"Currently our army occupies forty-two cities and forts in Liaodong, including Kaiyuan, Tieling, Fushun, Qinghe, Kuandian, Yehe, Hetuala, Songyuan, Jinganbao..."
Deng Changxiong rattled off a long list of place names, and everyone listened attentively.
In just two years, the territory under Ping Liaohou's control has been larger than that of North Korea. Once Liao Town is destroyed and Liaoxi is annexed, Kaiyuan will be able to stand out among the others.
Liu Zhaosun took off the sheepskin map and looked at it one by one.
He has seen this map of Liaodong countless times, and the paper is densely marked with marks.
"As for the imperial court, although we helped the imperial court to pacify Liaodong, the situation within the customs continued to deteriorate. Wang Er in northern Shaanxi had a civil uprising, She Chongming rebelled in Chongqing, Yansui suppressed the chaos, and the imperial court was exhausted. The Shaanxi frontier army was busy suppressing the civil uprising, and Sichuan, Huguang, and Yunnan The chieftain soldiers from other places were transferred to Chongqing, so the imperial court mainly appeases us in Kaiyuan and does not want to quarrel with us. As for Liao Town, since Ping Liaohou killed Yuan Yingtai, they have followed suit and no longer obey the imperial uniform. , Southern Liaoning was okay, it was just smuggling to make money. The military sect in western Liaoning, represented by Zu Dashou, secretly colluded with Jiannu in an attempt to attack the original army from a flank, but failed."
Hearing that Liao Zhen was mentioned, there was a sudden commotion in the house. Liao Zhen has been the enemy of the Kaiyuan Army for a long time, especially the ancestral family in western Liao. In the eyes of Kaiyuan General, they are more hateful existences than the slaves.
Liu Zhaosun waved Deng Changxiong to continue.
"Currently, our army is heavily stationed in Kaiyuan, Fushun, Tieling and other places, and there are two thousand soldiers stationed in Wendeng, Shandong, which are affiliated with the newly established 6000 headquarters. Kaiyuan forces reach Salawei in the north and Qitaihe in the east , connected with Shenyang in the south, and adjacent to the Duoyan tribe in the west. Because Jiannu was destroyed not long ago, there is still a large area of land in Haixi that has not yet been occupied."
Several officials who were unfamiliar with the place names asked people around them where the Qitai River was.
Deng Changxiong quickly introduced: "The Qitai River is close to Huerhaiwei, which is the northernmost place of the Ming Dynasty."
The civil servants whispered among themselves. In their impression, Liaodong was already a foreign land. The Ming Dynasty could only control it during the reign of Emperor Chengzu, and later it was left to Jianzhou.
Of course, Marquis Pingliao's ambitions go beyond the Qitai River:
"That's not the far north, it's Kuyi Island. Once Kuyi Island is occupied, there will be a wider land in the north waiting for me to conquer."
Liu Zhaosun motioned for Deng Changxiong to sit down and said to everyone:
"I will tell you what happens next."
Deng Changxiong sat back in his seat with relief.
Liu Zhaosun glanced at everyone.
"Before Director Xie reports on civil affairs, I would like to announce a few things to you."
Everyone seemed to be listening attentively, guessing that they were probably going to announce Sun Chuanting's punishment.
"The first thing I want to say is the reward and punishment of the soldiers."
When Liu Zhaosun said this, he looked up at Yuan Chonghuan, Qiao Yiqi and others, and added:
"The rewards for several chief officials and my own officials have to wait for the imperial decree, and they will have to wait for some time, and then they will be rewarded separately. Today I will only talk about the rewards and punishments of the military and civil affairs."
Ma Shiying, Song Yingxing and others wiped the sweat from their foreheads. Fortunately, they were not the ones to settle accounts with them today.
