Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 236: Just You, Go Cook Two Dishes for Me (Two Chapters in One)

Wang Chengen looked flustered, his thin eyebrows twisted with forehead wrinkles, and the tear marks left by the loyal minister who had just moved him trembled left and right with his facial expressions, like several crystal worms.

He reached out to the eunuchs and palace maids around him to ask for a handkerchief but to no avail. In desperation, he locked onto his wide cuffs, and suddenly an idea came to him. He quickly tore off a corner of his robe and pressed it on the emperor's wound.

However, a piece of cloth could not stop the bleeding, and the blood soaked through the cloth and seeped out from between the fingers.

As if he had been distracted by the surprise of more than 40,000 heads, Zhu Youjian stared blankly at the palace gate, as if he was looking into the past through the vast history.

The Liaodong area was gradually lost by the emperor and his brother in the past, and no matter how much Liao tribute was collected or how many officers and soldiers were trained, they were still unable to recover it.

Finally, there is hope of recovery!
It’s not the emperor’s grandfather, nor the emperor’s brother, but him, Zhu Youjian!

With drought and war every year, state affairs became increasingly difficult, rumors were rampant, and he often worried that he would become a king who destroyed his country.

But today, he can finally proudly declare to the world that Zhu Youjian will not be the king who will destroy the country, and the Ming Dynasty will not perish.

History books will certainly record his historical achievements in recovering Liaodong and reviving the Ming Dynasty, leaving a lasting mark on his legacy!
Zhu Youjian suddenly felt that he was surrounded by a group of people and felt quite constrained. He pushed away the eunuchs and palace maids who were surrounding him.
The lesser men, believing the emperor to be wounded and angry, immediately knelt on the ground, repeatedly mumbling apologies. Wang Chengen even cried out that he deserved death, having caused the emperor to suffer damage.

"What crime have you committed? The wound on my forehead was caused by me. It has nothing to do with you. I forgive you! Everyone, get up."

The blood on his forehead slid down his cheek and dripped onto the emperor's uniform, and even dripped onto the ground, making a slight dripping sound.

"Hahahaha! My soldiers really do me proud—if their loyalty isn't absolute, then it's absolutely disloyal. Okay, that's a good point! Hahaha! Within two years, they've created two powerful armies, the Black Flag Army and the Beiwei Army. My merits are so profound. Hahahaha..."

"Your Majesty is blessed with great fortune and is clear about rewards and punishments. Naturally, there will be loyal and righteous people willing to die for you..." Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood, Wang Chengen took the lead in standing up, and the other eunuchs and palace maids slowly stood up.

"Over 40,000 heads have been beheaded! This is the second great victory since I ascended the throne! Deserve the reward! Deserve the reward! A Left General is nothing. When you soldiers recapture Liaodong, I will confer titles upon them! My ancestral land of Liaodong will be reclaimed by me, hahahaha!"

Zhu Youjian was happy, but he felt hungry, so he quickly asked someone to bring him some midnight snack. He sat on the ground and flipped through the victory report. His eyes became red when he read the touching parts. When he saw the soldiers shouting "Long live the emperor", he clenched his fists and echoed them in his heart.

Even after the imperial physician arrived and bandaged Zhu Youjian's wounds, he was still immersed in the joy of the great victory at Xiongyueyi.

Zhu Youjian could hardly fall asleep that whole night, and even when he did, he dreamed of the heroic scenes of him personally leading the army to fight.

He personally led tens of thousands of troops from the capital to Jinzhou to join forces with tens of thousands of troops led by Hong Chengchou.

Elite soldiers from the nine important border towns, Baoding, Shandong, Nanzhi, Zhejiang, and the Black Flag Camp... gathered in southern Liaoning.

He personally led an army of 100,000 in two directions to destroy the Qing Dynasty, recovering dozens of prefectures and counties and rescuing millions of Han people.

