The enthusiastic and grand welcoming ceremony outside the South Palace spread throughout the entire Sili region and outwards to the surrounding areas in just four days, thanks to the efforts of young students, wandering knights, and detectives.
What attracted the most attention and discussion was not how grand the welcoming ceremony was, but the emperor's speech on the stage, which made everyone understand the meaning and weight of soldiers.
This has invisibly eliminated the previous image of soldiers as crude and fierce in the minds of ordinary people and scholars, and increased people's sense of identification with soldiers.
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At the same time, Liu Hong personally summoned Chen Fan, Li Ying, Dou Wu, and Yang Qiu to add several new laws to the Han Dynasty Code.
In addition to stipulating that soldiers must not arbitrarily harass or plunder civilians, a new clause was added to military law: Disaster is an order! No matter where floods, droughts, earthquakes, or other disasters occur, the local garrison and county troops must rush to the scene to fight the disaster and rescue people as soon as possible.
At the same time, a decree jointly signed by the imperial court and the emperor was issued to local governments: anyone who wantonly bullies soldiers or the families, wives, children, and widows of fallen soldiers must be severely punished, with the lightest punishment being confiscation of their property and the heaviest being beheaded.
At the same time, he ordered local governments to begin compiling statistics on currently registered soldiers and the families of soldiers who died in battle within the last ten years, and then report to the imperial court, requiring them to send people to offer condolences.
The issuance of these orders not only greatly increased the people's sense of security, but also allowed the soldiers to completely put aside their worries, thus gaining the absolute support of the people and the army!
On the other hand, the political instructors led by Xi Zhicai also conducted an in-depth analysis and interpretation of protection and responsibility, and added it to the political education of the army and the Royal Guard.
In particular, the term "soldiers from within the palace" brought the people and soldiers closer together.
Meanwhile, the Northern Army and the Imperial Guard also responded to the emperor's call, and in their spare time from training, they left their respective camps and went to the countryside to help people repair their houses and solve various difficulties and problems.
If a family lacked food, the soldiers would share their rations with the people; if a family had suffered injustice, the soldiers would take up their long swords to help them seek justice.
Some fanatical soldiers even stormed into the homes of some landlords and powerful families, demanding that they distribute their land and grain to the people.
This transformed soldiers, who were once feared by everyone, into family members eagerly awaited by the people.
Huang Zhong, Ma Teng, Gongsun Zan, and Gongsun Du were also promoted by Liu Hong to the positions of Yulin Duwei and Beijun Duwei for their merits, officially becoming some of the young generals in the army. Their military rank was only one level lower than that of Huangfu Song.
In particular, the white horse that Gongsun Zan brought back aroused great interest in Liu Hong, and he specially set up a new White Horse Battalion with a strength of 3,000 men in the Northern Army, and entrusted Gongsun Zan with the command and training.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what surprises the White Horse Cavalry, that nightmare of the grasslands, will bring me.
Furthermore, Liu Hong declared that Gongsun Zan could choose any white horse in the army that he desired.
This made Gongsun Zan quite proud in front of Huang Zhong, Ma Teng, and the others.
Seeing Gongsun Zan's smug expression, Huang Zhong and the others felt both annoyed and envious. After all, the honor of establishing a new battalion was unique to Gongsun Zan in the entire Han Dynasty.
Just as Gongsun Zan was swaggering around the various armies selecting white horses, an imperial edict from Liu Hong dampened his spirits, which had only been high for a few days.
Whether it was due to Liu Hong's perverse sense of humor or some other reason, Liu Hong issued a special edict renaming the original Northern Army's Sheshui Camp as Heifeng Camp, the Yueqi Camp as Liehuo Camp, and the Tunqi Camp as Huangfeng Camp.
Gongsun Du, Ma Teng, and Huang Zhong were respectively responsible for selecting black horses, red horses, and yellow horses to fill the three battalions, which also consisted of three thousand men.
For a time, the four of them spent their days wandering among the various armies. As long as they took a fancy to a horse, they would take it without saying a word. Even the horses of the Imperial Guards and the Tiger Guards could not escape. Although they were so angry that they trembled all over, they were helpless!
Since even the yellow horse belonging to Wang Yue and Song Feng had been taken away by Huang Zhong, they naturally dared not say anything more.
Now that the horses were in hand and the camp was ready, Liu Hong seized the opportunity and issued an edict to local governments to recruit soldiers.
Respectable young men and wandering knights from all over the country are allowed to come to the capital to be tested and then incorporated into the four camps of White Horse, Black Edge, Blazing Fire, and Yellow Wind. Oh... also powerful families, merchants, and scions of noble families can participate.
Shortly after the imperial edict was issued, in the Sili region alone, more than 20,000 young people responded to the emperor's edict and came to take the test.
Although the officials had some reservations about Liu Hong's actions, no one dared to say anything. Given the emperor's current prestige in the army, the troops had become his loyal followers, and they could not and dared not interfere.
Liu Hong, who had been closely monitoring the reactions from all sides, finally felt relieved. This reorganization and reorganization of the Northern Army was only the first step in his military reform.
It was also a test for officials and generals from all sides. However, it proved that his prestige in the army had reached its peak, and the soldiers would obey his orders unconditionally.
In other words, Liu Hong had now completely and firmly grasped military power in his own hands.
In Deyang Palace, Liu Hong listened to Song Dian's report on the reactions and situation in the marketplace and the imperial court, and nodded in satisfaction.
"Have all the returning soldiers been settled in?"
"Your Majesty, the soldiers have returned to camp. I kept a close eye on them and ensured that all the rewards were given to them in full, without missing a single penny!"
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