Chapter 1190 Personnel Transfer
Chapter 1190 Personnel Transfer
The mountain wind is biting and the weather is freezing cold.
After a few sunny days, it snowed heavily again today.
In a mountain villa located on the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain near Gaoliu Town, people are coming in and out, busy but not chaotic.
In the kitchen, Tong Qianjin shook a large iron pan that was big enough to block a crossbow arrow, and poured a plate of scrambled eggs into the pan.
On the mountain road, the soldiers from Henan put on Xianbei sheepskin coats with blood stains, carried heavy firewood, and went up the mountain slipperily with every step.
On both sides of the Dunshui River (called "Baideng River" by the locals), there are felt tents as far as the eye can see.
After the soldiers of the tenth battalion of new troops stood up, they began to drill with constant shouting.
To be honest, many people are not used to it.
The Central Plains Army had too many rules and they were too strict, which did not fit in with their free and easy nature.
But they could still bear it because they really got unimaginable huge benefits, and the enthusiasm in their hearts was enough to offset any dissatisfaction, so they just obeyed military orders.
Not far away, the families of the Gaoliu town soldiers were watching them from afar, laughing.
Some brave children even dared to get close to within dozens of steps, staring with snot running down their noses.
In the past two days, many families in Gaoliu Town have held banquets to entertain guests, and it is very lively. The reason is that more than ten military officers have been promoted by the emperor to serve as officials in the Central Plains.
The fate of these people not only gave the officers and soldiers of Gaoliu Town hope for promotion, but also vacated more than a dozen official positions.
A dozen or so carrot holes do not mean that only a dozen people are affected, in fact, it affects a large group.
Zhang Chong, who had been the team leader for two years, was given the position of Du Bo, a promotion of one level.
He has now moved to a mountain fortress more than 20 miles northwest of the town.
Like Hongcheng Town, Gaoliu Town also has a complete defense system.
To the north of the town is the Yin Mountain, but there are some less difficult roads in the mountains for people and horses to pass through.
The military garrison was unable to block all the passages, so they “captured the big and let go of the small.”
Small castles were built in relatively wide areas with water and grass along the way, and hundreds or thousands of soldiers were stationed there.
Beacon towers were built on roads that were not so wide, and different numbers of smoke columns were lit to give warnings according to the size of the invading enemy forces. The highest level of alarm was "the enemy is approaching", and three smoke columns were lit.
However, soldiers live in forts, but civilians may not.
There are not many people in the mountains except for some herdsmen. Most of them live at the foot of the mountain in the southeast, growing millet and hemp, and only go into the mountains when grazing.
Zhang Chong took leave today and stayed at home. There was no other reason, he just wanted to meet his fellow villagers from Henan - although they were not from Chen County - and wanted to listen to the Henan accent. He didn't know why he had this idea, but he just wanted to listen.
"Sir, are you from Chen County? That's a bit far. My home is in Xingyang." A gray-haired old man said as he chiseled ice to get water: "When General Zhang attacked Huainan, I followed the villagers to Xiang County to transport supplies to Shouchun. Xiang County is Chen County, right?"
Zhang Chong nodded and said, "You are so old, why are you still going to war? Is there no one at home?"
The old man stopped what he was doing after hearing this, and after a moment of silence, he said, "I was originally a member of the Hongnong Yang clan. When I was fleeing in my early years, one of my sons got separated and his whereabouts remain unknown. Another son was killed by Wang Mi and died in Guancheng. Another son died of illness during the expedition to Jingzhou and I don't know where he was buried. I have another son who just got married."
The old man smiled numbly, and began to chip the ice with his cracked hands, saying, "This trip north will require another son from the family. I don't have many years left to live anyway, so why not come here? There will be one less person to feed at home, and my son won't have to suffer the hardship of military service."
"Why is it always your family that goes to serve?" Zhang Chong asked.
"Not really." The old man said, "It's been several years, and it's finally my family's turn. Every time there's a war, we have to go into the military. With more wars, it's always your family's turn. Some people died outside, and some people couldn't stand the hardship and even left their families behind, and just ran away, living a half-human, half-ghost life."
