Chapter 93: Morning Drill

In the early morning, the side door of the Zhou Family paper shop opened. Zhou Yueru stepped out lightly and quietly, saying to the old helper inside, "Close the door properly. Don't let Father run out."

The cloth shop owner next door saw Zhou Yueru and immediately averted his eyes. Several households across the way, seeing Zhou Yueru come out, broke into low murmurs. Zhou Yueru blushed and lowered her head. She did not speak to the neighbors and tried her best not to make any sound.

Ever since the last alarm about roving bandits had come, relations between the Zhou Family and the neighbors had been strange. Later, when it was said the Qianshan report was false, the citizens' mood eased, and no one brought up expelling the Zhou Family again. But after all, a rift had formed with the Zhou Family, and the neighbors had little contact with them since.

Now Zhou Yueru worked at the newly opened gambling den. Because the gambling den was connected to the brothel, Ruhua Tower, idle talk had started spreading through the neighborhood again, saying Zhou Yueru was doing business inside the brothel.

Zhou Yueru knew what they were gossiping about, but she had no way to explain. She hurried along with her head down the whole way. Passing by the Silver Full Gambling Den, Zhou Yueru glanced over out of habit. This gambling den was said to have been taken over by Liu Xiucai. The space was not very large, just a place for gambling. Since Bai Shun Tang had opened, its business had plummeted. At this hour, no one was seen opening the door, nor was anyone waiting outside.

Bai Shun Tang had been open for over half a month. It was now mid-November, and the weather was growing colder, but Bai Shun Tang's business was getting hotter by the day. Especially after the temperature dropped, Bai Shun Tang lit braziers in the Main Hall, and all the gamblers were more willing to go there.

By the time Zhou Yueru reached the entrance of Bai Shun Tang, a large crowd was already waiting there. These people were all waiting for the free breakfast. One of the grand opening promotions Pang Yu had devised was that the first thirty gamblers to buy chips each day could eat breakfast for free, to draw gamblers to queue up early and make Bai Shun Tang look bustling from morning to night.

Zhou Yueru also had expectations for the breakfast, because Bai Shun Tang provided morning and evening meals for its staff. So no matter how early she had to get up, Zhou Yueru had no complaints.

The staff from inside the gambling den were also waiting outside. Apart from those on night watch, everyone else lived in the Ye Family Old Residence on South Street. A separate courtyard had been cleared out for them, kept apart from the Zhuang Squad. Since it was on South Main Street, the morning commute to work was very close.

Over twenty gambling den employees stood in two rows. The waiting gamblers gathered around with keen interest. Nearby, some common folk from the area squatted along the edges, bowls in hand, waiting to watch the spectacle.

Zhou Yueru blushed and hurried to the middle of the back row, letting the others shield her. Even standing in the middle, she still felt everyone around was looking at her.

Liu Ruogu walked to the front of the formation, stroking his beard. "Our Bai Shun Tang has been open less than a month, and the gamblers coming daily are no fewer than three hundred. In all my years in business, this is the first time I've seen a newly opened shop so prosperous. Everyone has done well, and all the various affairs of the hall are now in hand. The Dongjia has said that this month's wages and food allowance will be paid at month's end. The bonus will have to wait until next month, but it will definitely reach your hands before the New Year."

A chorus of "Thank you, Shopkeeper" rose from below. Liu Ruogu waved his hand. "It is all the Dongjia's benevolence. You should all thank the Dongjia. Alright, Jiang Shuqiong, lead everyone through the morning drill. Open the doors once it's done."

A plump, middle-aged woman walked to the front of the formation and gave Liu Ruogu an ingratiating bow.

Zhou Yueru was so nervous that sweat beaded on her forehead. The most unbearable time of her day had arrived.

The plump woman faced the formation and suddenly shouted, "Whose Bangyong are we?"

Everyone in the formation answered in unison, "Bai Shun Tang!"

The plump woman stopped, her face full of displeasure. She paced a circle in front of the formation and said furiously, "What, none of you slept? That's all the volume you've got? Looking like this first thing in the morning, how can you do a proper day's work? A day's plan lies in the morning. The Dongjia has us do the morning drill precisely to make everyone spirited and alert. All of you, wake up! Shout it again. If you can't shout it right, no breakfast."

