Sun Tu, who is far away in Qingzhou, doesn't know that he has been regarded as a thorn in the flesh by the two powerful traitors Gao Qiu and Liang Shicheng, who want to get rid of him quickly. Of course, even if he really knew the attitude of the two people, he might not be too relieved. He was far away from the court, and Qingzhou was his territory. Could he still be afraid of them
The more critical point is that Sun Tuzheng is currently focused on the two major issues of nourishing the people and strengthening the army, and how can he have the time to worry about other details.
Although they regained control of Qingzhou and killed those officials, the soldiers and civilians of Qingzhou were still severely damaged, which could not be compensated by killing a few officials and expressing their bad intentions. For more than half a year, the people have lived in hardship. Many people have been unjustly imprisoned, or have been forcibly recruited into the army, and some have simply fled away from the right and wrong place in Qingzhou.
Therefore, the first thing Sun Tu had to do after he returned to power was to release those people and give them adequate compensation. As for the old and weak who were forcibly recruited into the army, they naturally had to be released. Fortunately, Gao Xiang and other officials did not take away the money collected from this place. After the money taken from the people of Qingzhou was confiscated by Sun Tu, it was returned to the people without any additional compensation from the government.
With Sun Tu's proper handling and comfort, the people of Qingzhou who already respected him naturally settled down again. Even shortly after the news came out, some people who fled also returned one after another. At this time, people are most eager to settle down and relocate. If there is really no way to survive, who would be willing to leave their hometown and go to another country to make a living
The people's problems are actually easy to solve. It is more difficult to raise a Qingzhou Army like the one from more than a year ago. Because the Qingzhou Army suffered too much damage this time, not only the ordinary soldiers suffered numerous casualties and fled, but also the middle and low-level officers were very rare. If they wanted to train again, they would have to dig out talents again, and it would not be possible in a short time.
The only good thing is that the army has enough money and food. The Qingzhou Army was considered one of the richest rural armies in hundreds of cities in the Song Dynasty. This was not only because Sun Tu would not deduct the soldiers' pay, but also because they had defeated three bandits in a row before and obtained a large amount of money, food and property. A year ago These materials are piled up in military warehouses.
In fact, all the money and food were embezzled into their own pockets by He Mo and others, but like Gao Xiang and others, they were not in a hurry to send these corruption gains out of Qingzhou, but just kept them in their own mansions. When Sun Tu came back and killed them all, all these properties, including the wealth they brought from elsewhere, fell into the hands of the Qingzhou Army, which increased the amount of supplies in the army.
However, sufficient money and food still cannot solve the problem of scarcity of soldiers. Even though Sun Tu has sent people to deliver news everywhere for more than a month and issued various announcements, the number of veterans of the Qingzhou Army who have returned is still not large. Two to three hundred rooms.
This is easy to understand. Although the Qingzhou Army at its peak numbered five to six thousand people, nearly half of them were surrendered troops from the Sanshan bandits. At that time, they had no choice but to join the Qingzhou Army in order to save their lives. They were far from completely returning home.
After experiencing the changes of more than half a year, especially after seeing the unnecessary casualties, these people naturally had the idea of escape. So even if they did see Sun Tu's essay elsewhere, they would never come back again.
. Those who can come back are all local soldiers from Qingzhou, and they can be regarded as the backbone members of the Qingzhou Army.
As a result, after entering and exiting, the number of Qingzhou Army now is not much different from when Sun Tu came back. It is still less than two thousand soldiers and horses. The only good thing is that the combat effectiveness has been improved a lot.
The daily drills also started again, and the military camp, which had been silent for more than half a year, once again sounded uniform and powerful shouts, spreading far and wide throughout the city, letting the people feel at ease. They didn't realize it before, but after the accident in the past six months, everyone discovered that the Qingzhou Army had become a guardian angel in everyone's mind. They were safe only when they heard the sound of such drills.
But Sun Tu is obviously not satisfied with this. In recent days, he has been thinking of ways to recruit troops from elsewhere, but as of now, the effect is not obvious.
Today, after coming out of the military camp, Sun Tu gathered all his important people together. When everyone gathered together, they were surprised to find that there was a special person in the hall - Hu Rong. Although she was dressed as a man at this time and looked particularly heroic, the unique feminine aura of a woman was still very different from the masculinity of everyone.
Everyone actually recognized Hu Rong in their hearts and knew how much she had contributed to Sun Tu. Many people secretly believed that sooner or later she would become Sun Tujian's second wife. But even though she has a noble status, it is still a bit surprising to appear in such a serious meeting. I wonder what kind of medicine Sun Dujian is selling in the gourd.
