Chapter 11, Rectification of Military Affairs

  Throughout the afternoon, Wu Shaozhong did not make things difficult for these soldiers and only inspected some basic facilities.

  After inspecting the military uniforms, he also checked the soldiers' weapons. The rear guard had only eight Han-style rifles, two Manchester quick-firing guns and one fire lance, while the rest were all swords and long spears. Obviously, the weapons had not been used for a long time, and these soldiers did not pay attention to maintenance, with rust marks on the rifle bolts, and many of the sword and spear blades had become dull.

  He then demonstrated to the soldiers on the spot how to clean their guns, and afterwards required the soldiers to guarantee that these weapons were spotless when they re-inspected them tomorrow.

  Then, Wu Shaotong walked through all the barracks and found that the soldiers' living quarters were very simple and messy. He didn't plan to rush to ask the soldiers to fold their quilts into potato blocks, because for now, it seemed that the soldiers' bedding was not uniform. However, he passed down the message that tonight, each barrack would elect a squad leader, who would supervise the soldiers in his barrack to take turns being on duty and at least keep the place clean.

  He walked out of the last barrack and turned to Li Wenqi, who had been following him all along: "Let the soldiers living here move to other barracks, then clean up, from now on I will work here."

  Li Wenqi repeatedly replied: "Yes, sir."

  In the rest of the afternoon, Wu Shaotang had another talk with four team officers.

  After understanding, he knew that the daily official duties of Shanziying were only responsible for patrolling the surrounding towns in Xiguan, and taking turns to be on duty at Taipingmen Gate in Guangzhou City. Occasionally, they would also be dispatched to patrol around Xishuikou.

  The working method of the five sentries in Shanziying is generally to send one sentry to patrol the countryside for a month, and then guard the city gate for a month. This way, each sentry basically only needs to work for two months, and then can take three consecutive months off, which is still a relatively easy task.

  In February and March, the rear guard had just finished their shift, so starting from April, it was a three-month consecutive holiday. For this reason, most of the soldiers had just washed their uniforms yesterday, which is why Wu Shaotang saw all the soldiers not wearing military uniforms when he took office today.

  "I see," Wu Shaotong nodded slightly after hearing the introduction, "I was wrong to blame you. Let's stop here for today, and tell the soldiers later that they can wash their uniforms, no need to wear them tomorrow."

  The four team officers secretly let out a sigh of relief, it seemed that this superior was still quite reasonable. They weren't unfamiliar with some superiors who would rather die than lose face, when the superior was clearly in the wrong, they would instead become even more overbearing and push the responsibility onto their subordinates.

  Wu Shaotong paused for a moment, then said: "In addition, Wang Xiuzai, you work hard tonight to help me reorganize the team formation in the sentry. All soldiers without officers will be assigned to teams with officers, and from now on our rear guard only needs four full-strength teams."

  Wang Lifa was somewhat anxious and said, "However, Lord Wu... ...in this way, the empty silver quota will be reduced by half every month. Even if we can't eat the empty quota now, for you, Lord Wu, to leave more than 30 taels of white silver uncollected is really not worth it."

  Wu Shaotong smiled and said, "You're still thinking for me?"

  Wang Lifa laughed and said: "That's natural, that's natural..."

  Wu Shaotong said: "You help me sort it out, and in the future this set of rules will be implemented in our outpost. As long as I don't report to headquarters, we'll get the full amount of silver every month."

  Wang Lifa was stunned and exclaimed: "So that's how it is! Lord Wu really has a high move!"

  Wu Shaotong smiled calmly and said, "Alright, there's no need to say more nice words on the surface. I know that after I leave, you will definitely scold me behind my back. Because I withheld your welfare benefits for eating on the company's tab. However, it doesn't matter. Tomorrow, I'll give you some good news."

  The four officers looked at each other in dismay, not because they were concerned about the "good news" Wu Shaotong had mentioned, but because they felt that Wu Shaotong seemed to be able to see through their thoughts. More importantly, in their eyes, Wu Shaotong indeed gave off an impression of hiding a knife behind his smile, but upon closer thought, this "knife" didn't seem particularly sharp.

  In the evening, Wu Shaotong returned to the barracks from the camp. He already had a plan in his mind. The soldiers at the rear guard were lazy and of extremely low quality. Since the rear guard had three months off, why not take advantage of this gap to train them well?

  Training is not just for these soldiers, but more importantly, it reflects the value of this foreign military officer.

  He also remembered that Fuqi had mentioned the vacancy of the new army camp officer, regardless of whether this position was available to himself or not. A person must have some pursuit. He wanted to prove to his superiors that he, as a returned overseas military officer, could lead both the new and old armies impartially.

  The next morning, just as the sky was lightening up, Wu Shaotong arrived at the camp.

  The camp was naturally quiet at this time, and even the calls of insects and beasts could not be heard. The twelve rooms in the camp were all dull, and the large gates of each courtyard were all locked with a door bolt.

  Wu Shaotong went clockwise, kicking each door and shouting loudly: "Get up, all of you get up!"

  Those awakened soldiers were about to curse loudly, but hearing that the voice was Wu Shaotong, they had to swallow their grievances again and reluctantly got up from the earth bed.

  It took a full twenty minutes for the forty soldiers and four platoon leaders to gather in the open space in front of the camp, still rubbing their sleepy eyes. They were as sloppy as ever, with a loose formation that lacked even the most basic posture, looking like a group of idle onlookers gathered together.

  Li Wenqi yawned and asked Wu Shaotong: "Mr. Wu, what are you doing so early?"

  Wu Shaotong ignored Li Wenqi and solemnly announced to the crowd: "From now on, you must get up at 6 o'clock in the morning. If anyone disobeys, the first time will be punished with running five laps around the playground, the second time will be deducted a month's salary, and the third time will be expelled."

  Everyone was shocked and panicked after hearing the news, and they whispered to each other in private, what on earth is going on? Does this Mr. Wu deserve to torture them like this?

  Officer Wang Yun was apparently somewhat dissatisfied, and he said in a bad tone: "Lord Wu, our entire Shanzi Camp doesn't even have clocks, how would we know when it's six o'clock? Moreover, other sentries haven't risen so early either. It's not necessary."

  Wu Shaotong sneered: "No clocks? Well, then we'll use the rooster's crowing as a standard. Every day when the rooster crows for the first time, you all must get up for me!"

  Wang Yun said that the rooster's crowing is unbearable, sometimes it starts as early as 5 am. It's not worth getting up at 6 am, isn't this self-inflicted suffering?