Song Dynasty archers, as the name suggests, is the meaning of archers, in fact, it is also a kind of military service in the Song Dynasty military system, although in the two Song Dynasty, the regular army is mainly recruited, but for the local armed forces, it is still necessary to rely on the local government to solve the problem, the archers are also the local armed forces controlled by the local officials, but unlike the regular army, the Song Dynasty court was afraid that the local officials would support the soldiers and respect themselves, and the military system implemented the strategy of strong cadres and weak branches, and the number of local armed forces of the local officials was extremely limited.

Generally, a small county can only have twenty archers, and a medium-sized county like Daye County is located on the Yangtze River defense line, and the guard pressure is high, so Gao Huaiyuan, the county lieutenant, can only have fifty archers at most.

Therefore, the court of the two Song Dynasty did not have to worry about what waves the local officials could make, although it stabilized their rule, but greatly weakened the role of the local government in defending against the enemy when the war came.

Gao Huaiyuan and Ji Xiancheng saw this clearly, if this situation was allowed to develop, once the Great Song Dynasty faced the invasion of the Mongols, even if these peasants were organized, they would never be the opponents of the Mongol army, and even if they were used to deal with the Jin army, which was already much weaker, they would not be able to get on the stage at all.

Therefore, Gao Huaiyuan was not satisfied after forming the archers, and in addition to personally practicing these archers every day, he also found Liu Zhixian, and once again brought up the old things, talking about the bow and arrow club he wanted to get before.

"Lord Liu, after the lower official took up the post of county lieutenant this time, he deeply felt the inadequacy of our county's daily patrol force! If there were patrols in the villages of the county, it would not be possible for Cao Laosan and others to behave rampantly and commit crimes and murder wantonly! More on the year before the official led the team to go out, although there were more than 500 people in the township, but due to the lack of training, rushed into battle, when encountering the enemy, several times were almost wiped out, even so, five hundred township warriors in less than a year, it was lost, people think of it and choke it!

If my county can emulate the border land in the early years, the villagers unite to protect themselves, plough with bows, and wear swords and woods, so that the rural people practice martial arts to protect themselves, why worry about the county boundary will not be peaceful?

And once something happens, we can also call on the township at any time to protect ourselves, which will definitely make my county worry-free! Therefore, Xia Guan has been thinking about this time, can he follow the old system in various townships and set up bow and arrow clubs, so that the villagers can be trained in agriculture and leisure, in order to protect themselves? After Gao Huaiyuan sat down in Liu Zhixian's study, he opened his mouth and said to Liu Zhixian.

Liu Zhixian can finally take a breath during this time, for more than two years, Daye County has basically not stopped much, after the county lieutenant Wang went out, the county is equal to no one to care about the county lieutenant, plus the bandits continued, which made his head big, and this time after Gao Huaiyuan made up the post of county lieutenant, he cracked the biggest cases in the county by dividing them by two, and corrected the murderer, which made him breathe a long sigh of relief, and he felt very satisfied with Gao Huaiyuan's ability again.

And what Gao Huaiyuan said is indeed the truth, in the early years, Gao Huaiyuan had mentioned this matter to him and Wang County Lieutenant, but it did not attract his attention, so that in the past two years, Daye drew the township to join the army, and in the end there were many people who came and went, and few people came back, not to mention that the whole army was wiped out, and almost half of them died in front of the army, and from time to time there were bandits, and there was no available manpower to go to the levy, which made him anxious some time ago, and now Gao Huaiyuan does not say it, he also has palpitations.

So when Gao Huaiyuan proposed this matter, Liu Zhixian nodded and agreed this time, not because he was bold, but after the Song and Jin Dynasty started fighting in the past two years, the imperial court began to pay attention to strengthening the local garrison along the river, and also began to relax control, allowing the local government to strengthen the local armed forces, and Zhao Fang, the envoy of the Jingxi Road, ordered the state and county officials to strengthen the preparation of the township and meet the needs of the greater war at any time.

As soon as the two parties relaxed like this, Liu Zhixian naturally had no reason to stop Gao Huaiyuan, not to mention that he would have to rely on Gao Huaiyuan to help him with many things in the future, so he turned on the green light, approved Gao Huaiyuan's opinion, and handed over this matter to Gao Huaiyuan to do, as for how far Gao Huaiyuan can push this matter, then he doesn't care.

But Liu Zhixian played a trick and told Gao Huaiyuan: "If the county lieutenant can think like this, the official is naturally happy!" But there is one thing, this official also wants to tell the county lieutenant Gao, because the county has often transferred food and salary in the past two years, and now the treasury is quite empty, and there is no money to come up, so let the county lieutenant Gao use it for this matter! I also hope that the county lieutenant Gao will understand the difficulties of this official and think of some way by himself! The county lieutenant is bothered about this matter, and the official is still entangled in a lot of affairs, so he will not personally supervise this matter! ”

When Gao Huaiyuan heard it, this is good, Liu Zhixian said a word, and a big son didn't come out, let him do it, is it difficult for him to pay out of his own pocket to buy bows and arrows, knives and guns for the villagers? That's a lot of money! He can't throw money on it now!

