Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 293, Loyalty to the Emperor and Patriotism

"No, how can 100,000 troops be a match for Fang the traitor? We should immediately recruit 400,000 troops to defeat Fang the traitor and rescue His Majesty!"

Gao Jing immediately rejected Tian Tianrui's plan.

Upon hearing this, Tian Tianrui's eyes widened.

Recruit an army of 400,000!
Is that still a human being?
Even 400,000 blades of grass wouldn't be enough to recruit them in a short time!

Moreover, how can an army of 400,000 be commanded?
How will food and fodder be supplied?

What should be done with weapons and armor?

However, Gao Jing didn't care about any of that.

He had only one reason.

Because Fang Ze currently has an army of about 400,000, we also need an army of 400,000 to defeat Fang Ze!
Tian Tianrui tried to explain the difficulties to Gao Jing with great earnestness, but Gao Jing wouldn't listen. Instead, she looked at Tian Tianrui coldly and said:
"Lord Tian, ​​I have already secured sufficient provisions for you, yet you hesitate here. Are you doing this on purpose, hoping that the traitor Fang will kill His Majesty so that you can establish yourself as king in Henan?"

Tian Tianrui hurriedly replied, "I have absolutely no such intention!"

Gao Jing said, "You have no such intention? Then why are you making excuses? I have raised 189 million taels of silver, enough for each person to receive two taels of silver per month. This is more than enough to recruit an army of 400,000. Are you trying to embezzle it?"

Tian Tianrui was speechless and could not defend himself. He explained:
"Absolutely not, absolutely not. It's just that besides pay, the army also needs food, weapons, and supplies. So, 189 million taels of silver is only enough to sustain an army of 400,000 for less than two months. Once the money and supplies run out, the army will surely mutini!"

Gao Jing said, "As long as we capture the rebel city, our money and supplies will be taken care of. What is there to fear about a mutiny?"

Tian Tianrui asked, "But what if we can't capture the city?"

Gao Jing said, "Our army of 400,000 men is a righteous army fighting against an unjust army, and with His Majesty's divine protection, how could we possibly fail?"

Tian Tianrui was speechless: "This, this..."

Seeing that Tian Tianrui was still hesitant, Gao Jing suddenly drew his sword.

Tian Tianrui was startled. "What are you going to do!"

Gao Jing presented his sword, saying:

"If Lord Tian is unwilling to save His Majesty, then quickly cut off my head, so that I will not have to look north day and night, lamenting the suffering of His Majesty's imprisonment! Lord Tian can also use my head to exchange for the reward from the traitor Fang, and be granted the title of King of Henan. I believe that in this way Lord Tian will get what he wants!"

Tian Tianrui retreated repeatedly.

Gao Zhi's words instantly cornered him.

If they don't agree, it means they want to watch Da Xi perish and then establish themselves as king.

For someone like Tian Tianrui, his reputation is what he values ​​most, so how could he allow this situation to happen?

"thump!"

Tian Tianrui immediately knelt on the ground.

"Lord Gao, what are you saying! How could I dare to fail His Majesty's trust? I will follow your advice, Lord Gao, and recruit soldiers to punish the Fang traitors!"

Gao Jing was overjoyed and said:
"Good, very good! These are the loyal and virtuous ministers of my Great Xi!"

Soon, the order to recruit soldiers was relayed.

Tian Tianrui had six generals under his command.

One of them was Tian Tianrui's son, Tian Yannian. He was originally a fifth-rank civil official. After the fall of the capital, Tian Tianrui recruited a new army, and in order to make it easier to manage the army, his son automatically became one of the generals of the new army.

The other five were local Henan garrison commanders, prefectural garrison commanders, and so on.

These five people are named Xiao Rang, Dai Qing, Yan Zongnan, Le He, and Qian Yanyan.

Xiao Rang was from Jinling, but his family was wiped out by Feng Tai.

Qian Yanyan is from Changsha and comes from a prominent family.

The other three are all from local Henan clans.

