The substitute prince: Reported the emperor's brother at the beginning

Ning Yi told Zeng Zhizhong, who now had a much better temperament: "Here, I leave this prince to you."

"You must help this prince to guard this place. There must not be any mistakes."

Zeng Zhizhong cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, rest assured. I will manage this place well and there will be no mistakes."

Zeng Zhizhong was also surprised, even though he started to manage the daily lives of the servants in the prince's mansion.

He also felt that Ning Yi was training some guards who had been trained since childhood.

After all, his training method only requires literacy, without the need to read books of sages or understand more of the content.

It also trains physical fitness and military formations.

This is clearly a development towards guarding. By training them from a young age, these hundreds of guards can indeed be made extremely loyal.

But when Ning Yi brought them to the military camp that had already been set up.

Zeng Zhizhong was shocked. In just a few days, one hundred students managed to raise an army of several thousand.

And judging from the way they are training, it won’t be long before they become a strong army.

Such a speed of forming an army is embarrassing.

Everyone knows that it is not easy to train elite troops. Even without several years of practice, it is difficult to develop strong combat capabilities.

But just looking at the 3,000 new troops that are beginning to take shape, Zeng Zhizhong feels that they should be able to reach a certain size within three months.

Of course, it still requires a bloody battle.

Zeng Zhizhong, however, bowed and said, "Your Highness, forming an army like this is truly as fast as lightning."

"However, Zeng suggested that the recruitment of servants should not be limited to the capital."

Ning Yi was puzzled: "Why?"

Although the disaster relief in Jiangdong has begun to take shape and has been effective, more and more refugees are leaving.

But there are still a large number of people near the capital.

We can recruit a lot of people nearby, so is there any need to go far away?

But Zeng Zhizhong said: "Zeng thinks there are three reasons."

"First, if we recruit everyone from the refugee camps near the capital, there's a high probability that cliques will form."

Ning Yi frowned and nodded slightly: "You say."

Zeng Zhizhong raised a second finger and said, "Secondly, the refugees in the refugee camps have traveled thousands of miles from their hometowns to the capital. Their experiences far exceed those of ordinary people, so it's inevitable that they may be a bit wild."

Ning Yi understood what he meant. It was simply that the refugees in such a refugee camp had to walk such a long distance and pass through many places.

They have seen more and are naturally more thoughtful than those who just stay at home.

Seeing that Ning Yi had taken it in, Zeng Zhizhong continued, "Thirdly, Your Highness, if the Prince's Mansion frequently recruits servants from the refugee camp, it's inevitable that someone with ulterior motives will discover it and try to sabotage the situation."

This surprised Ning Yi. He really hadn't thought of this.

But now, he has recruited hundreds of children, probably in the eyes of others.

Ning Yi specifically recruited a group of little brats and trained them to be loyal guards.

After all, it is normal for a prince to have hundreds of guards.

Look at how many elite soldiers there are in the Eastern Palace. Each of them has distinctive armor and weapons similar to those of the Imperial Guards. Their combat effectiveness is very strong.

There are also many people in the palace with the Fourth Prince, and they are all elite.

And the Sixth Prince Ning Yi recruited hundreds of children from the refugee camp and trained them as guards. Isn't that too much?

But Ning Yi believed that if someone with ulterior motives noticed this, they might send in a few spies, and it would be difficult to investigate at that time.

"So where do you think we can go?"

Zeng Zhizhong smiled and said, "Of course it's the place with the most serious disasters, Jiangdong."

He pointed southward and said, "A thousand miles east of Jiangdong has been struck by disaster. The people are starving, and many have lost both their parents."

"Moreover, they often stay at home and rarely go out. Whether it's their background, knowledge, or vision, they are all ordinary, and they don't have too many ulterior motives. They are also good enough to be trained to become pillars of society."

Everyone can see that Ning Yi's crash course for military officers can indeed be trained to become elites.

Although they cannot be compared with famous generals and officers from military families, there are many of them.

Moreover, the grassroots officers will all be Ning Yi’s students by then, so who would dare to rebel?

Ning Yi thought about it and nodded: "You are right."

If we recruit hundreds of children from Jiangdong and take them to the disaster-stricken area to raise these suffering children, the reason that we cannot bear to see them suffer will be enough.

If anyone in the court dared to criticize Ning Yi about this matter, Ning Yi would ask them to go to Jiangdong to provide disaster relief. There were so many refugees, couldn't they go and save them?

I believe that none of those hypocritical ministers would be willing to go.

Zeng Zhizhong added, "Besides, even if someone wanted to mix in sand, they wouldn't spread it in a disaster area as far away as Jiangdong."

