(0356) "How to overthrow the imperial court, how to overthrow the emperor?" Xu Xingxia suddenly asked casually.

"This ......" Chen Denglong and the others were slightly stunned, not knowing how to answer. Xu Xingxia's words just got to the point. They are full of thoughts about overthrowing the court and overthrowing the emperor, but they have no clear concept of how to overthrow the court and overthrow the emperor. They don't know exactly how, or what to do in the first step. In fact, with their level of knowledge, it is indeed too difficult and too difficult to understand all this.

This is definitely not the defect of Chen Denglong and others, but the defect of all the people in their group. To put it coldly, this is a flaw of the lower classes of society as a whole. Their desire to change the status quo is very strong, and they are willing to pay a lot of money, but they do not have a clear understanding of how to change the status quo. More than nine out of ten people are following the crowd. The other very few people are struggling to move forward in the dark.

Xu Xingxia's gaze slowly swept over everyone's faces, and said slowly: "Overthrowing the imperial court and overthrowing the emperor is a very general goal. Shouting such slogans now, for us, there is nothing good. The more we shouted, the more intense the reaction of the court. This is completely unnecessary. Instead, we should keep our heads quiet and keep a low profile as much as possible. We want tangible benefits. ”

After a slight pause, Xu Xingxia said in an orderly manner: "The first thing we need to do now is to manage all the territory under our own control. Whether it is Weizhen Fort, Zhenshuo Fort, or Black Mountain Camp and Zhenyuan Pass, they must be firmly controlled in our own hands. We must continue to increase the number of people, increase the amount of land, increase the number of horses, cattle and sheep. ”

"The war in the future will be arduous and long, and I hope that everyone will be mentally prepared. When I say psychological preparation, I do not necessarily mean fighting and dying at the front, but by long hours of hard work in obscurity in the rear. You may be under a lot of pressure, you may have to go through very severe tests. You can be misunderstood, you may be misunderstood, you may be blamed, you may be criticized. Anything can happen. ”

"If the Imperial Court sends a large army against us, we will be surrounded. At that time, people may feel lonely, restless, anxious, and even depressed. If you are not fully prepared, you may slowly collapse. If you can't hold on, let alone the rest of the military. ”

The hundreds of households in the steward's council, you look at me, I look at you, they all seem a little unconvinced. Obviously, they were a little unimpressed by Xu Xingxia's words. The officials and soldiers of Ningxia Town, what kind of goods they are, they don't know. If the officials and troops of Ningxia Town were able to defeat them, they would definitely not believe it. Xu Xingxia is obviously too cautious.

"Alas......" Seeing their reaction, Xu Xingxia could only sigh slightly. The rebellious thoughts of these men were so strong that it was impossible for him to make any sober proposals. The cold water he poured on his head didn't seem to have any effect. Of course, such a reaction is not completely without benefits. The good thing is that they are full of energy and drive, and no matter what they want them to do, they will do it with all their might.

Since they have such a rebellious positive surname, Xu Xingxia naturally can't be easily bruised. If too much cold water is poured and their blazing flames are completely extinguished, then it is terrible. It is much more difficult to mobilize a group of people to rebel than to persuade a group of people not to rebel. These people are their most loyal team!

"Now, let's discuss something specific." Xu Xingxia said slowly.

Regardless of whether the banner of rebellion is immediately erected, the White Army needs to make some changes in internal and military affairs. The main content, of course, is to strengthen the construction of base areas. The area currently controlled by the Baiyi Army is bounded by Weizhenbao and Zhenshuo Fort in the south, Zhenyuanguan as the northern boundary, Helan Mountain in the west, and the Yellow River in the east. The total area is about 2,000 square kilometers. The total population is about 80,000. From a national point of view, it is a place with a large palm, and a population of less than 80,000 is almost completely negligible.

