Chapter 10: Wu Ji Practices Military Tactics (Part 2)

  Song Emperor Shenzong was concerned about Wu Kui, and Wu Kui also wanted to take this opportunity to win a good battle and make a contribution to the promotion of the new law.

  The outcome of the Song Dynasty has been proven by history: no reform means death!

  The Song Dynasty was destroyed due to lack of reform!

  The reform of Wang Anshi was indeed a good opportunity for the Song Dynasty to become stronger, but unfortunately, due to various reasons, it ultimately ended in failure, and the Song Dynasty was eventually destroyed by the Jurchen and Mongols.

  "The shame of Jingkang" and "the affair of Yashan", made countless later generations gnash their teeth!

  If he can contribute a bit of strength to the reform, Wu Ji will definitely go all out. This military training is not just about training soldiers, but also closely related to the new method.

  Wu Jie ordered the soldiers to pay off their debts the day before, and the soldiers carried it out without any mistakes. This shows that Wu Jie has a high prestige among the soldiers, his words are orders, and the soldiers dare not disobey him. This is a good start.

  This is a good start, Wu Ji's subsequent training will be much smoother. However, the reality is far from what Wu Ji thought, it is very cruel, cruel to the point of destroying all of Wu Ji's hopes.

  "Are these soldiers? Are these soldiers?" Wu Ji stared at the approaching Song army, somewhat disbelieving, and thought he had misseen, but after repeated confirmation, it proved that he was not mistaken.

  The first team that came was Song Jun, the gunman. The leader was Li Mingchu. He saw Li Mingchu's beard shaved off, his hair tied up, wearing a new set of clothes, and his spirit was refreshed. Compared to when Wu Jichu first met him as a beggar who wanted to kill officials and rebel, he looked like two different people.

  This is a good thing, but he had no helmet and no armor. Although he came with the musketeers, he had no gun in his hand.

  A team of gunmen, no less than a hundred people, with helmets and armor only about twenty or thirty people, the rest are all wearing new shirts, not military uniforms, but civilian clothes that can be bought on the market. Brand new, should be newly purchased.

  There were only about a dozen guns. Gunmen, as the name suggests, are soldiers who use guns, and their main weapon is the gun. With over a hundred gunmen, there were only about a dozen guns, which was enough to shock Wu Ji?

  This is just the beginning, the real show is yet to come. As the Song army approaches, all of its problems are fully exposed.

  The second team was the knife hand. The knife hand is similar to the gun hand, either without armor or without a knife, coming empty-handed.

  The only bright spot is the brand new clothes, which are received quite well and no longer look like a beggar.

  The third team consisted of archers, who were similar to the gunners and swordsmen, but with only a few bows.

  The last to appear on the scene were not troops, but a merchant caravan. There were nearly two hundred people, who were among the most neatly equipped of the five hundred Song soldiers. Their equipment was not swords, guns, bows and arrows, but horse-drawn carts, mule-drawn carts, wearing civilian clothes, like servants.

  The one walking in front was Shangyuan, he wore silk and satin, extremely luxurious. In his right hand, he held a fan that was quite out of place, waving it back and forth, with a layer of powder on his face, looking rather pale and delicate, somewhat like a young man who relied on others for food.

  He came with big strides, with a somewhat rich and noble air. At a glance, it's clear that he is an official of no small importance.

  "Shangyuan, what are you up to?" Wu Ji's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he shouted loudly.

  "Wu Zhihui, you don't know the situation, we are just changing troops! Changing troops!" Shang Yuan quickly ran over, hastily paying respects to Wu Ji: "Wu Zhihui, we are changing troops, it's all for your benefit! What kind of business do you want to do? Qinlou Chuguan, selling tea goods, smuggling horses and military equipment, trading silver with the Japanese... as long as you give the order, brothers will go through fire and water without frowning! Brothers, isn't that right?"

  He turned around, rushed back to Yi Bing, let out a loud shout, and the fan in his right hand suddenly opened, fanning several times before he came to his senses. It was freezing cold, using this thing was not timely, so he had to close it.

  "Is this the Easy Troop? To open Qinlou Chuguan, such a thing that exhausts all conscience, how can you say it out loud?" Wu Ji turned white-eyed and felt weak. Qinlou Chuguan is a brothel, having children is not a trivial matter.

  "Wu Zhihui, you're a good man and don't want to do this. But He Wanquan is the kind of person who loves doing this sort of thing." Shang Yuan began to report loudly, counting on his fingers: "We have three Qinlou Chuguan in Xiongzhou, but He Wanquan is still not satisfied and wants to open more in Youzhou and Bianjing! He wants us to sell tea goods and make several thousand taels of silver a year, all of which he'll embezzle. Wu Zhihui, if you don't want to run the Qinlou Chuguan, you can do other business - tea goods, porcelain, horses, military equipment... they're all very profitable..."

  He was extremely familiar with this road and became more and more excited as he spoke, his tone getting higher and higher, speaking with flying spittle.

