Afterwards, at Deng Qifan's request, Wu Shigong and Deng Qifan had a secret conversation.
As soon as he came up, Deng Qifan said to Wu Shigong straight to the point: "My lord, have you noticed that although you are very attentive to your soldiers and spend a lot of money and food to support them, your soldiers are not very loyal to you! If things continue like this, lord
I’m afraid that there will be trouble from the soldiers of the Northern and Southern Dynasties!”
The literati at that time always liked to be alarmist in the first sentence to attract the attention of their lord. The same was true for Deng Qifan's words. However, Wu Shigong did feel the crisis in this incident, so he resonated with Deng Qifan's words.
However, some of the words Deng Qifan quoted from scriptures were not quite clear, so Wu Shigong asked: "What is the disaster of the imperial soldiers in the Southern and Northern Dynasties?"
Deng Qifan felt a little proud after listening to Wu Shigong's questions. He was a good teacher and taught Wu Shigong a good lesson. He introduced the military system, historical origins and changes of the Southern and Northern Dynasties to Wu Shigong in detail.
Anyway, what Deng Qifan said is available in history books, so I won’t repeat it here. Deng Qifan mainly introduced it to Wu Shigong: the combat effectiveness of the imperial soldiers in the Southern and Northern Dynasties at that time was very strong, but in order to support them, they were given generous treatment.
and high military pay, and even hired chefs to cook for them.
However, these soldiers did not feel grateful and loyal to the Eastern Jin Dynasty who supported them because they were well treated. They gradually became the private armed forces of the generals who led the soldiers. In the end, Liu Yu, the general of the soldiers, relied on the soldiers to destroy them.
The Eastern Jin Dynasty established the Song Dynasty during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
After listening to Deng Qifan's lecture on history, although Wu Shigong had not fully understood that period of history, he already understood what Deng Qifan was going to say.
Deng Qifan wanted to tell Wu Shigong: The loyalty of his soldiers cannot be bought by relying only on money, beautiful women, etc. Otherwise, his men will be easily bribed by other people. At that time, Wu Shigong will be a supporter.
It would be foolish to marry off your daughter when she is older.
After listening to Deng Qifan's words, Wu Shigong scratched his scalp and felt a little troubled. To be honest, if Wu Shigong had not had the official position of acting for thousands of households, there would be no reason for his soldiers to be loyal either in terms of justice or status. Wu Shigong also
The only option was to exchange the loyalty of the soldiers with good provisions and adequate military pay.
But what Deng Qifan said is indeed true. Wu Shigong is the boss of the underworld in modern times. In the underworld, there is intrigue, betrayal, and infernal affairs. It can be said that he betrayed his brothers for profit.
It was a common occurrence. At that time, Wu Shigong could only use profit to bind his subordinates together to maintain their loyalty to him.
Wu Shigong was scratching his scalp in worry. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw Deng Qifan sitting aside, smiling and saying nothing. Wu Shigong suddenly understood in his heart. A smile immediately appeared on his face, and he said to Deng Qifan with a smile: "
Mr. Deng, you don’t need to be so pretentious anymore. You must have a good idea. Come and tell me."
This shameless Wu Shigong, in order to solve this problem, stopped calling Deng Qifan "Sour Ding" and called Deng Qifan "Mr. Deng".
Wu Shigong's question obviously scratched Deng Qifan's itch. He immediately leaned forward, approached Wu Shigong and said, "Sir, the student thought that your Excellency had a great method before."
"Oh? Tell me quickly." Wu Shigong was also interested in Deng Qifan's words.
"Read! Read the books of sages!" Seeing that Wu Shigong was a little stunned by his answer, Deng Qifan became even more proud. He went on to explain: "The purpose of reading is of course to understand the truth. To understand is to be loyal to the emperor. To understand is to understand the truth.
Being loyal to the principles of the Ming Dynasty is of course also loyal to your principles as a general of the imperial court! Therefore, they are not only required to read the books of sages, but also those books of sages compiled by you, sir."
