Chapter 61: Fairness in the Military Camp

It must be said, Lao Zhu truly thought things through in this regard.

It wasn't as if he handed over the troops and then ignored everything else.

All other trivial matters had been considered in advance.

But what Zhu Gaoxu did not know was that in all of Great Ming, he was the only one for whom Zhu Yuanzhang went to such great lengths.

First of all, no one else had the audacity he did, saying he would raise one thousand men and then, with a single word, turning it into ten thousand.

Furthermore, even if others encountered such matters, they would have to resolve them themselves.

It must be said that the status of being a grandson is sometimes beneficial.

At the very least, being the grandson of the Emperor is something many people could never hope for.

As the two spoke, they had already arrived inside the Military Camp.

Looking from afar at the two thousand-plus men standing on the drill ground, Zhu Gaoxu nodded to himself.

Regardless of anything else, the fact that a crowd of people stood there waiting for him amidst the swirling dust showed that the start was not too difficult.

Surrounded by a group of Embroidered Uniform Guards, Zhu Gaoxu walked onto the command platform.

The two thousand-plus new recruits had waited all morning and finally saw their supreme commander.

When they saw that Zhu Gaoxu was merely a four-year-old child, the crowd was a bit stunned, and then a commotion broke out among them.

These people, after all, had not undergone any training; to put it bluntly, they were just farmers who had just left their fields.

Such people certainly had no discipline to speak of, and seeing that their commander was just a child, they immediately blew up.

In such a situation, there was no need for Zhu Gaoxu to say much; with a single look from Mao Xiang, the Embroidered Uniform Guards naturally went to maintain order.

When the Embroidered Uniform Guards drew their Xiuchun Dao and walked among the crowd, the drill ground immediately fell silent.

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu cleared his throat and finally began to speak.

"I am the Nanyang Commandery Prince personally enfeoffed by the Emperor; this Prince knows what you are thinking right now."

"It is nothing more than cursing this Prince for rising through connections, calling me a damned nepotist, and some are even secretly cursing the imperial court, saying the court must have lost its mind to let a child lead troops."

"This Prince knows all of this."

After finishing, Zhu Gaoxu paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the crowd of new recruits below.

No matter what, as a member of the imperial family, Zhu Gaoxu carried his own aura.

Although he was not old, he still intimidated many of the new soldiers who had never seen the world.

Many among them either lowered their heads or looked left and right, none daring to meet Zhu Gaoxu's gaze.

It could be said that the moment Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, he stunned over two thousand people with his four-year-old age.

"Look at yourselves; never mind you looking down on me, I look down on you."

"If the army of our Great Ming were all like you, without even the courage to meet the gaze of a small child, then our Great Ming would not be far from falling!"

The crowd who had just dared not meet Zhu Gaoxu's gaze all turned red with shame upon hearing this.

Zhu Gaoxu knew when to stop and did not continue this topic, instead saying: "Although I am young, I only know to protect the home and defend the country; although my status is noble, I will never live a life of ignoble ease."

"The meaning of this army of mine is only to go into battle to kill the enemy and expand the territory for our Great Ming."

Zhu Gaoxu said these words with great resonance, his voice reaching everyone's ears.

The new soldiers present were all young men; who among them did not have a heart full of passion? They were all stirred by Zhu Gaoxu's words.

And Zhu Gaoxu's speech had only just begun.

"The reasons you came to join the army may be different; some are poor at home, some want a future, some want to serve the country, and some want to kill the enemy. There are many reasons, but I want to tell you that in this New Army of mine, I cannot give you anything—I can only give you endless slaughter, I can only give you mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and I can only give you endless nightmares."

"Because behind this army are the people of our Great Ming!"

"If you retreat one step, a thousand people will die; if you retreat two steps, the people of an entire city will be wiped out!"

"So, if you want to quit now, there is still time. To tell you the truth, I requested ten thousand New Army soldiers from the Emperor this time, and of these ten thousand, I will only keep one."

"You are only two thousand people now, so there is at least a fifty percent elimination rate. I hope you can think it over. You must know that I cannot give you anything, and I am only a four-year-old child; following me is truly putting your heads on your belts."

Zhu Gaoxu was sincere in these words; he would rather have this army be lacking than have it filled with the wrong people. Even if there were only one hundred men, he had to have them completely under his control.

He absolutely could not have those who were insubordinate and felt they could bully him because of his young age.

But the reality was not as Zhu Gaoxu had imagined; after he finished speaking, not a single person chose to quit.

This scene made Zhu Gaoxu feel a bit gratified.

It must be said that in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the centripetal force of the people was still quite good.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu continued: "You are stronger than I imagined; I have come to recognize you a bit. Next, you will face inhuman training. Remember, I only want elites."

"I cannot give you any promises. What I can give is that whenever there is a battle, I will charge at the front, eat from the same pot as the soldiers, and sleep on the same bed!"

These words of Zhu Gaoxu completely won over the hearts of the majority.

You must know, what do soldiers fear most?

It is nothing more than them fighting for their lives at the front while the officers watch from behind.

And what do they like most?

It is nothing more than fairness.

With Zhu Gaoxu eating and living with them, having such a commander, they would not complain even if they had to eat chaff and vegetables.