However, no trace of the Nu chief was found after searching the entire Liaodong Plain. It was not until a traitor who surrendered to the Han Dynasty found the Nu chief's body.

The slave chief hanged himself on a tree with a foreigner's neck, and was accompanied by his loyal guard Oboi.

At the feet of the slave chief, I left a piece of rag with blood written on it: "Let the enemy dismember my body, but do not harm a single civilian..."

Zhu Youjian was grateful that the chieftain still cared about the people before his death, so he agreed to his request and only executed the able-bodied men of the Eight Banners, leaving the women and children behind.

The military might that eliminated the Eastern Tartars and recovered Liaodong intimidated all the surrounding rebellious forces. The Mongolian tribes, Korea, Japan, the Nanyang states, and even the Western barbarians all submitted and paid tribute.

He, Zhu Youjian, came here to revive the Ming Dynasty and re-establish the prestige of China. Later generations called him the "ancestor" of the Guangwu Restoration like Liu Xiu!
Zhu Youjian woke up from his sleep with a satisfied smile on his face. He felt even more comfortable than having sex with a woman ten times in one night.

He really wanted to put the story of the emperor personally leading the army into practice in his dream, but he also knew that after the Battle of Tumu, the ministers would almost strictly guard against the emperor's tours, and would force him to kneel and die in front of the palace gate if they disagreed with him.

Therefore, the matter of "the emperor leading the army in person" cannot be done by force but only by strategy.

Zhu Youjian was an emperor who cared about his reputation, and was particularly concerned about some empty reputation. Although he never showed mercy when killing governors and ministers, he was helpless when faced with those upright people who stood on the moral high ground.

Zhu Youjian was not worried about the failure of recovering Liao.

Hong Chengchou has tens of thousands of soldiers and Li Aiqing can also transfer some of his brave soldiers to the north. Besides, there are also many soldiers in southern Liaoning. If some more are transferred from border towns across the country, the army to destroy the Qing Dynasty can be almost assembled.

Besides, with the emperor leading the army in person, the morale of the soldiers must have reached its highest point. Those who were afraid to fight the Jiannu will now dare to do so. Originally, they could only use 30% of their strength out of 100. Now that the emperor has arrived, they should be able to use 70% to 80% of their strength, right?

Even if the war to destroy the Qing Dynasty was not so smooth, he could still hang out on the front line and learn some experience in leading troops and organizing the army from the Black Flag Battalion and the Beiwei Army so that he could go back and train his own Beijing Camp.

After all, "The emperor should be served by those who have strong soldiers and horses" is not an empty talk. The reason why Zhu Youjian lacked control over the "warlords" was that his direct Beijing camp was not tough enough or strong enough.

Historically, ever since the Battle of Songjin in 1642, when a group of relatively obedient "semi-legitimate descendants" were sent away, military generals in various places became completely warlords, and some even began to flirt with the Qing Dynasty.

Those who were unwilling to invest in the Qing Dynasty also turned to Li Zicheng.

Zhu Youjian thought to himself that if he could learn how to command troops, and lead them in person from time to time to intimidate those inexperienced soldiers and force them to work hard to suppress the bandits, there would be no chaos in the world.

Recalling the practice of his ancestors' imperial tours, Zhu Youjian quickly came up with a good idea.

He summoned all his ministers to share the "Great Victory at Xiongyue Station", but in return he received a barrage of flattery that made his ears almost callused.

The ministers had no objection to the promotions and rewards given to the soldiers - the commander-in-chief of the Beiwei Army was promoted to the left general of the Left Army General's Office, and the other generals were promoted one to two levels each. Each soldier was rewarded with five taels of silver, totaling almost 30,000 taels of silver.

The important officials were very happy about the recovery of Liaodong, as it meant that the Ming Dynasty might be revived, and these high-ranking officials who were firmly in power would also go down in history.

However, the deployment of various official troops in the war to destroy the Qing Dynasty still required coordination among many officials from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and other departments.

