I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 60: Reporting to the Prefectural City, Emperor Tianqi Passes Away

The reason Chen Ying was not assigned to the recruit camp as a soldier was not because Chen Ying was a court official, and therefore the dynasty looked up to him.

Rather, it's because Chen Ying should also know something about military affairs.

Such "talent" should not be wasted by being sent to be an ordinary soldier.

After a moment's hesitation, Wang Chao said:
"Get up! We don't kneel here!"

Upon hearing Wang Chao's words, Chen Ying was overjoyed, finally able to survive.

Nevertheless, Chen Ying still bowed respectfully.

"Yes! Yes! Thank you, Chief!"

Then, Chen Ying straightened up.

"Hey, don't call me 'Big Boss,' just call me 'Chief' like everyone else."

"Yes! Chief!"

"Um
You've just joined us, and there are still many things you're not familiar with.

Now, you'll be working alongside Instructor Wu Ping as an assistant instructor.

Take a look at our military drills. Is there anything lacking? Please share your thoughts and point out any shortcomings in our training.

In addition, you will also hold the title of staff officer in the General Staff Department, and together with Chief of Staff Wang Sanshun, compile the military strategies you know into a book.”

"This"

Upon hearing this, a look of struggle and hesitation clearly appeared on Chen Ying's face.

Although, thanks to the policies of the Ming Taizu Emperor, the literacy rate in the Ming Dynasty was still quite high.

However, when it comes to high-level knowledge such as military affairs and the imperial examination, it is still very confidential and will not be easily spread.

Furthermore, many private skills are not easily passed on to outsiders.

For example, there was Zhou Tie, the head of the weapons manufacturing bureau, and his son Zhou Yan, the chief consultant.

In the beginning, they were not even very willing to teach blacksmithing skills.

However, since the whole family lived in Bird and Mouse Mountain, they had no other choice but to teach people blacksmithing and weapon making as required by the dynasty.

Even so, some of their core and unique skills are kept tightly under wraps.

According to tradition, it will probably be passed down to his son, Zhou Jie, in the future.

The dynasty did not press the matter too much.

His current requirements for standard weapons have not reached the point where they must be of the highest quality.

Given their current circumstances, it's a luxury for everyone to be equipped with swords and spears, let alone sophisticated weapons.

After all, having a blacksmith doesn't mean you can forge swords.

After all, forging swords and spears also requires materials.

So far, in just over ten days, more than a hundred people have followed Zhou Tie in forging weapons, but they have only managed to produce three or four hundred.

Firstly, because these people need to study, and secondly, because the iron is about to be exhausted, and they are using it sparingly.

Although the dynasty had already sent people down the mountain to try and purchase iron.

However, it wasn't so easy to find a seller right away.

Nowadays, not many people are willing to trade with these mountain bandits.

Well, if we find those big merchants and spend more money, there shouldn't be any problem.

After all, they were capable of selling out their country to the grasslands and the Jianzhou Tartars, so naturally they wouldn't care about selling it to this bandit.

Of course, the best solution would be for them to have their own iron mines, blast furnaces, and so on.

Unfortunately, they don't have that condition now either.

Otherwise, the dynasty would really like them to study blast furnace ironmaking and steelmaking.

Unfortunately, in his previous life, Wang Chao was just an ordinary person who only had a general understanding of the concepts of blast furnace iron and steelmaking.

Otherwise, once they have the raw materials, they won't have to worry about producing high-quality weapons; they can guarantee that every weapon is made of high-quality steel.

For now, we can only make them by hand for the time being.

If they can truly settle down later, he will definitely have people study blast furnace ironmaking and steelmaking.

However, these are all things to be discussed later, so let's leave them aside for now.

In conclusion, this world values ​​knowledge highly and generally does not easily pass it on to others.

Similarly, Chen Ying did not want to casually share the little military strategy he knew with others.

Even though his knowledge of military strategies was far inferior to that of those military noble families, he still did not want to easily pass them on to others.

