The legend of the king of crossing

Chapter 43 The Conception of the New Army

On the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year, I invited the Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing back in the Ninggan Palace, accompanied by three side concubines including Quan Jiu and Yu.

During the dinner, Xie Daoqing was full of smiles, just like an ordinary old lady, kind and kind, kept talking to everyone about the family, and from time to time told Quan Jiu to be careful on the road and take care of my daily life and food.

For the first time, I felt that Xie Daoqing was like a mother-in-law, completely different from the strong and indifferent queen mother before.However, this feeling is still very warm, and it seems to have made a good start for the first year of Xianchun.

On the third day of the first lunar month, I got up very late, and at noon, I took Quan Jiu to Kuaiji.

It is more than 100 kilometers from Lin'an to Kuaiji, and it is estimated that it will take at most two days to arrive.

Lan Yu led the [-] imperial guards under Shen Mo's command to serve as the accompanying guards. Because Yun Zhongfei led [-] guards to protect the Gunpowder Department at the foot of Luoshi Mountain, I didn't add any more people.

In my team, in addition to Lan Yu, Shen Mo, Wen Zhang, and Yuan Ji are great experts. Originally, Yuan Ji planned to transfer Ye Dongsheng and Yao Chaohui. I don't think it is necessary in my own territory. , and there were many things about Longya, so he refused the escort of the two of them.

Among the civil servants, I only brought Lu Xiufu and Wen Tianxiang with me. As for why I brought Quan Jiu home with me to visit relatives, neither of them asked much.

Tianzi driving six is ​​an act of ancient Chinese etiquette.When the emperors go out, the car they take is pulled by six horses, that is, the famous "emperor drives six", and the rest of the auxiliary cars can only drive four.

I sat in a four-wheeled luxury carriage pulled by six horses and followed the group. This carriage has a lot of space, and simple furniture such as beds and chairs are readily available, and there is even a stove for heating water.Quan Jiu only brought two maids with her, and they sat in a carriage drawn by four horses at the back, and the last carriage was a gift, nothing more than some Lin'an specialties. Same, riding a horse.

Three carriages drove in the middle, and several imperial guards surrounded them cautiously.There are very few pedestrians on this official road, and few people go out before the fifteenth day of this era

It was the first time for me to travel in this kind of carriage, and it was quite fresh at first, but it didn’t take long before I felt that it was quite bumpy.

After a while, I gradually felt tired and spent the afternoon of the first day in a daze.

I started to get used to it the next day, maybe it was because I had been practicing martial arts for two months.

"Xiaoqi, go and call Yuan Ji, Wen Tianxiang, Lu Xiufu, and Wen Zhang."

When I was about to make tea, the four of them had already arrived.

"Wen Zhang, you are the youngest here, and you are in charge of pouring the tea."

"Yes, Your Majesty, Your Majesty's car is really big."

I smiled and said: "I called you here to discuss the matter of our new army in the future. After Yun Bofei came back, the chances of successfully developing muskets increased greatly. At that time, I will equip all the new army with muskets. Come to fight against the Mongolian iron cavalry."

Wen Zhang poured tea and said: "Can the emperor's musket be so useful? I think my fist is still more effective."

I took a sip of tea: "In future wars, muskets will definitely completely replace the existing swords, guns, bows and arrows. Even your master Taoism and Mr. Yuan are hard to match. You don't need to question this, and you will know when the time comes. Concubine Quan's hometown has a large villa, built on the hillside, sparsely populated, not far from Lin'an, only a few hours' journey away, I plan to build a secret military camp there, the number of people is about a thousand, according to the way of the youth guards Carry out training, and after the firearms are developed, all of them will use firearms as weapons, and based on this, they will gradually expand, and eventually I will establish a new army of more than 10 people to completely replace the existing frontier army and the Forbidden Army. In this Before the new army takes shape, I still need to be careful lest Jia Sidao and others take the opportunity to make trouble. By the way, Song Rui, Junshi, have you two made any progress in contacting the Xiang Army?"

