Take the warehouse back to the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 430 Test Hong Chengchou

Because of the snow and the dilapidated official roads in Shanxi, Hong Chengchou and others rode their horses for ten days before reaching Yangcheng.

When Hong Chengchou arrived in Yangcheng, it was already the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Yangcheng is located at the southeastern tip of Shanxi, on the east branch of Taiyue Mountains, northeast of Zhongtiao Mountain, west of Taihang Mountain, and on the west bank of the middle reaches of Qinhe River.

Because it is close to Wangwu Taihang Mountains and Taiyue Mountains, there are many mountains and hills in Yangcheng County.

Yangcheng County has a well-developed culture and education, and there are a lot of gentry in it, so when Wu Chen fled south with the defenders in Yangcheng, most of the gentry in the city also fled south, leaving most of Yangcheng County empty.

Now Yangcheng County is under the control of [-] Guards Battalion soldiers, and other troops in Zhao Wen's hands are stationed in the counties around Yangcheng County to maintain local law and order.

Not only are the troops in Zhao Wen's hands now stationed in these occupied counties, but even the soldiers and horses in the hands of Zhao Daniu and Song Hu have been dispersed and stationed in the occupied counties.

Among them, Pingyang Mansion is better, because Zhao Wen attacked Pingyang Mansion earlier, so many soldiers in Pingyang Mansion were recruited from the local area, and the people in Pingyang Mansion did not resist these soldiers and horses.

Now except for a few sporadic counties in Shanxi that have not been captured, the rest of the counties have basically fallen into Zhao Wen's hands.

As long as the dispatched officials are stationed in these counties, then Shanxi can be said to be completely taken down by Zhao Wen.

At this time, Zhao Wenzheng was leading a dozen soldiers from the Guards Battalion to patrol the county seat. It was the second day of the Lunar New Year. Originally, Yangcheng County should be very lively, but when Wu Zhen took away the gentry defenders in the county seat, The whole county is also much empty.

When Zhao Wen entered the city, he also dealt with a group of green-skinned hooligans who were making trouble, which made the whole county even more desolate.

There is no atmosphere of New Year's Eve in the entire county, and even the previous New Year's Eve, there were not many people setting off firecrackers.

Zhao Wen stood at the end of a street, looked at the snow accumulated on the street, and sighed: "It is not the same thing that the snow has been piled up here all the time. It is necessary to organize the people in the city to clean up the snow in the city. Otherwise, wait until In spring, the snow will melt, and the whole county will probably be muddy."

"But these people in the city are very afraid of us. Since we entered the city until now, the people in the city have been paying little attention to us."

Guo Yi stood behind Zhao Wen and said with a depressed face.

"This situation is also very normal, and it will be fine after a while." Zhao Wen put his hands behind his back, looked at the street in front of him, and said again: "It is estimated that after a month, the officials transferred from Xuanzhen will basically If everything is in place, by that time, the whole of Shanxi will be taken over by us.

At that time, we can withdraw all the soldiers and horses in our hands from these counties, and then promote the reserve service policy in Shanxi, and use the reserve service instead of the guard system to stabilize places in the future. "

Zhao Wen's reserve service policy in Xuanzhen was not just for the simple purpose of providing soldiers for his regular army, but its biggest role was to replace the already decayed guard system.

"My lord, Hong Chengchou is here!" Just as Zhao Wen was thinking about how to deal with Shanxi, a horse stopped behind Zhao Wen, and a knight jumped off the horse and ran to Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen turned around, his eyes lit up, "Hong Chengchou, tsk tsk, tell him to go directly to the county government. I want to meet the famous Hong Chengchou."

Zhao Wen walked towards the county government as soon as he spoke.

At this time, Hong Chengchou had just entered Yangcheng County.

He looked at the soldiers of the Guards Battalion patrolling in the county town, and hurriedly jumped off his horse.

After ten days of running around, Hong Chengchou's face is full of fatigue, and his legs are shaking constantly while standing on the ground.

Although Hong Chengchou can also ride a horse, it is still a bit overwhelming for Hong Chengchou to ride a horse for ten days in a row in winter.

"Your Excellency, go to the county government!" Just as Hong Chengchou was about to lead the horse forward, the knight who had conveyed the news to Zhao Wen before came to Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou nodded, and then walked in the direction of the county government under the leadership of the soldiers from the personal guard battalion behind him.

In a short time, Hong Chengchou came to the gate of the county government office. At this time, Zhao Wen had not yet arrived at the county government office.

As soon as Hong Chengchou arrived at the gate of the county government office, the guards standing at the gate greeted him.

"May I ask you, Mr. Hong Chengchou?" A guard stood in front of Hong Chengchou and asked Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou said: "This is Hong Chengchou."

