C49 Reforming the Military System to Build a Strong Army(part I)

At the end of the morning, the sky was covered by dense, bright clouds. The howling cold wind swirled, sweeping up a large amount of dust and dead leaves and scattering them high into the air.

On the main arena of Ji County's North City, over ten thousand soldiers wearing white robes and white hats were solemnly standing in the cold wind. Their hands and faces were flushed red from the cold, but no one was casually walking or talking. Everyone knew that today was the most important day since the establishment of the White Horse Camp. No one wanted to ruin this solemn atmosphere.

Dong, dong, dong, dong. At the beginning of the day, the sound of drums could be heard from the high platform.

In a short moment, the Protector Wu Huan, Academy Officer, White Horse Camp Lord and the Military Advisor Guo Jia, Yue Zhong, Zhao Yun, and Jianhan Academy Officer Yan Rou all escorted Gongsun Xu out from the main general's living quarters in the middle and walked up to the arena. Gongsun Xu was standing at the front, followed by Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, and Yan Rou. The four of them were also wrapped in white cloth around their waists, but they didn't wear pointed white hats that symbolized burial sites.

Gongsun Xu raised his hand and pressed, causing the two brothers, Gongsun Jia, who were beating drums on both sides of the stage, to immediately stop. When the drumming stopped, Gongsun Xu turned around and nodded to Liu Tie.

Guo Jia was wearing a pure black brocade robe today. He wore a black crown on his head and black deer boots on his feet. He looked very solemn. He took two steps forward and stood in front of the high platform. He cleared his throat and loudly shouted, "The time has come. May we welcome your honorable tablet!"

Yang Hong and Wang Wei, each holding a soul luring flag, walked out of the barracks on the left side. Behind them were five hundred soldiers wearing white clothes and white hats, each of them holding a black rank with the name of a fallen soldier engraved on it.

Forty white-robed drummers were already standing guard outside the barracks. When they saw that everyone had come out, they began to blow and beat their way toward the platform.

Yang Hong and Wang Wei walked forward with the 500 people following behind them.

He stopped in front of a row of wooden racks that were about ten feet tall and stood by the side with his hands hanging down.

Yang Hong and Wang Wei walked to the two sides of the wooden shelf and stuck the soul flag on the ground, standing there motionlessly.

The five hundred white clad guards stepped forward one by one, placing their positions on the wooden shelf in succession.

After arranging the items, Yang Hong and Wang Wei raised the soul luring flag and walked over. The five hundred white clothed soldiers and the drummer silently followed behind them. Arriving at the left side of the living quarters, five hundred white clothed soldiers walked in and brought out another five hundred positions, blowing and beating them up before placing them on a wooden shelf in front of the stage. Only after doing this seven times did he manage to arrange all three thousand or so rankings.

Guo Jia performed three big salutes to Gongsun Xu on the bottom of the stage before standing up and cupping his hands to Gongsun Xu, "Please give me some incense, my lord."

Gongsun Xu walked to Guo Jia's side, bowed three times to the rankings below the stage, and then took the three sticks of incense from Gongsun Yi. After lighting them, he respectfully inserted them in front of the stage.

Guo Jia then shouted, "Please recite the sacrificial text to comfort the heroic spirit." Then, he took out a white silk scroll from his sleeve and bowed it over his head.

Gongsun Xu took the scroll from Guo Jia's hands and slowly opened it. With a solemn voice, he began to recite, "Wailing and mourning. If the heavens were separated, wouldn't it be sad that the king had a spirit and was enjoying his joss stick? Ah, death, separation. Be faithful to his duties, and be merciful to his virginity. With the return of his soul, he could appraise his own heart. wuu, vuu

After he finished, Gongsun Xu took the sacrificial text and placed it on the torch Gongsun Yi brought over. In the blink of an eye, the sacrificial ceremony culture turned into ashes and disappeared into the cold wind.

Guo Jia shouted in a sad voice, "Oh woo woo, your soul is returning!" He shouted once, and everyone followed and shouted again. He repeated this three times before he stopped.

Yang Hong and Wang Wei worked the hardest. Not only did they have to follow the cheers, they also had to constantly wave the twenty feet long soul flag in their hands.

The shouts became louder and more sorrowful. A strong sense of sorrow spread rapidly. The soldiers could not help but feel their noses sour as they remembered the familiar appearance of a fellow soldier. Tears welled up in their eyes. It was unknown who cried out first, but soon after, the sound of the students crying shook the sky. The sound echoed several miles away, attracting the attention of the passersby.

Ku Le, who was standing on the leftmost side, cried the most. The people who died were almost all related to them, many of them were brothers from the same family. Ku Le pounded his chest and stamped his feet as he cried miserably. Without a strong army, where would his status be in the White Horse Camp?

Gongsun Xu had seen too much life and death, so he didn't feel much about it. However, in this situation, no matter what, he had to accompany him with a few drops of tears.

Just like Gongsun Xu, there was no sadness in Yan Rou's eyes.

Zhao Yun, on the other hand, was truly saddened. This time, a few people died to help him out of danger, and he had always valued his relationship the most. At this moment, he was rubbing his eyes and crying non-stop.

Amongst the few people on the high platform, the one crying the most was Guo Jia. Although he was weak, he yearned for that kind of iron-blooded friendship the most. He could not help but burst into tears.

