"Knock-, knock-, knock-, knock-knock......"

The dull sound of drums suddenly sounded, startling several bald ducks that were foraging on the surface of the lake.

At the foot of Moshan Mountain on the shore of East Lake in Wuchang Prefecture, it has been a military garrison for many years, and the people nearby are accustomed to hearing the sound of the golden drum and can also distinguish the meaning.

"This is the gathering of generals, the handsome is in the order!" The man who spoke had towering cheekbones, a thin face, and two eyes that were dripping and rolling, and at first glance he was a jack-of-all-trades and a character who loved to show off.

Someone answered and asked, "Dashuai, which handsome?" Is Ning Nanbo Zuo handsome? ”

"You are really confused, the general army yamen of the commander Zuo is in Wenchang Gate, more than ten miles away, this is the Niu Xietai of the Gongyi Battalion......" As he spoke, another drum sounded came, and the know-it-all looked excitedly in the direction of the barracks, and said pointedly: "This is the second drum, and if the three generals can't drum, they will be killed!" When the new official of Niu Xietai takes office, he may cut off a few brains! ”

"Hiss......"

Everyone gasped, and a hideous-looking general appeared in their minds, with several human heads under his feet, and the steel knife in his hand still dripping blood, like a fierce god......

……

The Niu Xietai in the mouth of the know-it-all is Niu Zhongxiao, the camp official of the Gongyi Battalion, and the newly added rank of deputy general from the second grade, commonly known as Xietai in the officialdom.

At this moment, Niu Zhongxiao was standing outside the door of the Chinese Military Hall, smiling with a smile on his face, clasping his fists with his hands, and waving at the generals who were walking towards Yuguan.

"Please, brothers, today's first military meeting of the Gongyi Battalion, it's too bad to look at it late, hurry up, hurry up and get in!"

"Niu Xietai, why are you so nervous? We are just a small Gongyi battalion, and we are not He Junmen's Fubiao battalion. But the generals didn't care, some of them were familiar with the loyalty and filial piety of the cow, and they were playing haha lightly.

Niu Zhongxiao hurriedly shook his hands: "I can't say it, I can't say this kind of thing, how can this be worthy of He Junmen?" Our Gongyi battalion is also under the tent of He Junmen, and it is a new army trained by the governor's yamen......"

Wang Kefan followed behind the generals and watched all this with some surprise.

He met Niu Zhongxiao two days ago, and knew that he was the camp officer of the new army of the Gongyi Battalion, but he didn't expect his character to be so soft!

He's a good person!

Choosing such a person as the chief general of the new army, He Tengjiao's vision of employing people is really different.

As everyone walked into the Central Military Hall, Wang Kefan stood alone in the corner behind.

Under the recommendation of Xu Bingzhong and Du Yinxi, he has joined the Gongyi Battalion, but no specific position has been arranged, in other words, he is still in the internship period, and he is here to visit today.

Gradually, someone noticed the camel that had mixed into the flock, and the nearby generals all turned their heads to look at Wang Kefan, their eyes were cold and vigilant, and they muttered to each other from time to time, guessing his origin.

Wang Kefan was very calm, and when his eyes met someone, he nodded kindly.

The "knock knock knock" three-way point will sound the drum, Niu Zhongxiao walked into the Central Military Hall and came to the handsome case in the center.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my Gongyi Battalion has just become an army, and He Junmen values us very much, and it is a great opportunity for a promising future! Everyone must train hard, make meritorious contributions, and ask for a wife and son in the future! ”

"The whole battle is in cooperation with Taiwan to support ......"

Dozens of generals responded tiredly, all of them looking slack and slack.

The hot face met the cold buttocks, Niu Zhongxiao coughed dryly twice, and turned to the topic: "The most important thing at the moment is to replenish the soldiers of the Gongyi battalion." Well, let's sum it up, how do you get this thing done? ”

Niu Zhongxiao's tone was quite eager.

He was not from an orthodox military background, but a son of a Xu official in Nanyang County, and he worked as an errand in the county government when he was young. In the first year of the Apocalypse, He Tengjiao served as the commander of Nanyang County, and Niu Zhongxiao, who was outstanding in martial arts, entered his eyes, and under the promotion and reuse, he has been following the left and right, and has been a foreman guard for more than ten years, and has won He Tengjiao's trust.

The formation of the Gongyi battalion, He Tengjiao transferred Niu Zhongxiao to serve as a camp officer, and promoted him to the rank of commander and deputy general.

