The wind rises at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 350 Step by Step
After the siege of Kaifeng was lifted, the guest troops naturally did not have many excuses to stay in Kaifeng City. Moreover, Kaifeng City had too many regulations and the military camp was very narrow, so there was not much need to stay in Kaifeng City.

Therefore, Chen Wang did not wait for Gao Mingheng to mention this matter, and took the initiative to move the camp outside the city.

Gao Mingheng originally wanted to bring up this matter, but he thought that if he brought it up first, it would feel like killing the donkey.

It might cause a gap in the relationship between him and Chen Wang, so Gao Mingheng has been thinking about under what circumstances it would be better to request a camp move.

After all, he has now taken over the responsibility of the governor of Henan. Bandits are still rampant in Henan. The power of the Ten Thousand People's Army is huge and the threat is serious and difficult to solve.

Now there are very few soldiers and horses in Henan, and the recruitment and training of the new army have been handed over to Chen Wang by Chongzhen.

Under this situation, Gao Mingheng naturally wanted to have a good relationship with Chen Wang.

Therefore, after Chen Wang took the initiative to request a camp move, Gao Mingheng was naturally overjoyed, and his impression of Chen Wang also improved a lot.

South of Kaifeng City, the Hanzhong military camp.

At this time, the people outside the Hanzhong Military Camp were buzzing with people, shouting and shouting, and there were heads everywhere as far as the eye could see.

Brigades of Hanzhong armored soldiers stood upright with guns in hand. Each military formation was stationed outside the camp, maintaining order in the field and dividing the people outside the camp into small groups.

The Hanzhong armored cavalry riding on the war horses, carrying bright sabers on their shoulders, controlled the war horses and looked around with eager eyes.

Therefore, although the venue was chaotic, it still maintained a certain order and was chaotic but not chaotic.

Tens of thousands of people were gathering in front of the Hanzhong Army camp. They gathered together and almost covered the entire south side of Kaifeng City.

These people were all hungry people who had been begging for work outside Kaifeng.

The difference between the All-People's Army and the rogue bandits is that the All-People's Army does not coerce ordinary people, nor does it coerce hungry people to serve as cannon fodder for hungry soldiers.

Therefore, the hungry people who were originally entrenched outside Kaifeng City did not disappear. Only a small number of them left with the Wanmin Army, and most of them still remained outside Kaifeng City.

There are regular porridge shacks outside the city of Kaifeng. It can be regarded as a mouthful of food, which can barely survive.

It was already the beginning of spring, and maybe they could wait a while longer until the court showed mercy and no longer pursued taxes, and they could return to their hometown and stop living such a life of wandering.

And joining the ranks of the Ten Thousand People Army is tantamount to rebellion.

For ordinary people, the word rebellion is too scary.

If the situation is really not desperate, no one would want to rebel.

After all, rebellion is a real life-and-death business.

And they all knew that not long ago, the officers and soldiers defeated the army of the people and fled in disgrace, abandoning their armor.

The Ten Thousand People's Army abandoned tens of thousands of corpses at the foot of Kaifeng City, and then fled eastward in despair.

Therefore, not many people want to join the ranks of the Ten Thousand People Army.

Seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages is a common principle in the world.

At this time, the refugees lingering outside the Hanzhong Army camp naturally did not want to attack the Hanzhong Army camp.

The reason why such a scene occurred was entirely because someone from the government conveyed a message to them yesterday.

The imperial court is recruiting new troops.

During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the conditions for recruiting soldiers were extremely strict, and not everyone could become a soldier.

Many times, the regular army's requirement of a good family has blocked the path for many people to become soldiers.

The so-called son of a good family has permanent property, a clean net worth, a clean clan, and has never done anything illegal.

But as time went on, frequent unrest and large-scale conscription lowered the requirements.

Starting from the Song Dynasty, culture was used to control military force.

In the Song Dynasty, one of the methods of punishing criminals was military exile.

All are inferior, but only those who are well-educated and roll call outside the Donghua Gate are good men, and they have become a typical representative of the Song Dynasty.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the status of warriors was greatly improved. However, with the outbreak of the Tumubao Incident, the Wuxun Group collapsed. The imbalance between civil and military affairs once again caused the situation of emphasizing civility and neglecting military affairs.

Therefore, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it was often said that good men should not be soldiers.

There are not many good people who are willing to take the initiative to serve as soldiers.
Seventy-eight out of ten people who are willing to serve as soldiers are desperadoes burdened with lawsuits, or poor farmers who are really desperate.

The towns in Jiubian recruit soldiers, and in many cases, strong men are even captured by force.

But this time, after the news was released that the imperial court wanted to recruit new soldiers, tens of thousands of people came to apply.

Above the camp gate of the Hanzhong Army camp.

Gao Mingheng and Chen Wang, wearing scarlet robes, stood side by side, with a group of officials and armored soldiers standing on both sides of them.

