While Chu Ge was busy battling wits and courage with the emperor in the capital, Zhao Haiping had just finished a day of training.
Previously, Zhao Haiping relied on his skillful riding skills and excellent horseback skills to obtain the qualification for special assassination without any doubt, and was assigned to the Pingding Army.
The Pingding Army was stationed in Pingding County, in front of a pass in the Taihang Mountains. It was the place where Taizu of the Qi Dynasty temporarily stationed when he attacked Taiyuan City. It can also be regarded as the only way from the capital of the Qi Dynasty to Taiyuan City.
Zhao Haiping originally thought that as a military soldier, he would soon have a hearty battle with the Jin soldiers, but it turned out that he was wrong.
After arriving at the military camp, he first experienced a boring training life for a period of time.
At this time, soldier training did not have any special scientific theory to guide it. It was nothing more than practicing some specific postures uniformly and repeatedly on the school field, or there were other training plans based on different abilities.
For example, for cavalry, horseback kung fu and mounted archery are naturally essential.
It's just that the quality of the soldiers at this time is really worrying, so this kind of training cannot be too complicated. For most ordinary soldiers, they can hold a long gun and barely make a few thrusts after picking it up.
The action is already very good.
This is not an exaggeration, because the spears in ancient military formations were really long, two or three meters long. Even if the body of such a spear is made of wood, it would be difficult to just hold the end and lift it flat.
A pretty fertile thing.
After all, the usage of the spear is based on the principle of leverage. With the left hand as the fulcrum, the right hand only needs to move a small distance. The tip of the spear can cover the enemy's head, chest and whole body. However, the problem caused by this is that the strength of the hand must be sufficient.
powerful.
Therefore, this kind of training is still quite difficult for ordinary soldiers.
After all, Zhao Haiping has already practiced martial arts in other historical slices, and the body he obtained is also tall and strong, with quite good qualities, so this kind of training is useless to him. As a relatively high-level grassroots officer,
He can quickly lead and guide some soldiers in training, or he and other officers can have separate venues to conduct some training projects of their own choice.
What was more difficult for Zhao Haiping to accept were the conditions in the military camp.
Zhao Haiping has played grassroots soldiers before. For example, in the dungeon "The Marquis Is Not My Will", he played a soldier under General Deng.
At that time, he thought that the treatment of soldiers in the middle and late Dasheng Dynasty was already quite poor, but now he discovered that the treatment of soldiers under General Deng was already pretty good.
The living conditions were good and they were provided with sufficient food and salary. This should be one of the important reasons why the soldiers led by General Deng were able to win every battle.
Although the Qi Dynasty was still in the early stages of the dynasty, the consequences of redundant troops had been fully exposed.
Since the founding of the Qi Dynasty, the imperial court has adopted the method of recruiting troops.
The recruitment system is certainly an improvement compared to the collapsed government army system, but the problem is that the advantage of recruitment is that it can conditionally select soldiers suitable for fighting, and give them sufficient motivation to fight through sufficient food and salary, and then through
Professional training allows them to obtain combat effectiveness far beyond that of conscripts.
But the problem is that the Qi Dynasty's military recruitment system and the serious military recruitment system are not the same thing.
The Qi Dynasty's military recruitment system basically did not screen the recruitment of soldiers too much, but regarded it as a means of maintaining stability.
Emperor Taizu of the Qi Dynasty once said a famous saying: The only way to benefit generations is to raise soldiers. If there is an unlucky year and a hungry year, there will be rebellion against the people but no rebel soldiers; if there is misfortune and a happy age, there will be rebel soldiers but no rebel soldiers.
civil.
In other words, as long as there is a disaster, the imperial court will recruit troops to prevent the emergence of chaos.
The soldiers recruited in this way may not necessarily have a strong willingness to fight. They are simply unable to survive in a major disaster. Soldiering is just a temporary means of survival. Secondly, they may not have sufficient physical fitness and combat skills.
They are all poor people who have been working in agriculture for generations, and they are not up to standard in all aspects.
