Chapter Nineteenth: Reorganizing the Army (Part Two)

  Zhang Xingzhong knocked for a while, and then the door creaked open. A young girl with two buns on her head poked out and called out: "Second Brother!" The girl pulled Zhang Xingzhong's arm, and tears of joy immediately welled up in her eyes.

  Right behind the girl came an old couple, and Zhang Xingzhong immediately knelt down on the ground, respectfully knocking his head. The old couple let the girl hurry to help Zhang Xingzhong up, turned their heads and saw Li Chengzhong and others standing outside the door, stunned. Zhang Xingzhong hastily introduced them, then led everyone inside.

  Li Chengzhong looked around and saw that it was a small courtyard with two entrances, with a green pine tree in the middle of the main hall. The courtyard didn't have any luxurious decorations, but it was very clean. Because many people came to visit, Zhang Xingchong's family didn't make much preparation, as everyone was used to being simple and straightforward, so they just sat down on the ground in the courtyard.

  Zhang Xingzhong was a military household, and his family had some influence in the Lu Long Army, but his father was a collateral descendant and became a battalion commander after that, with no further promotion, only earning this small courtyard as a place to settle. The old battalion commander had two sons and one daughter, both sons followed the army, the eldest died in battle last year, Zhang Xingzhong is the second son, now also serving as a soldier in the army.

  Lu Longjun's defeat in the southern expedition to Weibo had left his parents sleepless for days, worried about their second son. Now that he had returned not only safe and sound but also as a leader of a group, they were overjoyed. Old Master Lu was delighted, beaming with joy, and immediately instructed his daughter to go out and buy food for the evening's gathering to welcome her brother home. However, due to the current unrest outside the pass, they could only get one sheep instead of two as originally planned. At his age, people often like to reminisce about the past, so Old Master Lu began to recount his experiences guarding the border in his youth, talking about the battles he had fought and won, and grumbling a bit about how those barbarians were not worthy opponents back then but now dared to stir up trouble while their general was weakened.

  More than twenty people's food is a bit of trouble, making the two women in the family busy. Li Chengzhong couldn't bear to watch, so he ordered Zhao Da to go and help out. Zhou Kan also volunteered to go and slaughter the lamb, and brought out a fragrant and tender whole roasted lamb with golden brown skin, which made everyone enjoy themselves greatly.

  Zhang Xingzhong's sister, Lan'er, was a 16-year-old girl who was born into a military family but had a slender figure and a pretty face. Unlike girls from the south, northern girls were not shy or reserved, and she was also straightforward by nature, so she quickly got along with everyone. Wang Dalang teased Zhou KanDao for going to help in the kitchen with ulterior motives, which immediately caused everyone to burst out laughing, and even though Lan'er was usually easy-going, this time she couldn't take it anymore and ran back to the backyard with a red face. Zhou KanDao was furious and gave Wang Dalang a loud slap on the head, snatching away the piece of roasted lamb leg he was eating, saying "I'll never let you have any more roasted meat!"

  Coarse wine and mutton, thick green onions mixed with flatbread, a joyful scene in the courtyard. The brothers who had experienced the baptism of life and death in the great war finally opened their hearts to eat and drink. That night, everyone got drunk and fell asleep at Zhang Xing's house, even the old captain drank a few more cups, shouting "Kill! Kill! Kill!" until his wife helped him to sleep in the backyard.

  After several days, everyone took Zhang Xingzhong's home as a base and had a good tour in the city of Youzhou. On the third day, while strolling through the market, they learned about the current business situation and finally realized how much of a burden it was for Zhang Xingzhong's family to provide food for more than 20 young men every day. They then hurriedly bid farewell and returned to the military camp, reporting to the central army.

  At the time of the dot, however, each person unexpectedly closed a month's military salary. The four partners each had two strings, and the others had one string per person. After closing the salary, Zhang Xing returned to the city without mentioning it again. Jiang Miao and Wang Dalang wanted to go home and take a look, Zhou Kan Dao and Zhou Xiao Lang also wanted to return to Zhoujiazhuang to see if there were any surviving villagers. Li Chengzhong went to the central army to ask Zhao Zaili for leave again.

