At dawn, Liu Chengzong had fed the horses and was standing in the courtyard brushing his teeth in a silk coat. A messenger stood on the roof of the cave dwelling in the courtyard and announced that today's parade was cancelled.
The border troops have small exercises every day, led by the team officers; major exercises are held once every five days, and the whole battalion is trained by the garrison.
When they could have enough to eat, their training was very intense. In the past, He Renlong got some food and grass from elsewhere. As long as he had enough food for five days in a row, he would not spare the entire fort's officers and soldiers carrying eighty kilograms of weight, three They left the fort daily and completed intensive training such as marching, camp formation, and trench digging.
Nowadays, food and grass are not in supply, and training is insufficient. Team officers generally focus on formation training, aiming to restrain the soldiers from going out to cause trouble.
Without military pay and halved military rations, no matter how restrained and shrewd a general, all he can do is restrain himself.
It is unthinkable to improve, and it is difficult to maintain. As long as the soldiers can be restrained from escaping from the fort to rob the people, they are worthy of the emperor.
If not, the job of hunting outside the castle would not fall on the shoulders of servants like Liu Chengzong.
Is there any reason to let the most elite soldiers go out hunting to make a living?
After getting up early and having a bowl of porridge at the porridge house, Liu Chengzong took Hong Qi and Xiao Zhuanfeng for a walk out of the city, but unfortunately he didn't see any prey.
In the morning, I wanted to go back to the castle to see if the wild geese were ready. As soon as I arrived at the city gate, I saw Xiaoliu waiting for him. When I saw him from a distance, he shouted: "Brother Lion, come back quickly!"
Take him to Liu Chengzu's barracks.
"what happened?"
"The officer in charge was called to the meeting hall by the general at noon. When he comes back, he asked me to find you. Hurry to the barracks."
Along the way, I saw someone in another yard carrying their luggage and putting it on the back of a mule and horse with a sad look on their face. Liu Chengzong's heart pounded, and his uneasiness became stronger. He thought to himself: Are we going to leave?
Set off without even giving you a full meal?
But the bells and drum towers on the street didn't ring.
When he arrived at the courtyard of Liu Chengzu's barracks, he saw many familiar border troops standing in the courtyard of the cave dwelling. Some were wearing armor and some were wearing only coats and weapons, each carrying luggage.
At the door of the guard's barracks, Liu Chengzu was wearing a red cloth-covered iron armor over a mandarin duck war coat. He was holding a two-part Northern Army helmet. He pulled off the small flag on the helmet gun. He looked up and saw his younger brother in the room. He waved: "Come down. Something happened, Shiliu came in and packed my things."
After that, he turned around and entered the barracks.
As Liu Chengzong walked, he greeted familiar people in the yard. When he entered the barracks, he saw Cao Yao, the guard with a scar on his forehead, also sitting on the kang. He asked, "Brother, what happened?"
Liu Chengzu pulled the map off the wall, rolled it up and handed it to Shiliu who was following him and asked him to tie the rope. He pointed to the bed and asked Liu Chengzong to sit down. He said: "The general asked me to wait for a discussion this morning. Well... the situation is not good. "
The expression on the brother's face was extremely complicated. He didn't know where to start. He looked up at Liu Chengzong and said, "Governor Wu of Shaanxi Province committed suicide."
Wu Zhiwang, the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi Province, is a miracle doctor.
He served as military commander in Haizhou and Gaizhou, served as Yongping military commander in Shandong Province, and later took over as governor of Denglai under Yuan Keli. He couldn't get along with Mao Wenlong. The two often cursed each other in official documents, so he was transferred to Shaanxi Province last year. Be the governor.
This hasn't even been a year yet.
"Zi, how could you commit suicide?"
Liu Chengzu took off his helmet and scratched his head, frowning and said: "There was a mutiny in Guyuan Town, and the border troops were arguing about pay. What happened on the Wanshou Festival in the twelfth lunar month last year. The governor even covered it up and refused to report to the court. This year, the mutinous troops have moved to attack Jingyang, Fuping, and Sanyuan. , and also captured the guerrilla general Li Ying."
"In the official document brought back by the general from Yulin, Luochuan, Chunhua, Sanshui, Lueyang, Qingshui, Chengxian, Hancheng, Yijun, Central, Shiquan, Yichuan, Suide, Jiazhou, Yao, Jingning , Tongguan, Yangpingguan, Jinsuoguan and other places, there are rogue thieves.
