Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 456: Big Ship and Big Gun Chen Youliang

Seeing that the three people didn't understand what he meant, Liao Yongan spoke.

“Your Highness means that military rank is military rank and treatment is treatment, but it is not a military position. If General Chen wants to continue to lead the army, our army’s land force is already full. I heard that General Chen has a lot of ships under his command and his soldiers are good at water battles. Perhaps he can transfer to the navy.

"At present, our navy has only three generals. Commander Bai of the 1st Regiment of the Navy is currently fighting with the 2nd and 3rd Front Armies. The 2nd and 3rd Regiments of the Navy are in the sequence of attacking Huguang and Jiangxi. If General Chen is willing to continue to lead the army, he can become the fourth general of our navy and lead a navy alone.

"If you don't want to continue leading the army, you can also work as a civil servant in the Privy Council." Having said this, Liao Yongan glanced at Zhang Bixin next to him and said.

"The same goes for Mr. Zhang. He can go directly to the Privy Council in Jiankang to work as a civil servant. And General Zhang under General Chen, if he is willing to continue leading the army, he can also go to Jiankang first. Your Highness will make the arrangements."

After that, he looked at Chen Youliang and said, "If General Chen is unwilling to lead the navy, there is another way. You can temporarily serve as a deputy in an army and become a deputy general manager. Your Highness intends to reform the organization in the future, and there will definitely be vacancies. What do you think, General Chen?"

"This..." Chen Youliang did not expect that Lu Jin would play the game of honors being honors, positions being positions, and assignments being assignments. Isn't this the same as the official system of the former Song Dynasty?

When it comes to honors and positions, Lu Jin was indeed generous, promising to confer a title and give him the treatment of a lieutenant general, but his actual job assignment was very strict, which made Chen Youliang very uncomfortable.

The three of them looked at each other, and Chen Youliang asked again, "What if I lead the navy? What do you want me to do next?"

Liao Yongan said bluntly, "If you lead the navy, General Chen will be the commander of our navy's fourth regiment in the future, but his rank will still be lieutenant general, and he will be treated like a military chief. However, General Chen's ship has not been modified, and he has not practiced our navy's naval warfare tactics. For the time being, he can only be responsible for transporting food and grass."

"." Chen Youliang was speechless. Now the Shengwu Army had already reached Wuchang and Hanyang. The only place where the navy could be used was Dongting Lake. Besides, there was no battle to fight. The Yuan army navy had been annihilated long ago. He could only be responsible for transporting soldiers and food.
Seeing that he was not satisfied, Liao Yongan added, "Although the inland navy will be of little use in the future, Your Highness will not mistreat the meritorious officials. After the war in Huguang is over, Your Highness intends to convert all the naval divisions into the navy, and then reorganize them. The naval commanders will also have a place to use their skills in the future. Fighting Liaodong, Goryeo, Guangzhou, and even Annan and Japan, there are opportunities for the navy to make meritorious contributions."

Chen Youliang was stunned. He didn't expect Lu Jin to be so ambitious. However, he was still worried about the promise he had made, so he asked again, "What if I join the army?"

"As for the Army, General Chen can temporarily be attached to my 35th Army as a deputy commander. Wherever I go, General Chen will go there. The remaining troops under General Chen's command can be incorporated into the two naval divisions."

Chen Youliang hesitated when he heard this. At this time, Zhang Dingbian also asked, "What about me? Marshal Liao just said that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu also has plans for me. I wonder what kind of plans they are?"

Liao Yongan pretended to hesitate for a moment before saying, "I shouldn't tell you this first, but I can reveal it first. There is still a vacancy for the commander of the vanguard regiment in the Eighth Guard Division. If General Zhang is willing, he can be the commander of this regiment."

"The Eighth Imperial Guard Division, regimental commander?" Zhang Dingbian asked in confusion.

"That's right, they are the ones wearing heavy black armor and who were the first to capture the city. You should have seen them when you entered the city." Liao Yongan said immediately.

Zhang Dingbian thought of the elite soldiers wearing black armor who climbed the city walls that he had seen yesterday, and he immediately became interested. This position was quite suitable for him, so he asked again, "Where is the Eighth Imperial Guard Division? Since there is a vacancy, why not arrange it for Brother Chen first?"

Liao Yongan explained again, "The Eighth Guard Division has not yet been established. Each Guard Division consists of three regiments, a musket regiment, an artillery regiment, and a heavy armored vanguard regiment. Now the Eighth Division only has one heavy artillery regiment, which is fighting with the Second Front Army in Shandong and Hebei. Because of the lack of a general of the vanguard regiment, and the muskets of the musket regiment have not been built yet, it has not yet been formally established.

"As for why it was not arranged for General Chen first, General Chen has the rank of Lieutenant General, and it is reasonable for him to lead a navy alone. Wouldn't it be a waste of talent to go to the Imperial Guards to be a regiment commander? Wouldn't that be too unfair to General Chen?"

