On the fourth day after Cao Yue arrived in Datong, he also ordered all the town troops in Datong Prefecture to assemble outside the city, and he wanted to personally review and begin to reorganize.

After Cao Yue's military order was issued, these soldiers and horses, which can be described as a rabble, also came to the school field located in the city, waiting for the review of the new Datong chief soldier Cao Yue.

There are several military camps of different sizes inside and outside the city of Datong, the scale of the military camp in the city is relatively small, and only a few thousand people can be stationed.

While waiting for the arrival of the soldiers and horses of each battalion, Cao Yue has also been observing the situation of the three thousand soldiers and horses left behind in Datong. Of course, Cao Yue couldn't see the surprise, and the scene he saw could only be described as very disappointed.

The results of the review were naturally not Cao Yue's surprise, except for the 3,000 soldiers and horses he brought, the other soldiers and horses who stayed in Datong were really a group of rabble, and they didn't even have a single soldier. It's a joke to let them line up, let alone let them practice.

At the end of the review, Cao Yue, who was on fire in his heart, also immediately began to clear the people, and the 3,000 men and horses left behind by the Datong Town Army were cleared by Cao Yue of 2,500 people, leaving only 500 decent young and middle-aged soldiers.

For the old, weak, sick and disabled people who were cleared, Cao Yue gave each of them a settling-in allowance of twenty taels of silver, so that they could go home or fend for themselves. The 3,000 soldiers brought by Cao Yue were also cleared, and the cleared people were also given 20 taels of silver for settling down.

With twenty taels of silver for settling in, the expulsee did not complain, but was very grateful to Cao Yue.

Originally, when they were in the army, they often could not get the salary as scheduled, and most of the military salaries issued by the imperial court were deducted by the officers, and they did not receive ten taels of silver a year. Now they are often fighting, and no one knows if they will have their lives alive when the next war breaks out. took the settling-in fee and went home, so he was naturally happy and didn't cause Cao Yue any trouble.

Subsequently, Cao Yue also issued a recruitment order, recruiting young adults between the ages of 16 and 40 near Datong. The conditions he gave were relatively generous, the monthly money of ordinary sergeants was three taels of silver, and the officers were gradually increased according to different ranks, and it was always twice that of ordinary sergeants, and the monthly money was six taels of silver, and of course the thousand was higher. After Cao Yue reported the matter to the Shanxi patrol, the political envoys, and the prefect of Datong, and received their support, the recruitment announcement was also posted at the city gates, and officials at all levels beat gongs and drums to send the news to the nearby villages.

****

"Recruited, recruited, the new Datong Cao General was ordered by the emperor to recruit soldiers in Datong, the salary is good, the ordinary sergeant is three taels of silver per month, the officer is doubled, and the end of the month is paid on time, and there will be no arrears," he walked the streets and alleys shouting, "If you want to be a soldier, don't miss this opportunity." Cao Zongbing is the descendant of General Cao, General Cao used to lead troops and never deducted military salaries, and so did Cao Zongbing. ”

The announcement of the recruitment and the shouting of tolerance soon attracted the attention of the people of Datong and the nearby prefectures and counties, and some people were skeptical and a little disbelieving. "Three taels of silver a month, and it is also distributed monthly, is it really fake?"

"Maybe it's a lie, right? How can there be such good conditions? "There are a lot of people who question it.

But someone immediately spoke for Cao Yue: "There should be no fake, Cao Zongbing is the son of General Cao, General Cao is a great hero admired by everyone, he governs the army very strictly, never deducts military salaries, I believe his son Cao Zongbing is the same!"

Another township leader also immediately echoed: "Yes, it should be like this, I heard that Cao Zongbing's family is quite rich, and after breaking through Shengjing this time, he was rewarded by the Lord of Long Live again, and there should be a lot of silver." He was ordered by the emperor to recruit soldiers, and with such favorable conditions, there should be no fake, and it is not difficult to rely on his family property to raise soldiers. Brother, although we are a little older, we are also within the scope of the requirements, why don't we try it together!"

"If that's the case, then go and try it, three taels of silver a month, thirty-six taels a year, enough for the mother-in-law and a few babies to eat!" The strong man who questioned first showed excitement, and his black face turned a little red.

"Yes, let's try it together, thirty Chinese New Year's Eve six taels of silver, this is a lot!"

"Go, let's go together, I'll call that nephew at home too!"

"Okay, go home and tell your mother-in-law to go right away!"

"Those strong men in our village who have not yet started a family, also inform them, maybe they want to go too!"

"Yes, let me know, and we will have a companion in the army in the future, so we can take care of each other."

"Good!"

Such a scene can be seen everywhere in the counties and villages under the name of Datong.

A good man is not a soldier, especially in troubled times, but when he heard that there were three taels of silver a month, many people were tempted. In these years, I worked hard in the city to earn less than one or two taels of silver a month, and the income from farming was even lower. If you rent the rich man's land, it would be good to be able to accumulate four or five taels of silver every year after filling your stomach, but in a disaster year like this, you may not be able to fill your stomach.

Cao Yue also asked some well-spoken soldiers to pretend to be villagers, and talked about the benefits of being a soldier under his command. These sergeants, who are very eloquent, also performed their duties very well, and the extras were very good, and they touched many people.

After the recruitment began, the recruitment points set up in various counties and the city of Datong Prefecture were full of turbulent scenes, and the number of people who came to sign up for the recruitment was unexpectedly large, and most of the people who came to sign up were young and middle-aged, and even those who were over 40 years old a year also concealed their age to apply.

The salary of three taels of silver per month is still quite attractive. Of course, not anyone who comes to enlist will be admitted, Cao Yue formulated a set of rules for the selection of sergeants, and only those who are in good health, have good strength, and have no obvious stains on their quality can be hired.

Soldiers are not expensive, Cao Yue knows this very well, he doesn't need to be indiscriminate. In the future training, he will also eliminate some unqualified sergeants, and the last ones left behind are all sergeants with good overall quality.

Cao Yue planned to recruit 17,000 soldiers, so that with the Datong soldiers he brought over and screened and left, there were a total of 20,000 people. 20,000 people will be paid 60,000 or 70,000 taels of silver every month, and weapons and horses will be procured, and at least 500,000 taels of silver will be spent on the initial formation of an army. Of course, this is what Cao Yue expected, and the silver two around him now can completely deal with it. In the future, the money and food will have to be raised through various methods, after all, no matter how valuable the looted treasures are, they will run out one day.

However, he was very surprised by the results of the conscription, and in the past ten days, at least 100,000 people have come to conscript, and more than 30,000 people have passed the screening conditions he formulated. After reporting the situation to the governor of Shanxi and the political envoys, Cao Yue also decided to expand the number of recruits to 35,000.

Of course, he had to report this situation to the imperial court, and when the governor of Shanxi and the political envoy flew to Beijing, Cao Yue's preliminary situation of this recruitment and some of his suggestions were also placed on the desk of Emperor Chongzhen.