The Huguang Army had established an effective conscription system, and the Yingtian Division system controlled the land, so it was naturally easy to control the population dependent on the land.
After the Camp and Field Division, which controls land and population, there is the Recruiting and Training Division system that uniformly recruits soldiers and conducts preliminary training. The person who serves as the recruitment and training envoy is the chief instructor of Suiying School, who was born in Yang Wenyue and Hu Dawei's department.
Li Polu, an officer of the Baoding Army.
Li Polu had very good military qualities, so it was easy for him to train soldiers.
The unified recruitment and training department can not only limit the independence of the generals, but also prevent generals like Li Guo and Chen Xin from parachute from seizing power at will and changing the Huguang system.
And when it is time to expand the military strength, the recruitment and training divisions distributed in various prefectures, states, and counties will be able to cooperate with the envoys not only in the states, prefectures, and counties, but also at the township, village, and village levels.
In a very short period of time, the task of mobilizing people's power was completed.
Although he borrowed the elite soldiers, veterans and many officers brought by Li Guo, in less than a month, Li Laiheng was able to remove the Chuang Army's navy and local garrison troops, which amounted to less than 30,000 field troops.
, and expanded to more than 50,000 people.
This is enough to witness the mobilization energy of Huguang's military system.
After this major expansion of the army, the total strength of the Huguang Army's land and water forces has reached 60,000 to 70,000, and its strength has exceeded half of that of the Central Plains Army. This strength not only opened Chen Xin's eyes, but also made Li Guo
Quite shocked.
However, what Li Guo considered more was that with such a strong force, Li Laiheng should indeed be able to complete the task of uprooting Yunyang and capturing Wuyue in a very short period of time.
In this way, after he goes north, there should be no need to worry about the large base in the rear of Huguang. I think Li Laiheng will have enough power to deal with the Xuzhou Suppression Commander on the eastern front!
Regarding Li Laiheng's growing strength, all Li Guo considered was the growth of this fallen boy in Zhuxi, without considering any other aspects.
Li Guo is indeed a sincere person with no other feelings.
Li Laiheng felt slightly guilty for the understanding and courtesy shown by Li Guo in every aspect. After all, Li Guo regarded him as a loyal general of the army, but he himself did have a lot of selfish motives.
Out of this sense of guilt, Li Laiheng, who has always been shameless, couldn't help but said:
"My adoptive father is about to go north, so why not first exchange for a batch of cutting-edge clothes, armor, and equipment in Xiangyang. After Ma Bao took Hankou, we recruited many craftsmen. It turned out that the army in Suizhou could only cast small-scale weapons that fired one or two kilograms of lead bullets.
Hongyi cannons are currently cast for cannons weighing five kilograms or more than six kilograms. Other items such as armor, swords, guns, bows and arrows are all in stock. Except for the blunderbuss, which is more cumbersome and troublesome to make, other instruments can be used as desired.
The father takes it as he pleases.”
Li Laiheng felt ashamed of his sincere treatment of Li Guo, and was anxious for Li Guo to return north to Henan as soon as possible, so he continued:
"In addition, in terms of food, the summer grain has been harvested, and the autumn grain will be harvested soon. Huguang is very rich in grain storage. When my adoptive father goes north, he can also bring tens of thousands of stones of grain for military supplies... By the way, there is also cotton cloth. We will wait a few months to the north.
The weather is about to get colder. After we occupy Hankou, Kendeji has been able to purchase a large amount of cotton cloth from Jiujiang and Anqing. After it is made into military uniforms, my adoptive father can take a large part of it to the Central Plains."
The issue of military uniforms was something that Li Laiheng had been focusing on. However, conditions were not sufficient in the past. Now after occupying Hankou, the external circulation channels of the Chu army have been greatly increased, and cotton and dyes have become easier to obtain.
So Li Laiheng put the issue of unified military uniforms on the agenda. He knew that a low-cost blue dye could be prepared using plant ash and animal blood. This prepared dye was historically used by Prussia as a military uniform dye because of its low cost.
This blue color is also called Prussian blue.
Because the dye workshop of the Chuang Army was located in Chengtian Mansion, and Chengtian Mansion was originally named "Chengtian" because Emperor Jiajing was born here. After the Chuang Army occupied it, they changed the name of Chengtian Mansion to Yangwu Prefecture.
