He Ji is a person who doesn't have any particularly outstanding abilities. He knows a little bit of everything, but he is not proficient in anything.
His strengths are his calm personality, steady approach to his work, honesty, and his refusal to engage in schemes or intrigues.
Zhang Shixun needs someone like He Ji now.
As the National Protection Army has grown to this day, its scope has become increasingly larger, and Li Moulue is no longer able to cope with it.
"Old He, the National Defense Army now has over 10,000 soldiers. Li Moulue alone is definitely not enough. We urgently need someone who can take charge of the overall situation. You come from a military family and have been with me in the First Army for so long. You have a lot of experience and are a perfect candidate for a commander."
He Ji listened and nodded without refusing, saying: "I came to you because I want to follow you to achieve something. I will do whatever you need me to do."
Zhang Shixun looked at him with a half-smile, "You do whatever I tell you to do, but do you really mean it?"
He Ji's expression turned serious, "I'm not lying."
"What if I asked you to rebel?"
He Ji didn't hesitate at all, gritted his teeth and said, "Then let's rebel against his mother."
Zhang Shixun saw that He Guan's death made He Ji abandon all his illusions about the court.
"Old He, we don't need to rebel. The current dynasty is like a crumbling building, on the verge of collapse. Just the slightest push from outside force will cause it to collapse."
"The external force that the military commander mentioned refers to the Jin Kingdom, right?"
"Yes."
Zhang Shixun paced around the room with his hands behind his back for a few steps, then continued, "Although the Jin soldiers have temporarily withdrawn this time, they will soon return. The Jurchens are like a starving wolf. When it encounters a cowardly sheep, it won't just bite it once, but will bite it again and again until it kills it."
"Military Commander, when do you estimate the next Jurchen attack will be?"
"In the second half of the year, at the latest by the end of the year."
Historically, the Jin army attacked the Song Dynasty for the second time in August.
He Ji was silent for a while and asked, "What should we do?"
"Train the troops, sharpen the weapons, and actively prepare for war. At the same time, use guerrilla tactics against the Jin soldiers in front of them, harass and launch surprise attacks with small units, and avoid direct combat. The purpose is to train the troops and prepare for the next war."
After Zhang Shixun finished speaking, he saw that He Ji was obviously relieved, so he laughed, "Old He, do you think I came to Taihang Mountain to raise the flag of rebellion?"
"No." He Ji shook his head. "I thought you were strong and capable now, and would fight the Jin soldiers fiercely."
"Strong troops?" Zhang Shixun smiled bitterly. "Although we now have over ten thousand men, we're still far from strong troops... Old He, these ten thousand men are a very complex group. To put it nicely, they're righteous troops, but to put it bluntly, they're bandits. These ten thousand men were forcibly brought together by Li Moulue through conspiracy, division, and coercion. You could say they're a motley crew. Such a group might be fine when things are going smoothly, but if they encounter setbacks and difficulties, they might just scatter like birds and beasts."
Li Moulue nodded repeatedly, "The commander is right. I used some trickery to bring these people together. They may not be of the same mind."
He Ji said, "Military Commander, I understand why you want me to stay. Don't worry, I will do my best to organize this team and ensure that I will hand over a powerful force to you when you need it."
Zhang Shixun nodded with satisfaction, "Old He, I feel relieved when you say that."
As he spoke, he took out a roll of paper from his bosom and handed it to He Ji, saying, "Old He, this is the military discipline of the National Protection Army that I drafted. Take a look."
He Ji took it and looked at it carefully.
Three disciplines: obey orders in all actions; do not take a single needle or thread from the people; and turn over all captured items to the public.
Eight points to keep in mind: Speak politely; trade fairly; return borrowed items...
After reading it, He Ji smiled and said, "It's all plain language, easy to understand, just right for these people to understand."
"Yeah! We can't emulate those scholars whose writings are difficult to understand... Lao He, from ancient times to the present, an army without discipline is nothing but a pile of loose sand. If we want to build an iron army, we must have strict discipline."
Zhang Shixun's expression grew serious as he spoke. "The three disciplines and eight points of attention must be taught every day so that every soldier in the National Protection Army can memorize them and follow them."
He Ji restrained his smile and nodded, "Don't worry, I will strictly follow the commander's orders."
Now that things had come to this, Zhang Shixun called Li Moulue over and decided to say everything that needed to be said.
"Lao Li, Lao He, the world belongs to the people. He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world..."
Hearing the words "He who wins the hearts of the people will win the world", He Ji and Li Moulue began to breathe faster.
Li Moulue had no good feelings towards the Song Dynasty court, otherwise he would not have gone to Wuyou Cave.
From the moment he met Zhang Shixun, he was certain that this man was definitely not a fish in the pond, and that sooner or later he would spread his wings and soar into the sky, dominating the world.
Li Moulue had long been looking forward to the day when Zhang Shixun would fight for the world. Today, when he heard him say the words "win the world" in person, he couldn't help but feel secretly happy.
He Ji's strategy is different from Li Ji's. His father's loyalty to the country made him realize completely the hypocrisy, cowardice and incompetence of the government officials and the ministers in the court. With these people around, the country will no longer be a country.
He hated these people and didn't want to work for the Zhao Song court anymore.
Since I'm following Zhang Shixun, the greater his ambition, the better.
The other people present were all mountain kings, so naturally they hoped that Zhang Tianshi would make as much trouble as possible.
Zhang Shixun watched their expressions. He smiled to himself and continued, "The relationship between the National Protection Army and the people can be likened to this: if the people are water, then the National Protection Army is the fish in the water; fish cannot live without water. If the National Protection Army wants to grow and develop, it must rely on the people. Only then can we restore the old country and build a new, powerful nation. Therefore, the National Protection Army must be an army of the people, working for their well-being. Even if the army expands in the future, its purpose cannot change."
Everyone nodded.
Then, Zhang Shixun divided the work of the National Protection Army.
He himself served as the commander of the National Protection Army, He Ji was the deputy commander, in charge of logistics, training and other work, and Li Moulue was responsible for intelligence and contact with various rebel forces.
In Zhang Shixun's mind, Yue Fei was the best candidate for military commander, but the time was not yet ripe.
Yue Fei is a loyal and courageous man. He still has illusions about the Zhao Song court. I guess he would be unwilling to join the National Protection Army if he was asked to do so.
Of course, Han Shizhong was also good, but Zhang Shixun had other considerations.
"Everyone, in the first battle after the National Protection Army was formed, we completely wiped out more than 500 people of the Golden Dog Army. What a great start."
Everyone was smiling.
Someone said, "This is because Zhang Tianshi commands well."
"Yes! If Zhang Tianshi hadn't been here, we wouldn't have fought so beautifully."
There was a burst of agreement from below.
Zhang Shixun waved his hands and scolded with a smile: "Stop flattering me."
Then, his face tightened, "Don't be too complacent. The revenge of the Golden Dog will come soon, and the battle will become more and more intense."
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