"Stand at attention!"
"Face to the right, line up!"
"Move forward, face ahead!"
With the command voice of Zhu Ba, one of the "Twelve Disciples," on the parade ground behind the camp of the Qing Dynasty's Dazhou garrison, more than ninety students from a rapid training class were already holding wooden rifles and forming a crooked line in three rows.
Zhu Ba, with a face resembling Niu Ma, sternly marched through the three rows of students, holding a thin bamboo stick. He seemed to be checking if they stood straight or followed the commands "right," "left," or "forward" properly. If they didn't, they would receive a gentle tap without mercy.
Luo Yao Guo and Su San Niang stood to the side, with their arms folded, watching the scene unfold.
He had just been appointed as the "Senior General" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, becoming one of the six major generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, ranking alongside the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army Yang Xiuqing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Front Army Xiao Chao Gui, the Commander-in-Chief of the Rear Army Feng Yunshan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Right Army Wei Changhui, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Left Army Shi Dake.
Under the Senior Army, there were a total of three armies: the Previous Army, the Second Army, and the Female Army.
The Previous and Second Armies were both male regiments, combining for over nine thousand troops. The Female Army was expanded from the first regiment of Su San Niang's lady camp, which was based on the Nanyang sisters from Xiaoxing State, and had about three thousand people.
The total number of troops in the three armies is 12,000!
Although the number of troops is significant, equipment and officers are still very scarce. The officers and equipment of the Female Army are sufficient, but Luo Yao Guo cannot transfer the officers of the Female Army to command male soldiers. Therefore, they can only use the remaining soldiers of the Qing Dynasty's imperial troops as "military experts" to train new recruits first; while also cultivating their own instructors to work with those "military experts" from old armies in the future.
Among Luo Yao Guo's most trusted disciples, there appeared to be a young man with considerable military talent, namely the fierce and ugly Zhu Ba. Originally a bully among the beggars in Eco Town, Zhu Ba had established a small gang through his ferocity and loyalty. He later joined the Taiping Army as one of the first recruits and distinguished himself by leading the charge against the Huang family estate, becoming one of eight active participants in breaching the gates. Consequently, he became a disciple of Luo Yao Guo.
However, it was during the Battle of Ge Tan that Luo Yao Guo realized his military talent, as he led his troops to cut off Wu Shi Bin's retreat and killed Wu Shi Bin in battle.
With this military achievement, his position among the "Twelve Disciples" is also the highest. Luo Yao Guo has promoted him to the level of sergeant and he can be sent down as a travel instructor.
Although Luo Yao Guo has several famous Taiping leaders under his command, such as Su San Niang, Zeng Tianyang, Li Shoucheng, Li Shixian, and Chen Picheng, apart from Su San Niang, the others are all old comrades from Guangxi in the Taiping Army. They are not considered Luo Yao Guo's close confidants.
Therefore, Zhu Ba's military talent naturally became the focus of cultivation.
Luo Yao Guo not only arranged for Yu Miaocheng to teach him military tactics, but also appointed him as the training commander of the Rapid Training Class for Instructors, responsible for management and organization of military training - this arrangement also reflects Luo Yao Guo's own view that he is not particularly skilled in commanding troops.
After all, his background is that of a 21st-century scholar and deliveryman. Without the innate sacred jump ability and the "dressed in yellow, riding a bicycle, riding purple thunder, descending from heaven" entrance that made him appear like an angel, he would have been absolutely unable to lead troops.
However, he cannot always rely on Su San Niang alone to lead the battles. Therefore, he needs to cultivate more top-tier martial arts experts.
However, the formation of the troops under Zhu Ba's command is still somewhat disorganized, and I wonder if he has any ways to fix it.
"Slap!" Zhu Ba's bamboo stick struck a large buttock without hesitation, accompanied by a stern reprimand: "Xu Yuegui, stop fidgeting and stand up straight!"
The recipient of the blow was Xu Yuegui, the wife of Hong Daquan. She was not tall, but she had a generous figure. She was endowed with a prominent bust and a well-rounded backside, as well as a sinuous waist like a water snake. Normally, this would be acceptable, but now they were in military training! This twisting and swaying behavior was appropriate at all?
Feeling the heavy blow on her buttocks, Xu Yuegui's graceful eyebrows furrowed. She was about to explode, but Luo Yao Guo had already walked up to her with Su San Niang.
Seeing the "Angel of the heavens" approach, Xu Yuegui quickly dispelled her anger and even strained her large chest, adopting a seemingly submissive expression.
That's good enough!
Luo Yao Guo nodded in approval at Xu Yuegui, the martial arts expert.
After Zhu Ba established his authority with Xu Yuegui, the dozen or so new brothers from Tian Di Hui who followed Jiao Hong and the Xu sisters quickly became more serious. They all stood up straight with their chests puffed out, looking strong and robust.
Their "second sister-in-law" had been struck and dared not show disrespect to Zhu Ba. How could they dare to be unruly?
These new brothers from Tian Di Hui were also being closely observed by Luo the Big Angel. Any who showed discontent would not only be kicked out of the instructor class but also be expelled from Luo Yao Guo's upper army.
After all, among the more than ten thousand troops in the upper army, over six thousand were new brothers from the Tian Di Hui.
If there were any who did not recognize the officers and instructors appointed by "Taiping Angel" Zhu Ba among these new brothers from Tian Di Hui, it would be difficult to lead this army.
Next, Zhu Ba continued to strike several students with the bamboo stick in his hand for not standing in the right positions, finally "beating" the formation of the troops into some order.
This is just the beginning of the training, and reaching this level already counts as quite good.
Today's formation is almost complete.
Thinking of this, Luo Yao Guo opened his mouth and roared, "Yu Miaocheng, come forward!"
"Yes!"
