At least Geritu can still talk about it, but the other brother is not even qualified to talk about it.

Hong Chengchou never imagined that a trip to Beijing to report on duty would turn into this. When he just received the document from the imperial court to report on duty in Beijing, he hesitated. But he had no choice. As a general of the Ming Dynasty, he had no reason to refuse to go.

The imperial court also needed an explanation from him, especially when the Sichuan campaign had just been fought but was not completely successful.

Moreover, Zu Dashou was stationed in Xi'an who had just changed his clothes and was eyeing him. Looking at his equipment, Hong Chengchou thought that his army, which had been expanded eight times, might not be Zu Dashou's opponent.

He came to the capital with a worried heart, and was treated well and well-fed, but no one came to talk to him. It was not until the Chinese New Year that he was surprised to find that all his subordinates had been promoted.

Zuo Liangyu became the commander of the 1st Marine Division, and He Huchen became the commander of a garrison division.

Zuo Liangyu needs to report to Shanhaiguan and receive training there for six months. During this period, he is only allowed to have three personal guards.

He Huchen needed to report to Liaodong because his station was in Jinzhou. There were more than 200,000 Jurchens living near his station. He Huchen's first task was to ensure that those Jurchens did not cause trouble.

The two generals under his command were immediately separated, and the remaining few generals were either sent to guard the Great Wall or sent to Yizhou. There were also two guys who went to Fujian. It is said that they were named by Yuan Chonghuan.

.

Just one year later, his subordinates were dismantled and scattered throughout China. Hong Chengchou was left as a polished commander, trembling in the capital.

The main generals were separated, and the condition of the small soldiers can be imagined. News soon came that Hong Bing had his designation revoked. The old ones were sent home directly with money and land. Anyway, many people died in Guanzhong these days, and there was no one.

There are plenty of them in the main land. Those who are young and strong are assigned to various garrison divisions. Anyway, they are very scattered, and one garrison division cannot be divided into dozens of people.

Hong Chengchou could not say anything or dare to do anything. Although the court did not restrict his freedom, there were always people of unknown origin hanging around his house. When his family went out to buy food, someone would ask them what they were doing.

It’s over! This is the cry from the bottom of Hong Chengchou’s heart!

In his opinion, he had either been secretly hacked, or he would have been under surveillance for the rest of his life, never wanting to leave the capital again.

Today is February 2nd, the day when the dragon raises its head. Hong Chengchou was preparing to have a meal of pork head meat at home to relieve his worries, but he did not expect that the chief minister would invite him. Without saying anything, Hong Chengchou immediately began to explain the funeral arrangements to his family.

From how to divide the real estate, to how the family members should keep a low profile, and if conditions permit, they should go to other places to hide their names, everything was explained clearly. It wasn’t until the person who came to invite them couldn’t wait to come, that they went to see them with a generous heart.

Sun Chengzong.

"Yanyan (Hong Chengchou's nickname is Yanyan - Editor's note!) is here, let's take a seat!" Two Chang attendants led Hong Chengchou into Sun Chengzong's huge study.

The floor was covered with Persian wool carpets, and a Venetian wall clock hung on the wall. A ray of sunlight slanted in and was shining on Sun Chengzong. Sun Chengzong, who was at his desk correcting documents, was shrouded in a holy aura like a shrine. Seeing Hong Chengchou greeting him,

He waved his left hand and pointed at the sofa with his right hand holding the brush.

"I still have a few documents to review here, Yanyan, please wait a moment." His voice was gentle and he had the air of an honest and honest elder.

Seeing Sun Chengzong, Hong Chengchou's legs shook like playing a pipa. Even a general who has seen life and death will feel fear in his heart when faced with life and death. Sun Chengzong stopped him from kowtow, and Hong Chengchou could only sit on the leather sofa and wait anxiously for Hong Chengchou.

of the verdict.

He had no doubt that there were guards sitting behind the huge screen. As long as Sun Chengzong gave an order or dropped his tea cup, those guards would rush out and swarm him down.

The pendulum ticked, and Hong Chengchou's heart seemed to be beating a drum. His ears could even hear every beat of his own heartbeat!

I don't know how long it took, maybe five minutes, maybe an hour. To Hong Chengchou, it felt like this period of time was as long as a year.

"I've kept you waiting for a long time, drink some tea! Yang Sichang got a few boxes of tea from Hangzhou by digging holes in the mountains, saying that he was honoring my old man. Try it, how does it taste?" Sun Chengzong's voice woke up Hong Chengchou, whose heart was about to jump out of his chest.

.

"You...! How can you be called old when your body is still strong?" Hong Chengchou took a deep breath based on the state of mind he had developed over the years. But when he reached for the tea cup, his hands were still shaking badly.

"Yanyan! What's wrong with you? I'm only thirty-three this year, so why do I look like this? Look at me, I'm almost eighty years old and I don't have the problem of shaking my head and shaking my hands. It seems that the court's arrangements are still right.

!" Sun Chengzong picked up the tea cup and took a sip, closing his eyes and looking like he was enjoying it.

"The imperial court's arrangements?" Hong Chengchou quickly put down his teacup and prepared to listen carefully to the imperial court's arrangements for him.

"Yan Yan, don't think too much. Now that the war is over, the imperial court can no longer use so many soldiers, nor can it afford so many soldiers. Guanzhong suffered another disaster this year, and the imperial court is also stretched.

