Chapter 43 Military Uniform

  （0043）

  The morning summary meeting ended, and Zhang Zhun was busy talking to the new warriors, understanding their basic situation, and boosting their morale. These new warriors were all brothers or younger brothers of the sacrificed and injured team members, or nephews and so on, who had a sense of revenge and hatred in their hearts, making it easy for them to integrate into the guard team. However, they also easily exhibited some radical behavior, requiring some psychological guidance.

  At noon, the barracks prepared a rich lunch. In fact, what is called "rich" is just enough pork to fill their stomachs. Pork after all needs to be bought with money, 50 cents per catty, if they eat freely, the guards can almost consume 100 catties of pork every day, which is exactly 5 taels of silver. Zhang Zhun's daily income now is tens of taels of silver, and there are many places that need to be used, so he must save a little.

  In fact, the warriors of the Imperial Guard were already very satisfied with such a diet. In the past, even during Chinese New Year, they didn't have such a good diet. Just being able to eat their fill was enough to attract people to join the army enthusiastically.

  In the afternoon, Zhang Zhun took some time off and returned to Yangjiatun to deal with some other matters.

  As a result, he had just entered Yangjiatun when he found that the original empty space in Yangjiatun was crowded with many young people and children listening to Lin Bin and others telling stories. At this time, Lin Bin seemed like a child king, full of spirit and energy, where could you see that he was a wounded soldier?

  "This Lin Bin is indeed a workaholic."

  Zhang Zhun secretly praised him in his heart.

  Such a warrior, it's really a pity to be injured.

  However, the East may not shine as brightly as the West, and Lin Bin may not be able to showcase his talents on the battlefield. But in the wounded soldiers' camp, he can take on a more important task. Through his words and actions, more warriors will join the guard team.

  "Captain."

  Lin Bin saw Zhang Zhun coming over and hastily stood up with his crutch to salute.

  "You've done a great job."

  Zhang Zhun was lavish with his own praise.

  Lin Bin's face lit up instantly and he said excitedly: "Thank you, Captain, for your trust!"

  Zhang nodded and briefly understood Lin Bin's work situation.

  After obtaining Zhang Zhun's authorization and encouragement, Lin Bin and the other four people immediately took action without any discouragement from their injuries. They started work under the name of "Wounded Return to Office". Their first priority was actually to tell stories, to tell the story of the Liu Shuigou Battle.

  When the villagers arrived at Liushu Gou, the battle had already ended. Therefore, the villagers did not know the specific details of the battle. However, they all wanted to know the detailed process of the battle and how Zhang Zhun led the guard team to defeat the invincible Black Panther. Unfortunately, the guard team was not open to outsiders, and they could not enter at all. Therefore, if they wanted to know the detailed process of the battle, they had to get the news from Lin Bin.

  As a former member of the guard, Lin Bin and others naturally boasted about the bravery of the guard, making it seem like each one was a reincarnation of Wu Song. In fact, after defeating Hei Bao, the first villain of the Floating Mountain Sect, the guard had every right to brag, and the villagers of Yang Family Village were also happy to hear such stories. It's just like how later generations would rather see Shun Liu being more powerful than the team leader, as it's always better for one's own people to be more formidable.

  At this time, the happiest ones were the children of Yangjia Village. As soon as Lin Bin sat down, the children would immediately gather around him. Either they wanted to listen to stories or ask him to teach them assassination skills. It seemed that Yangdaren's half-grown children were at a restless age and couldn't meet the standard for joining the guard team, but in their daily lives, they practiced with knives and guns without hesitation. For the vast majority of children, joining the guard team was their greatest wish. Now that they were still underage, they had to follow Lin Bin and others to learn well.

  "Captain, Renjiatun's side also wants us to go and tell them the story of the battle at Liushugou, I don't know if it's okay?" Lin Bin suddenly asked Zhang Zhun for instructions.

  "Renjiatun? Good thing! Should go!" Zhang Zhun immediately responded.

  This is a good opportunity to expand the propaganda of the Guard Corps and it must not be missed.

  Zhang Zhun didn't think that his casual idea would have such a big impact, and he couldn't help but admire himself. Since Ren Jiatun was interested, he believed that other troops would also be interested. He hesitated for a moment, then said to Lin Bin: "In the future, when you encounter similar situations, you can decide on your own without needing to ask me. The overall principle is to promote our guard team, promote the bravery of our soldiers, and promote our hatred towards the enemy. As long as it's beneficial to us, you can all go do it!"

  Lin Bin said excitedly: "I know! I will remember it firmly!"

  Zhang Zhun smiled and nodded, standing on the periphery, continuing to listen to Lin Bin tell stories to the children, showing his support for Lin Bin's work.

