After the early dynasty, Feng Yunshan called Zeng Guanlan, vice premier of the cabinet, Fan Ruzeng, director of the Special Service Department, and the main generals of the army, Zuo Zongtang and Mao Qi of the General Staff, Luo Xuan and Liang Peiyou of the Admiralty, to the side hall.

Nowadays, the entire Chinese Empire, in terms of the army, began to grow in numbers, especially because of the expansion everywhere, coupled with several conflicts and wars with the British, the Chinese Empire inevitably embarked on the road of expansion. The army is mainly divided into two categories: the army and the navy, of course, the navy mainly refers to the navy and the inland water division.

The navy is mainly managed by the Admiralty and is mainly divided into four major fleets: the Pacific Fleet, which is the leader, followed by the South Ocean Fleet, the East Ocean Fleet, and the North Ocean Fleet according to the tonnage of warships and the number of soldiers. As for the inland water divisions, they are under the dual management of the Admiralty and the General Staff, and there are many scattered and miscellaneous ones, and there are sailors on the navigable river surface that is almost several hundred kilometers long, but it only depends on the size of the water division. The largest ones are, of course, the Yangtze River Water Division, the Huanghuai Water Division, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Water Division, the Xijiang Water Division, and the newly established Heilongjiang Water Division and the Mekong River Water Division.

On the land side, it is divided into field armies and garrison troops. At present, the field army of the empire is all called the captive army. The local garrisons, also known as the national defense forces, are jointly commanded by the General Staff and the Ministry of National Defense, and the following are all regional units with provinces as regional units to carry out the national defense and garrison tasks in their own regions.

The local national defense garrisons, according to Moltke's suggestion, were originally modeled on the Prussian military service system, and later improved several times, and finally subdivided into three types: one was the national defense standing army that served for five years and was stationed in the locality, and more than half of the field army was selected from here; The other is the reserve defense force, which is also stationed in the local area, and these reserve soldiers, mainly from newly recruited soldiers and retired standing troops, have only served for three years, so they need to be constantly rotated; The last type is the local militia, which is mainly non-military personnel of various professions who are regularly trained under the organization of local military districts, a small number of whom are soldiers who have returned to their hometowns from the reserve and most of the civilians who have never joined the army.

Many of the captives have now served for five years and are facing the problem of retirement. Therefore, Feng Yunshan was more concerned about this issue and asked directly: "Zuo Aiqing, many officers and soldiers in the army are about to face the problem of five years of service, what does Aiqing think?" By the way, now I'll tell me the details of the captive army. ”

Because it is a partial hall and direct communication face-to-face, Zuo Zongtang did not carry out complicated etiquette, he has been with Feng Yunshan for many years, he knows Feng Yunshan's temperament, and he does not have the slightest worry about accompanying the king like a tiger, but directly bows his hand and reports: "Your Majesty, Weichen still reports the detailed situation of the current captive army." ”

Zuo Zongtang glanced at everyone, and said aloud with some excitement: "My Chinese Empire's captive army has developed from the rear army led by His Majesty when he was still the Southern King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Guangxi period, from the original less than 2,000 old, weak, sick and disabled Pai Wei soldiers, plus more than 1,000 soldiers of the Left Second Army and hundreds of boy scouts at that time of King Xinzhong, it has developed step by step, to the later Taiping Holy Army, to today's powerful Chinese Empire Captive Army, which is not easy, and is full of His Majesty's countless efforts. Nowadays, the territory of the empire is getting bigger and bigger, and in order to adapt to the new situation, the General Staff has reorganized the Chinese Imperial Capture Army, with a total of 6 major corps: the First Field Corps is responsible for the combat readiness of Jiangnan, Central Plains, Zhili and other places; The 2nd Field Corps is responsible for combat readiness in Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula, the three islands of Japan, and the Bering Strait; The 3rd Field Corps was responsible for the combat readiness of the Ganmeng region, Siberia and other places; The Fourth Field Corps was responsible for the war readiness of the Qinghai-Tibet region, the Huijiang region, and the Kazakh khanate region; The Fifth Field Corps is responsible for the combat readiness of the southwestern region of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, the southern part of Huguang, Fujian, and the Indochina Peninsula; The Sixth Field Corps is responsible for combat readiness in the South Seas and the Americas. The six field regiments have a total of 52 infantry divisions, 5 cavalry divisions, 6 artillery divisions, and 6 special divisions, with a total strength of 725,000 troops. ”

After listening to Zuo Zongtang's situation of the captive army, Feng Yunshan was quite complacent.

Yes, after several years of vigorous military expansion and training, the empire's captives are now so strong that the whole world, including the European powers, are on their toes! No wonder those small states took the initiative to be incorporated into the empire a while ago, just because there was such a large army to deter them.

Think about it back then, but in just 9 years, it was like a lifetime, the old, weak, sick and disabled at the beginning have become the world's strongest army today! 725,000 well-trained invincible soldiers, and this is all built by themselves, thinking about it can't help but feel a burst of pride. With the iron lion of these six field corps, even the number one power in the world like Great Britain is afraid that it will not dare to fight a decisive battle with itself easily.

