Jiang Chong sat in the middle of a dozen or so households and took a light sip of tea. Jiang Chong is now the backbone of the Huben Division and is already the company commander of the trapping regiment. In the third year of his reign, he was recruited to join the vanguard selection regiment and started as a soldier.
Relying on his military exploits, he was promoted to the squad leader of the Polu Regiment in the first year of Xianping. Later, the trapping regiment was established, and he was transferred to the trapping regiment as the platoon leader. At the beginning of the third year of Xianping, he led his troops to accompany the general to kill the Khitans in Cangzhou. Based on his military exploits, he was promoted to
He is the company commander of the Trap Regiment.
Now Jiang Chong has 124 soldiers under his command and earns nine taels a month. He is already a middle-level officer in Tianjing New City. This time Jiang Chong returned to the "old city" of Tianjing New City to do some work for more than a dozen neighbors.
Bao. The so-called old city of Tianjing New City is actually the place where Yang Peng first came to Tianjing New City. At that time, Yang Peng and his friends were only more than a hundred people. This area had been bulldozed in the third year of Zhidao when the city walls and villas were being built.
, Yang Peng compensated each old resident of Tianjing New City with a small villa. These natives of Tianjing New City live in the northeast of the city. After these years of development, most of them are engaged in business in Tianjing New City and live a well-off life.
But compared with the soldiers in Tianjing New City and the employees of Yangpeng's factory, the living standards of these indigenous people in Tianjing New City are relatively lagging behind. Young people can only earn more than 20 taels a month as traders, while Yang Peng spends 30 yuan a month.
There is still a gap between the workers who support two-and-a-half and the soldiers who support four-and-a-half. Among these natives, the most promising are Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang, who are officers in the Huben Division. Now they are both company commanders.
Married to a beautiful daughter-in-law, lived in a magnificent and luxurious villa. They both had children at a young age and lived a life that everyone envied.
The situation of Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang made the natives of Tianjing New City understand that if they want to live a good life, they must closely follow the footsteps of the city lord. It is not enough to follow in Tianjing New City, they must also go to factories and the army
Only those who follow will have a bright future. This time, the Huben Division recruited new soldiers again. The natives of Tianjing New City were unwilling to fall behind anymore. They approached Jiang Chong and asked him to be the guarantee for the natives of Fanjiazhuang.
Looking at the eager eyes of his old neighbors, Jiang Chong coughed, turned around and asked Old Xingtou beside him: "Dad Xing, can you say a few words first?" Old Xingtou is sixty years old and is from Tianjing.
The oldest of the New City natives, he used to be quite prestigious in Tianjing New City. But when Yang Peng came and changed Tianjing New City, Old Xingtou gradually fell behind. His only son sold fish in the market in the north of the city.
The income is much lower than that of Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang.
Comparing it, old Xingtou's family was completely different from Jiang Chong's family. Jiang Chong's family was originally one of the poorest households in Tianjing New City. In the first year of Dao Dao, Jiang Chong almost fled Tianjing New City. But in
On the eve of Jiang Chong's escape, the Lord of the City came, and Jiang Chong was recruited as a soldier of the General, and he rose through the ranks from then on.
Now in the eyes of this group of natives, one sentence of Jiang Chong is worth ten words to Old Xingtou. Hearing Jiang Chong let him speak, Old Xingtou felt a little embarrassed, holding his pipe in his mouth and said: "I won't say anything, just say it! You now
You are the company commander, everyone is counting on you and waiting for you to speak!"
When Jiang Chong heard this, he stood up and said: "Neighbors, this time the general is recruiting eight thousand people. This is an opportunity!" "Why do you say it is an opportunity? Because this time we recruit new soldiers, we need veterans as guarantees.
, a veteran can only protect five people. In other words, these 8,000 people are short of only 60,000 people at most to compete!"
"Compared with the past situation where more than a dozen people often competed for a position, the competition this time is not so fierce." "Following the city lord, you will rise to the top. Everyone has seen the situation between me and Hua Zhang. Now my daughter-in-law is not only
There is no need to spin or weave, and the family even bought a maid to do chores, and the wife only needs to take care of the children. As long as she keeps up with the Lord of the City, good days are ahead of her."
