Zhang Shixun frowned and waved his hand, saying, "Alright! You don't have to keep me busy with all this. I'll be honest with you: anyone who's willing to follow me will never be let suffer any loss. As for the money, I'm just laughing!"
"What does hehe mean?"
"Money isn't a problem for me. As long as you work hard, I'll feed all of you dog officials like crazy and make them as fat as sows... Is that enough for you?"
"What does bubbling mean? I don't understand."
"Bubbling means...don't ask any more questions, just focus on leading the way."
Gao Yanei pointed forward with his whip, "Look! It's right in front."
Zhang Shixun looked around and saw a dilapidated earthen wall not far away, with a gate in the middle.
"Oh! There's actually a big yard."
Gao Yanei puffed out his chest and said, "This is the best place for the Tianwu Army to be stationed."
"Are all five commanders of the First Army in this compound?"
"Well, of course they're all in one compound. Otherwise, how would we manage it?"
As soon as the two men arrived at the gate, a large group of officers rushed out from inside. They were all dressed in formal attire. When they saw the two men, they saluted in a chaotic manner with their fists clasped.
"Welcome Commander Zhangdu!"
"Welcome Gaodu Yuhou!"
"Welcome the two military commanders!"
Zhang Shixun was a little surprised. He hadn't officially taken office yet, so how did they know about him? And how did they know that he was coming to the military camp today?
When he looked at Gao Yanei, he said with a grin, "I have already had someone inform them in advance."
Zhang Shixun jumped off his horse, clasped his fists, and said to the officers, "Thank you all for your help."
A discerning officer had already come over to hold his horse's reins, and said, bowing, "Brothers, we've heard for a long time that Commander Zhang Du is coming to the First Army. We've been waiting for you for a long time, and today we finally have you."
"That's right, we've been looking forward to it." A group of officers came forward and were as friendly as old friends who had known each other for many years.
There were two familiar faces inside, Bajin'er and Heibie, both grinning at him enthusiastically.
Zhang Shixun nodded slightly at them.
Gao Yanei said impatiently, "Alright! Stop blocking the door and come in and talk... You bastard! It's already so cold before winter even starts."
The officers surrounded the two men and they went in. Zhang Shixun glanced at the yard and found it was really big. There was a playground in the middle and the barracks were opposite the playground.
The entire military camp was deserted. Apart from their group, there was not a single person in sight.
"Two military commanders, please come this way." Bajiner led them into a large house.
The room was empty except for a few chairs and benches.
"Military commander, please take a seat." Bajin'er diligently wiped the chair with his sleeves.
"What is this house used for?" Zhang Shixun asked after sitting down.
"On weekdays, I just assign tasks to the subordinates and don't do anything else."
Zhang Shixun nodded, turned to Gao Yanei and said, "Du Yuhou, please introduce me to him."
Gao Yanei said, "I can't remember all the names of some people here, so let them introduce themselves... Bajin'er, you go first."
Ba Jin stepped forward and bowed, "I am Zhang Ba Jin, commander of the third battalion of the first army of the right wing of the Tianwu Army."
The black turtle also stepped forward: "Little black turtle..."
"Tell me your name!" Gao Yanei said sternly.
"Oh, my name is Hao Twelve, deputy commander of the Fourth Battalion."
A tall and strong officer bowed and said, "My name is Lou Wan, the commander of the second battalion."
"The younger one is Li Fu, the commander of the first battalion."
"Little Hong Tao..."
"Little one..."
Everyone came forward to sign up one by one, and Zhang Shixun took note silently.
"My name is Zhang Shixun. You may already know me. I have been appointed as the deputy commander of the First Army of the Right Wing of the Tianwu Army. Now that we all know each other, we will stir the same pot from now on..."
"Brother, what does stirring the ladle mean?" Gao Yanei asked.
"Stirring the ladle is like eating from the same pot." Zhang Shixun glared at him and said, "You'd better shut up when I'm talking."
"Oh!" Gao Yanei said embarrassedly, feeling a little embarrassed.
With his father around, no one in the Palace Front Department, no matter how high or low their official rank, dared to give him face.
"People often say that a new official starts with three major changes. I, as a new official, am different from others. I am not planning to start any major changes for the time being."
Zhang Shixun glanced at the officers in the room and continued, "You guys go back first. When you get back, sort out the roster and give me a copy tomorrow... Remember, don't use a roster of people who are drawing salaries without working to fool me. I want real names."
The officers were stunned. Is this the end?
"Military Commander, do you mean that we should report to you the actual number of people?" asked Black Turtle.
"That's right! I don't want to be false. When the time comes, I will take the roster you give me to each camp for verification. If the roster doesn't match the actual situation, I will punish you severely."
The officers looked at each other, not knowing what this commander was going to do.
"Do you have any questions? If not, let's go now." Zhang Shixun waved his hand.
All the officers bowed and went out.
"Brother, what will you do next?" Gao Yanei asked.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Gao Yanei blinked vigorously and said, "Don't you want to make some money from the vacant quota?"
"I don't care about this little money." Zhang Shixun said.
"This is not a small amount of money. My brother is the military commander. He can get at least a thousand more coins from the vacancy every month."
"So many?" Zhang Shixun was shocked.
One thousand strings of cash is really not a small amount of money. A soldier in the Fourth Army only gets one string of cash every month.
In other words, this 1,000 strings of cash was enough to pay the salaries of all the soldiers in the First Army. "To be honest, brother, I can earn 500 to 600 strings of cash a month from my salary."
Gao Yanei did not hide anything from him.
Zhang Shixun frowned and asked, "How much can the battalion commander and deputy commander earn?"
"At least a dozen or even dozens of strings of cash."
Zhang Shixun propped up his chin and asked again, "Besides taking the empty salary, do you have any other extra income?"
"Of course there are. If soldiers don't want to drill, they can pay money and be exempted from the drill. If they don't want to drill or pay, they can go and do the work..."
"Work?"
"Those with skills can go out and do work, like carpentry, or blacksmithing. Those without skills can only do manual labor... These people pay a portion of their earnings to the army, and the rest goes into their own pockets."
After hearing this, Zhang Shixun almost wanted to curse.
Is this still an army?
Is this still the so-called elite imperial guards of the Song Dynasty?
Tianwu Army, this is one of the top four armies.
Known as the elite among the elite.
No wonder the Jurchens attacked the Song Dynasty with such ease.
With such an army, it would be unjust if the Song Dynasty did not perish.
Seeing his worried look, Gao Yanei chuckled, "Hehe," and said, "Brother, you look unhappy."
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