Feng Yunshan was full of emotion, and when he saw Zuo Zongtang looking at him, he nodded hurriedly and motioned for him to continue.

Zuo Zongtang said: "Your Majesty, there are nearly 280,000 soldiers in the army who are facing the problem of expiring five years of service, and Weichen thinks so. First, in any case, many of these 280,000 soldiers were the first batch of veterans of the Holy Kingdom recruited after the founding of the Chinese Empire, and now they have been in the army for 5 years, are well-trained, and have experienced many wars, and they are the most elite soldiers of the empire, and they must not be allowed to retire, even partially, even if they are retired to local garrisons. Second, it is not entirely possible to rely solely on forcible orders to keep these soldiers. The empire had to give them corresponding preferential treatment and rewards, and Weichen thought that he should continue to pay allowances according to the active military salaries, and the allowances should be appropriately increased for each additional year, and at the same time, the local government should appropriately increase some preferential treatment for family members. Third, the existing military service system should be appropriately revised, and the original time limit of five years of service in the field army and three years of service in the reserve should be further extended, and the field army should be extended to eight or even 10 years, and the reserve service should be extended to five years. ”

Feng Yunshan clapped his hands and praised: "Zuo Aiqing and my hero see the same thing!" I am reluctant to let the elite soldiers of these empires lose to the people. Although the country is now strong, it has not yet reached the point where other countries are afraid, especially the European powers, and they need to step up their precautions. The strength of the captives cannot be reduced, but must be increased appropriately! I also want to use two years to form a slightly smaller field corps, which will be used as a mobile field corps along with the navy, ready to be responsible for any possible outbreak of war. After all, the navy developed too late, and it was too wasteful to move the officers and men of the navy to the Marine Corps, and it was still mainly naval warfare, and the field army was responsible for the affairs of land warfare. ”

Zuo Zongtang bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty praises falsely, and Weichen is afraid!" Your Majesty's world strategy is the right way. Wechen is just following His Majesty's execution! ”

Feng Yunshan waved his hand, signaling that Zuo Zongtang did not need to be modest, he trusted him enough, and turned to Mao Qi, the deputy chief of the General Staff, and asked: "The General Staff can manage the captive army so well, in addition to Zuo Aiqing, Mao Aiqing is also a hard worker. By the way, Mao Aiqing, how is the equipment in the army now? I remember going to the Mauser Arsenal of the Shengjing Machine Building Bureau, and seeing that the Type 59 Mauser rifle and the metal shell custom bullets have been mass-produced. How much equipment is there in the captives now? ”

Moltke replied: "Your Majesty, now the Mauser Arsenal has improved the Mauser Type 59 rifle to the Mauser Type 60 rifle, and, according to His Majesty's prompting, has successfully developed the function of adding a magazine to feed ammunition, with a total of 5 rounds of ammunition. In this case, one Mauser Type 60 rifle is equivalent to at least three ordinary European-made rifles. Even the most advanced British Enfield P1860 firing rifled rifle is much worse than our Mauser Type 59 rifle, let alone compared to the Mauser Type 60 rifle? This is simply not comparable. Moreover, Weichen heard that most of the British army is still equipped with Enfield P1853 rifled rifles a few years ago. They did not have the ability to produce large quantities of P1860 rifles in a short period of time, and their financial resources did not allow it. Therefore, it can be said that the rifles of our Chinese empire have been leading the world for more than 10 years! As for the metal bullets that were ordered, they were already in full production and enough for the Mauser rifle. ”

"As for the installation situation, Your Majesty, after all, this Mauser Type 60 rifle has not been developed for a long time, and it has only been mass-produced for a year and a half. In addition, only the Mauser Arsenal has an exclusive secret production to prevent leaks, so the production capacity is somewhat lacking, but the number is also considerable, and now there are 255,000 Mauser Type 60 rifles in the entire empire, all of which have been equipped with the most needed field regiments. In addition, 140,000 Mauser Type 59 rifles were produced, all of which were also installed. The rest, the slightly less equipped Sharps M1859 rifle, but also much stronger than the British Enfield P1853 rifled rifle. ”

After listening to Mao Qi's report, Feng Yunshan's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly: "I didn't expect that the equipment in my captive army is so sophisticated!" I can't help but find an unlucky country to try the power of new weapons. It just so happened that day that Liang Aiqing didn't propose that the empire send troops to Russian and American companies? The General Staff Headquarters sent a special regiment to assist the Beiyang Fleet in dispatching troops, and Mao Aiqing was responsible for this matter. Presumably, the Russian and American companies in that vast and sparsely populated land will not have many troops, Liang Aiqing, you ask Luo Huaguan and their Beiyang Fleet to go with some Mauser rifles and send troops as soon as possible! ”

Zuo Zongtang and Mao Qi, as well as Luo Xuan and Liang Peiyou on the side, hurriedly bowed down to receive the order.

