Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 155 Lots of Talents
Lu Jin was flipping through the conscription list handed to him by Feng Sheng, and many of the names on it looked very familiar to him.

Although Lu Jin could not recite the names of all the twenty-four generals of Huaixi, he knew some of them, such as the very famous ones, Xu Da, Tang He, Hua Yun, Tang Shengzong and others.

When talking about the history of the Ming Dynasty, who doesn’t know Xu Da?

However, Lu Jin did not make it public, nor did he express his opinion directly. Instead, he asked Feng Sheng, "Feng Sheng, if I ask you to recommend a few officers from the new recruits for your 14th Regiment, do you have any suitable candidates?"

Feng Sheng had of course examined the soldiers he had recruited personally. Although some of them had taken the initiative to join the army, he had also examined them all. So he pointed to the roster and spoke.

"General, this Hua Yun is from Huaiyuan next door. He heard that we conquered Haozhou, so he came to surrender. I have tested his martial arts and tactics. Although he has not read any military books, he is a good fighter and quite brave. He can at least be a company commander. Once he is familiar with our military system and tactics, he can even be a battalion commander."

Lu Jin nodded when he heard this. He had heard of Hua Yun, but there were very few records about Hua Yun in the history of the early Ming Dynasty because he died too early.
Historically, Hua Yun went to Zhu Yuanzhang alone. He was awarded the title of Guan Gou with 300 soldiers under his command for his merits during the battle of Quanjiao. Later, he made merits again when crossing the river and was promoted to the title of general manager. After that, he was stationed alone in Taiping Prefecture, which is now Dangtu.

Before, when Lu Jin was in Heyang, he said that Dangtu was actually very easy to attack. In history, Chen Youliang simply leaned the stern of a large ship against the city wall and climbed directly into the city from the ship. The general who defended Dangtu in that battle was Hua Yun.

Hua Yun was very brave and was captured after being exhausted. Chen Youliang saw that he was a good fighter, or perhaps wanted to buy a horse bone for a large sum of gold to recruit Hua Yun to surrender, so that when he attacked Nanjing next time, more of Zhu Yuanzhang's men could surrender.

Hua Yun would rather die than surrender, and he broke free and killed several Han soldiers under Chen Youliang. This angered Chen Youliang, so he had him hung on the mast and shot to death with arrows.
After Hua Yun died, he left behind a baby. His wife gave the child to a maid and then jumped into the water to commit suicide. The maid took Hua Yun's young son and hid, swam away, and finally sent the child to Zhu Yuanzhang, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very sad, and then he adopted Hua Yun's child.

The maid's experience of sending the child back to Nanjing was very bumpy and legendary. It seemed to have been adapted into an opera later, but Lu Jin had never heard of it.

His deepest impression of Hua Yun should be that she was the background of the story of Chen Youliang conquering Dangtu.
"This person has martial arts skills, but what about reading, writing, and arithmetic? It doesn't matter if he hasn't read military books. As long as he can read, he can learn the 'Gongshu Military Strategy' by himself. By the way, how old is this person?"

After confirming that Hua Yun was a useful talent, Lu Jin immediately asked for more details.

Feng Sheng quickly replied, "This man is thirty-one this year. He can read and write, but he has never studied military books. However, he has read some of Sun Wu's books. He should have no problem reading the Marshal's military books on his own."

At the age of 31, he is considered old even in Lu Jin's entire rebel group. If such a person has the ability, Lu Jin does not mind directly making him the battalion commander of a thousand households. The older one can use his time and retire early to avoid blocking the way of the young people.

Although he has just conquered Luzhou Road, Lu Jin is already thinking about ruling the country in the future. Personnel is politics, and some things must be considered in advance.

This includes who to use and who not to use during a war. These are all things that need to be considered. Sometimes a military mission is not just a mission, it also means military merit. Whoever gets the mission, if he completes it, will be promoted to a higher position in the future. So you need to think carefully about what to do and who to send.

Lu Jin nodded, took a pen and ticked Hua Yun's name on the roster, and asked, "What else? One officer is not enough. We are expanding the army quickly now. Some officers in some regiments have never fought in a war since the establishment of the army. I don't mind selecting more new people."

Feng Sheng was happy to see that Lu Jin seemed to approve of his recommendation, and he recommended it again immediately.

"Marshal, this Fei Ju can also be an officer. He is twenty-six years old this year, tall and strong, knows martial arts, archery, and can read, but he has not read much."

Lu Jin recalled and had no impression of this Fei Ju.

Indeed, as one of the twenty-four generals of Huaixi, Fei Ju was not very famous, because Fei Ju had never led troops alone, but always served as a deputy general. Even if he had any military achievements, the main general was more famous, which overshadowed many of his brilliance.

