Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 361 Don’t worry about scarcity but inequality
To be fair, after listening to this doggerel, even a well-mannered person like Yu Yunwen almost laughed out loud.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with this doggerel, but after listening to the song "A Great River" sung by Liu Huai a few days ago, Yu Yunwen felt that the other party was a man of culture and elegance.

After listening to this doggerel poem, which is probably about snow, the contrast is a bit too great.

However, Yu Yunwen just laughed and tasted some meaning from the poem.

It’s not that this kind of poem can linger in people’s minds for three days, but Yu Yunwen realized that when facing a group of illiterate adults and wanting to teach them to read and write, this doggerel is at least much more effective than Confucian classics.

Being easy to memorize is one thing. As long as you can write this kind of doggerel, you can basically write tens, hundreds, thousands, or even millions of them.

From easy to difficult, after you have some basic knowledge, learning "Thousand Character Classic" will be easier.

After quietly watching more than a hundred soldiers recite in unison twice, and then lowering their heads to use a branch to carefully write the big words on the blackboard, Yu Yunwen could not help but nod silently.

Liu Huai also saw Yu Sheren who came to inspect the camp. After saying a few words to a scholar beside him, he went straight down the platform and came to Yu Yunwen.

He first exchanged glances with Luo Shenyan, and after seeing him nod slightly, Liu Huai smiled and said, "Mr. Yu, how come you are free today?"

Liu Huai had already discussed with the generals of the Jingnan Army. If Yu Yunwen wanted to come and inspect the camp, he would let him come and see. At least he had to know the capabilities of the Jingnan Army. Investing in the Jingnan Army would always be much stronger than investing in other armies.

"I have nothing to do today, so I should familiarize myself with the army so I won't be at a loss for words when the emperor asks questions." Yu Yunwen stroked his thick beard and smiled, "After taking a look around, I can see that the Jingnan Army is well-organized and the morale of the men is high. Their reputation is truly well-deserved."

Liu Huai exchanged a few more polite words, then led Yu Yunwen and the others to sit in the central military tent.

On the earthen platform, the scholar took over the teaching work. However, without Liu Huai's supervision, the discipline of the arrogant soldiers was not so good. From time to time, there were whispers and even sounds of teasing and playing.

The scholar was at a loss as to what to do. He was a refugee from Huaibei and Huainan who was gathered by the Jingnan Army. He was not a prestigious figure like Lu You who had participated in the Northern Expedition. Facing a group of people holding knives, it was difficult for him to maintain order.

"What are you arguing about?" Just as the noise grew louder, an officer stood up and shouted, "You're all a bunch of idiots. You don't know what's good for you. I taught you to read and write, and you still complain. The commander-in-chief really threw his kindness away!"

The officer seemed to have a very high prestige. Although his words were harsh, no one dared to curse back, and the scene became quiet.

"Dingtou, we are all assassins. Killing bandits is our specialty. Reading and writing are ours. Why do you think the commander-in-chief is making things difficult for us?"

Someone familiar complained.

Ding Tou, also known as Ding Daxing, became even more angry after hearing this: "Big turban, big turban, everything is a big turban, you should let the big turban decide everything in your life, why don't you let the big turban enter the bridal chamber?
Let me ask you: You can fight the enemy today, you can fight bloody battles tomorrow, but what about next year? What about ten years from now? Are you going to spend your whole lives on the battlefield? When you're seventy or eighty, will you still be following the commander-in-chief into battle? Will he still be able to use you then?
"Wang Erzhu, let me ask you, when you are old and have made great contributions, the commander-in-chief will grant you a favor and want to settle you down. But you can't read a single word and can't count to ten, what can you do? Even if you are made a village head, you can't even do the accounting!"

The person who had just spoken had already lowered his head and dared not say anything.

Ding Daxing continued to point at the soldiers around him and cursed: "Then you can only return to the village and live on the land allocated to you. The other brothers who can read can become a captain in the county or an inspector in the town. They can send their sons to good private schools to read and write, and they can even become officials with their ancestors' graves smoking.

By the time your grandchildren have achieved the same feats as you, they will have become county magistrates or chief clerks, while your grandchildren can only dig for food in the fields.

"When the time comes, your grandson won't blame the General for not giving your family a chance, but will only blame you for not knowing what's good for you! You don't even want the knowledge that the General personally taught you!"

After the scolding, the place fell into complete silence. Even the scholars on the platform clutched their small wooden sticks and dared not speak.

Ding Daxing took a breath, and his tone became relatively relaxed. "I know what you're thinking. You might die tomorrow, so learning these things is useless. But has your Excellency ever suffered a defeat since you launched your army? Have you suffered heavy casualties? How do you think you'll die instead of enjoying a good life after a great victory?"

"I don't ask you to become big headscarves, but at least you should be able to read family letters and understand our conversation, right? If your wife writes some small words to you in the future and you have to let me read them out in public, you won't be embarrassed, but I will be!"