How many troops should be dispatched, how much food and fodder are needed, how to make up for the lack of food and wages, if withdrawing strong troops leads to the expansion of local bandits, how to deal with the bandits' counterattack, and how should the rights and responsibilities be divided.

Which generals should be given the credit for the victory in the war against the Qing Dynasty?

You must know that since the Jiajing period, no more than five people have been awarded titles for their military merits. If the commanders of the Black Flag Camp and the Beiwei Army were also awarded titles for this, should they be promoted but have their power reduced?

However, Zhu Youjian did not care about these details. His mind was now full of leading the army in person.

His most trusted 10,000-odd soldiers from the Yongwei Camp were in the capital area. They had originally planned to rush to Jinzhou for support, but after hearing that the Nu chieftain had surrounded Jinzhou, they stopped in Yongping and waited and watched.

While the ministers were overwhelmed by the joy of being recorded in history and the recovery of Liaodong, Zhu Youjian proposed to go to Changping to worship his ancestors.

The reason, of course, was that he had accomplished the "great cause" that his grandfather and brother had failed to accomplish, and it was a good opportunity to go and worship his ancestors and share this good news with the ancestors of the Zhu family.

At first, the ministers tried to stop and dissuade him, thinking that offering the victory in the Taimiao would be enough.

After all, Liaodong had not been completely recovered. If something happened to the emperor himself, how could the prince, who was only ten years old, handle state affairs? Fortunately, the emperor was much more resolute.

The Beiwei Army was the one that defeated 130,000 Tatars with only 6,000 men. They all shouted "Long live the emperor", "We are infinitely loyal to the emperor", and "Fight for the emperor". They were Zhu Youjian's diehard supporters.

The emperor's direct descendants have made great achievements, which means that the emperor himself has made a successful decision. Who dares to stop an emperor who has achieved military victory?

Besides, the emperor was not doing anything weird. He just went to worship his ancestors and tell them some good news.

Ancestors are the soul of the Chinese people. Ancestor worship is a noble act that stands on the moral high ground. Even the most upright officials cannot make irresponsible remarks about it.

So the ministers asked about some short-term matters concerning "regency" and then let His Majesty go.

Zhu Youjian changed into military uniform and personally led 5,000 soldiers from the Beijing Camp out of the capital. However, instead of heading north to Changping, he turned around and headed eastward to the Yongwei Camp.

Even though the important officials cried out that they had been deceived, it was too late. The teams that were sent out one after another to "persuade" the emperor to retreat never returned and were all "eaten" by the emperor.

Now that the matter was settled, all the ministers could only perform their duties, and the emperor's sister-in-law Zhang Yan, known as the virtuous queen, would take charge of the government.

The ministers secretly prayed that the loyal governor Li and the loyal and righteous Beiwei army could protect the safety of His Majesty.

Although Your Majesty is mean and ungrateful, unclear about rewards and punishments, and acts hastily and irritably, he is the king of a country after all, and he can stabilize the situation in the world even when sitting on the dragon throne.

Whether out of public interest or personal interest, they all hope that Your Majesty can recover Liaodong as soon as possible and return to the court to govern.

……

On the land of northeastern Hubei Province, a cavalry of more than a thousand people galloped on horseback.

They quickly crossed a pass connecting Henan and Huguang.

The guards at the pass didn't even verify their identities; they simply let the enemy go when they saw a familiar black flag from afar. The pass, which had originally flown with the regular Ming military flags, was now replaced with several black flags with white dragons. The Black Flag Battalion had quietly taken over the area.

The cavalry team that passed through the pass did not stop, but only stayed at an inn along the way for one night, and then headed north to reach the mall.

As soon as the leader of the team entered the county government office, he dismounted and went to the conference room, where many military and political players had been waiting for a long time.

