In early March, Zheng Shi and Cai Wu, two army Sima, led about 8,000 soldiers to Fangcheng, preparing to conduct joint training with Fangcheng.

To be fair, the Wei soldiers under Zheng Shi and Cai Wu were not considered elites of the Wei Kingdom before. Just like in the Battle of Yique, they could only attack Gongsun Xi's Hedong Army, responsible for patrolling the surrounding areas, or guarding a certain piece of important land, etc. Gongsun Xi really puts forward the public's hopes and hopes that the Hedong Army would be the Hedong Army.

If Meng Zhong had not turned the tide at that time, the two local troops of Zheng Shi and Cai Wu would have been buried with Gongsun Xi in Yique. Now, not only did these two troops return to their respective garrisons alive, but the strength of the soldiers in the army has also improved.

Yes, any Wei Zhu who could survive the battle of Yique would naturally improve in terms of mentality and strength. After all, they had faced the Qin army directly at a disadvantage, and their psychological endurance was greatly tempered.

If your mentality is correct, your combat capability will naturally improve.

Of course, not all the soldiers in the army brought by Zheng Shi and Cai Wu this time were old soldiers. According to the two of them, they explained to Meng Zhong that only 5,000 of Wei strokes were old soldiers who had experienced the Battle of Yique, and the other 3,000 were new soldiers recruited from Xudi and Yancheng after the war.

The strength and psychological tolerance of the new master are naturally far inferior to the old master.

But even so, the strength of these two armies is still obviously above Fangcheng Army.

Just like Ye Yi who was in trouble, Fang Chengjun underwent a series of rectifications after taking over by Meng Zhong. After several high-intensity physical training, some of the soldiers with weak willpower were eliminated, leaving only more than 4,000 soldiers. The other eliminated soldiers were rushed to the command of Ye Yi Sima Lexu. As an inspection force to maintain Ye Yi's public security and stability, it will only be the second echelon of Fang Chengjun in the future.

As for the first echelon, it is naturally Fang Chengjun.

Because the other Fangcheng Army had high expectations, Meng Zhong, Meng Sui and others also held an extremely strict attitude towards Fangcheng Army's training, and all training standards were aligned with Wei Wuzhang.

Such strict training standards will naturally inevitably cause complaints from the soldiers.

At this time, Meng Zhong and Meng Sui couldn't help but miss Le Yi a little. After all, when Le Yi was still there, Le Yi was basically responsible for training, and Meng Sui was mainly responsible for the miscellaneous matters in the army, such as rewards and punishments, logistics, etc.

As for Meng Zhong, he was simply responsible for leading troops to fight.

Now that Le Yi has gone to Yan State, Meng Sui can only assume the responsibilities of Le Yi, training soldiers and planning military farms. He is very busy.

Because of this, Meng Zhong was not good at staying in Wuyangyi to accompany his family, so he could only stay in Fangcheng honestly and help Meng Sui share his responsibilities.

So, the task of training new soldiers fell on Meng Zhong himself.

To be honest, training is not Meng Zhong's strength, mainly because Le Yi shared this part of the responsibility when he was still there, which made Meng Zhong lack some experience in training. Fortunately, he did not know anything about it. After a period of exploration, he gradually formed his own training method.

Unlike Le Yi's training method of "stimulating soldiers with humiliating words", Meng Zhong's training mainly uses the "reward and punishment mechanism" that is undeniable. To put it bluntly, it is necessary to set a training standard first, such as running around Fangcheng for ten laps. Soldiers who meet this standard can get more sumptuous meals, while soldiers who fail to meet this standard can only eat white rice. This is roughly what this means.

As for how to motivate soldiers in the middle of training like Le Yi, Meng Zhong really couldn't exaggerate his face.

Think about it, as a disciple of Zhuangzi, Mencius and Huizi, how could he be embarrassed to spit out filthy and humiliating words after training his soldiers? But Le Yi was able to use this method to stimulate his soldiers and enable them to realize their potential.

Since he could not learn Le Yi's military training method, Meng Zhong could only motivate the soldiers through rewards and punishments. However, obviously, the reward and punishment mechanism is indeed not as good as Le Yi's methods, especially for the impulsive and bloody Wei soldiers.

