Jiang Chong sat in the middle of more than a dozen neighborhoods and took a sip of tea lightly. Jiang Chong is now the backbone of the Tiger Division, and he is already the company commander of the trapping regiment. He was recruited to join the selection regiment in the third year of the Dao, starting as a small soldier, and relying on his military exploits in the first year of Xianping, he was promoted to the squad leader of the Breaking Regiment. Later, the trapping regiment was established, and he was transferred to the trapping regiment as a platoon commander. At the beginning of the third year of Xianping, he led his troops to kill the Khitan in Cangzhou with the general, and according to this exploit, he was promoted to the commander of the trapped regiment.

Now Jiang Chong has one hundred and twenty-four soldiers under him, with nine taels a month, and he is already a middle-level officer in Tianjing New Town. This time, Jiang Chong returned to the "old city" of Tianjing New Town to protect more than a dozen neighborhoods. The so-called old city of Tianjing New Town is actually the place where Yang Peng first came to Tianjing New Town, and Yang Peng and them were only more than 100 people at that time. This area has been bulldozed when the city walls and villas were repaired in the third year of Zhidao, and Yang Peng compensated each of the old residents of Tianjing New Town with a small villa. These natives of Tianjing New Town live in the northeast of the city, and after these years of development, most of them are engaged in business and trade in Tianjing New Town, and live a well-off life.

However, compared with the soldiers of Tianjing New Town and the workers of Yang Peng's factory, the living standards of these natives in Tianjing New Town are relatively backward. There is still a gap between the income of young people who earn more than two taels a month as a trader and Yang Peng's monthly support of workers and four and a half of the supported soldiers. Among these natives, the most prominent are Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang, who were officers in the Tiger Division. Now both of them are company commanders, and they both marry daughters-in-law who are like flowers and jade, and live in magnificent luxury villas. Both of them already had children at a young age and lived a life that was envied by everyone.

The situation of Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang made the natives of Tianjing New City understand that if they want to live a good life, they must closely follow the footsteps of the city lord. It is not enough to follow in Tianjing New City, but also to follow in the factory and the army, so that there will be a bright future. This time, the Tiger Benshi recruited new recruits again, and the natives of Tianjing New City were unwilling to lag behind any longer, so they found Jiang Chong and asked Jiang Chong to protect the natives of Fanjiazhuang.

Looking at the eager eyes of the old neighbors in his childhood, Jiang Chong coughed, turned around and asked the old Xing Tou beside him, "Father Xing, what do you say first?" "Lao Xingtou is sixty years old, the oldest of the natives of Tianjing New Town, and he used to have a lot of prestige in Tianjing New Town. But when Yang Peng came and changed Tianjing New Town, Lao Xingtou gradually fell behind. His only son sells fish in the Chengbei market, and his income is too different from that of Jiang Chong and Hua Zhang.

In comparison, Lao Xingtou's family and Jiang Chong's family have turned over. Jiang Chong's family was one of the poorest families in Tianjing New Town, and Jiang Chong almost fled from Tianjing New Town in the first year of Taoism. But on the eve of Jiang Chong's escape, the city lord came, and Jiang Chong was recruited as a soldier of the general, and since then he has risen step by step.

Now in the eyes of this group of natives, Jiang Chong's one sentence is worthy of Lao Xing's first ten sentences. Hearing Jiang Chong let himself speak, Lao Xingtou was a little embarrassed, and said with a pipe in his mouth: "I don't say it, you just say it!" You are now a company commander, and everyone is counting on you, waiting for you to speak! ”

When Jiang Chong heard this, he stood up and said, "Neighbors, this time the general wants to recruit 8,000 people, this is an opportunity!" "Why is it an opportunity? Because this recruitment of new recruits requires veterans to be sure, and a veteran can only protect five people. In other words, there are only more than 60,000 people competing for these 8,000 shortages! ”

"Compared with the previous situation where more than a dozen people fought for a position, the competition this time is not so fierce." "Follow the city lord, it is a steady progress. Everyone has seen the situation of me and Huazhang. Now my daughter-in-law not only does not need to spin and weave, but also bought a maid to do chores, and my daughter-in-law only takes care of the children. As long as you keep up with the footsteps of the castle lord, a better day is just around the corner. ”

Jiang Chong glanced at more than a dozen households and looked at his neighbors, knowing that these neighbors were waiting for him to say if he could guarantee them. Jiang Chong nodded and said, "Yes, as a company commander this time, I can protect fifteen people" Hearing Jiang Chong's words that he could protect fifteen people, the natives below were all excited and talked about happily. There are twelve families here and fourteen strong men who want to enlist in the army, and Jiang Chong can keep them all.

