Sun Chengzong also heard the news. He told Zhong Jinwei: "In July of the first year of Chongzhen, Xu Guangqi, then the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, reported to His Majesty that Li Fengjie and Wang Zunde from the Guangdong and Guangxi military gates were ordered to go to Macau to recruit artillerymen.
After several twists and turns, the deal was finally concluded and we set off from Guangzhou in February of the second year of Chongzhen."
Zhong Jinwei calculated that he would arrive at be jng only after setting off in February. This was too long, so he couldn't help but interrupt Sun Chengzong and asked: "It takes so long to come to the capital from Guangzhou?"
Sun Chengzong nodded and said: "It is true that the Hongyi gun was too heavy, so the trip was repeatedly delayed. It was not until October that we arrived in Jining, Shandong. Because the Cao River dried up, we had to change boats to land. And because the Jianlu invaded the capital, there was a delay.
It’s time.”
"Why not take the sea route and ship it directly to Tianjin? How fast is that!" Zhong Jinwei questioned.
"Marquis Zhongxing, don't forget that it's not safe at sea. This cannon has to travel by sea, and it might be given to pirates or Western barbarians." Sun Chengzong reminded.[
Zhong Jinwei sighed after hearing this: "It's really troublesome not to have control of the sea!"
Sun Chengzong also shook his head and sighed. The Ming Dynasty can't even take care of the land route now, so it can still take care of the sea route.
Zhong Jinwei wanted to talk to Sun Chengzong about the naval battle, but he felt that it was not the right time to talk about it now, so he had to hold it in. But he felt too bored, so he said goodbye to Sun Chengzong and went out for a walk, euphemistically calling it a patrol camp.
The supervisor army wanted to patrol the camp, and no one could stop it. What's more, Sun Chengzong had no intention of stopping it at all, leaving Zhong Jin to guard.
As soon as he left the camp tent, Li Laosi called the other guards over and followed Zhong Jinwei.
Gu Baichuan looked at Zhong Jinwei standing at the entrance of the camp and didn't move, so he asked: "Master Marquis, where are we going?"
Zhong Jinwei was just in a panic and came out to relax, not really patrolling the camp. So when he got to the door, he was in a daze.
Now when Gu Baichuan asked, he thought for a moment and said, "Let's go and see my brother-in-law. I haven't seen him for a long time. Let's go over and have a chat."
Gu Baichuan was used to Zhong Jinwei's unusual words and deeds. He, Wang Peng and Yan Yingyuan had shared life and death together. Zhong Jinwei proposed to go over and have a look, and he was happy to do so.
A group of them arrived at Lu Xiangsheng's camp and found that there were not many soldiers inside, and they had all been sent out to patrol.
But Lu Xiangsheng and Yan Yingyuan happened to be there. When they heard that the supervisors were coming to inspect the camp, they hurried out to greet them.
Lu Xiangsheng is still wearing the official uniform of a fourth-grade magistrate. In this military camp, he can be regarded as a special one like Zhong Jinwei.
Yan Yingyuan was born as a Jinshi in the military camp. He served as Lu Xiangsheng's deputy in the military camp. In fact, he was just the commander of Minzhuang, because the soldiers in Lu Xiangsheng's camp were not considered regular troops.
Zhong Jinwei saw that Lu Xiangsheng was still the same as before, tall and elegant, but Yan Yingyuan had changed. First of all, his injuries had healed, and after so many days in the military camp, he was more refined than before.
God.
After Lu Xiangsheng and Yan Yingyuan picked up Zhong Jinwei, they accompanied him to inspect the camp.
Zhong Jinwei actually didn't have much to patrol, he just walked and chatted with them.
Zhong Jinwei asked: "The decisive battle with the Jianlu in the pass is about to begin. What do Jiutai think?"
"Jianluo is poisoning the pass and threatening the capital. The court has delayed it till now and has to wait for the barbarians to arrive before ordering a decisive battle. I feel it is too cautious." Lu Xiangsheng already knew that Zhong Jinwei trusted him, so Zhong Jinwei asked him his opinion on the war.
At that time, I expressed the thoughts that had been hidden in my heart for a long time.
"Oh, what do you think we should do? Aren't you afraid that the army will be divided and lose the battle?" Zhong Jinwei didn't expect that Lu Xiangsheng had any objections, so he asked.[
"Supervising the Army, this is what I thought. In the past, the army was short of pay and food, so its morale was naturally low. The generals in the army controlled the pay and money, and paid some to the soldiers when they were used, and let them starve when they were not used. Morale,
The morale of the army is in the hands of the generals. If the generals have different intentions, the army they belong to will naturally be unreliable." Lu Xiangsheng carefully analyzed the situation in the army to Zhong Jinwei.
Everyone actually knows about these situations, so they dare not send out troops to fight the Jianlu before they are sure.
