Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 10 Roll Call
There was an unwritten rule in the standard camp that only people from Shaanxi were allowed to enter the standard camp. Jiao Lian was in Guangxi, far away from Shaanxi, and it was difficult to recruit standard soldiers. In every battle, the standard soldiers always took the lead, charged into battle, and suffered the heaviest casualties.

This is definitely not a long-term solution. Other generals tried every means to make friends with the powerful, seize territory, and expand their camps. However, Jiao Lian was not good at this, and his troops were never expanded, so it was difficult for him to achieve great success.

Cen Danchu was promoted too quickly and had just been appointed as the captain of the third team of the standard battalion. It was not convenient for him to advise others for the time being, so he had to take control of the third team first and get into the situation as soon as possible.

On the morning of the 13th, Jiao Lian came to the standard camp, briefly summarized yesterday's battle, commended a group of officers and soldiers, announced the spoils distribution plan, and finally announced personnel appointments and dismissals.

Team 3 lost four men in the battle yesterday, and two more were seriously injured, with countless minor injuries. The old team leader died in the battle, so Cen Danchu was appointed to take over as the team leader, and Chen Wu was sent to supplement Team 3 and serve as the team leader.

In the 14th year of the Zhengtong Period of the Ming Dynasty, the military system was restructured, stipulating that in addition to the team leader, a team should have two more commanding officers. The team leader, also known as the captain or escort officer, is the chief officer of a team. The two commanding officers are generally called the team leader and the team deputy, with the team leader being above the team deputy.

The responsibilities of the command officer are very heavy. He is responsible for managing and conveying documents, supervising training, understanding the hardships within the team, solving unhealthy practices, uniting soldiers, managing rewards and punishments, and maintaining military discipline.

During wartime, the commander has greater power and responsibilities. He is responsible for supervising the combat situation of the team leader and soldiers and has the power of life and death.

Does it sound familiar to you? It has a bit of the meaning of "dual leadership system"? If it is strictly implemented, it is possible to improve the combat effectiveness of the Ming army.

However, the Ming Dynasty was very cautious about the military's power. At the top, the military supervisors often interfered with the commander's command. At the bottom, the authority of the commander sometimes overshadowed the commander.

For a period of time, the Ming army in Shanxi simply did not set up a management team, but directly let two commanding officers take on the job part-time, which was called "Guantie."

Chen Wu was originally Jiao Lian's personal soldier, in his thirties, taciturn and dedicated to his duties.

A trace of doubt flashed through Cen Dan's mind: On the bright side, Jiao Lian wanted to help him and sent Chen Wu to assist him. On the bad side, Jiao Lian was worried about him and sent Chen Wu to monitor him. After all, he had made a great success, was too brave on the battlefield, and had too many legendary experiences.

There is no need to worry too much about this kind of thing. The standard camp is where the commander lives and works. If I were Jiao Lian, I would most likely do the same.

Jiao Lian didn't say much, and the meeting soon entered the last agenda: distribution of spoils.

This is the most morale-boosting and happiest thing, but it is also the most likely to lead to quarrels or even fights.

The training ground was large, and the front of the team was already filled with spoils of war. There were several large boxes of silver, bright armors and weapons, and rows of swords and halberds.

These are what the model soldiers earned in yesterday’s bloody battle. They should be given to them as rewards to supplement their family expenses.

Jiao Lian personally took charge and said, "Brothers, Cen Danchu has made the greatest contribution and has been promoted to the captain of the third team. He will challenge Li Pin first. The old captain has also died in battle, so the reward for the third team will be increased."

Holding a scroll in his hand, Jiao Ke read out, "Cen Danchu should be awarded three war horses, 120 taels of silver, five pieces of cloth, a pair of horn bows, thirty arrows, one long weapon such as a lance, spear, halberd, or halberd, one short weapon such as a knife, sword, or mace, one bird-shaped gun or three three-barreled guns, three saddles, and one iron armor and one cotton armor. Start choosing."

The first meritorious service was different, and they had priority in selecting spoils. Cen Danchu was nostalgic, so he asked for yesterday's Xuelihong and Juhuaqing horses, and also picked a tall chestnut horse.

The horn bow was a large bow with a pulling force of more than eight points, which is very rare in the south. The large bow needs to be equipped with heavy arrows, and all the thirty arrows are heavy arrows, needless to say.

Of course, the long weapon of choice is the lance, which I am already familiar with.

As for short weapons, Cen Danchu immediately took a fancy to a Qi family sword, which had a long handle, a long body, and a copper blade guard. It was a two-handed long sword. It was much more useful than the scimitar, the Yanlin sword, and other waist swords, so this was it.

