Chapter 34: The Political Role of Keju

The position of the general of Princess Yiyang Mansion has been vacant for a long time, Xu Qing doesn't want to pick it slowly, and let Xue Jinlian, the daughter of Xue Rengui, be the general of Princess Yiyang, Xue Jinlian was really taken aback, she learned the art of war and practiced martial arts purely as a hobby, anyway, she was idle, she never thought of being a general, let alone a general.

If it weren't for the daughter of Emperor Taizu Li Yuan, the sister of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin, Princess Li Xiuning of Pingyang, when Li Yuan's father and son raised troops against Sui in Taiyuan, she asked her husband Chai Shaosu to go to Taiyuan to participate, and she independently organized an armed response in Guanzhong, and soon pulled up an armed force of more than 10,000 people, becoming the first female general in the history of the Tang Dynasty, setting a good example, Xue Jinlian really did not dare to accept the position of the general of Princess Yiyang's mansion. Xue Rengui was too supportive of Xue Jinlian as the general of Princess Yiyang's mansion, which also affected Xue Jinlian's decision.

Xue Rengui has a military career of more than 20 years, and was discovered in the battlefield of Tang Taizong Li Shimin's personal conquest of Goguryeo, and was quickly promoted from an ordinary soldier to a general, guarding the most important Xuanwu Gate. Xue Rengui has been a general for more than 20 years, fought for more than 10 years, and has made many good brothers and subordinates.

Xu Qing's two princesses' mansions did not lack soldiers, only generals, so he asked Xue Rengui to recommend his generals who were suppressed and excluded by Wu Zetian to become generals in the two princesses' mansions, and got a total of six generals, and asked Li Zhizhuo and Cheng Wuting to recommend three children of meritorious families to the two princesses' mansions as generals, and transferred six cronies from the Longmen Dart Bureau to be generals, so that Yang Zhuangruo and Zhao Mengchen could be generals under Xue Jinlian.

The male soldiers of the new army are directly commanded by Xu Qing, as their own personal soldiers, and the female soldiers of the new army are also directly commanded by Xu Qing, and Zhao Mengchen and Yang Zhuangruo are the deputy commanders of the new army. The members of the New Army existed as guests of the Two Princesses' Mansions, and were supported by Xu Qing at the expense of the army, and did not pay military expenses from the Tang Dynasty treasury to avoid the imperial court's investigation of the New Army. Lin Fengying used to be a close confidant of Wu Zetian and a spy of the imperial court, in order to prevent Lin Fengying from being known, Xu Qing no longer let her be a commander in the princess's mansion, reducing the chance of appearing in public.

Because the recruited government soldiers were too miscellaneous, Xu Qing was not at ease, and specially set up the Xuancheng Princess Guards (1,000 people) and the Yiyang Princess Guards (1,000 people), Zhao Mengchen served as the chief of the Xuancheng Princess Guards, and Yang Zhuang Ruo served as the chief of the Yiyang Princess Guards.

The gendarmerie is both a combat force and a law enforcement unit, and its mission is to eliminate the enemy in the rear area, as well as to control the movement of battlefield personnel and vehicles, to guard the area, to manage prisoners of war/civilian prisoners of war and to maintain law and order. In the barracks where the army is stationed, the gendarmerie is also responsible for law enforcement, security, criminal investigation, and other work, and it is also the duty of the gendarmerie to protect the safety of the officers and men of the army and their families.

The members of the gendarmerie were also selected from the 1st and 2nd Dart Divisions, and the number was a company, with Zhao Tuozhi as the captain and Xu Qing as the captain.

The staffing of the two princesses' guards exceeded the 20,000 allowed by Emperor Li Zhi, and they were all counted as the two princesses' doormen, and Xu Qing spent his own money to support them, and did not pay for the army from the treasury. Empress Wu only agreed to allocate 3,333 officers and soldiers to Princess Xuancheng and Princess Yiyang each, and the rest of the military expenses were paid by Xu Qing herself.

