weaving

"Handsome, this firecracker is really amazing. From so far away, we can all be stunned, even the horse under our crotch is shocked. It's amazing, it's really amazing." Zhang Guangda was obviously a little excited , he ate the horse meat while talking carelessly.

However, Guo Yingxian was still brooding over the early withdrawal of troops, holding a piece of horse meat in his hand, he said, "Unfortunately, the Tartars escaped after all."

Although he was still a member of the Xuanfu Army, he was a veteran in the army after all. When Zhang Cheng was still Chief Qian, Guo Yingxian was already a guerrilla general.

What's more, Guo Yingxian is still the backbone of all the generals in Xuanfu!
After Yang Guozhu, commander of the Xuanfu town, was killed in Songshan, the soldiers and horses of Xuanfu town who accompanied him to aid Liao were temporarily attached to Zhang Cheng, the new general of the Xuanfu town. Far from forming a tacit understanding and mutual trust.

Although they completely obeyed Zhang Cheng's dispatch in terms of military command, they formed a different faction inside. Naturally, they respected Guo Yingxian, who had the most military position and prestige.

This is the old army faction in Xuanfu Town, and the former Xuanbei Army generals under Zhang Cheng's direct command are regarded as the new army faction, and the remaining officials and generals in Xuanfu Town, according to the current point of view, belong to the middle faction.

In Zhang Cheng's view, it doesn't matter which faction he belongs to. He believes that in time, he will be assimilated into his own camp. After all, who would not want to survive in a safe and secure system with clear rewards and punishments? ?

As for the other intermediate factions, as long as they don't make trouble for themselves, Zhang Cheng will naturally not make things difficult for them, and will give them the opportunity to choose freely.

Because, Zhang Cheng also knows that there are all kinds of people in this world, especially those who have climbed to the power class, so it is impossible to make all people have one heart with him.

What's more, standing in a team is related to personal interests, and some local big families, as well as those military families, are even more related to the interests of the entire family, or even the entire clan.

What Zhang Cheng needed was not for them to be of one mind with him, but for them to work for him without causing trouble, even if they were persecuted by his powerful forces, it didn't matter.

As long as the armed forces in Xuanfu Town can be firmly controlled by him, other people and forces will not be able to turn the tide, and Xuanfu will not be able to turn the sky.

Moreover, Zhang Cheng does not need to completely control all the troops in Xuanfu Town, as long as those few brave and skilled troops are firmly in his hands, and then stationed in the town and various important places, Xuanfu will be in his hands .

What's more, he still controls the military production department of the Xuanfu, which is the foundation of a strong army. Moreover, Zhang Cheng also hides a powerful intelligence department. They are not only spying on intelligence and monitoring officials and generals, they are also good at assassinating !

However, Zhang Cheng still respects Guo Yingxian very much now. After all, this veteran can be said to be his elder, but he treats himself like a brother.

Since then, he has a very good relationship with him, and he is very close, and he has always loved and cared for him. Zhang Cheng also knows that he is just a straightforward character, and he is still loyal to him.

At the moment, he opened his mouth to persuade: "General Guo, there is no need to be upset. In today's battle, our army defeated the slaves and thieves. The number of people beheaded was unprecedented, and even the younger brother of the slave chieftain Hong Tai, the false king Duoduo, was killed in one fell swoop. This is ancient times. Unprecedented miraculous achievements should indeed be publicized and celebrated with great fanfare.

However, although the slaves were defeated, they still had energy to spare, and our soldiers returned to the rescue from a long distance, and were exhausted after repeated bloody battles, and now they suffered heavy casualties.

What's more, the road ahead is blocked by poisonous smoke. If you go around the road, but delay the time, you can only hope that the enemy will flee, and it will be useless to pursue.General Guo doesn't need to worry about this, he will march outside the camp of slaves and bandits tomorrow, and attack Chen Zheng internally and externally. "

Zhang Guangda and Guo Yingxian have known each other for a long time, and their temperaments are similar, and they get along well these days. He also tried to persuade him from the side: "That's right. General Guo, tomorrow I will ride the battalion to fight the slaves with General Guo, and I will definitely kill them." Desao Dazi cried for his father and mother, so that he would know how powerful our Xuanfu army is, so that he could avenge our Marshal Yang."

Guo Yingxian didn't say anything after hearing the words, but just hit the small table in front of him hard with his fist.

Zhang Cheng smiled, then looked at Chicheng camp leader Zhang Guodong with a solemn expression, and said in a deep voice: "Guodong, the Chicheng camp fought hard today, but it really gave us the prestige of the Xuanfu army."

He then looked at the people in the army tent, and continued: "In today's battle, I, the soldiers of the Chicheng infantry, fought bravely against the slaves. With blood and courage, I fought hand-to-hand with the slaves and thieves. It lasted for several hours without retreating. It is very commendable." .

