The north is baked by the scorching sun, while the south is plunged into the rainy season.
The continuous drizzle in Chengdu lasted for more than half a month, and almost half an inch was shaved off the entire Chengdu city wall, revealing its smooth appearance.
The rainwater circulated through the drainage ditch and finally entered the moat.
It seemed that the insects in the ditch of the house were washed into the river, and a fat fish jumped and swallowed it directly.
At this time, a soaring eagle cried out, grabbed it with its sharp claws, and flew into the ninth heaven.
The people crossing the river, holding umbrellas or wearing raincoats, looked eagerly at the scene and sighed one after another.
With the development of the Chengdu Plain, there are fewer and fewer wild animals. It is strange to see such a scene now.
"color--"
At the top of the city, a big man stood tall, wearing a tight-fitting uniform, revealing his general's belly and majestic body, with a little pride on his square face.
After the flying eagle caught the fish, it spun around in the sky a few times, then threw the fish directly on the brick surface, stood on the man's shoulder with disdain, and pecked its own feathers.
"Chief Soldier, your black wind is becoming more and more powerful and humane."
A soldier in military uniform next to him bowed slightly and said flatteringly, with a flattering look on his face.
Black Eagle glanced at the man and rolled his eyes in a circle, seeming to agree with this sentence.
Xiong Yinghao looked slightly satisfied, touched the feathers of the eagle on his shoulder and said proudly: "Did you know that this Hei Feng was caught from Heilongjiang? It costs no less than a thousand yuan each, and the best ones can't be bought without more than 8,000 yuan.
"
"Mine is a gift from General Bai Houye of Heilongjiang Province. It has come all the way here. It is the only one in Sichuan."
"I have been raising him for almost two years, and I am thinking of finding a female for him, otherwise I will be sorry for his bloodline!"
The two chatted freely, and after a while, a small soldier came: "General soldier, the governor's office has sent word that Futai wants to see you."
"I know." Xiong Yinghao said angrily: "It's really distracting."
There is no way, as the commander-in-chief, even if he is a high-ranking marquis, he can only obey the orders of the governor. This is the rule of officialdom.
When a person is in an officialdom, he cannot help himself.
When he arrived at the governor's office, he saw several generals, and the guerrillas had already arrived.
I saluted him politely as the commander-in-chief.
Different from the military household system of the previous Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty now fully implements the recruitment system, with the central camp being the Beijing camp and the local areas being patrol camps and border troops.
Patrol camps include 300 in counties and 500 in prefectures. Then there are patrols in water areas and passes.
The prefect, or prefectural patrol battalion, does not have command authority over the county patrol battalion, but only supervisory authority. This is to prevent local separatism.
As for the general soldiers, they are dispatched from the capital to the local area. They are basically held by nobles and nobles, and most of the people under their command are soldiers from the capital camp.
The smaller one is three thousand, the larger one is five thousand.
Generally speaking, the soldiers of the Beijing camp are stationed in provincial capitals or fortresses, and they are the local suppressing force.
Due to its proximity to Kang State, although Sichuan had eighty counties and nearly 30,000 patrol camps, it was actually unable to defeat the 5,000 people in the Beijing camp.
In terms of salary, the monthly salary of the patrol camp was only one silver yuan and half a stone of grain, while the monthly salary of the Beijing camp was two silver yuan, one stone of grain, and there was also a garrison subsidy of five silver cents, which was actually two and a half yuan.
The Beijing camp is 2.5 times the size of the patrol camp.
In terms of official rank, the troops in the Beijing camp are at the seventh rank, while the patrol camp can only be at the seventh or eighth rank. The soldiers in the Beijing camp are naturally half a rank higher.
With high salary, high official position and many opportunities, Jingying is enthusiastically sought after.
It is precisely because of this that the recruitment camps set up by the imperial court in various provinces are all overcrowded.
However, the service period of the Beijing camp is twenty years, that of the cavalry is only fifteen years, and that of the patrol camp is twenty-five years. It is a lifelong career, and you can go home to retire when you are old.
Moreover, the selection process for the Beijing camp was fierce. They were selected from the 25 provinces, governors, and general districts across the country. The competition was extremely fierce, with father and son losing out one after another.
The patrol battalion is selected from the whole province, and the officers have the right to recommend. There is a high chance of succession between father and son, and between brothers. It is also safe and suitable for a stable life.
Patrol battalions are basically local soldiers, and they can be separated from counties or prefectures at most. This is much better than Beijing battalions either going to the border or local garrison.
Although the salary of the patrol battalion is relatively low, it is much higher than that of other professions.
Therefore, the Beijing camp and the patrol camp each have their own advantages, and it basically depends on personal choice.
Subsidies outside of Beijing's salary are paid by local governments, which is also the key to the governor's control.
Therefore, in comparison, the garrison camp in Beijing and the patrol camp are opposite and compete with each other for money and food.
The governor has command authority over the patrol battalions and has jurisdiction and supervision over the garrison camps in Beijing. He can be said to be the highest military officer.
