Chapter 46 Escort Mission

That morning, after Li Ping trained with the officers and soldiers for a while, he returned to his small yard halfway up the mountain and stretched on the horizontal bar for a while.

This small courtyard has now been equipped with wooden horizontal and parallel bars to facilitate Li Ping's daily practice and to maintain a good physique. This was very important in the cold weapon era.

When Li Ping was fetching water to rinse his hands as usual, he found that the water was a little cold on his hands.

He hesitated.

It's not a good thing to catch a cold here, and he must take precautions.

Li Ping estimated the time in his mind and found that it was now around October 10th in the Gregorian calendar. But the water was cooling too fast. It was worthy of the Little Ice Age.

As a last resort, Li Ping had to go find the soldiers to boil some hot water.

But at this time, Zhao Jin's soldiers came to Li Ping. Li Ping knew that it was Zhao Liang who he was familiar with, and almost all Li Ping's soldiers knew Zhao Liang, so Zhao Liang was led here without notification.

Zhao Liang came to inform Zhao Jin that he had something to discuss with Li Ping and that he needed to go to the city immediately.

So Li Ping, who was covered in sweat, boldly took a quick shower with cold water and changed into dry clothes.

When I arrived at Zhao Jin's place, I saw Zhao Jin standing in the room wearing a dark basket-colored t-shirt with a python pattern and a black hat on his head, holding his hands behind his back, looking very majestic.

Li Ping was a little stunned when he saw it. He already knew a little bit about the costumes of the Ming Dynasty and couldn't help but secretly exclaimed, "This style is okay!"

The yisa worn by Zhao Jin was one of the more popular clothing at this time. It evolved from the braided thread jacket in the Yuan Dynasty. Those with short sleeves or sleeveless are called hakama pleats, and those with long sleeves are called yisa.

The face is pleated, the back body is cut straight, without pleats; there are hems on the sides.

The pronunciation of "Yì sǎn" is derived from Mongolian, also called "Yisa", which is a variation of "Yise (shǎi)". In the early Ming Dynasty, this kind of clothes was the clothing of the imperial guards, and later it slowly spread. Mainly

It is worn as formal wear.

The big hat is equivalent to the top hat at this time, and is a very important formal wear. It has a round and high hat tube with a brim below. The top of the hat tube is often equipped with a top made of different materials, and there is a tie under the brim.

hanging.

However, what Li Ping didn't know was that the crown or crown of the matching hat eventually became the origin of the crown-wearing system in the Qing Dynasty.

Zhao Jin likes and cherishes this outfit very much. It is his best outfit so far. He usually only wears it on very formal occasions. I wonder where is he going? Or has he come back.

Seeing Li Ping come in, Zhao Jin hurriedly asked Li Ping to sit down, and took off his big hat and put it on the table, revealing the black mesh scarf wrapped around his head.

Li Ping, who had not yet settled down, was even more surprised. He couldn't help but wonder: "What's wrong with you today? You're dressed so formally?"

Zhao Jin ignored Li Ping's surprise, but went straight to the topic seriously: "Zuo Menggeng's wife is going to offer incense tomorrow, and I recommended you to escort her."

Zhao Jin's abruptness made Li Ping's eyes widen. He subconsciously asked uncertainly: "What did you say?"

Zhao Jin's expression was not joking at all, and he only said more seriously: "Listen up. Zuo Menggeng's wife is going to offer incense tomorrow, but not to the Tiefo Temple outside the west gate, nor to the Guyin Temple on Yanggu Mountain.

and Guangde Temple on Wanshan Mountain. She was going to a very small temple, a small temple that most people had never heard of, in the mountains in the southwest. Mrs. Zuo heard about it somehow and said it was very efficacious.

I insisted on going, so I sent an errand."

Li Ping did not answer and became serious. He looked directly at Zhao Jin and waited for him to continue. Zhao Jin then continued: "The journey is a bit far and it is still in the mountains. I heard that the fastest way to get there will take at least a day. So.

