In Jinan, in the Marshal's Mansion, Xu Zengshou and Liu Ziguang made concessions to each other. In the end, Marshal Xu reluctantly took the seat. Liu Ziguang added a chair next to the Marshal's seat and sat down, and began to hand over the defense.
Due to the tense war, the handover ceremony was simple and rapid. After the handover, Liu Ziguang became the military and political leader of Jinan. Xu Zengshou's luggage was already prepared and he immediately left Jinan and rushed to Beijing to take office.
The road from Jinan to Beijing was long, and the Qing army's cavalry was everywhere. Xu Zengshou didn't have Liu Ziguang's courage, but he couldn't mobilize Jinan's soldiers, so he could only go with his bodyguard. Liu Ziguang was considerate and allocated 3,000 troops to escort Marshal Xu to Hebei.
The border was then taken over by Mr. Jing and escorted all the way to Beijing. Xu Zengshou was moved without having to worry about being attacked. Jinan civil and military officials sent him to a pavilion ten miles outside the city and watched the team go away before returning to the city.
Three days after the new official took office, Liu Ziguang did not even return to his house in Baotuquan, but directly gathered the generals in the commander's mansion to discuss matters. These generals left by Yuan Chonghuan were no strangers to Liu Ziguang. Liu Ziguang was with them as a militiaman in the iron factory.
They have worked together, and thanks to their care of Liu Ziguang's property in Shandong, they also hold Liu Ziguang's shares, and the annual dividend alone is tens of thousands of taels, so the relationship is quite good.
But Liu Ziguang knew that these people were no better than the men of the Red Shirt Army. They were all veterans of the army. He could not suppress them without showing some style and means, so he changed into robes with crowns and belts in the back hall and came out, wearing bright red embroidered gold.
Sitting in a python robe, wearing a black gauze on his head, and sitting in the hall with majesty, he is completely different from the ninth-grade commander who used to hang out in Jinan.
Generals such as Zu Dashou, Man Gui, Zhao Lejiao, He Kegang, and Niu Yong were the pillars of the Shandong Army. The predecessor of the Shandong Army was the world-famous Xuzhou Army. At that time, the imperial court's sphere of influence was only Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huaihai, and the Xuzhou Army was the only one to win.
As a result, these soldiers had a transcendent status, often formed gangs, and despised civilian officials. After retaking Shandong, each one seemed to regard themselves as a hero and had full self-confidence. After Yuan Chonghuan left again, no one could control them and seize territory.
, occupying the land industry, Shandong was economically controlled by Liu Ziguang, but except for Qingdao, politics and military affairs were all controlled by this group of military leaders.
Shandong was the front line, and the imperial court did not dare to mess around. It could only win over these generals. The decrees of Shandong Governor Ruan Dacheng could only be passed in the governor's yamen. No one recognized him after leaving the yamen. Over time, these generals became more and more popular.
He became more and more arrogant, and no longer practiced military training. He only focused on amassing money all day long.
I was used to being free and loose, and suddenly a commander-in-chief came to lead the entire army. Naturally, everyone was angry. It doesn’t matter who you are, the Duke or the uncle of the country. If you don’t serve me, you won’t serve me. Although Xu Zengshou is hereditary,
The Duke has a good title, but he has never been a high-ranking official with real power. Even the later Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies only had a false title, so he lacked the skills to control his subordinates. There was no way to deal with these generals. The failure of the Shandong War was half to blame.
Such people don't listen to orders.
Xu Zengshou left in despair, but Liu Ziguang came. The generals had complicated feelings towards Liu Ziguang. They had watched this newly rising upstart in the court grow up. Earlier, Liu Ziguang was just a servant of the Liguo Iron Works.
Everyone knows this. When Liu Ziguang followed the second lady Peng Jingwei in a gang fight in Xuzhou Mansion, it was Niu Yong who helped settle the matter. Later, Liu Ziguang had a conflict with Ruan Dacheng's brother-in-law and killed more than a hundred people on the Bingbei Road. These are the same
The generals were covering him up. Speaking of which, they were kind to Liu Ziguang.
Later, Liu Ziguang went to Beijing to heal his wounds, and actually took the emperor's advice. He united with the Donglin Party to overthrow the eunuch Houdang.
Friends, there are generous gifts during every year and festival. These generals are also very proud of Liu Ziguang and often brag in front of others: Do you know Marquis Zhenwu? He was my younger brother who used to hang out with me.
The general trend of the world now is different from that of three years ago. Fujian and Taiwan have returned to the Ming Dynasty. The separatist state of Huguang and Jiangxi has also ended. The reform of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Sichuan is also in progress. In addition to the imperial guards in Beijing, there are also
Huguang and Henan recruited local braves, organized and trained the Beiyang and Nanyang naval divisions in Shandong and Guangzhou and Quanzhou, and Liu Ziguang's brave and capable Red Shirt Army. The dependence on the Shandong Army was greatly reduced. The generals did not say it, but they were still a little disappointed in their hearts.
of.
Now Liu Ziguang comes alone to take over the Shandong armies, which has caused greater emotional harm to the military leaders than when Xu Zengshou came to be the commander-in-chief. Xu Zengshou was a majestic Duke of the country and the commander-in-chief of the five armies could not suppress them, let alone those who once had a low status.
