo Yingcheng for the time being, this is our foundation, and we must defend this side together with Chen Guerrilla." Chen Guerrilla is in charge of the military, and Wang is in charge of civil affairs, as long as the Jimo camp city is stable, our Qinglai Town will be as stable as Mount Tai! ”

Wang Weizhen hugged his fists and took the order, although he couldn't go to Qingzhou Mansion with Liu Yan, but he could be regarded as holding real power in Jimo Camp City, and he was naturally happy in his heart.

Tian Huixu saw that everyone had made arrangements, and he was also a little anxious in his heart, only to see Liu Yan's gaze over, Tian Huixu hurriedly smiled and met his gaze.

"Hehe, this time Commander Tian also went to Qingzhou Mansion with me, the new army has been greatly expanded, and the recruitment and training of recruits are still in charge of Commander Tian, and the responsibility is heavy!"

Tian Huixu took the lead, patted his chest and said: "Please rest assured, my subordinates dare not say anything else, and the ability to recruit and train soldiers is still reliable." What's more, there is also an infantry drill code written by the adults themselves, as long as the money and food can be supplied, the subordinates will definitely do a good job. ”

"Well, that's good."

At this moment, the guerrilla generals Li Jiwen and Hu Zongming asked to see each other outside the door, and Liu Yan said to everyone with a smile: "This official just wanted to meet these two old officials, so they came. Let them in. ”

A moment later, Li Jiwen and Hu Zongming came to the main hall, and after saluting, the two looked at the full hall of subordinate officials, and their faces were a little embarrassed.

Once upon a time, everyone here was a subordinate of the two, but now many people are on an equal footing with themselves, which is really a trick.

"My lord, my subordinates get up, first, congratulations on your appointment as the chief soldier of Qinglai, and second, you want to hand over power."

Liu Yan looked at the two of them and said, "What's the matter, you're not happy to do it under me?" ”

Li Jiwen hurriedly said: "My lord misunderstood. Although the two of us are called guerrilla generals, they do not have the ability to lead troops, and if we think about it, if we continue to lead hundreds of soldiers, it will only be a waste of money and food, so it is better to take the initiative to resign. ”

Liu Yan is very satisfied, although Li Jiwen and Hu Zongming do not have great skills, they both have an advantage, that is, they know how to advance and retreat, and they know where their position is.

So Liu Yan said: "That's it, after all, you are all generals in the army, and if you leave your post rashly, some people will inevitably gossip." Although the two of you no longer lead troops, don't be idle, it's better to do something. ”

"This official will open the mansion after he arrives at Qingzhou Mansion, and the two of you will follow me, how about being a staff member?" 33

Li Jiwen and Hu Zongming both have an advantage, that is, they are familiar with the operation of the Ming officialdom and are good candidates for "secretary".

Li Jiwen and Hu Zongming were overjoyed when they heard this, and they could at least get along with Liu Yan from time to time, so they received orders one after another and served as Liu Yan's staff.

"Then the two of you will pack up and follow me to Qingzhou Mansion City in two days."

After all the discussions were completed, there was an indispensable banquet that night, and Liu Yan and his subordinates drank and talked happily, and they did not disperse until late at night.

Back in the backyard, Liu Yan said to Wang Yunhe: "Two days later, you will go to Qingzhou Mansion with me." ”

Wang Yunhe said in surprise: "Really? ”

"Really."

"Then we're going to have to clean up."

After speaking, Wang Yunhe left Liu Yan and hurriedly beckoned Shang Shan and Ruoshui to pack their bags overnight.

Liu Yan pursed his lips and muttered, "Don't be in a hurry like this?" ”

Two days later, Liu Yan led a group of subordinates, as well as several battalions of new army soldiers to Qingzhou Fucheng, Wang Yunhe's mother and son, Shang Shan, Ruoshui also went together, Chen Xun, Wang Weizhen and other remaining subordinates went out of the city for ten miles to see each other.

Some people died, but not completely......