Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

The midday sun baked the central barracks of the 12th Regiment like an inverted steamer, and the bluestone on the roof seemed to soften slightly from the heat, emitting a smell of dust.

The tent flap at the entrance of the barracks was half-rolled up, and the wind sneaked in through the gaps, bringing only a wave of heat, without any coolness.

There were already more than ten people sitting in the room, lined up on both sides, their armor gleaming dimly in the yellowish light.

Zhuque sat upright in a chair to the right of the main seat at the commander's desk, dressed in full armor with a long sword at his waist.

Ma Guocheng sat to his left, short, stocky, and dark-skinned, with a somber expression, like a stone tanned by the sun, his lips pursed and silent.

The commanders of the twelve battalions sat in order, including the newly appointed commander of the Central Army and the Fenwu Battalion, Marquis Zhongjing, Shi Ding.

You Shiyong, a first-class earl who was retained in the capital after his victory in the northwest, was a commander of the Daring and Brave Battalion.

Four people were transferred back from Liaodong.

Feng Ziying, acting commander of the Guoyong Battalion and third-class earl.

Han Qi, acting commander of the Xiaoyong Battalion and third-class earl.

General of the Drum and Brave Battalion, Marquis Xiaokang, Second-Class Earl.

Liu Fang, commander of the Liwei Battalion and second-class earl.

In addition, three members of the founding military family who originally served in the Beijing Garrison.

Xie Jing, commander of the Shenwei Camp and heir to the title of Second-Class Baron of the Marquis of Dingcheng.

Shi Guangzhu, the commander of Yangwei Camp and the first-class general of the Duke of Shanguo's mansion.

Jiang Zining, commander of Zhenwei Camp and heir apparent of the Marquis of Pingyuan's first-class baron.

As for the Yaowu Camp, Lianwu Camp, and Xianwu Camp, they were respectively led by Jia Jing, Zhu Que, and Ma Guocheng.

At this moment, under the command of Zhuque, the twelve battalion commanders gathered in the central barracks, surrounded by several personal guards!

Everyone's faces were solemn and no one spoke. However, it was clear that Shi Guangzhu and Jiang Zining seemed to be showing some dissatisfaction with Zhuque.

As time passed, and everyone grew somewhat restless, Zhuque, with a cold expression and clear gaze, swept over Jiang Zining and Shi Guangzhu sitting below, and said in a deep voice:

"General Shi, General Jiang, the Yangwei Battalion and Zhenwei Battalion have not conducted drills once in three days, and you two have even openly led your soldiers to gamble in the camp."

"Five games in three days, with total gambling funds exceeding ten thousand taels. The military judge in the camp issued several warnings, which were ignored, and he was instead beaten by you all. Is this true?"

The 180,000 troops of the Twelfth Battalion were formed by merging the Ba Shang Camp and the Jing Camp.

The total number of troops brought back from the northwest and the Ba Shang camp was over 100,000, while the Beijing garrison still had about 80,000 men after the rebellion was quelled.

After Zhuque purged these troops and selected the best, he kept 180,000 regular soldiers and used the rest as auxiliary troops.

The 80,000 troops of the Beijing Garrison were mainly distributed among the original Beijing Garrison officers Xie Jing, Shi Guangzhu, and Jiang Zining.

Because Feng Tang and Han Wu were originally deputy military governors of the Beijing garrison, some of the Beijing garrison soldiers were assigned to Feng Ziying and Han Qi's camps.

The main elite troops of Ba Shang Camp were led by Zhu Que, Ma Guocheng, You Shiyong and others.

Jia Jing's Yaowu Camp consisted mostly of meritorious soldiers and elite Xuanjia cavalry brought back from the Northwest.

In recent days, Zhuque has been ordered to conduct reorganization and training for the 12th Regiment Battalion, including enforcing strict military discipline and intensifying training.

At the same time, they secretly had people observe the situation of the former officers and soldiers of the Beijing Garrison.

After several close investigations, Zhuque discovered that although Prince Teng had reorganized the Beijing garrison for several months, the effect was limited.

