Jiang Chong sat in the middle of a dozen or so households and took a light sip of tea. Jiang Chong is now the backbone of the Huben Division and the company commander of the trapping regiment. In the third year of Dao's reign, he was recruited to join the Selection Corps, starting as a soldier, and relying on his military exploits, he was promoted to squad leader of the Polu Corps in the first year of Xianping. Later, the trapping regiment was established, and he was transferred to the trapping regiment as the platoon leader. At the beginning of the third year of Xianping, he led his troops to kill the Khitan in Cangzhou with the general. Based on his military exploits, he was promoted to company commander of the trapping regiment.
Now Jiang Chong has 124 soldiers under his command and earns nine taels a month. He is already a middle-level officer in Tianjing New City. This time Jiang Chong returned to the "old city" of Tianjing New City to act as a guarantor for more than a dozen neighbors. The so-called old town of Tianjing New City is actually the place where Yang Peng first came to Tianjing New City. At that time, Yang Peng and his friends were only more than a hundred people. This area had been bulldozed during the construction of city walls and villas in the third year of Zhidao. Yang Peng compensated each old resident of Tianjing New City with a small villa. These natives of Tianjing New City live in the northeast of the city. After these years of development, most of them are engaged in business in Tianjing New City and live a well-off life.
But compared with the soldiers in Tianjing New City and the employees of Yangpeng Factory, the living standards of these indigenous people in Tianjing New City are relatively backward. There is still a gap between the income of a young man as a vendor, which is just over two taels a month, and the workers who Yang Peng spends three and a half taels to support each month, and the soldiers who support them with four and a half taels. Among these natives, the most promising were Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang, who were officers in the Huben Division. Now they are both company commanders, both are married to beautiful wives, and live in splendid luxury villas. Both of them had children at a young age and lived a life that everyone envied.
The situation of Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang made the natives of Tianjing New City understand that if they want to live a good life, they must closely follow the footsteps of the city lord. It is not enough to follow him in Tianjing New City. He must follow him in factories and the army to have a bright future. This time, the Huben Division recruited new soldiers again. The natives of Tianjing New City were unwilling to lag behind anymore. They approached Jiang Chong and asked him to be the guarantee for the natives of Fanjiazhuang.
Looking at the eager eyes of his old neighbors, Jiang Chong coughed, turned around and asked Old Xingtou beside him: "Dad Xing, can you say a few words first?" Old Xingtou is sixty years old and is from Tianjing. The oldest person among the natives of Xincheng, he used to be quite prestigious in Tianjing Xincheng. But when Yang Peng came and changed Tianjing New City, Old Xingtou gradually fell behind. His only son sells fish in the market in the north of the city, and his income is much lower than that of Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang.
In comparison, Lao Xingtou's family was completely different from Jiang Chong's family. Jiang Chong's family was originally one of the poorest households in Tianjing New City. In the first year of his reign, Jiang Chong almost fled Tianjing New City. But on the eve of Jiang Chong's escape, the city lord came, and Jiang Chong was recruited as a soldier of the general, and he rose through the ranks from then on.
Now in the eyes of this group of natives, one sentence from Jiang Chong is worth ten words from Old Xingtou. Hearing Jiang Chong ask him to speak, Old Xingtou was a little embarrassed, holding his pipe in his mouth and said: "I won't say it, just say it! You are the company commander now, and everyone is counting on you and waiting for you to speak!"
When Jiang Chong heard this, he stood up and said: "Neighbors, this time the general is recruiting eight thousand people. This is an opportunity!" "Why do you say it is an opportunity? Because this time to recruit new soldiers, veterans are needed as guarantees. , one veteran can only protect five people. In other words, these 8,000 people are short of only 60,000 people at most to compete!"
"Compared with the past situation where more than a dozen people often competed for a position, the competition this time is not so fierce." "Following the city lord, you will rise to the top. Everyone has seen the situation that Hua Zhang and I are in. Now my daughter-in-law is not only There is no need for spinning and weaving, and the family even bought a maid to do chores, and the wife only takes care of the children. As long as you follow the footsteps of the Lord of the City, good days are ahead of you."
