Zhang Shun looked at the reality of Shaanxi and couldn't help laughing: "I wonder if Hengjiu can elaborate for me, who are the military and political figures in Shaanxi?"

Hong Chengchou was so shrewd that he immediately knew Zhang Shun's plan after hearing this.

He couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, and then took the lead in making a statement: "I have been away from Shaanxi for several months. I cannot fully understand the changes that occurred. I can only let King Shun know about it based on my memories of the past."

"The land of Shaanxi is the land of the old Qin Dynasty, which is divided into four towns: Ningxia, Gansu, Yansui and Guyuan."

"Among them, Wang Ji, the governor of Ningxia, whose courtesy name was Jichuan, was from Tai'an, Shandong. He was an honest and upright man. He served successively as magistrate of Zhecheng and Anyi, and later he was promoted to head of the household department and manager of military pay."

"Later he was moved to Guyuan County magistrate, and eventually he was the governor of Ningxia and was responsible for military affairs. He is good at governance but not good at military affairs, so there is nothing to fear."

"Zu Dabi, the commander-in-chief of the Ningxia garrison, was the younger brother of the general of the ancestors of Liaodong and the younger brother of Liaodong's commander-in-chief, Dashou."

"He is an extremely brave man. When fighting, he likes to shout and shout. He is nicknamed 'Zu Er Madman'. Unfortunately, if he is brave and has no strategy, he will be captured by the general sooner or later!"

"Governor of Gansu Zhang Yingchen, whose name is Huanbei, is from the Wei family of Henan, Henan. He was a Jinshi in the 44th year of Wanli."

"He successively promoted officials, censors and other positions in the Economic Nanfu. At the end of the Tianqi Dynasty, he patrolled Guangdong and almost suffered disaster because he refused to establish a new word for the eunuch Wei Zhongxian."

"In the seventh year, he was promoted to the censor of Youqiandu and served as the governor of Gansu Province on behalf of his predecessor Bai Yiqing. He is an upright man and has won many battles, so he is somewhat capable."

"Ha, I didn't expect that I am still a fellow countryman!" Zhang Shun commented with a smile, not letting Hong Chengchou explain it all in one breath.

This time I found a treasure. No matter what Hong Chengchou was as a person, his personal understanding of Shaanxi's military situation, human relations and geography was worth the price of a chief of staff.

No, the two sides haven't fought yet, and Zhang Shun has almost stripped off the underwear of the Shaanxi official.

Hong Chengchou was somewhat proud when he heard this, but as a surrender minister, he couldn't show it on his face.

Hong Chengchou took a sip of tea, covered it up, and then continued: "Originally, the commander-in-chief of Gansu Province was the powerful general Yang Jiamo. Six years ago, he was transferred to Jizhen as the commander-in-chief. After several rotations, the commander-in-chief is now Liu Shaozong."

"Although Liu Shaozong was not born as a general, he was brave in battle and experienced in using troops, and he was not half as good as Yang Jiamo."

"Zhang Bojing, governor of Yansui, whose courtesy name is Shenghai, is from Jiangdu, Yangzhou. He was a Jinshi in the 44th year of Wanli."

"He successively informed the three counties of Kuaiji, Gui'an and Yin. In the middle of Tianqi, he was transferred to the Lu family. In the second year of Chongzhen, he was slightly moved to be the head of the household department, and was appointed as the governor of Yan and the military reserve of Ning Er Town. He was quite meritorious."

"After stealing Yansui, the imperial court promoted Bo Jingbing to prepare for Qianshi, and took charge of Yulin Middle Road. He defeated He Sixian one after another, beheaded a city, Jin-winged Peng and others."

"In the spring of the seventh year, Qi Yu moved to the governorship, and then promoted Bo Jingyou to be the censor of Qiandu. Wang Chengen, the governor's general, and others divided their lanes and defeated the Han Minister and the bandits at Shuangshan and Yuhe Second Fort, beheading three hundred people."

"If King Shun wants to use troops in Shaanxi, among the three governors, this person is both civil and military, which will be a big trouble!"

Zhang Shun couldn't help but touch his chin after hearing this.

Among the three governors known so far, the governor of Ningxia is good at government affairs but not good at military affairs, so he is not afraid of it; the governor of Ningxia, Zhang Yingchen, has some abilities, but he is quite satisfactory and cannot be considered a rival; only Zhang Bojing has both civil and military skills, so it seems that he should be cautious

treat.

He nodded and said: "I know, who is Commander Yansui now?"

"That's Yu Chongxiao, he is also a strong general. Shaanxi is located on three sides and has been fighting against the 'three major bandits' all year round, so there is no mediocre general." Hong Chengchou responded quickly.

