Chapter 350: Zuo Liangyu awakens in the world, Lu Xiangsheng is grateful
"This Governor-General of the Three Borders, Hong Chengchou, is quite extraordinary!"
"Now that he is in charge of so many officers and soldiers, he can actually ensure that all units have sufficient supplies of weapons, food and supplies!"
In the central army tent of the government army camp in Hancheng, Zuo Liangyu and his son Zuo Menggeng sat opposite each other. Zuo Liangyu drank the big bowl of Shandong Qiulubai in one gulp and couldn't help sighing while holding the wine bowl.
The fundamental reason why Zuo Liangyu was able to rise to prominence so quickly was that he defected to Hou Xun, one of the leaders of the Donglin Party.
This is also related to the fact that the Zuo family army under his command is capable and dares to fight.
In the current Ming Dynasty, it is impossible for a military commander to rise to prominence without a strong backing.
Even Cao Wenzhao was able to be promoted to the position of general because of his loyalty to the royal family.
Otherwise, no matter how powerful the Cao family army is, they will only be marginalized minor characters.
This is also the main reason why Cao Wenzhao was grateful for the royal family's cultivation and became a loyal person.
"Father, our Zuo family's spies in Liaodong have sent back messages via spirit pigeons one after another, saying that Huang Taiji has mobilized the entire clan and is preparing to march into the pass again, and the scale is twice as large as last time."
"This time the Tartars are entering the pass, we will definitely be drafted by the imperial court to follow Hong Chengchou back to the capital to provide assistance."
"We, the Zuo Family Army, have fought against the Tartars many times in the past few years. We are going to fight against them again this time. With our current weapons and the training of our soldiers, it will still be difficult to win."
Zuo Menggeng talked about some bad things in the past, with a hint of panic on his little face.
Although their Zuo Family Army had fought with the Tatars many times and had made many military achievements, they were all engaged in defensive operations and rarely fought in the field with the Tatars.
Zuo Menggeng is also a young genius. He just turned fifteen years old, but he has already reached the peak of level four.
What outsiders don’t know is that both father and son awakened their own star destinies when they broke through the Qi Refining Stage.
In the past three years, the father and son have made rapid progress in their cultivation with the help of the power of their natal stars and a fortuitous encounter by Zuo Liangyu.
Zuo Liangyu has now reached the middle stage of level five, and his strength is among the best among the many official army generals today.
The astrological fortunes of the father and son also fueled their ambitions.
During several campaigns to suppress bandits, Zuo Liangyu even secretly refined several official seals that represented the fortune of a city, and turned the imperial fortune contained in them into the foundation of his own foundation.
Even Hou Xun probably couldn't have imagined that Zuo Liangyu had already been planning something ulterior motive.
Fortunately, Zuo Liangyu's ambition had just begun to sprout, and he was not yet at the point where he would only obey orders and not announcements.
This time he led his troops honestly and was under the command of Hong Chengchou.
Otherwise, with Hong Chengchou's current strength, he would definitely be used as an example to scare the monkeys and intimidate all the arrogant and powerful generals.
"Father, the governor of the three borders, Hong Chengchou, actually expanded his personal guards by 200,000 soldiers. Isn't this too ambitious?"
"Isn't he afraid that someone in the imperial court will report him for having his own army?"
Zuo Menggeng went on to speak to his father, his words full of surprise.
Although he was a young prodigy, and had been brought up by his father since childhood, he was not like those young geniuses in the Renaissance Army, whose minds had matured early.
However, Zuo Liangyu only had this one son. How could he bear to let him go out on his own at such a young age?
If his only precious son was lost, it would be useless for Zuo Liangyu to cry to death.
This big world is so dangerous. Who knows if you will encounter some irresistible life-threatening situation out there?
With Zuo Liangyu's constant teaching, Zuo Menggeng did not grow up astray. He was considered a young man with both literary and martial talents, much better than other playboys.
"Meng Geng, you can't look at everything this way."
Zuo Liangyu was always very patient in teaching his beloved son, saying, "This is one time, that is another time."
"The fundamental reason is that the rapidly rising bandit Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army he founded pose too great a threat to those officials, gentry, and aristocratic families."
"What Li Dingguo did was to dig up the roots of these dignitaries without leaving any room for them!"
"As long as they don't want to die and their clans to be wiped out, they must try every possible means to destroy Li Dingguo and his Fuxing Army as soon as possible."
