There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

The meeting hall of Zhenminghou Mansion in Jiazhou.

After taking care of Feng Ziyi's mother and son in the back house for a few days, Lin Feng returned to the front office and summoned the backbone of the Zhenming Army to analyze the situation and discuss next steps.

After Lin Feng sat down at the head of the table, he first arranged for Guo to report the recent intelligence.

Guo Zhengwen ordered a recent intelligence summary report to be published: "Recently, there have been many domestic heroes, and another turbulent situation has emerged.

From the perspective of the peasant army, in May, Zhang Xianzhong raised a rebellion flag again in Fugu. He joined forces with Luo Rucai and gained momentum. The two defeated Zuo Liangyu's encirclement and suppression, and their team grew rapidly and has now entered the Sichuan area.

After Li Zicheng was driven away from Luoyang by us, he used the money and grain given by the adults to recruit troops and horses. He has already raised an army of 30,000 to 40,000 people and is currently active in the Yunyang area of ​​Hubei Province. "

"What about the imperial court?" Lin Feng then asked.

"At the court, after Zhang Xianzhong rebelled, Emperor Chongzhen was shocked when he heard about it. He ordered Xiong Wencan to be cut off from his official position and made him look guilty. Recently, Zhang Xianzhong defeated Zuo Liangyu. Emperor Chongzhen could no longer sit still and sent Yang Sichang. Replacing Xiong Wencan, Governor Xiong is expected to be in trouble." Guo Zhenghui reported.

"It's unbelievable that the imperial court has such a brain-dead governor. He is obsessed with appeasement and doesn't control it after appeasement. It's just messing around." Cao Xiong couldn't help but stood up and cursed.

"Deputy General Cao, don't get excited. If the people in the imperial court are stupid, how can we stand a chance." Lin Feng stretched out his hand to ask Cao Xiong to sit down.

"That's true. We are not on the same side as the imperial court now. The more stupid he is, the better for us. I really have nothing to be excited about." Cao Xiong figured it out at this time, and he had already left the imperial court.

"How about Zheng Chongjian, who succeeded Hong Chengchou as governor of Shaanxi and the three border areas?" Lin Feng asked.

"This person is as mediocre as Shaanxi Governor Ding Qirui. Some time ago, Li Zicheng's troops had just left Shangluo Mountain to recruit their troops. Zheng Chongjian detected the situation and sent troops to surround them, but ordered that a gap must be left when surrounding the enemy. Li Zicheng left the gap from He escaped and later arrived in Luoyang." Guo Zheng shook his head as he said that the imperial court was full of weird people.

"What about the Tatars? Is there any new news?" Lin Feng continued to ask.

"From the news coming back from Liaodong, the Tatars are working hard to digest the results they brought back from the invasion of Ming Dynasty, and they should not invade Ming Dynasty in the short term.

It should be noted that the Manchu and Qing Tatars have regarded our Zhenming Army as their number one enemy, ranking them ahead of the Ming Court. Next time they invade, they may choose to invade directly from the border of Shanxi or Shaanxi. "Guo Zheng replied.

"We need to strengthen the control of the grassland to prevent sneak attacks by the Manchu and Qing Tatars. How is the construction of Zhenqiang City that Yang Heng is responsible for now?" Lin Feng thought about it.

"Master Hou, Yang Heng just sent a document yesterday. The city of Zhenqiang has been built. The city has a circumference of seven or eight miles and has attracted 100,000 people. The other 80,000 are Han prisoners rescued by the superiors of the Marquis. In addition, thousands of Mongolians from Ordos also settled in the city. Zhenqiang City has become the most prosperous city on the border of Shaanxi grassland.

Yang Heng cooperates well with Duan Liang from Grassland Business. One is in charge of military affairs and the other is in business. Now Zhenqiang City is developing rapidly, and the monthly commercial tax paid has reached more than fifteen thousand taels. It shows that the total monthly trade volume is more than 300,000 taels, which is no worse than some prefectures and cities. Lin Jiakang took out the document he just received and commented while reading it.

"It seems that Yang Heng is very good at construction." Lin Feng affirmed after hearing this.

"Yes, and Yang Heng's parents are both in Fugu, so there is absolutely no problem with his loyalty." Fang Tiezhu then added that the management of senior officers of the Zhenming Army is now in charge of the Zhenfu Division.

"What is the imperial court's reaction to our occupation of Luoyang and Yan'an?" he then asked.

"Now Eunuch Miao, the Supervisor of Ceremonies, has been developed by us as an insider. According to the information he provided, Emperor Chongzhen didn't think much about the occupation of Luoyang. He thought we were going to fight Li Zicheng, and originally wanted to reward us with a sum of money to get us out of Luoyang. , but the Ministry of Finance has no money and is still wrangling.

Regarding the occupation of Yan'an Prefecture, Shaanxi Governor Ding Qirui may have been afraid of being accused. He did not say that we occupied Yan'an. He only said that some conflicts had occurred. We did not openly raise the flag of rebellion. I guess Governor Ding just wanted to fool us and did not dare to fall out with us. "

"Isn't that very impressive? Can you hide it?"

"Emperor Chongzhen has been in a bad mood recently because of the Tatar invasion and Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion. He is asking questions everywhere. The officials in the court don't want to report any more bad news. They should be fooled if they can." Guo Zheng analyzed.