"Ningxia Commander-in-Chief Zu Dabi, Gansu Commander-in-Chief Liu Shaozong, Yansui Commander-in-Chief Yu Chongxiao, plus Shaanxi Commander-in-Chief Zuo Guangxian, it turns out that Guanxi is the general!" Zhang Shun couldn't help but sigh.

He knew that conquering Shaanxi was not that simple. Fortunately, he had basically never heard of these people in his previous life, so they would not be such formidable opponents.

"I don't know how many troops there are on the three sides and four towns?" The Art of War says: Know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger. Since Zhang Shun has asked the generals, it is time to ask about the condition of the soldiers.

"Ningxia originally had 71,693 horse infantry officers and soldiers, but in fact it only had 20,413 horse infantry banner troops."

"Gansu's original horse-mounted infantry army consisted of 91,571 people. In fact, it had 43,517 people."

"Yansui originally had 80,196 horse infantry officers and soldiers, but in fact there were 36,128."

"The original number of people in Guyuan Town was 71,790, but the actual number is 38,148."

"In addition, Lintao Town also has 19,275 horse infantry members. The total number of horse infantry officers and troops should be more than 157,000."

When Zhang Shun heard this, he almost pissed himself with fright. If calculated according to the original amount, the imperial court would have more than 300,000 troops, and the number of heads would be enough to kill him.

Fortunately, the number of troops in Shaanxi today is less than half that of the early Ming Dynasty, but there are still 150,000 troops, which is still a huge force for the rebel army.

When Zhang Shun was reflecting on whether his strategy of taking over Shaanxi in one fell swoop was feasible, he unexpectedly heard Hong Chengchou say again: "It is said that there are 150,000 troops, but in fact, after eliminating the old and young, and empty pay, the number is actually less than ten

That’s all!”

No, you just cut three times and two times, and the Ming court's army of more than 300,000 was reduced by two-thirds? Zhang Shun simply couldn't believe it.

"When Chen Qiyu conquered King Shun, he took away another eight thousand. When I left Tongguan, I also led 40,000 elite troops. The losses before and after were probably no less than 30,000 to 40,000, but in fact there were only 60,000 horses left in Shaanxi."

"But in front of us, Shaanxi's commander-in-chief Zuo Guangxian led 10,000 people, and guarded the Hou Jin invaders with 20,000 or 30,000 people. The remaining 20,000 to 30,000 people had to defend the dangerous pass points of the four towns and the Ming vassal king. How could there be any spare power?

"

Zhang Shun was surprised and happy when he heard this.

After Hong Chengchou's calculations, now the entire Shaanxi Province of the Ming Dynasty, except for Zuo Guangxian's more than 10,000 elites, has no spare men. It is really the end of the Ming Dynasty!

However, after Zhang Shun thought carefully, he found that this matter was both unexpected and reasonable.

Although the Ming Dynasty has a large number of troops, in fact, as the guard system gradually deteriorated, the soldiers in the army were almost reduced to slaves of the officers. Where are the elite soldiers and generals from the early days of the country?

The soldiers were not well fed and clothed, and they could not sit still and wait for death. They had to either flee secretly or look for opportunities to resist.

This resulted in, on the one hand, a decline in the quality of the generals' soldiers and a sharp decrease in number, forcing them to rely on a small number of elites to fight; on the other hand, mutinies and constant military chaos, such as Wang Jiayin, "Zijin Liang", "Chuang Wang", "Chuang General", and "Eight Great Kings"

” and a series of rebel leaders, almost all of whom came from the Yansui border army.

Since then, it seems that the war between the imperial court and the rebels is a battle between officers and soldiers, but in fact it is a battle between border troops and border troops.

In addition, there will be frequent disasters and man-made disasters tomorrow, and the people will sell their sons and daughters to earn a living.

Then wouldn’t it be true that the more the Ming Dynasty’s officers and soldiers were “suppressed”, the fewer they would be, and the more they were “suppressed” the weaker they would be.

On the one hand, there is a serious loss of military households, but on the other hand, the border generals are richest in the world. Therefore, if it is a small-scale battle, the border generals can still rely on their servants and elites to wreak havoc in all directions.

Once the scale of the war expands, officers and soldiers are left without pay, and conflicts between generals and soldiers become acute, and conflicts such as this will break out, and every battle will be doomed!

This is why in the historical line of Zhang Shun's previous life, the Ming Dynasty mobilized 139 elites from all sides and entrusted them all to Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao. As a result, the Songjin War was defeated, and the countdown to the Ming Dynasty's fall began.
Chapter completed!