Li Laiheng named this blue dye after Yangwu Prefecture, calling it "Yangwu Blue", which was a tribute to the Prussians across time and space.
Although the theory of the Five Virtues has declined in the Ming Dynasty, according to the theory of the transfer of virtue, the Ming Dynasty was born in Yanyun, which belongs to the virtue of fire, and uses red. If Chuangjun replaces the Ming Dynasty, it will belong to the five virtues of water.
According to the De Yun theory, water virtue should be black, but the cost of blue dye is much lower than black dye, and it is more recognizable on the battlefield, so let's let Li Laiheng use blue as the color of water virtue.
The cost of synthetic dye "Yangwu Blue" is extremely low, and the color is deep and textured. Although the price is low, it shows a full sense of high-end. Not only ordinary soldiers can't put it down for the new dark blue military uniforms, but also Guo Jun
Zhen, Hao Yaoqi and other senior generals also put on "Yangwu blue" colored shirts and blouses.
The unified blue military uniform gave the Huguang army a completely new look, making it look more like a regular army than the official army.
While Li Guo was hesitating, Li Laiheng's continuous increase in aid supplies strengthened his confidence in going north to the Central Plains to reinforce Li Zicheng. Li Guo, who had always relied on Li Laiheng, was even more pleased after hearing his words, and immediately agreed.
said:
"With you in Xiangyang, we have nothing to worry about!"
Li Guo immediately made arrangements to allocate some veteran officers to Li Laiheng to use for army expansion. He was eager to return north to participate in a decisive battle against Sun Chuanting, and soon urged Chen Xin to implement the placement of the old camp.
Li Laiheng's heart moved. He was very concerned about Laoying's move south, not only because he could see his long-lost family members such as Youci and Uncle Qing, but also because Laoying could provide a large number of reserve cadre candidates for the Huguang Army.
But what surprised Li Laiheng was that the man who led the old camp southward was actually Niu Quan, the son of Niu Jinxing.
In mid-July, more than 100,000 old camp troops organized by Niu Quan finally crossed Tongbai Mountain and settled in Xiangyang via Suizhou. Young Ci and Uncle Qing also followed this mighty old camp team to Xiangyang. Li Laiheng was very fond of them.
He cared about it and specially borrowed a garden in the former Prince Xiang's palace to hold a banquet to entertain visitors from the old camp.
Although Li Guo was busy with his affairs, he did not wait for everyone and participated together. Others such as Chen Xin, Fang Yiren, Gao Yigong, Bai Wang, Gu Junen, Gu Kecheng, Hao Yaoqi, Guo Junzhen... and other counselors and generals,
They all went to the Wangfu Garden to entertain family representatives from the old camp.
This meal was relatively simple. Compared with Li Laiheng's usual meals, in addition to the usual vegetarian dishes and haggis, two meat dishes such as braised lamb and braised pig head were added. In addition to the staple food of steamed buns and millet porridge, some pancakes were also spread. In addition,
Because a group of women, including You Ci, were present, Li Laiheng specially asked the kitchen to prepare some nourishing soup.
"Aci..."
Li Laiheng missed You Ci very much, but when he saw the girl again, he felt more nostalgic and timid, and he didn't know what to say.
After such a long time, Youci has grown up a lot. She is already at an age where her body is growing rapidly. At this time, she has completely lost the temperament and brilliance of a little girl, but has the gentle and beautiful feeling of a girl.
Her face was still pretty, but compared to the past, because of the youthful vitality shining in her eyes, Li Laiheng suddenly felt a strong sense of gender difference.
A Ci seemed to be no longer a child, Li Laiheng sighed in his heart.
He originally wanted to hold You Ci's hand tightly, or hold her in his arms, but this awareness of gender differences suddenly made Li Laiheng feel awkward as he didn't know where to put his hands.
You Ci should be more comfortable and calm. She looked at Li Laiheng, who was blushing slightly and wiping his hands awkwardly, and couldn't help laughing. Her laughter still felt like a child, as smart and transparent as a wind chime.
, snatched Li Laiheng out of his chaotic thoughts and brought him back to the time when they first met in Longju Village.
You Ci could barely speak a few words. She moved her mouth slightly and whispered: "Young Master..."
