Although Xiao Ruxun's words were somewhat exaggerated, it was true that he was handsome and had good handwriting. Xiao Ruxun's handwriting was highly praised by Ye Mengxiong and Mei Guozhen. They believed that his handwriting was "awe-inspiring and righteous" and "peerless". They were very appreciative of Xiao Ruxun's handwriting. Ye Mengxiong even recommended some of his favorite books to Xiao Ruxun, telling him to read these books when he had the time to increase his knowledge, which would be of great help to him in the future.
Of course, Xiao Ruxun did not just chat with them. During this time, Xiao Ruxun used his status as the Ningxia Army Commander to gather all the 5,839 muskets that could be found and put into use in the whole of Ningxia. Then, from the fifty thousand Ming Army in the whole of Ningxia, he selected three thousand soldiers who had received training and were good at shooting. At the very least, they knew how to shoot.
With these three thousand soldiers, Xiao Ruxun formed a three thousand musket team. Then, he formed a five hundred to six hundred artillery team with more than three hundred different kinds of carriages and cannons. These two teams were combined into one to form a firearm battalion with more than three thousand soldiers. This battalion became the direct subordinate unit of the Ningxia Army Commander, and was given to Wang Hui to be the commander. He promoted Wang Hui to the rank of General.
This move received the support of the three governors, Ye Mengxiong. Ye Mengxiong used his own authority to support Xiao Ruxun's plan to build a firearm battalion. Army Supervisor Mei Guozhen expressed that he wanted to personally observe Xiao Ruxun's method of training the firearm battalion, and then record it in detail. This method would be reported to the Ministry of War, and then spread to all the garrisons throughout the country.
After this battle, Ye Mengxiong and Mei Guozhen had personally witnessed the great lethality of firearms and the great power of gunpowder. They began to attach great importance to the use and tactics of firearms, and Xiao Ruxun was fully deserving of the title of the number one firearms expert. Therefore, Xiao Ruxun's opinion carried great weight in their hearts. Watching Xiao Ruxun order the three thousand musket soldiers to form a rather standard three line formation to practice firearms on the drill ground, that kind of formation was indeed quite frightening.
Moreover, the problem of post-war compensation for the bereaved and the settlement of the populace, as well as the renovation of the city that gave Wei Xuezeng a headache, Xiao Ruxun could also put forward his own opinion, which was to have the old, weak, women, and children in Ningxia City make the ammunition bags for these musket soldiers.
On one hand, he urged the young and middle-aged to speed up the pace of farming, on the other hand, he gave the old, weak, women, and children something to do, and they could even receive some money and a meal to support the family. This way, the imperial court wouldn't have to spend money on disaster relief for nothing. By giving everyone something to do, the populace wouldn't have time to think about other things.
By the same logic, in order to prevent the soldiers from causing trouble after being at ease for too long, Xiao Ruxun not only ordered a large scale training of the soldiers, but also had the soldiers who didn't have any training tasks to repair the city walls, repair the military equipment, and even split a portion of the soldiers to help cultivate the fields.
This was a method to deepen the so-called 'fish and water relationship between the army and the people'. It told the soldiers that they came from the populace, and they should also love the people. If you love the families of other soldiers, other soldiers will also love your families. If you bully the families of other soldiers, other soldiers will also bully your families, and so on.
In this way, not only did the residents of Ningxia have no time to cause trouble, but the soldiers also had something to do. Since they couldn't cause trouble, the whole order was immediately stabilized. Ye Mengxiong was pleasantly surprised to find that Xiao Ruxun actually had the ability to manage the civil affairs. Therefore, he let go of some of his power and continued to do the logistics work that he was good at.
As for Mei Guozhen, he squatted on the training ground every day to watch how Xiao Ruxun trained the firearms battalion. Then, he gradually trained the firearms battalion to be able to fight. Gradually, they fought together with the saber and shield bearers, set up the firearms formation, and practiced how to use the firearms formation to fight against the cavalry on the plains.
Mei Guozhen also discussed the combat characteristics of the cavalry with Xiao Ruxun, and how to make use of these characteristics to make the firearms most effective against the cavalry, and so on. Of course, one topic that couldn't be avoided was the problem of the firearms not being waterproof.