Jiang Chong glanced at the dozen or so neighbors who were looking at him eagerly, knowing that these neighbors were waiting for him to say whether he could be their guarantor. Jiang Chong nodded and said: "Yes, as the company commander this time, I can protect fifteen people." When Jiang Chong said that he could protect fifteen people, the natives below were excited and started talking happily. There are twelve families and fourteen strong men here who want to join the army. Jiang Chong can guarantee them all.
But Jiang Chong added: "But I want to make it clear that I am responsible for being the guarantor. If a spy is found, the guarantor will lose his head. I am the thirteen people who have been working in Tianjing New City in the past three years and have not left the city. You can guarantee it. Chen Erdan went to Huizhou to join his uncle the year before last and stayed outside Tianjing New City for two years. I can’t guarantee it!"
Hearing Jiang Chong's words, Chen Erdan said anxiously: "Brother Jiang, I studied accounting in Huizhou for two years and didn't do any bad things. Now I have stopped and come back! Why don't you protect me?" Jiang Chong He shook his head and said, "I don't know who you met and what happened in Huizhou. I don't dare to joke with my own head."
Chen Erdan was very disappointed and squatted on the ground angrily, unwilling to stand up again. Seeing what happened to Chen Erdan, the other neighbors took a breath and secretly said that they were lucky to have stayed in Tianjing New City all these years. Tianjing New City is a paradise in troubled times. As long as you follow the city lord closely, you will have a good life. In this time of war and chaos, it is unreasonable to go out to seek refuge with relatives and friends, and you will be suspected of having ulterior motives when you return.
Xie Jin's sister looked at Xie Jin who came back empty-handed and couldn't help but shed a tear. The three members of the family had been hungry all day. Xie Jin went out to borrow food, but could not borrow a grain of rice. Xie Jin's family is a tenant farmer in Wuqiao County, Hejian Prefecture. The three members of the family farm 19 acres of dry farmland and can barely make ends meet. But at the end of last year, the Khitans entered the pass and looted, and they looted violently when they passed Wuqiao. Xie Jin's family of three hid in the county town and were not killed by the Khitan soldiers. But the crops in the fields were wasted because of this.
After hiding in the county town for a while, when Xie Jin returned home, the wheat had missed the irrigation period and the fields were already full of weeds. This year's harvest was extremely poor. The food that was harvested was used up after five months. Now, in this lean season, I don’t know how to survive.
Xie Jin wanted to borrow food from relatives and friends, but their relatives and friends were also affected by the disaster, making it difficult for any family. The first few times Xie Jin went to pray, he could still borrow a few liters of rice. But this time Xie Jin went again, and his relatives and friends did not have any extra food to lend to Xie Jin, so Xie Jin returned empty-handed.
Xie Jin also hadn't eaten for a day and was very hungry. He sat weakly in his chair and sighed. Xie Jin's mother said, "My son, how can we live the rest of our lives without rice or noodles?" Xie Jin's father died last year, and now he only has one mother and one sister at home. Xie Jin could not have imagined that he would encounter such a dilemma in his first year as head of the family. Now that we can't borrow food, will our family starve to death?
Xie Jin said helplessly: "Take another winter coat and go to the city to pawn it!" Xie Jin's mother said: "Winter is coming soon. There are only three winter coats left at home. If I go to pawn in the winter, I will freeze to death." He rubbed his face with his hands and was speechless.
A family of three was sitting in the yard hungry when they suddenly heard a commotion in front of them. Surrounded by dozens of people, a strong man strode on the dirt road in the countryside, heading towards Xie Jin's house.
Seeing the noisy crowd, Xie Jin's timid sister was startled and hid in the house. Xie Jin was stunned for a moment and thought to himself that he had not committed any crime. What were they doing with so many people coming to his yard? He took a closer look and saw that most of the people swarming over were small vendors from nearby, with a few well-known old people walking among them. The muscular man surrounded by the vendors was wearing a Tianjing New City military uniform and was obviously a soldier of Tianjing New City.
Xie Jin vaguely guessed something and hurried to the door. The group of people walked to Xie Jin's door. The Tianjing New City soldier in the middle shouted: "Is this Xie Jin's house?" Xie Jin quickly replied: "Yes, I am Xie Jin!"
