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

In mid-November, Lin Feng led the Guards Brigade and Yulin Combat Brigade to finally arrive in Taiyuan City.

Song Jilie, Fang Qingshi and others had greeted him at the city gate early. When they saw Lin Feng coming on a white horse, they hurriedly greeted him and saluted him.

Lin Feng dismounted and handed the horse to the accompanying guards. He patted Song Jilie on the shoulder, helped him up and said, "Jilie captured Taiyuan City in time and made a great contribution to our march south!"

"Master Marquis, the first attack on the city was made by Tingfeng Guards. They mobilized the internal forces to open the city gate, which allowed us to occupy the city so smoothly." Song Jilie was not greedy for credit, and gave the first credit to Tingfeng Guards.

"Haha, fighting requires the cooperation of various departments. You all have contributed. Let's go to the city first." Lin Feng said.

The group of people walked and chatted towards the city. On the way, when Song Jilie asked Lin Feng whether he lived in the Jin Prince's Mansion or the Governor's Yamen, Lin Feng thought for a moment and asked, "Where are the Jin Prince and his son?"

"They have all been arrested and imprisoned in the side courtyard of Prince Jin's palace. The other palaces have been cleaned up," Song Jilie replied.

"Then go live in Prince Jin's Mansion and don't waste it." Lin Feng ordered.

The group of people soon arrived at the Jin Palace. Deng Hao and others led the Guard Brigade to go in and clean the palace first. Although Song Jilie and others had already searched the palace, the Guard Brigade still had to check it carefully again.

This is mainly the system of the Guard Brigade responsible for guarding Lin Feng's safety. When going to any unfamiliar place, you must check it to prevent any hidden dangers.

Lin Feng first came to the main hall of Prince Jin's Mansion and ordered to bring in the prisoners such as Prince Zhu Qiugui and Crown Prince Zhu Shenxuan.

Song Jilie dragged the two men up, kicked Zhu Qiugui in the crook of his leg, and ordered them to kneel down.

Zhu Qiugui struggled for a while, trying to maintain the dignity of the Ming Prince. At the same time, he raised his head and shouted: "Lin Feng, you dare to arrest our Ming Dynasty Prince, are you going to rebel?"

"Prince Jin, you can see now that I am rebelling. Shouldn't you be thinking about how to beg me to spare your life now?" Lin Feng said scornfully.

Zhu Qiugui was stunned when he heard this. He actually gave in to the rebellion so simply. Well, it seemed that something was wrong. The name of the vassal king would be useless.

He immediately gave in, knelt down and shouted: "Master Lin, please spare Xiao Wang's life!"

Zhu Shenxuan didn't care about his status as the heir apparent. He had been frightened by Lin Feng for a long time. He quickly crawled over and kowtowed madly to beg for mercy.

Lin Feng sat on the high seat, watching the ugly performances of the two people below, while thinking about how to deal with them.

Cutting him off with a knife was easy and could vent his anger, but it seemed to have no practical benefits. Moreover, killing the vassal king actually lightened the burden on Chongzhen. At least the Ming court did not have to pay him an annual salary.

After some consideration, Lin Feng decided to save their lives and rushed Zhu Qiugui and others to the capital. Just eating and drinking for a family of several hundred people would cost Chongzhen a lot of money.

"It's not impossible to spare your lives, but hand over all the property of your Jin Prince's Palace. These are the people's wealth and anointing, you can't take them away.

The other one is to send out a proclamation, scolding Chongzhen for appointing villains, persecuting loyal people, and seeking peace with the Tartars. Anyway, these are facts. You can pick up some important ones and write them down. The more fierce the criticism, the more accurate it will be. It makes me happy. For a moment, maybe I’ll give you some money. Lin Feng said while looking at the two of them.

"This, this..." Zhu Qiugui hesitated.

"It seems that some people don't want to live. Jilie, hurry up and prepare for Lingchi, let them taste the taste of being cut to pieces by a thousand cuts."

"Wha, what, Lingchi will be executed..." Zhu Qiugui was frightened.

Zhu Shenxuan quickly crawled over and kowtowed: "I am willing, I am willing, I will write this message. Lord Marquis, please don't chop us alive, please!"

