Chinese New Year

Chapter 3 Pan Garden (Additional chapter for leader Nelson)

After the Double Ninth Festival, the weather turns cooler.

The military system states: Each team consists of fifty people, with one team leader. Ten teams are led by a general and one flag bearer.

A chuang is a kind of flag. Ten teams of five hundred soldiers each get one chuang flag, so these five hundred people are commonly known as "one chuang". The general who commands a chuang is also called "chuang master".

The owner of the building is not a high-ranking official.

Senior generals are basically monopolized by aristocratic families, and middle-level generals are mostly children of high-ranking families. A few outstanding generals from the lower classes may be able to be among them through their own efforts and a bit of luck.

As for the first level of the banner, if it is not a private army but an army regulated by the imperial court, there are fewer children of noble families and most of them are ordinary people.

But ordinary people are also divided into different levels. If nothing unexpected happens, most of the owners of the buildings are private plots of local tyrants in the countryside. The reason is very simple. Their network of relationships is well-developed, and their children have better martial arts education resources. Their starting points are different, and their competitiveness is naturally very strong.

The candidate for the new leader was finally determined, and it was Mi Huang, the protector of Sikong Mansion.

According to Shao Xun's observation, Mi Huang had limited abilities and was not a very suitable candidate for the owner of the building.

This can be seen from daily training. All the content is read out mechanically. He has no military experience at all and is not familiar with the basic situation of the entire building, let alone targeted training.

Sima Yue had too few available men. He was also suspicious and unwilling to hand over the army to outsiders. He only wanted to tap the potential within the East Sea country, and eventually it became like this.

After ten days, more than ten of the old men died from training, and Mi Huang finally realized that something was wrong.

He organized the young and strong men into three separate teams as the "elite" of the building.

The elderly and children were also organized into separate teams, and the prime minister was asked to select guards to serve as officers at all levels. In such a situation, Shao Xun and several of his trusted sergeants were actually promoted to the positions of team leader and squad leader, even though they were only leading a group of children.

On September 15th, a long procession was marching eastward along the dilapidated post road.

Along the way, the autumn wind was blowing and the sky was high and the clouds were light.

Shao Xun carefully watched the soldiers in the team. The youngest was seven or eight years old, and the oldest was sixteen or seventeen years old. Each of them had a face full of curiosity and fatigue.

It may not be a good thing to change from a guard of Sikong Mansion to a "child leader". But dialectically speaking, everything has its pros and cons. If there is an opportunity to manage it - this is very important - a bad thing can be turned into a good thing.

It depends on whether God gives him this opportunity.

"...Wang Bao was wronged. Although he was killed, the King of Qi and the King of Changsha are probably at odds with each other."

"Disaster is not far away... I just don't know which side the lord will choose."

Two riders came riding side by side, and intermittent sounds reached my ears.

Shao Xun ordered his soldiers to maintain formation while listening attentively.

Wang Bao was very famous in Luoyang. He was the chief clerk of Sima Jiong, the Grand Marshal and King of Qi. How could he be killed?
The sound of horse hooves gradually approached, and it was the military advisor Dai Yuan and the left military commander Liu Qia.

"I heard that before Wang Bao died, he shouted that his head would be hung at the Grand Sima Gate. He wanted to watch the foreign army attack the Prince of Qi's palace."

"In fact, Wang Bao is a man of talent and learning, and the strategies he proposed are quite feasible, but the King of Qi is too stupid."

"This is a good thing. If we really follow Wang Bao's proposal and the other kings leave the capital, Luoyang will be completely controlled by the King of Qi."

"The King of Qi hasn't said anything yet, but the Lord is a little scared and doesn't dare to leave his followers in the capital."

"Where is the King of Changsha?"

"It is said that more than a hundred followers were left behind, and the rest were all sent out of the city."

"He is indeed strong in that area. However, using a royal leopard to get the kings' followers and warriors to leave the capital is not a loss."

"Wang Bao is a man of great talent. The King of Qi's behavior may discourage scholars."

"Who cares? Spend more time on it these days. Most of the people in the Qi Palace have left, so it's a good opportunity to recruit them. Wang Chengzi Ziqi, born in Taiyuan, is a well-known young man. Danyang Jizhan, one of the five talented people in Jiangdong..."

The sound faded away.

Shao Xun looked at their backs in silence.

Turning around to look at the people in my own team and the neighboring team, almost no one was interested.

This is the Western Jin Dynasty!

There is a reason why the aristocratic families monopolize all kinds of resources. It is not only because of power and connections, but more importantly, they have knowledge.

Dai Yuan and Liu Qia dared to discuss such sensitive matters on the road. To put it bluntly, they did not treat these soldiers as human beings.
Almost everyone is illiterate, ignorant, slow-witted, has no experience, cannot think effectively, and has only a superficial understanding of the general situation in the world. Even if you tell him a confidential matter in person, he cannot analyze it well.

In this day and age, who else can you use if not the talents of the aristocratic families? The team continued to move forward and arrived at a semi-abandoned farm before nightfall.

The manor was overgrown with weeds and infested with foxes and rats, and it looked very desolate.