Chengdu City, where the provincial capital is located, governs Chengdu County and Huayang County. There are a total of 1,000 patrol battalions. They belong to the Fubiao Battalion under the governor and can be directly commanded.
Therefore, the commanders of these two battalions are not battalions, but guerrillas. The commander-in-chief is the staff general, second only to the commander-in-chief Xiong Yinghao.
Of course, there are also some people from the Sichuan Navy.
With this alone, Xiong Yinghao had to submit to the governor.
After a while, Sichuan Governor Yang Shengshi arrived.
Wearing a scarlet robe and a black gauze hat, he looks majestic and has official authority.
"The last general has seen Futai——"
The generals including Xiong Yinghao bowed down one after another.
"Get up! Sit down."
Yang Sheng sat upright with a smile on his face.
Everyone stood up and found a place to sit down.
"Everyone, I have called you here because a big event is about to happen and I have to do it for you."
Yang Sheng sighed and then started to talk.
It turned out that at this time Sichuan's reform of the country was in trouble.
In the prosperous times like Shaowu, military officers wanted to fight, but the most effective way for civil servants was to repatriate.
The four southwest provinces, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi, are competing to do this.
Yu Chenglong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, started to exterminate the Yao and Yi last year, and continued to collect grain from Guangdong, which can be said to be conscientious and conscientious.
The governor of Sichuan focused on those chieftains, such as Songpanwei (Jiuzhaigou) in the northwest.
There are five state-level chieftains and eighteen county-level chieftains in this area, which can be said to be the largest chieftain area in Sichuan.
Once it is completed, at least one prefecture and one million people will be added, and Sichuan will have ten more counties for nothing. In terms of money, food, population, and land, it will make a great contribution to Sichuan.
As a governor, doesn’t he have outstanding political achievements?
Therefore, it is necessary to use both coercion and coercion to directly capture the huge Songpan Guard. This is why Yang Sheng is anxious for the generals.
"Songpan may give in, but we have to prevent him from jumping over the wall."
Yang Sheng stroked his beard and said softly: "It is good for Sichuan to return Songpan to his hometown, but for you, how can it not be an opportunity to make meritorious deeds?"
"I will not hesitate to write to Your Majesty to report my merits."
At these words, not only the guerrillas and generals, but also Xiong Yinghao could not help but breathe heavily.
Although the meritorious service of exterminating the chieftains is not much, and it is difficult to be promoted, but the amount cannot be tolerated, and the gains can be considerable if the small amount is added up.
What's more important is that the chieftains are hereditary and they have accumulated a lot of wealth. They must have captured a lot. This is a good opportunity to make a fortune!
Everyone jumped for joy.
Xiong Yinghao patted his chest and said: "If Futai is interested, our soldiers from the Beijing camp will dare to be the vanguard."
"How can General Xiong be invincible if he is like this?" Yang Sheng said with a smile: "When I report to the imperial court, I will not miss the Beijing camp."
Although the governor has control over the local army, he must report it to the court for approval, otherwise he will use the army privately.
It was up to him to decide whether to obey the authority in urgent matters.
Xiong Yinghao returned to the mansion, he was in high spirits and his steps were much more cheerful.
At this time, the housekeeper suddenly whispered: "Master, a letter from the capital..."
"Yes!" Xiong Yinghao's expression changed, and he spread his hands and looked:
The heroic and virtuous brother personally opens...
"You go down!"
Xiong Yinghao walked into the study, spread out the letter with a serious face, and read it carefully.
After going back and forth two or three times, his mood dropped a lot.
A letter from Zhu Mou, the chief minister of the cabinet. What an honor is this?
However, its content made him extremely uncomfortable.
"Is Sichuan safe? I heard that the civil war in Kangxi is rising, and I am afraid that it will endanger Sichuan. As the commander-in-chief of Sichuan, I should investigate carefully and take precautions..."
Among the assistant ministers in the current cabinet, the first assistant Zhu Mou is not only a viscount, but also comes from a clan. He has always been close to nobles and has many contacts.
Among so many refined ministers, the slightly rough Zhu Mou was more popular among the nobles.
As early as last year, Xiong Yinghao couldn't bear his loneliness and wrote a letter to talk about the changes in Kangguo.
The defense force was strong, but the king of Kang was weak. In addition, Wei Zangguo was oppressed from abroad. It can be seen that Kang was suffering from domestic and foreign troubles, and his demise could only happen in the blink of an eye.
His letter this time was not intended to require him to take action, but to stir up internal strife in Kang State, thereby allowing Ming Dynasty to intervene and destroy his country.
To put it bluntly, it is provoking a war.
As the commander-in-chief of Sichuan, he naturally established a stronghold in Sichuan. He had a deep understanding of Kang State and collaborated with many people.
It is simply easy to intensify the conflicts in Kang State.
"But Songpan is a general!"
Xiong Yinghao was confused.
