"My dear nephew, my dear nephew, the three of us sat in the tent and talked about the past and the present. Our thoughts collided fiercely and we had many wonderful ideas. Finally, we summarized the famous generals of all dynasties and discovered a shocking secret to improve the combat effectiveness of the army."
As soon as Zhu Ping'an entered the general's tent, uncle Zhu Shouren couldn't wait to walk forward and said to Zhu Ping'an with a smug look on his face.
In order to attract Zhu Ping'an's attention, he deliberately used the four words "shocking secret" as a gimmick.
"Oh, please go ahead, uncle." Zhu Ping'an was indeed quite interested.
"All capable armies have one thing in common, that is, they enforce discipline and clearly distinguish rewards and punishments. And to enforce discipline and distinguish rewards and punishments, you must..."
Uncle Zhu Shouren walked slowly around Zhu Ping'an with his hands behind his back, talking to him eloquently and even keeping the key points in suspense.
"Uncle, please continue." Zhu Pingan said cooperatively.
The uncle spoke confidently, "That is to say, you must be strict and ruthless in managing the army. My dear nephew, you must also manage the army in this way, so as to improve the combat effectiveness of the Zhejiang Army."
"Yes, uncle, it's really good that you can think of this, but the military discipline of our Zhejiang Army is already very strict. This is the military discipline book and the collective responsibility law book issued last month."
Zhu Ping'an first praised his uncle Zhu Shouren and others, then took the military discipline booklet and the collective responsibility law booklet from the bookshelf, handed them to his uncle Zhu Shouren and others, and said to them.
In fact, my uncle and his men had the military discipline book in their hands, but they had not read even a single page, and it was the first time they had seen the collective responsibility law book.
"How strict can military discipline be..."
The uncle said disapprovingly, and the three of them gathered together to look through the military discipline book and the collective responsibility law book.
They first opened the military discipline book, page after page, and as they read, the faces of the three men turned very pale.
"There are rules for eating, we have to line up, and if you violate them you will be beaten with a military stick."
"Also, there are rules for going to the toilet, and those who violate them will be punished with a military stick..."
"Also, even walking in the military camp has its own rules. If you violate them, you will be punished with a military stick at the very least, or even killed at the worst..."
"Even sleeping has its own rules. If you fail to put out the fire and lights according to the rules, or make a lot of noise, you will be severely punished. If you fail to get up on time to report for work, you will be caned once, double the punishment twice, and be executed if you fail three times..."
The three men looked at the military discipline book in their hands and their faces turned pale. Even eating, drinking, defecating, urinating and sleeping were strictly regulated, not to mention daily training and marching and fighting, which were extremely strict.
As for the "Law on Collective Responsibility", they flipped it open and read it. Not only did their faces turn pale, but cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.
"If you want to get promoted and make money, please go somewhere else; if you are afraid of death, don't join the Zhejiang Army!"
The first line of the couplet at the beginning of “The Law of Collective Responsibility” made them feel shocked, just like evil spirits seeing a door god.
"Ah? A superior officer is guilty of the crime for a subordinate officer? If a subordinate officer is afraid of death and flees from the battlefield, the superior officer will be guilty of the same crime?!"
The beginning of "Collective Responsibility Law" is that the superior officers are collectively punished, and it starts directly with Zhu Ping'an, the commander of the Zhejiang Army, which makes the three uncles feel shocked. My nephew/Lord Zhu is really a ruthless person. He starts with him...
"Also, the subordinate officers will be held responsible for their superiors. If a subordinate officer retreats or escapes, causing the death of his superior, all officers under him will be executed! If a soldier retreats or escapes, causing the death of the sergeant, all soldiers in the sergeant will be executed!"
Seeing this, the three uncles not only had cold sweat on their foreheads, but also on their backs.
"Also, the soldiers will be punished collectively. If there is a deserter, all the soldiers in a squad will be punished collectively. In peacetime, half of them will be imprisoned and half of them will have their wages withheld. In wartime, all will be caned 100 times. How many people can stand a hundred canes for this guy?!"
"Too strict, too harsh..."
The three of them, including my uncle, could not help but smack their lips in amazement. They were often punished with caning, executed, and even implicated as a whole group. It was already so harsh, how could it get even more severe? The tyranny of the Qin Dynasty was no more than this.
