Chapter 156: Promise, Reassure People

With the previous experience of Zhang Fei, Guan Yu inevitably had a better impression of Jin Mao.

Even though Guan Yu and Zhang Fei quarreled all the time, they had a good relationship.

However, there was no determination of who was better in terms of martial arts, which made Zhang Fei inferior to Guan Yu. Zhang Fei was very unhappy and always shouted that he wanted to be second in command.

Guan Yu naturally did not tolerate Zhang Fei, and this was the source of their quarrel.

Having gained the services of Liu, Guan and Zhang, Jin Mao waved his hand and changed the mounts for all three of them.

Needless to say, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei were very happy.

Guan Yu was even more moved. Due to his extraordinary height and weight, no horse could last long under his crotch before being crushed and deformed.

The war horses that Jinmao equipped the three people with were the best among nearly a thousand war horses.

Recently, food and grass have become more and more abundant, so Jinmao went north to purchase several hundred war horses, making the total number one thousand!

Although it cannot be compared with regular cavalry, it is sufficient in the south.

The next period of time will be busy preparing food and supplies.

Liu Bei rushed to Wu County to take up his post. The three brothers said goodbye in tears and made an appointment to meet again.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were both commoners, so naturally they would not make three rules with Jin Mao as they did in history.

But he did not acknowledge his master, but called him "Envoy" just like Cheng Pu.

It is worth mentioning that when Sun Jian learned that Jin Mao was going to leave Yangzhou to attack Xuzhou, he wrote a letter asking for Cheng Pu to return.

Jin Mao naturally had no intention of forcing him to stay, but Cheng Pu was reluctant to let him go.

But on one hand, his lord Sun Jian was calling him, and on the other hand, Jin Mao did not want to destroy his relationship with Sun Jian, so in the end Cheng Pu returned to Sun Jian.

Next, the position of cavalry leader became vacant. Jin Mao wanted to directly arrange Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to take the position, but was unanimously opposed.

Therefore, Jin Mao temporarily appointed Guan and Zhang as his personal guards, and waited until their achievements were sufficient before reappointing them.

In this regard, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had no objection after learning about the military system of Jinmao.

They are both proud people and would not accept food given out of pity!

They all wanted to make a name for themselves in Xuzhou.

Jin Mao had no choice but to transfer Ling Cao and Dong Xi, who had experience in leading cavalry, to take over the temporary position.

As for the third and fourth main battalions, they were temporarily commanded by Yang Lin and Huang Xing, who stayed in Nanchang County and Qu'a County respectively.

Since some soldiers joined the army or retired last time, there are only 800 personal guards, 4,000 main battalions, and 5,000 naval forces in Jinmao's army.

There are a total of 9,800 people, of which nearly 4,000 are new soldiers recruited by Kuaiji County this year.

In other words, there are less than 6,000 elite veterans left.

It seems that the strength has been greatly weakened, but in fact it has been enhanced.

These are all Jin Mao's loyal troops, and their combat power is incomparable.

...

December.

Zhang Chun and Qiu Liju took control of the four states of Qing, Xu, You and Ji.

Emperor Liu Hong ordered the cavalry commander Gongsun Zan to fight against them. Gongsun Zan fought a fierce battle with the rebels at Shimen, a vassal state.

Zhang Chun and his men were badly defeated. They abandoned their wives and fled all the way out of the frontier, plundering all the men and women in the counties they passed through for their own use.

Gongsun Zan's army advanced deep into the enemy's territory alone, and had no support. He was besieged in Guanzi City in Liaoxi by Qiu Liju and others, and was isolated and helpless.

Liangzhou.

The rebels including Wang Guo and others besieged Chencang but were unable to capture it in a short period of time.

Dong Zhuo took the opportunity to win the hearts of the people, and countless Qiang, Hu, and Xiongnu people came to submit to him.

In the same month, the imperial court summoned Dong Zhuo to be the Shaofu, but Dong Zhuo refused to accept the order.

Dong Zhuo wrote a letter to decline the offer: "My subordinates, the Huangzhong Yicong and the Xiongnu soldiers, have come to stop my carriage and begged me not to abandon them. I could not stop them, so I could only stay and comfort them. If the situation changes, I will report to the court."

The eunuch group was helpless and very worried.

...

December 30th, New Year’s Eve.

Qu'a County, Wujun.

Jinmao accompanied the soldiers to spend a simple Spring Festival here.

Materials from all parties gathered in Qu'a County, and the docks, ports and even rivers were filled with transport ships.

After a year of crazy shipbuilding, we have now built more than 3,000 transport ships that are more than ten meters long. Together with the hundreds of ships built previously, a total of 4,000 ships have been built!

This year, all counties had a good harvest, and Jinmao only took away 2 million shi of grain, 1 million shi of straw, and 100,000 barrels of oil, which were enough for 100,000 people to fight for half a year.

The recruitment of 40,000 volunteers was completed. The elite soldiers of Danyang County were very enthusiastic. A total of 20,000 young and strong men were recruited, more than 15,000 from Kuaiji County, and the remaining 4,000 were from Wu County.

Most of the 50,000 civilians came from Yuzhang County. With the previous experience of Jiujiang County as a lesson, the civilians were more willing to join the military settlement.

The march of 100,000 men is different from that of 10,000 men.

The eating, drinking, defecating and urinating of nearly 50,000 soldiers is a big problem. If any aspect is not handled properly, it will cause huge problems.

Epidemics, parasites, and even common diarrhea can cause non-combat casualties.

Therefore, Jinmao let the elite troops take the lead and set an example whether it was setting up camp or cooking.

The volunteers will be divided into two parts, one half will be trained by the main battalion, and the other half will be trained by Jin Mao and his personal guards. To this end, the volunteers will compete in order to be able to receive training under Jin Mao, according to the old tradition.

