stubborn thief

Liu Chengzong entered Lanzhou and spent three days and nights reviewing the remaining issues of the Marshal's Mansion since the Northern Expedition.

After doing this, he took a good night's sleep, and when he woke up again, he dispatched orders to Cao Yao, the governor of Gansu, and Zhang Tianlin, who was stationed in the Zhuanglang River Basin, and sent people Contact the anti-kings of the Qinling Mountains—he wants to wipe out the Hexi Ming army before the arrival of next spring.

With Lanzhou as the center, he clearly felt that orders, information, and returns were smoother, which was mainly due to the two express delivery shops established by his father Liu Xiangyu in Hehuang during his Northern Expedition.

Originally, when Liu Chengzong arrived in Lanzhou, Liu Xiangyu planned to close these two temporary express delivery routes. From the establishment to the present, the expenditure in three months was more than [-] taels, and a total of only six letters were sent. The input and output are really not enough. Proportional.

If Liu Chengzong is in Gansu, this is a guarantee for Liu Xiangyu. The urgent delivery route can be used, but in case there is any news that can turn the tide of the battle, he can send it to the second son as soon as possible, even if there is only one letter. Most of it doesn't matter, it's worth it.

But Liu Shizi came back, and in Lanzhou where his own army gathered, these two express delivery routes were unnecessary for Liu Xiangyu.

But Liu Chengzong refused, because Liangzhou had not yet surrendered, and the territory of the Marshal's Mansion was still missing a piece, and it was not connected.

Because of the existence of this costly express delivery route, Feng Ru's car camp was stationed at the Gulang Gorge on the front line of Lanzhou, which was [-] miles away from Lanzhou.

Because there are winding mountain roads over there, horses can’t run, and some sections of the road can only be transported by soldiers alternately running; on the contrary, Cao Yao traveled a thousand miles from Ganzhou to Lanzhou, passing through five Huangfan control The pass of Qilian Mountain can go directly to the south of the mountain, and the letter can be delivered to Lanzhou in just one day and night through the express Hehuang express route.

Although this thing cost thousands of taels more a month, Liu Chengzong felt it was worth it. At least before Liangzhou surrendered, the express delivery route would continue to operate.

Feng Shuangli led his troops across the Yellow River in panic all day long, and only after entering Xigu did he meet Li Laozhen, who was reorganizing the army, and then went to Lanzhou City to meet Liu Chengzong, and learned that he was about to go to Uzang as a reserve battalion.

For Feng Shuangli, it didn't matter where he went. Generally speaking, all the generals in Xiying naturally accepted Liu Chengzong's leadership... They used to be Wang Jiayin's army, then Zhang Xianzhong's army, and now Liu Chengzong's army.

People go to high places, Zhang Xianzhong can give them more wealth than Wang Jiayin, and Liu Chengzong can give them more power than Zhang Xianzhong.

Of course, more important than the power brought by an official position is the sense of security that is calm and unhurried. There is nothing in the world that is more reassuring than the 80 mu of grain fields in the Hehuang Valley and the 30 shi of grain in Xining.

If so, there are millions of acres of irrigated land in Jin County, Lanzhou.

On the day Feng Shuangli entered the city, Zhang Xianzhong also knew the news. He was the only person in Xiying who was dissatisfied with the status quo. Messed up.

There are a total of 6000 people in the West Camp, and four battalion generals were sealed off by Liu Shizi. Feng Shuangli alone, the right battalion general of the West Brigade, has 200 people under his command, and 500 of them were soldiers selected by General Bai Wen in the past. Bai Wenxuan is now He is the General of Zuoying.

Everyone knows that this is the method of Marshal's Mansion to divide and disintegrate them, but what's the use of knowing?
Based on this organizational structure, building a Guandi Temple would have to test the communication skills of the generals. When a war really starts, the four battalions of the West Brigade will be as fierce as a tiger if they attack in the form of a thousand headquarters. A joint attack will definitely mess up the battle.

But Zhang Xianzhong supported Feng Shuangli's entry into Tibet with both hands, and he would even raise his feet if necessary.

There are two main reasons for this. The first is that Liu Chengzong would not tell him that Feng Shuangli was allowed to enter Tibet to explore the way for him.

Liu Shizi's argument is that the Fourth Battalion of the Western Brigade is not satisfied with the strength of the troops. The current military production capacity of the commander-in-chief is limited, the manpower is insufficient, and the Hehuang side does not have such a big shortage of troops. However, as the newly attached army, the Western Brigade should gradually replenish its manpower. .

Therefore, Feng Shuangli was first sent to lead the army into Kangning Mansion, and Liu Guoneng, the magistrate of Kangning, was ordered to cooperate with him to replenish and train his troops.