Seeing his hesitation, Wang Chao's expression darkened slightly, and he exuded a compelling aura.

"What? Don't want to?"

"Ah~!"

Chen Ying suddenly realized that he had really lost his mind. He didn't even know what time it was. He was lucky to be alive, and he was still concerned about that insignificant so-called military strategy.

"How could that be? How could that be? Whatever the leader orders, I will do my utmost to complete."

"I was just recalling some military strategies that I knew so that I could copy them down later."

Upon hearing Chen Ying's words, Wang Chao finally smiled.

"Yes, I knew that Deputy Instructor Chen was a sensible person."

"Hehe, not at all, not at all. It's all thanks to the leader's excellent guidance that I've realized my past narrow-mindedness."

"Okay, San-shun, take Staff Officer Chen down to make the arrangements."

"Yes, leader!"

Wang Sanshun bowed and then came to Chen Ying's side.

Seeing Wang Sanshun's actions, Chen Ying, who was originally preparing to kneel down in salute, remembered that Wang Chao had said that kneeling was not customary here, so he clumsily imitated Wang Sanshun's actions and also gave Wang Chao and his men a military salute.

While the dynasty accepted Chen Ying's surrender and reorganized its troops, Li Wenshu, the county magistrate of Weiyuan County, sat blankly on a bamboo chair with lifeless eyes.

Beside him stood Wu Chang, the county magistrate, who was equally stunned, Wu Duoyun, the registrar, and a yamen runner who was reporting the news.

After nearly two days, news of Chen Ying's defeat and capture finally reached Weiyuan County.

"How could this happen? How could this happen?
Chen Ying was, after all, a centurion of a Ming Dynasty garrison, and the recruited militia had been training for almost a month. How could this be? How could they have been defeated so easily?
Are those bandits really that powerful?

"Sir, what should we do now?"
"What if... what if those thieves attack the county town? With our current defenses, we simply can't stop them."

Seeing the county magistrate Li Wenshu looking completely lost, Wu Duoyun, the registrar standing beside him, couldn't help but ask him in a somewhat fearful manner.

"How to do how to do?"

Li Wenshu muttered to himself.

At that moment, how could he know what to do?
"My lord, at this point, we have no choice but to report this to the prefectural government."

At this moment, Wu Chang had gradually recovered from his previous shock. Seeing the two men's appearance, he couldn't help but feel annoyed.

This person hasn't even come to kill you yet, so why are you so flustered and disoriented? You've completely lost your usual greed and cunning.

However, at this point, everyone was in the same boat; they couldn't escape either of them.

Therefore, despite his inner turmoil, he still offered his suggestions to Magistrate Li Wenshu.

"Yes, yes, we must report this to the Prefect immediately. I will write a petition for assistance and have it delivered to Taonan Prefecture."

At this moment, Li Wenshu no longer cared about his political achievements; saving his own life was the priority.

Weiyuan County was under the jurisdiction of Lintao Prefecture in the northwest, and it was about 100 li away from Weiyuan County.

If we ride at full speed, it will take less than a day.

Therefore, around noon on the second day, Ma Wenchang, the prefect of Lintao Prefecture, received Li Wenshu's petition for help and was so angry that he cursed loudly.

"A mere bunch of rioters and bandits dare to be so arrogant! And that Magistrate of Weiyuan County, Li Wenshu, and the Hundred-Household Commander Chen Ying are all useless cowards, unable to even suppress a group of rioters and bandits."

"boom!"

"Clang!"

After venting his anger for a while, Ma Wenchang finally sat down with a gloomy face, slamming his hand heavily on the table, almost knocking over the teacup.

Although he was extremely annoyed and angry, he still had to take action, since it was within his jurisdiction after all. He couldn't just sit idly by and watch the bandits grow stronger.

Moreover, judging from the information Li Wenshu reported, there must be at least one or two thousand bandits.