However, what Xu Xingxia currently owns is such a small piece of land. Whether he is satisfied or not, this small territory is the core of his future survival and development. If he doesn't even have this territory, he is really a veritable rogue. It will be easier for the court to deal with him. Therefore, how to develop and utilize this area as much as possible, so that it can condense more combat effectiveness, is a top priority.

In terms of internal affairs, the areas under the control of the White Clothes Army must implement stricter management of the foreign population, and at the same time increase efforts to attract the foreign population. At present, the population of the Montenegrin camp is far from full, and it is necessary to attract more military families everywhere. The area around the Montenegrin camp, which accommodates a population of hundreds of thousands, is no problem. Now, it's less than 20 percent.

In the past, due to restrictions in some quarters, the white-clothed army could not openly recruit military households from other places, and could only do so privately. This, of course, greatly limits the efforts to attract foreign military households. Military households in other areas also have certain concerns and do not dare to take refuge in them immediately. But now, there is no need to disguise it. There are people who have everything! No matter what means are used, as long as you bring people here, you will complete the mission.

However, while attracting more labor, it is necessary to carry out a certain amount of screening, so as not to mix in with the spies of the imperial court. It is conceivable that with the deterioration of hostile relations between the two sides, the imperial court will definitely send a large number of fine works to the Montenegrin battalion. While spying on information, they also create confusion, confuse the public, and even assassinate important people in the White Army.

Of course, such screening will not play a big role. The spies of Dongchang and Jinyiwei are simply impossible to prevent by ordinary screening. In any case, others are also professionals, and they have a certain level of professionalism! How to block Dongchang and Jinyiwei's spies, that is something that Xu Xingxia needs to consider personally. One thing is certain, there must be a special counter-espionage agency to deal with Dongchang and Jinyiwei. There are many things that need to be referred to in detail.

"Stock up as much as you can, whatever it is." Xu Xingxia said solemnly.

Considering that it may be blockaded by the imperial court to intercept the entry and exit of materials, from now on, the Montenegrin battalion must hoard materials as much as possible, especially food, gunpowder and other materials. The Montenegrin camp has a population of 80,000, and the daily consumption of grain is more than 100,000 catties. If there are not enough food reserves, there will definitely be big problems. The enthusiasm for rebellion may indeed be very high. But if there is no food to eat, it is estimated that in three to five days, it will all collapse.

In addition, there is a very important material that requires special reserves. This material is iron. Whether it is pig iron, wrought iron, scrap iron, iron iron, horseshoe...... As long as it is iron, it should be stored in a centralized manner, and the more the better. Because, before the large-scale iron-making blast furnace was manufactured, all the weapons and equipment of the white-clothed army had to be provided by these iron materials. If there is not a sufficient amount of iron, there will not be a sufficient number of muskets, which is a very deadly thing. If 80,000 people were to fight the imperial army with wooden sticks, the scene would have been tragic.

Another very important material is cement. Cement does not need to be purchased from outside, and the steward will produce it at full capacity. In the military, the use of cement is too wide. Cement was needed to repair walls, repair roads, and build fortifications. Strong concrete fortifications, and a certain number of musket teams, can basically block all enemy attacks. For example, a small fortress like Weizhen Fort, the original city wall was not very high, and it was just reinforced with cement, at least more than five zhang.

According to the general experience of the time, as long as the height of the city wall reached more than five zhang, it was very difficult for the attacker to climb up with a bamboo ladder. They must use more siege weapons, such as artillery, turrets, ladder carts, battering rams, charging carts, etc. The combination of trebuchets, explosive packs, and muskets is enough to keep even powerful enemies out of the city.

…… When Xu Xingxia returned to the Black Mountain camp, it was already early in the morning. The white-clothed sergeants stationed in the Black Mountain Battalion were still asleep and did not wake up. However, all the senior officers of the White Coats Army were waiting for his arrival in the conference room. Their expressions all looked a little solemn. Before Xu Xingxia came back, no one was interested in speaking. On this quiet night in early spring, many people don't know that the fate of countless people may have to be changed.