"Your Excellency hasn't come back yet, why don't you go in first and wait?" The guard pointed to the county government office and looked at Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou handed over the reins of the horse in his hand to the soldier behind him, and said hastily: "No need, I'll just wait here for the commander-in-chief. Now that the commander-in-chief has not returned, it would be inappropriate for me to go in and wait."

"Okay, then you can wait here." The guard replied, and then returned to his post.

Not long after, a young man came to the gate of the county government under the guard of a group of people.

This young man was dressed in ordinary clothes, sitting upright on the official hat chair, expressionless, not angry.

Hong Chengchou looked at Zhao Wen who was approaching, and immediately went up to meet him.

"Dare to ask, but the commander-in-chief?" Hong Chengchou asked cautiously.

Zhao Wen nodded, "I am Zhao Wen, follow me in."

With that said, Zhao Wen walked towards the middle of the county government office.

Hong Chengchou hastily followed, looking at Zhao Wen's age, Hong Chengchou was startled secretly, "I didn't expect that the general soldier of Xuanzhen is so young, it is really unexpected."

In Hong Chengchou's impression, Zhao Wen should be at least a 40-year-old bearded man. He really didn't expect to be so young.

It didn't take long for Zhao Wen to sit on the main seat in the hall of the county government office.

"Criminal officer Hong Chengchou pays his respects to the commander-in-chief!"

Hong Chengchou stood in the middle of the hall and made a big gift to Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen looked at Hong Chengchou who was kneeling in the middle of the hall and bowed to him, his eyes kept widening.

Hong Chengchou is not ugly, which is very in line with the aesthetics of this era. With a few strands of beard on his chin, he looks a bit handsome.

"Please get up quickly!" A moment later, Zhao Wen gave a little help with a smile on his face.

But Hong Chengchou didn't get up, he knelt on the ground, clasped his fists at Zhao Wen, and said in a deep voice: "The criminal officer doesn't know the heights of heaven and earth, and tried to attack the heavenly soldiers in Chang'an. It is really a heinous crime, and I ask the commander-in-chief to surrender."

Looking at Hong Chengchou in this state, Zhao Wen couldn't help but feel amused, "How can these literati have such virtues, they have already surrendered, but they still want to be polite, I really don't understand."

Although Zhao Wen slandered endlessly in his heart, he still said kindly: "Mr. Hong, get up, I don't blame you for what happened before, you were an official of the imperial court at that time, and it was the imperial court's intention to lead the soldiers to attack my Chang'an office.

At that time, they just had different positions and went their own way. What kind of crime is this?Now that you can submit to me, it proves that you have changed your mind and turned to the light. How could I blame you? "

"Criminal officials are really guilty of serious crimes. If the adults don't punish the criminal officials, they really can't get up." Hong Chengchou continued.

Looking at Hong Chengchou's appearance, Zhao Wen instantly understood what Hong Chengchou wanted to do. This was to give himself an order to stop caring about his previous confrontation with him.

Thinking of this, Zhao Wen looked at Hong Chengchou with a serious face, and leaned forward, "Get up, what happened before you is over, why do you need to punish you? You are from my Xuanzhen now, it is me People from Zhao Wen. The past has been wiped out, and now is the time to do big things, how can you stick to the past and not let it go?"

Seeing Zhao Wen's sincere expression, Hong Chengchou kowtowed three times to Zhao Wenlian, "Thank you, Mr. General Soldier, for letting go of the previous suspicions. In the future, I will do my best to assist you to achieve the emperor's hegemony."

"Haha, it's just that Huangtu's hegemony is not hegemony, it's just that he can't get used to the world." Zhao Wen said to Hong Chengchou with a smile, then looked at the guards standing on both sides of the hall, and shouted: "Come here! Ah, show Mr. Hong a seat."

Hong Chengchou stood up from the ground, bowed his hands to Zhao Wen respectfully and said, "Thank you, Commander-in-Chief."

Not long after Zhao Wen's voice fell, a personal guard put a hand in the center of the hall, Hong Chengchou thanked Zhao Wen, and then put half of his butt on the chair.

After Hong Chengchou sat down, Zhao Wen looked at Hong Chengchou and said in a calm tone: "This journey is very hard. Originally, I wanted you to rest for a night before coming to see me, but now I have encountered a problem. I don't know if you What a solution."

In fact, the problem Zhao Wen mentioned is about local stability. Now that Shanxi has fallen into Zhao Wen's hands, all the guards in Shanxi have been destroyed.

Daming's guards are not only for defending against foreign enemies, but also for stabilizing and stabilizing the place.

Although Zhao Wen had already made plans to replace the Weisuo system with the policy of reserve service, Zhao Wen still wanted to hear Hong Chengchou's method and see if Hong Chengchou was a capable person.

As soon as Hong Chengchou heard Zhao Wen's words, he knew that Zhao Wen was testing him. As long as he answered Zhao Wen's question satisfactorily and left a good impression on Zhao Wen's heart, then his position on Zhao Wen's side would naturally be stabilize.

