Chapter 59 Blessed are the township groups

Chapter 59 Blessed are the township groups

The rural regiment in the county was reorganized, and Zhou Changming was appointed commander-in-chief. The Shangyang garrison where he was originally stationed became a gathering place for rural soldiers.

As August came to an end, regiments from surrounding counties and villages gathered one after another to garrison Shangyang and set up tents around the fort. Soon this place became a large-scale military camp.

Guanzhong has been in chaos for a long time. In addition to farming and mulberry farming, the villagers also learned how to march in the army to gather people to protect themselves. They generally understood the general camp and defense laws. But because they now have to obey the dispatch as a regular army, the soldiers must also be proficient in conveying military orders such as advancing, retreating, gathering and dispersing in full force.

When some rural soldiers gathered here, the relevant drills officially began.

A piece of sloping land outside the Shangyang garrison was cleared as a school ground. The captains of the soldiers each held several formation maps in their hands, tried hard to identify the flag and drum orders, and ordered the country soldiers under their command to put into offensive and defensive formations one by one.

Although the rural soldiers usually practice drills when they live in their own villages, most of them are not so formal and large-scale. The formation diagrams taught by Daxingtai are also more complex and changeable, so the transmission of orders is a bit confusing.

Some soldiers reacted quickly, while others reacted a little slowly. After the flag and drum order was issued, there were mixed reactions. There were many two or more people who lost control, collided directly, and fell to the ground in a mess.

Some people couldn't help laughing when they saw this chaotic scene, and others were also affected by this emotion, and the laughter became even louder. It's been so noisy for more than half an hour, and they haven't even mastered a basic formation yet.

On the plateau, Zhou Changming looked at the chaotic scene, his face gradually became gloomy, and he shouted in a deep voice: "After one drum, if they can't form a formation again, the heads of each team will be fined ten canes!"

His order had some effect. The soldiers on the school field restrained their smiles and cheered up. The team leaders also became extremely nervous. As the drum orders sounded, they held the formation map in their hands and started pushing and kicking them. The soldiers were arranged into fixed positions one by one.

As soon as the drumming order was completed, Zhou Changming ordered Li Quji to lead several supervisors into the formation for closer inspection.

"Fork out!"

In a small team, there were three soldiers whose positions were not within a certain distance. As Li Quji gave an order, the leader of the team was dragged out of the team and executed with his arms cut behind his shoulders.

On the side of the school grounds, the leader of the team was dragged to the torture frame covered by the curtain. Immediately, the dull sound of the torture stick hitting the flesh was heard from within the curtain.

Although the soldiers on the school field could not see the specific scene of the cane, the muffled sounds seemed to tap on their respective heartstrings. Each of them looked solemn and did not dare to make any noise or laugh anymore.

Several consecutive team leaders were imprisoned and tortured with the cane, and those soldiers whose formations were wrong were not spared. They were stripped out of their formations and conducted separate formation drills in a corner of the school field, and were deprived of the opportunity to rest in the afternoon.

When the day's training was coming to an end, the originally majestic Zhou Changming and several commanders under his command began to look troubled.

While the soldiers were still practicing formation in the school field, a few people walked to the fort. A governor took the lead and said, "How will we deal with the meal tonight?"

At present, a meal for the rural regiment consumes dozens of kilograms of grain. Since a large amount of millet and grain military rations have been sold, in the past few days, they have been cooking with some old grains. There is already some dissatisfaction among the soldiers.

Zhou Changming also ran the army harshly and supervised his orders harshly. The commanders and soldiers were punished for violations, which further exacerbated this dissatisfaction. Even when we counted the soldiers early this morning, several people fled back to their hometowns. In order to avoid greater panic, they only covered this up in advance and secretly sent people to search for him.

If this situation continues, it's hard to say what kind of changes will happen.

When Zhou Changming heard this question, his face became a little ugly, and he just said in a deep voice: "Shang Yuan Li Lang has promised that the military rations will be sent in the near future!"

"Li Lang, it's Li Lang again! As a new visitor from Dongzhou, don't you know how much money he has in the country?"

After hearing this, a man who had been the governor of the township regiment frowned immediately. He looked at several people with different expressions and said: "I don't care what you and others think. Tomorrow at the latest, if tomorrow The military ration problem cannot be solved, so I will lead my troops to leave. Even if Daxingtai is punished, it is not my fault!"

"Da Xing Tai entrusted me with supervising this military affairs, so I should try my best to do my best. Li Lang is a moral and righteous scholar, and I can trust his steadfast promise! If someone threatens to cause trouble, I will never agree with this sword!"

After Zhou Changming heard this, his face suddenly darkened, and his right hand was already holding the handle of his saber.

"Please be patient and don't be impatient. The situation is not desperate at the moment. It is still being discussed and can still be discussed!"

Seeing that the atmosphere suddenly became tense, Shi Gong hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over. He looked at the governor of the rural regiment who had made the revolt and said with a smile: "General Zhou supervised the township regiment, and it was Daxingtai's instruction. Governor Wu Jiu is in charge of the township soldiers, and he sees things. Profound. You two are local heroes. This training of the township league is a good opportunity for our fellow villagers to rise and grow. We should work together to promote our hometown!"

Governor Wu was silent for a moment, and no one else spoke. Then he slowly raised his arms and bowed to Zhou Changming, saying, "Seeing that the fellow countrymen are working hard and tired, I made a mistake in a moment of impatience. I beg General Zhou to forgive me."

When Zhou Changming heard this, his expression softened a bit, and then he said in a deep voice: "Our hometown may be far or near, but Shangyi is the same in the world! Although Li Lang's stay in the hometown was short, he benefited many people in our hometown. I’m not the only one who is grateful for his kindness. Since he is willing to take on this matter, I believe he can solve it properly!”

