Southern Ming Rebel Army

"Young Master, this is my proposal for the establishment of the Intelligence Bureau. Please take a look at it," Meng Bian said to Meng Jun in a serious tone.

Early in the morning, before Meng Jun woke up, Meng Bian was calling him softly outside the door. Meng Jun sat on the chair with sleepy eyes, one hand on his chin, elbows on the table, reading Meng Bian's proposal. Last night, he and the generals discussed the shortcomings of the soldiers of each team during the military exercise yesterday, promoted some officers and demoted some people. They were busy until the early hours of the morning, so he was a little lack of energy early in the morning. Meng Jun yawned and forced himself to read.

"You wrote it yourself?" Meng Jun said in disbelief. He took a quick look at the organizational structure, which was surprisingly rigorous. From top to bottom, it included command, intelligence transmission, bribing officials, planning for Green Camp generals to rebel, collecting military intelligence, assassinating enemies, and even supervising generals in the army, investigating corruption and internal investigation. It covered everything. Meng Jun was very surprised. Looking at these dozens of thick sheets of paper, he didn't expect that a book boy like him was so powerful.

"Young Master, didn't you say before that one hero is worth three helpers, and there is strength in numbers? I also found a hero to help me," Meng Bian said with a hint of pride, and his originally serious face could hardly hold back.

"Pour me a cup of tea," Meng Jun glanced at Meng Bian and said casually. Meng Bian hurried out to get some water. Meng Jun perked up and looked at the documents presented by Meng Bian.

The highest officer in the Investigation Department is the Commander, followed by two Deputy Commanders, and four Assistant Commanders. After a closer look, Meng Jun was stunned. Isn't this the organizational template of the Jinyiwei? Could it be that Meng Bian is just copying it directly? However, Meng Bian had not returned from getting tea at this time, so Meng Jun continued to read patiently.

The seven commanders above the Department of Eavesdropping have four bureaus under their jurisdiction. The Investigation Bureau is responsible for intelligence investigation, military operations, and intelligence transmission; the Spy Bureau is responsible for bribing officials to defect; the Action Bureau is responsible for assassination operations; and the Training Bureau is responsible for the training of all spies within the Department of Investigation. Each of the four bureaus has a chief officer and two deputy officers. The number of people in each bureau is not yet fixed. At the same time, the South Guard and the North Guard are set up. The South Guard has two bureaus under its jurisdiction to monitor the internal affairs and protect military commanders at all levels. It is directly commanded by the deputy commander. The North Guard also has two bureaus under its jurisdiction, which are responsible for interrogation and detention of prisoners.

At this time, Meng Bian came in with tea and asked as soon as he entered the door, "Master, how is it?"

"Well, that's fine. Let's organize it according to this structure and see how many people have been recruited now?"

"Master, it's only been a few days, and I hired one person. He has been busy doing this these few days. Just these dozen pieces of paper took me five or six days."

"Oh, then let's do it according to this." Meng Jun didn't have any good suggestions, so he asked Meng Bian to try it.

"Master, the money is not enough. Ten thousand taels of silver is not enough."

"How much do you want?"

"Young Master has a plan on the last page," Meng Bian said with a smile.

Meng Jun glanced at Meng Bian again and said, "Just tell me the budget."

"Master, we have calculated carefully that we will need at least 300,000 taels to complete the layout in Jiangnan."

Meng Jun was surprised to hear this. There was so much money. Meng Jun turned to the last page and read it carefully. Then he said, "Three hundred thousand taels... It's too much. I can't take it out. So I'll write you a note to approve another 20,000 taels, and add it to the last 10,000 taels to make a total of 30,000. You can set up the shelf first, and tell me when you've used it up."

Meng Bian also knew that it was impossible to get the three hundred thousand taels directly, but he was willing to give up and said unwillingly, "Master, setting up branches in various cities in Jiangnan, recruiting spies, and purchasing real estate in various places all cost money."

