Chapter 523 Controlling the Navy
Chapter 523 Controlling the Navy
After transferring Zhou Fashang away, Xiao Xia came to the navy camp again.
Chen Leng and Zhu Kuan led 10,000 naval forces south to Ryukyu. There are currently 20,000 people in the camp, and they are still undergoing training. According to normal procedures, it will take about half a year of training to officially form an army.
In order to train the navy, Xiao Xia sent out two hundred sergeant instructors. These instructors came from Xiao Xia's personal guard camp and were all senior sergeants.
These instructors will temporarily serve as brigade commanders, lieutenants and generals of the navy. After the training, the best ones will be selected from the navy to serve as middle and low-level generals.
Now Xiao Xia has changed his mind. He decides to keep all these instructors in the navy and have them directly become low- and middle-level generals in the navy.
The sound of shouting and fighting was deafening in the parade ground, and the training formation of 20,000 troops was at its climax.
Xiao Xia watched the training for a while and said to Lai Huer, "The King of Qi is rebelling, and the emperor may have to dispatch the army from the south of the Yangtze River to the north to quell the rebellion. Let the instructors serve as low-level generals first. If there are not enough mid- and high-level generals, I will transfer generals from the King of Jin's army to fill the gap."
Lai Huer was stunned. "Your Highness, the navy has not yet been fully formed, and Chen Leng and his men have not returned. I have already recruited generals. What should I do with them?"
Xiao Xia nodded, "This is not the place to talk, let's go to the big tent and talk!"
Lai Huer followed Xiao Xia to the central military tent. They sat down and asked the soldiers to bring tea.
Xiao Xia then smiled at Lai Huer and said, "The naval commanders recruited by the old general, including Shen Guang and others, have all followed Chen Lengnan to seek refuge!"
"Exactly. Let them participate in actual combat so they can lead the army better after they return."
Xiao Xia said slowly, "The situation is quite serious now. According to the intelligence we have received, the King of Qi has occupied Hebei and rebelled, causing bandits from all over the country to be ready to move. People from Shandong and the Central Plains have also followed suit to rebel. In Ruyin County, which is closest to us, Li Zitong has rebelled, and Zhao Pochen has also gathered troops in Donghai County to respond. We can't wait for Chen Leng and his men to come back, so I will now deploy 20,000 naval forces to Huainan County and Shanyang. The best way is to let the instructors take up their posts directly."
Xiao Xia did not deceive Lai Huer. Li Zitong and Zhao Pozhen were indeed ready to make a move, especially Zhao Pozhen who was Miao Haichao's deputy general. After Miao Haichao's death, Zhao Pozhen became the leader of bandits and shouted that he wanted to massacre Shanyang County and avenge Miao Haichao.
Of course, Xiao Xia could also send other troops north for defense. The main reason why he sent the navy north was to turn the instructors into real positions. When the generals recruited by Huer come back, there will be no positions. In this way, at least 20,000 navy troops can be under his control.
Lai Huer was helpless. After all, Prince Jin was the commander of the navy, and he had to obey his arrangements.
"I will follow your Highness's arrangements. What about General Zhou's arrangements?"
Xiao Xia said slowly: "I have decided to recruit another 20,000 troops from Jiangnan, and Zhou Fashang will lead them!"
Two hundred instructors gathered in the big tent. All of these instructors were from Xiao Xia's personal guard camp. They were very excited to be summoned by their lord.
Xiao Xia waved his hand, and the two hundred instructors fell silent. Xiao Xia said slowly, "The King of Qi is rebelling, and bandits in various places are ready to respond to the rebellion. Jiangnan is also unstable. The navy currently has no warships available. I plan to transfer the navy to Huainan County and Zhongli County for defense. From now on, your status will be changed from instructors to real positions, and the 20,000 navy will be your subordinates."
The two hundred guards instructors cheered immediately, which was equivalent to directly promoting them. Twenty of them were even more excited. They were instructor generals, and now they were promoted to Eagle Strike generals in one step.
