Unparalleled Concubine

As Li Shuo said, at least at this point in time, Muying still has absolute loyalty to Li Xin. Besides, the firearms that are the source of the firearms battalion are still firmly in Li Xin's hands.

Now that the two generals in the Southwest Army have nodded, there is no obstacle to the matter of the Shenji Battalion. As long as the Hanzhou Army and the Ningzhou Army cooperate, this matter can be fully implemented within five or six days at most.

However, the candidates for the Shenji Battalion still need to be considered. Except for the veterans of the Firearms Battalion, some of the rest will be drawn from the Southwest Army, but they cannot all be drawn from the Southwest Army, and some fresh blood is needed.

Then there is the candidate for the commander of the Shenji Battalion, which is worth considering. It is more suitable for Li Xin to be with Zhao Fang, but Zhao Fang is going to be the general of Yulin Wei Zhonglang, and it is impossible for one person to hold two positions. As for Zhao Yi... now He's still too young, and his father doesn't necessarily want him to be a military officer, but probably wants him to be a subject test.

Although Zhao Jia is a scholar, but because he was born in a "military household", he has not been successful in the scientific examination all his life.

But apart from these two people, there is another absolutely reliable person who can be transferred to the capital, and that is... Lin Hu.

After Lin Hu was tricked by Meihuawei, he was unwilling to supervise the production of gunpowder for a while. Later, Chen Shiliu took over for a while. Later, Chen Shiliu was transferred by Li Xin to the Anbu as the leader, and Lin Hu took over the supervision of gunpowder again. errands.

Due to various reasons, the gunpowder used to be strictly kept secret. Both Lin Hu and Chen Shiliu lived in the dark. Now the situation is different. The Southwest Army has occupied the capital. Can appear short-sighted.

There is even a formally established Shenji Battalion, and a firearms supervisor that manufactures gunpowder and derivative weapons will soon be set up. Realize it bit by bit.

The composition of gunpowder is not complicated. Before Li Xin deliberately concealed it, the court found out about [-]% to [-]% of it. That is to say, this thing cannot be hidden from the world for a long time, so now the court should not focus on it. The gunpowder should be kept secret, but should be placed on technical iteration.

What's more, the Xianbei tribe in the north lacks raw materials and craftsmen, and they can't make decent gunpowder if they give them prescriptions. What's more, if the imperial court has already produced artillery and even flintlock guns, even if the Xianbei people are proficient It is useless to master gunpowder.

Therefore, Li Xin plans to call Lin Hu and his craftsmen to the capital. Lin Hu will be the first commander of the Shenji Battalion, and those craftsmen under him will become the elders of the Firearms Supervision.

After finalizing the details of the Firearms Battalion with Mu Ying, the two of them talked about reorganizing the Southwest Army. The general framework was to slowly recruit soldiers from Gyeonggi or nearby state capitals to fill the Southwest Army. Of course, the review of recruiting troops should be relative Be stricter, try to recruit some innocent people, and more importantly, don't allow these recruits to climb to the position of captain or higher in a short period of time.

In other words, at least within three years, it is guaranteed that the Southwest Army will remain the Southwest Army and will not be transformed into another army from the bottom up.

With these preparations, Li Xin or the Southwest Group's position in the imperial court will be as solid as gold.

Li Xin went to Qianguo Mansion in the morning and did not leave Qianguo Mansion until after lunch. Mu Ying personally sent Li Xin to the gate, and then bowed to Li Xin and said: "Governor The subordinates will start to do the things that have been explained in the afternoon."

Li Xin nodded with a smile: "After these busy days are over and Li Shuo is in better health, let's call Prime Minister Zhao and find a place to have a drink together."

Mu Ying laughed: "I heard that Deyi Building on the Qinhuai River is the property of the Grand Governor, but I have never seen it before. When the time comes, I will ask the Governor to take us, Qiuba, to the Deyi Building to experience it."

"sure."

The two bid farewell to each other. Li Xin did not go home after leaving Qianguo Mansion. Instead, he went to a restaurant in Yonglefang. As soon as he arrived, he was downstairs, and two old friends came down to greet him. , They all bowed their hands to Li Xin and saluted: "I have been waiting for the governor for a long time."

Hearing this sentence, Li Xin was also a little embarrassed. He made an appointment with these two people to have lunch together, but it was already noon now, and they made them wait for him for almost an hour.

Li Dadu smiled bitterly and said: "I should have arrived a long time ago. I was talking about things with Duke Qian, but I didn't get away. The two old brothers have been waiting for a long time."

Nowadays in the capital, there are not many people who can be called "brother" by Li Xin.

Ye Si Shao Ye Lin is one of them, but Ye Lin is no longer in the capital.

The remaining two people are not difficult to guess.

He Song...and Hou Jingde.

These two men made great contributions when Li Xin came to Beijing. After the new emperor ascended the throne, they also received their respective titles. Hou Jingde was originally a loyal and brave Marquis, and he was promoted to the first-rank Shanyang Marquis. He Song was also named Marquis because of this. He was named Marquis of Dingxiang.

