13. Jiazhang and private heart

  The time has come near the 29th year of the Yongli era of the Great Ming Dynasty, and at this time, Taiwan is usually bustling with excitement everywhere. However, tonight is different from previous years. A large number of strong men followed Zhu Yujian to cross the mainland, and even many civil and military officials of the Ming and Zheng regimes have left more than half of them, leaving a desolate and bleak scene.

  "Is the oxcart ready to send the young soldiers home?" As for how the sons of wealthy families would return home, Zheng Kezang was not worried. To be honest, as long as the news got out, it's possible that in a few days, there would be a line of carriages waiting at the gate of the Liwu Town barracks to pick them up. However, regarding the return of young soldiers from poor families, Zheng Kezang still needed to make proper arrangements. "This matter and the reception of the young soldiers after the Lantern Festival should all be properly arranged by General Sun."

  "Don't worry, Your Excellency," Sun Youlao said. "I've already arranged for someone to take care of it. It shouldn't go wrong." As soon as he finished speaking, a hint of concern appeared on his face. "Your Excellency, there's something I don't know if I should say or not." Zheng Kechang looked at him in surprise and nodded slightly, before Sun Youlao continued to report. "The tutors were searching for their camp at night and heard some children talking, saying that they would never come back again after returning."

  Zheng Kezang heard this and smiled lightly: "They are all young people, it's normal that they can't bear the hardship, I don't blame them. As for gains and losses, it's all up to oneself. A forced melon is not sweet anyway, let them go. The only thing is that Lord Sun should report the vacancy as soon as possible, so I can take the opportunity to get next year's quota of Boy Scouts in advance."

  Seeing Zheng Kezang, Sun Youlao seemed to have a ready response. Only then did he put his mind at ease and replied with a smile: "With the words of the Grand Master, it's settled. I know what to do."

  As soon as Sun Youlao finished speaking, the three teams of boy scouts who had marched in with neat steps were already lined up. Looking at the square formation that was taking shape before his eyes, Zheng Kechang's face flashed with a hint of pride, and he took a step forward, standing on the edge of the stage, loudly commanding: "The whole camp is present! Attention! At ease!"

  However, Zheng Kezang did not give any further orders. Just as the children thought it was another posture inspection, they saw several instructors carrying a red lacquer wooden box in front of everyone and placing it beside Zheng Kezang: "I guess you will be very curious, wondering what is inside this box, but it's definitely not a reward of silver."

  A burst of uncontrollable laughter erupted in the ranks, Zheng Kezang furrowed his brow, but this was also unavoidable. After all, a young person's nature couldn't be corrected with just a few months of training, and his intention of cracking jokes was to ease the tension below, so it wasn't right to blame them for anything.

  Next, those whose names were drawn came on stage: Wu Ziming, Guan Baoshen, Du Hu, Tan An, Xi He

  "A group of children looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what Zheng Kezang was up to, but under the urging of their instructors and team leaders, the ten boys who were called out one by one climbed onto the reviewing platform: 'You must think it's strange why I've called these ten up here. The reason is simple - they are the best in daily training, so I want to publicly commend them.'"

  The children were in an uproar, but an even more astonishing scene appeared. Zheng Kezang signaled for the ten children to kneel down on one knee, and then he took out copper plaques from a red lacquer box and hung them around the necks of these children. After hanging them up, he let these people stand up and face the crowd below to show off their gains.

  "This is a copper diligent medal, and later based on the instructor's evaluation, it will be awarded once every quarter. Only the top 10 people who work hard and perform well in their daily training can receive it. Accumulating three of them can be exchanged for one large medal, and three large medals can be exchanged for one silver award!"

  Zheng Kezang waved his hand at them: "You can go down first."

  The children with the ribbon medals ran down excitedly, and as soon as they returned to their team, they found that all around them were eyes full of envy. So one by one, they puffed out their chests and put on a proud air, if it weren't for the coaches watching from the side, those envious guys would have rushed up to snatch them away immediately.

  "Don't envy others, you just need to work hard and naturally have the opportunity to receive awards. However, remember that any medal or honor has a basis, if you wear it falsely, there will be severe military punishment." Zheng Kezang's shout finally stopped some bad tendencies. "Okay, next are those who were called up, Cai Cong, Xie Jiping, Gao Yan, Tang Qiao, and Zeng Hu."

  These five are all charging officers, among whom Cai Tang is the youngest son of Zheng Jun's Sujiang Cai Zhengyao, and Xie Jiping is the grandson of Zheng Jun's Japanese general Xie Jiyuan. After they got on stage, Zheng Kechang didn't say much, just like Ben Bo Xuanke, letting them kneel down with one leg towards him, just like Wu Ziming and others before.

  "You and the other four, who are in charge of each group, have either the best military discipline or the most unity among all members, with effective training and frequent praise from instructors, or the fastest progress in literary and scientific studies. Therefore, we award you the Bronze Medal of Loyalty and Diligence as an encouragement."

