Early on the next morning, an army marched out from the King's Army camp outside the capital city, escorting a long line of vehicles toward the northwest.
This army consisted of 300 cavalry troops directly under Ma Xianglin and 700 infantry troops under Zhang Fengyi, all under the orders of Zhongxing Hou Zhong Jinwei.
Yan Yingyuan originally wanted to follow Zhong Jinwei to protect him. After all, Zhong Jinwei did not have a personal guard around him. However, Zhong Jinwei refused. Zhong Jinwei hinted that his appointment would be announced soon and he would go to Dongjiang Town with Lu Xiangsheng.
He watched his brother-in-law go away and sighed in his heart: His sister was so lucky to find such a treasure in the palace.
Yan Yingyuan was not wrong. After Zhong Jinwei took up a high position, he not only did not forget Aqi, but also wrote to his sister several times. Moreover, because of the emperor's orders, he had to postpone the marriage, but he came to explain to him and wrote a letter to his sister.
Archie, it shows that Marquis Zhongxing is thinking about his sister.
Thinking of this, he also remembered that thanks to his sister, he got involved with Zhong Jinwei, and he would soon be granted a military Jinshi status by the emperor, and was given Jiutai, so he could make meritorious deeds.
The Yan family got to meet Zhong Jinwei, what a blessing the ancestors have accumulated! Yan Yingyuan sighed secretly.
Of course, he didn't know his own deeds in the original history. Even without his sister, Zhong Jinwei would still have promoted virtuous people for the country.
Lu Xiangsheng saw that Sun Chengzong had led the generals back to the camp, and that Zhong Jinwei's army had disappeared, but Yan Yingyuan was still watching. He joked and reminded him: "Liheng, Zhongxing Hou has gone far, don't look.
Now, your brother-in-law can’t run away, I can see that.”[
Lu Xiangsheng's words awakened Yan Yingyuan, who was deep in thought. He smiled sheepishly at Lu Xiangsheng, and then said: "Jiutai is joking, let's go back to camp, how about we study water warfare together?"
Lu Xiangsheng naturally knew about the appointment in advance. He smiled and said: "Okay, let's check the terrain of Liaodong and see how we can cooperate in the future."
In the convoy going away, Ma Xianglin and Zhang Fengyi rode beside a car, but there was no sign of Zhong Jinwei around them.
"The Marquis of Zhongxing is really busy. After returning from the victorious battle, he didn't sleep all night. Today he went out to the capital to do business under the emperor's orders." Zhang Fengyi said to her husband.
"Yeah, I really didn't expect those things to be made by Zhongxing Hou." Ma Xianglin also sighed.
He and Zhang Fengyi accompanied Zhong Jinwei to the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty, and then went to the cement factory non-stop to inspect the cement, glass and steelmaking conditions.
Seeing that Zhong Jinwei was able to speak eloquently to this person and make the other person nod repeatedly. I couldn't help but secretly admire that it was probably only during the founding of the country that there was such a capable person as Zhong Jinwei among the princes and generals.
He could see that not only did he admire Zhong Jinwei, but even the eunuch he used to look down upon, Gong An, who was in charge of the cement factory, also respected Zhong Jinwei and obeyed Zhong Jinwei's instructions.
After Zhong Jinwei finished arranging things at the cement factory, he returned to the Zhongxing Hou Mansion late at night.
Then he let himself go to rest, but he was busy in the study until dawn, and then sent people to deliver letters and memorials to the emperor. It was only now that he set off that he had time to catch up on his sleep in the carriage.
"Ms. sir, do you think we really have to escort military pay?" Zhang Fengyi had already noticed something was wrong and asked Ma Xianglin.
Ma Xianglin looked back at the vehicles, then shook his head and said: "Is there anyone who escorts the empty vehicles to pay the troops? Obviously there is something else to do, unless the military pay is not in the capital. But these are not important, we just need to obey the order of the Marquis.
Can."
The couple had long noticed that these vehicles were empty, and Zhongxing Hou must have had other important matters when he left Beijing in such a hurry.
When Marquis Zhongxing woke up, he would naturally tell them what they were going to do. Therefore, they were not in a hurry at all and just kept their heads down and were on their way.
In the camp of King Qin's army, where the Xuanfu army is located, the commander-in-chief Hou Shilu and his close guerrilla Kong Fang are discussing matters.[
"Commander, the imperial court has not paid my Xuanfu Army's military pay for several months. Marshal, you are here. Why doesn't the court directly pay you, Marshal?" Kong Fang has known since then that the white-pole army is
I went specifically to Jiubian Military Town to distribute military pay, so I had this doubt. I felt that the court didn't trust them, otherwise why bother?
Hou Shilu glanced at this confidant, feeling a little worried, and said in a low voice: "I think the court's rules for distributing military pay may be changed. And haven't you seen it, the vehicles in the white-pole army are basically empty."
"Well, why did the imperial court clearly say that there will be no military pay? If there is no military pay, wouldn't it be a slap in the face? The border has been waiting for so long and there is no military pay. Wouldn't it be a rebellion?" Kong Fang himself did not pay attention to the situation of the vehicles. Now he heard Hou Shilu
When you say this, it becomes even more confusing.
"I see how there is a hint of conspiracy in this. What is the court trying to do?" Hou Shilu also couldn't figure out where the military pay was when the court said it would issue military pay.
But no matter where the military pay is, since I said I would pay it, I will definitely pay it. The troops I left in Xuanfu are far less than the amount reported. If Zhongxing Hou went to pay the military pay, the secret would be exposed, and he would have to make up for it.
Just fine.
