Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 235 I advise you to go to Luzhou as soon as possible
When the young men heard that Lu Jin had summoned them and was going to assign them a task, they immediately rushed to the Marshal's residence. However, before they saw Lu Jin, they were stopped by Song Guoxing in the front yard.

"Wait a moment, brothers. The Marshal is talking to someone inside."

"Okay, do you know what the Marshal wants to tell us?"

"I don't know."

Just when the few of them were waiting so long that they felt like they were covered in grass, in the second courtyard, Lu Jin also called over Guo Xing, the battalion officer of the Musket Battalion of the 1st Brigade of the Imperial Guard.

After listening to Lu Jin's words, Guo Xing was silent for a while, and said hesitantly, "General, there is something I want to say but I don't know whether I should say it or not."

"You said."

"Marshal, my brother is already 17 this year. Please don't always treat him like a child. I don't know where you live or what the customs are. In our area, for families who get married early, when the man is 17, the children in the family are already chasing dogs and chickens.

"Besides, since we brothers have joined the army, we have naturally thought about the day when we will die in battle. We are not afraid. The commander-in-chief only needs to give him a job."

Well, Lu Jin always treats those under 18 as teenagers or high school students, but in ancient times, people of this age might have already started a family and a career, so the concepts are different.
Hearing this, Lu Jin said, "No, if it was an ordinary mission, I wouldn't have informed you, but this time is different. I can't tell you too much detail. I can only tell you that this mission is not within our army, and it may take a long time, one or two years, and it is also dangerous."

"Not in our army?" This time Guo Xing was also a little surprised.

"Yes, I plan to transfer him to the Military Command Department for two years. If you don't know what the Military Command Department does, you can take a look at this." Lu Jin suddenly threw out a file.

Guo Xing picked it up and took a look. It turned out to be full of city defense information of various cities in Jiangxi, from the structural dimensions of the city walls, street building plans, the number of garrisons and the identities of generals, to the information of local officials. (However, they were all outdated versions. After all, intelligence has a certain timeliness. With the tug-of-war between the Yuan army and Xu Song, the battle line had already changed.) However, such detailed information still made Guo Xing stunned.

He had always thought that the Military and Political Department was in charge of military registration, appointment and transfer of military generals, and the Military Order Department was responsible for reviewing and issuing military orders from the Marshal's Office. It was not until this time that he learned that the Military Order Department was also in charge of intelligence gathering. How could he not be surprised?

"So the Military Command Department is also in charge of scouts and spies?!"

"Yes." Lu Jin nodded gently, and then instructed, "Don't tell anyone else when you leave this room."

"Yes, then the Marshal is planning to let my brother be a scout?"

"He's not a scout, it's also related to leading troops. Maybe after two years of experience, he can come back and get promoted faster than you. What do you think? Do you agree to let him go? If you don't agree, I'll replace him with someone else." Lu Jin asked again.

Guo Xing thought about it, and seemed to have made up his mind, then he nodded and said, "I agree, Marshal, just make arrangements for him. But if he dies outside, please come back and tell me who killed my brother, so that I can avenge him in the future."

Lu Jin was speechless for a moment, "It's not as dangerous as you think. As long as he is smart and clever, even if things are impossible, he can just run back. Even if he really encounters difficulties, I can send troops to help him. I won't let him go through fire and water."

Guo Xing heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this. "I was too concerned and confused. Then, Marshal, please assign him a task."

Lu Jin nodded and said, "That kid is outside. You go out and meet him later and tell him to be smart. After that, I won't tell you where he is going. Don't ask me where he went or what he did. I won't tell you even if you ask. You will know when he comes back."

"Yes."

Guo Xing agreed and then turned around and went out. When he passed the front yard, he saw Guo Ying and a few familiar-looking young men, who seemed to be called Tang Shengzong and Lu Zhongheng. It seemed that these people were going with his brothers. Guo Xing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he was not alone and it would be better if someone could take care of him.

Guo Ying was waiting in the front yard. He was a little surprised to see his eldest brother coming out. Then he was called aside by Guo Xing, who gave him a few careful instructions and took out two taels of silver from his pocket and stuffed it into his brother's hand.

"The Marshal has something to tell you to do. I don't know what it is he wants you to do, but you must be careful and be smart. I'll wait for you to come back."

"Oh, don't worry, brother. Nothing can happen to me. I don't need the money. You can keep it for yourself."

"No, you take it. I won't say anything else. The Marshal is still waiting inside."

"Oh."

Guo Xing then left the Marshal's Mansion, and Guo Ying and the others were led into the second courtyard. Song Guoxing, who led them in, was about to leave when Lu Jin hurriedly called him, "Guoxing, you stay too."

"Ah? And my business? Oh."

Then the four young men stood there waiting for a while, and Bao Yu also brought someone over and handed a file to Lu Jin. Lu Jin opened it and took a look. It turned out to be the training officer of the first company of the third battalion of the musket battalion of the first brigade of the Imperial Guards, named Gong Xiuwen.