But Gao Huaiyuan looked at Liu Zhixian's meaning, he had no objection to this matter, but it was probably unrealistic to want the county government to contribute money to support his plan to strengthen the people!

Gao Huaiyuan returned to his office courtyard in the county office a little depressed, sat heavily on the chair, touched his chin and began to figure out how to move forward next.

At this time, Ji Xiancheng was holding a teapot and walked out of the back hall leisurely: "I don't know what the result of the county lieutenant went to discuss with the county magistrate this time?" ”

"Don't mention it, this old guy promises to be sharp, but he is an iron rooster, and he doesn't pull out a dime! If I want to set up a bow and arrow club in various townships, I have to find a way to get money and buy bows and arrows for those villagers. Make it clear that you want to see my jokes! Gao Huaiyuan replied depressedly.

"What's so hard about that? The young master doesn't have to worry about this, this matter is easy to do now, the county magistrate is not deliberately making things difficult for you, now Daye County really doesn't have much money for you to do such a thing, this matter is not to blame for not knowing what the county lord is, the young master might as well think of a way by himself!

During this time, didn't the young master have a lot of contact with those big families in various townships? Now you can ask them to come out together, help, and raise some money, as long as the young master sets an example a little, then they are naturally embarrassed to pull out a dime, in this way, won't this matter be solved?

What's more, Daye County is the foundation of these people, once something happens here, the skin will not exist, and the hair will be attached? Presumably, as long as they make it clear to them, the matter of training the villagers is for the sake of long-term peace and stability here, and these people should be able to figure out who is most beneficial!

Besides, although you have now captured Zhang Cheng and Cao Laosan, isn't there still a matter of Liangzihu Lake pirates attacking the place? With the power of the imperial court, there is no energy to exterminate them now, if you want to protect yourself, you still have to rely on the strength of the township itself, and the Lizheng and the head of the household on the ground are probably very happy to do this! What's more, the elders are under your jurisdiction, and they themselves have the responsibility to arrest the bandits, so why worry that this will not happen? Ji Xiancheng looked indifferent and said to Gao Huaiyuan.

After Gao Huaiyuan heard this, he patted his head and stood up, and said with a smile: "This is a good way, then just do what Mr. said!" ”

Within two days, Gao Huaiyuan followed Ji Xiancheng's idea, paid his own money in the county seat, chartered a restaurant, sent Xing Zhutou and others, acted as errands, and invited the big families from all townships to the county seat for a gathering, just saying that the county lieutenant wanted to hold a banquet to thank these big families for their support to him during this time, and nothing else.

The county lieutenant invited guests, and naturally the big families in the townships couldn't help but give face, so they soon rushed to the county seat and came to the restaurant chartered by Gao Huaiyuan.

Gao Huaiyuan was dressed in civilian clothes, and personally stood in front of the restaurant to greet these people to the banquet, which made everyone feel quite face-saving, and this restaurant is also a newly opened restaurant in the county, which is Gao Huaiyuan's Zuixian Building, but at present, there are very few people who know that Zuixianlou is Gao Huaiyuan's industry, and the rich people know the fame of Zuixianlou, Gao Huaiyuan can set up a banquet here, which means that he has made a fortune, so everyone has been invited to sit in the hall on the second floor of Zuixianlou after seeing Gao Huaiyuan.

These people also have dealings with each other on weekdays, and they are all rich people, so they have to have a good greeting, not waiting for noon, they should have arrived, Gao Huaiyuan walked from downstairs to the second floor, and had a good greeting with the people here, before the guests and hosts sat down.

Gao Huaiyuan glanced at the people present, such people are all representing a class of rich people in the contemporary era, most of them are the heads of the townships and the like, including the elders of the townships, most of them have also been invited over, and now they are all looking at him, waiting for him to speak!

For Gao Huaiyuan, the young and newly appointed county lieutenant, everyone does not dare to underestimate him now, he is a big family with two generations of officials, and they dare not despise him now, just wait for Gao Huaiyuan to speak.

Gao Huaiyuan first said a grateful scene to these people, basically belonging to the category of completely unnutritious, they are all clichés in the officialdom, which can be regarded as an opening statement, but the conversation is very humorous, which caused everyone to laugh, and I feel that although Gao Huaiyuan is an official, he does not have many fights, and he is a person who is easy to deal with.

As the banquet began, Gao Huaiyuan invited the immortals to come out, and everyone was attracted by such a good wine, and they all pushed their glasses and drank them, and they were excited to drink such a good wine today, and these people had to step forward to toast Gao Huaiyuan.

After coming and going, everyone became more familiar, and after seeing that everyone present began to relax, Gao Huaiyuan picked up his wine glass, stood up and toasted everyone: "Today, you can go to the banquet by appointment, but to give the lower officials a face!" Gao is deeply grateful to all of you, please drink this cup together! ”

Everyone stood up and drank the wine glass together, Gao Huaiyuan changed his words and said to the people present: "You are also celebrities in our Daye County, I am afraid that you have also suffered from bandit attacks in the past two years, and you are all township leaders, household heads, and elders, I am afraid that you are all having a headache for this matter!"