The Tianjing New City soldier looked at the old men around him. Those old men nodded and said, "Yes, this is Xie Jin!" The Tianjing New City soldier smiled and handed a waist badge and a document to Xie Jin. , said: "Congratulations, Xie Jin, you have been recruited by our Lord of Tianjing New City, and you will be a soldier of Tianjing New City from now on. This is your waistband and admission certificate. You can use these two things to arrive in Tianjing next month. Go to Xincheng to report!”
Hearing the soldier's words, Xie Jin's face flushed with excitement, and he felt dizzy as if happiness had suddenly arrived. Tianjing New City's soldiers were recruited by themselves. From now on, I will have to be a soldier with three to two months’ worth of money and meat for three meals a day? My mother and sister no longer have to worry about food and drink!
Xie Jin held up the badge and admission certificate with trembling hands, and couldn't stop crying. The village elder next to him stood on crutches and said with a smile: "Xie Jin, this is a happy event, why are you crying?" I"
However, even though I have raised money, there is still one month left before the report is released, and two months until the monthly payment is issued. In these two months, there is no rice at home. How will the family live? Xie Jin suddenly became confused again and looked at the Fanjiazhuang soldier who came to deliver the letter.
Before Xie Jin finished speaking, a small vendor carrying a heavy pole shouted loudly: "Xie Jin, why didn't you tell me earlier that your family had no food? I'll give it to you on credit!" Xie Jin was stunned and saw the vendor carrying the pole. Arriving in front of Xie Jin. As soon as the lid of the heavy pole was lifted, there was snow-white rice noodles inside. The hawker said flatteringly: "Xie Jin, I'll sell you this hundred pounds of white rice noodles for one to two six cents. You set up an IOU for me, and when you get to Tianjing New City and get your monthly payment, you can give me the money again!"
The hawker took out an IOU and as long as Xie Jin pressed his fingerprint, the rice noodles would belong to Xie's family. Xie Jin looked at the vendor in disbelief, and then at the white rice noodles, as if he was overjoyed.
In fact, Xie Jin didn't know that these vendors had become accustomed to Xie Jin's kind of business these days. As long as you follow the soldiers who report the news in Tianjing New City and sell rice and noodles to the farmers who apply, you can make money steadily. The grain sold on credit at this time was naturally sold at a higher price than usual, and these farmers who were recruited into the army would have high incomes in the future. With the IOUs in hand, they would not worry about not paying back the money.
A hundred kilograms of rice noodles can only be sold for one to two or four cents in the market, but they can be sold for one to two to six cents on credit to the recruits, making two cents of silver in one fell swoop. This is a good business that is hard to find anywhere in the world. Xie Jin's mother excitedly walked to the load of rice noodles, scooped out a cup of rice noodles with a spoon, looked at it again and again, bursting into tears and smiled, and said, "Do we have rice noodles at home?"
The rice noodle vendor felt happy when he saw that the business was done. He took out the suona on his back and started playing. For a moment, everyone in the crowd in front of Xie Jin's house was beaming with joy. The scene really didn't look like he was going to be a soldier, but rather like Xie Jin had been selected as a scholar.
Sister Xie Jin saw that the group of people were not here to seek revenge, so she ran out of the house and stood in front of the load of rice noodles, crying and wiping her tears. "Brother, do we have food?" A cloth shop boy came out and said, "Xie Jin, I see your sister is wearing rags. Do you want to come to my place to cut a few feet of cloth and make some new sets for her?" clothing?"
Xie Jin said: "I have no money." The cloth shop boy said loudly: "Xie Jin, buy a few more feet of cloth, and I will give it to you on credit. Give it to me when you make money in Tianjing New City!" Xie Jin was stunned and looked at it. He looked at his eager sister and said, "Okay!" Xie Jin's sister, who hadn't made new clothes for more than a year, jumped up with joy when she heard this, with a smile on her face.
Seeing Xie Jin being so generous, the vendors were very excited. They all rushed to Xie Jin and shouted: "Xie Jin, I'll give you the oil on credit!" "Xie Jin, I'll give you the quilt on credit!" "Xie Jin, I'll give you the rice on credit! You!" Xie Jin agreed one by one, and the vendors placed their goods in front of his house. The goods were piled up little by little, and finally the pile was half as high as a person, with everything included.
