He cried so sadly that Song Xiangyu immediately felt a surge of blood in his heart. He wished he could rush to the Ministry of War and break the hands and feet of those people in the Arsenal.
The Beijing Camp is in charge of defending the capital and Tongzhou in Hebei, and it shoulders the heavy responsibility of half of the north. It is not just about training, but really needs to fight against the Tartars with real swords and guns. If you are unlucky and encounter the Tartars coming to plunder, the Beijing Camp will be the last line of defense of the capital.
That's it. Those bastards in the Ministry of War are still so stingy.
When asking for military pay, not only would they have to intercept a portion of it according to the rules, but even the weapons would have to be tampered with.
These things are the foundation of the soldiers!
Wang Lijun wiped the tears from his face and said, "We know you are in trouble too. We originally wanted to keep it to ourselves." He smiled bitterly, "But, but with so many soldiers, we must have something to use, right? It is snowing again. I am afraid that many livestock and people will be frozen to death by the Tartars. Every time at this time, they will launch a crazy counterattack..."
The commander of the Central Army, Lang Kun, was much calmer than Wang Lijun, but he was also worried: "Marshal, we have to think of a way. The Ministry of War has gone too far this time. What do you think..."
He actually didn't hold out much hope. After all, the Song family was now very popular. But if he thought about it carefully, he knew that the situation was extremely embarrassing.
If this matter gets out of hand, it is inevitable that someone will distort the truth and accuse the Song family of deliberately trying to stir up trouble by taking advantage of the merit of raising the emperor's eldest grandson.
By then, right and wrong will no longer matter. Gossip can melt metal, and constant criticism can destroy a person.
Who knew that Song Che coldly ordered: "Go to the West Camp and tell them that we have discussed it and plan to hold it as scheduled at the end of the year."
What
Wang Lijun and Lang Kun were both stunned for a moment. They looked at each other and looked at Song Che in surprise, unable to react.
Song Xiangyu also called out "father" in shock.
Among the defense forces of the capital, in addition to the Beijing Camp, which is one of the three camps now under the charge of Song Che, there are also the West Camp and the East Camp. Every year at the middle and end of the year, the several camps have a big competition. It is called a martial arts competition, but in fact it is just a welcoming inspection. Usually, the Minister or Vice Minister of the Ministry of War comes to preside over it.
Of course, there are exceptions sometimes. For example, on some special days, the emperor would visit in person quite often.
It was originally said that the competition would be cancelled this year due to the rare snowstorm in the south, but what does Song Che mean
Wang Lijun stopped crying. Instead, he was worried that Song Che might act too impulsively: "Marshal, please think twice..."
"Go ahead." Song Che looked indifferent, not caring at all, and said decisively: "Do as I say!"
Wang Lijun had been with Song Che through thick and thin for so many years and knew Song Che's temper best. When he heard him say this, he knew that he would not change his mind, so he immediately straightened his expression and nodded heavily.
Lang Kun was left looking at Song Che and whispered, "General..."
"Go and prepare, let the brothers practice, just do it as it should be." Song Che smiled heartily. Although he looked old, he was still energetic: "Why should we be afraid of him now! Show us the same momentum as when we fought the Tartars in Datong!"
Lang Kun was suddenly startled and responded excitedly.
After he left, Song Xiangyu sat down in front of his father: "Dad, is this your idea? You knew there was something wrong with that batch of weapons a long time ago, and you were planning to talk about it after the New Year, right? Now that it's out, are you planning to..."
"Who is in charge of the Armory?" Song Che's face was stern, like a sword unsheathed. "Zheng Siyu's brother-in-law Wen Runze! For so many years, relying on being the brother-in-law of the Minister, he has been occupying this lucrative position and has become more and more daring. In the past, everyone had to give Zheng Siyu face and endure it. Even Sun Yongning turned a blind eye..."
Sun Yongning, Minister of War.
Song Xiangyu understood what his father meant, and he clicked his tongue with his eyes shining: "I understand. Sun Yongning used to be a coward. Anyway, out of sight, out of mind. Just pretend you don't know? But if..."
Anyway, nothing serious happened. Whether because of Yang Bo's attitude, the desire to keep things peaceful, or the friendship between colleagues, Sun Yongning would not get too involved in such matters.
After all, the Armory was in charge of the military equipment of the two capitals and thirteen prefectures, so there were too many opportunities. It was common to take a little here and a little there, and they were well aware of the principle of keeping secrets from their superiors but not from their subordinates.
But what if something big happens
Song Xiangyu touched his chin, his eyes sparkling with excitement: "Okay! Let's direct this fire to the guy surnamed Sun and see if he gets anxious or not!"
If a man does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth.
When it has nothing to do with him, he can naturally stay out of it, but once it involves his own interests, he doesn't believe that Sun Yongning can remain indifferent.
Song Che obviously thought so too. He stroked his beard and smiled: "This fire needs to burn more vigorously. You are... "
Song Che gave his instructions and patted his son on the shoulder: "This important task is now handed over to you."
The more Song Xiangyu listened, the more excited he became. When his father finished giving the instructions, he jumped three feet high and said "hmm" loudly.
The next day, Song Xiangyu ran to the West Camp to find his old rival, the commander of the West Camp, Gu Mingchuan. The two met in the Battle of Jizhou. Neither of them was willing to submit to the other, and they wanted to fight each other to the death as soon as they met. However, they were evenly matched, with each having their own wins and losses, and their relationship had always been tense.
He ran to the West Camp, and Song Che had just sent a letter the day before yesterday requesting the continuation of the competition, so his spirits suddenly tensed up, and he asked him with a stern face: "What are you doing here?!"
"Look at how your soldiers are training!" Song Xiangyu sighed, and regardless of his anger, he laughed disdainfully: "With your condition, you still want to compete with our Beijing Camp in this year's competition? I don't think you can even beat the East Camp! Look at you, a bunch of rabble..."
Gu Mingchuan was so angry that he almost went crazy. He glared at him and sneered: "Whether we can compete with each other doesn't depend on your words, but on the stick! If you have nothing to do, you should go back to your Beijing camp to train the troops and stop causing trouble for me here!"
"What's there to practice?" Song Xiangyu said without hesitation: "When have you ever defeated us in previous years? Forget about it this year. It seems that you only received your weapons in October, right? Ours are newly issued, shiny and brand new. I heard that the Ministry of War has improved them. Wouldn't it be easier to beat you?!"
At this point, how could Gu Mingchuan not tell that Song Xiangyu was here to show off and deliberately cause trouble
He sneered cruelly.