I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 287: Yuan Zijia, Loving Soldiers Like Sons

This selection is very important.

It is necessary to be able to control Luoyang’s military power, but at the same time, not allow the armed forces belonging to the Yi Xin Hui Group to be usurped by others.

But currently, there is no such person in the Isshinkai system.

So Yuan Shu decided to set his sights on Dong Xuan, letting him take on this responsibility and help Yuan Shu maintain this hard-earned military power.

His grandson Xiao Dong is currently in the Yi Xin Hui system. He is also an old man worthy of Yuan Shu's trust, but because he is not a member of the Yi Xin Hui himself, he needs someone to represent the Yi Xin Hui to help and supervise him.

And Yuan Shu decided to let Shao Yuan take responsibility for this person.

As the second-in-command of the Yi Xin Hui's security department, Shao Yuan had followed Yuan Shu on many expeditions and had certain military experience. He was also a veteran within the Yi Xin Hui and one of the Thirteen Guardians. He was very suitable in all aspects.

Although he does look a bit like a big fool, he is still a cultured person after all.

Yuan Shu planned to arrange him to replace Lu Zhi's position, assume the responsibilities of the city gate captain, take control of the Luoyang city defense forces, and unite with Dong Xuan in the palace to coordinate internal and external forces to ensure Yuan Shu's presence in Luoyang City.

As for Fan Li in the Northern Army, Yuan Shu planned to arrange him and Lu Zhi to the newly established army to become his important assistants. As for the vacancies in the Northern Army, Yuan Shu had other arrangements.

After some discussion, the basic rules for this personnel change were decided.

The next day, Yuan Shu and Lu Zhi rode non-stop to the camp of the Sanhe recruits outside Luoyang City with a large amount of property to fulfill his promise. He gave the life-saving money promised to the Sanhe recruits to them. Everyone got a share, and he distributed it in person, without missing a single one.

The recruits in Sanhe were delighted and cheered loudly. Everyone felt that Yuan Shu was really a good leader who did what he said and was honest. He was also caring and generous!

Originally, this group of soldiers thought that Yuan Shu would not give them too much money and property. They would probably just give them some symbolic copper coins, silk cloth, food and the like to get away with it. After all, they did receive a lot of rewards from the court, and many of them were quite satisfied with their income this time.

But who would have thought that Yuan Shu actually paid out of his own pocket to give everyone a big gift, and actually spent a lot of money!
Each of them received not only five coins, but also silver, silk cloth, and of course food. The rewards were very generous and the trip was completely worthwhile.

Yuan Shu even specially brought a truckload of small bottles of wine to distribute to the soldiers or officers who had made great contributions on the battlefield, so that they could also taste what the precious wine tasted like.

This series of operations made the Sanhe recruiters happy, surprised, and a little touched.

Apart from other things, they have indeed seen generals who were generous in caring for their soldiers, and were willing to distribute all the rewards they received to their subordinates. For example, Duan Xing, the commander-in-chief of this campaign, was one of them.

However, there is a very important premise for these generals to be generous and caring to their soldiers.

That is, this group of soldiers are his trusted subordinates and have a very close relationship with him. It is not simply a pure command relationship between superiors and subordinates, but there is also a layer of personal dependence involved.

For example, these soldiers are family soldiers or private soldiers recruited by the general himself. Even if the general is no longer a general and leaves the army, these soldiers will follow the general. Only in this way can they gain the general's love and generosity.

Because these soldiers will use their lives to defend the interests of their generals.

But at best they were just mercenaries of the imperial court. The imperial court paid them to fight, and they fought for the imperial court for money. There was no personal affiliation between them, it was just a pure monetary transaction.

However, despite this relationship, Yuan Shu still took great care of them.

On the battlefield, Yuan Shu gave them everything they should have, and did not let them go hungry. When they were injured, he even tried his best to arrange doctors to treat them, provided them with sufficient medicinal materials, and personally brought people to visit the wounded. He treated the wounded equally and did not ignore their lives just because they were mercenaries. The rewards he promised to give them were also very generous. To be honest, this was the first time they had seen such a moral officer, and they couldn't help but sigh.

Moreover, Yuan Shu not only brought a large amount of rewards and property to these Sanhe recruits, he also personally participated in the distribution and personally monitored the distribution of these properties to prevent some people from bullying others and robbing others of their property.

The work was not completed until all the property had been distributed and all the soldiers had received what they were entitled to.

Looking at their happy expressions, Yuan Shu finally felt relieved.

Lu Zhi was also quite emotional about this.

"They are really lucky! They met a man like you who keeps his word. If it were someone else, they would definitely try to be timid about the reward and only think about giving as little as possible. How could they possibly give as much as you said?"

Yuan Shu laughed.

“Breaking a promise may seem like a win for a while, but in the long run it is a huge loss. Breaking a promise once may not be able to make it back even if you keep it a thousand times. Once you lose your reputation, it is very difficult to get it back.

What's more, we will have to recruit soldiers later, and we will have to recruit some smart and capable people from these people. If we establish a positive image now, it will be easier to recruit soldiers later."

Lu Zhi nodded in agreement.

It was another busy whole day. It was not until dusk that Yuan Shu could finally take a break. However, his work for the day was not yet completed. He still had to continue discussing the construction of the army with his subordinates at the Yi Xin Hui headquarters.

This is what he is most concerned about at the moment.

Yuan Shu planned to recruit 10,000 soldiers, mainly from Yixin Society members and farmers in Maoling Liangzhuang and Luoyang Liangzhuang, using these 10,000 soldiers as the foundation, and then recruit 20,000 troops from Sanhe and Sanfu to form a field army of 30,000 people.

As for the main components of this army, Yuan Shu planned to have 5,000 cavalry, 5,000 archers and 20,000 infantry. As for whether to further expand the army after arriving in Bingzhou, that would depend on the situation. At present, being able to fit this 30,000-strong army into the court's organizational sequence is already a great victory.

Moreover, as the saying goes, one who does not manage household expenses does not know how expensive firewood and rice are. Although Yuan Shu had some experience in managing economic work before, the Yi Xin Hui organization was different from a pure army.

This organization also includes a production unit like a farm. Under the situation of self-production and self-sales, there is both income and expenditure. It is not difficult to maintain a balance between expenditure and income.

But the military is different.

The army is a full-time unit. If you want to train an elite field corps, you must invest heavily in large-scale training.

It is basically impossible to expect to cultivate land and carry out military operations at the same time without falling behind on either side.

For now, even if this army of 30,000 people could be organized by the court and provided with food and wages by the court, after arriving in Bingzhou, if soldiers need to be recruited to expand the army according to actual conditions, Yuan Shu would have to bear all the expenses of the additional troops.

It is impossible for the imperial court to bear the expenses for the additional troops, so the economic account must be carefully calculated. If this account is not calculated well, there will be no way to lead the troops to fight.

So starting from that night, Yuan Shu gathered his subordinates and began to calculate the economic accounts. Based on the number of 20,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 5,000 archers, he calculated how much supplies this army would consume.

(End of this chapter)