At this point, Liao Yongan added, "But the Eighth Division's Vanguard Regiment is a good position. The Second and Third Front Armies are responsible for the war in the north. If General Zhang goes there, he will definitely have a place in the future Northern Expedition."

Zhang Dingbian's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this. He could lead the Northern Expedition to Dadu, and he was also the commander of the first landing group. Wouldn't that mean that he would be the first to rush to the top of the city wall when Dadu was conquered in the future? That would be a really good position!

However, seeing that Chen Youliang was still hesitating, he did not agree immediately, but looked at Chen Youliang, wanting to ask what he thought. Zhang Bixian saw that Chen Youliang was having difficulty making a choice again, and immediately asked Liao Yongan, "Excuse me, General Liao, this is about the future of several of us, I wonder if we can have a moment to discuss it?"

"Of course, please feel free to do as you please, but don't stay too long. I won't stay in Wuchang for too long. The army will continue to march towards Hanyang tomorrow." Liao Yongan said immediately.

"Thank you, Marshal."

Zhang Bixian clasped his fists, then pulled Chen Youliang and Zhang Bixian to the street corner in front of the government office, and then asked them, "What do you think?"

Zhang Dingbian said immediately, "I think it's good. The King of Chu is very kind and righteous. He gave my brother the rank of Lieutenant General and promised to give him a title in the future. Based on my brother's merits, he will at least be a marquis in the future. It's not a low title to give him such a title even though he hasn't made any merits under his command.

"There is also the position of the Royal Guards Division Vanguard Regiment. I think it is also good. Maybe I can attack Dadu in the future. I want to go."

Zhang Bixian looked at Chen Youliang again, "What about you?"

Chen Youliang hesitated and said, "Of course it would be better if I could lead the troops myself, but if I lead the troops myself, I will have to lead the navy and transport food and grass. The key is that if I become a naval commander, there will be no wars to fight soon. Only Huguang can use the navy. They have their own navy, so how can I be the one to take over?"

Zhang Bixian advised again, "Doesn't that mean that the navy will be changed to the navy in the future? It should be a navy that specializes in fighting at sea, and it will also be useful."

Chen Youliang added, "But that's all nonsense. Besides, I've never been to the sea. I heard that the sea is vast and there's no land for days and nights. If I were to lead the navy, I'd be afraid of getting lost."

"." Both of them were speechless. Zhang Bixian could only persuade them again, "Then you can serve as a deputy general manager under General Liao for now, and we will arrange a position for you in the future. You have to choose one.

"Dingbian is right. The King of Chu has given you a lot. Regardless of whether you make new achievements in the future, you will definitely get a title. The rank of Lieutenant General is not low in the Shengwu Army.

"Above are only generals and front commanders. There are only a dozen of them in the whole army, and they must be their own people. We are outsiders after all. This is already the highest reward. What's more, we have less than 2,000 soldiers now. They are still willing to give this. If it were you, would you be willing to give it?"

Chen Youliang also knew that Lu Jin's arrangement was not stingy. If it were him, he would not give it like this! Especially the title. You didn't make contributions under my command, so why should I give you the title?
After much hesitation, he finally decided to lead the navy. Otherwise, he would be a deputy under Liao Yongan without any soldiers of his own, wouldn't that make him a freeloader? At least if he led the navy, he would still have his own soldiers.

And he really likes ships, especially big ones!

This can be seen from the large ships he built in history and the strange names he gave them, such as Hunjianglong, Saiduanjiang, Zangdaoshan, Jianghaiao, and Chen Youliang's flagship "Red Dragon". If Chen Youliang was born in the 20th century, he would definitely be a loyal fan of large ships and cannons.
If he were to transfer to the navy in the future, he would definitely suggest Lu Jin to build more large ships!
After making up his mind, he said, "Then I will lead the navy. After all, I will have my own soldiers. I can transfer to the navy in the future. At least I can fight wars. If I stay in the army, I will wait for him to do some kind of reorganization. I don't know how long I will have to wait."

"That's fine too. As long as you've thought it through." Zhang Bixin nodded immediately.

"What about you?" Chen Youliang asked him again.

Zhang Bixian spread his hands and smiled, "Didn't you hear what Marshal Liao said just now? He asked me to work as a civilian in the Privy Council. That's good. I won't have to follow you two around in fear all day long. I won't continue to suffer in the army with you two brothers. Hahahaha."

Chen Youliang and Zhang Dingbian punched him immediately. The three of them were sworn brothers. Before the rebellion in the tenth year of Zhizheng, they swore to share life and death, plan for the future, and share wealth. Later, Chen Youliang became the emperor, Zhang Dingbian became the Grand Marshal, and Zhang Bixian became the Prime Minister. They fulfilled their oath. But it's not bad now. One of the three is a naval commander, one is a civil servant in the Privy Council, and one is a general in the Imperial Guard. It's just a change of loyalty. Lu Jin's treatment is still very good.