, someone needs to be guarded. Zuo Menggeng asked me to send a sentry horse to guard the left and right sides, and I recommended you. This matter is very important to us, and you must handle it with your heart."

Li Pingqi asked: "Why don't you go for such an embarrassing job?"

Zhao Jin touched his head and said with a sullen face, "I have more important things." After saying that, he deliberately looked at Li Ping, and his face became a little mysterious.

Li Ping leaned back and said angrily: "Stop holding it, tell me."

Zhao Jin laughed "Hey, hey" twice and continued: "If Zuo Menggeng doesn't go, I won't go either. I have to accompany the real master."

"Do you still need to accompany Zuo Mengeng?" Li Ping looked disdainful, not believing this reason at all.

"Usually I don't use it, but this time it's different. His wife is not around for several days, so my role naturally becomes more prominent." Zhao Jin chuckled.

"Oh? Is there a story?" Li Ping's interest was completely aroused.

Zhao Jin proudly made a silent gesture with his right index finger in front of his mouth, and then lowered his voice and said, "You know Zuo Menggeng is lustful, right? But this guy has a smaller face, and his father is so clean that he can stand there.

With a role model and a beautiful daughter-in-law that everyone praises, he naturally doesn't want to be too indulgent."

"But what does this have to do with you!" Li Ping couldn't help but muttered.

"Listen to me."

"oh!"

"It's estimated that your trip will take three days anyway. Zuo Menggeng plans to travel around on the pretext of inspecting military affairs, and shows courtesy to Corporal Xian and win over his subordinates by eating and living together. In fact, he just wants to have a good time. I

His camp is his most important stop. I am his new confidant and not many people know him. Being happy here is the best cover to prevent anyone from gossiping and making him feel uncomfortable with his wife. Although

, his wife doesn’t care much about his matters, but one less thing is better than one more thing..."

Li Ping became more energetic after hearing this, and almost jumped up from his chair and said: "I'll go, this is really a circle! It's a great thing! ... But, can you entertain Zuo Mengeng?"

"I have thought about it. I plan to let Shi Ming arrange the affairs of women. He is good at this. And he also has women there, and he will find good ones. I asked him to bring people to my camp to entertain Zuo Menggen.

He will definitely be happy. As for the other arrangements, I am somewhat sure that we were not in vain in the previous world. Even if we have never eaten pork, we have seen pigs running! There are many more tricks than here." Zhao

Shin said while adding up.

Li Ping thought for a while and said: "That's okay, you are right. Okay, those things are a headache for you! Tell me about my side of things, so that I can make arrangements."

Zhao Jin stared at Li Ping and said: "Listen carefully. You are not the only escort team this time. There is another one, about two hundred people. I heard that the leader is an old member of his family. He was on the left earlier.

Liangyu once served as a soldier, and now he is a subordinate of General Fang Guoan, stationed at Dadongbian outside the city. I ask you to bring a sentry horse, and my total is mainly to make up the number, to show your closeness, and at the same time to show it to others, you

Be sure to grasp it well.

I know that your sentry has more soldiers than ordinary sentries, so don’t take them all with you. More than 100 will be enough, and you can’t overwhelm them.

However, the soldiers you lead must be more energetic and better equipped. We have attracted Zuo Liangyu's attention as a strong army, and we have been assigned the escort job because of it. We cannot lose our reputation and let others look down upon us. Zuo Mengeng

It's embarrassing for his wife. The armors issued to you are all with you. Although they are not many, but they are not neat and tidy, it just shows that we are trying our best to complete the errand, and it also shows that our material strength is insufficient, so we will have a reason to be rewarded in the future.

As for the security issue, there are no large groups of bandits around here. No one dares to touch you soldiers and horses on the ground in Xiangfan, so there should be no problem in terms of security.

You go back and get ready. Early tomorrow morning, just lead the troops and wait outside the west gate. Another guard will also be waiting there. Remember to be early and don't miss anything."

