Volume 2: The Capital, I’m Back Chapter 80: The Imperial Envoy's Tour
On the outskirts of the capital, there is a camp of three thousand soldiers.
All the soldiers gathered on the parade ground and stood in neat rows in the wind.
The Three Thousand Battalion was composed of cavalrymen. Initially, it was 3,000 Mongolian cavalrymen borrowed from the Three Guards of Doyan. Later, it was gradually expanded and divided into the Central Army, the Left Wing Army, the Right Wing Army, the Left Sentinel Army, and the Right Sentinel Army. In the era of cold weapons, cavalrymen had a huge advantage. Therefore, although the Five Army Battalion was the main force of the Beijing Camp, the Three Thousand Battalion was the real elite.
During this Northern Expedition, the Three Thousand Battalion was almost completely wiped out. The new Three Thousand Battalion was temporarily formed on the battlefield. When they returned from Mobei, there were only two thousand five hundred people left.
As the Huailai defenders killed innocent people to gain merit, Ha Ming brought 500 people to garrison temporarily for a period of time. He just returned to the capital recently, and Li Zhen also selected 500 soldiers who were good at riding from various guards to make up the number of 3,000.
Zhu Qizhen meant that the Three Thousand Battalion would not be expanded for the time being, because in future battles, hot weapons would gradually appear, cavalry would slowly lose their advantage, and the mode of large-scale cavalry combat would be gone forever.
From now on, the cavalry will become a special operations force. Quality is more important than quantity. Leaving three thousand people is enough.
Li Zhen stepped forward and said loudly: "The three thousand battalions are in training, please review them, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Qizhen looked at the familiar, weather-beaten faces and asked, "How is the training effect after returning to Beijing?"
"Your Majesty, the soldiers are training very hard every day, but no one complains."
"That's good!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded and continued, "Training is different from actual combat. Training at home for ten years is not as good as going out to fight. Therefore, I have decided that the 3,000-man battalion should conduct a field training. How do you think?"
Li Zhen was very excited and said, "Of course, Your Majesty, how do you practice?"
"Give orders to everyone to only bring dry food and swords, set out immediately, and reach Mizhi County in Yulin Prefecture within five days!"
"Five days?"
Li Zhen scratched his head and said in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, the distance from the capital to Yulin Prefecture is nearly 2,000 miles, and the mountainous roads are difficult to travel. Five days... it is almost impossible..."
"If it can be done easily, why practice it?"
"I am worried, worried... I am not sure..."
Zhu Qizhen said solemnly: "I want to ask you, how confident were we when we broke out of Tumubao?"
Li Zhen thought about it and said, "This... I'm not sure..."
"How confident are you when you follow me deep into the desert?"
Li Zhen suddenly fell into deep thought, not knowing what to say.
"Five days!" Zhu Qizhen looked at him quietly and said, "This is an order, and it must be done."
Li Zhen did not hesitate any longer and clasped his fists and said, "I obey your order!"
Zhu Qizhen turned around, pointed at Beilin and said, "After arriving at Yulin Prefecture, all actions of the Three Thousand Battalion will be under his command. Do you understand?"
"ah?"
Li Zhen was stunned again. Who is this guy? He looks so weak. Why should I listen to him?
"Belin!"
"The students are here!"
Zhu Qizhen said meaningfully: "These people once went deep into the desert with me, lived and died together. They are the most elite troops of the Ming Dynasty. Now, I hand them over to you."
Beilin's expression was complicated, a little surprised and a little shocked.
"From today on, I appoint you as Lingtai Lang of the Imperial Observatory, and go to Yan'an Prefecture to read the imperial edict."
"Students will follow your orders and will not fail in their mission!"
Beilin looked excited and couldn't help trembling when she spoke.