But in general, the recruitment and training of Fang Chengjun gradually became more formal.

As of early March, Fangcheng Army recruited 6,000 new soldiers from Yeyi, half of whom were from Wei and half were former Chu people who defected to Fangcheng.

To be honest, the number of Chu people who defected to Ye Yi hoped to join the army was far more than 3,000. However, Meng Zhong and Meng then considered the share issue and did not want to recruit too many Chu people for the time being, so as not to leave any disaster. At least in two years, the Chu people who defected to Ye Yi would become interested in Ye Yi's belonging to Ye Yi.

It was precisely because the number of Yeyi Chu people enlisted in the army was limited, and as of the first recruitment of soldiers, the total number of Fangcheng Army was only maintained at about 10,000 soldiers. In addition, the about 16,000 soldiers brought by Zheng Shi and Cai Wu, a total of only about 26,000 soldiers were only about 26,000.

In view of Meng Hu, Hua Hu and Mu Wu still leading cavalry to wander the Han River and always paying attention to the situation of the Qin army's attack on Yanyi across the Han River. Meng Zhong summoned Wu Ying and Le Jin and asked the two to assist in training the new soldiers.

On March 12, Meng Zhong brought Gangzheng Shi and Cai Wu's two army Sima to visit the training situation of Fangcheng's new army.

It has to be said that more than 10,000 soldiers were running around the city carrying logs, which was quite spectacular, and Zheng Shi and Cai Wu could tell at a glance that it was the training method of Wei Wuzhang.

Seeing this, the two also gave some suggestions to Meng Zhong.

Not to mention that Zheng Shi and Cai Wu were from Wei, and their views on Wei Wuzhang were quite insightful. For example, they knew very well that Wei Wuzhang's strength was not actually due to their outstanding combat capabilities, but to the combat mentality of "not afraid of death" for all the staff.

Why can Wei Wuzhang have a combat mentality of "not fearing death"?

The reason is very simple, because the Wei Wushu had no worries. Every Wei Wushu was equivalent to a small landlord supported by the State of Wei. He had a house, a field and a servant. Even if the Wei Wushu died on the battlefield, his family could live a wealthy life. Unlike the soldiers of other countries, they would be afraid of death because they knew very well that once they died, their families would never be able to receive their military pay, and life would be better and more difficult.

Then the question is, does Fangcheng have the capital to create a group of Wei Wushu?

You should know that if the Wei Wushu cannot abandon his concerns about his family, no matter how strong these Wei Wushu are, they will still be somewhat different from the real Wei Wushu.

As for this, Meng Zhong had discussed with Meng Sui and Liao and the others earlier.

Fangcheng is now unable to bear the treatment of the real Wei Wushou soldiers, but Fangcheng can try to adapt.

For example, the treatment given to Wushu by the State of Wei was a family that exempted all taxes from this. To put it bluntly, after his father was elected as the Wei Wushu, even if he died in the battlefield, his son, grandson, great-grandson, great-grandson, great-grandson, could be exempted from all taxes from generation to generation.

It has to be said that this treatment stimulated the soldiers of Wei State to join the army, hoping to become a military soldier. The Wei State also relied on this regulation to suppress the Central Plains and dominate the Central Plains. But to go further, this decree has quite serious disadvantages, or future troubles.

For example, it has been more than a hundred years since the famous general Wu Qi trained the first batch of Wei Wu soldiers in Wei State. These first batch of Wei Wu soldiers are basically no longer alive, but even a hundred years later, the descendants of the first Wei Wu soldiers still enjoy special treatment of exemption from taxes.

Then, the second generation of Wei Wushang and the third generation of Wei Wushang, for a hundred years, in order to fight with other countries, the Wei State constantly selected new Wushangs, and also made up for the old and old Wushangs who died in battle. This made more and more households in Wei State with "tax exemption". In the long run, the Wei State could eventually collect less and less taxes.

Some people may say, are the monarchs of Wei all fools? Haven’t they seen the disadvantages of this decree?

Of course not!

The key is that even if the monarchs of Wei saw the drawbacks of this decree, they would not dare to change it, so as not to cause the resistance of the Wu Zu.