After the three of them finished discussing, they found Liao Yongan again and talked to him.

"General Liao, we have made up our minds. I am willing to lead the navy. I must go to the Privy Council first, and Dingbian will go to the Imperial Guard."

Liao Yongan nodded, and then said, "You can go to the navy, but if General Chen feels that it is unfair to only be responsible for transporting food and grass, he can go directly to Jiankang. The navy that Your Highness is going to reform in the future is still different from the ordinary navy. General Chen can learn something from Your Highness if he goes there.

"Your Highness is a man of great talent, knowledgeable and intelligent. I can learn a lot of skills by following His Highness."

Chen Youliang immediately looked puzzled. This Lu Jin looked very unusual. He was actually so popular with Liao Yongan. However, it was normal for Lu Jin to have some real skills to build such a large family business in just two years.

Chen Youliang didn't want to transport any food, so he said, "Then I will go to Jiankang to meet His Royal Highness the King of Chu. Thank you, General Liao, for telling me."

Liao Yongan nodded and said, "Since you are all going to Jiankang, why not send someone to Xianning to gather the old subordinates and bring everyone's families along, so that they don't have to suffer from hiding here and there.

"You don't need to take all of General Chen's remaining navy with you if you are going to Jiankang. You can pick some generals that are easy for you to use and take them to the navy and the imperial guards in the future. As for the remaining soldiers and ships, I can directly incorporate them into other naval divisions and ensure that they will not be treated unfairly. What do you think?"

"That's fine, then it's settled. Let Bi go first." Chen Youliang made the decision and agreed quite readily this time.

As for the family members mentioned by Liao Yongan, Chen Youliang did have a family. He was exactly 33 years old this year, the same age as Liao Yongan, and he also had two sons.

Later, Chen Shan, the Prince of Chen Han, was captured by Zhu Yuanzhang during the Battle of Poyang Lake. There was no record of this person in history. It is reasonable to suspect that he was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang. After all, a prince of an enemy country would be a disaster if he was kept alive. He was probably only 14 years old when he died.

The one who was protected by Zhang Dingbian and brought back to ascend the throne was the second son Chen Li, who was only 12 years old at the time. He later surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang and was named Marquis of Guide. Then he was exiled to Goryeo by Zhu. Although Chen Li lived in poverty in his later years, he at least had a good end and lived to be over years old. He also had descendants who were directly integrated into Korea.

The two sons are now the older one is four years old and the younger one is only two years old. They have all suffered with him in the army. It is good to take them to Jiankang now, at least they can settle down. Besides, the eldest son, Chen Shan, is about to start school, so it is not a good thing for him to follow him around all the time.

After the matter was finalized, the next things became easier to handle. The Jinshui Lake in Xianning had a waterway connecting it to the Yangtze River. Zhang Bixian took the Shengwu Army's ship and returned to Xianning that day. He then gathered the remnants of the army and Chen Youliang's family and brought them to Wuchang.

Chen Youliang and Zhang Dingbian each picked out some generals, as well as their wives and children, and went with the three of them to Jiankang to report to Lu Jin. The remaining ships and soldiers were directly incorporated into the navy of Sang Shijie and Miao Youzhen by Liao Yongan. After all this was arranged, Liao Yongan sent people to escort them to Jiankang by boat.

On September 17, after staying in Wuchang for one more day to deal with the matter of Chen Youliang, Liao Yongan continued his journey and marched towards Hanyang next to Wuchang.

At the same time, what has Lu Jin been doing in the rear for more than half a month? He is handling government affairs.

Several military advisers helped him summarize and organize the battle reports from various fronts and report to him. Lu Jin just listened to the progress of all parties every day and then left him alone.

He had all the victory reports from the front line copied into proclamations, which were then sent to various states and counties in his territory in order to suppress those local evil-minded elements.

Especially the gentry in eastern Zhejiang, let them realize the situation as soon as possible. It is impossible for the Yuan army to fight back. From now on, the rules Lu Jin talks about are the rules. They should give up the idea of ​​resistance as soon as possible and do what they should do. Instead of thinking about how to resist the tiered tax, it is better to use the brain to think about how to take the imperial examination.

Hurry and catch this last train before the founding of the People's Republic of China. Otherwise, after the country is founded and various systems are improved, it will not be so easy to pass the imperial examination. Also, promotion will certainly not be so fast at that time. You have to accumulate seniority, unlike now when you have the opportunity to be promoted one level every year.

