Along the way, Guo Kang chatted a lot with the new officer and got a general understanding of his situation.

According to him, he previously served as a quartermaster adjutant at the "Hammer of Basil". Actually, it's to help buy things around.

Previously, he had come to Dadu to study. As a result, after coming here, it has not been very smooth, and it has not been able to settle down after the entanglement is exhausted. Fortunately, at that time, the army was recruiting logistics officers on a temporary basis, as was customary.

He had studied mathematics in Nuremberg and ran errands with his uncle, who ran an armor trading house. Therefore, I was hired.

The Purple Horde had a tradition that after the direction of the expedition was determined, some people who knew more about the local situation would be recruited from the whole army. Because there is often a shortage of manpower, additional recruitment is often made as a supplement.

Guo Gai's edict believed that when marching in non-native areas, honest and rigorous quartermasters should be appointed, and when conditions permitted, credible people should be found to act as deputies, rather than having soldiers go directly to civilian procurement.

Because letting everyone go out and collecting food is likely to cause chaos. There are always people who don't want to spend money on it, want to swallow the money, and then take it for nothing locally. This goes against the original intention of stabilizing order and creating a good image.

So, it's better to pick reliable people, focus on purchasing, and find someone who is familiar with the local market and other specific situations to help avoid confusion and prevent being deceived.

Of course, the quartermaster is a fat man, and there will definitely be people who are corrupt and bribed. But in reality, it would be nice to be able to maintain a relatively not too bad system. In any case, it is much easier to deal with a quartermaster than against a group of rebellious soldiers.

Due to operational demands, the Quartermaster in charge of procurement often also plays the role of spy and scout. They had to enter enemy-occupied territory before the large army and learn about the local reserves of various supplies. If possible, talk to the locals about pricing and preparing supplies in advance.

In many places, people do not have a strong sense of belonging to the lord. Locals are often surprised when they are willing to give money, and they are happy to cooperate and sell supplies to these "enemies".

About ten years ago, when the Purple Horde attacked Alemanni, there was a phenomenon known as the "belt of indulgences". The Catholic Church of Rome later discovered that sales of indulgences had risen near the Purple Horde's marching paths.

The church sent people to investigate, only to find out that it turned out that the locals were keen to sell supplies to the Purple Horde and gained a lot of money. Afterwards, some people felt that it was not good to collude with heresy in this way, so they had an idea and bought indulgences to offset this unavoidable minor mistake, and then they could live in peace again.

I don't know which great clever person invented this method, and it was widely circulated for a while.

Of course, the church was happy to see this happen, and did not ask the lords to strictly control heresy. Just to remind everyone that in this case, you should buy the corresponding gear, and not just find the cheapest coping situation. Don't get me wrong here.

Over the years, this system has become more and more effective. Due to their good reputation, the Legion's quartermasters were sometimes even present in the hinterland of the HRE, making advance reservations for supplies hoarded by merchants to secretly deliver supplies from enemy-controlled areas to their own front lines.

The great nobles of the HRE and Hungary used to make strict rules prohibiting such behavior. However, due to the lack of local management, it is still difficult to produce practical results. Some cities, which already disliked the nobility, even intensified their efforts, taking advantage of the threat of the Purple Horde to openly oppose the local lords, causing even more trouble.

Therefore, this system can be regarded as a relatively important part of the current war. The selection of quartermasters and deputies is also very important.

The position of Lucas is probably the kind that is meant to go into the rear of the enemy, so it requires reliable and knowledgeable locals. Although there is a certain danger, it is also a fast track to promotion - he only went through one war before he could hope to become a full-fledged officer, so he was recommended.

Guo Kang felt that with this qualification, it should be enough to bring a group of recruits. And let the Alemanni train the Slavs...... Since Cao Jian said that it was the qualified soldier source he was looking for, the general password of the legion should at least be able to understand.

Thinking of this, he was also relieved.

When he arrived at the gate of the training ground, he not only saw Cao Jian, but also found that Joanna was also there.

"Why are you here too?" Guo Kang asked curiously, "Are you still going to sponsor this army?" No, you don't. The army on our side doesn't need to be paid for privately. ”

This sentence should seem like common sense, but in these years, it is a special case.

Most of the troops did not belong to the local government, but were paid for. If someone is willing to sponsor it, then everyone will be happy.

Even in the case of a specially formed national army, the contract system is basically adopted. The monarch who is going to organize an army will appoint an officer and give him full authority over recruitment, training, etc. The appointees were not so much state officers as mercenary managers. His job was to take the money and build an army for his employers.

Due to the very lax management during this period, the funds and actual expenses received by the contracted officers often did not match at all. In many cases, they will deliberately withhold military salaries and materials, and even falsely report the number of people in order to fill their own pockets;

But there are also times when these funds are really not enough, so they have to pay for themselves - of course, the monarch usually gives other remuneration such as titles, estates, etc. It's really not good, after organizing the army, you can take it back by yourself.

In the eyes of the people of the Central Plains, this situation is almost completely a soldier, and they are sorry for their employers if they don't have a yellow robe. But they have been in operation for hundreds of years, and will continue to operate for hundreds of years in the future. For such a long time, the number of accidents is very small, which shows that the safety is still enough.

This kind of contracting system was used until about the 19th century. In England at the latest, it was used in 1871. It is even compatible with the military rank system and unified training of modern armies.

For example, during this time, British officers were basically obtained by buying. Some popular positions still need to be auctioned. There are also people who are promoted through seniority and merit, but they will be looked down upon by the officers who buy the official position, and think that it is not in line with the status of a gentleman. And a lot of times, money alone won't work. Without the status of a nobleman, no matter how rich he is, he can't buy it.

Although this kind of method may be directly regarded as a sign of the destruction of the country in Seris, people rely on this organizational method not only did not perish, but also fought all over the world in hundreds of years.

Guo Kang sometimes feels that combat effectiveness and military system have nothing to do with each other at all......

However, Joanna shook her head, indicating that it was not what he thought.

"I just heard that you're going to recruit and train a new army, so I'm going to take a look." Joanna said calmly: "Didn't you say before, I'll come back to you if there's something?" Now I want to see if I can help, can I? ”

Guo Kang didn't know this kind of thing, what could she help with. He looked at Cao Jian and found that the other party was also at a loss, and he didn't seem to know Joanna. However, Joanna looked confident, as if there was really something to tell him about it.

Guo Kang thought about it and felt that this was not an official exercise, and it was nothing to take her to see it, so he nodded.

(End of chapter)