Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Maybe the magistrate and Oshi had taken care of it, but the food that night was very rich. Not only was the rice filling enough, but there was also meat in the dishes.

The accommodation conditions were extremely poor. The school grounds were not big and the barracks were even more pitiful.

Ju Ming and about thirty others crowded into a large store.

It is now the end of May in the lunar calendar, and the evening is also sultry. The smell of the sweat of dozens of men and the smell of their feet made Ju Ming nauseous. It took him a while to get used to it.

When I got up in the morning, I didn't know where to go to wash up. The government didn't even arrange for a water delivery person.

The food has also become a bit worse. The rice is brown rice and there are no traces of oil in the vegetables. There was a crunching sound as you chewed, but the sand in the rice was not washed out.

Some government officials were so audacious that they deducted food expenses from archers under the eyes of the county magistrate!

"How can you eat this kind of pig food?" Chen Ziyi threw away his rice bowl, got on his horse and said, "Come outside to eat spicy soup with me!"

This guy ignored military discipline and rode away, but no one stopped him.

A group of libertines chased after him, laughing and playing. They had no mounts and screamed at Chen Ziyi to run slower.

Ju Ming watched the whole process and felt speechless.

At the same time, I was very pleased. If the local armed forces in the Song Dynasty were like this, my future rebellion would be much smoother.

After swallowing breakfast wholeheartedly, there was nothing to do next.

The archers sat in the school yard in twos and threes, chatting and bragging, and some simply lay down and slept.

Until noon, Chen Ziyi came back with the libertines.

After another half an hour, Magistrate Xiang finally arrived.

There was also an old man with a white beard who came with him, sitting tremblingly on the bamboo pallet. The bearers carried him to the high platform and settled down in the sedan chair. The old man did not get up and just sat next to the magistrate.

The archers came to gather one after another, and the queue was in a mess.

Xiang Zhixian began to lecture: "You are all warriors in the countryside. Now that the bandits are causing trouble, you have to rely on everyone to eliminate harm for the people. Today, I invited Mr. Fang. When he was young, Mr. Fang did the research on the Yangzhou military case. If you are proficient in battle formations, you will be able to train brave warriors..."

Ju Ming rolled his eyes and couldn't complain anymore.

In the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, vassal towns were everywhere, and both civil and military officials were trained and promoted to work.

By the early Song Dynasty, local officials still had a large number of staff to hold real power. In order to centralize power, the imperial court turned these staff officers into formal officials, which was equivalent to the establishment of a group of masters in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. At the same time, local officials are strictly prohibited from hiring staff privately. There is not even a master at the level of a county magistrate.

Kong Muguan is a member of the staff who has been promoted to full-time, and is essentially an official in charge of documents. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, he was called the "registration master".

Let a retired civil servant train troops?

It can only be said that Xiang Zhixian is very imaginative.

After finishing his lecture to the magistrate, the decrepit Fang Kongmu finally stood up slowly and said: "When choosing soldiers, you must first choose generals. Anyone who is proud of his courage can come forward and listen."

The soldiers were treated better. In order to eat white rice, dozens of people stood up in an instant.

Fang Kongmu glanced at it, pointed at Gu San and said, "Come here."

Gu San immediately stepped forward. He was chosen first because he was holding a eyebrow-tip knife in his hand.

After whispering a few words to the magistrate, Fang Kongmu smiled and nodded, and then selected Chen Ziyi and Zhu Ming.

Fang Kongmu sat down again and said: "The rest of the people will wait for a show, and the winner can be the leader."

So the drawing of lots began, with two teams forming a sumo competition.

At first, Ju Ming thought it was funny, but when he saw that everyone had no objections, he also showed great interest. Even the archers who had been forcibly removed their sad faces and cheered and cheered loudly.

Ju Ming understood.

The method of selecting generals that seems like child's play is actually the optimal solution. There is no need to be so formal when dealing with a group of bandits. Anyone with courage can become a general, and the fair competition on the spot can also boost the morale of the archers.

The originally sloppy and depressing school grounds instantly became lively because of the sumo wrestlers.

Especially when Zhang Guangdao came on the court, he grabbed his opponent's belt and threw it out of the circle. All the archers cheered.

At the end of the game, Fang Kongmu asked Gu San: "Where are you from?"

Gu San replied: "I am a tea farmer."

Fang Kongmu had a plan in mind and announced on the spot: "There are 332 archers in total, and they are temporarily classified as the three capitals. Chen Ziyi is the head of the first capital, Zhu Ming is the head of the second capital, and Zhang Guangdao is the head of the third capital..."

Immediately afterwards, the positions of deputy head of the capital, ten generals, generals Yuhou, and bureau chiefs were appointed.

Ju Ming, the head of the capital, has about a hundred people under his command.

The deputy assigned to him was named Fang Yan, one of the libertines, and had a tiger tattoo on his chest. Although he has a relatively strong physique, he is carefree and obviously less reliable than Ju Ming.

Fang Kongmu really knows how to fight, probably because he saw others practice it before.

What he was training at the moment was the Yamen formation method popular in the late Northern Song Dynasty, with five people per team, five teams as a team, and five teams as a formation. The melee soldiers are in front and the distant soldiers are behind, with the sound of drums as the command.

Editor, Fang Kongmu was a little embarrassed.

He had never eaten pork, had only seen pigs running, and soon discovered that the numbers were wrong and that the archers lacked ranged weapons.

What to do?

Salad!

No matter what the formation is, 75 people form a team, forming a rectangular queue. The remaining soldiers served as reserves and flag bearers and drum beaters.

"The soldiers and generals have been ordered and the formations are set up. The rest of you can practice on your own." This old guy actually slipped away.

