Wang Pu smiled and did not refute Liu Rushi's argument. However, he did not agree with Liu Rushi's opinion in his heart, and did not intend to do as she said. The military secretary is equivalent to a staff officer. Liu Rushi's opinions are only for reference. If everything is done according to what she said, then it would be a matter of being the subject.

It is important to bring the army of the three towns in Jiangbei back to their hearts, but these three towns are not Wang Pu's direct line. For these miscellaneous armies, Wang Pu only has one purpose, that is, Chairman Jiang's trick to deal with local warlords - differentiation and disintegration: if you can be included, you can be included, if you cannot be included, you can be annihilated on the spot, and you must never tolerate evil spirits.

Like Zuo Liangyu, Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, Jiang Xiang, Tang Tong, Wang Chengyin and others were actually warlords in troubled times. The troops of each town were nominally the official army of the Ming Dynasty, but in fact they were their private army! Even if Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo were pinned out, there were still warlords of all sizes under them, and the troops of each town would not obey the orders of the Ming court.

"well."

Liu Rushi Bingxue was smart and had guessed Wang Pu’s inner thoughts. Then he sighed and said, “The enemy is going to dismantle the elite soldiers of the three towns in Jiangbei. He almost killed his wings. I am happy that Jiannu from the north. Has the Marquis thought about what would Zuo Liangyu from Wuchang think? What if he led 800,000 elite soldiers along the Yangtze River eastward?"

"Elite soldiers?" Wang Pu smiled and said, "Haha, do you think the troops under Zuo Liangyu, Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo, and Liu Zeqing are elite soldiers?"

"Isn't it?" Liu Rushi said in surprise, "Zuo Liangyu, Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing are all long-standing generals who have experienced many battles and have great military achievements."

"Of course not." Wang Pu said coldly, "Zuo Liangyu, Gao Jie, and Liu Liangzuo can be said to have experienced many battles and made great achievements, but their troops are mobs. Such an army is more than enough to bully the people. If you really want to go to the battlefield, you will only be worthy of Jiannu and the thieves as food!"

Wang Pu has trained soldiers in Datong, so he certainly knows how difficult it is to build an elite soldier!

To build an elite army that cannot be dragged down or defeated, it not only requires a lot of money, but also requires the baptism of war. The real elite army is tempered in blood and fire, not a person who can transform it by carrying tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of strong men.

In Datong, Wang Pu invested nearly one million taels of silver, and personally led his army into danger and fought with the Mongols several bloody battles, and finally created four thousand elite soldiers!

How can such elite soldiers be built by building? Sun Chuanting and Wang Pu rely on the wealthy land in Jiangnan, and have only trained 100,000 new troops to now. Only 100,000 new troops are still far from elite soldiers! Zuo Liangyu, Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing and others want money but no money, and no food. What can they do to build elite soldiers?

Zuo Liangyu, who is entrenched in Wuchang, is known as 800,000, but in Wang Pu's opinion, the army that can be truly capable of fighting may be less than 8,000. The rest are either the people who are enslaved by the Left Army or the families who follow the army, and they are all bluffing and scaring things.

In official history, Li Zicheng was beaten by Jiannu in Guanzhong and had no choice but to turn to Huguang. As a result, he defeated Zuo Liangyu's "800,000 elite soldiers" with just tens of thousands of defeated generals. When Zuo Liangyu heard that Li Zicheng was coming, he was so scared that he quickly gave up Wuchang and fled to Nanjing along the Yangtze River. He still wanted to face and put up the banner of "clearing the king's side", saying that he wanted to go to Nanjing to kill the treacherous minister Ma Shiying.

Such an army will not have anything but harm the people. What's the use of keeping it?

Liu Rushi curled her lips and stopped talking, but it can be seen that she was still a little dissatisfied. Although she had vision and ambitions, she had never experienced military affairs and did not know the depth of the water.

Wang Pu smiled and said, "Don't be dissatisfied, you will know when you arrive at Gaoyou."

At the end of October of the 16th year of Chongzhen (1643), the Ming Dynasty Jingnan Hou and the governor of the five provinces Wang Pu led an army of 40,000 to the north.

In early November, the army arrived in Gaoyou.

Under Wang Pu Ling, Gao Jie's army and Liu Zeqing's army had gathered in the Gaoyou area a few days ago. General officers Li Benshen, Wu Shengzhao, Gao Jinku, Li Chengdong, Liu Konghe, Liu Hongji, and Li Huajing came to the Gaoyou Canal Transportation Terminal to welcome Wang Pu.

