Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 31 Follow the Rules

The sun slowly sank into the western horizon, leaving a circular radiating halo in the sky. The trackers who stayed behind had already eaten their fill and were sitting in their respective places to rest.

Zhou Shixian and Chen Fu personally led their soldiers, and with the assistance of the leader of each team of trackers, they selected a squad leader for every five young and strong men, and a captain for every two squads. Then they temporarily appointed each tracker leader as a flag chief.

With such an appointment and organization, a new army of more than a thousand people consisting of 39 flag chiefs also had a framework. However, the team was short of weapons and equipment. Only the flag chiefs and team leaders were issued swords and guns, and the others were armed with sticks.

Zhu Cilang planned to let Chang Denggui lead his twenty cavalrymen to train their marching formations. As long as they could form the simplest square formation and understand the simplest military calls when they arrived in Xuzhou, it would be enough.

As for the punishment of the new army, they directly adopted the collective responsibility system. Once one person was found to have escaped, the corresponding sergeant, captain and flag general would all be punished.

The degree of punishment was determined by the number of people who escaped. Deducting monthly wages and beating with military sticks were the most basic. As long as more than three people in a team escaped, the squad leader, team leader, and flag commander would be beheaded directly, and the relevant family members would also be implicated.

Of course, the other side of the punishment is the reward. If a tracker from another team recaptures a runaway tracker, they will directly receive the other team's monthly salary and be credited with a merit.

These teams, which already have extremely strong organization, are actually not difficult to manage, but precisely because of this, in order to completely control such a team, some means are needed.

Therefore, it is not just a matter of military discipline in the team, but also the supply of food and fodder requires careful management.

After the troops set out tomorrow, food and fodder will still be transported and kept by canal ships escorted by soldiers. Rations will be collected once a day at the dock, and Li Banghua will personally lead people to supervise. Any withholding is strictly prohibited. Once discovered, regardless of the amount, the person will be killed on the spot.

Drinking the blood of soldiers and drawing empty salaries have always been chronic diseases of the Ming army at this time, and are also one of the most important reasons for the soldiers' weak combat effectiveness. Zhu Cilang must take the most severe measures to give warnings at the beginning to minimize the occurrence of related situations.

He has now made the rules clear, and if anyone still knowingly breaks them, he will definitely not show mercy.

As for the team of trackers who had just chosen to leave, Zhu Cilang directly ordered Zhou Shixian to take people to drive them all away on the grounds of court secrets.

However, after the inspection just now, Zhou Shixian seemed to have softened his heart. After hesitating for a while, he still bowed to Zhu Cilang and asked:
"Your Highness, three boat track leaders just came here. They knelt on the ground and begged me to give them another chance. They don't need monthly salary, as long as they can have food to eat."

"Do you agree?" Zhu Cilang asked calmly. After his eyes swept over Li Banghua who was standing respectfully in front of him, they finally settled on Zhou Shixian, with an awe-inspiring look.

Li Banghua immediately bowed his head upon seeing this. Zhou Shixian had originally mustered up a lot of courage to speak of this matter, but now that he was asked that question, he immediately knelt on one knee and said in panic:

"I dare not. I just feel sorry for them, especially since there are so many women and children in the team."

"Shixian, do you know what I rely on the most when I go south this time?" Zhu Cilang raised his eyebrows slightly and asked softly, but the tone still made Zhou Shixian a little nervous.

"Your Highness is the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, possessing the spirit of a heroic ruler. On his journey south, he orchestrated strategic plans, clearly dispensing rewards and punishments, and the soldiers were all convinced!"

"You are right on two points. First, I am the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty; second, rewards and punishments must be clearly defined!" Zhu Cilang nodded after hearing this, and then asked:
"So, what do you mean by clear rewards and punishments?"

Zhou Shixian knelt on the ground, without regretting his impulsiveness. He thought quickly and said:

"Your Highness, I think it is, it is, it is the rule. Only with rules can rewards and punishments be clearly distinguished. Your Highness represents the dignity of the Ming Dynasty, and that is why tens of millions of soldiers have sworn allegiance to you until death."

"You're half right this time!" Zhu Cilang smiled. He was quite satisfied with Zhou Shixian's performance. Zhou Shixian always had a strong understanding of these things about etiquette and rules. He was a talented person with great potential.

"I can indeed represent the Ming Dynasty, but whether I can convince millions of soldiers to swear allegiance to me depends on whether they believe I can represent the Ming Dynasty and whether my words are as good as gold!"

When Zhou Shixian heard this, he immediately understood what it meant and said, "I understand. I will definitely follow the rules!"

"That's right. As long as you don't break the rules, you can do whatever you want. But if you do, I will not let you off lightly!"

