The next day, Hong Chengchou braved the cold wind and light snow to go out of the city and came to the left camp of the new army, and Wu Sangui hurriedly came out to greet him when he heard the news.

"Hehe, uncle, how is the reorganization of the soldiers in the battalion?"

Wu Sangui pointed to the soldiers and horses around him who were exercising, and said: "The officers and men in the battalion have been reorganized, but there is a lot of shortage of military equipment and money and food. ”

"Well, that's inevitable, too."

The two walked while talking, and came to the big tent of the Chinese army, Hong Chengchou said: "Last night, I thought about the words of the eldest uncle carefully, and I think it is still very reasonable, so I want to go to see the king of Dashun and give him advice." After thinking about it, it's better to talk to Chang Bo first, so as not to disagree with what we said when King Dashun asks you again. ”

Wu Sangui lowered his voice slightly and asked, "What plan do you want to offer?" ”

Hong Chengchou said: "In today's world, Da Ming is about to die, there is no threat, and the only one who can stop Da Shun from winning the world is Liu Yan." Since you and I have no way out, then accompany Li Zicheng to the end, as long as Li Zicheng can sit in the Jinluan Palace in Beijing, then you and I are also the founding heroes. ”

"It's just that if you want to defeat Liu Yan, it's not easy to talk about, at least with the strength of the Dashun Army now."

Hong Chengchou said: "I also talked with Li Yan and Gu Junen yesterday, and I learned from them that the battalions of the Dashun Army rely too much on the superiority of troops, and they do not attach much importance to the drills and selection of soldiers and horses in each battalion, and the armament of soldiers. Therefore, I am ready to give advice to the king of Dashun: use all battalions of soldiers and horses to strictly drill, and follow Liu Yan's example

The new army has been regularized and reorganized, and firearms have also been prepared in each battalion, so that they can have the strength to fight with Liu Yan. ”

Wu Sangui agreed very much and said: "My lord's proposal is very good, and I will fully support it." ”

Hong Chengchou said with a smile: "Okay, I'll leave to see King Dashun now, and the eldest uncle must also prepare in advance." ”

"Yes."

Hong Chengchou took a car to the yamen of the prefect of Xinzhou, and at this time the plaque outside had been replaced, and it was replaced with a plaque of "Da Shun Xing Palace".

Hong Chengchou got out of the car and entered the gatehouse to wait, and after some reporting, Hong Chengchou was led to the main hall in the front yard.

"Your Majesty!"

Hong Chengchou solemnly bowed and saluted, Li Zicheng was happy when he saw this, and sure enough, there was no way back, Hong Chengchou's attitude changed greatly, and he was a lot more down-to-earth in doing things.

"Mr. Hong, don't be polite, sit."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After taking his seat, Li Zicheng asked with a smile, "What advice does Mr. Hong have today?" ”

Hong Chengchou said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Li's previous strategy for the reorganization of the battalions, the minister thought that there was still something to be added, so he specially came to report to His Majesty. ”

"Oh?"

Li Zicheng thought for a while, and then ordered someone to invite Li Yan and Gu Junen, and after the two arrived in a hurry, Li Zicheng said: "Okay, please Mr. Hong for advice." ”

Li Yan and Gu Junen were also very curious when they heard that Hong Chengchou had additional opinions, and they all looked at Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the reorganization of my Dashun Army is headed by Liu Yanbu. The reason why Liu Yanbu is strong is that the firearms are sharp, the second is that the whole army is armored and defensive, the third is that the drills are strict and the soldiers are strong, and the fourth is that the money and food are sufficient and the soldiers are sufficient

Rates. ”

"If our Dashun soldiers want to defeat Liu Yanbu, we must start from these four points to carry out rectification: First, in addition to the firearms battalion, the rest of the battalions of our Dashun Army are also equipped with certain firearms, so as to narrow the firepower gap between our army and Liu Yanbu to the greatest extent. Second, all battalions of cavalry and armoured soldiers should be armoured, and if the armor is insufficient, they should also be supplemented with shields. Third, the drills of each battalion should not go their own way, but should take Liu Yan's new army as a model and uniformly carry out strict drills. Fourth, money and grain should be collected from the treasury of the city, the merchants and gentry in various places, and supplied to the soldiers of each battalion, so that millions of soldiers can practice with peace of mind. ”

At this time, Li Yan and Gu Junen both nodded constantly, and Hong Chengchou's suggestion was very consistent with the two. And Li Zicheng was also happy, Hong Chengchou really deserved to be the governor of Jiliao and the first assistant of the Ming cabinet, and he saw the problem to the point, and directly pointed out the gap between the Dashun army and Liu Yanbu.

