Water Margin begins as a captain in Yanggu County

Chapter 39: No matter how hard it takes, I will definitely help you!
There are military camps in Damingfu City, but the parade ground of Damingfu is outside the city. It is true that every inch of land in Damingfu City is valuable, and there are quite a few troops stationed in Damingfu City.

The garrison here is different from that of Dongping Prefecture. There are two types of official troops in the Song Dynasty. One is the imperial guards, which numbered over 800,000 at this time, and the other is the garrison troops, which were mostly disaster-stricken refugees or criminals, numbering also 400,000 to 500,000.

The garrison troops in Daming Prefecture were mostly imperial guards, with few garrison troops. The garrison troops in Dongping Prefecture were mostly garrison troops, with few imperial guards. If you go to Yanggu County, there are no imperial guards. Yun Liwan's troops are all garrison troops.

That is to say, the Imperial Guards were mainly stationed in important border towns and cities, and a large part of them were stationed around Tokyo Bianliang. Of course, the Imperial Guards would occasionally recruit personnel from the Xiang Army to supplement their ranks.

In addition to the forbidden areas, some places also had some militia, that is, militia, many of which also had official organizations.

When Su Wu came out of the government office, he received the reward offered by the Liangshan bandits on the spot. It was a lot, more than 1,800 strings of cash.

The military camp outside the city was not difficult to find. Su Wu and Wu Song only waited in the central military tent for a short time.

Before I saw the person, I heard a loud voice: "Who are you looking for?"

Looking at Suo Chao walking in, he was not very tall, even a little fat, with a round face, big ears, big mouth, big lips, and a beard.

In fact, at first glance, he does not look that ferocious, and his reckless nickname of "vanguard" does not quite fit.

Su Wu raised his hand and saluted: "I am Su Wu, the head of Yanggu County, and I am honored to meet Suo Tijie."

Suo Chao first took a look at them, then laughed heartily: "Haha... what a great man, and another great man. You two can both be considered skilled in martial arts, right?"

Su Wu said with a smile: "If the captain is eager to show his skills, why not today? I think the captain has seen the handwritten letter from the Secretary of State. The matter is urgent."

Suo Chao seemed to be in no hurry, and said with a smile: "I know a thing or two about Dong Ping. He is not someone who is easy to deal with. If he was a weakling, I would know that this matter would be difficult to handle. But seeing you two, I feel that this matter is not that difficult."

Suo Chao was really thinking about what to do about this matter, and he also knew that this matter was not that simple.

Su Wu understood and said immediately: "If a fight really breaks out, don't worry, my two brothers will help us, and the captain is strong and powerful, so Dong Ping will be no problem."

"I heard that you have killed a tiger by yourself. You also captured the Liangshan bandit that the Minister of the Central Secretariat hated so much. I think you are a brave man. I will go and recruit the troops now."

Suo Chao got up and went there, and heard the sound of drums in the parade ground.

Su Wu also went out to watch. It was also his first time to seriously watch the top combat power of the Song Dynasty, so he had to see the whole thing.

The first thing that shocked me was that the Song Dynasty's imperial guards had a very high armor rate. Just look at the two battalions of soldiers on the parade ground, about a thousand men, whether it was the hundred or so knights in the front or the hundreds of infantrymen in the back, all of them were wearing heavy armor.

Just look at Suo Chao issuing orders one after another, first calling for attendance, then instructing them to bring three days' worth of food, and then they can set off...

When they really take action, they are quick, they go as soon as they are told, with flags raised and fluttering in the strong wind.

Su Wu and Suo Chao were riding in front, so they asked, "Are all the soldiers in Daming Prefecture so elite?"

Suo Chao was straightforward and waved his hand: "In Daming Prefecture, there are more than 30,000 soldiers, and only a thousand of them can be called elite... Do you think everyone is like this? That's fine, but don't you know... Alas..."

Su Wu understood and asked again: "You can tell me, Chief Commander..."

"We are all warriors, so there is nothing wrong with it. In Daming Prefecture, food and clothing are expensive, but the soldiers earn little... If we rely on food and wages, how can we support our families? Regardless of the imperial guards, who doesn't want to do more work?"

What Suo Chao described is the general situation in the Song Dynasty army today.

"Can soldiers make a living in other ways?" Su Wu asked, somewhat knowing the answer.

This aspect of the Song Dynasty is somewhat strange. The bigger the city, the more soldiers there are, and the higher the cost of living. However, soldiers in big cities do not earn much more than soldiers in small places.

This has led to many problems. For example, when you are a soldier in Yanggu County, as long as you get enough salary, you can live a decent life.

But in the big cities, even if you have enough military pay, your life is worse than that of a dog.

