Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 156 Two Handsome Talents
Hua Yun was a good fighter and very loyal. Historically, he would rather die than surrender after being captured alive by Chen Youliang. Such a person should be given important positions.

Besides, he is not young anymore, he is already 31 years old, and there is no need for him to start from the bottom again. It is better to get promoted early and retire early, so that he can make room for others in the future.

After Hua Yun was appointed as the trial captain of the 14th regiment, this man followed Lu Jin obediently with his chest puffed out.

Lu Jin winked at Feng Sheng, and Feng Sheng pointed at another person.

"Marshal, that's Fei Ju, and the one next to him is Tang He."

Lu Jin nodded and said casually, "Go and call these two people."

Feng Sheng whispered a few words to the soldiers around him, and someone called the two of them over immediately. Fei Ju and Tang He were a little excited. The 14th Regiment was a newly formed unit, but the officers had not been determined yet. Hua Yun, who was called out by Lu Jin just now, was directly promoted to a thousand households. Now they were called again, which was obviously a good thing.

"I am honored to meet you, Marshal." The two men stepped out and came in front of Lu Jin, immediately kneeling on one knee and bowing.

"No need to be polite in the army. Stand up. Which one of you two is Tang He?" Lu Jin waved his hand to let the two men stand up, and asked while looking at them.

Fei Ju and Tang He are the same age, both 26, and Lu Jin has never met them before, so it is hard to tell them apart.

However, the two men were dressed differently. Fei Ju had a horn bow and a quiver hanging from his waist, while Tang He had a knife hanging from his waist and a spear in his hand. When the two heard Lu Jin's question, Tang He answered immediately.

"Replying to the commander, I am Tang He."

Hearing this, Lu Jin looked over and sized him up and down, saying, "I heard that you are a native of Haozhou, and you brought more than ten companions with you when you joined the army."

Tang He didn't know what Lu Jin meant by asking this, so he could only answer honestly, "Replying to the Marshal, I am indeed a local, and my family lives in Donghu Village, Guangde Township. However, my fellow villagers say that I have a hard life. My parents died when I was young, so I have lived with my aunt since I was a child."

Lu Jin sneered at this and snorted, "You are so lucky! Don't mention that your parents died. Look behind you. Which soldier here hasn't lost someone in his family? There have been disasters in recent years, but the Yuan Dynasty court has not cared about it. Not only did it not provide disaster relief, it also allowed officials to lend money at a 10% interest rate.

"The Yuan court was brutal and cruel, forcing the people to death. If the court had behaved like a court, it could have provided a little relief and cared for the people here, so that there wouldn't be so many soldiers losing their loved ones."

Tang He was moved when he heard this. He was born and raised here and had personally experienced the natural disasters and man-made tragedies in recent years. How could he not know that what Lu Jin said was the truth? If the Yuan court was really doing something, it would not have been possible for so many people who could not survive to come out and rebel.

Tang He immediately knelt down again and said, "General, you are wise. I was wrong. I am not unlucky, but it was the violent Yuan who killed my parents.

"I have long heard of your reputation for benevolence and righteousness. You have raised an army of righteousness, fought against the unjust, banned the slave trade, abolished usury, organized households and distributed land, provided work in lieu of relief, and saved countless lives. I admire you, so I joined the king's army. Although I dare not stand on equal footing with the other generals, I dare to fight the Yuan bandits to the death."

"What a brave man who dares to fight with the Yuan bandits." Lu Jin nodded in appreciation, helped Tang He up personally, and asked him again.

"Since you are a native of Haozhou, you must be familiar with the city. If I ask you to defend the city with 10,000 soldiers stationed in the city, do you think you can defend Haozhou?"

Tang He knew that the Shengwu Army had been busy making arrangements to defend the city since they captured Haozhou. He was not even an officer yet, and the 14th Regiment had not yet been reorganized. He didn't know where the Shengwu Army got the information that the Yuan army was coming to Haozhou, but he thought it should be correct. If Lu Jin asked this question now and he answered that he could defend the city, he would probably be able to get an official position.

After figuring out the key point, Tang He said immediately.

"Replying to the commander, as long as the soldiers obey their orders and there are friendly troops around to support them, 10,000 troops are enough to defend Haozhou. Even if the Yuan invaders come with 30,000 or 50,000 troops, we think we can still hold it. Since ancient times, the army attacking a city is larger than the army defending it, and the army defending the city can rest and wait for the enemy to tire. It is no problem to stop an enemy force several times its size."

