When the villagers were all dispersed, these thirty soldiers all came to Qin Tai's side. Although these 30 soldiers were all officers and soldiers, they could wear different clothes. Twenty of them were wearing khaki regular army trousers, and they were also covered with a vest of the same color, with a large "soldier" printed on the front and back of the vest. They all wore a large, rounded hat with a red tassel on it. The other ten were also khaki cotton shirts and trousers, covered with leather soft armor. Unlike the twenty regular soldiers, these ten men did not wear hats. Ordinary people don't know, but Qin Tai and their official people know very well that twenty of these thirty people are from military families, and ten are from government soldiers. Don't underestimate these ten people, their combat ability may be even more powerful than the other twenty people combined.

During the Ming Dynasty, the army implemented the military household system, which means that when a soldier becomes a soldier, their immediate family members will not have to pay taxes, and the biggest advantage of becoming a military household is that they do not have to pay harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes. But as a military household, it is necessary to ensure that at least one male member of the family is a soldier. When this soldier dies, another man will be sent out to serve as a soldier. If all the men in the family die, or if there are no adult men, the military household will be disqualified. This is a rule set by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and it has been used until the end of the Ming Dynasty. But as there were fewer and fewer men in the military households, and the continuous wars for many years, there were fewer and fewer soldiers in the Ming Dynasty army. In order to drink the blood of the soldiers and to occupy the vacant quota, some officers deliberately falsely reported the number of people or concealed and did not report casualties. Some military households who did not pay their salaries, in order to pay taxes in front of themselves and not to be kicked out of the barracks, had to endure silently, hoping that the officers would make up for themselves a little more.

With the great reduction in the number of soldiers and the obvious decline in combat effectiveness, these soldiers were no longer able to maintain the security and border defense of the Ming Dynasty. Some powerful officials began to hire or recruit young adults from peasant families to train and nurture them. These people did not belong to the army of the imperial court, and all casualties and losses were borne by the organizers personally. But because they were highly trained and traded their lives for money, they were braver than the average army soldier. Gradually, the imperial court acquiesced to such soldiers, calling them "government soldiers". But these people can only get half of the wages of normal soldiers, and they don't pay for equipment or anything, and the officials who command all this pay for it themselves. There was no compensation after death, and the court was not responsible for their safety. This kind of "government soldiers" are not only brave in battle, but also absolutely loyal to their commanders, but unfortunately the cost of raising them is too expensive, and ordinary officials cannot afford to support such private army soldiers.

An officer stepped forward and said to Qin Tai, "My lord, the name under the mark is Li Li." It was a personal soldier under the Governor of Liangjiang, Lord Hu. My lord said, "Your Excellency, you have been of great help to the soldiers on the front line." My lord, you not only helped my family, but also saved countless people in Jiangnan. The adults in my family should mark down to bring people to protect the adults, and be responsible for the safety of the adults and their party. Li Lihe is at your disposal. ”

The Hu people Li Li mentioned were the famous Hu Zhongxian in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Hu Zhongxian's words are like Zhen, the secretary of the military department during the Jiajing period, the governor of Liangjiang, and the wartime governor of the southeast. History has mixed reviews of this Hu Zhongxian, he is not only the proud disciple of Yan Song, the first traitor of the Ming Dynasty, but also the biggest assistant arranged by Yan Song in Jiangnan. Hu Zhongxian was not only the governor of Liangjiang, but also governed the military and political affairs of Jiangsu, that is, Nanzhili, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, and concurrently served as the wartime governor of the southeast, commanding more than 100,000 troops in the south of the Yangtze River. The greatest contribution of his life was the wise appointment of famous anti-Japanese generals Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, who completely drove out the Japanese who had endangered the southeast coast for nearly a hundred years out of China, and returned the people of the Ming Dynasty to a peaceful world. History says that if it weren't for Hu Zhongxian's heavy army and Yan Song and Yan Shifan, who were far away in the capital, Emperor Jiajing would have dealt with Yan Song and Yan Shifan a long time ago. A year earlier, if you deal with Yan Song and Yan Shifan, you will have fewer loyal people and ordinary people.

Qin Tai also knew Hu Zhongxian and the relationship between Hu Zhongxian and Yan Song. But for the sake of the people in Jiangnan, in order to reduce the death of some Ming people, he helped Hu Zhongxian. But he definitely didn't want to make friends with Hu Zhongxian, and Qin Tai didn't look down on this Yan Song's son. But Hu Zhongxian is always the governor of Liangjiang and the biggest official here, not to mention that it is not easy to offend, these soldiers just helped Qin Tai a lot.

Qin Tai smiled and said to Li Li, "What do you call the little general?" How many officials are you? This is a very necessary thing, if Li Li is just Hu Zhongxian's "government soldier", that is, Bai Ding, without any position, Qin Tai can call him Li Li, or he can call him "Xiao Li". If Li Li was famous and an official of the imperial court, even if he was the youngest officer from the ninth rank, Qin Tai could not call him by name casually, and he had to call him his position according to the rules. If Li Li's official rank is higher than Qin Tai's, Qin Tai and everyone should not only call Li Li "Lord Li", but also give him a certain amount of respect. Although noble and martial, the rules and etiquette of the court cannot be changed.