"Otherwise, if we allow Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army to grow rapidly, every family of theirs will face catastrophic disaster in the future, and they won't be able to escape even if they want to."
"If it was before Li Dingguo led his army into the pass and attacked cities and territories, Hong Chengchou would not have been able to obtain so much money, food, and training resources to expand his army. Even if he had so much money, food, and resources, he would not dare to do so."
"Otherwise, as soon as he started recruiting people, the Royal Guards would come and arrest him and take him to Beijing for trial."
"This is the time, fate, and luck. Hong Chengchou deserves to rise. Alas..."
Zuo Liangyu thought of his own men. Even though the previous vacancies had been made up, there were still only 50,000 combat soldiers, which was far less than that of Hong Chengchou. He couldn't help but sigh.
His ambition was much greater than Hong Chengchou's, but he was unlucky. It was Hong Chengchou, not Zuo Liangyu, who was in charge of the three northwestern provinces.
The difference in their identities caused them to miss out on this once-in-a-century opportunity, making the ambitious Zuo Liangyu so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood.
Since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, such a bizarre thing has never been seen!
When will these officials, gentry, aristocratic families, wealthy merchants, and super-rich people work together to provide massive amounts of money, food, and supplies to a governor?
No!
Not to mention that there is no such thing in this dynasty, there has never been such thing in history!
It can be said that Li Dingguo and his Fuxing Army created all this, and the beneficiary of all this was none other than that old bastard Hong Chengchou!
Zuo Liangyu wished he could switch places with Hong Chengchou, as he would definitely do something even more extreme than Hong Chengchou.
If he had not taken advantage of this God-given opportunity to expand the army by 500,000, he would not be called Zuo Liangyu.
Once he had 500,000 elite warriors and soldiers in his hands, couldn't Zuo Liangyu do whatever he wanted?
By then, even the Ming Dynasty court would have to turn a blind eye to him and allow him to do whatever he wants.
Otherwise, those traitors will raise the flag of rebellion, and I, Zuo Liangyu, will naturally do the same.
Not to mention becoming a real emperor, it would be pretty good to be a local emperor in a province.
If anyone dares to cause trouble for me, I will send out my army to destroy him.
Unlike other Ming generals, Zuo Liangyu had a lot of experience.
He has experienced many ups and downs, and has long since changed from a passionate general to an old soldier ruffian. He has seen through the current officialdom.
This is also the main reason why he wants to rely on the Donglin Party leader Hou Xun.
There is no way. If there is no one in the court, it will be really difficult to be an official in the Ming Dynasty.
Once you are a little careless, you will be killed and your family will be destroyed.
Even with the support of the Donglin Party, Zuo Liangyu still did not live a happy life.
He secretly didn't know how many political enemies he had eliminated for the Donglin Party in exchange for this position of general.
If he could switch places with Hong Chengchou and take advantage of this golden opportunity to expand his own army to 500,000, then in the future he wouldn't have to give face to the Shandong Lin Party who were backing him.
Whoever wants to be a dog can be one, but I, Zuo Liangyu, won’t do it anymore.
"Meng Geng, even if we have to fight the Later Jin Tartars again in the near future, there is no need to worry about anything."
Zuo Liangyu taught his son, "Hong Chengchou is not an ordinary commander. He is much better than those good-for-nothings in Liaodong."
"Those military families in Liaodong are defending Liaodong on the surface, but in fact, which family doesn't have a tacit understanding with those Tartars?"
"Every year, countless amounts of grain, salt, iron, etc. are smuggled from them to the Later Jin Tartars and the Mongolian Tartars."
"It can be said that most of the credit for the Later Jin Tartars being so powerful now goes to the generals in Liaodong. Don't think that they are secretly trading materials with the Later Jin Tartars without anyone knowing."
"Under that kind of environment, how could our Liaodong soldiers defeat the Tartars?"
"Even if they could win, the civil and military officials in Liaodong would not do that."
"Otherwise, the huge amount of money and materials that the imperial court allocates to Liaodong every year will be cut off in the future."
"Without their support for the Liaodong Tartars, it is not just the Liaodong military families and civil and military officials who will be affected. The high-ranking officials of the imperial court will be the most anxious."
"Every year, the huge amount of money, grain and supplies allocated by the imperial court to Liaodong are taken away by these civil and military officials before they even leave the capital!"