Jiang Chong glanced at more than a dozen households of neighbors who were looking at him eagerly, knowing that these neighbors were waiting for him to say whether he could be their guarantee. Jiang Chong nodded and said, "Yes, as the company commander this time, I can guarantee
"Fifteen people." When Jiang Chong said that he could protect fifteen people, the natives below were excited and discussed happily. There are twelve families and fourteen strong men here who want to join the army, and Jiang Chong can protect them all.
But Jiang Chong added: "But I want to make it clear that I am responsible for being the guarantor. If a spy is found, the guarantor will lose his head. I am the thirteen people who have been working in Tianjing New City in the past three years and have not left the city.
I can guarantee it. Chen Erdan went to Huizhou to seek refuge with his uncle the year before last and stayed outside Tianjing New City for two years. I can’t guarantee it!"
Hearing Jiang Chong's words, Chen Erdan said hurriedly: "Brother Jiang, I studied accounting in Huizhou for two years and didn't do any bad things. Now I have stopped and come back! Why don't you protect me?" Jiang Chong
He shook his head and said, "I don't know who you met and what happened in Huizhou. I don't dare to joke with my own head."
Chen Erdan was very disappointed and squatted on the ground angrily, unwilling to stand up again. Seeing Chen Erdan's experience, other neighbors took a breath and secretly said that they were lucky that they had stayed in Tianjing New City all these years. Tianjing New City was in troubled times.
In this paradise, as long as you follow the Lord of the City closely, you will have a good life. In these turbulent years, it is unreasonable to go out to seek refuge with relatives and friends, and you will be suspected of having ulterior motives when you come back.
Xie Jin's sister looked at Xie Jin who came back empty-handed and couldn't help but shed a tear. The three members of the family had been hungry for a day. Xie Jin went out to borrow food, but could not borrow a grain of rice. Xie Jin's family is from Wuqiao County, Hejian Prefecture.
A family of three sharecroppers cultivated 19 acres of dry land, and they were able to make ends meet. However, at the end of last year, the Khitans invaded the customs and plundered the country, and when they passed Wuqiao, they looted massively. The three members of Xie Jin's family hid in the county town, and were not killed by the Khitan soldiers. But Tiantian
The crops there were wasted because of this.
After hiding in the county town for a while, when Xie Jin returned home, the wheat had missed the irrigation period and the fields were already full of weeds. The harvest this year was extremely poor. The harvested grain was eaten in five months.
, Nowadays, in this lean season, I don’t know how to survive.
Xie Jin wanted to borrow food from relatives and friends, but his relatives and friends were also affected by the disaster, and it was difficult for any family. The first few times Xie Jin went to pray, he could still borrow a few liters of rice. But this time Xie Jin went there again, and his relatives and friends did not have any extra food.
I lent it to Xie Jin, but Xie Jin returned empty-handed.
Xie Jin also hadn't eaten for a day and was very hungry. He sat weakly on the chair and sighed. Xie Jin's mother said: "My son, how can I live the rest of my life without rice and noodles?" Xie Jin died last year.
Dad, there is only one mother and one sister in the family now. Xie Jin could not have imagined that he would encounter such a predicament in his first year as head of the family. Now that he cannot borrow food, will his family starve to death?
Xie Jin said helplessly: "Take another winter coat and go to the city to pawn it!" Xie Jin's mother said: "Winter is coming soon. There are only three winter coats left at home. If I go to pawn in the winter, I will freeze to death." Xie Jin said
He rubbed his face with his hands and was speechless.
A family of three was sitting in the yard hungry, when they suddenly heard a noise in front of them. Surrounded by dozens of people, a strong man strode on the dirt road in the countryside, heading towards Xie Jin's house.
Seeing the noisy crowd, Xie Jin's timid sister was startled and hid in the house. Xie Jin was stunned and thought to himself that he had not committed any crime. What were so many people doing in his yard? He took a closer look.
, only to see that most of the people crowding over were small vendors from nearby, with a few well-known old people walking in the middle. The sturdy man surrounded by the vendors was wearing a Tianjing New City military uniform, and was obviously from Tianjing New City.
of soldiers.
Xie Jin vaguely guessed something and rushed to the door. The group of people walked to Xie Jin's door. The Tianjing New City soldier in the middle shouted: "Is this Xie Jin's house!" Xie Jin quickly replied: "Yes, I am Xie Jin!"
The Tianjing New City soldier looked at the old men around him. Those old men nodded and said, "Yes, this is Xie Jin!" The Tianjing New City soldier smiled and handed a waist badge and a document to Xie Jin.
