At the end of August in the sixth year of Taichang (537), it was the time of high autumn air, and all places were immersed in the busyness and joy of the autumn harvest.

Gao Cheng, who returned to the capital of Xin, went to the salt camp in the south of the city non-stop.

With the rewards of Zhao Yanshen and Zhang Liang, Gao Cheng has great expectations for this army, which is completely dominated by salt workers.

Zhang Liang had already set up the general's platform, gathered 20,000 troops in advance, and waited under the general's platform for Gao Cheng to review.

Under the gaze and gaze of more than 20,000 people, Gao Cheng stepped onto the stage step by step, followed by Gao Jishi and Zhang Liang, who returned from sweeping the tomb.

Standing in the center of the podium, Gao Cheng glanced at the soldiers in the audience, and there was a sea of people.

Gao Cheng took a deep breath and shouted:

"I set up 1,484 salt stoves in Cangzhou, but there are few people in Cangzhou, so I can't recruit so many salt workers.

"Someone suggested to me that the 20,000 salt soldiers recruited by Zhang Sima have been in the salt field for a long time, so they might as well be put into boiling salt production in addition to training."

After all, it is a scale of 20,000 people, and even if he is holding a simple subway leather horn, he still needs a group of guards to pass on the words for him.

As soon as the words fell, there was a buzz of discussion under the stage.

Gao Cheng turned a deaf ear, and he continued to shout:

"He is very reasonable, but I don't agree, in order to solve the problem of shortage of manpower to boil salt, I have tried my best to transfer 8,000 county soldiers from the three prefectures of Xiang, Hebei and Cangzhou to the Cangzhou salt field, so that you can concentrate on training.

"Although you are salt soldiers, you also belong to the army, and you will go to the battlefield in the future, and if you pay more attention to training on weekdays, you will be able to reduce many casualties on the battlefield.

"Distracting you from boiling salt is irresponsible for everyone's lives, and I will never do it.

"Since the formation of the Gyeonggi Army, I have sworn three oaths with all the soldiers.

"First, meritorious service will be rewarded! As long as you fight bravely, all the military officials who have made meritorious contributions will see it in their eyes, and there will be corresponding punishments for false and missed records, and if you think that your meritorious deeds have been falsely claimed or neglected, you can appeal to the military judge, whether it is a general or a non-commissioned soldier, it will be seriously accepted.

Second, there must be a punishment! Cheng Chu went to the battlefield and fought fiercely with Liang general Chen Qingzhi outside Xiangyang City, and some soldiers looted materials without permission, resulting in chaos. ”

Saying that, Gao Cheng glanced at Gao Jishi behind him and motioned to him.

Gao Jishi stepped forward.

Gao Cheng pointed to Gao Jishi:

"At the last moment, it was he, Gao Jishi, a native of Bohai in Jizhou, who led five hundred guards to charge the Liang army, which turned the situation into safety. Since I understand that the soldiers are unpaid and make a living from plundering, the sin is not in them, but in the bad habits of the Great Wei for 150 years.

"Since the sin is in the system, Cheng learned from the pain, and after obtaining the consent of his father, he paid the soldiers of each army, and since then, all armies have no selfish plunder, and the battlefield has been captured and distributed uniformly after the war.

If it were not for the forced return of more than 1 million monks and nuns, the government treasury would have been empty, and the finances would have been unsustainable.

"Let me ask you, is the battle of Xiangyang difficult to draw ten kills, or is it difficult to pay two million households to rent taxes to change bad habits?"

At first, only a few voices answered, and after a few moments, the whole army shouted together:

"It's hard to pay taxes! The great general is benevolent! ”

The shouts came and went, which made Gao Cheng only raise his hand to stop everyone's shouting, and then said:

"If there is a punishment, since the crime is in the system, Cheng will change it with more than 2 million household taxes, if the crime is in the individual, why be afraid of killing people? You should keep in mind that in the army, military discipline is the first, if there is an offender, severe punishment will not be forgiven, don't misestimate the determination of my serious military discipline after the battle of Xiangyang! ”

All the soldiers agreed in unison, and Gao Cheng followed the three oaths:

"Third, the disabled soldiers are supported by the imperial court, and the victims, in addition to the pension, the heirs will go to Gao's Yixue to study, and the descendants of the dead will also choose the heirs of the young children from among their relatives, so that they will not lack sacrifices.

