Chapter 29: The Bottom of the Class

  Gu Zhenhua has experience running a business and has a set of methods for controlling employees. The most important thing is to give employees hope, the better they work, the more they get, once the momentum of people's hard work is ignited, the effect is quite astonishing.

  At this time, Gu Zhenhua put the business operation on these soldiers, and the land and silver were shares. A big cake was placed there. If you want to eat it, you have to give your life to Gu Zhenhua, and tie yourself to his war chariot.

  Wealth, honor, power, and affection all have their times of decay, but interest alone is immortal.

  Gu Zhenhua's strategy was the most beneficial to the soldiers, and naturally gained everyone's support. However, Gu Zhenhua also knew that just having this momentum was not enough, and it was necessary to establish rules. With rules, people could be united and have combat effectiveness.

  The soldiers under his command had brought over the five fugitive thieves, and they were now standing in the middle of the threshing floor. The seven chests of treasure that they had stolen were also brought over and opened before everyone's eyes. Under the starry moonlight, a kaleidoscope of colors was revealed.

  Gulp! Many soldiers couldn't help but swallow their saliva, and then their eyes were fixed on these few people. According to Gu Zhenhua's words, this money was supposed to be divided among everyone, but it was actually snatched away by these few bastards. They all gritted their teeth and glared with anger.

  "Gentlemen, these five men sneaked into the warehouse and stole these treasures. What does everyone think should be done?"

  "Kill him!"

  "That's right, kill him."

  "This kind of scum shouldn't be alive!"

  ……

  The soldiers shouted and killed, these guys were also scared, the second brother in charge was flustered, using his knee as a foot, and crawled to Gu Zhenhua's face in a few steps, crying bitterly.

  "Master Gu, I've been blinded by greed. Please be magnanimous and give me a way out." As he spoke, he kept kowtowing to the ground.

  At this time, Ma San also regretfully said: "Master Gu, the villain just heard your words, great benevolence and righteousness, always thinking of brothers everywhere. The villain also agrees with your arrangement, as long as you give the villain an opportunity, willing to work hard like a horse, these more than 100 catties are yours!"

  Several others also wailed and cried in pain, regretting their actions. Gu Zhenhua didn't bother with them, but instead smiled as he looked at Gao Hongtu.

  "General Gao, these five men are all from your subordinates, what opinions you have, feel free to speak."

  "This..." Gao Hongtu didn't know how to respond, and after a long pause, he said: "These several losers deserve to die, I have no opinion on how to deal with them. But at present, it's a time when we need people, can't we give them a chance to redeem themselves by making amends?"

  "The little man is willing to take the blame and make amends, the little man is willing!" Ma San led the way in kowtowing to Gu Zhenhua, his head thudding against the ground with a loud bang, and soon became purple and swollen.

  Gu Zhenhua smiled slightly: "Even if there are three to five more people, it won't change the comparison with Dashun Army. On the contrary, if there are three to five unreliable traitors who leak information, everyone will be on a dead-end road. These five must die and will not be spared. From now on, everyone should supervise each other. Anyone who steals goods, betrays brothers, or disobeys orders will be killed without pardon!"

  Gu Zhenhua said bluntly, waving his hand and letting the soldiers drag them out of the village.

  "Older brother Gao, we've followed you for many years, please say something to us." Ma San shouted loudly, the others also wailed and cried, begging Gao Hongtu to save their lives.

  Gao Hongtu's face was also slightly flushed at this time, and Gu Zhenhua openly stripped him of his dignity, making Gao Hongtu somewhat unbearable. In terms of official position, Gao Hongtu was a Beijing camp commander, a regular military general. As for Gu Zhenhua, he was a nobody who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, surrounded by a group of family guards and escorts, and couldn't compare to Gao Hongtu at all.

  But Gu Zhenhua led them in a rush out of the capital, and his previous actions had also completely won over the hearts of the soldiers. Gao Hongtu did not dare to resist, so he could only lower his head and remain silent.

  His every move was being watched by Gu Zhenhua, who was actually trying to probe him. Among these people, about half were guards from the Chengguo Gongfu, which were Gu Zhenhua's men. There were also over a hundred soldiers from the Jingying camp, who were under Gao Hongtu's command.

  That is to say, Gao Hongtu is the second strongest after Gu Zhenhua. In a team, there can only be one leader, especially now, Gu Zhenhua must have absolute authority, let everyone present know that Gu Zhenhua has the final decision-making power, and everyone must listen to him, including Gao Hongtu!

  As expected, Gao Hongtu chose to lower his head. The soldiers present looked at Gu Zhenhua with a slightly different gaze.

