A few days later, at the Governor's Mansion in Jinan Fucheng, Liu Yan's official documents were placed on Lu Xiangsheng's desk, which shocked Lu Xiangsheng's eyelids.
It would be easier if Gao Qiqian went south with a few followers and encountered rioters or missing bandits on the way. But Gao Qiqian clearly had two thousand soldiers from the Beijing camp beside him. Could it be that the rebels in Shandong were able to organize themselves to kill the official army?
Lu Xiangsheng thought about it again and again, but called Lu Huaiying over and asked, "What was Liu Yan's reaction when he learned that Gao Qiqian was the supervisor?"
Lu Huaiying was stunned for a moment, with a bad feeling in his heart, and said, "Master Governor, has something happened to General Liu Shen?"
Lu Xiangsheng picked up the official document and said, "Liu Yan sent someone to report that Gao Qiqian and the two thousand soldiers from the Beijing camp were missing. He didn't even see a single person."
Lu Huaiying only felt that his scalp was numb. How could this be possible? When he went south, he had seen Gao Qiqi's support. In order to avoid being discovered, he took a detour and rushed to Jimo Yingcheng.
So Lu Huaiying told the truth: "Supervisor, if we calculate the distance, my subordinates only arrived a day or two earlier than Gao Shenjun. How can there be a large group of bandits around Jimo Yingcheng?"
"This is what I am most worried about!"
Lu Xiangsheng said sadly: "Liu Yan is too courageous. After the expansion of the new army in his hands, there are nearly 30,000 elites, and he has begun to act without scruples. This is not a good thing."
Lu Huaiying broke out in a cold sweat and thought to himself: "Liu Yan, Liu Yan, you are so ruthless, you dare to kill even the supervisors, and there are two thousand officers and soldiers!"
"Master Governor, how will this matter end?"
Lu Huaiying was a little worried at this time and said: "No matter how careful General Liu Shen is, Gao Qiqian disappeared in Shandong after all. The governor cannot escape the involvement, and those in the court will definitely make a big fuss."
Lu Xiangsheng said: "There is no need to worry. The wars are going on everywhere right now, and our Shandong Army has repeatedly made military exploits. The imperial court and His Majesty will not embarrass me. The most they will do is reprimand me. But I am a little worried about Liu Yan."
"Liu Yan went a little too far this time. The bloody methods and boldness of his methods have exceeded the governor's expectations. He must be restrained, otherwise it is hard to say where Liu Yan will go in the future."
Lu Huaiying said: "Liu Shen will be dedicated to serving the country, shouldn't he?"
"It's good that Liu Yan is devoted to the country, but from the governor's point of view, he is loyal to the world, not to his family!"
Lu Xiangsheng stood up and said, "Go and get ready. Follow me to Jimo Yingcheng. I want to talk to Liu Yan before he goes out to fight."
At the same time, Liu Yan divided the craftsmen brought by Gao Qiqian into two batches and sent them to Wangjiazhuang and Fushanqian Qianhu Station in Aoshanwei respectively, and handed them over to Tan Xiaoda and Xu Le for arrangement. All the money and food were loaded into trucks and carried as military supplies.
"It's a pity there are no cannons."
Liu Yan knew that the city of Beijing had a considerable number of sophisticated artillery. They were large-caliber, heavy-duty red cannons that were very powerful. If some could be transferred, it would definitely greatly enhance the firepower of the new army. Unfortunately, there were none this time. .
But Liu Yan didn't care. Judging from the firepower of the reorganized artillery battalion, Liu Yan's new army would definitely not fall behind even if it faced the European armies of the same period, let alone Zhang Xianzhong's army of thieves.
So Liu Yan explained to Wang Wenzhen who rushed to Jimo Yingcheng, and then held a family banquet in the mansion of the general, and had a warm dinner with Wang Yunhe, Shang Shan, and Ruoshui. That night, Liu Yan also talked to Wang Yunhe, Shang Shan, and Ruoshui. The one-year-old son played for a long time. The family's faces were full of happy smiles, and no one mentioned the upcoming expedition.
The next day, Liu Yan said goodbye to Wang Yunhe, Shang Shan, and Ruoshui. Under the farewell of Wang Wenzhen and other subordinates, he led the rear battalion, guard battalion, cavalry battalion, and artillery battalion to Lingshan Guard, accompanied by A lot of money and supplies.