"Where's Master Lu? No news has come back yet?" Lin Feng asked.

"Shishuai Lu has sent back a military intelligence report. Everything is normal during the march. They successively occupied Shuozhou, Shanyin, Huairen and other counties in Datong Prefecture, and fought and managed the counties along the way. Not only did the number of troops not decrease, but they increased to one There are more than 10,000 people. At present, the First Cavalry Division has arrived near Datong City and is studying how to attack the city." Lin Jiakang continued to report.

"Jiandou is indeed a capable minister who leads troops in battles and governs local areas. It is reassuring to have him leading the troops." Lin Feng praised.

"Master Lu was originally the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty. He was one of the few civil and military ministers in the court. It's a pity that Emperor Chongzhen didn't cherish him. He can only be used in our Zhenming Army." Cao Xiong sighed.

"Should our next step be to openly raise the flag of rebellion and quickly attack the city and seize territory, or should we remain silent for the time being and wait for the imperial army to fight with Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng and others? Let us all share our opinions." Lin Feng turned to the next step. Strategic considerations.

Wang Qin stood up at this time, pointed to the map on the wall and said: "Sir, this time we are conducting operations simultaneously in three directions: Datong in the north, Yan'an Prefecture in the center, and Luoyang in the south.

Luoyang and Yan'an have been occupied so far, and it should not be a problem to occupy Datong in the next step. Yan'an Prefecture alone is three or four times the size of our current territory, with more than ten prefectures and counties.

With the strength of our Zhenming Army, it shouldn't be a problem to attack anywhere in the surrounding areas. The main problem at present is that there are not enough troops. It will take some time to train troops and expand the scale of the troops. Therefore, I suggest that we should not raise the flag of rebellion for the time being, and focus on development for a period of time. We will wait until the battle between the court and the bandits is almost over before we end. "Wang Qin suggested.

"Sir, we also have a serious shortage of officials. I suggest that we open another training class for civil affairs officials, and at least match them with state and county chief officials. Therefore, I also agree that we should not engage in rapid expansion, but it is better to proceed steadily." Su Shun Nian followed.

"You should hold official training courses regularly. One is to strengthen the selection of talents from the private sector, and the same concept is to select talents regardless of origin. The other is to try to make good use of surrendered court officials and establish a good system. Most of these officials I can still fulfill my duties." Lin Feng explained.

"Yes!" Su Shunnian replied.

"Sir, the larger the territory, the more difficult it is to control. Now our Secretariat and Supervision Office are overwhelmed." Lin Jiakang reflected.

"Supervision should highlight the two key points of officials' implementation of policies and the presence of corruption, and should not be exhaustive. Don't pay too much attention to trivial matters such as the rudeness of officials who were often impeached by the Ming Dynasty. If the number of personnel is not enough, we can increase it appropriately. The next step is to make the supervision department independent. Yes." Lin Feng said.

"Yes!" Lin Jiakang felt depressed when he saw that his subordinates were short of manpower and a department was about to be transferred.

"Okay, everyone has expressed their opinions just now, and their opinions are relatively unanimous. They all agree not to expand rapidly now, but to work hard to consolidate the existing territory.

I also agree with this opinion. We captured Luoyang, and Prince Fu's Mansion confiscated more than three million taels of silver. This time, we also transported 1.8 million taels to Jiazhou. We'd better digest these results first.

The next step is to focus on two aspects. One is to expand the military and prepare for war. Our current military strength is still very insufficient. I am considering expanding all three existing combat divisions to 6000 troops, which would add troops.

The Fugu garrison brigade and the Zhenqiangbao combat brigade were merged to form the Fugu combat division. The establishment was also increased to 4000, and the number was expanded by .

Cao Xiong, deputy chief of the staff department, was appointed brigade general of the Fugu Combat Division and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. Yang Heng, the general of the Qiang brigade in the town, was brought back to serve as deputy general manager of the staff, and Qian Zhuo was appointed deputy division commander and brigade general. "Lin Feng said the first appointment first.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis, for your trust!" Cao Xiong was overjoyed and stood up and said gratefully.

"After this adjustment, the main force of our Zhenming Army is composed of four divisions and five brigades, namely the 1st Cavalry Division, 3st Mobile Division, 5.5nd Mobile Division, Fugu Combat Division, - Shanxi Combat Brigade, Yulin Combat Brigade, and Luoyang Combat Brigade. A total of people.

In addition, my Xiaolong Guards Brigade will also be expanded to 3000 people, and the required soldiers will be selected from the entire army. " Lin Feng then ordered.

"Sir, we have enough money now. It is recommended to recruit some reserve soldiers to facilitate replenishment at any time." Wang Qin suggested.

"Yes, 20,000 reserve soldiers will be recruited from the entire Yan'an Prefecture and handed over to Zhenming Military Academy to organize training. A teaching camp will be set up at Zhenming Military Academy with a staff of 1,000 people to be responsible for the training of new recruits.

The Logistics Department is responsible for selecting a suitable place to build a training camp in the area from Jiazhou to Yan'an Fucheng, which must be able to accommodate 20,000 recruits. Recruitment matters are handled by the Zhenfu Division. "Lin Feng ordered.

"Yes!" Several people responded.

(End of this chapter)