After hearing Lu Xiangsheng's analysis, Zhong Jinwei said: "I know this situation. This is also the main reason why the war has been delayed so far. Don't you think so?"
"Xiaoguan believed that when the imperial court began to pay King Qin's army, the chief officers assigned could seize or reduce the military power of the generals in various places and directly command the soldiers. It can be divided into two steps. First, pay enough to the soldiers;
In order to stabilize the morale of the army; secondly, the chief officer and the soldiers share the same clothes and food, and share the joys and sorrows to gain the morale of the army. If these two steps are done well, the army will be united and can fight the Jianlu." After Lu Xiangsheng finished speaking, he looked at Zhong Jinwei's
reaction.
Zhong Jinwei was still walking and listening at first. When he heard Lu Xiangsheng talking about strategies to stabilize and gain military morale, he stopped and turned to look at Lu Xiangsheng.
He remembered that in history, Lu Xiangsheng seemed to have led his troops in this way, so in a short period of time he built a powerful army in the late Ming Dynasty, the Tianxiong Army. This army was not only powerful in combat, but also hardworking and hard-working.
Despite the lack of logistical supplies, they stayed by Lu Xiangsheng's side and were willing to die for Lu Xiangsheng. This can be seen from the fact that when Lu Xiangsheng died in battle, the soldiers were willing to die to protect Lu Xiangsheng's body and his posthumous reputation.
In addition, from another aspect, it can be proved that Lu Xiangsheng uniquely won the army's morale, that is, after Lu Xiangsheng died for the country, this Tianxiong army dispersed.
Zhong Jinwei wondered if it would be better than now if Lu Xiangsheng was given command of King Qin's army from the beginning.
After thinking for a while, I still shook my head secretly in my heart. When the situation was ruined before, it had to be suppressed by someone with high qualifications and prestige like Sun Chengzong to achieve the current situation.
If Lu Xiangsheng, a fourth-grade prefect with little reputation in military circles, had been appointed as commander-in-chief from the beginning, there might have been a falling out in the army before Lu Xiangsheng could take any measures.
Zhong Jinwei thought of this and said to Lu Xiangsheng: "What you said makes sense, but now that we have come to this point, don't think too much about it. I have recommended you to the emperor to clean up the mess left by Yuan Chonghuan on Pidao. Are you confident?
"
Lu Xiangsheng did not expect that Zhong Jinwei would appoint him as a high-ranking official in the military. Although he was forced by the current trend to give up martial arts and become a civil servant, he passed the Jinshi examination and became a civil servant. But in his heart, he still longed to fight on the battlefield and show his heart.
What I learned also allowed me to use my martial arts to gallop on the battlefield to serve the country and defend the people.
At that moment, Lu Xiangsheng raised his fists and saluted Zhong Jinwei and said: "I will definitely live up to my duty of supervising the army and let the Pidao army rise to build the rear."
Zhong Jinwei smiled and said, "Okay, I believe you."
Having said this, he looked at Yan Yingyuan who was watching the excitement, and then said to Lu Xiangsheng: "I will ask the emperor to let my brother-in-law continue to follow you and be your deputy, how about that?"
Yan Yingyuan was startled when he heard that he was mentioned at once and asked to follow Lu Xiangsheng.
However, these days he has been getting along with Lu Xiangsheng and has gained a profound friendship, because the two have the same desire to serve the country and the people, and their personal skills complement each other.
Lu Xiangsheng is good at gathering troops' morale and is good at close combat. But he is good at checking for leaks and filling gaps, and is good at long-range combat.
Of course, their friendship could improve so quickly because of Zhong Jinwei's relationship.
Now that Zhong Jinwei said that he would follow Lu Xiangsheng, he was obviously thinking about finding a good officer for himself, so in his heart, Yan Yingyuan was secretly grateful to this brother-in-law.
When Lu Xiangsheng heard what Zhong Jinwei said, he naturally had no objection. He was even very happy and thanked him repeatedly.
Zhong Jinwei smiled and said: "Jiutai, you don't need to thank me, I have selfish motives. In the future, there will be a world of naval warfare, and there will be naval forces on Pi Island. I want you to hand over the navy to him, so that he can have a happy life."
Opportunities can be put into practice. Of course, if he is incompetent, you should remove him and remove him. I have no objection. Also, if he violates military law, he should be dealt with how he should be dealt with. It cannot be because of my
Worry about relationships affects military morale."[
When Zhong Jinwei said this, he was actually not worried at all, because judging from Yan Yingyuan's historical performance, it was impossible to be that bad.
Lu Xiangsheng was a stern person. Hearing what Zhong Jinwei said, he nodded seriously.
Having said this, Zhong Jinwei started to walk forward again, and then said: "The naval battle mentioned just now reminds me. Master Sun should have allocated artillery to you. Let me see how you are training."