"Your Highness, I have no idea about the reform of the government." Zhang Huangyan's face was a little solemn. "I just want to go to Penglai as soon as possible. I have been paying attention to the news in the north these days. Now Beizhili is already the territory of the Tartars, and Shanxi Province The tribe is also controlled by the Tartars. They have tens of thousands of troops on the borders of Shandong and Henan, and they are constantly recruiting surrenders and rebels to expand their troops. Their ambition is not small!"
Zhu Cixiang was busy with various new policies during this period and did not seem to put military issues in a very important position. This made Zhang Huangyan a little worried.
In addition, the news from the north is not good. The rule of the Tartars in Northern Zhili and Shanxi is becoming increasingly stable, and Datong has been surrounded by the Tartars for many days. Who knows when it will fall?
As for Li Zicheng, he retreated to Shaanxi and recently gave up on Kaifeng Mansion. It seems that he is preparing to retreat into seclusion! I wonder if Dorgon will let Li Zicheng go and attack the Ming army in Shandong first?
Chen Rui, Minister of the Ministry of War, took over the topic confidently and said: "The imperial court is also stepping up preparations for war these days! At the end of last year, three more foreign generals arrived in Nanjing. Together with the Shi Ruien foreign generals who arrived first, they can now support four In addition, a foreign infantry regiment and an artillery regiment are approaching Nanjing.
By this fall at the latest, we will have four Western-style infantry regiments, one 800-man Western-style artillery regiment, four musketry regiments, and two cavalry regiments. The available model soldiers will be nearly 20,000 people. If we include the heavy equipment, , 25,000 people are there. "
The Western-style infantry regiment is an infantry regiment that uses Morris Square tactics. Each regiment has nearly 2,000 people. Currently, one regiment has been formed, and three more regiments will be completed in the summer and should be ready for combat after autumn.
The Fire Gun Regiment and the Cavalry Regiment are basically the original Fire Gun and Cavalry Association. While forming the Western-style infantry regiment, Zhu Cixiang also expanded and renamed the Infantry Association under the divisions.
All infantry regiments will be expanded according to the establishment of the model regiment, reaching a size of 2,000 combat soldiers and 500 baggage soldiers (a baggage battalion) to facilitate future changes and adaptation into Western-style infantry regiments. The two cavalry regiments were expanded to 1,600 soldiers and 500 baggage soldiers - that is, a 500-man baggage battalion was added.
Among all the infantry regiments, cavalry regiments, and artillery regiments of all divisions, currently only four model regiments, four gunnery regiments, two cavalry regiments, and one artillery regiment have truly strong combat effectiveness.
These eleven regiments were not incorporated into any division, but were all incorporated into the model army with Wu Sanfu as the commander-in-chief.
Zhang Huangyan frowned, "Your Highness, the foreign military methods may not be applicable to us, and can their fighting methods compare with ours? Besides, the four foreign-style regiments only have a total of 8,000 soldiers, and they are also infantry. What can it be used for?
The minister feels that the emergency method is to build more castles, train more militia groups, and select capable officials who are proficient in military affairs to serve as local officials in Shandong, Henan and other places.
In addition, Li Zicheng abandoned Kaifeng Mansion. Should the court send troops to recover it? If the power of Henan can be used for one's own purposes, it may be possible to delay the march of the Tartars southward. By buying a little more time, we can train more elite soldiers! "
Zhu Cixiang also frowned. The northern defense line really gave him a headache - not because of Dorgon's aggressiveness, but because of Dorgon's restraint in Henan and Shandong.
Because of Dorgon's restraint, he put away his fist and could strike hard at any time. However, the officials of the Ming Dynasty in Henan and Shandong and the local gentry loyal to the Ming Dynasty continued to expand, eager to occupy all the territory they could occupy. This resulted in a very loose defense line, with defenses everywhere and difficult to defend everywhere.
Therefore, once Dorgon takes action, the Ming Dynasty's papery northern defense line will soon be wiped out. At most, the Denglai Peninsula and Taiyi Mountains can hold on for a while.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince," Zhang Huangyan pondered for a moment and then said, "I have another suggestion. The court should continue to contact Li Zicheng and agree on the Northern Expedition, using offense instead of defense to disrupt the pace of the Tartars."
"The bandit breaks his word and contacts Li Zicheng, and the court will definitely suffer!"
As soon as Zhang Huangyan made his second suggestion, he was opposed by Chen Rui, Minister of War.
Zhu Cixiang also frowned and was noncommittal.
Judging from the current general trend of the world, Ming Dynasty and Dashun should indeed join forces. But there is no basis for trust between Daming and Dashun. Without trust, how can there be cooperation? It’s just a matter of thinking about it, but it’s impossible to do it if you want to.
He sighed and turned his gaze to Hou Xun.
"Mr. Hou," Zhu Cixiang looked at Hou Xun, "What did Zuo Liangyu say? Are you welcome to go?"
In addition to Li Zicheng, Zuo Liangyu is also a very troublesome figure for Zhu Cixiang.
Don't look at the large number of troops on Zhu Cihong's books. The divisions of the New Army alone include six divisions and 11 regiments. Among them, the number of infantry divisions such as the front, rear, left, right, left, and right neutralization divisions has also expanded from the previous 8,000 to about 11,000 (including supplies and divisions). There are 66,000 people in the six divisions alone. Adding the 25,000 members of the Model Army, the total strength reached 91,000. In addition, the Xiaoling Guard New Army, which consisted of several thousand people, was actually the establishment of various divisions and armies. Therefore, the total strength of the New Army divisions is close to 100,000, which can be said to be a large number of soldiers!
