"Sergeant Sun, I wonder why this is happening?" Shen Yu asked Sun Jianzhang.
"Why?" Sun Jianzhang sneered. "It's because the imperial court hasn't distributed enough food and wages these past few years. And with the severe drought in northern Xinjiang this year, the military garrisons there are probably going to be nothing to harvest. They don't need us anymore."
He felt utterly helpless thinking about how a sixth-rank garrison commander had to endure the constant bullying of several seventh-rank general flag officers and a dozen ninth-rank minor flag officers. Why else could it be that? It was because he had no leverage over anyone else.
In the past, those who needed his pay and supplies had to beg him for help. Now, the situation was completely reversed, and he still had to ask for help if he needed anything. After all, those people were responsible for training the new recruits and had the power to decide whether they could enter the Dingbei Camp. Of course, they no longer had to rely on his will.
Now he felt a little better. Although the arrival of an assistant garrison commander seemed to have divided his power, what power did he actually have? It was just another person who served as a decoration to accompany him.
It doesn’t matter that he is already over 40, but I just don’t know if this young boy who comes from a wealthy family can hold on?
Facing this situation, Shen Yu had already made sufficient preparations. He was not in a hurry and chatted with Sun Jianzhang while acquiring information here.
The total number of people in the Ningjiang County Reserve Camp is less than 500.
Ten men formed a squad, each supervised by a small flag. Four squads formed a team, led by a general flag. There were four teams in total, part of the regular formation of the reserve battalion, receiving military pay from the court.
There is also a reserve force that is not part of the regular formation. Its size varies, depending on how many people are recruited. They need to undergo rigorous training and pass the assessment before they can join the regular formation. This is a prerequisite: someone from the regular formation must enter the Ningjiang County outpost to vacate the position before they can be replaced.
So, it's hard to say how long this preparatory period will last. If things move quickly, it'll mean there's fighting in the Dingbei Camp, resulting in casualties and a need for a large number of replacements. At that point, it's very possible these people will be sent directly to the Dingbei Camp. If things move slowly, it'll be after the Ningjiang County outposts eliminate the elderly, weak, injured, or disabled soldiers, and then the regular members of the reserve battalion are selected to fill the vacancies.
In addition, the reserve camp also had a contingent of adult male prisoners exiled to the northern border. The number of these men varied. These men usually farmed, fended off enemies, burned lime and charcoal, and repaired canals—in essence, hard labor. If a real war broke out, these men would be called upon to step into traps, test ambushes, and serve as cannon fodder. Imagine how dangerous this situation would be. This is one reason why exile was the second most severe punishment, second only to the death penalty.
What to do when the imperial court refuses to pay the troops? They can only find ways to be self-sufficient. In previous years, they could barely survive by relying on the grain grown in the military settlements. This year, the drought in the north was severe, and while the harvest wasn't completely wiped out, it wasn't far off.
Of the four general flags, only Yang Gencheng and his four smaller flags arrived at the reserve camp meeting hall immediately; they were considered Sun Jianzhang's direct subordinates. The other three general flags arrived much later, accompanied by their smaller flags.
"Sorry, sir, we are late because we were training new recruits." The leader was the oldest of the four general flags, named Li Yongqing. Usually everyone called him "big brother", and gradually they all followed his lead.
As soon as he entered the door, he found a rather lame excuse, and Sun Jianzhang couldn't do anything to him.
When he saw a young man sitting in the seat where he usually sat, his face changed. He smiled awkwardly for a long time and said, "Is this the new assistant garrison commander? He looks very young! You have never been in a military camp, right?" In fact, he wanted to call Shen Yu a pretty boy.
"This is..." Shen Yu saw the change in his expression and guessed that this was his position, but he had no intention of giving in.
Although he was young and had no military experience, he was appointed Assistant Garrison Commander by the Emperor, a deputy position here, and he deserved to be in this position. Even if the other party disliked him, he had to tolerate it. He absolutely could not give in on this matter!
"Look at my brain," Sun Jianzhang slapped his head when he saw that both sides were embarrassed, "I forgot to introduce you." He looked at Shen Yu, "This is our new assistant garrison commander, Shen Yu."
Shen Yu then stood up politely and clasped his fists towards everyone, "I'm Shen Yu, new here, and I hope you all will give me your guidance."
Logically, those people should have returned the greeting to Shen Yu, calling him "Assistant Garrison Commander or Lord Shen." However, their eyes were fixed on Li Yongqing, waiting to see what he would do.
Li Yongqing sneered: "It's not about giving us any advice, as long as you don't cause any trouble for us." It was obvious that he didn't even want to give us face.
Seeing him like this, the rest of the people lowered their heads and didn't dare to say a word.
This kind of scene really made Shen Yu even more embarrassed. He looked at Sun Jianzhang and asked, "Sun Shoubei, who are these people..." He had to know who he had offended and who had offended him.
"This is Li Yongqing, the general flag of the first team," Sun Jianzhang simply introduced them one by one, "standing next to him is Wang Chaowu, the general flag of the second team, and standing a little behind him is Lu Libao, the general flag of the third team." Since they brought a large number of small flags, Sun Jianzhang did not continue to introduce them.
