On April 19, the eighth year of Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty, a large group of people in black official robes had gathered at Puzikou, Jiangbei, Nanjing. Pavilions for people to rest and colorfully painted archways to support the scene had been built according to the highest standards. On both sides of the wide official road extending from Chuzhou in the northwest, there are posts every five steps and sentries every ten steps. They are all Nanjing soldiers wearing helmets and armor and fully armed!
Nanjing was the capital of the Ming Dynasty, with a team of six ministries and nine ministers, as well as a group of nobles who had lived in the capital for generations, so there was no shortage of greetings and farewells in the officialdom. Sometimes, to show grandeur, senior officials in Nanjing would take boats across the river to Puzikou to greet distinguished guests from Beijing. Therefore, the scene that appeared in Puzikou today is not particularly uncommon. However, when the officials and nobles of Nanjing City are welcoming them, they rarely send a large number of soldiers from the Nanjing Camp to go out of the city to make a scene.
Even if the powerful Nanjing Military Minister and Counselor, Nanjing garrison eunuchs and Nanjing left-behind nobles went to the riverside to welcome guests, they would not dispatch a large number of Nanjing soldiers to fill the scene.
This is not because the public security around Nanjing has always been good. Except for being harassed by a group of bold Japanese pirates in the early years, it has been peaceful for more than two hundred years... but because Nanjing has always been peaceful. The senior soldiers in the camp are more difficult to marshal than the soldiers in the Beijing camp.
Even if the Beijing camp says this, it will be under the eyes of the emperor, and they will be taken out from time to time for rectification.
Moreover, since the Tumubao Incident, the northern frontier of the Ming Dynasty has become more and more troubled, and Beijing soldiers are occasionally sent to the front line to fight against the Northern and Eastern Lu, so they can't be too bad.
The Nanjing Jingying Camp was a terrible army... During the Chongzhen period, the main force of the Nanjing Jingying Camp was still the Nanjing Garrison Department controlling the rotating officers and soldiers of the Nanjing garrison stations.
In addition, there are two additional troops known as the Nanjing Shenji Battalion and Chihe Battalion.
But whether it is the squadron or the front soldiers, they are all the same mess. Before Zhu Xieyuan, Xu Yunzhen, and Pang Tianshou made great efforts, the vacancies and occupations of the Nanjing armies always accounted for more than 90% of the book strength! There is also a real number of 10%, which is also a pretentious army with little training and little chance of going into battle to kill the enemy.
Although these old Nanjing soldiers are very bad, they can't stand it because they have a backing!
The Nanjing Jingying camp, whether it is a squadron or an army, basically comes from the garrison under the Nanjing Garrison Department. And the garrison under the Nanjing Garrison Department is the private territory of a group of Nanjing nobles. It is difficult for the Ministry of War in Beijing to handle them... The Nanjing nobles are all old officials of Jianwen! Aren’t the dozens of guards under the Nanjing garrison the oil and water given to them by Emperor Yongle? So what if they eat a little? If he really wants to be like Qi Jiguang and train his troops to be invincible, can the long live masters in Beijing sleep well?
But the Nanjing soldiers who showed up at Puzikou today surprised the merchants who often travel on both sides of the Yangtze River. While being surprised, these well-informed people had to ask each other about it.
"Where did these soldiers come from? Why do they look so energetic?"
"Are they the emperor's soldiers in front of the tent? The soldiers in front of the tent have already arrived in Nanjing?"
"They must be the soldiers in front of the tent...The soldiers in Nanjing City are not so elite. They can't do anything except eat and make trouble."
"Thank God, the emperor's soldiers have finally arrived... There is no need for these Nanjing cities to be thieves anymore, right? There are checkpoints everywhere in Nanjing these days, and there are interrogations everywhere. There has also been a curfew since April, and the days are not the same. pass......"
"No way! This group of thieves is too bold. They actually dared to sneak into the Nanjing City Railway sign and sing "Welcome the King of Chuang"..."
"Yes, there are so many officials and soldiers in Nanjing, but they still can't hold them down. How incompetent they are!"
"Alas, we Nanjing people can't live a good life..."
Yes, the people of Nanjing are having a hard time! The big bandit Gao Yingxiang is still recuperating on the Dabie Mountains, but notices of "Welcome the King of Chuang" appear at several gates of the inner and outer cities of Nanjing every now and then!
And every midnight, there are always people in Nanjing singing the song "Welcome the King of Chuang" in Shaanxi dialect!
This is incredible! The intruders have already sneaked into Nanjing City...it is obvious that they want to cooperate with Gao Yingxiang when he comes to kill them!