"We have been in contact one after another. Because Jia Sidao has many eyes and ears in the Xiang army, and the ministers are also cautious. Some Xiang troops in Yangzhou, Jiangxi have expressed their allegiance to His Majesty."

"Well, don't be hasty in this matter, so as not to be self-defeating." I continued, "The new army of Kuaiji is planning to recruit as the concubine's servant. Nowadays, there are more refugees from the north, and these people often have enemies of the country. You can choose from them, and with the rural youths in the Kuaiji area, I guess the problem of the source of troops should not be too big. Wen Zhang, you need to cultivate a group of high-quality and good-behaved soldiers in the youth guards as soon as possible. Young people, fill the new army in Kuaiji. In addition, Junshi, you can write a letter to Mr. Li and ask him to privately send lieutenant generals who are good at training and leading troops to Kuaiji to serve as instructors. The number of people should be around [-]. , but must be a loyal person.”

"I obey the order." Lu Xiufu and Wen Zhang responded.

"Wen Zhang, do you remember what I said when you recruited young guards, you have to pick a good eye."

"Go back to the emperor, I remember."

"You all know the style of the musket, and the musket of the future has similarities with the musket." I took Wen Zhang's long sword, held the scabbard with both hands, closed one eye, made an aiming posture, and said , "This is the shooting action of the musket in the future, and the range of the musket will be from a hundred meters to a thousand meters away, so I ask the young guards to have good eyesight."

Wen Zhang took the sword back and tried it in my position, but he was still at a loss.

I know Wenzhang doesn't understand at all, and I don't want to explain: "The training of this new army will be divided into two steps. One is to focus on training the new army's physical strength and endurance according to the existing basic training mode of the youth guards. Working with a team can reduce the combat ability of individual soldiers. After this step is basically passed, you can carry out firearms simulation training.”

"Wait, Your Majesty, what is simulation?" Wen Zhang asked.

"There are two types of firearms for the new army, one is muskets and the other is grenades. I don't know the exact time of success of these two firearms. Before that, I will make a batch of similar-looking things to replace training, for example For hand grenades, I will use stones instead, so that the new army can throw stones quickly, accurately, and far. Once the official firearms come out, you will be able to get used to them easily. Another example is muskets. I will make a batch of them according to the style of muskets The mold allows the recruits to carry out aiming training, and they must be able to maintain these basic postures for a long time."

Wen Zhang nodded and said, "This is feasible."

"Song Rui, Junshi, and Wenzhang, the three of you will participate in the command of the new army in the later stage. As for the combat method of the new army, I will tell you after the firearms come out. For now, you just need to remember, You have to think broadly.”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Okay, I've been sitting in the car for a long time, let's go out and ride a horse."

I have never ridden a horse before, but fortunately at Zhao Yuhui, I rode on the horse and tightened the reins, and I looked good, but I didn't dare to go too fast, and Yuan Ji next to me followed closely, as if I might fall off .

In the evening, we came to a mountain forest, which was so dense that we couldn't see the forest clearly except for the trees in front of us.

Shen Mo, who cleared the way ahead, came to me and said, "Your Majesty, are you going to camp here tonight?"

"How far is it from Kuaiji?"

Shen Mo pointed to a road beside the mountain forest and said, "Go back to Your Majesty, follow the official road for about five miles, and you will reach the boundary of Kuaiji."

Quan Jiu said: "Official family, this mountain forest is huge, and we can reach Kuaiji City through the forest, and the distance is much shorter, but horses and vehicles cannot pass through it. If we follow the official road, it will take half a day to reach Kuaiji City. "

I thought for a while and said, "Then let's camp here, we don't have to rush, everyone rest overnight, and we will start tomorrow morning."

Shen Mo said: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will arrange it now."

Yuan Ji looked at the forest, and suddenly said to Lan Yu: "Take a few people into the forest to have a look."