In the next half a month, Zhu Linmiao shuttled between Changchun Palace and Yikun Palace, enjoying the blessings of Qi people "without shame".

Of course, the Jianyu who invaded Nanzhili has not been completely cleared, and the rebels of King Jincai of Huguang have not stopped, and the refugees affected by the military disaster need to be resettled, and the government is also quite busy.

At the same time, it is an established national policy to wave the Northern Expedition and arrive in Beijing, and it is also a tight time and heavy task.

Therefore, even Zhu Linmiao had no time to spare on the way to inspect the Longjiang Shipyard, and there were several military officers sitting in the imperial chariot, and there were other courtiers waiting outside.

He flipped through the piece that had just been handed over. The first is the cabinet to announce that the Tang King and the Tang princess left Beijing to become a vassal - a few days ago, the Empress Dowager Zeng had officially invited the Empress Dowager to be crowned and became the princess with her son. There were very few officials to see Zhu Linyuan off, but the military department specially transferred 1,000 broken battalions to escort them along the way, and his safety should be safe.

The next one is the resignation handed by Huang Daozhou, still saying that he is old and wants to return to his hometown to retire. Zhu Linmiao recalled that this was the fifth time that Huang Ge Lao had resigned, and he had rejected it four times before, and the face that should have been given was enough.

Zhu Linmiao then put forward a written instruction, quasi-Huang Daozhou told the old man to return to his hometown, promoted Yang Tinglin to the first assistant of the cabinet, and concurrently served as the secretary of the ministry, and transferred Zhang Canghai to the post of secretary of the household department temporarily.

Who is the right attendant of the household department? He was thinking about it, but he heard Zhang Jiayu on the opposite side cough lightly, and then he remembered a few people in the car, so he put away the music, looked up with a smile and said: "Ah, Yuan Zifang is going to talk about the preparation for the Northern Expedition, right?" ”

Zhang Jiayu said respectfully: "Back to the emperor, last night General Yu sent someone back from Jian'an to send the news that the selection of 1,700 recruits from the Bujun Academy has been completed, and they can leave for Nanzhi on the same day." ”

Zhu Linmiao nodded and said, "With the three thousand Longnan recruits who have already left a few days ago, it is enough to supplement the attrition of the first battle of Xi Mingshan." ”

Although it is said that it is a new recruit from Jian'an and Longnan, in fact, the source of soldiers comes from all over the world.

Through a series of great victories, the Long Wei Army and the Broken Battalion made a great reputation, coupled with the unremitting propaganda of the Propaganda Department, the status of the Ming Army in the eyes of the people has been unprecedentedly improved. A large number of young people from all over the country gathered in Longnan and Jianchang to apply for military academies.

At present, the admission standards of military academies have been several times stricter than before, and the two military schools only admit 5,000 students every six months as planned, but due to the enthusiasm of the masses, the actual number of students enrolled in the schools has exceeded 6,000 every time.

A few days ago, Zhu Linmiao had shortened the service time of the Daming Field Army to three and a half years according to this situation--there are enough recruits, so it is natural to be more sympathetic to veterans who have made contributions to the country. Of course, the outstanding soldiers who voluntarily continue to serve will also be retained with improved salaries.

Zhang Jiayu continued: "Your Majesty, there are also a large number of unselected military cadets who have signed into the Ministry of Writing and Soldiers, requesting to join the army in advance to drive away the ambition of the whole country. ”

Zhu Linmiao asked, "They should have a year to graduate, right?" ”

"Back to the emperor, it will be half a year as fast, and more than a year if it is slow." Zhang Jiayu paused, and then said, "But according to what General Yu said, most of these recruits have completed all the training content, and they can be used." ”

Zhu Linmiao didn't know that the Long Wei Army and the Broken Battalion were like heavenly soldiers and generals in the hearts of these military academy students. In order to be able to wear that heroic military uniform, they all trained hard, and if they hadn't finished the two-year training subject in one year, they would be embarrassed to greet people.

