Chapter 23 The silly big guy asks for help

On the second day after arriving in Xiangyang, Li Ping woke up early.

These days, his sleep has been very bad. No matter how late he sleeps, he often wakes up very early, even if this night is the first time he sleeps in the house after coming to this world.

It was already daybreak, and the summer morning came very early.

Through the broken windows, the blue sky burst into view, and the unique freshness after the rain also hit my face, and the sounds of various insects came one after another.

Looking at Song Baolai who was sleeping soundly next to him, Li Ping carefully stood up and gently opened the door. The backbone of the team huddled in a group of sleeping soundly at the door immediately occupied his sight.

The rain shelter outside the door, under the roof of the small remaining large house, has become the most sought-after place. Although this palm-sized place is not very good, it has still become a symbol of power and status.

However, Li Ping keenly discovered that Ma Yong and his brother were not crowded here, otherwise the two brothers would have woken up long ago based on their vigilance.

He looked into the distance and saw that the ordinary soldiers who were sitting in twos and threes against the courtyard walls and broken walls of the houses were almost all swaying around, and many of the small and simple rain shelters that had been set up had turned into decorations.

The exhaustion of the past few days and the sudden relaxation caused almost everyone to fall into a very deep sleep.

At this time, a rare figure still sitting up caught his attention. The figure was obviously shaking, and he soon caught Li Ping's gaze.

With a silly smile, the figure stood up and trotted towards him. Li Ping was immediately stunned.

Why is this stupid big guy awake? It's totally out of character for him!

etc.

His two big dark circles are too obvious, it means he didn't sleep much at all!

After hurriedly waving his hands, Li Ping carefully stepped over the crowd on the ground and walked towards the silly big man who had stopped in place.

After getting closer, Li Ping asked softly: "Big man, are you okay?"

Liu San continued to giggle while scratching his head and said to Li Ping: "Team...oh, Mr. Boss, I want to go back to see my old neighborhood."

Liu San's reaction to Li Ping's new official position was actually quite quick, but Li Ping himself was a little unprepared, mainly because he didn't have that many soldiers at all.

But after listening to what the stupid big man said, Li Ping also understood why this kid was so abnormal. It was at his doorstep, so it was strange that he wasn't excited. He probably didn't sleep well all night.

Looking at the sky and hesitating again, Li Ping approved the silly big man's request.

This guy's heart had already gone crazy, and forcing him to stay would just make him continue to suffer. It was already dawn anyway, and he was in the city. As a landowner, his safety shouldn't be a big problem.

Seeing the silly big man Liu San running away impatiently, Li Ping suddenly slapped the back of his head.

Only then did he realize that there was not just one stupid big guy from Xiangyang in his team, but there were about a dozen of them, most of whom were drafted by Zuo Liangyu at the beginning of the year.

If such a good resource is not used, wouldn’t it be wasted?

Moreover, they were not from the city, but from the surrounding villages, so they couldn't be more suitable.

If these people are allowed to go home and attract some villagers, wouldn't it be very cheap, and his strength can be improved to a higher level. The only trouble is that many of those who were forcibly recruited half a year ago were lost in Zhuxian Town.

Yes, it has become a bad negative teaching material.

However, in this chaotic situation, there should still be people who are willing to work in the army to make a living. The scale of the war is already so vast, and the place has been rotten for a long time. If you don't serve as a soldier, you may die faster? If you become a soldier, your chance of survival seems to be better.

big.

There is still drama in this matter.

Thinking of this, Li Ping became excited and immediately began to think about how to adjust the organizational structure of his army.

When he became the commander-in-chief, his subordinates would naturally be promoted, and he had to prepare for military expansion immediately.

As the sun got higher, the soldiers woke up one by one, and preparing breakfast became the most important and priority task, especially for them to start independently for the first time after being separated.

But what's a bit jarring is that they don't have a pot.

There are only two pots in total. According to the latest agreement, Li Ping and Zhao Jin will share one pot, and this pot will naturally be placed with guerrilla Zhao Jin.

After Li Ping arranged for some soldiers to take rice to Zhao Jin's place to prepare breakfast together, he called Duan Qiang, Hu Zhongshan and Ma Yong together, and he planned to hold a small-scale meeting.

But Song Baolai, who didn't know why, also came over. Li Ping hesitated for a moment but did not chase him away.

It is very unrealistic to let those soldiers from Xiangyang go home alone. The fear of them running away is the secondary reason, and not daring is the main reason.

In today's chaotic world, walking alone in the countryside is extremely dangerous. There is no telling what will happen, and it can easily harm them.

After discussion, Li Ping finally decided to let Ma Yong's black-faced brother bring a few soldiers who looked loyal and capable of fighting, a mule, and two donkeys to accompany the ten or so people home one by one. This way, everyone was always together.

, there is always some guarantee of safety.

However, Li Ping chose to be cautious when it came to promoting his subordinates.

He just announced that the entire battalion would temporarily establish three sentries. Duan Qiang, Hu Zhongshan and Ma Yong would serve as sentry commanders respectively and continue to lead their original troops. Each of their original four troops would be upgraded to vacant positions.

What to compile, the team level will not be established for the time being.

Regarding this plan, Li Ping's explanation was that they could not all be officials and no one should be soldiers, and naturally the three people who had been promoted would not say anything.

Finally, there is the very important issue of barracks construction. They must first provide everyone with a place to shelter from wind and rain.

