On the day when the marshal's flag was re-planted in Zhuanglang Acropolis, Liu Chengzong led more troops to meander south, and the dusty army walked straight towards the Yellow River.
When the choice between promotion and immortality was presented to the soldiers of Xiying, everyone chose the former without hesitation.
Zhang Xianzhong's decision-making time was very short, but things were arranged very carefully. He carried Zhuang Langwei's property, population, and land records, led 20 officers, 40 masters, 60 military officers, and three good horses. With ten horses and thirty boxes of goods, Langwei left Zhuang to meet Liu Chengzong.
Also leaving the city was the slumped-faced Feng Shilin.
Feng Shilin thought to himself, what is the magistrate of Zhuanglang County? We want to be the city god of Zhuanglang County.
From now on for hundreds of years, every county magistrate who takes office will have to go to the City God's Temple to sleep and wait for instructions. Our main job is to entrust them with dreams. Sitting in every land temple in this land is us. An acquaintance of me, the Chenghuang Temple in Zhuanglang County is the family temple of our old Feng family!
Compared with this, living thirty years shorter would be nothing more than returning home sooner.
Even if Zhang Xianzhong tied him up and cut him into pieces, cut out his heart, pulled out his intestines, and burned him to ashes, Feng Shilin wouldn't care... What would happen if he suffered a little hardship and suffered a little?
With one foot on the threshold of the Jade Emperor, Zhang Xianzhong decided to leave the city when he was about to become an immortal.
It’s strange that Feng Shilin has such a good face!
In the west camp of the city on the other side of the Zhuang Lang River, Liu Chengzong was sitting in the camp and heard the Tang soldiers reporting: "Commander, Zhuang Langwei has opened the city, and Magistrate Feng has come out with more than a hundred people."
Yang Qi, who was serving the central army, asked: "Commander, do you want to tell Hu Ben to give them a blow?"
Liu Chengzong chuckled lightly, waved his hand and said: "No need, just welcome him in."
In his mind, he had already competed with Zhang Xianzhong to show his power.
To show off one's power is essentially to tell others that one is not easy to bully, or that one is dishonest.
What Zhang Xianzhong did in Zhuang Langwei was like this to Liu Chengzong. It conveyed to him the impression that Zhang Xianzhong was dishonest.
Honest people will not make trouble for others, but Zhang Xianzhong is obviously very good at making trouble for others. Honest people suffer a lot, and people who are good at finding trouble often benefit from this. These are two different life strategies, better profits and greater profits. risk.
He occupied Zhuang Langwei and used it as his own territory to give orders. In fact, he was looking for trouble. Being good at finding trouble is a very powerful talent, because there is a degree in finding trouble. This degree cannot be determined. If it is too low, it will be ineffective. If it is too high, it will be courting death.
Zhang Xianzhong was not so arrogant that he thought that Liu Shishi could not kill him. He only had 6,000 troops. Facing the victorious army led by the Marshal's Mansion to Gansu, there was really no chance of winning in a fight.
He just calculated correctly that it was not worth it for Liu Chengzong to kill him.
Firstly, it chilled the hearts of a hundred thousand rebels, and secondly, they had to suffer losses. Even if six were exchanged for one, it was not worth it for Liu Chengzong to bear the loss of a thousand people for Zhuang Langwei.
If it's not worth it, we must use compromise methods other than war. This is where Zhang Xianzhong sets a target for himself and gives Liu Chengzong an opportunity to bargain. The central idea is to prevent himself from being eaten by Liu Chengzong.
His goal was to advance one foot and occupy Zhuang Langwei. If the situation was good, he would occupy it for a year and a half; if the situation was not good, he would retreat five inches and let Liu Chengzong recognize his status as the independent leader of the coalition forces and vacate Zhuang Langwei.
As long as it succeeds, regardless of benefits or prestige, at least for Zhang Xianzhong, who has few soldiers and is weak, any concession made by Generalissimo Liu Chengzong will be a victory for him.
But Zhang Xianzhong really didn't expect that Liu Chengzong's brain shape was different from everyone he met.
Liu Chengzong didn't answer the questions he threw and the targets he set up. Instead, he threw life and death soul torture to each of his six thousand troops.
