Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 476
"By God's command!"

"Feng and Tian Chengyun, the emperor's system said: The country is in the minister of the prime minister, and the friendship is always loyal. When the northern captives invaded, the Zhang family who was the guard of the Hejian camp offered loyalty. As a general of the Kaiping Battalion, I will be awarded a fifth-rank martial virtue general, hope..."

On the fourth day of May in the 11th year of Apocalypse, when the imperial decree was issued, everyone was amazed at the fact that Qin Qi came out of three marquises and five uncles. For Zhang Xianzhong, who lives in Duolun County, he was even more excited about his promotion and participation in the imperial court. Will.

"Minister! Take the decree, thank you for your grace, and respectfully ask for your Majesty's peace!"

Zhang Xianzhong, who lowered his head and sang loudly, received the imperial decree, tightly grasping the imperial decree that made him a fifth-rank general with both hands, and was very excited.

"Thank you, father-in-law..." At this time, Zhang Xianzhong's deputy general hurried up to do some sorting, and stuffed in the hundred taels of silver that Brother Quan Shao had scraped together.

"Hmm..." Weighing the money in hand, the eunuch who passed the decree showed a smile, looked at the foolish Zhang Xianzhong and reminded:

"General Zhang, this Kaiping Mansion is an important place for military affairs. I hope you will be like this every day and defend with all your heart."

"Yes yes yes... Thank you for reminding me, Eunuch, please today..." Zhang Xianzhong came to his senses and planned to invite the eunuch who passed the decree as a guest, but the eunuch who passed the decree put his hands together and refused:
"No need, our family still has a lot of imperial edicts, so we will keep them soon."

After all, he didn't give Zhang Xianzhong a chance to keep him, so he turned around and led them away from the garrison of Duolun County.

Zhang Xianzhong sent him all the way out of the city, and he didn't spit until he was sure he had left completely: "What! You are still so arrogant after taking money from me."

"Commander, no matter what, the brothers have been promoted after you." The deputy general couldn't help laughing when he saw this, and some chief banner officers who followed him also laughed.

They were not high enough to use the imperial decree, so they were only sent by the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies to issue documents, but anyway, most of them skipped two ranks, and their salaries increased by several hundred taels of silver.

For example, Zhang Xianzhong used to only have a fixed 500 two-year salary for the defense, but now after jumping to the top five generals, and adding the salary of the casual general Wude, the annual salary has reached 600 taels of silver.

"I'm more or less an official now. If I change jobs in the future, I'm afraid I need to study and study, and I can become a fifth-rank magistrate."

Zhang Xianzhong weighed the imperial decree in his hand, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

This time the northern captives invaded the bandits, he could say he took advantage of it.

Subudi did not storm Duolun County. The reason why he was given credit was that the other battalions did not do well this time, that is, he gave the emperor a little bit of face back.

Of course, if there is no Duolun County, I am afraid that Subudi and Lin Danhan will lead tens of thousands of cavalry to besiege Dading Palace.

Although there were not enough people to walk that mountain path, even if so many cavalry took other mountain paths, they would delay the battalion kings. In this way, Lin Dan Khan would have more time to attack the Dading Palace, so Zhang Xianzhong was right.

"I heard that a lot of people died during this North Sweep, and some soldiers and horses from the Shangzhi Gongwei Battalion will be filled into the Shangzhiwei Army, so this is why you, General, are promoted."

The deputy general was well-informed and stood by to explain to Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Xianzhong also received the imperial decree and asked curiously:
"Then where is General Li Shen now? They weren't punished, right? Didn't Long Live send them away?"

The general Li Shen that Zhang Xianzhong was talking about was their old superior who led troops to the paddock to defend the emperor, but this time, General Li Shen was unluckily implicated.

"I don't know the specifics, but I heard that the generals of the [-] battalions in Kaiping and Duoyan were all dismissed."

"Although the official position is still retained, it is rumored that he will be sent overseas by His Highness, and the news has spread."

The deputy general explained, and Zhang Xianzhong also shrugged when he heard the words: "I'm in charge of them, anyway, I'm the general, if Your Highness fights a few more battles, maybe next time I can be promoted to the general."

The 26-year-old Zhang Xianzhong was very ambitious, but upon hearing his words, the lieutenant general could only sigh helplessly from the bottom of his heart.

