Chapter 157 A Group of Troublemakers
Early in the morning, Lin Changning changed into his everyday clothes, fastened his belt, and prepared to go on duty with Lao Zhou and the others. The Right Guard of the Prince of Chu was located in the newly built military headquarters, which was a bit far from the Prince's residence, so everyone got up very early.
After changing his clothes and combing his hair, Lin Changning left the courtyard. Old Zhou and the others were already waiting outside the gate. The group of people left the palace together, and servants had already prepared horses for them at the gate.
The morning air was a bit chilly, and Lin Changning felt his lungs and heart refreshed as he exhaled.
The group rode their horses toward the commandery. They had just taken office today, and although there were only a little over eight hundred men, they couldn't be late.
Old Zhou and his group are only responsible for showing up today and getting familiar with the place before going out to arrange recruitment. The direct superior of the eight hundred Chu King's Right Guards is Lin Changning, so she will most likely be supervising the training of these gentry and noble children today.
Qi Rong briefly told her that these people were all local youths from Taiyuan. They were brought in because they had no other options, and they would just show up briefly and then go out to have fun.
The King of Chu was aware of this matter, and indeed, things looked terrible. He wanted to take this opportunity to teach these young men a lesson, as his Chu royal family would not spend money to support useless people.
Of the eight hundred, nearly three hundred were spoiled brats who had been shoved in to collect salaries and curry favor with the King of Chu, so there were bound to be quite a few troublemakers.
There will likely be some trouble today, and even if there is, Lin Changning must suppress it. The King of Chu chose her, the youngest among them, probably to see her abilities. It is both a risk and an opportunity.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the military headquarters, Lao Zhou and Lao Ma dismounted and walked towards the entrance.
Upon reaching the door, the group frowned in unison, simply because they were too lax.
It was indeed still early, the sun had not yet risen, but the two soldiers guarding the gate of the capital were leaning against the wooden stakes, slowly sleeping. Even though they had been approaching for so long, they had not noticed them getting close. They were clearly fast asleep.
If this were in Daxing, with the enemy so close and still fast asleep, a single strike would likely have killed both of them.
The faces of the group were not good. Lin Changning went up and kicked each of them to the ground, then stood at the door with his hands down, staring intently at the two men.
One person lay on the ground, opened his eyes, and mumbled something incomprehensible, but when he looked up and saw the uniforms of the other men, he shuddered and woke up.
Another person looked up and saw four people in front of him, swearing and cursing. It was unclear whether they were asleep or just naturally arrogant. Suddenly, someone next to him tugged at him.
Having just regained their senses, the two knelt on the ground in unison, realizing that they had probably given the new commander a reason to criticize them. They were filled with fear and remorse.
The soldier who regained consciousness first respectfully said, "May I ask which commander you gentlemen are from? Please allow me to go and inform them."
Old Zhou sneered, casually taking off the waist badge from his waist and throwing it on the ground: "Open your dog eyes and see which commander's office we belong to!"
The two men looked at each other, picked up their waist tokens from the ground, and their faces turned pale. Although there had been rumors that several new commanders might be coming, they had not been notified by their superiors.
At this moment, they ran right into the muzzle of a gun. The two men knelt on the ground, trembling like leaves. They were collateral relatives of a powerful family who had entered the Yanshan Right Guard through connections. They received monthly salaries and did not have to fight much, so they lived a very comfortable life.
The commander of a thousand households in the military command was a fifth-rank official. It was no problem for them to commit a dereliction of duty. At worst, they would be exiled to the border, and at worst, they would be punished with 100 strokes of the cane.
Thinking of this, the two men couldn't help but kneel down and beg for forgiveness: "We were negligent today, please forgive us, Commander."
Lin Changning glanced at Old Ma, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and asked, "Uncle Ma, what is the punishment for the soldiers guarding the gate in Daxing who neglect their duties?"
Old Ma snorted coldly: "The gate of the garrison is such an important place. If they can't even guard the gate, they deserve to be beaten to death."
Lin Changning looked at the two men below, who were trembling and kowtowing incessantly, and said in a deep voice: "Although Taiyuan is not comparable to the border region, the rebel king's party is currently in the limelight. It is only a 7-day journey from Taiyuan. Yet you dare to sleep soundly while on guard duty. To put it bluntly, it would not be an exaggeration to say that you should be beheaded. However, considering that this is your first offense, you will each go to the drill ground to receive 50 lashes after your duty tonight. If there is a next time, you will be executed without mercy."
Hearing Lin Changning speak, the two men felt a little relieved. Fifty strokes of the military rod might be painful, but it wouldn't really kill them. The two men cupped their hands and said, "Thank you, Commander."
After Lin Changning finished speaking, he led Lao Zhou and the others into the city. After they arrived at the yamen (government office) and exchanged a few polite words with the officials there, they headed to the barracks.
When the group arrived at the military camp, it was already broad daylight, but the drill ground was deserted and empty.
Old Zhang looked up at the sky: "It should be time for everyone to be on duty by now, why is no one here?"
The four of them were newly arrived commanders, and they were bound to meet the soldiers. However, from the Prince's Palace to here, and now to the drill ground, not a single person from the camp had arrived at the drill ground to conduct drills.
Lin Changning had just gone to check the records of the Chu King's Right Guard's grand drill. Today was the day of the grand drill, but it was already dawn and no one had come. This could only mean that the Yanshan Right Guard was truly rotten to the core.
Lin Changning sneered and looked at Lao Ma and the others: "Let's go, we'll go and wake them up ourselves."
Old Zhou nodded with a dark face; they had never seen such a disorganized army before.
It's utterly lawless! The gatekeepers are fast asleep, oblivious to our presence, and the soldiers in the barracks are still out in the daylight, not even in time for their morning drills.
Four men entered the barracks, lifted the curtain, and found a group of men sleeping soundly wrapped in blankets. As soon as they lifted the curtain, the warmth of the heating and a pungent stench assaulted their nostrils.
Lin Changning was so overwhelmed by the stench that she almost vomited up the pastries she had eaten that morning.
How can it smell so bad? It smells so bad!!!
Lin Changning, increasingly furious, held his breath and stepped inside. He grabbed a bamboo pole placed by the door and casually swung it at the burly men sleeping on the communal bed.
The bamboo poles whistled through the air as they were swung, each strike landing on the sleeping men.
Within three seconds, wails and screams erupted from inside the tent.
After being woken up, the group of people got out of bed, cursing and pointing their fingers at Lin Changning.
"Who are you? Are you crazy?"
"You little brat, you're asking for it! What are you doing here so early in the morning, instead of sleeping, acting crazy?"
Several people with a bad temper in the morning picked up their fists, ready to fight Lin Changning.
"Kid, do you even know who your grandpa is? I'll beat you to death!"
Lin Changning looked up and struck the two men who rushed up and were swinging their fists in the chest with his stick. The stick sent them flying three meters away. The two men lay on the ground shirtless, groaning in pain.
The others who got up stared in astonishment at the group of people standing at the door.
Lin Changning glanced at the group of people who had suddenly fallen silent and chuckled: "A bunch of useless trash."
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