Because Wang Ziteng's main tasks were to investigate empty salaries, eliminate redundant staff, prohibit the occupation of labor service, and severely punish corruption.

These four measures did indeed achieve a major overhaul of the lower-ranking soldiers, and the practice of paying salaries without actual personnel was basically eliminated. However, they did not effectively purge the middle and upper-ranking officers and officers, nor did they promote the strong and demote the mediocre.

A few officers without connections were either dismissed or severely punished as examples to establish authority, but the corrupt military officers with powerful backers and deep-rooted connections from the founding line remained untouched.

This has resulted in a large number of mediocre people with connections and backgrounds but no ability still being among the senior officers and soldiers of the Beijing Garrison, and some of the bad practices in the Beijing Garrison have not been thoroughly changed.

Jiang Zining and Shi Guangzhu are among the best.

Even after the two men rose to the rank of battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the 12th Regiment thanks to the legacy of their ancestors, they still couldn't shake off their old habits.

One of them, relying on his younger sister who was a concubine in the palace, and the other, relying on his marriage to the Prince of Nan'an, acted arrogantly and domineeringly in the camp.

These days, the two of them have not taken Zhuque, the deputy military governor, seriously at all. They were well-behaved for less than ten days before they reverted to their old ways.

A few days ago, unable to bear the hardship of daily drills, he took it upon himself to stop the camp's training and started gambling.

Xie Jing, a battalion commander of Shenwei Battalion, was also very close to the two.

Although he did not participate in gambling or violate discipline, he has been carrying out Zhuque's military orders with a discount these days.

At this moment, Shi Guangzhu, dressed in a dark brocade armor, with a fine mutton-fat jade pendant hanging at his waist and a jade thumb ring on his finger, faced Zhuque's questioning.

He leaned back in his chair, his face stiffening for a moment before he glanced at Zhuque with disdain and said lazily:

"So what if we have it?"

Jiang Zining, equally unfazed, replied casually:

"The training arrangements in the camp are unreasonable and too intense. In the past, when we were in the Beijing camp, we had to train every five days. Even after Wang Ziteng became the military governor, he only changed it to training every three days."

"But now they're training from morning till night every day, and the men under our command are practically ruining their bodies. It's only natural for them to rest for a few days! We're doing this for the morale of the troops, what's wrong with that?"

Zhuque's face was ashen, and he said coldly:

"Daily drills and the prohibition against gambling are strict rules in the camp. You have openly disobeyed them, even assaulting the military judge. Don't you know that military law is merciless?"

Upon hearing Zhuque mention military law, Shi Guangzhu's face instantly darkened. He looked up at the imposing Zhuque above him, his gaze carrying a hint of sinister intent.

"What rules and regulations? Who are you trying to fool?"

"All I know is that soldiers should rest when they're tired; that's called caring for them! That's how we always did it back in the Beijing garrison. As for military law, hmph... who are you trying to scare?"

Shi Guangzhu snorted coldly, his eyes filled with contempt for Zhuque!

His family is a noble family, and they have been wealthy for over a hundred years. They look down on Zhuque and other lowly people who come from humble backgrounds as family retainers!

If it weren't for a stroke of luck in getting close to the Duke of Jing and thus accumulating some military merits to be ennobled, I wouldn't have the opportunity to issue orders and act like a tyrant here!

It's just a petty person who's gotten ahead and still dares to put on airs!

Zhuque's expression turned cold, a glint of cold light flashing in her eyes, and she shouted sharply:

"All the regulations in the camp were personally drafted by the General, and no one may violate them."

"I already read this aloud in public at the drill ground several days ago. Are you pretending to be confused to disobey orders?"

Shi Guangzhu couldn't help but sneer:

"You think you can just disobey orders like that? Who do you think you are?"

Zhuque slammed his hand on the table and rose to his feet, his voice booming like a bell echoing throughout the barracks, saying:

"How dare you! I am under the command of the Grand General and have full authority over military affairs within the camp. Do you think I cannot deal with you, showing such disrespect to your superiors?"