"This is Pan Garden, which originally belonged to Pan Yue, the Imperial Court Minister." Team leader Wu Qian looked for something in the courtyard with his eyes shining. After a moment, he showed his disappointment and cursed in frustration, "Those bastards who confiscated the property didn't leave anything behind. They took everything away."

Shao Xun looked at him with amusement. He always thought that Old Man Wu had a bad name. Doesn't Wu Qian mean "no money"? No wonder he always looked so sad, as if everyone owed him a few hundred dollars.

After listening to what Old Wu said, he roughly understood the origin of Pan Yuan.

Two years ago, King Sima Lun of Zhao captured and killed Pan Yue, exterminated his three clans, and confiscated his property, including the Pan family residence and garden in Luoyang city and the farm outside the city.

The officials who confiscated your property were all veterans, so how could they leave any treasures behind for you?
"Wu Qian, if you have the guts, you can go and rob people, and you will be rich and worry-free." The team leader Yang Bao passed by, laughed twice, and walked past with a proud look on his face.

Behind him followed fifty soldiers, most of whom were strong and muscular, holding spears and swords, looking quite serious.

Shao Xun glanced at him with a smile on his face.

Yang Bao caught his gaze sharply and shuddered subconsciously. Then he thought of the soldiers behind him, and with great courage, he glanced at Shao Xun provocatively and left.

Mi Huang divided the entire army into ten teams. Teams one, two and three were mostly composed of children and teenagers, and Shao Xun was the leader of the first team; teams four, five, six and seven were mostly composed of elderly people, and Wu Qian was the leader of the fourth team, who was fifty years old this year; teams eighty, nine and ten were for the elite and strong, and Yang Bao was the leader of the eighth team.

"Yang Bao deserves a beating. If Mr. Shao beats him a few more times, he will behave himself." Wu Qian grinned with his toothless mouth.

"Private fighting is prohibited in the army." Shao Xun replied.

"Captain Shao, you are being too polite." Wu Qian said dissatisfiedly, "Last month, under the big locust tree, you beat Yang Bao and Qin San alone and knocked them down. Yang Bao was fine, but Qin San knelt down and begged for mercy, right?"

Shao Xun was stunned. He didn't expect the news to spread so quickly.

But this is not a big deal.

Before they were conscripted, they were all peasant soldiers. With his current martial arts skills, it would be easy for him to defeat Yang Bao and Qin San. In addition, although military law strictly prohibits private fighting, to be honest, this kind of thing has happened less and less. It would be strange if a group of grown men got together for years and months without fighting.

"You beat me well, sir." Wu Qian said with a smile, "You will have a better chance of being promoted to an officer in the future. Don't forget to take good care of me then."

"Why dwell on something that doesn't exist?" Shao Xun said, shaking his head.

"Ah, you can't say that." Wu Qian said, "No one from aristocratic family would be willing to be a low-level military general. You don't need to know any military tactics, just one thing: you have to be brave and have outstanding martial arts. Among us, there are only a few who have a chance. My dear, you should beat up Yang Bao and the others more often and make a name for yourself in the army. When the governor is appointed in the future, you will be the first one considered by the superiors."

Shao Xun did not comment.

In fact, who doesn't want to be promoted? This is a world with clear classes. With each higher level, you enjoy more resources. Not to mention that this is a chaotic world, the fate of the bottom soldiers is cannon fodder. Although low-level officers are also cannon fodder, what if they continue to climb up? Climbing to the ceiling of the building owner, life security will be much better.

"But..." Wu Qian looked around, quietly moved closer, and whispered, "I heard that Yang Bao is a relative of Sima Liu, and he might use some shady tactics. Shao Langjun should be more cautious."

"Liu Qia?" Shao Xun frowned and asked puzzledly.

"It's Liu Qia." Wu Qian nodded heavily and said.

"How could a military household marry an outsider? Is there a mistake?" Shao Xun asked doubtfully.

Soldiers have been passed down from generation to generation, and they are the so-called children of military strategists.

They can only marry within their own family and cannot marry outside.

In fact, it is not just the Shibing people. The whole society has this situation to a certain extent, namely the so-called "endogamy", which means marrying only people of equal status.

The treatment of military households was very poor. In peacetime, they had to farm and contribute most of their income to the court. In wartime, they had to fight, and their lives were uncertain. Therefore, many people were unwilling to be soldiers, and the daughters of military families also wanted to marry out to get their descendants out of the military household status.

During the reign of Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin, many women from military families married out to ordinary civilians because of the loose control. When the court heard about it, it ordered a rectification, taking these women away from their husbands and giving them to hereditary soldiers as wives, which caused the largest official bull-headed behavior in the history of the Western Jin Dynasty.

This shows how strict the laws are.

"There are always exceptions." Wu Qian smiled, but the smile looked a little bitter, and it was unknown what he was thinking about.

Shao Xun patted his shoulder and sighed.

The "caste system" of the Jin Dynasty is good and wonderful.

If I don't smash this shit to pieces, won't I only be able to marry a girl from a military family?
He recalled the military women he had met before and felt even more speechless.

"With your physique, martial arts and knowledge, it would be a pity if you didn't become a governor." Wu Qian muttered and walked away quickly.

(End of this chapter)