Chapter 428 One Day

The next day, more than a hundred cavalrymen led by the Grand Marshal arrived at Meng Da’s camp.

In the morning, he inspected the Hanzhong and Ba soldiers, and in the afternoon he came here.

Seven battalions of Dongzhou soldiers marched in formation on a flat field, changing their formation according to changes in flags, drums and horns.

Black Bear stood on the wooden platform, watching for a moment, and said to Meng Da who was standing beside him: "It has been a short time since the camps have been training together, and you have shown your dedication to the training."

Meng Da answered carefully, "Your Majesty, when the battalions were training individually, the teams worked well together. But once the battalions trained together, they made mistakes everywhere. I think it's because the battalions were not proficient in their individual training."

After hearing this, Black Bear looked back at Meng Da's profile and nodded: "You have a point. You still have two months. If you do well, you will be a captain. If you don't do well, you will be a military commander. I don't care how you train, I just want the result."

"Yes, I will keep it in mind."

Meng Da responded immediately in a loud voice. When he looked up, he saw Yang Fu standing in the distance watching the military drill. After a little hesitation, he said, "Your Majesty, I was originally a small officer commanding a few hundred people. Now, you have trusted me and I am in charge of seven battalions of 5,000 elite soldiers. I feel a little overwhelmed, so I would like to recommend someone to join the camp to help with the training."

"who?"

"It is my friend, Fa Xiaozhi. I recommended him because I know his talent and character, and I am willing to guarantee his life."

Black Bear looked back and saw that Meng Da looked nervous. Thinking of the current dilemma, he asked, "Is Fa Xiaozhi here?"

"Sleeping in a village outside the camp."

"How about this, after the drill is over, you send someone to bring him here."

"Here!"

Meng Da was even more excited, but he did not dare to directly recommend Fa Zheng to be the chief clerk.

Seeing that Meng Da had nothing else to do, Black Bear carefully observed the drill of the Seventh Battalion of Dongzhou Soldiers. He picked up the cowhide scroll and opened it. On it was a drawing showing the command chain of the Seventh Battalion of Dongzhou Soldiers, with names from Meng Da down to the Captain of a Hundred Men.

He had no recollection of many names, but he would spot the outstanding performers based on their performance during drills, and then based on their serial numbers, he would immediately compare them with the drawings on the cowhide scroll to find out their names.

I watched the drill like this, and from time to time I picked up a pen to write various punctuation symbols on the cowhide roll.

After the drill was over, Black Bear pointed to the dozen names on the cowhide roll and said, "You will be rewarded with three pieces of cloth, ten catties of meat, and three dou of wine."

Yang Fu, Yang Xiu and others memorized these names at the same time. Black Bear pointed at two names and said, "Remove them. This team will re-elect them and report back."

"Here."

After handing the cowhide roll to Yang Fu, Black Bear said to Meng Da on the other side, "Prepare the food and leave after eating."

"Here!"

Meng Da immediately bowed and turned around to make arrangements.

Not long after, Fa Zheng, wearing a new set of clothes, entered the military camp and, led by Meng Da's personal soldiers, entered Meng Da's barracks.

This is a square tent with a blazing charcoal fire in the middle.

As soon as Fa Zheng came in, he felt a hot and dry air rushing towards his face.

Then he saw Black Bear sitting in the main seat, reviewing official documents. After obtaining Yizhou, the biggest advantage was the convenience of paper.

The first batch of supplies shipped to Guanzhong contained only gold and various types of paper.

The gifts sent by the big families, powerful people, and county governors in Shu were ranked in the second batch and are only now being shipped.

"Fa Xiaozhi of Fufeng pays a visit to the Grand Marshal." "Sit closer and talk."

After Black Bear finished speaking, he ordered Dian Wei to move the stool closer. Only then did the guards who had brought Fa Zheng back withdraw and lower the tent door.

"Thank you, Grand Marshal, for the seat."

Fa Zheng took a deep breath, walked forward and around the fire pit, sat down, and bowed to express his gratitude.

