The Hanzhong elite led by Yang Zhi went to Zhaozhou to join Guan Sheng, Zongze, Yue Fei and others.
As for Li Bao's elite troops from Kuizhou, a small number were taken to Denglai by him, while most of them went to Shenzhou and returned to Ju Ming's command.
In addition, the firearms troops used by Yang Zhi to attack Xixia had returned to the capital at the beginning of the year. Together with the firearms troops and heavy-armored guards from the capital, they were dispatched to Shenzhou and placed under Ju Ming's command.
At present, Ju Ming has 3,000 heavy armored infantry, 6,314 musketeers, 210 iron cannons of various types, 9,000 Kuizhou elites, 7,200 Hebei Eight-Character Army, and 6,000 temporarily recruited rural soldiers (the rural soldiers are mainly used to defend the city)
.
These are just combat soldiers, not counting the logistics auxiliaries (all regular logistics personnel, who also receive military pay in peacetime).
All the musketeers are here, and Ju Ming's expectation is that there will be five thousand. Ordnance factories in various places are rushing to work, and under the premise of ensuring quality, they have produced more than a thousand fire muskets than expected.
Don't think that the manufacturing speed of muskets is too slow. Cannons are also being built at the same time. Moreover, cannons are built first. Both the navy and navy are equipped with many iron cannons.
Although the musket is brand new, the musketeer has been practicing for half a year.
Soldiers are recruited first, and two or three people use one gun and take turns to conduct shooting training while waiting for new guns to be delivered for equipment.
Some muskets were fired too many times and were even eliminated early.
In addition, since Zhong Xiang has been destroyed, 30,000 new troops from Huainan and 10,000 new troops from Zhejiang have been dispatched to the north. They are currently heading north along the canal.
Cao Cheng, Yang Zaixing and other rebel leaders, as well as Yang Hua, Chen Xin, Li Herong and other Puppet Chu surrender generals, were allowed to select 300 soldiers each and organize them into Huainan. The Zhejiang troops would serve as generals and rush to Hebei to fight without stopping -
To put it bluntly, it was to transfer them away from their hometowns so that the imperial court could digest the Hunan territory more quickly.
The original generals they replaced were converted into Hunan local military attachés to strengthen the imperial court's control over Hunan.
"The Jin people have increased their troops again, and the general in charge is Wanyan Yanmu." Wang Yan held out the intelligence he had just received with both hands.
Ju Ming took it over, looked at it, and said with a smile, "Excellent."
As the Ming Dynasty's military strength in Shenzhou continued to increase, and it was unabashedly arrogant, the Jin Kingdom also increased the Yongning Army's strength accordingly, and even Wanyan Yan's mother came with the Jurchens for reinforcements.
It is unclear whether this battle was a southern invasion by the Jin Kingdom or a northern expedition by the Ming Dynasty.
The military strength of the Ming Dynasty was obviously greater than that of the Jin Kingdom, and it was actively attacking in more than one place.
"Your Highness, there is an urgent message from the Marshal's Mansion!" Bai Sheng came over with the messenger.
After Zhu Ming read it, he said to Fu Zhirou: "Okay, I'll sign and seal it."
But it was a month ago that Yao Pingzhong led troops to reinforce Zhang Guangdao. Zhang Guangdao, who had received additional troops, decided to change Ju Ming's plan and requested to actively fight in Shanxi, and explained his reasons.
The general is outside, and military orders are not obeyed.
Ju Ming understood this, as long as the frontline generals reported it in time.
Compared with Li Bao's jump, Zhang Guangdao is still very calm, and Ju Ming is not worried about the situation in Shanxi.
After all, in addition to the elite soldiers of Sichuan and Yao Pingzhong, Zhang Guangdao also had Guo Yaoshi. The main cavalry of the Ming Dynasty was also with Zhang Guangdao. The heavy armored cavalry had been expanded to one thousand, and the armored cavalry had also been expanded to five thousand.
Why was the Ming Dynasty’s treasury empty?
First, the people's livelihood in the country inherited from the Song Dynasty was in decline, and second, the army was expanded too much and they continued to fight. The thousands of cavalry in Shanxi were a waste of money, and a large number of firearms troops were also needed.