If you want to live, I'm recruiting soldiers; if you want to die, I'm recruiting undercover soldiers - in short, they are all Shaanxi Township Party members. When you come to my territory, I will definitely arrange a job for you.
Zhang Xianzhong's biggest bargaining chip was the 100,000 township party members in the Qinling Mountains. He thought he could be a rich man.
But I didn't expect that Liu Chengzong recruited a city god to create 6,000 jobs and solved the problem. No matter whether you live or die, I will arrange a job for you. When things are done to this extent, who among the township parties can say anything about me? Isn’t it half of the surname Liu?
Not only was the will of resistance of the Xiying soldiers broken, but even Zhang Xianzhong himself had no intention of hostility.
If you defend on the city, if you die, you will be a man and a ghost; if you attack fiercely outside the city, if you die, you will be called the Immortal Class... There is no way to fight this battle.
Not long after, as Feng Shilin entered the Chinese army, Liu Chengzong also saw Zhang Xianzhong with a weathered face, leading a group of generals from the Western Camp to stand outside the camp gate.
Yang Qi received Liu Chengzong's instructions and stepped forward to welcome the generals into the camp. The guards had already arranged their seats and were waiting for everyone to bow and take their seats.
Feng Shilin stepped forward and said, "Commander, the generals of the Western Brigade have received their letters of appointment and have come to the camp to see you."
Liu Chengzong first took a closer look at Zhang Xianzhong, who was not far away, and compared this man with the drunken police officer on Black Dragon Mountain many years ago. He thought that Zhang Xianzhong had changed a lot, both in appearance and expression.
Zhang Xianzhong's face still had a yellowish tint from the weather, and his two sharp eyebrows combined with his burly figure looked particularly majestic. However, there were many pockmarks on his face that had never appeared before. It was probably due to the smallpox infection caused by the wandering life in the past few years.
The biggest change was his temperament. He no longer had the resentment he had when he was a detective, and his whole body exuded an aura of ability and confidence.
At this time, Zhang Xianzhong was also observing Liu Chengzong. The two people's eyes collided with each other's faces. Zhang Xianzhong instinctively stared at him for a moment, and then he reacted, calmed down and looked aside.
Liu Chengzong held his hand and chuckled silently, looked around the generals of Xiying with his eyes, then raised his head and smiled at the dejected Feng Shilin: "I feel like you are very disappointed."
Feng Shilin turned his head and glanced at Zhang Xianzhong and others again, turned back and clasped his fists and said, "I don't dare to do this because of my humble position."
"It's okay if you don't dare. It's a great good thing to avoid fighting between roommates at any time. Don't take personal honor and disgrace too seriously in front of thousands of lives... You should be the county magistrate, Zhuanglang City God, I will give you You keep it.”
Feng Shilin smiled happily when he heard this, and immediately bowed down and thanked him.
The guards in the camp looked at him with extremely envious eyes. They envied him for having two good brothers and envied his luck.
Feng Shilin's background is the same as that of Zhao Fu, and he is a role model for the Marshal's Mansion. Being a role model itself will have a bad influence, that is, whether he is in the army or an official, the generals and chief officials will not cause trouble and risks for them. Opportunity.
This also determines that the rest of his life will be smooth, and he will not be rich or wealthy, but he will not suffer any sin.
The death of two good brothers in Zhuanglangwei was naturally the main reason why Feng Shilin was treated like this, but the more important opportunity was that Liu Chengzong's Marshal's Mansion truly had the ability to segregate power in the northwest.
In the early years, there were examples of brothers, fathers, sons, uncles and nephews killed in battle in northern Shaanxi and Shanxi. But at that time, Liu Chengzong was unable to promise anything, not to mention the role model itself, which meant that not everyone was treated like this, otherwise there would be no need for role models.
Becoming a role model is the result of the right time, place and people.
But then again, role models themselves are of no use to most people who yearn for inevitable results. They are only useful to those ambitious people who yearn for challenges and achievements. They can devote all their efforts to a chance.
It is precisely these people who are inspired by example.
Compared with Zhao Fufu and Feng Shilin, Liu Chengzong gave Zhao Fufu better treatment, but made better promises to Feng Shilin... When a person is alive and is a seventh-grade county magistrate, he can be promoted; if he is not promoted while alive, he will be promoted after death. A genuine fourth grade.