"I have been to Shouchun, Yecheng, Jinyang, Chang'an, and this is my first time in Pingcheng. Speaking of fighting, it is indeed dangerous for soldiers, but they are not suffering. It is the people like us who suffer."
Zhang Chong laughed after hearing this and said, "I am also a warrior. Zhang Weng is right. It is indeed hard for the soldiers to be assistants."
After that, he took out a piece of cheese from his pocket and handed it to the old man, saying, "It's home-made. Eat it."
The old man stood up to thank him, took the cheese and put it into his mouth, slowly grinding and sucking it with his few remaining teeth.
"Sir, do you have any relatives in Chen County?" the old man asked.
"Yes." Zhang Chong nodded and said, "I have several brothers and sisters, and my parents are here too."
"Can we go back?"
"Go back?" For a moment, Zhang Chong's face showed longing, but he quickly shook his head and said, "A few years ago, I wanted to go back to Henan every day. Now that I have a wife and children, I don't want to leave so much."
"Sir, you are proficient in martial arts, and you should also be extraordinary." said the old man.
"Oh? You also know martial arts?" Zhang Chong asked.
The old man smiled bitterly and said, "When Zhang Fang attacked Luoyang, no grass grew wherever he passed. The Yang family of Hongnong was killed by him, and their clan members were sparsely populated. I even protected the children of the Yang family and fled, but in the end my son ran away and the children of the Yang family were not saved either. So I was ashamed to return home and settled in Xingyang. Martial arts? I guess I have some, but it can't help much."
Zhang Chong sighed, not knowing what to say. The chaos of that era was hard for outsiders to imagine, and even he didn't feel it deeply.
At this moment, the sound of horse hooves was heard not far away.
The two looked in the direction of the sound and saw a boy of about sixteen or seventeen years old riding a horse, passing by at lightning speed.
Zhang Chong’s eyes widened instantly. That was his son!
Riding a horse was nothing, but the knife he was waving in his hand was given to him by the emperor when he was still the Duke of Chen, and was treasured by him at home.
This bastard!
"Do you know him?" the old man asked.
"That's my son." Zhang Chong said somewhat embarrassedly, "When he was three or four years old, he dared to ride a ram. When he was five or six years old, he rode a pony for a year, but he didn't feel satisfied. Now he's clamoring to ride a big horse."
The old man squinted his eyes for a moment, then smiled and said, "Back then, Zhang Fang led the Guanxi cavalry to charge, and the Yang family's troops could not resist and fled in all directions. Your son can ride a horse at such a young age. He will be very successful in the future. I guarantee you will be selected when the court recruits soldiers."
Recruiting soldiers? Zhang Chong was a little unsure.
He was selected to join the Imperial Army Black Barracks Right Camp eight years ago, and a few months later, he was dispatched to Gaoliu Town as a garrison soldier. At that time, new soldiers were recruited from boatmen, river laborers, miners, and even good families in various counties.
He didn't know whether it was the case now. After all, he hadn't been back for eight years, and he had no idea how the Imperial Guards selected their members.
He only knew that it was difficult for the sons and nephews of the old soldiers of the Imperial Guard to join the Imperial Guard, because there were many surplus soldiers or sons and nephews of the Imperial Guard who came to Pingcheng. From this point of view, his son might be able to join the Imperial Guard, but it was still difficult.
The Imperial Guards will probably not be built on a large scale, and vacancies will only be filled periodically in the future. It will be difficult to compete for such a small number of vacancies.
His son would be lucky to be a garrison soldier in the future. At least he would receive rewards and subsidies from the court and the city of Pingcheng. In addition, he would have enough food and clothing to live comfortably with his own farming and grazing. Such a life was actually acceptable, after all, not every farmer could have enough food and clothing.
"My son will inherit our family business in the future." Zhang Chong smiled at the old man and said, "In the autumn when the horses are fat, we can go hunting on the grassland or rob some livestock and bring them back. Then we can be rich."
