Chapter 162: Joining the Army

In the East Garden of the Ye Family Old Residence, an eight-chi Red Banner was raised. Pang Yu stood tall on the high platform, with no attendants beside him except the Flag Bearer Guo Fengyou.

Pang Yu wore a black Arrow Coat. Although he had the Flag of Authority, the official uniform had not yet arrived; it would be issued together with the appointment from the Ministry of War.

The post of Anqing Garrison Commander originally oversaw the Wei-Suo System. Garrison Commanders were mainly promoted from Wei Commanders and the position itself carried no official rank. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the Guard Posts fell into decay, and the Garrison System and Mercenary Recruitment System flourished everywhere, recruiting commoners from civilian registers to join the army. The promotions of these men all went through the Battalion Soldier System, entirely different from the "soldiers" of the Guard Posts.

The rank of Wei Commander was Third Grade, and the acting post of Anqing Garrison Commander was also Principal Third Grade. Zhang Guowei had not explained this to Pang Yu, so Pang Yu remained utterly in the dark about his own official rank, but the official document issued by the Grand Coordinator Yamen was genuine.

Wearing only civilian clothes, he lacked a bit of proper authority. The situation below was even worse. The clothes of the three hundred-odd Guards were a riot of gaudy colors, and their hairstyles were all over the place. When Pang Yu left, he had only told Pang Ding to recruit soldiers, without clearly arranging the subsequent expenses, so nothing had been purchased. Even the cotton quilts were old leftovers from the Hanging Curtains used during the city defense.

Fortunately, these men had already completed standing-still training, so they looked somewhat better than a rural market crowd, but no matter how you looked at them, they didn't resemble an army — more like the feel of a mountain bandit king holding an initiation ceremony.

At that moment, Zhuang Chaozheng carried over a chair and set it down, clearly prepared for Pang Yu. Pang Yu nodded but did not go to sit.

Once Zhuang Chaozheng returned to the ranks, Pang Yu took two steps forward to the edge of the high platform. The feeling was very familiar: when three hundred men assembled in a dense formation, they looked like only a very small cluster.

After standing silently for a moment, Pang Yu raised his voice and spoke. "This official, alone, took thirty heads at Yunji Temple. In the first month of this year, I led the Zhuang Squad to take two thousand Roving Bandit heads, ensuring the safety of all the people of Tongcheng. I am Pang Yu, the Two-Shift Squad Leader of Tongcheng."

Silence fell below. The Guards at the back tilted their heads to peer through the gaps. Among this batch of newly recruited Guards were some Community Soldiers; they all knew Pang Yu. Others were able-bodied men from along the Official Road, the farthest coming from Lujiang and Qianshan. They had only heard of Pang Yu's reputation and were seeing the legendary man in person for the first time, their hearts full of curiosity.

The most legendary among the tales was that of him single-handedly killing the thirty bandits at Yunji Temple. The entire populace of Tongcheng could attest to this matter — they had all seen Pang Yu dragging thirty heads into the city. Even Pang Yu himself, having told the story so many times, now believed in unguarded moments that he had indeed killed the thirty men alone.

"But that was before. Now, this official is the Anqing Garrison Commander, personally appointed by the Yingtian Grand Coordinator, Lord Zhang. As long as you dare to stake your life, a future awaits. Most of you here arrived after the second month. Many of your homes were destroyed by the Roving Bandits. Countless commoners have no food or clothing, are displaced and homeless — how will you live the days to come?"

Pang Yu looked across the field of Guards. Though these three hundred men did not come from the same place, they were all generally from the Anqing Prefecture area. Those who could stand here had almost all had relatives or friends suffer calamity, and the loss of family property would not be small.

He had looked at the personnel categories Pang Ding registered. The new Guards were mainly farmers from along the Official Road. Though their fields remained, they had lost their houses and all their grain rations, making it impossible to restore their livelihood in the short term. For people who lived by farming, this was a dead end. These were men with no way back; being recruited into the Guards gave their entire families a path to survive. Compared to the Guards in peacetime who had homes to return to, Pang Yu needed men like these far more.

