Chapter 19: Mobilization, Heading North-The Ruthless Warlord of the Three Kingdoms: Cao Cao’s Trusted Son-in-Law(Whiter and whiter)

After a few days of renovations, the barracks on the west side of the Governor's Mansion had been completely refurbished. A vacant area in the middle was reserved for targets to serve as a parade ground. The reviewing stand was set up on the northernmost side, while the stables were placed in the southwestern corner. Furthermore, a section on the east side of the reviewing stand was partitioned off from the military quarters and converted into civilian housing, separated by a high wall. These quarters were intended for the families of the soldiers, functioning much like the family housing units of later generations.

As the barracks were sufficiently large, the civilian area was quite spacious; even if all eighteen hundred cavalrymen were to bring their families here, it would not feel crowded. An opening was made on the northern side, near the western corner of the Governor's Mansion. This meant that for soldiers to return home, they first had to exit the barracks and walk around the main entrance of the Governor's Mansion to reach the civilian quarters. By doing so, only those on authorized leave could return home. Otherwise, if these rough men were allowed to ride back and forth every night, they would lose their strength and be unable to lift a blade within half a year.

When Chen Cong entered the camp, most of the cavalrymen were lying on the parade ground soaking up the sun; only the three hundred cavalrymen originally from Cao Cao's cavalry battalion were still practicing mounted archery. In truth, the daily training volume for the "Flying Bears" was quite low; they would just perform a few rounds of mounted archery to maintain their feel for the bow and then rest. For these battle-hardened veterans, killing enemies and earning merit were their true forms of training. If they were really allowed to exhaust themselves on the parade ground, the improvement in combat effectiveness would be limited, and the wear and tear on weapons, arrows, armor, horses, and provisions would be enough to give the impoverished Governor of Bing Province a headache.

Seeing Chen Cong climb onto the reviewing stand, the soldiers did not wait for the drums to sound before quickly forming into four columns.

"I intend to march north to raid Meiji. I am selecting one hundred elite riders. Those who wish to join me, step forward."

Some stepped out immediately, others hesitated for a moment before stepping out, and some wavered for a long time before gritting their teeth and stepping forward slowly. However, Chen Cong's rule was: first come, first served. With his sharp eyesight, he quickly pointed out the hundred who had stepped forward first; without exception, they were all Flying Bears.

Unlike the last time, which was purely a distribution of benefits, the situation was different now. Compared to the battle-tested Flying Bear veterans, the three hundred in the cavalry battalion had only experienced one major victory against the White Wave Bandits. For these "greenhorns," fear of death was a perfectly natural reaction. To merge these two groups of cavalry into one would require them to experience many fierce battles together; it was certainly not something that could be achieved overnight.

"Do you not fear death?"

"We do not!"

Chen Cong smiled and raised his hand to silence the shouting. Apart from a very few lunatics, does anyone in this world truly not fear death? It was nothing more than relying on their own bravery to fight for a wealthy future. The world is driven by profit. Talking about lofty ideals and ambitions with these rough, blood-thirsty men was pointless. At times like this, if you promise them enough benefits, they become the sharpest fangs.

"Each man, prepare a cloth bag and pack seven days' worth of rations. However, I will warn you: it is best to prepare bags that are large and sturdy. On the day the city falls, whether you wish to fill them with gold, silver, jade, or the utensils used by the Xiongnu nobles, do as you please."

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

Chen Cong raised his hand again to suppress the cheering and smiled. "Each of you, prepare two ropes. For any barbarians you capture, you may take two for yourselves—to use or to sell, as you wish. But remember one thing: without orders, you are not to plunder the Han people in the city. Do you understand?"

The selected hundred riders were all in an uproar, the deafening sound of their cheers rising and falling.

"The General is mighty!"

Those who stepped out slowly were naturally full of secret regret. With all that gold, silver, and noble finery, one bag alone could provide for them for three to five years. Not to mention the allowance to "take two captives for yourselves"—those with bigger ambitions could live like the wealthy elite, taking concubines and maids into their households! Two of them!!