Zhu Cilang said this lightly, then waved his hand, letting Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian leave:
"Go and call all the boat track leaders here. They are now soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. I want to meet them."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian ordered, bowing and exiting Zhu Cilang's room. They walked out onto the deck. Zhou Shixian, breathing heavily, took a moment to catch his breath. He looked up at the three boatmen still waiting for his news on the shore and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. He truly felt sorry for those children.

When Li Banghua just left, he had a smile on his face. Seeing Zhou Shixian like this, he couldn't help but ask with a smile:

"Prince Consort, what are you doing?"

Zhou Shixian was surprised to see Li Banghua still laughing. He frowned and asked, "Mr. Meng, there are so many poor people there, how can you still laugh?"

Li Banghua has always loved his people like his own children. How could he not be sad at all when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so cruel?
"What did Your Highness just say?" Li Banghua saw that Zhou Shixian hadn't reacted yet, so he shook his fingers and said:

"As long as it doesn't break the rules, then there's no problem. If we don't collect taxes here in Linqing, what about Dongchang Prefecture? What about Jining Prefecture?"

"Ah? Ah! Ah" Zhou Shixian suddenly understood and was so excited that he didn't know what to say for a while and babbled for a long time.

It seems that His Highness is still kind and magnanimous, but His Highness is His Highness, his words are law, and his kindness should not be abused!
After realizing the meaning of Zhu Cilang's words, Zhou Shixian immediately got off the boat and came to the shore. He told the three boatmen leaders who had changed their minds to borrow one day's food if they were short of food. Then he took his men and rushed to Dongchang Prefecture overnight to wait for the fleet there.

The three boat track leaders also knew that they had missed the opportunity, and did not dare to complain about it. They even knelt on the ground to thank Zhou Shixian for giving them the chance.

However, Linqing City was over a hundred miles from Dongchang Prefecture City, and without food, it would be very difficult to reach it in one day and one night. The person who had walked the least among them had already walked for almost three days without enough food.

But this was the price they had to pay for making the wrong choice. If Zhu Cilang had not done this, the other boat trackers' leaders would have seen it and probably thought that the imperial envoy's words were no longer valid.

This is the combination of kindness and severity!
After Zhou Shixian dealt with the management issues of the trackers, he immediately ordered the soldiers to beat the big drums on the shore, and then divided all the tracker leaders who had been summoned into three groups, and asked them to take turns to go on board to receive an audience with the Crown Prince Zhu Cilang.

Before the formal conscription, Zhu Cilang naturally couldn't let them know his identity. But now, these were his troops, and if he didn't meet them and reveal his identity, his prestige in their hearts would be affected.

The Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty was high and mighty, and the boat trackers' leaders, whose knowledge was not as good as Lin Yongan's, were all horrified and fell to their knees after hearing what he said.

Zhu Cilang, guarded by a group of fully armed, dignified and disciplined soldiers, stood alone and asked the people kneeling on the ground one by one to understand their basic situation.

Soon, he had a clear understanding of the background of these tracker leaders. Half of them were from Hejian Prefecture and Zhending Prefecture, and the other half were from Dongchang Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, Daming Prefecture, and Jinan Prefecture. Basically, they all had wives and children.

If he only recruited thirty or forty of them, Zhu Cilang might need to carefully consider the regional issue and separate them from his subordinates to avoid management difficulties.

But he now has his own troops to suppress them, and the thirty-nine teams of trackers, with thousands of people, can form small groups based on their regions, and then let them manage themselves and check and balance each other, which will be beneficial.

Of course, it is quite necessary to select the elite among them to train them into an army, and at the same time send one person from each flag to supervise them.

Although these boat track leaders all look honest in front of Zhu Cilang, this is a matter of life and death for both sides. Zhu Cilang will not easily believe that they can sacrifice their lives to fight.

He summoned these people, on the one hand to let them know that he was the one who really had the final say in the entire fleet, and on the other hand to formally inform them that their families would be "placed" on the ship and would not be released until they arrived in Xuzhou.

When this order came down, although some people were very resistant in their hearts, they actually knew that in front of the crown prince, they had no choice but to obey orders, otherwise they would die.

The Crown Prince wanted to extract elite troops from their ranks and equip and train them, so it was obvious that he didn't intend to harm them. Otherwise, those people would probably strike back first.

After Zhu Cilang personally handled these matters, he handed the remaining matters over to Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian. According to his plan, the fleet would set off again south at noon tomorrow.

At the same time, he also asked Chen Fu to send Ye Bushu in advance, ride south at full speed, and then disguise himself and enter Xuzhou City to gather information.

(End of this chapter)