General Zuo ordered to march sixty miles every day. Sixty miles doesn’t sound like a fast journey. However, marching an army is different from rushing on horseback. To maintain a certain formation, you need to have the endurance to march long distances. You have to stop for repairs after walking a certain distance. The cavalry is not much faster than the infantry.
Song Yuan led two hundred of the emperor's personal guards and went out with the Yingwei camp.
Some of the guards murmured privately: "According to the marching speed of the British Guards Camp, it will take two months to reach the Yuzhou Army. By the time we get there, Yuzhou will probably have been occupied by the rebel army."
“If we leave the army behind, we can ride all the way and save at least half the time.”
“No! Otherwise, let’s go talk to Commander Song. Let’s go first... ”
"Shut up!"
A tall figure appeared behind the guards and yelled coldly: "When the army is marching, how can we blindly pursue speed? It is right to put stability first."
< br>The guards immediately shut up.
Song Yuan said in a deep voice: "You have stayed in the guard camp for a long time. You have enough to eat every day. Your horses are well-armed and well-equipped. Each of you has at least two horses. Whenever you travel, you can ride a horse. , the speed is naturally fast. Only 30% of the Yingwei battalion is cavalry, and the remaining 70% are infantry. It can be seen that General Zuo is strict in running the army." I will never be lenient when talking about generals.”
The guards' faces were burning after being scolded, and they all surrendered.
Such an episode did not cause any trouble. Even when it reached General Zuo's ears, General Zuo only smiled.
These guards from Nanyang County are well fed, clothed and paid a lot of military pay. They practice every day with strict discipline and amazing fighting ability. They are all literate. With such qualities, he is already at the level of low-level generals in Daliang. It can also be seen that Her Majesty the Empress has always been ambitious before she ascended the throne, and spent a lot of money and energy to raise such a group of proud soldiers.
There are now two thousand personal guards in various garrison camps. They are all loyal followers of Her Majesty the Empress. Now the two hundred personal guards led by Song Yuan are even more elite soldiers. Compared with them, the soldiers of the British Guards Battalion were indeed much worse.
As long as they don’t cause trouble and occasionally say something contemptuous, it’s okay to pretend they don’t know.
What comforted General Zuo the most was that Commander Song did what he said, obeying orders all the way and never pointing fingers.
......
Song Yuan's letter was only two pages long, and most of it was praising General Zuo for his good military management.
It has only been more than a year since General Zuo took over the Yingwei camp. In just over a year, being able to train up to 50% of an army of new recruits to look like this can be said to be extremely capable.
After reading the letter, Jiang Shaohua said to Cui Du: "Of the generals in the court, General Zuo is the most powerful in leading the army and fighting. The second is General Fan. General Bao is the most senior. He is loyal, but he has not led troops to fight in the capital, which is worse than General Sima, General Song, General Liu and others. "
Cui Du laughed softly and said: "So, even if General Zuo is still secretly colluding with Prime Minister Wang, you are still willing to reuse General Zuo."
Jiang Shaohua nodded slightly: "Yes. There are always people in the court. faction The battle. General Zuo was promoted by Prime Minister Wang, and it is natural for him to be loyal to him as long as he obeys the orders of the court."
Loyal generals must be trained slowly. She had only been on the throne for a few months and it would be too greedy to want the civil servants and generals to surrender. As it is now, that's pretty good. Jiang Shaohua was a little tired after chatting for a long time. Cui Du helped her lie down on the bed. Now my belly is too big and I can't lie on my back, so I can only lie on my side. My legs and feet are also swollen.
Cui Du kneaded her swollen calves and whispered softly: "Just close your eyes and sleep!"
He couldn't worry about important matters in the court for her, and could only do trivial matters.
Jiang Shaohua whispered: "You should go to bed earlier."
Cui Dukou agreed, but he never fell asleep. Jiang Shaohua fell into a deep sleep, and he still rubbed her legs with gentle force until midnight before closing his eyes and falling asleep.
......
In the morning of the next day, Minister Ding of the Ministry of War presented an "exhortation" from Yuzhou to the capital with an angry face.
This appeal has more than a thousand words in total, with outstanding literary talent and sharp writing. He angrily accused Empress Zhaoping of being unfairly appointed to the throne, stealing the throne as a woman and harming the fate of the country. The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were either forced by force, tempted by interests, or took the initiative to surrender, and the atmosphere was full of chaos. His Royal Highness Prince Ping was placed under house arrest in the harem, and the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager were also placed under house arrest. The Yuzhou army will rise up and call on all the rebels from all over the world to go to Beijing to kill the rebels and help King Ping ascend the throne.
The ministers became angry after hearing such statements that were confusing right and wrong, and they all cursed angrily.
“The emperor succeeded to the throne in response to the destiny of heaven, and won the support of all ministers, including the empress dowager and the queen mother. He is upright and upright, how could he steal the throne?”
“After the emperor ascended the throne, , work hard to govern, have clear politics, and have a rich treasury. Such a wise king and loyal ministers have never been seen in history.
"The ministers support the emperor entirely out of public concern. ”
"Why did King Fu Ping ascend the throne? He just relied on the ignorance of the people and made lies!"
Dong Shangshu was particularly indignant because he was named and insulted in the memorandum as a "treacherous court traitor" who had taken refuge with the empress: "King Ping has been mentally retarded since he was a child. It is not a secret at all in the capital, and no one in the court knows about it. But the common people don't know about this, and neither do the top soldiers in the Yuzhou Army. Write a message to attack the rebels!"
Dong Shangshu was really angry. As a civil servant, his greatest ambition is to be remembered in history. Now that this Yuzhou Army's message has come out, he, the Minister of Rites, is indeed destined to be recorded in history. There is a high probability that it will be a name-calling.
Dong Shangshu was gnawing at Zheng Chen’s heart at this moment.
This letter, full of bewitching quotes and sharp writing, could not have been written by an idler. The Yuzhou army was full of warriors, and the only one who could write this appeal was Zheng Chen.
Anything Dong Shangshu can think of, all the ministers can think of. Equally indignant was Yang Shilang and Ding Shilang. They were all mentioned in the propaganda, second only to Dong Shangshu. No matter how fast the Yuzhou Army was destroyed, they were destined to be recorded in the history books.
Wang Jin couldn't suppress the anger in his heart, and took two steps forward with his hands in his hands: "Your Majesty, the traitor Zheng Chen, instigated and encouraged the Yuzhou Army to rebel, and wrote such a treasonous article to smear the Emperor and the court. Heavy I want to write a petition to punish the traitors!”
Following that, Minister Yang and Ding also expressed their impassioned sentiments, one to rectify the emperor’s name, and the other to scold him. Rebel! (End of this chapter)