Zhu Ming led his army to camp on the south bank of the Tang River, facing Wanyan's mother's army across the river.
He stationed his troops here and was not in a hurry to cross the river because he still had to wait for Li Yanxian's cavalry to arrive.
If you don't have enough cavalry, you can only defeat the enemy, but you won't be able to annihilate a large number of the enemy's effective forces.
In late September, a decisive battle was about to break out in Shanxi, and Li Yanxian finally brought five thousand cavalry.
They are all brave cavalry, all with green and green horses.
The composition of the soldiers was relatively complex, with more than 3,000 Han Chinese from Shaanxi, the rest from the Tubo and Uighur ethnic groups in the Hehuang area, and even more than 200 soldiers from Xixia.
Their armor weighed about forty pounds, and their war horses also had simple leather armors.
The Shaanxi cavalry who came from afar had rested for three days. Ju Ming was waiting to cross the river to besiege the city. The reconnaissance sentry who had previously crossed the river rushed back.
He also brought back a bloody messenger, who said angrily: "Wanyan Zongwang is here... Yan Tongpan, County Magistrate Li... and many officials have been killed..."
Ju Ming said expressionlessly: "Take him down for treatment."
Opening the letter and reading it, it was a letter written by Li Chi, the magistrate of Boye County.
In the first half, it is said that there is a traitor who has informed the enemy, and Wanyan Yan's mother is tracking down the internal agents. In the second half, it is said that Wanyan Zongwang personally led reinforcements, and the elite Jin soldiers were ambushing in the mountainous area on the border between Qizhou and Yongning armies.
It seems that the Jin people are massacring Yongning military officers and officials. Not only are the righteous men who contacted the Ming Dynasty in danger, but they may also prefer to kill many innocent people by mistake.
There was no anger on Ju Ming's face, and he only said to Bai Sheng: "Send a message to Zhaozhou, asking them to stop defending the city and try to send troops to attack the puppet capital of the Song Dynasty. Wanyan Zongwang may be on my side, but he can be there at any time.
Maybe go back and ask them to use their troops boldly and be careful."
After saying that, he issued an order: "Send a message to the main force in Shandong and ask them to cross the Yellow River immediately and attack the cities in Hejian Prefecture."
…
Zhendingfu, the capital of the pseudo-Song Dynasty.
The two prime ministers Huang Qianshan and Zhang Bangchang are discussing secretly.
They seemed to have tested each other a long time ago, and now they spoke without any scruples.
After making sure that no one was eavesdropping nearby, Huang Qianshan sighed: "Wanyan Zongwang is a barbarian after all. No matter how much he reads Confucianism, he is still a barbarian. He issued an order to shave off hair and make people easy to obey. We tried hard to persuade him, but we had to force him to rebel."
Only the people are willing to give up. Nowadays, in order to fight the war, we have excessively raised taxes, and even the country gentry wants to betray their money. How can these practices last long?"
Zhang Bangchang said: "I have said before that the official family of the Song Dynasty is still there, how can we establish a new court? If you don't listen, you will create a Song Dynasty in this Zhending Mansion."
"You are blaming me now?" Huang Qianshan said angrily, "His Majesty was captured at that time, and the Supreme Emperor was in the southeast. What else can we do if we don't establish a new king? Is there a place for us in the new Ming Dynasty? The Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, Shangshu, is a Most of them have grudges against you and me!"
Zhang Bangchang said: "I am going to Hangzhou to join the Emperor. You must persuade me to stay in Zhending!"
"What's the use of surrendering to the Supreme Emperor? The small southeastern court disappeared last year." Huang Qianshan replied.
"It's all nonsense to say that now," Zhang Bangchang said anxiously, "Wanyan Zongwang left with his elite troops, and only Liu Yanzong was left in Zhending Mansion to lead the army. His subordinates were all Han soldiers, Xi soldiers, and Bohai soldiers. They were definitely not as good as the Jurchen soldiers. In a war, if the Ming army comes to attack, can it be defended?"
Huang Qianshan muttered: "If we don't go out to fight, Zhending City is impregnable and we should still be able to hold on. I'm afraid that Liu Yanzong will be arrogant and go out to fight with the Ming army. If he loses, he will be in danger of destroying the city."