"So it's the generals," Shen Yu nodded. "I'm indeed new to the military camp, so if there's anything I don't understand, I'll have to ask for your advice. If anyone thinks I'm causing trouble for everyone, that's fine. I just want to fit in as quickly as possible."
Having said that, he turned his head again to look at Sun Jianzhang who was sitting at the top and asked, "In the court, officials have to stand in order according to their ranks. I wonder what the order is here?" He threw this difficult question to Sun Jianzhang.
Sun Jianzhang cursed the little fox inwardly, but replied with a smile: "Of course it's the same here. Since you're here, we naturally have to rearrange the seats."
Shen Yu's position naturally could not be changed, so Li Yongqing could only sit opposite him, and the positions of the remaining people were arranged in order.
"I wonder if the garrison commander has anything else to say besides asking us to meet the newly appointed assistant garrison commander?" After sitting down, Li Yongqing showed extreme impatience.
"Of course there are other things." Sun Jianzhang was prepared for this.
"Oh?" Li Yongqing raised his eyebrows slightly. "Then I wonder what it is? Is it good or bad?"
"That should be considered a good thing." After a pause, Sun Jianzhang continued, "This morning, news came from Dingbei Camp that some new soldiers would be selected from the various reserve camps to go there at the end of the year."
Li Yongqing's eyes widened. "Does this mean our people can bypass the Ningjiang County outpost and go directly to the Dingbei Camp?"
"That's right." Sun Jianzhang nodded, "Not only the soldiers below, but even people like us will have the opportunity to go there." He is old and has no plans to move, but the people below have long felt that this place is too small and want to move to another place.
"I don't know what the conditions are?" Others didn't know what his attitude was, but Li Yongqing was tempted.
"I must pass the test of Dingbei Camp."
"Okay, I will take the people to continue the training later." Wow, in order to get the opportunity to go to Dingbei Camp, this guy who just kept saying "I" immediately started calling himself "your subordinates."
"Go." Out of sight, out of mind, Sun Jianzhang waved his hand.
"There is one more matter I want to discuss with the garrison commander and the assistant garrison commander." Well, he was even more humble, even addressing Shen Yu as the assistant garrison commander.
"What's the matter?" Not only Sun Jianzhang, who asked the question, but also Shen Yu was very curious.
"Look, haven't we been taking turns sending people to manage the reserve troops, the auxiliary troops, and the military settlements? We were short-handed before, but now we have an assistant garrison commander. Can we hand these areas over to him?"
Is Big Brother crazy? Didn't he say earlier that he would keep this new assistant commander as a mere decoration? Why did he voluntarily hand over power?
Those who came in with him looked at each other, and no one understood Li Yongqing's real purpose.
Sun Jianzhang smiled meaningfully, "Are you sure you want to hand those parts over to Lord Shen?"
"I'm sure."
"What about you guys?" Sun Jianzhang glanced at the others' faces one by one, "Do you agree to hand those parts over to Lord Shen?"
The few people glanced at Li Yongqing and nodded, "We agree too."
"Well, then, according to General Li's suggestion, we will hand over the three areas of reserve troops, auxiliary troops and military settlements to Lord Shen." Sun Jianzhang made the final decision.
Shen Yu knew this was a trap, but being a newcomer, he didn't know how to refuse. With everyone's attention focused on him, he had no choice but to accept the task.
After handing over the hot potato, Li Yongqing's mouth curled up slightly. He proudly clasped his fists towards Sun Jianzhang and Shen Yu, and then left the conference hall with a group of people.
"He is so arrogant!" After he left the meeting hall, Yang Gencheng, the general flag of the fourth team, couldn't help but complain.
"There's nothing we can do about it. It's his fault for having established a relationship with Brigadier General Chen." Sun Jianzhang's words had a hint of bitterness.
Shen Yu asked, "Is it Chen Xin, the former commander of the Northern Frontier Reserve Camp, who was promoted to Lieutenant General of the Dingbei Army?" The reason why Shen Yu had an impression of Chen Xin was because Pei Xuanqing replaced him in that position.
"That's right." Sun Jianzhang nodded, "It seems that one of Li Yongqing's cousins became General Chen's concubine." This was also the news he had just learned.
"No wonder he dared to disrespect the garrison commander recently. It turns out there's someone behind him!" Yang Gencheng said angrily.
"Alright, stop talking." Sun Jianzhang stopped him from complaining. "Didn't you see they're taking their men to training as quickly as possible? You should also pay attention. I heard that one of the assessments for the Dingbei Camp is teamwork, which mainly tests your ability to lead troops."
"Thank you for your advice, sir. I will definitely work harder." Then, Yang Gencheng also left the conference hall with his men.
When only Sun Jianzhang and Shen Yu were left, Sun Jianzhang said, "Later, I'll have someone inform the reserve troops, the accompanying troops, and the military settlements that you will be in charge of them from now on. You... better be careful!"
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