Zhou Zheng hurried back to Yongping Mansion. Yao Tongshun and others had come back a few days in advance. After a brief report, Zhou Zheng left the mansion and began a tour of the whole mansion.
The first stop is the military camp.
Cao Bianjiao accompanied Zhou Zheng to patrol the barracks, while introducing: "My lord, the total number is currently 8,000, and 7,000 are left here, and there are 1,000 training youths in various villages and towns."
"How many young men are there?" Zhou Zheng asked, looking at the soldiers running back and forth.
Cao Bianjiao said: "Each town has 1,000 people, with a total of about 20,000. They are trained during the slack season, and they are also organized to participate in various corvee. They are paid, but there is no resistance."
Zhou Zheng nodded to a general banner who came to the ceremony, and then said: "Don't let go here, the same is true for those young and strong. Liaodong needs our support at any time. We must practice well in peacetime, and we can't sharpen the knife..."
Cao Bianjiao replied: "Don't worry, your lord, the general will never slack off."
Zhou Zheng came to the training ground again, watching the soldiers leaping over obstacles, and said, "Have you read the "Wu Yi Military Book" I gave you? Take the best of your staff, and carefully run in."
Cao Bianjiao said: "Yes, I will be studying carefully at the end and will continue to test it."
Zhou Zheng looked at the soldiers working hard, looked satisfied, and whispered: "Find five hundred people, and I want to train them specially."
Cao Bianjiao was startled and said, "How do adults train?"
Zhou Zheng looked not far away and said, "You have to choose the strongest for me, and I will train it myself."
Although Cao Bianjiao didn't know what Zhou Zheng was going to do, he nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhou Zheng didn't say anything more. After two days in the barracks, he headed east.
The Xiao Hulu River has not yet thawed. Yao Tongshun followed Zhou Zheng in a carriage and explained: "My lord, the Xiao Hulu River was repaired last year. We plan to continue repairing in the beginning of the spring. There are also preliminary plans for agricultural canals. It is expected that the river canal of Yongping Mansion will be completely renovated before the end of the year..."
Zhou Zheng nodded and said: "We must also do a good job in the previous things, and we must complete our plan in earnest, and we must not leave behind trouble."
Yao Tong complied and said: "All villages, towns, government officials, and subordinate officials have been deleted and selected. The specific list is still being drawn up. When the adults return to the government office, they will be informed."
Zhou Zheng's Yongping Mansion is actually concerned about three things: personnel, taxation, and the army; these three have been fully in the hands of Zhou Zheng, and the following is the continuous deepening, expansion, and consolidation.
Before long, Zhou Zheng arrived in Leting Town.
Now it’s the slack in agriculture, and I saw a temporary military camp outside the town, where more than 1,000 people were receiving training.
Their training is relatively simple, not so harsh, with swordsmen but no armor.
At the end of February, Zhou Zheng came to Xinqiao Haikou.
Looking at the port that already had a preliminary appearance, Zhou Zheng inspected the port with a smile, and put forward his reform proposal, saying: "Recruit some restaurants on the shore. The port must be further deepened to accommodate more ships, and the warehouse must be expanded. Establish a sea post to maintain order, and there will be more than a dozen ships, not big, mainly to maintain order on the sea..."
Yao Tongshun recorded them one by one and responded earnestly.
Looking at the empty sea, Zhou Zheng whispered: "Are all the goods delivered?"
Yao Tongshun now knows what Zhou Zhengjian is going to do at this wharf, and also knows the risks involved, and also whispered: "It has all been sent away a few days ago. The Xiyi merchant ships are very punctual, not early or late."
Zhou Zheng nodded and said, "Do it in the future, don't say anything."
Yao Tongshun knew the importance and said: "The official understands."
Then Zhou Zheng left Xinqiao Haikou and came to the former Kaiping Zhongtunwei station in Changli County. This place has long been abandoned, with only a dozen people left behind.
Zhou Zheng looked around and found the rudimentary military bureau with only a few broken houses. The soldier who stayed behind said: "My lord, Kaipingwei was actually abolished long ago and merged into Shanhaiwei, but the court didn't have it. Give the order and stay here forever."
Zhou Zheng looked at Yao Tongshun and said: "All these people will be transferred back to Lulong County for resettlement, and the Military Armament Bureau... Put them on Xiangyun Island. I have arranged people and obtained the approval of the Ministry of War, armors, weapons, etc. We made ourselves."
"It's an adult." Yao Tongshun responded without noticing the problem inside.
In fact, there was no problem. Zhou was the imperial envoy who was responsible for rectifying the armaments of the Yongping Mansion. There was also the Ministry of War approval, so there was no problem at all to manufacture some weapons.
Zhou Zheng made a big turn before returning to the government office. It was almost April.
As soon as he returned to the government office, Zhou Zheng didn't see anyone, so he invited Chu Jin and asked, "Is there anything happening at Jianlu?"
Chu Jin has always been responsible for contacting the people Zhou Zheng arranged in Liaodong. He heard the words: "My lord, it hasn't been long since Jianlu was defeated. There is no change for the time being."
Zhou Zheng thought that in history, Jianlu would enter the customs from Xifengkou in October of this year. He didn't dare to be careless. He said: "Jianlu has successively failed in Liaodong, and Dongjiang Town has suffered serious losses. There is no worries about them. They will not give up easily. You send a letter to Shenyang, and keep an eye on Jianlu’s every move, and the officer must know about any troubles!"
Chu Jin looked at Zhou Zheng's awe-inspiring expression and raised his hand and said, "My lord, do you want to activate all the homing pigeons?"
Homing pigeons naturally have a place to put them away. Chu Jin meant to activate all intelligence networks.
Zhou Zheng pondered for a moment, and said: "Enable it, I always feel a little uneasy. From now on, all my energy will be given to me to keep an eye on the movements of the captives. If they are raising food, gathering troops, etc., they must report it in time!"
"Xiaguan obeys!" Chu Jin said with a deep tone.
Later, Zhou Zheng called Yao Tongshun, Ding Qi, Zhang Heyi and others, and explained: "The government affairs have been on the right track one after another. The officer must now focus on rectifying armaments, big and small things, you can discuss them and send them to the military camp outside the city, and other things. , Follow the plan!"
Everyone looked at each other. With Cao Bianjiao, why did Zhou Zheng go to the barracks
But they didn't ask much, and raised their hands together to take orders.
The plan has been completed, and now it needs to be implemented step by step. Zhou Zheng did not put all his thoughts on this, but transferred to the military camp.
Zhou Zheng quickly took over the command of this army from Cao Bianjiao and began to fully intervene in the daily training of the army.
Cao Bianjiao looked at Zhou Zheng's new training program with a nervous expression, and said: "My lord, according to this, the soldiers have less than three hours of rest a day. Wouldn't it be too harsh?"
Zhou Zhengdao: "Training for a quarter of an hour will give them an extra chance of surviving on the battlefield. I will increase the salary, food, and bonuses for them. I must strictly implement my training program!"
Cao Bianjiao didn't dare to say much, and said, "Yes."
From the second day on, Zhou Zheng appeared in the training ground, directing the training of the soldiers in every detail, and even when he went out for training, Zhou Zheng rode a horse and followed behind. (End of this chapter)