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The forbidden army is the central army of the Northern Song Dynasty, "called the Son of Heaven Guard", it is governed by the front of the palace, the guard horse military division, and the guard infantry division, that is, the "three ya".

At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the forbidden army swept across the north and south of the river, and destroyed Houshu in two months, and the forbidden army established in the hands of Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, can be regarded as one of the strongest field infantry in Chinese history.

Originally, the jurisdiction of the forbidden army was in the central court, and when it was necessary to fight, it was sent by the Jingshi.

This management system brought great support pressure to the Northern Song Dynasty.

In order to alleviate this pressure, except for the Japanese army and the Tianwu army of the front division of the palace, the rest of the forbidden armies implemented the "change system".

The so-called "guard system" is actually the fact that each of them is stationed in the grain-producing area, or is responsible for guarding and fighting in the border area.

In order to appease the soldiers, the Northern Song Dynasty court specially allowed the troops to be stationed with their families.

In fact, this is no longer joining the army to fight, it is completely living, and many troops have since settled in the grain areas and slowly integrated into the local forces.

The soldiers of the forbidden army also began to be recruited from the original Beijing division to the garrison, and their commanders were often concurrently served by local officials.

During the Shaosheng period, the Northern Song Dynasty court issued an edict on the prohibition of prefectures and counties from pre-local military and political affairs, which was theoretically to clarify the relationship between the forbidden army and local entanglement, but in fact, the Northern Song Dynasty court at this time had been beyond the reach of the management of the forbidden army in various places, and the forbidden army, which had lost the restraint of the local governor, began to form a relatively closed interest system of its own.

Actually-

Cai is still incompatible with the current forbidden army system, because he is not a local person, but is parachuted.

Therefore, don't look at Cai is still a member of the Cai family, but after he arrived in Yangwu County, he was still resisted by local forces, and the major families in Yangwu County even spoke out to prevent his children from responding to Cai Ying's recruitment, wanting to force Cai still to comply, and even wanting to get a piece of the pie from Cai Yan.

Don't think that Cai is still only 500 people, so he has no power at all.

The hundred years of peace between the Song and Liao dynasties made many armies of the Northern Song Dynasty corrupt and decay.

Lacking the pressure of war, the commanders of the Northern Song Dynasty Forbidden Army began to use various means to seek benefits, such as eating empty quotas, using the army for smuggling, and even serving ordinary soldiers at will.

Let's put it this way, if you change to an officer who can manage to lead the 500 Jinwu army, you can easily earn tens of thousands of dollars when you are young, and if you take advantage of the time and place, then there is no upper limit.

Undoubtedly, Cai still parachuted down and moved the cake of the local forces.

It is no wonder that the local forces have given Cai still a horse.

In this regard, Cai still responded very strongly and directly, and immediately announced: The soldiers recruited by the Jinwu army do not want the children of the family, but only honest and responsible farmers.

The land policy of "not suppressing annexation" implemented by the Song Dynasty, especially the Northern Song Dynasty, promoted social development to a certain extent, but it also led to sharp contradictions between the landlord class and the peasants.

The so-called land annexation refers to the phenomenon that the powerful strata, which account for a small minority of the population, take advantage of their dominant position to acquire a large amount of land in the hands of the peasants through means such as purchase, coaxing, and coercion, resulting in a high degree of land concentration.

As a consequence of this phenomenon, the number of peasants who have lost their land is very high, and their lives are very difficult.

And the soldiers that Cai still recruited are these people.

Although the Northern Song Dynasty respected literature and suppressed martial arts, the income of the warriors was actually not low - according to the calculations of Cai Xiang, who served as the third envoy of the Yingzong Dynasty, at the beginning of the Yingzong Dynasty, there were more than 1.18 million forbidden troops and box soldiers in the country, and the cost of raising troops was 48 million copper coins per year, on average, about 40 yuan per person per year.

Although the Central Forbidden Army has declined, because it is still nominally a guard to protect the emperor, its nominal treatment is still the highest.

In other words, the nominal income of the Central Forbidden Army was actually more than 40 taels, and the average person could get nearly 60 tains per year.

If this military sound can be given to the hands of the soldiers, then being a soldier can definitely be regarded as a high return.

It's just that the officials in charge of the army work together to greatly reduce the actual income of low-level soldiers - the large shortage of the central forbidden army is that there are incumbents, and in fact there are less than 20 yuan, and if you want to take a little more, you must know how to do some craftsmanship, like carpenters, lacquerers, and stonemasons.

This has also led to the fact that the current soldiers of the forbidden army are not good at fighting, but they all have unique skills, and the boss of the forbidden army, Gao Yu, has also become the biggest contractor in this era.

The Jinwu Army belongs to the Central Forbidden Army sequence, and theoretically it naturally gets the highest salary, that is, on average, each soldier can get sixty taels.

