Zhao Zhongyi followed Yi Er as he walked through the dilapidated and long-grassed Shangshu Di, secretly looking at this dilapidated ruins. There were many servants guarding the admiral's quarters.
These Xu Dingguo's servants were all dressed in cotton armor, equipped with swords and guns, and there were even soldiers carrying shotguns on their backs. They looked fierce everywhere, and there was murderous intent in the eyes of these people.
Zhao Zhongyi estimated that these were the old confidants Xu Dingguo brought back from Beijing.
One ear is still there sighing and saying how grand and luxurious the Yuan Mansion was back then, and how precious the books, calligraphy and paintings collected by the Yuan Mansion at that time were, at least worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Unfortunately, in the end
All turned into ashes.
"The ground we are stepping on now, any handful of dirt is probably worth one hundred and eighty taels of silver, hehe."
"Dong Qichang knows, Yuan Shu used to call Dong Nian Bo, and they had a very good relationship. After Dong died, his favorite four famous paintings from Siyuantang belonged to Yuan Shu and were hidden here. It is said that those four paintings are worth at least
One hundred thousand taels of silver, what a shame."
Wang Jie smiled and said, "Yuan Shenzheng is a good person. He was very good to us here before. Not only is he a master of calligraphy and painting, but he is also good at riding and shooting. We soldiers all admire him. I used to be with the army.
When the gate was guarding the border in eastern Liaoning, the Qing army invaded on a large scale, and most of the Ming generals cowered. But Mr. Yuan was not afraid. He invited the governor to pay him a salary as a doctor in the household department in front of the Liao Zuo army. He even wore a hundred catties of iron clothes and carried a big sword to encourage the army.
Loyal and righteous, I followed the army into the battle. There was a Manchu man in armor who was so brave that it was hard to stop him. The young master fired several arrows at him, piercing his throat, which demoralized the enemy."
When Xu Dingguo was in the last years of Chongzhen, he was imprisoned several times due to his inability to fight and control his troops. Yuan Shu also tried to save him. Especially when he went to Henan from Shanxi, his tribe mutinied, and finally Yuan stepped in to protect him.
When he arrived in Henan, Yuan also raised money and provided food and salary for him. In Xu's army, Yuan's status was actually very high.
He prepared the way for Daliang to participate in the political affairs and opened the Suizhou government. Xu Dingguo respected him very much and even obeyed his orders. If Yuan Shu had not transferred him, there might not have been the murder of Gao Jie in Suizhou.
"It is a pity that Mr. Yuan was loyal and filial. He was supervising grain in the south of the Yangtze River. When he heard about the fall of Nanjing, he and his friend Yue Qijie died in depression and went on a hunger strike for several days."
Yuan Shu was the only son of Yuan Keli, and he could not surrender even though everyone else surrendered him. As the son of a senior member of the Four Dynasties and a member of the fifth generation of He Rongen, how could he be surrendered to the Qing Dynasty like Qian Qianyi and others.
He died as a martyr.
When Wang Jie and others talked about it, they also felt a little bit sad, "At that time, Mr. Yuan did not expect that the Ming Dynasty could still survive. Otherwise, it would not be like this if he surrendered to Taizhou. His father's disciples Huang Daozhou and Qi Biaojia are now
But they are all the great bachelors of Emperor Shaotian."
One ear said, "I heard that Mr. Yuan's two sons are now officials in the south. The eldest son Yuan Fucheng is the magistrate of Nanning, and the second son Fuchen is a pedestrian secretary."
"This can be considered as a continuation of the Yuan family."
Zhao Zhongyi sighed with emotion, even a little happy.
Xu Dingguo's family generals all have a good relationship with the Yuan family, and they even cherish the care of the Yuan family and his son.
But now that Yuan Shu is dead, Yuan Shu's two sons have become officials in the Southern Dynasty.
One ear led them to the courtyard where Xu Dingguo was, went over to inform them, and came out to let them in.
"The army seems to have gotten angry just now, and some of them are not very happy. You should be careful."
"Thank you, brother. Let's have a drink together later."
"Easy to say." Yi Er smiled to himself.
Wang Jie carefully arranged his clothes outside, and then took Zhao Zhongyi to sign up loudly.
"Is it Fatty Wang? Come in." A loud voice came from inside.
Zhao Zhongyi followed Wang Jie in and saw a burly figure sitting there, and several armored generals trembling after being scolded.
"Go away, you can't pull people up within seven days. I've taken away all your official positions. How long has it been since then? Are you still trying to trick me into pretending to be a member of your official family?"
"Fat Wang, he's fat again."
Xu Dingguo scolded the generals and said to Wang Jie with a smile.
"The handsome man has lost a lot of weight."
"How is your Yongcheng Camp?" Xu Dingguo asked directly.
Wang Jie immediately pulled Zhao Zhongyi over and said that he had recruited 3,000 people. The Yongcheng guerrilla battalion had 3,000 personnel. It actually consisted of five small battalions, front, rear, left, center and right, as well as two directly subordinate left and right battalions, with each small battalion having 500 people.