At this point, he pointed to the civilians who were building the city wall and flattered, "What's more, the commander-in-chief has already made preparations. He prepared materials for defending the city and raised the city wall in advance. As long as the soldiers of the garrison fight for their lives, I really don't know how the Yuan thieves will break into the city."

"You see it clearly." Lu Jin smiled when he heard it, and then said, "Then I will let you stay in Haozhou to defend the city and let you be a trial captain. Are you willing? If you have military merit in this battle to defend the city, I will make you a regular after the battle. How about that?"

Tang He was stunned when he heard that. He didn't expect that he would be promoted to a thousand households so soon. Although it was just a 'trial' one, it was still a thousand households. He was familiar with Haozhou City. Lu Jin had also made preparations for defending the city in advance. There were 10,000 troops stationed in the city, and there were friendly troops in the surrounding counties. He naturally had the confidence to hold on. Thinking of this, he hurriedly bowed.

"Thank you for your trust, Marshal. I am willing to defend the city for you!"

"Okay, get up, don't forget what you said. You said with your own mouth that you dare to fight the Yuan thieves to the death."

"Once a word is spoken, it cannot be taken back. As long as the Yuan bandits do not withdraw their troops, we will not leave the city wall. If they come one at a time, we will kill them one at a time. If they come as a pair, we will kill them both. I guarantee that they will not be able to climb up to the top of the city wall." Tang He expressed his position again with a serious expression.

Lu Jin smiled and looked back at Yu Tongyuan who was following behind him, "Tongyuan, what do you think of this battalion commander?"

"He's a good man indeed." Yu Tongyuan scratched his head and asked in confusion, "Does the Marshal want to assign Officer Tang to our Seventh Regiment?"

"That's right. Feng Sheng has been transferred from your Seventh Regiment. You are short of a battalion, so it's a good opportunity to fill it with a battalion of new soldiers. What do you think?"

"I don't have any objection. I understand what the Marshal means. If we need to defend the city in Haozhou, it would be better if we have someone who is familiar with the local conditions in Haozhou. I will listen to the Marshal." Yu Tongyuan said immediately.

"Okay then, I'll leave Tang He to you. Go and organize the new recruits for him in that battalion." Lu Jin made the decision on the spot.

"Yes." Yu Tongyuan also nodded in agreement.

Tang He looked at the two men, a little dumbfounded. He thought that Lu Jin wanted him to defend the city of Haozhou and to be incorporated into the new 14th Regiment, but he didn't expect that he was to fill the vacancy of the 7th Regiment.

Obviously Feng Sheng also understood what Lu Jin meant. He frowned and asked a question.

"Marshal, the Seventh Regiment is here to defend the city. So will my Fourteenth Regiment be transferred somewhere else after it is organized? We have nothing to do with the battle here?"

"What do you think?" Lu Jin turned his head and asked.

"To punish the people without teaching them is called cruelty, and to send soldiers to fight without teaching them is called killing. Now we have 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers, and there are many veterans who have seen blood. Do I need to send a group of untrained recruits to die here?

“If you really have no soldiers to use, that’s fine. Just like when I started the rebellion in Chaohu, even I had to go to the battlefield myself. At that time, all I wanted was to survive.

"But what's the situation now? You've read military books before, do you still need me to teach you this?"

Feng Sheng certainly understood this truth, but he felt a little unhappy at the thought of having to temporarily retreat to the second line.

"I understand." Feng Sheng nodded helplessly.

Seeing this, Lu Jin patted his shoulder and said, "When the 14th Regiment is organized, I will transfer you to Dingyuan. I will give you half a year to train well. We are only a small place now. There will be opportunities for you to make meritorious deeds in the future. Don't be dejected as if we have lost the battle."

"Yes!" Feng Sheng immediately agreed with his head held high.

After appointing Tang He to the position, Lu Jin looked at Fei Ju next to him, glanced at the horn bow hanging around his waist, and asked curiously.

"Are you Fei Ju?"

"Reporting to the commander, it is me." Fei Ju quickly bowed in response.

Lu Jin nodded and continued, "The 14th Regiment is newly formed, but the officers have not yet been decided. Feng Sheng recommended you to me, saying that Fei Ju is proficient in martial arts, good at shooting, and has a basic knowledge of writing, so he can be a lieutenant.

