The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 126 Unrivaled Warrior

Seeing the old man's angry expression, Jia Chen could guess what he was thinking and quickly added, "In the army, there are only soldiers who fight to the death, regardless of gender!"

Xu Changshan hummed in agreement. He had been a little excited earlier and needed to calm down, so he took a moment to reflect.

I have to say, Jia Chen's words do make some sense.

Although there have been women in history who went to the battlefield and became generals, they were a minority, so he was inevitably a little surprised when he first saw them.

"That makes some sense," Xu Changshan sighed. "If there aren't enough men, we can recruit more. Sending women to the battlefield is ultimately not a good idea."

"Lord Xu, I don't want women to go to the battlefield either," Jia Chen sighed. "But sometimes it's unavoidable. Do you know what they've been through? I didn't want to say much about it, as it would reopen old wounds."

Jia Chen gave a general account of the experiences of Huang Xiuer and the other women, as well as why they joined the army and why they wanted to kill the northern barbarians.

After listening, Xu Changshan stood there for a long time without saying a word.

His gaze fell on Huang Xiuer and the other women, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

After a long while, Xu Changshan shook his head and sighed, "When the northern barbarians invaded the south, the men cowered in the city, terrified at the mere mention of their name; the women, on the other hand, took up arms and fought the enemy, their bravery surpassing that of the entire army. A man of seven feet tall is not a true man, while frail women outwit men with their bare hands. How tragic, how tragic!"

"Master Xu, that's not right. It's true that Huang Xiuer and the other women fought bravely against the enemy, but the other soldiers at the Fortress were just as brave. You can't condemn them all!" Jia Chen laughed.

These soldiers under his command were different from the other Great Hong Army; at least they dared to go into battle to kill the Northern barbarians, regardless of gender.

Upon hearing this, Xu Changshan paused for a moment, then said somewhat awkwardly, "Yes, yes, you, Jia Chen, are indeed different from the other Great Hong Army. I suppose you've killed so many Northern barbarians, and your men are all brave and skilled warriors. I misspoke just now."

"Master Xu, it's windy outside, you should stay in the carriage," Jia Chen advised when he saw Xu Changshan wanting to get off.

It was still very cold in Datong in early February.

"I'm going to check on your soldiers," Xu Changshan said.

He was already interested in Jia Chen's ability to kill so many northern barbarians, and now that he saw women in the army, his interest was even greater.

Jia Chen decided it was best not to try to persuade him any further.

"Sir, you're back!" Wang Baisheng and the others quickly walked over when they saw Jia Chen.

"Not bad, it seems you haven't been slacking off while I was away," Jia Chen said, glancing at everyone.

"Sir, who dares to slack off? Anyone who drags us down will be beaten to a pulp!" Wang Baisheng shouted.

Everyone laughed.

"How can you arbitrarily whip soldiers?" Xu Changshan said.

The laughter immediately stopped.

They had actually seen the little old man next to Jia Chen a long time ago, but they had never seen him before and didn't know who he was.

Now that he has spoken, they are momentarily at a loss for words.

"Lord Xu, it's not that I'm arbitrarily punishing soldiers. If they shirk their duties or violate military discipline, they will naturally be punished." In the end, Jia Chen explained with a smile, "They are soldiers, and their language may be a bit rough, but they don't actually do anything reckless."

"Yes, yes, yes, the sir has strict military discipline and clear rewards and punishments, we dare not violate it." Wang Baisheng nodded repeatedly.

"This is Master Xu, whom I invited," Jia Chen introduced Xu Changshan to everyone. "In the future, you will all learn to read and write under Master Xu's guidance."

"Huh?" Everyone's eyes widened.

At first, they were curious why Jia Chen had hired such a small old man, feeling as if a gust of wind could blow him away.

They were terrified to find that a schoolteacher had been hired.

"My lord, are you trying to kill us?" Wang Baisheng said with a mournful face.

Although Zhao Zheng and the others were in better shape, their faces still looked rather grim.

Most of them have absolutely no interest in reading.

Just looking at those words gives me a headache.

"It's not about taking your lives, but about helping you to survive and fight the enemy more effectively," Jia Chen said in a deep voice. "We'll talk about that later. In short, there's no room for negotiation on the matter of literacy. You need to be prepared and have the right mindset."

"Sir, we'll learn," Huang Xiuer said. "Some good-for-nothings just shout!"

Wang Baisheng's face flushed red; he had been looked down upon by this woman again.

"My lord, I never said I wouldn't learn," Wang Baisheng hurriedly said. "Learn then, it's just a few words. When I killed those northern barbarians, I didn't even blink an eye, I wasn't afraid at all, why would I be afraid of these?"

Spurred on by Huang Xiuer, the others also expressed their opinions.

Xu Changshan stared at Huang Xiuer for a long while.

"Young lady, what's your name?" Xu Changshan asked, still quite curious about these women.

Huang Xiuer glanced at Jia Chen and saw him nod slightly.

She then replied, "Huang Xiuer!"

Xu Changshan nodded and asked again, "Is your training tough?"

"It's not bitter," Huang Xiuer said loudly.

Xu Changshan didn't say anything, but his eyes involuntarily fell on Huang Xiuer's hands.

"Your hand?" Xu Changshan asked hesitantly.

Huang Xiuer couldn't help but hide her hands behind her back.

"Let this old man take a look?" Xu Changshan said again.

Seeing that she couldn't avoid it, Huang Xiuer finally stretched out her hand.

Xu Changshan looked at these rough hands, which had many calluses and scars.

This wasn't just the case with Huang Xiuer; he also noticed that the hands of other women were basically the same.

