Invincible

  Liu Jiao hesitated for a moment, and Du Lin continued to say: "Jiedushi, if there is no punishment for the crime, how will you convince the masses?" Wu Ge also said: "Sir, you can't be soft-hearted, quickly push Wang An out of the gate and execute him." Jiang Cai said: "Sir, I am the military commander of the defensive beacon tower, and I am willing to take all the blame." Wang An was very moved and said to Jiang Cai: "Brother, don't ruin your future because of me." Jiang Cai smiled, and Du Lu said: "Wang brother, what's the point of having a future if it can't be exchanged for a brother's life? If this official position can be used to save a brother's life, then I won't take it."

  Liu Jiao hesitated for a moment and said: "Since you are all willing to take responsibility for Wang An's crime, I will remove your positions as Qianfu Lang and reappoint you as Baifu Lang. Wang An has made military achievements and will also be promoted to Baifu Lang, but Wang An's behavior is not good, and he should be punished with a stick." Liu Jiao thought to herself: "Wang An, you actually dared to hit my eunuch and flirt with me. The most hateful thing is that you said I'm ugly. Who says I'm ugly? You're the one who's going to pay for your actions, and I'll personally whip you later."

  "Sir, Wang An's actions were under my instruction. If he is to be punished, I am willing to take half the blame," Jiang Cai hastily said. Du Lu said, "Brother Jiang, you're being too much! Don't snatch that share from me!" Liu Jiao Jiao angrily said, "Today's assembly is dismissed!" and with a hateful glance at Wang An, she stormed out of the camp.

  Wang An came over to Jiang Cai and expressed his gratitude, saying: "Thank you, brothers. If it weren't for you, I might not be alive today." Jiang Cai said: "What is brotherhood? Sharing good fortune and sharing adversity, that's what brotherhood is." Du Lu said: "Wang brother, if it weren't for you, we would have died long ago. Let's skip the formalities."

  Liu JiaoJiao returned to her own camp in anger, stomping her foot in a way that was indescribably beautiful and lovely. Liu JiaoJiao said: "Despicable Wang An, I won't let you off", a personal soldier came in and said to her: "General, Wu Guo requests an audience". Liu JiaoJiao said: "What does he want? Tell him to get out", the guard quickly walked out, after a while the personal soldier came in again and said: "General, Du Lin requests an audience". Liu JiaoJiao said: "Let him come in", after all Du Lin was the defensive envoy, Liu JiaoJiao couldn't afford to offend him.

  Dulin came in and chatted with Liu Jiao for a while before getting to the point, saying: "Sir, are you Wang An?" Liu Jiao said: "How did you know?" After speaking, she realized that she had misspoken, thinking to herself: "In terms of cunning and strategy, I am indeed no match for these old foxes." Dulin said: "Sir, I have a plan that can help you vent your anger." Liu Jiao responded with a faint nod.

  Du Lin didn't care whether Liu Jiao Jiao was willing to listen or not, and said to her: "Now we have assembled a large number of new soldiers from within the pass. We will let Wang An serve as their centurion. These new soldiers are untrained and of poor quality in all aspects. At that time, you can find an excuse to punish him at will, such as being unkempt, unfamiliar with battle formations, or having poor combat effectiveness." Liu Jiao Jiao's eyes suddenly lit up.

  Liu Jiao found Wang An and said to him, "Since you have made contributions this time, I will send you to the new army's thousand-man team as the hundred-man commander of the fifth hundred-man team."

  Wang An replied firmly, "I won't go."

  Liu Jiao was stunned. She had never seen anyone dare to disobey her orders before. She pointed at Wang An and was so angry that she couldn't speak.

  Wang An said, "I have fought for the country, forgetting my life and death. But as a result, I was wronged by you and suffered from your difficulties. Your actions will make all the soldiers feel cold in their hearts. You are narrow-minded and not suitable to be a military leader. I am willing to give up my merits in exchange for a chance to leave the border!"

  Wang An now really missed his father and wondered how he was doing at home. He wanted to go back and take care of him.

