Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 250 Expelling the Tartars Together
Li Jing's expression suddenly became serious, and he stared straight into Cao Wenzhao's eyes. Seeing Cao Wenzhao staring at him intently, Li Jing nodded slightly.

"General Cao, do you want to build an army that is invincible in the world?" Li Jing asked suddenly.

Cao Wenzhao said without hesitation: "Of course I want to! But with my current ability, I can't create it."

Li Jing stretched out his thumb. There are not many generals in Ming Dynasty who are as self-aware as Cao Wenzhao.

"I can help you build an army that is invincible in the world, but I don't know if you are willing to hand over your subordinates to me and accept my training! Even you have to train with me!" Li Jing said seriously.

Cao Wenzhao's expression suddenly became serious when he heard the words.

The army in Cao Wenzhao's hands is not an ordinary army, but Guan Ning cavalry.

There were a total of 6000 Guanning iron cavalry, Cao Wenzhao only got one thousand, and the rest was mostly in the hands of Zu Dashou. In the battle of Dalinghe, Zu Dashou was defeated and surrendered (feigned surrender), and Guanning iron cavalry in his hands was completely lost. (Although the Guanning Iron Cavalry was rebuilt later and was led by Wu Sangui, the general soldier of Shanhaiguan, it was no longer the original army, and its combat effectiveness dropped a lot).

It can be said that the Guanning iron cavalry in Cao Wenzhao's hands is already one of the few elites in Ming Dynasty.Now that Li Jing wants to train this army, Cao Wenzhao is really worried.

Cao Wenzhao knew Li Jing's methods very well. If Guan Ning's iron cavalry was handed over to Li Jing for training, he might have to change his surname to Li soon.

After pondering for a while, Cao Wenzhao asked: "General Li, Mr. Cao has a question in his mind. I wonder if General Li can explain it to me?"

Li Jing stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation: "General Cao, please, Li knows everything."

Cao Wenzhao nodded slightly: "General Li, the weapons used by your subordinates are extremely sharp. I wonder if General Li will equip my subordinates with such weapons?"

Li Jing smiled and nodded.

Cao Wenzhao then asked: "If only weapons are equipped, why does General Li want Cao's troops to train? My men have been in battle for a long time. Although they have never used your weapons, I think it will only take a few days. , you can use it proficiently, it seems that no training is required?"

Li Jing looked at Cao Wenzhao and said with a smile: "General Cao, when I sent Dingguo to fight with you, after you saw the weapons they used, do you think that the weapons used by my subordinates are similar to the three-eyed firecrackers used by your subordinates?" almost?"

Smiling, Li Jing continued: "The three-eyed firecracker can hit the target without aiming in close combat. That's because the three-eyed firecracker fires shotguns, which cover a large area, but the disadvantages are also obvious. Can you If you hit the enemy, the enemy can also hit you, so soldiers will inevitably be injured in battle. But do you think that when Dingguo is fighting, can the enemy hit them?"

Cao Wenzhao shook his head and said, "No, when the rogues fought against Young Master Ling, they would only be beaten, and they had no power to fight back."

Li Jing smiled: "That's because the weapons we use fire bullets, the shooting distance is long, and the lethality is deadly enough."

Cao Wenzhao nodded, he had seen the bullets used by Li Dingguo.

Li Jing picked up the teapot and poured tea into Cao Wenzhao's cup, and then made a gesture of invitation.

After Cao Wenzhao took a sip from his teacup, Li Jingfang continued, "General Cao, you must shoot accurately with such a gun, otherwise you will be wasting bullets. Bullets are not easy to produce nowadays, but they cannot afford to be wasted." .”

Cao Wenzhao nodded slightly, remembering that two soldiers under Li Dingguo were beaten up with bruised noses and faces swollen for fighting for a bullet casing, he couldn't help but smile, but this shows that the production of bullets is indeed not easy.

"But if you want to shoot accurately, you must conduct rigorous training." Li Jing took a sip of tea and continued: "Actually, a lot of bullets are also consumed during training. It can be said that every soldier under my command is I can't afford to lose any soldier who was fed with money."

Cao Wenzhao heard this silently. He has led the army for many years, and he knows that a good general must treat his soldiers well, so that the soldiers will fight with all their strength, but there are only a few who value it as much as Li Jing.

Sighing, Li Jing continued: "It doesn't matter if you just need to spend money. General Cao must know a thing or two about Li's net worth. But producing bullets not only requires money, but also requires a lot of manpower. To be honest, Li A certain man has been suffering from a lack of manpower, but to support the workers, not only money, but also housing and land are needed. With Li’s background, how could the court give me population and land? Therefore, I can only find a way to do it myself Go get it."

Shaking his head, Li Jing sighed and said: "However, Li used improper means to obtain such a population and land, and he had to beware of the imperial court dealing with me, so the imperial court had to rely on me, so Li did not drive out the rogues. , let them restrain the energy of the imperial court."

Cao Wenzhao nodded silently. Li Jing took advantage of the rogues to occupy Pingyang Mansion, and he did his best to cooperate. It turned out that he also suspected that Li Jing had other intentions. Only then did he know that Li Jing was trying to raise the thief's self-esteem.

Rubbing the teacup, Li Jing lost his mind for a while, and then said after a while: "I will not hide from General Cao, when my power rises, I will wipe out the bandits, but I will not kill them. They surrendered. Countless fields in Shanxi and Shanxi have been barren due to the rebellion of the rogues in recent years. When General Cao surrounded and suppressed the rogues, he must have seen a lot of empty rooms along the road."