"Except for the 6000 headquarters stationed in Wendeng, all other troops participated in this battle. All the soldiers of our Kaiyuan army sacrificed their lives to achieve this great victory. Especially the 3000 headquarters, which attacked Ye He alone and fought to the death with the enemy. In half a month, the Xianglan Banner and the Mongols were held back, creating conditions for the main force to capture Hetuala. The 3000th Headquarters, Qianzongwang Erhu, stayed calm in the face of danger and were loyal to their duties. They are indeed a model for our Kaiyuan Army. I have already reported to you. The imperial court asked for merit and promoted Wang Erhu to the rank of Kaiyuan Road Chief General, and the Kaiyuan Army to the rank of commander of the Third Army."
When Liu Zhaosun said this, he smiled at several generals and said:
"Speaking of which, I forgot to tell you something. From now on, each thousand headquarters will be upgraded to Guards, and the number of troops in each army will increase from the original 5,000 to 20,000. The flag structure will remain unchanged. Of course, The current strength of Kaiyuan troops is far from enough, so the number of troops in each army is tentatively set at 6,000, and additional troops will be added later as appropriate. The 1,000th headquarters was renamed the First Guards Army, and the number of troops is tentatively set at 8,000."
Wang Erhu stood up from his seat and nodded to everyone. There was a warm applause in the room. Led by Ping Liaohou, it became a new trend among the Kaiyuan army to applaud and congratulate.
"Congratulations to Wang Shen for becoming the first general under my command! Work hard, your future is limitless!"
Liu Zhaosun patted Wang Erhu on the shoulder and looked carefully at this old subordinate from Zhejiang Army with admiration in his eyes.
Wang Erhu gave a standard military salute to Marquis Ping Liao, his neck turned red, and he said excitedly:
"The last general has become the commander-in-chief, and he is also Lord Liu's junior soldier. He will never forget his roots! From now on, he will go through fire and water for you, and he will not hesitate to do so!"
"Hahaha, I am not going through fire and water for my officer, but for the whole Kaiyuan!"
Liu Zhaosun encouraged Wang Erhu with a few words and comforted him to sit down.
At this time, people began to talk about changing the name and expanding the army. The new name of the army was obviously more domineering than that of Qian Headquarters. It seemed that Marquis Pingliao had a big plan.
Liu Zhaosun moved his eyes away from Wang Erhu and slowly fell on Wang Zengbin who had just come in from behind.
Marquis Ping Liao smiled at the deputy commander of the cavalry battalion in front of everyone:
"Officer Wang led the cavalry battalion to fight fiercely on the east bank of the Suzi River and covered the soldiers crossing the river. He did a great job. I heard that the two red flag formations were charged that day. In order to boost the morale of the entire army, you rushed to the front with a strong sword and were hit several times. Arrow, finally defeated Daishan!"
Wang Zengbin stood up quickly and said modestly: "It's all due to the good command of Marquis Ping Liao. The last general only won by luck. His meager military achievements are not as good as those of several thousand generals..."
Liu Zhaosun interrupted the deputy battalion officer, shook his head and said with a smile:
"Gong is merit, there is no need to be modest. The Kaiyuan Army advocates military merit. Although the Battle of Hetuala was fought in a useless manner, your cavalry battalion has meritorious service! This cannot be denied!"
Everyone looked at the young cavalry officer with different expressions.
Since Li Yuchen died in the Hunhe River, the cavalry battalion has been commanded by Burhanggu. In order to balance the power, General Liu made an exception and promoted Wang Zengbin, the captain of the night army, and made him the deputy battalion officer of the cavalry battalion.
After wiping out the Jiannu, Burhanggu went to Yehe to become the leader of the Haixi Jurchens, and Wang Zengbin, a deputy battalion officer who was only thirty years old, would become the commander of the Kaiyuan cavalry.
"I have decided to promote Deputy Battalion Officer Wang to the chief officer of the Kaiyuan Cavalry Battalion. In addition, I have gone to the imperial court to promote Wang Zengbin to the position of Deputy General of Kaiyuan. Deputy General Wang will help me lead the cavalry battalion in the future. When dealing with Mongolia and conquering Korea and Japan, the cavalry are the vanguard of the army, so we must not embarrass the Kaiyuan Army!"
