My eunuch godfather

Chapter 91 Training Troops

That evening, Zhang Ye invited Zhang Kun to his home for dinner again and advised him:

"If you want to make your mark in Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu, you can, just be careful that others don't use it against you."

First and foremost, you must fulfill your primary duty of apprehending thieves; otherwise, if someone submits a memorial accusing you of dereliction of duty, how will you defend yourself?

"Godfather is right!"

Zhang Kun took out a small booklet from his pocket and respectfully explained to his eunuch godfather:

"Recently, I have secretly arranged for many people to search for the thieves' places of selling stolen goods in Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu."

The names listed above are all highly suspicious, and some have even been confirmed to be connected to the thieves...

"...Guanyin Temple!?"

Zhang Ye took the booklet and flipped through it, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. When he saw that a famous temple was also listed in the booklet, he exclaimed in surprise:

"This family must be quite powerful. Do you have any concrete evidence?"

"There is currently no empirical evidence."

Zhang Kun shook his head and explained to his eunuch godfather:

"But Guanyin Temple frequently purchased a lot of medicinal materials for wound medicine, as well as leather goods and iron materials, through others..."

It must be said that thieves of this era are still too sloppy in their work, and there are quite a few oversights in terms of counter-surveillance.

After all, this industry is based on violence. As long as your fists are strong enough, the government will never be able to eradicate it. What can they do if they find out?

The reason why thieves in later generations have so many counter-surveillance techniques is because the army and police can easily crush them!

After listening to Zhang Kun's report, Zhang Ye also pointed out the most fundamental problem:

"Well done, but you need to train the soldiers in the river works camp well before you can catch these thieves!"

......

By early June, the river work camp had completed its relocation, moving from the old camp in Nanxiawa to the new camp in Liangshuihe.

Before starting the project to dredge the canal, Zhang Kun first conducted a round of military training for the river workers in the river engineering battalion.

At the same time, Zhang Kun also had to reorganize the guard troops.

To ensure the smooth reorganization, Zhang Kun and Chen Jizong discussed transferring many of Chen's servants back to the Chen family.

The vacant troop positions were filled, just like before, by recruiting surplus soldiers from the Imperial Guard and skilled personnel from the Beijing Garrison.

Through Wei Sengteng's connections, Zhang Kun also recruited some border troops from Xuanfu and Datong.

The reorganized guards were renamed the "River Guards," totaling 300 men, and were led by Yang Desheng, the garrison commander.

It was divided into three rounds, each with 100 men, led by the garrison commanders Zuo Liangyu, Cao Meng, and Tang Sheng.

Each unit is divided into two sentries, each with 50 men, led by sentry officers such as Chen Jishi and Wang Chenglin, as well as flag bearers.

Each outpost is divided into three teams of 15 men each, led by the camp guards.

There are currently five categories, of which cavalry, infantry, and archers are solid-color teams, while musketeers are multi-colored teams, for a total of 18 teams.

The cavalry were all heavily armored.

Each person has three horses: a warhorse, a riding horse, and a packhorse. Both the person and the horse are equipped with armor. The monthly salary is two taels and five mace of silver plus one shi of rice.

The cavalry were all lightly armed.

Each person has two horses, one for riding and one for pack animals, and all are equipped with armor. They receive two taels of silver and one shi of rice per month.

Infantry are all heavily armored infantry.

Each person has a packhorse, all are in full armor, and receive a monthly salary of one tael and five mace plus one shi of rice.

Archers are all archers.

Gunners consisted of swordsmen and shieldmen, as well as musket and musketmen. The musket was slower to load but more powerful than the musket.

No horse is provided, and apart from swordsmen and shieldmen, no armor is provided. The monthly allowance is one tael of silver plus one shi of rice.

There is only one team of cavalry, plus two teams of cavalrymen, which are nominally the first sentry of the third round led by Wang Chenglin.

In reality, they were Zhang Kun's personal guards, led by Zhang Kun himself.

The remaining 3 cavalry units, 3 infantry units, 3 archer units, and 6 musketeer units were divided into three divisions.

