Chapter 529 "How can our general be like others?"
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The thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, Lunar New Year's Eve.
In the late afternoon, Li Shiyue rode her little red horse to the Xuanjia Army camp outside Jian'an City.
The north wind howled, but no snow fell from the sky.
Twenty large iron pots were placed in the center of the camp, with fatty mutton stewing inside. The fat simmered on the surface of the soup, emitting an enticing aroma.
Besides the stewed mutton, several huge bonfires were lit outside the iron pot, with whole, cleaned, fat sheep placed on top.
Li Shiyue really went all out for this New Year's Eve dinner.
That day, in the Sea Pavilion of the Mirage Boat, almost a third of the silver they had obtained from several wealthy families in Jian'an City was spent on this one meal.
Lamb is the main dish, and there are also quite a few steamed buns made of wheat flour for today's meal.
Apart from the Xuanjia Army soldiers who had to stay behind to defend the city, nearly two thousand soldiers in the camp were lined up in their own ranks, looking at Li Shiyue standing on the high platform that had been erected in front of them.
Li Shiyue stood on the high platform, looking down at the two thousand Xuanjia soldiers below, a slight smile playing on her lips.
She was dressed in a dark, narrow-sleeved martial arts uniform, with a long sword hanging at her waist, and shouted loudly, "Brothers!"
Li Shiyue used her inner strength, her voice clear and resonant, piercing through the cold wind, so that everyone could hear her clearly.
"This year, we traveled from Jinzhou to Jian'an, and it wasn't an easy journey."
Tonight is New Year's Eve, and I, the general, have no grand theories to offer, just one sentence: there's plenty of meat to eat!
The soldiers erupted in cheers.
Seeing that the atmosphere was right, Li Shiyue nodded to Sun Xiaoliu behind her.
Then Sun Xiaoliu gestured to the audience below, and soon two Xuanjia soldiers carried heavy wooden boxes up to the platform.
Li Shiyue waved her hand gently, and the Xuanjia soldiers put down the boxes and opened the lids of the wooden crates.
As soon as the box was opened, the scattered pieces of silver gleamed alluringly in the firelight.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers closer to the platform couldn't help but shout out.
The soldiers standing behind were very curious about what the person in front had seen.
So, people asked questions and people answered, and before long, the whole place was filled with shouts and noise.
Li Shiyue gave the soldiers enough time to whisper among themselves, and when she felt that the time was about right, she glanced at Sun Xiaoliu.
Sun Xiaoliu took out the drumsticks he had prepared beforehand and began to strike the large drum that was set up on the high platform.
The drumbeats had barely lasted three times when the soldiers surrounding the platform gradually fell silent and quieted down.
Then, Li Shiyue waved to the audience again, and his voice, now imbued with internal energy, rang out once more.
"Two taels of silver each, this is my New Year's gift to my brothers, Li Shiyue!"
She walked to the wooden box, grabbed a handful of loose silver coins, and let them slip through her fingers and fall into the box with a crisp clinking sound.
"Come on, line up! Let your line leaders come up one by one to collect their money!"
No sooner had Li Shiyue finished speaking than thunderous cheers erupted once again from the training ground.
Standing in the corner, Sun Xiaoliu nudged Chen Yong beside him: "Brother Yong, the general is really generous!"
That's nearly five thousand taels of silver, that's quite a generous sum.
The general brought over every single tael of silver given by those wealthy families in the city.
Although Li Shiyue brought two thousand soldiers from Jian'an from Jinzhou, these soldiers were not all the same.
One thousand of them were new recruits given to her by Liu Tan, while the other thousand were veterans who had followed Li Shiyue for many years, just like Sun Xiaoliu, Chen Yong, and Heizi, when they were stationed in Jinzhou.
Moreover, besides ordinary soldiers, there were also squad leaders, platoon leaders, brigade commanders, captains, and so on.
How can people of different ranks all receive two taels of silver?