But Jiang Chong said: "But I want to make it clear, I am responsible for being a guarantor." If there is a spies, the guarantor will lose his head. I have been working in Tianjing New City for the past three years, and I can guarantee the thirteen people who have not left the city. Chen Erdan went to Huizhou to seek refuge with his uncle the year before last, and stayed outside Tianjing New City for two years, I can't protect it! ”

Hearing Jiang Chong's words, Chen Erdan hurriedly said: "Brother Jiang, I have studied in Huizhou for two years, and I haven't done anything bad, and now I don't do it anymore!" Why don't you protect me? Jiang Chong shook his head and said, "I don't know who you met in Huizhou and what happened, I don't dare to joke with my head." ”

Chen Erdan was very disappointed, squatted on the ground in a fit of anger, and was reluctant to stand up again. Looking at what happened to Chen Erdan, the other neighbors all took a breath, and secretly said that they were fortunate to have been guarding Tianjing New Town all these years. Tianjing New City is a paradise in troubled times, as long as you follow the city lord, you will have a good life. In this chaotic year, going out to visit relatives and friends is not in tune, and when you come back, you will be suspected of having different intentions.

Xie Jin's sister looked at Xie Jin who came back empty-handed, and couldn't help but shed a tear. The three members of the family had been hungry for a day, and Xie Jin went out to borrow grain, but he couldn't borrow a grain of rice. Xie Jin's family is a tenant farmer in Wuqiao County, Hejian Prefecture, and the family of three cultivates 19 acres of dry land, which is just enough to make ends meet. However, at the end of last year, the Khitan entered the customs and plundered, and when they passed through Wuqiao, they plundered on a large scale. Xie Jin's family of three hid in the county seat and was not killed by the Khitan soldiers. But the crops in the fields were wasted because of this.

After hiding in the county town for a while, when Xie Jin returned home, the wheat had missed the irrigation period, and the fields were already full of weeds. This year's harvest was extremely poor. The grain that was beaten down was eaten after five months, and now I don't know how to spend this green and yellow season.

Xie Jin wanted to go to his relatives and friends' houses to borrow food, but his relatives and friends also suffered a disaster, and none of them had a good time. Xie Jin went to pray for the first few times, and he was able to borrow a few liters of rice. But this time Xie Jin went again, and his relatives and friends had no extra food to lend Xie Jin, and Xie Jin returned empty-handed.

Xie Jin hadn't eaten for a day, and he was extremely hungry. He sat limply in his chair and sighed. Xie Jin's mother said: "My son, there is no rice and noodles, how will I live in the next few days?" "Xie Jin died his father last year, and now there is only one old mother and a younger sister in the family. Xie Jin couldn't imagine that he would encounter such a dilemma in his first year in charge. Now that we can't borrow food, will the family starve to death?

Xie Jin said helplessly: "Take another winter coat and go to the city to be it!" Xie Jin's mother said: "It's about to be winter, and there are only three winter clothes left at home, and if you go to winter, you will freeze to death." Xie Jin rubbed his face with his hand and was speechless.

A family of three was sitting in the courtyard hungry when they suddenly heard a commotion in front of them. Surrounded by dozens of people, a sturdy man strode on the dirt road in the countryside and was walking towards Xie Jin's house.

Seeing those noisy crowds, Xie Jin's timid sister was startled and hid in the house. Xie Jin was stunned, and secretly said that he didn't commit anything, what are so many people doing in his yard? He took a closer look, only to see that most of the people who came over were small traders in the neighborhood, and there were a few famous old men in Benlijia walking in the middle. And the sturdy man who was surrounded by all the vendors in the middle was wearing a military uniform of Tianjing New Town, and he was obviously a soldier of Tianjing New Town.

