In the study in the back hall of General Chicheng's office, Lin Fangping was reporting to Zhang Cheng about his trip to Yanghe to deliver New Year's gifts and the situation there in Zhencheng.
"Commander Commander, Governor Chen has said that the Ming Dynasty is now using its troops. The Commander-in-Chief should try his best to train more sergeants. If there are any obstacles, you can report them directly to the Governor. Don't delay the recruitment and training of troops."
Lin Fangping continued: "Zhencheng Commander Yang is also very concerned about the Commander-in-Chief. He specially stayed with Cheng Fang in Zhenshuo Mansion for one night. Yang Commander also brought a letter to the Commander-in-Chief."
As he spoke, he took out another letter and handed it to Zhang Cheng.
"Well, how's it going with He Shihui?" Zhang Cheng took the letter and asked in a deep voice.
"Everything is business as usual at He Baihu's place. This year's harvest is quite good. The fields that were cleared earlier have harvests. Now the warehouses are well-stocked. He Baihu says the harvest will be even better next year.
In addition, all our villages in the town have been renovated, and the remaining grain is stored in three villages with better terrain. The walls of the villages are all newly built, and He Baihu has also been repaired.
Recruit more than 400 Zhuangyong men to guard everything without hindrance."
"Yes, Not Bad."
As Zhang Cheng spoke, he opened the letter from Chen Xinjia, the governor of Xuanda University, and read it silently. In the letter, Chen Xinjia first praised Zhang Cheng's new lyrics, which were majestic and impassioned.
Then he revealed the news that Chen Xinjia might return to Beijing to serve as Minister of War. Therefore, he asked Zhang Cheng to concentrate on training his soldiers, not to be burdened with trivial matters, and to form an army as soon as possible for future use.
Zhang Cheng also had an impression of this matter in his memory, but he only remembered that when Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao in the Ming Dynasty, fought against Jiannu Songjin, it was Chen Xinjia who served as the Minister of the Ministry of War. But as for when Chen Xinjia became the Minister of the Ministry of War, he
But I don't remember.
However, based on the reports from Beijing a few days ago, he roughly sorted out his thinking.
The current Minister of War, Fu Zonglong, was recommended by the cabinet minister Yang Sichang in early May. He arrived in Beijing in August to take up his post. In early September, Yang Sichang also brought the Shangfang sword given by Emperor Chongzhen, 40,000 taels of silver reward, and
I was rewarded with a silver medal of 1,500 yuan, and my Majesty resigned and left the capital.
He arrived in Xiangyang City, Huguang on September 29th.
On the first day of October, the three armies were sworn in Xiangyang and officially began to suppress the rogue bandits led by Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai. However, at that time, the generals of the Huguang Ming Army were arrogant, extravagant and carefree, and had no fighting spirit.
In order to suppress thieves, Yang Sichang had no choice but to flog the deputy general, use Fang Baojian to kill the supervisor of the army, and even impeached and arrested Fang Kongzhen, the governor of Huguang, to improve military discipline.
However, everything was in place, but he was worried that the food, grass and military pay would not continue, so he wrote to the court to ask for the transfer of military pay, food and grass. However, the national funds were wasted, and the Ministry of War was unable to raise funds for a while. Yang Sichang impeached Fu Zonglong, the central secretary, for not serving, and Fu Zonglong, the Minister of War, also impeached Yang Sichang.
It's just a waste of national funds.
At this time, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, asked Liu Zhaoji to be transferred to Liaodong to serve as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong. He was responsible for training the soldiers of the Ningyuan battalions and promoted him to the governor of Wei.
Liu Zhaoji once served under You Shiwei, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, and he was also a loyal and brave general. He chased and suppressed bandits many times and fought against Donglu. However, Fu Zonglong could not make a decision for some unknown reason.
This made Emperor Chongzhen even more angry, and Fu Zonglong later came up to defend himself. However, Emperor Chongzhen still believed that he regarded the matter of sealing the border as a piece of cake and was unworthy of his responsibilities. He wanted to punish him for his crime, so he had him executed on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month in the twelfth year of Chongzhen.
Put into custody.
Zhang Cheng only received the news yesterday, and was quite surprised at the time. In addition, there was also a figure who had some impressions in his memory who also died for the country, which made him feel a little sad.
