The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 107 Recruiting Soldiers

"Brother, it's no trouble at all. It's all for the sake of better defending the fortress," Jia Chen said with a smile.

Hearing Jia Chen say this, Ye Fandong secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Actually, he was also afraid that Jia Chen would have objections.

After all, since he had taken away too many of the fortified soldiers, Jia Chen would have to pay a heavy price to recruit new soldiers.

Speaking of which, the reason he thought of Qianshan Fort this time was to give Jia Chen a good deal, so that he could relax his grip on the issue of the Juqiang Fort's garrison.

It's actually a kind of exchange.

In his opinion, Jia Chen might have hesitated.

Especially the joint defense issue he mentioned.

Qianshanbao was originally a garrison under the jurisdiction of Zhenqiangbao, and in the future, all kinds of grain and supplies would naturally need to go through Zhenqiangbao.

Now that I've teamed up with Jia Chen, we can split this expense.

She reduced her own spending, while Jia Chen increased his.

"Brother, I will absolutely not mistreat the garrison at Qianshan Fort." Ye Fandong hesitated for a moment before adding, "However, the number will probably be... a bit less. The imperial standard is 300 men, so..."

Originally, the garrison at Qianshan Fort was set at 300 men, but Jia Chen now has nearly 500, which Ye Fandong finds somewhat unbearable.

"The extra people are on my paycheck," Jia Chen said with a smile.

Ye Fandong is quite generous; it's rare that he would contribute this part.

300 men could generally defend the front fort without any problem, but Jia Chen couldn't be careless; he had to ensure there were at least 400 men.

Even more.

Of course, the exact number of soldiers depends on how much money you have to support them.

Relying solely on the imperial court's grain supplies will certainly not be enough going forward.

They also have a fortified stronghold to defend, and there is a significant shortage of troops.

The rations and pay issued by the imperial court were all subject to deductions.

I can't cut back any further like others and reduce the actual number of soldiers.

That is being irresponsible for one's own safety.

"Brother, with your words, I guarantee that the provisions for 300 men will be fully supplied," Ye Fandong laughed heartily.

It wasn't that he was genuinely generous; he had already considered it in his mind.

Even if he provides enough food for 300 people, he will still make a profit.

Because there are cannons and firearms at Qianshanbao, and Jia Chen needs to provide them.

Most importantly, handing over Qianshan Fort to Jia Chen's jurisdiction would better guarantee its safety.

If he achieves any merit in the future, he, as the garrison commander of Zhenqiang Fort, will naturally receive a share.

Jia Chen's two great achievements made Ye Fandong extremely envious.

If he doesn't have the ability, then he can benefit from Jia Chen's influence. As long as he gets involved with Jia Chen, he will definitely get more credit than others in the future.

He had a lot of confidence in Jia Chen. He could tell from the fact that Jia Chen had elite troops and strong generals, which he was far inferior to.

Therefore, paying this amount of money is worthwhile.

If all else fails, you can always squeeze some out from other sources; there's always something to be made if you try.

Jia Chen did not refuse Ye Fandong's kind offer.

Maintaining an army is a bottomless pit; every penny saved is precious.

The two sides reached an agreement, which means their relationship has become closer.

Jia Chen readily agreed to Ye Fandong's request, promising to send him ten tiger-squatting cannons when he arrived at Zhenqiang Fort.

Ye Fandong didn't intend to take it for nothing; he said he would provide Jia Chen with a batch of pig iron and gunpowder, etc.

Apart from Jia Chen, almost no one else on Beidong Road used firearms.

In other words, when defending a city, gunpowder is needed to fire cannons.

So they still have some gunpowder in stock.

Iron and gunpowder are exactly what Jia Chen needs. Whether it's building cannons, three-eyed mortars, thunderbolts, landmines, or anything else, iron is essential.

The same goes for gunpowder.

Even if it's low-quality powdered gunpowder, at least we have it and can convert it into granular gunpowder.

Jia Chen's demand for gunpowder was still considerable.

Unfortunately, his access to iron and gunpowder was very limited.

However, with his promotion to garrison commander of the fortress and the granting of greater power, these matters will become much easier to handle in the future.

As expected, Liu Tianwang opposed the joint defense of the three cities, with Zhenqiang Fort and Juqiang Fort jointly governing Qianshan Fort.

Jia Chen and Ye Fandong were not surprised by this.

They could only report the matter to the General's Office.

With Chen Tai's mediation, the joint defense agreement was approved.

Nominally, Qianshan Fort was jointly managed by Juqiang Fort and Zhenqiang Fort, but Ye Fandong also kept his promise and was only responsible for the food and provisions of the three hundred people in Qianshan Fort, while the rest were handled by Jia Chen.

With the addition of another fortress, Jia Chen's burden naturally became heavier.

But I'm still willing.

Qianshan Fort was where he started his career. Although its geographical location was very prominent and considered very unsafe by everyone, as long as there were enough troops stationed there, he believed that the northern barbarians would not easily attack the city.

As long as Qianshan Fort remains intact, it will make the northern barbarians wary when they raid southwards.

The importance of this fortified village is self-evident.

Besides, Jia Chen also needs more people, people he has trained himself.

Below the fortified wall, there are many fortified mounds and watchtowers, but it is too difficult to renovate them, and it cannot be completed in a short time.

Since they are inside the Great Wall, there is no urgent need for renovations.

The fortified hill and the fortified wall are the key.

Most of the elite troops of Juqiangbao were taken away by Ye Fandong, as agreed upon, and Jia Chen did not object.