It is much more difficult to be promoted from a general to a general than from a soldier to a general.

But his own generals have said so, so it's not easy for him to hit him.

Thinking about it this way, the deputy general also left after chatting with Zhang Xianzhong, but when they parted, some promotion documents issued by the governor's office of the five armies also passed to the hands of the soldiers and horses of all parties.

Zhu Fuju, who was in the three provinces outside the customs, had withdrawn from Beishan, and also received his promotion edict.

In terms of promotion, the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies gave him two options. One was to stay in the Shangzhi Guard, but he was promoted to the Ying Yang Guard, which was almost wiped out, and became a chief banner officer. .

As for the second choice, he would be transferred to the Northern Army's Governor's Mansion and become a quartermaster in the Ningxia Battalion, skipping four ranks in a row.

One is to stay in Shangzhi, where he can continue to fight for promotion, and the other is to transfer to Ningxia, where there are not many wars. Among these two choices, Zhu Fuju chose Ningxia, which is close to home.

In this way, he was promoted from an ordinary soldier with an annual salary of 15 taels to an eighth-rank quartermaster with an annual salary of 80 taels.

Although losing the status of Shangzhi may not be able to fight all year round, Zhu Fuju's needs have been met.

After the Battle of Beishan ended, the imperial court also began to issue silver notes from the governor's mansions of the five armies to the soldiers and horses of the various ministries. With the silver notes, they could go to the banks where the prefectures were located to exchange for silver rewards.

Although it can be exchanged, the bank has not been open to the common people and officials for a long time. Currently, it only supports the exchange of reward silver and does not support savings.

"350 seven taels..."

At the gate of the military camp outside Taining County, Taining Prefecture, Zhu Fuju, who was carrying luggage, was looking at the iron stamped silver ticket in his hand, wondering how it was made.

"How did the imperial court print such exquisite paintings on such a thin piece of iron paper?"

Zhu Fuju looked at the banknote in his hand, which weighed less than two taels, was carved with exquisite patterns, and had 350 seven taels of silver written on it, which was less than the size of a palm, and he was very curious.

It's just that he couldn't figure it out after tossing and turning, so he could only hide the silver ticket in a place where it was easier to hide on his body, and then quietly waited for the military supply commander to arrange for their group of transferred soldiers to go home.

There are more than 2000 people carrying luggage like Zhu Fuju, and they are sitting on the grass at the gate of the Taining Prefecture military camp and waiting.

Some people looked happily at the banknotes worth hundreds of taels of silver in their hands, some smiled and held the transfer documents in their hands, and some were talking and laughing with fellow villagers who survived the war. On the grass, all the brutality of the battlefield disappeared, and they became "normal people" again.

"Beep--"

When the whistle sounded, more than 2000 people got up almost instinctively, including Zhu Fuju.

They were obviously not a member of the guards, but they started to line up chaotically. While they lined up, one carriage after another was driven out.

When their more than 2000 people successfully lined up, more than 100 carriages were parked in front of them, and some carriages were still driving out of the barracks.

The number of convoys gradually increased, and finally there were no more carriages, only mule carts and donkey carts.

A total of more than 2000 vehicles were placed in front of everyone, and Zhu Fuju, who was in the crowd, looked at the small sealed wooden boxes on the carriage and knew what was inside.

"This is the ashes of your comrades who died in battle. According to the distance from your hometown, you will be assigned the last task before vacation."

"This time the entire army is on vacation for four months, and each of you will be given a urn cart to take your comrades home."

"Their hometown addresses have been written on the seals of the wooden boxes. What you have to do is not to remove the seals and wooden boxes, and send things back to the comrades-in-arms' hometown."

"Now the one who reads the name comes up!"

Standing in front of more than [-] soldiers, Cao Meng shouted his words, and no one else could hear them except the soldiers in the front row, but the other commanders and Qianhu officials would continue to explain to them later.

Therefore, after finishing what he had to say, Cao Meng sat on the horse-drawn paper beside him, and the dozens of commanders and thousands of household officials behind him began to select people from the crowd according to the distance of their hometown.

Their movements and steps are very skilled, obviously the previous batches of soldiers on leave have also experienced such things.

"Hanyin County, Hanzhong Prefecture, Zhang Deyi! Wang Tao! Liu Ju!"

"Have!"

"Come out, take your carriage and the ashes of your fellow countrymen, and send them all safely home."