Where is Liu Ziguang?
Looking at Liu Ziguang, who was wearing a python robe with grace and grace, the generals exchanged meaningful glances with each other and remained silent to see how Liu Ziguang would start.
Liu Ziguang naturally knows what these people are thinking. He is not good at politics and is used to cutting through troubles quickly when encountering problems. But he cannot do this now. The Shandong Army is all composed of generals. Any general who is moved will cause a mutiny. North China
There are only three forces in the region, the Red Shirt Army and the puppet armed Jing**. The first two have other important responsibilities. The task of eliminating the stubborn enemies in Shandong lies entirely on these people. At this time, stability must be the priority.
Liu Ziguang glanced around and said: "Every general has been kind to Zi Guang. Zi Guang has never thanked him in person. This time I have the honor to come to Jinan to control the armies. I take this opportunity to thank you all in advance." After speaking, he stood up.
Bow to the end.
Seeing that Liu Ziguang did not dare to show off in front of them, everyone felt much more comfortable. They also stood up and returned the greeting: "Whatever the Marquis says, it's all from my own family, so you're being polite."
Liu Ziguang chuckled and talked about some past events to stir up the atmosphere at the scene. Everyone was immersed in the glorious history of defeating the Qing army, chatting and laughing, forgetting all the defeats in recent months.
Recalling the past, it was inevitable to look forward to the future. Liu Ziguang gradually brought the topic to the current situation. He did not mention the war, but only asked how much money everyone could make every year. After everyone hesitated for a long time, they said that if they made enough money, they would earn ten or twenty dollars every year.
Ten thousand taels of silver, this figure is basically real. The prefect of Qing Dynasty pays 100,000 taels of silver a year. Shandong is not as good as Jiangnan, and its foundation is still relatively weak. Liu Ziguang's filial piety and some free allowances, it is only about 150,000 taels per year.
, as a general military officer who leads the army, the money is neither too much nor too little.
Liu Ziguang chuckled and said, "Everyone's life is really miserable. Ziguang is not talented, so I want to help you find some ways to make money."
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this, and they all asked Liu Ziguang if he had any good ideas. A pre-war dispatch meeting turned into a wealth-making seminar. However, no one felt anything wrong. Instead, they were enthusiastic and looked at Liu Ziguang with eager eyes.
.
Liu Ziguang smiled slightly: "It's simple. We have territory, soldiers and horses, and money will naturally roll in. Let's not talk about Shandong. It is already in everyone's pocket. Although it is temporarily occupied by the old thief Hong, it will be ten times to take it back."
It only takes a day and a half, we have to take a longer view. Large tracts of land in Hebei, Shanxi, Mongolia, and Liaodong are waiting for us. Ziguang doesn't have a big appetite. He is satisfied with Beijing and Tianjin in his hands. Others
The generals will divide the prefectures and counties."
This makes sense. A large area of land symbolizes a lot of money, piles of black gauze hats, more troops, and countless beautiful girls. As long as Hong Chengchou is eliminated, these will not be a dream. The imperial court placed on the northern battlefield
The army originally regarded the Shandong Army as the leader and the Red Shirt Army as the exception. The task of occupying Hebei and Shanxi was given to them. It was because they failed to live up to expectations that the Red Shirt Army took the lead. Now Liu Ziguang is willing to give them the general credit.
There is no reason why everyone should not be tempted.
But how can Hong Chengchou be so easy to deal with? This old thief was a commander of the Ming army. He was familiar with all the operations and combat characteristics of the Ming army. He had powerful elites of the Qing army at his disposal. Don't look at Liu Ziguang's red shirt army who fought and won in succession.
The fact that Shanhaiguan, Tianjin and Beijing were defeated was not because the Shandong battlefield held back the main force of the Qing army. After all, half of the victory of the Red Shirt Army was due to the Shandong Army.
Liu Ziguang is very powerful. He recaptured Taiwan, pacified Huguang and Jiangxi, raided Shanhaiguan, and airborne into Beijing. However, these battles were all won by overwhelming force superiority or technological superiority. There is nothing strange about it. Anyone here can do it, except for using artillery shells.
Throw it at the top? They didn't think about it. They had quite a few firearms in their hands, but why they kept losing in battles.
Liu Ziguang was not sure. After all, the Shandong Army was not his red shirt army. The generals did not know the soldiers and the soldiers did not know the generals. This battle was a bit mysterious. However, he thought that his tactical thinking had entered the age of firearms and was better than that of an old army like Hong Chengchou.
It is much more advanced. Although the firearms and equipment ratio of the Shandong Army is not as high as that of the Red Shirt Army, it is still very high. There are at least five firecrackers in a shed of soldiers, and there are 20 cannons in an infantry camp. If the firepower is concentrated, the effect will definitely be stronger.
for dispersed use.
These are all things for later. The first thing to do is to boost everyone's fighting spirit. Liu Ziguang patted his chest and promised that as long as everyone obeyed the order, he would lead everyone to achieve the prestige of the Xuzhou Army in the past, avenge the past humiliation, and be promoted and make a fortune.
The generals were moved by Liu Ziguang's words, and they all said that they would hit wherever the commander pointed. Liu Ziguang was very satisfied, and ordered a large banquet to be held to reward the three armies, and they would go out of the city to fight tomorrow.