Daming Yinghua

Chapter 421 Who gave you Zhu family a meal?

The season in Saibei has not yet reached the time when the ice and snow on the plains are frozen.

Six or seven days later, Zhang Mingshi, who received the news, rushed from Datong Mansion to Daning Chengguan.

A few years ago, Zhang Mingshi and Ma Xianglin were recommended by Zheng Haizhu to serve under Zhao Menglin, the general general of Xuanda University.

Later, due to the military exploits in the Luanhe River and the imperial court's need to manage Daning Town outside the Great Wall, Ma Xianglin took back the Sichuan soldiers commanded by Du Song, the commander-in-chief of Ji Town, while Zhang Mingshi stayed in Xuanda Town and engaged in firearms.

In this era, weapons and tactics have undergone global generational changes, and the Ming Dynasty was no exception.

What's more, there are practical examples of firearms left by Qi Shaobao when he was in charge of Jizhen. Therefore, even in Jiubian where cavalry and killer teams dominate, firearms offense and defense are also highly valued by the general officers.

Zhang Mingshi, an expert warrior, was very ambitious and quickly discovered that the difference in climate between the North and Jiangnan, Yunnan and other places would affect the use of blunderbuss.

After thinking about it for half a year with the veterans from the Shenji Battalion who brought them with them, they improved several devices such as the fire door, and equipped each firearms unit with a separate fire soldier, and combined the range, armor-breaking ability, and reloading of different firearms. Time and other circumstances were recorded in minutes and submitted to General Zhao of Xuan Da Zhao.

Although Zhao Menglin is a military general, he has been an official for a long time and is also a good person. He knows how important it is to have a good relationship with the civil servants sent by the imperial court.

So he kept this precious secret book tightly sealed, and only took it out when the emperor's master Sun Chengzong went to serve as the governor of Xuanda.

Sun Chengzong was considered to be the most familiar with firearms among the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty, but Lu Xiangsheng, the new scholar next to him, knew better than him.

Lu Xiangsheng was the first person to follow Zheng Haizhu to Zhao Prison to pick up Zhang Mingshi. He had formed a close friendship in the capital, so he naturally praised the firearm secret book this time.

Sun Chengzong was very happy. Not only did he report to Zhu Changluo and ask for more money for Xuanda Town, but he also promoted Zhang Mingshi to the rank of general.

This autumn, Xuanda Town received a letter from Zheng Haizhu, asking him to temporarily borrow Zhang Shen to go outside the Great Wall to develop several new firearms to benefit Daning and Xuanda Towns.

Sun Chengzong and Zhao Menglin readily agreed.

After Zhang Mingshi set foot in Daning, he was very energetic.

Mrs. Zheng told him as soon as they met that after Mr. Zhang became a teacher of Xu Hanlin in Beijing, it was relatively smooth for him to join the circle of civil servants, which was naturally good news.

But what makes Zhang Mingshi even more delighted is that the imperial court's use of Daning Town seems to be serious.

Civil servants, official salaries, the fifth prince whose status was second only to the prince, and rich gentry men like Zhang Yanke, a fellow Shaoxing fellow, all came to Daning.

The defense line in the north of Ming Dynasty has filled this missing corner, which will definitely be beneficial to Xuanda Town.

On the way to leave Daning Chengguan and go west to meet up with Mangui, Zhang Mingshi and Zheng Haizhu, whose riding skills were already good enough to go on the road, walked side by side and walked in front of the team, slightly avoiding the guards and subordinates, and started chatting.

"Madam, if we do this, one day when the Tatars come to seize the west, Daning can take the lead, and Juniper from Shanhaiguan can support them. The court won't be tempted to mobilize our Xuan army, right?"

Zheng Haizhu tested him: "Haha, after eating Xuanda's military rations for two or three years, you feel sorry for Xuanda's soldiers for Mr. Zhao?"