Gao Jing had already ascertained the preferences and personalities of these men. Apart from Tian Yannian, who was somewhat upright, the rest were normal Da Xi officials. So, the day before the recruitment, Gao Jing invited them over.

After having some fun, Gao Jing discussed things with everyone.

The conditions for recruiting soldiers were two taels of silver per person, of which five hundred coins were for food and pay, and an additional three months' worth of food and pay as a settlement allowance, which was one thousand five hundred coins, totaling exactly two taels of silver.

Gao Jing, however, felt that this was too much...

Soon, the day for recruiting soldiers arrived.

The notice still says two taels of silver.

This was a considerable sum, especially since Henan had just implemented a tax to quell banditry, making life very difficult for the people. As a result, many chose to enlist in the army. Song Tiegen was one of them.

His family was not poor; they had six acres of land to cultivate and three mud houses. He lived with his father, his mother, and his younger sister.

The grain harvested from the fields was enough to feed them, and with their parents doing odd jobs during the off-season, they could eat meat during festivals. They were definitely from the wealthy peasant class.

Two years ago, after he grew up, his father started planning to find him a wife.

Then, the new policy was issued.

The food at home suddenly became insufficient.

Then came the corvée labor; his father took provisions to the prefectural city to repair the academy.

The repairs have been ongoing for six months, but the person hasn't returned.

A fellow villager who had returned told him that his father had injured his leg while building the academy, and after three days of rest, he hadn't recovered. So the foreman threw him into the woods behind the mountain...

What can Tie Gen do?
Go get revenge?
He didn't even know the name of the foreman.

He still has his elderly mother and younger sister to support.

After that, all sorts of exorbitant taxes and levies increased.

Snow disaster, drought disaster, flood disaster.

Tiegen and his mother worked tirelessly, their backs bent and their bodies worn out, but the grain was becoming increasingly scarce and their money increasingly insufficient.

Is it because I didn't try hard enough?

Or are you not hardworking enough?

Last year, I had to sell an acre of land to pay taxes.

My mother got sick from overwork this year, and we sold two acres of land to buy medicine.

After finally recovering from his illness, Gao Jing arrived and sold another acre of land to pay the five taels of silver donated to quell the bandits.

With only two acres left, after deducting taxes, there's not enough food for the three of us.

Just then, I saw the recruitment notice. I saw that the army pay was two taels of silver, and the army also provided meals. This saved me the food rations for one person. I sent the pay home. With 500 coins and two acres of land, my mother and sister should be able to live a stable life.

With that in mind, Tie Gen decided to sign up.

He gave his place of origin, name, and home address, and then received his military uniform.

A somewhat worn gray robe with a blue collar, a pair of cloth shoes, and no trousers.

But this is acceptable.

Tie Gen changed into his military uniform with satisfaction.

The weapons haven't been used yet; perhaps they will be used later?
Tiegen stood expectantly with the others, ready to receive their military pay.

A man who looked like an officer appeared before them. He was wearing metal armor, not very tall, but very strong, with a round belly—a typical "general's belly."

In modern times, someone with this body type would have difficulty even finding a partner.

But in this era, this is a symbol of power.

You can't expect someone who looks pale and is skin and bones to be invincible on the battlefield. You need flesh to have strength and endurance.

The officer looked at Tiegen and the others and spoke at length. Some of the words were too profound for Tiegen to understand, but he understood some simple concepts like loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and could guess the general meaning.

Then, it's time for the sound that everyone's been waiting for.

Tiegen opened his eyes wide and watched as a row of veterans walked over carrying a plate covered with a red cloth.

The veteran took out the coins wrapped in red paper and distributed them to everyone.

Tiegen eagerly accepted the pay; it was quite heavy!

He only realized something was wrong after he opened it.

It doesn't contain silver, it contains copper coins.

If it's a copper coin, then the weight is wrong!
Tie Gen counted them one by one: one, two, three... four hundred and ninety-nine, five hundred... that's it.

Only five hundred!
Tie Gen looked around and found that the soldiers around him were all like him.

(End of this chapter)