Wang Zengbin suddenly pushed away the chair at the Eight Immortals table beside him, knelt on the ground with a plop, and kowtowed to Marquis Pingliao.
Kaiyuan had already given up on the ritual of kneeling and worshiping. Liu Zhaosun quickly stepped forward to help him. By this time, Wang Zengbin had already kowtowed seven or eight times at a time.
"Master Liu, the last general is a rough man. When we were in Saerhu, if it weren't for your help, I would have died in the Hunjiang River. I won't say much else. This life belongs to you. Your Excellency asked the last general to attack Liao Town. , the last general will attack Liao Town, sir, the last general will attack North Korea, the last general will attack North Korea, no matter whether it is water or fire, there is no ambiguity!"
Liu Zhaosun hurriedly helped Wang Zengbin up, but his thoughts had already flown far away. The scene of him rescuing Wang Zengbin from Bagara's mace by the Hunjiang River two years ago was still vivid in his mind. From Sarhu to now, how many People leave themselves forever for one reason or another.
"Okay! As expected of you, you are a good brother who has been with me for many years!"
Liu Zhaosun arranged for Wang Zengbin to sit down and commended Han Zhenyi and Wang Congzhi, the artillery battalion officers. On the east bank of the Suzi River that day, more than 500 people in the artillery battalion fought to the death, holding on to their positions and inflicting heavy casualties on the two red flags. Liu Zhaosun witnessed this with his own eyes. of. He decided to expand the artillery battalion. The number of artillery troops would be expanded to 1,000. Battalion officers would enjoy the same treatment as army commanders. He had already petitioned the court to confer the title of Kaiyuan Guerrilla Generals on Han Zhenyi and others.
He also commended several civil affairs officials one after another. When everyone finished applauding, Liu Zhaosun's expression changed, he looked around and said:
"The Kaiyuan Army is good and there are many heroes. So this time to eliminate the slaves, is there anyone in the Kaiyuan Army who is not a hero? I think there are some!"
"The attack on Ye He by the Third Thousand Headquarters was blameless. The only bad thing was the battle of Hetuala. This was the first major defeat of the Kaiyuan Army since its establishment! It almost caused the entire army to be destroyed! Although in the end we destroyed the queen Gold, but the price is not heavy!"
Deng Changxiong sat uneasy in his seat. When he heard that Marquis Pingliao commended Wang Erhu, he felt that he was in a bad situation and Shao Jiechun was dead. If there is anger, it will definitely be directed at the 2000th Headquarters.
Based on Deng Changxiong's understanding of Liu Zhaosun's character, Marquis Pingliao would kill a few people today to establish his authority.
Although it was the twelfth lunar month, there were drops of sweat on Deng Changxiong's forehead. He did not dare to reach out to wipe it, so he had to sit there awkwardly.
"Shao Jiechun, the Thousand Commander of the 5000 Headquarters, ignored the advice of the deputy general and underestimated the enemy, causing two thousand soldiers to be killed and injured in vain! He drowned in Su Zihe and should be executed according to military law! Shao Jiechun has died in battle, and there will be no investigation or compensation! The casualties of the Fifth Army They are all exhausted, and there are currently less than a thousand people left. The army commander is to be determined and we will give priority to expanding the army after the spring begins!"
Deng Changxiong's face turned pale, he raised his head and glanced at Marquis Ping Liao, and their eyes happened to meet. Liu Zhaosun stared at the pale face of this old subordinate and sneered:
"In the Battle of the Khan's Palace, after I fell into a coma, the accompanying generals panicked. Kang Yingqian, the commander of the Liaodong patrol, misdirected and messed up the position! Sun Chuanting, who was preparing the Fushun army, ordered the soldiers to drive the people to fill the trenches, which was unconscionable! Thousands of people from the 2000th Headquarters Commander-in-Chief Deng Changxiong blindly carried out General Sun Chuanting's orders and massacred thousands of people regardless of their pleas. I have gone through seventeen major and small battles and never harmed innocent people. I was only in a coma for four hours, and you did such a beastly thing. The strong army that I have forged after two years of hard work has been destroyed by you! Even now, the foreign troops in Jianzhou, Haixi, Mongolia and other places regard the Kaiyuan Army as a scourge and avoid it as much as possible. I We cannot directly control these areas, so we have to send surrender troops to guard them. Do you know how much trouble this will cause?! When I woke up that day, I wished I could cut you three into pieces!"