The two taels refers to the two taels that everyone receives; the remaining one thousand taels in the wooden box are specifically allocated to these junior officers.
Li Shiyue has always been generous.
Even though Sun Xiaoliu, who had followed Li Shiyue for many years, knew that Li Shiyue was not the kind of general who was reluctant to share money with his subordinates, he was surprised that after only a month in office, everyone was given two taels of silver just because of the New Year.
Even though the money didn't belong to Sun Xiaoliu, Sun Xiaoliu could still get a considerable share of it, so he still felt a little sorry for Li Shiyue.
Chen Yong stared at the tall figure on the high platform, turned to Sun Xiaoliu and whispered, "When has our general ever treated his subordinates badly?"
The general wouldn't be reluctant to part with this money.
How can our general be treated like any other person?
They are definitely different.
The soldiers below the stage immediately began to discuss among themselves.
A new recruit who was about six feet tall nudged his comrade in front of him: "Brother Zhao, you've been following our general for several years. Was it like this before?"
During festivals, they even give out silver!
Before Brother Zhao could answer, the new recruit started talking to himself again.
"I've never seen two taels of silver in my hometown before!"
Hehe, I never expected that by working under the general, I would not only be able to eat my fill, but I would also receive silver!
My mom said being a soldier is tough, but I think it's pretty good.
Brother Zhao turned around, looked at the new recruit, and shook his head. "You've come at a good time."
Back in Jinzhou, our general couldn't make this decision.
While Brother Zhao was talking to the new recruits, other new recruits and veterans were also chatting amongst themselves.
Have you noticed?
We followed the general to Jian'an, and we were truly well-fed and warmly clothed!
Not only was this month's salary paid in advance, but with the New Year approaching, we'll not only have mutton to eat, but we'll also get free money!
"These are truly wonderful days, I never imagined they'd come!"
"Think back to when we were in Jinzhou, being able to eat a bite of meat every ten days was a dream come true."
If we told those who stayed in Jinzhou that we were living such a good life in Jian'an, they probably wouldn't believe us!
A young soldier lowered his voice and said to his comrade, "Hey, I was on duty at the government office a few days ago, and I saw with my own eyes those wealthy merchants sending people to deliver silver and grain to the government office!"
After saying this, the man glanced ahead and then turned back to the group, saying, "The silver our team is receiving at the front is probably from those wealthy merchants."
Just as the group was about to ask something more after hearing this, the squad leader walked over.
Everyone received their two taels of silver, and as they touched their coins, they grinned from ear to ear.
Just then, the drums on the platform sounded again, and everyone looked up at the platform.
"Brothers, I have one more thing to say!"
After the first month of the lunar calendar, this general will hold a competition in the camp!
We'll compare three skills: archery, hand-to-hand combat, and formations. We'll also have a separate competition for the scouts!
The winner will not only receive a promotion and a reward!
The top 100 will form their own army, the 'Black Armor Warriors'!
In the future, it will become my most important weapon against the Japanese pirates!
Li Shiyue's words were like a red-hot iron being thrown into cold water, instantly causing an uproar.
The crowd erupted in cheers once again.
A promotion in military rank means more pay and, more importantly, greater honor.
If they could become these 'Black Armor Warriors', it would mean better treatment and a higher status. More importantly, having followed Li Shiyue all this way, all the soldiers knew that Li Shiyue was a man of his word!
Follow her, and your future will be limitless!
The soldiers were all eager and looking forward to the competition in February.
At this time, the aroma of roasted whole lamb and stewed mutton filled the entire camp.
The soldiers followed their superiors, who carried large bowls of mutton back to their own tents.
Li Shiyue also descended from the high platform and walked towards the tent at the back, where there were two tables of food and drink. This was where Li Shiyue would stay up all night and have a New Year's Eve feast with the military officers.
In Jian'an, Li Shiyue and his soldiers enjoyed a New Year's Eve feast.
Liu Tan, who was in Jinzhou, also had a meal with his men.
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