Chapter 372 New clothes 【Is everyone's New Year's Eve ready? 】
Xincheng, where the Ming army fought with the rebels, was not Xincheng County, but Xincheng Town.
Xincheng Town belongs to Laizhou and is located in Laizhou.
Xincheng County is within Jinan Prefecture and is not a place at all.
So the malicious literati took the opportunity to fabricate lies, saying that Wang Xiangchun died in depression because the rebels destroyed his home in Xincheng and because of his guilt for triggering the Wuqiao mutiny.
Anyway, most people can't tell the difference between Qingqing County and New Town.
As everyone knows, the Wang family is not in Xincheng at all.
Even Xincheng County is just the ancestral home of the Wang family.
Wang Xiangchun has always lived in Licheng and has nothing to do with the Wuqiao Mutiny from beginning to end.
Zuo Menggeng was not concerned about the outcome of the battle between the Ming army and the rebels, but set off back to Yimeng Mountain.
In short, the Laizhou offensive and defensive battle lasted for more than five months, and there was still no time for him to take action.
When they returned to Mengshan, the New Army had completely wiped out Murong's Ministry of Finance.
"Senate, look, this is Murong Cai. He looks like a chicken, quite capable."
While Hui Shanhui was eating potato noodles from a bowl, he was pulling Murong Cai's body with his feet.
Looking at Murong Cai's bloody corpse, Zuo Mengeng's head was covered with black lines.
"Can you please stop playing with corpses while eating?"
Hui Shanhui grinned.
"What's the point? I'm so hungry on the battlefield that I can survive for a while even if I grab human flesh."
Zuo Mengeng twisted his mouth in anger.
"roll!"
Murong Cai's body was carried down and buried. It took a long time for the smell of corpse in the air to dissipate.
Zhang Keda followed Zuo Mengeng and couldn't help but sigh.
"General Zuo has such a strong general under his command, no wonder he is invincible."
Thinking of Hui Shanhui's virtue just now, Zuo Mengeng became furious.
"It just needs to be cleaned up."
The cooking soldier brought two bowls of potato flour, Zuo Mengeng took them, sat down and started eating.
Zhang Keda was very unaccustomed to this kind of approach. It could be seen that the masters were like this, so he had no choice but to be hospitable and follow the master's wishes.
When the potato powder entered his mouth, Zhang Keda was immediately attracted by the spicy and sour aroma.
"What is this? It's so delicious."
Zuo Menggeng popularized science while eating.
"This kind of thing is called potatoes. They were discovered by Westerners from America, thousands of miles away in the east. They can be grown on any good land. If they are carefully managed, one acre can produce more than 600 kilograms.
.But it probably hasn’t reached its limit yet, and I can’t say it will exceed a thousand pounds in the future.”
Zhang Keda trembled on the spot and threw the bowl away.
He is not a person who is ignorant of grains, so he naturally understands what it means for a crop to produce a thousand catties per mu.
Especially since he had just tasted it, it was much better than the dry food that the army had always eaten.
"I didn't expect General Zuo to be so concerned about farming when he was on the battlefield."
Zuo Menggeng said seriously: "Food is the most important thing for the people. Whoever can solve the problem of food and clothing for the people can own the world. Obviously, the man in the Forbidden City is impossible."
It was a very spicy and straightforward statement, but Zhang Keda had nothing to say.
He is in the military, and his military pay has been intermittent over the years, let alone fighting, and he can hardly survive.
He shook off his depression and asked, "Has this been grown in large quantities?"
Zuo Mengeng raised his hand and pointed at the soldiers around him, "Here, look, so many people can eat it."
Only then did Zhang Keda notice that the food they ate was exactly the same as ordinary soldiers.
There were two things about this discovery that shocked him.
First, General Zuo Menggeng actually shared the joys and sorrows with his soldiers.
He didn't think Zuo Menggen was deliberately showing off to him, because the soldiers walking back and forth saw Zuo Menggen eating, and everyone looked normal.
This shows that Zuo Menggeng was like this in the military.
Secondly, he has eaten potato flour, which is definitely a rare delicacy. Even if it is sold in the market, it will be very popular.
In Zuo Mengeng's army, even the most ordinary soldiers can eat it.
Neither of these two points can be matched by the Ming army.
"Hey, the food of a small soldier in your army is far better than that of the general in Denglai. It is really enviable."
Zuo Mengeng's eyes widened, as if he had heard some big joke.
"You don't really think soldiers like eating this stuff, do you?"
Zhang Keda was puzzled again.
"This thing is obviously very delicious."
Zuo Mengeng couldn't stop laughing.
The person walking next to him answered for him.
"Not only the generals, but also me are tired of eating this potato flour. If this was not a battlefield, I believe no one would be willing to eat it."
Zhang Keda turned around and saw a large group of people walking towards them, talking and laughing. There were men and women, old and young, and the lineup was quite strange.