Wu Shigong understood it all at once. It turned out that Deng Qifan wanted to strengthen the brainwashing work of his soldiers. This was indeed a good idea. However, this scholar talked in a roundabout way, and it took him a long time to get to the point.
readily.
But Wu Shigong noticed that Deng Qifan seemed to have more to say. Of course Wu Shigong continued to tickle him knowingly. He then asked: "Mr. Deng is indeed right. Go on."
Deng Qifan smiled "haha" and continued: "Actually, your Majesty's method of letting your military attachés and adopted orphans read the books of saints and sages compiled by your Majesty was very good. However, according to what the students have seen, the people you selected were a bit bad.
"
"how so?"
"My lord, you see, your military officers are all people from your mansion brought from the capital, and those orphans have also been taken into your current mansion by you. So these people are actually domestic slaves in your mansion, sir, and they should never
They betrayed you, Your Excellency. Therefore, Your Excellency, it is a good idea to want them to study, but there is no need to select them. And Your Excellency, you should let those other soldiers read the sage books compiled by Your Excellency. In this way, they will definitely
To increase their loyalty."
Deng Qifan's words suddenly hit the point. Seeing that the problem in his mind was solved, Wu Shigong laughed heartily. He immediately said: "Sir, you are so talented! Okay! That's it! When I return to Qianhu So, I will definitely let you
All soldiers read. I want my army to become the first army without illiteracy in the Ming Dynasty. Hahaha——"
Deng Qifan was smiling at the side. After a while, he reminded Wu Shigong: "Sir, if you want so many people to study, you will need to hire a lot of teachers!"
"No problem!" Wu Shigong waved his hand and replied very boldly: "It's not like we let these soldiers take the exam to be a scholar. It's enough to prevent them from becoming blind. We can let those soldiers who are more literate serve as teachers temporarily.
.”
"Also, I should not only care about the soldiers, but also their families. Let the soldiers with children send their children over, and I will let them all study in the same way. There are really not enough teachers, so I will go
Please ask Mr. Gong. He will definitely support you strongly. Hahaha——!"
Wu Shigong was quite proud. The brainwashing work should start from childhood! Deng Qifan also smiled and nodded, fully agreeing with Wu Shigong's inferences.
Unexpectedly, Wu Shigong's fox tail was exposed all of a sudden. He then gritted his teeth and said: "With these children, I want to see who dares to be disobedient."
After hearing Wu Shigong's last words, Deng Qifan was dumbfounded. He couldn't help but shiver all over his body. However, Deng Qifan then thought about it. Wu Shigong had grasped the soldiers' leverage in this way, which was a good way to maintain the soldiers' loyalty.
But what Deng Qifan didn't expect was that Wu Shigong went on to say to him: "Mr. Deng is a talented person. I find that I can't do without you more and more. Before this time, Mr. Deng had already written a letter and sent it home."
Let's do this. Mr. Deng will write another letter home and ask Mr. Deng and his family to move to Guide Mansion. This Guide Mansion has good scenery and good water, and it will definitely make your lady and your son fat. Ha.
Ha ha--!"
Deng Qifan was stunned again, and his whole body trembled again. This was really a cocoon! But now Deng Qifan was under the eaves, so he had to agree with a wry smile.
In order to cover up the embarrassment on his face, Deng Qifan changed the subject and said to Wu Shigong: "Sir, your apprentice Tao Xin is quite like you, sir. He led the team of boys, but he drilled them very well.
He looks like a soldier!"
Wu Shigong nodded. He was indeed very satisfied with his apprentice. Although Tao Xin was forced by Wu Shigong to become his apprentice at that time, Tao Xin was indeed up to par, doing things strictly and very proud of Wu Shigong.
Adding luster to the sky.
Wu Shigong smiled and said to Deng Qifan: "Don't praise the little boy too much, lest he become proud. However, this boy learned things in the military very quickly, but he just didn't pay attention to his studies. After I go back this time, I will bother you to teach him.
Teach that brat. If he dares to be disobedient, don’t be polite to him. This brat has a thick skin. Now, my eldest daughter can suppress him! Hahaha——! This brat will definitely do it in the future.