He Junmen has no soldiers in his hands, I don't know how much anger he suffered in Zuo Liangyu, and this Huguang governor has no taste, Niu Zhongxiao has already made up his mind to train the Gongyi Battalion into an elite division, why is the military gate worried.

If you don't train, you can't become a soldier, and the new army like the Gongyi Battalion, which has just been formed, especially needs serious training, but the Gongyi Battalion's establishment of more than 3,000 people now has only four or five hundred soldiers, and the soldiers have not yet been gathered, so how can we train? Therefore, Niu Zhongxiao regarded conscription as the first priority and proposed it at the military meeting.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the words came out, the scene was cold, the generals, you look at me, I look at you, they all lowered their heads and did not say anything, and hung Niu Xietai there.

"Niu Xietai, hasn't a recruitment notice been issued? What are we in a hurry! It was a long time before a tall sentinel spoke in a bad tone.

Niu Zhongxiao shook his head and frowned: "Although the notice was issued, few people came to join the army, so we have to find another way to make up for the soldiers." ”

The sentry officer retorted indifferently: "Hey, the little money sent out is less than, I tried my best to get together more than forty people, and I can't get one more!" ”

Without waiting for Niu Zhongxiao to answer, a group of generals followed and complained, gossiping and hilarious.

"Yes, a person is only five taels of silver, who wants to come and sell his life?"

"Zuo Shuai's soldiers still eat sixty percent of their empty salary, and we have to eat at least seventy percent!"

"What's nonsense, there are already six posts in the camp, let's recruit troops again, what will we eat in the future?"

"Everyone has to support their families, Niu Xietai, and they have to leave a way for the brothers to make money!"

……

Niu Zhongxiao's face turned red and white, white and red, and he was speechless for a while.

As a foreigner who is a halfway monk, has no qualifications in the army, and has no connections, Niu Zhongxiao, a camp officer, is not easy to be. These generals all have backgrounds behind them, either their ancestors are military nobles, or they are the sons of military generals, and they are all his subordinates, and it is inconvenient for any of them to be punished easily.

But they are really too deceitful, the settling-in allowance of five taels of silver is already a lot, and each person has two pieces of cloth, such recruitment conditions are definitely not bad, and there is also a monthly salary of one or two halves, which is enough to feed the family.

It's not that they can't recruit soldiers, it's that these generals don't want to recruit them.

In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, it has become a common practice to eat empty salaries in the army, not only the main generals have to eat, but also the generals at all levels are also exploited, and the lack of personnel in the army is generally more than half, and it is not uncommon for sixty percent to be seventy percent, and the public admission of the hall is not even Chongzhen is helpless.

When these generals went to serve in the Gongyi Battalion, they all regarded eating empty salaries and drinking soldiers' blood as a shortcut to make a fortune, and replenishing the soldiers violated their interests, so they made trouble together and resisted recruitment.

"Everyone, everyone, I will swear to the heavens that I will never selfishly swallow military salaries!" Niu Zhongxiao spread his hands and explained helplessly: "There are still six posts vacant in the camp because there is no suitable sentry officer, and I will promise here that if anyone can recruit a sufficient number of young and strong, no matter what the captain is, even if it is an ordinary soldier, he will be promoted to a sentry officer!" ”

Only by being honest can you blame others, although Niu Zhongxiao has never heard of this sentence, but he understands the truth, if you want this group of military ruffians to obey orders honestly, you must first fill the vacant six posts.

He Tengjiao has high hopes for the Gongyi battalion, the method of training was born from the Qi family army of the famous general Qi Jiguang of this dynasty, the whole battalion adopts four or four formations, twelve people are one tithe, four tithes are a team, four teams are a sentry, and the sentry officer commands more than 200 people.

Niu Zhongxiao's reward is not low, but in exchange for a lot of complaints.

"It's good to be a sentry! It's a pity that I didn't have that blessing. Where are the two hundred people to be found? ”

"Don't talk nonsense, Lao Tzu took a lot of effort to recruit more than 30 people, who can recruit another 200 people? Blow the fuck! The tall sentinel who spoke first was arrogant, and blurted out foul language, which drew laughter.

Niu Zhongxiao trembled with anger, slapped the table and shouted angrily: "Hu Dahai! Don't look at what kind of place this is, repeatedly say that you are not inferior, do you still have a general in your eyes? ”

"Xietai, calm your anger, anger hurts your body-!" The sentinel named Hu Dahai still doesn't care, yin and yang are weird, and he looks fearless.

