My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 411 The Organization of the Vanguard Army

This can be considered Liu Feng's trial run; in the future, Liu Feng will certainly not copy the Eastern Han system.

As it turns out, the Ming and Qing systems were far superior to those of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and much more stable. The Ming Dynasty also had many child emperors; some were only nine years old when they ascended the throne, but the Ming court was not destabilized by these young emperors.

Compared to the power struggles of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the political situation in the Ming Dynasty was undoubtedly much more peaceful. Even after the emperor came of age, he could usually regain power more easily, unlike the Eastern Han Dynasty where every coup required a life of constant danger and peril.

After the establishment of the shogunate, not all departments operated at full capacity. Departments such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Audit, and the Ministry of Public Security received little, if any, resources. The main funding was provided for personnel salaries, writing materials, and other supplies, so that they could try to build organizational structures, rules and regulations, and future administrative methods.

These institutionalized things must be finalized first. When it is desired to expand and implement them in the future, all that is needed is to invest a large amount of financial and material resources.

The Left General's headquarters is now complete, but the Governor's Office of Yangzhou still needs to recruit renowned scholars to fill these positions.

According to long-standing custom, the four chief officials in the governor's office—the Prefect, the Chief Administrator, the Chief Secretary, and the Chief Clerk—should naturally be local scholars.

After some deliberation, Liu Feng finally made a decision: he appointed Yu Fan from Yuyao in Kuaiji as his assistant, Gu Yong from Wu County in Wu Commandery as his chief administrator, Zhu Zhi from Guzhang in Danyang Commandery as his chief clerk, and Liu Yi from Nanchang in Yuzhang as his chief clerk.

Yu Fan, Gu Yong, Zhu Zhi, and Yang Hong were all famous scholars from their respective prefectures and kingdoms. This list not only included the four major prefectures and kingdoms of Yangzhou—Kuaiji, Wu, Danyang, and Yuzhang—but also selected one famous scholar from each of the prefectures in Jiangdong, making it comprehensive.

Among them, Yu Fan was a representative figure of the pro-Liu Feng gentry in Kuaiji Commandery. He was not only exceptionally talented and capable, but also skilled in both literature and martial arts, making him a treasure of Jiangdong.

Gu Yong was the head of the Gu family, the most prominent of the four major clans in Wuzhong. Moreover, the four major clans in Wuzhong had intermarried and formed close ties with each other, sharing the same interests and voices. Gu Yong had a great reputation in Wu County and even Jiangdong. Appointing him as the governor would also stabilize the people of Wu County.

Zhu Zhi was recommended by Sun Jian as a candidate for the civil service examination. He was a native of Danyang and had repeatedly distinguished himself in battle under Sun Jian, earning the title of General of the Household and holding the official rank of 1,000 shi (a unit of grain measurement) multiple times. He not only represented the people of Danyang, but also the surrendered troops of Sun Ce. He could both appease the people of Danyang and stabilize the hearts of Sun Ce and the surrendered soldiers of the Sun family.

The last one, Liu Yi of Yuzhang, is somewhat obscure, as he is not well-known in history.

Liu Yi was a native of a powerful family in Yuzhang, and was recruited by Hua Xin, the acting governor of Yuzhang, as a clerk.

In the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Yi left only one passage.

That is the account in the "Biography of Zhong Yao, Hua Xin, and Wang Lang" in the "Annotations to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book 13, Wei Shu": Sun Ce was in Jiaoqiu, and sent Yu Fan to persuade Xin. After Fan left, Xin invited Liu Yi, the Chief Clerk, to discuss the matter. Yi advised Xin to stay in the city and send a proclamation to welcome the army. Xin said, "Although I was appointed by Governor Liu and employed by the emperor, I am still just a minor official. If I follow your advice now, I fear I will be more than guilty of death." Yi said, "Wang Jingxing was employed by the Han Dynasty, and at that time the people of Kuaiji were numerous and powerful, yet he was still pardoned. What is there for Your Excellency to worry about?" So that night, a proclamation was prepared, and the next morning, the army left the city and sent an official to deliver it to welcome the army. Sun Ce then advanced his army, met with Xin, treated him as an honored guest, and received him with the courtesy due to a friend.