Even if Li Wenshu exaggerated, the number should still be at least a thousand.

If this is ignored, it will cause a huge mess.

"Here comes someone!"

"grown ups!"

A guard strode in and bowed.

"Yes, send someone to Taozhou Garrison and invite Commander Zheng Wanchun to come for a meeting!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Because it was late, Zheng Wanchun, the commander of Taozhou Guard, did not arrive until the next day.

After explaining the situation, Zheng Wanchun's expression turned serious. A gathering of one or two thousand bandits was no small number.

"I will immediately mobilize two battalions to encircle and annihilate those mountain bandits and rebels."
However, Lord Ma also understood the principle that "an army cannot move without supplies," and that deploying troops was not something that could be accomplished in a day or two.

Hearing Zheng Wanchun's words, Ma Wenchang frowned slightly.

"They're just a bunch of bandits."

"But they had a force of one or two thousand, and they had occupied Bird and Mouse Mountain and plundered a large amount of money and grain."

If they hold out to Bird Rat Mountain, they won't be so easy to wipe out."

"This"

Ma Wenchang frowned slightly, but ultimately agreed with this statement, and could only sigh as he said:

"Then please do it as soon as possible, General Zheng."

Every night and every day, the people of Weiyuan County would suffer another day of ravages at the hands of mountain bandits.

"Those food supplies..."

"Yes, I'll arrange for someone to prepare it!"

Although Ma Wenchang didn't want to pay that money and grain, he had no choice but to do so.

You can't expect a horse to run without feeding it, can you?
Even if it's a small amount, it still has to be given eventually.

While Ma Wenchang, Zheng Wanchun, and others were preparing to suppress the bandits, and Wang Chao and others were diligently training their troops, time quietly passed, and several days quickly went by.

On August 23, in the Wenhua Hall of the Imperial Palace in Shuntian Prefecture, the capital, Prince Xin, Zhu Youjian, knelt on the ground, followed by Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, Grand Secretary Huang Lijie, and other officials, a vast sea of ​​people kneeling in a dark mass.

Just yesterday, August 22nd, the Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youxiao finally passed away after struggling for a month.

At this moment, Wang Tiqian was reading the edict of the late Emperor Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao, while Wei Zhongxian stood behind him with a blank expression.

"...The fifth brother of the emperor, Prince Xin, was intelligent and well-known from a young age. He was naturally benevolent and filial. He loved to follow the ancestral precept of succession by the younger brother and greatly inherited the imperial lineage, and ascended the throne as emperor."

He should diligently cultivate virtuous character, be close to the wise and accept their advice, teach and govern diligently, cherish the people's livelihood, strictly maintain border defenses, and avoid excessive damage. All officials, both civil and military, should work together to assist him, strictly abide by the rules, and safeguard the peace and stability of the country.

The announcement was made both domestically and internationally.

Admire this! "

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Zhu Youjian and the civil and military officials behind him immediately bowed down and shouted loudly.

From this point on, Prince Xin, Zhu Youjian, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen, was about to usher in his era.

It was also an era of peasant uprisings and constant border raids by the Jianzhou Jurchens.

Soon after, the Tianqi Emperor passed away, and the edict announcing the succession of Prince Xin, Zhu Youjian, to the Chongzhen Emperor was proclaimed throughout the land.

In Lintao Prefecture, Prefect Ma Wenchang and Taozhou Garrison Commander Zheng Wanchun sat facing each other in the hall, unsure of what to do.

They have already made preparations for sending troops.

However, at this time, an imperial edict was issued, announcing the death of Emperor Tianqi (Zhu Youxiao), and the succession of Prince Xin (Zhu Youjian), Emperor Chongzhen.

They were stunned when they received the news.

If they start a military campaign at this time and expose the rampant banditry within their jurisdiction, will it displease the newly enthroned emperor?
So, for the sake of prudence, should we postpone the bandit suppression operation for a while?
Thank you all for your support! ().:*



(End of this chapter)