Xiao Xia waved his hand again and said to the two hundred instructors, "I know that many of you will think that you are not qualified, but I tell you, I only have one standard for you: whether you are loyal to me. Pat your chest and tell me, are you qualified?"
"qualified!"
Everyone patted their chests and yelled.
Xiao Xia added: "In order to let you have no worries, I have decided to arrange official housing for you. In the newly built Jiangyang County, each person will have a yard of at least two acres so that your families can live in peace." The two hundred instructors cheered again.
Lai Huer standing by finally understood that the King of Jin wanted to completely control this navy, so he transferred Zhou Fashang away. It seemed wishful thinking for the emperor to still have his eyes on this navy.
Lai Huer sighed in his heart. He didn't know which side he should stand on if Prince Jin confronted the imperial court one day.
In fact, Xiao Xia had already thought of it for him. Lai Huer's eldest son Lai Kai had been appointed by Xiao Xia as the Tongpan of the Criminal Law Department to replace Zhang Liang, and his second son Lai Yuan had also become a general under Pei Xingyan.
Pei Wen'an, the military magistrate who came with them, led his men to stay and register the new 300 generals.
In addition to the two hundred middle and low-level generals, five more Yingyang Langjiang will be needed. Xiao Xia has already considered this. He will transfer five Langjiang who are loyal to him from the Jin Wang army.
After returning from the naval camp, Xiao Xia went to Jiangyang County. Jiangyang County was originally a county town built for craftsmen. In fact, the county town was very large and could accommodate 4,000 households. All the craftsmen combined could only occupy about 30%, leaving 2,800 households vacant.
At present, Jiangdu is already saturated. In order to appease the generals and win over the hearts of the troops, Xiao Xia considered giving some benefits to the military generals and building military houses and courtyards for them. There are five grades in total, from one-acre courtyards to five-acre houses. All those who are eighth-rank brigade commanders and above will be arranged with housing. In addition, large tracts of land in the east of Jiangdu will also be rewarded to soldiers who have made military achievements.
As long as he showed sincerity to win over the soldiers, when the day came when he confronted the imperial court, these soldiers would follow him loyally.
Jiangyang County is under construction in full swing. The plank-style city wall has been completed. The city is divided into twelve blocks, and the main road has also been completed, leading directly to the north and south gates. There are shops on both sides of the main road, and construction of residential houses has also begun. The smallest plot of land is one acre, and the courtyard walls are built uniformly. Every family has a well and a toilet. Finally, every family will build a wooden house, and the rest of the land will be left empty for them to build their own houses.
"When will the construction be completed?" Xiao Xia asked the official in charge of the house construction.
"Reporting to Your Highness, it will take about two months?"
"Is there a river?" Xiao Xia asked again.
"There is a river. We diverted a tributary from the canal, passing through the city and finally flowing into the Yangtze River. In addition, we built a sewage culvert. The drainage of each household must be led to the sewage culvert, and finally flow into the river and the Yangtze River."
Xiao Xia could only smile bitterly. In fact, Jiangdu's sewage also flowed into the canal and finally into the Yangtze River. There was no way around it. It was completely unrealistic to build a sewage treatment plant now.
Just as Xiao Xia was inspecting the business, an official from the General Administration Office came running over on horseback, dismounted and reported: "Your Highness, Lord Gao has an urgent matter. Please return to the General Administration Office as soon as possible!"
Xiao Xia nodded and immediately rushed to the General Manager's Mansion. After a while, he returned to the General Manager's Mansion and sat down in his own official room.
Gao Jiong came in and said, "Your Highness, there is an imperial decree from Luoyang!"
Xiao Xia's eyelids jumped, and he quickly asked, "What does the decree say?"
Gao Jiong handed an imperial edict to Xiao Xia. Xiao Xia opened it and found that what he was worried about had indeed happened. The emperor ordered him to send out the navy to help in the battle.
"Your Highness, how should we respond?"
Xiao Xia thought for a moment and said, "Let's say the navy goes to the overseas islands to wipe out the remaining forces of Shanyue. Once they return, we will immediately send them to Luoyang to help!"
(End of this chapter)