Liu Ziguang met the main force of his Red Shirt Army near Mianchi County. After joining forces, the army marched eastward to Luoyang and set up camp in this famous ancient city.
When the local officials learned that Zhenwu Marquis had arrived, they immediately went out to welcome him. The servile servants said that they had prepared a mansion and fine wine in the city to wait for the general who conquered the west. However, Liu Ziguang ignored them at all and sent them back with a few casual words.
When they camped outside the city, the soldiers did not enter the city to harass them. They only sent some cooks to buy fresh meat and vegetables in the city. They paid the real price and never defaulted on credit, let alone forced purchases.
The common people were so frightened when they saw the army crossing the border that they were waiting to take shelter with their families to clear the country. Seeing that this army did not commit any crimes, they were immediately confused. After asking about it, they found out that it was the famous red shirt army. They immediately
Taking the only egg white noodles at home, he went to express his condolences to the army, and also asked if his son could have food to serve as a soldier.
The Red Shirt Army has a very good reputation. On the one hand, Qiu Wuwu violated military discipline and strict military discipline. Liu Ziguang attached great importance to military-civilian relations. In local operations, he strictly followed the Yue Family Army's standards of "freezing to death without demolishing houses, starving to death without beating and kidnapping" and harassing the people.
All should be beheaded, without ambiguity.
When the Red Shirt Army captured wealthy cities such as Tianjin and Beijing, they did not engage in plundering. Now that they have come to Luoyang, a city that has suffered from banditry and poverty, they will not have any evil thoughts. Even if they let them rob, they will probably not be interested in it.
, because the military pay and treatment of the Red Shirt Army are so generous. And this is one aspect of the Red Shirt Army's famous reputation.
Nowadays, it is not only the children of Shandong Province who are actively participating in the Red Shirt Army. Young people from Hebei, Shanxi, Henan and even Jiangnan and Huguang are eager to join the Red Shirt Army to eat food and serve as soldiers.
The salary of thirty taels of silver is simply more than the chief bookkeeper in the county earns, and he has a good reputation. The saying that a good man should not be a soldier and a good man should not make nails is completely invalid here. If any family has a son who wears
The red robe is even more glorious than being a scholar. The villagers come to congratulate them with eggs, pig heads and white wine. Matchmakers from several nearby villages will also break the threshold. This is not only true for country people, but also for scholars in the city.
The same is true for gentlemen. I heard that there are hundreds of young masters in the capital, who have become soldiers in the red shirt army without giving up the future of the Jinshi they obtained.
In short, the name of the Red Shirt Army was quite popular in the Ming Dynasty. Luoyang people would not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thousands of villagers gathered at the gate of the Red Shirt Army camp, hoping that a recruiting flag could be erected in the camp.
, but they were disappointed after a few days. The army had no intention of recruiting troops in Luoyang, they just stopped here.
During this time, Liu Ziguang and the generals have been busy formulating combat plans. A huge sand table model is placed in the commander's account. The terrain from Henan to Shaanxi and from Shaanxi to Shanxi is clear at a glance. The mountains, rivers and plains are clear and very intuitive.
The staff officers were busy calculating around the sand table and revising the battle plan every day.
The troops are not idle either. The advanced classes in the martial arts hall are mobile teaching, and the classroom is located in the military camp. The trainees and veterans live, train, and march together. In addition, they work as orderlies in the command post and watch the officers busy here and there.
You can also learn something through exposure.
Ordinary soldiers just run, carry stone locks, aim and shoot, or wear protective gear and fight each other. Anyway, they are not allowed to leave the camp to cause trouble.
After a few days, it seemed that the officers had made a plan. The recruiting flags were indeed raised in the camp. The farm men waiting outside immediately swarmed up, showing off their strong arms and arms in the cold weather.
Chest, and said: "We are all serious farmers. Governor Yuan didn't sign up to recruit troops, so we are just waiting to become Marshal Liu's soldiers."
But the commander in the camp said that the recruits this time were not red-shirted regular soldiers, but civilian men with no combat missions. However, the pay was just as generous, and they could be detained for ten taels a month! This was a big sum in Henan, so
The young men all pouted with unhappy expressions on their faces, but they still nodded and said: "People are like people, hit the mark!"
It didn't matter as soon as this opening was opened, more than 10,000 civilians were recruited in one day, all of them were honest and willing villagers. When the Luoyang prefect heard about the recruitment of troops in the camp, he also brought a dozen relatives and children to see Zhenwuhou.
He hoped that the Marquis would be able to open up the situation and allow his son-in-law to have the opportunity to serve the country. Liu Ziguang originally wanted to reject it equally, but then he thought that the request was not too much, so he reluctantly accepted it and let them go to Zhending Mansion as infantry first.
He studied in the junior class at the Xuetang Academy (the predecessor of Shijiazhuang Army Academy), and only officially joined the army after completing his studies.
The prefect of Luoyang was very happy. He understood that the purpose of entering the school was to become an officer in the future. It was really touching that the dignified marquis took such good care of himself as a small prefect. Liu Ziguang naturally accepted the next request, which was to establish a military base in Luoyang.
Military depots and the transfer of logistics supplies all require strong cooperation from the local government.
The Red Shirt Army came from Hebei. When they crossed the Yellow River, they used a pontoon bridge built by the navy. This pontoon bridge was connected by dozens of flat-top boats. The ships belonged to the inland river navy of the Red Shirt Army. This was a force
A powerful transport force, it is also a combat force. The Central Plains water network, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River Grand Canal, and various lakes are all places where the navy can play its role. These ships are different from sea-going ships in that they have shallow drafts and narrow widths. They can use sails or sails.
