Insufficient balance

  Although Zheng Kezang shut himself indoors and mourned for Chen Zhaonan, this did not mean that he had let go of everything.

  According to his arrangement, the Tongziying army was formally expanded into two long gun teams, one fire gun team and a super water soldier team with one wide boat, sand boat, single-masted sailboat and double-masted sailboat.

  Since the orthodox armed forces have expanded, they cannot be irregular. To say nothing of other things, personnel configuration can no longer adopt the mode of teaching and training soldiers. At least, we must configure military officers at all levels. For this reason, Zheng Kezang specially selected a few people: "Mr. He, I want to entrust you with the power to supervise the Tongzi Camp's first battalion, do you agree?"

  He Gan was suddenly summoned by Zheng Kezang to the place where he was guarding his filial piety, which in itself showed the importance of the matter. What's more, it was about handing over the most powerful military force to him. He Gan had been expressing his loyalty to Zheng Kezang for nearly three years, but Zheng Kezang had never responded positively. This time, he unexpectedly bypassed Sun Youlao and took control of the Tongziying army, which couldn't help but make him feel some doubt beyond surprise. Why did Zheng Kezang choose him as the commander of this army?

  However, doubts aside, the opportunity was already in front of him, and He Qian naturally couldn't resist it. So he immediately knelt down on one knee with a military salute: "Thanks to the Regent's trust, I am overwhelmed with fear, dare not die!"

  "Get up." Zheng Kezang ordered, his eyes immediately falling on a middle-aged man named Yu Ping. "Yu instructor, Sun General Instructor recommended you as the deputy commander of the Jiazi Camp, are you willing?" Before Yu Ping could respond, Zheng Kezang quickly added, "The Tongzi Camp's regular army has its soldiers granted the title of Xiaowei, the charging officers granted the title of Xiaoqi, the squad leaders granted the title of Zongqi, the team leaders granted the title of Shi Baihu, the hundred officials granted the title of Baihu, the deputy camp commanders granted the title of Fu Qianhu, and the camp commanders are Qianhu. According to our dynasty's official system, Fu Qianhu is a fifth-rank official, while Qianhu is a fourth-rank official. He Instructor was originally a fourth-rank official as the Assistant General, letting him temporarily take on the role of a fourth-rank Camp Commander is already a demotion, whereas Yu Instructor is a fourth-rank official as the Supervising Camp Officer, wouldn't it be a waste of talent to have him temporarily take on the role of a fifth-rank Deputy Camp Commander?"

  "Please be assured, Your Excellency." Yu Ping bowed to He Qian. "Your humble servant does not dare to pick and choose." This was nonsense, as the Tongziying army had about 250 men, although their ranks were significantly lower than those of the regular Zheng army, but their strength was similar to that of a first-class army, and since the Tongziying army was Zheng Kezang's elite force, its future prospects were boundless. Yu Ping naturally knew how to make his choice. "Your humble servant is willing to assist His Excellency He in training the Tongziying army well."

  "Very good." Zheng Kezang nodded slightly, his eyes continuing to scan downwards. "Chen Jiao, Gu Jiao, Ying Jiao, you three have also been troubled." Chen Le, Gu Jin, and Ying Tainong, the three instructors who had been appointed as leaders, also spoke in unison with Yu Ping and He Qian. "Alright, let's not speak such flattering words again," Zheng Kezang said, his brow furrowed slightly as he waved his hand to interrupt their expressions. "Let's talk about serious matters. Besides daily drills, the Tongziying army must also be made to see blood. A good soldier can only be trained through real battles."

  As soon as this was said, He Qian and others present nodded in agreement. They were all old soldiers and naturally understood the reason behind it. However, He Qian had an additional thought: "The Imperial Guard has just been expanded and reorganized, and it would be unwise to rush them into battle without sufficient training for at least half a year or a year. Moreover, even if they have made some progress in their training, is it not too early to send these young soldiers of fifteen or sixteen years old to fight on the mainland? What if there are casualties?"

  ??”