After deliberation for a long time, Song Baolai kept his head down, probably because he was too embarrassed to stay or leave. It wasn't until Li Ping naturally assigned him the task of setting up camp and building a house that he became active again.

After finally finishing breakfast and sending away those who had gone to recruit soldiers, the remaining people immediately began to clear the rubble and search around for materials that could be used to build simple houses.

It's just that the rubble is easy to clear, but the materials for building houses are hard to find. This is the city, they can't demolish other people's houses! And going outside the city is not that easy or easy either.

It's good to be able to make do with two shacks today, but many people may have to sleep in the open air at night.

Just when everyone was depressed, the food, wine and meat promised by Zuo Liangyu were delivered.

It was getting late when they arrived here yesterday, so of course there was no time to prepare these things. It was considered very fast to deliver them here before noon today, which also shows that Zuo Liangyu attaches great importance to them.

Although the meat given to Li Ping only had a few strips and was a little smelly, the wine was only a jar as light as water, and the grain was only more than one stone of old rice, this was the first formal supply they had seen.

They are very critical supplements for food that has bottomed out.

Moreover, along with the food, wine and meat, there were several sets of clothes. Although they were not silk or satin, they were all 80% new clothes without patches. They should have been replaced by these leaders, who had become a bit tattered along the way.

Li Ping was not polite and asked for the clothes on a first-come-first-served basis.

They really thought about it carefully, and it seems they are really serious about it.

After announcing without hesitation that all the food and wine would be served to everyone in the evening, the mood of the officers and soldiers, which had been somewhat depressed due to the morning's work, finally became high again.

However, not long after, when Li Ping continued to sweat profusely, Zhao Jin suddenly sent someone to call him. When Li Ping passed by, he found that Shi Ming, Wang Chengwu and others had also rushed over, wondering what was going on.

After everyone gathered, Zhao Jin immediately conveyed the order he had just received with his brows furrowed: Zuo Liangyu asked all ministries to immediately begin to expand the army with all their strength, and strive to expand the army by more than 10 times in a short period of time.

After hearing this, Li Ping thought he had heard it wrong, until he confirmed it again, he pondered for a long time and couldn't figure it out.

Xiangyang has actually lost the conditions for large-scale conscription.

The official army had already been recruited once the year before last. Last year, the peasant army came, and the official army fought back again. They fought back and forth, and you recruited me again. There were not many young men left who could serve as soldiers. These were from Xiangfan yesterday.

The guard status of the two cities can also be seen in a lot of ways.

On a small scale, it might be okay to re-examine a little more, but on a large scale, I'm afraid it would just be a waste of money.

Zhao Jin obviously did not want to have too many exchanges with everyone on this issue. He could also see the problems that Li Ping could see. After simply proposing that everyone should think of their own solutions, Zhao Jin let everyone disperse.

In the afternoon, the silly big man Liu San finally came back, and Li Ping learned some new information.

In the past few years, Xiangyang has not only seen wars and wars, but also suffered many disasters. Last year, there was a moderate locust plague, and many people were displaced. If Zhang Xianzhong hadn't come here and opened a warehouse to release grain, many people would have died.

.

But because of this, many people followed the rebels.

The neighbors Liu San lived in before have naturally changed a lot. Some people have died, some people have left, and some people have come. He probably still knows only 20-30 of them.

The grain store that Liu San once hated the most is no longer open. It has been turned into a grocery store. There are only five or six servants left. The grand occasion of dozens or hundreds of people in the past has long disappeared.

, I even heard that none of the boss’s three sons and one daughter were missing.

The silly big man was very relieved but also a little angry. He was a little disappointed that only one person was missing.

However, Sister Xiao Hui, who had always taken good care of him, is still alive, as are the blacksmith and his son who treated him well, and He Zhuzhu, the old man from the carriage and horse shop...

Speaking of these, the silly big man Liu San kept laughing, and it seemed that he had many good memories.

After a hearty dinner, Li Ping went to Zhao Jin's place to discuss the matter.

Zhao Jinzheng had a headache. He had been thinking about it all afternoon, especially when he realized a very fatal problem: if he didn't recruit enough people, his guerrilla position might not be stable.

This was very difficult, forcing him to make great achievements in recruiting and expanding troops. He even thought very seriously about Li Ping's move in the morning, but he was not very optimistic about it.

Currently, he is more inclined to Shi Ming's plan.

Shi Ming and Wang Chengwu ran out and walked around all afternoon. They were observing the movements on the ground in Xiangyang. When they came back, Shi Ming did not hide his thoughts. Shi Ming planned to go directly to the street to pull the goods and rob in the countryside tomorrow, because some Ming troops had already started

After doing this, Shi Ming felt that drying with the wind would not be a big problem.

Li Ping was a little speechless about Shi Ming's plan. He was completely unprepared for this crude method of attracting young men, but he also felt that it might be the only feasible method.

Anyway, these common people can't hide. It will definitely be better to be dragged by them than by other officers and soldiers. At least they have more bottom line of civilization.

But Li Ping decided to clean up his one-third of an acre of land first.

He felt that it would not be that easy to recruit young men in the city. The local officials in such a big city would not necessarily be afraid of these big soldiers, and naturally they would not let them do whatever they want. Only the lawless land outside the city had room for them.

But before going outside the city, you have to fix your home first! Especially his subordinates also need to train for a few days. This is his foundation. Most of the people who could have escaped from the rout were in better physical condition.
To be continued...