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  Liu Feng did not express his concerns on the spot, after all, Ma Chao had already demonstrated his military prowess, and the loopholes he could think of, with Ma Chao's ability, might not be unthinkable. Rather than expressing doubts again, it was better to observe the changes quietly.

  As promised, Liu Feng couldn't go back on his word. So the next day, he ordered the kitchen to slaughter several fat sheep and distributed a few kilograms of mutton to each soldier. At the same time, they also stewed more than ten pots of meat soup. More than 100 qualified soldiers enjoyed a hearty feast.

  In this era of scarcity, when soldiers ate their fill, it was not easy. Just like Cao Cao's large-scale tuntian in the north for over a decade, which seemed to have solved the problem of grain and fodder, but his elite soldiers used only some unappetizing coarse grains at ordinary times, and might be able to eat a meal of fine grains every few days. As for "luxury goods" like wine and meat, they had to wait until they won victories and were rewarded, or during festivals and holidays.

  Being able to have a meat meal is indeed a great blessing for soldiers.

  As Liu Feng had expected, Ma Su's move to win over the soldiers' hearts was just beginning. For three consecutive days, he held an emergency assembly every night and rewarded those who gathered within the third drumbeat with a meat meal the next day.

  The effect of doing so is naturally obvious. In the eyes of the soldiers, Liu Feng gradually established an image of loving his troops, in addition to that majestic image. The soldiers began to gradually become affectionate towards him.

  Apart from this, the soldiers naturally redoubled their efforts to get rewards. In the three days since then, the number of unqualified personnel has been decreasing day by day in the emergency assembly. By the fourth day, the number had decreased from 70-80 people at first to only 10-20 people.

  The effect is naturally welcome, but Liu Feng's previous worries have also surfaced.

  Following Ma Chao's method, the hearts of the soldiers were bought, but the consumption was huge. Although Liu Qi was supporting him from behind, this kind of slaughtering sheep and killing chickens would not last long, and soon Liu Feng would be too embarrassed to ask his cousin Zhang again.

  Even Cao Pi, who possessed half of the empire, would probably be unable to afford feeding his personal bodyguards meat at every meal, let alone Liu Feng.

  On the fourth night, when the emergency assembly ended, looking at the faces of the soldiers below who were eager to be rewarded, Liu Feng was very entangled in his heart. He wasn't unwilling to give the soldiers meat to eat, but he really couldn't afford it.

  "Ma Junsi, are you going to continue with the previous few days' practice and reward us with meat?"

  Liu Feng appeared to be casually asking Ma Chao, but was secretly making eye contact with him, hoping he could understand his difficulties, yet unable to show unwillingness in front of the soldiers.

  Ma Chao's expression was calm and couldn't be read, but he nodded to Liu Feng: "Young master, can the reward for today be announced by my subordinate?"

  In the past, although it was Ma Chao who came up with the ideas, they were all intended to establish Liu Feng's prestige as the main general. Therefore, when it came to rewarding and recognizing him in public, he would always ask Liu Feng to do it personally.

  But today, he suddenly wanted to come himself. Liu Feng knew that Ma Chao's move must have had another purpose, so he said: "Alright, then let's go."

  Ma Chao nodded, walked to the edge of the platform, looked around at the soldiers below, cleared his throat and said loudly: "The young master announces that from today on, the staple food for three meals will be changed to fine grains, and meat meals will be changed to once every three days."

  The troops under the stage were originally looking forward to having meat to eat tomorrow, and they were waiting for the announcement to cheer. At this time, after hearing Ma Su's words, they all felt a little unexpected.

  However, although there was no surprise as expected, the soldiers were also very satisfied. To know that their usual staple food is basically coarse grains, and they can only eat fine grains every few days. Now it has become three meals of fine grains a day, and meat dishes are added once every three days. Calculating this way, Da Gongzi Liu Feng is much better to them than Gongzi Liu Qi. They were so happy that they didn't have time to be dissatisfied.

  "Thank you, young master."

  "The young master treated us too well."

  "The little ones would die for the young master."

  ……

  The soldiers under his command were either generous or excited, all expressing their gratitude and support for Liu Feng.

  Ma Chao turned his head and took a look at Liu Feng. His eyes were naturally asking if Liu Feng was satisfied with the reward he had just announced.

  Liu Feng was naturally satisfied, his troops were only about two hundred, and he couldn't afford to eat meat every day. Having meat once every three days was still no problem. As for staple food and fine grains, they were much more cost-effective than expensive meat, and he had planned this all along, so of course he wouldn't object.

  Liu Feng nodded slightly, but just as Ma Su turned around, Liu Feng saw a hint of cunning in his eyes. He immediately realized that Ma Su's plan was not so simple after all, and there would definitely be more to come.

  Ma Xiao's calm expression suddenly became turbulent, his eyes flashing with a stern gaze. "General Gongzi has always been clear in his rewards and punishments," he said severely. "You were given three days' time, yet there are still people who dare to disobey military orders - this is truly unacceptable! Come, take those few men who failed to report for assembly on time and drag them away. Each of them will receive twenty military lashes!"

  Indeed it is.

  At this moment, what still echoes in Liu Feng's mind is that one sentence from Sun Tzu's Art of War: If the soldiers are not yet close to you but you punish them, they will not submit; if they do not submit, it will be difficult to use them. If the soldiers have already become attached to you and punishment is not enforced, then they cannot be used.

  Previously, since these two hundred men were new recruits under his command and had not yet been won over, if he had used punishment on them, it would not only have failed to achieve the effect of maintaining military discipline, but would also have caused the soldiers to become disaffected. However, now that they have gradually become attached to him through generous rewards, if he were still to indulge them excessively, knowing only how to reward and not how to punish, then although the soldiers might shout slogans with enthusiasm, when it actually came to using them, they would still refuse to obey.

  So Ma Su chose this time to punish those who disobeyed orders.

  "What is meant by 'using both kindness and severity' and 'clear rewards and punishments' is not simply a matter of giving and punishing. Without clever means, it would be counterproductive. Hmm, that little scoundrel Ma Chao, I was right about him after all."

  Liu Feng secretly praised him at that time, and the dozen or so people below had already been pressed to the ground, their pants pulled down and beaten with a military stick.

  Among these people, there were those who had eaten their fill of meat a few days ago and thought that even if they reacted slowly, they wouldn't be punished. They just wanted to eat a meal of meat and change to a lighter flavor, but unexpectedly the higher-ups suddenly changed policies, and it was a case of reaping what they sowed.

  For a time, the slapping of the board on flesh echoed through the air, accompanied by wails that lingered over the military camp. The soldiers who were silently watching were all shocked and terrified, their fear evident on their faces.

  Looking at the soldiers on the ground who were frightened and trembling, Liu Feng felt extremely pleased in his heart. It seemed that with Ma Chao's help, it wouldn't take long for him to have a loyal and elite iron-blooded army of his own.

  Liu Feng's optimism was a bit premature. The next day, the sudden arrival of an unexpected guest disrupted Liu Feng's plans.

  Arriving at Lushan were his younger brother-in-law, Mi Fang, and the 700 troops under his command. In addition to this, he also brought a letter of authority from Guan Yu, ordering Mi Fang to take over the garrison at Lushan, while Liu Feng was ordered to listen to his instructions.

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