Moreover, a large number of recruitments will lead to a reduction in the food and salary allocated to each soldier, especially for those soldiers who are actually not very good at fighting. Only a small amount of money will be given to them, which is not enough for them to live.
.
If we take into account the layers of exploitation by officers at all levels, it is not surprising that these soldiers fled on a large scale.
That's why there's such a shameless practice of tattooing people's faces to prevent them from escaping.
In the past, Zhao Haiping had also learned about some issues regarding the treatment of soldiers in the Qi Dynasty and had read some misleading statements.
For example, it is said that after the Qi Dynasty recruits soldiers, they will be given a settlement allowance, and the whole family will move into the military camp. The soldiers can go home to eat every day, and their colleagues will live next to them.
In this way, the couple and their children do not have to suffer the pain of being separated in two places, which is a very humane approach.
But after living in the Pingding military camp, Zhao Haiping discovered that this was all a lie!
When Zhao Haiping first saw the housing in the military camp, he was shocked.
Can this also be called a house?
It's just a shabby house made of very simple thatch and bamboo boards. When the wind blows, the air leaks everywhere, and when it rains, the roof leaks. It has neither cold protection nor heat insulation. In short, this thing is only slightly better than sleeping on the field.
So a little bit.
This point is actually recorded in historical materials.
The simple houses made of thatch and bamboo boards in the Qi Dynasty were already quite simple among all the houses for civilians, and the cost was still ten guan per room; while the construction standard of military camps was no more than four guan per room.
You can imagine what kind of living quality this will be like...
Moreover, having the whole family join the army seems to be some kind of welfare benefit at first glance, but after digging deeper, you will find that there is a big pit here.
On the one hand, the Qi Dynasty's approach was actually to prevent deserters.
After all, if a soldier is alone, he can run away if he wants to, and run directly home to find his wife and children. Under ancient conditions, it would be difficult to catch him back; but what if his wife and children are all in the military camp? Then what if the soldier returns?
If you want to run away, you have to take your family with you, as it is easier to be discovered.
Moreover, if a soldier ran away and left his wife and children behind, the officer would naturally sell the family members into slavery and pay compensation to the court.
On the other hand, using a dilapidated thatched house of less than four feet, I earned some cheap labor in vain.
Due to redundant troops and the common situation of officers withholding food and pay, the military salary received by the soldiers was greatly reduced. Moreover, the soldiers of the Qi Dynasty had to bear various expenses such as repairing equipment and buying leather straps and bow strings.
A soldier's military salary is simply not enough to support his family.
In this case, the soldiers had to find another way to make a living and make money by doing small businesses in the market.
This further caused the collapse of the entire morale. When all the soldiers were thinking about how to make money, how could they concentrate on training?
Among them, those who have made money are lucky to say that they can use the money to hire people to serve for them, while they can happily continue to do business. However, if they do not make money, it will further aggravate the embarrassing family situation.
Therefore, the wives and children of the soldiers had to join in, such as helping the soldiers wash their armor, collecting firewood nearby, etc.
Since the military camp was all thatched huts, open fires were not allowed at night, so the family had to make do with some cold food, and then continue to work until late at night.
In other words, when the wives and children of these soldiers came to the military camp, not only did they not come to enjoy leisure and happiness, but they became similar to auxiliary soldiers, taking on a lot of chores in the military camp.
If they were in the fields of their hometown, they might be able to find some farming or weaving work and save some money, but in the military camp, there was no such opportunity.
In short, during this period of time in the military camp, Zhao Haiping also felt quite frustrated and angry.
It’s so uncomfortable!
Is this the treatment that soldiers should enjoy?
How can such an army talk about combat effectiveness, and why should it fight against the Jin people who are like wolves and tigers?
But at this time, after all, he was just a new recruit who had just joined the army, and he was unable to change anything at all. He could only just hang around day by day.
After all, judging from the recent panic atmosphere in the military camp, the Jin soldiers may be coming soon.
…
"Brother Zhao, come on, have another piece."
Zhao Haiping took a small piece of hard biscuit from the opponent's hand and soaked it in the millet soup. After it was completely soaked, he dipped it in a little sauce and put it in his mouth.
