The more Wei Zhice thought about what Zhang Cheng said just now, the more profound the meaning became. He couldn't help but admire: "The commander-in-chief's words are really good words of gold and jade, and they are the essence of merchants' pursuit of profit."
The longer Wei Zhice stayed in contact with Zhang Cheng, the more mysterious he became.
After he spontaneously followed Zhang Cheng, he also carefully studied Zhang Cheng's life. Zhang Cheng was also from a military family. His branch only started to read and write in his father's generation in order to gain fame.
However, his father was no longer a scholar and could not make progress anymore, so he died in depression. He originally hoped that Zhang Cheng could study hard and gain fame during his lifetime, so as to comfort his ancestors and shine on his family.
But how could you ever have thought that when his father passed away, Zhang Cheng was just an ordinary boy with nothing extraordinary in him and did not continue to receive higher education. Why did he suddenly become so dazzling and outstanding?
Moreover, after his father's death, he seemed to have been stimulated and completely gave up his studies. He wanted to join the army and spent his days hanging out among the gangs, drinking alcohol, sleeping with prostitutes, and causing trouble.
Zhang Yan had no choice but to take him into his right-wing battalion and train him step by step to become the cavalry commander. However, if nothing unexpected happened, his life would probably end there.
However, all this changed completely after that accident!
Ever since Zhang Cheng made trouble with a prostitute while drunk and was beaten violently until he fainted by his uncle Zhang Yan, he seemed to be a different person when he woke up. Not only was he not as drunk and frivolous as before, but he also became more fond of reading and often read books.
Can't let go of the scroll.
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign, he became the king of Qin. In just a few years, he became one of the tens of thousands of commanders of the army. What's even more amazing is that every step he takes seems ordinary, and sometimes extremely thrilling, but every time
All have unexpected results.
In Wei Zhice's eyes, Zhang Cheng's gaze seemed to span thousands of years in the past and tens of thousands of years to come. He had never seen such foresight and wisdom in anyone else!
Wei Zhice was born in an aristocratic family. Not only did he have excellent fighting skills on horseback, but he also read the books of sages. He was already a deer supervisor before he followed Zhang Cheng.
Therefore, what he believed in was "the son does not speak, the strange power confuses the gods". However, in Zhang Cheng's view, this point was deeply broken!
In his opinion, there is really no other way to explain all this except that the stars in the sky descended to earth, suddenly enlightened, and awakened the memories of past lives.
He couldn't help but think to himself: "The sage said, every time the country is in trouble and people are in ruins, there will always be heroes and kings born. Could it be that our commander-in-chief is the star in the sky who comes down to earth to save the world!
Could it be that my commander-in-chief is that unparalleled heroic king?"
In fact, there has been such a folk legend in the Xuanbei area for a long time. Zhang Cheng is a star in the sky who came down to earth to save the world. This belief is very popular even among the Xuanbei army.
Those soldiers who joined the army were even more enthusiastic about acknowledging this fact, as if their generals were like stars in the sky and fallen into the mortal world, and could lead them to only win battles, advance and conquer.
However, strange to say, since this legend became popular, Zhang Cheng's status in the Xuanfu has increased a lot. Even the soldiers under his command are more popular with the people than before, and the morale of the military is high.
It is also an unprecedented improvement.
As this statement continued to spread, successive interpretations began.
There are even rumors that:
Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and their ilk are the reincarnations of the "Seven Killing Stars" killed by the Lord of Heaven. That's why they wreaked havoc on the Ming Dynasty, killing people without calculation, but no one can control them.
At the same time, Huang Taiji, the leader of the Jianlu slaves in Liaodong, was born as the "Pojun Star". This Pojun Star, like the Seven Kills Star, was the second general under the Ziwei Emperor Constellation. Because of this, the Tartars were able to invade the Ming Dynasty repeatedly.
, causing trouble in Gyeonggi.
And Zhang Cheng is the "Greed Wolf Star" in the sky who came to the world. It is said that people who come to earth from the Greedy Wolf Star are strong and powerful, have strategies in their chests, and have tricks in their belly. They can do things quickly and have many ways to advance and retreat. If
If you are stuck in the ground, you will be caressing a lot and have a heavy heart of love and hate.
Of course, they also have many shortcomings, such as different expressions of good and evil, slightly extreme behavior, and moodiness, and they are most likely to be obsessed with peach blossoms.
For example, Cao Cao in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is said to be the Pojun Star who came to this world!
Based on this rumor, it is believed that the reason why Zhang Cheng came to the world at this time was to save the Ming Dynasty from fire and water and save all people from suffering.
Because, according to the record of "Zi Wei Dou Shu": "When the three directions of Seven Kills, Greedy Wolf, and Pojun meet in the Ming Palace, it is the so-called "ShaPoLang" pattern. Once these three stars come together, the world will surely change.
Lord, it is irreversible!”
