The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 131 The rain is coming
At the beginning of Xiyun, the pavilion was sinking, and the rain was about to come and the wind filled the building.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, the first day of the first month, Hanzhong.

The first month of the first lunar month should be a festive day, but no matter whether it is inside or outside the city of Hanzhong City, there is no joyful atmosphere of the festival.

Hanzhong City is very deserted, and there are few pedestrians in the streets and alleys.

Outside the city of Hanzhong, there was a massacre, and the houses and temples outside the city were all emptied, and no one was seen.

The two camps in the east of the city stand like horns on the north and south sides of Hanzhong City.

The two camps in the north and south are the camps of the Ming army, the south is the camp of the guards of Han Zhongwei, and the north is the camp of the battalion led by Chen Wang.

On the other hand, in the east, there are a lot of messy military tents and camps. It is difficult to see the edge of the camp at a glance.

Zhang Yuan and Jin Chipeng had already arrived at Hanzhong City, and now they are stationed only ten miles away from Hanzhong City.

Chen Wang sat in the big tent, while Tang Shiping stood aside and reported to him the information from the army.

"After the integration of the First Cavalry Department, there will be a total of 900 people."

Naturally, the First Cavalry Department couldn't have exactly 900 people, and the extra people were all made up by Chen Wang as personal guards.

"Nine hundred cavalrymen have been equipped with two horses according to the general's military order, and three layers of heavy armor have been distributed according to the white armored soldiers of the Jin Kingdom."

"There are only [-] heavy bows and all of them have been distributed, and the rest have been requested by the Hanzhong government. According to the general's request, the bows and arrows of Hanzhongwei now rarely meet the requirements. Now the Hanzhongweizhong Ordnance Bureau is rushing to make them."

Chen Wang nodded slightly, indicating that he knew.

When reliable flintlock guns had not been developed and qualified bayonets could not be installed, the tactics of the Qing army were actually the most reasonable tactics.

There is no way to implement the tactics and organization of later generations without corresponding weapons. Forcible implementation will only lead to the deterioration of the situation.

In history, the Qing army relied on heavy armor, heavy artillery and shield vehicles to defeat the Ming army all the way, gradually developed and grew, and finally successfully entered the Central Plains.

The Ming army possessed a large number of firearms, ranging from red cannons, general cannons, light and heavy Franglers, tiger crouching cannons, and various types of firearms.

However, the Qing army was invincible with its heavy armor, heavy soldiers, heavy artillery and shield vehicles.

There are human factors in this, but there are also factors of tactics and weapons.

Now Chen Wang does not have an ordnance factory directly under him, and there is no craftsman who can improve firearms, and there is no way to replace matchlock guns with flintlock guns, so the tactic of queuing up and shooting cannot be used.

The reform of the military system and the training of the army should be tailored to current conditions.

The last experiment in the Battle of the Three Mountains in Gongchang Mansion has proved that the Qing army's tactics are indeed worthwhile.

Later, in the Battle of Lueyang and the Battle of Ning and Qiang against Li Guo, Li Yangchun and other troops, the final word was that Liao Qi dismounted and put on heavy armor, and then broke through the bandits' formation in one fell swoop.

In this era, firearms from all over the world are constantly exploding, and the quality of firearms is extremely worrying.

The quality of the firearms produced by the Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty was at the forefront of the world, but it couldn't stand the corruption in the officialdom.

Chen Wang dared to use the three-eyed gun, but he really didn't dare to use the matchlock gun. Even the Flang machine and the tiger squatting gun had to be carefully checked, because they had exploded in the process of use before. precedent.

"In each infantry department, except for the first infantry department which is still equipped with bird guns, the rest of the infantry departments have all been replaced with three-eyed guns."

There are all kinds of firearms in the Ming army, such as carrying guns, Thunderbolts, Lumi guns, and Wulei Shenji. It is quite difficult to replace or repair, which greatly increases the pressure on logistics.

In fact, the simpler the better many things on the battlefield, for example, the ordnance should be uniform in shape, not too much, just enough.

Military orders and flags should also be concise and easy to understand, not complicated.

In order to reduce the pressure on logistics, Chen Wang ordered that except the First Infantry Department which was still equipped with matchlock guns, all other infantry departments were uniformly equipped with three-eyed muskets.

Although the three-eyed gun is not as powerful as the bird's gun, the enemies they have to face are rogues who basically don't wear armor. On the contrary, the three-eyed gun is the most suitable firearm for the current situation.

Moreover, the three-eyed blunderbuss generally have extremely thick walls, so it is not easy to explode the chamber, and it can also be used as a melee weapon if it is urgent.

Apart from the firecrackers, the only remaining firearms are the tiger crouching cannon, the Francois machine, and the firing cannon.

The tiger crouching cannon and the Frang machine are used as supplementary firepower at medium and short distances, and the launcher is used as long-distance firepower output.

As for the hundreds of tigers rushing together, the reliability of the swarm is not enough, it is difficult to replenish, and there are too many consumables, Chen Wang doesn't want to use it at all.

After the original ones were used up, Chen Wang didn't ask for refills, so naturally there was no need to allocate ordnance after that.

"The First Infantry Department and the Second Infantry Department have completed the reorganization. There are a total of 790 soldiers in the two armies. Those with the highest combat achievements and ratings in the army have been selected and equipped with double-layer heavy armor. , equipped with a shield car, as the main force."

Tang Shiping saw that Chen Wang had no other reaction but nodded, so he continued to report.

"The third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and five infantry units have also been equipped with armor according to normal specifications, as support units."

The first and second infantry divisions are elite battalions, and the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh divisions are supplementary support battalions.