But Fei Ju was one of the first people to join Zhu Yuanzhang. Speaking of Fei Ju's historical deeds, the most famous one was probably that he attracted 3,000 soldiers from Lupai Village to Zhu Yuanzhang as Zhu Yuanzhang's starting capital.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang took the 24 generals of Huaixi and broke away from Guo Zixing to develop independently. He had no soldiers under his command. He happened to know that there were 3,000 volunteers in Lupai Village, Dingyuan County. So Zhu Yuanzhang led his people to coax and deceive the 3,000 volunteers in Lupai Village, and half-forced them to go over. Fei Ju made a great contribution to this matter and was therefore very trusted by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Fei Ju once led Zhu Yuanzhang's personal soldiers, and later followed Zhu Yuanzhang to support the Jiangxi battlefield. After the Battle of Poyang Lake, Fei Ju also participated in the battle to capture Wuchang. After that, he continued to fight with Zhang Shicheng. Most of Fei Ju's military exploits were achieved against Zhang Shicheng.

However, Lu Jin obviously didn't know that much, but he knew that in Haozhou, anyone who could be named was definitely not an ordinary person, so he immediately said, "Write it down first, and take me to see these people later."

"Yes." Feng Sheng agreed quickly.

"Anything else? Don't make me ask one by one. Tell me what talents you have available."

Feng Sheng introduced the situation and said, "General, there is also Tang He, a native of Haozhou, 26 years old this year, who has brought a dozen people to surrender. He is barely literate, but has extraordinary courage and can be an officer.

"There is another Zhang He, who is 28 years old this year. He is originally from Sizhou. He built a stronghold in his hometown to protect himself. He has 300 soldiers under his command. He said that a while ago, a leader named Miao tried to recruit him, but he had heard about the might of our Shengwu Army and refused. Later, he heard that we had reached Haozhou, so he brought his soldiers from his hometown to join us."

Lu Jin nodded when he heard this. He was of course aware of Tang He's famous name, but in Lu Jin's impression, it seemed that Tang He and Zhu Yuanzhang were just from the same hometown. They must have known each other when they were young, and Tang He and Zhu Yuanzhang benefited from being from the same hometown.

However, Tang He's military talent was not outstanding in the history of that time. Therefore, although Tang He could be used, his future was definitely limited. Lu Jinke had no fellow countryman relationship with him, so there were only two ways for him to ascend to a high position.

First, either you are good at fighting and have real skills. As the saying goes, gold will always shine, and Lu Jin will naturally not bury such a person.

Secondly, if you are like Guo Zixing, you come with a large army and invest money, then you will definitely have an official position as soon as you arrive.

Tang He is neither of the two, and is destined to be only a minor officer. If he is given respect, he can at most start as a company commander of 200 people. If he is not given respect, he will only be a platoon leader.

As for Zhang He, Lu Jin really had no impression of this person. In fact, Zhang He was not very famous in the original history. Zhu Yuanzhang had dozens of dukes and marquises under him, but this man didn't even get a marquisate. He was only the deputy envoy of Fuzhou and the deputy commander of the provincial military region. How famous do you think he could be?
Zhang He's greatest achievement should be suppressing the Japanese pirates, opening up a sea route from Jiangnan to Liaodong, and engaging in transportation at sea for a long time. Once, he chased the Japanese pirates even all the way to the vicinity of Ryukyu, which was quite awesome.

However, Lu Jin did not know about Zhang He's deeds, but Feng Sheng said that this man brought more than 300 soldiers, and he admired the reputation of the Shengwu Army and came here specially from Sizhou. Such a person must have the ability to lead troops, otherwise he would not have been able to bring more than 300 people to follow him willingly. Since he brought capital to invest, it would be no problem to directly give him a battalion commander of a thousand households.

Lu Jin wrote down the names of the two again and asked again, "Anything else?"

Feng Sheng scratched his head, not knowing what Lu Jin meant. He had already recommended four people. Normally, if they were all made centurions, the establishment of the Fourteenth Regiment should be enough. Moreover, there would be one extra person, so that the vacancy left when he left the Seventh Regiment could be filled. But Lu Jin wanted him to continue. Perhaps he wanted to have a few more so that they could choose when they met later?
Feng Sheng was unsure of what Lu Jin meant, so he had to continue helping Lu Jin pick people. In fact, there was another person who joined the army recently who had good abilities, but Feng Sheng always disliked that person, so he never introduced him. But Lu Jin kept asking, so he had to name this person.

"General, there is another person named Xu Da. He is also a native of Haozhou. He has practiced martial arts since he was young, and he can read and write. He has also read some military books, but he is still young and has never fought in a war, so it is best for him to start with the company platoon."