Zhang Bangchang said: "It's better...it's better to contact Zongze secretly and say that I am willing to serve as an internal response. Then secretly contact some officials. If Zhending Mansion cannot be defended, we will use fire as a signal to help the Ming army attack the city."
Huang Qianshan shook his head and said: "It's too dangerous. You can't connect indiscriminately. If the news leaks out, you and I will die. What's more, even if we help the Ming army break the city, I'm afraid there won't be a good end for you and me. Only this Zhending Fucheng will... I don’t know how many people are looking forward to killing you and me.”
Zhang Bangchang gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "When the city is destroyed, you can convince the Imperial City guards to capture the little emperor and sacrifice it to the Ming Dynasty! Sacrifice the false emperor, this great achievement is enough to save your life."
"You must also be prepared," Huang Qianshan said. "If there is a chance to escape, protect the little emperor and escape. Whether you escape to Yanshan Mansion or to the hinterland of the Jin Kingdom, as long as the Jin Kingdom is not destroyed, you and I will still have it." Utilize value.”
The two of them had a simple idea, just to save their lives.
To put it bluntly, I am afraid of death. Living is more important than anything else. I can put my family, country and world aside.
Moreover, they all despised the barbarians of the Jin Kingdom and were willing to give advice when faced with outrageous political orders, such as preventing them from shaving their hair and changing clothes. But they just gave casual advice and did not dare to say anything more for fear of offending the Jin people and putting their lives in danger. .
Generally speaking, they spend most of their time just lying around and getting by just by making a little money.
The one who really actively committed a traitor was Liu Yu. Historically, this man lured Guan Sheng to surrender to the Jin Kingdom, and later became the puppet emperor of Qi.
In this time and space, because Ju Ming besieged Tokyo and Shandong was full of bandits, Liu Yu was trapped in Hebei without abandoning his official position and escaping. He was the punishment envoy of Hebei at the time. When the Jin people supported the puppet emperor, he surrendered to the Jin Kingdom without any psychological burden. He is currently serving as Privy Councilor of the Pseudo-Song Dynasty.
In order to please the Jin Kingdom, Liu Yu actively promoted various political decrees.
The Jin people asked him to shave his hair and change clothes, so Liu Yu took the initiative to shave his own hair and asked his officials to set an example by shaving their hair and changing clothes.
The Jin people requested to recruit troops and collect grain, so Liu Yu ordered the local officials of the Song Dynasty to recruit rural soldiers and collect grain and grass within a specified date.
He also married his daughter to a Jin man as a concubine, and asked a Jin woman to be his wife.
Today, both father and son are officials in the Puppet Song Dynasty, and their actual power has exceeded that of Huang Qianshan and Zhang Bangchang.
"Father, can this golden soldier win?"
Ever since Wanyan Zongwang left with the main force, Liu Lin had become restless.
Mainly because the Ming Dynasty's fighting power was too strong. First, it forced Wanyan Zongwang to retreat, and then invaded Kaifeng and established a new dynasty. Six months later, it defeated Xixia and wiped out Song Huizong. These were far beyond the expectations of both father and son.
.
Until now, they still don't know that Zhong Xiang is gone.
According to the assumptions of Liu Yu, Liu Lin and his son, it would take at least three to five years for the Ming Dynasty to pacify the south. However, the Jin army was powerful and could go south at any time, so the Ming Dynasty would definitely be defeated if it was surrounded by enemies on three sides.
When the time comes, Liu Yu, as a die-hard traitor, will be able to kill Huang Qianshan and Zhang Bangchang, and secure his position as prime minister of the puppet Song Dynasty.
Liu Yu was not sure at all, so he comforted his son and said: "Don't panic, the Jin soldiers are invincible in the world. This time the whole country is marching south, and they will defeat Prince Zhu soon. When the time comes, we will return to Zhending and go south to conquer Zhaozhou."
, all the counties north of the Yellow River."
Liu Lin hesitated to speak. With what his father and son had done, they would definitely die if caught by the Ming Dynasty.
Huang Qianshan and Zhang Bangchang may both survive, but they and their son are not lucky enough. If they actively promote shaving their hair and changing clothes, they will die a hundred times.
This chapter has been completed!