At the same time, Zhang Yi, Wang Bo, and Shen Tuo each led their own soldiers to set off from Aoshan Guard, Dasong Guard, and Andong Guard to join Lingshan Guard.
As for the defense of various places, Liu Yan left it all to the Dunjun at the various defense stations. Now the Dunjun armies in various places in Jimo Yingcheng have basically been disbanded and reorganized. Some of them are young men recruited from military households in various places, and some are reserve soldiers who were unsuccessful in the expansion of the new army. Their combat strength has been greatly improved compared to before. promote.
Judging from history, Liu Yan knew that neither the Qing army nor the bandit army would appear in Shandong for a period of time in the future, so the defense pressure here was not great and the general Dun army could completely handle it.
Two days later, Liu Yan led his troops to arrive at Lingshan Acropolis, and the remaining battalions had all arrived outside the city the day before.
At this time, there were fortifications stretching for several miles outside the Lingshan Acropolis. Including the artillery battalion, a total of eight battalions of the New Army were encamped respectively. The flags were fluttering and the troops were in good order. The people inside and outside the city gathered around to watch. This is what the Chinese army should look like!
In the rear camp, Shen Wen was wearing armor and carrying a gun on his shoulder. He was patrolling the camp behind the captain.
Shen Wen looked at the soldiers wearing helmets and carrying armor everywhere. Tens of thousands of people gathered together in one place. Such a spectacular sight had never been seen in his life. He couldn't help but feel so excited that his face turned red. If it weren't for the provisions of military regulations, No one was allowed to make any noise at will. Shen Wen wanted to shout a few words loudly at this moment to vent his pride.
The captain in front looked back and saw that his team was full of gunners, and most of them were new recruits. Although they had undergone rigorous training, their combat power was definitely much stronger than the average Ming army, but it was better than the battle of Julu. The veterans and new troops are still a little behind.
"well!"
The captain shook his head and said: "Isn't it just to fight the bandits? Why are you so excited? How much credit can the head of a bandit have? At the beginning, I had to fight against the army of slave thieves and beheaded two levels before I became a captain. !”
Shen Wen listened to the captain's whispered words and said with admiration: "Boss, do you think we can win this battle soon?"
"Huh, what's the point? Who in the world are our new army afraid of? Even if the heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals come, they will still get slapped a few times!"
While talking, everyone patrolled to the edge of the camp, and suddenly saw a team of capable cavalry galloping past outside. There were hundreds of them, most of them wearing armor. They were rare elite cavalry among the Ming army.
"Huh? Lu Duchen's Dubiaoying cavalry, why are they here?"
Shen Wen followed the captain's gaze and saw a large flag with the word "Lu" flying among the cavalry. The cavalry passed through the barracks of several battalions and entered the city directly from the south gate of Lingshan Guard.
"Let's go to the north for inspection!"
In the Lingshan Guard City, Liu Yan was convening the commanders of all battalions and General Manager Qian to hold a military meeting at the Chengshou Mansion. Suddenly, he received news that Lu Xiangsheng was here!
Liu Yan frowned, and before he had time to think about it, he led everyone out to greet him.
At this time, Lu Xiangsheng had entered the city and came outside the Chengshou Mansion. Liu Yan welcomed Lu Xiangsheng and Lu Huaiying in. When they arrived at the main hall, Liu Yan led the crowd to salute Lu Xiangsheng.
"Everyone, please sit down. There are no outsiders here, so don't be restrained."
Liu Yan and others sat down, and Lu Xiangsheng asked directly: "When will Liu Shen prepare to leave?"
"Informing the Governor, my subordinates are preparing to lead the expedition in two days."
"Does the army have all the money and food?"
"It's all ready."
Lu Xiangsheng then looked at Liu Yan and asked, "Can you see Gao Jianjun?"
Liu Yan looked as normal and said: "My subordinates have not seen it, but they have sent people to look for it. After several days, there is still no news."
Lu Xiangsheng frowned, stared at Liu Yan and stopped talking.
Lu Huaiying hesitated for a moment, and then said: "General Liu, Gao Jianjun and the two thousand soldiers from the Beijing camp came all the way with great fanfare, and they also brought a lot of money, food and supplies, and suddenly disappeared. This, this is hard to explain to the higher ups. !”
