Liu Kongzhao and Yang Wencong waited in the camp uneasily.
During this period of escaping and wandering in the southeast, they have made many changes. Liu Kongzhao is no longer as arrogant and domineering as he used to be, and Yang Wencong no longer likes painting and writing scripts as he used to. Along the way, they have all learned deeply.
I have experienced what it means to have a Shenzhou sink and a land to fall, and a country to be shattered.
"Can Lu Jianguo accept us?"
"I should meet. I heard that my brother-in-law was called to serve as a young minister, and even Ruan Dacheng became a young minister. You said that Lu Jianguo also recruited and appointed both of them. Why don't we accept it?" Yang Wenchong said.
Yang Wencong was erudite and fond of antiquity, and was known as the Nine Friends in the Painting. Although he was Ma Shiying's brother-in-law, his previous official career was not smooth. He once served as the county magistrate of Qingtian, Liu Kongzhao's hometown, so the two of them could be considered friends.
After failing the six public examinations, he was elected as the Huating Instructor in the seventh year of Chongzhen's reign. He officially became an official and served as county magistrate for several terms. In the end, he was impeached and deprived of the official position by the censor of the Donglin Party.
King Fu proclaimed himself emperor and established the title of Nandu. Because his brother-in-law Ma Shiying was the first to support the establishment, he also had to worship the censor of Youqiandu. Later, he was ordered to patrol the town and supervise the army on the river. However, this high-ranking official did not do anything for the Qing army for a few days.
Crossed the river.
Although he did not achieve much in his official career, he was extremely accomplished in calligraphy and painting and was famous all over the world.
He is a master of poetry, calligraphy and painting, and is also proficient in riding and archery. In the past few months, he has been able to gather an army and even expanded it from 800 Guizhou soldiers to 5,000 troops. This shows that he is not only good at
Calligraphy and painting are actually a bit fierce in Guizhou barbarians. After all, in these troubled times, it is difficult for weak scholars to really suppress the rebels.
At this point, even Liu Kongzhao, who has always been relatively arrogant, admires him very much. He recently took the initiative to join forces with Yang Wencong and was even very polite to him, without any intention of annexing others.
Liu Kongzhao knew that although Yang Wencong was also regarded as a member of the eunuchs, his reputation was much better than his own. He had also wanted to settle with King Yiyang before, but King Yiyang refused to accept him.
Huang Fei and others actually refused to provide him with food, grass, etc.
"I have heard a lot of rumors about Lu Jianguo. Although I don't know how true they are, but it sounds like this man has a very Han Guangwu demeanor, he is tolerant, and he is more decisive. If the Ming Dynasty is not exhausted, he will definitely
It's on this person. If we still want to avenge our shame, we must follow this person." Yang Wencong said.
Liu Kongzhao nodded. He had also heard many rumors. Although he thought it was a bit exaggerated, it was these rumors that made him change his mind of going directly south to his hometown of Wenchu, and instead led his troops to surrender to Lu Jianguo.
In fact, Liu Kongzhao has always been worried about the fall of the Hongguang Dynasty in Nanjing, especially the inaction of the navy he commanded. However, he believed that the main reason why the Yangtze Navy fled without a fight was Zheng Cai, Huang Fei and others.
The problem of the commander-in-chief.
He didn't care if others called him a traitor or a eunuch, but he couldn't bear to call him weak and incompetent or a traitor to his country.
Qian Qianyi is known as the leader of Donglin, but he shaves his head and opens the city to welcome the captives. That is a traitor to the country, and he is definitely not one.
"Your Highness summons you!"
Finally, when the envoy from the prison came, Liu Kongzhao suddenly felt like crying.
The military camp of the Supervisory State was just outside Haiyan County, no more than ten miles away from the military camp of Liu and Yang. The two men dismounted in front of the camp and entered the camp on foot.
Yang Wencong was very relaxed and at ease along the way, while Liu Kongzhao kept observing the Northern Expeditionary Army, becoming more and more surprised as he watched.
Although it was obvious that some of the equipment was incomplete and there were even a lot of new recruits, there was a spirit of vigor in the camp, a kind of uplifting spirit that was completely different from that of his troops.
This army is full of energy and confidence.
Finally we arrived at the Chinese army’s tent.
The two of them announced their names.
"The guilty minister Cao Jiang, the Duke of Cheng, Liu Kongzhao, pays homage to His Royal Highness Jian Guo."
"Your Majesty, Yang Wencong, the Jiangshang Navy Commander of the local supervisory army in Changzhen, the censor of the capital Qiandu, pays homage to His Royal Highness the supervision!"