"I don't know what question my lord wants to ask?" Hong Chengchou looked at Zhao Wen respectfully.

Zhao Wen said slowly: "It's not a big deal, it's about the governance of Shanxi.

Today's Shanxi has been completely taken down by me, accompanied by the complete destruction of the Shanxi Wei system.

Although the Weisuo system has many disadvantages, it played an important role in the founding of the Ming Dynasty and made an indelible contribution to the stability of the place.

Now I would like to ask you, with the complete disappearance of the Weisuo system, what method do you think should be used to replace the Weisuo system? "

After Hong Chengchou heard Zhao Wen's question, he didn't answer immediately, but fell into thinking.

From Hong Chengchou's point of view, this method can't help Zhao Wen at all. This method may be a very difficult problem for others, but for Zhao Wen, it is an extremely simple problem.

In Hong Chengchou's view, now that there are trains in Xuanzhen Town, there is no need for local guards at all.

There are trains, and it is only necessary to leave a small amount of troops in the area to maintain local law and order.

If there is a rebellion in the local area, the imperial army can send the army to the rebellious place in a short time by relying on trains.

Hong Chengchou didn't think that Zhao Wen couldn't think of such a simple solution.It is estimated that asking yourself this question is not really asking yourself to come up with a solution, but testing your ability.

Zhao Wen held the armrest of the chair with his right hand, tapped the armrest with his index finger, and waited quietly for Hong Chengchou's answer.

After about a quarter of an hour, Hong Chengchou took a deep breath and cupped his hands to Zhao Wen, "My lord, I feel that I should not ask about this matter. The time I have come down to Xuanzhen is still a little short, and I am not sure about many things in Xuanzhen." I'm not very familiar with it, so if I let my subordinates say it, it will inevitably be a little biased."

"It's okay, I allow you to say, no matter what you say, I won't blame you, you can just say it boldly." Zhao Wen looked at Hong Chengchou with a smile on his face.

Hong Chengchou looked at Zhao Wen's insistence on telling him to say it, so he stopped refusing, cleared his throat and began to say, "Master General, although Emperor Hongwu created the Weisuo system, but Emperor Hongwu also made it according to the Sui and Tang dynasties. Created by the military system.

The term Weisuo was proposed by Zhang Chang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Households in the former Yuan Dynasty. This system is a kind of army building system that combines soldiers with farmers and guards with villages.

Emperor Hongwu once said, I raise millions of soldiers without spending a grain of rice on the common people.To be honest, the guards did play an important role when the imperial court was just established, but with the peace of the world, the guard system gradually collapsed.

The escape of soldiers from military households was not only unique to the later dynasties. There have been military households fleeing from the early years of Hongwu.There are files in the yamen of the Ministry of War, which record that from the first year of Hongwu to November of the third year of Hongwu, there were a total of more than 8000 people who fled in the army.

From this aspect alone, it can be seen that although the Weisuo system is good, it is not very clever.In the history of Ming Dynasty, it is not that no one wanted to change the system of guards, but the water in this guards was too deep and could not be touched at all.At that time, Emperor Zhengde wanted to reform the Weisuo system, and then fell into the water and died. "

Hong Chengchou first explained the origin and development of the guard to Zhao Wen in detail.

"I know what you said. This guard system can solve the problem of the source of soldiers in troubled times, but this system has fundamental problems. Now I just want to hear what method you plan to use to succeed the guard system. " Zhao Wen asked.

"I feel that my lord does not need to use any system to replace the Weisuo system, and there is no need to station a large number of soldiers and horses like the Weisuo system." Hong Chengchou said without thinking.

Zhao Wen suddenly became interested. He leaned forward, looked at Hong Chengchou, and asked with great interest, "How do you say this? What is your solution?"

"My lord, the solution is very simple. Because of the existence of the train, and the speed of the train is very fast, no matter where the rebellion occurs, the army can be quickly transported by the train.

Therefore, the practice of hoarding a large number of soldiers at the local level like the Weisuo system can be abolished, and it is only necessary to station some soldiers to maintain law and order in the local area. "Hong Chengchou explained slowly.

Zhao Wen couldn't help laughing, it seems that Hong Chengchou is still capable.Also, if there is no ability, how could people like Huang Taiji Dorgon reuse him.

Hong Chengchou looked at Zhao Wen who was laughing and thought he had said something wrong, so he stood up hurriedly, saluted Zhao Wen hurriedly, and then cautiously asked: "My lord, did I say something wrong?"

Zhao Wen put away his smile and shook his head, "No, you're right, what you said is similar to what I'm going to implement. You haven't surrendered to me for a long time, and you don't know many things about Xuan Town.

Let me tell you this, in fact, I have already thought of this method long before I started the army.The method I implemented is the reserve system. "

(End of this chapter)