"Somebody come!"
Liu Zhaosun's face darkened, and Zhang Chao immediately brought his guards forward.
"Arrest the three of them, push them out and kill them!"
"My lord, no!"
"Sir, you cannot kill Kang Xunjian!"
Seeing that Marquis Ping Liao had murderous intentions, more than a dozen generals in the room knelt down and begged for mercy for the three of them.
Qiao Yiqi said: "General Liu, you were in a coma at the time and didn't know the details. You are guilty of hurting the people. Did you know that the people were mixed with soldiers at that time, with the intention of harming our army? The two adults could not tell the difference for a while. Besides, the slave establishment was about to begin. Counterattack, if the Khan’s palace is not breached in time, Kaiyuan’s army may be completely destroyed.”
Yuan Chonghuan echoed: "What Qiao Jianjun said is true. Kang Xun was originally in charge of civil affairs, but he was suddenly asked to command the entire army. Things happened in a hurry, and confusion was inevitable. Lord Ping Liao, Lord Sun, was ordered to attack in one fell swoop. The Khan's palace should have been rewarded, but he was indeed guilty of harming the people. The lower official believed that the merits and demerits should be balanced and no investigation would be carried out. As for General Deng Qian, the battlefield situation was urgent, so he only acted according to the order. The people who did not know how to drive away only thought that It’s some coating.”
The remaining people began to intercede on behalf of the three of them, and voices of persuasion came and went.
Liu Zhaosun originally did not want to kill these three people. Although it was extremely bad to drive the people to fill the trenches, he was in the position at that time and there was probably no better solution.
After everyone tried hard to persuade them for half an hour, Zhang Chao and the others stood aside and looked at a room full of Shangguan officials. They saw them crying and kowtowing to Marquis Ping Liao.
Kang Yingqian turned pale with fright. He never expected that Marquis Pingliao would actually kill him. Based on his understanding of Liu Zhaosun, if this son said he wanted to kill someone, then he really meant to kill him.
At this time, he didn't care about the kindness of Bole. He collapsed on the ground and was speechless.
Sun Chuanting next to him looked calm, sitting there leisurely drinking tea, as if he had been prepared for this tragic fate.
There was a look of regret on Deng Changxiong's face, and he seemed to regret following Sun Chuanting's order in Hetuala that day.
All of his subordinates begged for mercy. Liu Zhaosun saw that his goal of beating a few people had been achieved. He raised his hands to stop them, with a look of embarrassment on his face:
"Since everyone is interceding for the three of you, and the 2000 headquarters fought bravely and finally broke through the Khan's Palace, I will show mercy and send you three heads first. If there is a next time, I will kill you without mercy! "
Kang Yingqian fainted when he heard this.
"However, death penalty can be avoided, but living penalty cannot be avoided!"
Seeing what Marquis Ping Liao said, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Kang Yingqian was removed from the post of patrol in Liaodong and assigned to Kuandian to assist Yuan Ducha for his meritorious service! Sun Chuanting was removed from the post of Fushun Army Preparatory Road and stayed in Kaiyuan as a civil affairs official. Deng Changxiong was removed from the post of General Manager of the 2000th Headquarters. , stay in the Chinese Army Guards, and perform meritorious deeds!"
Under the looks of Qiao Yiqi and others, the three of them thanked Marquis Pingliao one after another.
Liu Zhaosun waved his hand to indicate that he had not finished speaking.
"Hit each person with twenty military sticks! The Second Guards Army, those who participated in the massacre of the people of Hetuala that day, corps commanders and above, will be demoted two ranks and fined two months of pay! Give them twenty military sticks! I will send someone on my own Don’t expect to get away with the inspection!”
"Yuan Ducha!"