The two of them bowed down.
It was very quiet in the big tent, and there was no response.
The two of them did not dare to raise their heads impolitely, so they could only remain lying down.
Zhu Yihai sat there and observed the two people carefully.
Both of them are tall and burly. The honorary minister Liu Kongzhao is actually smaller than the calligraphy and painting master Yang Wencong. Yang Wencong is at least over 1.8 meters tall, while Liu Kongzhao is slightly shorter than him, maybe less than 1.8 meters. The most surprising thing
It's just that Yang Wencong doesn't have the temperament of an artist at all. He's tall, strong and handsome. It's more like being a model guard of honor.
Liu Kongzhao is not so handsome, more Kongwu, even with a fierce air.
"Liu Kongzhao, as a distinguished minister of the Ming Dynasty, has been favored by the country in his life, admiral Cao Jiang, and commanded the navy. As a result, the six towns of the navy did not fire an arrow, so he let the Tartars cross the river. Your generals were scattered. Do you know your guilt?"
When Liu Kongzhao came up to him, he asked the question. His heart skipped a beat. He felt bad, but he didn't dare to get up. He had to lower his head and replied, "I have indeed neglected my duty. This time I came to the court to supervise the country. I don't dare to ask for forgiveness. I only ask for forgiveness."
An opportunity to atone for your sins."
Such a bachelor's confession attitude made Zhu Yihai very satisfied.
Although Liu Kongzhao was attacked by Yu Dafu and others, Zhu Yihai did not care whether he had been attacking the Donglin Party before. After all, Donglin did not represent the court or the emperor. He only attacked the Donglin Party, not the emperor's imperial power.
The Donglin Party has always liked to call themselves gentlemen, and they have even lost themselves a bit, thinking that they represent the imperial court and the Ming Dynasty.
If Liu Kongzhao came to see him and still had the arrogant and domineering attitude of the Hongguang court and dared to ignore the monarch, then Zhu Yihai would not have to draw his sword and kill people. Anyway, he would kill Liu Kongzhao and appease his men. By then, his soldiers would be dispersed and reorganized.
Each camp can do the same.
"Liu Kongzhao, you are the sixth generation sincere uncle. You have been favored by the country in your life, but you have indeed let down the Ming Dynasty during the national crisis. I am now ordered to supervise the country, and you lead the troops to surrender. I am very happy, but you should be rewarded for your merits and punished for your mistakes.
, you still have to be punished for your previous serious dereliction of duty, are you willing to accept it?"
"The sinner is willing to be punished!"
"Okay, then I will demote you to the rank of Duke Cheng, and demote you to Uncle Chengyi. Admiral Cao Jiang and the right governor of Nanjing will be exempted. In the Gubei Expedition, when a new navy camp is set up, I will demote you to the rank of navy."
Lieutenant General of the Division Battalion, are you willing to help organize the naval division to atone for your sins?"
"As long as Your Highness can give me a chance to atone for my sins, and let me go to the battlefield to kill the Tatars to avenge my previous shame, I will be willing to beat him to the end and work as a cook in the naval camp."
This attitude is very correct, and Zhu Yihai is very satisfied.
"Very good, but I won't just believe your words. It depends on your actual performance. If you can change your past and redeem your mistakes, then restore the two capitals and return them to the old capital. The Golden Palace will award you
At that time, you will still have the opportunity to receive the title of duke and lord again."
"Yang Qing!"
"The guilty minister is here."
"You patrolled Changzhen with 800 Guizhou soldiers and supervised the Yangtze River. When the troops defending the Yangtze River were defeated, you were also responsible for the loss. However, you later killed the Northern Envoy in Suzhou and refused to surrender at Taihu Lake, but you were still able to fight against the Japanese. This loyalty is commendable.
.”
"Now I am relieved of your duties as the governor of Changzhen and the supervisor of the Yangtze River. You still retain the title of your right deputy, the censor of Qiandu. You can stay in Gu's imperial camp and assist the Shen Ge Department in handling affairs. How about that?"
"I thank His Highness for your kindness. I will try my best to help and live up to Your Highness's high expectations."
After the two people made arrangements, Zhu Yihai also directly talked about the arrangements for their troops.
The 800 Guizhou soldiers who were the core of Yang Wencong were scattered and replenished and sent to Yulin, Jinwu, Bannerman, and Yongwei. The rest of the soldiers were selected to be elite and strong and replenished to the other camps, and the other unqualified ones were eliminated. , demobilized and resettled, or converted into auxiliary soldiers.