  Gu Zhenhua strode out of the village, took a glance at the five people who were about to be punished, and said: "You five stole goods and wanted to escape on your own. The crime is unforgivable. However, considering that we all escaped from the capital together, I will give each household 500 taels of silver. How they can make do with it depends on their own luck!"

  50 kilograms!

  An ox for plowing is only worth about 10-20 taels, with 500 taels you can buy several dozen mu of land and another ox, a whole family can live comfortably.

  Upon hearing Gu Zhenhua's words, the youngest Kui'er knelt down on the ground with a thud: "Master Gu, I'm thanking you on behalf of my mother. I won't die unjustly. If there's an afterlife, I'll follow you to be a soldier and become a person!"

  Kui Zi finished speaking, and with a loud thud, her forehead began to bleed dark red blood. Gu Zhenhua's footsteps also paused slightly before he turned around and left without looking back. Tang Zhankang raised his knife high in the air, and with a swift motion, the head rolled off and fell to the ground.

  In an instant, the five bloody heads thoroughly intimidated the soldiers present, as the saying goes, "Mercy cannot be used to control the army." Through this bloody example, the soldiers both respected and feared Gu Zhenhua.

  After the soldiers on this side had thoroughly dealt with them, Gu Zhenhua walked to the side of the prince and Kou Gui, and saluted the prince.

  "Your Highness, my brothers are all loyal and brave warriors. Your safety is in everyone's hands. As the saying goes, 'if the name is not correct, the words will not be smooth', I dare to request that the Crown Prince reward the meritorious generals, and boost the morale of the troops!"

  Zhu Ciwen did not expect Gu Zhenhua to make such a request, and was taken aback for a moment. He hesitated before saying: "Mr. Gu, the emperor's life or death is still uncertain, how can I casually grant rewards? Moreover, there is no imperial edict or seal, so how can we appoint officials?"

  "Your Highness, as the saying goes, 'in times of urgency, one must take extraordinary measures.' After granting official titles, it will be easier to manage and also boost morale. As for the seals and other tokens, they are mere formalities; we can create them later when we escape danger."

  After Gu Zhenhua finished speaking, Zhu Ciyan was still hesitant. This young master who had been raised in luxury suddenly lost his country and family, and his loved ones were scattered. Not collapsing already showed great strength, but in reality, he didn't have the ability to make decisions.

  The old eunuch Kou Gui suddenly said, "Your Highness, I think we should follow Mr. Gu's suggestion and grant these generals official positions, especially Mr. Gu, who has gone through thick and thin with Your Highness; such a meritorious minister cannot be left unrewarded."

  "What official post should be given to Otomo, then?"

  "Your Highness, I think this reward is too small, otherwise it would be insufficient to commend his merits."

  Zhu Cibei didn't have any idea either, so he consulted with Kou Gui and then cautiously walked onto the threshing floor. At this time, Gu Zhenhua and the soldiers had already formed a neat queue. Having just received silver and land, they were now able to become officials, and these soldiers were especially joyful.

  Zhu Ciwen stood in the middle, clearing his throat and said: "Gu Aiqing saved the emperor from water and fire, meritorious service to the country, worthy of praise. Promoted to Viscount Zhongyong, specially promoted to First Rank Guanglu Dafu, Left Pillar of the State, Taizi Taibao, Longhu General, Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army, Left Commander-in-Chief of the Middle Army, and Jizhou General."

  Zhu Ciwen recited a long string, also reflecting the complexity of the Ming dynasty's official system. Zhongyongbo is a noble title, Guanglu Daifu is a scattered rank, Zuozhuguo is a meritorious position, and only Jizhen Zongbing is considered a substantive official position, but Gu Zhenhua can't manage it either.

  However, with this string, it also reflects Gu Zhenhua's identity. To know that Wu Sangui had just obtained the title of Pingxi Earl at that time, and he was still half a head shorter than Gu Zhenhua.

  After Gu Zhenhua was sealed, others also had corresponding official positions. Gao Hongtu was promoted to General, Sun Cheng and others got the title of Deputy General, Xie Bin became the Commander-in-Chief of the Brocade Guard, and even small soldiers got white households, and the like of Tongqi's promises.

  Suddenly, everyone was promoted, and Gu Zhenhua also took advantage of this reward to thoroughly break down the boundaries between his subordinates. There were no longer any distinctions between guards, capital camp soldiers, and imperial palace guards; they were all just his Dragon and Tiger General's subordinates.

  This night was not long, but Gu Zhenhua completed a magnificent transformation. He used interests and the name of justice to thoroughly control these soldiers. Although there were only over 300 people, the foundation for his rise had already been laid.

  The next day, Gu Zhenhua was planning his next move when Gao Hongtu suddenly brought scouts to find him.

  "Master, something terrible has happened! Li Yan is leading his men to attack!"