  "True gold is not afraid of fire, the more it's refined, the better. What's the use of having a strong leg if you can't even stand on the battlefield?" Zheng Kezang gave He Qian a tranquilizer pill. "You were made to be camp officers and lead teams so that in the future, when you go into battle, you can be the backbone. As for casualties? Since ancient times, generals have died in battle, how many people return from war? You are soldiers of the Tongzi Camp, you must prepare yourself for death. Even if everyone is defeated, as long as one or two can emerge, I can still bear it." Although Zheng Kezang had shocked them many times before, this speech made He Qian and the others solemnly rise to their feet. "Of course, what Officer He said isn't unreasonable. At first, we naturally wouldn't use it on a large scale, after all, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people in a big war, the Tongzi Camp is just a drop in the ocean, who knows how much damage would be done if they were thrown into it?" Just as He Qian's heart had calmed down, he heard Zheng Kezang continue. "Isn't General Chen expanding and relocating? My intention is to first use the Pingpu aborigines from the south and north sides as whetstones."

  ??”

  He Qian and others retreated from Ci'an's study, another group of people walked in. Looking at this group of young men who grew up with him, Zheng Kezang's face showed the first smile after Chen Zhaonan's death: "Anlong, Hu Mei, Wang Ying, Yang Yi, Lin Kang, Chen Qi, Yang Long, Li Shun, Hong Hui, Gong Tian, Chen Yi, Xie Bao, Chu Jin, congratulations to you thirteen who can take office as class leaders again this time. Good, good! Really good!"

  After all, they were still young men. As soon as Zheng Kezang reappointed himself as the class leader, after letting out a sigh of relief, everyone's excitement was written all over their faces. Fortunately, they had all undergone nearly three years of militarized training and knew what to do next.

  "This is all due to the training of our commander! We are willing to die for our commander!"

  "Don't call me Camp Officer anymore," Zheng Kezang's words stunned several people, thinking that Zheng Kezang was no longer in charge of them. But the next moment they relaxed. "You all have been promoted, how can I still be just a humble Camp Officer?" Suddenly, light laughter filled the entire study room. The young man immediately changed his tone, some calling him Young Master, others calling him Regent. Zheng Kezang made a gesture to suppress the cacophony of voices. "It's chaotic, remember from now on, just call me General."

  The boys all shouted in unison: "Yes!"

  "I have arranged for He and Yu to be your commanding officers," Zheng Kezang continued. "Additionally, Chen will lead you, and next, you'll need to practice hard and get ready for real battles." Upon hearing that they would be engaging in actual combat, the young men couldn't help but feel tense. "What's wrong, are you afraid?"

  "Don't be afraid! Really not afraid!" Several people plucked up the courage, shouting in their loudest voices. "When alive, we are led by our commander; when dead, we become ghosts led by our commander. If our commander orders us to go east, we will never go west. If our commander orders us to fight on the battlefield, we will never bring shame to our commander!"

  "A jade stone must be carved to become a useful vessel, it's good that you all have this understanding." Zheng Kezang nodded at several people and said. "Whether on the battlefield or not, you all must listen to the instructors' guidance, of course, you also need to understand which military orders cannot be disobeyed, and what needs more attention." The young men were stunned, but Zheng Kezang did not want to explain further, he changed the subject and let them go back to think for themselves. "In addition, whether it's He instructor, Yu instructor or Chen instructor, they are only temporarily holding their positions in the children's camp, in the future, leading teams and camp officials will be handed over to some of you, so do your best."

  Zheng Kezang noticed that most of the young men only had excitement in their eyes, apparently not taking Zheng Kezang's previous words to heart. Only two or three of them had a flicker in their eyes, looking like they truly understood. Zheng Kezang gave these two an encouraging smile and then waved his hand, signaling for them to withdraw. Most people obediently left immediately, but Lin Kang hesitated and didn't move.

  "Lin Kang, is there anything you want to say to me?" Zheng Kezang asked with a somewhat strange tone, seeing that he seemed to have something on his mind but didn't dare speak up. "Although I'm no longer in charge of this camp, I've never said I'd wash my hands of everything related to the Tongzi Camp."