The same goes for Liu Kongzhao's four battalions with more than 10,000 troops. The four battalions will be disbanded and no longer retained, and the troops will be added to Zhu Yihai's battalions.
Kingo and Yulin will be expanded to four battalions.
The Fubo Battalion of the Navy will undergo a major expansion this time, from the previous two battalions to 12 battalions, which means the Navy has 6,000 combat troops and more than 2,000 auxiliary troops.
The large and small ships in the armies of Liu Kongzhao and Yang Wencong will also be assigned to Ruan Jin's naval camp first, while other ships will be assigned to the grain platform.
Liu Kongzhao listened carefully and did not object.
Although he also heard that there was actually no need for Zhu Yihai to dismantle the two battalions, especially his four battalions, which were originally naval battalions and were even relatively intact, but Zhu Yihai would rather disband them all and then Several new battalions were built, but they were not retained.
How could he not understand the thought behind this?
If it had been more than a year ago in Nanjing, if anyone dared to treat him like this, he would immediately jump up and curse, or even draw a sword.
But after experiencing so much, he has become relatively calm now.
He also knew very well that Lu Jianguo did not trust him now, so it would be great if he could be accepted. He was demoted to Uncle Chengyi and became a deputy general of the navy, which was already considered rare and valuable. He also wanted to retain the title of Duke of his country and the position of Cao Jiang, even that It is even more impossible to have more than 10,000 troops.
The atmosphere in the tent became harmonious.
Zhu Yihai successfully expanded his new army by several battalions again.
There are now forty-eight battalions, including thirty-two infantry battalions, four horse battalions, and twelve water battalions. The entire army will have 24,000 combat soldiers and 8,640 auxiliary commanders.
The four battalions of cavalry have two thousand cavalry, which will be Zhu Yihai's elite ace in the Northern Expedition. The horses of the entire army will be given priority to supply the horse battalions.
On New Year's Eve, each camp will not accept the Tang Cavalry, but keep the war horses. Even the camp officials and sentry officers have to change their riding horses, leaving the war horses to the horse camp first.
If there are not enough war horses in the horse camp, some better riding horses will be used first, and they will be gradually replenished later.
Although the terrain in the Jiangnan water town is limited, the cavalry can be used well and its power is huge. Zhu Yihai's Northern Expeditionary Army has more and more horses. In the future, wars cannot always rely on attacks and ambushes. There will definitely be a head-on battle. A cavalry force , sometimes it is the key force that can determine victory or defeat on this kind of battlefield.
It is a recognized fact that one cavalry can be equal to four to five infantrymen. Two thousand cavalry can be equal to tens of thousands of infantrymen.
However, the cost of cavalry is also high, especially war horses. Not only are they difficult to buy and expensive, but they also have to be carefully raised and expensive.
The cost of a cavalryman and horses is no less than that of five infantrymen.
But Zhu Yihai still urgently hoped to gather horses and warriors who could ride and shoot, and build a cavalry first.
For reconnaissance, charge, pursuit, even detour, outflank, cavalry is of great use.
Having cavalry can also strengthen the spirit of infantry and chill the courage of the enemy.
As for the equipment of the cavalry camp, Zhu Yihai's plan is to consider firearms. After all, the times are advancing, and we cannot always rely on riding bows and arrows. Therefore, the cavalry must find ways to equip shotguns, and let the soldiers be proficient in using them, as well as bows, arrows, sabers, and spears.
, and even the horse camp can consider equipping some small cannons in the future, which can be run by horses and can provide fire support at any time.
After Zhu Yihai's statistics, he gathered the horses of his entire army, plus the horses of Liu Kongzhao and Yang Wencong's more than 17,000 troops, and finally got more than 3,500 horses.
With two thousand cavalry and three thousand five hundred war horses, the four battalions of cavalry have been erected, and additional riding horses, draft horses, and many pack horses have been assigned to the captains of the fourth battalion.
Zhang Mingyang, the deputy general of the Jinwu Battalion, was also officially promoted to the chief military officer of the Jinwu Battalion by Zhu Yihai. With two thousand cavalry under his command, he was so happy that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear.
Ruan Jin, the general of Fubo Camp, was directly promoted to the chief military officer of Fubo Camp by Zhu Yihai because the water camp under his command was directly expanded to ten battalions this time, and his strength was greatly increased. The two original commanders under his command were also promoted to deputy generals.
"Your Highness, Li Yuchun sent Mr. Yan to ask for an audience."
"It seems that Li Yuchun can't wait." Zhu Yihai was in a good mood and said with a smile.
