With abundant and luxurious material supplies, the new Dongwei Army maintains a training intensity that is several times higher than that of other armies.
Not only do they train on various subjects during the day, but they also have an hour-long cultural course after dinner, covering literacy, reciting military regulations, mastering flag and drum orders, etc.
And they only had one day off in ten days, so they didn't have to leave the camp. However, Zhao Mengqi also arranged many entertainment activities for them, such as Cuju, baseball, wrestling and other interesting sports, as well as chess, Go, flying chess and so on.
When the time comes, Zhao Mengqi may even organize some art troupes and propaganda teams to enrich the spiritual life of the soldiers.
After more than two months, when the recruits have fully adapted to the military status, the formal establishment will begin.
Except for the more than 1,000 people who stayed in Lin'an and the Hengshan Island Guard Battalion, the remaining 4,000 or so "veterans" of the Eastern Guard were all dismantled and mixed into new recruits to form a total of 95 battalions.
Basically, each squad has a veteran as the squad leader, an outstanding recruit as another corps commander, and most of the higher-up officers are veterans.
The reason why this is not all is because there are also some very outstanding talents emerging among the recruits. Except for their lower physical fitness, they can not lag behind the veterans in all other aspects.
Zhao Mengqi does not value seniority when employing people in the military, but rather his ability. As long as you have the ability, he will put you in a suitable position.
As a result, fifty-seven recruits served as officers at the level of company and platoon commanders, but without exception, these fifty-seven were all scholars, and Lu Changqing was one of the best.
Of course, these battalions are still temporary establishments for training purposes, and there is still a long way to go before they become combat establishments.
Only in mid-December, Zhao Mengqi had to entrust military affairs to Qu Moxuan and other generals again, because it was time to return to Lin'an.
Not only was Lao Zhao repeatedly urging him to go back to celebrate the New Year, but there were also some arrangements to be made in Lin'an, and the provincial and imperial examinations were about to begin. Among the future new scholars, there were several talents that he coveted, and he had to find a way to get them.
"Your Highness, everything has been packed. Are you leaving the camp now?"
Qian Long looked very excited, as if he had been released from prison.
Speaking of it, he felt that he was quite miserable. He was injured on the last battlefield and managed to recover for two or three months. When he recovered, he happened to catch up with the expansion of the Eastern Wei army and went through the hard training of new recruits again.
Being stared at by Zhao Mengqi this time, not only did he lose the twenty kilograms of weight he had put on while recovering from his injuries, but he was even more than a dozen kilograms lighter than when he was injured.
You know, he is growing up, and his size and frame are much larger than before.
Needless to say, it goes without saying that Qian Long suffered a lot, and Zhao Mengqi never took him with him when he occasionally left the camp and returned to the city, so now he is particularly eager for freedom.
Zhao Mengqi glanced at him and said casually, "Wu Qiong, look at Xiaopang's belly, isn't it a little big?"
Qian Long's heart skipped a beat, and he felt a strong malice coming towards him, and immediately looked at Wu Qiong with pleading eyes.
Wu Qiong looked at Qian Long's belly with a straight face, "It's a bit, and he has a big face. How can I put it in a word... Yes, he's full of fat. I think it's better to keep him in the camp and continue training... …”
"What are you talking about! What are you talking about! You poor man, you are telling lies with your eyes open! Why am I fat? This is strong. Do you understand how strong I am?"
Qian Long was anxious, for fear of leaving him in the camp, "Your Highness, Your Highness, you can see how hard and hard I work in training. Wu Qiong is taking the opportunity to cause trouble. If you don't believe it, you are asking Ask Gengzhi, Gengzhi, tell me, am I no longer fat?”
Geng Zhi was stunned and hesitated, "This..."
"When I get back to Lin'an, I'll take you to meet the young lady. Your Geng family is a single generation. If you marry a wife earlier, you will have more children."
Qian Long was ill and sought medical treatment urgently. He burned incense at temples and tried to use women's sex to buy his integrity.
Geng Zhi was really tempted, "Are you serious about this?"
Zhao Mengqi couldn't stand it anymore and kicked Qian Long's big ass, "You are the only one who has a lot of money and guts, so you have to worry about whether he will get a wife or not? Your moral character will be revealed after just teasing you? Go and recruit someone."
Call the guards, get ready to go. "
"okay!"
Qian Xiaopang rubbed his butt but smiled happily.
Seeing him like this, Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but shake his head, but he was also reminded.
Geng Zhi will be nineteen after the New Year. In this era, it is time to get married. As his personal follower, he really needs to pay attention to this matter and find a good family for him to prevent others from taking advantage of the loopholes and causing some messy things. .