Chen Wang originally set up an evaluation system in the army to examine the military skills through tests, which are divided into four grades, upper, middle, lower, and unqualified.

Those who passed the assessment were assigned to the First and Second Infantry Divisions, while the rest were assigned to the other five divisions.

"After Mian County replenished its troops, our army now has 4000 and 75 soldiers."

"There are currently 130 large and small shield vehicles in the army, 72 small Francophones, 28 medium-sized Francophones, and 36 tiger crouching guns."

"Hanzhongwei was ordered to transfer 120 iron armors and 230 cotton armors into storage, [-] long spears and [-] arrows, all of which have passed the inspection."

Tang Shiping closed the document in his hand, bowed his head in salute, and then stepped back a little to make room for the people waiting beside him.

But at this moment, as if he suddenly remembered something, Tang Shiping took another step forward and said.

"His Royal Highness King Rui ordered someone to send 4000 taels of military silver, a hundred heads of dolphin, a hundred heads of sheep, a hundred altars of wine, and three hundred stones of grain and rice at noon today."

"His Royal Highness King Rui?"

Chen Wang's eyes narrowed slightly, after all, he had something to do with King Rui.

Although he was mentally prepared, Chen Wang still didn't know how to deal with it when it came time to face it.

After Zhu Di seized the throne, the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty were basically raised as pigs and had no real power at all.

But there is no real power, but there is wealth. When almost every vassal king is entrusted, he will get a lot of money and land for his life.

Rui Wang Zhu Changhao was the fifth son of Wanli. After the decree of enfeoffment was issued, Zhu Changhao frequently asked for money and silver from the household department. He got a total of 18 taels of silver and hid them in the palace. Crowns are not enough.

However, Rui Wang Zhu Changhao is not a person who is extremely greedy for money, nor is he greedy for pleasure.

After being enfeoffed as king, his clothes and ceremonies were all inferior, and most of the money he got was used to build Buddhist temples and do good deeds.

In addition to building Buddhist temples, Rui Wang Zhu Changhao also donated money to renovate the drinking horse pool in Hanzhong City and improve the drainage channels in the city, so that the suffering of waterlogging in Hanzhong City can be eliminated.

King Rui's reputation in Hanzhong is quite good, and he is not a vassal king who extorts money and plunders places.

There were many famines during the reign of Tianqi. Seeing that the people were short of food, he took the initiative to lower his own food and clothing standards and donated money and food to help the local people.

Even the description of him in the history books is "not sensual, cleansing himself and loving others, and known as a virtuous king".

The vassal kings in the late Ming Dynasty had a high status, but it can be said that they had no authority and were extremely restrictive.

Tang Wang Zhu Yujian recruited troops to serve as the king, Chongzhen not only deposed him as a commoner, but also imprisoned him in Fengyang.

To be honest, Chen Wang didn't want to get involved too much with King Rui.

Chongzhen's paranoia is multiple, but anyone who has read Ming history can understand it.

But King Rui sent all the money, food and grass to the camp...

Chen Wang raised his head, regained his composure, and said calmly.

"Since His Highness King Rui has such a kind intention, I can't refuse to wait. I will report back to His Highness Rui. This time, His Highness has a deep heart. We can only do our best to protect the safety of Hanzhong, and we must keep the bandits out of Nanzheng!"

After spending a lot of time among Cao Wenzhao and Hong Chengchou, and being influenced by his ears and eyes a lot, Chen Wang has already learned a lot of clichés and empty words in the officialdom.

The reason why Hong Chengchou sent an order so quickly to let him stay in Hanzhong Mansion was largely to protect King Rui.

If there is no vassal king in Hanzhong, I am afraid that Hong Chengchou has already ordered him to transfer directly to Fengxiang Mansion and enter Xi'an.

"The commander of Han Zhongwei..."

Chen Wang glanced around in the large tent. He had agreed to discuss the matter before, but the commander of Han Zhongwei had not arrived, and Chen Wang couldn't help but feel a little unhappy.

Just when Chen Wang was about to send someone to send a message, a soldier had already rolled into the account before he waited for the biography of the guard outside the account.

Before the words came out, Chen Wang's eyes were already looking outside the tent.

At this time, there was a deafening shout of killing outside the tent!

"The Hanzhongwei barracks suddenly burst into flames, causing chaos!"

……

"History of Ming Dynasty Volume 120 Biography Eighth"

Rui Wang Changhao, the fifth son of Shenzong... During the Chongzhen period, there was a bandit drama, and the fief was a thief.Seven years ago, the letter said:

"The minister entrusted the flesh and blood of the late emperor, and he was entrusted to the Xizhen. Before the expiration date, the bandits came."

"The Bixi thief crossed the river again, entered Hanxing, broke Xunyang, forced Xing'an, Ziyang, Pingli, and Baihe fell one after another."

"Governor Hong Chengchou rode into and out of Wanshan alone in armor, and the bandits began to flee."

"The minister donated more than [-] taels of silver to reward the army. At this time, the Fuchen practiced state affairs and moved troops to Shang and Luo, and the minister Fan Fucui rushed to Hanzhong.

"Since Feng County fell again, the Shu thieves entered Qinzhou. In June, they violated the county boundary. Fortunately, the generals refused with the strength of the river, and the thieves retreated a little."

"The minister is in the midst of thousands of mountains and valleys, and the thieves are coming from all directions, and he will perish without a day. The minister's heart is close to his relatives, and the feudal seal is the most secluded, and he is oppressed by the bandits and robbers. Only His Majesty has pity on you."

(End of this chapter)