Although Xu Qing has a lot of money, but the Longmen Dart Bureau and the Datang Trading Company are currently fighting the rebels on the battlefields of Goguryeo and Baekje, and the daily expenses are very large, and the Longmen Dart Bureau is still expanding wildly in Chang'an, Luoyang, Taiyuan, and Fanyang, and the two princesses' mansions have to spend their own money to support more than 15,000 government soldiers and "door guests", Xu Qing still feels that the finances are tight.

As soon as the silver dart was launched, it was well received by users, and quickly became a profitable project of Xianghe Qianzhuang, Xu Qing was greatly encouraged, and increased the business outlets to ten in Chang'an, and opened a branch in Luoyang, Kaifeng, and Taiyuan, and opened a branch in Fanyang, Liaodong Road, Qizhou (now Jinan, Shandong), Hebei Province, etc., all Xianghe Qianzhuang branches are close to the Longmen Dart Bureau, and the vault is located in the basement of the branch to ensure the safety of the money and the vault.

Xu Qing planned to spread the business of the Longmen Dart Bureau and the Tang Trading Company along the Silk Road, not only to make money, but also to bring Li Xiu'er's family from the Western Turkic Khanate to the Tang Dynasty and to provide intelligence support for the future to lead the army to pacify the countries of the Western Regions.

There are ten generals under each general of the two princesses' mansions, three Lang generals (equivalent to the battalion commander) under each general, and three Zhonglang generals (equivalent to company commanders) under each Lang general.

On December 19, the Xuanyi Military Academy was officially established, and Xue Jinlian, the general of the Princess Mansion of Yiyang, 20 generals, 60 Lang generals, and 180 Zhonglang of the Two Princesses' Mansion will become the first batch of students.

Xue Rengui's son and Xue Jinlian's younger brother Xue Ne was appointed by Xu Qing as a Zhonglang general and a student of the first phase of the Xuanyi Military Academy.

Xu Qing saved the prince in the court, and because of the dual identity of the lieutenant and the general, he unknowingly became the core figure of the royalist party, Xu Qing knew the truth of shooting the first bird, and did not want to engage in tandem, and was instructed by Wu Zetian to make his minions falsely accuse him of rebellion, and then tried by her cronies and judges, but the Li Tang royal family, who was suppressed and excluded by Wu Zetian, and the generals and generals of the meritorious families who had no hope of promotion, and the young men who were unemployed and gnawed at home still quietly took the initiative to find Xu Qing, hoping to follow Xu Yuma.

For these people, Xu Qing, who has a deep background, gives them an official position in the Two Princesses' Mansion, and those who are not deep, and Xu Qing, who has outstanding ability, also gives them an official position in the Two Princesses' Mansion. General Xue Rengui also started as a soldier.

Each of the two princesses' mansions has three staff officers at the same level, including a general in charge of Chinese, military orders, ordnance, military supplies, grain and grass, and other miscellaneous affairs, which is equivalent to the chief manager in the army, and there are also a large number of vacancies in officer positions, Xu Qing grants them official positions, which can be exchanged for the support of them and their families, and it will not be effective in the short term, but it will definitely be beneficial in the long run.

In order to communicate with the royalists less eye-catching, Xu Qing thought of a good way, in the world where Xu Qing lived before crossing, there were "table tennis diplomacy", "football diplomacy", and "blue ball diplomacy", so Xu Qing thought of Keju. Kemari is the earliest recorded soccer event in historical history. The former describes the popular Keju activities in Linzi, the capital of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period, and the latter records that Keju was one of the ways in the Han Dynasty to train soldiers and investigate the physical fitness of soldiers.

Under Xu Qing's initiation and promotion, the two princesses' mansions soon established twenty-two Keju teams, one for every 1,000 people, and these Keju teams often held competitions. In the name of exchanging competitions with Xu Qing's Keju team, they talked with Xu Qing about military affairs, talked about loyalty to the prince and the prince, saved the royalists, and curbed the power of the Hou Party.

The small Keju played a great political role.