During the drill of the Iron Prison, the battalion Tianxiang army was basically finalized and began to become a real army. In the past, although it was trained according to the army and divided into various levels, in the end it was only a concept, not a reality. As a result of this all-army exercise, many of the things they learned in the past have really been applied in practice, and officers at all levels have truly understood the significance of what they have learned in the past. After the units returned to their stations, they conducted another round of training.

With Tangzhou as the center, the various units of the Yingtianxiang Army were stationed along the railway line, and Li Fugui was in charge as a whole and began to prepare materials for the big war. The Xiang army was subordinate to the battalion and field, and in addition to important materials such as armor and horses, which needed to be declared to the Privy Council, gunpowder, shells, and bullets were all provided by themselves. These materials are not yet worthy of the attention of the imperial court, except for the prohibition of flame and nitrate, gunpowder is not allowed to be bought and sold, and everything else is normal commodities.

At the beginning of September, the weather gradually cooled down, Nong Zhigao besieged Guangzhou, continued to attack the surrounding prefectures and counties, and was invincible for a while, and the talk of sending troops to the south to conquer began to increase. Quang Nam is too remote, and although the voice of the DPRK and China is weak, there are still some voices. There are remarks that Nong Zhigao will return to the imperial court if he gets the envoy of Yong and Gui Qizhou. The privy deputy envoy Liang Shi bluntly rebuked, wouldn't this be a renunciation of the two Guangzhou, and the speech was abandoned.

Soon, Sun Wei was the pacification envoy of Jinghu South Road and Jiangnan West Road, and he officially made preparations for going south.

However, the officials of the court and the central government debated endlessly about which soldiers and horses went south, and the emperor hesitated for a while. In the end, the prime minister favored the words, with Di Qing as the main general, and led the elite of the forbidden army to the south. As a reserve force, the battalion Tianxiang army went south to cooperate.

At the end of September, Di Qing was officially appointed as the Xuanfu envoy of Jinghu North Road, and the Guangnan economic thieves were promoted, and the army went south with the support of the two lakes. Almost at the same time, Li Xuan, a straight bachelor of Longtu Pavilion and a resident of the house, knew Suizhou and was also in charge of field affairs. Immediately afterwards, Wang Quanbin, the envoy of the inner garden and the training envoy of the Lingzhou regiment, was ordered to go to Suizhou to watch the army, and the camp Tianxiang army was assembled, preparing to go south after Di Qing.

At the beginning of October, after Di Qing was determined to be the commander of the south, he selected the Fanluo and Guangrui armies, each with 5,000 people, from the three roads of Yanyan, Huanqing and Jingyuan in Shaanxi, to be the main force of Di Qing's southward battle, and at the same time to supplement the forbidden army in Beijing. Jinghu and Liangguang local soldiers and horses all listened to Di Qing's moderation.

Just when Du Zhongxiao thought that he would lead the troops to the battle, Yang Ji was appointed as the pacification envoy of the east and west roads of Guangnan and the thieves, and it was determined that he would lead the troops south. Di Qing's department is the main force, and he is also in charge of Jinghu, and he goes to Guizhou to suppress Nong Zhigao's department. Yang Jin was the deputy, and after leading the battalion Tianxiang Army from Shaozhou to Lingnan, he recovered Luzhou County in Guangnan East and pursued along the Yujiang River.

For a while, the hearts of the battalion Tianxiang soldiers fluctuated, and they didn't know who was the commander of the army going south. Over the past few years, the Yingtianxiang Army has been established by Du Zhongxiao, and everyone has long been accustomed to it. When there is a real war, especially in the first battle, if Du Zhongxiao does not accompany him, everyone has no bottom in their hearts.

Du Zhongxiao was also a little excited, and he was a little at a loss for a while. On this day, he was sitting in the yamen, and the officials came to report, and the new knowledge of Suizhou Li Xuan and Shi Quanbin, the envoy of the Guanjun, arrived, and were waiting outside the door.

Welcoming the two into the yamen, the guests and hosts sat down, Du Zhongxiao said: "Suizhou is a remote and small state, I don't want to be able to get Longtu as Zhizhou, Longtu doesn't think this place is remote." Over the years, the place has changed with each passing day, and it is no longer comparable to what it used to be. ”

Li Xuan arched his hand: "When I was in the capital, I often bought things transported from here, where is a remote place." The camp is here, and the imperial court and Jingxi Road rely on it, and it is not easy to relocate, so I know Suizhou. Tiju, you have been on Jingxi Road for several years, and the camp field affairs have not only arranged nearly 200,000 fiber troops, but also done a good job and prospered, who doesn't praise it! At present, the affairs of Yingtian and Changping are busy, and one person is also busy. ”

Du Zhongxiao said yes, and he didn't know what to say for a while. The camp was developed by himself, and now he is completely handed over, if he is just promoted to Changping, wouldn't it be equivalent to demotion? Promoted and promoted, but there was no news at all.