  After hearing Zheng Kezang's words, Lin Kang gritted his teeth and knelt down: "General, Xue An has gone home."

  "Xue An? Returned home?" Zheng Kezang was stunned for a moment, and soon remembered what had happened. "Did the Emperor have an edict to implicate Xue Jin's entire family? No, who took it upon themselves to send Xue An back? Alright, I understand now, you may go." Zheng Kezang wanted to handle this calmly, to see if someone was intentionally inciting Lin Kang to speak to him, in order to make himself accidentally offend Zhu Jin. "I will take care of this matter myself!"

  Then Zheng Kezang summoned the newly appointed storming officers, and all the routines were repeated. When they all retreated, it was already time to have lunch: "Let Ma Ying wait, let him come in to accompany Yu for lunch!"

  Ma Ying walked in with great surprise, but unexpectedly, Zheng Kezang's lunch was very simple during his mourning period. Except for the green vegetables and chicken eggs, the only new thing was a bowl of vinegar-soaked potato shreds. Moreover, Zheng Kezang followed the etiquette system of not speaking while eating, so the two sat opposite each other and finished their meal in just a moment.

  "Ma Ying," after rinsing his mouth, Zheng Kezang began to confess. "The Water Troop currently has four ships, right? How did you arrange it?"

  "Back to the camp," Ma Ying still didn't know what Zheng Kezang had entrusted him with earlier, and his sudden promotion to the first young leader of the Tongzi Camp made many of his former comrades deliberately keep their distance from him. "The camp officer ordered us to learn more about the sailing and navigation techniques of the Red Barbarians, so I arranged for the water soldiers to mainly study on the Feima and Qishi numbers under the guidance of Ka and Huo." The 600-ton (note: 36 tons) Qishi number was a British-made double-masted sailboat that had only been launched in recent years, and as a new ship with new people, it could only serve as a training ship in the Taiwan Strait like Feima. "The Dongshenghai and Nan'anhai numbers are mainly operated by old soldiers and fishermen recruited by me, and now they make a round trip to Siming and Dongning every month."

  "Don't just think about making Dongshenghai and Nananhai rich." Although arranging Guangchuan and Shachuan to take over the cargo transport was Zheng Kecang's intention, Zheng Kecang also didn't want An Long to get his eyes on the money. "Occasionally, let the water soldiers follow along and learn on the ship," Zheng Kecang suddenly thought. "Just use going out to sea as a reward, whoever receives instruction and is commended on Feima and Qishi can be arranged for one trip."

  Ma Ying did not respond positively to Zheng Kezang's words, but instead seemed somewhat hesitant and evasive. It was clear that things were not as Zheng Kezang had imagined: "The camp officer probably doesn't know yet. The barbarians don't have a good time teaching people, according to what Guo Tong said, the barbarians on the other side are full of dirty words, no matter how well they do, they can only be scolded."

  "Oh? Is that so." Zheng Kezang was also surprised, apparently the title of Captain Carl had deceived him too. "Then let's arrange for a voyage on the Flying Horse and Knight after three months of study." This time Ma Ying nodded in agreement. "There are still too few sailors now, just starting to learn how to sail is very tense, but you have to take out time to arrange for them to help with shipbuilding at the dockyard, any sailing problems also need to be supervised and taught by Captain Carl to negotiate with the dockworkers."

  "Yes! Understood!"

  "Also, I have just decided that the leader's official rank is a trial hundred house of the seventh grade and a hundred house of the sixth grade. You are young and cannot command the respect of others, so you can temporarily take on the role of trial hundred house for now. Also, remember to start receiving your salary from next month!"

  "Under your command!" Ma Ying was so excited that she didn't know what to say, and after a moment's pause, she knelt down on the ground. "Your subordinate is willing to be a low-ranking soldier in front of General Ma!"

  "This sentence, I have written down, you should be careful with your words and actions being consistent"

  ??”