To destroy Kang State, the 5,000 capital troops under his command were useless. Without the cooperation of the entire Sichuan, they would not be able to accomplish anything.
It would be fine if there was no crusade against Songpan, and the governor usually wouldn't care much about it.
If you ruin the governor's important affairs because of Kang's affairs, there will be no good fruits in the future.
"Snapped--"
He couldn't help but slap himself in the mouth: "Let you talk more."
Songpan is about to change his country and return to the country. Even if Kang is destroyed, Sichuan will probably not have the energy to intervene.
Soldiers and horses can still be mobilized, but the consumption of money and food is difficult.
So stability is the most correct right now.
It would be better if it is postponed to the second half of the year, or next year.
Of course, stopping the Sichuan governor from cutting Songpan is also a way.
He had no choice but to write a letter in his own hand, explaining the difficulties, and asked someone to collect a large amount of Sichuan specialties and send them together, hoping to alleviate the chief minister's disgust.
Governor's Yamen.
"It seems that the commander-in-chief has not received the letter from the capital yet."
Yang Sheng held a paper fan and sipped tea happily.
In front of him, a scholar sat across from him and said with a smile: "These warriors are happy when they hear about fighting, but they don't know the consequences of initiating provocations."
"However, Futai's change of attitude is a brilliant move."
"Now that I have tried my best, it will be up to the cabinet in the future."
Yang Sheng leaned slightly, and his words were full of meaning.
"Please rest assured Futai."
The scholar smiled and said: "Your Majesty's mind is inclined to stability. Kang State is not in a hurry. Moreover, it is imminent to change the country and return to the country. The imperial court will not dissipate your intention."
Once the Songpan area is reorganized, with millions more people and a unified government, it is certain that Yang Sheng will take over.
Either he became the governor, or he entered the capital, became a minister of the Eight Departments, or a junior minister, and he was already an important minister of the imperial court.
Even if Zhu Mou is the chief assistant, preventing him from ascending to the throne and seizing his official position is like killing his parents, which is tantamount to severely offending him. It is a difficult decision to make.
Suddenly, a servant came quickly and whispered a few words in his ear before retreating.
"General Xiong has received the letter from the capital." Yang Sheng said.
The scholar mused: "It seems that I didn't go to the inn and had another route, so it was so fast."
Immediately, he smiled again: "But it's too late, it won't help!"
"Hahaha!" Yang Sheng also laughed.
Beijing.
The cabinet received a memorial from the governor of Sichuan regarding the return of the Songpan area to native land.
Everyone has different attitudes towards this.
Zhu Mou was naturally disgusted with this in his heart, as it would delay the use of troops against Kang State.
Therefore, he said tactfully: "Songpan is mostly covered with high mountains and ridges. Although King Mu has been a barbarian for many years, I am afraid that he has not yet broken away from barbarism. It is not appropriate to return to his native land."
"It's better to change it into a hall, and first set up first- and second-rate officials to control it. After a few years, the local people and local officials will get used to it, and it won't be too late to change it to Tuguiliu."
Feng Xianzong clearly supported Yang Sheng's view: "Since the Songpan Guard was established in the twelfth year of Hongwu, it has been nearly three hundred years. Even if it is a stone, I am afraid it has become soft!"
"Furthermore, the whole province of Sichuan believes that the time is ripe. It would be bad if we delay."
Du Yinxi also held up his hands and said: "Your Majesty, Sichuan has sufficient money and food, and the patrol camp and the garrison camp in Beijing are confident. It is time to reform the soil."
"Besides, Guangdong and Guangxi's rapid land reform by the governor has already set off a wave. If the court does not allow it, it will probably undermine Sichuan's confidence!"
Zhu Mouxi sat high on the dragon chair, looking at several people, and finally came to Yan Yingyuan.
"Yan Qing's family, what do you think?"
As soon as Yan Yingyuan heard the emperor's inquiry, he secretly cried out.
From the corner of his eye, he could see that Zhu Mou had a gloomy face, while Feng Xianzong and Du Yinxi had smiling faces and full of confidence.
The emperor's thoughts were unclear, which made him feel uncomfortable.
"I thought Songpan was in no hurry."
Yan Yingyuan cupped his hands and said: "In Sichuan, in Lizhou in the southwest, the scale of the chieftains in Tianquan and Tianquan is relatively small, and they are suitable for reforming the land and returning it to the local people. As the saying goes, it is easy first and then difficult. It is nothing more than this."
Although he agreed with these words, Zhu Mou couldn't listen to them. What's the difference between your approval and disapproval?
Zhu Mou said again: "Your Majesty, I have heard that Kang is being attacked by civil strife. At this time, Sichuan should make every effort to prepare for war, not Songpan. The priorities should be clear."
"Although Kang State has internal worries, there has been no results for a while. I am afraid that the chief minister was too hasty..."
Feng Xianzong chuckled, his words full of sarcasm.
Zhu Mou was furious and his face turned red.
The emperor sat high and muttered: "Kang's affairs are not urgent, let's do Songpan first!"