It's a pity that half of this money is already left when it comes to Cai Yan, and Cai still doesn't even know where that half has gone.

And this is because those bigwigs see that Cai still has a deep background and does not do too much, otherwise Cai is still afraid that he will not even be able to get half of it.

Of course, there are also considerations above, in their minds, to give Cai still 500 indicators, if Cai still only recruits one or two hundred soldiers, even if he is paid in full, there is still a lot of leftover, and how can there be a fool who gives a full amount of soldiers?

But they never expected that Cai was not only ready to recruit 500 people, but also prepared to be a "fool" for Zu Xiang.

Someone may ask, so Cai still has to put money in it?

This is natural, otherwise how could Cai still firmly grasp the military power of the Jin Wu Army?

Far from it.

As soon as the recruitment banner was unfurled, Cai still asked people to put the yellow, orange and orange copper coins around, and clearly wrote out the military sound of the Jinwu Army and posted it on the recruitment wall (on the side of the recruitment notice), and stated that as long as he was selected to enter the Jinwu Army, he would be paid three months' salary first, that is, nine taels per person (this is only the salary of new recruits, and with the increase of military age, the military sound will also increase).

In this era, one silk can probably buy about two hundred catties of rice or half a piece of cloth, and three silk is enough to support a family, in other words, Cai still gives absolutely generous treatment to applicants.

The supply of soldiers is sufficient, and the treatment given by Cai is absolutely generous, and the recruits naturally gather.

In this case, Cai still has to pick the best soldiers.

……

"What? Am I unsuccessful? ”

At the first test site, a big man shouted in disbelief.

Not only was the big man unbelievable, but many onlookers also looked incredulous.

I saw this big man, with a black bear-like body, iron bull-like muscles and bones, a belt of bile and yellow hair on his chest, two horizontal ribs on his back, thousands of pounds of strength in his arms, and tens of thousands of cold lights in his eyes. ”

Moreover, there are people who recognize this good man, and they know that this good man is a famous hero Xu Meng, who has a very good martial arts, even if he is bare-handed, five or seven people are not his opponents at all.

However, a hero like Xu Meng was unexpectedly unsuccessful, and he was in the preliminary examination stage!

This made everyone wonder!

Looking at the people who were selected by Cai still again, everyone was even more puzzled - the people who Cai still selected, in addition to the black, thick and thick skin and flesh, one is more ordinary than the other, all of them are simple, a few of them look like the kind of people with short strings in their brains, to put it more bluntly, these people are obviously stupid, stupid, wooden, and slow to react, where can they compare to Xu Meng? Everyone really couldn't understand, why did Cai still choose such a person to join the Jinwu Army, and they didn't choose a hero like Xu Meng to join the Jinwu Army?

This Xu Meng, who can break into a great reputation in Yangwu County, is naturally not easy to get rid of, especially since he thinks he is reasonable.

Therefore, seeing that he was defeated, and those stupid people were selected, Xu Meng immediately quit, and he ignored the servants of Cai Ying's family who brushed him down, but rushed directly to the place where Cai was still sitting, hugged his fists and said: "General Rongyu, villain Xu Meng, a native of Yangwu County, admires the prestige of the general, and came to join the army, but he didn't want to, the villain's enthusiasm for serving the country, but in exchange for the results of the initial test, the villain asked himself that he still has some force, and he is also rough about military books and strategies, I really don't know why he was defeated?" Please also inform the general! ”

Cai still raised his eyes and glanced at Xu Meng, and asked instead of answering: "Are you from the city?" ”

Xu Meng replied: "The villain grew up in Yangwu County, so he is naturally a city person. ”

Cai still asked again: "Have you ever served in the government?" ”

Xu Meng replied: "The villain has been a jailer in this county for two years, and he should be regarded as having served in the government. ”

Cai still asked again: "Are you cowardly?" ”

Xu Meng replied: "The villain is a guts. ”

Cai still summed it up bluntly: "You don't meet my recruitment criteria, so you lost the election." ”

Cai still read Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Discipline and Effectiveness" and "Practical Record of Military Training".

Qi Jiguang has four don'ts and four wants.

The four don'ts are:

1. People in the city don't want it.

According to Qi Jiguang's standards, people in the city have seen the world and are not very obedient to the orders of their superiors;

2. Those who have served in the government are not allowed.

Qi Jiguang believes that people who have served in the government are already very familiar with the government system, and they are full of soldiers;

Don't let people over the age of 30 or 40, don't do it if you have fair skin.

Qi Jiguang believes that older people are physically exhausted, and according to the saying at that time, people with fair skin are people who do not work much, and it is difficult to endure hardship;

Fourth, don't be particularly timid and bold;

Needless to say, such a person cannot be a good soldier at all, while a person who is particularly bold is prone to extremism and rashness.

The four essentials are:

First, it is necessary to be a standard peasant and work in the field every day.