Seeing the return of Li Mu, the "ruthless reward-giving guy," all the players stood up and greeted him, "Hello, guide," "Hello, Mr. Li," "Good afternoon," "You're finally back"...

This is not because the players are polite, but because they are polite to the "green-named" NPCs, especially the special "white-named" NPCs so as not to lose credibility, reputation, and merit.

During this trip, Li Mu led his troops south to "recapture" several county towns in northern Hubei. At the same time, he also settled the farmers and cadre players of the original "Immortal Thieves", and expanded the actual control of the "Black Flag Army Interest Group" to the banks of the Yangtze River.

Li Mu had just sat down to take a sip of water to relax when a large number of military and political players handed him paper documents.

Li Mu requires paper-based office work. Ordinary people cannot see electronic reports in social chat groups, nor can they read electronic forums in another world.

The cadres needed to maintain the vast territory are increasingly relying on ordinary cadres trained in "training classes" and "agricultural training institutes".

The number of cadre players is still small, generally fluctuating between 10% and 15% of the total number of players. It is impossible to rely on players to fill the grassroots level of the world.

Player cadres are more like leaders, training mentors, and grassroots anti-corruption supervisors for ordinary people.

Currently, the cadres who are interning behind the players have filled the "old districts" of Shangcheng and Gushi, and are still accumulating administrative experience during their internship.

These "new seeds" will be able to independently handle township, village, and even county affairs within two to three years. The freed-up cadres can go to the surrounding prefectures and counties to fill in the grassroots and lead more trainee cadres.

Having said that, Li Mu read the paper reports one by one.

The first step is militia training and recruiting new soldiers.

The military training of 40,000 militiamen in southern Henan has been basically completed. Their combat effectiveness is roughly equivalent to that of the garrison troops with sufficient money and food. After several actual combat trials, they will be quickly upgraded to ordinary Ming army soldiers.

Recruiting new soldiers was a task assigned by Li Mu when he planned to take action in northern Hubei.

After all, taking the city from the Changsheng Army is as natural as taking money out of your own wallet.

With the additional human, financial and material resources of several counties, it is time for him, the general who is suppressing the bandits, to expand his own troops.

The original plan was to expand the 16,000 combat troops to 25,000. According to the suggestions of some players, the army was reorganized according to the Beiyang Army organization in the late Qing Dynasty and temporarily organized into two regiments.

The old system of five battalions, front, back, left, right and center, was temporarily used on the militia.

The recruited soldiers included both selected elite soldiers from the militia and able-bodied men recruited from prefectures and counties.

On the surface, Li Mu was recruiting auxiliary troops, but in fact he was selecting brave warriors according to the standards of combat soldiers, while the 40,000 militiamen who were ostensibly organized as "local militia" remained unchanged.

Applicants are limited to those aged 16 to 25. If they have served in the army to fight bandits, work in special occupations, or are more literate, the age limit can be relaxed to 30.

Everyone in the surrounding areas knew that the Black Flag Battalion did not collect empty salaries or exploit the blood of soldiers, there was no bullying or beating in the army, and the food was quite sufficient and good, so they all came to apply.

However, within a few months, Li Mu's expansion plan was successfully completed, and there were even extra able-bodied men who wanted to ask for food.

The recruiting officers could only ask them to work as laborers or miners first, and use their spare time to learn to read and write at the night school founded by Governor Li, so that they could perhaps be given priority for admission in the future.

The military industry and railways are also progressing steadily.

The monthly production of rifled flintlock rifles reached 100. The 12-pound field guns and 24-pound siege guns could meet the needs of the soldiers of the two towns.

Basic weapons such as swords, spears, helmets and shields are no longer in short supply, and can not only meet the needs of all the soldiers in the Black Flag Battalion, but also cover the 40,000 militiamen.

The development of various battle groups is also booming.

The Changsheng Army captured most of the prefectures and counties of Xiangyang, De'an, and Huangzhou, while the Qihuo Army and the Yelang Army took all of the prefectures and counties of Nanyang and Runing.

