Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 109 Song Yan, save me quickly (1)

Upon seeing those dozens of figures, Linghu Rui's heart skipped a beat. He had thought that Song Yan had made his move so quickly, but upon closer inspection, he felt that this was not the case.

Those people were all dressed in coarse linen clothes, which must have been unwashed for a long time. The grime had clumped together on their clothes, forming hard, matted patches. They also had rings of black mud on their necks, and their hair was a mess, like a bird's nest.

Even from a distance, Linghu Rui could smell the stench emanating from these people.

Damn, how long has it been since I last took a shower?
Linghu Rui was somewhat disgusted. Judging from their appearance, they shouldn't be thugs arranged by Song Yan, so there was nothing to be afraid of: "Where did this peasant come from? Get out of here! How dare you block my way? Do you know who we are?"

"We are all students of Xilin Academy. How many heads do you have to stop us?"

These words were incredibly arrogant.

Linghu Rui wasn't stupid; he was probably just used to it. After all, Xilin Academy was quite famous in Ningguo.

In Ningguo, the first academy should be the Bailu Academy, which is far away in Dongling.

Nowadays, dozens of officials who have graduated from Bailu Academy are able to hold important positions in the imperial court, and they have already become a force to be reckoned with.

The second academy was Xilin Academy.

Bailu Academy follows an elite route, and in the vast Ningguo, only Dongling Academy is an exception.

Xilin Academy, on the other hand, took the opposite approach, casting a wide net to catch as many fish as possible. Almost every prefecture in Ningguo had a Xilin Academy, and with so many students, some promising talents were bound to emerge.

Perhaps it cannot compare to Bailu Academy in terms of high-ranking officials, but Xilin Academy is a dime a dozen among lower-level officials.

Publicly criticizing Song Yan like today is nothing to Luo Yuheng. Sometimes, due to academic disputes, he would beat up students from other academies. Because of the protection of his senior brothers, nothing would happen to him. As a result, he gradually developed an arrogant attitude.

Adding to his anger after being humiliated by Song Yan earlier that day, and given the already high status of scholars in Ningguo, Linghu Rui's attitude was already considered good. A fat head popped out from a carriage in front and spat directly at the group, saying, "Get lost!"

"Do you know that four of the county magistrates under the jurisdiction of Songzhou Prefecture are our senior brothers? Be careful, or we might arrest you and hang you up for a beating?"

These words seemed to have violated some taboo, and the eyelids of the leading refugee suddenly twitched, and his eyes turned fierce.

A hand stealthily reached behind him.

As the setting sun shone, a cold glint caught my eye—a sharp, curved blade.

The next instant, the refugee suddenly raised his arm and brought his knife down.

puff.

A spurt of blood gushed from the fat scholar's neck, and the thick stench of blood began to permeate the mountain forest.

A round head rolled away a long way.

In an instant, screams erupted from inside the carriage.

At this moment, they finally realized that they had not encountered any refugees, but... bandits.

The refugees only ask for money and food; they would never be so ruthless unless they were starving.

……

"Gentlemen, are you still able to lift a knife?"

The guerrilla general recruited three thousand soldiers.

Three thousand people doesn't sound like much. If it's just a casual matter to deal with, then it's easy to handle. Just offer them food and drink, and all sorts of refugees and ordinary people would probably be crammed in.

However, such soldiers were ineffective in combat and were not what Song Yan wanted.

Now that he has taken on the role of guerrilla general, Song Yan will naturally do his best.

Lei Yi, Lei Zhenghu, Gao Qiao, Ding Dashan, and Xue Qing—veteran soldiers who had seen bloodshed and retired from the border army—were undoubtedly the best choices. He understood the difference between soldiers who had seen blood and those who hadn't.

That's why, when Song Yan first discovered the identities of the five people, he had the idea of ​​recruiting them. Putting aside everything else, the fact that they had retreated from Liaodong was enough to ensure that Song Yan wouldn't be completely clueless when he arrived in Liaodong.

Lei Yi and his group of five were clearly taken aback when Song Yan suddenly extended an olive branch.

Ding Dashan and Lei Zhenghu, two burly men, clearly showed some interest in each other.

Lei Yi, Xue Qing, and Gao Qiao all showed obvious hesitation in their eyes.

This is normal. After all, going to Liaodong not only means enduring the bitter cold, but also fighting against the Jurchen cavalry, a job that could cost them their lives at any moment. Even though they admired Song Yan, they still had to consider it carefully.

Song Yan also knew that if he wanted to recruit people, he couldn't just rely on provocation; he also had to offer something that could truly move them.

"How are the soldiers' rations and pay for the border troops?" Song Yan asked again.

“Ordinary soldiers receive two taels of silver a month, and a bonus of one tael of silver at the end of the year, for a total of twenty-five taels.” After a moment’s hesitation, Lei Yi slowly replied, “However, we mostly don’t actually receive it; getting even a small fraction of it a year is extremely rare.”

Although Lei Yi was more cautious than others, he did not want to deceive Song Yan.

Twenty-five taels a year, three thousand people, that's seventy-five thousand taels.

Song Yan grinned. Even without considering weapons and armor, the 210,000 taels of silver he had on him would only last for three years, just from the military pay.

Only at this moment did Song Yan truly understand what it meant for a cannon to roar and gold to flow in.

He had originally thought that with 210,000 taels of silver, he would be a wealthy man, but now it seemed he was still a pauper. And this was only for 3,000 people; what if it were 30,000 or 300,000?
Song Yan couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement, but since he wasn't going to rebel, he didn't need 300,000 soldiers.