The cakes and millet soup were both cold because open flames were not allowed at night.
After all, military camps are full of cheap thatched houses. Once a fire breaks out, the consequences will be very serious. No one can bear such consequences.
As for these soldiers, they are used to this.
If you want to eat cold food, eat it cold, as long as you don't starve to death.
The tolerance of these lower-class people in ancient times to survival problems is beyond the imagination of modern people.
In the military camp, Zhao Haiping's name was Zhao Hai. And the soldier in front of him, who looked equally tall and strong, had the same special sting effect as Zhao Haiping, and was called Wang Fang.
Zhao Haiping was a lonely man and joined the army by himself, but Wang Fang was different, he had a wife and children.
His child is just seven years old this year.
According to Wang Fang, in fact, as early as more than ten days ago, his wife and children were still in the Pingding Army and living with him.
But as more and more news came about the Jin army's southern invasion, Wang Fang began to worry that Pingding County would soon turn into a battlefield. At this time, the official website opened a policy and allowed some people's wives and children to leave the military camp and return home, so Wang Fang also
Taking advantage of the situation, he allowed his wife and children to go back.
Compared with those soldiers at the bottom, soldiers with "special stabbing effect" like Zhao Haiping and Wang Fang are among the elite. Not only do they receive more daily military salary, but they also receive some preferential treatment in other aspects. Even if they have military
The situation where salary or other miscellaneous money is withheld is less than that of other ordinary soldiers.
Moreover, the Pingding Army is located in a remote place. Although the living conditions are very poor, it is easy to face war here, and the deduction of military salary will be more restrained.
So overall, the life of the two of them in the military camp was barely passable.
As for daily food, overall it is similar to that during the march.
The Qi Dynasty was an era of great development of food culture. People like Li Hongyun in the city could also go to restaurants to have a full meal and eat some stir-fried vegetables. But in the military camp, there were basically only various hard cakes and a very small amount of vegetables.
.
Since the Qi Dynasty, hard biscuits, salt cubes and sauce have become a three-piece set necessary for marching. Compared with the situation in the Chu Dynasty and earlier periods where soldiers could only eat millet every meal, this has been a great improvement.
Big improvement, but still not delicious.
After barely filling their stomachs until they were 80% full, the two began to talk about national affairs in the dark.
Although the Pingding Army is an inconspicuous army, it is located in a strategic location after all. On weekdays, the soldiers can more or less get a lot of information from the outside world from their superior officers.
Wang Fang sighed softly: "Brother Zhao, I have some regrets recently and sent my wife and children back."
Zhao Haiping thought for a while: "Why? The Jin soldiers have already moved south. Although the West Route Army is blocked by the strong city of Taiyuan at this time, many armies will bypass Taiyuan City if they are not protected. By then, our Pingding Army will inevitably be involved.
flames of war.
"Your decision to send your wife and children back was the right one."
Wang Fang smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Brother Zhao, you don't know something. The latest military information has been transmitted today. The Jin people's West Route Army is blocked in the fortified city of Taiyuan and cannot be conquered in a short time, so even our pacification army will encounter enemies.
, but as long as Taiyuan is not lost, we will probably not encounter a large number of Jin people.
"However, my hometown is in Xiangzhou, which is the only place where the Jin people's East Route Army must pass from Yanjing to Daliang...
"The East Route Army has been unstoppable along the way. It is said that the prefectures, counties and armies along the way have not been able to establish any resistance. It is estimated that in three or two days, the Jin soldiers will march through Cenqiao Station and reach the capital city..."
Only then did Zhao Haiping realize why Wang Fang regretted it, and for a moment he didn't know what to say to comfort him.
Everyone originally thought that the Jin soldiers would definitely take Taiyuan as their main attack direction, so pacifying the county would become a very dangerous place.
Many soldiers like Wang Fang finally made the decision to send their wives and children back to their hometowns.
It stands to reason that if Yanjing could resist for a longer time, or if the Jin soldiers did not put their main attack direction on the east road, or if the Jin soldiers did not plan to attack the capital directly, places like Xiangzhou would be safer.