"Although we haven't established the rank of colonel in our army, once you become a battalion commander, you are definitely a colonel. Do you want to be a colonel in charge of 900 men, or a lieutenant in charge of 200 men?"

Hua Yun and Tang He were both directly appointed by Lu Jin as trial captains. Unexpectedly, when it came to him, he was asked to make the selection.

Fei Ju thought about it and realized that it was a rare opportunity for him to be selected at this time. Since he could be selected, he would definitely choose a higher position. At worst, he would start from the trial position of a thousand households like Tang He. Thinking of this, he quickly knelt on one knee and bowed.

"General, I am willing to be a colonel, starting from a trial commander like the others. If I cannot train and fight as well as other commanders, I will be willing to be demoted to a lieutenant."

"Okay, there is no joking in the army. Since Feng Sheng personally recommended you, I will not test your martial arts. You should start from the trial of Qian Hu like them." Lu Jin patted his shoulder and helped him up. Fei Ju hurriedly bowed again and said, "Thank you for your appreciation, Marshal."

"Assign you to the 14th Regiment and train the soldiers well."

"Yes."

After arranging Fei Ju and Tang He, the organization of Yu Tongyuan's Seventh Regiment has now been supplemented by Tang He. Feng Sheng's Fourteenth Regiment has his old battalion, plus the new Hua Yun and Fei Ju. At this time, it is still short of a battalion officer of the combat battalion. The battalion officer of the auxiliary battalion is dispensable, and when there is a vacancy, the commander usually takes on the position concurrently.

Lu Jin thought about the list and whispered something to Feng Sheng, and then he chose Zhang He to be the battalion commander. Moreover, he was a genuine thousand-man battalion commander, not a trial thousand-man commander like Hua Yuntang.

After all, Zhang He came here from Sizhou with a few hundred soldiers. He brought capital with him. Although the capital was small, it was different from Tang He and the others.

Thus the organization of the 14th Regiment was completed, with Feng Sheng as the commander, Zhang He as the thousand-household battalion officer, and Hua Yun and Fei Ju as trial thousand-household officers. The four combat battalions were complete, and the auxiliary battalion was also led by Feng Sheng.

"Marshal, there are still a few people who haven't been checked. Now our Second Cavalry Regiment is also short of people, why not pick a few more."

The officers of the 14th Regiment had just been appointed when Zheng Yong, who was following behind him, reminded them.

Now the cavalry regiment lacks experienced cavalry generals. Both cavalry regiments are not fully staffed. The Second Cavalry Regiment only has Zheng Yong, Zhang Huzi, and Qi Xiang. It is indeed short of a general.

The same was true for the 1st Cavalry Regiment. There were only Ye Sheng, Shen Ren, and Lu Qianhou. Lu Qianhou was Nomonhan, the son of the Mongol surrendered general Ai Yan, whose Chinese name was changed by Lu Jin. There were three cavalry generals in a regiment, but they were short of one general.

Since there are many talented people in Haozhou, we can indeed take the opportunity to select a few of them.

When Lu Jin heard what Zheng Yong said, he immediately laughed and said, "Just tell me, don't be picky, just tell me who you like."

"Hehehe, nothing can be hidden from the Marshal. Zhou Dexing in the army is very good at riding and shooting. I would like to recruit him as the captain of the second regiment." Zheng Yong replied immediately.

"But, if you still need anything, tell me and I will make it up for you."

"Uh." Zheng Yong didn't expect Lu Jin to agree so readily. Not only did he give it to the person, but he also wanted to give other things. He thought there must be a reason for it. Since the Marshal said he would make up for it, he said again immediately.

"General, our regiment is still short of armor. In a cavalry archery duel, armor and no armor are two different things. Infantry can still use chariots and shields, but cavalry cannot use shields. Without armor, casualties will be difficult to control, and the elite soldiers we have worked so hard to train will soon be depleted."

As soon as these words came out, the other generals present could not help but feel jealous. This is armor, which regiment does not lack it? You lack cavalry, and so do we, but Lu Jin said happily.

"Okay, I'll try my best to make it up to you." After Lu Jin finished speaking, he looked at Feng Sheng and said again.