After Hong Chengchou finished speaking, Li Yan thought of a question and said: "What Mr. Hong said is reasonable, if Mr. Hong's suggestions are implemented, then the combat effectiveness of my Dashun battalions will definitely be greatly improved." It's just that time is a big problem now, will Liu Yan give us enough time to train soldiers and horses and mobilize money and food? ”

Gu Junen also raised another question: "Although my Dashun now occupies Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi, there are still two armies of Wang Pu and Li Fuming in Datong Town in the north threatening, and there are also many Ming troops stationed in the provinces south of the Yangtze River, and people from all over the country

I am worried that things will change when I am in a hurry to collect money and food to supply the army? ”

Li Zicheng looked at Hong Chengchou and said, "What can Mr. Hong do to solve it?" ”

Hong Chengchou said: "The time issue raised by Mr. Li is not to be worried, because my Dashun soldiers need time to reorganize, and Liu Yan also needs time. ”

"Why?"

Li Zicheng, Li Yan, and Gu Junen asked questions almost at the same time.

Hong Chengchou said: "From what I know about the Ming Court, Liu Yan led his troops to achieve such a huge victory, and the Lin Party in the East of the DPRK will definitely suppress it, and the two sides will definitely be deadlocked over the issue of rewards." In addition, the Ming court's financial resources were exhausted, and there was no money and food to supply Liu Yan's hundreds of thousands of troops to go on the expedition, so in a short period of time, Liu Yan would not send troops to attack. If Your Majesty is still not at ease, you can send more scouts to explore all over Beizhili and Shandong. ”

"Well, Mr. Gu grasped this matter and sent more battalion scouts to investigate."

Gu Junen received the order.

Then Hong Chengchou continued: "In addition, Wang Pu and Li Fuming in the north are two soldiers and horses, both of whom are the first rats at both ends, and the minister can repair a book and let the two of them lead the troops to surrender, so that the whole territory of Shanxi will be owned by Dashun." ”

"Good!"

Li Zicheng said with a smile: "If Wang Pu and Li Fuming are willing to surrender, Gu will make the two of them General Guoyi, and together with the two of them, they will be assigned to the left battalion of the new army, under the command of General Wu Sangui." ”

"Yes."

Hong Chengchou said: "As for the hardships of the people everywhere, there is no way, I can only make the people suffer again, as long as I complete the training of millions of lions and defeat Liu Yanbu, I can serve the people of the world."

Win at least ten years to recuperate, and then the people of the world will be able to breathe. ”

Gu Junen and Li Yan admired Hong Chengchou's views very much, and they seconded Li Zicheng one after another.

"In this case, the drill method of each battalion will be drawn up by Mr. Hong and popularized in each battalion as soon as possible."

"Yes."

"Mr. Li is responsible for the transportation of armaments, firearms, money and grain in various places. Mr. Gu is responsible for monitoring Liu Yanbu's movements. ”

"Yes."

After that, the battalions of the thieves began to reorganize and drill in a huge manner, and the army of millions of thieves was trained in accordance with the drill strategy compiled by Hong Chengchou, and Li Zicheng also made up his mind and ordered Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Li Laiheng, and other battalion generals to strictly supervise and urge them, and Li Zicheng himself even went to the battalions every day to inspect immediately, and found that those who did not practice seriously, did not practice in accordance with Hong Chengchou's strategy, or were negligent in management, all of them had to be severely punished, and for more than ten days in a row, Li Zicheng had already killed more than 40 people because of the problem of lax drills. For a time, the whole army was solemn.

Hong Chengchou wrote two handwritten letters, and then sent someone to Datong Town quickly, and within a few days, Wang Pu and Li Fuming received Hong Chengchou's handwritten letter.