Can Zhu Xieyuan, Xu Yunzhen, and Pang Tianshou not be nervous?
The intruders came to their door and sang!
If they hadn't been nervous, Gao Yingxiang's people might have taken away the seeds.
And if the biggest man in Nanjing becomes nervous, the soldiers and civilians of Nanjing will not be able to live peacefully... Is there a ruthless person like Zhu Xieyuan among these three people!
At that time, Zhu Xieyuan held the official position of left-wing governor and assumed the responsibility of governor when She Chongming suddenly attacked (the governor and commander-in-chief of Sichuan at that time were all killed by She Chongming in Chongqing by the sudden rebellion). He defended Chengdu and blocked the siege of She Chongming's army. , and also saved the province of Sichuan for the Ming Dynasty - Chongqing had already been occupied by She Chongming at that time. If Chengdu was lost again, the consequences would be disastrous!
Now that he has great power, how can he tolerate the intruder causing trouble under his nose?
However, no matter how they search, set up traffic jams, or impose curfews, they still sing "Welcome the King of Chuang" every night in Nanjing!
The song "Welcome to the King" not only disturbed Zhu Xieyuan's dreams, but also frightened several princes who were "in charge". Later, three princes, including King Fu, King Dai, and King Qin, united more than a dozen princes from various counties and went to the Nanjing Ministry of War to find Zhu Xieyuan for "help."
This is simply a slap in Zhu Xieyuan’s old face! He wants to go down in history with his military exploits, but he must not lose his reputation on a late night!
So the old man had no choice but to wander around Nanjing, hoping to catch the "intruder" who had sneaked in. While stepping up efforts to rectify the Nanjing Camp...the Nanjing Camp soldiers who were used to being comfortable and protected by a group of Nanjing nobles were really unlucky.
He was almost forced to death by Zhu Xieyuan, Xu Yunzhen, Pang Tianshou and other three traitors!
In the past, their vacancies and occupations could be more than 90%, but now they are forced to less than 60%!
In the past, less than 10% of the actual soldiers were rarely trained, but now more than 40% of the actual soldiers are training every day... Moreover, the three traitors also made many excessive demands.
For example, wear armor when training!
Armor? How to wear it? Neither will...
Moreover, the armor is very heavy and not very breathable. It is really torture when the weather is hot!
Another example is to hit the target in archery!
This is really too much! If you can't pull the bow, how can you hit the target?
Also, the gun must be fired with live ammunition! You also have to fill up the gunpowder according to the standard...and of course, you have to hit the target!
This is really killing people!
Unwilling to be forced to death by Zhu Xieyuan, Xu Yunzhen, Pang Tianshou and others, the Nanjing soldiers even launched a mutiny in late March. Oh, it can't be considered a mutiny. It was just a riot at best... but the riot was unsuccessful. They were suppressed by the Northern Army brought by Xu Yunzhen and the Sichuan soldiers recruited by Zhu Xieyuan.
However, this fuss made the Nanjing gentry and wealthy merchants who had no hope for the Nanjing camp troops really look forward to the Ming Emperor's elite troops!
The emperor's elite troops can go deep into Mobei and sweep away the Eastern captives. Isn't it more reliable than the army here in Nanjing?
People's discussions reached the ears of Zhu Xieyuan, who was standing outside Puzikou Pier waiting to be picked up. The old man also had some ears and eyes, but even if he didn't, he could still know what these Nanjing people were talking about.
This group of people just don’t believe in Nanjing’s Beijing Camp soldiers—in fact, the elite soldiers standing guard outside Puzikou Pier today are all Nanjing’s Beijing Camp soldiers who have been trained!
But the people here in Nanjing don’t believe it!
They are all looking forward to the Ming Emperor's Heavenly Soldiers... The Heavenly Soldiers are powerful, but the Heavenly Soldiers charge protection fees!
In other words...the Heavenly Soldiers are here to collect protection fees!
Zhu Xieyuan had already heard the news, saying that Zhu Youjian had brought 100,000 heavenly soldiers this time, which cost a lot, so the taxes paid by Nanzhili in the past were not enough, and more money had to be added!
Increase it to at least 40 million...
Just as Zhu Xieyuan was thinking of this, the rumble of horse hooves could be heard from far and near, and he saw dozens of cavalry galloping towards him. On the horseback were men with loud voices, shouting loudly as they galloped: "Long live I am coming with 100,000 troops, so the people in the southeast can feel at ease..."
Rich people in the southeast, the Ming Emperor is here to protect you!