Yuan Chonghuan stepped forward to salute and looked up at Marquis Ping Liao.
"Publish an article for me to inform all the officers and men of today's decision in a concise and concise manner, and clearly explain today's punishment for all the generals of the Second Army. Let the officers know that obeying orders is a soldier's bounden duty, but this is not Reason for them to blindly obey. The next time you encounter a superior officer ordering the massacre of the people, you can directly disobey the order. If it is my own order, you can also disobey it!"
"The spirit of the Kaiyuan Army is to defeat the strong and support the weak, and to risk death without regard for death. Not one of these eight words should be missing."
"Civil affairs will be discussed another day. I will first explain the military expansion next year."
The civil affairs and workshop officials frowned after hearing this, wondering how many fields would need to be cultivated and how many gun barrels would be drilled to supply so many troops.
You must know that in order to support more than 20,000 soldiers fighting in various places this year, the villages and towns in various places have tried their best to reduce the demand of villagers to the minimum, and the taxes on merchants have also been increased a lot.
"Next year, Kaiyuan will expand its army to nine full-strength Guards, with the total strength exceeding 50,000, the cavalry to 8,000, and the artillery battalion to 1,000. The Liaodong Navy will form combat effectiveness and prepare for landing on the Bohai Sea. "
"Fifty thousand soldiers? How much money will it cost?"
"Can Liaodong support 50,000 soldiers?"
"Battleships cost more than cavalry."
Liu Zhaosun interrupted everyone's discussion and continued:
"The population of the city under our control alone is certainly not enough to support such a large army. Therefore, next year, we will continue to expand in all directions."
"To the east, the Third and Fourth Armies expanded their territory to the west, brought the areas controlled by the slaves under their rule, and expanded eastward to the sea."
"It's right here."
Liu Zhaosun pointed to the map, pointing to the Sea of Japan between Liaodong and Japan.
"The main expansion direction is in the south. The First and Second Guards Army will enter the core sphere of influence of Liao Town and control most of Fuzhou, Gaizhou, and Jinzhou. Liaoshen will be used as a buffer zone with the imperial court, so we will not occupy it yet."
"In the west, the Fifth Army and Duoyan are competing for territory. Due to the changes in Mongolia, the specific strategy for war or peace against the Mongols has not yet been determined."
"The Sixth Army will occupy Nurgandusi in the north and land on Kuyi Island (Sakhalin Island). With our army's current supply capacity, we may not be able to occupy this place for a long time. However, we must send people to comfort the Kuyi people and declare the island as a I own it owned by the original army."
"The three newly established armies will be responsible for garrisoning various cities in Liaodong and guarding the rear together with local farmers and soldiers."
Liu Zhaosun finished speaking in one breath, picked up the teacup and started drinking tea. While his subordinates were busy digesting the information, he asked Zhang Chao to get a huge world map.
"Everyone, come and take a look. This is the map of the world that I got from a friend. The world outside is still very big."
Everyone came to the giant world map that was more than one foot wide and started pointing.
"Daming is so young?"
Several civil servants, regardless of their dignity, simply lay down on the ground and looked at the world map with Liaodong as the center in surprise.
This picture was painted by Liu Zhaosun who stayed up late for half a year with the help of his incomplete memory four hundred years later.
Although some places are very inaccurately drawn, such as Central America and the east coast of Africa, the overall pattern of the world is still reflected.
Qiao Yiqi was surprised: "I have been traveling for half my life, but it turns out that my footprints are less than one percent of the world?"
Xu Xiake, who had been silent all this time, couldn't hold it any longer. He pointed at the location of the European Mediterranean and said in surprise: "Is this the Franconian country?"
"The Rakshasa Kingdom (Tsarist Russia) is actually bigger than the Ming Dynasty!"
········
Liu Zhaosun looked at everyone with a smile, stretched his waist, and said meaningfully:
"My ambition is not in Liaodong or the Ming Dynasty, but in the whole world. You have seen that the Rakshasa Kingdom in the north has approached Nuergandusi, the Japanese Kingdom in the east has begun the Korean trade, and the Western countries have all arrived. At the door, these will be the powerful enemies of Kaiyuan. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and occupying Liaodong is only the first step. There is still a long, long way to go in the future, so you must not slack off or be complacent. This is my last speech today. Warning to everyone.”