  "Thank you, Commander!" After all, among the rewarded officers were some young masters from noble families. People like Cai Tang, who had seen and heard their fathers' ways, were more aware than the few poor-born children just now. As soon as Zheng Kezang hung the medal around his neck, he hastily expressed his loyalty. "I am willing to swear to follow Commander's side till death!"

  Tsai Tsung started this way and then followed suit, painting the tiger according to the cat. The remaining four charging officers also followed Zheng Kezang's loyalty.

  "Die for it? Do you even know what die for it means?" The so-called flattery was slapped right on their foreheads, with a loud smack. "It's better to follow the teacher and learn some real skills, all that flattering talk, who knows where you learned it from." After scolding them with a smile, Zheng Kezang suddenly became serious. "Wait till you've learned some real skills before spouting such nonsense!"

  Chase away those semi-understanding and slippery young men, Zheng Kezang shouted again: "Lin Kang, Wang Yi, Li Shun, come on stage!"

  These three were all class leaders and this time they also received the Loyalty and Diligence Medal. However, after the award ceremony ended, Zheng Kezang sent Lin and Wang away but kept Li Shun behind. Just as some people below were getting confused again, Zheng Kezang took out a flag from the red lacquer wooden box and casually put it on the flagpole handed over by Sun Youlao.

  "The class led by Li Ban Zhang is the first in both military training and literary and martial arts, so I specially awarded a brocade flag to commend it. This flag can be held by Li Ban Zhang himself during military training."

  When they first heard Zheng Kezang speak, Hong Hui and others didn't think much of it, but when they saw the triangular flag with "Tongzi Camp First Class" written on it waving left and right in Li Shun's hand, they couldn't help but clench their fists as they let out envious and jealous cries.

  It seemed as if Zheng Kezang had heard the thoughts of these class leaders, and he loudly declared: "The first class flag of this children's camp can be kept by Class 7 for three months, but if they fall behind in the next evaluation, the flag will have to be handed over to the new winner. Does Class Leader Li and Class 7 still have confidence to continue keeping this honor?"

  "Yes!" The dozen or so children on and off the stage shouted in unison, their emotions almost bursting into the sky.

  Zheng Kezang seized the opportunity to continue asking: "Do the other classes want to take this brocade flag away from Class 7?"

  "Yes!" This time the voice was louder, and the rest of the classes, whose competitive consciousness had been stirred up, were also shouting loudly.

  "Good! Good job, I'm looking forward to it!" Zheng Kezang let out a hearty laugh, and after he finished laughing, he dropped another bombshell. "The New Year is just around the corner, so before we disband, I'll give you all a few days of rest. However, this rest isn't for sleeping, I've decided to hold a cuju tournament, with each class taking turns competing against each other. The class that wins the most will be awarded a championship flag!"

  ??”

  "Unbelievable, unbelievable!" He Qian shook his head and nodded towards Sun Youlao. "The young master's method is truly ingenious. With the competitive spirit of the children, he has encouraged everyone in the camp to compare with each other, group by group, class by class, and in this way, the future of the Children's Camp is boundless! I must admire, admire!"

  "Yes, I've been thinking too. If this children's camp can continue, what will it be like in five years or ten years?" Sun Youlao immediately thought of Zheng Kechang's intention to expand the army and couldn't help but sigh. "Maybe one day the strongest military force in Taiwan Strait will be established by us, it's really exciting."

  "Taizong is the eldest son of the vassal state, so it's impossible for him to lead troops permanently and he doesn't have any battle experience. Then who will be in charge of the strongest army in the future?" He Qian looked at Sun Youlao with a questioning gaze. "Lord Sun, you are the one who gets the moon first from the tower near the water."

  Sun You had a vigilant heart, but his face didn't reveal it. He just dryly chuckled twice: "Not necessarily, not necessarily. For the Tongzi Camp to truly become an army, it'll take at least five or six more years. With Wang Shang's conquests on the mainland, Yu and He brother may not be able to stay here for so long. Who knows, they might even have to serve others."

  "This is also the case." He Qian nodded, but did not give up. "I don't know what Lord Sun thinks, but if I can get the consent of Master Meng Da Gongzi, I would like to stay here forever. However, it's hard to predict what's on his mind. In short, this matter is not something that we can take charge of, and it still needs the approval of Master Meng Da Gongzi."

  What is this, sowing discord? But it's also too obvious, isn't it.

  For this, Sun Youlao calmly glanced at the other party and directly kicked the ball to Zhu Jin's feet: "It's likely that even the young master can't take charge, if you want to serve as a guard for Yuanzi, it's probably still necessary for Wang Shang to personally give his consent."

  He Qian seemed to have suddenly realized something and said repeatedly: "This is indeed the case?"