Of course, these are just folk rumors and cannot be taken seriously at all. However, Zhang Cheng did not seriously stop the spread of these rumors, which gave people a sense of tacit approval. In fact, he was also suspected of secretly adding fuel to the flames.
…………
When the group of them said goodbye to Wang Pu and Chen Jiugao and returned to their Chinese army camp, it was already past noon.
Zhang Cheng asked Zhang Chengfang to order the meal. After a while, the fire soldiers and guards waiting outside the commander's tent brought the meals one by one, and everyone gathered around the table to eat together.
Among the generals in the Xuanfu army, except Chen Zheng who led an army alone and was stationed in Changling Mountain, the rest included Lin Fangping of the Tiger Guard, Zhang Guangda of the Cavalry Camp, Wei Zhice of the Chariot Camp, Zhang Guodong and Li Jiyu of the Infantry Camp, and Du Youwei, the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Army.
, He Kuan and other generals, together with the general governor He Biao, the chief medical officer Shi Jianneng and other officials gathered around the table.
In addition, there are Guo Yingxian, the newly attached staff general of the Xuanfu Zhenbiao Battalion, and He Zhenxiong, the guerrilla leader of the Zhenbiao Zuoying Battalion. They are now considered generals of Zhang Cheng's group and are highly appreciated by Zhang Cheng, so they are naturally among them.
As for Tang Xiancheng, the commander of the right battalion of Xuanfu town, and Kuang Yongzhong, the guerrilla battalion, although the flood area of the defense area was not far from Zhang Cheng's camp, they were on the front line of the battle between the two armies after all. They did not dare to leave their posts without permission, so they
Not present here.
The food on the big table is quite sumptuous, including roasted whole lamb, large pieces of cooked pork, and mutton. Large long plates are filled with various kinds of sea fish, as well as steamed conches and shellfish.
It is paired with fresh fish soup stewed with kelp, and some rare seasonal vegetables are placed on each side, which is prepared for everyone to relieve greasiness.
The land of Liaodong, like other places in the Ming Dynasty, is suffering from severe drought. Many small rivers and canals have dried up, so it is not easy to catch river fish. However, Zhang Cheng's residence is not far from the seaside, and a large number of fresh sea fish are shipped every day.
Outside the military camp.
As the saying goes, money can make the world go round.
As long as the Xuanfu army dares to spend money, there are many businessmen and fishermen willing to serve!
And money is exactly what Zhang Cheng lacks the most now.
The staple food is rice packed in large buckets, as well as noodles, big pancakes, etc. To be honest, although Zhang Cheng has been in the Ming Dynasty for many years, he has lived in Xuanfu Town most of the time.
But he still likes white rice the most, followed by dumplings, and his favorite dish is pork vermicelli stewed with sauerkraut. After all, he was a Northeasterner in his previous life, so it’s hard to forget the taste of something he’s used to eating.
But in this life, I was in Xuanfu, a place close to Shanxi and outside the border. Naturally, I mainly ate pasta, and ate more noodles and pancakes. Although I had eaten them for many years, I still couldn't like them.
…………
"We're going to starve to death, we're going to starve to death..."
Guo Yingxian seemed to be really hungry. He looked at the table full of delicious food, but he couldn't bear it. He picked up a knife and cut off a large piece of roasted whole lamb.
He then grabbed another large piece of pork, rubbed it twice on the salt block, and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he took a big gulp of wine and ate until he was in a state of spluttering.
However, he didn't seem to be interested in the fish, conch, shellfish and other seafood on the table. He just greeted the mutton and pork warmly!
Zhang Guangda and Zhang Guodong also ate quite rudely. They also toasted to each other and drank one cup after another.
The two of them have always been good drinkers. After arriving in Liaodong, they drank less often. Today was Zhang Cheng's treat, and it was rare for them to warm up some rice wine, so how could they not drink?
However, after all, they were on an expedition and they didn't dare to drink too much, so the two of them just drank the first few bowls happily and then calmed down.
The rest of the people were not non-drinkers, some just had varying degrees of alcohol consumption. However, compared to the rudeness and eagerness of the two of them, their behavior seemed much slower and more leisurely.
Only Wei Zhice, although he had been in the army for many years, had been influenced by Confucian etiquette since his childhood, and developed a character that was both well-informed, well-behaved, and extremely restrained. Therefore, he drank the most elegant wine.
Of the people at the table, perhaps only a few people such as Li Jiyu and He Zhenxiong seemed a little reluctant to let go. After all, they had been following Zhang Cheng for a long time, and they only joined Zhang Cheng when his reputation was already at its peak. Under his command.
Unlike other generals, they followed Zhang Cheng in front of and behind him almost from the moment he first rose up, and they went through life and death together many times.
Although Zhang Cheng was the most sincere and sincere, they became even more reserved.