Cao Wenzhao nodded. During the war, it is often necessary to ask the local people about the local roads and terrain, but in places where the rogue army passes, there is often no one to be seen.

Li Jing sighed and said: "To resume production, a large number of people are needed. Most of the rogues are ordinary people. After being recruited and sent back to the place, it will take a few years for the place to recover. General Cao, you seem to be from Datong, right?" ?”

Cao Wenzhao nodded, not knowing why Li Jing suddenly asked about his hometown.

Li Jing suddenly smiled and said, "I don't know if there are any people in Datong who joined the bandits. If so, I wonder if General Cao can kill these fellow villagers when he encircles and suppresses the bandits."

Cao Wenzhao hurriedly said: "How can that be? Everyone is from the same township, and they know that they rebelled because they couldn't eat. If Cao even kills his fellow villagers, how will he face those folks when he returns to his hometown in the future!"

Li Jingjing nodded: "People in Datong are from the general's hometown. The general can't kill people. Isn't there any other place where the general's fellow villagers are not? Even if they are not from the general's fellow villagers, they may be fellow villagers of the general's soldiers, or fellow soldiers of the friendly army. I don't know." Has the general thought about it, when the general ordered to kill people in other places, what would his soldiers think? What would his friendly troops think?"

After a pause, Li Jing continued: "These people are not vicious people, but just a group of ordinary people who can't afford to eat. What's the use of killing them?"

Cao Wenzhao was silent when he heard this, and after a long time, Cao Wenzhao clasped his fists at Li Jing and said, "Cao understands, in fact, as long as you kill the leaders, the rogues will disperse by themselves, there is no need to kill all the rogues." kill them all."

Li Jing nodded lightly: "But now the court and the local government have no money or food to appease the bandits, let them go back to the local area now, and they will rebel soon, let them make a fuss first, wait for my side to settle down , when you have more food in your hands, you can recruit them. Put it away, let's put it away first."

Cao Wenzhao nodded lightly. After a while, he suddenly woke up. After talking so much with Li Jing, he led himself into the ditch again. He had already put aside the matter of asking him for a weapon. .

Cao Wenzhao was about to bring up the matter of weapons again, when Li Jing laughed and said, "General Cao, we need to use pacifying means to deal with the common people, but we don't have to be polite when dealing with those outsiders who come to our Ming Dynasty to rape and plunder. To deal with them, you have to beat hard."

Speaking of this, Li Jing suddenly stood up and said loudly: "During the reign of Emperor Han Yuan, the Xiongnu attacked the subordinate vassal states of the Han Dynasty. When Chen Tang wrote a letter to Emperor Yuan, he said a word: Those who commit crimes against a strong Han will be punished even if they are far away. Today My Ming Dynasty has been weak for a long time. Later Jin and Mongolian ministries repeatedly violated our Ming border. General Cao, my men should be ashamed of this, but Li has not yet achieved power, and the emperor and courtiers are also suspicious of Li. At this time, it is not suitable for Li to use troops abroad. In three years, at most five years, Li has accumulated enough strength to fight abroad. I wonder if General Cao is willing to work with Li to drive out the Tartars?"

"Is this true?" Cao Wenzhao was surprised when he heard this.

Li Jing smiled and said: "General Cao thinks Li is a nonsense?"

Cao Wenzhao said seriously: "General Li, if you make an oath with me here, three years, no! If you drive the Tartars together within five years, Cao is willing to be General Li's drive from today on."

Li Jing said with great joy: "General Cao, I dare not take the advice. Li is willing to join hands with General Cao to build this extraordinary feat."

Cao Wenzhao was overjoyed, and immediately stretched out his palms and said, "A word from a gentleman!"

Li Jing stretched out his palm and clapped Cao Wenzhao's palm, and said, "Come on!"

"Hahahaha!" After Li Jing and Cao Wenzhao clapped their hands together, they suddenly laughed at the same time.

After laughing, Li Jing stretched out his hand to ask Cao Wenzhao to take a seat, and said, "General Cao!"

Cao Wenzhao suddenly waved his hand to stop Li Jing's words, and said with a smile: "General Li, the title of General Cao will not be called in the future. If you think highly of Cao, you can call me brother. I hope that in the future, you and my brother will make great achievements together." .”

Li Jingwen immediately changed his tune and said, "Brother Cao!"

With Li Jing's current status, it is impossible to easily call others brothers and sisters, let alone kowtow to others. It can be said that Li Jing is definitely the most caring and trustworthy person who can be called a brother by Li Jing.

Although Cao Wenzhao is the chief soldier of Shanxi, and his status in the court is much higher than that of Li Jing, his actual power and influence are far behind Li Jing.

Cao Wenzhao knew very well that when Li Jing called him Brother Cao, he already regarded him as one of his own, as a brother.

"Good brother!" Cao Wenzhao reached out and took Li Jing's hand.

Li Jing took Cao Wenzhao's hand and shook it vigorously.

The two looked at each other and smiled, and Li Jing continued: "Brother Cao, I have to accumulate strength in the past few years, and Brother Cao can't waste this time. If Brother Cao wants to have an army that is invincible in the world, he must fully cooperate with Brother Cao. Row."

"Brother, please tell me! Cao has no answer!" Cao Wenzhao said.

(End of this chapter)