Xiao Ruxun expressed that he didn't have the time to solve this problem for the time being. When he had the time, he would find some people to research on how to improve the ignition method. They wouldn't need to use these troublesome fire ropes, but a more convenient and waterproof method. Even if it was raining, they wouldn't have to worry about the firearms not being waterproof.
At the same time, Xiao Ruxun also sent out scouts to spy on the movements of the Mongolians on the plains. He was afraid that the Mongolians would take advantage of the rebellion that Daming had just quelled. Therefore, he had to make preparations in advance. He couldn't let the fruits of victory be taken away by the Mongolians. Ma Gui and Xiao Ruhui's infantry and cavalry were also ordered to be ready for battle at all times. Once there was news, they would immediately go to battle.
As the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, Xiao Ruxun did an outstanding job. This was recognized by everyone. Therefore, in a short period of time, the defense of Ningxia was fully grasped, and the defensive capabilities of the town were greatly improved.
Half a month later, Ye Mengxiong's military report and Mei Guozhen's memorial arrived in the capital. They were ordered to be sent directly to the palace for the emperor to preview. Even the cabinet and the Office of Transmission had no way of knowing the contents of the report, but the news still spread. In a short period of time, the acting First Secretary Zhao Zhigao, Second Secretary Zhang Wei, and Minister of War Shi Xing were burning with anxiety. One by one, they went to the palace to seek an audience with the emperor to ask about the situation.
What they didn't know was that after Emperor Wanli first learned of the contents of the military report, he had been laughing heartily for a long time. After being stifled for so long, this was the first time he felt so happy. Truly, Emperor Wanli felt unprecedentedly happy. Because this time, the greatest hero was not a few scholarly commanders, but the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, Xiao Ruxun, whom he had insisted on promoting.
The great Bo Bai's rebellion that shook the entire Shaanxi took only two months to completely quell. All the rebels were killed after Bo Bai. Not a single one escaped. Of the tens of thousands of rebels, only about three hundred were captured alive. The rest were all executed. The Ming Army killed more than fifty thousand of the enemy. This was the greatest victory since Jiajing! This was a beautiful battle fought by the commander-in-chief of Ningxia, Xiao Ruxun, whom he had insisted on promoting.
When he was tired of laughing, Zhu Yijun began to pay attention to the entire course of the battle. He would judge the course of the battle based on Ye Mengxiong's military reports, Mei Guozhen's memorials, and the secret memorials of the Imperial Bodyguard. Among them, the secret memorials of the Imperial Bodyguard were, without question, the most valuable and the most important to him.
After Zhang Juzheng's death, Zhu Yijun personally took charge of the Imperial Bodyguard. He wantonly reduced the power of Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao and placed his trusted aides in the Imperial Bodyguard. At the same time, he paid attention to protecting the external intelligence network of the Imperial Bodyguard. He directly transferred money from the palace treasury to the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard, Luo Sigong. In a few years, he had created an intelligence network of the Imperial Bodyguard that surpassed the Jiajing and Longqing eras.
Everyone thought that the intelligence network of the Imperial Bodyguard was directed internally, monitoring ministers and framing ministers. This was why it was feared. However, few people knew that the Imperial Bodyguard not only spread its own intelligence network throughout the Daming Kingdom, but it also spread its intelligence network to the enemy countries and vassal states around the Daming Kingdom.
In the past two hundred years, countless vassal states and enemy countries around the Daming Kingdom had been infiltrated. If there was any unusual movement in these places, the first person to know would be the secret agent of the Imperial Bodyguard, the second person to know would be the commander, and the third person to know would be the emperor.
However, when the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard could not work, was involved in political struggles, or was simply a chess piece of others, the external deterrent of the Imperial Bodyguard was much smaller, and they concentrated on dealing with internal problems. However, when the Imperial Bodyguard was completely in the hands of the emperor, and the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard was quite capable, the Imperial Bodyguard could play an unexpected role.
The current commander of the Imperial Bodyguard, Luo Sigong, was a very capable and loyal person to the emperor. The reason why Zhu Yijun could see through the moves of the courtiers and still control the court in a certain way during the decades when he did not go to the court was hard to imagine without Luo Sigong's contribution.
Just like during the Bo Bai Rebellion, the secret report of the Imperial Bodyguard was sent one day earlier than the urgent document. When Zhu Yijun received the urgent report from the border, he had already made the draft in his mind and made the arrangements as soon as possible.
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