Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 142 Make good use of Wang Yangming and arrest the general and bring him to Beijing!

Wang Xian continued, "General Hang, I hope you will obey the king's orders and not be accused of being disloyal!"

Hang Xiong knew that Wang Xian must have obtained some information and might even have taken control of the situation, otherwise he would not have suddenly appeared in Datong Prefecture and suddenly asked him to do so.

to this end.

Hang Xiong didn't dare to argue anymore and could only bow and agree.

then.

Hang Xiong led Liu Zhen and other officers and soldiers to rush towards these rebel soldiers.

As they walked, Liu Zhen said to Hang Xiong, "This Wang Dongping is really amazing. He can really achieve whatever the emperor asks him to do! Just like when the previous emperor asked him to mobilize troops to Yingzhou and win a great victory!"

"It's not that simple."

"Our emperor must have spent a lot of money on Ye Bushou's training, and he has even put a lot of thought into strengthening the army."

"Otherwise, Wang Xian wouldn't have the confidence to come to Datong Prefecture suddenly."

Hang Xiong stopped and looked at Liu Zhen again, "Do you think Wang Dongping is deliberately bluffing and coming to Datong Prefecture to play the empty city trick?"

"No way?"

"He doesn't need to save Yan Song."

Liu Zhendao.

Hang Xiong said: "Not necessarily. Yan Song is the emperor's man, and he may not really watch him die."

"Then he could have simply not allowed Yan Song to come to Datong."

Liu Zhen replied.

As the two were talking, their own spies outside the Great Wall came running over, knelt in front of Hang Xiong and said:

"Master! Yesterday, the government troops ambushed Jinang's tribe, and Jinang himself was captured alive."

After hearing this, Hang Xiong looked at Liu Zhen with horror.

"Wang Dongping, he is really cunning!"

then.

Hang Xiong showed a fierce look on his face and said to Liu Zhen: "Kill all those who are causing trouble! Don't spare any of them!"

Liu Zhen bowed and said yes.

then.

Half an hour later.

Liu Zhen encountered these riotous soldiers and said, "Yan Song is not in the governor's office now. He is hiding somewhere else. I will take you there!"

These rebel soldiers were originally servants of Hang Xiong and Liu Zhen, so they followed them.

But as soon as these chaotic soldiers arrived at a courtyard, ambushes suddenly appeared everywhere.

All these rebel soldiers were also killed.

An hour later.

Liu Zhen informed Hang Xiong about this.

Hang Xiong came to report to Wang Xian, saying, "I have a report to the Ministry, the rebels refused to surrender, so I had to suppress them all. Now they have been completely wiped out!"

Wang Xian pretended to be distressed: "What a pity!"

then.

Wang Xian said, "To be specific, this incident was caused by the mistakes made by Minister Yan and Minister Yang in discussing military pay and their lack of consideration for the situation on the border. I will have to file a petition to impeach them!"

"The minister is wise!"

Hang Xiong immediately bowed and replied, secretly happy.

He knew that Wang Xian's decision to make Yan Song and Yang Shangxue bear the responsibility for this incident was a hint that he should give money to ensure his safety.

then.

That night.

Hang Xiong gave Wang Xian five hundred taels of gold.

Wang Xian naturally accepted it, but then reported it to Zhu Houcong, accusing Hang Xiong of bribing him and refusing to obey orders, which delayed the great victory for several days and also led to the mutiny.

……

Capital.

Zhu Houcong is reviewing the newly compiled Yellow Book of Gyeonggi Province.

The Yellow Book records the current number of young and middle-aged people in Gyeonggi Province.

According to the Yellow Book.

A large number of refugees from Lianghuai were also transported to Gyeonggi Province for resettlement.

The number of young and strong people in Gyeonggi Province has reached 80,000!

These 80,000 young and strong men are the number of young and strong men that Zhu Houcong can directly control.

Because these young and strong men no longer had any clans behind them, the people who managed them were all officials directly appointed by Zhu Houcong.

Now Zhu Houcong only needs to wait for Wang Yangming to report the specific expenses of maintaining the army.

He could decide the size of a new army based on existing deposits and treasury income.