"That must be a reason," Zhang Mingshi said frankly. "Which family's food you eat depends on which family's fields you eat. However, I am worried about deploying the Xuan army because there is no peace in Shaanxi."

"How?" Zheng Haizhu asked.

"It's a famine. I recruited a group of horse bandits for General Zhao in Yehuling last year. I heard from the leader that in many counties in northern Shaanxi, the people were starving and asked the gentlemen to open warehouses to provide food relief. But in the county The granary is also empty. Why? It turns out that the fields in Shaanxi are not only for King Qin, but also a lot of them are allocated to King Fu of Henan. "

"Oh, then, has the government finally distributed food?"

"It was difficult at the beginning. The wealthy households in northern Shaanxi relied on their servants to protect their homes. They were not afraid of the farmers, so they were unwilling to provide food. The common people vented their anger on the county gentlemen. According to the horse bandit leader, there were An official from a small county was almost dragged out and burned to death. Fortunately, at the critical moment, a clear-headed member of the wealthy Jin gentry family came out to give him porridge, so nothing serious happened."

Zheng Haizhu said: "Yes, most of these county officials are new Jinshi. If they die like this, the Holy Emperor will be furious. He will replace them with tough ones and bring some soldiers from the governor's camp. The local gentry will not be afraid of more. Big trouble?"

Zhang Mingshi echoed, but still couldn't hide his worry.

"Madam, everything starts from the beginning.

What the horse bandit leader said makes sense. The common people have been dogs for hundreds of years and suddenly become wolves for a day or two. Once they taste the sweetness, it's hard to say what will happen next.

Therefore, with the mess that Shaanxi is like, we declare that if the soldiers march eastward, the rebellious people will probably swarm into Shanxi like locusts. "

Zheng Haizhu listened solemnly.

The people are very pitiful and are being forced to rebel.

But once these ordinary people in northern Shaanxi turn into bandits, more people in the Ming Dynasty will suffer.

The outbreak of rogue bandits in the late Ming Dynasty is recorded in history as beginning in the early years of Chongzhen. The flames were ignited a few years earlier. In line with the logic of historical process, it is probably at the present time.

The officers and soldiers with strong combat effectiveness in Shanxi and Shaanxi cannot be empty and cannot owe pay. Otherwise, no one will be able to control the rogue bandits, and even the border troops themselves will turn into rogue bandits.

As for Zhang Mingshi's concern about King Fu's fiefdom causing harm to Shaanxi, there was no commotion in the capital. It seemed that there were still remnants of King Fu's faction in the court. Bi Ziyan of the Ministry of Revenue probably had nothing to do, so he made a gourd first. Zhu Changluo and the cabinet must know, but the emperor will not tell Zheng Haizhu everything.

To deal with King Fu, you can't just bet on Wei Zhongxian. You must first lay some preludes for the emperor and the elders.

This trip to the north was a good opportunity. Zheng Haizhu had already thought that the first border message sent back to Xiong Tingbi, which needed his pen and ink to be polished, had to include the bad chain reaction caused by King Fu's fiefdom.

……

After camping overnight, the team continued on their way at the beginning of the next day.

Zhang Mingshi and Zhang Fengyi, who insisted on bringing his daughter with him to see the female artillerymen under He Zhuo, secretly sighed that Mrs. Zheng had taught Zhu Youjian well.

The dignified prince slept in a felt tent and got up early, without any ambiguity.

Not only was he unambiguous, he was not afraid of the cold. After the team set off, he refused to stay in the carriage and wanted to ride a horse.

Wang Chengen and several royal guards gathered around him in fear, wishing they could become that horse carrying His Highness, so that they would not feel tired.

Zhu Youjian drove his subordinates away angrily and drove them near Zhang Fengyi.

"Master Zhang, this horse's head is always tilted, why?"

Zhang Fengyi took a look and said the key: "Your Highness's gesture is wrong, it makes it uncomfortable. It should be like this..."