Hearing what Zhou Changming said, Shi Gong's face suddenly became embarrassed. He wanted to bravely retort, but when he saw Li Qu walking quickly, he immediately lowered his head and looked at his nose and heart.

"General, my husband's envoy has sent a message. They are escorting the army rations from Shangyuan. They will arrive in the evening! They also tell the camp that there is no need to rush to cook. The soldiers in the camp will be able to eat new food tonight."

Li Quji walked closer and said to Zhou Changming with a happy face.

Zhou Changming was overjoyed after hearing this. He immediately led a group of soldiers to greet him and ordered several governors to lead his troops back to the camp.

Soon after the soldiers on the school field dispersed and returned to the camp, they heard that a large rural righteous family would bring food to the camp. Tonight, there was no need to eat those unpalatable grain rice bran rice, and for a while, I felt sad. Full of expectations, everyone waited eagerly in front of the tent.

As the sun set over the west mountain, more than a dozen large vehicles slowly came from Shangyuan in the north. Seeing the size of the team, the soldiers were happy, but also a little disappointed.

"With only a dozen or so people driving, a full load of only twenty or thirty dan can only last ten days at most, but after that it will be shabby again..."

"It's good to have three or two meals, but my valley road is clogged with chaff, making it difficult to defecate and defecate. If I had known that being a soldier would be so hard, I might as well have been working for others in the countryside!"

Accompanied by various discussions among the battalion soldiers, the convoy transporting food slowly drove into the fort.

The commanders of each battalion had also been waiting in front of the fort gate. When they saw that there were only so many grain transporters, their faces showed different expressions. At that time, Governor Wu, who had been dissatisfied before, stepped forward and stood up and dismounted. Li Tai frowned and said, "Excuse me, Li Lang, this is the only amount of grain that was sent? But I heard that the county had already provided enough grain and fodder, and the millet alone cost several thousand dan..."

Li Tai glanced at the man but did not reply. It was not until Li Qu quickly walked in that he whispered a few words and a smile appeared on his face.

"It turns out that he is the Governor Wu of Nan Wuquan. He only has this amount of military rations and there is no way to issue another batch."

Li Tai looked at Governor Wu and said, "I heard that Governor Wu didn't want to work with the folks, which is really a pity. Since he was given the post of Daxingtai, he could only tolerate Governor Wu for the time being. Wait for Qiu After the grand reading is completed, I will definitely ask you to give me some advice to help Governor Wu find another good job."

"It's not a big deal, Li Lang! But if I can show my strength and merit, I will definitely go to the Daxingtai to report the local evil plot and embezzlement of military rations!"

After hearing this, Governor Wu's expression changed again. He stood astride his sword, pointed at the dozens of grain trucks and said to the people present: "The result of the matter has been shown before our eyes. You have been lying in vain and you still don't regret it? "

When several people present heard this, their faces became ugly. These dozen trucks could not transport thousands or even tens of thousands of shi of grain anyway. This meant that the previous promises had been fulfilled, and even the goods that originally belonged to Some of the military rations of their township regiments were withheld.

"Li Lang, this..."

Shi Gong was originally standing timidly behind the crowd, but now he couldn't help but step forward to question him.

"Shut up! Either stand there or stand here!"

Li Tai squinted his eyes and scolded coldly.

When Shi Gong heard this, his shoulders trembled, his expression was tangled for a moment, and he silently walked to stand behind Li Tai.

Seeing this, the other two newly appointed governors also walked behind Li Tai: "I trust Li Lang, and I will definitely give an explanation!"

The old governor was left on the spot. He looked at Shi Gong and others, then at the cold-faced governor Wu, and finally his eyes fell on Li Tai. He clasped his fists and said in a deep voice: "It is very important for the township regiment to provide food. I beg Li Tai." Lang lives up to his country’s righteousness!”

"I will give you an explanation!"

After hearing this, Li Tai laughed loudly, turned around and slashed at the hemp rope sealing the car with his knife, and ordered: "Unload!"

As the linen covering the cargo was lifted, neatly stacked large round cakes were revealed on the carriage.

Li Taixian held up a big cake with both hands and said to Zhou Changming with a smile: "This cake is made of flax crumbs mixed with wheat flour and mutton oil, stir-fried, and compacted into a cake. One cake has two pieces, which can be used as a ten-day eclipse." Eight thousand pieces of cake, mixed with various grains and rice, are enough to feed the village group for two months!"

Zhou Changming had no doubts about Li Tai. He took the compacted cake with both hands, weighed it first, then held it upright in front of his face, and said with a humorous smile: "This cake can not only be used as food, but also as a shield." Woolen cloth!"

Upon seeing this, several other governors also came over and carefully looked at the military rations they had never seen before. After touching and weighing them, they were very curious.

Such a piece of cake is one and a half feet in diameter and several inches thick. According to current standards, it weighs sixty kilograms. In later generations, it would be more than twenty kilograms. Because it has been fully dried and compacted, the heat provided is much higher than that of millet grains of the same weight, and it is easier to produce a feeling of fullness.

But this is not a compressed biscuit made by later generations, so it cannot reach the energy and nutrition provided by compressed biscuits. But one piece of bread can still provide enough food for ten days.

Soon, the whole camp was filled with the aroma of rice. The food fried with mutton fat, salt, minced ginger, etc. was definitely more delicious than the monotonous millet rice. Coupled with the fact that these campers have been eating Chengu bran rice for several days, the contrast in taste is even more obvious.

When the Li family tribe members who went through the camps to distribute military rations heard the exclamations of praise from the camp soldiers, they also kept saying with pride: "These delicious military rations are provided by my family's master, Li Lang, who lives in Shangyuan. You campers are in luck!"