And it was our Chicheng camp, with our strong will to fight, that resisted the attack of the slaves and heavy infantry, and finally forced the slaves to ride out, creating favorable conditions for our chariot battalion to shoot flying cannons. "

Under the eyes of everyone, Zhang Cheng solemnly announced: "The Chicheng camp should be the iron camp of our Xuanfu army, a model for the soldiers of the camp, and the first achievement in today's victory over the slaves!"

As soon as Zhang Cheng said this, all the generals in the military tent cheered in unison and congratulated Zhang Guodong one after another.

Zhang Guodong also seemed to have realized something, he quickly got up and came to the middle of the military tent, knelt down on one knee and said: "The last general Zhang Guodong, on behalf of all the soldiers of the Chicheng Battalion, thank the commander for giving the battalion number!"

This time it was Zhang Cheng's turn to be stupefied, but he reacted immediately, laughed and said loudly: "Okay. Let the secretary office write it down first. After our army returns to Xuan Town, at the celebration commendation meeting, the commander-in-chief You, Chicheng Camp, personally confer the banner of the 'Iron Camp'."

The generals cheered and congratulated again, and their eyes were full of envy.

But in today's battle, although the soldiers of the Chicheng Battalion suffered heavy casualties, they also showed a strong will to fight. Everyone has witnessed the battle, so it is obvious to all.

The casualties of the Chicheng Battalion in this battle had already exceeded one-third of the number of soldiers in the battalion. Despite such a large casualty rate, the Tartars still fought to the death and did not retreat.

Why not make everyone admire him?
Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, perhaps only the soldiers of the Xuanfu Army can do this!
Moreover, even among the various battalions of the Xuanfu Army, I am afraid that not all of them are as capable of fighting as the Chicheng Camp. This test is not about armor and equipment, guns and so on.

In addition to excellent armor, guns and guns, the whole battalion needs to be united, the commander's command ability is outstanding, and the soldiers need to be well-trained, calm in front of battle, and able to follow orders.

Even in the Xuanfu Army, which can compete with the Chicheng Battalion in terms of combat strength and is comparable in all aspects, only Chen Zheng's Dushibu Battalion is qualified.

But Dushiying has a great weakness, that is, there are few opportunities to go out and lack of experience in battle. From this point of view, Chichengying, the title of "Iron Camp", is doing its part!
I saw Zhang Guodong, the leader of the Chicheng camp, clasped his fists and shouted: "The last general will accept the order."

Here, after Zhang Guodong returned to his seat, Lin Fangping, the head of the Tiger Guard camp, said: "Commander, when I win this big victory today, should I report to Governor Hong as soon as possible, so that we can spread the word about our Xuanzhen army horse?" reputation."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone in the military tent echoed it, who would not want to become famous, not to mention, today's great victory is the result of everyone's concerted efforts?

Naturally, Zhang Cheng didn't want to cool everyone's hearts, and said immediately: "Yes. When Fang Zhihai returns from patrolling the camp, he will be asked to write a good report. Tomorrow, he will collect the results of the sentry and report it to Governor Hong."

He went on to say: "Today, Cheying's Flying Cannon showed its power. After that, our Xuanfu army has another battlefield killer!"

"That's right, this flower bomb is really powerful, and the one that explodes 'violently', be good, don't say it's a tartar, even if the king of heaven is here, I will give it for nothing!"

Guo Yingxian felt extremely happy when he thought of the tragedy of the Tartar cavalry being blown up by explosive bombs on the battlefield.

He even looked at Zhang Cheng enviously, and asked: "How did the chief soldier create such a big killer weapon? In the future, when our Xuanfu army has this thing, why should we be afraid of the Tartars and captives?"

Zhang Cheng looked at Guo Yingxian and said with a smile: "Flying cannons are not unusual at all, they actually originated from poisonous fire flying cannons, and there is a kind of 'Mother and Child Cannon' recorded in "Ji Xiao Xinshu", and its principle is similar to this flying cannon. similar.

Weng Wanda, the governor of Xuanda during the reign of Emperor Jiajing, felt that it was inconvenient to carry the poisonous fire flying cannon. After thinking hard, he finally miniaturized it and created an iron rod thunder cannon that can be used by one person, which is our flying cannon. gun.

However, after the decline of Mongolia, the number of wars on the nine frontiers decreased day by day, the towns and frontier armies became more and more lazy, and the military was abolished. Killing weapons such as flying cannons gradually became a thing of the past. "

When Zhang Cheng said this, he sighed even more, and then continued: "Especially after I paid the tribute, my Ming Dynasty's northern frontier problems have eased, and there has been no major wars except minor disturbances.