Xie Jin vaguely guessed something, and hurriedly greeted the door. The group of people walked to Xie Jin's door, and the Tianjing New City soldier in the middle shouted: "Is this Xie Jin's family!" Xie Jin hurriedly replied: "Yes, I am Xie Jin!" ”

The Tianjing New City soldier looked at the old men beside him, and the old men all nodded and said, "Yes, this is Xie Jin!" The Tianjing New City soldier smiled, handed a waist card and a document to Xie Jin, and said, "Congratulations, Xie Jin, you have been recruited by our Tianjing New City City Lord, and you will be a soldier of Tianjing New City in the future." This is your waist card and admission card, and you can report to Tianjing New Town next month with these two things! ”

Hearing the soldier's words, Xie Jin's face flushed with excitement, and he felt a faint feeling that happiness had suddenly arrived. The soldiers of Tianjing New City were recruited by themselves. In the future, I will have to be a soldier with three or two months of money and three meals of meat? My mother and sister don't have to worry about eating and drinking anymore!

Xie Jin held the waist card and admission card with trembling hands, and tears couldn't stop flowing. The villager next to him took a cane and said with a smile: "Xie Jin, this is a happy event, why are you crying?" Xie Jin said in a trembling voice: "My family hasn't eaten for a day, but now I have recruited soldiers from Tianjing New Town, you let me let me, you let me."

However, although I raised it myself, there is still a month to report, and there are still two months before the monthly money is issued. Xie Jin suddenly became confused again, looking at the Fan Jiazhuang soldier who came to deliver the letter.

Before Xie Jin could finish speaking, a small trader with a heavy burden next to him shouted loudly: "Xie Jin, why didn't you say it earlier if you have no food, I will give it to you on credit!" Xie Jin was stunned, and then saw that the vendor carried the flat burden in front of Xie Jin. As soon as the lid was lifted, there was snow-white rice noodles inside. The peddler said flatteringly: "Xie Jin, this hundred catties of white rice noodles will be sold to you for one or two or six yuan." You set up an IOU for me, and when you get the monthly money in Tianjing New Town, give me the money again! ”

The vendor took out an IOU and came out, as long as Xie Jin pressed his handprint, this rice and noodles belonged to the Xie family. Xie Jin looked at the little vendor in disbelief, and then at the white rice noodles, as if joy had fallen from the sky.

In fact, Xie Jin didn't know that these hawkers were used to doing business like Xie Jin these days. As long as you follow the soldiers who reported the news from Tianjing New City and sell rice and noodles to the farmers who applied for the recruitment, you can make money steadily. At this time, the grain sold on credit was naturally sold at a higher price than on weekdays, and these peasants who were recruited into the army were all high-income in the future, and they had IOUs in hand, so they did not worry about not paying back the silver.

A hundred catties of rice noodles can only be sold for one or four yuan on the market, and they can be sold for one or six yuan on credit to the recruits, and they can earn two dollars of silver at once. This is a good business that is hard to find. Xie Jin and his mother walked up to the load of rice noodles excitedly, scooped a cup of rice noodles with a spoon and looked at it again, broke into a smile, and said, "Do we have rice noodles at home?" ”

When the rice and noodle vendor saw that the business was done, he was in a happy mood, so he took out the suona on his back and blew it. For a while, the crowd at the door of Xie Jin's house was beaming with joy, and the scene really didn't look like he was going to be a soldier, but it looked like Xie Jin had won the show.

Sister Xie Jin saw that the group of people were not here to seek revenge, so she also ran out of the house and stood in front of the load of rice noodles, crying and wiping her tears. "Big brother, do we have something to eat?" A guy from the cloth village walked out and said, "Xie Jin, I see that your sister is dressed in tatters, do you want to come to me to cut a few feet of cloth and make a few new sets of clothes for my sister?" ”

Xie Jin said: "I don't have any money" The guy from the cloth village said loudly: "Xie Jin, you buy a few more feet of cloth, I will give it to you on credit, and then give me money when you make money in Tianjing New Town!" Xie Jin was stunned, looked at his sister, and said, "Okay!" Xie Jin's sister hadn't made new clothes for more than a year, and she jumped for joy when she heard this, smiling all over her face.

Seeing Xie Jin so bold, those hawkers were very excited, and they all rushed to Xie Jin and shouted, "Xie Jin, I'll give you oil on credit!" "Xie Jin, I'll give you a quilt on credit!" "Xie Jin, I'll give you rice on credit!" Xie Jin agreed one by one, and those vendors put the goods in front of his house. Little by little, the goods piled up, and at last they were half a man high, and there was everything.

