The weather is cool in the morning, dew is hanging on the grass on the roadside, and full birds sing on the trees.

Du Zhongxiao, Zhao Yu and others rode their horses and went back to the mountains along the way. Yesterday, the army had already started. In the next few days, large-scale military exercises will be carried out, some of which use live ammunition. In this exercise, the arms and food and grass are not decimal. The Yingtianwuxiang Army has the support of the camp and the field affairs, and the physical objects assigned by the Changping Office and the Iron Supervisor can support it.

When you enter the drill area, you will see large and small tents in the mountains, with neat specifications and very strict.

Zhao Yu said: "Depending on the appearance of the military, look at the camp tent first. Raise the camp tent under his command. The arrangement is legal and disciplined, which is not comparable to the tents in other places. By the way, look at the uniform tents here, and are different from the common military tents. I wonder what is the special thing?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "The wing army is not as good as the imperial guards. Life is tight. From the commanding tent to the sleeping tents of ordinary soldiers, they are made of oil cloth. In recent years, a lot of cotton has been planted in the field of the camp. After a long time, they finally grew suitable varieties. In the past two years, many of them have been planted. In addition to making clothes, some coarse cloth is oiled and used as military tents. All the used tents in the army are used in several specifications, and they are all unified. The method of camping is learned by everyone, and all the different specifications are all steps. The positions are defined according to the battalion, and each battalion arranges subordinates to station and arrange camp tents. The battalion-level tents are the same, and the teams are all the same, but the number of compositions is different. The soldiers' sleeping tents are subject to ten people, and the standards are the same, and they are arranged separately."

Zhao Yu nodded: "It seems that the key point is that everything has regulations and is neat."

At this time, the high-end military tents are naturally leather tents, followed by felt tents, which are both expensive. Oil cloth is cheap, but its performance is effective, and it is generally not used by regular soldiers. Because the Yingtianxiang Army has cotton cloth, it is made very thick. After applying oil, it can also prevent wind and rain. The lining cloth inside is also cotton, and the comfort is acceptable. Compared with leather and felt, oil cloth is relatively easy to maintain and is widely used in the army.

Zhao Yu came with a mission. When he met Du Zhongxiao, he came to watch the drill and first view the military appearance. This is the face of an army, and it can also show the temperament of an army. The biggest feature of the Yingtianxiang Army is neatness. The barracks materials are the same and the standards are unified, but the scales of each level are different. Because there is a command center, it is a separate standard, the same standard and different number of tents. Below the battalion level, there are only three forms: office tent, rest tent and kitchen tent. Except for the scale, it is almost the same.

It is particularly neat, particularly ruled, and strict military appearance. It is Zhao Yu's first impression of the Yingtianxiang Army. This kind of army is something he has never seen before. Zhao Yu has seen many troops with strict military discipline for many years. Some camps have a sense of solemnity and murderous spirit at first sight. When people arrive in front of them, they naturally dare not even speak loudly. The Yingtianxiang Army is different. Under the neat discipline, there is a relaxed atmosphere that makes people not feel so depressed.

After crossing the logistics supplies and the guards, they arrived at the central army. It would not take long before they arrived at Du Zhongxiao's commander's tent.

The standard of the command tent is the same as that of the general command tent. It is just composed of multiple groups. It seems to have no rules, but in fact it has its own principles for distribution. It is easy to concentrate, it is also easy to disperse, and it is also convenient to reach military information. Several groups of tents look the same, but they are not from here, so they can't tell where the main tent is. When Zhao Yu saw it, he couldn't help but guess that the group of people was very busy in and out, and it should be Du Zhongxiao's main tent.

Unexpectedly, Du Zhongxiao did not take Zhao Yu there, but brought him to another group of tents and said, "There is a tent not far away. The commander came to see the army and did not go there. I told someone to arrange a sleeping tent for you, but I can send your entourage to clean up first. You have to stay here for a few days during the drill. Let's go to the tent to see what the situation is now."

After saying that, Du Zhongxiao ordered the military officer Li Fugui on the side to arrange residence for Zhao Yu. After joining the Xiang Army, Li Fugui also served as the chief business of Changping Office, and the affairs were done by the officials below. He was mainly responsible for the materials and logistics of the Xiang Army in the Tiantian.

After entering the Supervisor's tent, Zhao Yu found that it was very open inside. Unlike the general Supervisor's tent, the end was Du Zhongxiao's Supervisor's case, which was very large, with military orders and various documents on it, and a map was spread out in the middle. On one side of the Supervisor's case, there were a few small cases. Needless to ask, they were the closest person who helped Du Zhongxiao handle official affairs. The middle was not as empty as the general Supervisor's tent, but a huge table was placed with a map on one end and a sand table at the other end. Most of the seats on both sides had cases, rather than just seats. It seemed that the tent was not generally promoted here.

The biggest use of the general tent is that officers gather to drink and discuss military information at the same time. In terms of system, the generals have regular meals. Another function is to raise the tent, either arrange military orders or punish subordinates. If there are no heads cut off or military sticks in the front line military tent, it will make people feel very strange. It seems that this tent can only discuss military information, meals, and punishments are not appropriate.