Zhang Xianzhong believed that this was Liu Chengzong's approval of his Fengyang and Xiangyang strategies, and he was preparing troops for his actions.

Otherwise, the Marshal's Mansion now has a large army gathered on both sides of the Yellow River in Lanzhou. Wang Wenxiu, the brigade commander, has four battalions, Luo Rucai, Li Wanqing, Yang Chengzu, and Li Laoyu;

The two Mongolian brigades of Basang and Xie Erhu in Hehuang, not to mention the two battalions of Lanzhou Wei Qian'er and Huangyangchuan Zhang Tianlin under the brigade commander Yang Yao.

In addition to Liu Chengzong's direct-administered Gulangkou Fengfu Camp, and the four small camps of more than 2000 people he personally led in Huben, Gan, Su, and Liang, in Zhang Xianzhong's eyes, there was no need for the Marshal's Mansion to expand the army.

But Liu Chengzong really wants to add troops to the West Brigade right now, so what other wishes can he have?It must be that his own strategic suggestion has been adopted.

Our old Zhang thinks that this guy is very handsome and arrogant. I accepted your suggestion, but I didn't say anything.

He didn't think Liu Chengzong lied to him, because Xining Mansion's action was very fast. Liu Chengzong sent a letter, and the next day there were enough military uniforms, quilts, tools, felt tents, livestock, gunpowder, etc. for a battalion. Vehicles are all ready-made.

While arming the Right Battalion of the Western Brigade, the Xining Mansion was also replenishing military resources for the Liang San Battalion in Gansu Province, so Zhang Xianzhong was able to see the military equipment that the Marshal's Mansion was preparing to replenish to Feng Shuangli's Ministry.

The standard goose feather sword is very good. The soldiers' uniforms are padded coats with leather armor. Although the boots are a bit heavy, they are made of solid materials and keep warm. Fine workmanship.

Only the yurts and vehicles are old, but this is a matter, I really can't complain.

Because the Marshal's Mansion doesn't have any military tent industry at all, Liu Chengzong is a rag king, and all the tents he uses are picked up, and the Marshal's army has picked up tens of thousands of military tents over the years, and there is no way they can use them all up.

Zhang Xianzhong was very satisfied with everything provided by the Marshal's Mansion, but Feng Shuangli's West Brigade Right Battalion failed to receive the armor, and the armor produced by the arsenal was urgently needed to supplement the three battalions of Gansu Liang, and a batch was specially set aside for Oirat. Therefore, in the plan, all the recruits Feng Shuangli recruited in Kangning Mansion will act as musketeers.

So their equipment is only a waist knife, plus two hundred lead pellets and gunpowder, and ten matchlocks.

Feng Shuangli came to Lanzhou just to go through the motions, to meet Liu Chengzong, inspect their military camps, and read out the military laws and regulations, rewards and punishments of the Marshal's Mansion.

Then they set off to the new city, went to supplement 36 instructors who were familiar with the Mongolian language, took the equipment and drove to Kangning Mansion, recruited another 400 people there, put on the uniforms, took the musket made by Kangning, and directly Just throw in the training.

It's all arranged.

Feng Shuangli didn't trust Kangning Mansion's muskets at first, and he still hoped to get the muskets from Xining Mansion, but Liu Chengzong trusted Kangning Mansion's arsenal and arms bureau.

Because as early as when Yang Dingrui and Cao Yao partnered in Kangning, they had discussed the tax issue of Kangning Mansion.

At that time, Kangning Prefecture was still not self-sufficient, so it was barely a rainy day. Between the two prefectures was a pastoral area and an alpine area with vast land and sparsely populated areas, which brought great resistance to the transportation of materials. The expropriated barley and dry food could only be collected from Kangning. It can't be delivered to Xining Mansion at all.

The local gold and silver output is not very large. Although the vast land is rich in mineral deposits, the difficulty of mining is different after all. The yields that are easy to mine are generally not large, and those with large reserves are not easy to mine.

The amount of luck is small, and it doesn't mean much to Liu Chengzong.

Therefore, for a long time, the taxation of Kangning Mansion was weapons and armor. Later, after the arsenal in Xincheng was divided into workshops and assembly line production, the taxation of Kangning Mansion was directly linked to the labor office of the Marshal's Mansion.

Shicheng, my request to the other side is to forge the barrel and the armor plate. The armor plate needs to be polished and polished. After the barrel is knocked out, there is no need for drilling or tapping. It can be shipped directly to the Xincheng Arsenal. Less than two hundred cars.

This borehole is not a solid steel pipe drill hole, because in this era, an iron rod was rolled with iron material to beat the barrel into a tube, leaving a roughly blank bore in the middle, and then the iron rod was pulled out after the hammer was knocked out.

