Twists and turns

Because Shi Ming was coming, Li Ping decided to avoid it first.

Of course, communication in advance must be one-on-one. If Li Ping continues to join in the fun when Shi Ming comes, it will not be communication, but pressure.

But after Li Ping left, Zhao Jin was distracted for a long time, and he did not prepare to communicate with Shi Ming for a long time.

Li Ping lingered in his mind for a long time.

Li Ping was once his subordinate and his good brother. He was a man with his own ideas. Zhao Jin had always admired Li Ping.

Although the two had many differences when working together in the army, Li Ping was always Zhao Jin's most trustworthy subordinate.

Li Ping is not a very warm-hearted person, but he has a strong affinity. He can make good friends with many different types of people, and everyone generally trusts him.

In addition, Li Ping's work ability is very outstanding. He is open-minded, determined and cruel. Although he does not often get angry, he has a high prestige among the officers and soldiers, especially among his direct subordinates.

he.

If Zhao Jin's subordinates were mainly afraid of Zhao Jin when they were in the army, then Li Ping's subordinates were more respectful to Li Ping. Zhao Jin preferred to select strong men and use the capable leadership model, while Li Ping

They pay more attention to the construction of institutional systems, and their styles are completely different.

Zhao Jin is very clear that at present, he cannot make Li Ping his deputy or direct subordinate like Li Ping took in Song Baolai. Sometimes experiences will not only affect people's mentality, but also change many things.

Before Zhao Jin left the army, Li Ping had already reached a position equal to his, and later developed even better.

Both of them are no longer young, and their past experiences determine that the two of them will cooperate more than subordinate each other in the future, just like Zhao Jin is embarrassed to withhold the supplies for Li Ping but is embarrassed to ask Li Ping for people to strengthen himself.

Same.

The current situation may be more suitable for them. Both of them have enough space and meet the need for joint checks and balances.

Of course, Li Ping is still the person he trusts most.

Li Ping didn't know that Zhao Jin was thinking about him. Taking this time, he ran to watch the training of Zhao Jin's personal troops.

Zhao Jin also leveled a piece of ground. Although the area was not large, it could be used if it was crowded.

When Li Ping went to visit, part of Zhao Jin's personal army was training. They should have taken turns to organize it, because there were only about a hundred people gathered in the small venue, and more people were hiding in various simple houses around it.

Doing various idle things in the middle or in the shade.

Then, sure enough, constant scolding and the sound of wicker whips were heard throughout the entire training ground, and several fierce-looking guys wearing cloth shoes were walking very hard back and forth among the training soldiers.

The soldiers who were training looked very impressive. Everyone was wearing straw sandals and standing upright.

Slogans such as "Kill, kill, kill," "Ten thousand victories, ten thousand victories," and "Serve the country with loyalty" were always very loud, even hoarse. They seemed to pay great attention to shouting slogans.

Such bursts of neat shouts were very eye-catching, and even more so in the slightly calm Xiangyang City. At least Li Ping noticed it soon after entering the city, and became curious to see it.

Zhao Jin is as good as ever at building momentum.

The hundred or so people who are training should also be organized according to sentries. There are only two trainings currently being done. The continuous walking in line and the practice of assassination with wooden sticks were switched during the whole period of Li Ping watching.

However, this also made Li Ping notice that their queues were abnormally uneven. Except for one team with a very high level, most of the others could hardly be seen directly. That team seemed to have gathered all those who were talented in queues.

people.

In addition, there were as many as a dozen soldiers who were training holding pennants of different sizes.

Li Ping recognized that these flags included team flags, sentry flags, Qingdao flags, camp flags, and even a few flags that Li Ping was unfamiliar with. Flag recognition was obviously an important part of their training.

After looking at it thoughtfully for a long time, Li Ping estimated that the time should be long enough before he started to return to Zhao Jin's residence.

But just as he arrived at the gate of Zhao Jin's small courtyard, Li Ping bumped into Wang Chengwu. Wang Chengwu had obviously just arrived.

After saying hello affectionately, Li Ping was about to think about where to go for a while, when the soldier named Zhao Liang who was guarding the door smiled and invited the two of them to come in together.

Li Ping was a little surprised and just wanted to confirm again, but he heard the hearty laughter of Shi Ming and Zhao Jin coming from the yard. The two seemed to be having a good conversation.

But Shi Ming hasn’t left yet?

No more private communication alone?

With doubts, Li Ping followed Wang Chengwu into the courtyard, and then saw Shi Ming with a spring breeze on his face and Zhao Jin with a calm face.

It's just the four of them, and they get together. Are they planning to set the tone directly publicly?

Sure enough, as soon as Li Ping and Wang Chengwu were seated, Zhao Jin directly brought up the matter of military supplies and his proposal for distribution.

Immediately afterwards, Shi Ming was the first to express his support loudly, taking away the work of Li Ping, who had planned to be the first to cheer and support.

Wang Chengwu was immediately at a loss. He probably hadn't even had time to digest and absorb the content. His eyes flashed with hesitation and confusion. But under Shi Ming's keen gaze, he still happily expressed his agreement.

What is even more surprising is that Shi Ming actually further proposed that the future distribution of materials should be established as a routine like this one and would not be discussed separately.