Pang Yu extended one finger. "Follow this official into the Battalion Soldiers, and you will have meat to eat every day, new military uniforms to wear, new quilts, barracks with tiled roofs, the best weapons and equipment, and a Monthly Pay of two taels of silver. You can ask the Old Hands of the Zhuang Squad — this official has never skimmed wages or provisions. When I say two taels, two taels reach your hand. Twenty-four taels a year, with increases if you become an officer. Your families will live decent lives because of this. And most importantly, there will still be bandits to kill."

Pang Yu held his finger high. From what he had seen and heard in his few months in this era, only things of immediate personal concern were effective in rousing these commoners. If you told them to serve the court or save the nation and the people, they would listen blankly, not daring to refute, but they would absolutely never go and do it.

A stir rippled through the crowd below. Many Guards gaped, mouths open — this was exactly what they most wanted to hear. Ever since Pang Yu had returned, all sorts of rumors had been circulating through the Zhuang Squad and Fast Squad. The main one was that the Squad Leader had been promoted and needed to select a batch of men from the two squads for promotion, but all of them would have to become grunts.

Because of Pang Yu's miraculous feats and exaggerated legends, most of the Guards were willing to follow him. But the common people's various negative feelings toward grunts made everyone somewhat hesitant — after all, it wasn't considered a good Destination. Yet now, after hearing the pay and treatment, suddenly no one cared about a soldier's rotten reputation anymore.

Pang Yu waited for them to digest this, then withdrew his finger. "There are only two things you must do! Obey military discipline, and fight the enemy with courage. This official states it plainly in advance: those who are timid and Fear Death should not come to be soldiers."

There were murmured discussions below the platform. Pang Yu ignored them, strode down the steps, and slowly walked along the ranks.

"The commoners all say that grunts are scum, that bandits passing through is like a comb, but soldiers passing through is like a fine-toothed comb. Then why would this official, with a perfectly good Constable post, not do it and go become a grunts instead?" As Pang Yu paced, the soldiers' heads turned to follow him.

"Because when I join the army, it is not to rob the commoners of their Wealth, nor to eat Empty Payroll from the soldiers, but to become a true General Officer. This chaotic world is precisely the world for joining the army. When you go to be soldiers, you are not soldiers of some other unit — you are my, Pang Yu's, soldiers. My soldiers are not the grunts that others speak of; they are mighty and courteous warriors, with a great future ahead."

In the eyes of those Guards, Pang Yu saw anticipation. It was time to wrap things up.

"No matter the era, joining the army should never be a base profession. Those willing to follow this official and serve the country in arms, take one step forward!"

"Your subordinate is willing to follow you, my lord." Wang Zenglu was the first to step out of the ranks.

"What is your name?"

"Wu Dacai."

A sturdy farmer, his build looked larger than the average peasant. Pang Yu flipped through the roster; he was from Lujiang.

"Why did you join the Zhuang Squad back then?"

Wu Dacai froze for a moment, then after a long while, his face flushed red as he said, "The Roving Bandits burned my house down, had no food to eat."

"How many people in your family, and was anyone injured?"

"None injured. Just the two kids, one got lost on the way out. We were lucky. When the Village Chief came to tell us, I took the family and headed toward the Great River. The other relatives didn't leave — so many died."

Pang Yu nodded. "Later on, try properly to find the lost child. They might be near Tongcheng. So, do you hate the Roving Bandits?"

"How could I not hate them? I never provoked them — why burn my house? The whole family had no place to live, none of the nearby villages had places to live, couldn't even go throw ourselves on a relative's mercy. Those heaven-cursed Roving Bandits..."

Once Wu Dacai's chatterbox opened, it couldn't be shut. His face grew redder the more he spoke. Pang Yu let him talk for a while before raising a hand to stop him. He bent his head to register in a new Military Registry, then wrote a slip of paper and handed it over. "Go to Constable Yao's Hundredth Chief Bureau."

Wu Dacai hastily took it and hurried toward the First Bureau's small banner on the right. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back, knelt before Pang Yu, and kowtowed twice, then ran to Yao Dongshan and handed over the slip. Yao Dongshan waved a hand, and Wu Dacai stood behind the small banner.

One of the several tailors waiting nearby came out and immediately began measuring Wu Dacai for his clothing size. Per Pang Yu's requirement, he was to outfit all the Guards with military uniforms within five days.

Pang Yu smiled slightly, then began questioning the next person.

A long line still stretched behind. Of the three hundred fifty-odd Guards, about fifty were unwilling to leave Tongcheng, most of them Community Soldiers from near the county seat. Fortunately, the veterans of the Zhuang Squad were almost all willing to follow Pang Yu.

