Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Updated: 2012-11-11

"The matter of increasing troops to North Korea is related to the overall situation, and I have to consult the Privy Council for advice." Zheng Kezang said to Lin Weirong, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Governor-General in front of him, with a hint of displeasure in it. "Go and reply to the North Korean envoy and ask him to wait patiently for the shogunate's decision, instead of jumping up and down to harass the inner court."

Lin Weirong retreated obediently, but Zheng Kezang was lost in thought.The increase of troops in North Korea is actually in line with Zheng Kezang's intention to open up separate battlefields outside of Huguang and Guizhou. However, even if Li Yan is his father-in-law, it is impossible for Zheng Jun to fight for him unconditionally, let alone, Zheng Kezang wants to start a new dynasty and establish himself as an ancestor. This ancestor must make rules to prevent unworthy descendants from losing face for face in the future.

Thinking, thinking, Zheng Kezang felt that the room was a bit hot, so he opened the curtain and walked out.Although the south of the Yangtze River in October is not as snowy as in the north, the slightest bit of chill still seeps into the bone marrow, so when I saw Zheng Kezang, he came out like this, and the accompanying inner eunuch immediately put a good snow fox The fur jacket was draped over Zheng Kezang's shoulders.

Zheng Kezang tightened his fur coat, and slipped around the small rockery in the courtyard outside the house.Although the small rockery is not big, it is quite ingenious, with exquisite rocks and winding water. There are also several continuous caves and steps that can go straight to the hexagonal pavilion on the top of the mountain. It is a typical Jiangnan garden with elegant and exquisite style.

Zheng Kezang slowly climbed up the rockery, stood in the pavilion and looked into the distance, and saw that the surrounding evergreen forests were still green, but the luxuriant herbs and vines in summer had withered and withered.Looking at the half-prosperous and half-dead scene in front of him, Zheng Kezang couldn't help feeling a little ups and downs -- since he traveled through time, he always believed that destiny was in him, but there were many feelings in his heart about the success or failure of the process.

After sighing for a while, Zheng Kezang returned to the house. At this moment, his heart has calmed down. As the saying goes, comrades who have not yet succeeded in the revolution need to work hard.It was because of this insight that Zheng Kezang quickly recruited Lin Heng, the former Secretary of Military Affairs who served as the cabinet minister in the capacity of the Minister of the Army.

"Lin Qing, tell me, how much military power is available in this feudal domain?"

Due to the constant expansion of the Zheng army and the many changes in the division-level system, coupled with the constant battles over the years, even Zheng Kezang, who is in power, does not know the specific number.Fortunately, it doesn't matter if Zheng Kezang doesn't know much about it, as long as someone below knows it well, such as Lin Heng, who has always been the chief person in charge of military affairs.

"If you go back to the king, except for the 46 soldiers and horses under the command of the two generals of Huguang, there are now a total of [-] land divisions and horse infantry troops in this domain, a total of [-] divisions." Lin Heng then explained in detail. "Huguang has four divisions in Wuchang, Yueyang, Jiujiang, and Xingguo Prefecture; North Jiangxi has a division in Nanchang and Guangxin to control Nanchang, Guangxin, Nankang, Raozhou, Ruizhou, Jianchang, and Fuzhou. In the prefectures and counties of northern Jiangxi such as Linjiang, and in southern Jiangxi, a division was established in Ganzhou; in Zhejiang, there was a division in Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo, etc., and in the three prefectures of Wentai, there was another division; in Fujian, there was a division in Fuzhou and Yanping. One division, there is a division between Tingzhou and Zhangzhou; in Guangdong, there is a division in northern Guangdong, south (Xiong) Shao (zhou) and Lian (zhou), and there is a division in Zhaoqing and Guangzhou, Chao (zhou) Jia (ying, That is, there is one division between Meizhou and Huizhou; five in Jiangbei; five in Huainan; seven in Jiangnan; the most in Hunan, with eleven divisions; and five in Guangxi.”