In this timeline, Liu Yi continues to persuade Hua Xin to surrender to Zhou Yu, a suggestion that Hua Xin accepts.

Therefore, among the merits reported by Zhou Yu, Liu Yi ranked second only to Hua Xin.

After careful consideration, Liu Feng decided to appoint Liu Yi as the Chief Clerk. Firstly, Liu Yi had served as Chief Clerk under Hua Xin, who was quite capable in employing people.

Even if Liu Yi is not a particularly outstanding talent, his knowledge, learning, character and morality should be sufficient for this position.

In this way, the people recruited by Liu Feng perfectly covered the entire Yangzhou and the mainstream faction. Except for Liu Yi, who was a little lacking, the other three were all top talents in their respective prefectures and kingdoms and could be entrusted with important tasks.

In this way, Jiangdong will be able to stabilize, while Jiangbei, due to the severe drought, will be more reliable and loyal than Jiangdong, with the people's hearts turned to it and the local gentry flocking to it.

At this point, only one problem remained for Yangzhou: the Yue people.

For the past six months, Liu Fengjun has been suppressing rebellious groups and clearing out the mountain tribes throughout Jiangdong, making great progress with almost no defeats.

The captured Yue tribesmen provided tens of thousands of able-bodied men, making them excellent soldiers. Moreover, Danyang is now in Liu Feng's hands and has retained its strength; the Danyang soldiers are among the most elite troops in the land.

At that time, Tao Qian, with the help of Cao Bao, Xu Dan and others, led the Xuzhou army, which had terrible military discipline, and once forced Cao Cao to entrust his wife and children to him, which shows the elite nature of the Danyang soldiers.

If Tao Qian had trained his troops properly and enforced strict military discipline, he might not have suffered such a crushing and swift defeat, given the elite strength of the Danyang soldiers.

One of the reasons Liu Feng personally stayed at Wanling this time was because of the Danyang troops.

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"My lord, 20,000 men are far too few; I'm afraid they won't be enough."

Looking at Taishi Ci, who had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and an upright demeanor, Liu Feng sighed inwardly.

Just as he had expected, the news that elite troops would be selected and trained into a separate army caused a stir among the generals.

Anyone who felt they had a decent chance of getting in line with him started lobbying him, wanting to join the elite army.

Even Taishi Ci was no exception. On the contrary, as Liu Feng's archery and horsemanship teacher and trusted general, he not only coveted the position of military commander, but also wanted to encourage Liu Feng to expand the scale.

Liu Feng sighed and shook his head, saying, "Teacher, even with just these 20,000 men, it was only with the extra resources allocated by my father from Xuzhou and Yuzhou that Yangzhou could have been financially unable to make ends meet."

In fact, this time the training of elite troops is guaranteed to be at least 20,000 people. As mentioned before, Liu Feng's bottom line is no more than 40,000 people.

But he couldn't say that to Taishi Ci. If he did, firstly, Taishi Ci and his warriors might want to train 60,000 or even 80,000 people; secondly, rare things are worth cherishing.

Taishi Ci's face darkened. He was a man of both literary and martial talents, and thus understood things much better than the average martial artist.

Liu Feng is now not only selecting elite troops, but also improving the soldiers' treatment and continuing to expand the army.

These three measures put considerable pressure on the treasury, and we must be extremely careful. Otherwise, if the treasury collapses and there is no money or food, how will we support the army?

At present, Liu Feng only has the territory of Yangzhou. In addition to 20,000 elite troops, he also needs to organize another 130,000 field troops. If it weren't for the full support of Liu Biaoji, he probably wouldn't even be able to organize 20,000 elite troops.

If we want to make changes, we must focus on the finances; only with more revenue can we train more elite troops.

To increase revenue, the only solutions are to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

It's easier said than done. Taishi Ci didn't have any good suggestions to offer at the moment, so he had to give up for the time being.

