Chapter 237: Train Troops
Pei Qinghe changed the family rules, and no one opposed it, nor was there much disturbance.
Those who want to get married, just go ahead and marry! Anyway, they are unwilling to marry out and are only willing to marry a son-in-law into the family.
Pei Zhi’s grievance was not feigned. Pei Xuan and Pei Feng often mocked her for breaking the Pei Clan women’s rule of not marrying out, all for one man.
Pei Zhi has always had a spoiled and willful temper, usually wanting to outshine everyone in everything, but on her lifelong affair, she “came up short” and was laughed at by everyone, harboring a stifled resentment in her heart. When she saw Yang Hu, she couldn’t hold back. She threw a little tantrum, then coaxed him sweetly.
Yang Hu enjoyed it thoroughly and willingly let her pinch and knead him.
Yang Huai rolled his eyes: “Since you came back, you’ve been laughing for half an hour. Aren’t your mouth corners sore?”
Yang Hu smugly laughed: “My mouth corners are fine. It’s your heart that’s sour!”
Yang Huai sneered: “Yes, yes, yes, my heart is very sour. Seeing the palm print on your face, I’m so sour I’m about to shed tears.”
Yang Hu felt no shame and was immensely self-satisfied: “She doesn’t hit others, only willing to lay hands on me. Because she has me in her heart.”
Yang Huai’s teeth ached and his stomach turned, and he dry-heaved once.
Yang Hu didn’t care at all and kept laughing nonstop.
Yang Huai had no kind words in his mouth, but he was actually very gratified in his heart. Yang Hu fell in love with Pei Zhi at first sight, pursuing her passionately and obsessively, repeatedly rejected, and cried a few times in front of him. Now the path had turned, revealing a bright prospect, Yang Hu was full of joy, and he, this cousin, was actually very happy too.
After laughing and joking for a bit, the two brothers got down to business.
“General Pei treats us with great kindness, so we must train our troops diligently to show General Pei the capability of the Guangning Army.” Yang Hu said: “You go to the Pei Family Army and present the troop training strategy we developed to the general.”
Yang Huai nodded in agreement.
Pei Zhi’s group stayed with the Guangning Army for three days before setting off to return, and Yang Huai went along, arriving at the Pei Family Army and presenting two pages of paper to Pei Qinghe.
“The Xiongnu barbarians mainly use cavalry, and they excel most at cavalry charges. We mainly use infantry and can only defend and wait for attack by relying on city walls. The Xiongnu barbarians come and go as they please, and our way of fighting is both conservative and passive.”
“The Pei Family Army sent a merchant caravan to buy horses, but with the Pei Family Army rapidly expanding, it’s not easy to equip everyone with warhorses. Training an elite cavalry unit that can compete with the Xiongnu barbarians is not very likely within three to five years.”
“Therefore, we still need to train infantry and practice military formations and tactics specifically for dealing with cavalry.”
“On these two pages is the troop training method deliberated by the martial generals of the Guangning Army. Please review it, General.”
Pei Qinghe’s eyes were full of approval: “Great minds think alike. Since returning from the Guangning Army, I’ve been researching methods for infantry versus cavalry combat. You come take a look at our troop training methods too.”
Yang Huai was not an outsider and went straight to the Pei Family Army’s training ground.
One company of a hundred infantry formed a neat single line, squatting on the ground, each holding a sharp spear. The spears pointed forward, gleaming with cold, fierce light. If warhorses charged from the front, these spears would pierce the horses’ bellies. The warhorses would fall, causing the cavalry to crash heavily, and also trip up the horses behind.
Another company of a hundred held slender iron chains, with a slender curved saber at the end of each chain. The chains were flung out to sever horse legs and could be quickly retracted afterward.
There was also one company practicing brand-new crossbows. These massive crossbows required three men to draw together, had extremely long range, and immense killing power.
The training ground also had many weapons of novel designs.
Yang Huai was dazzled and extremely envious. The Guangning Army’s troop training strategy was still on paper, but the Pei Family Army had already started practicing. And there were so many new types of weapons!
Pei Qinghe smiled gently and said: “These weapons weren’t made overnight. I’ve been preparing since last year.”
“An iron mine was found in Beiping Commandery. Ore mined daily is smelted into pig iron, then transported to Yan Prefecture for blacksmiths to forge into weapons. What you see before you is what was produced over this past year.”
Raising troops has never been easy; grain, military uniforms, military pay, warhorses, soft armor, weapons—all consume silver.
Previously, the Imperial Court allocated military expenses and supplies, and the army just had to reach out and take them. Now the Imperial Court is gone, the Capital City is occupied by the rebel army, and Bohai Commandery only has imperial decrees and verbal commendations, unable to provide substantial military expenses and supplies. As a result, each army can only sustain itself.
Most armies use methods like robbing magnates and plundering common people, or directly wiping out local government offices to collect taxes. This works extremely well in the short term, but over time, various drawbacks emerge.
People’s livelihood is devastated, refugees are everywhere, good fields lie fallow. To sustain troops, exploitation must increase, leading to more common people abandoning homes and fleeing. Like a snowball, the bad consequences keep growing.
After the Pei Family Army took Yan Prefecture, it did not interfere in civil administration, strictly restrained government offices, and cherished the common people, rarely conscripting labor and not forcibly drafting able-bodied men. It collected a fixed land tax each year without adding extra. Poor common people without seeds could borrow them from the nearby Shi Family Grain Store and repay with one percent interest at harvest time.
The magnates in Yan Prefecture were also exceptionally at ease, normally conducting business, and offering half their earned silver as military expenses. The other half they could securely keep.
Some merchants specialized in business with the Pei Family Army. Grain, salt and oil, sugar, meat and vegetables, cloth, medicinal materials, etc., gathered together made big business.
All this was personally managed by Steward Shi. The Pei Family Army ran smoothly without excessively squeezing the common people and magnates, and Steward Shi deserved the greatest credit.
The Pei Family Army also gathered a group of blacksmiths specializing in forging weapons. These new types of weapons before them had consumed over a hundred blacksmiths’ efforts for a year.
Yang Huai was so envious his eyes were nearly red: “Our Guangning Army hasn’t gotten new weapons for a long time.”
Then, he looked at Pei Qinghe with eyes full of longing.
Pei Qinghe smiled faintly: “The Guangning Army and Pei Family Army are closely connected; in the future, if short on any supplies, you can apply to Steward Shi.”
Yang Huai was so delighted he couldn’t close his mouth, thanking her repeatedly.
That evening, Yang Huai brought a generous gift to pay a visit to Chief Steward Shi.
Chief Steward Shi was busy with feet never touching the ground every day, and recently, to raise funds, grain, and supplies for the Guangning Army, he had stayed up with bloodshot eyes.
Yang Huai diligently offered the gift, and Shi Yan chuckled: “We’re all family; isn’t this being too formal? Take the gift back; I definitely won’t accept it. Whatever the Guangning Army needs, just say the word.”
Yang Huai was moved to the point of nearly crying bitterly: “Steward Shi is truly the benefactor of our Guangning Army.”
Shi Yan laughed: “The benefactor of the Guangning Army is General Pei. I’m just a mere steward; only with the general’s approval can I prepare supplies for the Guangning Army.”
Yang Huai was completely convinced.
Is this the self-cultivation of a son-in-law?
Who the hell can compete with Shi Yan!