He doesn't even teach flag commands and commands, so he probably doesn't know how to do it himself.

However, Xiangzhi County was very satisfied with this and followed Fang Kongmu, and they went to the county government office to drink together.

A group of archers were left behind, staring blankly in place.

Ju Ming was the first to speak: "They are just talking, we are really going to fight. Let the generals, big and small, come over and add up."

"Brother Zhu is right," Chen Ziyi agreed, "I just feel that old Kong Mu has never fought in a war."

Choosing an open space in the school grounds, a group of "general officers" began to discuss seriously.

Bai Sheng also obtained a military position and was appointed as the Ten Generals.

If it were a regular army, ten generals would probably be able to command a hundred people. They would be true generals of a hundred people, and could also be understood as company commanders. But in this improvised team, he only had ten soldiers under his command.

Among all the archers, Zhang Guangdao wanted to defeat Heifeng Village the most.

He couldn't wait to say: "Five troops form a team. This formation is not suitable for attacking mountains. I am very familiar with Heifeng Village and know how bandits deal with officers and soldiers. More than ten farmhouses on the riverside are all bandit posts. , once the officers and soldiers appear, someone will go into the mountain to report the news. There are many farmers near the mountain stronghold. When the thieves get the news, they will summon the young and strong into the stronghold, while the old, weak, women and children will flee to the mountains. They will stick to the mountain stronghold, and the road up the mountain is only For one thing, there are too many officers and soldiers to deploy at all."

"How wide is the road up the mountain?" asked a general named Zhao Gang.

Zhang Guangdao said: "At the widest place, four or five people can stand side by side. At the narrowest place, only one or two people can stand."

Gu San muttered: "This is a very difficult fight. If the bandits are at the narrowest point and just build a wall to guard them, no matter how many people we have, they won't be able to kill them."

Chen Ziyi asked: "Can't you climb the mountain from somewhere else?"

Zhang Guangdao said: "It's difficult, the mountain is really steep, but you can try it."

Although Zhu Ming lacks actual combat experience, he always talks about theory: "It is best to win without fighting. Does Brother Zhang still have any close friends in the stronghold?"

"I'm afraid... they were all killed," Zhang Guangdao said sadly. "Even if there are still people alive, they can only be farmers at the foot of the mountain, and those above the leaders are definitely gone. The Tian brothers on the riverside can also talk to me, but they can't The inside should be in harmony with the outside.”

Zhu Ming asked again: "The leader of the village, Yang Jun, is dead. Can Yang Ying suppress the thieves?"

"He can't suppress it," Zhang Guangdao speculated, "but if the officers and soldiers go to suppress it, most of the bandits will stick together. The bandit leader and the leader all have properties at the foot of the mountain, and they are unwilling to escape unless they have to. Surrender to the government."

Zhu Ming smiled and said: "Then we should shout out when attacking the mountain. As long as the bandits surrender, they can forget the blame and reorganize their households into the common people. If the bandit leader surrenders, he will be spared, and those who have done meritorious service can still keep their fields. As for The bandit leader, whoever can capture or kill Yang Ying can also survive and keep his property."

Chen Ziyi clapped his hands and praised: "This is the way to use a trick. The bandits will definitely fight among themselves, and there are so many people who will defect in the face of battle!"

"We have to be able to fight," a prodigal Yuhou said, pointing to the archers in the distance. "Look what kind of bad soldiers they are. If these soldiers go to suppress the bandits, let alone let the bandits fight among themselves, they will probably be killed. Bandit joke.”

"You have to train your troops," Chen Ziyi said, "Also, get some decent weapons, the weapons provided by the government are useless."

Ju Ming said: "I have a set of formations that are suitable for fighting in narrow terrain and can also alleviate the problem of insufficient weapons."

Chen Ziyi was a little disbelieving and asked: "Brother Zhu is so young, has he ever joined the army?"

After traveling through time, Ju Ming indeed seemed too young and it was difficult to be convincing in front of strangers.

Ju Ming had to show actual results. He patted his chest and said, "Give me two days to practice the formation, and then I'll make some plans. If it works, follow my method. If it doesn't work, follow your method. How about that?" ?”

"That's easy to say!" Chen Ziyi agreed immediately.

Zhang Guangdao took the opportunity to help Zhu Ming establish his prestige: "I believe Brother Zhu has a way. Previously, bandits attacked at night, and he killed more than ten thieves with one sword."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was surprised.

Bai Sheng was very smart. He immediately turned around and shouted, calling the archers from Shangbai Village to testify.

They are all from the same village, so they naturally have to be very capable.

What's more, when Ju Ming killed the bandit that night, he was the savior of the entire Shangbai Village!

Regardless of whether they were present or not, they all insisted that they saw Zhu Xiucai kill the thief with their own eyes.

Gu San also cooperated and said: "Yang Jun, the leader of Black Wind Village, died under Zhu Xiucai's sword."

So many archers unanimously praised Ju Ming, and others couldn't help but disbelieve him.

Chen Ziyi cupped his hands and said, "You are really a good man, I almost made a mistake. After those bandits are eliminated, Brother Zhu can come to my house as a guest, and ride horses, shoot arrows, and play with guns and sticks every day. Wouldn't it be fun?"

"Brother Chen invited me, so I will definitely go." Zhu Ming responded with his hand.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Chen Ziyi laughed loudly, came over and hugged Zhu Ming, and said to the libertines: "I have met another good man. You must remember that when you see Brother Zhu from now on, it will be like meeting me. Don't neglect it!" "

"I don't dare, they are all our brothers." The libertines quickly expressed their stance.