Chapter Forty-Five

  On the way back to the mansion, Qiu Zhen would occasionally open his mouth and then close it again, looking like he wanted to say something but was hesitant.

  Tang Yin said: "If you have something to say, just say it. Don't be hesitant and make others feel uncomfortable for you."

  Qiu Zhen sighed and said: "Tang brother, I think in public places, you shouldn't get too close to Wu Mei."

  Tang Yin furrowed his brow and asked in doubt: "What does it mean?"

  Qiu Zhendao said, "Wu Mei is of noble birth and stunning beauty, many famous sons in the capital consider her a treasure to be won. If Tang Ge gets too close to her, he may provoke jealousy and bring trouble upon himself. We are not yet established in the capital and have no foundation, if something were to happen, it would not be beneficial for us."

  His words weren't unreasonable, Tang Yin thought for a moment, looked up and smiled, but didn't directly answer. Instead, he said proudly: "The things I want, I will naturally find ways to get them. If I really wanted Yu Mei, how could my woman allow others to pry into and covet her?"

  From his words, Qiu Zhen couldn't tell whether he liked or disliked Wu Mei, but this personality of doing whatever he wanted and acting on impulse made Qiu Zhen worried, yet he didn't know how to advise him.

  Alas! Qiu Zhen let out a quiet sigh and said: "In any case, Brother Tang must be more careful and pay attention to details."

  "I understand." Tang Yin raised his chin and said calmly.

  Tang Yin is a person who is both arrogant and self-abased, passionate and cold-blooded. His existence itself is a contradictory entity.

  The next day, Wu Mei sent four candidates for the thousand households to Tang Yin. These four people were all elites carefully selected by her from other troops, not only with high martial arts skills but also rich in actual combat experience, and they were all old thousand households. Next, Wu Mei took Tang Yin and a group of core members of the second army to the northern camp to receive new recruits.

  Tang Yin was used to being alone, coming and going as he pleased. He hated trouble and wouldn't do things personally. When receiving new recruits, he didn't make too many demands, just took a quick look and left. As for how the new recruits should be trained and who would be appointed as squad leaders, it was all up to the chiliarchs of each formation to handle on their own.

  That evening, he summoned Qiu Zhen and all ten chiliarchs to his residence.

  Dozens of people sat in two rows on both sides. The main hall was originally small, and those who sat at the back were squeezed to the door.

  Tang Yin beckoned with his hand and said: "Why sit so far away? Everyone come over and sit together!"

  "Uh..." Everyone looked at each other, but no one dared to move. In the military, superior-subordinate relationships are inviolable, and etiquette is emphasized; how could they just surround him and sit down?

  Seeing everyone remaining still, Tang Yin tilted his head and asked discontentedly: "What's wrong? Does anyone have any questions?"

  "Oh..." Everyone looked at each other and didn't dare to speak up.

  Qiu Zhen had the most contact with Tang Yin, knowing that he was not bound by trivial matters. He waved his hand to the crowd and said: "Everyone doesn't need to be restrained anymore, just do it according to General Tang's intention!" As he spoke, he took the lead in moving his chair and sat down beside Tang Yin.

  Everyone knew that Qiu Zhen and Tang Yin's relationship was the closest, seeing him like this, everyone felt a little relieved, and they all gathered around.

  They sat in a circle, and Tang Yin felt a bit more at ease. He first looked at the four thousand-year-olds chosen by Wu Mei for him, and said slowly: "I know that all four of you are experienced old soldiers. If there is any opinion on the construction of the army, don't be polite, just speak up."

  "General Tang is too polite!" These four men were all over thirty years old, and their names were Deng Mingyang, Lu Bing, Zhang Jiu, and Li Feipeng.

  As Tang Yin said, they were all old soldiers in the army, old slippery fish who had been mixed for many years and had seen and experienced too many things. They showed respect to Tang Yin on the surface, but actually disdained him in their hearts, thinking that Tang Yin had no background and was young, so he could become a battalion commander only because of Wu Mei's promotion, as for what kind of relationship they had privately, it went without saying.

  Tang Yin doesn't care what they think, as long as it doesn't interfere with himself, let them ponder.

  He cleared his throat and said seriously: "How you train new recruits, I don't want to ask, but there's one thing I need to make clear. The soldiers I want won't just be ordinary infantrymen. They'll be cavalry when they're on horseback, infantry when they're off it, archers when they pick up their bows and arrows, and pike men in close combat. Can you do that?"

  Gu Yue, Le Tian, Li Wei, Liu Zhongsheng, Chen Fang and Ai Jia six people had no objection, thought his request was quite good, the more comprehensive the soldiers' ability, the more flexible they would be on the battlefield, and the greater their role.

  However, Deng Mingyang, Lu Bing, Zhang Jiu and Li Feipeng furrowed their brows, feeling that this was simply nonsense.

  The Second Legion is an infantry legion, and the training should focus on making them infantrymen. They need to concentrate on learning close combat skills, various formations and changes in formation. What's the point of learning other skills? Moreover, if they really train according to Tang Yin's requirements, I'm afraid not many new recruits can hold on.

