NOVPUB"To maintain the prosperity and safety of our jurisdiction, to prevent the aging of our troops, and to avoid the tragedy of fathers and sons going to battle together..." Lub Su opened the plan and this was how it began. It was boastful and empty—in other words, just the kind of introduction that Chen Xi loved to write, positioning himself on the moral high ground. Even if the battle was lost, it would still be an honorable defeat, and he would still be seen as a champion of the people..."
"So, you’re saying we’re now going to reduce the army?" Lub Su asked, somewhat dumbfounded after reading the plan. Cutting troops at this time, wasn’t that a crazy idea?
"Reduce the army?" Chen Xi looked at Lub Su with disdain. "Which of your eyes saw me say anything about cutting troops?"
"Both my left eye and my right eye saw it!" Lub Su glanced at Chen Xi, completely unconcerned about his provocative behavior.
"Zijing, Zichuan’s idea is to hide soldiers among the people, to resolve the worries of retired soldiers who have been injured, without increasing the expenses too much, and secretly expand the troop numbers. In addition, it’s to ensure every city has a sufficient number of soldiers stationed there. However, if you go about it this way, Zichuan, many elite soldiers will see their combat power diminish due to retirement from active service," Jia Xu penetrated the essence of Chen Xi’s actions with just one look.
"Don’t worry, I’ll group those over thirty-two without disabilities who have retired and participated in over ten battles, and have them patrol specific cities. After all, these men have fought for such a long time and deserve to enjoy life a bit. Moreover, haven’t you noticed that Fenggao has become somewhat disorderly recently due to the increase in merchants? We now need elite-level troops to suppress it," Chen Xi explained with a smile, determined to limit military service to fifteen years!
"In that case, it won’t lead to a decline in combat power. Later on, we can assign a chiliarch to them, and the whole unit, instead of saying it’s for retirement, it’s more like an elite force kept hidden," Liu Ye stroked his chin, feeling that there was something wrong with this concept of city management and patrol squads.
"Let me go through the entire plan once more, that plan document was just something I used to bluff others," Chen Xi casually took the plan from Lub Su and slipped it into his own paper bag.
"I will listen with keen interest," Lub Su said with a smile, and the others nodded as well, even Mann Chong, who was dealing with legal affairs, put down his pen.
"First, let’s talk about how inhumane the current conscription is, taking even fifteen-year-old kids. From now on, we won’t take anyone under eighteen. Lub Su, go get me a sign. For beggars under fifteen, when caught, hand them over to the government for education, to teach them life skills. If they’ve had three years of education by sixteen, let them go; if not, kick them out once education is complete. For girls, send them to the Fragrance Pavilion," Chen Xi began by expressing his strong disapproval.
Truth be told, seeing a fourteen-year-old boy in the military made Chen Xi want to roar, "Have you no humanity?" He wanted to kick them out, but they would say that the army was the only place they could scrape by a living. At least in battle, they could get a full meal, and if they died, they would die with a full stomach. This job was given to an older soldier who couldn’t resist the boy’s pleas after the ranks were filled.
Since then, Chen Xi secretly resolved to catch all the little beggars of Qingzhou of Mount Tai and re-educate them. "I’ll support you until you’re sixteen. I don’t care what you do after that, but until you’re sixteen, boys are to go to school to learn, and girls are to go to the Fragrance Pavilion to learn needlework, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting; business and farming; poetry and essays—whatever it is, there absolutely cannot be any beggars. Educate them for three years, and by sixteen, I refuse to believe that they won’t be able to support themselves," Chen Xi firm in his conviction.
After Chen Xi finished, everyone looked at him with a somewhat odd expression. For the boys to be handed over for government education, although it costs money, wasn’t a problem for Qingzhou of Mount Tai, but for the girls to be sent to the Fragrance Pavilion... that was something else.