All of a sudden, the Xie family, who had been hungry just now, had nothing. A pawnbroker came out and said: "Xie Jin, is it inconvenient for you to have no money now? I'll lend you money. I'll lend you ten taels of silver, three cents interest, and no property mortgage! I'll wait for you to go to Tianjing New City. Once you become a soldier, you can return the money to the Wang family pawnshop in the city."
Xie Jin was stunned for a long time and asked: "This is ten taels of silver. Aren't you afraid that I will run away?" The pawnshop clerk laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke and said: "You are a soldier in Tianjing New City , you can earn ten taels of silver in three months, how can you run away just for this little money?"
Xie Jin thought for a while and said, "Okay, I'll borrow the money!" The pawn shop clerk smiled happily and took out an IOU on the spot, fingerprinted Xie Jin's fingerprints, and then handed Xie Jin the white 10 taels of silver.
Yang Peng's recruit barracks was built south of the city wall of Tianjing New City. An area here is the planned area of Tianjing New City, but the city wall has not yet been built. The city wall will be built after the farmers have their leisure time. The masons worked overtime to build the barracks, and it was completed before the new recruits entered the camp on November 20th.
As soon as the new recruits entered the camp in December, they began arduous training. These soldiers are Yang Peng's current reliance, and training must not be sloppy. The recruits do not touch guns in the first two months, but practice physical fitness and formation. Every day before dawn, officers at all levels would lead eight thousand recruits to stand in formation and practice for a whole morning. In the afternoon, I practiced physical fitness in the countryside of Tianjing New City, traveling dozens of miles cross-country at every turn.
The recruits were given three meals a day and meat. They trained intensively with sufficient protein supply, and their muscles grew rapidly. Soon, the young men who were thin when they entered the camp became strong soldiers.
The training intensity of the Song Army in this era was very low. Even the so-called elite Xi Army and Ning Army often practiced every three days and every four days. Compared with the Song Army, the soldiers of the Huben Division who trained every morning until night were well-deserved elite soldiers. Only with a monthly salary as high as Master Huben can the soldiers train so hard without any complaints.
The reason why I didn't touch a gun in the first two months was because Yang Peng wanted to conduct political review on the new recruits. Nowadays, each platoon of the Huben Division is assigned a town governor. These town governors are responsible for punishing soldiers who violate military discipline and are also responsible for conducting political review of soldiers. The town governors spent two months observing the recruits to see if there were any spies among the recruits and whether they had secretly communicated with the outside world.
After undergoing political review and inspection two months later, soldiers can actually touch the gun. Now the Huben Division has more than 40,000 men and is still divided into four divisions. Each division has more than 10,000 soldiers, and each division has four regiments, each with 2,000 men. Each battalion has five companies, each with 200 men. The establishment increased, and a new batch of officers was needed. Many veterans with outstanding performance were promoted to officers.
The combat power of Huben Division was greatly expanded. Duan Zhixian and other division commanders felt that the strength in their hands had improved again, and they were all very excited. They spend time on the training ground every day, hoping to train these 8,000 new recruits as soon as possible.
After finishing the recruitment of new soldiers, the Baozhong Temple planned by Yang Peng was also built. Baozhong Temple is an altar dedicated to soldiers and officers who died in various battles. It was built in the new city in the south of the city. Only an army with a sense of honor can have combat effectiveness. Only by praising the soldiers who died heroically in previous wars and treating the families of the martyrs and the soldiers well can we have a sense of honor. Yang Peng has now established a medal system and a pension system, and by establishing a commendation and loyalty temple to praise martyrs, he can create a sense of honor throughout the army of glorious death in battle.
Baozhong Temple is a complex of buildings. There is a front hall in the first courtyard where the statue of Guan Yunchang is enshrined. There is a middle hall in the second courtyard where the statue of Yang Ye is enshrined. The main hall in the third courtyard is the largest, with tablets dedicated to soldiers who died in the battle.
The main hall is grand in size, with a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain, fourteen feet long and eight feet wide. There are sacrifices and incense from time to time, and the incense lingers all year round. Every spring and autumn, Yang Peng led his officials to conduct sacrifices once and offer sacrifices. On the day when the Baozhong Temple was built, Yang Peng held a grand investiture ceremony in the new city. On November 23, the Baozhong Temple in the south of the city was buzzing with people. Thanks to Li Zhi's advance publicity, at least tens of thousands of Tianjing Xincheng citizens and farmers gathered at the gate of Baozhong Temple to watch the city lord's awarding ceremony.