"Yes!"

"Wuyuan County, Shuofang Prefecture, Song Xinglong! He Jiang! Huang Qi!"

"Have……"

Shouts sounded one after another, and Zhu Fuju realized that they were all arranged together according to their hometowns.

Today, these more than 2000 people are soldiers from Shaanxi. They will also take the ashes of their fellow villagers and return home in a horse-drawn carriage provided by the army.

This kind of carriage generally needs to be returned to the army, but the return date is often after returning to the camp.

In four months, with a horse-drawn carriage, Zhu Fuju can basically return to Xi'an Mansion within a month.

"Lutai County, Xi'an Prefecture, Zhu Fuju!"

"Have!"

When his hometown was read, Zhu Fuju responded instinctively, but when he walked out, he found that he was greeted by two carriages.

He stepped forward and looked around, seeing that other counties were returning home in groups of three and four, and when he was alone, he couldn't help but nervously said:

"Qianhu, why am I the only one?"

"The other brothers are unlucky. There were originally nine people in Lutai County who joined the army, but except you, the other eight died in the battle at Beishanbao." The thousand households calmly replied to Zhu Fuju, and explained to Zhu Fuju:
"This is the wooden box of those eight people. Inside are their suicide notes and ashes, as well as their bank notes."

"This silver ticket needs to be exchanged by their family members with the iron plate of enlistment, including you who have to go home and get the iron plate of enlistment before going to the Chang'an County Bank of Xi'an Prefecture to exchange for reward silver."

"The urn cannot be opened. Once the seal is broken, you must notify the Supervision Department of Jinyiwei. You can only go home after the Supervision Department verifies that it was not man-made."

"So protect the urn on the way back. It's best not to open it after pressing it with this cover."

Saying that, Qianhu used a cover board to insert it from the rear of the carriage, and the wooden boards tightly blocked the carriage. Zhu Fuju only needed to sit on this board.

"You take the wooden boxes of these eight people back to Shaanxi with the brigade, and then go to the townships of Lutai County to return them to their families."

"Go to the side to pick up the bean feed and hay bundles, and go to the post station and train station to replenish the horse feed on the way."

When all the things that should be explained were explained, Qianhu stopped looking at Zhu Fuju, but called out the name of the next person aloud.

Hearing this, Zhu Fuju stepped forward to close the cover of another carriage containing four boxes, and tied himself to the carriage with a rope, then connected the two carriages together with others, and tied the two horses together. Horses are used to pull carts side by side.

After finishing all this, he went to the gate of the nearby barracks to collect [-] catties of beans and [-] catties of hay, and quietly waited for the large troops to set off.

"I don't know if there is anyone I know..."

"Such a heavy person, how come he only weighs so little now..."

Looking at the two covered carts behind him, Zhu Fuju murmured in his heart, and then continued to wait.

In the afternoon, more than 2000 soldiers from Shaanxi finally collected the ashes of their fellow countrymen. A total of [-] ashes were loaded into carriages and transported southward by them.

After they set off, a new group of people came out of the barracks, and there were still thousands of carriages staying on the grass.

Perhaps there are thousands of ashes in the carriage.

"I don't know how long I can live..."

Touching his neck before joining the army, Zhu Fuju had mixed feelings when his mother asked for a peace talisman.

His figure gradually faded away with the convoy, and finally slowly disappeared on the horizon.

At the same time that Zhu Fuju and the others were leaving, the Yanshan county government office was completely silent and dead silent.

Nearly a hundred generals crowded inside and outside the backyard of the county government. Among them, the leaders were Huang Long and Huang Fei who came from Tianjin to receive the imperial edict of Qi, while the remaining generals were in charge of stationing in Taining this time. Thirty guard battalion generals from the three prefectures.

Facing them, Zhu Youjian, who is sitting in a high position, is wearing armor, the meaning of which is self-evident.

"I don't want to pursue the matter of the northern captives entering the bandits, but if you don't do enough to defend the emperor, if you stay in Shangzhi, you will have no hope of promotion."

Zhu Youjian opened his mouth, which made everyone's hearts sink.

Huang Long and Huang Fei were calm, because in their view, this matter had nothing to do with them.

Huang Long lowered his eyes, while Huang Fei looked at Zhu Youjian, His Royal Highness King Qi, from time to time.