"Your Majesty, that's a good attitude, what about you, Prince Jin?" Lin Feng pressed.

"Xiao Wang is willing, Xiao Wang is willing!" Zhu Qiugui didn't dare to struggle and immediately obeyed.

The two of them were immediately pulled into writing an essay criticizing Chongzhen. This was considered a public opinion war launched by Lin Feng, allowing the vassal king to publicly insult Chongzhen, further tarnishing his reputation and weakening his prestige.

After Prince Jin and his son finished writing, Lin Feng read it over and felt that the criticism of Chongzhen was not strong enough. After ordering them to add some shocking information, he had these two people taken away first.

Lin Feng then listened specifically to Song Jilie and Fang Qingshi's story about the capture of Taiyuan City.

"Ji Lie, how many troops do we have in Taiyuan City now?" Lin Feng asked.

"Master Marquis, in order to seize the opportunity to attack the city, I only brought one cavalry brigade to Taiyuan, with a total strength of about 3,000 people. After occupying Taiyuan, we reorganized the troops of the surrendered General He Xiaolei, and the rest of the station commanders were hiding in the city. Part of the force included the soldiers of Fu Biao, governor of Shanxi Song Dynasty, and deputy general Ning Long, and there were about two thousand people."

Song Jilie replied that without orders from Lin Feng and the General Staff, he would not dare to recruit troops and expand the army at will, so the total military strength in Taiyuan was not large.

"Ji Lie, leave one thousand men in your cavalry brigade, and then take the remaining two thousand men back to Suidezhou as soon as possible. You are allowed to expand the first mobile division to fifteen thousand men. While reorganizing the troops, send troops to occupy Fen in Shanxi. Prefecture and Pingyang Prefecture, control the southwest of Shanxi, and support Fang Xiaoyu's Second Mobile Division in occupying Xi'an Prefecture." Lin Feng ordered.

"Understood, I'll do it right away!"

After seeing off Song Jilie, Lin Feng first summoned Song Xian, the governor of Shanxi, and deputy general Ning Long who had surrendered, and gave them some kind words and encouragement. He also told them the Zhenming Army's rule that all senior officials who surrendered should be trained first before being used, and asked them to follow them. Song Jilie first went to Jiazhou to receive intensive training.

This is also one of Lin Feng's considerations. Try not to serve the surrendered officials in the same place to prevent collusion of interests or being incited to rebel.

Then Taiyuan Magistrate Wang Gongzhen was brought in. He was a little flustered, but he tried his best to maintain the face of a civil servant. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to say something, but in the end he made no sound.

Lin Feng also looked at Wang Gongzhen with mixed feelings. He could not embark on the path of rebellion without the prefect Wang.

But it seems impossible to talk about how much hatred there is. At that time, Wang Gongzhen was a senior official of the fourth rank, and Lin Feng was just a minor candidate who had just passed the provincial examination. The status of the two was very different.

Wang Gongzhen didn't have to deal with him personally. If he showed a little displeasure, a group of thugs would come forward to suppress Lin Feng.

"Prefect Wang, I wonder what your next plan is?" Lin Feng asked.

"If you become a king or lose a bandit, let's just let it happen." Wang Gongzhen also thought about it and let nature take its course.

"Are you willing to serve my Zhenming Army?" Lin Feng asked.

"This, this, if you are valued by the Governor, I am willing to do my best." Wang Gongzhen struggled for a while and decided to give in.

After all, the nobility of the literati cannot be used as food. The territory controlled by the Ming court is getting smaller and smaller. It is obviously difficult for officials like him to find another job.

Lin Feng considered that Wang Gongzhen had some relationship with him after all, had no big hatred, and was an honest official. Although he was a bit pedantic, the Zhenming Army was in short supply of civilian officials, so he might as well use them if they could. The key is to establish an open-minded image, so as to attract more talents from all walks of life to invest and reduce the resistance to unifying the world.

After sending Wang Gongzhen away, Lin Feng decided to summon relevant generals to discuss the next military arrangements for Taiyuan.