"No matter how old you are, you are still Fang Guoan's soldiers now. Why don't you use your own soldiers?" Li Ping was a little surprised. He couldn't be insensitive to the name Fang Guoan.

"I heard that Fang Guoan took the initiative, and Zuo Menggeng couldn't be worried about Fang Guoan. Besides, aren't we Zuo Mengeng's soldiers!" Zhao Jin was not impressed by Li Ping's sensitivity.

"oh!"

This explanation is indeed more reasonable, and Li Ping can't say anything. He can only quickly think about the task itself.

But when asked what he needed to pay attention to in front of Mrs. Zuo Mengeng and her bodyguards, Zhao Jin seemed a little absent-minded, and the information he confided was nothing new. Li Ping quickly understood that Zhao Jin needed to prepare for something more difficult.

He said it was easy but he was already feeling worried, so he said goodbye to Zhao Jin.

When he was about to leave, Li Ping looked at Zhao Jin's frown and joked: "You look weird wearing a net scarf. You look better without it."

Zhao Jin raised his head and said angrily: "You think I want to wear it! It's too uncomfortable, but there's nothing I can do about it. Who knows if Zhu Yuanzhang is doing something for everyone to wear a net scarf? If I don't come here, I don't know if it will happen tomorrow.

I’ve never seen this habit on TV before! However, it’s really not easy to mess up your hair.”

Li Ping smiled and said: "Yes! I didn't know it until I got here. I used to watch Korean dramas with this image in them all. I was wondering how they got into this habit? It took a long time, but it started from us.

It's from here.

Brother, I'm leaving.

One more thing, if you can't think of a way, just use what others have used. It has been tested by time. Just like this net scarf, Zhu Yuanzhang's order is the same thing, and practicality is the main reason for its popularity.

Otherwise, who would take him seriously after he has been dead for so many years?"

Zhao Jin finally managed a smile, waved his hand to Li Ping and said, "I understand. I won't give it away."

…

After returning, Li Ping made a summary. His troops did not adopt the common organizational method of two troops and one team, three teams and one team, three teams and one sentry, and five sentries and one general, which were common among sentry troops in Ming military camps at this time. Instead, they implemented

Following the three-three organizational principle, the sentry (equivalent to a company) also made more reference to the establishment of later generations.

His basic consideration at the time was that the unique geographical characteristics of the South made it impossible for ordinary troops to equip longer spears, and they rarely had the opportunity to organize larger battle lines.

The sentries of the three-three organizational structure can quickly form three small rectangular square formations of 3 teams each with 15 people in each row during wartime, or even smaller square formations with even units. Such an organization will make the army more mobile and flexible.

However, whether it is practical still needs to be tested in actual combat.

One of his standard sentry troops has about 150 people, including: 5 people per team, 15 people per team, 46 people per team (plus 1 team leader), plus a 5-man cooking squad and an 8-man sentry unit (postal service).

Chief, 3 order soldiers, 3 health soldiers, and 1 clerk).

This time he planned to take the third sentry with him during the escort.

The main reason for choosing the third sentry was that the sentry commander, Ma Yong, had rich experience in battle and was practical and capable. With his assistance, Li Ping felt more at ease.

And another point is that the 9 teams of these 3 posts are archery teams. Although there are very few soldiers who are good at shooting, and even so far there are only about ten people who can make do with it, but they can still be regarded as long-range strike forces, which are better than

Not strong.

In this way, he brought the 7th and 8th teams of the 3rd sentry team, plus the 9th team with ten people who could make do with archery, the number of people was exactly the same. That is to say, he had a certain long-range strike capability, so he could be prepared, and he did not need to adjust the troops too much.

.

The escort force thus adjusted has a total of 118 people, including 2 teams of 6 and 18 troops, 1 additional 10-man archery team at the outpost, Li Ping himself, and the 2 soldiers he planned to bring with him.
To be continued...