Generally speaking, when he saw Zhu Youjian, his first reaction was to be tall and majestic without anger, and then he carefully observed his demeanor and beauty.

It was hard for him to imagine that someone with the appearance of His Royal Highness King Qi would be a commander who commanded hundreds of thousands of troops to launch the Northern Expedition.

This kind of appearance, in his imagination, is usually only possessed by civil servants and gifted scholars.

Putting figure and appearance together, the first adjective that comes to Huang Fei's mind is "a man from the north and a prime minister from the south".

But appearance is a commendable soft power for those with hard power, but it is a burden for those without strength.

It just so happens that Zhu Youjian's strength is so tough that hundreds of people dare not breathe...

"I didn't know it before, but now I know it..."

Feeling the sense of oppression brought by Zhu Youjian, Huang Fei finally understood why his uncle said that when he saw His Highness, he understood why he was so afraid of His Highness.

A guy with a tall stature, tough spirit, great military achievements, and good looks, anyone would feel ashamed in front of him.

Huang Fei also thought that he was the top young talent in Ming Dynasty, but once he was placed in front of Zhu Youjian, he automatically felt that he had become a follower...

Therefore, when Zhu Youjian glanced over, he quickly lowered his head guilty, and understood why his uncle kept his head down.

"The news about Qi State, I had someone let it out last month."

Zhu Youjian glanced at the generals in the county government. Everyone lowered their heads and listened carefully, and guessed what Zhu Youjian was going to say next.

"Huanglong!"

"The end is here!"

As soon as Zhu Youjian opened his mouth, Huang Long, who was a flamboyant and talkative guy in India, immediately got up and bowed with guilt.

"You have received the imperial decree from the Marquis of Liaodong, right?"

"The final general has already received it, thank you Your Highness, long live Long En, the final general is willing to be so heartbroken that he will die!"

When Zhu Youjian asked, Huang Long immediately bowed and expressed his gratitude, which made Huang Fei, who regarded his uncle as the No. 1 indomitable uncle, a little astonished.

"Navy Commander, you don't have to do it. Let Huang Fei do it. As for you, you are in charge of leading the team. Prepare to go to Qi State at the end of the year. There are plenty of battles for you to fight there, and you can just form Qi State there." navy."

"You have seen the steam engine ship of the Armament Academy. If you want to command it, you can command that kind of warship. In the future, when the Armament Academy can put iron armor on it, you can command the iron-clad warship. There is nothing good about that kind of wooden warship."

Zhu Youjian didn't give Huanglong any room for negotiation, which made Huanglong very wronged.

He has just returned to Daming, so he will be resigned and let him go to Qi State. Although he has seen the steam engine ship of the Armament Academy, it is also an experimental product, and it is also made of wood. When did the iron armor appear?

It's just that in front of Zhu Youjian, he didn't dare to show reluctance, so he could only bow aggrievedly: "The last general takes orders..."

"Huang Fei?"

"Here!" Hearing Zhu Youjian calling himself, Huang Fei stood up instinctively, and even yelled out the slogan from the training that year, making a lot of jokes, and he himself had a big red face.

"Navy Governor's Mansion, you will be in charge of it in the future." Zhu Youjian wanted Huang Fei, who was in his twenties, to become the naval governor in charge of one-sixth of the country's military force.

"But at the age of the end..."

"That's how it settled."

Huang Fei still wanted to be humble, but Zhu Youjian waved him to take over.

Needless to say, Huang Fei's strength and loyalty, he may be dissatisfied with his brother, but he has nothing to say to Daming.

Besides, at Huang Fei's age, Zhu Youjian would take Huang Fei away with him when he went to Qi, not afraid to leave hidden dangers for Daming.

As for Ming's navy, it is estimated that there will not be any major wars in the next few years, at most it will cooperate with Hong Chengchou to attack Toungoo.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian was ready to settle the affairs of Qi State, and then let Huang Fei go to Jiugang to prepare to cooperate with Hong Chengchou in the battle.

"The orphan asked Jin Xuan to take two battalions of soldiers and horses to Qi to reclaim fields for the advance team. The Military Armament Institute has produced a tractor that can reclaim more than ten acres of wasteland a year."

"The two battalions of more than 6000 soldiers and horses will bring tens of thousands of Yingzhou laborers and more than 3000 steam engines to Qi State. By this time next year, Qi State will have [-] to [-] mu of fertile land."