Liu Yan said: "What Brother Lu said is absolutely true, but now the two thousand soldiers of the Beijing Camp of the Gao Jianjun are nowhere to be seen. It must be that the money and food supplies attracted the bandits, and the Gao Jianjun must have suffered an accident."
Lu Xiangsheng slammed the table and said loudly: "With two thousand soldiers from the capital camp, are there such strong bandits in Shandong?"
Seeing that Lu Xiangsheng was angry, Liu Yan clasped his fists and said, "The governor should calm down and tell his subordinates that the war is imminent and the high supervisor's army is nowhere to be seen. This is actually the best outcome."
Lu Xiangsheng was furious and said: "Even if Gao Qiqian is a treacherous person, he will be reported to the court and punished according to national laws. What kind of dignity does it have for the Ming Dynasty to oversee the army without seeing people alive or dead or corpses?"
Liu Yan said: "Perhaps, Gao Jianjun encountered the heroic souls of the Julu Battle, so he went down to atone for his sins."
Lu Xiangsheng was stunned immediately, his eyes turned red, and he sat down dejectedly.
Lu Huaiying, Chen Xun, Wang Yue, Zhang Yi, Wang Bo, Xu Ming, Miao Shao, Shen Tuo, Qian Qian and others were a little at a loss. Liu Yan immediately shook his head at everyone, and everyone retreated. Only Liu Yan and Lu Xiangsheng were left.
"Supervisor, my subordinates are going on an expedition here under the command of Yang Sichang. With Yang Sichang's character, the future of my subordinates and the more than 28,000 soldiers in his hands is already uncertain. If there is another Gao Qiqian, it is estimated that the future will be uncertain. Your Majesty and more than 20,000 soldiers will be killed on the battlefield in Hunan!"
Liu Yan thought of the eternal regret of the Battle of Julu, where tens of thousands of Guan Ning troops backed up and refused to save the Qing army, causing the Qing army to retreat calmly. The anger in his heart burned brightly, and he shouted: "Supervisor! My subordinates are not afraid of death. The new army is not afraid of death, but my soldiers and I can only die on the battlefield, not at the hands of traitors or conspiracies!"
Lu Xiangsheng glared at Liu Yan, and after a long sigh, he said: "You are doing too many things, what will you do once the matter is exposed?"
Liu Yan was not worried. In the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty, as long as I had soldiers and could mobilize according to orders in case of war, even if I did something outrageous, what could the court do to me?
During the late Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen killed many civil servants, including many important ministers in the cabinet, but how many generals in charge of the army were killed? There are only a handful of them, and they were defeated and lost their strength!
So Liu Yan said: "Don't worry, Governor, nothing will happen to your subordinates, and the imperial court will not provoke the general who is guarding one side for the sake of an eunuch!"
Lu Xiangsheng pointed at Liu Yan and said nothing for a long time.
Two days later, Lu Xiangsheng, Lu Huaiying, Yue Ming, Song Gongming, Tian Huixu, Zhang Lei, Zhao Min and other Lingshan Guard officials gathered outside the south gate.
At this time, the battalions of the New Army were ready to go, and more than 28,000 soldiers were assembled in marching columns, ready to leave at any time.
This time Liu Yan also brought a large amount of money and food with the army. In addition to the batch brought by Gao Qiqi, Liu Yan also raised some from Lingshan Guards, gathering together 500,000 taels of silver and 200,000 shi of food. The money and food are enough to support the new army officers and soldiers for four months.
Lu Xiangsheng had strong objections to this, believing that the army's food and salary were supplied by the court. The commander of this battle was Yang Sichang. He would not joke about his own future. The money and food for all the Ming army's ministries would definitely be supplied in time. Liu Yan did not need to carry so much money and food for the march. Not to mention delaying the march of the army, it was not safe.
Liu Yan didn't think so. In history, Yang Sichang's troops had experienced farce in which various Ming army departments had difficulty in supplying supplies. Zuo Liangyu even fought with other Ming army departments in order to compete for limited money and food supplies.
"If you have food in your hands, don't panic. If you don't use the money and food, your subordinates will just bring it back." Liu Yan said.
Later, Liu Yan led his troops to go on an expedition. Lu Xiangsheng looked at the retreating soldiers and thought to himself: "I hope that after Liu Yan leads his troops to join the battle, the Xianthief troops will be wiped out!"
Some people died, but not completely...