"General, I do not understand."

Chen Cong glanced back at Xu Huang. "What is it you do not understand?"

Xu Huang cupped his hands and said, "I have often heard that famous generals of the past led their troops with both virtue and discipline. Yet, the General uses profit to drive them. In the long run, will this not foster a den of thieves?"

"Oh? And what are these 'virtue and discipline' methods?"

"Naturally, it means merit must be rewarded, faults must be punished, eating and living with the troops, and treating them like one's own children."

"Oh? And how does one reward and punish?"

"Rewards involve promotion in rank or gifts of wealth, goods, wine, and meat. Punishments are based on the Seventeen Prohibitions and Fifty-Four Capital Offenses."

Chen Cong asked again, "As for the rewards, how is that different from what I said?"

Xu Huang replied, "Rewards are bestowed after merit is earned; how can they be promised beforehand? If one day the General has no wealth to reward them, or if they grow so wealthy they are unwilling to serve, how will you drive them then?"

Undoubtedly, according to the military classics, Xu Huang was right. But he was also wrong. At the very least, Chen Cong had never heard of a famous general who became world-renowned by blindly copying military manuals.

Chen Cong smiled. "Let me ask you two questions."

"The General may speak."

"The cruelty of the Liang army is known to all. Ever since the Grand Tutor of the current dynasty, the plundering of troops has occurred from time to time. If I only rely on rewarding merit and punishing faults, can I change such deeply ingrained habits in a moment?"

"This..."

"If you say that driving soldiers with profit makes them bandits, then without military pay, can you raise an army capable of fighting?"

"I can..."

"Stop with the 'this' and 'that.' When we reach Meiji, I will personally capture a squad of Hu cavalry and hand them over to you to train without giving them a single cent. If they cannot defeat the Flying Bears then, what will you say?"

Xu Huang opened his mouth. "The Xiongnu armor is crude; how could they possibly defeat the Flying Bears?"

"Didn't you say that my method of driving troops with profit is raising bandits? You wouldn't be unable to defeat mere bandits, would you?"

Xu Huang: "..."

It was not that Chen Cong was twisting logic. The so-called leading with virtue was either a case of not wanting to part with wealth or simply having too little authority. If a great victory were won and the imperial court rewarded the army with ten thousand pieces of gold, and the generals above distributed it, it would naturally be a reward granted after the fact. If a promise were made beforehand and could not be fulfilled, would that not be the general losing his credibility?

But Chen Cong was a provincial governor, and his father-in-law was far away; he had no one around him to hold him back, so why would he have such concerns? It is like working overtime at a company: if you are told in advance that a ten-thousand-dollar bonus will definitely be paid, compared to just working hard in the dark and only getting two thousand at the end, which kind of employee is more effective?

As for driving troops with punishment? Were the Flying Bears new recruits? Did Chen Cong need to teach them from scratch what the Seventeen Prohibitions and Fifty-Four Capital Offenses were? If it were that much trouble, he might as well have asked his father-in-law, Dong Zhuo, for ten thousand warhorses and built a cavalry battalion himself. Was there any fundamental difference between lecturing a battle-hardened elite force on military discipline and preaching the law to a Ph.D. in legal studies? Chen Cong would bet that if you pulled out any veteran of the Flying Bears, they would know the military code better than he, the general, did.

Finally, there was the concern Xu Huang mentioned about them being "unwilling to serve" once they were rich. Worrying that soldiers would stop risking their lives once they had enough money was completely superfluous. For one, how much money is ever enough? Even if they had enough money, would they stop seeking official rank? Would they stop wanting to bring honor to their families? Secondly, given these benefits, if someone were truly foolish enough to quit, there would be countless people in the world breaking their heads just to get into their spot.

Soon, the hundred riders found bags, packed their seven days' worth of rations, cooked their meals, and fed their horses.

After midday, with a command from Chen Cong, they galloped out of Jinyang, heading straight for Xihe.