  Zhao readily gave a 15-day leave, but when Li Chengzhong asked about Zhou Zhihui, his brow furrowed and he said: "I heard that after the commander's illness took a turn for the better, he wanted to reorganize the army. These days, Zhou Zhihui has been busy with this matter in the city."

  Li Chengzhong immediately asked: "How will you reform the army?"

  Zhao Zili said: "There is no definite news yet, it seems that there is no final verdict, only the day before yesterday, Zhou Zhihui returned and said that the situation was not very good."

  This major event had nothing to do with Li Chengzhong, so he could only return to the Youdu camp with a heavy heart. In order not to add trouble for his brothers when they returned home to visit their families, he suppressed this matter and didn't mention it. After getting leave, the Youdu brothers immediately packed up their belongings and enthusiastically returned to their respective hometowns, leaving behind only Zhong Siliang in the military camp.

  Li Chengzhong found it strange and asked him why he didn't leave, Zhong Silang said: "My family was defeated early on, my parents passed away early, and there is no one in the family. Since childhood, fellow villagers have looked down on me, I made a vow when I came out that I would not return until I had accomplished something!" As for what kind of accomplishment he wanted to achieve, Zhong Silang was hesitant and couldn't say clearly, finally only saying: "At least become a team officer, managing dozens of people under him."

  As for Zhong Si Lang's wish, Li Chengzhong didn't know what to say. Since hearing that the commander wanted to reorganize the army, he had been worried. His family had only recently established military merit in front of Zhou Zhihui, leaving a good impression on him. If Zhou Zhihui were to leave Jian Zhuangying after the reorganization, wouldn't all their previous efforts be in vain? Moreover, Li Chengzhong had gone through great difficulties on his journey north to unite the troops into their current effective team, and he had also established his authority within the team. If they were to disband after the reorganization, wouldn't all his hard work be for nothing? Therefore, he began to visit Zhao Zaili more frequently.

  Zhao Zaili also had a gloomy face, as the commander of Zhou Zhiyong's personal guard, his future was closely tied to that of his superior. If the superior did well, he would do well too; if the superior did poorly, he would suffer as well. Having heard Zhou Zhiyong mention several times the matter of reorganization, it seemed that the prospects were not good. The anxiety in Zhao Zaili's heart could be imagined. Two low-ranking military officers who were very concerned about this matter gathered together, sighing and groaning all day long, with worried brows and gloomy faces, and thus gradually became close friends.

  As the days went by, the news became more and more unfavorable, and eventually, Commander Zhou Zhiyu brought back the preliminary plan for the entire army to retreat. The main reason for the retreat was that the military expenses were insufficient. In order to supply the large army of Lu Long's expedition against Wei Bo, the Lu Long Military Command had been struggling to make ends meet for several months, relying on past savings to hold on, and after the defeat, all the baggage and rations were abandoned, leaving the current military command treasury empty. However, when the troops returned, they all asked the military command for money according to their wartime organization, preparing to recruit new soldiers.

  For example, the Jianzu Camp, Commander-in-Chief Zhou Zhiyong reported according to the original five-camp system, and each camp was a super-large system before the war, with a total of 100,000 people. The monthly salary for officers and soldiers was 20,000 yuan, and the military grain was 5,000 stones. The commander's inner army was the elite of the Lulong Army, although it had only 5,000 people, but the salary and grain were higher. By analogy, the inner army, the mountainous army, the silver gourd, the Jianzu Camp, the Yier Army, and the soldiers reported by each state and town totaled 40,000 people, which completely reached the total number of troops during the expansion of the war before the expedition and the guard. The total salary and grain reached 110,000 yuan per month, and the military grain was 36,000 stones. According to the annual calculation, it would take 1.32 million yuan and 430,000 stones of military grain per year. This is equivalent to nearly twice the annual financial revenue of the thirteen states and thirty-five counties under the Lulong Prefecture!

  This does not include the almost completely annihilated Baodu cavalry. The Baodu cavalry's Yu Hou Zhao Ba, who was left to guard Youzhou, reported an ambitious reconstruction plan, which aimed to restore the Baodu cavalry to its original strength of 8,000 men. In the plan, he requested an allocation of 20,000 guan for recruitment expenses, 200,000 guan for horse purchases, and 50,000 guan for military equipment. Additionally, there were monthly military salaries of 30,000 guan, 5,000 shi of military rations, and 15,000 shi of fodder!

