The prince is more stable

Chapter 450 Patrol Camp Merger
As a leader, you must be fair.

It was certainly reasonable for Zong Ze to pay the soldiers, but Zhao Xiaoqian could also understand Li Qingchen's feelings.

Zhao Xiaoqian wanted to curse.

During the investigation and confiscation of property of a number of criminal officials in Zhending Prefecture, Zhao Xiaoqian tried every possible means to withhold millions of taels of silver. Because of this matter, he still owes an explanation to the Bian Jing Government Affairs Hall.

This money is mainly used to develop people's livelihood, revitalize business, and support agriculture and sericulture.

As a result, Zong Ze spent more than 400,000 taels of silver. How can he make a living?
Zong Ze said innocently, "What you owe must be repaid. The soldiers are all hard-working men. If you owe them money, aren't you afraid that they will stab you in the back on the battlefield?"

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled. "So I affirm your approach and express my approval, but that doesn't stop me from agreeing with Li Qingchen's mother-swearing. I'm sure you can understand this conflicting feeling, right?"

Zong Ze laughed heartily: "Haha, fine, you can curse me if you want. I accept it. As long as it can strengthen my imperial guards and enhance the prestige of my country, I have no objection even if it means digging up my ancestors' graves."

As he spoke, Zong Ze showed an expression of admiration on his face and bowed seriously to Zhao Xiaoqian.

"Your Highness, the Prince of the County defeated 50,000 Liao troops, forcing them to stop herding their horses south. Our Song Dynasty has finally gained pride and dignity, regaining some of the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty. This is all thanks to Your Highness, the Prince of the County. You are the only one in this world who respects you."

Zong Ze became increasingly excited as he spoke: "I heard that the Dragon Guard Battalion has pushed the border of the Song Dynasty northward by fifty miles?"

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded: "That's right, we won the war, so of course we have to reap the benefits of the victory. Otherwise, what's the point of fighting?"

Zong Ze praised: "This is truly a great achievement in expanding our territory! Your Majesty is wise and will immediately promote you to the rank of Duke of a County. You truly deserve it!"

Zhao Xiaoqian said indifferently: "Fifty miles is nothing. It's not even enough to cover the interest. It's just a temporary garrison. We still have to advance north. The Dragon Guard Battalion is currently reorganizing its armaments. After recovering its strength and morale, we will continue the battle."

Zong Ze said excitedly, "Your Highness, the next time we go to war with the Liao Kingdom, I will be your vanguard."

Zhao Xiaoqian didn't answer directly, but just smiled calmly: "Let's see how you manage the army first. If those ten thousand imperial guards are so depressed by your leadership, then you won't be a vanguard, and even demoting you to feed the pigs would be an injustice to the pigs."

Zong Ze puffed out his chest as he rode his horse, and said proudly, "Your Highness, please proceed with your inspection. If you are not even slightly satisfied with those ten thousand imperial guards, I will be ashamed to stay in Zhending Prefecture. I will resign as soon as possible and return home to take care of my children."

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded, still holding some hope for the 10,000 imperial guards.

The Dragon Guard Camp lost more than 5,000 men in the battle and was in urgent need of reinforcements. If they petitioned Bian Jing for this, the process would be complicated and time-consuming.

The bloated bureaucracy, with the emperor and his ministers discussing and implementing the plan at every level, meant that it would take at least the second half of the year before additional troops could arrive in Bian Jing. Now that they were about to take action against the Feihu Bingmasi, Zhao Xiaoqian could not wait that long.

The most effective way now is to merge the 10,000 imperial guards into the Longwei Camp and concentrate all the military forces of Zhending Prefecture. From then on, the border troops of Zhending Prefecture will only have two parts, one is the imperial guards mainly composed of the Longwei Camp, and the other is the wing troops mainly composed of Shao Jing and Feng Sheng.

Zhao Xiaoqian personally inspected the area today with the purpose of seeing how Zong Ze was managing the 10,000 imperial guards. If they were useful, he would simply merge the imperial guards into the Dragon Guard Camp today.

…………

The camp in the western suburbs outside the city.