This person was Jin Guofeng, the governor-general of the Ming Dynasty who signed the contract, and the chief military officer of the Ningyuan regiment. His official position was not comparable to that of a governor-general, and he was also a Liaodong general with little reputation, but Zhang Cheng still remembered him fresh.
In February of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, Jin Guofeng, with the official position of deputy commander-in-chief, led three thousand soldiers to garrison Songshan City. The slave chieftain Huang Taiji personally led the army to attack and camped at seven places under the south platform of Songshan. He attacked for seven days.
But there were heavy casualties.
Huang Tai, the slave chieftain, was very unwilling and dispatched nearly 30 cannons, more than 10,000 cannons, and 500 hu of gunpowder, and fired cannons around the city. The battlements on the city tower were completely destroyed, but the city was never broken.
The slave chief Huang Taiji had no choice but to order people to dig a tunnel in the south of Songshan City. In order to boost morale, he announced: "Those who can dig holes with gunpowder to collapse the city will be the first to serve when the city is broken, and those who transport gunpowder will be rewarded. Those who have no owners will be rewarded."
He was given the title of an official, and the slaves were rewarded with people and oxen, and they were allowed to leave their masters; they were instructed to lead the officials, and they were rewarded according to the rules of first ascending to the big city. They cooperated with the soldiers of the cave city, and rewarded them with bribes depending on their contribution. "
But even if the Donglu were like this, Songshan City had not been breached. Huang Tai had no choice but to send envoys to appease them, declaring: "If we can observe God's will, follow the trend of the times, and return quickly, not only the soldiers and the people will be saved from death, but also half of them will be saved."
How can great achievements be limited?"
However, he was sternly rejected by Jin Guofeng. Faced with the dilemma of attack and defense, Huang Tai had no choice but to stop his troops and return to Shengjing. However, the Donglu in Shengjing learned that "most of the troops were defeated, and several generals were also killed."
Most of the people on the street looked anxious and unhappy, and in the distance outside the city, among the streets, the sound of crying filled the sky."
Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed after hearing the news, and appointed Qian Shi, the governor of the Jin Guofeng Department, as the chief military officer of the Ningyuan Regiment. Later, due to his meritorious service, he was appointed as the governor of the Jin Guofeng Department and was appointed as a hereditary guard to thousands of households.
In October of this year, the slave chief Huang Taiji ordered Haoge and Duduo to lead the army to attack Ningyuan again. Songshan was the first to bear the brunt.
Although Jin Guofeng had more than 10,000 troops this time, they were all temporarily transferred from various places. They were not subordinate to each other. In addition, the army was seriously short of pay, and many generals at all levels had embezzled military pay.
, so the morale of these soldiers is extremely low.
In addition, Jin Guofeng had not had time to rectify military discipline. As a result, his generals did not listen to orders, and the soldiers were afraid of death. Jin Guofeng was so angry that he led dozens of his relatives out of the city and fought fiercely with the Qing soldiers at Beishangang.
Being outnumbered, he tried his best and died heroically together with his two sons.
After this battle, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, wrote a letter saying: "Guofeng is loyal and brave. He defended Songshan with less than 3,000 soldiers, but he was able to resist a strong enemy and protect the isolated city. It was not because of his superior talents, but because of his exclusive power.
, the order is one, but the people are in awe. When he is promoted to a general, he has nearly ten thousand soldiers, but he is killed. It is not because of his lack of talent, but because the camp is divided, the order is difficult to implement, and the people are not unified."
How heroic Jin Guofeng was in sacrificing his life for his country, and who among those who sacrificed their lives for their country in the late Ming Dynasty was not heroic!
Because of this incident, Zhang Cheng became more firmly aware of the importance of military power. It is not about having too many soldiers, but about being skilled. It is more about obeying orders and daring to fight. Another point is that friendly forces cannot be sustained!
If there is an opportunity to cooperate with friendly forces in the future, you must not place your own safety in the hands of these soldiers.
Their creed is that if they win, they will swarm forward and compete for credit; if the war suffers a slight setback, they will run away from each other. They always adhere to the principle that the dead Taoist friends will not die the poor Taoists!