Li immediately bowed down and said to Qin Tai, "My lord, you are too polite. It's just a small flag. Not a general. My lord said that in front of you, we are just some subordinates and guards. If adults think we are too conspicuous, we can disguise ourselves as ordinary people like adults. You just need to call Xiao Xiao Li or Li Li. ”

"General Banner" is a name for military officers in the Ming Dynasty, which belonged to lower-ranking officers. In the army of the Ming Dynasty, the lowest position was a soldier, and soldiers were divided into three types: "main soldier", "patrol", and "guard". The "main soldier" is the soldier of the main army, who is only responsible for training in peacetime. It is generally used to suppress bandits or resist a large number of enemies, and their equipment and treatment are the best. Only the royal guards of the capital can match them. The "patrolman" is the main force in the local area, and the main responsibility is generally to patrol and guard. The "guards" are some young or too old soldiers, who can neither kill the enemy nor patrol, so they have to arrange some important warehouse guards, and some patrol at night, and more importantly, the logistics and firehead troops in the army. Above the soldier is the "captain", generally speaking, a "captain" can manage five to seven soldiers, that is, the current "squad leader". Above the "Wu Chief" is the "small flag", and a "small flag" can manage ten to twelve people. Above the "small flag" is the "general flag", and the "general flag" can manage 30 to 50 people, that is, the current "platoon commander". Above the "general flag" is the "hundred households", also called the "school captain", which is now the "company commander". Above the "hundred households" is the "military equipment", that is, the current "battalion commander". Above the "military armament" is the "thousand households", that is, the current "regiment commander". Above the "thousand households" is the "garrison", also known as the "guerrilla", that is, the current brigade commander. Above the "garrison" is the "general soldier", and the "general soldier" is the local governor in the Ming Dynasty army. There are three types of "general soldiers", "general soldiers", and "imperial general soldiers". Although the "chief soldier" is also called the "chief soldier", it is not really a "chief soldier". The so-called "general army" refers to the kind of troops that have more than 10,000 troops at hand, and the "chief military officer" can only control the number of troops of 5 to 8,000 troops, and the maximum number of troops cannot exceed 8,000. The "general soldier" was already a high-ranking general in the Ming Dynasty army. Every important place will be guarded by a "general soldier". According to modern parlance, only a "general soldier" can be truly called a general. The "Imperial General Soldiers" are even more remarkable, and there are only ten "Imperial General Soldiers" in each generation of the entire Ming Dynasty. Each "Imperial General Soldier" has nearly 100,000 troops under his command, especially the "Imperial General Soldier" on several border gates, and they can be said to be the local grass kings. As long as they don't commit treason and can guard the frontier well, even the eunuchs and eunuchs around them can't do anything to them. It is only at the level of "general soldier" that overweight civilian officials have any scruples. When they reach the level of "Imperial General Soldier", the civil officials in the court will treat them as a character.

Li Li is a "general banner", that is, a platoon commander in modern society. It belongs to the low-ranking officers, and is an eighth-grade officer. He had 20 regular army soldiers under his command and 10 Hu Zhongxian's own "government soldiers". He was not a close confidant under Hu Zhongxian, but fortunately he was honest, so Hu Zhongxian sent him to Qin Tai. Hu Zhongxian was a member of the imperial court, and according to his rank, he could enjoy a personal soldier and honor guard composed of a hundred people. But when he came to the place, it was the front line, so the imperial court allowed him to organize "government soldiers" of less than 5,000 people, and he could have personal soldiers and honor guards of less than 500 people around him. Li Li is the squad leader of the third detachment of the pro-soldier corps, and this squad belongs to the outermost pro-soldiers. Although he is not valued by Hu Zhongxian, his combat ability and reaction speed are good. This is very suitable for Qin Tai, these people can be used as scouts and can fight.

As Hu Zhongxian's personal soldiers, Li Li and his people had a very high status in the two rivers and three provinces. Sometimes, they are so powerful that even a county official would not dare to disobey them. But they can't go out of their jurisdiction. Whether it is the rules of the army or the relationship of status, as soon as they leave their territory, they will not only not enjoy the original benefits, but will also be arrested. Therefore, Li Li could only protect Qin Tai and his party of five in Liangjiang and Three Provinces. This is also the only thing Hu Zhongxian can do to thank Qin Tai and help Qin Tai in private. Hu Zhongxian also inquired about Qin Tai and knew what kind of person Qin Tai was. He also knew that Qin Tai was a person with backbone, otherwise he wouldn't have taken any treasures. According to Hu Zhongxian's meaning, he has a good relationship with Qin Tai step by step, and it is best to draw him into his camp. Even if you can't pull Qin Tai in, you definitely can't go against him. Hu Zhongxian vaguely felt that Qin Tai was a promising person. Yu Gong or private, he didn't want to have a bad relationship with Qin Tai. Qin Tai didn't expect this, it was only when the "old drunkard" master reminded him that he suddenly realized.