Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 75
In May of the ninth year of Chongzhen, the scorching sun scorched the earth. The scorching summer had arrived, and the heat rising from the ground made people feel suffocating.

On the official road leading to the left-behind division of Fengyang Zhongdu, an army that stretches for several miles is marching rapidly. The soldiers lined up in rows of three are neatly formed. All the armored weapons were handed over to the rear camp, and two thousand recruited young men drove horse-drawn carts, carried burdens, or pushed wheelbarrows, loaded with grain, grass, armored equipment, and followed the team.

This team is Huang Degong's subordinates in Shan County. He and Zhou Yuji were ordered to recruit people in Shandong to form a new army. The loyal, honest, hard-working sons and daughters of good families were selected to enlist in the army, and a total of [-] new recruits were recruited in the end.

After Huang Degong and Zhou Yuji took over Wu Shangwen, who was executed, and with the cooperation of Wu Qun, the upright and outspoken general, all the treacherous generals were eliminated. The team of more than [-] people was strictly screened, and with the addition of [-] recruits, an army of more than [-] people was finally formed.

Most of the recruits are illiterate peasant children. From birth to adulthood, the peasant households who live no more than ten miles away. Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, and the mid-level generals selected from the [-] cavalry had a lot of headaches because of their ability to distinguish the flags and drums.

As a native of Qianhu, Wu Qun played a very important role in the process of training the recruits. Due to the heavy accent of the Shandong dialect, the generals of the Yongwei Battalion felt that it was very awkward to communicate. Although Wu Qun was born and bred He is a local, but he is very proficient in the official language. He led several hundred households and sentinels, communicated up and down, and devoted himself to the process of training recruits. After several months of running-in, these thousands of farmers who knew nothing My son finally looks like a soldier. Of course, the generals scolded and scolded him unavoidably. This is a common thing in the army.

After the team gradually took shape, stricter formations and weapon drills began. The recruits who had gradually adapted, driven by the strict discipline of the generals and the demonstration of the veterans, taught Shandong people to be honest, simple, hard-working and obedient. The characteristics are brought into full play, and soldiers who make mistakes, no matter whether the general is beaten with a wooden stick or whipped with a horsewhip, have no sense of resentment or resistance at all, they just stand next to each other without saying a word; A wall, and the recruits would run into it without an order to stop their advance.

Huang Degong and Zhou Yuji were very satisfied with this batch of recruits, except that their brains were a little rigid, their reactions were a little slow, and they were impeccable in their loyalty and obedience. In addition, the Shandong people's unique tall and strong body shape, over time, after the training of the battle, these Only a team will become a strong army.

What they don't know is that in the impoverished northwestern Shandong area, being able to join the army, have enough to eat every day, and a monthly salary of one or two official silvers is a good thing that many people can't even dream of. You only get beaten when you make mistakes in training, as long as you can eat enough every day, you can be beaten every day. Anyway, the peasants have thick skin and thick flesh, and the generals don’t beat them to death. To take it along, you have to listen to others and perform well. Is it a matter of course? This is the thinking of almost all recruits.

When the new army began to formally practice the military formation, Zhou Yuji received the imperial decree and transferred him to Sun Chuanting's Qin army as the chief general. The two had been together for several years, and they were inseparable. I don't know when we will meet, or even if we will be able to see them alive. Huang Degong violated the general and asked his soldiers to go to the market to buy a jar of wine to see Zhou Yuji off. Broken to pieces, they clasped their fists together and said to each other to take care, Zhou Yuji mounted a horse and headed straight for Shaanxi with a dozen or so soldiers who had already prepared.

In the days that followed, Huang Degong spent almost every day on the school grounds, supervising and inspecting the newly-appointed Chief Qian, and training the soldiers from the middle and lower ranks. He was promoted, and his battalion was mainly recruits. He had no complaints about it, and still devoted all his energy to teaching recruits. The 1000 people under his battalion made the fastest progress. The performance of the five thousand generals was the best. Huang Degong appreciated him very much and planned to report to the imperial court to promote him after he made military achievements.

After receiving the military order from the prime minister of the five provinces, Lu Xiangsheng, who arrived in Fengyang at a certain time, Huang Degong immediately summoned his generals to announce the military order. The marching distance is long, and the soldiers will be exhausted with armor and ordnance on their backs. The idea of ​​​​recruiting young and strong as a supply battalion is expressed.

Ren Minyu was born as a Jinshi in the seventh year of Tianqi. Since there was no one in the court, he was placed in Shan County as the county magistrate for nearly six years. In the past six years, he has also been conscientious and conscientious. I can live on; according to the regulations of the imperial court, he will be transferred to another post in six years, and he knows that the next post will be in a poor place like Shan County, and it is impossible to be promoted and reused. Who said that his family has no background? If there is an important official in the court who speaks for him, with his own political achievements, it should be no problem to go up to a higher level.

Huang Degong's request did not make Ren Minyu feel impatient. Although the two had little contact with each other, he also heard some news about this team. He knew that although Huang Degong was a general, he was deeply trusted by the emperor. As long as Huang Degong is satisfied with his close ministers, once the official army wins, it is impossible to say that there will be his name in the military exploits that helped the official army.What's more, there are military orders issued by the prime ministers of the five provinces. Although Lu Xiangsheng doesn't care about civil affairs, it is hard to say what kind of future he will have in the future. A minister who is highly valued by the emperor cannot be compared with himself.

Ren Minyu readily agreed to Huang Degong's request, and immediately summoned the scribes and squad leaders of the county government to go down to the countryside to preach about the recruitment, and made it clear to the common people that those who assisted the officers and soldiers would be exempted from hard labor for two years, and even more The important thing is that Huang Degong came with money. All the people who are willing to participate in the heavy camp will pay five qian silver a month and take care of the food. Under the temptation of double benefits, people from all over the world enthusiastically sign up.

The main reason is that successive years of severe drought has spread from Henan to the west of Shandong. Seeing the crops in the fields wither and die, many people who have no food left at home have already begun to plan to flee the famine. When they were worried, the government brought such a Good news, for many farmers, this is simply a bodhisattva who saves suffering.

The crops are hopeless, the strong laborers in the family are idle every day, and one person can catch up with several people. This time he joined the army, his skills are in charge of the food, and he still has money to take. If it’s not too expensive, I can buy some more and put them at home, then go dig some wild vegetables in the field, catch some fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs from the river that is about to dry up, pickle them with salt, and save them for a long time, saying Maybe God will open his eyes, a few heavy rains will fall, and the autumn crops can be planted in time to survive this year.

Huang Degong looked at the crowd gathered in front of the county yamen, and looked at the hopeful eyes on the sad faces. He was also very sad. He was also from a poor family. Growing up, he knew what it was like to be poor and hungry. He also saw the near failure of the crops in the field, and he didn't know how these people would spend their days.

He turned to Ren Minyu who was beside him and said, "Lord Ren, the drought is too severe. What if the people can't eat? If someone like a thief instigates it again, wouldn't it be another catastrophe?"

Ren Minyu shook his head and sighed: "I have reported the drought to the imperial court last month, but I have not received a reply yet. I have also mobilized gentry to donate money and food to the county government to prepare for future troubles, but there are very few responders. The grain in the warehouse is only a few hundred shi, and the silver is only a few hundred taels. Even with this little silver, before the price of grain soars, I have sent people to Xuzhou to buy grain. Let’s count as much as I can buy. As for the future, I do not know either!"

(End of this chapter)