"As for the navy, the sailors on board are not counted. There are also four divisions of the Longxiang Army under the Sanyang Fleet and the Yangtze River Fleet. As for the Governor's Mansion." Speaking of this, Lin Heng hesitated for a moment before continuing. "There are currently eleven capitals in this domain, including Yeyidi, Seogwipo, Chongming, Daqushan, Haitan, Siming, Penghu, Xiangshanao, Qiongzhou Baisha, Jinlan, and Xiboni. Except for one brigade, the rest are only one regiment."

In fact, one brigade of Jinlan is also an imaginary number, only one regiment is the standing army, and the rest are either hostages sent by Chen Shangchuan, Huang Jin, Mo Jiu, etc., or vagrant Japanese soldiers recruited. A considerable part of the standing army is also Western slaves .

"No," Zheng Kezang said suddenly. "There seems to be more than one group at Xiboni?"

Lin Heng hesitated, and then explained to Zheng Kezang: "Your Majesty is right, the garrison in Xiboni is indeed more than one regiment, but there are only more than 670 officers and soldiers and seven sentries, which are called two regiments." Still barely."

Zheng Kezang nodded to accept Lin Heng's explanation, so Lin Heng added: "In addition, there are young martial arts, martial arts, teachers and teachers in the Naval Academy, the Military Weapons Department of the Army Department, and the Navy Department of the Navy Department. There are more than [-] people including the assistant officer Bianmu in front of the yamen."

After Lin Heng finished speaking, Zheng Kezang closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then asked: "You probably also know that the court has sent people to ask for help, from Qing's point of view, how many soldiers and horses can this vassal invest in North Korea? "

"The town troops in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong cannot be lightly adjusted. The Jianghuai, Huguang, Hunan, and Guangxi ministries face the Qing army directly, and they cannot be lightly adjusted. The only ones that can be called are the seven divisions in the south of the Yangtze River and the divisions of the Longxiang Army of the Navy." Lin Heng had discussed the issue of sending troops in the Ministry before, so he put forward his own suggestion from the perspective of the Ministry of War. "However, there is no distinction between the vassal and the Qing captives. The seven divisions in the south of the Yangtze River may have to support the various places, so they can't move easily. I think the only way is to send the Longxiang army to help."

Zheng Kezang remained silent. It is true that the seven divisions in the south of the Yangtze River cannot be used. On the one hand, this is the general reserve of the Zheng Army. It is not easy to abolish at times, but there must be an inner town force that can contend.

However, Zheng Kezang also has doubts about using the remaining three divisions of the Longxiang Army. Among them, the Second Division of the Longxiang Army belonging to the Nanyang Fleet is responsible for guarding Dongning and must not be dispatched, while the First Division of the Longxiang Army of the Western Fleet is far away. In Lianzhou and Qiongzhou, it is extremely inappropriate to transfer to the north to mobilize teachers and mobilize the masses.So all in all, the third division of the Longxiang Army of the Yangtze River Fleet can go north.

The strength of a division has been invested in North Korea. Isn't this refueling?Zheng Kezang's eyes were suspicious.However, the winter climate in North Korea is really not suitable for a large number of southern soldiers. Zheng Kezang does not believe that the North Koreans can manage well if it is just a cotton-padded quilt for logistical support.

Just as Zheng Kezang wanted to agree to Lin Heng's suggestion, he suddenly thought of something. Yes, although Lin Heng is the Minister of War, it is not appropriate to skip the Navy Department and make a decision directly, so Zheng Kezang immediately changed his words: "This matter Gu knows, please kneel down."

After Lin Heng stepped down, Zheng Kezang hurriedly recruited Shang Linxian from the navy department: "Lin Qing, ships are extremely important for North Korea to use troops, and I think we can set up a Beiyang squadron. What do you think?"

Zheng Kezang had already made his decision, how could Lin Xian, who was born as a general, dare to contradict him, and immediately said: "I will go back and make arrangements, but the Eastern Fleet has the heavy duty of guarding the mouth of the Yangtze River. I don't know what instructions the Lord has?"