Wang Yangming is determining the budget for training a new central army according to Zhu Houcong's requirements.

Wang Yangming already knew about the matchlock rifle, and also knew about the expenses of the Yongwei Battalion, which was led by Zhou Shangwen and was drawn from the inspection team and temporarily registered under the name of the Beijing Camp, and was a mixed unit with infantry, cavalry and artillery.

Therefore, Wang Yangming is not unaware of the maintenance cost and training cost of the matchlock gun after it is equipped to the troops.

After Wang Yangming determined the budget, he handed the draft to Zhu Houcong.

Zhu Houcong met him in the imperial study the next day.

"His Majesty!"

"After consulting with the military officials, I believe that if we want to build a new army of 20,000 people, we will need about 3 million taels of silver at once, and then we will need 3.5 million taels of silver every year to maintain the combat effectiveness of this new army."

"Of course, this does not take into account cases of embezzlement, corruption or even ghost employment."

"According to the fact that only 30% of the military expenditure of this dynasty is actually used, we need to invest 9 million taels of silver at one time, and tens of millions of taels of silver every year!"

"If we only want to build an elite force of 20,000 people."

At this time, Wang Yangming also handed a thick question book he had prepared to Zhu Houcong, and also briefly mentioned a few words.

Zhu Houcong flipped through the memorial and looked at the expenses for purchases and drills, saying, "Now that the imperial treasury has established Xingming Bank to lend money, after deducting expenses, the annual income that can be increased by is only 3 million taels of silver. Add the deposits from the confiscation of property and the deposits left by the previous emperor, and the total is more than 10 million taels of silver."

"If we take into account the increased taxes that can be collected after the establishment of the army, as well as the expanded other revenues, it will be enough to maintain such a new army."

"So, issue an order to restore the Mighty Camp!"

"The scale will be based on the total number of regular and auxiliary troops, which is more than 20,000!"

Zhu Houcong said in a decisive tone.

Wang Yangming bowed and said yes.

In Zhu Houcong's view, although 20,000 elite troops were not many, they were enough to suppress any reactionary forces in the Ming Dynasty.

Because the strongest field troops that could maintain the rule of the world in history usually only had a number of 10,000 or 20,000. As for the navy that needs to be established in the future to open up sea resources, it will naturally have to wait until the financial situation improves in the future.

anyway.

Now we need to build up an elite field force of 20,000.

Relying on this army, plus the 5,000-strong Yongwei Battalion and Jinyiwei, it would be no problem to send more than 10,000 troops to Jiangnan to rectify the tax policy.

At least there is no need to worry that the Nine Frontiers will take advantage of Zhu Houcong's future efforts to reorganize Jiangnan to cause chaos.

Historically, when the Qing Dynasty conquered the south of the Yangtze River, it sent no more than 10,000 elite troops.

As for the problems of embezzlement and ghost employment mentioned by Wang Yangming.

Zhu Houcong is not worried at the moment.

Because the Minister of War was Wang Yangming.

Wang Yangming's act of killing so many gentry and wealthy businessmen had already offended the conservative and ritual-protecting literati. If he dared to embezzle, he would be giving the ritual-protecting literati an opportunity to use him as a handle.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong was not worried about the Ministry of War's procurement and provision of military supplies and payment of military salaries.

Zhu Houcong's only worry was that the high-level and middle-level generals of this army would embezzle and withhold military pay in the future, or even draw salaries without doing anything.

In this regard.

Zhu Houcong also had a solution.

He planned to first infiltrate the orphans he had trained into the Mighty Camp.

Also.

He also planned to establish a system in the future where there would be two chief officers at the same level at the top and middle levels of the Mighty Camp, which would be the political commissar system in later generations.

Besides.

He also planned to select loyal and brave soldiers from the nine borders to form a military court, using this army from different sources to supervise and check the Mighty Camp.

of course.

This is what we will do later.

just now.

The most important thing is to build up this new army first.

Fortunately, the treasury is still sufficient at present.

Money is naturally not a problem.

Zhu Houcong did not need to embezzle the 4 million taels of silver from Taicang that were used to support the border troops every year, nor did he need to forcibly seize funds from other ministries to support the army.