Zhang Xianzhong keenly discovered that as Liu Chengzong made this assurance to Feng Shilin, excitement flashed in the eyes of almost every soldier in the Chinese army.
He suddenly admired Liu Chengzong. He always thought that he would be Liu Chengzong's rich horse bone, but he did not expect that Feng Shilin was the real golden horse bone.
Zhang Xianzhong admired Liu Chengzong's ability to squeeze people's hearts and souls. Such an insignificant little guy could be used by Liu Chengzong as a prop to win people's hearts while he was alive. Even if he was a dead city god, he could still be used as a prop to win people's hearts.
Even casually saying that the position of City God is reserved can arouse the morale of the entire Chinese military camp.
Zhang Xianzhong was thinking: The trick of conferring gods seems to be really damn effective.
But he didn't know that the excitement flashed in the eyes of the soldiers in the Huben camp, which was completely different from what he thought.
The name of Huben Camp comes from the rank of ninth-level soldiers in the third rank of the Marshal's Mansion. The third rank is Caiguan, Huben and Xiaoqi, each divided into three ranks. Caiguan is a recruit, Huben is a veteran, and Xiaoqi is a grassroots officer.
But currently there is basically no Huben in this battalion, because the Marshal's Mansion has not conducted large-scale recruitment at all, so naturally there are no recruits. Where can the veterans come from without recruits?
They are all officers of the Lion Battalion who are about to be promoted and soldiers who have made meritorious service on the battlefield. Their military honors are generally first-class and second-class knights, and those above them are captains. The knights are also called guards in other battalions.
As for those who stood guard and raised the flag on such occasions, they were basically all generals. Because Shaanxi was so big in the Ming Dynasty, the officers of the Marshal's Office had strong regional characteristics. They were all from Yan'an Prefecture, Yulin Town, and Ningxia Town and had served as soldiers. The best person can see the future from Liu Chengzong's guarantee to Feng Shilin.
Liu Chengzong's guarantee to Feng Shilin was of no use to most people in the Marshal's Army. Even if Feng Shilin was awarded the title of Monkey King, the veterans would have no sympathy with him.
After all, the veterans in the Marshal's Mansion were not recruited from the army. They did not give birth to four sons and give birth to three mothers like the Grand Marshal. They did not have brothers who could kill two of them in a battle, and none of them became the City God and could use the City God's Temple as their family temple. Clan members.
Even if there are brothers in the army, the elder brother is the one who died in Zhuanglang City, while the younger brother is mostly unwilling to step into Feng Shilin's perspective.
The role model that can mobilize the enthusiasm of veterans is to serve as a hundred generals. Five hundred cavalry with real swords and real spears charged at ten thousand troops, stabbed the national army with one arm, earned the title of General Zhaoyong of the third rank, and served as a doctor in the Marshal's Office of Bingyamen, Hexi, Fangqing Lisi Division. The Zhao variable.
All the officers in the Huben Camp can clearly see that a model like Feng Shilin has the greatest significance for who and what - an inspiration to the clan, family, and men under the Marshal's Mansion, as well as to recruitment work, recruit training, and combat courage. It means the most.
As long as this person lives, he is the golden sign of the Marshal's Mansion recruiting troops. It is best if you fight bravely and survive to make contributions. But even if you die in battle, don't be in a hurry to be reincarnated. The Grand Marshal's Mansion has a vast territory and a complete system of conferring gods. One man dies in battle, and the whole clan is honored.
And when will the Marshal's Mansion, which has never worried about the source of troops, need large-scale recruitment and training of new recruits?
They were not far from returning home, and instead of fleeing back to northern Shaanxi, they were leading troops to fight back home.
This is what excites the veterans of Huben Camp the most.
At this moment, Liu Chengzong stood up. He gestured to Zhang Xianzhong and others: "Since you have decided to join our army, you will become a family from now on. I will treat you all equally if you are loyal to me, so there is no need to be formal. Please sit down." Bar."
Zhang Xianzhong heard Liu Chengzong's intention and had no intention of blaming them. He felt relieved and hurriedly led the generals to salute again and ordered people to bring the gifts to the central army. Then he led the people to sit down one by one.
Liu Chengzong didn't care about the gifts, but he said hello to the generals at all levels in the Western Brigade. Whether they were close or far apart, they all started in northern Shaanxi. It was just that they had no intersection in the past, and the customs and customs were different They are the same, and they have both served as border soldiers, so it is very easy to establish a relationship.