They fight in pairs, and the winner goes under the command of the imperial guards.

This also became the most lively event on New Year's Eve and the Spring Festival. The result was unexpected, with Danyang soldiers and Kuaiji soldiers half and half, and there were almost no Wujun soldiers.

Jin Mao didn't expect that in just a few years, the Kuaiji soldiers would have become so powerful.

The second day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Zhongping.

Today is the day of departure, and Qu'a County is bustling with people.

He Qi has been very distressed recently.

The last time Zhang Fei made trouble, the madam of Yihongyuan was only guilty of a minor crime which did not warrant the death penalty, but He Qi still chopped her off.

This was a conflict created by He Qi because he guessed that Jin Mao definitely wanted to subdue Zhang Fei.

Sure enough, things went very smoothly, and Jin Mao was so excited about recruiting Zhang Fei that he overlooked this little thing.

This is not surprising. Jinmao has so many things to do every day. If no one below reported it, how would they have discovered the death of a brothel madam?
The same goes for the matter of receiving the gold cakes from Liu Bei. Jin Mao was very strict in managing his army and was in charge of all the major issues, but he could not take care of the small details.

No matter whether they were military officers or civil servants, it was not just He Qi who had the bad habit of accepting bribes. Even Yu Fan, Xi Zhicai and others were no exception. This had almost become a routine.

What worries He Qi are bigger problems than these small ones.

The Yuan Shao faction headed by Wuqiu Yi wrote a letter to He Qi, offering him high positions and generous titles, hoping that He Qi would abandon evil and join the light.

The Qingliu faction headed by Wang Lang also wrote to He Qi, hoping that he would not be ungrateful and continue down the same path.

He Qi has a hard time choosing between betrayal and loyalty.

It has been almost three years since He Qi came to work for Jinmao. He has experienced a lot, but can we say that he has made more progress than before?
It doesn't look like it.

Even though he was the battalion commander of the second main battalion, commanding a thousand elite soldiers, equivalent to an ordinary captain, he was a high-ranking official with a rank of two thousand stones.

But Jinmao has always had no name or status in the army because this matter cannot be made public.

It's not just He Qi. Many officers have begun to complain. The treatment and salary are indeed good, but without any status, who would be willing to be an unknown hero all his life?
Therefore, all the resentful officers left, and many soldiers also left with them, and went to join Wuqiu Yi.

He Qi had always been hesitant. His family background in Kuaiji County was not bad. He was considered a prominent family in the county and a powerful family in the county.

He Qi thought he couldn't devote his whole life to Jinmao's illusory dream.

But to change his appearance, not only is it against his conscience and morality, but He Qi's ambitions also do not allow it.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Jinmao had big ambitions, and He Qi could naturally see that too, but the big question was when exactly they would be fulfilled.

On this day, the entire army set out. He Qi knew that he could not wait any longer and had to make a decision.

He Qi found Jin Mao and told him everything that happened and what was in his mind that day when Zhang Fei caused trouble.

"My lord, I am guilty, please punish me."

Jin Mao didn't know how to punish this matter, and couldn't help but look at Xun You and Xi Zhicai.

Xi Zhicai was not good at this, so he pushed it to Xun You, who cupped his hands and said, "My lord, you have always used military law to govern the army and new civil law to govern the people. Since this incident is not recorded anywhere, you cannot judge the fault."

"If the Han law is used to sentence people, then the new legal system established by the lord will lose its effectiveness, which is really unwise."

Jin Mao nodded in agreement and said, "Gongda is right. Half of the responsibility for this matter lies with me."

"But I don't like people trying to figure out what I'm thinking. If everyone follows suit, won't it be a mess?"

Xun You glanced at He Qi and said, "Captain He has the same intention. He is asking for punishment for this matter."

He Qi's thoughts were revealed, so he bowed and said, "My lord, Wu Qiuyi wrote to recruit me, but I didn't agree. This is his letter."

After He Qi finished taking out one scroll of bamboo slips, he took out another and said, "This is a letter of persuasion written jointly by Wang Lang and Sheng Xian."

Jin Mao opened it and glanced at it casually, then threw it to Xun You, still shouting: "Gongda, I said that these people are still evil and want to weaken my strength!"

"Look, they've even extended their hands into the military!"

Xun You glanced at it briefly, then closed it and bowed again, saying, "My lord, this is understandable."

Xun You expressed all of He Qi's worries, "Now the soldiers are in a state of uncertainty. If the lord does not take any measures, I am afraid that even loyal officials will turn to treacherous officials."

"The human heart cannot stand the test!"

Jin Mao couldn't help but look He Qi in the eye and asked, "Do you really think so?"

He Qi wanted to lower his head to avoid her, but he thought that he must get an answer today, so he gritted his teeth and insisted on looking her in the eye: "Yes!"

"Haha!" Jin Mao laughed and pointed at He Qi, "You have guts!"

Jin Mao pondered and said, "I once promised that I would apply for a higher title for you according to your achievements."

"I did it!"

"But now you are not satisfied with the title, and you want to be an official."

Jin Mao looked around, took a deep breath and said, "Give me three years."

"After three years, rewards will be given according to merit!"

"Whatever you lack now, I will make up for it for you in three years!"

Jinmao couldn't say that everything would become simple when troubled times came. He could only delay time in this way. When that time came, things would become simple.

This is also why he did not know how long it would take for the chaotic times to come, but three years later, Liu Hong would definitely be dead.

By then, troubled times would surely have arrived.

After all, the eldest prince Liu Bian is 17 years old at the beginning of this year, and in three years, he will be 20 years old!
If Liu Hong had not died at that time, what kind of chaos would the Han Dynasty be in?
(End of this chapter)