When Zhao Xiaoqian, Zong Ze and their companions were still a few hundred steps away from the camp, they heard the rumbling sound of war drums inside the camp.

Amid the rhythmic sound of war drums, the hurried footsteps of the soldiers could be vaguely heard. Yellow dust was stirred up all over the camp, and in the flying dust, the imperial guards rushed towards the training ground with their spears in hand.

Immediately afterwards, a group of armored generals walked out of the camp gate with their heads held high and chests puffed out, lined up outside the gate, and bowed to Zhao Xiaoqian.

Zhao Xiaoqian frowned and turned to look at Zong Ze: "What's going on? Zong Ze, if you try to fool me with some pomp and ceremony to welcome the leader, don't blame me for using military law against you on the spot."

Zong Ze hurriedly said, "I dare not. This is the morning hour, the time for breakfast. The soldiers have finished their breakfast and started their daily training. This is not specially prepared for the prince, but it is a daily routine."

Zhao Xiaoqian pointed at the generals waiting outside the camp gate and asked, "What about them? Do they also stand outside the camp gate and practice saluting in the open field every day?"

Zong Ze smiled bitterly and said, "This is basic courtesy for the Imperial Guards to the Prince, and it's not against military law, right? You are the commander-in-chief of the army. If you come to the camp in person, can't the generals come out to greet you?"

Zhao Xiaoqian thought about it and thought, okay, he was indeed a bit harsh. It was mainly because he was suspicious of the imperial guards that had once been under Zhang Lan's command, and he could not help but find fault with everything.

So Zhao Xiaoqian dismounted and walked towards the generals of the imperial guards.

As they approached, the generals shouted in unison: "This general pays homage to His Royal Highness the Prince."

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at the generals one by one, then nodded and said, "No need to greet each other, my comrades. Without further ado, let's go to the parade ground first."

After saying this, Zhao Xiaoqian walked into the gate first, and a group of generals followed silently behind him.

The generals were feeling uneasy at the moment. The young prince's face showed no emotion. He did not say anything when they met and went straight to the training ground. No one knew whether the result of his inspection of the camp today would be a happy or sad one.

On the parade grounds, ten thousand imperial guards, under the command of their respective generals, had already formed up and begun training. These ten thousand imperial guards were not equipped with firearms, but rather used the standard weapons commonly used by the Song Dynasty imperial guards, such as pikes, spears, broadswords, bows and crossbows.

In the absence of firearms, the Song Dynasty army's formation was mainly based on cold weapons, which was the traditional military formation of China since ancient times.

A complete army is a combination of multiple arms, and it is impossible to have a military formation with only a single weapon.

When officially attacking the enemy, the front of the army is the shield soldier formation, followed by the spear formation, then the bow and crossbow formation, the long sword and paddle formation, and so on. The layers are clearly defined and each has its own function.

The drills Zhao Xiaoqian witnessed were, however, individual weapon drills. While they practiced the movements and techniques, the commanders placed greater emphasis on the coordination of the soldiers within the phalanx, maintaining the uniformity and order of the movements.

Unlike the masters of the martial arts world who fight alone, when the army is fighting the enemy, personal bravery is often not worth mentioning, and personal heroism is even taboo.

The most important thing is that the soldiers advance and retreat in unison, strictly implement every military order, and even if they are asked to go forward and die, they will march forward in an orderly manner without hesitation.

Only an army that can do this can be considered a qualified army.

At this moment, the training ground was filled with murderous aura. Every time the soldiers made a move, it was accompanied by a deafening shout of killing, which was shocking.

The training ground was filled with yellow dust and the sound of war drums made the soldiers' shouts and cries even more filled with a suffocating sense of oppression. All living things in the world would be ruthlessly destroyed in front of this army.

Zhao Xiaoqian stood on the command platform, watching the soldiers' training quietly, and especially observing their spirit carefully.

Drills may not reveal the strengths of an army, but they can always reveal some of its shortcomings. When people observe the whole from the outside, any discordant and inconsistent movements will be particularly noticeable.

Just like the National Day military parade, if any soldier in the team makes a slight mistake in their movements, the entire team will give people a sense of disharmony, which cannot be hidden at all.