Someone beside Zhou Yueru cursed the plump woman under their breath. This woman was Jiang Shuqiong, formerly a dishwasher at Jufeng Lou. But she was a dishwasher with aspirations. She wanted to be a female Auxiliary to earn some brokerage fees and hung around the brothels when she had nothing to do. Unfortunately, her appearance did not win her favor, and she had never gotten her wish. She herself also felt it was hard to develop in the brothel trade, a business that judged by looks, and was just about to revise her career plan.

It happened that when Pang Yu's Bai Shun Tang opened, it needed to recruit some female Bangyong. Decent women from ordinary families dared not come. Jiang Shuqiong had work experience in the pleasure quarters. Bai Shun Tang was a diversified operation and needed a multi-talented person like her. Jiang Shuqiong thus smoothly became a member of the gambling den. Inside this gambling den, Jiang Shuqiong was like a fish in water. She managed the dishwashing women and was also responsible for escorting guests to Ruhua Tower. Whatever no one else was willing to do, she was willing to do it all.

Take this morning shouting drill. Everyone else avoided it like the plague. Only she volunteered. And the very first time she led the drill, her impassioned performance won Pang Yu's approval, making her the permanent drill leader. Because of this, she was promoted to head of the women's section at Bai Shun Tang.

"Once more, all of you get your spirits up for me!" Jiang Shuqiong glared at them fiercely. "The few in the back, louder! Don't think I can't see you just because you're hiding in the back. I'm watching you back-row people especially. Especially you, Zhou Yueru. I'm talking to you. Lift your face up. What, working in the Account Office of Bai Shun Tang is beneath your talent? Lift it up!"

Zhou Yueru was sweating on her forehead. She reluctantly lifted her face a little.

Jiang Shuqiong rolled her eyes, adjusted her breathing, and began a new round of the morning drill.

"What line of work is Bai Shun Tang?"

"The line of work that serves people!"

"What are our guests to us?"

"Our guests are the parents who clothe and feed us!"

"What is our duty?"

"To satisfy the guests is our duty!"

Jiang Shuqiong waved her plump fist, spittle flying, her shrill voice echoing down the main street. "We must strive every day!"

The crowd shouted in unison, "Strive! Strive! Strive!"...

The onlooking commoners and gamblers watched with beaming smiles. Some children nearby were imitating it. Zhou Yueru's face was bright red. She moved her mouth amid the crowd but actually made no sound at all. She knew this was Pang Yu's invention, insisting that Bai Shun Tang's staff do this routine every morning. Every morning it embarrassed her to death. She had no idea what the point was.

At that moment, a large group of Zhuang Squad members in black clothes came running out in formation from the Ye Family Old Residence. The one leading them was none other than Pang Yu.

Jiang Shuqiong heard the commotion and caught sight of Pang Yu's figure from the corner of her eye. She shouted loudly, "What is Boss Pang to us?"

The Bangyong below responded in unison, "The parents who gave us a second life!"

Jiang Shuqiong's plump face contorted. Suddenly her voice rose a full octave, and with a sonic wave powerful enough to shatter glass, she shrieked, "Boss Pang's benevolence — how could it be merely that of parents who gave us a second life? He is my very ancestor!"

"The master says to return to the Medicine Shop tomorrow evening. The ancestral tablets are still there. He says the young master hasn't paid respects in two or three months."

"Noted." Pang Yu answered absently, his full attention on the Zhuang Squad training in the East Garden.

The Zhuang Squad was taking turns using long spears to stab at wooden men. A row of mock battlements had been built against the wall, and the wooden men were placed between these battlements. The East Garden resounded with battle cries that shook the heavens.

The roving bandits in Yingshan had vanished without a trace. Anqing Prefecture confirmed that no large bandit force had emerged from the Dabie Mountains region, but it also did not clearly explain what exactly the alarm reported from Qianshan had been about.

The mounted constables sent by Tongcheng were deployed in echelons along the Official Road from Qianshan to Tongcheng. Only after they also confirmed the situation had calmed did Pang Yu relax his vigilance. He also had the mounted constables withdraw from Qianshan, but still kept two men near the County Boundary to guard against a sudden bandit raid.

