Chapter 796 A Dream of Youth 328
There was no official in this town; apart from the local gentry in charge, there was only a small town patrol officer.
The garrison commanders were all chosen from among the generals stationed on the border or were officials who had been demoted and held concurrent positions. They were not promising positions, and basically no one wanted to take them.
After seeing Xie Ning's official seal, the garrison commander felt weak in the knees. He was a border garrison commander, but only a minor officer with a few dozen men under his command. Because he was disliked by his superiors, he was transferred here.
In fact, as far as he was concerned, he was in charge of dozens of people here, and occasionally he would go out to fight off passing robbers on orders, which was enough to make a living.
Over the years, he has acquired a house and taken a concubine, living a fairly comfortable life, though not as well as his colleagues.
After Xie Ning asked about the aid to Wenshui County, the town magistrate's expression turned sour. Before he could reply, a burly man who had been secretly eavesdropping behind the door poked his head in and interrupted.
"My lord, you are unaware of the fact that our town's patrol team has fewer than fifty men in total. Where are we supposed to conjure up a hundred men to rescue people?"
"One hundred people?" Isn't that a bit silly?
The town magistrate frantically tried to signal with his eyes, his eyes almost twitching, but the big man, as if blind, brazenly revealed everything.
The magistrate closed his eyes, slid down and knelt down. He tried to squeeze out tears, but none came out, so he could only wail, "Thank you, sir. I am guilty. Saying that 250 men were sent to support Wenshui County was just an excuse. I never intended to send any troops."
The same goes for the demands they made.
Seeing that Xie Ning remained silent, the town magistrate dared not raise his head and continued, "There are fewer than fifty people in the entire town's patrol office, and I have no choice..."
He couldn't send his brothers to their deaths, so his principle was to survive as long as possible and run away with everyone if the enemy attacked.
Xie Ning didn't want to listen to his excuses anymore, so he waved his hand, and the captain outside walked in. "The town patrol is empty. Can't you recruit soldiers?"
After saying that, he glanced at the big man outside and said, "He's good at drinking and running up debts outside, but when it comes to serious matters, he has no guts at all."
This is Chen Ping. The garrison commander has sent someone with him to recruit soldiers; they need to recruit one hundred men before sunset.
Xie Ning didn't ask for much. New recruits were not only difficult to manage, but they also knew nothing. However, in an emergency, she couldn't care less about the consequences. There's always a catch when there's a tempting offer, and there's always a willing participant when there's a generous reward. As long as they were willing to risk their lives, that was enough.
"Furthermore, gather all the soldiers in the town's patrol office; I need to give them a speech." These were regular soldiers, but she still needed to assess their situation.
However, Xie Ning's expectations were not high. After all, the defenses were so lax, and given the news he had just heard, he figured things couldn't be much better.
"Also, the horses, armor, and other items in the town's patrol station have been inventoried and brought to me for inspection." Song's horses were few, totaling only twenty-one including herself. Unexpectedly, the items in the town's patrol station were even worse, with only ten horses.
It's still a bad horse.
The spears and swords were alright, but the bows and arrows... the arrowheads were rusty, Xie Ning couldn't bear to look at them.
When they gathered, many of the forty-seven people were carried over drunk, while others ran over carrying loads on their shoulders. Xie Ning's face went numb.
She wanted to curse, but when she saw the soldiers carrying loads or hoes and watching her cautiously, she lost her temper. They were only in their twenties or thirties, and in this cold weather, they weren't wearing the cotton-padded clothes issued by the army, but layers of coarse linen clothes, their hands red and covered with frostbite.
They should have been soldiers patrolling the town in armor, carrying spears, but now they were bare-armored, carrying loads and struggling to make a living.
Xie Ning looked expressionlessly at the town sergeant beside him, his gaze sweeping over him. The sergeant was wearing a cotton-padded coat issued by the imperial court, but it was probably from last year, with two patches on it. Although the person who patched it was skilled, the patches were not noticeable unless you looked closely, but you could still see the stitches up close.
The other party's clothing was not even comparable to that of an average wealthy person.
Xie Ning was not an innocent young girl; she was aware of the corruption within the imperial court and its military and political system. However, when she actually witnessed it, she still couldn't help but feel angry.
But she couldn't blame them.
This is just one link in the chain of corruption and exploitation in the military field, and it is all the result of a series of national policies of the imperial court in the military field, which is the consequence of overcorrection.
This refers to embezzlement. As far as Xie Ning knew, those officials, in order to make a profit, not only privately employed soldiers and embezzled their wages, but also had generals and commanders privately lend military debts to soldiers and make soldiers "buy labor" to exploit them, and so on. They had all sorts of tricks up their sleeves.
Xie Ning's gaze fell on the several drunken soldiers, and he smirked, "Bring a bucket of water and let them sober up."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
