Chapter 269: Admonition

Yancheng.

South Camp.

When Chen Shou headed to Fanyang to rebuild the Shipbuilding Department.

Zhao Xu turned his attention here.

The matchlocks captured from the sea pirates made him deeply feel the importance of developing flintlocks at this moment.

After all, the matchlock was showing an increasing trend toward becoming widespread.

By the time that happened, if he still had no means to counter them, he feared he would die a miserable death.

But now, he was composed and unhurried.

"Right, walk just like this." At this moment, Zhao Xu was walking backward.

In front of him, a row of soldiers walked forward side by side, their arms almost touching.

Their steps were uniform and perfectly synchronized.

Furthermore, their left palms were held vertically to support a stick, while their right hands gripped the middle of the stick.

This stick represented a flintlock.

The way the soldiers were walking now was the way soldiers equipped with flintlocks would march when fighting on the battlefield.

"Did you all see clearly? This is how you must train them," Zhao Xu said.

Chang Wei and six generals stood behind Zhao Xu.

Bai Shang should have been there too, but he had been temporarily dispatched to suppress the sea pirates.

"Hee hee..." The soldiers' way of walking was very strange, which caused some new recruits to giggle.

Chang Wei pointed at the soldiers who were laughing and shouted, "You few, step out and run ten laps around the South Camp."

"Yes, General." The six soldiers stepped out and began running around the South Camp.

Seeing this, the other soldiers immediately fell silent as if struck dumb.

Zhao Xu had no objections to Chang Wei's method of handling it.

The army is a place that emphasizes discipline.

Especially after being equipped with flintlocks, the Wangfu Army was no longer a loose, feudal Rich Clan army.

Soldiers in the camp must be able to carry out orders and prohibitions.

Only in this way would they strictly follow military orders once they reached the battlefield.

"Yes, Your Highness." Qin Shan and the others kept every point of the Yan Wang's teachings firmly in mind.

They were all competing against each other, wanting to come out on top in this training.

Only the winner would have the right to command this flintlock army.

"And these military formations." Zhao Xu took out the formation diagrams he had drawn.

On them were over a dozen variations for a flintlock army to use in battle, including the Horizontal Formation, Vertical Formation, Hollow Square Formation, and so on.

He had also provided detailed explanations below regarding the significance of these variations.

"Thirty thousand men; each of you will lead five thousand. With a one-month deadline, the three who drill them the best will become the generals for the new recruits," Zhao Xu said.

Upon hearing this, the six of them exchanged provocative glances.

Seeing this, Zhao Xu was slightly satisfied.

His generals needed to have this spirit of never admitting defeat.

Then, he gave Xu Lie a look.

Xu Lie handed over six whips.

Zhao Xu gave the whips to Qin Shan, Guan Tong, and the others, distributing them one by one.

The six of them revealed confused expressions, and Guan Tong said, "Your Highness, what are these for?"

"To discipline the soldiers, of course," Zhao Xu said loudly.

Hearing these words, the soldiers' expressions changed immediately, and there was a faint look of dissatisfaction in their eyes.

They had all heard that the Yan Wang was benevolent and righteous, yet now the Yan Wang was actually handing out whips to the generals.

Chang Wei smiled; he said nothing, as he understood the Yan Wang's meaning very well.

"Hahaha..." Qin Shan picked up a whip and waved it at the soldiers. "This is a whip bestowed by His Highness. If you don't train properly, watch out for the suffering you'll face."

Zhao Xu noticed the soldiers' gazes.

They held resentment in their hearts, which he could understand.

Facing the soldiers, he said in a clear, loud voice, "This Prince would rather you shed blood and tears during training than have you lose your lives on the battlefield due to insufficient training, leaving your loved ones to shed tears."

The soldiers' expressions softened; so this was the Yan Wang's true intention.

Chang Wei nodded slightly.

He had always been strict with his subordinates because he understood this principle as well.

The idleness in the barracks would only be paid back with blood and tears on the battlefield.

Thinking of the current situation in Yanzhou, Zhao Xu continued, "Currently, Yanzhou is full of crises. The Northern Di are still eyeing us covetously in the North Territory, and now the Western Liang have captured Jinzhou and are pressing toward Feihu Pass. Furthermore, just two days ago, sea pirates attacked Jinghai County, and hundreds of soldiers sacrificed their lives."

The expressions of Chang Wei, Qin Shan, and the soldiers suddenly turned heavy.

The continuous victories during this period had made it seem as if everything in Yanzhou was peaceful and quiet.

In reality, this was merely the calm before the storm.

"Think carefully: under such a crisis, besides yourselves, who else can protect your wives, children, parents, sisters, and brothers? This is the meaning of you joining the army, not those few taels of Silver," Zhao Xu roared at the end.

The soldiers were silent.

This question struck straight at their souls.

Before joining the army, many had come solely for the high military pay.

They had never pondered what they were fighting for.

And Yan Wang had pointed it out for them.

It is said that after Jincheng was captured, the city was slaughtered.

To vent their rage, the Xiliang people killed all the soldiers within the city.

And the Beidi people have an even greater habit of slaughtering the commoners of the Great Song.

They must never let this happen in Yanzhou, their homeland.

Seeing the soldiers' gazes grow firm, Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction.

The purpose of him inserting five hundred scholars into the army was precisely for this: ideological education.

Only when soldiers understand what they are fighting for will they display the greatest combat effectiveness on the battlefield.

This is combat will.

It is also the most fundamental difference between a modern army and a feudal army.

Of course, this kind of education is certainly for the sake of strengthening the army.

But it is also the truth.

If the commoners of Yanzhou do not take the defense of Yanzhou as their own responsibility, they will be like scattered sand.

If soldiers run upon seeing the enemy, or must rely on the Supervision Team to go onto the battlefield.

Then the iron hooves of the Beidi and Xiliang will sooner or later run rampant over this land.

Following that would be the remaining territory of the Great Song, and the Song People would be forced to shave their hair and change their clothes, reduced to lowly slaves.

Leaving behind these words, Zhao Xu turned and left.

Chang Wei followed up at this moment, "Your Highness speaks well; this subordinate is truly filled with surging blood."

"This is what those scholars in the Military Academy will do in the future; blades and swords are weapons, and ideas are also weapons," Zhao Xu said.

"Ideas are also weapons!" Chang Wei recited, pondering this sentence.

When he came back to his senses, Zhao Xu had already walked far away.

The training was arranged.

Zhao Xu prepared to shift his focus to the expansion of various production capacities.

Leaving the South Camp, he went straight to Chengde Workshop.

Zou Rong was still in Wuan County supervising the construction of the Lengbao.

The official responsible for Chengde Workshop was Dong Jian'an, the Vice Director of the Ministry of Works.

During this time, Dong Jian'an had been attending lectures at the Government Academy.

He had learned the construction and planning that he taught very well, and had asked many professional questions.

He also reported the construction matters of Chengde Workshop to him from time to time.

"Your Highness." Seeing Zhao Xu arrive, Dong Jian'an came over to greet him.

"Can the Nanfang District be delivered in ten days?" Zhao Xu asked.

Currently, Chengde Workshop was divided into the Nanfang District and the Beifang District.

The Nanfang District was prepared for the Armaments Department, specifically used to produce Weapon and Armor.

The Beifang District was prepared for the Wangfu Workshop; everything including cement and Glass had to be moved out of the Armaments Department and into the Beifang District.

For the sake of secrecy, there was a high wall between the two districts to separate them, and in the future, they would be guarded by heavy troops.

At the same time, both districts adopted the same layout.

That is, the side along the river on the east was the production area, and the west was the living area for the craftsmen.