"In the past, these orphans either joined the army as officers or went to the government office as minor officials, but now the imperial examination is opened, and those who study literature can take the imperial examination.

"Five years ago, there was only one Gao Yi School, built in Luoyang, for the 400 descendants of the relatives who sacrificed their lives in the Battle of Xiangyang, and now the Gao Yi School is opened in various places, and this preferential treatment is no longer limited to the Gyeonggi Army, but benefits the Kwantung Army.

"I am telling you this today to tell you that you don't have to worry about your family and your family for me, and you don't have to worry about whether you can be rewarded for your merits.

"Now your military salary is three stone a year, and you are supplied by foreign soldiers, and if you can prove yourself on the battlefield in the future, I will definitely promote you to a medium soldier and distribute five stone of rice grain every year.

"This oath is in alliance with you!"

The voice spread, and under the rhythm of some generals and school leaders, the audience shouted:

"The general treats each other sincerely, and we will serve the dead!"

In the cheers, Gao Cheng glanced at Gao Jishi on the side, his chest was tall.

Ever since Gao Cheng praised him for his 500 horsemen in front of the 20,000 army, enjoying the reverent gaze of everyone, Gao Jishi's face has turned red because of his excitement.

Over the years, for various reasons such as love, Gao Cheng has focused on giving grace to Gao Jishi, and now, I am afraid that he will catch the eldest brother Gao Qian and the second brother Gao Shen, and Gao Jishi will not hesitate at all, and will tie them up when he turns his head.

If it falls on Gao Aocao, he will fight for reason and intercede for the third brother.

Gao Cheng, under the escort of Gao Jishi and others, personally went down and shuttled among the ranks of the salt soldiers.

Due to the communication with Zhang Liang for a long time, the whole army was convened this time, and there were no salt soldiers to carry weapons, and before Gao Cheng arrived, Zhang Liang also deliberately asked a group of people to check each other, in case someone had a short blade.

What kind of lord there is, what kind of subordinates there are, Gao Cheng and his henchmen are affected by him, and there is nothing to say about their security awareness.

Gao Cheng let everyone sit on the spot, and he took the trouble to shuttle through it, and talked to the soldiers.

Until the evening, Gao Cheng stayed in the army to eat with the salt soldiers, and only replied to the letter after making a gesture of sharing the joys and sorrows.

Gao Cheng did not go straight back to the house, but went to visit his uncle Lou Zhao first.

"Ah Hui is running around hard, why didn't he rush to see his wife and concubine when he replied to the letter, but came to see me, the old man."

Lou Zhaolang, who went out to greet him, laughed.

"Business is important, uncle don't tease his nephew, besides, uncle is in the prime of life, how can he be an old man."

Gao Cheng shook his head and said helplessly.

Lou Zhao knew that Gao Cheng had business to look for, and when he was about to introduce him into the mansion, the two uncles and nephews sat opposite each other in the side room, and Lou Zhao said:

"Ah Hui has something to do, but it doesn't hurt to say it."

Gao Cheng looked at Gao Jishi, who was accompanying him, and Gao Jishi immediately went outside the house to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.

confirmed that he would not be heard in the corner, Gao Cheng did not hide it, and said bluntly:

"Cheng recruited 20,000 salt workers as an army, and said to his father that he was taking care of the salt works, but in fact it was of great use."

Lou Zhao's face changed greatly when he heard this, and he dissuaded:

"Ah Hui, my brother-in-law believes in your love, you must not be confused by the desire for power, and do the misfortune of the relatives and the enemy, I heard that after the brother-in-law fell off the horse, he suffered from a head disease and often had attacks, Ah Hui and endured for some time."

