Naturally, the ordinary people and soldiers in Jiangzhou City did not know about the dirty deeds Cai Taishou and Yuan Tuiguan did behind the scenes, because their attention was focused on this great victory. Everyone was busy celebrating and had no time to do so. Take other things into consideration.
For the people, it is the best result to successfully annihilate a group of bandits this time. From now on, everyone can safely and boldly go in and out of the Xunyang River by boat without having to worry about being robbed by thieves on the river. Life can't be saved. For those ordinary sergeants, what they are more concerned about is when the pensions and rewards promised by the government will be disbursed, and how much they can get from them. After all, given the current reality of greed in the Song Army, I am afraid that after the rewards of tens of thousands of dollars fell into their hands after layers of deductions, less than ten or twenty big dollars would be left.
Compared with the uneasiness of the Xiang army, the Xiang soldiers were much more confident in Sun Tu. Whether it was helping them to repay the arrears of wages or taking back the fields that were bought at a low price, Sun Tuanlian always behaved selflessly, so he will definitely not treat everyone badly this time.
As expected, Sun Tu did not disappoint his subordinates. After a few days of rest, when the prefectural government took out 30,000 guan of silver and cloth and several thousand kilograms of grain from the warehouse as a reward, he summoned the relevant subordinates and presented the reward in public. These properties were distributed to everyone according to their merit. The larger ones among these soldiers could receive thirty guan of money and hundreds of jins of grain, while the younger ones could receive more than ten guan of income. Naturally, this greatly exceeded everyone's expectations. Immediately, the sound of gratitude and thanks came again from the military camp. It has not calmed down for a long time.
It wasn't until he had been busy for a long time and distributed all the rewards that Sun Tu put away his smile and said solemnly: "Our officers and soldiers did win today's battle, but I also saw many of our shortcomings. We need to We know that the water bandits are only 30% of our army, but they can fight with us all night and finally win by sneak attacks. It is really hard to win. From this, we can see how weak the combat power of our Jiangzhou army is. It is far from being able to protect the peace of the people in my city."
After a pause, he glanced at the three hundred soldiers in front of him who had experienced life and death, and Sun Tu revealed his plan: "So I have decided to increase the intensity of your training from now on. I will allow you and others to become a truly elite force within two years, so that even if I am transferred from Jiangzhou, you and others can still defend our homeland, and we no longer have to worry about the appearance of mountain bandits and water bandits such as ferocious dragons!"
If there were some of these rural soldiers who could not understand Sun Tuanlian’s hard work and felt that the daily drills were too hard and complained privately, then after experiencing this war against bandits, these thoughts have completely disappeared. . Everyone saw with their own eyes how vulnerable the Xiang Army was when facing the water bandits. But when they put into use the good habits they had developed during daily training, those seemingly powerful water bandits turned out to be... So vulnerable.
So at this time, all the soldiers in the country were convinced that Sun Tu sweated more during training and bleed less on the battlefield. When they heard that he wanted to increase the intensity of training, no one expressed dissatisfaction. Instead, they agreed after a moment of silence. Order: "We all obey the group training orders and will train with all our strength to protect our Jiangzhou!"
"Okay, tomorrow
From the beginning, I will come up with a brand new training method. I hope you can overcome the next difficulties. " Only then did a satisfied smile appear on Sun Tu's face, and he waved his hands to dismiss these subordinates on the spot.
However, he did not go home to rest like others. Instead, he brought some money, food and cloth that he had deliberately left behind before, and together with Ruda and several other close people, he personally delivered these pensions and property to the previously registered address. The more than 30 soldiers who died on the battlefield were killed in the hands of their families.
This kind of action is indeed a precedent. In the past, whether the Song Dynasty officers and soldiers died in battles with foreigners or suppressed bandits and pirates, their bodies could be properly taken home for burial, and the government's symbolic compensation and pensions were enough for them. The family members are so grateful that it is almost never the case that military commanders and court officials specially come to see and give money.
So when Sun Tu went door-to-door delivering money and food to every old man who was crying because of the death of his heir, they were not only surprised, but also deeply moved. Even the last bit of resentment was completely dissipated, and even He also held Sun Tu's hand and thanked him repeatedly.
Seeing all this, Sun Tu felt uncomfortable, so all he could do, apart from saying a few dry words of comfort, was to make a guarantee as a Jiangzhou team coach: "Old man, please have your condolences. My son died in the battle to protect the stability of Jiangzhou. They are all heroes of Jiangzhou. If you have any difficulties in the future, just go to the military camp and find me. As long as I, Sun Tu, am still in the training camp of Jiangzhou, as long as This is something I can do, and I will definitely try my best to help you. In addition, if you have any nephews or nephews in your family who are willing to join the Bingjia camp in our hometown, as long as they meet the age and physical requirements, I can let them take the place of their brothers, and I will give you all the money. Rates will also remain unchanged.”