Therefore, there is no need to worry about excessive obstruction from the outer court and the nine frontiers.

Recruiting young and strong people is not a problem either.

There are now 80,000 young and strong people in Gyeonggi Province, and we can definitely select the best from them.

Even among these young and strong men, many were officers with practical combat experience in the Zhengde Dynasty. They were only placed in the Gyeonggi Province Inspection Team after being laid off.

There is no problem for these people to continue to serve as middle and lower-level officers.

It just takes time to procure military supplies.

Another thing is that practice also takes time.

Zhu Houcong could only wait.

But Zhu Houcong did not just sit there and wait.

He knew that his plan to restore the Weiwuying and establish a powerful army that could serve as the central court to suppress local forces was not in line with the political ideas of most landlords and bureaucrats of that era.

Therefore, he needs to be on guard against someone secretly trying to trip him up.

It is not ruled out that some radical opponents may go to extremes.

It is also possible that short-sighted and extremely selfish landlords and bureaucrats will take some measures.

Now Zhu Houcong re-established the Weiwu Camp, relying on Wang Yangming.

Because Wang Yangming himself wanted to rely on making great achievements to strengthen the School of Mind, prove the correctness of the School of Mind, and then gain recognition and praise from future emperors.

Wang Yangming also had a group of believers that he had cultivated over the years, and these believers could carry out specific tasks for him.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong knew that if he was an opponent, the simplest and most brutal way would be to get rid of Wang Yangming, or get rid of Wang Yangming's father.

Looking at history and later experiences, Zhu Houcong knew that real power struggles sometimes do not involve complicated procedures or strategies with great variables, but rather the most direct approach, either assassination or poisoning.

The former is very difficult.

After all, Wang Yangming was the Minister of War and had guards, so he had to clear the streets whenever he went out.

He is also cautious enough and has great martial arts skills.

The latter is a relatively easier way to achieve.

Moreover, Zhu Houcong clearly remembered that in history, during the Wanli period, two prime ministers had experienced fierce power struggles and power changes due to the death of their fathers.

Now Wang Yangming's father is naturally the person he focuses on protecting.

Zhu Houcong summoned Wang Jing to the palace and said, "Send more people to Yuyao secretly, transfer the best doctors there, and prepare enough medicinal materials to prevent the sudden outbreak of plague there. In short, Wang Hua's safety must be guaranteed. As long as he can live until the reconstruction of Weiwu Camp is successful next year, he can be awarded the hereditary commander's merit!"

After hearing this, Wang Jing hurriedly bowed and said yes, looking very excited.

"But if you fail, just commit suicide. There's no need to come and apologize!"

Zhu Houcong said.

Wang Jing said yes again.

Wang Yangming had always hoped to become the Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty.

in history.

His disciples recorded that he felt very resentful when he learned that he was appointed Minister of War in Nanjing.

In this life, Wang Yangming finally got what he wanted, and he really devoted himself to preparing for the emperor to rebuild the Weiwu Camp.

to this end.

Wang Yangming recommended his disciples to various important positions.

Zhu Houcong approved all of this and cooperated with Wang Yangming's work.

The chief officers of various departments of the Ministry of War, the Imperial Household Department, and the border towns were almost all replaced by Wang Yangming's people, and Wang Yangming relied on these people to purchase war horses, collect fodder, and build chariots and armor.

During this time.

Zhu Houcong also received the content of Wang Xian's memorial impeaching Hang Xiong and the great victory at Datong.

"it is good!"

Zhu Houcong slammed the table and stood up.

He praised the victory because it allowed him to shut up those civil servants who always threatened him with the invaders, and cure their fear of the invaders, which also allowed him to temporarily stop worrying about the safety of the capital.

As for Hang Xiong.

Now that Wang Xian has impeached him, it means that Wang Xian has taken control of the situation in Datong through this great victory, and he can also exercise the power of the emperor at will to deal with Hang Xiong.

Zhu Houcong then ordered: "Send an order, order the inspector to arrest Hang Xiong and bring him to the capital!"

(End of this chapter)