"Feng Sheng, take off all your armor and give it to the Second Cavalry Regiment first. When you return to Dingyuan, I will give you brand new armor, the kind of cloth armor that Shen Ren wears. Luzhou is working on it day by day, and it will be available soon."

As soon as Lu Jin finished speaking, everyone hurriedly looked at the white split cloth cavalry armor on Shen Ren. They had already noticed the unique armor and thought that Lu Jin had seized it from somewhere, but it turned out to be produced in Luzhou itself.

Everyone became excited at the thought of being able to produce their own armor.

Although Feng Sheng was somewhat reluctant, since Lu Jin had promised to provide him with reinforcements when they arrived in Dingyuan, he had no choice but to agree and immediately ordered his men to take off their armor.

Zheng Yong was stunned. He didn't expect that Lu Jin would let the other regiments take off their armor for him. He immediately guessed a possibility.

"Marshal, does our Second Cavalry Regiment have a mission?"

"Of course, otherwise why would I repair your armor? If there is no urgent military situation, the worst that can happen is that you have to wait for a few months and I will give you a new one." Lu Jin immediately affirmed.

Zheng Yong thought to himself that it was indeed so, but since there were so many people around and it involved military secrets, he didn't ask any more questions.

After adding Zhou Dexing to the Second Cavalry Regiment, Lu Jin discussed with Shen Ren who came with him to protect him, and then recruited Zhang Long. Zhang Long was good at using the lance and could ride a horse, which was quite suitable for Ye Sheng's lance cavalry combat style. Since the Second Regiment had already had generals, he might as well add the First Regiment as well.

However, Zhang Long and Zhou Dexing had neither soldiers nor military achievements, so they could only start as trial thousand households.

After arranging the officer organization of the 7th and 14th Regiments and filling the vacancies in the two cavalry regiments, Lu Jin went to the new army to select his own men.

He had to train a large number of artillerymen. These artillerymen had to be young and good at learning. Their martial arts skills did not need to be very good, because the artillerymen were all heavily protected by other arms and rarely had the chance to face the enemy directly.

In addition, he had seen some familiar names in the roster before and wondered why Feng Sheng did not recommend these people.

"Who is this Tang Shengzong?" Lu Jin asked, pointing at a name.

Feng Sheng thought about it and asked Hua Yun again. Hua Yun immediately pointed at a young man of about seventeen or eighteen. Lu Jin immediately walked over and asked.

"Are you Tang Shengzong?"

The young man in front of him was a little overwhelmed, but seeing so many generals following Lu Jin, he knew that this man was the commander-in-chief of the entire army, and immediately said, "Reply to the commander-in-chief, it is me."

"How old are you?"

"17!"

"Maybe you can read?"

"I can recognize the characters, but my handwriting is ugly."

"Hahahaha." As soon as these words were spoken, everyone around burst into laughter.

Lu Jin still said seriously, "What about arithmetic? Are you proficient in it?"

Tang Shengzong didn't know why Lu Jin asked this. It sounded like he was selecting scholars rather than generals. However, he could only answer honestly.

"Replying to the commander, I don't claim to be proficient, but I can make calculations."

"Okay, step out of the line, follow the captain in white armor, and follow me to the Imperial Guards in the future."

Tang Shengzong was stunned, and immediately raised his head and shouted, "Yes!"

Lu Jin ignored him and continued to inspect the army, but the other people around Tang Shengzong straightened their backs when they heard what he said. Although Lu Jin had not been given any official position, that was the Imperial Guard, which sounded like it should be stronger than other armies. This was a good opportunity to rise to prominence.

However, no matter how straight they stood, Lu Jin would not even look at them and would only target the teenagers.

Not long after, Lu Jin found another Lu Zhongheng, who was one year younger than Tang Shengzong and was only 16 years old. Even if he could not be an artilleryman, he could command line muskets after some training.

After that, he picked 17-year-old Guo Ying, but this boy also had a 22-year-old brother, Guo Xing, who was also taken away by Lu Jin. A regimental unit did not need so many powerful generals, so Lu Jin naturally kept these people in his hands.

In addition, there were the brothers Zheng Yulin and Zheng Yuchun, one aged 19 and the other 20, and even Xie Cheng, who was only 13 years old, who were also taken away by Lu Jin.

Finally, he came in front of the man. Lu Jin looked at the iron sword hanging on his waist and asked curiously.

"Are you Xu Da?"

(End of this chapter)