, the actual number is 3,500, and each battalion is equipped with an additional 18 auxiliary soldiers, more than 1,200, so the total is now 5,000.
Xu Dingguo was stunned for a moment.
After receiving the order in Beijing, he met with the Queen Regent and rushed out of Beijing to Henan.
As soon as we arrived in Henan, we quickly contacted our old troops and summoned the local generals to rally the troops.
But the effect is not very good.
Just like the generals he scolded just now, this one claimed to have three thousand men, and that one claimed to have one or two thousand men. However, when they actually ordered the troops to check their names, they discovered that this was not the case at all.
The shortage is serious.
Although Xu Dingguo was mentally prepared, the mission was urgent now. He couldn't go into battle alone to suppress the bandits, right?
"Five thousand?"
"The general has exceeded the quota, and I hope the commander will punish him."
Xu Dingguo smiled, stood up and poured a glass of wine for Fatty Wang, "Why are you so good? Tell me?"
So Wang Jie didn't hide anything, and said that when he was on the garrison in Yongcheng, he and Zhao Zhongyi became sworn brothers to Jinlan, supported and guided him to establish a rural regiment, recruit rural warriors, train diligently, etc.
They also cooperated in encircling and suppressing bandits on many occasions.
So as soon as he received the order from the army, he immediately reorganized Xiang Yong. Because he wanted to serve the army more, he over-staffed it.
"Really five thousand?"
"Well, originally there were only five battalions with 3,000 people. Later, Brother Zhao and I took our children, servants, and followers and set up another direct battalion, so there were seven battalions. Who knows what will happen next?
The battalion officers and sentry officers also followed their own example, and also established sentry and team units directly under them. Suddenly there were many more people. Then we thought about going to Yanzhou to suppress the bandits, but we were afraid that the logistics would be difficult to provide supplies and transportation, so we
We simply recruited some more strong men, and organized auxiliary troops under each battalion, adding more than a thousand troops at once.
In fact, the real number of soldiers is more than three thousand, and the number of civilians is more than one thousand, adding up to five thousand."
Xu Dingguo didn't care about the excess quota at this time, he wanted real soldiers.
The more the better.
"Fat Wang, don't lie to me because you know the consequences."
"The general will not dare to lie to the commander. There are actually five thousand people, and even the civilians are all young and strong. The more than three thousand people are not ordinary people. They have been training for the regiment under Brother Zhao before.
He practiced martial arts with guns and even learned arrays. He had several actual battles against bandits with good results.
The last general came this time and brought 300 people, all on horseback and mules. On the way, we encountered many groups of bandits and attacks from local villages. We fought all the way, defeated one or two people in succession, and beheaded more than 500 people in the capital. Those who
The head is currently in the camp outside the city, and the commander can send someone to check it at any time!"
Gu Geng
"Fuck!" Xu Dingguo said with an unexpected look on his face, "You're really fucking capable, good job!" Although Xu Dingguo didn't completely believe Fatty Wang's words, he was even sure that nine out of ten of those heads would be dead.
It kills hungry people and even good people.
But he doesn't care about these now. What he cares about is whether there are enough soldiers.
"Well, since you have five thousand people, it would be too unfair for you to be a guerrilla. I will promote you to Yongcheng Road Assistant Guards General. Who is that? What is your name?"
"Zhao Zhongyi, from Daqiuji, Yongcheng."
"Zhao Zhongyi, that's a good name. Fatty Wang used to be my horseman, and he has been fighting with me for many years. He is someone I truly trust. Since you are his sworn brother, you will also be my Xu Dingguo's brother from now on. I will promote you."
Don’t you have five thousand people for the Yongcheng guerrilla attack?
Let's simply divide it into two camps. Fatty Wang, you will lead the general camp, and Zhao Zhongyi, you will lead the guerrilla camp. You can recruit more people to make up 6,000 people, each with 3,000 troops.
"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief, for the promotion. It's no problem to recruit more troops. We have a lot of local warriors who practice spears and martial arts. We can recruit another thousand people at any time. However, we lack weapons, food and pay. Now, except for General Wang's subordinates, the last general will be the same."
My subordinate Xiang Yong only has a red-tasseled spear."
"The issue of equipment and food payment is indeed a bit troublesome, but you don't have to worry too much. I will allocate some for you to use first. Take your time."
"I can give you some money first, but I don't have any food now. You should think of a way first. I authorize you to collect food in Yongcheng first. Those landowners and unruly people who dare not pay the food will be destroyed directly."
Zhao Zhongyi looked at Xu Dingguo, this guy seemed quite generous.
"Commander, I know some salt merchants who can get salt from Huaihe River."
Xu Dingguo looked at Zhao Zhongyi carefully. This young man was unexpected in every way.
"Salt is a good thing," he smiled. "How much can you get?"
"a lot of."
"Um?"