This is what made Ning Yi completely relieved. He looked at Qin Haifeng.

Qin Haifeng, the silly, dark-skinned man, with his big, dazed eyes, saw His Highness looking at him and bowed, "Your Highness, I think what Mr. Zeng said is correct."

At first, Qin Haifeng looked down on Zeng Zhizhong.

He is just a poor scholar. It is because his daughter became the female clerk of His Highness that he got a small management position.

To put it bluntly, in Qin Haifeng's eyes, a girl like Zeng Rou is just a maid.

However, Zeng Zhizhong's actions and performance when he arrived at the prince's mansion have made the rough Qin Haifeng cooperate. This scholar has some skills.

He felt that Zeng Zhizhong's suggestions were very correct. He also saw the current importance of Shu Tong and naturally did not want any spies among them.

Ning Yi nodded: "Okay, in that case, this prince will send someone to Jiangdong to find him."

Zeng Zhizhong also said, "Your Highness, there is also the issue of manpower."

"You can use the Brave Warrior Camp's signboard once or twice, but if you do it too often, people will still find out. So you can't recruit soldiers near the capital for a long time."

With the advice from the servant just now, Ning Yi naturally understood.

"Going to Jiangdong too?"

Zeng Zhizhong suddenly shook his head: "That's not necessary."

"Zeng believes that recruiting one or two groups from Jiangdong will be enough. If there are too many, the Jiangdong Gang will form. By then, it will be difficult for people from other places to join His Highness' army, and being ostracized will become the norm."

"Zeng suggested that the rest could be recruited elsewhere. Of course, the recruits don't have to be from the disaster area."

"Zeng believes that soldiers who are honest and sincere, and who endure hardship and perseverance, are easiest to command. Therefore, those who work in the desert, on the river, and in the forest are given the highest priority."

Ning Yi agreed with Zeng Zhizhong's words. The types he mentioned were indeed the best source of soldiers.

They are even more reliable than refugees. After all, refugees are forced to join the army because they cannot get enough food.

If they are well fed and well watered, how many of them would be willing to continue serving in the army?

Only those who are willing to endure hardship and suffering will think that being a soldier is better, and it is all voluntary.

Of course, the same is true for the book boy.

In the Jiangdong direction, it is enough to recruit one or two batches, and the others need to be recruited from other directions.

Otherwise, all the servants will be from Jiangdong in the future.

As a result, all the officers in the army are from Jiangdong and have completely become the Jiangdong Gang. What about the personnel from other places?

Ning Yi wanted to conquer the world, not just for Jiangdong.

On the way back, Qin Haifeng said worriedly, "Your Highness, is it feasible to entrust such an important place and such complicated matters to Zeng Zhizhong?"

"If he has evil intentions, then it's all over, right?"

The entire Yongying Camp has thousands of soldiers, and there are also many families of nearby civilians.

Hundreds of laborers and craftsmen are busy every day.

There are all kinds of food, iron, weapons, cloth, and stone.

These were all collected by Ning Yi from everywhere. With these things, tens of thousands of troops can be used.

Everyone was worried about handing the management over to Zeng Zhizhong, who had just joined Ning Yi not long ago.

Once a problem occurs, at the very least, all our forces will be lost, and at the worst, we will be left with nothing.

Ning Yi rode on his horse and said calmly, "At present, this prince has no reliable candidates."

"In terms of management, Zeng Zhizhong is indeed an expert. Managing such a large military camp and its miscellaneous items shouldn't be a problem."

Changing the subject, Ning Yi chuckled confidently and said, "Although Zeng Zhizhong has only been with me for a short time, I believe he will not betray me."

This is Ning Yi's confidence. He can also see what Zeng Zhizhong cares about most.

It’s nothing more than first, two children.

Now both children are in the prince's palace. The daughter follows Ning Yi as a clerk, and the son has just recovered from his illness. Although he is only thirteen years old, he has also joined the elite class.

If Zeng Zhizhong dares to act recklessly, Ning Yi can take care of his children at any time.

In addition, the intelligence department has deployed several spies specifically in the direction of the military camp.

On the surface, they are just helpers and Zeng Zhizhong's subordinates, but they are secretly monitoring his every move.

Otherwise, how could such an important position be given to Zeng Zhizhong?

Second, he simply wanted to take part in the imperial examination and have a good future.

But Zeng Zhizhong’s current situation is such that even eating has become a problem, let alone passing the imperial examination.

Although he was a scholar, no one wanted him and he couldn't make it.

If Ning Yi succeeds in his bid for the throne, Zeng Zhizhong will have the merit of following the dragon, which will be enough to bring honor to the family.

