In the military tent, Du Youwei returned to his seat with red eyes amidst everyone's congratulations and congratulations. The excitement in his heart still could not calm down for a long time.
Zhang Cheng nodded with satisfaction looking at all this, and then said to Zhang Guodong: "Guodong, after Du Youwei has selected the men on the left side of his central army, the remaining three thousand new troops will be assigned to your infantry camp.
, it is up to you to select officers above the general rank among the three divisions of infantry and battalion to temporarily hold the position of general commander. After the selection is made, the candidates will be reported to me for my decision."
Zhang Guodong sat on his seat and replied in a deep voice: "I will obey the commander-in-chief's military orders."
Zhang Cheng added: "You have to break up and reorganize these three thousand troops. The battalions are tentatively designated as the front, rear, and side divisions of the infantry camp. The sergeants with outstanding performance in your infantry camp should serve as armor commanders.
The captain is promoted to the team officer, the team officer is promoted to the commander-in-chief, and the commander-in-chief is promoted to the commander-in-chief."
He looked at Zhang Guodong and continued: "As the saying goes, 'a snake cannot function without a head'. You must carefully select suitable people to serve as the 'snake heads' in the new army, and train the three new armies for me as soon as possible.
"
Zhang Guodong sat with his fists clasped and said: "I will obey the commander's military orders."
Zhang Cheng raised his wine glass to charge the generals in the account and said: "Come on, come on, let's all drink to our national hero. He is now a guerrilla general with 6,000 troops!"
Amid the laughter of the crowd, Zhang Guodong seemed a little embarrassed. He explained while drinking: "They are all the commander-in-chief's soldiers and horses... They are all the commander-in-chief's soldiers and horses..."
After Zhang Cheng toasted with the generals, he turned to Wang Yuanjing and asked: "Yuanjing, how is the situation over there with the hungry people? Have you made a resettlement plan?"
Wang Yuanjing replied seriously: "Commander, there are 12,529 people registered as hungry, most of whom are farmers near Zhengzhou and Zhongmou, and some small traders.
Among them, there are many civilian craftsmen such as carpenters, masons, tailors, and coopers, totaling more than 500 people. There are also some shipwrights, cabin shipwrights, and boatmen, more than 50 people.
There are also thirty-two literate people, and they are all gathered together. Liu Chengzu is temporarily managing them, mainly doing some registration and bookkeeping."
He paused for a while and took a sip of water before continuing: "These hungry people all followed the commander's instructions and were organized into villages and households as units, who knew each other well, or eight or nine hundred people.
As a team, or one thousand to two hundred people as a team.
Those craftsmen are all grouped together, and their families together with their families number about 1,780 people, and the families of the literate people also have more than 100 people."
Zhang Cheng then turned to look at Yang Shijie, who was sitting down on the left, and said, "Brother Ziyun, may I ask how many hungry people can be accommodated in the Yangjia Building in Mangshan?"
Yang Shijie sat in his seat and kept chatting with Chen Zhong and toasting each other. Although he was Zhang Cheng's uncle and all the generals respected him, he only had a good rapport with Chen Zhong.
At this time, when he saw Zhang Cheng asking him, he replied in a deep voice: "The Yangjia Tower is located under Mang Mountain. The area is narrow. In addition, many hungry people have come to seek refuge nearby. Now I am afraid that we will not be able to accommodate many more people."
He glanced at Zhang Cheng before continuing: "The commander-in-chief crossed the river from Dengfeng to the north. You should know that the drought in the north of the river is far lighter than that on the south bank. The town of Mianhe is located along the Jishui River. Not only is the transportation convenient, the land is also conducive to
By farming, even if the land is insufficient for distribution, it is not difficult to make a living by working.”
Zhang Cheng nodded and said: "What Ziyun said is correct. From Wen County, Meng County, and Jiyuan County in Hebei Province, it will be very difficult to resettle more than 10,000 hungry people."
He looked at Chen Zhong and said: "Chen Zhong, I am going to send you to Hebei to take charge of resettling the hungry people."
Chen Zhong was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then said: "Commander, we know how to lead troops to fight. The issue of resettling the hungry people is very involved. Chen Zhong is afraid of missing the commander."
Zhang Cheng smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, brother Ziyun is there to help you. He is a descendant of a family in western Henan. Even in Hebei, you have many familiar connections. He will help you with any local chores."
He then continued: "Also, this time you are going to Hebei to resettle the hungry people. You will only lead the hundred cavalry from the military post of the Ranger Department. You will find time to hand over the remaining three posts with Hu Dayou, the commander of the cavalry battalion.
, let him take charge on your behalf for the time being."
After listening to Zhang Cheng's words, Chen Zhong felt a sense of sadness in his heart. Although he knew that Zhang Cheng's arrangement must have deep meaning, he had been leading the cavalry for a long time and now he felt a little reluctant to leave.
Just when Chen Zhong was feeling sad, Zhang Cheng's voice came again: "The number of hungry people you need to resettle this time is over 10,000. Not only are there a large number of people, but you are also afraid that there will be thieves mixed in, and you will not be able to completely screen them out.
I will send you a thousand soldiers and horses on the left side of Cui Shijie's infantry camp to lead you to prevent chaos during the resettlement of the hungry people. In addition, Wang Zanhua will also accompany you to Hebei, and the relevant documents and books will be taken care of by you.
He will help you complete it."
Zhang Cheng didn't wait for him to speak. He glanced at Zhang Guodong on the left first, then turned to Cui Shijie on the right and said to him: "Cui Shijie, you heard what I just said just now, right?"
Cui Shijie immediately stood up and clasped his fists and said: "I heard it true. Cui Shijie will obey the commander-in-chief's military orders and fully assist General Chen Zhong."
After everything was agreed upon, the generals ate and drank for a while, and then dispersed.
…………
Because bandits were everywhere, post roads were blocked, and military intelligence reports from various places were delayed. Ever since Emperor Chongzhen received the report of the fall of Luoyang and the misfortune of Fu Fan, there has been no news of intruders.
He was extremely looking forward to news about breaking into and selling out robbers, and even the supervisor Yang Sichang, but no news came. He even comforted himself in his heart that no news was the best news.
Sure enough, a few days later, we saw the good news that Zhang Cheng had driven away the intruders and recovered Luoyang. But before he could be happy, the news that the intruders besieged Kaifeng also came on the same day.
Emperor Chongzhen's heart was in his throat. When he first saw the news that Kaifeng was besieged by bandits, he even screamed:
Where is Li Xianfeng?
What is Wang Shaoyu doing?
Worried about the Kaifeng City Guards and the safety of Zhou King Zhu Gongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen did not have a good New Year's Day, and was even awakened by nightmares at night.
On the third day of the first lunar month in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, an unlabeled urgent military report was sent from Kaifeng and placed on Emperor Chongzhen's imperial record.
His face was pale and his fingers were trembling. He stared at the secret message and did not dare to pick it up and open it for a long time.
All kinds of terrible conjectures emerged in his mind at the same time. He even turned his usual thoughts of becoming a ZTE hero into despair. He raised his head and looked out the window of the East Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, and said to himself in his heart.