"You-!" Niu Zhongxiao remembered Hu Dahai's background and became angry for a while.

Buzzing, there was a lot of laughter and discussion around, the scene was a little out of control, Niu Zhongxiao's blood was surging, and he wanted to clean up Hu Dahai first, but after hesitating a few times, he still spit out a long breath helplessly.

"Forget it, I'll ...... today"

Suddenly, a loud voice rang out from behind the crowd.

"Qi Qi Niu Xietai! The last general is willing to ask for conscription, please cooperate with the Taiwan order! ”

Wang Kefan separated the crowd and came out of the crowd.

When someone came out to relieve the siege at such an embarrassing time, Niu Zhongxiao only felt surprised and happy, and even a little moved, this Wang Kefan deserved to be a well-informed and loyal person, and he really stepped forward at a critical moment.

"Good! One sentinel, can two hundred and twenty people be enough? Niu Zhongxiao smiled and spoke in an amiable tone.

"It's my duty!"

"Good! Very good! I will appoint you as the seventh sentinel, and I will be responsible for the conscription of two hundred and twenty young men, limited to fifteen days, and the overdue soldiers will not be enough, and the military law will be acted! "Loyal and righteous people should be reused, and Niu Xietai does not hesitate to reward high-ranking officials.

"Xie Xietai......" Wang Kefan was about to bow and salute, but was interrupted by a person next to him.

"Wait! Who are you, the one of my Gongyi Camp? ”

It was Hu Dahai who jumped out, his burly body took two steps forward, resisting Wang Kefan like a provocative fighting, his huge head kept pressing forward, his breath almost sprayed on the other party's face, his eyes were fierce, and he seemed to be about to have a seizure at any time.

Wang Kefan looked at Hu Dahai calmly, eye to eye, face to face, but he didn't retreat a step. The faces of the two people were almost next to each other, and the surrounding generals were clamoring and coaxing loudly, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"Don't make trouble, Brother Wang is from the Gongyi Battalion, he just entered the camp two days ago, he is now a ......, and he is now the promotion officer of my Gongyi Battalion!" Niu Zhongxiao opened his mouth in time to relieve the siege.

There are also promotion officers in the Ming Dynasty army, similar to the deputy chief of staff in charge of logistics, when Du Yinxi recommended Wang Kefan, he wanted to find a promotion officer for him, but Niu Zhongxiao never let go, and the scene was embarrassed at this time, but he screamed out.

Hu Dahai was stunned for a moment, took two steps back and looked Wang Kefan up and down. The promotion officer is a fat shortage, how many people are looking at this position with their eyes open, and doing a little tricks and feet casually is better than eating empty salaries, there is no reason to be a sentry officer?

Where did this guy come out of nowhere, his head is broken?

"Are you from a martial arts background?" Hu Dahai interrogated Wang Kefan's details.

"It's not." Wang Kefan shook his head.

"A martial artist of martial arts?"

"Not really." Wang Kefan still shook his head.

"The military position of the governor's yamen?" It is definitely not behind the gate, nor is it a martial artist, it can only be He Tengjiao's nephew and cronies, similar to Niu Zhongxiao.

"Not yet." Wang Kefan continued to shake his head.

"And what do you do?" Hu Dahai was puzzled, looking at Wang Kefan's dress, he looked like a scholar, did he want to pretend to be a Confucian general?

Wang Kefan replied kindly: "The younger brother was a student of the Valley Academy before joining the army, and the talent in the examination of Gengchen Academy was recommended by Wuchang Bingbei Dao to join the Gongyi Battalion. ”

Hu Dahai was stunned again, and his brain was a little short-circuited.

Show talent as a soldier? The students of the Valley Academy are sentinels? It's completely untouched, and it can't be connected at all!

At this moment, someone next to him called out: "I remember, you are from the Wang family in Hengshi!" Weishenme is coming to Gongyi Camp? "The famous family of the Wang family in Hengshi is very famous in Huguang, although they are all military attachés, some people have guessed the origin of Wang Kefan.

Wang Kefan arched his hand to the generals, smiled and said: "The country is not quiet, the little brother is willing to raise the three-foot Qingfeng to wash the night, and everyone will be in the same camp in the future, please take care of the brothers!" ”

Cold, cold again.

All the generals frowned coldly, as if they were looking at a fool.