Li Laiheng wanted to keep this beautiful moment longer, and the long-lost warmth in his heart rose again. Whether it was Li Guo or You Ci, there seemed to be a majority of people in this world who treated themselves well.
Then perhaps you should be more kind to the world and the various people around you.
However, Li Laiheng's thoughts were, after all, just a small moment that flickered like a spark in his thousands of thoughts. He was thinking more about Niu Jinxing's son Niu Quan. According to Chen Xin, Li Zicheng had already
Niu Quan was appointed to Xiangyang Yin, and Niu Jinxing, who had a lot of dissatisfaction with him, still used Laoying to go south and insert his hands into Huguang.
Everyone at the banquet was laughing and laughing, while Li Laiheng was carefully looking at Niu Quan, the new Xiangyang Yin: he looked very young, probably about the same age as Fang Yiren and Gu Junen, and he did not have that particularly capable and strong look on his face.
Although he is dressed like a scholar, his overall temperament is more like that of a simple farmer.
It seemed that Niu Quan was a relatively honest person, but Li Laiheng still planned to ask Yan Xin to investigate this person immediately after the banquet, and try to place some red team's eyes and ears around him.
Li Laiheng then drank half a glass of wine. He listened quietly to everyone laughing and talking without interrupting, but he was thinking about the upcoming war. Suddenly, he accidentally saw that Gu Junen got the soup in his hand while eating the mutton stew.
Go up, picking up a piece of pancake to wipe your hands.
Although he had always admired this marching Sima who was quite insightful and astute, Li Laiheng couldn't stand this move of wiping his hands with cakes.
What a waste! He thought, many people can't even eat steamed buns now. Even if it's a superficial approach, his people shouldn't waste food like this! As he thought, he couldn't help but frown and look at Gu Junen, but Gu Junen didn't care.
Continue to wipe his hands.
Two other people also noticed this: one was Fang Yiren, who was sitting opposite Gu Junen, and the other was Chen Kexin, who was sitting next to Gu Junen.
Fang Yiren had long discovered that since the invasion of Huguang, a group of Ming Dynasty officials were demoted, promoted, and scholars continued to come to Li Laiheng's side, and a familiar Ming Dynasty officialdom habit began to appear on various occasions.
It spread. Since Li Laiheng himself did not show any disgust and even enjoyed it, it was inconvenient for others to criticize this trend. On the contrary, because flattery has gradually become a habit, even he and Li Laiheng had to adopt a flattering tone when talking about things.
Among all these people, although Gu Junen is not as familiar with Li Laiheng's ideas as he is, he is the one who is best at catering to Li Laiheng.
Now he suddenly discovered that Li Laiheng looked displeased when he wiped his hands with cakes. Fang Yiren was secretly amused in his heart and silently complained about Gu Junen's foolishness.
Chen Kexin's thoughts were much simpler. He was the first to see Gu Junen wiping his hands with a piece of cake, and he also saw Li Laiheng's very obvious displeasure. He couldn't help but worry about Gu Junen. Chen Kexin wanted to remind his neighbor, but he didn't know what to do.
express.
While Li Laiheng, Fang Yiren, and Chen Kexin were looking at the same person's actions with different emotions, Gu Junen had already finished wiping his hands. To the surprise of the three of them, Gu Junen folded the pancake he had just wiped his hands on, regardless of the stains on the pancake.
I put it directly into my mouth and slowly ate it.
Seeing such an action, Li Laiheng immediately relaxed his brows and showed a satisfied look. A sarcastic smile flashed across Fang Yiren's lips, while Chen Kexin breathed a sigh of relief at first, and then suddenly felt that he had seen this scene somewhere.
He thought hard for a moment and suddenly remembered a record in the "New Book of Tang" that he had read in his early years about the scholar Cheng Yu who was around Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. He also took the cake to wipe his hands, which also aroused Taizong's displeasure and attention. In the end, he gave the cake to
Eat it, the situation is almost exactly the same as today!
Chen Kexin couldn't help but turn his face to look at Gu Junen. He saw Gu Junen looking slightly proud, so he concluded that Gu Junen was fully aware of Li Laiheng's reaction just now and was just pretending not to know!
No wonder Fang Yiren showed such a sarcastic smile. Hey, these people are so thoughtful!