  "That's enough!" Wu Ji waved his hand to interrupt Shang Yuan and asked: "How many times have you changed troops?"

  "Reporting to Commander Wu, it's not a lot, only about 200 people, almost four-tenths! Shi Yuan was still excited and suggested to Wu Ji: "If Commander Wu thinks it's too few, we can send some more brothers over. I'll definitely make sure to take care of the exchange!"

  "Four tenths! Four tenths, isn't it a lot?" Wu Jie was covered in black lines.

  "Wu Zhihui, what's the big deal about four tenths? He Wanquan is indeed despicable for embezzling military funds, but when it comes to surrendering, he doesn't have the guts. Some garrison troops have surrendered by less than sixty percent! If Commander Wu is willing, even if we turn all our brothers into surrendered soldiers, no one would dare say a word against it!"

  Shang Yuan has a good business mind, and he also calculates the account for Wu Ji: "Wu Zhihui, you should know that the brothers are taking the court's military salary to repay you, without you paying labor costs, not eating your food or drinking your wine. Compared to raising slaves, it's more cost-effective! Slaves are cheap, but they also consume some grain every day!"

  Forty percent of the soldiers were mercenaries, which was not a lot in Song Dynasty history. Even sixty or seventy percent would not be surprising. Zhang Jun and Liu Guangshi, known as two of the "Four Great Generals of the Restoration", turned their entire army into mercenaries, making them work like oxen to earn money for him.

  It is said that the common people composed nursery rhymes to mock them. A nursery rhyme mocking Zhang Jun: In Zhang's village, there was no reason why he had to carry stones on his shoulders. The two saints could not save themselves, and they were buried under the construction of the Taiping Tower.

  A nursery rhyme mocking Liu Guangshi: In the Liu family village, without reason, it spread to two hundred states. The strong boy is still cheaper than the beggar boy, the general hides gold and pearls in a high tower.

  It can be seen that the Huiyi in the Song Dynasty reached a shocking degree. These Huiyi soldiers, who received military pay from the Song Dynasty and ate imperial rations, were making money for their commanders and filling their own pockets. Although the Song Dynasty was determined to prohibit it, they could not prohibit it, and the more they prohibited, the more numerous they became, until they reached their peak with Zhang Jun and Liu Guangshi.

  "You, you, you... listen to me! From now on, the Easy Troops are cancelled!" Wu Ji heard Shang Yuan's words and was speechless. He pointed at Shang Yuan and gave orders.

  "Ah! Cancel?" Shangyuan thought he had misheard, and was stunned for a long time before coming back to his senses: "Commander Wu, you are loyal to the imperial court, impartial and unselfish, not loving wealth. However, you can't cancel it! No matter what, we must maintain the exchange of troops. Two percent is the minimum rate for the Song army's exchange troops."

  Two tenths of the troops were rotated back, which was the lowest limit for the Song Dynasty army. Even the famous general Yue Fei maintained a rotation rate of about two tenths of his troops.

  If Wu Jie maintains a 20% casualty rate, Wu Jie will be a selfless general, a model for the Song army, worthy of an imperial edict from Emperor Song Zong.

  "Wu Zhihui, you don't have to cancel, just leave some! Leave 20% and no one will say anything!" Huang Fu also came to advise.

  "No!" Wu Ji's voice was firm and loud: "Disband the troops, cancel everything, not a single one will be left! You are soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty, you should behave like soldiers, train and fight against the enemy, not engage in trade!"

  "Really cancelled?"

  Hundreds of soldiers were shocked and amazed, their faces filled with astonishment, thinking they had misheard.

  The return of Yi is of great use to Wu Qi, of course, Wu Qi will not use soldiers to return Yi, just need to use the name of Wu's military industry on top.

  "Shang Yuan, I order you to immediately put an end to all business dealings! And as for the women of Qin Lou Chu Guan, give them enough silver so that they can live a life free from worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives! If anyone disobeys, they will be dealt with by military law! Did you hear me clearly?" Wu Ji spoke in a severe tone, leaving no room for doubt.

  "Yes! I'll take orders! I'll go and do it now!" Merchant Yuan was taken aback, hearing the severity in Wu Ji's tone, and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat as he hastily went to carry out the task.

  Not having run far, Shang Yuan turned around and rushed back to Wu Ji, kneeling down and knocking his head on the ground: "Commander Wu, although you cancelled the return of Yi, not allowing me to profit from it and cutting off my path to wealth, I still want to say that you are a just and fair lord! You are a just and fair lord!"

  "Wu Qing Tian! Wu Qing Tian!"

  The soldiers shouted in unison, their voices shaking the sky, with infinite joy.

  Wu Ji brought them enough joy, and unexpectedly, there was this surprise. In any case, someone like Wu Ji would definitely gain the favor of the soldiers.

  "Hmm! Wu Zhihui, you're the one! You're the one!" Huangfu Song's right thumb was about to poke through the sky, his face filled with admiration, his eyes shining brightly!