Moreover, Liu Feng also expressed that selecting elites is not something that can be done overnight, and that he will definitely continue to push forward if there is an opportunity in the future.

Thinking of this, Taishi Ci's expression improved again.

Immediately, Taishi Ci thought of another matter and asked indirectly, "My lord, has the commander of the Cuifeng Army been decided yet?"

Liu Feng glanced at Taishi Ci with annoyance and deliberately asked, "Teacher, does someone want to recommend you?"

Taishi Ci choked on his words. This disciple really knew how to bring up the most sensitive topics. Could I possibly recommend someone else? Seeing Taishi Ci's face turn pale and then red, Liu Feng found it amusing. He knew Taishi Ci's thoughts very well, otherwise he wouldn't have offended him so much.

However, Taishi Ci was Taishi Ci after all, and he never lacked the courage to recommend himself.

He first volunteered to deliver a message with the prefect, then volunteered to defeat the enemy with Kong Rong, but was rejected. He then volunteered to find reinforcements. Later, he also volunteered to fight against Sun Ce under Liu Yao.

Taishi Ci chuckled twice, not immediately offering his services, but instead asking, "My lord, what are the plans for the Cuifeng Army?"

Liu Feng glanced at Taishi Ci unexpectedly, but upon reflection, it made sense. Taishi Ci was quick-witted and resourceful, but his true nature leaned more towards the gentry than the powerful clans.

Many people misunderstand Taishi Ci, seeing that he was subdued by Sun Ce, and think that he was a fierce Zhang Fei-like figure.

However, looking at the major events in Taishi Ci's life, what he actually demonstrated most was his wisdom and strategy.

When he was young, there was a dispute between the prefect and the governor. Although he arrived late, he immediately came up with a trick to steal the documents from the state officials and destroy them.

Kong Rong had a reasonable basis for wanting to lead troops to defeat the enemy. Even after being rejected by Kong Rong, he still used strategy to break through the encirclement alone.

When he arrived at Liu Yao's place, he was looked down upon by Liu Yao, but he still found an opportunity to fight Sun Ce at Shenting Ridge.

In other words, Liu Yao lacked the courage and boldness. If it had been any one of the three families of Cao, Liu, or Sun, Taishi Ci would have immediately risen to prominence and obtained the opportunity he wanted to demonstrate his abilities.

Even when Liu Yao was down on his luck, Taishi Ci was still able to single-handedly raise a team in an unfamiliar place and cooperate with Zu Lang to build a foundation.

It is evident that Taishi Ci was truly accomplished in both literature and martial arts; it was just that his exceptional fighting skills made it easy for people to overlook his wisdom and strategy.

When Taishi Ci asked the question, Liu Feng did not hide anything, after all, the other party was one of his most trusted generals.

It is no exaggeration to say that among the elite troops selected this time, the choice of the commander-in-chief will only be between Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun.

Jia Kui was exceptionally talented, but he was a newcomer. Xu Sheng and Pan Zhang, though trusted veterans, lacked the ability to lead an army. Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were capable and prestigious, but as newcomers, they were not yet able to command respect.

After this selection process, only Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci are the most suitable candidates.

Liu Feng took out a scroll of silk and personally handed it to Taishi Ci. The latter opened it and saw that it contained the plan for this military expansion.

The Cuifeng Army consisted of ten battalions, each with two thousand men, which was equivalent to a colonel, and was commanded by a colonel.

Of the ten battalions, two were cavalry battalions, the remaining five were infantry battalions, and there were also three special battalions: a supply battalion, an engineer battalion, and an artillery battalion.

The cavalry battalion is organized as follows:

Heavy cavalry (one unit of military commander, comprising two squads of four hundred men) equipped with four hundred sets of full iron armor, four hundred first-class warhorses for charging, and eight hundred third-class horses, half of which were pack horses and half of which were riding horses.

Rangers: (two military commanders, each with four squads of 800 men) equipped with 800 sets of full leather armor, 800 horse bows, 800 second-class warhorses for charging, and 1,600 third-class horses, half of which are pack horses and half are riding horses.