In the main hall of Prince Jin's Mansion, Lin Feng naturally sat down at the top, along with Guo Zheng, Yang Heng, Ma Mingjie, Zhou Yuji, as well as the intelligence station chief Yu Feng and deputy station chief Fang Tiejian who had made great contributions to the capture of Taiyuan City. , Jin Yiwei Baihu Jiang Rong took refuge, and General He Xiaolei was summoned to participate.

Lin Feng saw everyone sitting down and said, "I've called everyone here this time. Firstly, to reward Yu Feng, Fang Tiejian, Jiang Rong, He Xiaolei and other brothers who made great contributions to the capture of Taiyuan; secondly, to discuss it. Follow the military arrangements of Taiyuan."

Then he took a sip of tea and continued: "As for the reward for seizing the city, Yu Feng and the other four will each be given a reward of one hundred taels of silver. If they are promoted, we will make other arrangements."

The reward of one hundred taels of silver is neither too much nor too much. It is equivalent to the income of an ordinary soldier for four to five years, and it is already considered a heavy reward.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis!" Several people came out to express their gratitude at the same time.

"As for your job arrangements, there are three ways to change the civil service, the military and the intelligence system. If you have any ideas, you can tell me." Lin Feng then asked. Now that there is a shortage of people in every aspect, it is easy to arrange, so just let them choose. .

"Everything is up to the Marquis!" A few people were very wise and did not make blind choices.

"Okay, since everyone obeys the arrangement, I will consider it comprehensively later. Next, let's talk about the military strength of Taiyuan City first.

Commander Song was about to return to Shaanxi with his cavalry brigade, but I asked him to leave a thousand cavalry behind. I am considering using Ma Mingjie's Yulin combat brigade and these thousand cavalry as the basis, plus about two thousand regular defenders, and recruiting several thousand new soldiers to form a Taiyuan combat division with a strength of 10,000 people. "

After Lin Feng finished speaking, he paused. Everyone below looked over with expectation. A new combat division was formed and another lieutenant general was to be promoted.

"The new Taiyuan Combat Division is headed by Ma Mingjie as division commander and promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. Zhou Yuji is appointed as deputy division commander and brigade general of the first brigade. Li Yi and Feng En serve as brigade generals of the second and third brigade respectively. He Xiaolei first served as the first brigade commander. Deputy Brigade General." Lin Feng ordered.

"Thank you so much, Lord Marquis!" Ma Mingjie lined up and said with clasped fists in thanks.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis!" He Xiaolei expressed his gratitude. He was very satisfied with his direct promotion from a small commander to deputy brigade general.

Yu Feng and the other three looked at He Xiaolei with envy. He was the first among the heroes who captured Taiyuan to be rewarded.

Lin Feng looked at a few people and then said: "Yu Feng, you have been in Taiyuan for a long time. Now that our Zhenming Army is in short supply of civilian officials, you can be appointed as Taiyuan Tongzhi instead. You will then assist the Taiyuan Magistrate in managing Taiyuan City. Are you willing?" "

"I'm willing!" Yu Feng said quickly. He was promoted from a small intelligence station chief to a fifth-rank officer, so there was no reason to be unwilling.

"Tiejian, Yu Feng has been reassigned as a civil servant, and you will take over as the head of the Taiyuan Intelligence Station."

"Yes!" Fang Tiejian simply accepted the order.

"Jiang Baihu, you have been in Jinyiwei for many years and are familiar with intelligence work. Please join Tingfengwei and serve as the director of the Intelligence Department. Chief Guo will put forward his opinions and submit them to me for approval." Lin Feng then arranged.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis!" When Jiang Rong heard that he was assigned to serve in the intelligence center of the Zhenming Army, he thanked him with great surprise.

This was also Lin Feng's reward for Jiang Rong's assistance in their operations in Taiyuan City for many times in a row, and it was also a way of employing people to give full play to his expertise.

Lin Feng then ordered another 3,000 troops to be recruited in Taiyuan Prefecture. As a civilian force to assist in defending the city, they were handed over to the new Taiyuan Prefecture government.

The last time Lin Feng sneaked into Taiyuan City and captured Prince Jin's Mansion, although he had already wiped out all the cash in Prince Jin's treasury, it was only one of the warehouses in the palace. With the accumulation during this period, more than 400,000 yuan were confiscated this time. Two coins.

