August is the month of harvest. The Fourth Army of the Peking Army frequently reported good news in the Bashu region. There was no Ming Army garrison in the northern Sichuan area and it was in a state of anarchy. As soon as the Peking Army arrived, various places directly opened the city to welcome the surrender. Fourth The group army quickly occupied Yizhou, Chongqing and other important places in Jiangbei. The Duzhang barbarian army that had been raging in northern Sichuan saw the arrival of the army and suffered several defeats.

On August 12, Zhou Tianshou, who had been on an expedition for nearly a year, returned to Beijing victoriously. Wan Lei personally went to the Peking Railway Station to greet him. He also personally presided over a triumphal ceremony for him and awarded him the Five Stars in front of thousands of spectators. The title of general is also the first five-star general in the Peking Army and the highest military rank.

No one expressed objections to Zhou Tianshou receiving this honor, because Zhou Tianshou is the most senior veteran of the Peking Army. He began to fight bloody battles as early as the defense battle of Beiping City. After the war, he also fought against the invading enemies many times. Fighting against the Tatars, occupying the Mongolian Plateau, seizing key areas of the Qin and Jin Dynasties in the west, resisting hundreds of thousands of strong enemies of the Timurid Kingdom, and guarding in difficult areas for many years, all are full of credit for their hard work.

Wan Lei was a sensible person and directly listed Zhou Tianshou as the first marshal of the founding of the People's Republic of China. He praised his achievements in public on many occasions and asked people to write his biography. It was selected into the history of the Peking Army as a required reading for military academy officers. , as a model of military spirit of bravery, perseverance and dedication.

And Zhou Tianshou himself is indeed worthy of the title of the first marshal of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The first group army he has led for many years has strict military discipline when trusting rewards and punishments. The soldiers are brave and fearless. They will win in battles and conquer in attacks. They are powerful in the desert and the Western Regions. All the barbarians are frightened by the news, and no one can show their sharpness.

As the commander-in-chief of the first army, Zhou Tianshou has always abided by the law and never claimed credit for himself. He is highly regarded in the army and has a good relationship with Wan Lei. This time Wan Lei invited him back to Beijing, firstly to listen to military reports, and secondly. Discuss with him the next military plan.

"Brother Zhou has come all the way back. It's really hard work. Let's go home and rest for a few days. On the ninth day of August, Sheng'er is full moon. Please come and see me." Although Wan Lei became the president, privately, he still He is a brother-in-law to all the elders.

"Haha, I rushed back in such a hurry. I even killed several horses on the way. I just wanted to see my adopted son. Brother, even if you don't invite me, I won't invite you either." Zhou Tianshou changed his mind. With a serious expression, he laughed.

"The northwest is mountainous, it is difficult to build railways, transportation is inconvenient, and supplies are difficult, so I have to worry a lot." Wan Lei frowned slightly and said in a low voice: "I have some things to discuss with me in private. Please follow me. Let’s ride in the same car.”

"Oh, my brother said that, there must be something important. Let's talk while walking." Zhou Tianshou did not refuse, and directly got into the carriage that Wan Lei was riding in, which was not gorgeously decorated but very advanced.

Wan Lei has always been a pragmatist and has never been as ostentatious as the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The carriage he rides in is made of fine steel and is extremely strong. Even the curtains are made of special steel wire, which is extremely tough and ordinary. Bows and arrows and bullets cannot penetrate at all. If you want to stab halfway, it will be difficult to reach the sky.

The carriage drove quickly on the wide and flat road, and the people along the way gave way, not because they were afraid of the power of the Jingzhong Guards, but out of respect for the president. Regardless of other places, Wan Lei has the highest popularity in Beiping City. , no one dares to disrespect him.

"Brother Zhou, I don't know what your plans are in the future. Do you want to continue to join the army or change your career to politics?" In the large carriage, Wan Lei and Zhou Tianshou sat across from each other.

"The Peking Army is like my home. I am used to it in the army. Once I leave the army, I really don't know what to do. And now that the country has not been unified, I don't want to retire just yet. However, I am still willing to retire if necessary. "Yes." Zhou Tianshou said hurriedly, there were many cases of rabbits dying and dogs being cooked in the history, he thought Wan Lei wanted to have a drink of wine to release his military power.

"Brother Zhou misunderstood. What I mean is that if you are interested in running for the position of president, it is almost time to return to Beijing. After all, you have been away from home for many years and are not familiar with the members. Compared with the elders who have been managing politics in Beijing for many years, Get up, your connections should be lower." Wan Lei said seriously.

After hearing Wan Lei's words, Zhou Tianshou's anxious heart was immediately put to rest, and he shook his head hurriedly: "I am from a military background, and I can manage the army just fine. I am afraid that I will not be able to run the country at all, so it is better to stay in the army. ."

"The principles of running a country and running an army are the same. If you can run the army well, you can run the country well. My plan is this. First, I will transfer you back to be my deputy, the chief of staff, who will be responsible for patrolling everywhere. Communicating with legislators from various places can quickly improve your governance capabilities and connections."