"The emperor is on his northern tour, and all the tribes on the grassland must be convinced, right? How could anyone be so blind as to rob you?" the old man said with a smile.
"If there's nothing nearby, go to a place far away." Zhang Chong said, "If there's really nothing, then -"
There are some things he doesn't want to say anymore, because saying them out loud would be suspected of "provoking border conflicts without authorization." That is, if someone doesn't want to rebel, you try every means to force them to rebel, and then go out to suppress the rebellion. In this way, you can get military merit and wealth.
The soldiers became rich and the generals were promoted, and everyone was happy.
Maybe I didn't dare to think so before, but didn't the emperor just promote more than ten officers in Gaoliu Town? The reason was that they had made contributions in suppressing the rebellion.
The situation in Gaoliu Town is like this, and Wuzhou Town has also sent out troops, so the situation should be similar.
Hongcheng Town should not have sent troops. Anyway, Zhang Chong did not see them in Dongmugen Mountain, so it was bad luck for them.
Many people were promoted in the Shanyu Protectorate.
Yesterday, the owner of the building returned from the town and stayed overnight at Zhang Chong's house. He mentioned the personnel changes in the Shanyu Mansion.
The Grand Protector Wang Que'er was transferred to be the "Envoy with Special Envoyship to Command the Military Affairs of Yi and Ning Prefectures";
Sun He, the left military commander and commander of Gaoliu Town, was appointed as the governor of Liangzhou. Li Ju, who was promoted to the position of left military commander after He Lun left, took over as the commander of the town.
Tao Bao, a military officer and commander of Wuzhou Town, was transferred to be the junior supervisor of the Training Institute. Zhi Xiong, a secretary and chief of Wuzhou Town, took over as the commander of the town. Mi Ping, the chief clerk, concurrently served as the chief historian of the town.
Pei Shiliu was promoted to military officer and was still in charge of military farming;
Cheng Xia, a clerk in the Eastern Cao, was appointed as the General of the Revenue Department;
Ji Zhen, a clerk in the Western Cao, was promoted to Zhonglang, responsible for dealing with the Dai State and managing conscription matters...
After a series of personnel transfers, as long as one did not perform particularly poorly, one would either be promoted within the Chanyu's palace, transferred to Luoyang, or promoted to an official position in the interior.
The reasons for promotion were "merit in pacifying the country", "merit in suppressing rebellion", "merit in military farming", etc.
It is obvious that you can be promoted if you have "merit".
Yesterday, the leader of the tower joked that in the future there might be someone who could "become a general and become a prime minister", that is, be promoted directly from the position of Shanyu Grand Protector to the position of prime minister.
Zhang Chong was shocked and didn't know what to say. But he thought it was unlikely, unless the Grand Protector was a scholar himself, and a scholar from a high-ranking family.
Wang Duhu had great prestige in the army, and he pacified the area, making the Xianbei people fear him and hate him at the same time. His contributions were actually very great, but if you said that he would become the prime minister, Zhang Chong would not believe it even if you killed him.
But if he can't be the prime minister, it's not bad to go to Shu and be the governor. At least it's a prosperous place.
With this series of transfers, the morale of the entire Gaoliu Town was boosted, and many people hoped to make meritorious contributions and be relocated.
As for low-level officers like Zhang Chong, the possibility of them being transferred is low, but that does not prevent them from making money.
The sound of dense horse hooves was heard again in the east.
Zhang Chong turned around and saw that there were more than a thousand cavalrymen, each man riding two horses, and all of them were extremely strong and powerful. This attracted the soldiers of the Iron Cavalry and Hengchong Battalions to immediately mount their horses and rush forward, shouting and scolding them loudly.
"Huh? This soldier is pretty good." A rough young man's voice sounded.
Zhang Chong took a closer look and saw a large banner with the nine characters "Protect the Xianbei General and Chief Secretary Shao" flying in the wind.
(End of this chapter)