The disarmament is not aimed at you. Many places have begun to dismantle. The military households in the former guard posts have now become civilians. During the Nanming Rebellion, people like Qian Qianyi and Wen Tiren organized a lot of regiment training. What else is there in Jiangnan?

The Forbidden Army and Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army have all been disbanded now!

After the abolition, the Ming Dynasty only had four main field divisions, plus one cavalry division. The rest were local garrison divisions. The entire Ming Dynasty totaled only thirty-five divisions. There was no way, the imperial court did not have the money and food to support such an army.

Many soldiers.

Don't worry, those old subordinates who follow you will be well settled. Most of your soldiers are from Guanzhong, and those with families will be given money to go home. Those without families will be given land for farming by the local government.

Those old subordinates who have followed you for many years have also gone out. Zuo Liangyu and He Huchen were both regimental commanders under you, and now they have become division commanders. Zuo Liangyu also joined the navy of the second son of the Li family, and they will have a promising future.

Limited edition.

He Huchen was not bad either. He served as the commander of the garrison division in Liaodong. The imperial court also counted on this tiger general to deter the Jurchen Tatars from causing trouble again.

The rest have good places to go.

I say all this just because I am afraid that you will worry about your old subordinates. You can rest assured that the soldiers are going through life and death on the battlefield, and the imperial court will not do anything like rabbits and dogs." Sun Chengzong comforted him in a soft voice, and Hong Chengchou's heart calmed down a little.

.Hong Chengchou said this, he probably won’t die.

He wasn't too worried about his subordinates. He was only worried about his own life. Now that his life was guaranteed, he started to think about other things...!

"Thank you very much, sir, for Gu Quan. I would like to thank you sir on behalf of the officers and soldiers."

"Yanyan, do you know that last year in Java, the Javanese barbarians massacred tens of thousands of merchants and common people of our country?" Sun Chengzong changed the topic and suddenly brought up the tragedy last year.

"My subordinates also heard about that incident. They were in Chengdu to exterminate the remnants of Zhang Xianzhong. I was very angry when I heard about it. I wish I could ask the imperial court to send my officers and soldiers from the Hong tribe to Java to kill all the barbarians. For my great Mingzi

The people avenge themselves!" Hong Chengchou immediately expressed a look of indignation.

"Yes! But when our soldiers from the Ming Dynasty arrived in Java, they were not familiar with the water, soil and climate there. I'm afraid if we don't fight, our manpower will be reduced by more than 30%, and we won't be able to pay this bill.

The imperial court has discussed with King Nguyen of Annan that Annan will send troops to Java. Naturally, our Ming Dynasty will have to pay some military expenses. The current discussion is this: an adult Javanese man's head is worth half a tael of silver, and a live young Javanese man is worth three taels of silver.

.A living Javanese woman between the ages of fourteen and thirty gets two taels of silver, but a dead woman does not count as money.

King Annan Ruan agreed to send troops to Java to earn this money. The imperial court had already allocated 300,000 taels of silver to Guangzhou in advance to be used specifically for this military expenditure.

You know, such a big thing always needs an experienced person to manage the country. Sun Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites recommended you to do this job, are you willing to do it?" Sun Chengzong looked at Hong Chengchou with a smile.

Hong Chengchou glanced at this old guy, and although he was not very willing, he did not want to stay in the capital any longer. If he refused this position, if he angered Li Xiao, he might be hacked in the middle of the night. Those killers of the Liao army

, no matter what the court rules are, Li Xiao’s look is an order.

"For the sake of the people of the Ming Dynasty who died in vain, I am willing to go to Java." Hong Chengchou only hesitated for a moment and then agreed.

"Okay! I know Yanyan that you are the pillar of the country, and I have to rely on you in times of crisis. The imperial court will appoint you as the Minister of Rites and Imperial Envoy to Annan, and you have full authority over Annan's military expenses. Yanyan, do you still have any difficulties?

, you can just raise it and I will help you solve it as appropriate."

"Can you summon some of your old troops to go to sea with me? If you encounter Javanese, you can also show off the might of our Ming army."

"Yan Yan! Those officers and soldiers have gone through troubled times and have suffered enough. It is not easy to live a peaceful life now. The imperial court will send you two hundred officers and soldiers to protect you, and the Ministry of Rites will also send capable officials to accompany you.

Java.

This time we send troops, to be honest, our court provides money to ask King Ruan of Annan to capture people. You don’t need to fight! If there is nothing else, go back and clean up. Next month, we will board the Zhenyuan in Tianjin and go to Guangzhou and

The other ships will join together and then go to Annan." The smile disappeared from Sun Chengzong's face, and his tone was firm and unquestionable.

Hong Chengchou thought: It’s over!

Since there is no war, what are you sending two hundred officers and soldiers for? To protect me or to monitor me!

The Ministry of Rites dispatches capable officials and officials, so what do you want me to do? With so many capable officials and officials, how can I make money?

But what can I say now? All the soldiers under my command have been sent away, and now even if I have great ability, I can't get them back together. They have been fighting since the sixth year of Tianqi. Over the years, the soldiers have

We have long been tired of war. Now that we have the chance to live in peace, who is willing to fight?

Not to mention those soldiers, even those generals and officers who he conquered with money and knives. Now they are all happy to take office. When they leave, no one comes to say goodbye to their own house. They are all a group of snobbery.

White-eyed wolf!
Chapter completed!