In order to shock Li Benshen, Li Chengdong and others, let these generals of the miscellaneous army see the majesty of the "Central Army" of the Ming Dynasty. Wang Pu ordered the navy fleet to line up, and all the cannons were placed on the port side. The two musket battalions along the canal were also lined up in four columns, carrying bayonets on their shoulders, and sang "The flag is fluttering" and walking together.

At the Cao Transport Wharf, seven generals including Li Benshen and Wu Shengzhao were lined up in a row.

Not far behind him stood hundreds of guards brought by seven generals. The seven generals had the same thoughts as Wang Pu, and they all selected the strongest soldiers from their respective armies, wanting to give Wang Pu some advice and let Wang Pu know that the Northern Expedition had to rely on their soldiers from Jiangbei, and just relying on the new recruits from Yanziji Camp in Jiangnan, Jiangnan, who were only worthy of playing with flower guns.

But at this moment, the seven generals were immediately stunned when they saw the momentum of the "Central Army".

The "Central Army" had a blue cloth cotton coat, a large blue cap, and a thick-soled long-bottle leather boots on their feet. They stepped on the ground and made a uniform "shell" sound, not to mention how majestic it was.

Looking back at the "elite" guards I picked out, they were wearing old cloth robes from a few years ago, and they almost showed their background. Their heads were covered with the scarfs from Chongzhen's early years. The standards were messy and the colors were not uniform. The cloth heels worn on their feet were even more incomparable. Compared with the "Central Army", their guards were like a group of beggars who were temporarily pieced together.

Looking at the equipment, the "Central Army" is a musket with a wide belt around the waist, an armed belt on the shoulder, four Dragon King cannons hanging on the left waist, two boxes of paper shell bullets hanging on the right waist, and military daggers inserted into the boot rack, especially the shiny bayonets stuck on the gun seat, which almost made the eyes of the seven generals dizzy.

Looking back at my own guards, some were carrying knives, some were holding spears, and some were carrying bird guns. One guy was carrying a rusty three-eyed gun on his shoulder. Obviously, this three-eyed gun was hit by this guy for many years as a firearm.

The seven generals have been in the army for many years, but they have never seen such a majestic army in their lives!

What scared the seven generals the most was the line of naval fleets on the canal. Cannons of all sizes were lined up on the side of the cabin. All the black muzzles were aimed at the left bank of the canal. Behind each cannon were two gunners, two ammunition players, and one official strap. Everyone had a cold face and expressionless expression. They were standing there before they were still doing anything, and a murderous aura appeared on their bodies.

"Cast shell..."

The loud military songs stopped at some point, and there were only uniform footsteps left in the world. When the infantry teams moving in the four columns were about to enter the dock, a fast horse suddenly galloped from behind. The commander on the horse's back ran and shouted at the top of his lungs: "The general has an order, stop moving forward..."

So, the seven generals and hundreds of guards standing on the dock saw an unforgettable scene.

An officer of the "Central Army" ran out of the line and made a series of applause. Then he stood in front of the left side of the team with his feet together and shouted loudly, "Stand...set!"

"Brush!"

After two neat and loud footsteps, two hundred infantrymen in a brigade had already been set up on the spot. Long before this brigade, all the infantry brigades that followed were set up. In a flash, all the infantrymen who were marching on four routes had stopped, and the entire team was silent and slaughtered.

"stand at attention!"

The officer gave another order. The soldiers of the "Central Army" removed the musket posts on their shoulders in a uniform manner and then straightened their chests, one by one, like javelins. Everyone looked straight ahead with their expressions ferocious, as if they were their most vicious enemy in front of them.

What is order-performing prohibition? This is order-performing prohibition!

An army that is prohibited by orders may not be an elite army, but an elite army must be an army that is prohibited by orders! With this alone, Li Chengdong and other seven generals felt inferior, and their army would definitely not do this!

But they still comforted themselves in their hearts that the Central Army is actually pretty and looks good. If they really go to the battlefield, they may not be as good as the Jiangbei Army. This is called the surface light of cow shit.

While waiting for a suffocating time, a navy warship finally arrived at the canal port.