Of course, Song Yan also understood that two taels of silver per month was too much for a soldier's salary. This was certainly not because the officials above were kind and were increasing the soldiers' pay; it was mostly just a way to embezzle more money. After all, Lei Yi had said that the actual amount received at the end of the year was less than half, probably only ten taels of silver.

The extra money, plus the money spent by those who didn't actually work, could amount to a million taels of silver being swallowed up by the imperial court in a year just for the Liaodong border defense army.

Thinking this, Song Yan took a deep breath: "I will also give you two taels of silver every month. If you don't receive the money at any time, you can leave at any time."

"In addition, I will find a way to remove the wanted notices for you deserters, so that you can return to military households from being vagrants, or become commoners, and no longer have to hide from the police."

"Furthermore, I swear that those who killed General Dou and General Liang Youde, whether they were those Jurchen barbarians or that bastard Qian Yaozu, will pay the price."

From Lei Yi and the others' words, Song Yan could tell that these border soldiers held the two generals in high esteem. Sure enough, while they were tempted by both military pay and the prospect of being freed, their interest wasn't particularly strong. However, after Song Yan expressed his intention to avenge the two generals, the five men's eyes suddenly brightened.

Those bloodshot eyes were filled with madness.

They exchanged a glance, took a deep breath, and the next moment, they all knelt on one knee in the carriage: "We are at your service, Your Excellency."

Song Yan quickly helped the five people up and let out a long breath. He knew that he had finally taken the most important step in entering Xinhou County.

Of course, Song Yan's reputation for eliminating a large number of Japanese pirates should also play a significant role. If a civil official had been in charge, these five people would probably never have believed it.

After all five of them stood up, Lei Yi said to Song Yan, "I don't know who you are..."

"No need to call me esteemed person, just call me Song Yan..."

After thinking for a moment, Lei Yi changed his form of address: "I wonder what arrangements General Song has for us?"

Song Yan then sat down again and handed the box that Wei Liang had brought to Lei Yi. Inside was ten thousand gold coins.

"Go find a place to fill your stomachs and change your clothes first."

He then took out a bag of loose silver from his pocket and placed it on top of the box: "There must be quite a few people like you who were disbanded from the border army. Help me find these people. If they are willing to come to my side, the conditions will remain the same."

This is the fastest way to build a team.

Even if there aren't enough people, as long as these veterans are there to guide them, even newcomers can quickly take shape.

Lei Yi and his group of five got off the carriage at this moment. In Lei Yi's words, there were indeed quite a few of their batch of border soldiers still alive, but Qian Yaozu had canceled their military registration. They were originally military households, but once they lost their military registration, they became vagrants. Vagrants face many inconveniences, so most of them hid in the mountains and fields.

There's no need to worry about Lei Yi and the others running away with the money. For Song Yan, there's only a hundred or so taels of silver here, which is just a small amount. Even if they take it, it's just to help these veterans and do a good deed.

Song Yan didn't think he was a good person, but he always respected soldiers. Thinking back, if he hadn't been nearsighted in his previous life, he probably would have had the opportunity to become a soldier.

After Lei Yi and his group of five left, Song Yan was alone in the carriage, his eyes closed as he pondered how to make some money.

Tea? Liquor?
White sugar? Refined salt?
Soap, perfume?
Steel?

Thoughts popped into his mind, and finally Song Yan erased the last piece of iron.

In this era, private enterprises were allowed to operate salt and iron businesses, so it wouldn't be difficult for Luo Yuheng, with his status, to obtain a few certificates.

Salt is easy to deal with, but iron is different.

The ironware he forged using the knowledge in his mind would be of far superior quality to others. However, the quality of iron weapons represented the advantage his army had over foreign tribes and other countries in the Central Plains. If high-strength steel became rampant, this advantage would vanish.

Steel cannot be used indiscriminately until he devises a new, more powerful weapon.

As for what kind of troops these three thousand soldiers would be trained into, Song Yan already had a plan in mind.

Cavalry would be ideal, but there are no horses.

Excellent and strong horses are not only expensive, but also require specialized channels to obtain, making them quite difficult to acquire.

Therefore, Song Yan planned to train these three thousand men into heavy infantry.

Although heavily armored soldiers were still at a disadvantage against cavalry, they had some ability to fight back. At least the bows and scimitars commonly used by the Jurchens were like tickling the armor.

As for weapons, considering the need to deal with the Jurchen cavalry, the Mo Dao (陌刀) is naturally the most suitable... However, the Mo Dao weighs twenty or thirty kilograms, and the physical requirements for wielding it are too high. Ordinary soldiers simply cannot use it, which is quite a pity.

Thinking about this all the way, because we wanted to get back to Ningping as soon as possible, we took a side road. We thought it would save us about half an hour, but the carriage suddenly stopped.

Song Yan swayed, snapping out of her reverie. She sniffed the air and her brows furrowed immediately; a bloody smell filled the air.

He could even hear muffled groans and screams. The sounds sounded strangely familiar. Since his sister-in-law was in another car, he wasn't too worried, so Song Yan stuck his head out of the window.

With just a casual glance, he discovered a pile of corpses lying haphazardly on the path not far ahead, all dressed as scholars.

Their bodies seemed to have been pierced by some sharp weapon, and some were even more unlucky, their heads were cut off, and blood splattered all over the ground.

Two others were still alive, but their situation wasn't good either. Their white scholar robes were stained with patches of scarlet plum blossoms, and dozens of bandits surrounded them, each wielding a rusty machete.

One of them had already raised his machete high.

Just as the sword was about to fall, a scholar lying on the ground made eye contact with Song Yan. In an instant, his eyes suddenly brightened, as if he had grasped hope in a desperate situation. He screamed in a pitiful voice, "Song Yan, save me!"

(End of this chapter)