Fu Song

Chapter 236 Power

Li Xin stood in front of Xiao Cheng dejectedly, with a begging look on his face.

"Erlang, I don't want to go to the army, I just want to be by your side." Li Xin pursed his lips and said: "What did the villain do wrong? You tell me, I will definitely change it, but just don't want me. Already!"

Xiao Cheng looked at this companion angrily and amusedly.

Speaking of being his companion, Li Xin grew up with him since childhood.In his heart, he is just like a brother.

"Stay by my side, you will always be a servant, what can you do?" Xiao Cheng looked at him with hatred and weakness: "You will not be able to walk the way of civil servants, even though you can read and write, you can speak knowledgeably. It's not too bad, but it's too far away if you want to take the examination of Jinshi. So you can only go to the army to fight for a background."

"I don't want to go to the army!" Li Xin whispered.

"Why? Afraid of hardship?" Xiao Cheng asked, frowning. "I've been here for half a month, can't bear it?"

Li Xinxin nodded vigorously, "Hammer is a lunatic, he has to get up at four o'clock every day, practice and practice. It's just dark at night, except for the night watch, the rest have to go to sleep, they look like corpses, where can they sleep? "

Xiao Cheng held back a smile and said: "The army is like this, can this bit of hardship be unbearable?"

"There's still something to eat!"

"Not full?" Xiao Cheng raised his eyebrows all of a sudden.

"That's not true." Li Xin hurriedly said: "It's just corn rice, or wheat rice, steamed buns with mixed noodles, each with a bowl of mutton bone soup and a salty lump. I really can't get used to it. The mutton is all sliced, and after practice every day, there will be a competition, and the one who wins can eat the meat, Erlang, you see, I have lost a lot of weight."

I looked Li Xin up and down, um, I did lose a lot of weight.

I am a person who never tires of food and food, and Li Xin, as his personal companion, is of course a fool with him. The dishes in ordinary restaurants can't catch his eyes, let alone the kitchen of the army. Planting big pots and stoves, being able to cook them well, and being able to keep them full is already the highest requirement of this era.

"Aren't you going to be an ordinary soldier, and you can have no meat?" Xiao Cheng became a little curious.

Li Xin said with a bitter face: "Hammer said that my level is too poor. One day I went to the battlefield, and it was purely to give away, so I was also included in the team for training, and compared with the team he personally led. , Every day, they have meat to eat, but we can only chew bones. How can I beat him?"

Xiao Cheng laughed loudly: "I think you have been complained a lot by your teammates, haven't you?"

Li Xin lowered his head.

"I didn't expect Hammer to have such thoughts! Looking reckless, it's actually very delicate!" Xiao Cheng said.

"Erlang, that guy is just looking for trouble to punish me!" Li Xin said angrily.

Xiao Cheng shook his head, "Li Xin, you said that in the army, what is the most important thing for soldiers to be convinced?"

"Courage!" Li Dao, that Hammer guy, why did he convince everyone once he was at the top of the team and showed his skills?Isn't it because no one can beat him?Not to mention one-on-one, even ten-on-one, he beat him to the ground.

As for myself, I can't do it.

"Say one thousand, say ten thousand. In the army, you must speak with courage. Especially the generals who directly lead the troops!" Xiao Cheng said: "So the hammer is not to punish you, but to hone you. If you If you don’t have enough courage, how can you gain a foothold in the army in the future? No one can think highly of you. Even if you rely on my reputation, everyone respects you, and I don’t know how to arrange you later!”

"But if this goes on like this, I still don't think highly of me, and lose every fight!" Li Xin said angrily.

"Is Hammer going to fight alone with you?" Xiao Cheng asked.

"That's not it!"

"Since this is the case, the hammer has given you a chance. One-on-one and group fights are two different things. How can you beat him if you don't use your brain?" Xiao Cheng pointed to his brain and said, "I believe that as long as you If your own courage is improved by two levels, and the ability to command the army is improved a little bit, the hammer will allow you to win a few games. In the future, the two of you will come and go, lose and win. In this way, you His prestige naturally rose up. Hammer has a good intention, but you still come to me to complain?"