This award of honors is mainly for those who have made meritorious service and those who were disabled in the Battle of Cangzhou in the first year of Xianping. Yang Peng's troops fought with weapons and emphasized discipline and unity. There was little chance of individual soldiers making meritorious deeds. Therefore, the meritorious personnel awarded this time were mainly some scouts who were excellent in detecting the enemy's situation, and they were all awarded the third-class soldier medal. There were more people killed and disabled.
In this battle in Cangzhou, 227 soldiers of the Huben Division were killed or died. The families of these people will be awarded the First Class Hero Medal. Nowadays, in Tianjing New City, through Yang Peng's propaganda and guidance, a social atmosphere of respecting courteous and honorable people has been formed. The honorary family members received medals, which can directly improve their social status in Tianjing New City.
The specific family member of the martyr to whom the medal is awarded is determined by the martyr's last will and testament. Some soldiers gave medals to their wives, some unmarried soldiers gave medals to their fathers and mothers, and some gave medals to their children. They were all different. Li Zhi fully respected the wishes of the martyrs.
One by one, the family members of the martyrs walked up to the medal awarding platform, and Yang Peng personally pinned medals on the family members. The family members recalled the voices and smiles of the martyrs before they died, and looked at the bright yellow bronze medals on their chests, and they all burst into tears.
An eight-year-old boy walked onto the stage to accept the First Class Hero Medal on behalf of his deceased father. Yang Peng looked at the child and asked, "What's your name?" "My surname is Yu, and my nickname is Mantou! I haven't given a name yet!" Yang Peng nodded and said, "Sandou, you know what your father does. Of?"
The boy raised his fist and said: "Daddy was killing Khitan heroes and died on the battlefield!" After a pause, the boy said again: "Daddy is the best to me. He often buys candies for me. I love him the most. Listen to daddy, I am always at home reading when other children go out to play! But why did daddy die like this and never care about me anymore! I haven’t seen daddy for a year, I miss daddy so much.”
After saying this, the boy cried and wiped his tears with his little hands. Yang Peng touched the child's head and said: "Steamed buns, don't cry. Your father is a great hero who killed the Khitans. Even if he dies, everyone will always remember him!" Yang Peng pinned the first-class hero medal on the boy's chest. He stepped forward and said loudly: "From now on, you will replace your father and be the hero of my Tianjing New City."
The boy wiped his tears and said: "General, when I grow up, I will also join the army to avenge my father!" Yang Peng touched the child's face and said, "There will be a day." Finished First-class Hero Medal, Yang Peng awarded second-class Warrior Medal to 106 injured and disabled soldiers. The wounded now have pensions, food and clothing, and with the medals awarded by Yang Peng, they will be respected from now on. They really feel that their injuries are worth it. They were grateful for the general's kindness, and they all cried and communicated with each other.
Some scouts who achieved meritorious service in the scout war, as well as soldiers who were slightly injured in heroic battles, were awarded warrior medals. Tianjing New City soldiers who died in battle or were disabled received a pension of two taels of silver per month. Those who were slightly disabled and could still work were assigned suitable jobs by the Tianjing New City government office, and the monthly payment provided two or three meals with meat. Soldiers have no worries under this pension system. Nowadays, medals are awarded to the casualties and their families, and a temple is built to honor the fallen soldiers, so that the soldiers are not afraid of casualties.
Only soldiers who are not afraid of casualties can stand firm in battle, maintain discipline, and protect their comrades on the left and right. At the end of the ceremony, the martyrs' tablets entered the Baozhong Temple amid the sound of drums and were enshrined. Today, the people in Tianjing New City live a prosperous life, and their living standards far exceed those in other parts of the Ming Dynasty. Citizens and farmers all know that their good lives are maintained by soldiers with their lives. After the ceremony, the people lined up in a long line to enter the Baozhong Temple to offer incense to the martyrs.
Seeing the honor of the wounded and wounded soldiers, other soldiers maintaining order outside the Baozhong Temple stood up straight. They were so inspired by their sense of honor that they were no longer afraid of casualties and wished they could go to the battlefield tomorrow to perform meritorious service.
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.