Ding Daxing was illiterate before, but after several months of intensive study, he had no problem reading and writing. When he was in Shandong, his comrades would ask him to read letters to them. Every time he read words like "my dearest love," Ding Daxing would feel a surge of disgust, but he couldn't refuse.

After using both soft and hard tactics, the classroom order was finally maintained. The scholar breathed a sigh of relief and then shuffled the order of the doggerel and taught it word by word.

The literacy class continued, and after following Yu Yunwen for most of the camp, Li Qi finally put down his basket of firearms, relaxed his shoulders, and drank a cup of tea. In the Jingnan Army's central tent, Yu Yunwen cut straight to the point, "Liu Dalang is a strict commander. The Jingnan Army surpasses all the other armies in both combat effectiveness and discipline. I'd like to invite a few officers to join the Jingnan Army to learn from them. What do you think?"

Liu Huai smiled and shook his head: "Of course, that's fine, but it's not necessary. Does Yu Sheren think there's some secret to my Jingnan Army's military management methods?"

Yu Yunwen nodded: "To be honest, Dalang, I was thinking the same thing."

Liu Huai continued to shake his head. "Yu Sheren is wrong. My methods of commanding troops are all recorded in the 'Wu Jing Zong Yao'. They are all based on the prevailing trend. The generals of the Huaixi Army have been immersed in the army for many years and it is impossible for them not to know these things."

Yu Yunwen frowned. "I still don't understand. If they're all the same, why do the two armies look so different? Don't lie, Dalang. Although I don't understand military affairs, I can roughly understand that if the Huaixi Army had been fighting in a foreign land, far from home, like the Jingnan Army, their morale would have collapsed long ago."

Liu Huai smiled and filled the cup in front of Yu Yunwen with tea. "Yu Sheren, the principles are the same and everyone knows them. However, what makes the Jingnan Army different from other armies is that we truly implement these principles."

"For example, the simplest example is loving your soldiers like your own sons. My Jingnan Army truly treats its soldiers as our own sons.

Yu Sheren, don't you want your sons to have enough food and clothing, be able to read and write, and have a bright future? I want my son to be the kind of person he is, and I will treat the soldiers under my command in the same way.

If I treat my sons like my confidant, they will naturally treat me like their leader."

"As for the other Song generals, don't they really know the principle of loving their soldiers like their own sons? But how many of them can actually do that?"

Yu Yunwen shook his head: "Don't blame them. The military supplies and fodder provided by the court are only so much..."

Liu Huai interrupted Yu Yunwen, "Mr. Yu, please don't treat your soldiers like fools. The Song army still has food and supplies. When we went north, we had to steal all our food and clothing from the Jin bandits. Isn't that a hundred times harder than the Song army's? However, the soldiers saw that we were united and shared hardships, and the Northern Expeditionary Army will naturally be united. Mr. Yu, the world's problems are not about scarcity but about inequality."

Liu Huai was still cautious in his words. In fact, the corruption in the Song army was from top to bottom. The corruption at the level of commanders was just a drizzle, and the real big guys were at the top.

The so-called chaos in the world is caused by the top.

For example, Tian Shizhong, who has controlled the military equipment of Xiangfan and Ezhou for the past ten years, has an outrageous way of squeezing the land. All officers have to bribe him before they can take office, and their combat effectiveness is extremely poor.

In addition, in this era, even if the material conditions are unsatisfactory, a lot can be accomplished if the soldiers can be comforted spiritually.

The most famous example is Florence Nightingale, the goddess with the lamp. In the absence of antibiotics, she relied on reforming unreasonable systems and rebuilding hospital facilities to provide soldiers with a warm, comfortable, clean and hygienic rest environment and nutritious diet, and she reduced the mortality rate from 42% to 2.2%.

The wounded camp established by the Jingnan Army probably also implemented this set of policies, and the effect was extremely significant.

As for the other Song troops, at least Liu Huai did not see any camp used as a wounded camp in the Huaixi army. The minor injuries were treated by themselves, and the serious injuries were briefly examined by a Mongolian doctor and then left to fend for themselves.

Under such conditions, Liu Huai felt that the fact that the Song army did not mutiniate was already a great favor to Zhao Gou's ancestors for eighteen generations.

The environment in the Huaixi Army camp was so bad that He Boqiu couldn't stand it anymore and took the initiative to ask the Huaixi Army to send the wounded to his own camp for treatment.

There are still about 200 Huaixi soldiers recovering from their injuries in the Jingnan Army’s wounded camp!
After hearing this, Yu Yunwen thought for a long time before sighing and saying, "The road ahead is long and arduous, the road ahead is long and arduous!"

Seeing that Liu Huai was about to say something, Yu Yunwen waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. I already know that you asked the Dongting Lake Navy for firearms. Commander Li came with me this time because of this matter."

Seeing that he finally started talking about his own affairs, Li Qi hurriedly bowed.

Liu Huai looked around, then stood up and waved to Li Qi: "Come, let's go to an open area and do some experiments first."

As he spoke, he actually seemed a little impatient.

(End of this chapter)