Reading the imperial edict, if it is an imperial edict from the cabinet, is usually read by the Hanlin officials or the officials of the Ministry of Rites, Kedao officials, who are the imperial envoys representing the court, representing the emperor. But if it is the emperor's own personal edict, it is read by the eunuchs, which is called Zhongzhi. There is a difference between the two.
This time the imperial edict did not go through the cabinet, but was issued by the emperor.
The reason why he didn't send eunuchs but asked himself to read the imperial edict was obviously that the emperor wanted to use this to give himself an identity. Otherwise, let alone a small seventh-rank Lingtai Lang, even if you were the director of the Imperial Observatory, who would you be in someone else's territory?
Li Zhen couldn't help but whispered, "Your Majesty, you let an outsider interfere in the military training..."
Zhu Qizhen raised his hand and interrupted him.
"Listen carefully. When you get to Yulin Prefecture, if he tells you to kill someone, you kill someone. If he tells you to set a fire, you set a fire. Even if he tells you to drag the prefect of Yulin out and behead him on the spot, you have to do it. Do you understand?"
"clear!"
"Repeat it for me!"
Li Zhen shouted: "Even if the prefect of Yulin is dragged out and beheaded on the spot, I will never frown!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded and said, "Let's go!"
In the howling north wind, three thousand soldiers led by Li Zhen marched westward. The horses' hooves kicked up gusts of yellow sand, which blew on their faces like needles.
Watching the Three Thousand Battalions gradually going away, Fan Zhong asked, "Your Majesty, the so-called earthquake in the northwest is just a scholar's guess. The court has mobilized so many troops, and if nothing happens in the end, won't it be a joke?"
"I would rather nothing happened!"
Zhu Qizhen shook his head and said with a wry smile: "If the people can be safe and sound, what does it matter if I am laughed at by others?"
…
Five days later, Yulin Prefecture.
It was already winter and a light snow had just fallen. Looking around, the Loess Plateau was covered in white.
Beilin felt like his whole body was about to fall apart. After five days of running day and night, how could his frail body endure it?
Three thousand cavalry suddenly appeared in Mizhi County, and the county magistrate Li Yan immediately felt like he was facing a powerful enemy. After investigating the situation, he learned that it was the imperial army, so he hurriedly took the county magistrate, soldiers and others out of the city to meet them.
Beilin's face turned purple from the cold and she couldn't help shivering, but she saw that the soldiers behind her looked fine.
Li Zhen looked at the sky and said, "It has only been five days. Fortunately, I have accomplished my mission!"
It was just a short sentence, but Beilin understood the hardships better than anyone else. Along the way, no matter if it was raining or snowing, whether it was mountain roads or flat land, they had to march at least 300 miles a day.
It is worthy of being a team led by the emperor himself, and it is truly impressive.
Magistrate Li Yan led his men forward and saluted Li Zhen, saying, "I am the Magistrate of Mizhi, Li Yan, and I respectfully welcome the Imperial Envoy."
Li Zhen curled his lips and pointed at Beilin beside him and said, "This is the imperial envoy, Beilin, the Lingtai Lang of the Imperial Observatory."
"ah……"
Li Yan looked puzzled. The imperial court always sent Hanlin or Ministry of Rites officials . Why would they send a Lingtai Lang from the Imperial Observatory?
However, no matter what his identity is, he is now an imperial envoy representing the emperor and must not be neglected.
"I have prepared some wine in the county government office to welcome the imperial envoy. I hope you will come and enjoy the meal."
Beilin had been counting the days, so she had no mood to eat. She shook her head and said, "Let's do business first."
Li Yan was very puzzled. Normally, after a long journey, people would be exhausted and finally arrive at the destination, so they would definitely take a rest and have a meal first. However, this person was so unreasonable and seemed difficult to serve...
"Are all the officials from Mizhi County here?"
"Replying to the Imperial Envoy, there are eleven officials in this county, from the lowest rank to the lowest, all of whom are here."
"Okay then!" Beilin tried hard to control her frozen body and nodded, "Come here and receive my order!"