  Liu Jiao shook her head and said, "How dare you speak to your superior like that? Just because of this, I can behead you."

  Wang An replied, "I have died several times before, so I am not afraid of death anymore. My head is here, come and take it anytime."

  Liu Jiao pointed at Wang An but couldn't say a word.

  Liu Jiao said: "You can go, let me whip you once and vent my anger", Wang An immediately shook his head and said: "No way, I'd rather be beheaded than be whipped by a vicious woman". The two stared at each other with wide eyes. At this time, the guard came in and said: "Sir, Jiang Cai and others are asking to see you". Liu Jiao quickly adjusted her state and said: "Let them come in".

  Here is the translation:

  After Jiang Cai and others entered, they finished their grand bows and Jiang Cai said: "Sir, we came today to apologize. The other day, we mistakenly took you for a jiān (a low-ranking official), and we have wronged you greatly." Jiang Cai thought to himself that they had actually hit the head of this jiedushi (military governor) countless times. As the saying goes, "it's better to offend a minor official than a woman". This jiedushi must be holding a grudge against them, and their future days would not be easy.

  Liu Jiao Jiao still had some resentment in her heart, but she no longer hated them. She said magnanimously: "I don't blame those who are ignorant. I treat all of you as my elder brothers, how could I blame you?"

  Jiang Cai and others were immediately overjoyed and repeatedly said: "We dare not, we dare not". They didn't dare to be considered the jiedushi's elder brother, but when the jiedushi spoke like this, they felt a warmth in their hearts.

  Wang An also chimed in: "Thank you, sister jiedushi, for being magnanimous and not holding it against us. Please be even more generous and allow me to retire from my post." Wang An's words made Liu Jiao Jiao almost jump up with anger, thinking: "Your face is really thick-skinned! I was just being polite to Jiang and the others, what are you? Just a sè wolf (a contemptuous term for someone who only thinks of themselves)!"

  Liu Jiao Jiao forced out a smile and said: "How can that be? I need all of your help here. Not one of you can leave. Wang An, if you want to leave, it's fine, but you must agree to my previous conditions."

  "Sister," Wang An continued, "I'm also reluctant to part with you. You can keep me if you want, but you must agree to a few conditions." Liu Jiao thought about kicking Wang An hard with her boots and thought to herself: Your face is really thick-skinned. I treated Brother Jiang like a brother, how could I treat you, this pervert, as a brother? Having a pervert for a brother would be extremely humiliating.

  Wang An said, "Sister ah" was so affectionate that Liu Jiao's whole body broke out in goosebumps. Wang An continued, "You must equip my troops with the best weapons and armor, and also issue full military pay." Liu Jiao didn't care what he said, hastily agreeing, hoping to quickly send him away.

  "Sister," said Wang An, "our army has just been formed and needs a large sum of money. Just give us a few million taels of silver." Liu Jiao heard him call her sister and was about to get angry again, saying "The annual salary for our hundreds of thousands of troops is only 3 million taels of silver, you want several million taels of silver for just a hundred people, don't be too excessive".

  "Little sister," Wang An called out more intimately, continuing to say: "You don't know the value of rice and firewood when you're not in charge. Now everything needs money, how can we train a top-notch army without it?" Liu Jiao was getting impatient with her brother's nagging and hastily said: "Alright, stop talking about it. I'll give you 10,000 taels of silver. If your army training doesn't go well, I'll whip you 10,000 times." Liu Jiao let out a sigh of relief, thinking that she had finally gotten rid of him.

  "Little sister," Wang An continued, now more and more comfortable calling her that, as if Liu Jiao really were his little sister. Liu Jiao almost couldn't resist the urge to kick him, thinking to herself "how come you still haven't left?" Wang An said: "There are five people here, all your brothers, so it's not good to be too thick or thin with each other, let's give each person 10,000 taels." Jiang Cai hastily waved his hand, thinking to himself "we don't have the ability, we don't need to train the number one army in the world, and we also don't want to suffer a beating."