Pang Yu personally registered the Military Registry, exchanging a few words with every soldier, observing their appearance and physique. Unlike when recruiting the Guards, this time Pang Yu did not reject a single person.

The registration process was very long, and Pang Yu could only speed it up. He roughly kept it to a little over a minute per person but still insisted on registering personally. It continued until past Noon before the registration process was complete.

Enduring the soreness in his shoulders and neck, Pang Yu suppressed the urge to stretch and stood up ramrod straight.

He beckoned over the former six Squad leaders, now the six Centurions, including Wang Zenglu. Although Wang had told Pang Ding he needed to consider it, he was the first to respond, which rather surprised Pang Yu.

Pang Yu assigned roughly fifty men to each of the six Hundred-Company Commanders, with the number of allocated veterans also roughly equal. He planned to fill the remaining slots after arriving in Anqing.

"Each of your Monthly Pay is four taels in Commuted Tax, plus five Bean of grain tax in kind. Those whose units pass evaluation will receive additional rewards, separate from combat rewards."

Several of them gaped simultaneously. Yao Dongshan and Wang Zenglu both furrowed their brows, calculating how much a Monthly Pay of four taels would amount to in a year.

Pang Yu swept his gaze over the six men and, without waiting for them to figure it out, continued, "From this moment, upon the completion of the Military Registry, all persons in the register are Government Troops of the Great Ming, subject to my Military Law. Each of you manage your own men well. If any deserters appear again, all of you will be punished jointly under the Mutual Responsibility System."

The six men looked at each other and all nodded. Pang Yu went on, "From now on, when this official finishes giving an order, you are all to clearly reply, 'Yes, my lord.' When you finish speaking to your men, they must also answer in this manner, not one word less. Those with questions may separately request to ask."

"Yes, my lord." Zhuang Chaozheng quickly answered, and the others followed suit one after another.

"Now I will assign today's and tomorrow's tasks."

The several Squad leaders were slightly nervous; it seemed Pang Yu was a bit different this time since returning.

Pang Yu directly gave his instructions. "Today's tasks: First, reassign the Barracks according to the new unit groupings. Complete this before the end of the Shen hour. I will come to inspect. Second, each Centurion is to recommend ten candidates from your own Bureau for Squad leader positions for my selection. Submit them to me tomorrow at Maoshi Erke. No delays."

None of the men could write. Yao Dongshan shut his eyes and desperately tried to memorize everything in his head.

"Tomorrow's tasks." Yao Dongshan opened his eyes and looked at Pang Yu, wondering what the requirements would be now.

"First, from Maoshi Sanke to the start of the Wu hour, organize the soldiers of each Bureau to recite Chapter One of the Military Law. I will conduct spot checks at Wu Shi Erke. Those who fail will be punished with ten military strokes, and that Squad's lunch will be canceled, with the Centurion jointly punished. Second, from Wu Shi Sanke until Nightfall, organize your unit's soldiers to clean the Barracks and wash themselves. The day after tomorrow morning, I will inspect."

"That's it?" Yao Dongshan's mouth hung open.

Pang Yu glared at him. "Centurion Yao, you should answer, 'Yes, my lord.'"

"Uh... Yes, my lord."

The others quickly responded as well. After Pang Yu gave the order to dismiss, the three hundred-odd men were led back to the Barracks by their respective unit groupings.

During the time Pang Yu was away in Nanjing, these Guards had completed standing-still training, possessed basic discipline, and could leave the field in an orderly manner.

Pang Ding, who had been waiting most of the day, sidled over and, watching those people's retreating figures, said quietly to Pang Yu, "Young Master, why don't they ever think that being a soldier might cost them their lives?"

Pang Yu smiled and glanced at him. "It's human nature to be more optimistic about gains, while tending to overlook risks and losses. Besides, in times like these, not being a soldier might cost you your life even more. And let me tell you something else."

"Young Master, give your order."

"I've registered you in the Military Registry too."

"Me... me, a soldier?" Pang Ding pointed a finger at himself, his face crumpling. "Young Master, can't I just stay a household servant?"

"No." Pang Yu clasped his hands behind his back and walked out. "Serving the country in the army is a good thing. Remember, next time you answer, say 'Yes, sir.'"