They had all been briefed before about what was going on at the Flame Mouth Manor. For them, such a thing seems to be expected. Because, with Xu Xingxia's surname, he will definitely not suffer. His surname is relatively straightforward and impulsive, and if others bully him, he will definitely take revenge. Once he goes berserk, most of the time it will end up killing people. The two thousand households of the Jinyi Guard, who died in the hands of Xu Xingxia, also deserved it. If there is an afterlife, it is estimated that they will never provoke Xu Xingxia.

Of course, unlike the long-awaited looks of the hundreds of households in the stewardship, the officers of the white-clothed army all seemed more cautious and conservative. After all, they all fought on the battlefield and knew that fighting was to kill people. In particular, the muskets and trebuchets equipped by the white-clothed army are quite lethal, and the casualties are often in the thousands. After the battle, when I went to the battlefield, I saw that it was a mess and miserable.

There is no problem in fighting with the Tartars, and the dead are all Tartars. The more Tartars die, the better. However, if you fight with your own people, you will die as your own people. Once the imperial court forces Xu Xingxia to embark on the road of rebellion, it is estimated that in the future, there will be no shortage of opportunities to fight with his own people, and it is estimated that there will be no fewer of his own people who die in their hands. Every time they think of this, they feel very dull in their hearts, as if they want to say something, but it is difficult to say.

It's not that they're too pitiful, it's not that they're weak, it's that they feel a little sad. No matter what, everyone used to be a part of the Ming army, and now they are in the same room, and they always feel a little uncomfortable. However, there is no way to do it, you can't wait for someone else's butcher's knife to be put on your neck and not make any resistance, right? If the imperial court decided that Xu Xingxia was a rebellion, they had no choice but to stand up and fight the imperial court to the end.

"Your Excellency is back!"

Xu Xingxia walked into the conference room, and everyone hurriedly stood up and stood solemnly. Xu Xingxia strode in and didn't ask them to sit down. He stood next to his position, glanced at everyone, bluntly repeated everything that happened during the day, and finally said: "This is the case, everyone express their opinions!" ”

Xia Kewu took the lead and said: "My lord, I don't think I need to say it, let's do the opposite!" If the court says that we are anti-thieves, we will be real anti-thieves! Isn't it just war? Who's afraid of whom? We are not even afraid of the Tartars, what are we afraid of the imperial army? It's not that I, Xia Kewu, despise them, with their combat power, they are not qualified to fight us at all. ”

His remarks represent the thoughts of the vast majority of officers. After Xia Kewu finished speaking, Chi Hu, Mao Shisan, Wang Xia and others all agreed. If Xu Xingxia is the most unruly guy, then several of them also belong to the ranks of unruly. Except for Xu Xingxia, it is estimated that no one else can suppress them. They are simply Xu Xingxia's shadows, no matter what Xu Xingxia wants to do, they will follow without hesitation.

Only Zhang Quanfu, Gao Meng, Zhang Feng and the other three were silent. Zhang Quanfu lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking. Gao Meng and Zhang Feng, two tall and burly men, also lowered their heads, looking a little painful. They want to say something, but they don't know how to say it. As a result, the eyes of the other officers were focused on them.

Xu Xingxia said: "Speak freely, you all talk about it!" ”

Zhang Quanfu said in a weak tone: "My lord, you let me guard the town far away!" Or, go to one of the passages of Helan Mountain. If I can't do it, then let me be an ordinary soldier, I can not be a commander. I really don't want to face my former companions. If I kill them all, my conscience is troubled......"

Gao Meng and Zhang Feng also drooped their heads, a little weak and didn't dare to look at Xu Xingxia's eyes, hesitated for a long time, and then whispered: "My lord, there are many of our relatives and friends in the military households of Pingyu City, if I fight them, I really don't want to kill them." Let's go kill the Tartars! Even if you are an ordinary soldier, you can do it! ”

(To be continued)