"Ye, my lord is an old soldier and a former lieutenant under Luo Yao Guo. Naturally, he dare not have the slightest bit of disrespect and quickly follows the order, bowing with his hands clasped together, but not kneeling down - this is the new military etiquette established by Luo Yao Guo for the upper army of Taiping. In the upper army, he no longer needs to be constantly kowtowing to the "angelic" lord.
"Can you use the British flintlock pistol?" Luo Yao Guo asked.
"Yes, I can!" Lord Ye replied loudly.
The old man also had a few fine foreign guns in his collection, which were gifts from merchants of the Thirteen Lanes when he was leading troops in Guangdong. Of course, he was accustomed to using them, but he had never thought of equipping all his musketeers with flintlock pistols.
The matchlock gun using a fuse to ignite the drug chamber is a standard weapon, but the flintlock pistol is an overreach. What are the green camps wanting such good equipment for? Do they want to rebel?
However, Luo Yao Guo knew that before the breech-loading rifle dominated the battlefield, the front-loading flintlock gun with a bayonet was the best equipment available to infantrymen. For those with better conditions, they would use rifled guns with Minie balls, while those with poorer conditions would make do with smoothbore guns with Nessler bullets. The "hundred-yard bullet" that Luo Yao Guo took out to teach Wei Changhui how to cast was a Nessler bullet.
The flintlock smoothbore gun combined with "hundred-yard bullets" would be the best equipment Luo Yao Guo could provide for his soldiers in the foreseeable future.
Currently, there are not many good equipments, but the training can still begin. In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, there is no condition to wait for equipment!
Luo Yao Guo instructed, "Yu Miaocheng, from now on, it will be your responsibility to teach everyone how to use the flintlock pistol correctly!"
He glanced at the other students and said seriously, "Classmates, the formation you are practicing now is the basic formation used by Westerners in conjunction with flintlock pistols. You must master both the formation and the flintlock pistol!"
Alright, Master Luo is going to discuss military matters with the Prince of the South. You all should practice with Su San Niang first, and leave it to you to manage here!"
"Yes!" Su San Niang, the leader of the instructor class, also bowed with her hands clasped together, just like Yu Miaocheng.
"Jiao Hong, Xu Yuegui," Luo Yao Guo called out two names, "You two come with me to the Marquis of the South's palace."
"Yes!"
After receiving a bamboo stick, Xu Yuegui and Jiao Hong both came forward, bowed with their hands clasped together, and then followed Luo Yao Guo to leave the playground.
The Marquis Feng Yunshan's residence in Daozhou was located in the former office of the Daozhou Prefecture, just across the street from Luo Yao Guo's current residence at the Fort Commander's office. The two locations were separated only by the Grand Drill Square.
The Grand Drill Square has now become a "big market." Many farmers from the surrounding areas of Daozhou City sell fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat here, plying their trade among the Taiping Army soldiers who are stationed around the square.
These farmers carrying fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat into the city have not yet been allotted land and wealth, but they are already aware of the policies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In recent days, Marquis Feng Yunshan has sent many new brothers who were originally from Hunan's Tian Di Hui under his command to the countryside to spread propaganda with Volume One of "Reverse Classic" and "The Land System of the Heavenly Kingdom."
At the same time, all high-interest loans and land rent owed by poor farmers in Daozhou were frozen. They will be dealt with when land is distributed and wealth is divided.
High-interest loans owed to landlords and wealthy gentry are to be forgiven, debts between farmers are to be reduced and repaid at lower interest rates, and the land rent will be redistributed after the land is allocated.
In summary, the burden on the farmers around Daozhou was suddenly alleviated significantly, which also greatly enhanced their consumption capacity and enthusiasm for investing in agriculture.
And the market in Daozhou City experienced a short period of prosperity.
Luo Yao Guo's mood seemed to be in good spirits as well. He greeted Xu Yuegui, who was beside him, while walking through the bustling market: "Sister Ye, just now Zhu Ba may have offended you unintentionally, so please don't take it to heart."
Xu Yuegui replied with a smile: "Angel, what are you talking about? Now that I am a female general under the angel's command, if I have made a mistake, it is natural to be subject to military law."
Luo Yao Guo laughed and said, "You didn't do anything wrong earlier. It was me who called Zhu Ba to give you a bamboo stick and establish his authority, so that the new brothers from Tian Di Hui can learn that the Taiping Army has strict discipline. I'll have a banquet to make it up to you."
In fact, it was Zhu Ba's own idea to establish authority with Xu Yuegui, not Luo Yao Guo's orders. However, he was afraid that Xu Yuegui might cause trouble for Zhu Ba afterward, so he took the responsibility.
Hearing Luo Yao Guo's sincerity, Xu Yuegui's lingering grievances faded away. She laughed and said, "Angel, if there's anything you need from me, just use me. I may be rough and sturdy, capable of enduring hardships. As for the apology, I absolutely would not let the angel make amends."
"Jiao brother, Xu sister," when Luo Yao Guo entered the Marquis of the South's palace, he again addressed Jiao and Xu: "I have important duties to entrust to you two. You can take care of these tasks while attending classes in the instructor rapid training class. Once the classes for the instructor rapid training class are completed, you will go on external business personally."
Jiao Hong exchanged glances with his siblings, then bowed and asked, "May I know what important tasks you have entrusted us, angel?"
Luo Yao Guo looked around and saw no outsiders, so he lowered his voice and said, "Your first task is to disseminate knowledge!"
"What kind of knowledge do you want to spread?"
"It's of course the scriptures you want to spread," Luo Yao Guo said, "You must quickly spread these scriptures to your enemies! The Qing dynasty, who can't revolt? Our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has its own anti-Law, and those literati officials have their own as well. Everyone revolts in their own way, and only then can we create a brand new situation!"
