After Ming Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, he stationed seventy-two guards in Beijing, which was called Jingying.

The three major battalions of the Beijing Division, namely the five military battalions, the three thousand battalions and the Shenji battalion, the three thousand battalions were later renamed the Shenshu battalion, the three battalions were mainly stationed outside the Desheng Gate and Anding Gate, known as the Great Teaching Field, during the Wanli period, the Beijing battalion was transferred to the city in the name of security.

After the crown prince's decree on behalf of the Son of Heaven was issued, the Shenji Battalion and the Shenshu Battalion began to prepare for the expedition, and all the yamen in Beijing were also busy, preparing logistics and grain and grass.

Due to the urgency of the war and the fact that it was not an expedition, the date of the expedition was planned to be two days later, and Zhu Cihong couldn't wait to inspect the three major battalions on the day he received the order.

When Zhu Cihong arrived at the garrison of the Yongwei Battalion and announced the news of the expedition, the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion let out an overwhelming cheer, and the huge noise shocked the other battalions stationed around.

After coming out of the Yongwei Battalion, Zhu Cihong went to the Shenji Battalion and the Shenshu Battalion, the station of the Shenji Battalion is not far from the Yongwei Battalion, stationed in the south of Taiye Pond, and the Yongwei Battalion is one south and one north to consolidate the security of the Forbidden City.

It was established in the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, a special unit in charge of firearms, and it was the earliest artillery unit in the world, opening a precedent for firearms in the world.

When Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, personally conquered Mobei, he put forward the operational principle of "Shenji is in the front, and the horse team is in the rear", and the Shenji Battalion cooperated with the infantry and cavalry to fight, playing an important role, making the application of firearms more professional, and the Shenji Battalion has also become an important branch of the Ming army.

Since the Yongle Dynasty, the Shenji Battalion is the golden pimple in the Ming Army, and the Ming Dynasty has any new firearms, all of which are first handed over to the Shenji Battalion for use, such as the Franc machine, the Hongyi cannon, the Thunderbolt, the Lumi Gun, etc.

It is a pity that such an advanced army at that time, both in terms of technology and experience, surpassed all countries in the same period, and was finally almost completely wiped out at Tumu Fort.

Zhu Cihong was pondering in his heart, and he didn't know what the combat effectiveness of the Shenji Battalion was now.

When Zhu Cihong came to the Shenji Battalion camp, he found that the camp was full of flags, the helmets were bright, and the officers and soldiers shouted Chitose.

Zhu Cihong saw that the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion were tall and white, and he was slightly satisfied in his heart, and his first impression was still good.

But he immediately became depressed again, why did Li Zicheng fight under the city of Beijing in later history, and the Shenji Battalion dispersed without firing a shot?

The general of the Shenji Battalion is a tall man about forty years old, named Wang Wannian, a noble son, he is dressed in fine armor leaves, he speaks very well, and boasts of the strength of the Shenji Battalion in front of Zhu Cihong.

Zhu Cihong interrupted the big mouth's words, and suddenly asked, "How many soldiers are there in the Shenji Battalion at present?" ”

Hearing this question, Wang Wannian lost the demeanor he had just boasted about, and became a little distracted: "Back to His Highness, there are 5,000 people, and there are currently more than 4,000 people......."

Zhu Cihong frowned and said, "Let's talk about it, how many living people are alive who can move?" ”

Wang Wannian said honestly: "Back to Your Highness, there are less than 4,000 people......"

"That's three thousand."

"Your Highness, there are more than ......"

Zhu Cihong interrupted him and asked, "What firearms are used in the Shenji Battalion?" ”

Wang Wannian didn't mean to blame when he heard the crown prince's tone, so he exhaled lightly, and returned to his previous smug look, and said: "Back to Your Highness, the firearms of the Shenji Battalion are the first in the world, there are twenty Shenwei General Cannons alone, there are one hundred and thirty Hongyi cannons, there are more than two hundred and fifty-six large and medium Furang cannons, more than 400 Tiger Squat Cannons, and there are hundreds of rocket cars and Shenhuo Flying Crows, and the fire guns are all blue and blue Lumi guns, by the way, there are hundreds of Thunderbolt guns......

"So much?" Zhu Cihong exclaimed.

He originally thought that his Yongwei Battalion's firearm configuration was no worse than that of the Shenji Battalion, but he didn't expect it to be more than ten times worse.

Zhu Cihong continued to ask: "What you said can be used?" Are there any quality issues? ”

Wang Wannian had just been talking excitedly like a machine gun for a long time, but when he heard this, he suddenly became stunned and a little panicked.

When Zhu Cihong saw him like this, he knew it, but he still said: "To tell the truth, you are about to go on the expedition, if you dare to lie, if you miss the military situation in the future, this palace will definitely cut off your head!" ”

Wang Wannian suddenly felt a chill in his neck, so he had to cry and say honestly: "The quality of the artillery is okay....... As for the firecrackers used by the firecrackers, there is a big problem with the quality......"