All of a sudden, the Xie family, who was hungry just now, lacked nothing. A pawnshop guy walked out and said, "Xie Jin, it's inconvenient for you to have no money on hand now, right?" I'll lend you money. I'll lend you ten taels of silver, three cents of interest, and no collateral for your goods." Wait until you go to Tianjing New City to become a soldier, and then return the money to the Wang family pawnshop in the city. ”

Xie Jin was stunned for a long time and asked, "This is ten taels of silver, aren't you afraid that I will run away?" The pawnshop guy laughed, as if he had heard the funniest joke, and said, "You can earn ten taels of silver in three months as a soldier in Tianjing New Town, where will you run away for this money?" ”

Xie Jin thought for a while and said, "Okay, I'll borrow this money!" The pawnshop guy smiled, took out an IOU and gave Xie Jin a handprint on the spot, and then handed over the ten taels of silver to Xie Jin.

Yang Peng's recruit barracks was built on the south side of the city wall of Tianjing New Town. An area here is the planned area of Tianjing New Town, but the city wall has not yet been built, and the peasants will come to repair the city wall when they are free. The barracks were built by masons working overtime and were repaired just in time for the arrival of the new recruits on November 20.

As soon as the recruits entered the camp in December, the arduous training began. These soldiers are Yang Peng's reliance now, and they must not be sloppy in training. Recruits don't touch guns for the first two months, they practice physical fitness and queues. Every day before dawn, officers at all levels would march in formation with 8,000 recruits standing in formation, and the first training would be a morning. In the afternoon, he practiced physical fitness in the suburbs of Tianjing New Town, and he went off the road for dozens of miles at every turn.

The recruits were fed three meals and meat, and they trained at high intensity under the condition of sufficient protein supply, and their muscles grew rapidly. Soon, the young man, who was still thin when he entered the camp, became a strong soldier.

The training intensity of the Song army in this era was very low, even the Western Army and the Ning Army, which were known as the elite, often practiced every three days and every four days. Compared with the Song army, the soldiers of the Tiger Division, who practiced every morning and into the evening, were well-deserved elite soldiers. Only with such a high monthly salary can the soldiers train so hard without complaint.

The reason why he didn't touch the gun in the first two months was because Yang Peng wanted to conduct a political review of the recruits. Today, each platoon of the Tiger Division is equipped with a pacifier, who is responsible for punishing soldiers who violate military discipline, and is also responsible for conducting political censorship of soldiers. The magistrates spent two months observing the recruits to see if any of them had been mixed in with spies and whether they had secretly made contact with the outside world.

Two months later, after undergoing a political examination, the soldiers were able to really touch their guns. Today, there are more than 40,000 people in the Tiger Division, which is still divided into four divisions. Each division had more than 10,000 soldiers, and each division had four regiments of 2,000 men each. Each battalion has five companies of 200 men each. As the strength increased, a new number of officers was needed, and many veterans with outstanding performance were promoted to officers.

The combat power of the Tiger Ben Division has greatly expanded. Duan Zhixian and several other division commanders felt that the strength in their hands had improved again, and they were very excited. They soaked in the training ground every day, hoping to train these 8,000 recruits as soon as possible.

After finishing the recruitment of new recruits, the Baozhong Temple planned by Yang Peng was also built. The Baozhong Shrine is an offering house dedicated to the soldiers and officers who died in various battles, and was built in the new city in the south of the city. Only an army with a sense of honor can have combat effectiveness. And only by praising the soldiers who died bravely in previous wars, and treating the families of martyrs well, can the soldiers have a sense of honor. Yang Peng has now established a medal system, a pension system, and a shrine to praise the martyrs, so that he can form a glorious sense of honor in the whole army.

Baozhong Temple is a building complex, the first into the courtyard has a front hall, dedicated to the statue of Guan Yunchang. There is a nave in the second courtyard, which enshrines the statue of Yang Ye. The main hall in the third courtyard is the largest, and its ** is dedicated to the tablets of the soldiers who died in the battle.

The main hall is magnificent, adopts a single eaves to rest on the top of the mountain, is 14 zhang long and 8 zhang wide. There are sacrifices to incense from time to time, and incense lingers all year round. In the spring and autumn seasons of each year, Yang Peng led his officials to sacrifice and sweep once and offer sacrifices. On the day when the Baozhong Temple was built, Yang Peng held a grand award ceremony in the new city. On November 23, the Baozhong Temple in the south of the city was crowded. Under Li Zhi's advance publicity, at least tens of thousands of citizens and farmers of Tianjing New Town gathered at the gate of Baozhong Temple to watch the city lord's award ceremony.

