Chapter Thirteen: The Method of Training Troops

  The life of Ming's military dependents was very bitter, so bitter that it is hard to imagine.

  From the beginning of Zhu Yuanzhang's Hongwu 21 years, the difficult days of the military households have almost never stopped. At first, during Taizu's time, there were battles to be fought, and the treatment of the military households was slightly better. Later, during the Jingnan campaign and Chengzu's northern expedition, it was still passable. However, after the world became peaceful, the days of the military households became worse and worse. Not to mention that knives and guns were put away and horses were released on Mount Nan, generation after generation of military households all became contractual slaves of military officers. This term may be a bit excessive, but in essence, it is true. The road guide system of the Ming Dynasty was very complete, and one person almost couldn't move for a lifetime. Professions such as military households and craftsmen were also passed down from generation to generation. Grandfathers were soldiers, fathers were soldiers, and sons grew up to be soldiers too. Unless you achieved military merit and rose through the ranks, otherwise, you would spend your whole life serving the officials' families and tending to their fields.

  Ten young men did not know why they had to suffer so much, but they had a very simple concept. As the children of military families, suffering was too normal for them, and no one would think there was any problem with it, even if they were still young, but absolutely no one thought they couldn't bear hardship.

  Half a time later, they really couldn't hold on anymore. The reason was that the new young master's training method was said to be different from others. In fact, they didn't see much of the training. Song Qing just let them stand at attention in the scorching sun for half a time, requiring them not to move a single thread, and whoever moved slightly would immediately get hit with a stick. After being beaten several times, no one dared to move anymore, but standing like this was really unbearable.

  Although it's spring now, Xuzhou is in the north of Jiangsu Province and the temperature is higher than in the north. These half-grown kids were originally not well-fed, and standing like a stake for half an hour was unbearable both mentally and physically. Several times someone wanted to quit, but thinking of the braised meat that Song Qing had promised, they gritted their teeth and endured.

  Song Qing was well aware that his method worked, and stewed meat was not a rare thing for him in the past. Even if it was during the late Ming dynasty, as the son of the general flag, he could eat some from time to time. However, for these ordinary military dependents, they might not be able to eat meat a few times in their lives. With this great profit stimulating them, these young men should all persevere as long as they were not too timid. This was also where younger boys were easier to train than adults, who could not withstand temptation.

  They had been standing for two hours, and everyone was on the verge of collapse. Song Qing knew that this wasn't something to be rushed, these children hadn't undergone this kind of training before, and two hours was equivalent to four periods already, continuing would likely lead to accidents, so he nodded and said: "Alright, you can stop standing now."

  As soon as the words fell, ten young men suddenly sat down on the ground like deflated balloons, and two of them even lay down directly. In his heart, Song Qing actually had some admiration for them. According to his initial estimate, at least two people would not be able to hold on and leave in the end. Unexpectedly, they all managed to get through it. It seems that the willpower of these ancient military households is not so bad after all. Not to mention their endurance, at least no one quit as a softie.

  It turns out that he was wrong, the reason why these children can persist is first of all the strong temptation of braised meat, and Chinese people from ancient times to the present are a nation that can endure hardships. Moreover, since the day they followed him, these soldiers have almost become Song Qing's personal property to some extent. As long as they can get past Xue Ping, he can find an excuse to kill them, let alone make them stand at attention here. For various reasons, no one dropped out midway.

  "Take a half-hour break!" The first training session went well, and Song Qing was very excited in his heart, but his face didn't show it at all. He still spoke coldly: "I keep my promises, after the break, I'll take you guys to eat braised meat!"

  "Thank you, sir!" The ten young men replied weakly, but the abnormal excitement could not be concealed. For them, who were military dependents, eating meat was a rare and great pleasure that they could hardly ever enjoy. Several of them had already crawled up from the ground, waiting for Song Qing to take them away.

  After a while, everyone stood up again, with two red lights in their eyes. Song Qing was also too lazy to wait any longer and led the group away from the school field to a familiar food stall at the Wei Suo, ordering twenty steamed buns and two large pots of braised meat. He himself didn't move, only letting those children eat.

  The shop owner is also an old man in the Wei camp, and it's not surprising to see this. Whenever a new official takes office, they usually invite their subordinates to have a good meal together. Song Qing is familiar with him, and he naturally knows about this person who suddenly changed from being useless to becoming a killing god and then promoted to Xiao Qi.

  In his opinion, this was nothing more than buying the soldiers' hearts, and it was a waste to give these little brats good white buns and braised meat to eat. But after all, it wasn't his money, so he didn't bother to say much, just watched Song Qing with interest on the side.

  Ten young men were growing up, and although the food was not scarce, it was no match for these half-grown sons who could eat their fathers out of house and home. In a short while, the buns and meat were swept clean, and even the slightly salty soup was divided among the crowd and eaten dry. After eating, they still felt unsatisfied.

  This stewed meat, Song Qing also had a bite, it wasn't particularly delicious, just putting the meat in the pot and cooking it with some salt, soy sauce, and oil, without any seasonings. But even so, for these ten young men, this was the most satisfying meal they'd ever had. They wanted to eat more, but they knew their status and that asking for seconds wasn't very realistic. However, those eyes filled with strong desire looked at Song Qing in unison, the implication clear.

  "Damn it, a group of starving ghosts who can't eat their fill!" Song Qing cursed with a smile: "I want to say that if we can eat like this every day, I dare say you won't believe me either. However, from now on, following me to practice martial arts, as long as you practice well, after some time, eating a meal like this is not a problem. But the premise is that you have to satisfy me and do what I tell you to do!"

  "Yes, Qing Ge, no, it's Song Daren, we will definitely train hard!" The leading child, Luo Xiao Bei, stood up and, imitating some unknown posture, awkwardly knelt on one knee and shouted loudly: "Your humble servant is willing to die for you, sir!"

  There was a leader at the forefront, and the rest of the kids naturally knew what to do. In the blink of an eye, the small food stall was packed with people. Song Qing looked at the stunned boss, then slightly raised his hand and smiled: "Get up, I don't need you to die for me yet. Just train well, that's all. Today is just this far, tomorrow will be back to normal rules. But everyone must come on time, whoever comes late will get ten military sticks. Did everyone understand?"

  "I get it!"

  "It's all over!"

  Song Qing walked out of the restaurant in big strides, followed by the ten children. The old boss was left alone in the store, stunned and unable to speak for a long time. Although he thought Song Qing was too wasteful, this method of winning over the soldiers' hearts was indeed effective. In these times, the military households were no longer what they were at the beginning of the dynasty. Talking about driving out the Tartars was meaningless; it was far more effective to give them a few pieces of meat. However, since Xuzhou had been peaceful for a long time, no one was willing to invest in the military households.

  Even if you really won the hearts of the soldiers, there are only ten people, and even if you get promoted in the future and have more brothers under your command, it's true that you can cultivate some skills, but where can you use them? This is not the north, no slaves to fight, what's the point of making such an effort?

  However, this was a good thing for him. If Song Qing could fulfill his promise, the business of his family would definitely be booming in the future. The boss was secretly ridiculing Song Qing's incompetence while also hoping that he would really keep his word, and suddenly fell into a split personality state, unable to extricate himself for a long time...

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