So Lin Feng was not short of money now. He took out 100,000 taels and paid out the reward money and pension for siege of the city. In addition, 10,000 taels were enough for recruiting troops.

After the meeting, Lin Feng stayed with Yu Feng and taught him step by step how to govern Taiyuan.

Yang Tinglin, the magistrate of Taiyuan appointed by him, will not take office for about a month. During this time, Yu Feng will have to support him.

Fortunately, the Zhenming Army's governance policy is very consistent, which is to clean up the backlog of cases, crack down on large households, and develop the economy. Yu Feng is a smart man and knows the situation in Taiyuan very well. He basically understood it as soon as Lin Feng said it.

Lin Feng specially allocated 50,000 taels of silver to him as the operating expenses of the Taiyuan government office.

After Yu Feng returned to the government office, he lived up to Lin Feng's expectations. Based on the information he usually learned at the intelligence station, he made drastic changes to the government clerks and government officials. He killed those who deserved to be killed and blocked those who needed to be shut down. The bountiful salary instantly refreshed the mental outlook of government officials.

Then according to Lin Feng's request, he targeted a few big-name households with heinous crimes, ransacked their homes and beheaded them, earning more than 200,000 taels.

Then an investment of over 100,000 taels was launched to launch the massive construction and renovation project of Taiyuan City. When Zhenming Group's shops are settled again, Taiyuan City's economy will be revitalized.

These days, Lin Feng went to the newly established Taiyuan Combat Division in the morning for training. On the one hand, he became familiar with the army and strengthened his irreplaceable authority in the army. On the other hand, he also continued to hone his physical fitness and improve his combat skills.

In the afternoon, he inspected various parts of Taiyuan City to learn about the administration of Taiyuan Government. When he saw that most of the people in the market were praising the Zhenming Army who occupied Taiyuan, the vitality of the market was also recovering, and Lin Feng was secretly happy.

In the evening, relevant generals and officials were convened to talk, to get to know their subordinates, and to remind them to fulfill their duties and prevent them from going astray.

A few days passed like this, and the time came to late November. It can be said that the face of Taiyuan City has changed rapidly. Everyone's faces are full of hope, and the days are getting better and better.

Lin Feng saw that all affairs in Taiyuan were on the right track, that Ma Mingjie's Taiyuan combat division was fully staffed, and that the training was in good shape, so he decided to leave Taiyuan and return to Jiazhou.

For the defense of Taiyuan, there are 10,000 Taiyuan Combat Divisions and 3,000 civilians. The defense strength is sufficient. To the north of Taiyuan Prefecture are the Datong Combat Division led by Zhou Rui, and the Third Shanxi Combat Brigade led by Zhou Zhiwei, with a total strength of 20,000.

Even if all of Hong Chengchou's 50,000 Ming army moved south, the Zhenming Army's defensive strength would still be sufficient. What's more, Lu Xiangsheng's cavalry division of 15,000 men was still in Datong Mansion. Their combat power was so powerful that it was impossible for the Ming army to easily enter Taiyuan Mansion.

In addition, there was the Second Shanxi Combat Brigade stationed in Baodou and Hequ areas, and Lin Feng also allowed them to expand their strength to 5,000.

Putting these forces together, the Zhenming Army has three divisions in Shanxi: the First Cavalry Division, the Datong Combat Division, the Taiyuan Combat Division, the Second Shanxi Combat Brigade, the Third Shanxi Combat Brigade and two brigades, as well as some civilian strength. The total strength exceeds Fifty-three thousand people.

These forces were more than enough to control the entire Shanxi Province, but considering that many of the soldiers were newly recruited, Lin Feng did not arrange a full-scale attack on the various states in Shanxi. Instead, he seized the time to conduct training to improve the combat capabilities of each division and brigade.

Just at this time, Guo Zheng came over to report that the Second Mobile Combat Division led by Fang Xiaoyu had successfully occupied Xi'an Prefecture, and asked Lin Feng to return to Shaanxi as soon as possible.

Lin Feng then took the Guard Brigade and officials from the Governor's Office such as Guo Zheng and Yang Heng to bid farewell to Ma Mingjie, Yu Feng and others, and rushed to Jiazhou day and night.

(End of this chapter)