However, the Jin's East Route Army was actually smoother than the West Route Army. It did not encounter much resistance along the way and was about to reach the capital city.
So what kind of purgatory scene should be along the way?
Regarding this point, Zhao Haiping is more aware than aborigines like Wang Fang.
For Wang Fang and others, they have never really dealt with the Jin people.
Since the founding of the Jin people, they have always shown a friendly and cooperative relationship with the Qi Dynasty. On the surface, the two sides seem to be relatively harmonious. This large-scale southern invasion was the first time that the Jin people and the Qi Dynasty faced off with swords.
Therefore, Wang Fang and others have not yet seen the cruelty of the Jin people.
However, Zhao Haiping knew that during this historical period before and after the Qi Dynasty, the Jin people could almost be said to be the most brutal, surpassing even many barbarians in the past and the Northern Barbarians after that.
Take the extremely cruel nomadic tribes like the Northern Barbarians. They massacre cities and fill the fields with people at every turn. Whenever they conquer a land, they usually kill everyone except the craftsmen.
However, in the process of the Northern Barbarians annexing the Qi Dynasty, they showed more or less sincerity to some of the old officials of the Qi Dynasty. Many important officials were killed only after trying to persuade them to surrender many times to no avail.
Of course, even so, it cannot change the nature of the heavy slaughter of the Northern Barbarians. The Shenzhou Luchen era when the Northern Barbarians took over the Central Plains was nothing less than a hell on earth for the people of the Central Plains.
But the cruelty of the Jin people is far beyond this.
The Jin people slaughtered the city even more than the Northern Barbarians, and they had no respect for the royal family, ministers, clansmen, etc. of the Qi Dynasty, and they abused and humiliated them for fun. Wherever the Jin soldiers went, basically there was no grass growing.
Everywhere he passed was in ruins.
Therefore, even if the Jin people controlled the entire north of the Yangtze River through powerful military power in the future, they never established a stable rule. Rebels similar to Yu Jiaxuan sprang up, and they could only reluctantly achieve indirect rule by supporting various traitors.
The soldiers of the Jin people even used massacre as a passive skill. During the Battle of Niuzhu, Wanyan Hailing, out of the desire to maintain stability, strictly ordered his soldiers not to kill innocent people indiscriminately, which actually caused the morale of the army to be extremely low.
, even eventually promoted a mutiny and killed Wanyan Hailing.
From this we can also see from the side how serious the consequences will be if these golden soldiers are not allowed to massacre.
At this time, the Jin people can be seen as a nation with full military skills but negative political skills. Everything they did seemed to deliberately provoke greater resistance from the people of the Qi Dynasty.
If the Jin army happened to pass by the small county where Wang Fang's wife and children lived, the consequences... would be unimaginable.
Zhao Haiping thought for a while and comforted him: "The Jin's East Route Army was unstoppable along the way. The commander of the East Route Army, Wanyan Sheng, strictly ordered the Jin soldiers to march straight to the capital. I don't think there will be much time for burning, killing and looting on the way. As long as
If people along the way receive the news in time and flee into the mountains, they will probably be fine."
Wang Fang sighed: "Oh, I can only comfort myself like this.
"Brother Zhao, how do you think it will end this time when the Jin people go south?"
Zhao Haiping was silent for a moment, and finally shook his head: "I don't know."
Although he knew the subsequent script, it was too heavy for a low-level soldier like Wang Fang.
Zhao Haiping knew that since the Pingding Army had become an important location in this dungeon, it would inevitably be involved in the flames of war and experience a major battle in the future. As for whether he and Wang Fang could survive this battle, it was indeed difficult to say.
Therefore, it is better not to cause trouble to the other party.
In the darkness, Wang Fang let out a long breath and sighed: "In the past few years, the Gong Gong princes in the court have made frequent mistakes. I really don't know what they think.
"First, I thought of redeeming Yanyun and spent a lot of money to buy back an empty city. Then I mobilized all kinds of manpower and resources to enrich it. The final result was that with the Jin people's southward invasion, all these things were advantageous to the Jin people.