"Once the threat of the Later Jin Tartars is gone, their huge source of income will be cut off, and no one will agree to it." "The current Ming Dynasty is not unable to defeat Huang Taiji and the Later Jin Tartars, but they simply don't have the intention to do so. Everyone needs to use the name of defending Liaodong and fighting the Tartars to gain fame and financial benefits!"
"The problem of Liaodong is no longer a threat from the Later Jin Tartars, but a core issue of the civil and military officials in the court and the civil and military officials in Liaodong sharing the interests together."
"As long as the Ming Dynasty still exists, even if Yue Fei is reborn, he will be helpless in dealing with the Later Jin Tartars in Liaodong. He can only watch helplessly!"
"Unless someone can kill all the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty and sever this huge chain of interests, the problem of the Later Jin Tartars can be completely solved."
"Otherwise, no one can do anything about it!"
Once Zuo Liangyu's words were spread, they would probably cause an uproar.
Only a general like him, who has long seen through this trick, would take the Ming court less and less seriously.
This dynasty, which had been corrupt to the extreme, had long been beyond redemption and its demise was inevitable.
Instead of working for the Ming Dynasty, which has fallen into the bottomless abyss and can never get up again, it is better to seize the time to quickly develop and strengthen the Zuo Family Army. In the future, whether advancing or retreating, they will have their own confidence and the assurance of survival.
"Oh."
“So this is the real situation.”
Zuo Menggeng was awakened from his dream after hearing this, and exclaimed, "No wonder any general who wants to serve the country with all his heart and soul in Liaodong will be quickly driven out of office, or even killed or exterminated, no matter how high his official rank is."
"No matter how capable you are, you can't go against the entire Ming Dynasty officialdom. From the moment he went to Liaodong to fight against the Tartars, his fate was already determined."
"Ha ha……"
He couldn't help but sigh, "It's a miracle that this kind of court has been able to last for so many years and is only about to collapse now."
"I finally understand your painstaking efforts, father, and also understand why you always treat the court as nothing. It would be unjust if this court didn't perish."
This education from his father gave Zuo Menggeng a vivid lesson.
It also made him understand a lot of essential things, and he seemed to have matured a lot.
……
The confluence of Dongchuan River and Lishi River is the location of Yongning Prefecture.
This provincial capital has extremely convenient water transportation, which can directly reach the Yellow River Basin in the west, and reach Wubao Fortress and Shangpingguan City.
Today, Wubao Fortress and Shangpingguan City have been occupied by the Fuxing Army, and the Yongningzhou City has become the garrison of the army led by Lu Xiangsheng.
Here he would gather half of the official troops in Jin Province to form an eastern army and prepare to launch a major counterattack against the Fuxing Army.
Unlike Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangsheng was a typical model of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. He was very old-fashioned and his personality was somewhat similar to that of Yue Fei.
His ability is close to that of Yue Wumu, and he is considered a rare general in the Ming Dynasty.
It was precisely his old-fashioned character of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism that, in the established history, disturbed the big pie of all the civil and military officials in the court and led to his tragic death.
But no matter what, Lu Xiangsheng is both civil and military, and is very qualified as a commander, and his overall ability is not inferior to Hong Chengchou.
"call……"
In the central military tent of the West City Camp of Yongning Prefecture, Lu Xiangsheng was sitting cross-legged on the ground, having just finished a round of training.
"receive!"
He took a large red flag that was floating above his head into his sea of divine power.
This is his natal divine weapon, the Southern Flame Flag.
This natal artifact flag is a top-grade innate artifact with great power.
Influenced by this natal artifact, Lu Xiangsheng also had a hot temper. Although he was a civil servant, he offended many officials at all levels.
This natal divine flag was obtained by him in an adventure during his youth.
This powerful innate artifact of the highest quality can mobilize the fire-attributed spiritual energy between heaven and earth, providing tremendous help to Lu Xiangsheng's cultivation progress.
When Lu Xiangsheng was meditating and practicing, he would often summon it from his sea of consciousness to assist him in his practice, in order to improve the efficiency of his practice.
This is also the main reason why Lu Xiangsheng was able to become one of the top masters among various human forces ten years ago.
"I can clearly feel that after the great change in the heavens a month ago, the level 5 bottleneck that has stuck me for several years has shown signs of loosening."