  Where the various armies went to recruit so many young and strong men is not mentioned, but just the military expenses alone were a heavy burden on the provincial government, so the matter of disbanding the army was put on the agenda. According to the information obtained by Zhou Zhiyong, the focus of this disbandment is to ensure the internal troops and the newly established Yier troops, while all other garrisons are within the scope of reduction. The state and town garrisons were reduced by 70%, the Silver Gourd was reduced to 2,000 people, the Mountain Rear Army was converted into mountain passes in the north, with treatment reduced by half, the Baodu Riders retained a thousand cavalry, and the Jianzu Camp was disbanded.

  After this reorganization, the combined army of Hezhong and the external garrisons of various states had a total strength of 22,000 men. The annual expenditure on food and salaries accounted for 90% of the total revenue of the prefecture. This was still the final decision made by the commander-in-chief; otherwise, the new judge Liu Zhiwen would have further reduced it to 80%.

  This plan to reorganize the army would have been impossible before the southern campaign. In the hundred-year history of the Lu Long Army, military power has always been firmly in the hands of the various battalion commanders, and even within the garrison, Liu Ren Guang can only truly control the inner city guard. Anyone with discerning eyes can see that this is a deliberate attempt by the governor's office to suppress dissent and establish authority. If the governor's office had issued such an order during peacetime, Liu Ren Guang would have been overthrown by the various battalion commanders long ago. However, at this juncture, after the disastrous defeat in the southern campaign, the only forces left with any fighting strength in the Lu Long Army are half of the inner city guard and the newly formed Righteous Sons' Army. In a situation where the military strength of the various armies has been greatly weakened, reorganizing the army is indeed timely.

  Zhou Zhiyu convened an enlarged meeting of the officers of the Jianzuoying army in the main account, and all officers with ranks participated. A total of 21 officers attended the meeting, including Zhou Zhiyu himself, one commander, one Yu Hou, three Du Tou, two Dui Zheng, and thirteen Huo Zhang. Li Chengzhong also attended as a deputy lieutenant and Huo Zhang.

  According to Zhou Zhiyu, the Jianzhuang Camp was incorporated into the Dalu Temple's inner army, and all military officers retained their original titles but were demoted by half a rank. In other words, they kept their treatment but were demoted in position. For example, Li Chengzhong, who had been a deputy lieutenant with a ninth-grade treatment, still received two taels of silver as his monthly salary, but after joining the inner army, he could only serve as a company commander. Zhou Zhiyu himself was expected to take up the post of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Left Wing of the Inner Army.

  For the officers of Jianzhuangying, being demoted by half a rank was only one of the heavy blows. What was truly disheartening was that after being incorporated into the Imperial Guards, everyone's future would be bleak and without prospects. In the Imperial Guards, naturally, the old guards held sway. Whether it was Zhou Zhiyong or other Jianzhuangying officers, they all had to swallow their pride and could only acknowledge their own misfortune, with no one to turn to for help.

  In the military tent, a sigh of sorrow, everyone's brows were furrowed, and they looked at each other in silence.

  Among these people, Zhou Zhiyu was the most disheartened. He had already become a great general who could hold his own, with an independent battalion in his hands. Not only did he have the final say within his own military camp, but he also had a voice that carried weight in front of the commander-in-chief. However, now he has become the deputy commander of the Left Wing of the Imperial Guard, with superiors such as the Commander of the Left Wing and the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard above him. Not only does his word no longer carry weight within the camp, but from now on, he may also have few opportunities to meet with the commander-in-chief alone.

  Ke Zhouyi is the head of Jian Zhuangying, and these brothers under him still need to be comforted by him. He forced a smile on his face and comforted everyone, saying that going to the Yanei Army was not bad either. The treatment there is good, and the monthly military salary is higher than it is now. It's also an elite force, and there will be many opportunities for promotion in the future.

  Such comfort had no effect, and the crowd remained silent, with no response to Zhou Zhiyu's consolation, and the camp was quiet as a cemetery.