Early the next morning, Yi Xiaodao was woken up while still sleeping: "What happened? What's the noise outside?"
"Master Yi, many people have come from Richeng and are surrounding the military camp!" Wei Youming said as he entered the tent.
"Common people? Didn't the food distribution run out yesterday? What are you doing here? This is not the way to fight the landlords!" Yi Xiaodao got out of bed angrily and was about to go out to check.
When they arrived at the gate of the military camp, Xue Mang, Fan Jun, Li Dingxing, Xiang Lian'er and others had already stood at the military camp, loudly comforting the people. However, the people were furious and the two sides continued to quarrel.
"What happened?" Yi Xiaodao came to the door and asked Li Dingxing.
Before Li Dingxing could answer, Xiang Lian'er turned around and glared at Yi Xiaodao: "What good thing did you do last night? What did you do? Did you provoke so many people?"
"I...eat..." Yi Xiaodao didn't understand.
"Master Yi, we are here to surrender to the army, please accept us!"
"Master Yi, I have three brothers. My parents are taken care of by two brothers. Let me in!"
"I've got the strength now! Lord Yi, give me a knife, and I'll show you how to do it!"
When the common people saw Yi Xiaodao coming out, they hurriedly shouted and pushed. The Yulin army guarding the gate could hardly hold on, and was pushed into a slightly loose formation.
Yi Xiaodao woke up now. It turned out that so many people came to join the army, but he did not issue a recruitment notice!
"If Master Yi doesn't accept us, we won't leave!"
"Yes, I'm not leaving!"
"Thanks to Master Yi, otherwise my parents would have starved to death, and even if I died, I would have died at the gate of Master Yi's military camp!"
The common people acted like "rascals", Xiang Lian'er turned around and glared at Yi Xiaodao: "The trouble you caused, tell me, what should we do now?"
Yi Xiaodao lowered his head and thought hard. He really couldn't remember when he gave the order to recruit soldiers. The last conscription was in Yicheng, Nanhuai. How long has it been? Besides, how did the people of Richeng know about it?
"Fellow folks, please lend me a way." Someone shouted from the outside. The people turned around and saw that it was Ghost Sword Liu and One-Eyed Snake. Their names were known to everyone in Richeng, and they could even make children stop crying in the middle of the night. Why are these two evil stars here too? The people who were shouting just now quickly retreated for fear of bumping into these two people.
"Caomin Lu Lishan, Caomin Zheng Kang, pay homage to Master Yi." Ghost Sword Liu and One-Eyed Snake knelt on the ground and bowed to Yi Xiaodao: "I lead a total of seven thousand people under my command. I am willing to surrender to Master Yi. I will not change it again. If I violate the rules, This oath, if you die, your body will not be left intact!"
Fan Jun came closer to Yi Xiaodao and whispered: "Those who become bandits in the rivers and lakes usually don't use their real names for fear of being found out. Once they use their real names, they are determined not to change it. To be honest, even I don't. I don’t know the real names of these two people.”
"What's your real name?" Yi Xiaodao suddenly asked.
"Fan Jun..." Fan Jun was a little confused.
Yi Xiaodao shook his head: "What do you call Fan Jun? Fan Jun sounds better."
Fan Jun: "..."
"Daqi's army is not a place for children's play. You can't just leave when you want, and stay when you want!" Wei Youming said angrily. He was really scared by Han Shi's incident before, even though Daqi was a military officer who was allowed to go outside. Self-conscripted.
"Please also ask the general to inform us of the rules of the military camp. We may not enter the military camp and be self-sufficient in food and clothing, but we must follow Master Yi!" the two said in unison.
"The prodigal son returns home for gold! For gold! Please stand up! Welcome you two back." Yi Xiaodao beamed. He quite liked a hero like Fan Jun, who could distinguish right from wrong and right from wrong. So what if you were a bandit? Yi Xiaodao has to earn a living just to make a living! As for the previous incident, if he hadn't been inspired by Master Si Wangnan's deeds of guarding the island for ten years, he might not have dared to come back and confront the Eastern Japanese.
Wei Youming didn't say anything else. In fact, he didn't hate these people in the world. Of course, it was because he had never seen how evil they had done.
The two of them were overjoyed when they saw that Yi Xiaodao agreed to take them in. They kowtowed to the ground and were quickly pulled up by Yi Xiaodao and Fan Jun. Seeing this, the people who were watching suddenly realized what was going on. They knelt down one after another and kowtowed to the ground without saying a word.
"Stop!" Yi Xiaodao shouted, frightening everyone: "It's your parents who are responsible for your body and skin! The matter of joining the army can still be discussed, don't imitate others!"
"Master Yi, I heard that there is a shortage of soldiers in the army, and we sincerely come to surrender. Besides, everyone in this world wants to find a way out, and I hope Master Yi will take him in!" There was a man in the crowd who could speak, and he took the lead in speaking. Nodding, looking at Yi Xiaodao.
Yi Xiaodao looked at the other people. Li Dingxing and Xiang Lian'er quickly stepped aside, acting as if the matter had nothing to do with them. Xue Mang stood behind Yi Xiaodao. Over this period of time, he had become accustomed to this position. Fan Jun and Wei Youming stared at Yi Xiaodao, waiting for his idea. After looking around, no one had made up his mind.
"Master Yi, I am from Richeng. The people are very affectionate, so you don't have to refuse." Wang Xuan appeared out of nowhere and said, "The people are just looking for a way to survive and a future."