Lu Jin raised his eyebrows when he heard this. He naturally knew Xu Da. In fact, he had seen Xu Da's name just now, but he had never said anything. But now Feng Sheng said that Xu Da was too young. Although he didn't remember Xu Da's exact age, he had the impression that he should not be particularly young, right?

So he interrupted, "How old are you?" "I just turned twenty this year."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately gave Feng Sheng a meaningful look, which frightened Feng Sheng so much that he quickly lowered his head and listened to what Lu Jin said.

"Twenty is still young. The commander of the Eastern Army, Yang Jing, is only 19 this year. Xu Da has practiced martial arts since he was young and has read the Art of War. Why didn't you mention such a talent earlier?"

Feng Sheng hurriedly said in panic, "I think that although he has some talent, he has never led troops and has no combat experience. General Yang was a student of the commander-in-chief and joined the army in Luzhou. How can he be compared with Xu Da?"

Hearing this, Lu Jin immediately raised his hand and interrupted, "Well, these days, there are few people who have learned martial arts since childhood and read military books. Even if they have no experience in leading troops, they can be trained with emphasis. If you have similar talents, just recommend them. I will have a plan on whether to use them and how to use them."

As if he felt his words were a bit harsh and was afraid that Feng Sheng might think too much, Lu Jin continued, "But there is some truth in what you said. No matter how talented a person is, if he has never fought in a war, he is still a rookie who has never seen blood. We should not force him to grow too fast. Such a person should indeed have more experience. Otherwise, if he is promoted to a high position suddenly, he may not grow well."

Feng Sheng heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and quickly said, "General, you are wise. This is exactly what I meant."

"Apart from Xu Da, is there anyone else? Haozhou is about to go to war, and the population here should not stay for a long time. They should either go into the city or temporarily move to Dingyuan. Those who are willing to serve in the army can also be recruited to go to Luzhou. The Imperial Guard also needs to be expanded. Otherwise, the troops in Luzhou are few, and it will be difficult to provide support in case of crises in all directions." Lu Jin waved his hand and asked again.

When Feng Sheng heard that this time they were not only selecting generals for his 14th Regiment, but also picking a group of imperial guards to go to Luzhou, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and introduced a few people to Lu Jin.

There was Zhang Long who was good at using the flower spear, and Zhou Dexing who was good at riding and shooting. In this era when there were many illiterate peasants, being good at martial arts was considered an absolute talent.

Lu Jin nodded after listening, but when he was looking through the list before, he clearly saw Tang Shengzong's name, but he didn't know why Feng Sheng didn't recommend this person. Could it be that Tang Shengzong was not in Feng Sheng's eyes at this time?
Lu Jin didn't know the reason, so he thought it would be best not to bury the talent. It would be bad if someone like Han Xin appeared who was not valued and felt aggrieved, and then defected to another place.

It's not that he specifically collected famous generals, but those people are there. If you don't want them, they might defect to someone else, and then bring the enemy army to attack you. Wouldn't that be uncomfortable for you?

Whether it is fighting for the world or fighting for talents, it is actually the same principle: if you don't advance, you will retreat. The talents you don't want will be taken away by others. As a result, your strength will be weakened by two points. So why don't you want them?
Looking at the list that had just been picked out, Hua Yun, Fei Ju, Tang He, Zhang He, Xu Da, Zhang Long, and Zhou Dexing, seven talented generals, was already a lot, so Lu Jin stood up and said.

"Let's just take these few first. With those who volunteered to join the army these days and those you recruited yourself, how many soldiers do you have in total?"

Feng Sheng quickly replied, "General, Haozhou has suffered from disasters in recent years, and many poor people with broken families have come to join the army. Some even brought their families with them. Therefore, there are many people joining the army. There are already more than 7,000 people these days. It is more than enough to form a new regiment. If the general wants to expand the imperial guards, he can take some of them with him."

Lu Jin nodded, "Okay, then you gather these people together, I'll take a look and pick a group of them. I'll try to pick the younger ones so they can learn new tactics faster."

Feng Sheng didn't care about it. Although the more than 7,000 soldiers seemed to be a lot, many of them brought their families with them. Among them were child soldiers who were thirteen or fourteen years old, or even less than ten years old. He didn't want these people in the first place. It was perfect that Lu Jin was willing to take these child soldiers away.

So that afternoon, Feng Sheng brought these people to assemble outside the city. Lu Jin came personally to select people and also took a look at the generals recommended by Feng Sheng, as well as some people he saw on the list but were not recommended by Feng Sheng.

More than 7,000 people lined up in the open space outside Haozhou City, and soldiers from the Seventh Regiment of Yu Tongyuan were there to maintain order. Otherwise, with so many new recruits, I'm afraid the company wouldn't be able to line up properly.