, said: "Congratulations, Xie Jin, you have been recruited by our Lord of Tianjing New City, and you will be a soldier of Tianjing New City from now on. This is your waist badge and admission certificate. You can use these two things to go to Tianjing next month."
Go to Xincheng to report!”
Hearing the soldier's words, Xie Jin's face flushed with excitement, and he felt dizzy as if happiness had suddenly arrived. He raised the soldiers in Tianjing New City by himself. From now on, he will have to earn three to two months' worth of food and have meat for three meals.
Are you a soldier? My mother and sister no longer have to worry about food and drink!
Xie Jin held up the badge and admission certificate with trembling hands, and couldn't stop the tears from flowing down. The village elder next to him had a cane and said with a smile: "Xie Jin, this is a happy event, why are you crying?" Xie Jin said in a trembling voice: "
My family hasn't eaten for a day, but now I've recruited soldiers from Tianjing New City. You let me, you let me."
However, even though he raised money, there was still one month left to report, and two months left before the monthly payment was issued. There was no rice in the house during these two months, how would the family live? Xie Jin suddenly became confused again, looking at the man who came to deliver the letter.
Soldiers from Fanjiazhuang.
Before Xie Jin finished speaking, a small vendor carrying a heavy pole shouted loudly: "Xie Jin, why didn't you tell me earlier that you had no food? I'll give it to you on credit!" Xie Jin was stunned and saw the vendor carrying the pole.
When he arrived in front of Xie Jin, he opened the lid of the heavy pole and found snow-white rice noodles inside. The hawker said flatteringly: "Xie Jin, I'll sell this hundred kilograms of white rice noodles to you for one to two six cents. You can set up an IOU for me.
When you get to Tianjing New City and get your monthly payment, give me the money again!"
The vendor took out an IOU, and as long as Xie Jin pressed his fingerprint, the rice noodles would belong to the Xie family. Xie Jin looked at the vendor in disbelief, and then at the white rice noodles, as if he was overjoyed from heaven.
In fact, Xie Jin didn't know that these vendors were already used to Xie Jin's business these days. As long as he followed the soldiers who reported the news in Tianjing New City and sold rice and noodles to the farmers who had applied, he could make a steady profit. The food sold on credit at this time would naturally
The selling price is higher than usual, and these farmers who have been recruited into the army will have high incomes in the future. With the IOUs in hand, there is no need to worry about them not paying back the money.
A hundred kilograms of rice noodles can only be sold for one or two or four cents in the market, but they can be sold on credit to the recruits for one or two or six cents. In one fell swoop, they made two cents of silver. This is a good business that is hard to find even in far away places. Xie Jin was so excited
He walked over to the load of rice noodles, scooped out a cup of rice noodles with a spoon, looked at it again and again, bursting into laughter and said, "Do we have rice noodles at home?"
Seeing that the business was done, the rice noodle vendor was in a happy mood. He took out the suona on his back and started playing. For a moment, everyone in the crowd in front of Xie Jin's house was beaming with joy. The scene really didn't look like he was going to be a soldier, but more like Xie Jinzhong
A scholar.
Sister Xie Jin saw that the group of people were not here to seek revenge, so she also ran out of the house and stood in front of the load of rice noodles, crying and wiping her tears. "Brother, do we have something to eat?" A cloth shop boy came away
He came out and said: "Xie Jin, I see that your sister is wearing rags. Do you want to come to my place to cut a few feet of cloth and make some new sets of clothes for your sister?"
Xie Jin said: "I have no money." The cloth shop boy said loudly: "Xie Jin, buy a few more feet of cloth, and I will give it to you on credit. Give it to me when you make money in Tianjing New City!" Xie Jin was stunned and looked at it.
He looked at his eager sister and said, "Okay!" Xie Jin's sister, who hadn't made new clothes for more than a year, jumped up with joy when she heard this, with a smile on her face.
Seeing Xie Jin being so generous, the vendors were very excited. They all rushed to Xie Jin and shouted: "Xie Jin, I'll give you the oil on credit!" "Xie Jin, I'll give you the quilt on credit!" "Xie Jin, I'll give you the rice on credit!
You!" Xie Jin agreed one by one, and the vendors placed goods at his door. The goods piled up little by little, and finally the pile was half a person high, with everything included.