"What should I do?"

Li Fuming asked with fear on his face: "Now even the elder of Hong Ge has surrendered to Li Zicheng, the elite of the 119,000 sides will be wiped out in a battle, and Li Zicheng's million-strong army will rush into Beizhili at any time, the Ming Dynasty is over, why don't we surrender too?" ”

Wang Pu gritted his teeth and said: "Didn't you and I receive a report from the imperial court a few days ago, Liu Yan has been named the Duke of Lu, and with Liu Yan here, can't you stop Li Zicheng's soldiers and horses?" ”

"But I didn't collect the night when I sent out

There is news that Liu Yan has probably broken with the imperial court now, his new army has blocked all the passes in Beizhili, and we can't get in if we don't collect it at night, it's not good to say that Liu Yan wants to do something to abolish the establishment, and the world is already in chaos! ”

"Not to mention ......"

Li Fuming said with a miserable expression: "Before you and I didn't lead the army to Tongguan in time, Liu Yan has a deep friendship with Cao Bianjiao and Yang Guozhu, and it is said that he has been friends with Sun Chuanting for a long time, this debt, Liu Yan will most likely be recorded on you and me, didn't it be written in the Tang newspaper, Ma Ke has been killed by Liu Yan!" ”

Wang Pu's heart was cold, he only felt that he was desperate now, and then said: "Okay, then let's surrender Li Zicheng, with Hong Chengchou here, Wu Sangui here, we can be regarded as one, and we can still have a response." ”

Li Fuming said: "Okay, then let's give Hong Chengchou a reply." ”

Quickly went south, and when Hong Chengchou got the reply from Wang Pu and Li Fuming, he immediately laughed and hurriedly came to the "palace" with the reply.

"Your Majesty, it's done!"

Li Zicheng looked at the book and said with a smile: "Okay! Mr. Hong's shot was really extraordinary, and he sent Mr. Hong to take people to receive Wang Pu and Li Fuming. ”

"Command!"

At the beginning of the first month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou led the old camp to come to Datong City, Wang Pu and Li Fuming took a group of generals out of the city to greet them, and then everyone entered the city.

"Hehe, we're old acquaintances, let's all sit down."

Hong Chengchou sat on the right seat, and Wang Pu and Li Fuming sat respectfully at the bottom.

Hong Chengchou looked at the appearance of the two and said with a smile: "The two generals can come to vote in time, and King Dashun is very happy."

, has been ordered, Feng Wang General Soldier as the New Army Left Battalion Zuo Guoyi General, Feng Li General Soldier as the New Army Left Battalion Right Guoyi General, the two soldiers also integrated into the New Army Left Battalion. ”

"The general of the left battalion of the new army is Wu Sangui, and when the time comes, we can do things together again, and we will definitely be able to do something good!"

Wang Pu and Li Fuming were completely relieved and thanked one after another.

The next day, Hong Chengchou left Datong City with Wang Pu, Li Fuming, and more than 10,000 Ming troops under their command, and rushed to Xinzhou to join the army of thieves.

Li Zicheng set up a banquet in the "palace" in the city to wash the dust for Wang Pu and Li Fuming, and then ordered the two soldiers and horses to be integrated into the left camp of the new army, all of which served as horsemen and armor soldiers in the battalion.

When the generals of each battalion saw that there were two more Ming commanders to vote, everyone was happy, and the atmosphere of the banquet became more and more enthusiastic.

Only Chen Yongfu and Chen De and his son looked indifferent and were not too happy.

In the battle of attacking Xinzhou, Chen Yongfu killed Liu Zhaoji, which was a great achievement, and Li Zicheng only rewarded him with some money, so he had nothing to say. In this reorganization, the right battalion of the new army also has the least number of troops and generals, and the number of troops allocated is also the least, which is clearly Li Zicheng deliberately suppressing himself.

"Alas!"

It's just that Chen Yongfu understands that he has no other choice but to bear these silently.

After three rounds of drinking, Li Zicheng picked up his wine glass and said loudly: "Tomorrow, another batch of money, food, and military equipment will arrive, and Mr. Li will be responsible for distributing it. ”

"Yes!"