  It wasn't until he saw Yang Yingwa's figure that Zhang Zhun quietly left.

  Yang Yinghua is also very busy now, apart from managing the account book, there are many things to be busy with in the refining salt side, sometimes even eating has no time. Seeing Zhang Zhun walking straight towards herself, Yang Yinghua stopped her footsteps and said: "Yulin, are you looking for me?"

  Zhang nodded and said straightforwardly: "The women in the village, I don't know if they have time? I want to ask them to do something."

  "What's wrong? What do you want them to help you with?"

  Zhang Zhun said: "I'm going to make three sets of military uniforms for each member of the guard team!"

  At the summary meeting in the morning, Zhang Quan noticed a problem. The warriors of the guard team were wearing all kinds of clothes. Although they looked very serious and their waists were straight, their eyes were bright and sharp. But it always felt like something was missing. That's right, what was missing was military uniforms and flags. Without these two things, they couldn't be officially called an army.

  At the same time, at the summary meeting, some soldiers also mentioned that in intense battles, it was impossible to distinguish between friend and foe. Because everyone's clothes were different, and they were splattered with blood, it was impossible to identify them in a hurry. Unless they were soldiers from the same squad who knew each other very well. Otherwise, in the blink of an eye, it was not easy to judge whether someone was a friend or foe. In order to protect themselves, they often had to take the initiative and strike first, which could easily lead to friendly fire.

  In the battle of Liu Shu Gou, the warriors were relying on the trident to distinguish between friend and foe. This strange weapon was only possessed by the guards, and the enemy did not have it. Fortunately, due to this point, there were no major mistakes. However, in the future, if the types of weapons increase, it will be a bit difficult to identify friend and foe, and misinjury is inevitable.

  Zhang Zhun thought that the problem raised by the warriors was very critical and must be solved immediately. To fundamentally solve this problem, of course, is to have a unique military uniform. He calculated the income from refined salt and felt that making military uniforms was completely unproblematic. During the Ming dynasty, the main fabrics for civilians were cotton in winter and hemp in summer (cloth made from ramie). Cotton and hemp are not as difficult to obtain as iron materials, especially cotton is cheaper.

  Cotton cloth from Jiangnan was sold in large quantities in Shandong, with the price of each piece of cotton cloth being around 600-700 wen. One piece of cotton cloth is enough for a soldier to make three sets of military uniforms. Calculated at this rate, three sets of military uniforms per person would cost about 60 taels of silver. Adding labor costs, it would be around 100 taels or so. The total expenditure will not be very large.

  Military uniforms emphasize durability and wear resistance, so the selected fabric is definitely a coarse plain cloth (i.e. canvas). Among the coarse cloths, gray is the cheapest, made from grass ash dyeing, with each piece of coarse cloth priced at around 500 wen. At the same time, gray is the most concealable color and also the most resistant to dirt, considering the characteristics of the guard team, choosing gray is the best.

  Yang Yinghua listened to Zhang Zhun's explanation and nodded, saying: "I'll call Liu Auntie, Wang Auntie, Niu Auntie and the others over, let's discuss it?"

  "Good!" Zhang Zuonodded and said.

  In a short while, Yang Yinghua had called over several aunties. They were all skilled needlewomen from Yangjiatun and after listening to Zhang Zheng's explanation, they all indicated that it was no problem. Three hundred sets of military uniforms could be completed within five days as long as there were enough hands. Of course, the meaning of having enough hands basically meant mobilizing all the women in Yangjiatun.

  In fact, this is unlikely. The refined salt extraction process requires a lot of manpower. Currently, Yang Rui's refined salt extraction produces around 800 catties per day, and the labor force required is not small. In addition to men, strong women are also helping out.

  Yang Yinghua asked: "Is there anything special about this military uniform?"

  "Shirt shoulders should be wider for ease of movement. Sleeves should be narrower at the cuffs. Pants should be shorter, with a looser crotch for ease of movement. The belt should be easy to tie and untie. Most importantly, it should be simple, durable, and easy to wash."

  As for the specific style, he didn't have too many requirements.

  In later generations, military uniforms were machine-made with various logos and decorations, looking very beautiful. However, in the Ming Dynasty, these decorations were not important because when conditions permitted, people still wore armor. When the time came to put on armor, no matter how good-looking the uniform was, it would be covered up. Therefore, the uniform did not need to look good; the key was that it had to be sturdy and durable. Of course, if it could also take into account aesthetics when not wearing armor, that would be even more perfect.

  Since it's a military uniform, some necessary modifications are inevitable. The temperament of the soldiers must be revealed. On the two sleeves and two pant legs of the military uniform, some special signs need to be added for distinction. At the same time, a certain space should be reserved in the appropriate position for wearing officer badges and skill badges.