"In the twelfth lunar month, Huanglong, take another battalion of soldiers and horses to Qi. If you don't want to go and want to rest at home, let someone arrange this matter."

"Gu is very clear, none of you are willing to leave Daming, and you also want Gu to stay in Daming, but if you trust me, go to Qi State first."

"Ten years from now, Qi will be better than Jiangnan."

Zhu Youjian said that he wanted Qi to win Jiangnan. You must know that someone once said something similar, but he also said that Yunnan and Guizhou would compete with Jiangnan in 500 years, but Zhu Youjian only needed ten years.

This sounds a little arrogant, but considering the things such as tractors and steamships that Zhu Youjian said, everyone had to lower their heads.

"Around the 15th year of Apocalypse, I will migrate 10,000+ people to Qi State every year. After arriving in Qi State, it is enough for Huanglong to supervise the military and leave the government affairs to Jin Xuan."

Zhu Youjian explained, and said to the generals:

"The number of people departing in June is limited to the two battalions. Let's count as soon as possible which brothers in the army want to go to Qi."

"As for the second batch of troops, they will set off in the twelfth lunar month. After that, they will transport machinery, grain, fodder, and livestock to Qi State every month. You don't have to worry about being exiled."

"I dare not wait..." Hearing that Zhu Youjian had strongly stated that he wanted them to go to Qi, the generals were also very helpless.

It is very simple to gather 6000 people. To put it bluntly, they can gather 6000 people with hundreds of generals.

It's just that after going to Qi country, I'm afraid what I have to face is a barren...

Thinking of this, the generals were silent, but Zhu Youjian explained to Huang Fei:

"Hong Chengchou has sent someone to send a message that he will attack Toungoo in mid-October."

"I am going to ask you to lead the Six Guards of the Navy who are still in Xiaoxiyang to launch an attack from the coast of Toungoo in Dongyue (November), so that Ming's territory will be bordered by the feudal clans and also bordered by the Mughals."

"The six guard horses are a little short, but I will ask the Ordnance Bureau to issue rifles and bullets to one of the guard horses."

"You must have heard about the Battle of Beishan, and you also know how powerful the rifle is."

"In this way, the six guards are enough to sweep the southern part of Toungoo, but don't attack Siam for the time being."

Zhu Youjian made a special statement, because he does not want to occupy Siam at present.

Ming is qualified to occupy Siam, but if Siam is occupied, it will not be good for Ming's suzerain-vassal system.

The current situation in Siam is internal fighting. If Da Ming occupies it, it will not be good news for other vassal kings and vassal states. This means that when their vassals fight internally in the future, Da Ming may also take action to occupy them.

At present, Song Mutica, the orthodox royal family of Siam, is in the hands of Daming, and Zhu Youjian is going to use it to do some tricks, for example, to prevent Daming’s imperial store in Siam from being threatened by rebels again, so as to weaken Siam’s military strength and make Siam like Siam. Like Sulu and Boni, only basic self-defense forces are retained.

This can start a good start, so that in the future, vassal states like Gan Bozhi and North Korea will gradually weaken their military power, and their sense of identification with Ming Dynasty will increase.

For these places, Ming only needs their markets and let them integrate into the Ming economy.

Some things do not necessarily require war, but economic and political means are also fine.

Besides, at present, Daming really can't bear Siam, a country with a population of more than 600 million and its own culture and writing.

Northeast China and Cochin, as well as the future Burma, are enough to make Daming suffer. For Daming, it is enough for Siam to be an exporter of agricultural products.

Because of this, Chu Youjian did not intend to trigger an all-out war in Siam.

He only needs to let Hong Chengchou attract Siamese troops to the north, and then let Huang Fei take a guard horse equipped with a rifle to attack Siam's capital Ayutthaya, and then let Song Mutica become the king of Siam.

This will start a good start, that is, if the courtiers of the vassal state mess up, as long as a royal family escapes, Daming will set things right for them, and they only need to maintain economic and trade with Daming.

For the royal families of all countries, this is a matter of making money without losing money. Since they can't beat Daming, they should join Daming completely.

On this point, Zhu Youjian estimated that as long as the situation in Siam stabilizes, all countries will rush to send their heirs to Daming, and among them, North Korea, which claims to be the "filial son of Daming", is the most...

　The afternoon update is estimated around 05:30.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)