Chapter 54

After the pardon document was sent out, Li Mu's residence suddenly became lively. The guests coming to visit were endless.

In the past, everyone only knew through channels that a battalion commander with great magical powers had come to Yangzhou City, but they didn't understand the specific situation.

After witnessing his energy with their own eyes, everyone suddenly became enthusiastic.

Even if they weren't implicated in the treason case, having one more friend meant one more path; no one could guarantee whether they would use it one day in the future.

The gentry not only organized young and strong men and raised money and grain, but also gratefully sent him a heavy gift, and he couldn't refuse even if he wanted to.

It made Li Mu feel a bit embarrassed, and he once suspected whether his previous asking price was too ruthless.

As for the great magical powers in the eyes of the outside world, he knew best himself. The matter could proceed smoothly purely because of the situation.

As an Imperial Envoy, the Marquis of Wuyang needed to maintain a transcendent position and was not convenient to contact the gentry directly, which gave him the opportunity to perform.

A beautiful misunderstanding, there was no way to explain it to the outside world.

Just looking at the information on the surface, his relationship with the Marquis of Wuyang was indeed good, he could speak on the factory guard side, and he himself was a member of the noble group.

Except for the thin connections in the civil official group, there were basically no shortcomings.

The last shortcoming couldn't be filled; officialdom doesn't allow perfect people to appear.

Wanting to hold a high position, one must find one's own positioning. Crossing multiple political groups at the same time is very difficult to gain support.

……

"My lord, with the cooperation of the gentry, the recruitment of young and strong men has been over-completed.

This time, a total of 21,326 young and strong men were recruited, and 42,652 taels of settlement fees were distributed.

Among them, 15,000 people have entered the camp, and the remaining people will arrive tomorrow because the distance is slightly further.

Now the biggest problem is that the Yangzhou armory is empty, weapons and equipment are scarce, and siege equipment is seriously insufficient.

Among the newly recruited young and strong men, only a few brought their own bows and arrows, and seven or eight out of ten lack equipment.

According to your instructions, we have organized blacksmiths to forge weapons. However, there are limited blacksmiths in the city, and there is not much iron in the official inventory, so the output is very limited."

Listening to his private secretary's report, Li Mu nodded slightly.

Conscripting soldiers in a feudal dynasty is not as precise as in later generations.

To ensure that the 20,000 young and strong men are fully staffed, one must add a little more during recruitment.

In case there is a change halfway, or there is a loss during the training process, one can immediately make up for the vacancy.

For ordinary people, being conscripted to defend the city, the sky directly collapsed by half.

Usually, this kind of work is done for free, and the ruthless ones even require them to bring their own dry food.

Being able to get a settlement fee of two taels, besides Li Mu's striving, was mainly because everyone had no bottom in their hearts.

When the rebel army captured the county city, there were civil soldiers defending the city who couldn't bear the pressure and staged a mutiny on the battlefield.

They had earned enough on this trip to Yangzhou, and everyone cherished their lives.

With lessons from the past, when treating the recruited young and strong men, everyone unanimously decided to show their generous side.

Anyway, spending the court's money, there was no need to be so calculating.

Weapon scarcity is a must; if the soldiers were fully equipped, that would be the biggest problem.

Storing enough weapons and armor to arm 20,000 great troops in a local armory during peacetime is purely encouraging the separatist rule of the feudal lords.

Not to mention among the people, most weapons are prohibited from private possession. Even if there is a collection at home, they wouldn't dare to take it out.

"Well done; send someone to notify the Marquis of Wuyang, saying that the recruitment work has been completed, and let him decide the distribution of military strength.

Forget it, I will go over and say it myself.

Wu Dage, you immediately take people to select soldiers and fill my personal guard to 300 people first!"

Li Mu ordered immediately.

Workplace experience: if you want to get closer to your superior, then ask for instructions and report more.

Run around more to get a familiar face, so you can rub off on the benefits.

Not to mention he wasn't going empty-handed; the gifts sent by the Yangzhou gentry themselves included a share for the Marquis of Wuyang.

Li Mu wouldn't dare to blacken the money of his immediate superior. Even if he wanted to deduct it, that would be against the share of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Both sides couldn't sit together to reconcile accounts, and how much to give exactly depends entirely on the development of the situation.

If the noble in-law group is strong enough and has a leading position on the Yangzhou issue, just inciting the Marquis of Wuyang to come forward and say hello is enough.

As for the Emperor's pardon decree, it is purely a pie in the sky to fool people. With Li Mu's current level, he is not qualified to talk to the Tianyuan Emperor.

At most, say a few good words in the memorial to the Emperor.

This kind of thing doesn't need Li Mu's special attention. Relying on the heavy gifts prepared by the Yangzhou gentry, it is enough to make the Marquis of Wuyang treat them specially.

Compared to walking connections, Li Mu pays more attention to expanding his own direct forces.

As a military general, having only thirty retainers by his side, in wartime, is really too insecure.

When he was in the capital, the situation was special and it was not convenient to expand the team. Now that he has caught up with the Yangzhou defense war, the situation is different.

Choosing to expand his direct forces to three hundred is because when he came out of Hanzhong, he only brought thirty retainers.

Even if these people are trained as grassroots military officers, they have never led troops after all. Adding too many people in, they simply can't be managed.

Deep in his heart, Li Mu had already secretly made up his mind. After the war ended, he would expand the retainer team to one hundred.

If he is successfully promoted after the event and sent to a local area to take office, then the retainer team can be expanded even more.

Li Mu is truly envious of those generals on the Nine Borders who sit on thousands of retainers.

With that family foundation, what Yangzhou City is there to defend? Directly leading the troops to kill out and suppress the rebel army would be easy.

"Obey the order!"

Wu Dage replied first.

After saying that, he ran out in a hurry. As if going late, he would miss the good seedlings.

This is Li Mu's pot; when training retainers in normal times, in order to let everyone study hard, he drew too many pies.

It made the soldiers under him all have a general's dream.

"My lord, Captain Wu's temper is really urgent!"

Student Lan Linjie teased with a smile.

Having followed Li Mu for a few months, he had also become familiar with this group of retainers, and they had a preliminary understanding of each other.

They are all straight-gutted and simply won't flatter.

Compared to other retainers he had seen, it was as if they were not the same species.

"Haha!

This simpleton has always been impatient.

If Mr. Lan has time, why not help me train them.

They are all a group of semi-illiterates; if I hadn't suppressed them, I guess they wouldn't even know how to write their own names."

Hearing Li Mu's words, Student Lan Linjie instantly regretted it.

He had seen this group of people studying, and the scene was simply unbearable to look at.

It just so happened that a few days ago, for the sake of his classmate and friend's matter, he owed another big favor, so it was really inconvenient to refuse.

"My lord, please rest assured; after this great battle ends, I will introduce a teacher to them!"

Student Lan Linjie decisively chose "death to the friend, not to the Dao."

There are plenty of down-and-out scholars; there will always be someone who will bend for five pecks of rice.

Picking one with strong endurance, he shouldn't be angered to death.

(End of chapter)