Suo Chao then said, "How can we not find a job to make a living? Masons, stonemasons, kite and lantern making, batik making, wherever there is a job, there are soldiers everywhere. Do you know what the most popular job is?"

"I don't know..." Su Wu nodded. He was really a country boy coming to the city to see the world.

"It may shock you to hear this, but even among the many high-ranking officials and nobles, if any soldier is chosen to be the housekeeper, he will have no worries about food and drink."

"This... is this possible?" Su Wu was shocked. It would be fine for a regular soldier to do odd jobs, but he had to work as a security guard or servant?
How do we manage the military camps?
Suo Chao waved his hand: "Is it okay... isn't it okay? We can't really let people go hungry. If there is a mutiny in the army, how many heads will be chopped off?" "Then..." Su Wu turned his head and looked at the thousand people behind him.

"You see... it's a situation that someone is trying every possible way to maintain, that is, trying every possible way to get some money, some merit, and some rewards..."

Suo Chao spoke helplessly, and it was obvious that he was very resentful about the current situation.

Perhaps this is also a big reason why he got the name "Vanguard". Vanguard means that he is brave in fighting and he is eager to go wherever there is a battle.

Whether it was suppressing bandits, catching thieves, or even practicing martial arts, he was always eager to perform. Why? It was because the thousand or so people behind him were hard to sustain.

If you want your subordinates to be content to serve you as elite soldiers, weapons and equipment are only one of the factors. You have to really let them live a slightly better life so that they don't have to worry about three meals a day for their families, and they can also eat and drink enough and keep themselves strong.

From this perspective, Suo Chao's situation is really difficult.

Su Wu couldn't help but think of another place, where the cost of living was higher and there were more soldiers, so he asked: "Is it... more so in Tokyo?"

When he asked this question, Su Wu guessed the answer.

Suo Chao smiled: "Tokyo? You haven't been to Tokyo? Being a soldier in Tokyo was a good job in the early days, during the founding of the country, but now... compared with Damingfu, it is even worse."

"Alas..." Su Wu could only sigh. In such a great Song Dynasty, many things were not unfair...

Suo Chao suddenly said, "I've heard about it too..."

"What did the captain hear?" Su Wu asked.

"I heard that you mentioned my name to the Minister of the Central Secretariat. I have to thank you. This time, I must make achievements, and then I will be rewarded. It will be easy to get a promotion, and I will get money..."

Suo Chao said this, looked at Su Wu and bowed slightly.

No wonder Suo Chao had such a nice attitude when we first met. After all, it's a matter of returning a favor. You respect me, I respect you. You help me, and I help you.

Su Wu also responded: "Okay..."

Suo Chao asked again: "After all, you and I are colleagues now, right?"

This question...hit the point.

Su Wu did not hide it any more: "The prefect, Mr. Cheng, did promise..."

"It is you. You have the trust of your prefect, so you can be assigned such an important task. When Dong Ping leaves, Dongping Prefecture will have a good replacement. Your prefect is a disciple of Tong Shumi. In the Privy Council of Tokyo, Tong Shumi's words are final. This matter is not difficult to accomplish."

Suo Chao was indeed an official in a big city, so he had good news. As for the Privy Council, it was probably similar to the Central Military Commission of the Song Dynasty.

During the Song Dynasty, there was a huge difference between civil and military officials. Civil officials had to take exams, while military officials relied on promotion by civil officials.

"So... Suo Tixia is giving advice? He is teaching the methods of commanding the army?" Su Wu also had a sudden realization.

Suo Chao's few words were meant to teach Su Wu how to command the army, so that he could take into account the livelihoods of ordinary soldiers while maintaining some usable combat power.

In the Song Dynasty, there is no other way except what Suo Chao said.

“Haha…” Suo Chao laughed, his beard opening and closing as he smiled.

"Thank you, Suo Tixia." Su Wu bowed again.

"If I have any trouble in the future and come to you, you must come too!" Suo Chao said with a smile.

"I will help you even if it means going through fire and water!" Su Wu felt a friendship that seemed complicated but was actually very simple and direct.

"Okay! Once this is done, I'll drink with you until we're drunk!" Suo Chao said loudly and bowed again.

(Many brothers have raised the issue of official positions, so let me explain. In fact, it is simple. The official positions of the characters in Water Margin are very messy and do not conform to the regulations of the Song Dynasty. However, as long as they are settings in Water Margin and Jin Ping Mei, they are generally not changed. Fortunately, most of them are relatively low-level official positions. For the others, all use the regulations of the Song Dynasty. There is no conflict in writing them in this mixed way...)
(End of this chapter)