Although the titles have been promoted, the official positions of the two have not been issued for a long time, and they are still unemployed at home.

For these two people, there must be arrangements. They risked their lives and made a bet. If they win, they will naturally pay dividends to them.

Surrounded by these two people, Li Xin followed them and sat upstairs in the private room, and was invited to the second floor, where Li Xin took the main seat.

After the three of them took their seats, He Song and Hou Jingde looked at each other, and said to Li Xin with a smile: "What's the matter with the governor, please say hello, I will come to see you naturally, there is no need for such trouble."

In fact, depending on the identities of the three of them at this time, they should hold a banquet in their respective mansions. Li Xin wants to talk to the two of them, all he needs to do is give them an invitation, but the Jing'an Hou Mansion is now occupied by countless couples in the capital. It was a bit inconvenient to stare at him, so he chose this restaurant.

The inconvenient part of this is that on the night when the Southwest Army entered the city, except for a few people involved, not many people knew that it was He Songhou and Jingde who "rebelled against the water". It can also be understood that the worship of the general and the title of marquis means that the new dynasty wants to win people's hearts, and once Li Xin invites these two people to come to the house, at least [-]% of the officials in the capital will be able to guess what happened that night.

Although what happened that night was a real credit to Xinchao, whether or not the credit should be announced depends on the opinions of the two of them.

Li Xin smiled slightly: "It's better not to be too ostentatious at the moment, otherwise the two old brothers may be drowned by the saliva of those scholars."

These two people have made a lot of contributions, but they can't be said. Once they are explained, not to mention how the civil officials in the court abused them, even the soldiers in the imperial army may rebound.

Even if you want to say it, it's not right now...

Hou Jingde grinned broadly, and smiled brightly: "This old man is afraid of everything in his life, except being scolded. Those big-headed scholars only gossip behind their backs, and they can't even fart in front of their faces!"

He Song frowned slightly, but didn't speak.

Li Xin coughed and raised his wine glass to toast the two men.

The three of them collided their wine glasses and drank them all in one gulp.

After drinking a glass of wine, Li Xin put down his glass and glanced at the two people.

"I invite the two of you here today because we have business to discuss."

Hou Jingde's voice was gruff: "The Commander-in-Chief ordered it."

He Song also said: "Great Governor, please tell me."

Li Xin narrowed his eyes slightly, and said in a deep voice: "The Xianbei tribe in the north is a bit dishonest. Now that the Yunzhou army has never returned to Yunzhou, Chen Guogong is struggling to resist in the northern border alone. The situation is very critical."

"What I mean is, three or four Zhechong Mansions were dispatched from the imperial army to go north to support Chen Guogong. The two old brothers, can they still lead the troops now?"

Chapter 1132 Each has a future

This matter was thought up by Li Xin early on. First of all, the situation in the capital is basically stable now. With the existence of firearms, plus the 10,000 Southwest Army, there is no force in the whole world that can shake the defense of the capital. Therefore, The [-]+ forbidden troops outside the city seemed a bit dispensable.

It is true that these forbidden troops are also a huge force, but they cannot be used by Li Xin at present, or they cannot be used by Li Xin at all. In this case, it is better to send some to support Ye Mao and Northern Xinjiang.

The two battalions originally had a total of sixteen Zhechong Mansions, but with the addition of some other losses due to the previous defense of the city, there are only about ten Zhechong Mansions left now, and four of the ten Zhechong Mansions will be transferred out, which means that the people outside the city will be A small half of these forbidden troops were transferred out.

In this way, there are only six Zhechong mansions left for the forbidden army outside the city, and they can no longer pose any threat to the Southwest Army. The struggling Ye Mao relieved some of the pressure.

Hou Jingde and He Song looked at each other, then looked at Li Xin at the same time, and asked at the same time: "What does the governor mean, that we should lead the troops north together?"

"There are only four Zhechong mansions in the area. How can there be any need for the two Marquis to go together?"

These two men each led a battalion of imperial troops before. Even before Li Xin entered the capital, they occupied a pivotal position in the court army. It was too overkill for the two of them to bring four Zhe Chongfu.

Li Xin said with a smile: "My opinion is to let General He lead people north to support Chen Guogong. As for Brother Hou, who was injured earlier and his injuries have not recovered, he will continue to lead the remaining imperial troops to station outside the city. Of course, If you two have any opinions, feel free to speak them out, the two brothers helped me a lot when I entered the city, no matter what you have to say, you can speak up."

Hou Jingde was only silent for a while, and then he said: "Commander, the last general's wounds were already healed before he entered the city, and now he is already healed. In terms of body and bones, I am better than Brother He. I am older. I'm also one or two years old, so in my opinion, it's better for me to lead the troops to the north and let Brother He stay in the capital."

Li Xin looked calm and looked at He Song: "What does General He mean?"

He Song is a person with a dull personality and doesn't talk much. He said silently: "The general has no objection to whoever he wants to go north to the last general, but it's better to go faster as soon as possible. I'm afraid that Ye Gongye won't last long. gone."

His voice was a little low: "The old man's eldest son has already gone with him, and the eldest grandson can't be..."