"He has that brain?" Li Xin couldn't believe it.

"You can ask him yourself after you go back!" Xiao Cheng said, "Li Xin, do you know why I put you in the army?"

"Erlang said just now that he wanted me to have a good background."

"That's just one of them!" Xiao Cheng said: "The real reason is that I regard you as my most reliable brother, someone who can be entrusted with life and death, you know?"

Li Xin's eyes widened.

"You have been with me for so long, and after thinking about it, you understand that the biggest difference between me and others is that I pay special attention to the army, right?"

"Well, I usually hear Erlang say that a lot!" Li Xin nodded repeatedly.

"Speaking of which, I, Xiao Erlang, have truly independently organized an army of five hundred people now!" Xiao Cheng smiled slightly: "Five hundred people is just a starting point, Li Xin, the five hundred people People, I trained them as officers. In the future, when the team starts to expand, the people in this army will go out one by one and become the commanders of our own army. Li Xin, now you understand Is it? Now you are their chief, and in the future, you will always be their chief, even if a long time later, some of them may have a higher official position than you, but this is a history that cannot be erased!"

Li Xin took a deep breath.

"In the past few years, I have done a lot of things, and you are the one who knows best." Xiao Cheng said lightly, "If these things are made public, it can really be called treason. But as long as I really succeed, I will You will no longer be controlled by others, but if you want to succeed, strong power is the most basic thing. Without the support of strength, everything is bullshit. Just like the current ministers of the East and West, they all have power over the world, but If you really want to annoy the officials, if the officials are determined to be desperate, a few prison guards will be enough to get rid of them."

"Erlang, you, are you going to rebel?" Li Xin's voice trembled.

"Fart!" Xiao Cheng smiled and knocked Li Xin on the head: "I rebelled, and I don't want to be an official. I just don't want the officials to round me up and flatten me arbitrarily, and I don't want the world to It is impossible for him to become the voice of the government and do whatever he wants."

"But he's an official! The whole world belongs to him."

"This world belongs to the people of the world!" Xiao Cheng snorted: "Okay, if you can't figure these things out for a while, just go down and think about them slowly, and come back to me when you get something, and come back and talk about the military affairs Now! Do you know why I put you in the army?"

"I see!" Li Xin nodded repeatedly.

"Then, can you suffer now?"

"Yes, Erlang entrusted me with such an important matter, and I can endure no matter how hard it is!" Li Dao said.

"Okay, your level of force, the hammer will train you, and your combat skills will be honed in actual combat. When I have time, I will teach you the big military law and strategy. Don't be complacent, and there is a hammer!" Xiao Cheng glanced at the beaming Li Xin. "Then you now know how to win over these officers and how to make them be loyal to your family Erlang and never waver? No matter what happens, they won't betray me?"

Hearing Xiao Cheng's question, Li Xin was dumbfounded again.

Seeing himself as a companion, Xiao Cheng couldn't help but sighed.

"Since becoming an army, I have done a lot of things, haven't you seen them?" Xiao Cheng said: "The first thing, when recruiting troops, did you notice any characteristics of this army?"

"It seems that you are recruiting the kind of people who have a family and a good mouth, and are honest and friendly. At that time, there were quite a few rangers who recommended themselves, but they were all dismissed by you, Erlang!" Li Xin thought for a while.

"Ranger!" Xiao Cheng sneered: "It's okay to use these people, but recruiting them into the army will be a disaster. Li Xin, remember, in the future when we train the army, the most powerful ones are the honest ones. They are easy to train, have simple minds, and don't have too many other ideas. Even if they look stupid and timid at the beginning, as long as they are honed in the army, these problems will disappear in the army. In this big melting pot, everyone will be worn out, but those rangers who usually seem to be quite brave and active in mind are prone to collapse on the battlefield."