Zuo Mengeng happened to finish eating, handed the bowl to the guard, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, let me introduce to you, this is Hou Xun, Hou Ruogu Gong."
Zhang Keda was immediately startled and jumped up, his waist almost falling to the ground.
"The last general, Zhang Keda, has met Lord Sima."
Hou Xun served as Minister of War and was his immediate superior.
"I am currently idle and am not an official. Mr. Zhang does not need to be polite."
Zhang Ke is so embarrassed.
"The last general is also a defeated general on the battlefield, and he is ashamed to see others."
Hou Xun said seriously: "I have already learned about the matter of ascending to the state. It is not the general's fault."
Zhang Ke had tears in his eyes, but he didn't expect that there would be people willing to defend him.
"Please also ask the boss to write to the court to clarify right and wrong and give us justice."
Hou Xun comforted him and pointedly said: "The situation in Denglai did not happen overnight. Do the whole court really not know about it? We really need to get to the bottom of today's disaster. Sun Zhongcheng is not the only one to blame."
Zhang Ke was horrified and startled. After savoring it carefully, he realized that the meaning behind Hou Xun's words was that he wanted to investigate the past.
But if we really want to pursue the case, we will have to cut off wages from Dongjiang Town and Mao Wenlong will be killed.
So who caused the series of changes in Dongjiang Town?
Zhang Keda knew it, but didn't dare to say it.
In a daze, he suddenly thought of something. He suddenly looked up and saw Zuo Mengeng and Hou Xun smiling together, and he was even more frightened.
Zuo Mengeng had expressed his rebellion to him, but now Hou Xun is with him, so...
Zuo Mengeng didn't care what Zhang Keda was thinking, he saw Wang Xiuqin.
"Why did our Minister Wang travel so far to get here?"
Wang Xiuqin didn't look tired at all. She happily asked her subordinates to bring the things over and handed them to Zuo Mengeng.
"Take a seat and take a look. These are socks produced by our garment factory. They have been distributed to the troops in Linqing a few days ago, and everyone's response is generally very good."
Zuo Mengeng took it and saw that it was a new blend of summer socks and stockings from Songjiang Prefecture.
One of the great advantages of this new type of cotton socks is that they are elastic and do not need to be tied with ropes, making them very convenient to wear.
The socks Wang Xiuqin handed over were different from the pure white socks Zuo Mengeng had seen before. They were yellow-green in color.
This is a very common dye in Shandong.
The socks were dyed this color, which was also Zuo Mengeng's request.
This is Zuo Menggeng's advance preparation for the future reform of the New Army's military uniforms.
Zuo Mengeng predicted that the Ming army's military uniforms would not last long, so he had already begun to consider the issue of military uniforms for the new army in the future.
The Ming Dynasty favored red, so military uniforms were mostly red, purple and other colors.
In the age of cold weapons, military uniforms of this color were nothing. But in the age of firearms, military uniforms that are too obvious are really afraid of dying fast enough.
Based on the actual situation in Shandong, Zuo Menggeng decided to set the color of future military uniforms as green and yellow.
After the printing and dyeing technology has made certain progress, we can then transition to more reasonable colors.
Regardless, this new type of sock has hit the jackpot.
Zuo Mengeng didn't shy away from it. He put on new socks in front of everyone, and then walked a few laps in the shoes. He was very satisfied with the familiar comfort.
"Minister Wang, let your garment factory produce at full capacity. In the next few months, the entire army will be wearing these new socks."
The new product was approved and approved by Zuo Mengeng, and Wang Xiuqin was extremely happy.
"When I come here this time, I brought 50,000 pairs of new socks, which can be distributed to the troops here first."
Wang Xiuqin explained.
They have already done a wear test on the new socks.
According to the training and combat intensity of the new army, an ordinary soldier can only wear a pair of new cotton socks for three months at most before they break.
Therefore, if socks are to be distributed, each person must have a quota of three pairs. In this way, we can catch up with the next wave of socks supply.
Regarding this, Zuo Mengeng had nothing to say and agreed to this stipulation.
And according to his understanding of people in this era, a pair of socks is only worn for three months?
Humph, it would be a waste not to wear it for you for three years.
When the distribution started, Zuo Mengeng casually took three pairs and stuffed them into Zhang Keda's hand.
"this is yours."
Zhang Keda stroked the socks in his hand, feeling the novel feel, and saw the soldiers receiving them with normal expressions. You can imagine the fluctuations in his heart.
When you serve as a soldier for the imperial court, except for weapons and armor, you have to prepare everything else yourself.
No matter how much money was spent, the court did not care. Therefore, many soldiers dressed like beggars in order to save money.
Just think about it, how could such a soldier be willing to fight for the imperial court?
Unlike here, even the most common and inconspicuous socks are taken care of.