Hu Rong felt a little awkward sitting among this large group of gentlemen. From time to time, she glanced at Sun Tu who was sitting upright above her. If he hadn't forced her to come here, she would have wanted to leave with an excuse.
After everyone arrived, Sun Tu ignored everyone's strange looks and asked Qi Desheng: "Are there many soldiers who have returned recently?"
Qi Desheng smiled bitterly and shook his head: "In the beginning, there were dozens of brothers coming back every day, but now there are only one or two brothers coming back every day. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to increase the number of soldiers in the army in the future."
Sun Tu frowned: "So, is there any progress in recruiting troops to other state capitals?"
The person who answered this time was Yang Zhi. He also said with a sad face: "Last year, many people came to join the army, but this year the situation is completely different. Almost no one came. This should be the result of my suffering before The heavy casualties suffered by the Qingzhou Army, coupled with the fact that the Liangshan bandits are now powerful, everyone knows that after surrendering to the army, they will most likely fight against the Liangshan bandits, and ordinary people will not dare to come."
"Yes, a hundred years of promoting culture and suppressing military power have dissipated most of the blood of men in the Song Dynasty." Sun Tu also said with a worried face: "But with just these two thousand people now, let alone making contributions. Even if I want to defend my three-thirds of Qingzhou, it will be very difficult. So I think we still have to find a way to expand our troops!"
"This is easier said than done... Unless you, the governor, use the same method as Gao Xiang and others to force strong men to join the army, it will be difficult to achieve results in a short period of time." Huang Wenbing said without much confidence.
Seeing everyone's gloomy expressions, Hu Rong felt a little anxious, but she didn't really understand this fact. She couldn't say anything to cheer people up at the moment, so she could only lower her head. But then,
She found that Sun Tu was looking at her, which made her feel embarrassed and a little confused. What was he staring at her at this time
Others also discovered this, and they were also full of doubts, but they didn't ask questions for a while, which made the scene seem a bit embarrassing. After Sun Tu looked at Hu Rong for a while, he slowly said: "Originally, I didn't plan to use this method, but now it seems that this is the only way to strengthen our Qingzhou Army in a short time."
"Is there really a way for the governor?" Everyone suddenly became energetic and asked quickly. Based on their understanding of Sun Tu, he would never talk nonsense on such a big matter. He must have a real idea.
Sun Tu looked at Hu Rong and said: "There are too many men in our Qingzhou City who have joined the army. Naturally, it is impossible to force other young men to join the army. But men are not the only ones in this city who are determined to serve the country. Women are also the same, so I plan to recruit women in the city to join the army and train an elite female soldier!"
"What?"
"this… "
Everyone in the hall exclaimed in surprise, all with expressions of disbelief. If these words hadn't really come from Sun Tu's mouth, they would have thought it was someone who was in a daze and said something crazy!
Who would have thought that Sun Tu would turn to women in order to solve the problem of Qingzhou Army shortage? He actually plans to train female soldiers. Let alone experience this, no one has even heard of it. What use can a group of weak women serve as soldiers
After a while of silence, Ruda was the first to speak: "Sanlang... Governor, don't make any random decisions to solve the soldiers' problems. This woman serving as soldiers is something I have never heard of. How can they go into battle to kill the enemy?" ?”
"Yes, Governor. Once this is done, it will make the world think of our Qingzhou Army. I am afraid that the court will think that our Qingzhou Army has a bad morale!" Yang Zhi also persuaded.
"As a woman, she only needs to take care of her husband and raise her children at home, and that's all she needs to do is mend her clothes. What's the point of picking up swords and guns..."
Everyone expressed their objections one by one. Before Sun Tu could respond, Hu Rong's pretty face turned red and anger showed in her eyes. After enduring it for a moment, he finally got up the courage to shout: "Who said women can't be compared to men? If you don't believe it, you can give it a try with me!"
"Well said, Sanniang has always been a match for women. Yang Zhi, Qi Desheng, do you really dare to say that you can defeat him?" While everyone was stunned, Sun Tu asked with a smile, which made it difficult to answer. He could only keep quiet and not argue with Hu Rong.
The smile on Sun Tu's face gradually faded, and he said seriously: "In the fields of my Qingzhou City, we can always see many women working hard on behalf of their husbands, and they are often helping the men with many things at home. If you are doing it, then why can't women replace men in enlisting in the army? If Sanniang's martial arts is not inferior to you, then other women can also be trained to become an elite soldier in all battles. Since Qingzhou men can no longer recruit Well, why can’t we recruit some women to be on top?”
These questions were thrown out one after another, but no one could answer them. At the same time, they have also understood that Sun Tu has probably been planning this matter for a long time, and he only came here today to convince them.
This is really a bold and groundbreaking idea.