After feeling the progress of his cultivation, Lu Xiangsheng said in delight, "In three months at most, I will definitely be able to break through to the initial stage of level six."
"Then those rebels will be in trouble."
"I don't know if Li Dingguo can block my attack when the time comes."
He received an imperial edict two months ago, ordering him not to continue the encirclement and suppression of the bandits hiding in Huangzeling, but to lead the army directly to Yongning Prefecture City, where he would wait for the government troops from Datong Prefecture to join him and form the Eastern Route Army.
After the Eastern Army is formed, it is necessary to quickly cooperate with Hong Chengchou in Qin to launch a two-pronged attack on Li Dingguo's Fuxing Army in order to destroy Li Dingguo's powerful bandit force as soon as possible.
After carefully studying the many deeds of Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army, Lu Xiangsheng did not dare to take it lightly.
After receiving the imperial edict, he led his Tianxiong Army and traveled day and night for more than half a month. He finally arrived at Yongning Prefecture and settled in the camp west of the city.
He would wait here for the arrival of various government troops from Datong Prefecture, and then carry out a three-month training, while also waiting for the arrival of money, food and supplies from the court.
The government troops in Datong Prefecture are all arrogant and brave. They do not have sufficient money, food and supplies. It is impossible for you to lead them to march westward.
In view of the fact that Lu Xiangsheng's new round of anti-bandit operations was too important, in order to be able to wipe out Li Dingguo and his Fuxing Army as soon as possible, the aristocratic families, wealthy merchants and tycoons in the three northwestern provinces sent him a large amount of money, food and supplies even without Lu Xiangsheng asking for anything.
Every day, many treasure ships of various levels arrive, loaded with money, food, supplies, cultivation resources, and spiritual weapon sets.
Even those noble families lent most of the treasure ships that transported various supplies to Lu Xiangsheng for use.
The honest and hardworking Lu Xiangsheng had never received such treatment before. He was immediately moved to tears of gratitude and thanked the wealthy families and businessmen who had supported him with money, food and supplies.
He really couldn't have imagined that these aristocratic families who had never even looked at him in the eye before would be so supportive of his anti-bandit campaign.
Lu Xiangsheng is just a little old-fashioned, but he is not stupid.
Of course he knew why these guys did this, and he didn't hesitate to be polite. With a wave of his hand, he ordered the soldiers of the Tianxiong Army to receive all the money, food and supplies that were delivered, and register them and put them into the warehouse.
With a huge amount of money, food and supplies in hand, Lu Xiangsheng's first thing was to recruit a large number of soldiers.
He knew very well that if he wanted to wipe out Li Dingguo and his Fuxing Army, the 30,000 Tianxiong Army he had was far from enough.
Since there was no need to worry about money, food and supplies, Lu Xiangsheng immediately ordered the recruitment of hundreds of thousands of young and strong men for training, and then selected 100,000 combat soldiers from the new warriors who passed the warrior training selection to expand the Tianxiong Army.
His command ability was outstanding, and he was well aware of how unreliable the various government troops coming from Datong were.
In this year's anti-bandit operations, the government troops that Lu Xiangsheng saw performed so poorly that they were completely useless.
The main force in this bandit suppression campaign is undoubtedly the Tianxiong Army under his command.
Without the Tianxiong Army of hundreds of thousands, how could Lu Xiangsheng destroy Li Dingguo's million-strong army?
Like Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangsheng conducted a detailed study of various intelligence reports on Li Dingguo's rapid rise in recent years.
While he was amazed, he gained a deeper understanding of Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army.
Lu Xiangsheng might not be able to defeat the opponent's several level five peak birds alone, not to mention that there are also many level five masters in the Fusion Army.
The most terrifying thing is the large fleet and firearms battalion of the Renaissance Army. Without a military killing formation that has reached the minor success level, their side simply cannot withstand the concentrated fire attacks of those psychic cannons and psychic crossbow carts.
Those are hundreds of psychic cannons and thousands of psychic crossbow carts!
The three-month military training time set by the court was enough for Lu Xiangsheng, the talented commander-in-chief of the three armies, to train a group of new soldiers who were skilled in military formations.
Now, with an inexhaustible supply of money and materials, it is enough for the soldiers of the expanded Tianxiong Army to consume and use during the encirclement and suppression of Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army.
(End of this chapter)