Lu Jin put down the file in his hand and looked at the five people in front of him, four teenagers. Guo Ying was good at archery, Tang Shengzong was good at flower spear, and Song Guoxing was not outstanding in martial arts, but fortunately he was brave, resourceful, responsible, and could write and count. These three were all 17 years old this year, and only Lu Zhongheng, who was good at riding and shooting, was only 16 years old this year.

On the contrary, Gong Xiuwen, the training officer, is the oldest, already 27 years old this year.

Lu Jin then looked at them and asked, "You guys are either my personal soldiers or grassroots instructors in the Imperial Guards. It's been quite a while. Would you like to be sent out to lead the troops?"

The four boys thought something was wrong, but it turned out that they were going to be sent out to serve as officers and lead troops. They excitedly said in unison, "Yes."

Only Gong Xiuwen asked tentatively, "Which unit does the Marshal intend to send us to, and how many soldiers will we take with us?"

"How many soldiers you can lead depends on your own abilities. As for which unit it is, let Chief Bao tell you." Lu Jin said immediately.

Bao Yu nodded, took out the map and started talking to a few people, giving a detailed introduction to the Deng family militia in Hong County.

"The commander intends to earn back this army, so he will send you to infiltrate its inner circle first. The four of you will go to the Deng's militia in the name of fugitives from Huaiyuan County of the Yuan court, show some martial arts, and become grassroots officers. "Here are some basic information about Huaiyuan County, including the city of Huaiyuan, the surrounding terrain, temples, how many towns there are, when people will go to the market, what are the characteristics of the market, and who your former superiors were. These are all identities made up for you. You must memorize them carefully to avoid being questioned."

The four young men all looked at the fake identity file in amazement. They couldn't help but be a little surprised. It seemed that this Bao Zhangsi had done a lot of work in arranging spies to infiltrate the country. He was actually so well prepared.
Gong Xiuwen also looked at it and asked, "What about me?"

"They are in the dark, and you are in the light. You are my former schoolmate and friend. Now I have a high position in the headquarters of the Shengwu Army, so I recommended you to the commander-in-chief and wrote you an invitation letter to come to Luzhou to be his counselor.

"Then you took the letter and 'passed by' the Deng's militia in Longxu. Because you were too cautious, they thought you were a spy of the Yuan army and arrested you. Then you took out the letter I gave you to prove your identity and let them know that you are related to our Shengwu Army. If they make things difficult for you, you can threaten them with our Shengwu Army so that they dare not act rashly. Then you can test their attitude and try to persuade them to lead their troops to surrender. This is one of the plans."

Gong Xiuwen rolled his eyes upon hearing this and couldn't help but complain, "What a good plan, Chief Secretary. This method is good enough to be used in a drama script."

After Bao Yu assigned tasks and disguised identities to several people, Lu Jin spoke.

"This matter has both dangers and opportunities. The Deng father and son are good people, and they have quite a few soldiers under their command. Now they have 4,000 to 5,000 people, which is almost the same as our regiment. You should pretend to surrender to them and do your best to help them develop and try to win over the surrounding rebel forces to expand their forces.

"Gong Xiuwen, you are now a company-level training officer. If you can successfully infiltrate and eventually bring back this army, if you can bring back a regiment, I will promote you to the rank of senior colonel, fourth-rank regiment commander. If you can bring back more than 10,000 people, I will promote you to the rank of third-rank major general division commander."

Gong Xiuwen's breathing quickened upon hearing this. Lu Jinding's Shengwu Army had a dual-chief system, with the training officer and the military chief being of the same rank. In other words, the training officer would be promoted to the same rank as the military chief. Of course, this was assuming that he could do a good job in training and logistics.

But now he is only a lieutenant of the sixth rank. If he wants to be promoted to the level of division, he has no idea how long it will take. But now he has a chance to save several years of hard work and be promoted directly to the third rank. Of course he is tempted.

"Marshal, there is a certain definition in this matter that cannot be shirked."

"Very good, I like people like you who are motivated and eager to make progress." Lu Jin praised with a smile, and then looked at the four little guys.

"It's the same with you. When you go there, you can first use your martial arts to get a small officer position, a centurion will do, then make more contributions, get promoted early, and recruit more soldiers. In the future, I will let you be an officer according to how many people you can bring back. If you can bring back a thousand, I will let you be a battalion officer of a thousand households. If you can bring back four or five thousand soldiers, you will be directly promoted to a commander."

The little guys were also excited, especially Guo Ying. His elder brother Guo Xing was only a battalion commander of a thousand households now. If he was promoted to regimental commander first, he would be able to surpass his brother. The mere thought of it made him so happy that he couldn't help but smile. The same went for the others. Which boy hadn't fantasized about becoming a general and commanding thousands of troops?

"Yes, we will do our best." The four little guys quickly agreed.

Then Lu Jin gave further instructions.

"You five, four in the dark and one in the light, you have to pretend not to know each other, but Xiu Wen, you are the eldest, and you are infiltrating as a military advisor, so you have to take care of them more. If there is anything that can be accomplished, you have to think of them first. If you win a battle, you have to help them get credit and speak well of them."

"Yes, I will keep it in mind." Gong Xiuwen agreed quickly.