The situation at the fortified position still left Jia Chen speechless. The remaining guards numbered nominally five hundred, but in reality, there were only a little over a hundred, mostly the old, weak, sick, and disabled.

Even the so-called elite troops that Ye Fandong transferred away numbered only about three hundred.

Actually, there's some exaggeration in the numbers. If Jia Chen were to look at it, only 100 people would be acceptable, while the other 200 would just be considered the best of the worst.

Fortunately, Jia Chen brought two hundred men and a batch of tiger-squatting cannons from Qianshanbao, so the defense is not a big problem for the time being.

At this time of year, the northern barbarians can no longer move south.

However, when spring arrives, the northern barbarians may move south.

There are only a few months left, and time is still quite tight.

For Jia Chen, the first problem to solve was the issue of manpower.

Since he now has an extra fortress, he has virtually no soldiers available, which means he needs to recruit nearly a thousand men to meet the standards set by the imperial court.

The fortress was guarded by a thousand soldiers.

Of course, if it were other garrisons, recruiting half or five hundred men would be considered good. Some garrisons would have even fewer soldiers if they were just trying to collect salaries without actually working.

Jia Chen didn't want to do that. Even if he couldn't recruit a thousand people in a short time, he had to ensure that 80% of them were in place.

Moreover, it must be a matter of quality over quantity.

As for recruiting soldiers, Jia Chen still asked Wang Baisheng and other local soldiers to find their friends, relatives and neighbors.

There were seven or eight hundred people in front of Qianshan Fort. If each of them could recruit one person, they could almost complete the mission.

Of course, it's impossible for everyone to go out.

In short, Wang Baisheng and his team did not oppose this task at all; on the contrary, they were very enthusiastic about it.

"Sir, you can rest assured about this matter. A thousand men should be no problem," Wang Baisheng assured him, patting his chest before setting off.

The same applies to most others.

Two weeks later, the number of people who came to sign up was somewhat beyond Jia Chen's expectations.

There are more than 1,500 people in total.

Jia Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I was overthinking things before.

He led Wang Baisheng and his men in two battles against the Chahar tribe, achieving remarkable feats.

These stories naturally spread throughout Datong Town.

People like Wang Baisheng, who served under his command, were considered heroes when they returned to their villages, their status and position rising dramatically.

Many men who have been single for years are now being approached by matchmakers who practically wear out their doorsteps.

Because he treated his soldiers very well, word spread and quite a few people wanted to join Qianshan Fort.

However, at that time he was only the garrison commander of Qianshanbao, and it was impossible for him to recruit too many people, which disappointed many people.

Now that the opportunity has arisen, people will naturally be eager to sign up.

Wang Baisheng and his team are the best examples; they are living, breathing examples of success.

The people Wang Baisheng and his team recruited last time were especially enviable.

Because they were lucky, they all made great contributions, some were promoted, and even the worst off received silver rewards.

Those who didn't come last time are kicking themselves.

Of the 1,500 people, most were young and strong, though this is relative.

They are definitely far inferior to Wang Baisheng and his ilk.

The main problem is that these people are not getting enough to eat and have little energy. If they are well-fed and rested for a period of time, their physical fitness will naturally improve and their appearance will be completely renewed.

Of course, some of them were indeed not good enough, and after the final selection, Jia Chen kept 1,300 people.

The number of people was a bit too many, but he still kept them.

The extra 300 people will serve as reserves, but training and other procedures will be conducted together.

Considering how turbulent the world is, and how chaos might erupt at any moment, without sufficient strength, one cannot even protect oneself.

With the rise of the Later Jin dynasty, I must seize the time.

Fortunately, the shipment from the Sun family's caravan gave them some confidence, allowing them to take on so many people at once.

As for the others who were eliminated, Jia Chen did not send them back directly. He gave them the option to stay and do some logistics work, farming, and other tasks.

Most of them are willing to stay.

According to Jia Chen, if their physical condition improves and they pass the assessment, they can still officially join the ranks of combat soldiers.

As for the old, weak, sick, and disabled people who were originally stationed at Juqiang Fortress, Jia Chen also had them engage in farming and other similar activities in the rear, but they were no longer suitable for fighting and defending the city.

They were all pitiful people, but Jia Chen was still willing to give them a bite to eat, as long as they were hardworking.

Jia Chen had made up his mind: he would leave a thousand men at Juqiangbao, bringing the total garrison to one thousand two hundred.

Another 300 men went to Qianshanbao, while 600 troops were stationed there.

The next step is for the veterans to lead the new recruits in training and drills, and to make sure they remember the discipline they set.

He didn't want his army to eventually become a bandit army that burned, killed, and looted the people.

Such an army could turn on you at any time.

Although it was very difficult to get started, Jia Chen still strictly required everyone to do it.

Jia Chen now has enough prestige, and Wang Baisheng and others are gradually adapting. With the leadership coming from top to bottom, it should be a good start.

Liu Cheng was appointed as the garrison commander of Qianshanbao, and Ye Fandong naturally had no objection.

He handed over the matter of Qianshan Fort to Jia Chen, making it clear that he would not interfere.

Ding Heihu was Liu Cheng's deputy, Zhou Shitou was in charge of firearms, and Sun Tiechong was in charge of logistics.

Wang Baisheng, Zhao Zheng, Wu Jiangsheng, Huang Xiuer and the others followed Jia Chen to the Fortress.

For Jia Chen, Juqiangbao was, after all, a major fortified city and a key base for his future operations.