Chapter 75: Soldiers are treated well and their enthusiasm for joining the army is unprecedentedly high

In the end, Jin Mao decided to keep He Qi by his side and provide guidance and observation for a period of time.

Before that, of course, I need to explain things clearly to He Qi.

He Qi didn't hesitate and promised to complete the task, whether it was learning or governance.

Are you kidding? If you can't even catch the pie falling from the sky, you might as well die.

However, Jin Mao should still make things clear with He Qi.

First of all, being an acting county magistrate does not mean you can be promoted to a full-time position. It is just an accumulation of merits. If you want to be truly promoted in the future you have to start from the beginning.

After all, even a great talent like Xi Zhicai had to do hard labor at the grassroots level, let alone a military general like He Qi.

In response, He Qi said it was no problem.

Having said this, Jin Mao said no more and began his first attempt to train high-level military commanders.

Bai Shi, Yang Lin, Huang Xing, Ling Cao and others strongly requested to participate in the training. Dong Xi also clamored to join after realizing it.

This brings up another question. He Qi, Dong Xi, and Ling Cao are all newcomers. How can they participate in the advanced military training class?
The old soldiers were unhappy, especially Ning Ye, who had just joined the royal guard team.

"Lord God, we are also your soldiers. I respect Bai Junhou, Yang and Huang, the two captains, but I do not respect these three!"

These words immediately resonated with the veterans. Was it just because these three people had good backgrounds?
Seeing this, Jin Mao was also helpless. He couldn't just say that you guys don't understand such things because you haven't received any education. That would be too hurtful.

He Qi was quick-witted and said, "Mingsir, since they are not convinced, why don't we have a duel!"

"Let's compete! Who's afraid of who?" None of the arrogant soldiers and brave generals were afraid.

"it is good!"

Since everyone agreed, Jin Mao prepared for the written test. According to his idea, if there was to be a competition, it should be both civil and military, as this was the standard for senior military officers.

He Qi suggested: "Mingsir, just compete in martial arts."

Come to think of it, this group of people can't read a single word, so it's better to compare who's smarter than to compare who's educated.

However, Jinmao also has its own ideas.

"Then let's fight first."

Jin Mao said, "Anyway, there are only three places for the three of them. After the competition, the top three will be able to attend the training class."

Before the competition even started, Yang Lin and Huang Xing, knowing that they had little experience, also requested to join the competition and obtain the qualification in a fair and just manner.

Jinmao naturally agreed, but changed the number of places from three to five.

Bai Shi also wanted to join in, but was stopped by Jin Mao: "Why are you joining in the fun?"

"You've been the leader for so long, what are you going to do to compete with them?"

"Winning is dishonorable, losing is shameful!"

It's Jinmao's face that is lost.

Bai Shi didn't understand, but he was very obedient and didn't go.

The competition events are simple: weighted cross-country running, weightlifting, and combat skills.

In the first event, weighted cross-country racing, the top five were: Dong Xian, Ling Cao, Yang Lin, Huang Xing, and He Qi.

In the second event, weightlifting, the top five were: Dong Xi, Ning Ye, Yang Lin, Huang Xing, and Ling Cao.

The top five in the third combat skills: He Qi, Ling Cao, Dong Xi, Yang Lin, and Huang Xing.

Even though the three generals have only been in training for less than a month, their basic skills are much more solid.

The Royal Guards and the Third Team have only been well fed for less than a year, so how could their strength increase so quickly?

On the contrary, Ning Ye is a gifted kid. After growing up in a few years, he may become the next Pan Lin or even Dong Xi.

Now the veterans had nothing to say. Among the three competitions, only Ning Ye made the list, and no one else did.

In order to convince these veterans, Jinmao also conducted a test: military tactics.

He used the Ye County encounter as an example to test everyone.

On that occasion, Zhu Jun was careless and encountered tens of thousands of Shanyue people in a narrow area, killing hundreds of his private soldiers.

Most people think that just rushing in will be the end of the problem. This is indeed the correct answer, but it violates a major taboo in military strategy.