Hearing this, Meng Jun patted Meng Bian on the head and said, "You've become a big fat man in one bite. Who told you to set up branches everywhere? You should go to big cities like Jiangning and Hangzhou first. Money should be spent step by step. With only two of you, how long will it take you to move with 300,000 taels? Besides, I've given you all the money, so you don't have to spend money on other places?"

Meng Bian covered his head and walked out of the door with the approval note in his hand, then turned to the front hall to find Yang En.

"Didn't you just take 10,000 taels a few days ago? Why do you want another 20,000 taels?" Yang En frowned as he looked at the notes.

"This was approved by the Grand Commander and is for military intelligence purposes only."

Although Yang En was somewhat dissatisfied, he still frowned and stamped his seal when he saw that the note was signed by Meng Jun himself.

Meng Jun had just finished breakfast and was about to go to the Arsenal again when Zhu Tu sent someone to report that a master craftsman who made cannons was found in the city. This was a treasure. Meng Jun had just walked to the door of the lobby when he saw Zhang Bo walking towards him in a hurry. As soon as he saw Meng Jun, he hurriedly said, "Grand Commander, there is something important." Meng Jun saw that his face was solemn and knew that Zhang Bo must have something important to tell. Fearing that there would be too many people watching, he took Zhang Bo back to the study.

"Tell me, what's the matter?" Meng Jun asked after the two of them sat down.

"My father has some close friends in Nanjing. Today, a verbal message came that the new governor-general of Jiangnan, Hong Chengchou, hosted a banquet in Nanjing some time ago for nearly a hundred nobles, wealthy people, tycoons, and maritime merchants who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. A total of 360,000 silver coins were raised for military supplies. During the banquet, Hong Chengchou revealed that he would mobilize an army of 100,000 to besiege Suzhou." After saying this, Zhang Bo wiped the sweat off his forehead with lingering fear.

Meng Jun suddenly heard the news, and his heart tightened. He took a sip of tea and said, "Do you know when Nanjing will send troops, who will lead the army, how many people will be in the Eight Banners, and how many people will be in the Green Camp?"

"The messenger didn't say when the troops would be dispatched, nor did he say who would lead the troops. As for the Eight Banners and the Green Camp, we know nothing about them." Zhang Bo thought for a moment, smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Meng Jun frowned, but soon relaxed his brows and said calmly, "It's okay, I will send people to investigate. I don't think it's possible to send out 100,000 troops. There are 100,000 Qing troops under Jiangyin City. Where can Hong Chengchou get 100,000 troops? Even if he really sends 100,000 troops, we can still hold on. Master Zhang, you go down first."

Hearing this, Zhang Bo's expression relaxed a little. He nodded and bowed, saying, "That's good, Grand Commander, I'll leave first." After that, he turned around and pushed the door open and left.

After Zhang Bo left, Meng Jun stood up and sat down again. He picked up "The Art of War" from the bookshelf at the back and started reading. After a while, Meng Jun slammed the book on the table again and couldn't read it at all.

"Whenever something important happens, you need to stay calm. Huh... Huh... Huh." Meng Jun took a few deep breaths, walked out of the study and shouted loudly, "Gao Yi!"

"I'm here, Grand Commander." Gao Yi responded from not far away, and soon Gao Yi ran over hurriedly.

Meng Jun frowned and scolded, "Where have you been? You are my personal guard, and you are running around everywhere every day, not doing your job."

Gao Yi said with some grievance, "It was the old lady who came to me and asked me to find some maids to serve the Grand Commander. The old lady also scolded me and said that I didn't take good care of the Grand Commander and was no match for Meng Bian."

"Alright, alright, stop complaining and don't look for a maid or anything. I don't have time to do these things now. Go and find Bi'an for me. I have something important to do. Hurry up," Meng Jun said irritably, waving his hand.

"Today is really not going well. I was scolded by the old lady early in the morning, and just now I was scolded by the governor." Gao Yi scratched his head and muttered depressedly, "But the maid next to the old lady is pretty, but her temper is too bad." Gao Yi thought in his mind, but his pace did not slow down at all, and he ran out of the door in a flash.