"As for Australia, which is occupied by the British, well, let's talk about it later!" Feng Yunshan was about to continue to ask about artillery and other weapons, but suddenly thought that the domestic copper mine output is not very high, and the arsenal produces so many metal fixed bullets, will it have an impact on the domestic copper, and couldn't help but ask Zeng Guanlan: "Guanlan, how is the copper in the empire now?" Is there a shortage? ”

Zeng Guanlan immediately understood, and reported: "Your Majesty is worried about the large production of metal bullets that will affect the supply and price of copper within the empire, right?" Some time ago, the price of copper in the market did rise by 20%, but the Ministry of Public Works immediately transferred the copper from the large copper mines in Jiangxi and Yunnan to the emergency transfer, and the Ministry of Finance and Taxation collected some of the incomplete copper coins from the private sector and provided them to the arsenal for the production of bullets after being melted back into the furnace. Coupled with the fact that copper mines in the mountainous areas of northern Luzon have gradually been mined and produced in huge quantities, the price of copper has now fallen, and is even slightly lower than the original price. ”

When Feng Yunshan heard that the copper mine on Luzon Island had been mined, he smiled lightly and said, "That's good!" I heard that the copper mining in the mountains of North Luzon was wasted. What happened to the indigenous people of Luzon who also regarded one of the largest reserves of the mine as a sacred mountain, and even attacked the garrison, triggering retaliatory killings by the imperial army? ”

Zeng Guanlan naturally didn't know much, and looked at Zuo Zongtang for help.

"Your Majesty, the person involved in this matter is Luo Xindong, the commander of the 27th Infantry Division of the Capture Army, and it just so happens that Weichen knows some about the situation, so Weichen will report it!" Zuo Zongtang immediately freed Zeng Guanlan from the siege: "Because of the anger of the indigenous tribes, the sneak attack lost dozens of soldiers of the captive army, and under the anger of Commander Luo, he sent half a division of more than 5,000 people to kill all the natives within a radius of 200 miles around the sacred mountain of the so-called indigenous tribe. Then, Master Luo took the initiative to ask for punishment, and His Majesty didn't punish him. This gave the captives a sense of confidence, knowing that His Majesty was directed towards them. In addition, a large number of Chinese compatriots on Luzon Island were often invaded and abused by the natives and Spaniards in the past, and they harbored hatred, so they intentionally or unintentionally instigated friction between the captives stationed on Luzon Island and the natives, and in the past year or so, the local indigenous population of the entire Luzon Island, especially in the northern region, has decreased from more than 800,000 to only more than 500,000. It was not all killed by the captives, most of them fled from Luzon for fear of fleeing, and turned to other places such as Visayas and Mindanao, and nearly 50,000 Filipino young men were captured by the 27th Infantry Division led by Division Commander Luo, all of whom were native natives of Visayas and Tagalog. Because the railroad between Jiaozhi and Guangxi was being built, Wechen saw that these Filipino young men were idle, so he asked for them from Commander Luo, and sent 2 of them to the Nanning-Hanoi railway under construction, and the other 30,000, because Peng Yulin, the governor of New Mexico, said that he wanted some captives to build castles and road facilities, and Wechen handed them over to his subordinates to take them to New Mexico. ”

Feng Yunshan frowned, finally sighed, and said, "Aiqing is right! It is better to enslave a foreigner than to enslave your own compatriots, not to mention that these natives also deserve it. However, for those women, children and the elderly, even if they are foreigners, they can still let them go, slaughtering innocents, and I am uneasy. ”

Hearing Feng Yunshan say this, everyone bowed down one after another: "Your Majesty is benevolent!" Blessings to the people, blessings to those barbarians! ”

Feng Yunshan waved his hand, but said solemnly: "However, since you have already taken these natives on Luzon Island, don't leave too many troubles, let the other party plant the seeds of hatred and find opportunities to harm the interests of the empire in the future!" The captives devised a plan to sweep through the entire Luzon Islands, and all the native tribes of the Visayas and Tagalogs would be uprooted if they did not surrender sincerely. I said that the elderly, women and children should not be harmed, and even given some food, but should be placed in a centralized manner and sent people to educate them. And the young natives who rebelled against the tribe were taken prisoner. See where you need it, and send some to it. ”

Zeng Guanlan didn't know why the emperor was so disgusted with the Luzon Islands, especially the people of the indigenous tribes, but he also believed in an old saying: If you are not of my race, your heart will be different. It's best to do this to the barbarians. He was often complained by the officials of the Ministry of Works that there was not enough labor, after all, the empire was now in full bloom, and too much labor was needed. Of course, in fact, labor is sufficient, after all, the empire is a large country with a large population, and 400 million people is not a small number, but there is no free labor. In the past, when the captive army was attacking everywhere, there were still many prisoners of war, who were sent to mine and repair roads as free labor, but now that the empire has pacified the entire territory, there is a shortage of prisoners of war, and the natives of the Luzon Islands are still making trouble and sending them to the door, isn't it in the hands of the empire?

Feng Yunshan had already put aside the natives in his mind and was thinking about the copper mine.