Even Dong Xian and Ling Cao, although they had practiced martial arts and were very brave, had never been exposed to such advanced things as military tactics.

Not to mention the other illiterate people. Only He Qi thought carefully and spoke at the last moment: "I think the better way is to stabilize the situation first, and then send people to advance from the river and the mountain to find out the truth, so as to decide whether to advance or retreat."

Hearing this answer, Jin Mao suddenly thought of a question: "At that time, could it be that Zhu Jun didn't think of this?"

Zhu Jun must have thought of this, so after receiving Jin Mao's message, he launched the attack without hesitation.

Before that, Zhu Jun never came to urge him once, but used his own methods to test the truth.

"It seems that the wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated."

This gave Jinmao a reminder and also gave him an experience: large-scale combat is very different from small-unit combat.

In particular, we must not change orders every day or give commands arbitrarily, otherwise the consequences will be unpredictable.

He Qi stared at Jin Mao's expression nervously. This was the best answer he could think of. He had never read any military books, but he was very talented in things like military tactics.

Jin Mao reacted and tried to hide his embarrassment by laughing.

"Hahaha!"

"Do you think what He Gongmiao said is good?"

Most people would sneer and think that it would be a disaster if they were to act recklessly.

Only Bai Shi, Yang Lin, Huang Xing, Dong Xi, Ling Cao and Ning Ye were thinking.

After more than ten seconds, Jin Mao said, "What He Gongmiao said is right, and also wrong."

"His approach is more mature and in line with the art of war, but the battlefield changes rapidly and it is impossible to make a quick decision, so things become different."

Jin Mao recreated the scene at that time, and the soldiers cheered. Sure enough, Mang had accomplished the task.

Jin Mao changed the subject and said, "If there are elites like you among the tens of thousands of Shanyue, will this approach still work?"

Everyone thought about it and shook their heads. Zhu Jun's private soldiers were indeed elite, but they were not pushovers either. They were confident that they could give Zhu Jun a big gift.

Jin Mao concluded: "War is not a fight. An officer should consider defeat before thinking about victory."

"As for you." Jin Mao waved his hand: "Don't think too much. Just go ahead if you are asked to. It is the officials' business to decide how to go ahead. What does it have to do with you if something goes wrong?"

The laughter broke out into the sky, and everyone felt that there was nothing wrong with being a soldier. Only seven people present silently kept these words in their hearts.

The students for the first officer training class were determined as Bai Shi, He Qi, Dong Xi, Ling Cao, Yang Lin and Huang Xing.

The content taught is all the basics of Zhu Jun's military strategy.

In addition, Jinmao strictly requires the six people to attend classes after completing daily training.

No one complained, and the six people were enjoying themselves.

"Isn't it possible that these people are masochists?" Jin Mao's heart trembled.

Jin Mao didn't know how difficult it was for ordinary people to go to school in that era, let alone study orthodox military tactics.

Therefore, when the complete version of the policy on preferential treatment for soldiers was released, the entire southern part of Kuaiji County was in an uproar.

For a time, countless gentry begged for a place to join the army, and even children from poor families wanted to join the army.

This matter not only spread to the five northern counties, but also spread to the neighboring Wu County, Danyang County, and Yuzhang County.

The name of Jinmao is known throughout the four counties.

The people of the five northern counties were eagerly waiting for Jinmao to take over, while the powerful families were on edge and were moving around to form alliances.

These are all things for later.

Jinmao is having a headache right now and is trying to calm people down.

Because the policy is in its infancy, many details are not clear, which results in some people being able to get in and some not being able to.

The soldiers under his command had no interest in training and were fighting for places every day, with several violent conflicts even breaking out.

In the end, Jinmao took a one-size-fits-all approach and cancelled all the ambiguous vacancies.

He warned: "Don't do it again. This is a welfare policy, not a real policy. I can cancel it at any time!"

In order to prevent similar incidents from happening, Jinmao added another clause to its welfare policy: "The final right of interpretation belongs to me!"

Only then was the unrest quelled and everything returned to normal.

(End of this chapter)