When Gao Cheng heard this, he smiled dumbly.

It's no wonder that Lou Zhao wants to think wildly, now that Kanto is firmly controlled by the Gao family, Gao Cheng suddenly and mysteriously told him that the 20,000 salt soldiers he has on hand will be of great use, and Lou Zhao naturally thinks that Gao Cheng can't bear the loneliness and wants to fight with Gao Huan.

"Uncle was too worried, that day in Jinyang, Cheng returned to his father, how could he be disobedient and unfilial now. As my uncle said, my father's posture was not safe, and those who were worried about Cheng were only in Luoyang for a long time, and had no foundation in the Jinyang army, so they built 20,000 new salt soldiers, combined with 50,000 troops with the Gyeonggi army, and then added the old favor of my father, which could stabilize the situation. ”

Lou Zhao listened to his explanation and then put his mind at ease, as long as it wasn't for their father and son fighting for power, nothing else was a big deal.

But he still wondered:

"Ah Hui mentioned the salt soldiers to me, what do you mean?"

Gao Cheng replied:

"I want to train 20,000 strong soldiers, and only my uncle can be entrusted with this."

immediately analyzed with Lou Zhao.

Gao Cheng couldn't bring these 20,000 people back to Luoyang, and he couldn't set up a salt soldier under the guise of taking care of the salt farm, but he was stationed in Luoyang.

And he didn't plan to disperse the salt soldiers in the four prefectures of You, Cang, Ying, and Qing, where salt was boiled.

Since a state is to be selected to concentrate on the placement of 20,000 salt soldiers, it must be Jizhou.

First of all, Jizhou is adjacent to Cang, Ying, and Qingzhou, and it is not far away from Youzhou, if there is a riot, you can go at any time.

Secondly, the Jizhou assassin is his maternal uncle Lou Zhao, who handed over the 20,000 people to Lou Zhao on his behalf, which is far more reassuring than others, after all, he can't stay in Hebei for a long time, and he will return to Luoyang after all.

Especially in the more than a month since he learned that he was on patrol, Lou Zhao concentrated on political affairs and did not intersect with Gao Yang and Gao Yan.

Such a clear reason is also one of the reasons why Gao Cheng is relieved to entrust these 20,000 people.

More importantly, Lou Zhaojiu is in the army, he is a good general, and he is in charge of it, and he can also preside over the drills.

At that time, most of the Jinggi soldiers were trained by Murong Shaozong and Hu Luguang, they were one town in Yingzhou and one in Liangzhou, and the whip was beyond the reach of the whip, and there was no shortage of generals under Gao Cheng, but there were many positions, and they were arranged in the south of Henan to guard against Xiao Liang.

The only generals who can be trusted in Hebei are his uncle Lou Zhao and his uncle Dingzhou Assassin Shi Di Gan, Dingzhou is far away from Cang and Qing Prefectures, and the relationship with Gao Cheng is not as good as Lou Zhao.

After all, Lou Zhao has been in the same town as him in Luoyang for more than five years.

Of course, Gao Cheng only told Lou Zhao about the geographical location of Jizhou and his trust in his uncle, but as for monitoring and other things, he never mentioned it.

Lou Zhao listened to Gao Cheng's heartfelt words, and did not shirk, he patted his chest and promised:

"Ah Hui can rest assured, I will hand over government affairs to the staff to handle on my behalf, concentrate on military training, and within a year, I will send an elite soldier to Ah Hui."

Gao Cheng shook his head and said:

"If you want to get a strong army, you have to see the truth on the battlefield, but everything will bother my uncle."

As he spoke, he got up and saluted solemnly to Lou Zhao, who was his uncle, accepted it calmly.

In fact, for Gao Cheng, Zhao Yanshen, the assassin of Qingzhou, and Yang Su, the assassin of Xiangzhou, can be entrusted, but both of them are scribes, and they are not as familiar with military affairs as Lou Zhao.

(End of chapter)