Uh, by the way, after the New Year, I am now sixteen and getting married. At the beginning of the year, I heard that Queen Xie was looking for a wife for him...
Lao Zhao is urging himself to go back. Could it be that he is not just celebrating the New Year, but also urging him to get married?
In the Song Dynasty, Song Xingtong did not clearly stipulate the age of marriage. They only followed the Kaiyuan Order of the Tang Dynasty, "A man is fifteen years old and a woman is thirteen years old."
However, the Confucian Zhou Li advocated that "men should be married when they are thirty, and women should be married when they are twenty."
So Sima Guang and other scholar-bureaucrats proposed, "Men can get married between the ages of sixteen and thirty, and women between the ages of fourteen and twenty."
Therefore, most people in the Song Dynasty married within this age range, and usually scholars and officials married later.
Now that the royal family is thin, there must be an urgent need for expansion, so it is very likely that Zhao Mengqi will be forced to marry.
The problem is that Zhao Mengqi has no such plans for the time being. If he wants to get married, he doesn't want to listen to other people's arrangements. Moreover, his marriage is not ordinary. It is even a very important political event, which may cause a lot of trouble.
Zhao Mengqi frowned and thought for a while, deciding that it would be better to deal with it when the time comes.
"Let's go back to the city."
Later, Zhao Mengqi led the guards out of the north gate of the camp, took a boat on the canal, and sailed to Panmen.
Swaying on the water, the boat docked directly at Canglangyuan Private Pier soon after.
As soon as he entered the garden, Zhao Mengqi heard bursts of laughter like silver bells. This wanton smell, he knew it was Qian Duo without having to guess.
Her injury healed two months ago, but she didn't know whether it was because she had suppressed it while recuperating, or because she had narrowly escaped death, and she became more and more active.
Not only did she love to play and go crazy, but she also took the little sisters Zhao Feng and Zhao Han around. In the past two months, Gusu City was almost overturned by them, and the market was full of legends about these three gangs.
Zhao Mengqi told her once, but this girl deserved it in person. When Zhao Mengqi returned to the military camp, he immediately returned to his old ways, so Zhao Mengqi had no choice but to let them go.
They probably knew they were coming back today, so they didn't run around outside, but it was obvious that even if they stayed in the garden, they still couldn't sit still and didn't know what they were playing.
The current Canglang Garden was two or three times larger than the one that survived to later generations, and the architecture was also very different. Zhao Mengqi followed the sound and looked for it.
Then he saw, in a large open space, a dozen young ladies wearing green and red shorts, chasing a ball.
Zhao Mengqi was speechless. He remembered that before he went out last time, this place was still a garden, full of exotic flowers and plants. Now, it had been pulled out bare, and the ground was covered with flattened yellow soil.
The Cuju they played was different from before. It was similar to the new type of football promoted by Zhao Mengqi in the military, except that the venue was smaller and the number of people was smaller.
At this time, Zhao Fei was seen carrying the ball. After passing an opponent, he found that someone was still intercepting him, so he hooked his foot. After the ball reached mid-air, he hit it with his head and said, "Duo Niang, catch the ball!"
Although it is said to be a new style of football, it is actually not exactly the same as that of later generations. It still incorporates many Cuju skills, but it is mainly confrontational.
When Zhao Fei kicked the ball, Qian Duo cleverly started running. The beautiful ball passed over the opponent's head. She saw the right opportunity, jumped up and kicked the ball, and the ball immediately headed towards the opponent's rectangular goal.
In front of the goal, Zhao Han bent over and stretched out his arms, staring eagerly at the flying ball, then screamed and threw it out.
As a result, she pounced too early. When she lay on the ground, the ball passed over her and rushed into the goal. It was blocked by the blocker and fell to the ground and bounced several times before it calmed down.
"Hahaha...I scored again!"
Qian Duo ran around in circles happily, then hugged Zhao Fei and other teammates and laughed wildly.
At this time, Zhao Mengqi hurriedly ran to Zhao Han, fearing that his sister would be injured.
Just then he bent down to help her up, but he heard her murmuring, "It was just a little bit close, just a little bit close. I will definitely be able to stop it next time..."
Hey, unlike what I thought, this girl didn't cry.
Zhao Mengqi was a little surprised, but he didn't stop moving. He picked up his sister and asked, "Does it hurt from the fall?"
"Ah, Fourth Brother, you're back." Zhao Yan was surprised at first, and then pouted, "Duo Niang is such a bully, she gave me six balls, Fourth Brother, please help me avenge quickly, surpass her by ten One, no, twenty!"