Light cavalry (one unit of military commander, comprising two squads of four hundred men) equipped with four hundred sets of light armor, two hundred horse bows, two hundred hand crossbows, four hundred second-class warhorses for charging, and four hundred third-class horses for changing mounts.

Supply troops: (a unit under the military commander, comprising two squads of four hundred men) equipped with one hundred large carts, two hundred pull horses, two hundred pack horses, and two hundred mules. This also includes a small number of special troops such as medics and engineers.

The above are the standard equipment. Other military supplies will be replenished during wartime to maintain redundancy and prepare for replacement in case of battle losses.

Generally speaking, a cavalry battalion consisted of about two thousand men, including 1,600 combat soldiers and 400 auxiliary soldiers, all of whom were equipped with horses and mules, enabling them to maintain combat effectiveness through long-distance and rapid maneuverability. They were equipped with a large number of horses, including first-class warhorses capable of carrying heavy armor.

At the same time, eight hundred sets of extremely precious full iron armor, including horse armor, were added. Following Liu Feng's suggestion, the horse armor was not made entirely of iron, but rather leather armor with iron plates. This reduced the burden on the warhorses while ensuring maximum defense, thus extending the combat time of the heavy cavalry.

These two cavalry battalions were extremely powerful, and the battalion commander Liu Feng already had two candidates in mind: Zhang Liao and Xu Huang.

With fierce generals leading brave warriors, Liu Feng was confident that, provided the tactics were appropriate, he could defeat an enemy several times his size head-on.

If he could be paired with elite infantry, Liu Feng was confident he could win even against three opponents.

The standard for the Vanguard Army is set according to the battlefield situation where one person can fight three opponents at once.

An infantry battalion is organized as follows:

Heavy infantry (one unit of military commander, with two squads of four hundred men each) equipped with four hundred sets of full iron armor, four hundred halberds and spears, four hundred longswords, four hundred tower shields, etc.

Medium infantry (two military commanders, each with four squads of 800 men) were equipped with 800 sets of full leather armor, 800 halberds and spears, 800 longswords, and 800 small shields as a secondary weapon. These small shields could be secured with one hand and were not invented until the late Tang and early Song dynasties. Naturally, Liu Feng had created them ahead of time.

Archers (one unit under the military commander, comprising two squads of four hundred men) are equipped with four hundred sets of light armor, two hundred powerful bows, two hundred crossbows, and four hundred long swords.

Supply troops: (a unit under the military commander, comprising two squads of four hundred men) equipped with one hundred large carts, two hundred pull horses, two hundred pack horses, and two hundred mules. This also includes a small number of special troops such as medics and engineers.

Now, Pengcheng's workshop base has grown larger and larger, and with a large number of prisoners of war being sent to mine, the followers of people like Zuo Rong and Xue Li have long been rotten to the core and can only serve as cannon fodder.

Liu Feng dared not use soldiers like these, fearing they would taint his troops and corrupt his army's discipline. Besides, these men's minds had long since become wild and they could no longer settle down to farm.

After much deliberation, the best place for these people was the mine, so they were sent to the mountains to give their last bit of light and heat, which could be considered as atonement for their previous actions.

Believe it or not, sending tens of thousands of prisoners of war to mine caused a sudden surge in the production of copper, iron, and coal, especially iron and coal, which were the main focus of mining, with production doubling and tripling respectively.

With sufficient raw materials and workshops operating at full capacity, they are going all out to produce military equipment, armor, agricultural tools, and other supplies. Iron armor, in particular, is of paramount importance, and the current monthly output has reached 120 sets, with an annual output successfully exceeding 1,000 sets.

Moreover, this is on the premise of ensuring the production of other military equipment and a large number of agricultural tools. If the demand for other military equipment and agricultural tools is reduced, the production of iron armor can be increased to another level.

The reason for such a huge change is that Liu Feng began to implement water-powered grinding and assembly line systems in the workshop.

A large number of skilled workers were freed up, while novices only needed to learn the process of making armor plates, which greatly reduced the difficulty. This resulted in a significant increase in the number of workers in the workshop, thereby increasing production.

(End of this chapter)