Zhang Cheng scooped up a spoonful of fresh fish soup stewed with kelp and drank it into his mouth while it was hot. It was obvious that in this era, especially on the front line of Jinzhou, although the ingredients were delicious, the seasonings were also very scarce.
The fresh kelp and fish soup stewed in this way is naturally incomparable with the delicious soups he tasted in later generations.
But he still showed excitement, nodded and praised: "This fish soup is really good, very delicious!"
He continued: "As the saying goes, 'If you rely on the mountains, you will eat the mountains, if you rely on the sea, you will eat the sea.' The sea is vast and boundless, and there are quite a lot of fish of all kinds in it, and even more, like this conch, all kinds of shellfish are delicacies!
Alas, it is a pity that such a delicacy is easy to catch and cannot be preserved for a long time. Otherwise, the fishermen in this coastal area would not be so poor."
When Wei Zhice heard this, he quickly stopped his chopsticks and said with a smile: "As the commander said, it is easy for fishermen to catch fish on this coast, but because they have no way to preserve it, they are still poor despite working hard every day.
However, the method of drying fish given by the Commander-in-Chief today will allow the harvested fish to be preserved for a long time. If this method is popularized along the vast coastal areas, then the lives of coastal fishermen will be much easier in the future."
Zhang Cheng also smiled and waved his hands and said: "Sigh. I just thought of this incident temporarily. I just said it like that. I wanted to alleviate the lack of meat and fish in our Xuanfu army. How could I have expected such a big reaction."
Zhang Guodong laughed at the side and said: "Although the commander-in-chief did it unintentionally, the promotion of this method is indeed a living thing. In this way, the commander-in-chief is really the Buddha of thousands of fishermen along the coast!"
When everyone at the table heard this, they nodded vigorously.
At this time, Wei Zhice suddenly said: "Commander, these days of continuous artillery battle with slaves, the consumption of silk medicine packs is quite high. What do you think about this?"
Zhang Cheng naturally understood the meaning of his words. Wei Zhice wanted to save some money for himself. After all, although this silk medicine bag had many advantages such as stable burning and almost no residue.
But its shortcoming is also very obvious, that is, it costs too much money. Only this shortcoming made the whole Ming and Qing Dynasties, only Zhang Cheng's Xuanfu Army family use this silk medicine bag.
Zhang Cheng did not answer Wei Zhice, but asked instead: "What other evil ideas do you have, please come to me as soon as possible!"
Everyone snickered, they were very happy to see Wei Zhice shooting themselves in the foot.
After all, as a scholar who can lead an army in war, this is really too conspicuous among them. Although everyone is quite friendly in private, there is also a lot of dissatisfaction hidden in their hearts.
Wei Zhice smiled elegantly at first. Since he followed Zhang Cheng and joined the Xuanbei Army, he has become much more outgoing, but he still pays attention to his image when there are many people.
I saw him first clasping his fists and saluting, and then slowly said: "Commander, do you still remember what kind of medicine bag our car camp artillery team used before using the silk medicine bag?"
Zhang Cheng smiled and said nothing, looking at Wei Zhice calmly, gesturing for him to continue to play.
Wei Zhice naturally understood what Zhang Cheng meant, and he continued with a smile: "The artillery in our Xuanfu army, like other armies in other towns, used cotton medicine bags. Because they could not burn out, there was always residue in the barrel.
Cleaning the chamber is very difficult.
After being prompted by the commander, the Yunzhou Artillery Workshop tried silk medicine bags. This silk is indeed more flammable than cotton, and leaves almost no residue when used in the breech. This not only saves the need for clearing the barrel, increases the firing speed, but also increases the firing speed.
The barrel is also not prone to overheating.
But its shortcoming is also very obvious, that is, the cost is too high, it is really too wasteful of money!"
Now, the artillery technology of Zhang Cheng's Xuanbei Army is already ahead of all the towns in the Ming Dynasty, including the artillery battalions in the Beijing Camp, and they cannot compete with the artillery battalions of his Xuanbei Army.
Although it seems that his army is still dominated by small, flexible artillery and there are few large-scale artillery, its artillery is so sophisticated that even the Qing army cannot match it.
The use of silk powder bags, goose feather primer tubes, gun butts, etc. in their artillery camps was a unique innovation of the Xuanfu army, and their medicine was more sophisticated than that used by the Ming army or even the Qing army.
However, technological progress often means an increase in costs. Unless there is a way to transfer this excess cost, it is destined to be difficult to maintain.
The method currently used by Zhang Cheng is to use a regional military control system. Anyway, the Xuanbei area is a solid military base, and there are no local officials appointed by the court. All his decisions are made in the name of the Wei Department, which is not wrong on the surface.
.
Furthermore, after Zhang Cheng's regulation, the soldiers and civilians of Xuanbei are now very happy. They don't care what system you use. Their request is very simple, that is, to have enough food.