Those who are dead are dead, and those who are alive must be guilty. "
Liu Chengzong opened his mouth, thousands of emotions stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say a word.
In his memory, there was the Shaanxi Uprising before the fall of the Ming Dynasty. This uprising eventually broke into Beijing and destroyed the Ming Dynasty, but he never thought that he... was already involved in it.
"The imperial court was busy fighting against the Donglu, and all the silver and grain were shipped to Liao Town. They didn't even bother to pay us. When the general went to Yulin, not only did he not ask for military pay, but he was also forced to have more than a dozen horses by General Wu. There was really no way. There’s a way, Councilor Hong gave him an idea, and he’s free of charge.”
General Wu's name is Wu Zimian. He is like a businessman. He has grain and horses in the army. He is greedy for anything he can, and sells it when he changes hands. He is very capable.
None of the soldiers in the border army liked him. Every morning when the people in the barracks woke up, the entertainment was to scold each other without naming names, complain and seek revenge. Anyway, everyone thought the other party was scolding Wu Zimian.
Such a commander-in-chief has effectively bridged the rifts that may have existed between soldiers, and everyone has always been as close as brothers.
The border troops in Yansui Town were probably looking forward to when he would be transferred or dismissed.
"Eating free money?"
"Yes, the servants originally had double rations and double pay, but now the imperial court does not pay the border troops, and the military rations delivered to nearby areas during disaster years have also been halved, but after all, it can still feed one person."
Liu Chengzu sighed as he spoke, raised his hand to polish his short beard and said, "The general overpaid his servant by four hundred and sixty."
"If the imperial court can approve food for 200 people, the frontier troops in the fort will not be so hungry that they want to run away; if the imperial court can approve 400 people, they can go out to fight in the field after three days of food, but..."
The elder brother changed the topic and said: "It will take some time for the imperial court to approve the food and grass for the servants. The remaining grain in the fort can only be consumed by millet porridge for a month.
When it comes to recruiting troops, they will be mobilized before autumn, the grain batch for the servants is not enough, and the soldiers will fight when they don't have enough to eat, which will only make them run worse.
Therefore, the general decided to take the risk and disperse the troops, release some people, and form small groups to forage for food, whether it was begging along the streets, going into the woods to save themselves, or if you were brave enough to join the rebels and bandits, there was no harm. "
Liu Chengzu said, shaking his head helplessly: "I heard that the general's idea seems to have been privately approved by Hong Shenzheng. In name, it is to rebel against the many rebels, but in fact it is to find a way to feed himself."
Hong Shenzheng was Hong Chengchou, the food and political supervisor of Shaanxi.
Liu Chengzong probably understood what this meant, and said: "If this happens, the people who are released may not be able to come back."
"I'm sure many of them won't be able to come back, but now that food and grass are scarce, it's better to let the soldiers leave than to let them become deserters. Even if we don't let them go, there will be more and more deserters, but deserters are against the law.
The subordinates who were released by the general himself will still have a chance to come back in the future, whether the general makes military exploits or the court distributes food.
These people need to be accompanied by officers, so the general and management teams all draw lots in the meeting hall. Those with long lots will stay and those with short lots will go. "
After saying all these words in one breath, Liu Chengzu looked much more relaxed. He let out a long sigh. He couldn't tell whether it was a heavy responsibility on his shoulders or relief, and then he slowly stretched out his hand.
A half-cut wooden stick was lying in the palm of his hand.
Cao Yao, who was sitting on the kang, was not as solemn as the two brothers. He chuckled and threw his hand on the table, which was also a short stick.
"We have been chosen. Lion, why don't you go with your brothers?"
Note:
①. The husband’s sergeants are chosen to be elite, their troops are well-organized, they must be rigorously trained, and they must be vigorously trained to revive the flagging trend. Each battalion has three thousand. Now that there are generals to control them, one officer from each area is still appointed to supervise them. Every five One big drill every day, one small drill every day, and the big drills are combined into one battalion of people and horses. At the beginning, the following battalions performed formations. Don't continue to play child's play as if you are facing the enemy in battle. Three orders and five orders. Temperance awe-inspiring. Advance and retreat left and right. The battle is carried out according to law without chaos. The shape is round but the momentum is not dispersed. Few mistakes. Take heavy responsibility. ——"Huang Ming Jing Shi Wen Compilation Volume 238, Zeng Xianshu"
②. Wu Zhiwang, a great Confucian scholar in Guanzhong, became a doctor after a long illness. He compiled "Jiyin Gangmu" and "Jiyang Gangmu" and was especially good at gynecology.