In order to deal with the small group of northern captive cavalry who fled, it became popular for the generals of the towns to raise "family servants" privately. However, its disadvantages are also obvious.

Since ancient times, the way to raise soldiers is nothing more than money, food, armor and other things, and the cost of supporting family members is far more than that of regular soldiers. In this way, although family members are strong, regular soldiers are getting weaker and weaker.

Although it is even more advantageous against a small group of northern captives, once the situation changes and the captives gather together, it is difficult to deal with it with only family members.

What's more, most of my family members rely on their bravery to stand out, and they often abandon firearms instead of using them. As a result, many of my sharp weapons are left unused, or even rotted in the arsenal, which is not enough for use. "

Zhang Cheng's words can be said to reveal the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty's military, which is also a major problem that plagues the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and all officials.

The solution is precisely a series of reform measures Zhang Cheng implemented on Xuanfu North Road. Although this method is feasible in Xuanbei, it cannot be implemented elsewhere in Daming.

It's just because there are inherent interest groups in all parts of Ming Dynasty, they are intertwined, there is no distinction between big and small, they are only bound by interests, as the saying goes, one hair can affect the whole body.

The small landlords in various places often hook up with the noble gentry and county magistrates in the county, and the county magistrate will go up to hook up with the state officials, especially those noble gentry in the county, who are more powerful, and even have more connections with the current dignitaries. collusion.

Over the past 200 years, the Ming Dynasty has produced a crop of officials. After they retired, most of them returned to the counties and townships where they came from to buy land, and thus gave birth to generations of gentry and powerful families.

Through various methods such as marriage and benefit transfer, they have already formed an interest alliance one by one, but if there is a sign of trouble, they will hold together and fight back with all their strength.

Today, after more than 200 years of operation, the Ming Dynasty is full of corruption, the military is not repaired, the government is not correct, and the interest class is seriously solidified. It is the internal struggle that also includes this alliance.

Whether it is the current emperor or any emerging forces, once their inherent interests are threatened, the joint forces they form will spare no effort to kill them.

Therefore, there are solutions, but there is no suitable solution.

The reason why Zhang Cheng was able to succeed in Xuanbei was not only the trust and support of the current emperor, cabinet ministers, and border officials, but also the Xuanbei region, which was one of the few real soil guards in the Ming Dynasty.

The so-called Shitu Weisuo means that there are no prefectures or counties on Xuanfu North Road, and there are no administrative officials sent by the Ministry of Officials. The administration, taxation, sentencing, etc. here are all directly in charge of the local Weisuo. manage.

And Zhang Cheng's official position is the commander of the Kaiping Guard in the Xuanbei District, and he himself bears various powers such as local military, government, financial and punishment, although there are other restrictive mechanisms such as supervisory roads and patrol roads.

But most of them have become decorations, reduced to a tool for competing for interests, and most of these officials are officials sent by the imperial court. No matter who wins among the local powerful factions, their share of interests will not be lacking.

Therefore, as long as there is no major event such as conspiracy to rebel and disrupt the country, most of them adhere to the idea that more things are worse than less things, and they maintain their status and interests extremely skillfully.

Just like Zhang Cheng in Xuanbei, recruiting soldiers, suppressing thieves, reclamation, nuclear fields, household inspections, etc., no matter how excessive they are, they are all things allowed by the imperial court, and with the support of the emperor, how could they intervene.

And Zhang Cheng used this to attack the top generals of the local armies, disrupt the intricate network of local inherent relationships, and liberate the generals for his own use.

But even so, it was not until Zhang Cheng took advantage of the assassination incident to kill Xue Liangqing, the Kaiping Wei Tong Zhi, and Wu Youlu, the Chicheng Guard, that he could fully grasp the initiative. It was not until Zhang Guowei, the deputy general of the Xuanfu, was further eradicated that the commander really took control. Xuanbei place.

Just imagine, how can this be done in other provinces, prefectures and prefectures in other parts of Daming?
Of course, except for the way of using force completely!
…………

In the big tent of the Chinese army, everyone was eating and chatting. Xia Shuncheng and Fang Zhihai, the town governors of the Chicheng camp and the cavalry camp, came back from a tour of the camp. Zhang Cheng told them to eat some hot food first, and then discuss other things.

In the end, Fang Zhihai was in charge of writing the victory report, while Xia Shuncheng reported the merit evaluation of the soldiers of each battalion today, as well as some information about the recent tour of the battalion.

But Zhang Guangda and Lin Fangping resigned in advance. One of them was in charge of scouting outside the camp to prevent the enemy from stealing the camp, and the other was in charge of patrolling inside the camp to prevent the camp roar.

Zhang Guodong also resigned early, he wanted to go back to the camp to see the situation of the soldiers, and he had to personally inspect the barracks again.