"Recruiting troops from all over the country is extremely difficult, and there are only a few applicants. But today, when General Chen is recruiting troops, people from all over the country come in waves and rush to be the first. This is enough to show that General Chen's reputation has spread far and wide."

Gao Mingheng looked at the crowded recruitment scene in front of him and couldn't help but sigh.

There was a huge wave of recruits this time, and Gao Mingheng had already sent someone to find out the reasons.

Because of the previous victory of King Qin, the imperial court took the lead in publicizing the Battle of Qingshan Pass.

The slaves had been plundering the border for decades, and the land of the Northern Kingdom had been tortured many times. Naturally, the people hated the slaves.

The battle of Qingshan Pass greatly strengthened the momentum of the country.

When the capital offered prisoners, the people wept with joy and ran to tell each other.

Chen Wang is even more highly regarded as the first contributor in the battle of Qingshan Pass.

Today's people are even more eloquent, comparing Chen Wang to Qi Shaobao and commending him for his bravery in the three armies.

Therefore, many local scripts were written with Chen Wang as the protagonist. The Hanzhong Army led by Chen Wang was also called the Chen Jiajun. People at that time compared it with the Qi Jiajun and the Yue Jiajun led by Yue Fei in the Song Dynasty.

In many story books, the Hanzhong Army is portrayed as a team with strict military discipline and serving the country and the people, just like the Yue Family Army and the Qi Family Army.

If you freeze to death, don't demolish your house; if you starve to death, don't plunder.

Chen Wang is also a hero like Qi Jiguang and Yue Fei who hates evil, is upright, and is loyal to the country.

So this time when I heard that the imperial court was going to recruit troops and that the general who would lead them would be Chen Wang, there was an instant explosion inside and outside Kaifeng.

Not only the refugees outside the city who were struggling to make a living were excited, but many people in Kaifeng City even came to recruit soldiers.

Especially those social soldiers in Kaifeng City, most of them are in their twenties and are in their prime.

In the battle of Kaifeng, they saw blood on the battlefield and fought with their lives. They also saw Chen Wang on the city wall leading 3,000 Hanzhong armored cavalry to defeat ten thousand people's troops, swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger.

They were not satisfied with just being soldiers surrounding Kaifeng. They wanted to become real soldiers. They wanted to join Chen Wang's command directly and follow Chen Wang in the northern and southern wars.

Gao Mingheng knew the reason inside, and Chen Wang naturally knew the reason inside.

He had previously separated the Supervision Office from the Yunyang Reform Supervision Office, and asked Hu Zhili to set up a stronghold in Henan to vigorously develop the power of the Supervision Office.

Nowadays, there are hidden strongholds of the Supervisory Office in every major city in Henan. Throughout Henan, the number of people on staff under the supervision offices has actually exceeded 500, and this does not include the non-staff below who serve as eyes and ears and exchange information for money.

In Kaifeng City, the Supervisory Office even has three strongholds. There are many detectives inside and outside the city, as well as many paid eyes and ears.

Therefore, Chen Wang didn't even need to step out of the Chinese military tent to know the direction of public opinion and all the events happening inside and outside Kaifeng City.

In fact, Chen Wang has such a high reputation among the people now, in addition to official propaganda, there is also the encouragement of the Supervision Office.

The storybook that first compared Chen Wang to Yue Fei was written by Hu Zhili under the supervision of the Supervisory Office, and was then distributed to various places, making the story spread widely.

Chen Wang didn't know whether Gao Mingheng was really sighing casually because of the sight of conscription in front of him, or whether he was secretly beating him.

After all, "winning the hearts and minds of the people" is not a good thing for a military minister...

However, based on the intelligence provided by the Supervisory Office during this period, as well as Chen Wang's own understanding, Gao Mingheng probably had no intention of beating him.

Chen Wang had an impression of Gao Mingheng from the beginning. In history, when Gao Mingheng first became an official, he supervised the people to control floods and rescued refugees, and had outstanding political achievements.

Gao Mingheng once advised Chongzhen that he should be honest and upright, select talents and appoint them without having to judge salaries based on capital, rectify the administration of officials, and punish those who are timid urgently, which was appreciated by Emperor Chongzhen.

During his tenure as the inspector of Henan Province, he impeached corrupt officials, enforced strict political discipline, investigated lawlessness, and was loyal to his duties.

In the winter of the 15th year of Chongzhen, Qing soldiers attacked Yishui City. Gao Mingheng and his wife Zhang committed suicide.

Gao Mingheng's ability may be insufficient, but there is no doubt that he is indeed an upright official and a man of integrity.

"The governor is really overly praised. If the governor hadn't sent officials to travel around to promote it, how could this grand scene have been possible."

Chen Wang did not respond directly to what Gao Mingheng said, but gave some of the credit for the matter to Gao Mingheng.

What Gao Mingheng said was really too sensitive.

Although Gao Mingheng was most likely just making a casual remark, Chen Wang still maintained his usual cautiousness.