"Uncle, do you think there is room for improvement?" Zhu Ping'an asked with a smile.
The three uncles shook their heads repeatedly. How could they be so strict? They couldn't just draw lots and kill one person every day to scare the monkeys, right?! Even if they didn't understand military affairs, they knew they couldn't do that.
"It seems that I have to trouble my uncle, Mr. Hu and Mr. Xia to continue their efforts." Zhu Pingan said.
"Of course we should." Hu Wei and Xia Qiang nodded repeatedly.
Zhu Ping'an handled military affairs in the tent for a while, then took a book from the bookshelf and started reading.
After watching for a while, a guard came in to report that Liu Dadao had returned from the city with hundreds of horses.
"So many, let's go and take a look."
After hearing this, Zhu Ping'an nodded happily, put the book down and followed the guard.
With this batch of horses, Zhu Ping'an can start to form a mobile and flexible cavalry, which will be of great benefit in future battles.
After Zhu Ping'an left, uncle Zhu Shouren, Hu Wei and Xia Qiang quickly walked to the window and watched Zhu Ping'an walking farther and farther away. After making sure that Zhu Ping'an would not come back, the three of them quickly came to Shuai An.
It was the uncle who quickly picked up the book that Zhu Ping'an had just read.
"Brother Zhu, come quickly, there is a page that Lord Zhu has been looking at for a long time, can you please see which page it is?" Xia Qiangzhu asked impatiently.
"This book is closed, and there are no creases on any page. How do I know which page it is?" The uncle flipped through the book and didn't see any page creases. He was stunned and said with a bewildered look on his face.
"Don't worry, Brother Zhu, put the book back on the table quickly. This book is considered new and is written on Donghui Xuan paper. The longer a page has been read, the more folding marks it will have, which will be clearly distinguished from the other pages. You can see it clearly by just putting it on the table." Hu Wei said wisely.
Uncle Zhu Shouren quickly placed the book on the table. The three of them squatted down, put their eyes at eye level with the book, and looked at it carefully. Sure enough, they saw that there was a page with a clear curvature and a darker color, which was clearly different from the pages behind it.
"Yes, it's this page." The three of them couldn't help but be overjoyed.
It was my uncle Zhu Shouren who was quick-witted and quick-handed. He snatched the book and couldn't wait to open the page.
Hu Wei and Xia Qiang also immediately squeezed their heads over and stared at the book in their uncle Zhu Shouren's hand with wide eyes.
"This is a story about Cao Cao's crusade against Yuan Shu, who usurped the throne. During the crusade, Cao Cao was short of food and grass, and encountered a severe drought. The soldiers had difficulty eating and complained constantly. It was not easy for him to borrow some food and grass from Sun Ce in Jiangdong, but it was still not enough. The grain and grass officer reported to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao ordered him to distribute food to the soldiers in small buckets. The grain and grass officer asked in surprise, what if the soldiers mutinied if they were not full? Cao Cao said not to worry, he had his own way. In the end, the soldiers really mutinied, and Cao Cao found the grain and grass officer and said he wanted to borrow something from him to calm the anger of the soldiers. The grain and grass officer asked what it was? Cao Cao said it was the head on your neck. Then, Cao Cao beheaded the grain and grass officer for the crime of withholding food and grass, and the morale of the army was calmed down..."
Xia Qiang liked to read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and was very familiar with the stories of the Three Kingdoms. He could tell what this page was about at a glance.
"What inspiration can this page provide for improving the army's combat effectiveness?" The uncle touched his chin in confusion.
"I guess Lord Zhu is worried about the shortage of food and grass. Didn't he ask us to draft a letter to Suzhou City yesterday to apply for a month's worth of food and grass? Suzhou City hasn't delivered the food and grass yet today. I guess Lord Zhu is still thinking about this."
Hu Wei thought about it and spoke slowly.
"That makes sense. But it's a pity that it has nothing to do with what you want us to do, and it can't inspire us. Just now when we said 'obey orders, distinguish rewards and punishments, and discipline the army strictly', you obviously looked at us with new eyes."
Uncle nodded regretfully.