Wang Pu, wearing a governor's gown, walked out of the cabin surrounded by the guards and stepped on the gangway to the dock. Li Benshen, Wu Shengzhao, Li Chengdong and other seven generals quickly trotted forward, and then greeted Wang Pu one by one and reported his name. When it was Li Chengdong's turn, Wang Pu couldn't help but take a look.

In official history, the character of Li Chengdong is not simple. This guy was an accomplice in Yangzhou for ten days and was also the culprit of the Three Massacres of Jiading. He destroyed the Southern Ming regime of Emperor Longwu Zhu Youjian, and personally captured Emperor Shaowu Zhu Youyue, and also captured Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong and Guangxi for Jiannu. This is a great crime.

But when he looked back, he was able to return to the wrong path and became the loyal minister of Emperor Yongli of the Southern Ming Dynasty. He fought against the Qing Dynasty with Jin Shengyuan, Wang Deren, Li Dingguo, Jiang Xiang and others, and almost drove Jiannu out of the Central Plains. After his death, he was personally named "Zhonglie" by the Southern Ming court and posthumously awarded the title of Taifu and the King of Ningxia!

But that's just such a person, now he's just a young man in his early thirties.

If you want to talk about the murderous sins committed in the official history, Li Chengdong is just a traitor, and it is not an exaggeration to kill him with one knife. But he has not yet surrendered to Jiannu. Because of Wang Pu's time travel and history have changed, the Ming Dynasty will head in a completely different direction. Will Li Chengdong still be the lackey of Jiannu like in the official history?

Wang Pu thought Li Chengdong would not.

In fact, the military generals such as Li Chengdong, Jin Shengyuan, Wang Deren, and Jiang Xiang were different from the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty. The civil officials of the Ming Dynasty were influenced by Confucian Neo-Confucianism since childhood, and paid attention to the Three Bonds and Five Constant Persons, and all things were stating that they were loyal to the court. The social atmosphere at that time had a great impact on civil officials.

But military generals are different. Military generals are basically not well-educated. They are from the army and have been fighting in blood and fire. There is only one truth they believe in, that is, whoever has a hard fist will be the king! Therefore, the generals have no clear concept of right and wrong in their eyes, nor are they divided into barbarians, Manchus and Han, but only the difference between strength and weakness.

When the Ming Dynasty was strong, the generals were loyal to the Ming Dynasty. When the thieves were strong, the generals turned to the thieves. When the Jiannu was strong, they turned to the Jiannu and turned around. When the generals found that the Jiannu had treated them badly, they had to suppress them everywhere and guard against them everywhere, they immediately turned to the Jiannu again.

The thing is that simple. This is the logic of the Ming generals: I will be with anyone who wants my life, and I will be with him if I want my life!

Therefore, as long as Wang Pu's strength is strong enough and the Ming "Central Army" is strong enough, military generals like Li Chengdong will never have any disagreement towards the Ming Dynasty. As long as Wang Pu finds ways to integrate them into his own lineage, they will become the most powerful thugs under Wang Pu.

This is also the reason why Wang Pu deliberately showed off his military power to the general of the seven towns.

Wang Pu ordered the "Central Army" to set up camps next to the Jiangbei Army's camp. When the Central Army set up camp, tens of thousands of soldiers from the Jiangbei Army ran out of the military camp to watch the fun. No matter how the generals stopped drinking, they even ran to the Central Army to ask for food and clothing.

Wang Pu pointed to the Jiangbei Army soldiers crowded outside the camp and turned to Liu Rushi beside him and said, "Look, what kind of army is this? There are children of thirteen or fourteen years old, and there are old men in their sixties. Most of them are empty-handed. Does this still look like an army?"

Liu Rushi looked disappointed and sighed: "I really didn't expect that Jiangbei Army would be like this."

Wang Pu said: "Will such an army be the opponent of the bandits and Jiannu when they arrive on the battlefield? If the court sends food and salary to such an army, wouldn't it be a lot of money and grain to support a batch of waste?"

Liu Rushi nodded and said, "It seems that the Jiangbei Army should rectify it well."

The Central Army camp, Wang Pu held the tent.

The generals of the seven towns sat upright and saw the military presence of the Central Army during the day. No one of them dared to neglect them now. They all straightened their backs and looked as if they were not squinting.

The rapid footsteps sounded outside the tent, and then a personal soldier shouted: "Marquis Jingnan is here..."

