Ming Empire

Chapter 204 Another First Move
When the rogues came to Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen ordered Liu Zeqing, who was then the commander-in-chief of Shandong, to lead his army to help Beijing, but Liu Zeqing refused on the grounds that he was injured by falling from a horse.When Beijing fell, Liu Zeqing, who felt that the bandits were powerful and might attack Shandong at any time, hurriedly led his army southward, burning, killing and looting all the way to Yuyanzhou and Qingzhou before stopping, causing the people in this area to suffer.

If it weren't for the Nanjing New Army stationed on the front line of Xuzhou, they would be even more unscrupulous.

The main force of the Nanjing New Army led by Cao Jie was stationed in Xuzhou, not far from the front line of Qingzhou where Liu Zeqing was stationed. After news came from Qingzhou that Liu Zeqing refused to obey the dispatch of the imperial court, Cao Yue immediately ordered the troops stationed in Xuzhou as the governor. Half of the Nanjing New Army, led by Cao Jie himself, went north to suppress the rebellion.

Since Liu Zeqing chose to fight, Cao Yue also chose to be tougher and use force to solve the problem.Anyway, now Jiannu is doing its best to deal with the rogues, and will not take into account the situation on the front line in Jiangbei for the time being.If Jiannu came to the south of Shandong at that time, Liu Zeqing might choose to surrender, and he would not have the slightest pressure to completely solve the problem of this army while the current situation is still relatively good.

However, two days after the Nanjing New Army was launched, news came from the front line of Qingzhou that Liu Zeqing was killed by his subordinates in the rebellion. Recruitment of the new army.

In fact, Liu Zeqing was killed by the elite sergeants of the special guard camp who sneaked into his camp. They sneaked into the camp before the order from the court was delivered to his troops, and waited and watched the changes.Among the other troops, there were also varying numbers of soldiers from the special security battalion sneaking in, but Huang Degong, Gao Jie, and Liu Liangzuo finally chose to bow their heads to the court, and the soldiers of the special security battalion did not act.Liu Zeqing was unwilling to obey the imperial court's order, which eventually led to his death.

The order Cao Yue gave before the action was that, except for Huang Degong, everyone else could be killed, as long as they disobeyed the order of the court.

The next day, Liu Zeqing's head was hung high outside the gate, with an unsigned letter denouncing his guilt attached to the head.

The generals under his command were deeply terrified when they saw Gao Hang's head and the letter.In fact, many of them are not willing to betray the imperial court together with Liu Zeqing. The main generals have been appointed as the general soldiers. After they received the appointment from the imperial court and knew Liu Zeqing's choice, some of them were already thinking about finding an opportunity to lead the army to leave Liu Zeqing's side to avoid disasters.Liu Zeqing was murdered inexplicably. Many thoughtful generals thought that others were afraid of being implicated and killed Liu Zeqing.Once Liu Zeqing died, they had no choice but to stop going north, surrender to the Nanjing New Army who came after them, and wait for the imperial court's appeasement.

How did Liu Zeqing die and who was killed by him? No one is going to investigate.In the face of huge interests, friendship is nothing at all!
Liu Zeqing was killed, his troops mutinied, and most of them chose to renew their allegiance to the imperial court. The news soon spread to Nanjing.

After Cao Yue received the news, Cao Yue immediately ordered Cao Jie to accept Liu Zeqing's men, preparing to reorganize his troops and reoccupy Shandong.

The troops of Gao Jie, Huang Degong, and Liu Liangzuo will also be reorganized. Cao Yue is going to re-establish the military system of the Ming Dynasty, and all of them will be brought under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and he will be in charge of it himself.Originally, the newly appointed generals were only acting as substitutes temporarily. When the incorporation started, they would be re-appointed to stay, re-appoint, or dismiss them depending on the situation.

Cao Yue was really glad that he adopted iron fists when recruiting the new army. After more than half a year of training, he trained the Nanjing new army into a strictly disciplined and prohibited army.It is precisely this kind of army that gave him the capital to influence the Ming Dynasty's political situation. When he first showed his face, he dared to fire impulsively on warlords who were several times his own, forcing them to make choices, and completely fearless. accept the challenge.

But Cao Yue knew that Zuo Liangyu in Hubei would not be as easy to deal with as Gao Jie, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, and Liu Zeqing. This guy has more troops in his hands and occupies the fertile Huguang area. The Ministry had once again openly rebelled, so he prepared for the worst.Fortunately, Cao Yue had also made advance preparations before, and he could calmly deal with any possible results.

Cao Yue's first move was the rebel army led by Hong Niangzi. After knowing that Hong Niangzi had successfully taken over the troops left by Li Yan, Cao Yue immediately sent a team to train and control the army for Hong Niangzi. More frequently, some military supplies, including firearms, were secretly delivered to Hong Niangzi.

In the letter to Hong Niangzi, Cao Yue not only made arrangements for the follow-up actions of Hong Niangzi's unit to deter Zuo Liangyu, but also bluntly expressed his private request for Hong Niangzi.She wants Hong Niangzi to become his woman in the future, and he hopes that Hong Niangzi agrees, and follows him to conquer the world, create history, and create a "myth" that ordinary people can't predict.

I don't know whether Hong Niangzi felt his loyalty or finally developed feelings for him. Anyway, she complied with most of Cao Yue's demands, and accepted Cao Yue's sending troops to her army to train the soldiers and give them more benefits. He accepted the military supplies and weapons donated by Cao Yue, and moved to the border of Hubei to deter Zuo Liangyu's troops.But Cao Yue didn't respond to Cao Yue asking her to follow him and treat her as his woman.

Cao Yue knew that as long as time passed, Hong Niangzi would succumb to him and be willing to be his wife or his lover.In fact, after Li Yan's death, Cao Yue had the idea of ​​taking Hong Niangzi into his room. Any man who sees such a beautiful woman will have the idea of ​​possessing him, not to mention the person who wins Hong Niangzi can get many other things. things, including the tens of thousands of troops she led.

However, Cao Yue also felt that the number of troops he could command was insufficient. Nanjing had to retain a certain number of troops to guard the front line, and Xuzhou had to be guarded by troops. He was also preparing to take over and reorganize the troops left by several warlords. For Liangyu's possible rebellion, 10,000+ troops are basically not enough.

Cao Yue could only let the little emperor Zhu Cijiong issue an emergency recruitment order, and then recruit troops from all over the country, with an initial number of 30 horses.

Cao Yue asked Cifu and Hubu Shangshu Gao Hongtu to raise the expenses needed to recruit so many troops.Gao Hongtu, who has been completely controlled by Cao Yue, has no way to break free from it, so he can only bite the bullet and do it.However, Cao Yue solved Liu Zeqing's troops with fierce means, and forced Gao Jie, Huang Degong, and Liu Liangzuo to work in Nanjing. Lord, he is a decisive person. If he has selfish intentions and obeys his orders, he may soon lose power and completely lose his chance to gain a foothold in the court.

Gao Hongtu's only choice is to do his best for Cao Yue, for the new Ming court, and devote himself to the work of recruiting new troops.

With Gao Hongtu doing his best, Cao Yue also has a lot of peace of mind.

(End of this chapter)