"Oh, that's it." Zhu Youjian quickly followed suit. Just as he was about to ask his second question, Zhang Fengyi suddenly drew an arrow and nocked his bow. In a moment, with a "whoosh" sound, the sharp arrow shot through the air.

Dark shadows fell in the distance.

Ma Tongchuan screamed for joy, and ordered the maid riding on the same horse with him to gallop forward and pick up the kite shot down by his mother's arrow.

Zhu Youjian and a group of Jin Yiwei who were used to using crossbows were all dumbfounded.

Zhang Mingshi was not surprised, he laughed and said: "When I saw General Ma's hunting ability in the snow, I was impressed, but General Ma said that he learned it from Madam Ma. Now that I see him, I admire him. I admire him."

Zhu Youjian came back to his senses and said to Zhang Fengyi: "I also want to learn shooting skills."

Zhang Fengyi nodded readily: "I will carve a bow that suits your Highness."

Zheng Haizhu came over and naturally led to the field tactics: "Your Highness, in the field battle with the Tatars, in addition to the killer team, cavalry, and firearms team I mentioned before, archers are still very useful. The Tatars are not Stupid, they will find a countermeasure based on our army's current formation. Their foot bows cannot be mounted on horses, and their mobility is not strong, but they will absorb many Mongolians who are good at riding and shooting, outflank us from both sides, and shoot us. Firearms soldiers, let their own heavy armor phalanx break through the firepower and rush into our battle formation."

Zhu Youjian imagined the scene described by his master and said clearly: "Although fire guns are powerful, they are not as flexible and accurate as arrows. Therefore, we also need to have a cavalry and archery team to counter those Mongolian soldiers in the Tatars?"

Zheng Haizhu praised: "That's right. However, it takes a long time to train archers. Therefore, we cannot leave behind the highly mobile category of firearms. The camel gun mount made by His Highness and the Prince is to make the gun machine more flexible. of good stuff.”

Zhu Youjian was wearing a high hat and looked even better.

As a young man about to enter puberty, leaving the deep palace that was like a birdcage and coming to this vast world, Zhu Youjian felt unprecedented freedom and joy when the adults around him talked about and taught him things that he was interested in.

In his heart, there was a trace of sympathy for the emperor's brother Zhu Youxiao.

Being an emperor, whether now or in the future, is the first happiness in heaven and earth?

Zhu Youjian even thought rebelliously that after becoming emperor, if he couldn't even get out of the Forbidden City, it would be the same as squatting in Fusi's prison in Beizhen, except that he would have better food and clothing, and no one would dare to attack him.

Thank God he didn't have to be emperor.

……

At the turn of Chensi, the team approached the Qiushan Guards where Mangui and Hezhuo were guarding and training troops.

There were loud shouts from the other side of Poe, which were clearly sent over by Shuo Feng.

Zheng Haizhu said to Zhang Mingshi: "Ask your men to go to the training ground and tell Man Gui not to stop training, let alone come to greet King Xin. Your Highness and I will take a few imperial guards and take a look at the training ground first."

Not long after, Zhang Mingshi's personal soldiers came back and reported: "Madam, General, General Man said that he knows."

After several people climbed over the hillside, their eyes suddenly opened up.

On the Liaoyuan where the wormwood is withered and yellow, the Ming army, which is several hundred in size, either on the ground or on horseback, is being divided into different arms for training.

Brown winter clothes are originally dull. After all, although the official version of the frontier army's cloth jacket is red, which symbolizes the eternal glory of Zhu Ming's country, how can a military uniform that only keeps the soldiers from freezing to death be so extravagant as to use valuable red dye? .

But now, the sunny day generously envelopes everything in the cold world, and the gray military uniforms are also reflected like bright clouds. Together with the soldiers' weapons in their hands, their horses on their hips, and their roars when changing formations, the scene is quite spectacular. .

