The weather was sunny, and the Yangtze River in August seemed very quiet. Zhou Mengxiong took off the bamboo hat on his head, hung it on his back, and then looked up at the sky. The sky was blue without a single obvious cloud. He had excellent vision in the distance.
The flat land has clear air, and the river is as beautiful as a huge jade belt in the colorful Liaoyuan. The towers of Wuchang City and the houses near the city are all visible, and even the towns and villages on the other side of the river are vaguely visible. On the river
There were a few sails of different sizes floating in the air, and there were egrets flying over the water, adding a bit of humanistic poetry to the scenery.
This is the first time Zhou Mengxiong has come to Wuchang in recent years. Although Emperor Jianwen moved to the Chu Palace and the Xiangwang Group Center also moved here, he has many correspondences with Wuchang, but he has been leading troops in southern Huguang and has never come in person.
Take a trip.
Zhou Mengxiong looked dusty, wearing dusty linen clothes, barely reaching his knees for riding. There were stubbles on his clothes, which swayed like reed flowers when the river wind blew. There was only one person accompanying him, and they were four.
He looks like a teenager, named Liu Mazi, and does have some pockmarks on his face. Two people and two horses, the schedule is really too simple for a cabinet minister.
He bent down, grabbed a handful of sand from the ground, held it in front of his face and smelled it. There was a faint fishy smell. Then he let go of his hand, and the sand slipped from his fingers and fell in the wind.
Liu Mazi watched him finish a series of trivial things and did not dare to say a word to interrupt him, thinking that the general had some deep meaning. But then Zhou Mengxiong looked around and pointed to some bamboo and wooden houses not far away: "There are
It’s a fishing village. I asked why the sand smells fishy... Let’s go into the city.”
Zhou Mengxiong and two others entered Wuchang City and first found Wuchang garrison Chen Gai in the official office at the south gate.
Chen Gai, a round-faced man, came out with a look of disbelief on his face. It wasn't until he recognized Zhou Mengxiong with his own eyes that he hurriedly paid his respects: "General Zhou, the general of the country, you arrived in Wuchang so soon...why are you dressed like this?"
Zhou Mengxiong cupped his fists and returned the salute casually, and said calmly: "It's just a short walk, less burden and less trouble, and it won't save the world." He didn't seem to be too impressed by Chen Gai's compliment of calling General Zhen Guo. This title was banned.
It was against the laws of the Ming Dynasty, but Emperor Jianwen's regime had just been established, and many things had not become routine, so the random name given to him by the superiors was regarded as recognition of his reputation.
"Please sit inside," Chen Gai said hurriedly, "Have you met the prince?"
Zhou Mengxiong smiled and said: "When I first entered the city, General Chen was the first person I visited."
Chen Gai touched his head: "The handover of the seal will have to be done on another occasion. You might as well take a look at what's going on here first."
"No hurry, no rush, I'm not in a hurry to seize General Chen's military power." Zhou Mengxiong joked. Chen Gai also laughed "haha".
Chen Gai called a green-robed civil servant and asked him to get the file. He said bluntly: "I don't study much, I have too many troubles and I have to write in words. Some things are really hard to understand. Fortunately, Zhu Butang sent
I have a bunch of people here to help, I can just ask them anything I want to know."
Zhou Mengxiong smiled and said: "I'm just like you. We were playing with swords, guns and sticks on horseback, but we couldn't handle the pens smoothly, so I stopped reading the files... Hey, isn't there a camp outside Beicheng to the east of the school ground? I was there
When I see a general and hear someone calling him "Commander", he should be the commander of that camp, what is his name?"
Liu Mazi on the side looked slightly sideways, because he had been following Zhou Mengxiong. He really couldn't remember when he had seen the general, and he never heard anyone calling for the commander. I guess this was a casual lie by Zhou Mengxiong. But Liu Mazi was Zhou Mengxiong's. Confidants, of course he will not ruin things in public, and it is not convenient for Liu Mazi to say anything at this time. General Chen did not pay any attention to him when he was polite just now, thinking that he was just a slave and follower.
"That military camp is called Xiaochang Dongzhai." Chen Gai turned around and shouted, "Come here, go to Xiaochang Dongzhai and call the person in charge over and let General Zhou question you!"
"Wait a minute!" Zhou Mengxiong shouted, "What do you want him to do? I just asked casually when I met him, nothing else. General Chen doesn't know his name?"
Chen Gaidao said: "I can't remember it at the moment. As you know, there are probably 60,000 soldiers inside and outside Wuchang City now, most of them are new soldiers. There are more than twenty camps stationed and reorganized far and near. I have seen all the commanders. But I’m not familiar with some of them, so how can I remember them all?”
"That's true." Zhou Mengxiong nodded. At this time, he didn't want to stay any longer, and immediately said he wanted to go around the area. Chen Gai said hurriedly: "I will accompany General Zhou to inspect each camp."
Zhou Mengxiong waved his hand: "No, no, General Chen is still on the defensive and has official duties. I haven't taken office yet, so I can take this opportunity to walk around."
Chen Gai asked him to stay again and said he was going to have a feast, but he was also politely declined and had to be sent out of the door.
The two of them walked to the street again, still keeping a low profile and not attracting much attention. Zhou Mengxiong sighed: "Chen Gai is really not up to the task."
Liu Mazi said: "My lord just met the commander of Xiaochang Dongzhai, was he testing Chen Gai? He didn't even know his name, so he must have done a bad job. The general will know that there are more than 20,000 people in the Lizhou camp, my lord." Even the commanders of the brigade know everything about him, not only can they name him, but they also know his temperament."
Zhou Mengxiong said: "I have known Chen Gai for more than a day or two (one of the first armed leaders who followed Zhang Ning to attack Shimen County). I know that he cannot be so detailed, but the camp commander in Wuchang only has twenty Come on, I can’t even remember my name, so I’m really having a rough time.”
Liu Mazi echoed: "Yes."
Zhou Mengxiong turned around and said: "Liu Mazi, when you lead the troops, you must understand that no matter what you do, you must make everyone under you do their job well, let them know what they can and cannot do, and the severity of the punishment if they make mistakes. You also need to know something in your heart. Many soldiers are illiterate, but they understand in their hearts."
Liu Mazi didn't say much and said again: "Yes."
Zhou Mengxiong thought of what happened to Chen Gai just now and sighed slightly: "The middle and lower-level generals are the ones who directly lead the troops. If these people can't be managed well, how can they control the soldiers?"
Liu Mazi said: "Fortunately, the prince knows people, so there is no need to urgently summon the lord back. The matter will be settled naturally."
Zhou Mengxiong looked grave and said in deep thought: "These new army camps have packed a lot of people from Monk Yao's village (the old branch of the Suzaku Army). It's hard for me to handle them. I should keep those who are useless or not." To change or not to change?”
This question was no longer something Liu Mazi could answer, so there was no response.
The conversation between the two ended in silence, and they walked in silence. In fact, Zhou Mengxiong had long privately felt that the Yao family was too powerful, which was not a good thing for the entire regime and brought instability, especially in the army, which was almost pervasive. In Lizhou There are relatively few generals in the old division of the Suzaku Army in the Great Camp, but there is definitely no shortage of people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.