A few people chatted for a while. Chen Qiudao and Chen Yuyi came in, and the store served wine and food.
Everyone sat down at the table. Wang Xiaolie said: "Ma Feng comes from Guangxi, thousands of miles away, and he is covered in travel dust. Today we have prepared a special banquet to wash away the dust for Feng."
After speaking, he asked Ma Kuo: "Defense, what are you drinking today?"
Ma Kuo said: "On the way, I bought a drink and found that there is a kind of strong liquor here, which is the most powerful. If it is convenient, I will drink a strong drink."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Okay, I am a wine lover, so I should drink strong liquor. When we first arrived in Xiangyang, we started brewing strong liquor, and it has been more than three years now. Strong liquor is different from other wines. , when first brewed, the taste is spicy and difficult to drink. If it is aged for three years, it will be much smoother and have a special aroma. From the first time I brewed it, I asked the winery to store the best wine. It has been stored until now. , just in time to entertain distinguished guests."
The restaurant is owned by Xuanfu Division, and of course it has the best wine from Xuanfu Division. He ordered the boy, and soon he brought a few bottles, along with glass wine dispensers and glass wine glasses, and placed them on the wine table one by one.
Wang Xiaolie looked at the boy standing aside and said to him: "You can go down. There is no need to come over to serve other than serving food. I hate having others waiting on me when eating and drinking. We do these things. That’s it.”
The boy said yes and quickly walked out of Luyingchun.
This is Wang Xiaolie's habit and has been like this for many years. Wang Ruohai and others have long been used to it.
Pour the wine into the wine dispenser, one in front of each person, and drink by yourself. If you drink too much, you can persuade each other to drink and follow your own temper.
After drinking for three rounds, Wang Xiaolie said to Ma Kuang: "As I said before, it is my custom here that those who lead the army do not care about the people, and those who manage the people do not lead the army. The imperial court asked the defense to be the ambassador of the South Henan Road, saying To be honest, I don’t know how to arrange this official position here.”
Ma Kuo said: "Everything depends on Xuan Fu's orders. Ignore the imperial edicts!"
Wang Xiaolie said with a smile: "It's best to think about defense this way. I just don't know if defense requires leading the army or managing the people?"
Ma Kuo said: "I have a background in martial arts and have been working in the army. If I could choose, of course I would lead the army. If I am asked to manage the people, how will I know how to manage them?"
Wang Xiaolie nodded. Said: "That's fine. It's just that our army here is different from other places and has its own rules. I will give the defense three months to familiarize myself with the affairs of the army. After three months, I will take charge of the newly established Second Army. How about being in charge of the central military capital and also promoting a line of affairs? This position is basically the same as Li Dutong. If you don’t understand anything about defense, you can ask Li Dutong."
Everyone knows that Li Yanxian is Wang Xiaolie's deputy. Letting Ma Kuo take such a position can be said to be very important.
Of course, when there was only one army, Li Yanxian was Wang Xiaolie's deputy. Now that there are two armies, Li Yanxian is only the deputy of the first army, not the deputy of Xuan Fu. According to the custom of the Song Dynasty, the deputy envoy was not the deputy to the chief envoy, but also the chief officer. In most cases, if there is a chief envoy, there is generally no deputy envoy. If a deputy envoy is appointed, there will no longer be a principal envoy. It is extremely rare for the chief envoy and deputy envoy to exist at the same time.
For example, Zhai Xing is the envoy of Zhenfu, and Dong Xian is the deputy envoy. Dong Xian was not Zhai Xing's deputy, but formed his own army, and both of them were chief officers.
This is a local situation. If it is the imperial court, such as privy envoys and deputy envoys, it is another situation.
After listening to Wang Xiaolie's words, Ma Kuo thought for a while and said: "I am an outsider, how can I be the deputy of the army? Xuanfu promoted me, and Ma thanked me. It's just that I can't do this position, but I don't dare to promise."
Wang Xiaolie said: "If we want to defend ourselves, how should we do it?"
Ma Kuo said: "I heard that there is a military academy here in Xuanfu. How about I study there for a while first?"
Wang Xiaolie nodded and said: "It's okay if you think so about defense. In these three months, there will be no positions assigned. You can just go to the military academy to study. Your monthly salary will be based on the salary paid by the envoys on Henan Road." .how?"
Ma Kuo shook his head repeatedly: "I study in a military academy and get a monthly salary. How can I make it work?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "There is no need to argue about this matter, let's just leave it as it is. How to pay the salary? So far we have no way. We can only make some adjustments according to the amount set by the court. In these extraordinary times, too much is too little. , I hope you won’t argue.”
Ma Kuo sighed. Said: "It's just that I feel guilty——"
Wang Xiaolie waved his hand and stopped talking about the matter. He said: "Have your family members arrived together? Have you decided where to stay?"
Ma Kuo said: "We're here together. On the way here, I saw the desolation in the city. I wonder if I can find a house?"
Wang Xiaolie said with a smile: "If there are no special requirements for defense, just leave these matters to the Xuanfu Division. Rent a private house to live in first, and then move there after the official's residence is built. We have built everything here. With housing, officials will not have to worry about housing.”
Chen Qiudao said: "Speaking of which, I still miss the house I lived in Xiangyang very much. The housing construction in Luoyang is better than that in Xiangyang. Luoyang was originally a big city, but now there are only ten people in the city, and there is plenty of land. As long as there is manpower , the house can be built better.”
Wang Xiaolie said: "Manpower is also difficult. As I said just now, there are not even one out of ten people in Luoyang, and there are many things to do in the city. Where can we find people? We can only use money to hire people from other places. Now Ruzhou has a large population. , the people are short of money, so let’s hire people from there.”
Ma Kuang said: "It's just building a house, why bother? There are many troops stationed around Luoyang, why don't we just find some soldiers?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "Soldiers join the army to fight, not to build houses. How can we use them?"
Ma Kuoqi said: "Now that there is no war, the soldiers can't train every day. What's wrong with doing something? They are soldiers and get their salary, so they should do things."
Wang Ruohai hurriedly said: "Defense, in our army, officers and utility officers have salaries, but soldiers do not have salaries. They are performing military service. When they are not fighting, they can find many things for the army to do, but they cannot be asked to build houses. Chores."
Ma Kuo said: "If that's the case, just give them some money. They are idle anyway, wouldn't the soldiers be willing to make more money?"
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "It's not a question of whether to pay or not, or whether the soldiers are willing. It's about doing chores that will reduce the combat effectiveness of the army. The most important thing for an army is to improve and maintain combat effectiveness. This No amount of money can buy it. If we lack manpower, we will look for people. We must not put our ideas on the army. Treating the army as labor may seem smart, but it is actually stupid!"
Ma Kuo couldn't help being stunned after hearing this. After being a soldier for so many years, I have never heard this kind of truth. If Wang Xiaolie hadn't said this, Ma Kuo wouldn't believe it at all, and would even argue with others.