Suddenly, the Xie family, who had been hungry just now, had nothing. A pawnshop boy came out and said, "Xie Jin, is it inconvenient for you to have no money now? I will lend you money. I will lend you ten taels of silver."
Here you go, three cents interest, no property mortgage required! When you go to Tianjing New City and become a soldier, you can return the money to the Wang Family Pawnshop in the city."
Xie Jin was stunned for a long time and asked: "This is ten taels of silver. Aren't you afraid that I will run away?" The pawnshop clerk laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke and said: "You are a soldier in Tianjing New City.
, you can earn ten taels of silver in three months, how can you run away just for this little money?"
Xie Jin thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll borrow the money!" The pawnshop clerk smiled brightly and took out an IOU on the spot, gave Xie Jin his fingerprint, and then handed Xie Jin a dozen taels of silver.
Yang Peng's new soldier barracks was built to the south of the city wall of Tianjing New City. This area is the planned area of Tianjing New City, but the city wall has not been built yet. The city wall will be built after the farmers have their leisure time. The barracks were built by masons who worked overtime.
, it was repaired before the new recruits entered the camp on November 20th.
As soon as the new recruits entered the camp in December, they began arduous training. These soldiers are Yang Peng's current reliance, and the training must not be sloppy. The recruits did not touch a gun in the first two months, but practiced physical fitness and formation. Every day before dawn,
Officers at all levels led eight thousand recruits to stand in formation and practice all morning. In the afternoon, they practiced physical fitness in the countryside of Tianjing New City, traveling dozens of miles cross-country at every turn.
The recruits were given three full meals and meat, and they trained intensively with sufficient protein supply, and their muscles grew rapidly. Soon, the young men who were thin when they entered the camp became strong soldiers.
The training intensity of the Song Army in this era was very low. Even the so-called elite Western Army, the Ning Army, often trained every three days and every four days. Compared with the Song Army, the soldiers of the Huben Division who trained every morning until night were well-deserved
Elite soldiers. Only with such a high monthly salary as Master Huben can the soldiers train so hard without any complaints.
The reason why I didn't touch a gun in the first two months was because Yang Peng wanted to conduct a political review of the new recruits. Now each platoon of the Huben Division is equipped with a town governor. These town governors are responsible for punishing soldiers who violate military discipline and are also responsible for punishing soldiers.
Political review. The governor spent two months observing the recruits to see if there were any spies among the recruits and whether they had secretly communicated with the outside world.
After undergoing a political review two months later, the soldiers could actually handle the guns. Now the Huben Division has more than 40,000 people, and it is still divided into four divisions. Each division has more than 10,000 soldiers, and each division has four
Each regiment has two thousand men. Each battalion has five companies, each with two hundred men. The establishment has increased, and a new group of officers is needed, and many veterans with outstanding performance have been promoted to officers.
The Huben Division's combat power has greatly expanded. Duan Zhixian and other division commanders felt that their strength had improved again, and they were all very excited. They spent time at the training ground every day, hoping to train these eight thousand recruits as soon as possible.
After finishing the recruitment of new soldiers, the Baozhong Temple planned by Yang Peng was also built. The Baozhong Temple is an altar dedicated to soldiers and officers who died in various battles. It was built in the new city in the south of the city. Only an army with a sense of honor can
Have combat effectiveness. Only by praising the soldiers who died bravely in previous wars and treating the families and soldiers of the martyrs well can we have a sense of honor. Yang Peng has now established a medal system and a pension system, and then established a praise and loyalty temple to praise the martyrs.
It can create a sense of honor in the whole army of honorable death in battle.
Baozhong Temple is a building complex. In the first courtyard, there is the front hall, which is dedicated to the statue of Guan Yunchang. In the second courtyard, there is the middle hall, which is dedicated to the statue of Yang Ye. The main hall in the third courtyard is the largest, and its main hall is the second largest.
Memorial tablet to soldiers who died in battle.
The main hall is grand in size, with a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain, fourteen feet long and eight feet wide. There are sacrifices from time to time, and the incense lingers all year round. Every spring and autumn, Yang Peng leads his officials to perform sacrifices once and offer sacrifices. The Baozhong Temple was built
On that day, Yang Peng held a grand investiture ceremony in the new city. On November 23, the Baozhong Temple in the south of the city was buzzing with people. Thanks to Li Zhi’s advance publicity, at least tens of thousands of people attended the ceremony that day.