"If the commander needs it, I can get as much food, cloth, and even armor, weapons, and gunpowder as I can in exchange."
Xu Dingguo coughed twice.
Salt was a commodity in short supply even in peaceful times, but in times of turmoil like this, salt has become more and more precious, and it is completely a hard currency.
Xu Dingguo returned to Henan this time. The imperial court mainly asked him to rectify the local troops, wipe out bandits in the local villages, and stabilize the rear of the Central Plains. Unlike the field regiments on the front line, he was a left-behind soldier who came to provide public security.
I don't have many soldiers at my disposal.
However, I did get a lot of money, and I was able to get tax money from the Henan Governor's Office, but I was still short of food and equipment.
The young man Zhao Zhongyi directly told him that he could get salt, a lot of salt, and he immediately understood the meaning. In fact, he wanted to smuggle salt with him.
When he was in Henan before, he naturally controlled the flow of commercial goods. Not only did he directly attack and plunder native villages, he also set up checkpoints to collect taxes, and even directly sold salt and smuggled it.
There are huge profits in these transactions.
If he wants to regain a foothold in Henan, the first thing he needs to do now is to recruit a new army. However, the money and food provided by the governor and envoys alone are not enough. He must have his own financial resources for the army, so that he can truly restore an army.
Real private soldiers and horses.
Zhao Zhongyi has such private salt channels, which is very useful.
Isn't it just right that his private salt channels cooperate with the sale of private salt in the Henan area under his control?
"Yongcheng is indeed a good place with talented people." Xu Dingguo sighed, "I will take as much salt as you can get."
"You have done me a great favor. Tell me, how can I thank you?"
Zhao Zhongyi saw that he was so direct, so he said directly, "I am willing to serve the army and the court, but I don't want my brothers to go to the battlefield wearing civilian clothes with a red tassel gun."
"You want armor ordnance?"
"It's not in vain. I can buy it with silver or exchange it with salt. I just have no place to buy it."
"Hahaha, you are so straightforward. Now that it has come to this, there is no reason for me not to solve it. As long as you have silver or salt cloth, I can still get a few battalions of equipment for you first."
"Thank you, Marshal!"
Xu Dingguo touched his bare head and said, "Your boy looks a bit like me when I was young. I like it very much. I want to adopt you as my adopted son. Are you willing?"
Zhao Zhongyi knelt down.
"The general lost his parents when he was young. He is an orphan who has no one to care for or love him. He survives by eating hundreds of thousands of meals and wearing hundreds of clothes. He survives today by hard work. The commander-in-chief never gives up and is willing to adopt him as his adopted son.
It’s too late for the general to be happy,
willing!"
"Hahaha, you are such a good boy. I like him even more. From today on, your name will be Xu Zhongyi."
As he spoke, he stroked his beard and laughed heartily, and pulled Zhao Zhongyi up, "In this way, you and Wang Jie's troops will be directly organized into my commander's bidding camp, and my current troops will be organized into the left, middle and right camps.
There are three major camps, each with 3,000 men. Wang Jie, you will be the commander-in-chief of the left camp, Zhongyi, you will be the commander-in-chief of the right camp, and Liu Fangxing of the center will command the center camp.
My second son, Er'an Erji, is currently serving under Prince Su, and is unable to serve me. I hope you can serve me in the future." He said a lot of nice words, nothing more than how to support and recommend him in the future.
Zhongyi was also full of gratitude, and even tried hard to hold back a few tears, making Xu Dingguo very happy.
This trip to see Xu Dingguo was not only a routine matter, but also to see if there was any way to get some equipment. Unexpectedly, Xu Dingguo was also a cheerful person and acted in an eclectic way. He actually wanted to adopt him as his adopted son.
Although here, it is obvious that they want to take advantage of the opportunity to win over or even incorporate Zhao Zhongyi and the more than 3,000 people, and even use Zhao Zhongyi's private channels, but in any case, this is not a bad thing.
Zhao Zhongyi changed his name to Xu Zhongyi, registered as a participating general, and actually led the guerrilla campaign of the Right Battalion. He commanded 3,000 people in the Right Battalion and divided it into five battalions, front, rear, right, center and right, plus the central army.
He became Xu Dingguo's adopted son in one leap, and his confidant naturally didn't have to worry about this equipment. Wang Jie was also promoted to the rank of Staff General, and became the Staff General of Zuoying, with three thousand soldiers.
Everyone is happy.
In order to win over Xu Zhongyi, Xu Dingguo also asked his servants to get a set of his armor. It was a refined cotton armor given by Emperor Shunzhi. It was made of rich materials, weighed more than 30 kilograms, and could protect against lead bullets from fire guns.
He was also given a sword, a spear, a pair of gold maces, and even a telescope.
"Father and son go into battle, brothers fight tigers, we masters work together, this Henan and everything will be ours from now on!"
"Come here, summon the generals. I want to ceremoniously introduce my newly adopted son Zhongyi to everyone!"
