usatvline Chapter 045 Winning Over
Chapter 045 Winning Over
Zhou Lun had long had the idea of recruiting soldiers, and he had been thinking about it for the past two days.
Initially, their army adopted an elite force strategy. From the very beginning of the uprising, Zhou Lun prioritized the use of highly skilled and capable soldiers to ensure the fighting strength of the troops.
In the long run, this choice is not wrong.
The elite force strategy was extremely beneficial for future development, but after this war to stabilize the situation, Zhou Lun suddenly realized that his thinking had gone astray. In such chaotic times, blindly pursuing an elite force strategy was somewhat unrealistic.
The key point is that Zhou Lun forgot that their army was a righteous army, not the imperial army.
If it were the imperial army, backed by the support of the imperial court and local authorities, plus military pay, weapons, and so on, it might not be a big problem to put in the effort to build an elite force.
Even though the treatment of soldiers in the imperial garrisons and border troops is declining sharply and there are serious arrears in pay, if Zhou Lun is given some time, with his abilities, whether he raises money or draws salaries without working, it is not impossible for him to train a decent army.
After all, the Ming army may look rotten on the surface, but in reality, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. The world still belongs to the Ming Dynasty, and the various regions have not yet reached a point of true decay that is beyond repair.
Like many armies of the Ming Dynasty, there were certainly some with weak fighting capabilities, but there were also quite a few with considerable fighting strength. In particular, the most capable subordinates of the generals leading the troops were naturally their "household guards".
In the Ming army, the so-called "family retainers" could be considered a "private army" that generals built at great expense to ensure control of their troops, a force entirely under their own control. This force was nominally an official army, but in reality, it was an elite force recruited by the generals themselves, given the best treatment and equipment, and rigorously trained.
If Zhou Lun were a government soldier, he could have done the same thing.
The problem is that they are a rebel army, so doing so would be difficult.
The rebel army lacked the support of the imperial court and had no territory to sustain production, replenishment, or even development.
Although they were called a righteous army, they were actually a band of roving bandits, like rootless duckweed, swarming around like locusts, relying entirely on spoils for supplies and resources. Under these circumstances, Zhou Lun's initial policy of elite troops was somewhat out of place.
In particular, Wang Er's act of leading the people to attack the city like ants made Zhou Lun realize the truth.
The elite force strategy is too costly and requires time to develop. Before the elite force is fully formed and has achieved absolute combat effectiveness, this choice will actually lead to insufficient strength for their rebel army.
This is why Zhou Lun advised Li Wanqing: he planned to take advantage of the opportunity of capturing Anding to expand his troops locally and recruit a new group of people to join the rebel army, so that their forces could grow stronger as soon as possible.
Of course, Zhou Lun would not completely abandon his initial elite force strategy while expanding. According to his plan, the rebel army under his command would be divided into two parts internally, similar to the ordinary troops and private guards of the Ming Dynasty's current government army.
The previous 800-plus people were still organized as elite troops and trained separately into a battalion.
The newly recruited rebels will form new camps, and as more rebels join in the future, they can be reorganized into other camps.
No matter how many rebels follow, the elite battalion will remain unmoved, because it is the foundation and source of their strength. Moreover, the elite battalion will continue to undergo rigorous training and enjoy special treatment according to Zhou Lun's original design, completely separate from the other rebel battalions.
Of course, among the ordinary militia members in the other new camps, those who demonstrate outstanding performance can be appropriately transferred to elite camps and become members of those camps. This effectively provides ordinary militia members with a path to advancement, giving them the motivation to fight desperately. For Zhou Lun, who is skilled in management, this is simply the simplest operation.
The elite battalion couldn't be called that to outsiders, so Zhou Lun decided to use "Old Battalion" instead.
The so-called "old camp" refers to the initial core of the rebel army when it was first formed. The word "old" clearly indicates that the members of this camp were veterans of the rebel army. Those who joined later were naturally called the "new camp." Or, other names could be used. In this way, the elite and ordinary rebels could be distinguished, and management would be easier.
Zhou Lunzai discussed this matter carefully with Li Wanqing and his men, and received Li Wanqing's support. Ultimately, they adjusted the structure of the rebel army accordingly, preparing to expand in this manner.
The next day, Zhou Lun and his group got busy with this matter.
Although Wang Er deserved the most credit for capturing Anding, Gao Yingxiang rewarded him and provided him with appropriate incentives. However, Gao Yingxiang was also kind enough not to forget Zhou Lun and his men. To Zhou Lun's surprise, just as dawn broke, Gao Yingxiang had his trusted confidant Liu Zhe personally lead a group of people and vehicles to deliver a batch of supplies directly to their camp.