  As soon as you hear Tang Yin's words, you can tell he is an outsider.

  Deng Mingyang let out a dry laugh and said, "General Tang, I think this is not appropriate. Since our battalion is an infantry unit, learning cavalry skills is useless. Moreover, archery naturally has the archer units to handle it, we just need to do our own part well, why bother wasting effort on learning other things? Even if we learn it, the soldiers won't be able to use it on the battlefield!"

  How can it not be used?! Tang Yan's impression of the Ning army's arrow array was too deep, but they were not good at close combat, while the Wind Army was good at close combat but not good at archery. If the strengths of both are combined, whether far or near, they can exert a huge killing power, and the combat effectiveness of the army will undoubtedly increase by half.

  Moreover, on a large-scale battlefield, there are too many opportunities to obtain horses, and the strength and effect of cavalry are far beyond what infantry can match. If the soldiers in the army do not know how to ride, even if they get a lot of horses, it will be useless and become a burden instead.

  Tang Yin is a modern man, and his ideas are naturally quite different from theirs. In his concept, the more comprehensive the quality of a soldier, the stronger he is. Soldiers who only master one skill will eventually be eliminated. Now that there is an opportunity and time to do such training, why not do it?

  He was too lazy to persuade Deng Mingyang and others to accept his ideas, which is also the reason why he reused Gu Yue, Le Tian and other newcomers.

  He raised the corner of his mouth, chuckled softly, and looked at Deng Mingyang, saying word by word: "Thousand households, I am not asking for your opinions now, but letting you do what I require. I only ask you, can you do it?"

  Unexpectedly, the smiling Tang Yin spoke without leaving any face for Deng Mingyang, who was left red-faced and speechless, unable to respond for a long time.

  "If everyone thinks my request is too excessive, or I am too unreasonable, then please stand up now, and I will explain to General Wu, and have you transferred to other troops." Tang Yin said with a smile, leaning on his elbow and tilting his head.

  No one would be foolish enough to volunteer for the troop transfer, which would be equivalent to offending the commander of the troop. Moreover, Tang Yin, this commander, is not a simple person, with Wu Mei as his backer, offending him would be equivalent to offending Wu Mei, isn't that cutting off one's own path?

  Gu Yue, Le Tian, Li Wei, Liu Zhongsheng, Chen Fang and Ai Jia six people originally did not think that Tang Yin's request was excessive. Hearing him say this, they stood up in unison without thinking, saying: "The subordinates have no opinion, and will definitely follow General Tang's requirements to train the new soldiers well."

  Deng Mingyang and the other three looked at each other, all of them secretly sneering. Judging from the current situation, if Tang Yin wanted to cause trouble, they could only follow him in causing trouble together.

  After a moment of silence, the four slowly stood up and said: "Your subordinate obeys!"

  "Alright."

  Regardless of whether they were sincere or perfunctory, Tang Yin's desired effect was achieved. He laughed loudly and said: "Half a month later, I will personally go to inspect the results of each of your training new recruits. Those who meet the requirements, I will ask General Wu to reward you, but if not, I can only expel him from the Second Army for dereliction of duty."

  Everyone couldn't help but take a cold breath. Especially Deng Mingyang and the others, who were all gritting their teeth and muttering to themselves, "Tang Yin is so ruthless!" The crime of dereliction of duty can be big or small, but once this name is attached to you, your future career path in the military will basically be over.

  At this time, Deng Mingyang and the others did not dare to underestimate Tang Yin again. Whether or not he had the ability, his wrist was sinister and vicious enough.

  "General Tang!" Deng Mingyang said with a difficult expression.

  "Qianfu Chang, what else do you have to say?"

  "Horse riding and archery training aren't just about talking, they require actual practice. Bows and arrows are easy to get, but borrowing a horse is not that simple!"

  Feng Guo attaches great importance to infantry, and the cavalry corps are not many. Tens of thousands of new soldiers need tens of thousands of war horses, where can they be found in a short time?

  Tang Yin nodded, this was indeed a problem. After thinking for a moment, he said: "I will mention this to General Wu, you don't need to worry about it."

  "Yes, I understand." Since he said so, Deng Mingyang also didn't dare say anything more.

  "Everyone can go back and rest if there's nothing else!"

  "Yes! General Tang, I bid you farewell!"

  The crowd stood up one after another and left in succession. Before long, only Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen were left in the hall.

  Throughout the whole process, Qiu Zhen kept his head down and didn't say a word. He wasn't muttering to himself either, and his unusual silence made Tang Yin feel uneasy instead, so he smiled and asked: "Qiu Zhen, don't you have anything to say?"

  Qiu Zhen was taken aback, hastily shook his head and said: "No! How to train new recruits, I don't understand, but Brother Tang's requirements sound a bit harsh. However, since Brother Tang has brought it up, there must be some reason behind it, I have no opinion."

  Tang Yin smiled and nodded, standing up straight, taking a deep look at Qiu Zhen, then turned his back to him and walked away while saying: "Flattery! However, I like listening to it!"