The general of the seven towns stood up suddenly, and his eyes turned to the tent door in a flash. Wang Pu walked in under the cover of Lu Liu and Neng Niang. The general of the seven towns bowed at the same time, "I am not good at marquis."

Wang Pu walked to the main seat, waved at the general of the Qi Town, and said calmly: "Sit all."

"Mr. Xie."

The generals of the seven towns thanked each other and sat down one after another.

Wang Pu's eyes showed majestic expression, and he swept through the faces of the generals of the seven towns one by one, and said in a deep voice: "Have you brought the roster all?"

Only Li Chengdong stood up and replied, "Report to the Marquis, I have brought it to you."

Seeing that the generals of the other six towns had no response, Wang Pu frowned and said angrily: "Where are you six? Didn't this marquis send someone to notify you in advance and want to bring the roster to participate in this military discussion?"

Li Benshen, Wu Shengzhao and others looked at each other.

Finally, Liu Konghe stood up and explained: "Report to the Marquis, the Marquis has just recruited a large number of new recruits, and has not had time to register, so... I would like to forgive me."

"There is no roster?" Wang Pu said in a deep voice, "How can you pay money without a roster? How can you pay pensions to your family if you are killed? How can you get military rations, clothing and weapons? After you go back, you will register and make a roster within three days. You are not allowed to commit fraud. Once you find out, you will be severely punished!"

Although the seven towns in Jiangbei are not Wang Pu's direct line, Wang Pu's Central Army has given them a warning. The more arbitrary Wang Pu is, the more he can suppress these arrogant soldiers and generals. Of course, at the right time, he still has to give a carrot, so there is a saying that food, salary and weapons and equipment are distributed in the book.

"yes."

Liu Konghe, Li Benshen and others showed embarrassment on their faces, but when they heard that Wang Pu was going to pay food and weapons and equipment on a booking, the unhappiness in their hearts immediately disappeared.

Li Chengdong respectfully handed the roster to Wang Pu's case. Wang Pu frowned and asked after turning a few pages, "General Li, your roster is not complete. You can't just have a name. You have to remember the age, hometown, and military service of the soldiers. The military service is of different ages, and the standards for paying money are also different. There are also hometowns. How can you pay pensions if you don't have a hometown?"

“Yes, yes, yes.”

The smug look on Li Chengdong's face had long disappeared, and he was ashamed and unauthorized. "If you look back, let the army add the age, origin and military service of the entire army."

"And," Wang Pu said again, "I saw just now that there are many underage children and elderly people in the Jiangbei army. When you go back to make the book, children under the age of 18 and those over 40 should not be written up. Marines and wars, defending the country, is the responsibility of us adult men. How can we let the elderly go to the battlefield and let the children bleed?"

"Yes." The general of the seven towns responded in unison, "The low-ranking level will do the same."

Wang Pu said: "You will make another book of the elderly and children in the army. This marquis will issue the condemnation silver in the book and let them go home."

Just condemn children under the age of 18 and elderly people over 40, the Jiangbei Army would have to lose at least 30,000 people. This was just the first step for Wang Pu to reorganize the Jiangbei Army. Wang Pu had some tricks next, but he had to do it step by step. This guy used the strategy of boiling frogs in warm water.

First, they weakened the strength of the Jiangbei Army without realizing it. When the general of the Qi Town found that the situation was wrong, they were already weak. At that time, the general of the Qi Town could only be at the mercy of Wang Pu. Of course, with the strength of the Central Army, they could also fully solve the problem of more than 100,000 Jiangbei Army by force, but Wang Pu did not want to see the Han people suffocate.

The next day, Wang Pu specially arranged another military competition.

After losing weight, the 100,000 Jiangbei Army and 40,000 Central Army formed a team in the wilderness of Dongxiao, Gaoyou. First, the generals of the seven towns selected 200 elite soldiers from the Jiangbei Army, and then Li Chengdong picked a brigade from the Central Army's ranks, and the 200 infantrymen from this brigade were competed with the 200 elite soldiers selected from the Jiangbei Army.

The competition was divided into two categories. First, the armed forces marched urgently with twenty miles, and then the armed group fight.

The 400 people held wooden swords and guns, and fought on the hills that had been selected in front of more than 100,000 soldiers. Until one side was driven down the hill, the one who could still stay on the hill won.

Wang Pu arranged this military competition for demonstration.
To be continued...