Fu Shanhe

Chapter 57 The Cake Painting Master
Yangzhou City.

Since the task was assigned, Li Mu's life has become busy.

While training soldiers and strengthening the city defenses, they also had to devote energy to appeasing the gentry in the city.

Occasionally, it is necessary to punish those unruly young men.

As a result, his reputation in the city quickly polarized and he was nicknamed "The Iron-faced King of Hell".

I swear to God, what he did has nothing to do with the King of Hell.

At most, the criminals would be hung up, beaten, and then thrown into jail.

After a brief period of depression, Li Mu quickly accepted the reality.

Having a bad reputation has its advantages. Even the dandy boys from the capital would stay away from him when they see him.

Especially when it came to allocating troops, these people strongly requested not to serve under Li Mu, which made the other captains very depressed.

If I had known earlier that I could have beaten up these idiots, I could have gotten rid of these stupid teammates. They will definitely not be polite.

“Master Qian Hu, you are truly a genius in training soldiers!

In less than half a month, these three hundred people had already developed a basic form of training.

As long as you go through the baptism of war, you can become an elite. "

Lan Linjie praised.

He didn't know how to lead troops in battle, but he could sense whether his soldiers were capable of fighting.

The team before them was not only much stronger in physique, but also had a murderous aura about them.

Normally, this should only happen to veterans.

"Mr. Lan, you are wrong this time.

They are still far from being elite, and they look imposing because their members have been carefully selected.

Among the 300-man team before him, two-thirds were hunters from the mountains, and some were butchers.

Although killing animals cannot be compared to killing people, it is still seeing blood.

Now they have simply familiarized themselves with the discipline formation, and they seem to be in good shape, but they still have a long way to go before they can truly become combat-ready. "

Li Mu shook his head and said.

The smile on his lips still revealed his inner joy. Obviously, the personal guards in front of him were beyond his expectations.

These people were selected from more than 21,000 people. They can be said to be one in a hundred and have the qualities to become elite.

"Master, you are here!"

Hearing this address, Li Mu glared at the visitor fiercely and scolded him unhappily:
"Wang Lao Er, remember this: you must follow your position in the military camp!"

Although it was an open secret that military generals maintained servants, on the surface they were still the imperial court's army.

If calling someone "master" in the military camp gets out, it will have a bad impact.

Unless the team in front of him were all his servants, then it didn't matter what they were called.

All generals hope to have as many soldiers as possible, and Li Mu is no exception. However, he is only a thousand households, and it is too conspicuous to have 300 servants.

"Yes, Master Qianhu!"

Wang Lao Er replied seriously.

Although he preferred to call him Master to show their close status, since Li Mu had made the request, he would choose to comply.

Li Mu walked through the crowd and said slowly:
“I know many of you are reluctant to be recruited to defend the city, but now that you are here, you have to face reality.

On the battlefield, soldiers who live their lives in a muddle-headed way are always the ones who die the fastest.

If you want to survive on the battlefield, you must strengthen your training and become the best soldier.

The narrow road meets the brave to win!

Either kill all the enemies or be killed by them.

The fact that you were selected for the Guards proves that you are the best. Compared with others, you have the greatest chance of making achievements.

The Imperial Commissioner has ordered that a reward of two taels of silver will be given for killing a rebel soldier. I guarantee that the reward will be paid in full, without any deductions or using banknotes to make up the amount.

Anyone who can kill five or more enemy soldiers can choose to become my servant.

You can ask about the treatment of servants yourself. It is definitely better than what you have to earn at home.

Go out and be a decent person.

The village headman and constables in the countryside would never dare to bully you.

From now on, when your family pays taxes, no one will dare to use a big bucket for you.

When the government conscripts people for labor service, it will also provide preferential treatment.

If you encounter any injustice, I will give you justice.

......"

It’s speechless to think about it. The promise given to the soldiers was to become servants instead of promotion and wealth.

This is a byproduct of a deformed military system.

When serving in the Dayu Dynasty, not only was life difficult for the lower-level soldiers, but life for the grassroots officers was also very hard.

Officers at the level of small flags and general flags in the garrisons also need to farm the fields themselves and worry about food and clothing.

If the imperial court does not pay the soldiers, they will still have difficulty making ends meet when a major disaster strikes.

The days of recruiting soldiers were slightly better. After adding salary and various subsidies, the annual income was about 15 to 18 taels.

More soldiers were recruited on the Liaodong front, averaging nearly 2 taels per month, and the annual income was about 24 taels.

Unfortunately, these are only theoretical figures. The officers and soldiers of Dayu have never received full pay, and discounts are the norm.

When the military pay is withdrawn from the Ministry of Revenue, 30% will be lost. If 50% is actually distributed to the soldiers, it is because the generals are honest.

Only the soldiers in the capital garrison and border troops, which were the most valued by the court, could receive more than 60% of their military pay.

Many troops also have their food and uniform fees deducted, so they often work for nothing throughout the year.

Expecting to achieve merit and get promoted in order to escape a miserable fate is equally illusory.

In peacetime, only the border areas are the target of wars, and that is where the generals dominate. No matter how outstanding the performance of ordinary people is, it is difficult to cross the threshold of a hundred households.

Under such circumstances, it is impossible to expect people to voluntarily join the army.

Unless they have no other choice, no one would join the army.

The situation of household servants was better, because they were family members and their wages were usually guaranteed.

After entering the military camp, they usually serve as the commander's personal soldiers. Those with outstanding performance can also serve in the army.

However, when the commander left, the servants would also leave. The career development was completely tied to the commander.

From the excited expressions of the crowd, it can be seen that many people are interested.

Even if you had not heard of the Wucheng Bingmasi before, after entering the military camp, everyone knew that this was a good government office.

There was no other reason, it was simply because they had three dry meals a day and could eat meat occasionally. This was completely different from the army they had known before.

Even though they are hunters and butchers and deal with meat every day, it seems that they have a good life, but in fact their life is still very hard.

As the Dayu Dynasty has developed to this day, it has little else but a large population.

One or two butchers are enough in a market. It is impossible for all the children to follow in their father's footsteps.

The hunters were in an even worse situation, as the mountains and forests were occupied by the aristocratic families. If they wanted to go hunting in the mountains, they had to get permission from the families.

Even if there was some gain, the bulk of it was taken away by others, and they still had to bear taxes from the court.

Even without exploitation, the number of people that the mountains and forests can support is very limited.

According to the Law of Dayu, the only son was not subject to conscription.

Being sent here to serve in the army, his status in the family must not be very high, and there is no chance of him inheriting the family business.

(End of this chapter)