Gao Mou is not talented, this time please come to the banquet, in addition to thanking you for your support to Gao, there is one more thing I want to discuss with you! ”

When everyone here heard Gao Huaiyuan say this, they all knew that today's banquet was about to get to the point, so they put down their chopsticks, turned their eyes to Gao Huaiyuan, and listened to his next with their ears pricked up.

Gao Huaiyuan saw that the attention of these people had been focused on him, so he continued to say to them: "Although Gao Mouxin has not been in office for a long time, everyone also knows that Gao Mou is also a person from our Daye County, and he still understands the local situation.

And all of your family property is in Daye County, once the river defense is lost, our Daye County will definitely bear the brunt, and you are afraid that your family wealth will be more unsafe at that time!

For this reason, Gao since taking office, he has worked hard for this matter, trying to find a good solution, and now the imperial court is ordering all parts of the country to strengthen the garrison, and my county is now only fifty archers, do not say that the enemy is outside the county border, it is just to deal with a large number of bandits, and there are many shortcomings, the defense of the county is still not enough, Wan Mo said that it is the imperial guard township, and there is a risk that the whip is beyond the reach of the whip!

Therefore, Gao had a lot of discussions with the magistrate during this time, and wanted to set up a bow and arrow club in each township, and use the spare time to practice the villagers in case of emergency, I don't know if you have any opinions on this matter? ”

Gao Huai said it freely, and then inspected the people present with his eyes.

The people present then looked at each other, and felt that this matter was generally beneficial to them, after the Song and Jin wars in the past two years, and a large number of displaced people poured into the county, there were a lot more chickens and dogs on the ground in the townships, and the elders of the townships were basically deaf ears, even if they had no way to deal with such small thieves, let alone deal with large groups of bandits, there were always some rich families in a year, and they were invaded by bandits, and ended up with a ruined family, Gao Huaiyuan wanted to solve this matter after taking office, It's a good thing for them.

So everyone began to nod their heads and echo Gao Huaiyuan, saying that this idea was not bad, and they all knew that Gao Huaiyuan was also considered to have been born in the army, and he had made many military exploits in front of the army, so it should be no longer a problem to do such a thing.

Gao Huaiyuan saw that there was no objection to such a person, so he continued: "Although Gao has the heart to promote this matter, but at the moment the finances in the county government are stretched, and it is really beyond his means, and you all know that our Daye County is close to Ezhou, and we have to transfer military rations from time to time, and there is no money to do more things in the county at the moment, so if you want to implement this matter, you must ask everyone here to take out some small money to carry this matter forward!" ”

As soon as Gao Huaiyuan's voice fell, these people immediately understood, it turned out that Gao Huaiyuan's meal was not for nothing! Now people are going to reach out to them to ask for money, so some people are suddenly a little unhappy, they have money, but if they want to take out the money for nothing, what kind of bow and arrow club, for those poor people to use in martial arts, some people are not happy!

Gao Huaiyuan didn't wait for these people to cry and cry out, so he immediately stopped their words, and first said: "Gao also knows everyone's difficulties, so since Gao is also a person from Daye County, he will not just let everyone pay for this matter, Gao is not talented, although his family background is not as good as you, but this matter must also make a contribution, today Gao also expressed his position here, Gao is also here to express his position, Gao is the elder in the area of Gaojiazhuang, and the cost of the bow and arrow club there, Gao will naturally not be stingy, today Gao is willing to take out five hundred yuan, As the cost of the establishment of the Bow and Arrow Society, the purchase of weapons and other things for the villagers is strong, and as for the other towns, you need to work hard! ”

When everyone heard this, they were all taken aback, five hundred guan is not a decimal number here, Gao Huaiyuan is young, and the Gao family is not too rich, everyone didn't expect Gao Huaiyuan to take out five hundred guan to do this at once, which made them a little difficult to shirk.

What's more, Gao Huaiyuan even ordered one of his subordinates to make a table next to him, spread rice paper, and began to register the pledges of the people present, and even if he took out five hundred guan huizi and handed it to this minister, everyone in the province thought that he was just talking about it, and this time it was tantamount to forcing the people who went to the banquet to express their attitude.

Everyone is counting this matter in their hearts, totaling and going together, many people feel that no matter what they say, it is not a bad thing for them, they themselves are the people of the township, and they have the responsibility to maintain law and order in the township, not to mention that the biggest beneficiary is them, if they don't nod today, they will have to offend Gao Huaiyuan, the county lieutenant, if something happens to their family in the future, Gao Huaiyuan will not care, then they will suffer sooner or later, they will offend Gao Huaiyuan now, and it is not a good thing for them, In the future, the day will be long, and it is not too much of a loss to take out some money and buy a safe one.

So after thinking about this, some people stood up and said how much money they would pay to do this, and once someone came forward to accept it, the rest of the people would not be able to pull out a dime, so they went to the priest and said how much money they had paid, so that the priest could record it.

Gao Huaiyuan is also good enough, just register it is not enough, empty words, after registration, but also ask these people to sign the pledge, it fell on the paper, they will regret it in the future, with this painting charge, then they can send someone to ask them for accounts, this time these people can no longer shirk and forget about this matter.