He pondered for a moment and ordered: "Since this is the case, then gradually expand the number of field army places." 1,500 new recruits are recruited every month. Until the three battalions of the field army were increased by four thousand men each. ”

The first and second battalions of the field army are the Dragon Guard Army and the Broken Battalion, and the total scale of the army will reach 40,000 after such expansion. And the three battalions, that is, the White Pole Army, will be expanded to 13,000 men. The overall combat capability will be greatly enhanced.

In fact, if it was only the Northern Expedition to recover Beijing, or even sweep Liaodong, the current field army would be basically enough, after all, there were still a large number of garrisons in various places that could be called.

However, Zhu Linmiao's eyes have already set his sights on the vast Mongolian steppe and even Siberia. If you don't take these places, you will become a confidant of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

He continued: "Don't be anxious about the expansion of the army, the quality of soldiers must be strictly controlled, and it is better to have a shortage than an abundance. ”

"Yes, the last will remember."

Zhang Jiayu said, and Ying Tianxiang, the supervisor of the logistics department on the side, arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, ninety percent of the grain and grass needed for the Northern Expedition have been sent out from all over the country, and it is expected to arrive in Zhenjiang Dacang within a month." ”

Zhu Linmiao knew that this batch of grain and grass was prepared for the follow-up operation, and there were nearly 80,000 stone of grain in Nanjing that had not been used before, which was enough to consume in the early stage of the Northern Expedition.

He asked the Logistics Division to prepare more than four months' worth of grain and grass in advance.

"How much money was spent, and was it difficult to buy grain?"

Ying Tianxiang hurriedly said: "Back to the emperor, a total of 270,000 taels of silver." The Logistics Department has sent special personnel to the three merchants responsible for transporting grain and grass to supervise them, and according to their reports, there is sufficient grain in the localities, and the price of rice is mostly below two taels of silver, and potatoes and sweet potatoes are even more than four yuan of silver. ”

Zhu Linmiao nodded secretly, which was basically consistent with the situation reported by Huangzhuang.

Due to the popularization of the Huangzhuang contract system and the large-scale planting of potatoes and sweet potatoes, the grain output of the Ming Dynasty increased significantly after the autumn harvest last year, and it was easy to support the 670,000 Ming troops to fight.

It is foreseeable that after Huguang, Nanzhili and other places also spread out the planting of potatoes and sweet potatoes, the grain output can be at least double that of previous years! And as food production increases, there will inevitably be a powerful population explosion. In this day and age, population is an important part of national strength.

Ying Tianxiang continued: "Your Majesty, in addition, the logistics department's own supply fleet has been formed, equipped with more than 100 four-wheeled cloud vehicles, and the grain collection and transportation methods are all under the guidance of several other merchants. Three days later, he will go to Guangxin, Chuzhou and other places to buy the first batch of grain and rice. ”

"Okay, the Logistics Department is acting resolutely." Zhu Linmiao praised. At the end of last year, he mentioned to Ying Tianxiang the "logistics merchant reform", but he didn't expect to have an eyebrow so soon.

The so-called "merchant reform" is actually the "logistics socialization" of later generations, and he modified it in combination with the situation of the Ming Dynasty and gave it to Ying Tianxiang. The Logistics Division began to form convoys, which, on a commercial basis, could even do business in civilian areas when there were no military missions. This will not only greatly improve logistics efficiency, save costs, but also make the logistics division itself profitable. This is one of the important reform measures for the modernization of the army in later generations.

"The emperor praised it falsely."

Ying Tianxiang was talking, and the imperial chariot had stopped. Shi Lin said outside the car: "Your Majesty, the Longjiang Shipyard has arrived." ”

Zhu Linmiao got out of the carriage and looked up, and saw a huge shipyard in the north with a radius of dozens of miles, in which the flags of the sun and the moon were fluttering everywhere, and the craftsmen were shuttling back and forth like busy ants, a scene in full swing.