When he said his responsible words this time, he naturally received a lot of thanks from these family members. As a result, Sun Tu's reputation among the Jiangzhou army became higher and higher, and he even vaguely seemed to overshadow Yuan Wang and the governor Lin Henian. Because as time went by, some details on the battlefield were spread, and everyone knew that they were able to wipe out the fierce Jiao group in one fell swoop. The rural soldiers led by Sun Tuanlian played the mainstay role. In several battles, if they had not rushed to the front, I am afraid that this bandit suppression would have ended up like the previous expeditions.
Regarding this statement, the Xiang Army naturally had some opinions, but they were unable to refute it. After all, the facts were there. Even Lin Dujian, whose official position was much higher than that of Sun Tu, did not say much about this statement, because he already knew that his backer Yuan Wang had compromised with Cai Prefect, and even the people of Laocheng Camp, which was originally under the name of Xiangjun, The power of governance will be handed over to Sun Tu, the seventh-grade regiment trainer.
In fact, when he first learned about this, Lin Henian was still a little unbelievable. Having been in the military for many years, he knew very well what the jurisdiction of the prison camp meant to the generals of the Xiang Army and Yuan Tuiguan. This is not a matter of authority, but a matter of tens of thousands of dollars a year.
For the Song Dynasty Xiang Army, which was rotten to the core, the only purpose of officials and generals, big and small, was to obtain sufficient benefits. Naturally, their methods of frantically grabbing money include taking short quotas, drinking the blood of soldiers, and embezzling what should have been
The land belongs to the sergeants, and the soldiers under their command are used as handymen. What's more, they will deliberately recruit ordinary people with skills into the army, and then let them work outside, thereby extracting the income from their hard work... He really does everything he can to make money.
But in the final analysis, these activities are violations of the law and cannot withstand the investigation of the court, and the benefits they can obtain are ultimately limited. They cannot completely ignore the life and death of the soldiers and make them unable to survive. In that case, they will not need to be investigated by the court and they will mutiny together. This will allow these corrupt officials to die without a burial place.
Therefore, some people set their sights on the Prison Camp, because most of the prisoners in the Prison Camp were prisoners who had committed major crimes and were sent from other states and counties. Naturally, they did not need to be as polite to them as ordinary soldiers. First, they made a fuss about the expenses in the prison camp, and then they even openly asked for bribes, because after these prisoners were sent to the local area, they were not just kept in cells. They still had to do hard labor on weekdays, such as dredging. River channels, repairing city walls, if they are sent to the northwest or northern border, these prisoners will have to be driven to the battlefield to kill the enemy, relying on battle after battle to forgive their sins and perform meritorious service...
But in addition to these hard and tiring jobs, there are actually other easier jobs in the prison camp, such as keeping accounts and managing warehouses... However, these jobs are not arranged for old and frail prisoners, but based on the prisoners' payment. The decision is made based on the official's filial piety. This alone can bring a lot of benefits to the officials involved in the prison camp.
In addition, there are many harsh rules in the prison camp, and those who are offended will be severely punished. And only those who bribe the officials can avoid these sufferings. And if they really pay enough money to bribe and manage the whole camp, then the prisoner will not be able to leave the city limits, but he can freely enter and exit the prison camp. Compared with ordinary people, There is no difference.
Jiangzhou is not on the border, so the prisoners usually sent here are either those who have not committed serious crimes, or those who have a lot of money and can reduce their serious crimes. These people naturally understand the rules well after entering the prison camp. Management from top to bottom is inevitable, so major officials like Lin Henian and Yuan Wang can reap benefits that are more than ten times their own salaries. It can be regarded as a rare money tree in their hands.
But now, Yuan Tuiguan actually gave up such a lucrative job to Sun Tu and the rural soldiers. In Lin Henian's view, it was no different from taking the initiative to cut off the flesh. He also saw how much concessions Yuan Tuiguan had made this time. Although he didn't know the whole story, he also knew that the secret struggle between the prefects and Tuiguan that lasted for nearly a year finally ended with Yuan Tuiguan's defeat. .
Since even his backers had taken the initiative to give in and let go, Lin Henian, a military general with a far inferior status, naturally did not dare to show his dissatisfaction. He could only let Sun Tu's edge overshadow his own and become a hero praised by everyone in the city. , what a hero.
Sun Tu himself, on the other hand, didn't care too much about the benefit that Cai Jiu took from Yuan Wang and gave it to him. After all, he was not short of money now, and he had no intention of squeezing money out of those prisoners without conscience. However, since the prefect has handed over the errands, as a subordinate, he can only do his best to avoid making mistakes.