In the quiet room in the back room of Yunzhou Post House, Zhang Cheng was covered in cold sweat. He was taking risks this time. He originally wanted to trick the spying eunuch Li Guofu into helping him mobilize craftsmen and fine iron from various places. How could he have thought that he was The young eunuch saw through this.
Although Zhang Cheng's personal power has gradually taken shape, even if the court wants to punish him, it will not be as easy as before. However, this period of time is also the key for Zhang Cheng's strength to grow.
If some unnecessary trouble occurs at this time, all the previous efforts may be wasted. Although he can also lead the loyal soldiers under his command to go elsewhere, there are not many generals who are completely dedicated to him at this time.
Moreover, everyone's interests have not yet been completely bound together. Even Zhang Cheng cannot guarantee how many soldiers he can take with him at this time. According to his idea, he still has to use his family members and land to connect his generals and generals. Just tie them together tightly.
Hearing Li Guofu calling him to stand up, Zhang Cheng felt uneasy in his heart. He still knelt on the ground and said softly: "Zhang Cheng is indeed serving the country sincerely. His loyalty to the emperor can be learned from heaven and earth. He really does not dare to have any selfish thoughts.
However, Zhang Cheng was indeed in a dilemma regarding the New Army's guns and artillery. He tried his best and reached a point where he had no place to exert his efforts. He had no choice but to take this drastic measure against Eunuch Li. He also asked Eunuch Li to take a closer look. "
"Okay, get up and talk!"
Li Guofu tapped the tea table with his fingers, and continued: "Our family also saw that you are sincere to the Holy Emperor, so we did not expose this matter in front of everyone. Do you really think that our family is a fool?"
"I don't dare, Zhang Cheng doesn't dare!"
"Hmph, that's it this time. We have followed the Holy Spirit's decree and came to the North Road to help you quickly form a new army so that you can serve the country. We are not here to cause trouble for you. If you do it again in the future, If you do this, don’t blame our family for being more vicious!”
Li Guofu used today's incident to reprimand Zhang Cheng, mainly because he wanted to knock Zhang Cheng before his personal strength was not very strong.
The first is to warn him not to act carelessly and to serve the emperor loyally; the second is to make him not dare to be arrogant even if he forms some power in the future. I, Li Guofu, can see everything clearly.
This is the truth, but Li Guofu still underestimated Zhang Cheng, but this is no wonder Li Guofu, who would have thought that Zhang Cheng was actually a person from later generations?
The idea of being loyal to the emperor is nothing in his mind, but there is no shortage of loyal people in this era. As for who they will be loyal to, it is hard to say!
Although Zhang Cheng was not very loyal to Chongzhen, in such a big environment, he still had to do superficial things, and he had to do enough.
He listened to what the surveillance eunuch Li Guofu said to such an extent. Zhang Cheng quickly stood up, but did not sit back. He was still standing. He only listened to his trembling words: "My father-in-law has a bright eye like a torch, and his insight is as clear as a thousand miles. Zhang Cheng is already in awe of him." , I will never dare to play such clever tricks in front of my father-in-law again."
Li Guofu took a sip of tea and said calmly: "Okay, even if this matter is over, our family has followed the will of Lord Long Live and came to the North Road to help you become a powerful force quickly. We will still mobilize craftsmen and fine iron, but You must serve the Lord Long Live faithfully and train your new army well, but you must not dare to be lazy and slippery."
"Zhang Cheng knows, please don't worry, father-in-law!"
"We are tired and need to take a rest. You can go down."
"Zhang Cheng resigns!"
…………
Zhang Cheng withdrew from Li Guofu's quiet room and walked towards the quiet room on the other side. He shook his head as he walked, with a wry smile on his face. He thought he was the admiral all the way, but he pretended to be a grandson in front of the eunuch.
Lin Fangping stood guard outside the quiet room prepared for Zhang Cheng by the postmaster Lu Dachun. When he saw Zhang Cheng approaching from a distance, he took two steps forward and said, "The banquet will be held for a while. General, do you have any orders?"
"Go and ask Wei Zhice and Shi Tiegen to come see me."
Lin Fangping responded and turned around to call for someone. Zhang Cheng walked into the quiet room. A pot of tea was already brewed on the table. He sat on a chair, poured a cup himself, and started drinking.
After a while, Wei Zhice and Shi Tiegen came to the door. Zhang Cheng called them into the room, while Lin Fangping still stood guarding outside the door.
"Zhi Ce, how many sergeants are there in the camp now?"
"Returning to the general, there are currently 570 sergeants in the carriage camp, 120 quick rifles, 80 blunderbuss in stock, 300 waist knives, 500 spears, and 100 riflemen." Wei Zhice replied. With.
"You know the strategy? Although the soldiers in the chariot camp are the remaining sergeants from the cavalry and infantry battalions, they are still used as combat soldiers. Even if we still call them supply soldiers to the outside world, they must not be drilled. Desolate.
The general has ordered Wu Zhizhong to lead the troops to the East Road, and even sent people to the West Road and South Road to recruit brave soldiers. Your chariot camp must be equipped with one battalion of baggage and one battalion of tanks before the end of the year. As for the frame Priority will be given to building large and heavy transport vehicles.
Rogue bandits are now rampant. Bandits such as Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai are scurrying between Huguang and Sichuan. They are bound to become more arrogant in the coming year. Li Zicheng is also ready to make a move. Next year's war will probably involve dealing with rogue bandits.
At that time, the imperial court will probably send us to exterminate the bandits. Your carriage camp is where the entire army's supplies are located, and it is necessary for formation in preparation for battle. You must practice it well and don't neglect it. "
"Zhi Ce has taken note of it. General, please rest assured."
"Well, and Shi Tiegen, you can also arrange for some people to follow Wu Zhizhong to the East Road, or even the West Road and South Road, to recruit more craftsmen and workers. If those people he eliminated during the recruitment are pure and good military households, Anyone can be recruited to work in Yunzhou and just pay the wages as usual, which can somewhat alleviate the shortage of labor in the craftsman camp." Zhang Cheng told Shi Tiegen again.
He continued: "Shi Tiegen, I am giving you a task. You organize the Firearms Bureau's research team to try to see if they can lengthen and thicken the tube of the bird gun appropriately to make a large gun that is easy to carry. And he can hit the ball accurately from a distance.”
"Yes, General, I will try it when I get back, but it will be useless."
"Well, if this kind of big gun can be made, it doesn't need to be too many. It can only be made into a hundred guns at most. Aren't there people in Tatars who are good at shooting and called the Condor Hand?
If we had such big blunderbuss, we would allocate them to those who can hit the bird blunderbuss accurately, and call them sharpshooters. They would specialize in sniping and killing local generals from a distance during battles. "
"Oh, by the way, there are also war horses and armor. We must hurry up. Heavy cavalry must be formed into an army as soon as possible. Rangers and assault cavalry can also use stock armor. This heavy cavalry is used for duels in battles, but the armor is not Don't be vague." Zhang Cheng instructed carefully.
"Keep this in mind, little man. As long as there is enough iron material, you will not miss the general's mission."
"Iron materials are not a serious problem for the time being. The iron ore and silver mines on the North Road have begun to be mined. In more than a month, I will transport all the iron materials stored in Liu Quan's place. It should be enough." Yunzhou has been using it for a while.
Moreover, Eunuch Li will also transport another batch of refined iron for us, so there is no need to worry about this iron material. "
At this time, Lin Fangping's voice came from outside the door: "General, the postmaster has come to call. The banquet has been prepared. General, please come to the table."