However, very few of these 100,000 troops could be used, because the backbone of the divisions and armies were the more than 50,000 men brought by Zhu Cihong from the north. After entering Nanjing, most of these people and the 20,000 people of the Yangtze River Navy were allocated money and homesteads. Then they took turns taking holidays so that they could settle down in Nanjing - these more than 70,000 people became more than 70,000 families, becoming Zhu Cihong's basic base in Nanjing.
As long as they are here, Zhu Cixiang can do whatever he wants in the southeast!
In addition to the basic base of 70,000 families, there are now several thousand more Xiaolingwei New Army, 10,000 Huai'an soldiers, and 30,000 Huaixi soldiers. Among them, the Huai'an soldiers are Lu Zhenfei's troops, and only some of the officers are from Kenanxin. Yuan Cong of the army. The Huaixi soldiers were recruits recruited by Li Yan and Zhu Chunchen on behalf of Zhu Cihong.
They, the latecomers, did not have the privilege of being allocated houses and land right away - they had to serve for ten years or achieve certain military merits before they could get the land. However, there is no homestead in Nanjing, no settlement allowance of one or two hundred taels, and it is impossible to obtain paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River. After all, the number of basic bases is limited, and it is impossible for Zhu Cixi to give "Yuan Cong" treatment to all his followers.
And those "Yuan Cong" who were well-paid spent a lot of time to take care of their homesteads and land after they got it. Some were busy marrying wives, and some brought their family members from Shandong and Huai'an to Nanjing for reunion. Because the holidays are on a rotating basis, the entire resettlement process has been delayed even longer. So far, the four divisions deployed in Nanjing are just empty frames, and a large number of "Yuan Cong" are still on holiday. Only the two divisions bound for Fengyang and Shandong are basically full, but these two divisions have the important task of guarding the border and cannot be used to conquer Zuo Liangyu.
Therefore, what Zhu Cihong can really use to defeat Zuo Liangyu is the eleven regiments of the Model Army (these regiments are also full), but the four model regiments among these regiments have not yet completed their training, and the training of the artillery regiment has just begun.
Moreover, Zuo Liangyu is not one of those useless nobles in Nanjing. Even if he cannot defeat Zhu Cixiang in the field, he still has two strong cities, Wuchang and Hanyang, to defend.
Once the Huguang battle becomes protracted, will Dorgon and Li Zicheng just watch and not intervene? How will Zhu Cixi end up then? There cannot be a draw in the war against Zuo Liangyu, because a draw means the emergence of two power centers that can compete with each other within the Ming Dynasty!
Similarly, Zuo Liangyu did not dare to rebel easily. Because he couldn't be the emperor himself. Zuo Jiajun was not a bandit after all. If he wanted to be the emperor, the people under his command had to leave. And Zhu Cizhao can't be emperor because Chongzhen hasn't stepped down yet! You, the filial son, ascended the throne first, how can that be okay? If the name is not correct and the words are not correct, it will have no appeal. Therefore, Zuo Liangyu could only "clear the emperor's side", that is, defeat Zhu Cihong. In this way, he must march to Nanjing, or else Qingmao Jun is on his side? Isn’t it the end of the world for me to separate myself in Hubei and make a fortune in silence? And if Zuo Liangyu wants to march into Nanjing, he can only win, not lose! Therefore, Zuo Liangyu did not dare to show his cards.
Zhu Cixiang, on the other hand, waited for a change - Zuo Liangyu wouldn't live long anyway, and when he died, it would be easier for Zuo's army to deal with him.
"Master Qiansui," Hou Xun frowned slightly, "I have been exchanging letters with Zuo Hou these days. Zuo Hou's letter said that he could marry his daughter to King Yong, but he was old and in poor health, so he could not conquer the west. Sichuan. And King Yong is too young to be the King of Shu. He hopes that King Yong can change his title to King of Chu."
Zhu Cixiang thought to himself: Is this going to separate Jingchu?
"That's fine!" Zhu Cixiang nodded and smiled, "When I turn around, I will ask my father to issue an edict to make Cizhao the King of Chu, and the fiefdom will be in Jiangling!"
"Jiangling?" Hou Xun was stunned, "That's the fiefdom of King Jing."
Zhu Cixiang smiled and said, "Jing Fan has withdrawn. Now King Jing is just a free prince, so there is no need for a fief? Just give Jingzhou to Cizhao. Isn't Zuo Mengmei's biological father Qiu Lei the chief soldier of Jingzhou garrison?" With him taking care of Cizhao in Jingzhou, I can rest assured!"
Zhu Cixiang was not affectionate towards the vassals and princes of the Ming Dynasty, and he was not merciless at all! Anyone who has "lost a feudal lordship" will basically wipe out all of them from the vassal king to the county king. He doesn't care whether these feudal kings and princes are responsible or not, whether they are good kings or not, he will remove them all. .
In the general context of withdrawal, some kings will also be renewed - the "Thirty-Three Kings" currently living in Nanjing are the ones who have been renewed. They will withdraw first and then follow up. The vassal princes and princes with iron hats were withdrawn, and the princes and princes who succeeded them were not as well treated as before, and not everyone had it.
Zhu Cihong paused, "In addition, I will give another two hundred thousand taels of silver to the Prince of Chu, Mr. Marquis, so you can take the silver and leave for Wuchang as soon as possible.
After arriving in Wuchang, be sure to remind Zuo Liangyu and Qiu Lei to pay attention to Li Zicheng! I am worried that after Li Zicheng loses another game, he will go south to Huguang! "
"Old minister accepts the order."
