The next morning, Li Ruolian beat the drum and raised the tent, and then saw that all the generals under his command looked as if they had lost their parents.
He frowned and asked, "What's wrong with you all?"
After a moment's hesitation, the generals cautiously asked:
"General Li, are our troops too few this time when we go to fight the Jurchens?"
"Yes, why don't we report to His Majesty again and request more troops?"
"General Li, you may not know this, but I have some servants in my household who are quite skilled in martial arts. Why don't you recruit them into the army?"
After spending some time with these people, Li Ruolian had become much more shrewd.
As soon as they opened their mouths, I knew what they were going to say.
Li Ruolian sneered, "Oh? Are you really willing to send your own servants into the army, or are you just thinking of embezzling salaries?"
Since the Battle of Tumu, the scale of battles between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongols has gradually decreased.
What began as large-scale northern expeditions involving hundreds of thousands of troops during the Yongle era gradually morphed into conflicts involving only a few thousand or even a few hundred people.
Therefore, there were some objective reasons behind the practice of Ming generals receiving salaries without working.
After all, not that many people are needed on the battlefield, so it's better to have some empty salaries than to support an army of several thousand.
Then take out this money and use it to support some trusted elites, also known as servants.
So if these generals were really willing to send their servants to the army, Li Ruolian would actually be quite happy.
Li Ruolian knew perfectly well that they would never do something that would result in a loss.
The smiles on the generals' faces immediately froze.
"Um... General Li, what are you talking about? How could we dare to receive salaries without working?"
"Yes, yes, we are extremely grateful that the imperial court has not pursued our past mistakes!"
Li Ruolian could tell they weren't being sincere, but she didn't pursue the matter further.
These generals may have many faults, but if we were to remove them all, where would we find replacements?
He said calmly:
"Don't worry, Li Zicheng's artillery will handle the battle against the Jurchens. You don't need to fight to the death."
"Moreover, after this battle, the imperial court had already planned to recruit refugees from various parts of the northwest to fill the capital's garrison."
"The Northwest has always been a place that produces elite troops, and the Qin soldiers are known for their endurance in battle. You won't have to worry about them then."
These words were meant to comfort the generals.
But after hearing this, they felt both anxious and angry.
"Those cannons are powerful, but they need to be stopped for a long time after each shot. It's fine in siege warfare, but how can we rely on them in open field operations?"
"And what's this about recruiting soldiers from the Northwest? Isn't that just another way of taking away our military power?"
These generals were well aware that there were also instances of fellow villagers banding together within the military camp.
If there were truly tens of thousands more Northwest soldiers in the Beijing garrison, they would all instinctively be drawn to Li Zicheng.
Moreover, Li Zicheng had a close relationship with the so-called Master Gao.
By then, these generals who have led troops in the capital for generations will all have to step aside.
Although these generals did not speak outwardly, they had already begun to regard Li Zicheng as a thorn in their side.
Gao Qingyun, who was behind Li Zicheng, was also severely criticized.
"It seems those pedantic intellectuals from the Donglin Party were right. That Master Gao is indeed a monster!"
"Why isn't there a Great Sage like him to come out and deal with him?!"
Beside Taiye Pond, Gao Qingyun suddenly sneezed.
Gu Hengbo turned her head away in annoyance.
"I just told you, sir, that it's still cold at this time of year, so please wear a few more layers before you come out."
"But you wouldn't listen! Now look what happened, you've caught a cold!"
Although she was irritable, she jogged a few steps, grabbed a cloak from the side, and draped it over Gao Qingyun's back.
Gao Qingyun smiled and shook her head: "I didn't catch a cold."
Gu Hengbo shook his head and asked, "Then why did you sneeze?"
Gao Qingyun sighed.
"Who knows? Maybe that brat Li Zicheng has gotten his master into some trouble again!"
"Alas, if I had known this would happen, I should have told him when he asked for leave a few days ago."
"Tell him that if he causes any trouble in the future, he shouldn't mention my name."
Gu Hengbo felt like he had heard these words somewhere before.
After thinking for a long time, she said in an annoyed tone:
"Sir, do you think you're the Bodhi Patriarch?"
"Hmph, but I know magic!"
"All you ever do is talk to us about physics and chemistry!"
Gao Qingyun coughed a few times.
"What do you know, little girl! Haven't you heard the saying, 'Master math, physics, and chemistry, and you'll be able to go anywhere in the world without fear'?"
However, he also knew that he was only talking and probably wouldn't be very convincing.
So he rolled his eyes, put his hands behind his back, opened the system shop, bought a bottle of candy, and then casually tossed it in front of Gu Hengbo.
"Alright, alright, stop complaining. How about I treat you to some candy?"
Gu Hengbo's eyes widened, feeling quite incredulous.
She usually took care of Gao Qingyun, but she had never seen this small bottle on him.
"Could it be that Mr. Mo really knows some kind of magic?" She stuck out her tongue to herself, then immediately opened the candy jar and poured out two candy pills.
After eating it, she squinted her eyes, feeling the sweetness go straight to her heart.
Seeing that Gu Hengbo had stopped talking, Gao Qingyun shook his head.
"This kid is so easy to fool; a bottle of candy is enough to appease him."
at the same time.
"Gentlemen, do you really think these things will please that brat Li Zicheng?"
It turned out that after those generals secretly cursed Li Zicheng, they immediately began to have their own ideas.
They immediately decided... to go against the odds and surrender.
"Let's send him some gifts first and try to build a good relationship with him."
"In this way, even if he becomes very successful in the future, we can benefit from his success."
The group pooled their money and bought some antiques and jade artifacts from Beijing, then went to Li Zicheng's place.
Li Zicheng was reading the operation manual that Gao Qingyun had given him when he heard a noise outside and couldn't help but peek out out of curiosity.
"Generals, what brings you here to see me?"
Those generals thought to themselves, "What are you pretending for, you brat!"
But his face was full of smiles as he handed the treasures in his hands to Li Zicheng.
"Hehe, young man, we're here to give you a gift."
They thought Li Zicheng would be overwhelmed by all these things.
However, they overestimated Li Zicheng's vision.
If they were to send gold and silver jewelry, Li Zicheng would probably be overjoyed.
But these antique jade artifacts...
They knew Li Zicheng, but Li Zicheng did not know them.
Li Zicheng frowned and said, "Gentlemen, why are you sending me all this junk?"
"Do you think I'm easy to bully?"
His tone also became somber.
"In that case, you should take the things back."
"By the way, General Li also came to see me earlier, saying that when dealing with the Jurchens, all we need to do is use my cannons, and you can just watch the show!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com