Zhu Cihong frowned and said, "Isn't the War Bureau already producing firecrackers with quality and quantity?" Why didn't the Shenji Battalion go to the War Bureau to get the firecracker? ”

Hearing Zhu Cihong say this, Wang Wannian was obviously stunned, and then felt greatly wronged, and muttered in a low voice: "Your Highness, now the firearms of the War Bureau are all prioritized to the equipment of the Yongwei Battalion....... If you don't give it to us at all, we can only use those old firecrackers......"

Zhu Cihong was a little embarrassed at this time, it was really embarrassing to be demolished in front of him and walked through the back door, but the output of the War Bureau was only enough for the Yongwei Battalion and the new battalion to barely use, and there was really no extra high-quality firearms for the other battalions in the Beijing Battalion.

"Okay, this expedition, the fire guns of the Shenji Battalion don't have to go out, using that broken fire gun is simply going to make trouble."

After inspecting the Shenji Camp for a while, Zhu Cihong dropped a sentence and left quickly.

Then Zhu Cihong inspected the Shenshu camp again, and because the Shenshu camp had too many troops, he only selected the cavalry battalion among them to inspect it carefully.

The predecessor of the Shenshu battalion was 3,000 battalions, only 3,000 Mongolian cavalry, and in the last year of Jiajing, the names of the Chinese army, the left and right sentinels, and the left and right sides were abolished, and three battalions were set up, including three battalions of the war battalion, the vehicle battalion, and the garrison battalion, plus the cavalry battalion of its own, a total of ten battalions, and the total strength included about 70,000 reserve soldiers.

Zhu Cihong knew that there were 70,000 people on the surface, but it was estimated that even half of them were gone, and Zhu Cihong didn't care about these messes, and only asked the cavalry battalion of the Shenshu Battalion to follow the expedition, and the rest stayed to guard the capital.

In the end, the number of Zhu Cihong's expedition has been officially determined, with 6,000 people in the Yongwei Battalion, 3,000 artillery in the Shenji Battalion, and 5,000 cavalry in the Shenshu Battalion, a total of 14,000 people.

As for the legendary hundreds of thousands of people in the Beijing camp, they are all placed in the Beijing Division, so as not to bring too many Beijing Divisions to be surrounded and have to send troops back to help, which will affect their own deployment, and they will have to be stabbed in the back.

The Son of Heaven personally led the army to the battle, which was of great political significance, and since ancient times, it has been in accordance with the will of God and the people, eliminating the cruel people, and stabilizing the world.

Before the personal expedition, Zhu Cihong fasted for a day according to the etiquette system, as for the sacrificial matter, Zhu Cihong asked Yang Tinglin to replace him, he didn't want to go to such a cumbersome matter, he could avoid it, it was better to take more time to arrange the affairs of each battalion.

The day before the expedition, Zhu Cihong ordered the grain and grass baggage team to start ahead of schedule and march to Shunyi.

That night, Chongzhen summoned Zhu Cihong in Wanchun Pavilion in the palace back garden, Queen Zhou, her second sister Zhu Yujiao, and her third brother Zhu Cijiong were all there, and the family got together for a reunion dinner.

At the banquet, Emperor Chongzhen didn't say anything, but Empress Zhou asked him to pay more attention to safety, and her eyes were full of tears as she spoke.

The second sister, Princess Kunxing, took Zhu Cihong's hand and said, "Brother Huang, you also want to bring a gift to Jiao'er when you come back this time, okay?" ”

Zhu Cihong rubbed the little princess's head like an adult and said with a smile: "Okay! Brother Huang brings you fun! ”

"Brother Huang, I want it too!" The third brother, Zhu Cijiong, was also shouting for a gift next to him.

"Good, good! The royal brother also brought gifts to the third brother! Zhu Cihong had no choice but to coax this little guy.

Chongzhen and Queen Zhou were very relieved to see this scene, and it was very rare to have such a scene in the royal family.

After the dismissal, Zhu Cihong said goodbye to his parents and siblings and prepared to return to Zhongcui Palace.

"Your Highness, please wait!" As soon as Zhu Cihong walked out of the palace garden, Wang Chengen hurriedly chased after him.

"What's the matter with the king?" Zhu Cihong said curiously.

Wang Chengen waved his hand at Wu Zhong beside him, Wu Zhong hurriedly retreated, and seeing that there was no one around, Wang Chengen approached Zhu Cihong and said softly: "Your Highness, the emperor has told you that if Your Highness encounters difficulties in the expedition, you must not force it, you can go back to Beijing first, and everything will be borne by Eunuch Cao......"

Zhu Cihong was stunned in his heart, and he was a little moved in his heart, Emperor Laozi wanted him to run away first when he encountered danger, and let Cao Huachun take the blame.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Cihong said to Wang Chengen: "Thank you for telling the king, the palace will pay attention, please relax my father and queen mother!" ”