After returning to the Prince's Mansion, the two hundred new students recruited here have been settled in for several days.

Each of them looks much stronger than the refugees.

Before I knew it, it was already the fourth batch of students.

Looking at them standing quietly in rows in the square, listening to the prince speaking to them from the podium.

Everyone was full of high spirits and shouted a few words.

Qin Haifeng, who was standing next to them, never dared to look down on these little brats again.

I didn't expect that after a few months, hundreds of people were released and could really form an army of 3,000.

No wonder His Highness has always valued them and given them the best things, whether it is food, drink, clothing, or even the best trauma medicine.

This time, Qin Haifeng actively contacted the Beijing camp and bought a large number of war horses.

A group of them stayed in the military camp and were forced to train hundreds of cavalrymen.

The others were left in the prince's palace, nominally for the guards, but actually for the training of these students.

People say horse riding is difficult to train, so train hard.

If you get hurt, there are good doctors and good plasters, and you have enough energy to keep you going.

I still don't believe they can't be trained.

When they arrived at the camp, the cavalry still had some hired old cavalrymen training day and night. After a few months, these cavalrymen were qualified enough to go to the battlefield.

Qin Haifeng could also be sure that if it were the dozens of servants he brought with him, they would all look very majestic.

He also trains every day, but these servants are no match for him if he fights alone.

However, if they were recruited into the army, these servants could be dispersed and become junior officers, commanding and training soldiers in battle.

His dozens of servants don't have that ability.

However, Ning Yi followed Zeng Zhizhong's advice and had these two hundred children carefully screened, including their parents.

See if someone has mixed sand in it. After all, these servants are of great use to him.

Once someone discovers the problem, it will be a serious crime.

Then he asked the intelligence department to lead the first two servants and the caravan to Jiangdong to screen new servants.

Just finished a bunch of chores here.

The butler came to report again: "Your Highness, the iron material has been purchased."

Ning Yi nodded: "Has it been delivered to the camp?"

"Yes." The butler handed Ning Yi the bill: "Your Highness, please review it."

Ning Yi took it and looked at it, then frowned immediately: "Why is it only a thousand pounds?"

The butler smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, there are several iron mines nearby, and many people are collecting iron materials everywhere."

"It's very expensive. I paid a huge price for it because of your brand. Otherwise, they wouldn't sell it to me at all."

This made Ning Yi very dissatisfied.

In the direction of the Yongying Camp, they are going to build an army of tens of thousands.

Whether it is armor, helmet, or weapons, they all require good iron.

That’s not all, there’s also the three-barreled gun and bow arrows that Ning Yi asked to be made, as well as the big thick tube that he just told the blacksmith foreman to make.

The amount of iron required is quite huge.

Even though the iron materials collected from the warehouses of the merchants whose properties were confiscated were sent over, it was still seriously insufficient.

I had to buy it with cash, but it was still not available.

"Have you found out who bought it?"

The housekeeper explained: "There are several families, such as the Xiao family and the Jia family in Dongguan Town."

"Moreover, there are several members of the Beijing Camp behind them. According to reports from the Intelligence Department, the Second and Fourth Princes' men should be among them."

Ning Yi understood immediately.

It was obvious that these two princes, after learning that Emperor Wu's condition had worsened, were trying to expand their strength as quickly as possible.

In the capital, if one wants to seize the throne, the support of court officials is important.

But the last step, forcibly leading the army to fight for it, is also a very important link.

No one wants to give up the throne that is so close to him, and end up drinking a cup of poisoned wine.

Ning Yi thought for a moment and said, "You go down first."

After the butler left, Ning Yi frowned and knocked on the table. If the iron material problem was not solved, his army would be empty-handed. Was he going to fight the two princes with wooden sticks?

Zeng Rou next to her is now in much better spirits. Her father has surrendered to His Highness and is currently working for His Highness.

Her brother was in the prince's mansion, so she had nothing to worry about.

To her, the Prince's Mansion truly became her home.

Only if the Sixth Prince is well, their family can live a better life.

Zeng Rou pondered for a while and said, "Your Highness, why don't we go somewhere else to make some purchases?"

There are several caravans outside the Sixth Prince's Mansion.

Ning Yi shook his head slightly: "It's a bit too far, a drop in the bucket."

Zeng Rou pondered for a moment, then smiled bitterly and shook her head, "But those near the capital aren't allowed to buy. It would be great if they all came to Your Highness's side."

"Hmm?" Ning Yi suddenly became interested and looked up at her.

This made Zeng Rou feel uncomfortable, and she immediately said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I spoke too much."