The Good Grandson of the Red Chamber

Chapter 80: The New Army

To seize the throne, he needs his own team, a lot of money to support him, and a large number of people to command.

The Jia family is currently the easiest noble family to win over.

He needed to consider two things: first, whether his father's hatred for the Jia family had reached an irreconcilable point.

Is it true that as long as Father ascends the throne and Grandfather passes away, Father will definitely kill the Jia family?

If that's the case, then everything will come to an end.

Going against the king will surely lead to bad consequences.

The second question is whether the Jia family is capable of making significant contributions.

Judging from the fate of the Jia family in the novel *Dream of the Red Chamber*, the Jia family was only wiped out and exterminated after Lin Daiyu's death.

However, Jia Baoyu, Jia Lan, and other direct descendants of the Jia family did not die later on, and Jia Lan even passed the imperial examination.

This shows that the Jia family was far from being wiped out, and part of the reason was that they were blamed for Lin Daiyu's death.

From this perspective, the father's hatred for the Jia family was not irreconcilable.

As for whether the Jia family is capable or not, Xia Chengzong felt that the Jia family still had a solid foundation.

Of course, the Jia family also has its share of fools and idiots; if they are not managed properly, they might even be implicated.

Therefore, even if it is to be used, it must be properly trained before it can be used.

For now, it might be worthwhile to make contact with them for the time being.

Thinking of this, Xia Chengzong instructed Xia Bei to accept the gifts from the Rongguo Mansion.

He also replied to the post, stating that he would be attending the banquet on time three days later.

That evening, Xia Chengzong exchanged for the Commander's Divine Power and upgraded it to the blue level.

After the upgrade was complete, he picked up a military treatise in his study and began to read it.

He had initially found the military treatise to be like a book written in the heavens, but now, upon rereading it, he gained many new insights.

So this is how you lead troops.

So that's how formations work, and that's why we set up camp like this.

After reading a military treatise, he felt enlightened and benefited greatly.

Next, he picked up a second military treatise and began to read it.

He has a photographic memory and can read books extremely quickly.

However, he also needs time to understand and digest the information, and is not in a hurry to finish watching it.

He stayed up late reading military books and felt that he had made great progress in his understanding of military strategy.

……

The next day, Prince Teng personally selected 120 elite soldiers and sent them to the Thousand-Household Garrison.

He personally brought the military register to the Prince of Ping'an's residence to report back.

Xia Chengzong took the troop register and found that all 120 soldiers came from humble backgrounds.

But everyone possesses unique skills and outstanding abilities; they have simply not been given important responsibilities because of their backgrounds.

Xia Chengzong was very satisfied with the result.

This Prince Teng was indeed not fooling me.

He smiled and said to Wang Ziteng, "General Wang is too kind. When you have some free time, why don't you come to my residence for a chat?"

This is a signal that they are accepting my Wang family!

Upon hearing this, Wang Ziteng was overjoyed.

He hurriedly replied, "Your Highness is too kind; how could I dare disobey?"

After Wang Ziteng left, Xia Chengzong led his men to the Qianhu Garrison outside the city.

Upon arriving at the Thousand Household Office, he first summoned the 120 newly arrived soldiers.

He garnered a wave of positive sentiment.

This shows that no scum was mixed in with these people.

Wang Ziteng didn't do anything wrong.

Next, Xia Chengzong began to examine these 120 people.

seeing is believing.

Xia Chengzong wanted to see for himself whether their strengths were truly as advertised.

After the evaluation, Xia Chengzong was quite satisfied.

Each of them possesses unique skills, and there is no exaggeration in their abilities.

Xia Chengzong appointed Shi Kaishan, a low-ranking officer from the bottom of society, as the commander-in-chief, temporarily giving him command of the entire army.

Each thousand-household garrison was equipped with one chief thousand-household commander (rank 5) and two deputy thousand-household commanders (rank 5).

Below the thousand-household commanders are the sixth-rank official hundred-household commanders and the sixth-rank official probationary hundred-household commanders.

Below that are the seventh-rank generals who can command fifty men and the seventh-rank junior officers who can command ten men.

To command the entire army, one would normally need the rank of a chiliarch (commander of a thousand households).

However, the person Xia Chengzong was sending came from humble origins and the lower classes.

The highest official rank was only a junior officer of the seventh rank, and Xia Chengzong could not possibly promote Shi Kaishan to the rank of commander of a thousand households.

This is a promotion of five ranks in one go; there is no precedent for such a promotion in the military except during wartime.

Xia Chengzong could only temporarily promote him to the rank of General, to command the thousand-household garrison in the first place, and then make further plans as his official rank gradually rose.

Of course, a thousand households can also be transferred from elsewhere.

However, if he could not guarantee the integrity of the person's background and absolute loyalty, Xia Chengzong would rather cultivate him slowly.

Upon hearing Xia Chengzong's appointment, Shi Kaishan was moved to tears and immediately knelt on one knee, expressing his willingness to die for the prince.

Shi Kaishan's positive emotions +10 +10 +10

After Shi Kaishan, Xia Chengzong promoted ten small flag officers to general flag officers, allowing them to command a hundred-man squad.

Promote ordinary soldiers to the rank of squad leader and let them command fifty men.

In this way, all 120 people were promoted by one rank.

Everyone was deeply grateful to Xia Chengzong and vowed to serve him to the death.

Xia Chengzong was very satisfied with this result.

After all, for him, this promotion was a benefit without cost, requiring him to give anything in return.

After all, this thousand-household garrison belonged to his royal guard, and therefore needed officers.

He has the authority to promote his soldiers.

Of course, the way to manage subordinates is to use both kindness and severity.

We cannot simply bestow favors; we must also instill fear in them.

These things can be taken slowly.

Xia Chengzong began to formulate a training plan, and he planned to conduct the training in stages.

For the first two months, the focus was on physical fitness and drill training.

Next, we trained in marksmanship and formation changes, followed by horsemanship and archery.

Throughout the evening, literacy and patriotic education on loyalty to the emperor were also integrated.

These 120 people are the backbone of the entire army.

What Xia Chengzong needed to do next was to train them first, and then let them train the soldiers.

Once the number of people exceeds ten thousand, it becomes boundless and limitless.

Even a thousand people cannot train together at the same time.

With so many people, no matter how loudly he speaks, it's impossible for everyone to hear him.

Of course, Xia Chengzong did not need to train him in areas such as military formation evolution, physical fitness, marksmanship, and horsemanship.

What he needed to train them in were marching drills and education on loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

Last night, Xia Chengzong had already made plans for the new army's training.

However, there's no need to rush.

Xia Chengzong first summoned the entire army and, in front of a thousand soldiers, announced the appointment of Commander Shi Kaishan.

Next, the thousand-man team was divided into smaller units, and all the officers were assigned to them.

Xia Chengzong gave them five days to allow the soldiers and officers to get to know each other.

Training will officially begin in five days.

Among all the soldiers, the most disappointed person was probably Wang Erxiao.

Because he had only enjoyed his official position for a day before being stripped of it, how could he not feel disappointed?

Fortunately, he had anticipated this.

Furthermore, the prince has already remembered his name, and as long as he works diligently in the future, he will surely have a chance to rise in the ranks.

Three days later, Xia Chengzong rode in a carriage to the Rongguo Mansion for a banquet.

The Rongguo Mansion opened its main gate wide, and the brothers Jia She and Jia Zheng, along with their descendants Jia Lian and Jia Zhu, greeted them outside.