When Yi Xiaodao saw Wang Xuan, an idea flashed in his mind. He glanced at Wang Xuan's palm hidden behind his back and understood something in his heart. However, it was not easy to pursue the case at this time. He turned around and asked: "The military camp is not a child's play. On the battlefield, life and death must be ignored. You..."
"Death is death!" A teenage boy climbed up from the ground and said loudly.
"Okay! You have the courage! You will be my vanguard in the future!" Yi Xiaodao cheered, which was regarded as acknowledgment of the people's surrender to the army.
Once Yi Xiaodao agreed, the people cheered and Wei Youming arranged for two lieutenants to register the people who came to vote one by one and inquire about their homes. Singles, only children, etc. are not allowed and are not negotiable. Half of the people showed up, but even so, they still recruited a lot of people.
The day passed in an instant. Wei Youming strode into the commander's tent and reported the situation to Yi Xiaodao: "The two bandit leaders Lu Liguang and Zheng Kang led 7,000 troops, and the people of Richeng surrendered 6,000 people. Four thousand people were recruited. , a total of 11,000 new people. Plus 5,000 Yulin Army, 8,000 Nanhuai Army, and 500 bandits. A total of 24,500 people."
"Oh, the team has grown again so quickly." Yi Xiaodao sighed.
Wei Youming said: "This time is different from the last time. The soldiers and horses this time are all carefully selected, not like the mixed dragons and snakes last time. It's just that the Yulin Army, the Nanhuai Army, and the bandit soldiers had more injured people. It is difficult to call for war at the moment.”
Yi Xiaodao nodded, he is not afraid of this, he has money and food now, he can just wait. When these veterans recover from their injuries, we should also use this time to train the new recruits who have just entered the camp.
"Then leave it to General Wei. By the way, these recruited troops, don't always call them bandit soldiers. This word is too offensive." Yi Xiaodao suggested.
Wei Youming nodded in agreement and asked, "What do you mean, sir?"
"How about building two more battalions for these newly recruited heroes and common people? Are there any good names?" Yi Xiaodao began to think about it.
"How about the Gui Zheng camp and the Shang Wu camp?" Although Wei Youming was a military commander, he always wanted to do something formal, so he blurted out in a hurry.
Yi Xiaodao thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "The word 'Gui Zheng' is still inappropriate, it is better to call it 'Shang Zheng'. 'Shangwu', fighting and stopping force, 'Shangwu' is not appropriate either. The people are your Majesty." The people are naturally His Majesty's soldiers, why not call them 'Shangwu'?"
Yi Xiaodao called for the Four Treasures of the Study and neatly wrote the four words "Huizheng" and "Shangwu" on the paper.
Wei Youming scratched his head: "You're still good enough, this is a good name! I'll pass on the order right away."
"Wait a minute, in the future, if there are people from all walks of life who come to vote, they will all belong to the 'Huazheng' camp, and all ordinary people can belong to 'Shangwu'. That's it, it won't change. The 'Shangwu' camp still needs to practice martial arts diligently and pay out Weapons. The 'Huizheng' camp was originally made up of heroes, not to mention their martial arts skills, they can also use their usual weapons." Yi Xiaodao said whatever came to his mind.
"My lord is wise." Wei Youming nodded and left the camp. Yi Xiaodao originally wanted to say something more, but after thinking about it, he decided not to. The soldiers will come to block the water and the earth will cover it up. No one can think of things perfectly.
Troop training began vigorously in the military camp, and the military camp was more than doubled in size. When Yi Xiaodao learned that nearly five hundred thousand taels had been spent on replenishing military supplies, he almost fainted in tears in the commander's tent. Xiang Lian'er laughed at her, and even Fan Jun shook his head when he found out, lamenting that Yi Xiaodao was "worthless".
It was New Year's Eve in less than ten days. The Nanhuai troops who had been clamoring in the military camp to return home for the New Year also became silent with the arrival of Li Dingxing and Xiang Lian'er. Although Li Dingxing was a loyal duke at this time, the old Nanhuai tribe still regarded him as the king of Nanhuai from the bottom of their hearts. The King of Nanhuai came to Donglu, and the Nanhuai army who had been away from home for a long time seemed to suddenly have a sense of belonging. Whether they could go home for the New Year or not was not particularly important.
In order to alleviate the homesickness of the Nanhuai troops, Li Dingxing sent people back to Nanhuai from time to time, for no other reason than to bring silver items to his home for the Nanhuai troops. This was particularly troublesome for Wang Xuan, who had to write hundreds of letters to his family every day, and many Nanhuai soldiers had Nanhuai accents that Wang Xuan couldn't understand at all, so Li Dingxing had to translate them. Every time Yi Xiaodao saw this, he would burst into laughter.
It was night again, and Yi Xiaodao and Xiang Lian'er each held a cup of tea and walked outside the military camp as usual. As the only woman in the military camp, Xiang Lian'er didn't feel any inconvenience. As long as she was with Yi Xiaodao, she felt very at ease. No matter what happened, she could just leave it to Yi Xiaodao to worry about.
On the hillside not far from the military camp, two figures appeared furtively, spying on Yi Xiaodao's military camp.
"The Japanese are here already?"
"It doesn't look like it. Why does it say 'Yi' on the flag? Is there also a word 'Yi' in the Eastern Japanese language?"
"Didn't the guy who came to vote say that the imperial court sent a large army? I don't know their last name. Maybe it's them."
"Shh, go back and report first."
After finishing speaking, the two figures leaned down and were about to leave.
In the military camp, the figures of Yi Xiaodao and Xiang Lian'er have disappeared. Only the two cups of tea on the ground are still steaming...