Liu Ji and Yang Ting each arrived at the case to see the documents placed on it. The army had already begun. The military situation changed a lot in one day, and many things were to be handled. Du Zhongxiao took a look at the case and ordered the soldiers on the side to make tea.

When they arrived at the open space not far from the door, Du Zhongxiao and Zhao Yu sat down and said, "The army of the army of the camp and the wing are all dispatched. The scale is extraordinary. Everything is messy, so I will take care of it more. Liu Qianshi and Yang Qianshi handle the affairs, so we sat and drank tea and talked about gossip."

Zhao Yu hurriedly said without any defense and said, "I heard that the army of Yingtianxiang is more than 20,000 people. Do you dare to ask if they all went to the mountains?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "That's not the case. There are other things in this drill, and people need to go there. There were about 10,000 people entering the mountain drill, and all the main officers arrived. The drill mainly consisted of generals and commanders, and the soldiers fell second."

The number of the Yingtianxiang Army is very sensitive now. After Dou Shunqing arrived last time, he was selected several times, and there were more than 23,000 people left. The entire structure is still there, but the first level of the battalion is mostly aired, with only officers and backbones, and there are very few ordinary soldiers. Basically, each brigade has a full battalion, and the others only have structures. Except for the successors that the superiors are interested in, the rest of the grassroots officers are rotated. The professional arms of artillery and cavalry have not changed except for the logistics of the baggage and logistics. The upper fourth army directly under the Third Yaya has only 30 to 40 commands, and the number of people in the Yingtianxiang Army exceeds 20,000. The commander of the Pengri Kaiwu and Longshenwei, who are ranked in the army, both commanders, have only 30,000 or 50,000 soldiers under the jurisdiction. The number of soldiers in the Yingtianxiang Army is so large that Du Zhongxiao's recommendation is too eye-catching. Unless the frontier commander and subordinate commanders are commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

After the tea was served, Zhao Yu praised, "It is recommended to give you good tea here. Since the Xinyang Army changed the steamed green to fried green, the tea made is particularly outstanding. After becoming a tribute tea, many wealthy families in the capital have also drunk this way. Last time I bid farewell to the emperor, I would like to reward the top-grade Xinyang Army Tea."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Everything is simple in the army. Who is patient and grinding the tulip tea carefully? By the way, the Xinyang Army made a fermented black tea a few days ago, which was also a loose tea, with a unique flavor. Later, I ordered the soldiers to take some of the soldiers to take back some of the commander."

Zhao Yu hurriedly thanked. If you want to promote this new thing, it depends on where it is made and who is using it. The Yingtianwu and Changping Company of Jingxi Road have abundant finances over the years and have made many new goods, which are spread throughout the world and are deeply praised by people. The tea they made is consumed by two yamen every day, so it has naturally been recognized by others. From the beginning, the price of green tea was not sold at the beginning, and now it has begun to be classified in detail. The price of green tea before the Ming Dynasty rose as soon as possible, which is much more expensive than the ton tea on the market.

On the other side, Liu Ji and Yang Ting handled official business, came over and sat down to have tea and talked some gossip.

Zhao Yu said: "Before I came, the important officials and generals in the capital were discussing that there were more and more chaos in the south, which affected several states. He wanted Chief Yang to return to Jinghu Road to lead the troops and prepare to go south to quell the rebellion. The emperor refused to allow him, and appointed the governor of Tanzhou as the Tianzhang Pavilion, where the chief was supposed to go there."

Yang Ting bowed: "I am in charge of the position and lead the army, but I am sent by the imperial court. When I was in Jinghu, I was lucky enough to suppress the thieves, but now I am different from the past. What kind of person is the one who is in charge? He went to the prefecture of Tanzhou, which is far better than me."

Tanzhou is the Shouzhou on the south road of Jinghu, and it is also the base camp for the suppression of Nong Zhigao. A few days ago, Tianzhang Pavilion was waiting for the position of Zhengren Zhuan, and took the train to Jiangling, from there to Dingzhou to Tanzhou. There was no stop on the road, and Du Zhongxiao and others did not meet him.

Yang Ting made great contributions to Pingman on Jinghu Road. Now that Guangnan Barbarians are in chaos, some people in the court remember him. However, in the current situation, Du Zhongxiao wrote many letters to lead the Xiang army south to suppress the bandits, so the emperor asked Yang Ting to stay.

Du Zhongxiao could feel that the emperor's arrangements for Guangnan affairs had been roughly established. The commander must be Di Qing, and I don't know how many troops he would bring from Shaanxi Road. His own camp Tianxiang Army was used as a supplement. If necessary, he might cooperate with Di Qing to go south. Nong Zhigao would not attack Guangzhou, and he would definitely return to Guangxi Road before autumn, otherwise he would face the danger of being surrounded by troops coming from all over the place. At that time, attacking inside and outside will make it difficult for the gods to save him.

The brigade of troops headed south, and the main attack direction must be Guangxi Road. Now the train leads to Jiangling Prefecture, and then the water route is very convenient. If you are a subordinate of Di Qing, you are likely to divide your troops in Tanzhou, cross Wuling and Duanzhou to Guangdong, and cut off the Nong Zhigao retreat.
Chapter completed!