What Zhao Xiaoqian is paying attention to now is the overall movements of each square formation. After a long time, he will switch to another square formation to watch.

It was two full hours before Zhao Xiaoqian returned to the command platform until the horn sounded in the camp, marking the end of the soldiers' training for the day and the generals gathered the troops to give their respective speeches and summaries.

Seeing Zhao Xiaoqian's expressionless face, the generals on the stage fell silent and felt uneasy, not knowing whether the young prince was satisfied.

Zong Ze was, after all, an old acquaintance and a private friend of Zhao Xiaoqian. He was also quite satisfied with his recent military achievements. He was the only one who approached without fear and asked with a smile, "Is Your Highness satisfied?"

Zhao Xiaoqian glanced at him and said, "It's a decent army, but it's still far from being an 'elite' army."

After hearing Zhao Xiaoqian's evaluation, the generals behind him all breathed a sigh of relief.

The four words "average and decent" can be considered to have defined the nature of this imperial guard. It is neither good nor bad. For the generals, it has neither merits nor faults.

Zong Ze smiled wryly and said, "I've only been in charge of the army for about a month, and to have such a good performance is already quite good. I believe I have lived up to the trust of the prince."

Zhao Xiaoqian ignored him and turned to look at the generals. He asked, "How many times has this imperial army fought against the Liao army in the past? What were the results?"

The generals hesitated in silence. One brave general stepped forward and said, "When Zhang Lan was the commander of the Xiangdu, he mostly responded passively to the Liao army's attacks on the border. He rarely sent troops to resist. Even when he did, his troops were slow to respond. By the time he arrived, the Liao army had already withdrawn..."

"Two years ago, the Liao army was so rampant that they nearly reached Zhending City. Zhang Lan had no choice but to dispatch troops to fight the Liao army. In this battle, we lost over 3,000 Imperial Guard soldiers and killed less than 1,000 Liao soldiers. Later, the wing troops outflanked us, and the Liao army, sensing the threat, withdrew."

"With such a successful battle, Zhang Lan actually reported the victory to the court, claiming that the Zhending Imperial Guards had killed 3,000 Liao soldiers in battle. Zhang Lan was praised by the court, and his fellow generals were also praised or promoted."

A sneer appeared on Zhao Xiaoqian's lips: "With such a border general, how can Zhending Prefecture be at peace?"

"I will submit a petition to the court later to urge them to execute Zhang Lan and the others immediately. These people do not deserve to live."

Looking around at the generals, Zhao Xiaoqian said slowly, "I am now a commander, and I am different from Zhang Lan."

"I don't form cliques or factions. From generals to ordinary soldiers, everyone in the army is treated equally. Everything is based on strength and military achievements..."

"If you don't strive for excellence, don't blame others for the opportunities for promotion and wealth. Talented people are always given opportunities under my command. Those who are cowardly and lazy will be discovered sooner or later and then eliminated. Remember these words."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and looked around at everyone, saying, "I'm sure you've all heard about the rules of my Dragon Guard Battalion. That's right, when the Dragon Guard Battalion goes out to fight the enemy, all loot goes to the officers and soldiers, not the superiors. That's my rule."

"Now you are all under my command. The rules are the same for everyone. Whether you are promoted or not depends on your opportunities, but the opportunity to make a fortune is right in front of you. I am not afraid of others impeaching me for lax military discipline. I will take that charge. I am only worried that you are not capable enough and cannot grab anything."

Turning to look at Zong Ze, Zhao Xiaoqian said, "From today on, the Zhending Prefecture Imperial Guard will be incorporated into the Dragon Guard Camp. The entire army will be relocated to the Dragon Guard Camp's main camp, and the defense of Zhending City will be handed over to the local garrison."

The generals became agitated upon hearing this, and excitement appeared on everyone's face.

Zhao Xiaoqian said, "Don't be too happy too soon. Before you prove your strength, there's a difference between you and the Dragon Guard Battalion. We won't be equipping you with firearms for now. The next time you go into battle, let the results speak for themselves!"

(End of this chapter)