Of course, those present here will not have any objections.

Li Ping suddenly felt very interesting. In fact, he was more curious about Shi Ming's plan now.

It seems that he really didn't think too much. People's hearts are always the most complicated.

The big deal was settled, and Zhao Jin was obviously much more relaxed.

But Zhao Jin immediately announced that they would visit Zuo Mengeng's home tonight to show his gratitude.

This is something that Zhao Jin has not told Li Ping before, and it is not in line with Zhao Jin's style of monopolizing contact with Shangfeng. This should be a fixed decision.

Communication is always accompanied by compromise, which is normal.

This may be the reason why Shi Ming was able to fully support Zhao Jin, but Shi Ming's ambitions were equally obvious. It just depends on what Zhao Jin thinks.

Li Ping wouldn't have any objections to flattering Zuo Menggen and showing his gratitude. If someone gives you a peach, you should return the favor and let them know that the favor is not in vain. This kind of officialdom

The activities are actually quite common and necessary.

He also understood why it had to be at night.

However, Li Ping didn't want to go with him. He felt that it didn't matter if he was alone. He also wanted to go back to his camp today.

But Zhao Jin did not agree because he had other important matters and Li Ping had to stay here for another day no matter what.

Li Ping couldn't just train his own troops, he himself also had to learn the rules of the Ming army. The Ming Dynasty's battle formations had many requirements. No matter how much Zuo Liangyu ignored his subordinates, he had to ensure that his generals, who were both good and bad, could understand him.

orders, especially since most of his current troops have just joined the official army.

Zhao Jin, who has already conducted specialized studies in Zuo Mengeng's camp, also needs to organize Li Ping, Shi Ming, Wang Chengwu, Liu Shixiong and Li Shengcai to study together to ensure that the rules of Zuo Liangyu's army are passed on.

The study plan originally planned for this afternoon was temporarily changed to tomorrow morning, because no one wanted Liu Shixiong and Li Shengcai to get the news before they jointly visited Zuo Menggeng.

Since he can't go back, Li Ping can have a good exchange with Zhao Jin in the afternoon. This is also Li Ping's original intention of coming here.

As expected, Zhao Jin also provided Li Ping with a lot of important information.

Of course, the highest priority must be Zuo Menggeng and others who are directly in charge of the situation related to Shangfeng, because he is the one they face most and first...

Judging from Zhao Jin's understanding during this period, Zuo Mengeng is generally a man who likes success, is relatively greedy for money and lust, and also likes the flattery of others. He is not very calm.

But this guy is physically strong, quite brave, and his IQ is basically online.

The key is that Zuo Mengeng is very sharp-edged in his life and work, is easily impulsive, and is also quite petty. He is a competitive young man with a strong temperament, so he must be extremely careful.

Zhao Jin emphasized that Zuo Menggeng's pettiness and competitiveness are double-edged swords. They can have such peace and care now because of Zuo Menggeng's face-saving calf protector. But conversely, once they hate him,

It will also be a very big trouble.

When talking about Zuo Mengeng, Zhao Jin actually talked about Zuo Mengeng's daughter-in-law, a person who seemed not to be talked about but had to be mentioned.

This is a very extraordinary woman.

Zuo Menggen's daughter-in-law is not an ordinary woman who lives in the house, but often appears in everyone's sight and in Zuo Menggen's words. She is a woman who can ride a horse very well.

Jurchen.

It is not surprising that the Jurchens (that is, the Manchus) appeared in the Ming Dynasty. They were not monolithic, and not all of them were against the Ming Dynasty.

Just like many Mongolians lived in the Ming Dynasty, many Mongolians even served directly in the official army and were very loyal.

Zuo Menggeng's daughter-in-law's family belongs to the Ming Dynasty, and her father was once an official, a former high-ranking official with considerable power.

But what is more surprising is that the family of Zuo Menggeng's daughter-in-law did not try to abandon their previous language and living habits like many Jurchens or Mongolians living in the Ming Dynasty, but rather proudly displayed them everywhere

, even the servants of Zuo Menggeng’s wife can speak Manchu very fluently and use it frequently.

They never seemed to consider avoiding taboos.

It is really novel that Zuo Liangyu actually has such an in-law.

Since Zhao Jin has not yet had contact with Zuo Liangyu, and as Zuo Liangyu is the commander-in-chief of the army, others dare not discuss it lightly, so Zhao Jin cannot provide much information about Zuo Liangyu's personal situation.

The situation became the focus of subsequent exchanges.

Xiangfan is very chaotic now, very chaotic.

There are 200,000 troops and only 25,000 supplies. The vacancy is naturally very scary.

Then so many people go to the place to plunder food. Even digging three feet into the ground may not solve much of the problem. A considerable part of the army may be in hunger and chaos.

And Zuo Liangyu has never restrained his subordinates very much, so the damage caused to the local area can be imagined, which may be devastating and long-lasting.

Fortunately, they are now basically counted as Zuo Mengeng's people, and they can get some supplies. Although they are still far behind the newly built troops under Zuo Liangyu's old subordinates, they are not bad at all. At least they don't have to worry about being captured.

starve.
To be continued...