The bird gun is a matchlock gun, much better than the three-barreled gun. Cen Danchu chose the bird gun, and the rest of the armor, saddle, etc. were all the best, needless to say.

After Cen Danchu, the rest of the meritorious officers and soldiers came forward one by one to be selected.

The sun shone obliquely, illuminating the silver, saddle armor and cotton cloth, making them sparkle and adding a lot of joy to the scene.

Finally, the soldiers with the least merit, who were the largest in number, each received eight taels of silver and a piece of cotton cloth.

This was the reward for yesterday's hard work, and most of the rewards came from the spoils. Qu Shisi had already promised to collect 1,000 taels of silver from the merchants in Guilin as a reward for the standard camp.

After dividing the spoils, it was time for lunch. Today, there was still horse meat and white rice as a snack. Cen Danchu came to the third team and ate with his subordinates.

Everyone still had a good appetite, and many people even ate three bowls of rice. Although they were from Shaanxi, they had been stationed in Huguang and Guangxi for a long time and were used to rice.

After the meal, Danchu gathered the team and first checked the roster and got to know his subordinates.

The soldiers were somewhat reluctant, and wanted to use the afternoon to sort out the spoils. But the captain was extremely brave on the battlefield and was not someone to be trifled with. A new official has three things to do when he takes office, and this first thing must not burn his own head.

The standard-bearers gathered quickly, their ranks were neat and orderly, their expressions were serious, and no one dared to move.

Well, that's right. Having fewer soldiers also has its advantages. They are easy to manage, obedient, and can be trained into an elite division with a little training. "Wang Gou!" Cen Danchu held the roster and read out the first name. This kind of name shows that he was born in poverty and doesn't even have a decent name.

But no one answered.

The roster is the most important document for grassroots troops. It is usually made in two copies, one with the commander-in-chief, usually kept in the camp office, and one in the hands of the chief officer.

There are many tricks involved. Even the military roster of the imperial court was often falsified. Officers used this to collect empty salaries, and the commander-in-chief would also share the empty salaries with the lower-level officers.

The Yongli court had been displaced for a long time, and there was no regular army. Jiao Lian was very strict in managing the army, and the battalion management team would not be idle.

Perhaps I had misread it. The roster was carried by the officers and had long been dirty, with the writing often obscured and damaged.

This roster is very worn, with the first page being the most damaged. The names have been re-outlined, so they are still fairly clear, but the positions, places of origin, and dates of birth are basically illegible.

"Wang Gou!" Cen Danchu repeated it again.

Still no answer.

Could it be that this dog king wanted to intimidate himself?
Chen Wu whispered, "Captain, Wang Gou was the previous captain, and he died in battle yesterday."

Cen Danchu suddenly realized what was going on, and the anger on his face disappeared. He quickly changed his mind and said, "If any of our comrades died in battle, everyone should respond together after we call them."

"King Dog!"

"Yes!" More than forty standard-bearers answered in unison, their voices loud and clear, deafening.

Calling the roll is a small matter, but it can reflect the spirit of the officers and soldiers, and also reflect the degree of respect they have for him.

Cen Danchu was very satisfied and said, "I was awarded 120 taels of silver today, and I will give 10 taels of silver to the three teams as compensation for the old captain. If the sergeant died in battle, I will give 6 taels of silver as compensation, and if the soldier died in battle, I will give 3 taels of silver as compensation.

"When the old battalion arrives in Guilin, captain, we will hand over the pension money to the families of our fallen comrades."

"Yes!" Chen Wu was very surprised and responded repeatedly.

The soldiers below also showed joy on their faces, impressed by Danchu's generosity and magnanimity.

"Chen Wu!"

"Have!"

Chen Wu's voice was very loud, and Cen Danchu was very satisfied. Seeing his upright military posture and serious expression, he nodded to Chen Wu.

"Feng Lin!"

"Have!"

With the previous lesson in mind, Chen Wu leaned over and whispered, "Feng Lin is the deputy team leader."

The deputy team leader is equivalent to the third in command of the team. Cen Danchu thought to himself that the management of the third team would mainly depend on Chen Wu and Feng Lin. Chen Wu was also new, while Feng Lin had been in the third team for many years.

He couldn't help but take another look at Feng Lin. Seeing that he was nearly 40 years old, with a simple and honest face, like an honest farmer, he knew what was going on.

"Kuang Shi!"

"Have!"

Kuang Shi was the captain of the first squadron, and he was in charge of four standard soldiers. The name was very interesting, and Cen Danchu couldn't help but take a closer look at him. He was less than 30 years old, and his eyes were very aggressive. He was probably a young general with a strong sense of ambition.

"The first five will be awarded eight taels of silver, which will be allocated from my reward. Kuang Shi, you must distribute it carefully."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)