"This...this...sigh..." Xu Changshan sighed with some heartache, "Jia Chen, they are all women!"

Although he had just agreed with Jia Chen's claim that there were no women in the military, he still felt somewhat sorry for these women when he actually saw them training like this.

Jia Chen sighed inwardly. Although Xu Changshan was a good official and spoke up for the people, he was still a scholar and lacked understanding of the common people.

Women from lower-class families who do farm work generally have rough hands.

Those delicate, jade-like hands are only found in a few wealthy heiresses and daughters of officials.

"The master said, 'Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime,'" Huang Xiuer said before Jia Chen could speak.

Upon hearing this, Xu Changshan glanced at Jia Chen with some surprise; this statement was quite interesting.

Upon closer examination, it makes a lot of sense.

However, as far as he knew, the Da Hong Army received very little training.

The soldiers are not getting enough to eat, so how can they have the strength to train?

I will never stand up if I can lie down, and it is difficult for me to even walk a few steps.

Xu Changshan noticed that Huang Xiuer and Wang Baisheng looked very healthy, and even the ordinary soldiers were full of energy.

No wonder Jia Chen was able to kill the Northern barbarians; his subordinates are indeed different from the other Great Hong Army.

"Clang clang clang~~" At this moment, a sound came from afar.

"Ah~~~" The soldiers who were still training cheered.

"What's this?" The sudden noise startled Xu Changshan.

"Training is over for today, it's time for lunch," Jia Chen said with a smile.

Xu Changshan smiled, realizing he had overreacted.

"Master Xu, let's go into the city. You've just arrived, so have your men prepare a feast tonight to welcome you back," Jia Chen said with a smile.

"No need for such trouble," Xu Changshan shook his head and said, "Whatever the soldiers eat, I will eat too."

"This won't do," Jia Chen said, frowning.

"What's wrong with that?" Xu Changshan stared at Jia Chen and asked, "I want to see what your soldiers at Juqiang Fort eat on a regular basis."

Xu Changshan was genuinely curious about this.

Because Jia Chen's soldiers were clearly in high spirits, not in the state of being starving.

"Alright." Seeing that Xu Changshan was very insistent, Jia Chen didn't want to persuade him any further.

So Xu Changshan had dinner with Jia Chen and the soldiers.

"Is this what the soldiers usually eat?" Xu Changshan looked at the two dishes in front of him, one vegetarian and the other containing...

Surprisingly, there was mutton.

There were also a few cornbread buns. Although they weren't made from white flour, they didn't look like they had any random stuff added to them. They were probably made from millet and sorghum or some other grains. They were pretty good.

He had already observed that even the ordinary soldiers ate the same food.

"Jia Chen, you didn't add meat because I came over, did you?" Xu Changshan asked again.

"Master Xu, this is how you always are," Jia Chen said with a smile. "Besides, if I wanted to add extra meat, there wouldn't be enough time."

Xu Changshan thought about it and realized that it made sense; the food for his trip had already been prepared.

"We also get to eat eggs every day," Huang Xiuer added from the side. "The adults say that in order to ensure everyone's physical strength and be able to train better, eggs and meat are essential, and we get them every day."

"We do have steamed buns, but we can't eat them every day. And it would be even better if we had some wine," Wang Baisheng chuckled.

"If you want a drink, kill a few more of the northern barbarians when they come south next time, and the lord will surely reward you," someone shouted.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Xu Changshan remained silent for a long time.

The other troops of the Great Hong Army were struggling to get enough to eat, while those at Juqiangbao had meat and eggs at every meal. The contrast was stark.

do not.

Moreover, judging from their tone, they didn't take the Northern Barbarians seriously at all.

They talked and laughed as they killed the northern barbarians, as if the heads of the northern barbarians were easy to obtain.

This is no longer the cowardly Da Hongjun I knew.

"Jia Chen, where did you get the rations? The amount allocated by the imperial court isn't enough, is it?" Xu Changshan asked.

That's what he asked, but he knew very well that even if the imperial court didn't cut back and distributed the full amount of rations and pay, it wouldn't be enough to make Jia Chen provide such good food for his soldiers.

Not to mention, with all the deductions these days, there's practically nothing left for the soldiers.

"To be honest, Lord Xu, we seized some spoils of war from the Northern barbarians. With these, I was able to afford everyone's usual expenses," Jia Chen said.

He had nothing to hide about these things.

After all, they had confessed to the emperor, so it would be impossible for anyone to use this to make things difficult for them in the future.

Xu Changshan was taken aback.

He couldn't quite understand Jia Chen. It was common for generals to secretly keep spoils of war on the battlefield. As long as they won the battle, the higher-ups usually wouldn't pursue such trivial matters too much, treating them as rewards for the soldiers.

But if it were someone else, and they actually had these spoils of war, most of the time the generals above would pocket them in private, and it would be good enough if they could share a little bit with the lower ranks.

If Jia Chen treats his soldiers so well every day, he probably can't afford to consume any more spoils of war; it's a bottomless pit.

"There will come a time when it runs out. What will you do then?" Xu Changshan asked.

"At least we can hold out for a while now," Jia Chen sighed. "If we want our soldiers to fight better, what else can we talk about if they can't even eat properly? As for the future, I believe there will always be a way."

The principle is sound, but putting it into practice is another matter entirely.

Xu Changshan could roughly understand that the reason why Jia Chen's subordinates were so capable was also closely related to the fact that Jia Chen, as their superior, treated his subordinates well.

With such treatment, most of the soldiers below were completely devoted to Jia Chen.

Moreover, they would risk their lives for Jia Chen, even sacrificing their own, to go through fire and water for him.