Zhou Qing's efficiency is still very fast.
After receiving the master's instructions, he immediately shuttled among the taverns and teahouses in the city, spreading the news that Lu Yuan planned to sell his official position to attract customers.
At the same time, he also began to walk through the streets and alleys, looking for people in the city who knew how to train troops.
Not to mention, after searching like this, the competition made him find a suitable target.
There was an old soldier in the city who had retired from the county army. Although he had only reached a very high level in the army, he had not even reached an official position.
But he is indeed a veteran who has been a soldier for thirty years and has even fought in more than a dozen battles.
What's even more rare is that this veteran has also practiced martial arts and developed internal strength in his body. Although he has only practiced one meridian, he can still be considered a good fighter.
It's just that this man is a bit old, already forty-five years old. At the age of today's people, he won't live for a few more years.
But Lu Yuan doesn't care.
He just wants people to help him train troops. It would be better if he can train troops and have some strength at the same time.
This veteran named Liang Hu perfectly met Lu Yuan's requirements.
So after learning about this person, he asked his apprentice to come to recruit people with a job as a ninth-grade patrol officer.
Although he has retired from the army, he is also tired of fighting.
But when he saw Liang Hu, whose hair was half white, behind the ninth-grade official, he immediately became older and stronger, with a rosy face.
He took over the job without saying a word, and then followed Zhou Qing to meet his immediate superior.
Isn't it just to fight some rioters?
He has even fought against the Liang soldiers from Beilu, a mere rabble, and has no fear at all.
"Liang Hu, right?"
In Sun Siwen's house, Lu Yuan was sitting on the Grand Master's chair, looking at the awkward old man standing below him, and smiled and said: "Don't be nervous. As long as you do things for me, I will not treat you badly.
Have you signed the resignation letter?
Now that you have taken over the patrol, you should first take Patrol Inspector Zhou to the villages below to recruit some mountain people and recruit them into the army.
Those mountain people all fought against wild beasts, and most of them had some abilities, especially bow shooting. They live a miserable life, and many of them have no identity.
You can promise them that as long as they join the army, they will be given twenty taels of silver for housing expenses and five taels of silver per month from now on.
At the same time, the army also helped them arrange their identities. When they arrived in Wugang County, as long as the bandits were wiped out, I, the county lieutenant, would make the decision to give them a home and land, so that they could have a share of the industry.
As for the number of soldiers to be recruited, let's set it at three hundred. "
Lu Yuan had no intention of recruiting a full force of five hundred men. Even among the fourteen official positions he had on hand, including Liang Hu's, he had only sold five.
One of them was an inspector and four were police officers. Because Liang Hu was given this gift, he received a total of two thousand five hundred taels of silver.
Those who are not afraid of death for the sake of their future are still limited after all.
Liang Hu slowly climbed up from the bottom, and he knew the hardships of the mountain people at the bottom of society. Therefore, after hearing Lu Yuan's conditions, he immediately expressed his admiration: "If there are such conditions, the mountain people will join the army enthusiastically." , we all appreciate the kindness of the county captain."
Lu Yuan smiled: "I don't need them to thank me, as long as they help me suppress the bandits. Go ahead and recruit the full number of people as soon as possible. We can only stay in Changning County for a month at most, and we will be there in one month." let's go."
"Yes, I humbly accept my order."
After taking over the military post, Liang Hu also regained some of the feeling he had in the military camp and immediately performed a military salute.
Not to mention, being given a military salute made Lu Yuan feel quite comfortable, and the smile on his face became even bigger. Then he ordered his apprentice: "Xiaoqing, you also follow Inspector Liang to recruit troops. Although Inspector Liang is your subordinate, he is a senior and has experience. You can learn from him."
"Yes, I humbly accept my order."
Zhou Qing saw that his master seemed to like being called that, and he immediately imitated him.
…
With the assistance of Liang Hu, a veteran in the army, and the fact that Changning County had been managed by Zhou Qing, the recruitment of troops was given the green light all the way.
The mountain people in the county, after hearing the generous terms offered by Lu Yuan, all of them who were used to poverty immediately saw the opportunity to change their destiny, and they all enthusiastically joined the army.
It only took ten days to recruit the entire army of three hundred men.
In the end, there were even too many people joining the army. After Zhou Qing asked for instructions and Lu Yuan agreed, he temporarily recruited fifty more people, making up a total of 350 officers and soldiers.
Sun Siwen also began to use his connections and influence to raise 1,500 taels of military pay from the wealthy gentry in the county.
It's so terrifying to have handed over the reputation of three people in five years.
In addition to raising donations, Sun Siwen also applied for a batch of ordnance from the county government to arm the recruits. The county government gave instructions and the local Hengyang government allocated the payment.
After recruiting all the troops, it was natural to start training.
Lu Yuan left these training matters to his disciples and Liang Hu, and became his own hands-off boss.
On the county side, after seeing that there were already 350 officers and soldiers escorting Zhou Qing to his appointment, many people immediately gained confidence.
Four more people came to Lu Yuan and bought one patrol officer and three patrol officers, which happened to fill the official vacancies of 350 people in the army.
Lu Yuan made another profit of 2,500 taels of silver. Counting the previous sales, the net income was 5,000 taels of silver.
The original investment of three thousand taels of silver was not only recovered, but also earned a net profit of two thousand taels.
And just as he was selling his official position to make a fortune, the newly recruited officers and soldiers in the military camp were finally ready to leave after training for more than half a month.
So the day before the army pulled out of camp, Lu Yuan, the military chief, invited Sun Siwen and the bureaucrats and gentry in Changning County to come to review the army.
…
same day.
The north wind blows and the flags flutter.
After more than half a month of stick training, the recruits, who could barely distinguish their left and right, were divided into seven columns, forming a slightly twisted formation.
Liang Hu and Zhou Qing, as well as the patrol inspectors who came in these days, were all wearing armor, holding swords and arrows on their waists, and shuttled between the queues to maintain order.
Since the training hadn't lasted long, Lu Yuan didn't let them perform any battle formation changes or anything like that. He just walked around in a queue for a few times and shouted "kill, kill, kill" twice and that was it.
But not to mention, although it looked terrible in his eyes, the many spectators who attended the meeting were still shocked.
Here we have to mention the special benefits brought by Lu Yuan's selection of soldiers.
Although those mountain people who are used to fighting wild beasts in the mountains are somewhat inferior in discipline and experience, their courage to fight against others is not inferior.
When these hunters and mountain people who had killed countless creatures shouted "kill, kill, kill" together, the audience present really felt a murderous aura rushing toward their faces.
This thick murderous aura was so creepy that it sent chills down his spine and his expression changed.