Everyone raised their heads and looked at Ping Liaohou.
"Although this world is big, it is not as big as the greed of people. Even if we conquer all these countries, if you are greedy, I will not be able to satisfy you. Instead of killing each other when the time comes, it is better to make a three-part agreement with you today."
"First, generals and their relatives are not allowed to engage in business for personal gain;"
"Secondly, generals are not allowed to support servants;"
"Thirdly, generals are not allowed to form cliques for personal gain;"
Liu Zhaosun’s eyes became firm:
"Based on these three precepts, Kaiyuan will strengthen the power of the Central Military Guard, the Intelligence Bureau, and the Training Department in the future. The specific details will be announced before the year, and you can raise objections."
"I have found out that among the Kaiyuan generals, some have relatives who are doing business, some are keeping slaves and servants, and some are embezzling the interests of the Liaodong Trading Company. Director Xie just reported that the trading company's profit this year totaled 3.2 million silver. At present, Only 2.2 million taels were received."
"Within half a month, the shop will be sold to a trading company at a discount, the slaves and servants will be eliminated, and the greedy property will be confiscated. If I can turn back in time, I will forget the blame. If after half a month, I still persist in my obsession, don't blame the law for being ruthless."
At the end of Liu Zhaosun's words, he suddenly remembered something and continued, ignoring the whispers of the generals around him:
"That day in Hetuala, I was in a coma and didn't know about Sun Chuanting's order to massacre the city. However, if such a big event happened, I was also guilty of negligence. According to the original military law, I should be fined one year's salary and silver and be beaten twice. Ten army sticks, Zhang Chao!"
"Execution!"
Zhang Chao hesitated, Liu Zhaosun took the military stick and put it into his hand.
"If I hit you lightly, I'll hit you twice as hard later!"
After Liu Zhaosun finished speaking, he lay down on the chair.
Zhang Chao looked at his weak body, smashed the wooden stick on the ground, and knelt down.
"My lord, you will kill me. If anyone dares to touch a hair of my lord, Zhang Chao will fight him to the death!"
The generals in the room knelt down to beg for mercy. Yuan Chonghuan and others had red eyes. Qiao Yiqi sobbed:
"Today we know that Marquis Pingliao is strict in running the army. We dare not violate military laws anymore! Marquis Pingliao is seriously ill. He is the commander-in-chief of an army, has a rich body and twenty army sticks. If something unexpected happens, how can he explain to the three armies? Isn't this a dereliction of duty? crime?"
Everyone said together:
"Please Ping Liaohou to take back the general order!"
If he gave in at this time, military discipline would become a joke in the future. He glared at everyone, and finally his eyes fell on Yuan Chonghuan.
"Yuan Ducha, come and execute me!"
Yuan Chonghuan was shocked. Seeing Zhang Chao watching eagerly from the side, he hesitated and did not dare to step forward.
Liu Zhaosun stared at Yuan Dudu and said word by word:
"I once dreamed that you were the governor of Jiliao in the Ming Dynasty. In the past year, the slaves were invaded and Huang Taiji's army came to the capital. You led an army thousands of miles to rescue and fought a bloody battle. In the end, you were cut into pieces by the emperor and executed by Ling Chi. A hundred years after your death , China fell, was bullied by the Western Barbarians, and even allowed the Japanese pirates to massacre 40 million people. You were also slandered by Xiaoxiao after your death. I know your true intentions."
"Zhuang Zhou Xiaomeng, tall buildings fall down just as quickly as they rise. Is what you see in front of you a dream or a reality? If it is a dream, then it will be fine. If it is true, if the building collapses, where will you and me be?"
"Yuan Chonghuan, I know your true heart, do you know mine?"
Yuan Chonghuan opened his mouth wide, hesitated for a long time, and silently took the stick.
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