Farmers can endure hardships and have physical strength, and the important thing is to obey management;

Second, it should be black, strong, and muscular.

Needless to say, if you are not in good health, how can you go to war?

3. Look at the spirited.

The eyes are the windows of the soul, and the eyes are spiritual, indicating that the spirit of the person is good.

Fourth, you must see that the government is afraid.

Such a person, obedient to management, is easy to shape into an elite soldier.

Regarding the practicability of Qi Jiguang's selection criteria, Cai Ying, who has been an instructor for many sessions, has a personal experience.

Therefore, Cai still set the recruitment criteria this time, to a large extent, referring to Qi Jiguang's selection criteria.

And using this standard to set Xu Meng, Xu Meng can be said to have no other standards except for his strong body.

Therefore, Xu Meng was naturally brushed down.

Xu Meng was unconvinced: "The general's method of selecting troops is a little too unique, right?" ”

Cai still looked at Xu Meng and asked, "Are you questioning my method of selecting soldiers?" ”

Xu Meng clenched his fists and said: "The villain doesn't dare, but if the general wants to convince people, he has to let people see the gap between me and the elite soldiers carefully selected by the general, right?" ”

Cai still smiled and said, "So, you want to compete with my soldiers?" ”

Xu Meng glanced at the recruits of the Jinwu Army behind Cai Ying, and said, "The villain just doesn't understand the gap between the villain and the elite soldiers selected by the general. ”

Cai still smiled unchanged and said, "If I don't let you know the gap, you won't be reconciled, right?" ”

Xu Meng clenched his fists again and said, "Ask the general to be fulfilled!" ”

Cai still no longer looked at Xu Meng, but stood up, and then came to the recruits who were practicing the military posture, and said, "All of them, stand upright!" At ease! Attention! ”

With Cai Ying's order, the more than 300 recruits recruited by Cai still during this period of time neatly closed their legs, stretched their legs, and retracted their legs again.

This scene did not surprise the onlookers, because during this time, Cai had been recruiting soldiers and training these recruits in this way.

Cai still ordered again: "Turn left and step in unison...... Walk! ”

Xu Meng didn't know what Cai was still going to do, so he came over and asked, "General, where are you going?" ”

Cai still said: "Broken Soul Cliff." ”

Not far from Cai Ying's recruitment office, there is a cliff dozens of zhang high, and the locals call it the Broken Soul Cliff - if a person falls from it, he will die and be lifeless, so there is a "Broken Soul Cliff".

After a while, Cai Ying, more than 300 new names of Jin Wujun, Xu Meng, and thousands of people watching the excitement all arrived at the edge of the Broken Soul Cliff.

Xu Meng looked at the Broken Soul Cliff not far away, and asked Cai still in confusion: "What did the general take me here for?" ”

Cai still said: "Aren't you going to compete with my soldiers? You are here to compare. ”

Xu Meng was stunned and said, "Compare here?" Than what? ”

Cai still said: "The ancients, a thousand armies and one person, win!" The first thing a soldier is obedience, which is the foundation for the cultivation of other good qualities of a soldier, such as bravery and good fighting. What I said, do you agree? ”

Unexpectedly, this Xu Meng still has a lot of knowledge, and he actually said in one mouth: "This is one of the core contents of the military book "Sima Law", of course it is good. ”

Listening to Xu Meng, he said, "Whoever has a thousand troops and one person, wins!" Cai still couldn't help but move, "Am I taking the treasure?" thoughts.

However, in order to build the army into the army he wanted, Cai still quickly extinguished this idea and said: "Since you agree, how about comparing obedience with my soldiers?" ”

When Xu Meng heard this, he responded with confidence: "There is no way to do it." ”

Cai still said: "Then you go to my soldiers and choose ten random people to come out." ”

Xu Meng said: "What does the general mean that the villain has to win ten people to win?" ”

Cai still shook his head and said, "You can win any of them, even if you win." ”

When Xu Meng heard this, his eyes moved, and he said in his heart: "He seems to be confident, so ...... Why did he choose him to prevail over me? Is it his strange way of training? With so many people watching, I must not lose, otherwise how will I continue to mix in Yangwu County in the future? ”

Thinking of this, Xu Meng took out ten people from the Jinwu army one by one.

At first glance, there were no ten people pointed out by Xu Meng, and several of them seemed to be the best among the more than 300 people.

This inevitably made Xu Meng applaud, and many onlookers praised Xu Meng for being "open".

But Cai still clearly knew that the ten people Xu Meng called out were all just selected into the Jinwu Army, that is, they were all recruits among the recruits who had not received much training from Cai Ying.

But—

Cai still didn't break Xu Meng's small actions now.

Cai still asked Xu Meng: "Have you chosen?" ”

Xu Meng said: "After choosing, how is the general going to compare?" ”

……