A steam engine propeller is used, which can be tied when necessary, and a long rope is pulled by a tracker.
The plan put forward by Zhou Peigong was to enter Shaanxi by water. To the north of Tongguan is the middle reaches of the Yellow River, with high mountains and canyons, and fast currents. It is impossible to cross by boat, let alone building a bridge, so Tongguan can become a natural danger that no one can overcome.
The Xixia people cannot cross the Yellow River, so can the Red Shirt Army? The answer is of course, because the Red Shirt Army has a powerful robot boat that can fight against the power of nature. The army and baggage rode the robot boat upstream and entered the Wei River from the Yellow River.
If they penetrate directly into Weinan and Chang'an, they will definitely be able to win by surprise and regain Guanzhong.
During this period, in addition to supervising his staff to draw up specific plans, Liu Ziguang spent most of his energy on telegraph wars with the imperial court. What he wanted to fight for was the right to use the Western Regions Good News Fund. Fighting a war would cost a lot of money. He could just use his own private money.
No, but Yuan Chonghuan was also sending telegrams to urge military pay. The Western Army spent as much money as the Red Shirt Army.
As for the fact that General Zhengxi and the Governor-General and the three military affairs masters had parted ways, Liu Ziguang and Yuan Chonghuan had a tacit understanding and did not mention it. They were just fighting for financial power. There were people in the court who could speak for everyone. The opinion of the Donglin cabinet was that financial power was the most important thing.
It was used by Governor Yuan, and the rules of controlling military force with literature should not be broken. Song Yingxing, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and some people from the Sixth Section advocated that the financial power should be given to Liu Ziguang, because he was good at purchasing ordnance and knew what to buy. Of course, this opinion still exists
There was no market for the eloquence of Donglin's heroes. At the critical moment, Huang Xiaotian, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, turned against him and spoke for Liu Ziguang, which eventually led to the introduction of a plan to separate financial power. The imperial salary was 37%, Liu Ziguang 30%, and Yuan Chonghuan 70%.
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Looking at this final answer, Liu Ziguang really didn't know what to say. The 30% of the silver would not only give Huang Xiaotian a part of the rebate, but also require a part of "reasonable loss" during the distribution and transportation process. There would be very little in hand. If it were used in general
The army of cold weapons is enough, and it is nothing more than two large pieces of military pay, food and grass. But with such money-burning masters as the Red Shirt Army, the military pay cannot be maintained for a few months, let alone the purchase of expensive weapons and ammunition.
, it looks like I have to pay to fill this hole again.
War is the most expensive thing in the world, and it is also the most profitable thing. Liu Ziguang is the best at this. Looking at the sand table model, he fixed his eyes on the narrow Jinzhong Plain between the Taihang Mountains and Luliang Mountains.
Up here, this is a fat and oily place. Shanxi merchants are very good at doing business. They started doing business outside of the mouth decades ago. They have contacts with the Mongols and the Manchus. After the fall of the Northern Ming Dynasty, Shanxi
With the Qing government's special care, industry, agriculture, and commerce have developed rapidly, and their wealth is comparable to that of Jiangnan. Among them, the Dadexing Bank has a fortune of tens of millions, echoing the Rishengchang in the south, and is between them.
It was Liu Ziguang's strategy to keep Shanxi alive. Only in this way could the north continue to use troops, and the Red Shirt Army would not be dismantled. Now it seems that the time has come for the Manchu Qing's exiled small court to be destroyed. This time, with the help of
When the troops left Guanzhong, they went north from Guanzhong, along Yuncheng and Linfen, and headed straight to Taiyuan Prefecture. This was a long and narrow plain area, which allowed the Red Shirt Army to take advantage of its firepower and seize Shanxi, a large amount of wealth and the Jinzhong Plain.
The human and material resources can be used as much as possible. It is really a good way to support war with war.
The army rested in Luoyang for a month. The main force of the river fleet was finally mobilized. Twenty steam engine-driven paddle boats and hundreds of canals specially used to transport supplies on the canal arrived eighty miles north of Luoyang.
On the surface of the Yellow River, there is a large lake with open terrain. Ten thousand civilians have built docks and barracks. From now on, this will be the forward base of the Red Shirt Army.
Along with this came a battalion of Navy Bu Yong who were familiar with landing warfare, a battalion of Green Hat mercenaries from the China Merchants Bureau, and a red-shirted Air Force unit. Tens of thousands of troops gathered on the pier, and hundreds of boats competed on the lake.
Several airships were parked quietly. Soldiers, war horses, vehicles, cannons, ammunition and supplies were being loaded calmly. The steamships had begun to light fires and warm stoves, and the first wave of fleets was ready to set off at any time.
At the same time, the Tongguan camp finally received money from the court. Even the Western Army under the command of Governor Yuan could not avoid the fate of being deducted at all levels. Five hundred thousand taels of silver were allocated from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and they were waiting for them when they arrived at Tongguan.
We spent forty to fifty thousand taels, and then the commander withdrew part of it as mobility funds, and the generals and battalion officers at all levels took some slack, and very little was distributed to the soldiers. But at last, I got the money and became a soldier.
Their morale was slightly boosted, and the camp stewed pork and brewed strong wine. After three days of feasting, the army finally set off from the west gate of Tongguan and began the second western expedition.