In addition, Lu Jin presided over the autumn imperial examination on September 9th in the past half month and selected a group of talents. However, the next imperial examination could not continue to select people from Zhejiang, or in other words, it would give Zhejiang fewer places and give more places to candidates from other provinces, otherwise the court would be full of officials from Zhejiang.
Another thing is the appointment of court positions. The former Minister of Rites, Tao An, was sent by Lu Jin to Henan to serve as the Right Governor. The position of Minister of Rites is now vacant, so Lu Jin appointed Tao Kai, a newcomer from Taizhou, as the Vice Minister of Rites, first as a deputy, and the position of Minister of Rites remains vacant.

He added the newcomer Zhu Sheng to the cabinet and observed him for a while. If he showed any talent, he would be sent out to be the governor in the future. Zhu Sheng is 54 years old now. If he serves another term as governor, he will be almost . Then he will be transferred back to the cabinet. He will serve one more term in the cabinet and then retire directly, if he is not dead by then.
The same goes for Tao Kai, who is 50 years old this year. If he has good abilities, he can be appointed as the governor and serve for one term before being transferred back.

Song Lian, 43 years old, Zhan Tong, 37 years old, and Luo Ben and Luo Guanzhong, both 23, were thrown to the Hanlin Academy by Lu Jin. The Hanlin Academy has been vacant until now, with no one in it. It was just right to use these three people to set up the framework first, and then add some new scholars admitted in this exam, and the Hanlin Academy would be officially established.

Song Lian was directly appointed as Hanlin Bachelor, the chief officer of the Hanlin Academy, and the fifth rank; Zhan Tong was appointed as Hanlin Attending Bachelor, and the fifth rank; the youngest, Luo Guanzhong, was granted the position of Hanlin Editor, the seventh rank, the same level as a county magistrate.

Even Chen Yu, who had never held an official position before and was helping Lu Jin compile a general history of China, had always declined the official position. However, this time Lu Jin forced him to be a Hanlin academician of the fifth rank on the grounds that "if the name is not right, the words will not flow, and if the words are not flowing, the things will not be accomplished." Chen Yu could not refuse and finally accepted the position.

Lu Jin put them all in the Hanlin Academy and got so many scholars, of course not for them to accompany him in studying. He also didn't want to learn Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism from these people. The books were there, and Lu Jin could read them himself, and of course he had his own understanding. He didn't need them to lecture him.

The main purpose of bringing them all together was to help the Ministry of Education compile books. For example, the task of compiling simplified characters was assigned by Lu Jin to Zhan Tong, and the task of compiling textbooks was assigned by Lu Jin to Song Lian. At the same time, Luo Guanzhong was asked to assist Song Lian and be responsible for proofreading and organizing the manuscripts. Chen Yu continued to compile the general history of China, and after completing the general history, he was responsible for compiling history textbooks.

When Song Lian learned that Lu Jin intended to reform education and was going to spend several million taels of fiscal revenue each year on education, he immediately became interested. After carefully learning about the education system of the new dynasty, when he heard that Lu Jin asked him to be in charge of compiling textbooks, Song Lian had no objection. On the contrary, he was very positive and thought it was a serious matter.

But he had never seen what new-style education was like, so he wanted to ask Lu Jin to explain it in detail.

Say? It's hard to explain it clearly. No matter how much you say it, it's not as good as listening to a few classes directly, so Lu Jin simply opened a class.

After crossing the river, in order to train artillery talents, Lu Jin recruited a group of artillery students from Jiangnan, a total of 20 people. Originally, Meng Zhifang had been teaching him, but this time Lu Jin directly set the examination papers and selected students with the best mathematics skills to be his personal disciples.

There was also a factory school in the Luzhou Ironworks. It was taught by a hired teacher and his registered disciple Fang Lanyue. It mainly educated the children of the ironworks' craftsmen. Lu Jin also sent a set of papers over and asked him to select the 20 best students from the ironworks and accept them as his disciples.

There were 40 people in total on both sides, plus Tao Guangyi who was a formal disciple, and some other people, a total of more than people, forming a class. Lu Jin taught personally, teaching only three subjects: mathematics, geometry and physics. By the way, it was also to train talents for the subsequent steam engine manufacturing.

If these people learn well, they can be directly assigned to the two academies of science and engineering in the future and be responsible for more projects. Those from the artillery class can focus on ordnance manufacturing. The children of craftsmen in the iron factory are accustomed to craftsmanship, and some have worked in the factory and have workmanship experience, so they can be asked to focus on mechanical manufacturing.

These more than 40 people are all good seedlings. Even if Lu Jin teaches them carefully, they will not be wasted. They can all be used as seeds for spreading science in the future, so he himself is very concerned about this matter.

Then let Song Lian and other people in charge of textbook editing go and attend the lectures. After listening to a few classes, they will naturally know what the new-style education is like.

On September 17, the day when Chen Youliang officially set out for Jiankang with his wife and children, the newly formed science class at Lu Jin's place also officially started.

(End of this chapter)