"The Beiyang Squadron is in charge of Shandong, Liaodong, North Korea, Japan, Ezodi, Kuwu, etc., and the Dongyang Fleet is in charge of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Ryukyu." Since Zheng Kezang recruited Lin Xian to arrange it, he must have thought it through. of. "The Qing Dynasty, North Korea, and Japan are countries with extremely weak naval forces. The Beiyang Fleet does not need to deploy large cruisers. The islands of Changguo and even Ryukyu have always been hiding places for pirates. In addition to a fleet of cruisers, they should also send more cruisers. HNA ships are always clearing up."

In fact, Zheng Fan’s order to open up maritime trade was implemented not long ago. Pirates, which had long since disappeared, did not revive immediately, but they have been upgraded to Changguo Prefecture, Daishan Prefecture, and Yuan (Yuanshan Island) Heng (Liuheng Island) Prefecture. , South (Nantian Island) Tang (Gaotang Island) Zhoushan Islands are the places where Zhu Ming's clan was imprisoned, so the power of monitoring is absolutely indispensable.

"I understand." Of course Lin Xian understood what Zheng Kezang meant. "Your Majesty, let's do it."

"Wait a minute," Zheng Kezang called to stop Lin Xian who was trying to resign. "The military minister proposed that the third division of the Longxiang Army go north to North Korea. Gu has already agreed, and you can dispatch it after you return to the army. However, you don't have to go straight to North Korea. You can go to the Governor's Mansion in Seogwipo first. The bitter cold of North Korea is far better than that of Jiangzuo. The Navy Department must not be negligent." Lin Xian retreated in response, and Zheng Kezang looked somewhere outside the house. "Now Lin Weirong can negotiate specific conditions with the North Koreans"

Not to mention how Lin Weirong and Cui Yingzhi are grinding their teeth, on the North Korean side, the Han River, which caused Chuntai a headache, has begun to freeze.Affected by the freezing of the river water and the coastal sea, Zheng Jun's navy had to withdraw from the line of the Han River and Ganghwa Island, leaving only a lone army of the [-]th Division of the Longxiang Army to face the enemy several times.

However, the cold weather was not useless to the Zheng army. Just as Chuntai led the army triumphantly across the Han River and marched into Seoul, the sentry of the Qing army unexpectedly discovered that in Gimpo County not far from Seoul, a former In the market town without city walls, there is actually a castle of ice sculptures.

"Extremely hateful." The urgent report quickly reached the ears of Chun Tae, who lived in the Deoksugung Palace of the Imperial Palace as a prince and assistant general. Although Chun Tae was not an excellent commander, he was also Understand the significance of Zheng Jun's fortress to the Qing army preparing to attack south. "Hai Ni actually intends to use this to divert the imperial army from going south. My lords, do you have any good suggestions?"

The princes of Eastern Mongolia have already gone to the Eastern Front, and the three generals outside the pass also have their own defense zones, and they cannot easily leave the country. Therefore, the highest status in front of Chuntai is only Sun Zhaqi, the deputy capital of Manchuria with a red flag. He thought for a while and came out. Lie Jin said: "The number of enemies in Jinpu is unknown, and we need to investigate carefully, but it is expected that the enemy will not dare to copy Seoul lightly, so as long as we find out the number of sea insurgencies, our army can reserve corresponding troops to guard Seoul, and the rest will continue southward. There is no way to stop it.”

Song Zhu, the right servant of the Ministry of War who supervises the grain platform, disagreed: "Leaving troops to guard Seoul will prevent Haini from attacking, but the grain road will be long after the army goes south. , How will our army deal with it? Between me and myself, if you can’t get rid of Jinpu’s enemy first, then it’s better not to rush forward rashly.”

"That's not acceptable," Chun Tai immediately shook his head. "The imperial court is very tight, and the soldiers are stagnant. There must be complaints in the country. It is still true what Mr. Sun said. You can divide your troops and advance. As for the food supply, you can send more soldiers to protect you. As long as you catch up with the false king Li Yu , North Korea’s overall situation is certain, and sooner or later, Haini will have to retreat.”