All the destiny points earned by the former were used to replenish the resurrection reserves and handed over to the Liaodong Beiwei Army for construction.

The destiny points obtained by the latter summoned 1,500 new players.

Li Mu still remembered that the Beiwei Army had just blocked the Qing army from behind, the situation was still unclear, and no one knew how the battle would turn out.

This group of players is not as keen on killing Tartars as previous newcomers, but instead focuses on farming and civilian work.

The four hundred men did not join any combat group, but served as cadres in the counties and villages of various combat zones.

Five hundred people began to work silently at the main base, hoping to buy exploration tickets as soon as possible and go to the rural areas farther south to lurk and mobilize the masses.

Recreate the glory of the predecessor of the Changsheng Army, the Huguang guerrillas organizing peasant uprisings, and organizing villagers to transport food to the Beggar Army.

The two hundred free men chose nothing and freely enjoyed everything about the late Ming Dynasty.

Sometimes he does farm work, sometimes he works in a workshop for a few days, or he temporarily acts as a guard for the circuit court, witnessing the various aspects of life of the people in the county and villages.

The other four hundred people watched the players in the war group fighting and killing each other all day long, and they felt bored and wanted to go to the south of the Yangtze River to make a name for themselves in a non-violent way.

As long as the enemy does not use force, they will fight within the rules without breaking them.

They wanted to achieve victory in trade and culture, and even wanted to pass the imperial examinations to become scholars and juren and integrate into the gentry class, thus disintegrating these social parasites from within.

As the actual and indirect control areas become larger and larger, Li Mu also feels that it is time to relax the players' exploration scope and increase the players' freedom.

Li Mu set the Black Flag Camp's actual control area as the "core area". All players in the core area are free to act as they please as long as they abide by the rules, even if they go up the mountain or down the glacier.

The two prefectures outside the core area are designated as "restricted areas"—

All players with a reputation value of more than 100 can freely participate in the event without joining a war group or purchasing exploration tickets.

This means that areas that were previously inaccessible without joining a war group can now be visited.

The Daming Prefecture County, which is one circle outside the restricted area, is set as a "dangerous zone". Players need to purchase a primary exploration ticket or accept a special mission issued by Li Mu to go there.

As for foreign countries outside the territory of the Ming Dynasty, they are set as "forbidden areas". Players need to purchase advanced exploration tickets, or have a reputation value of more than 500, and travel with at least 100 people to go there.

Considering that many old players will inevitably leave the original team after the new version is updated, Li Mu plans to increase the team's income and authority by 10% at that time.

Of course, we must also squeeze out the maximum value from these people who leave the group.

Li Mu selected many prefectures, counties and villages in Hubei, Jiangxi and northern Anhui, and arranged many riot missions to infiltrate the grassroots, hoping that while players explore the distance, they can "corrupt" more rural villagers for him.

In addition, Li Mu plans to add a new value "honor" -

It will serve as the basis for granting titles to players and allocating overseas territories in the future.

As the saying goes, one cannot be appointed to the provincial government without having served in prefectures and counties.

Those who have not "served" in a war group and made military achievements, those who have not honestly served as cadres in counties and villages for a certain number of years, those who have not joined forces to farm, advanced in technology, and created enough value...

There will not be enough honors to participate in the future evaluation of overseas titles and fiefs.

I want to be a lord in a foreign country in the future, live the decadent life of a lord, build and develop my own territory with a high degree of freedom in the true sense, and adopt any territorial system I want...

Then just focus on the present and work hard for Li Mu.

Li Mu is well aware of the huge pie of overseas fiefdoms, and he should be able to firmly grasp the hearts of the players.

Just when Li Mu was "plotting" against the player, he suddenly heard a player coming to report outside the yamen.

The "new weapon" developed in secret has been basically successful and is waiting for the leader to personally inspect it.

(End of this chapter)