Citizens and farmers of Jingxin City gathered at the gate of Baozhong Temple to watch the city lord's investiture ceremony.
This award of honors is mainly for those who have made meritorious service and the disabled in the Battle of Cangzhou in the first year of Xianping. Yang Peng's troops fought with weapons and emphasized discipline and unity. There is little chance of individual soldiers making meritorious services. Therefore, this award of honors is
The meritorious service personnel were mainly scouts who excelled in detecting the enemy's situation, and were awarded third-class soldier medals. There were more people killed and disabled in action.
In this Cangzhou battle, 227 soldiers of the Huben Division were killed or died. The families of these people will be awarded the first-class hero medal. Now in Tianjing New City, through Yang Peng’s propaganda and guidance, a formation of
It is a social custom to respect honorable personnel. The family members of the recipients of honors receive medals, which can directly improve their social status in Tianjing New City.
The specific family member of a martyr to whom the medal is awarded is determined by the martyr's last will and testament. Some soldiers give the medal to their wives, some unmarried soldiers give the medal to their parents, and some give the medal to their children.
Differently, Li Zhi fully respected the wishes of the martyrs.
One by one, the family members of the martyrs walked up to the medal awarding stage, and Yang Peng personally pinned medals on the family members. The family members recalled the voices and smiles of the martyrs before their sacrifices, and looked at the bright yellow bronze medals on their chests, and they all burst into tears.
An eight-year-old boy walked up to the stage to accept the First Class Hero Medal on behalf of his dead father. Yang Peng looked at the child and asked: "What is your name?" "My surname is Yu, and my nickname is Mantou! I haven't given a big name yet.
!" Yang Peng nodded and said, "Steamed buns, do you know what your father does?"
The boy raised his fist and said: "Daddy was killing Khitan heroes and died on the battlefield!" After a pause, the boy said again: "Daddy is the best to me. He often buys candies for me. I like it the most.
I listened to my father. I was able to read at home when other children went out to play! But why did my father die like this and never care about me anymore? I haven’t seen my father in a year and I miss him so much.”
After saying this, the boy cried and wiped his tears with his little hands. Yang Peng touched the child's head and said: "Steamed buns, don't cry. Your father is a great hero who killed the Khitan. Even if he dies, we will never
Remember him!" Yang Peng pinned the first-class hero medal on the boy's chest and said loudly: "From now on, you will replace your father and be the hero of my Tianjing New City."
The boy wiped his tears and said: "General, when I grow up, I will also join the army to avenge my father!" Yang Peng touched the child's face and said: "There will be a day." Finished sending it.
First-class Hero Medal, Yang Peng awarded the second-class Warrior Medal to 106 wounded and disabled soldiers. The wounded now have pensions, food and clothing, and with the medals awarded by Yang Peng, they will be respected from now on. It is really
They felt that the injury was worth it. They were grateful for the general's kindness, and they all cried and communicated with each other.
Some scouts who achieved meritorious service in the scout war, as well as soldiers who were slightly injured in heroic battles, were awarded warrior medals. Soldiers in Tianjing New City who died in battle or were disabled received a pension of two taels of silver per month, and soldiers who were slightly disabled were given a pension of two taels per month.
Those who can still work will be assigned suitable jobs by the Tianjing New City Government Office, and they will receive two or three meals a month with meat. The soldiers have no worries under this pension system. Now the casualties and their families will be given medals, and a Baozhong Temple will be built to worship.
Sacrificing soldiers makes soldiers less afraid of casualties.
Only soldiers who are not afraid of casualties can stand firm in battle, maintain discipline, and protect their comrades on the left and right. At the end of the ceremony, the martyrs' tablets entered the Baozhong Temple amidst the sound of drums and were enshrined. Today, the people of Tianjing New City live a prosperous life.
The level far exceeded that of the people in other parts of the Ming Dynasty. Citizens and farmers all knew that their good lives were maintained by the soldiers with their lives. After the ceremony, the people lined up in a long line to enter the Baozhong Temple to pay homage to the martyrs.
A stick of incense.
Seeing the honor of the wounded and wounded soldiers, other soldiers maintaining order outside the Baozhong Temple stood up straight. They were so inspired by the sense of honor that they were no longer afraid of casualties and wished they could go to the battlefield tomorrow to perform meritorious service.
If you want to know what happens next, let’s look at the breakdown in the next chapter.