However, after people finished talking about things far away and talked about things close at hand, the atmosphere became a bit solemn.
Zhang Xianzhong asked: "Commander, the last general has now taken the post of brigade commander, but he doesn't know where the four battalions of the Western Brigade are located, and where does the food, wages and supplies come from?"
Liu Chengzong did not answer, but gestured to Yang Qi.
Yang Qi was once the chief military officer, and also led the governor-general Biaoying, so he was most familiar with the documents and organizational structure. Liu Shizi had talked to him about the incorporation of the Western Camp earlier, and when he heard this, he said: "Commander Zhang, the Fourth Brigade of the Western Brigade" The battalion was not full, so it was temporarily stationed in Zhuanglang County. Within three days, officers from the military office of the commander-in-chief came to the army to sort out the soldiers' registration, determine the soldiers' tributes, rations, and pay."
"As for the subsequent letter, I will just listen to the commander-in-chief's decision."
This is what Yang Qi said. In fact, everyone knows in their hearts that the so-called Xindi is just a good word. In this era when military food and money are expensive, no one has enough food to support the recruitment of troops and garrison them. It is normal to recruit troops today and fight tomorrow. .
What Zhang Xianzhong wanted to ask was actually the direction of the Marshal's Mansion's next attack, whether it was Guanzhong or Sichuan.
However, seeing that neither Liu Chengzong nor Yang Qi said anything about Xindi, he stopped asking questions and simply said with his fists in his hands: "The last general has made little effort since he first arrived. Thanks to the grace of the commander-in-chief, he was given the post of brigade commander, so the last general asks for a fight."
"Oh?" Liu Chengzong had a complicated smile and asked with interest: "Right now, Ningxia, Lanzhou, and Turpan are all fighting. I wonder which direction Brigadier Zhang wants to invite?"
This made Zhang Xianzhong stupid. He had never been to Turpan, let alone Ningxia. Tens of thousands of border troops were waiting for food. It would be strange if we, Lao Zhang, threw these 6,000 people over and didn't get skinned and cramped. What are they doing?
As for Lanzhou, he didn't want to go either. The situation in that place was too weird. Within a radius of two hundred miles, the rebels and the government troops were like one and the other, and they were like a family.
In the north, Gansu was fighting to the death, but near Lanzhou, the brigade commander could not command the rebels, and the governor could not command the officers and soldiers. The whole scene was a joke. Zhang Xianzhong boasted that he had experienced hundreds of battles, but among the generals who appeared on that battlefield, there were One by one, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't understand their behavior.
Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong clasped his fists and said: "When the commander-in-chief advances into Guanzhong, the general will invite a partial division to conduct business in Luopo Nanyang Prefecture. He will plant the commander-in-chief's military flag at the head of Fengyang City, the capital of Zhu Ming Dynasty, and then return to Huguang for a fierce battle. He will surely make him The north and the south cannot help each other to help the commander-in-chief attack the capital!"
"What a plan!"
Liu Chengzong clapped his hands and laughed, then you led the army into Sichuan to establish Daxi, right?
For him, the generals and soldiers in Xiying will not be allowed to fight even if they ask for a fight for the time being. They still need to endure it until they feel that they are wasting their time if they don't fight.
He smiled and said: "But there are some things you don't know at the moment. Feng Zhixian came from Hehuang and got a report from the imperial court a few days ago. People from the imperial court, Houjin, and Mobei were gathered at Xuan Dakou. The situation was not clear for a while. Besides...the West Brigade still has a mission to fulfill."
Zhang Xianzhong became more energetic and tried his best to look like he was brave enough to do his job. He saw Liu Chengzong counting on his fingers: "In the Zhuanglang Valley, we need one Guandi Temple, one City God Temple, one county school, and forty-seven Tutu Temples." Sir, send your troops to repair it."
Zhang Xianzhong blinked, suspecting that he heard wrongly: "Me, building a temple?"
"Of course."
Liu Chengzong took it for granted: "My brother promised at Zhuang Langhe that the officials and people would be exempted from taxation for three years. Naturally, the commander's office will not be able to impose corvees again. In this case, if you don't repair it, who will repair it?"
good morning!
(End of chapter)