  Liu Jiao had no choice but to give each of them 10,000 taels. Jiang Cai cried with a sad face, thinking that this was a hot potato. Liu Jiao felt relieved and thought: "This time I finally got rid of Wang An." Wang An continued to say to Liu Jiao: "Sister..." Liu Jiao got angry and loudly said: "What else do you want?" Wang An said: "I just wanted to say that my brothers will also miss you, we'll come visit you often," after finishing speaking, he quickly left without caring about Liu Jiao's anger.

  Jiang Cai and others were also kidnapped by Wang An to the new army's first thousand people team, from the first to the fifth hundred people team, all the centurions were held by them. The captain of this thousand people team was called Yuan Cao. These new soldiers were extremely poor in combat effectiveness and were often sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder. More seriously, they were also scapegoats for defeat, known as professional black pot holders.

  Yuan Cao heard that Wang An and others had taken over these hundred-man teams, and suddenly showed a smile, thinking to himself: "I wonder which official they offended, being sent to train these new soldiers."

  Wang An arrived at his own hundred-man squad and found that these soldiers were all new recruits, with poor physical quality, severely lacking in combat experience, and extremely weak fighting strength. These new recruits had heard of Wang An's military achievements and admired this new leader immensely. As soon as they saw him coming, they hastily asked: "Sir, what do the Xiongnu look like?", "Sir, I've heard that the Xiongnu have green faces and fangs, is that true?", "Sir, I've heard that the Xiongnu are invincible, is that really the case?"

  Wang An said, "They are also human beings with one nose and two eyes, nothing to be afraid of." The soldiers below immediately felt a bit more at ease. Wang An continued, "Look at your pale faces, how can you fight with such poor physical condition? Starting tomorrow, each of you will get an extra piece of meat for every meal." "Great!" the soldiers cheered up instantly. These soldiers were all from poor families and rarely got to eat meat, so their physical condition was naturally very poor.

  Wang An continued, "Starting tomorrow, we will begin training. For every person who hits the target in each round, you will get an extra piece of meat in your bowl. If you don't hit the target, there will be no meat to eat." The soldiers' emotions were immediately stirred up by Wang An.

  On the second day, the army sent over armor and swords. Wang An left behind some leather armor, crossbow arrows, and a few knives. He returned all the long spears, as he had fought with Xiongnu soldiers before and knew that long spears were basically useless. He also ordered his soldiers to change their weapons to crossbows and knives. His troops did not use bows; instead, they used crossbows cleanly.

  Jiang Cai and others would train the army, everything with Wang An as their model. They imitated Wang An's training methods, his weapon configurations, and even his style of dress. Because Wang An had been disfigured, he always wore a mask to cover his face, and Jiang Cai and others followed suit. Outsiders gave them the nickname "New Army Five Ghosts". Although Wang An was very casual with his soldiers, he established strict military rules. If a soldier committed an offense, they would be severely punished without exception. Wang An's army may not have looked neat, but their discipline was extremely strict.

  Wang An's soldiers trained with crossbows every day to eat meat, some soldiers could hit the target accurately at 200 steps, some soldiers could hit the target at 150 steps, and other soldiers had a very high accuracy rate of hitting the target within 100 steps.

  Note: Wang An used a method of enticing soldiers with rewards to strengthen their training, which was indeed adopted by some in ancient times. However, his bait was not meat, but money. He used money as targets for archery, and whoever hit the target would be rewarded. This greatly boosted the army's enthusiasm for training and improved its quality. The ones who adopted this method were the Mao Hu Lu soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty. According to the "History of the Yuan", during the fifth year of Emperor Yuanshun of the Yuan Dynasty, "bandits rose in Henan... civilians were recruited as soldiers, and silver was taken from the treasury to make large coins. Those who hit the target were rewarded, and thus everyone became elite soldiers. The golden and commercial righteous armies used animal hides for arrow bags like gourds, and were called the Mao Hu Lu army, which was extremely elite.

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