As for the most common spearmen in the army at that time, they were river workers from the river work battalion.

They were assigned to the position under the guise of river protection laborers, and were given an additional five qian of silver per month on top of their regular monthly wages and rations for river work.

If it really comes to the battlefield, the primary role of the able-bodied men protecting the river is to guard the camp or baggage area.

They act as a "movable fence," providing cover for the river protection forces.

In addition, there were miscellaneous tasks such as setting up camp, digging trenches, building fences, and moving supplies.

However, to prevent the river protection troops from losing these skills, Zhang Kun would have them take turns performing these tasks.

Moreover, the river-guarding soldiers were not only spearmen, but also many armed with outdated firearms such as quick-firing guns and three-eyed guns.

The old arquebuses, old Lumi guns, and even old armor discarded by the river protection army will be handed over to the river protection soldiers in the future.

In addition to the river protection army and the able-bodied men protecting the river, there were also non-combat units such as cooks, medical teams, and supply trains.

These non-combat troops also included many river workers from river engineering battalions, plus an additional three coins of silver per month.

......

Zhang Kun placed great importance on the discipline of the river protection troops, and appointed flag bearers at each outpost to be responsible for military discipline.

First, there's the ban.

Outside of battle, drinking and making noise are prohibited, as are private fights and gambling.

During the battle, it is forbidden to disobey orders, to cut off heads, to leave the team without permission, or to plunder privately.

Forced buying and selling, adultery, and theft are prohibited.

These all have detailed and clear regulations, and the punishments for violators range from caning to beheading.

When Zhang Kun reorganized and rewrote the ban, he drew a lot of reference and inspiration from Qi Jiguang.

However, Zhang Kun believed that Qi Jiguang's most famous "collective punishment" was too harsh:

The method was changed to "selective execution," where soldiers who violated the collective punishment law were selected, with one in ten or one in five being randomly selected instead of being killed.

To prevent cheating, soldiers waiting to be punished are made to stand in rows of ten or five.

The commanding officer would randomly select a number, and the soldier whose number was chosen would be killed.

Secondly, there are restrictions.

There are sayings like "rather freeze to death than break a house, rather starve to death than plunder," and also "rather march than damage fields, rather camp than cut down trees," etc.

Zhang Kun would not force the soldiers to do this, but would only encourage them to do so, and would do his best to ensure that the soldiers did not freeze or go hungry.

There were also military prostitutes. Zhang Kun would encourage soldiers to save money to get married, but he would also provide laundry women to meet their needs.

Drinking and making noise are allowed during the reward ceremonies. In addition to the rewards, tampons are distributed, and sports activities are organized regularly.

They also arranged for flag bearers to talk to the soldiers and relieve their stress through various means.

Then comes the way out.

Zhang Kun believes that soldiers must be allowed to return to normal life.

Especially for older veterans, rather than those who have to stay in the military for their entire lives.

The river work camp had a literacy school, and Zhang Kun also arranged for soldiers in the army to learn to read and even study.

Ideally, they should be in their thirties or forties. If they don't have an official position, they should go to school for two years or learn a trade.

They were assigned to government offices such as the River Works Camp, or to trading companies such as the River and Sea Company.

Of course, if someone is naturally suited to be a soldier and is willing to stay in the military for life, then that is the right thing to do.

Zhang Kun planned to adopt the practice of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and add captains to the river protection army as non-commissioned officers.

Those who are not suitable for command but have made many military achievements are granted the rank of colonel.

Finally, there's the compensation.

The timely and full payment of monthly wages and rations is the foundation of everything mentioned above.

Zhang Kun is in charge of the Jin Yun ship, and also owns the He Hai ship and various other businesses in which the He Hai ship holds shares.

The monthly income can reach tens of thousands of taels!

With such substantial financial resources, Zhang Kun was able to guarantee the salaries and benefits of the river protection army and the able-bodied men protecting the river.

If Zhang Kun relied solely on the meager funds and provisions of the imperial court, he could only raise a small number of militiamen, who could at most be used for show and to maintain appearances.