Said to Shi Quanbin, who was sitting on the side: "Group training, according to the meaning of the imperial court, the camp Tianxiang Army is under the jurisdiction of Yang Chan as the main general. He led his troops to Xiangzhou, and he was not here. If you want to, I'll send someone to let him come here to see the group practice. ”

Shi Quanbin said: "I misunderstood, Li Zhizhou and I took a car to Xiangzhou, and we have already seen Yang Xuan there. This time, I came to the camp to do field affairs, and I was specially ordered to come to see the promotion. The Yingtian Xiang Army is built by lifting the army, how can the Guanjun be separated from the lifting? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "That is the case, there is no major event in the past few days, I will take the group to practice and take a look around." The battalions and armies were stationed in the states, but the main forces of artillery and cavalry were always in the vicinity. There is a railway to Xiangyang here, and it is not far from Fancheng, so if there is an emergency, you can assemble along the railway. ”

Shi Quanbin said: "The railway is really a good thing! With the train, as many troops can be quickly deployed, and within a few days, 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers and horses can travel from Shaanxi to the Central Plains. Captain Di went south, bringing a lot of Shaanxi soldiers and horses, and in more than ten days, he had already arrived in the capital. ”

After chatting for a while and talking about the current situation, Du Zhongxiao said: "A few days ago, Director Zhang went to Dengzhou, Su Ying was sentenced to Tangzhou, and several officials were not there. I'll set up a feast in a while to wash the dust for the two of you. ”

Li Xuan said: "When I left Beijing, the political affairs hall intended to split the camp and field affairs into several departments, and the governors of several major prefectures were also in charge. Zhang Yuzhi has worked diligently in recent years, and he has been reappointed as Zhideng Prefecture and in charge of Tang and Deng Prefectures. I know Suizhou, and I am also in charge of Xiangzhou and Suizhou. In a few days, the will will come down, and the lifting will naturally be known. In the final analysis, the camp and field affairs were arranged on the day of the fiber pulling army, and everything is fine today, and there is no need to set up a separate yamen. ”

Du Zhongxiao was speechless for a while, nodded silently, and did not speak. Li Xuan is right, the camp has completed its historical mission, and there is no need to exist. However, because the family background is too strong, it is not directly divided into places, but divided into several pieces, which are managed by several governors. Li Xuan knew Suizhou, but did not go to Xiangzhou, because the Yamen of Yingtianwu was here, and Suizhou was the base camp of Yingtianwu. The most valuable business in the field, some of the companies that have made industry and commerce bigger, are all in Suizhou. The complete set of rules and systems is also here.

Li Xuan said again: "Not only the camp and field affairs, but also the Changping Division in Jingxi Road in the past few years. The political hall has been decided, and it is officially divided into divisions on Jingxi Road, with an official and an office in the north and south to take charge of the Changping affairs of the road. Naturally, he was in charge of the Changping Division of Jingxi Road, and the yamen was set in Xiangzhou. Shi Yangxiu, the judge of salt and iron, raised Changping on Jingxi Road at the same time, and set up a yamen in Henan Mansion. The matter has been decided by the imperial court, and the will has not yet come down, and the prime minister specially asked me to raise it as a prophet. Jingxi Road Changping Division, now it is the money bag of the third division. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded silently, I really want to ask, my camp and field affairs are gone, Chang Pingsi has changed so much, and the power in his hands has been divided a lot, what about himself? How is the imperial court going to settle it? You can't just do it, isn't that equivalent to cutting your own officials? What did you do wrong?

Shi Quanbin smiled and said to Du Zhongxiao, whose face was not very good-looking: "Tiju, in the past few years, you have been training the battalion and Tianxiang Army, and it has been very effective. The official family intends to let you take the camp Tianxiang army south, but you have never been able to do so. Jingxi Road has been in the past few years, and the achievements of the promotion are obvious to all, and they will be reused. It's just that the camp and the Changping Division are not properly arranged, and the imperial court will not dare to make up its mind and let you leave with the troops. The government hall resolutely refuses to allow the affairs of leading troops, unless the new officials can sort out the affairs of the camp and the Changping Division in the past two months, otherwise they cannot leave. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Then if it is not clear in a month or two, and Nanfang Nongzhi has been leveled, what should I do?" ”

Li Xuan said: "I don't know anything about this court matter. If you want to lift it up, you will have to reuse it, but you just don't go south. ”

Du Zhongxiao only felt panicked in his chest, but he couldn't speak. Yingtianwu is particularly important to Jingxi Road, and Changping Division has made a good start, and it is the time for the three divisions to vigorously promote other roads. If Du Zhongxiao lets go, many things will be chaotic, and the deacons resolutely do not allow Du Zhongxiao to lead the troops. But what's your business? There were early signs of the battalion Tianxiang army going south to quell the turmoil, and if they didn't make arrangements early, they would do it to the head of the prison to do this, what should they do?