"Well, this is considered queue-jumping and specialization. It's not good." Zhou Tianshou frowned slightly. To be honest, who doesn't want to be the president? It's just that he also has self-awareness and knows that his ability to handle internal affairs and his connections are still better. He was inferior to Tie Xuan, but now that Wan Lei had opened a back door for him, he was actually a little scared.

"As an emerging country, our country needs to be both civil and military. A military commander like you has made great contributions to the country. He should be qualified to run for president fairly and bring a martial atmosphere to the country. And you have been fighting hard for many years. Outside, your connections are not as good as those of civilians who have been here for many years. If you don’t provide some special policies, how can you compete with civilians? If the position of president is controlled by civilians for a long time, the military will definitely be suppressed, which is not good for the country."

There are lessons learned from advocating civility and suppressing military force. For example, the Song Dynasty, learning from the disasters of feudal rule in the Tang Dynasty, overcorrected and over-promoted the promotion of civilized culture and suppressed military force with a short-sighted view, which had to seriously affect the construction of national armaments. The group of generals Long-term suppression has led to a deterioration in both spirit and quality, thus weakening the military's combat effectiveness and causing serious consequences for border defense.

Although Wan Lei was also worried about the separatist regime of vassal towns, he had already carried out reforms in the Peking Army. First, he sent troops to government affairs, and secondly, he strengthened "loyalty to the country" education, which fundamentally cut off the foundation of the separatist regime of vassal towns. In addition, he allowed military generals to run for president. , this is also a pacifying strategy. After all, everyone has a chance to be elected as the president, so no one is willing to take risks. If the force is restrained too much, it will arouse the resentment of the general group and lead to disaster.

Therefore, having both civil and military capabilities and allowing military attachés to run for the office of president fairly with civilian officials is a way to ensure the country’s strong military readiness and maintain long-term peace and stability in the country. Wan Lei transferred Zhou Tianshou internally to set an example and establish a backdoor for the military attachés. unspoken rules.

"Having said that, Prime Minister Tie has been working hard for the country and the people for a long time. It's not good for me to suddenly jump in the queue. Moreover, the northwest is newly established and requires a general to be in charge. I can't leave for the time being." Zhou Tianshou said with some worry. .

"This is fair competition, not queue-jumping. I'm just giving you a platform. As for whether you can succeed in the election, I don't care. I will always keep the post of chief of staff for you. When do you want to come back, I will tell you in advance." Tell me so that I can make personnel adjustments and send a general to take over your position."

"You are doing this for my own good. I understand and I will consider it carefully. But I want to stay in the army for a few more years and accumulate more military merit before coming back."

"If you want to open up borders and defend borders for the country, that's a good thing. Of course I support it. Don't have any psychological baggage of trying to save the country. Our Republic of China is proactive and the army will always be the cornerstone of the country. Good generals Famous marshals are always the pillars of the country and always have a place to be useful."

"With what you said, brother, why should I be worried?" Zhou Tianshou laughed, and all the doubts in his heart were gone.

While they were talking, the carriage arrived at Duke Zhou's Mansion where Zhou Tianshou lived. In order to let Zhou Tianshou rest in peace and have more time with his family, Wan Lei just sat for a while and played with the Zhou family. Homely left.

Within a few days after Zhou Tianshou returned to Beijing, the commanders and commanders of the major military regions (services) also returned to Beijing one after another. While participating in the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations, they also held a Military Commission meeting to discuss the next military plan. In addition to The First Army Group stationed in the northwest, the main forces of other armies and the navy have all been transferred south. Sooner or later, a war to unify Jiangnan will be fought.

Of course, this war cannot be fought casually, nor does it mean that a strong army can serve the strong and bully the weak. As the saying goes, if you get more help, in order to win people's hearts with morality, you must have a reason to start the war. But this is not difficult for Wan Lei, because he Believe: If you like other people's things, just take them over and the defense lawyer will always find them.

No, since August, Wan Lei has been working hard to find a reason to start a war, and the most important thing he did was to encourage the provinces south of the Yangtze River to become independent and provoke conflicts between the central and local governments in the Ming Dynasty. If he could provoke If there is civil strife in the Ming Dynasty, it will be better.

On August 15th, Wan Lei announced a decision to provide economic assistance to the provinces south of the Yangtze River. The so-called provinces south of the Yangtze River are actually the four provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi that have declared autonomy, excluding those provinces that have not declared autonomy. The reason is also It is very sufficient. Autonomous provinces have great determination to establish a constitution and have awareness of the rule of law and are worthy of trust. Non-autonomous provinces have little determination to establish a constitution and have no awareness of the rule of law and are not worthy of trust.

And Wan Lei was not just talking nonsense. As soon as the opinion was published, dozens of cargo ships loaded with 1 million shi of grain arrived in these coastal autonomous provinces, sending 200,000 shi of grain to each autonomous province as military rations. , and also provided tens of thousands of sets of weapons and armor, which is a clear indication of the support of independent forces.
Chapter completed!