"Brother Liu, what's this...?" Zhou Lun was quite surprised to see truck after truck loaded with supplies.
"The King of Chuang specially sent me to deliver this," Liu Zhe said with a smile, clasping his hands in a fist salute. "When Chief Li invited us to Bao'an to rest and regroup, he and his brothers contributed greatly on our journey north. Now that we've taken Anding County, it's only right that we reward them. Furthermore, the King of Chuang asked me to pass on a message to Chief Li and all the brothers: we're family, no need for formalities. The King of Chuang will never forget what's rightfully his!"
"Thank you, King Chuang! Thank you, Brother Liu!" Zhou Lun couldn't help but admire Gao Yingxiang's sense of propriety upon hearing these words.
Yesterday, he was thinking that he couldn't let Wang Er get all the benefits, and planned to send Li Wanqing to see Gao Yingxiang today to get some supplies. Unexpectedly, before they could even take action, Gao Yingxiang sent someone to deliver the supplies ahead of time.
With such methods and approaches, it's no wonder Gao Yingxiang later achieved such status and prestige; how could an ordinary person do that?
Zhou Lun immediately bowed respectfully to express his gratitude. Liu Zhe nodded cheerfully, then waved his hand, instructing the people behind him to assist in storing the delivered supplies.
Zhou Lun invited Liu Zhe inside for tea, but Liu Zhe politely declined, saying that he had other matters to attend to and that he had to return to report to the rebel leader after delivering the goods.
"In that case, please ask Brother Liu to convey our gratitude to King Chuang." Zhou Lun thanked him again for the supplies he had sent, and also slipped him a money pouch.
Feeling the weight in his hand and seeing Zhou Lun's sincere smile, Liu Zhe chuckled and, without refusing, generously put it into his pocket.
"By the way, Brother Zhou, if you have time, visit King Chuang more often." Before leaving, Liu Zhe deliberately lowered his voice and whispered this in Zhou Lun's ear: "King Chuang is a man who knows how to recognize and appoint people. It won't do you any harm to be close to him."
Zhou Lun nodded repeatedly, smiling as he said he would definitely visit the rebel leader more often and learn from his teachings. Seeing how sensible he was, Liu Zhe patted Zhou Lun's shoulder happily before taking his leave.
Watching Liu Zhe's departing figure, Zhou Lun understood that Gao Yingxiang had sent these things with Liu Zhe today not only for Li Wanqing, but also to win him over. It seemed that Zhou Lun's previous premonition was correct; Gao Yingxiang had taken a liking to him at some point and had the idea of bringing him under his command.
To be honest, Zhou Lun couldn't help but feel a little proud to be noticed by someone like Gao Yingxiang, who went to such lengths to win him over.
However, Zhou Lun had no intention of truly siding with Gao Yingxiang. Leaving aside the fact that Li Wanqing was his elder brother, Zhou Lun would never abandon Li Wanqing to join Gao Yingxiang. Even considering Zhou Lun's perception of Gao Yingxiang, while he acknowledged Gao Yingxiang as a ruthless and capable man, and believed that Gao Yingxiang would one day achieve great renown, he still harbored doubts.
The problem is that Gao Yingxiang's fate was not good. If you followed Gao Yingxiang, not to mention whether you would be truly given an important position, it was uncertain whether you could even get off that ship after getting on it.
Furthermore, Zhou Lun is no ordinary person.
As the leader of the rebel army, Gao Yingxiang's attitude, besides the two points mentioned earlier, probably also reflects his intention to balance the internal workings of the rebel army.
Wang Er has made a significant contribution by capturing Anding this time, and it's a certainty that his army will expand further. If Zhou Lun were Gao Yingxiang, he would never allow Wang Er to expand his power so recklessly. However, as the chief leader, he cannot go back on his word and deliberately stop Wang Er's expansion.
In this case, Gao Yingxiang's best option would be to provide appropriate support to Li Wanqing, allowing Li Wanqing's troops to also grow stronger. In this way, the two forces could maintain a balance, and with Gao Yingxiang's own troops, he could remain firmly in control of the central command and still maintain overall control.
In addition, there is the psychological manipulation (PUA) used by leaders against their subordinates.
Zhou Lun is a master of this game. Don't forget that Zhou Lun is a self-made business elite. Without this ability, his company wouldn't have developed so rapidly and he wouldn't have achieved financial freedom.
In Zhou Lun's view, he saw through Gao Yingxiang's methods clearly and understood them perfectly.
However, Zhou Lun didn't care about any of that. Since there were benefits, why not take them? Who wouldn't take something for free?
So what if we receive sugar-coated bullets? We can just peel off the sugar coating and eat it, and keep the bullets to fire back later. Why not?