During this period, the Zhuang Squad had recruited a full complement of one hundred ninety-two men, plus thirty Auxiliaries. Pang Yu was busy perfecting the organizational structure. The original organization of five men to a Squad of Five and eleven men to a Squad was retained. Pang Yu's plan was three Squads to a Squadron, temporarily organized into six Squadrons. He was completely clueless about ancient army organization. In Pang Yu's mind, there was no unit like the Squad of Five. The current organization method was only used because he had once heard Ruan Dacheng mention it.

The weapons forged were enough for half the men. The most numerous were long spears. A blacksmith had found the specifications for government-made spearheads from Anqing. Now both long spears and javelins were being made to these specifications, with testing done as they were produced. In the end, they discovered that javelins could not use this type of spearhead, as it made the center of gravity too far forward, making them hard to throw far. Pang Yu had to specially design new javelin specifications. These weapons were not something you could just casually make and use.

For the waist sabers, several specifications had also been found from Anqing and Luzhou. The overall shape was that of the Wild Goose Wing Saber, with a strongly curved blade. Some had two deep and one shallow blood troughs, others had a single blood trough. The lengths of the blade and the hilt also varied. The overall saber length was roughly around three chi, with the blade length close to two and a half chi.

There were people in the Forge who had made waist sabers before, because at this time, the saber was the favorite item for traveling merchants to carry, making it the most commonly forged weapon among civilians. Pang Yu talked with them a few times and only then understood. The blood trough on the blade was not for draining blood, nor was it to make the blade easier to pull out after a thrust.

The main function of the blood trough was to adjust weight distribution, to tune the saber's overall center of gravity, making it easier for the user to slash and thrust with less effort. The cutting edge also required Point Steel forging. A waist saber might look simple, but not every blacksmith had the skill to make one.

With weapons urgently needed now, Pang Yu could only first select an easy-to-manufacture waist saber specification and distribute it to several blacksmith shops to forge together. They used each usable saber as soon as it was finished.

Every detail in military affairs had its own body of knowledge. Pang Yu was run ragged, smoke practically rising from his head, by this tiny army of just over a hundred men. By his estimate, the newly recruited able-bodied men would only show some results by mid-December at the earliest, and then it would be time for the New Year. Pang Yu estimated that only by March or April of next year could all the clothing and equipment be fully issued, and only then could it barely be called an army.

However, Pang Yu was not too anxious now, because the threat of roving bandits was not urgent. The Anqing area had already seen two alarms, and both times everything had been peaceful. Even if they were coming, there was probably still quite some time.

Wang Zenglu handed over a pile of black, heavy material. "Squad Leader, this is the iron armor made by Zhang Manshou of Zhang Ji Blacksmith Shop."

Pang Yu took it, and his hands sank under the weight. In the current cold weather, it felt like touching a block of ice. This suit of armor had a cloth surface as its base, layered with iron plates stacked upon it, all reinforced with hemp thread. Pang Yu put it on and walked several circles back and forth.

Stopping, Pang Yu shook his head. "Still too heavy. It must be at least sixty jin. All the weight is on the shoulders. In a real battle, you'd be dead tired before even clashing with the enemy. The weight should be borne by the shoulders, back, and waist together. Also, this armor is too loose. But tell Zhang Manshou that for a second piece to turn out like this, it shows he put his heart into it. We'll take this one for now and keep it ready for Yao Dongshan. He's strong enough anyway; he can carry this armor."

"Squad Leader, Zhang Manshou says this piece costs forty-three taels."

"As long as the calculation is reasonable, give him a hundred taels if need be. If you're unwilling to spend money on new things, you'll never get the specification with the best cost-performance ratio." Pang Yu waved his hand. "But in the future, don't handle this kind of thing. When things are delivered from outside, they can only be sent to the gatehouse. They cannot be brought in and handed to the squad leader."

"This humble one understands."

"Go train." Pang Yu waved his hand, dismissing Wang Zenglu.

Just then, a gust of wind blew past, bitingly cold to the bone. Looking more closely at his sleeve, there were actually some white snowflakes on it.

Pang Yu drew his clothes tighter and looked up at the sky. Snowflakes filled the sky, sifting softly down.

Pang Yu gazed at the sky, a little lost in thought. "Before I knew it, the new year is almost here!"