"I got it."

"After these [-] people became an army, what was my second job?"

"Divide the fields and houses to them!" Li Dao said, "I'm still in charge of this matter!"

"You didn't notice, where did the houses and fields I gave them come from?" Xiao Cheng chuckled: "Their fields, houses, and livestock all came from Ma Zhizhou and his direct subordinates. I got it there, and there are some, I got it from the local tyrants in Qianzhou. Do you know why?"

After all, Li Xin is not stupid, and after thinking about it, he finally understood: "Erlang is completely tying them to us. If we fail, those people will turn around again. Everything these soldiers have now, It’s got to be all gone. So in order to keep what they have, they’re going to have to stick with us.”

"That's right!" Xiao Cheng patted Li Xin on the head: "The more things these people own and the greater their interests, the more conflicts they will have with the original beneficiaries, and they will have nothing to gain." If you choose, you can only go forward with us, because failure means that they will lose everything they have and even their lives.”

"Erlang is far-sighted!" Li Xin was full of admiration.

"But this is just a conspiracy!" Xiao Cheng shook his head: "This is just the first step to gather people's hearts, which is called interest. When everyone's interests are related, it is time to proceed to the second step. This is the first step I sent you." The reason for going, the second step, is to gather people’s hearts. I can quickly turn them into stakeholders with me, but it takes time for them to talk to us and become true fellow travelers. In this process, the means and strategies must be taken a step back. I can't get along with them every day and communicate with them all the time. You need to do these things. That's why I asked you to be the deputy of Hammer and take responsibility This army’s money, rations, military law and other matters.”

"I understand." Li Dao said: "Erlang must keep a certain distance from them, win people's hearts and make them work for you, of course I will do it. Don't worry, Erlang, I will definitely be able to do such a thing." Well done. Li Xin dare not talk about other things, but making friends is my forte, and I will soon become the brother of these people, and I will be the kind of brother who cuts off his head in exchange for his breath."

"Don't become friends with wine and meat!" Xiao Cheng said: "You can help them with generous donations, you can be anxious about others' needs, think about others' thoughts, you can teach these people how to read, teach these people the art of war, etc., these things, you Do it as openly as possible.”

"Yes, Erlang!" Li Xin stood up: "You said that, I feel that time is not enough, I have to go back quickly. By the way, Erlang, although you need to keep a certain distance from these people, I think you should Go and see them from time to time, eat and drink with them, and even teach them some skills, if you just teach them some of your skills, it will be enough for them to ponder for a lifetime!"

"So you and I thought about it together!" Xiao Cheng smiled and said: "Keep a certain distance to maintain mystery and respect, but if people don't know me, they don't know me well, that would run counter to the original intention.So every once in a while, I will set aside a certain amount of time to teach them, whether it is literacy, military law, or just talking about their health and well-being. In short, it is just a way to buy people's hearts. "

"Erlang, the Chinese New Year is coming soon. You just happened to meet with everyone. During the Chinese New Year, everyone can't rest and can't go home to reunite with their families. Naturally, they have to make up for it. When the time comes, you will bring money and supplies together , distribute it by hand, and take care of those who are in special difficulties, and your image will be erected at once." Li Xin suggested.

Xiao Cheng laughed loudly: "You are right, let's do it like this."

Li Xin left in a hurry.

The five-hundred-armed army that Xiao Cheng had just compiled was something that he would really put in a lot of effort to accomplish. Just as he told Li Xin, this was the officer corps that he focused on cultivating. His interests are related, and he is a partner who supports each other and moves forward together.From now on, when these people go out, it's time for his Xiao Cheng's power to start to blossom and loosen its leaves.

As for the army established by Yang Wanfu and the others in Dushan, in Xiao Cheng's mind, it can only become a peripheral army in the days to come.It is a power that he has to use when his power has not yet been fully formed.

They were far from the army that Xiao Cheng had in mind.

(End of this chapter)