Chapter 26: Inspecting the Troops on the Battlefield
Li Ji suddenly remembered the sentence in Wei Zhuang's "The Female Nun":
"She still has a peach-blossom face, and her brows are lowered frequently."
He saw that Liu Xiu's willow-leaf eyebrows were curved very sharply.
From the beginning of the eye to the end of the eye, the overall distribution is in an arc shape.
Women with this kind of eyebrow shape are destined to be kind-hearted, gentle, soft-spoken and amiable.
Li Ji himself is a fortune teller. He inherited his master's skills and, with his own efforts, he has become adept at reading people's faces.
He suddenly remembered what was said about physiognomy: willow-shaped eyebrows indicate prosperity.
If the eyebrows are thick with some turbidity and some clarity, you are very loyal to your friends and can easily gain the trust of noble people.
Li Ji looked at it carefully for a moment and was slightly stunned. According to Ma Yi's physiognomy theory, this kind of eyebrows indicates that the family relationship is very distant.
There is a possibility of having children in old age, but the family will be prosperous and even famous overseas.
He suddenly found himself distracted.
When Liu Xiu saw Li Ji's appearance, he felt excited, but then a little shy.
How could a girl bear being stared at like this by a young man when they met for the first time? However, Liu Xiu was very generous.
The daughter of the governor of Pingyuan County is also well-informed and has seen a lot of prosperous things.
It is normal for young people to fall in love first sight.
After Liu Hong left, Li Ji saw that he and Liu Xiu were the only ones in the room, so he quickly said:
"There's something going on at the barracks. I'll go over there."
Liu Xiu spent the whole morning helping Li Ji wash clothes, tidy up the room, and make the bed.
She dusted the books on the bookcase in Li Ji's room and rearranged them one by one.
After everything was ready, she sat at the desk and picked up a copy of "The Analects of Confucius" to read.
As she looked and looked, she actually dozed off in the chair.
…
Li Ji arrived at the parade ground, where Shan Xiongxin was training soldiers.
Before the imperial court allocated military pay, Li Ji discussed with Liu Hong and decided to first use the 12,000 taels of silver that was intended for city renovation.
After receiving their military pay, the soldiers felt more confident and began training with great enthusiasm.
Li Jicheng imitated the rules of military tactics and formulated strict camp regulations:
At 5:30 a.m. every day, cannons are fired and people get up when they hear the cannons. This is also known as "hearing the cock-crow and getting up to dance."
Every night, each battalion sent 20 people to patrol. It was also called "night patrol of the plains."
When performing morning exercises at dawn, battalion and regimental officers must be present in person. This is also called the "leader effect."
Evening exercises are performed at sunset, with roll call once at noon and once before the second watch. It is also called "evening drum and morning bell."
Before noon on the third, sixth and ninth day of every month, Li Ji personally went to the martial arts training ground to supervise the drills and give speeches. This was also known as "a long-lasting alarm bell."
From morning to night, the parade ground was filled with flying dust and the shouts of killing were earth-shaking and endless.
The people in Pingyuan City were all wondering where this group of people came from and why they were so serious and diligent in their training?
The older ones remember that this deserted military training ground had not been used for training by the emperor’s men for decades.
As soon as Li Ji entered the parade ground, Shan Xiongxin immediately stopped the drill.
"Stand at attention, at ease! Next, please welcome Master Li to give a speech. Everyone is welcome!"
As soon as Shan Xiongxin finished speaking, there was thunderous applause on the parade ground.
Li Ji stood majestically on the podium and said loudly:
"Brothers, what do you gain by leaving your homeland and joining the army?"
His eyes rolled, "I can only see two reasons. One is to protect the peace of my hometown, and the other is to gain military merit on the battlefield, get promoted and make money."
The soldiers below were whispering, "Every word Lord Li said is true. Although he is young, his words carry a lot of weight."
"Yes, if we don't want to get promoted or make money, why would we join the army? We might lose our heads someday."
Li Ji continued:
"Lord Liu and I have already discussed this and we will definitely pay everyone's military pay in a timely manner."
"Many people here are my age, and some are even younger. They haven't tasted the good life yet."
"To be honest, have you got married yet?"
There was a commotion immediately. "The family is so poor, how can we find a wife?"
Li Ji said loudly:
"Every young man has his own youthful dream. There is no one who doesn't want to get married."
"Marry a wife, have children, and continue the family line. This is the instruction from our ancestors."
"So, we must work hard to improve our skills and kill the enemy on the battlefield."
"If you can bring honor to your parents and ancestors, and bring happiness to your wife and children, then you will be worthy of being a man and your life in this world."
Thunderous applause rang out again on the parade ground.
"God, we fought a battle with the bandits led by Lisa Liu. Everyone saw the result."
Li Jiying glanced at all the soldiers with a stern gaze, with a murderous cold light in his eyes.
When the soldiers below the stage saw Li Ji's expression, it was as if a cold northwest wind suddenly blew up.
The timid ones have trembling legs; the brave ones are trembling all over.
His stern voice rang out:
"The day before yesterday, when the prisoners were executed at Caishikou, our soldiers failed to supervise properly and the security measures were not implemented properly."
"The scene was in chaos and innocent citizens were harmed."
"The Single Word Camp was almost wiped out. They were beaten to the point of being unable to fight back by a dozen female bandits."
"I don't blame the brothers of the Shanzi Battalion. They obeyed the orders of the battalion commander. The most intolerable person is their battalion commander Shan Xiongxin."
Li Ji suddenly raised his voice and shouted:
"Bring Shan Xiongxin up here!"
Shan Xiongxin, who had just been directing the drill, was pushed to the front by two of his personal soldiers.
He knelt on his knees facing Li Ji and said in a muffled voice:
"I failed to supervise the work properly and failed to kill the wild roses on the spot. I let the tiger go back to the mountain and let the tumor fester. I deserve to die!"
Li Ji looked at the kneeling Shan Xiongxin and felt conflicted.
He once saved my life on the banks of the Jishui River.
Follow me all the way to Pingyuan County.
However, the merits do not outweigh the faults!
Li Ji had a murderous look on his face and his brows were tightly furrowed.
His hands suddenly clenched, squeezed, and then suddenly let go.
He shouted angrily, "Come here, give me fifty military sticks."
This was the first time that one of their brothers was punished since the establishment of the Plain Camp.
Moreover, the person who was punished by military law was a battalion-level captain.
All the soldiers were stunned for a moment.
Shan Xiongxin couldn't believe his ears.
His face turned pale and beads of sweat the size of beans were dripping down his face.
It took him a while to come to his senses, and he kowtowed to Li Ji and begged for mercy.
You know, if you are hit with fifty military sticks, the person will either die or be injured.
Those with weak physical fitness may die on the spot.
Li Ji remained unmoved. His heroic face remained stiff and expressionless.
At this time, Ye Fan, the captain of the Royal Guard Battalion, ran to the stage and kowtowed to beg for mercy.
"Sir Li, Captain Shan has done his best. The Shanzi Battalion was established not long ago, the quality of the personnel is uneven, and the morale is unstable."
Ye Fan continued, "It's not easy to lead the team, and it's his first offense, so let's forgive him."
Li Ji looked at the captain of his personal guard camp kneeling in front of him, and for a moment he wanted to give him face.
However, Li Ji hesitated for a while and immediately calmed down.
No, if I forgive Shan Xiongxin today, I can forgive others tomorrow.
If a person who has committed a crime can be forgiven once he pleads for mercy, can he still be punished in the military in the future?
Does military law still have its dignity?