Zhao Mengqi couldn't laugh or cry. Asking him to play football with a group of girls was pure bullying. "Fourth brother just came back from the army and is a little tired. Let's do it next time."
At this time, Qian Duo and Zhao Huicai saw Zhao Mengqi and ran over.
Qian Duo's face was still full of pride, "I thought you would come back later... How about it, I'm very good at playing football, so it's no problem to be a star."
Players and other things were all mentioned casually when Zhao Mengqi was explaining the new rules. Unexpectedly, Qian Duo actually had a yearning for them.
"Yes, yes, big star."
"What kind of attitude, so perfunctory!" Qian Duo was furious.
Zhao Mengqi turned to look at Zhao Fei and found that her red face was covered with sweat and dirt, but she was smiling very happily.
"Fourth brother, I'm pretty good too, right? This way of playing is indeed much more interesting than before..."
If Old Zhao saw this scene and saw his own daughter turned into a wild girl, he would probably kill someone.
Zhao Mengqi touched his nose and said, "I think the previous method of playing is still suitable for you."
At this time, other people also came to greet them. Some of them were maids, but five or six of them were all Qian Duo, a social figure. They were their new best friends in Gusu City. Zhao Mengqi was just a courtesy gift in return.
"I pay my respects to Your Highness."
The voice sounded familiar to Zhao Mengqi. When he looked carefully, he saw that it was Ji Ni, "Why are you here too? Shouldn't you have gone back to Lin'an?"
"I invited her here. She plays the game very well." Qian Duo said carelessly.
Uh...this girl really dares to take it from anyone's house.
Zhao Mengqi raised his eyebrows, but he didn't take it too seriously. After all, the Imperial City Department was responsible for the investigation and screening in this area, so he was not afraid of any danger.
It's just that I had guessed that Ji Ni's purpose was definitely not pure, but I didn't expect that she would be so persistent and stay in Gusu to look for opportunities, and she actually found her.
I was originally thinking about how to send the person away, but suddenly an idea flashed, "Ji Xingshou, you don't want to stay in the brothel?"
Ji Ni had a sad look on her face, "If it weren't for help, which woman would really be willing to hang around in the world and entertain people with her sounds and looks?"
"You came to me because I can redeem your body, right? But even so, you are just my personal musician. Even if I take your body, you can't get your status. Don't you understand? "
Zhao Mengqi didn't talk in circles with her and spoke very straightforwardly.
Ji Ni's face turned pale, she bit her lip and hesitated for a while, "The slave family naturally understands, but it is better than the day of departure. Moreover, His Highness' talent and character are greatly admired by the slave family. It is a great blessing to be able to serve His Highness, even if Even though I have no name or status, I can still live a good life under the protection of Your Highness."
Perhaps for the romantic woman, it is the best to have such a destination, even if it is to become a personal plaything.
This is not a matter of concept, but of the times. Zhao Mengqi could only shake his head, "It's okay to redeem you, but I don't need musicians or anything like that. It's just that I happened to have an idea recently, which is to set up a group for the military. The art troupe is to perform theatrical performances for the soldiers. Well, it is absolutely serious. It is different from the camp troupe. No one is allowed to infringe. It is considered a soldier and can even be granted an official status. In addition to being an errand, you have personal freedom. It's up to you to decide whether to get married or not, what do you think?"
Ji Ni was stunned. It wasn't that she suspected that King Yan would lie to her. There was no need at all. It was just that the conditions shocked her.
Give her freedom, give her dignity, find a job for her, and still be within the system, but don’t sacrifice your body...
Seeing that she didn't answer for a long time, Zhao Mengqi raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's going on?"
"Yes, yes! Of course I am willing." Ji Ni came back to her senses and hurriedly agreed.
Zhao Mengqi smiled and said, "Okay, I will send someone to handle your matter. Someone will contact you later on the specific arrangements for you."
This matter needs to be discussed with Wanwan. The female actresses who were rescued in Wujiang were originally intended to be medics, but they were not used to bloody scenes and their bodies were too delicate. Let them be literary and artistic workers.
Thinking of this, Zhao Mengqi asked, "Where is Ruochu?"
Zhao Fei replied, "Sister Wanwan is still busy with those company matters. She should be in Mulan Pavilion at this time."
"Well, I understand. You continue to play. By the way, don't forget to leave for Lin'an tomorrow..."
As he spoke, Zhao Mengqi raised his feet and headed towards Mulan Pavilion.
Looking at his retreating figure, Ji Ni felt extremely complicated.
His Highness Prince Yan is such a good person, but does he really not like me at all? ?