"As for the four of you, Guo Ying is the smartest, but a little impetuous. Guo Xing is the most stable, bold and careful. So you can listen to Guo Ying in military matters, and listen to Guo Xing in external contacts and other matters. Guo Ying is in charge of war, and Guo Xing is in charge of domestic affairs. You should discuss anything together. Do you understand?"

"Got it." The four of them agreed immediately.

Lu Jin nodded and said, "Then let Bao Zhangsi prepare it for you. Also, let Bao Zhangsi arrange the contact lines and contacts for you."

"Yes."

So, three days later, under Bao Yu's arrangement, Guo Ying, Song Guoxing, Tang Shengzong and Lu Zhongheng, posing as fugitive soldiers from Huaiyuan County of the Yuan court, went north from Haozhou to Hong County to join Deng Shunxing's militia.

When the four little guys first arrived, they caused quite a commotion, because not only did they bring their own weapons, they also led two horses. What was even more outrageous was that these four people actually brought seven sets of armor, which was much better than the other farmers' teams who either came empty-handed or only carried a hoe.

You have to know that Deng Shunxing's group is just a militia that builds a stronghold to protect itself. Having a set of armor is rare. These four little guys not only have armor, but also have some to spare. How could they not attract attention?
Deng Shunxing was also afraid that they were spies sent by the Yuan army, so he personally interrogated the four people. The four people answered fluently and claimed that they were all military households from Huaiyuan. Because they were oppressed by the centurion, the four brothers conspired to kill the centurion and robbed the Yuan army's war horses, armor, and weapons, and then came to join the rebel army.

Deng Shunxing was still worried and asked them why they didn't go directly to Liu Futong since Huaiyuan was closer to Liu Futong's territory?
Song Guoxing explained that they did not believe in the White Lotus Sect, which was all a lie. They did not want to associate with those incense-burning armies, and they heard that Deng Shunxing from Hong County in the north was a man of loyalty, so they came here to join him.

Even so, Deng Shunxing still didn't quite believe it, and asked them again, there were only four of you, all of you were kids in your teens, how could you have killed more than a dozen Yuan army soldiers and even stolen their horses, armor, and weapons?

Then the four of them demonstrated their martial arts. Guo Ying was good at archery and could hit the target every time he shot from a hundred steps away. He could also draw a strong bow. Tang Shengzong was good at using a lance and four or five people could not get close to him. After putting on armor, he chased a group of people and killed them all by himself. Although Lu Zhongheng was only 16 years old, he claimed that his family raised horses and he had excellent horsemanship at a young age. He could move up and down on horseback, shoot the bow left and right, and use a lance and a saber with ease.

Such amazing martial arts immediately opened the eyes of Deng Shunxing and his group of old-fashioned people. Finally, they asked Song Guoxing what he could do. Song Guoxing knew a little bit of everything, but was not as outstanding as the others in every aspect. Guo Ying joined in and said that it was Song Guoxing who came up with the idea of ​​killing the hundred households and seizing weapons and horses. He was the smartest one among the four.

Deng Shunxing then dispelled his doubts and thought to himself that he was so lucky that four young heroes came to join him while he was sitting at home. That night, he prepared a welcoming banquet for the four and officially accepted them into his gang.

The four of them were also very sensible. They gave the three extra sets of armor to Deng Shunxing, Deng Youlong, and Deng Youde, father and son. Deng Shunxing died from an arrow in the original history, so I wonder if he would sacrifice himself so easily this time with the armor.

Seeing that the four men were so capable and capable, Deng Shunxing directly appointed them as thousand households.

Of course, they were only called Qianhu, and in fact each of them had only about two hundred men under their command. But even so, the four of them had nearly a thousand men under their command, and they controlled nearly one-fifth of the entire militia's strength.

In the first few days, there were other generals who were not convinced, but soon the Deng family members were completely convinced, because the four of them were not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also brought training methods from the Yuan army. These four kids actually knew how to train soldiers! !

After showing their talents, they also helped Deng Shunxing reorganize the military system, with 12 small flags, 50 general flags, 200 battalion commanders, and 850 battalion officers. The entire regiment was divided into several battalion heads. Deng Shunxing led the entire army and was called the regiment commander. Except for the name being different from the Shengwu Army, the military system was almost the same, just to facilitate direct connection in the future. Just change the name and use it, and even reorganization is saved.
In this way, nearly ten days after the four of them infiltrated the militia, Gong Xiuwen went around to the northwest and entered the territory of Hong County from Suzhou. His identity also became that of a Suzhou classmate who studied with Bao Yu.

Bao Yu made such arrangements, deliberately increasing the time distance between the two groups, in order to avoid so many strange people emerging at once and arousing Deng Shunxing's suspicion, causing him to associate the origins of the two groups together.

That day, Gong Xiuwen rode a donkey and leisurely passed by Longxuli. Then, according to Bao Yu's script, he pretended not to realize that this was the base camp of Deng's militia. Then he randomly found a family and said he wanted to stay overnight. As a result, Song Guoxing reported that this person was behaving strangely and might be a spy. Then he reported it to Deng Shunxing. The next morning, Gong Xiuwen was indeed arrested by Deng Shunxing.
(End of this chapter)