Zhou Changshou looked overjoyed when he heard Chen Wang say that he had passed and could go have porridge with his soldier card.
He knelt on the ground and kowtowed first, then took the soldier card and hurriedly ran to the big pot of rice porridge.
The soldier guarding the cauldron glanced at the soldier card in Zhou Changshou's hand, and then scooped a full bowl directly into the cauldron for him.
It wasn't over yet. The soldiers standing aside lifted up a piece of white cloth. Under the white cloth was a drawer of steamed buns that was almost piled up into a hill.
The soldier responsible for distributing rice grains took one out and handed it directly to Zhou Changshou.
This caused the whole scene to become commotion, and everyone couldn't help but swallow their saliva.
The government gives out porridge, which is basically mixed rice with a little water, and you can only hang on to it to survive.
Now that I see the rice porridge that can be stood up with chopsticks and the big steamed buns, I can't bear it anymore.
The crowd became excited for a moment, and everyone rushed forward one by one, rushing forward and pushing each other.
Some people who came late were afraid of not being able to get in line, so they just squeezed to the front. The people in front were pushed forward and couldn't control themselves, so they could only try their best to stabilize their bodies.
For a while, there was a lot of yelling and shouting, and the scene was slightly out of control.
"boom!"
Just as everyone was shouting, a huge explosion suddenly spread in all directions, and the crowd couldn't help but stagnate.
The gunpowder smoke drifted away in the wind, and Chen Wang threw the fired blunderbuss to Chen Gong who was standing next to him.
"We, the Datong soldiers, will not accept anyone who pushes or cuts in line."
"Everyone line up and move forward one by one."
Chen Wang's eyes were filled with evil aura, and it swept away from everyone's bodies, and everyone's backs couldn't help but feel a chill.
People who have killed people and those who have not can be distinguished just by looking at them. People who have killed people generally have a ferocious aura about them.
Chen Wang not only killed people, he had killed hundreds of people.
The refugees who were swept by Chen Wang's gaze were all filled with chills and fear.
Looking at the shining steel knives, the sharp spears, and the soldiers wearing armor, no one dared to push and crowd anymore.
One after another, people lined up and walked towards where Chen Wang was.
Chen Wang identified and checked one by one. Not everyone could pass the review, and many people were rejected.
Hu Zhili, who was standing aside, was a little confused and took advantage of the gap to ask in a low voice.
"Brother Wang, are you particular about selecting soldiers? I just saw that the man is tall and has strong hands. He seems to have some foundation. After he has taken good care of his body, becoming a servant will not be a problem."
"The ones behind you will wait a moment."
Chen Wang raised his hand to stop the person from behind who wanted to step forward.
Chen Gong, Hu Zhiyi, and Hu Zhili are related to him by blood. He will need the support of the three of them many times in the future. Regarding Hu Zhili's problem, Chen Wang did not deal with it.
"If you were asked to choose soldiers, how would you choose?"
Hu Zhili frowned slightly and pondered for a while.
"Of course he is tall and strong, has studied martial arts, and has solid foundation. If such a person is selected, he will be a good fighter when the time comes to wear armor and charge into battle."
Chen Wang shook his head. The standards Hu Zhili mentioned were basically the standards used by many battalions to select soldiers.
"But such people have unstable martial arts habits and are not afraid of military law and it is difficult to restrain them."
"Which ordinary person would practice martial arts?"
"Although there was fear in the eyes of that man just now, he was afraid of the swords in our hands. He was not afraid of others, but he was not afraid of military law. He has a ruffian spirit. If he is elected to the department, he will definitely ruin the atmosphere of the department."
Hu Zhili nodded thoughtfully, and then asked again.
"Then why did you choose these people, Brother Wang?"
Hu Zhili looked at the dozen refugees sitting on the ground beside the big pot, drinking porridge and eating steamed buns.
"It's very simple."
Chen Wang pointed at Zhou Changshou, who had almost eaten and was sitting on the ground to rest.
“These people all come from the countryside, and are either poor farmers or tenant farmers.”
"If they want to live, they must do farm work and perform corvee labor. They must be able to withstand the hard work and endure the fatigue."
"The reason why I want to look at their hands is to see if they are telling the truth. People with firm and calloused hands and sallow complexions and slightly darker skin are basically people like this."
Chen Wang turned his head and looked forward, and Hu Zhili also followed Chen Wang's gaze and looked forward.
"Those green men in the city cannot be soldiers. These people have slippery minds and can run faster than anyone else on the battlefield. But the peasants are afraid of the government. When they enter the military camp, they are naturally afraid of us and the military law."
"I don't dare to cheat during training. I will obey military orders whenever they are passed down. I won't run away easily on the battlefield."
"I'll tell you slowly after we return to camp. It's getting late now. It will take a lot of effort to bring them back to camp after recruiting the soldiers."
Chen Wang did not continue talking on this topic, and the recruiting team began to move again.
Chen Wang still slowly checked them one by one and screened them one by one.
He planned to train these newly recruited soldiers in his own way.
Although Cao Wenzhao was strict in running the army, the soldiers under his command were basically considered elite among the Ming army in Guan Nei.
But even so, he still looked down upon the infantry recruited by Datong in the camp. These so-called elite soldiers had only fought many battles, seen blood, and had excellent armor. In fact, their morale was not high.
When fighting against the wind, everyone strives to be first. If there is a slight decline, they will want to retreat and their morale will drop drastically.
In the seventh year of Chongzhen's reign, Cao Wenzhao led his army out of the city to fight in the field with the Hou Jin army who entered the pass. At that time, they were the only cavalry servants who really fought.
A car camp composed of thousands of infantry lined up in the wilderness. Hou Jin's cavalry only harassed them for a while, then panicked and hurriedly released fire cannons.
The fight was lively, but there were no casualties among Hou Jin's cavalry.
As a result, Hou Jin's cavalry seized the opportunity and rushed forward. They rushed into the camp with just a wave of charge, and were severely defeated.
When fighting against the rogue bandits, he still had some courage when he had the upper hand, but when facing Hou Jin, he was already timid before even fighting.
Chen Wang thought very simply. He had to train the newly recruited soldiers in these three rounds by himself.
Based on Qi Jiguang's military training methods, combined with some later military training methods, we can find a way to train an elite army.
As long as you train an elite army, you will have more strength to protect yourself in the next war, gain military exploits, continue to climb up, and at the same time get more attention from Cao Wenzhao.
No matter how many things have changed now, one thing has never changed.
In the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign, the Ming court still had huge advantages over rogue bandits.
Although looking at Shaanxi alone, the Ming army was sparse and could only barely maintain defense.
The Ming army was scattered in four places and was short of troops.
But all this will change in October of the eighth year of Chongzhen.
because.
Lu Xiangsheng is coming...
"History of the Ming Dynasty: Biography of Lu Xiangsheng":
In May of the eighth year, Xiang was promoted to the right deputy capital censor, and he patrolled Huguang on behalf of Tang Hui.
In August, he ordered the prime ministers to serve in military affairs in Jiangbei, Henan, Shandong, Huguang, and Sichuan, and to serve as governor of Huguang.
Governor Hong Chengchou was in charge of the northwest, and Xiang was promoted to be in charge of the southeast.