Lu Jin rode a tall horse, with a sword hanging from his waist. He was wearing a fish-scale double-breasted armor that shone with a cold glow. The arm armor on his shoulders extended to the backs of his hands. Behind him were hundreds of cavalrymen brought by Shen Ren. Even Feng Sheng, Yu Tongyuan, and Zheng Yong, officers at the level of regiment commanders, could only follow him as followers.

Therefore, as soon as the new recruits saw this scene, they knew that Lu Jin was a very high-ranking general. However, this time he came with light equipment and did not bring any ceremonial guards or banners, so few people could tell that he was the Marshal of the Shengwu Army.

Feng Sheng pointed at Lu Jin, who nodded, then dismounted and came to a general. The general had a sword on his waist and a spear in his hand. When he saw Feng Sheng following Lu Jin, he first looked at Lu Jin, then at Feng Sheng. Before he could say anything, Feng Sheng spoke first.

"Hua Yun, this is the commander-in-chief of our Shengwu Army. Haven't you been wanting to see him for a long time? Why don't you pay your respects to him?"

Hua Yun was stunned when he heard the words, and then he reacted and looked at Lu Jin, who was half a head taller than him, wearing a pointed helmet with a tassel. The height of the man and the helmet was over two meters. His eyes widened immediately, and when he reacted, he immediately knelt on one knee and bowed.

"I am Hua Yun, nice to meet you, Marshal. I have heard that you led a thousand men to raise an army, and defeated powerful enemies in a few months, conquering Luzhou and Dingyuan. You also defeated Kang Maocai's army of 20,000 in one battle. You are a real hero. I have long wanted to join you, but you never came. This time, when I heard that the Shengwu Army had conquered Haozhou, I immediately came to join the army. Today, I finally get to meet a real hero. I am really lucky."

"Hahaha, he is indeed a good man." Lu Jin personally helped Hua Yun up and looked him up and down. Even if this man was not 1.80 meters tall, he should be about 1.5 meters tall. He was neither fat nor thin. He was wearing a coarse cotton coat. Although the color had faded due to washing, there were no patches on it. He should be in good condition, I guess.

Lu Jin added, "Since I started the army, thanks to the soldiers' dedication, our territory has naturally expanded. It is impossible for me to lead the troops to look after every direction. But now that the Northern Army has conquered Haozhou and is forming a new regiment, I naturally have to come and take a look.

"Just now I asked Feng Sheng who among those who have joined the army these days can be a general, and he recommended you first. I heard that you came from Huaiyuan, have martial arts skills, are literate, and have extraordinary courage.

"Since Feng Sheng recommended you, I naturally trust the generals I choose. If I let you be a battalion commander with 900 soldiers, would you be able to do it?"

Hua Yun was overjoyed when he heard this. He had already talked to Feng Sheng before. Feng Sheng had always been optimistic about him and planned to make him an officer. However, with Feng Sheng's status, he could at most choose a company commander himself. As for the level of battalion officer, Feng Sheng had no way to appoint him directly. He could only report it and wait for Lu Jin's approval. However, he did not expect that the Marshal Lu Jin would be so straightforward and actually let a newcomer be a battalion officer.

Hua Yun was immediately excited, but after all he had been educated and knew how to be humble and polite, so when he heard Lu Jin ask him if he was capable of doing the job, he spoke up.

"I have practiced martial arts since I was young and have read some military books. If I am allowed to lead 900 soldiers, I feel that I can do it. However, I heard that Commander Feng also made meritorious service first and was later promoted to the rank of commander of a thousand households. I have not made any merit, but I am valued by the commander so much. I am afraid that others will not accept it, so I would like to start as the captain of a company of 200 households."

"That's not necessary." Lu Jin waved his hand. "As the saying goes, if you doubt someone, don't employ him; if you employ someone, don't doubt him. Since Feng Sheng recommended you, and you said you can lead 900 soldiers, then what about letting you be the commander of the 1,000-household battalion?

"But it is also true that you have not achieved any merit. How about this, I will let you be a trial commander first, lead the troops for training, and if you make merit in the battlefield in the future, I will promote you to a regular officer, how about that?"

Hua Yun understood everything after hearing this. This trial of a thousand households was nothing more than conferring real power first and letting him make up for the merits later. Since he already had the real power of a battalion commander, whether he was trialed as a thousand households or not, it was just a name. To put it bluntly, he was the battalion commander of a thousand households.

After figuring out the key, Hua Yun was so excited that he knelt down again and pledged his allegiance, "Thank you for your respect, Marshal. I will never forget your kindness and will repay you with my life."

"Well, I hope you will be brave enough to take on tasks in the future and make more achievements on the battlefield, so that my expectations of you today will not be in vain. Get up."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)