But this is only rough machining, the interior is not smooth enough, and the inside of the barrel is not smooth enough, so it is necessary to use a drill to smooth the inside of the gun tube. This step is generally done using a drill, but Corning used to have a low status as a blacksmith, and lathes were not popular enough, so they lacked experience in this area. , the processing speed and yield of pure manual processing are relatively low, so I leave it to Xincheng to do it.

But Corning Mansion can do it too.

The same is true for tapping. The barrel of the musket is front and rear. In order to clean up the unburned sundries in the chamber when not in use, the butt is usually not welded dead, but sealed with a large screw, so taps and dies are needed. For tapping, Xincheng Armory has craftsmen who specialize in this process.

Therefore, the Kangning Mansion has made considerable progress in the manufacture of muskets in recent years, but some key technologies are lacking, which can fully meet the needs of Feng Shuangli's Ministry of recruiting 400 soldiers.

Liu Chengzong gave Li Laojie and Feng Shuangli seven months.

They will arrive at Kangning Mansion at the end of this year. Li Laoyu's department has experience in stationing troops in Kangning, so it should be unimpeded; and the 200 people of Feng Shuangli's department will need a period of time to adapt to the plateau for the first time, so it is time to recruit soldiers and horses. , Be trained.

He reckoned that the three Huoluochi brothers in Uzang should already be preparing to pay New Year greetings to him at this time, and the envoys who will come over by then will definitely discuss the matter of borrowing troops.

By the spring and summer of next year, the two battalions stationed in Qamdo will be able to advance into Uzang.

Then there is no doubt that in order for the next year's war to go smoothly, the Kangning Mansion has to start preparing everything needed for a war now. First, it must send business travelers and monks to Uzang to investigate more detailed information; secondly, it must prepare for the war. All kinds of materials have been used to build Kangning into a front-line base for attacking Uzbek.

These matters have to be handed over to the most photographed generals in the various battles of the Marshal's Mansion—Prefect Kang Ning and General Liu Guoneng.

Liu Chengzong felt that this battle was not too difficult. After the integration, the Kangning Mansion already had enough energy to spread its power around. However, due to environmental problems, this power could only be sent to Wu Sizang.

At least Kangning is as high as the Lhasa River Valley, and the route from Luhuo and other places to Sichuan has a short-distance altitude difference that is too large to supply the army. Arrow Furnace sent troops to support.

But what he was uncertain about was the time span and cost of this battle, so he could only tell Li Laozhen carefully.

Li Laozhen has a strong tendency to underestimate the enemy of Uzang's army. Not only him, but actually all the generals in the Southern Expedition, including Liu Chengzong, despise Uzang's Zangba Khan.

After all, they are very clear about what the Sixteen Laws are, the feudal system over there, and the level of Taiji's army that the Huoluochibu said. Absolutely can win.

However, after entering Tibet and living a very good life until now, it is already obvious what level the Zangba army is.

But Liu Chengzong is very worried about this kind of contempt. After all, the victory or defeat of a battle is actually a matter of adapting measures to local conditions. .

For him, the Marshal's Mansion's ability to deliver to Uzang is very limited, it's not that he can't, but he doesn't want to. He can only send two battalions there, and he won't want to send any more.

But his ten thousand instructions made Li Laozhen very confused. He found that in the eyes of the Generalissimo, the significance of this expedition was extraordinary, as if it was a territory that must be taken.

Li Laozhen was very disappointed when he took this mission. What he wanted to attack was Hexi, Ningxia, Guyuan, Guanzhong, anywhere. It was a real big battle, and the southern expedition to Uzang... was almost meaningless.

It felt as if the Generalissimo had sent him to march a thousand miles west, into the barren land, and attack the king of the mountain by the Golmud River.

To suppress bandits is to suppress bandits, to put it so solemnly.

After sending Li Laoyu away, Liu Chengzong looked at the Liangzhou information sent by Cao Yao. It said that Liu Chengzong's old friend Cao Wenzhao beat Wang Ziyong in Yongchang, and did not go further, and returned to Liangzhou City.

Liu Chengzong looked and looked at the map, and finally found a small mountain road on his way south, but he still didn't understand why Cao Wenzhao appeared there...Does he hate the king for his own use so much?

In any case, Cao Wenzhao entered Liangzhou as a reinforcement, which greatly boosted the morale of the Liangzhou defenders, but at the same time it also brought more food and grass consumption to Liangzhou City, and soon there will be a battle under Liangzhou City A battle that is bound to happen.

It is the food sown by the Marshal Army, which will be taken care of by the Liangzhou Ming Army, and it will depend on who harvests it in the end.

But at this juncture, Liu Chengzong was scolded.

The person who scolded him was Emperor Chongzhen in the Forbidden City thousands of miles away.

good evening!