Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

Of course, with Zhu Hai's return, Lu Jun's recruitment work also began to speed up.

In just half a month, Liu Ye recruited 5,000 people!

When this data was placed on Liu Ye's desk, even Liu Ye was shocked. Why are there so many people!

Guo Ye looked at Ding Ruchang, who was laying out his petition on the ground. Ding Ruchang smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, first, Shandong is too poor right now. Many people can't even get enough to eat. Being a soldier at least guarantees three meals a day, preventing them from starving to death. Plus, some military pay can help supplement their family income, so naturally, more people are willing to join the army. Second, your reputation is too great. Word has spread throughout Jinan that the new governor is a flying general who fought against the foreign devils. Which ambitious young man who wants to make a name for himself wouldn't want to follow you and achieve fame in the future? Third, the Nian bandits entered Shandong and wreaked havoc there. Many people are eager to join the army and drive them out, which is why so many people are signing up. Over the past two weeks, we've registered nearly 20,000 people. These 5,000 men are the best and strongest we've carefully selected. The youngest is no younger than 16, and the oldest is no older than 35. They're all smart, capable, and full of energy..."

Liu Ye smiled bitterly and shook his head, replying, "No, no matter how good the soldiers are, we can't recruit them all. How can we support 5,000 people now? The expenses of food, clothing, housing, and military pay are too huge. The court won't give us a penny. If we just live off our resources, it won't be long before we're finished!"

Ding Ruchang was filled with embarrassment. He had recruited soldiers but couldn't afford to support them. This was truly speechless...

Liu Ye gritted his teeth and said, "Starting today, we will stop recruiting. We will organize the five thousand men into two regiments and a cavalry battalion. We will train them with all our might, using the most rigorous training. We will send people to conduct audits, and the last two thousand men will be eliminated. I only want the best soldiers!"

Ding Ruchang was shocked and replied, "General, it would be better for you to dismiss them now. That way, they won't be disappointed. Once we recruit them, it will be difficult to dismiss them. They might even cause trouble!"

Liu Ye said in a deep voice, "No, recruit them all. I know all the little tricks they use. There must be some unqualified people among them who want to fish in troubled waters. What's more, they will pass off inferior talents as good ones and fill the numbers. I will use the most rigorous training to squeeze out all the impurities. At most, I will take out 10,000 taels of silver and give 5 taels of severance pay to all those who are laid off. In short, I only want elite soldiers, 3,000 people, and each one can be used as two!"

Liu Ye was right. Even under his rule, there would still be cunning and deceitful people, especially the middle and lower-level officers, who were all selected temporarily. Who knew what these people's character was like?

In this way, 5,000 troops were distributed into two regiments and one battalion. However, these two regiments and one battalion were indeed a bit bloated, so Liu Ye had to temporarily disrupt the original organizational arrangements and make arrangements.

Five thousand people were divided into fifty companies for strict training. Almost every elite soldier from Baoding Town brought by Liu Ye supervised a hundred people. Even so, it was still too much to manage. Liu Ye had to call Kulha over and arrange all three hundred of Kulha's four hundred cavalrymen, except for one hundred cavalrymen who entered the cavalry camp, into various companies to assist the soldiers of Baoding Town in training!

From the start, the new recruits were subjected to extensive military training, including a 15-mile cross-country run, a 10-mile weighted run, combat exercises, and military skills. Of course, to ensure the soldiers had enough energy and maintained their strength, they were provided with free meals during training. Not only were they full, but they also had pork to eat, and even beef for those who ranked high!

All the company commanders declared that the training army's treatment was excellent, and that anyone who stayed would have ample opportunities to enjoy a feast and drink! However, the training army absolutely refused to keep useless people; only the true elite were qualified to enjoy all this! Those who ranked in the bottom 40 during the training assessment would be eliminated. The entire training army only had 3,000 people, so no matter your background, if you failed the training, you would be eliminated!

Almost all the new recruits fought tooth and nail. Forty out of every hundred were eliminated! Such a ratio was truly terrifying! However, they also knew that the treatment in the military training camp was extremely good, much higher than that of the Green Camp soldiers. As long as they were successful in their application and stayed in the barracks, they would have a stable job, and their wives, children, and elders would no longer have to worry about having no food to eat!

There is almost no need for the generals above to put pressure on these people, as they have already started training desperately. Only with pressure will there be motivation, and only with motivation will there be results!

In the blink of an eye, nearly a month has passed, and the results of almost everyone have become apparent. The quality of this group of soldiers is really jaw-dropping. Under heavy pressure, almost everyone's potential has been fully unleashed. Those with outstanding results have even begun to approach the soldiers of Baoding Town. This is the advantage of the last-in-first-out system, survival of the fittest!

Looking at the report submitted by Zhu Hai, Liu Ye smiled with satisfaction. Zhu Hai had been very tired during this period. He had become the boss and almost all the burden fell on this little brother. This ordeal had also made him mature a lot.

Liu Ye said in a deep voice, "Not bad, Xiao Hai, you've made progress. Pass the order down. From each company, the top five performers in the assessment will be gathered together. I will focus on training them! The rest of the personnel will remain. The last thirty-five will all be dismissed. They will be given severance pay of five taels of silver each. They've worked hard for a month, and they deserve some compensation."

Zhu Hai quickly nodded in agreement and asked, "Brother Ye, the guns and ammunition that Minister Hua Ruohan ordered for me have arrived. Should we start training immediately?"

Liu Ye nodded and replied, "Yes, everyone will receive a rifle and ten rounds of ammunition. You should know how to train them, right? According to the old rules, they will be trained in marksmanship. If their marksmanship is not up to standard, they will be directly dismissed and replaced by the reserve. In future wars, firearms will be the most important. Without superb marksmanship, you can't be a good soldier!"

Zhu Hai shouted, "Yes, Brother Ye!"

Liu Ye looked at this summary and was very satisfied. Not only the newly recruited soldiers, but also the 400 cavalrymen of Kulha were well honed in this training. The originally lazy Mongolian cavalry now had clear discipline and were completely different from before!

What kind of general you have, what kind of soldiers you have!