The crying sound was a little weaker, Guo Jia continued to shout, "Please give the order to kill the enemy's chief, to comfort the heroic spirit!"

With a wave of Gongsun Xu's hand, Gongsun Jia and his brother rushed down from the stage and escorted a person out from the barracks on the side.

This person's hair was disheveled and his entire body was covered in blood. It was actually Kuku King Su Puyan. That day, when Su Puyan escaped back to Liucheng, he was captured by Gongsun Xu. After that, the Youzhou army stormed towards the city and before Su Puyan could deal with him, Su Puyan abandoned the city and ran into Gongsun Xu's hands. Gongsun Xu brought Su Puyan back to the Ji County because he wanted to use his head to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers and raise their morale.

Su Puyan had already lost half his life from the torture, and after falling into the hands of the White Horse Camp Warriors, he had suffered a lot. At this moment, he was on the verge of death and was dragged down the stage until he collapsed.

Gongsun Xu shouted, "This man is Wuhuan of Liaoxi's Kuku King, Su Puyan. This general wants to use his head to pay tribute to the Heroic Spirit Slash!"

Gongsun Jia's hand raised and the knife fell, Su Puyan's huge head fell to the ground. Gongsun Yi picked it up and placed it in front of the tablet.

"Commemorative ceremony, please enlighten me." Guo Jia shouted and retreated behind the stage.

The White Horse Camp's fallen soldiers were buried in Liucheng. Today was just a memorial service for the heroic souls, so there was no need to hold a funeral. There were even more important things to announce, so the ceremony was as simple as it was.

Gongsun Xu's gaze swept around from left to right slowly. Everywhere his gaze passed by, the soldiers couldn't help but feel sorrowful. They raised their heads and puffed out their chests as they looked at him.

"My brothers!" Gongsun Xu shouted as he cupped his hands towards the Heroic Spirit tablet below the stage, waving his arms and roaring, "The battle of Liucheng is the first battle after the establishment of my White Horse Camp, and in this battle, my brothers were brave and tenacious, displaying their might and might, and also the reputation of my White Horse Camp, from then on, my White Horse Camp will never again be looked down upon by others."

Everyone followed his order and shouted, "White Horse Camp is mighty, General Gongsun is mighty!"

This happened three times, and the passionate roar even reached Marquis Jin's residence in the south of the city.

Gongsun Zan was in the middle of discussing about the Jizhou's military situation with the rest. When he heard the shout, he was slightly shocked. This brat, Gongsun Zan, was actually able to raise the morale of the soldiers under his command?

Everyone present knew that White Horse Camp had made a big move today, so when they heard the roar, their expressions changed. Guan Jing, who was on good terms with Gongsun Xu previously, felt joy in his heart and felt that he had made the right decision. They had always been keeping a certain distance from Gongsun Xu. Although Tian Kai and Yan Gang both felt that Gongsun Xu was quite amazing, since he was still young, they were prepared to observe and decide whether to approach him. Gongsun Fan, on the other hand, had always been somewhat indignant in his heart; his nephew's jump to the position of commander of the White Horse Camp caused his status to jump even higher than his own, making him feel as if he had been disregarded by his brother Gongsun Zan.

In Ji County's County Magistrate's Office, Liu Yu and his son were currently discussing the placement of the refugees in their study. When they heard the roar, their expressions immediately changed.

"How is Gongsun Zimin?" Liu Yu frowned and asked Liu He hesitantly.

Liu Yu's question was somewhat vague, but Liu He understood and said, "Father, if Gongsun Zimin is a loyal subject, then he is Yi Yin and Huo Guang's. If he is a treacherous subject, then he is Bo Pao and Wang Mang."

"Sigh." Liu Yu let out a long sigh and said dejectedly, "If Gongsun Zanfuzi is loyal to Your Majesty, then Han Dynasty's rise to prominence will be futile."

"Father, don't worry too much. Your son and Gongsun Zimin are still friends. Things might not be irreparable."

"I hope so."

No matter whether it was Gongsun Zan's side, or Liu Yu and his son, they didn't think that the excited roars from the White Horse Camp's soldiers was just the beginning.

On the high platform, Gongsun Xu continued to shout loudly: "The so-called 'past mandatory punishment' must be rewarded. This general will give out rewards to everyone today, and in the future, I will give everyone 30% of the rewards, but everyone remember one thing. This general will not allow anyone to stash his spoils of war, and once they are found, he will not forgive them!"

Everyone in the audience was stunned for a moment before they let out an earth-shattering cheer. In the past, he could rob as he liked when he was on the battlefield, but after all, there were only a few people who were able to get their hands on the items, and most of them had to be handed over to the generals. Now, Gongsun Xu clearly said that the 30% that they had captured would be given down as a reward. This was extremely good news for them. At least they don't have to worry about their plundered wealth being swallowed up by the generals.

Gongsun Xu waited for the cheers to subside before shouting, "Officer Guo has finished counting the list of rewards, now announce in front of the public that if anyone disagrees with the rewards, this general will return justice to all of you!"

Guo Jia stepped forward and took out a long list from his sleeve and read it one by one. He first read the names and then read the number of rewards. Every time a person's name and number was spoken, it would cause waves of cheers.