This award of the medal is mainly for the meritorious personnel and the disabled personnel in the battle of Cangzhou in the first year of Xianping. Yang Peng's troops fought with weapons, emphasizing discipline and wholeness, and there was little chance that a single soldier would make meritorious contributions. Therefore, the meritorious personnel awarded this time are mainly scouts who have excelled in detecting the enemy's situation, and they are all awarded third-class soldier medals. There are more dead and disabled in battle.

In this Cangzhou battle, 227 soldiers of the Tiger Ben Division were killed or died in battle, and the families of these people will be awarded the first-class Heroic Medal. Now in Tianjing New Town, after Yang Peng's publicity and guidance, a social atmosphere of respect and courtesy has been formed. The families of the awardees received medals, which directly improved their social status in Tianjing New Town.

The specific family member of the martyr to whom the medal is awarded is determined by the martyr's will. Some soldiers gave medals to their wives, some did not marry to give medals to their fathers and mothers, and some gave medals to their children, all of which were different, and Li Zhi fully respected the wishes of the martyrs.

One by one, the families of the martyrs walked up to the medal platform, and Yang Peng personally pinned the medals to the families. The family members remembered the voices and smiles of the martyrs before their sacrifices, and looked at the yellow bronze medals on their chests, and they cried silently.

An eight-year-old boy took the stage to receive the Order of Hero of the First Class on behalf of his dead father. Yang Peng looked at the child and asked, "What's your name?" "My surname is Yu, and my nickname is steamed buns!" The daimyo hasn't been taken yet! Yang Peng nodded and said, "Steamed buns, do you know what your father does?" ”

The boy raised his fist and said, "Daddy is killing the hero of the Khitan and died on the battlefield!" After a pause, the child said, "Daddy is the best for me, and often buys me candy to eat." I listen to my dad the most, and I am literate at home when other children go out to play! But why did Daddy die like this, and he didn't care about me anymore! I haven't seen my dad in a year, and I miss him so much. ”

After saying this, the boy began to cry and wiped his tears with his little hands. Yang Peng touched the child's head and said: "Steamed bun, don't cry, your father is a big hero who killed the Khitan, even if he dies, everyone will always remember him!" Yang Peng pinned the first-class hero medal on the boy's chest and said loudly: "In the future, you will be the hero of my Tianjing New City on behalf of your father." ”

The boy wiped his tears and said, "General, when I grow up, I will also join the army as a soldier to avenge my father!" Yang Peng touched the child's face and said, "There will be that day." After the first-class heroic medal was issued, Yang Peng awarded the second-class warrior medal to one hundred and six wounded and disabled soldiers. The wounded now have pensions and food and clothing, plus the medal issued by Yang Peng, they will be respected from now on, and they really feel that their injuries are worth it. They were grateful for the kindness of the general, and they also cried one by one.

Some scouts who had made meritorious service in scout battles, as well as soldiers who had been lightly wounded in valiant battles, were awarded the Warrior's Medal. The soldiers of Tianjing New Town who are killed in battle and disabled will receive a pension of two taels of silver per month, and those who are mildly disabled and can still work will be arranged by the Tianjing New Town Government Office for suitable work, and they will have meat for two taels or three meals per month. Under such a pension system, the soldiers have no worries. Now, medals are given to the casualties and their families, and a shrine is built to worship the sacrificed soldiers, so that the soldiers are not afraid of casualties.

Only soldiers who are not afraid of casualties can stand firm in battle, maintain discipline, and protect their comrades on the left and right. At the end of the ceremony, the martyr's tablet entered the Baozhong Shrine in the sound of drums and accepted the offering. Today, the people of Tianjing New City live a wealthy life, and their living standards far exceed those of people in other parts of the Ming Dynasty. Citizens and peasants alike knew that their good life was maintained by the soldiers with their lives. After the ceremony, the people lined up in a long line, and one by one they had to enter the Baozhong Temple to put a pillar of incense on the martyrs.

Seeing the honor of the casualties, the other soldiers who maintained order outside the shrine stood straight. Inspired by the sense of honor, they are no longer afraid of casualties, and they are eager to go to the battlefield tomorrow to make meritorious contributions.

If you want to know what happens next, let's see the next breakdown.