At this time, Black Bear put down his pen, turned around, took out a business card from the box beside him and handed it to Dian Wei, who then passed it to the small table in front of Fa Zheng.

The hardwood carved business card makes a crisp sound when it falls on the table top which is also made of hardwood and painted.

Fa Zheng raised his eyebrows to look, and saw that Black Bear looked normal, then he tidied up the business cards on the table.

There were a total of twelve business cards, almost all of whom were people he knew. Some were from Guanlong, some were from Shuzhong, Bajun or Nanzhong, and all of them were from prominent families.

There was even Xu Jing, a famous figure in the late Han Dynasty. He took refuge in Jiaozhou and was invited by Liu Zhang to enter Shu, where he was appointed the governor of Ba County.

When Liu Zhang proclaimed himself king, Xu Jing opposed it, resigned, and was placed under house arrest.

When Fa Zheng saw these twelve people, he immediately felt at ease. The last time he and Meng Da met Black Bear for the first time, he reported to them all the negative information he had collected, including what he had heard about the big families in Shu.

He even speculated that Meng Da's appointment as the commander of Dongzhou was most likely due to this black material.

Seeing Fa Zheng's change of expression, Black Bear spoke up, "Yang Yishan, the manager of my Huang Pavilion, is about to step down. He recommended Huang Quan of Xixi to me. After that, many people also rushed to recommend or recommend themselves. Not only did they take a fancy to the position of Chief Clerk, but some also wanted to be the Chief Military Officer."

Fa Zheng glanced at Xu Jing and immediately bowed: "Your Majesty, are you referring to Xu Jing of Runan?"

"Yes, some people recommended Xu Jing, thinking that he is just a name without substance. Reusing him does not affect the fundamentals, but can appease the people of Yizhou and win the support of the world."

Black Bear couldn't help but smile as he said this: "When I first met Xiaozhi, I wanted to recruit him as my right-hand man. But Xiaozhi didn't have a good reputation in Shu, and he was also known to be vindictive. I was worried that if I promoted Xiaozhi, the big families in Shu would be uneasy. Now it seems that I was soft-hearted."

Fa Zheng's face was calm, his hands clenched in his sleeves, and he lowered his head to look at the twelve business cards on the table. Except for She Jian, Su Ze, Yang Xiu, Huang Quan and Xu Jing, the others were all famous people in Yizhou.

"Out of the twelve people, ten were recommended to me by people from Yizhou!"

Black Bear took a deep breath and said, "Here comes another one... Xiaozhi knows grapes, right? A grape tree can extend into countless vines. It's really hateful that you take advantage of my youth like this."

Fa Zheng's heartbeat quickened. He slowly stood up and bowed, "I am willing to share your worries, Your Majesty."

"Since you are willing, you can stay in Mengda's camp for the next few days. When Yang Yishan takes up his post in Ba County, I will send an envoy to recruit you."

Black Bear thought for a moment, then said to Fa Zheng who leaned forward to agree, "Meng Da should not make deep plans. You must be vigilant. Take my secret letter. If anything unexpected happens, show it to Meng Da. You two can just defend yourselves."

Fa Zheng's face was calm, but his face was slowly turning red due to his accelerated heartbeat. He suppressed his excitement and said, "Yes, I will obey your command."

At this time Dian Wei handed a stack of papers to Fa Zheng. Fa Zheng held them in both hands and felt they were heavy.

A rage burned in his chest. Fa Zheng almost saw himself entering Chengdu City with an imperial decree and being ordered to mobilize troops to suppress the rebellion.

If I have power one day, I will really kill all the dogs that have betrayed me in Shu.

Fa Zheng was so emotional that he stood there in a daze for a moment. He almost concluded that once the army was trained, he would start attacking the big families in Shu.

I just don’t know how many counties to start with, or whether to follow the example of Taiyuan and Hedong counties and promote the development of all counties.

No matter what, it is finally Fa Zheng's turn to show off his power.

(End of this chapter)