"You lot are thinking too twisted. How many among us can teach the girls survival skills? Cai Wenji? Who else? Besides her, who excels at those things?" Chen Xi looked at the group in front of him with disdain, each and every one of them had been through it.
"This is feasible. Men can either teach Martial Arts, or literature and history, or crafts. As for the expenses being covered by Mount Tai, that doesn’t seem too excessive. However, it would mean that our subjects would also need the same, and that could be quite costly," Lub Su thought for a moment before agreeing with Chen Xi’s proposal.
"Those who were captured and didn’t pay, they will need to repay in the future. As for how, that will be up to you. As for the subjects under our rule, they may also not pay, but will similarly need to repay. Just make sure we don’t suffer losses. Yuzhou captured so many scholars, it’s time they started creating some value for us." Chen Xi spoke casually, saving Lub Su from having to think about these issues.
"It’s a fine strategy. It’s like giving them an opportunity. As for repayment, we can always collect it once our economy thrives," Liu Ye nodded in agreement.
"The duration of service is too long; just like before, we have sixty-year-old elders in the military. Can that yield any Combat Power?" Chen Xi brought the conversation back to the main topic, "Anyone who hasn’t reached the rank of Team Leader by thirty-two years of age, or Centurion by thirty-five, is to be directly discharged from the military and reassigned to local governances for restructuring, with compensation based on their number of battles joined and rank held!"
"That can work. Keeping the lower ranks of the military between eighteen and thirty-two years of age, when they are at their prime fighting capability, makes a lot of sense," Jia Xu nodded his head in agreement. In fact, in Jia Xu’s view, if soldiers like now can have enough food, even forty-year-old veterans won’t lack in Combat Power.
"Disabled soldiers, in addition to Consolation Money, should be promoted one rank upon returning to their hometown and join the Tuntian Soldiers without participating in settlement farming; only overseeing the management and training of Tuntian Soldiers. In other words, a disabled Corporal returning to his village would lead ten Tuntian Soldiers, and during downtime, he would command this civilian-based force and share his battlefield experiences, promoting suitable Decurions amongst them. If necessary, they could be directly incorporated into the military," Chen Xi continued, this time determined to eliminate any worries for the Soldiers of Mount Tai.
"Our Tuntian Soldiers are far more numerous than the Regular Army, promoting them one rank isn’t an issue. This point is doable," Liu Ye calculated briefly and realized that the Tuntian Soldiers outnumbered the Regular Army by several times, so the rate of disability wouldn’t pose a problem.
"Over time, as more wounded choose retirement, select those with numerous battle experiences to be incorporated into Academies everywhere. Ennobling is reserved only for military merit; tell them if they want to fight for glory on the battlefield, they must first master Martial Arts. Real men must establish their glory on the battlefield!" Chen Xi had made up his mind to instill in the students of the Academies the belief that defending one’s country and dying on the battlefield is an honor, and that every scar a man earns in battle is a badge of military honor!
As terrifying as the warrior ethos of the Han Dynasty already was, Chen Xi believed it necessary to sculpt it even further! If the world is full of enemies, then one must be prepared to obliterate it. The path of supremacy is always lonely; no friends are needed, those who defy must be crushed. The Sovereign King holds supreme military authority, and civil officials seeking to reach the positions of Three Dukes and Nine Ministers must first earn a Marquisate—and without military merit, one cannot be ennobled!
In this way, every high-ranking civil official would truly have witnessed the battlefield, understanding its brutality. It wasn’t that civil officials were expected to actively fight and slay enemies on the battlefield, but that the high-ranking civil officials should understand war’s harsh reality.
The requirement of military merit for ennoblement was not for civil officials to engage in warfare, but for them to experience the battlefield for a few months, to live and eat together with the troops, to witness their subordinates passing away one by one, to be devoid of any schemes for a time, solely focusing on defeating the enemy. Even if civil officials were there just to gain experience, they would understand when to offer support or when to let the military generals have free rein! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