"The Battle of Zhengzhou was heartbreaking. The troops and horses in each town were seriously damaged. Fortunately, the Yang Ge Department sent General Chen north to help, otherwise the situation in Henan would have been out of control."

Gao Mingheng sighed, looking quite melancholy, but immediately relaxed his eyebrows.

"I had heard that General Chen was good at training troops. When he was in Hanzhong, he served as the commander of the Hanzhong Guards and was in charge of military training. When he left office, thousands of guards in Hanzhong had a completely new appearance and combat effectiveness. Later, they also made great achievements in the battle against Chuangni. "

"I don't know how long it will take for the troops in each town to recover and when they will be able to participate in the campaign. Can General Chen tell me something?"

Gao Mingheng was more concerned about military training.

Nowadays, the army of the people is strong. Although it suffered a small defeat, it is still strong.

Although Chen Wang had 20,000 troops and strong fighting power, in Gao Mingheng's opinion, these men were still far from enough.

The troops and horses in the towns in Henan were severely damaged. Not to mention the suppression campaign, they were insufficient to defend important towns and places. In many places, Chen Wang even needed troops and horses under his command to fill the gap.

Although Chen Wang was able to answer Gao Mingheng's question immediately, he still pretended to think deeply for a moment before speaking.

"Newly recruited soldiers need to be trained for at least three months before they can begin to gain combat effectiveness, and then they need to continue to fight before they can become a qualified army."

"Three months..."

Gao Mingheng frowned slightly. This time may be short or long.

Although he has no military knowledge, he also knows that training soldiers is not an easy task.

Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, Yang Sichang and others all knew Chen Wang was proficient in military training, so Chen Wang said that three months would be enough to form combat strength, which should be extremely fast.

But in three months, the Wanmin Army will not stay there quietly. They will move around and cause a lot of damage.

As the governor of Henan, how could he let the Ten Thousand People's Army wreak havoc in Henan Province for a whole three months?

Chen Wang watched the changes in the expression on Gao Mingheng's face, and guessed a thing or two about Gao Mingheng's thoughts, and said immediately.

"The Wan Min Army is marching eastward into Guide Mansion. The imperial court has already summoned the Lu Supervisor Army to go north to block it, and has also mobilized Baoding Town troops to go south to protect Shandong. This has blocked the Wan Min Army's eastward path."

"Our army lacks combat power and is unable to attack and suppress, so we can only hold on. The imperial court ordered the generals to train new soldiers. This is because they know the current situation."

Gao Mingheng's brows relaxed a little, then wrinkled again, repeated several times, and finally turned into a sigh.

After a long time, Gao Mingheng regained his composure, but his expression could not hide his exhaustion.

"I remember this recruitment, the number of soldiers is seven battalions, 23,000 men."

"The governor remembers it well."

"When the new recruits have completed their training, they can then defend each city to prevent the Ten Thousand People's Army from rushing into various places. The general can also lead his troops to calmly attack the main force of the Ten Thousand People's Army."

"only……"

Chen Wang frowned and looked like he was hesitant to speak.

"Just what?"

As expected, Gao Mingheng also frowned and asked.

"The number of troops set was 23,000, but the military pay allocated from the imperial court was only enough for 15,000, with a difference of more than 8,000..."

Chen Wang shook his head and sighed.

"Moreover, when the general sent people to receive the ordnance yesterday, he found that 70% of the ordnance was defective and could not be used."

"Many of the armor leaves inside the dark armor are rusty and will break if cut. Most of the blunderbuss have extremely thin walls and can easily explode. Some even fail to fire."

Gao Mingheng frowned and clenched his fists. He looked angry and wanted to say something. He clenched and loosened his fists, then loosened and clenched them again, but in the end he still didn't say anything.

After many years of ups and downs in the officialdom, Gao Mingheng naturally knew why the imperial court had set a military salary of 23,000 troops.

But in the end, only fifteen thousand soldiers were paid.

The military pay for 15,000 people and the lack of military pay for 8,000 people are actually considered to be merciful by those worms.

Perhaps he was worried that he would be implicated if the civil unrest in Henan was difficult to deal with because he was too greedy.

"As for the military pay, I will try my best to find a way. For the time being, I will recruit soldiers according to the actual military pay."

Gao Mingheng closed his eyes. There were some things that he couldn't do anything about.

"As for the issue of ordnance..."

Chen Wang felt a slight suddenness in his heart. All the foreshadowing was all for this last question.

Gao Mingheng opened his eyes and turned to look at Chen Wang. After a short period of thinking, he also made his choice.

The army of the people was raging in many places, and the famine continued to spread. After becoming the governor, all the heavy burdens were piled on his shoulders.

There are countless government affairs that he needs to deal with every day, and he really doesn't have that much energy.

"I remember that when you were in Hanzhongwei, you were in charge of Hanzhongwei's weapons bureau and kept it in order."

"I don't know anything about military affairs, nor do I understand the production of ordnance. Since you have handled related matters, I will leave the ordnance aspect to your temporary supervision."