Zhu Youjian was so excited that he rode his horse and trotted away to the school ground happily.

Master Zheng said that these recruits were all descendants of the clan, and like him, they all had the same surname of Zhu.

After taking a closer look, the excitement was replaced by surprise.

In addition to the generals who were training troops, there was another person riding a horse back and forth between the cavalry and infantry squares, waving his whip from time to time.

But it's not a horse, but a person.

If anyone in the killer team's mandarin duck formation makes a wrong move, if anyone in the cavalry's advancing line moves faster or slower, they will receive a few severe whips.

The sound was as loud as the powerful arrow Zhang Fengyi sent out in the morning.

"Master Zheng, is that Man Gui you mentioned?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"How could he do this to us, the descendants of the Zhu family!"

Zhu Youjian's face darkened.

An expected reaction.

Zheng Haizhu said calmly: "If General Manchu doesn't fight harder now, when he faces the Tatars in the future, they may be dead if they can't fight for two rounds. Your Highness, which one should you choose if you have your skin broken or if you lose your life?"

Zhu Youjian choked on his words.

After a moment, he muttered: "He, they are actually willing to join the army?"

"What else?" Zheng Haizhu simply said bluntly to the young royal family, "Your Highness thinks that they really lived a life of riding horses, carving saddles, and going out into the scenery in Shanxi? General Zhang, tell me what you saw in the third year of Daifan Tell King Xin the truth about the situation."

Zhang Mingshi had been in the military for many years and was full of murderous aura, so he would not be like the little eunuch in the Forbidden City who was submissive to the members of the Tian family.

The veteran general chuckled lightly and said to Zhu Youjian: "Your Highness, after the Cabinet nodded, Governor Sun ordered the ministers and Lu Xiangsheng to go to the county to select people. The counties in the south don't know that there are some clans near Datong. , were already begging for food on the street. As soon as we said, those who are willing to leave the fortress will receive three taels of food and money immediately, and they will be able to eat for three days. What's more, we also spread the imperial edict of Long Live Lord, honestly. After serving in the army for three years, he will be able to receive the ancestral salary owed by the imperial court. Well, it was passed down from ten to ten, and in just half a month, some clan members came from Zezhou in the south to join the army. The nephew is as stiff as bean sprouts. We don’t want it. Oh my God, that father is so lucky that he has the title of general of the auxiliary country or Yibin. He secretly wants to give his daughter to Lu Xiangsheng as a concubine. In exchange for If my son can occupy a quota in the army, Lu Xiangsheng will be scared...hehe..."

The more Zhang Mingshi talked, the more he talked. Thinking of all the funny scenes in the past, he became very excited and his words gradually lost their sense of proportion.

Zhu Youjian didn't care about Zhang Mingshi's disgrace, but still said to Zheng Haizhu unwillingly: "Does it really mean that the prince of Dai Fan doesn't care about the blood of the Zhu family?"

Zheng Haizhu sighed: "His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, and the Sixth Princess have a deep brotherhood, not only because you are both descended from Long Live Lord's dragon veins, but more importantly because you grew up together. The sects and vassals in various places have reproduced for several or even ten generations. Later, there were more than a thousand people in the same lineage, who had never met each other. There is no saying that blood is thicker than water. It was the court's business that the imperial court could not issue a clan salary. Not every vassal king could be like this. Like the wise king of Lu Fan, he took money and food from his own bowl to help his poor relatives who were separated by unknown generations. "

Zhu Youjian fell silent again.

It turns out that the word "bloodline" is indeed not that valuable.

In the end, the people who gave the young people of his old Zhu family a piece of food were not named Zhu, but were named Zheng, Sun, Lu, Zhang, Man...

Well, although, the last one, in addition to feeding them, also gave them a whip.

"No, Master Zheng, why do you think General Man is so aggressive towards one of the Yuanyang Formations right now? Those ten soldiers seem to be doing nothing wrong."