"I even heard that the imperial court planned to take in the exiled Emperor Tianzuo to show its 'lenience' to its former allies, and also wanted to have an extra bargaining chip with the Jin people; it even first accepted and then killed the Jin people's rebels
Leader Zhang Jue...
"He is showing cowardice and seeking death, like an ignorant child who insists on playing with fire without realizing it. It is only a matter of time before he gets burned.
"As expected, the Jin people just found an excuse and sent their troops southward. However, none of the Gonggun princes in the entire dynasty had a good strategy to fight the enemy. The number one general in the dynasty, Tong Daofu, actually escaped from Taiyuan as soon as the Jin people went south.
, returned to the capital, and fled south with the Guan family, hey!"
Zhao Haiping chuckled: "By killing the uprising, we redeemed the first general who was awarded the title of Yanjing..."
Wang Fang sighed: "Yes.
"But there are still many people in the army who say that since Tong Daofu can be crowned king as a eunuch and has experienced meritorious service in the northwest war, he must be a very talented general.
"As for why we escaped from Taiyuan this time, we must have seen many things that we couldn't see..."
Zhao Haiping couldn't help but burst into laughter, shook his head and said: "That's not the case. Sometimes, people at the bottom don't need to look too high on the Gonggun princes in the court. Many of them stand there because of luck or other reasons.
People in positions, with the interests of all parties involved, often make foolish decisions not necessarily because they have other plans, or simply because they have such a choice.
"Take the matter of Tong Daofu abandoning Taiyuan as an example. Perhaps it is just because Tong Daofu is not restrained and does not want to live and die with Taiyuan. And he knows that even if he escapes back to the capital, he has a high-sounding reason. Whether it is the DPRK or the Central Government,
Neither officials nor other political opponents can touch him.
"If that's the case, why bother taking risks? In many cases, it's just as simple as greed for life and fear of death."
Wang Fang nodded: "That's what Brother Zhao said. So where does Brother Zhao think the Pingding Army will go in the end?"
Zhao Haiping was silent for a moment and whispered: "Just try to survive, that's all."
After this period of life, Zhao Haiping has roughly guessed the goal of this mission.
Judging from the current war situation, if no particularly serious unexpected situation occurs, the Pingding Army will almost certainly be involved in the war in the future, and it will only be a matter of time before the entire army is annihilated.
Then, as a player, Zhao Haiping's mission goal is probably to find a way to survive, or to kill a key figure before dying in battle.
After all, this is just the first stage of the challenge, it won't be too difficult, but the degree of freedom won't be very high either.
It's just that Zhao Haiping is a little confused. Didn't the previous announcement say that heroes who have already cooperated can be summoned at will in the past historical slices?
But so far, Zhao Haiping has not seen this option.
Does it mean that you have to wait for the progress of the entire trial fantasy to reach a certain level before you can unlock this function?
Zhao Haiping was also a little confused, but at this time he could only take one step at a time.
…
At the same time, Cenqiaoyi.
After Li Hongyun carefully selected, he bought himself a crossbow and dozens of arrows.
If possible, he would of course be willing to find a way to get a divine arm bow or other more advanced weapons, but it is basically impossible in a place like this.
In a short period of time, the situation in Cenqiaoyi also changed.
All the gates of the small town were closed. Those who could not completely make up their mind to escape could only choose to stay in the city and live and die with the small town.
In the north, more and more refugees began to appear. They were dressed in tatters and looked frightened. They all seemed to have come from distant states and counties.
After seeing that the city gate of Cenqiaoyi was closed, some of them made do with living outside the city of Cenqiaoyi, either because they didn't give up or because they couldn't walk anymore, hoping to find a way to enter the city.
; Some of the refugees went directly across Cenqiaoyi and headed towards the capital.
But the possibility of them wanting to enter the capital is very slim.
In addition, Li Hongyun also heard about one thing.
That is, many green forest people in Cenqiaoyi have united together. It is said that... they are going to assassinate Wan Yansheng, the supreme commander of the Jinbing of the East Route Army at this time!