When Hou Shilu thought of this, he said to Kong Fang: "You don't have to wait here anymore, secretly rush back to Xuan Mansion and arrange everything so that Marquis Zhongxing will not discover the problem."
Kong Fang was a little hesitant and said unwillingly: "Commander, this court has not given rewards based on merit!"
When Hou Shilu heard this, his eyes widened and Kong Fang was startled.
He hurriedly changed his words: "Of course it is more important to return to the Xuan Mansion. As long as the commander-in-chief has merit, the benefits will always go to his subordinates."
When Hou Shilu heard Kong Fang's words, he felt good. He patted Kong Fang on the shoulder and said: "You have always been my confidant, and I never hide anything from you. Although many frontier troops are doing things about Xuanfu,
But it can’t be put on the table. If those things are known to the Marquis of Zhongxing and exposed, it will not be a joke. Do you understand?"
"I understand, of course I understand." Although Kong Fang was a little greedy and wanted to take the reward from the court first before talking about it, but when Hou Shilu said this, he also understood the importance and replied quickly.
There were many generals in the border army who had Hou Shilu's idea. All the generals in the border army who had a share of the army's pay secretly sent their cronies back.
In short, there is one principle: if Marquis Zhongxing should not be known, he must not be allowed to know. Because they know that Marquis Zhongxing cannot be bribed by them.
As for the other people in the Qinwang Army camp, including the majority of the soldiers, they were all looking forward to the relevant government offices in the imperial court to quickly accept the heads, and then wait for rewards based on their merits.
The people in the capital, whether they are princes or nobles or ordinary people, their focus these days is still on dealing with the aftermath of Jianlu's abuse.
The refugees who gathered in the capital began to return home one after another after the good news came. No matter what, home has always occupied a very important position in the hearts of the people. No matter what, as long as they have the slightest ability to return home, they will choose to go back.
Take a look at home.
The wave of refugees returning home affected the progress of road construction. Especially on the day after the Meridian Gate Prisoners' Offering, more people left. The road from the cement factory to the capital was only half-built, and many refugees fled.
After the issues were gathered to Xu Guangqi, Minister of Industry, a memorial was sent to Heaven to listen to the situation.
After Emperor Chongzhen learned about the matter, he decided to start the restructuring of the Beijing camp and convened the cabinet to start discussions on the same day.
The biggest vested interest in the Beijing camp has been eliminated in the assassination of Zhongxing Hou, and the other generals with interests who should be killed should be killed, and those who should be exiled should be exiled.
And new vested interests have not emerged yet. Although there are people who covet the flesh of Jingying, because Jingying has always been under the custody of military officials, there is no movement at all, and even if they want to reach out, they can't reach it.
Now that the emperor has proposed this plan to reorganize the Beijing camp, the interests that will be harmed are also the general soldiers, who have little to do with the cabinet, and basically no one among these ministers has vigorously opposed it.
Therefore, on the morning of the third day after Zhong Jinwei left the capital, the restructuring of the capital camp began.
The general soldiers of King Qin's army received the order, and the infantry troops gathered in a temporary camp, while the cavalry troops were not allowed to move without permission in the camp.
This temporary school ground was actually just a platform set up on a flat ground. Infantry troops from all walks of life drove in one by one, with designated personnel leading the way and standing at designated positions.
Although the infantry soldiers didn't know why the cavalry didn't go, they couldn't care less. It seemed that they had finally waited until merit was rewarded.
They followed the team happily one by one, chatting quietly, showing off their achievements, and discussing how much reward they would receive.
However, when they arrived at the gate of the school ground, they found a heavily armed White Guard soldier standing aside with solemn expressions, adding to the tense atmosphere.
After seeing this, the infantry soldiers did not dare to whisper to each other anymore and entered the scene in a well-behaved manner.
After about 200,000 infantry troops entered the field, the white-poled cavalry troops began to patrol between the various formations and no noise was allowed.
Not long after, Sun Chengzong led various generals to the temporary stand. However, he did not sit at the top position, but only sat on the lower chair in the middle.
The generals from all walks of life saw that no one was sitting in the most honorable seat. The only one who is more honorable than Sun Chengzong in the Ming Dynasty and might come to the school grounds is the current emperor. Is it possible that the emperor will come in person?
Sure enough, after Sun Chengzong sat down, he ordered his soldiers to send a message, saying that the emperor would come in person in a while to discuss his merits and reward him.
After receiving the order, Sun Chengzong's soldiers quickly walked to the side of the stage and conveyed Sun Chengzong's words to the waiting white-pole cavalry.
Upon hearing this, a group of cavalry with white poles waiting immediately separated and ran along the gap between the square formations while conveying: "Your Majesty, your Majesty is here in person to reward you based on your merits, Your Majesty!"
Suddenly, there was a "buzzing" sound in the temporary school grounds. The emperor came in person, and the scene was huge. No one thought that they would see the emperor in person in this life.
However, before they could start to get excited, the cavalry with white poles started running back again after passing the message, and at the same time issued an order to stop making noise.
If they were told not to make any noise before, and there were still some who were dissatisfied because they were the heroes who won the battle, now they heard the "no noise" order from the white-pole cavalry and immediately became agitated.
The infantry soldiers all had self-respect and wanted to leave a good impression on the emperor. The only sound left in the temporary school grounds was the sound of the flags blowing in the chilly spring breeze.
After waiting for about half an hour, the soldiers who had been eliminated began to feel a little unsteady.
At this time, the infantry soldiers saw that the generals at all levels on the stage, led by Sun Chengzong, got off the stage and headed towards the entrance of the school ground. They knew that the emperor had arrived, and they all looked towards the entrance.