When Wei State used the power of one country to start wars everywhere with four or five countries, what did it rely on?

Even though the national strength has plummeted, Qin still has fear of Wei. What is it relying on?

Are they all Wei Wushu?

The Wei Wuzhang is the foundation of Wei State, and it is also the foundation for Wei State to be significantly inferior to Qin, but Qi State still has the potential to dominate the Central Plains. In this case, how could the monarch and ministers of Wei State destroy the Great Wall themselves?

However, Meng Zhong, Meng Sui and others used the example of Wei to see the drawbacks of this decree, so they made some changes: no matter whether a Wu Zhu is still alive or dies in the battlefield, his family can be exempted from all taxes; if Wu Zhu dies in battle, Fang Cheng will assist in raising his children and growing up, and as soon as the eldest son in the family is over fifteen years old, this family can still enjoy special treatment of exempting all taxes.

In short, it shortened the period for Wu Zu's family to enjoy this special treatment, so that Fangcheng would not follow the old path of Wei.

Some people may say that Fangcheng has greatly shortened the treatment period for Wei Wushu. Wouldn't it cause Wei Wushu's dissatisfaction?

In fact, it really won't.

The reason is very simple. There were no Wei Wushu in Fangcheng before. The first batch of Wei Wushu appeared here was only the 2,500 Hanoi Wushu brought by Cao Chun, Wei Xu and others. However, some of these Wushu turned into cavalry, while others were promoted from soldiers to generals. When they had made profits, these soldiers would naturally not be dissatisfied.

As for whether the rest of the Wei soldiers in Fangcheng would be dissatisfied, these Wei soldiers dared not, because a large number of Chu people who defected to Yeyi were staring at this special treatment. If someone chose to retire because they were dissatisfied with this treatment, I believe that a large number of soldiers from Chu people were willing to replace them. You must know that in Chu, there was never a Wei Wuzhang treatment like a Wei Wuzhang.

I have to say that this is the benefit of starting from scratch. Even if Meng Zhong shortened the waiting period for Wei Wuzhang, no one would raise objections.

As for whether Wei Wuzhu in other parts of the Wei State would raise objections after hearing about this, Meng Zhong was not worried about this. Anyway, he only did something in Fangcheng and did not want to change the treatment of Wei State to Wei State for Wei State. He was not Wei Prime Minister.

If there is still a Wushu who is dissatisfied with him, then he will be dissatisfied. What does it have to do with him?

After hearing Meng Zhong's explanation, Zheng Shi and Cai Wu smiled bitterly.

They said in their hearts that Fang Chengling is worthy of being young and energetic. Like them, they dare not involve the treatment of Wei Wushu, for fear of arousing resistance from domestic martial arts soldiers and being scolded by Daliang.

While smiling bitterly, the two of them couldn't help but feel a little envious.

After all, they were just Xu Di. Sima, the garrison of Yancheng, was not Xu Diling or Yancheng, so they naturally had no confidence to deal with Wei Wuzhan. However, Meng Zhong was different. Although he was Fangcheng Order, his actual authority was similar to that of "county magistrate".

In this era, countries basically only set up counties in border areas bordering other countries, and sent a county magistrate to be responsible for military affairs. The county magistrate was responsible for the civil affairs and military affairs of the county. Meng Zhong was responsible for the three places of Fangcheng, Yeyi and Wuyang. In fact, the power in his hands was more like a county magistrate, rather than a mere county magistrate. However, Yeyi and Wuyang were his fiefs, not included in the cities sent by the Wei State to station him, so he was appointed as a county magistrate by the King of Wei.

It is precisely because he is in charge of three cities that Meng Zhong has the capital to support a Wei Wushu, which makes Zheng Shi, Cai Wu and the others really envious.

After all, being able to command a group of Wei Wushang who obeys his orders is probably the lifelong hope of many generals in Wei State.

Just as Meng Zhong was communicating with Zheng Shi and Cai Wu, while inspecting the training situation of the soldiers, suddenly a soldier came to report: "I reported to Fangcheng Order, and Ye Yi Sima Lexu asked for a meeting."

"Lexu?"

Meng Zhong was stunned for a moment and immediately ordered his soldiers to bring Le Xu.

After a while, Le Xu brought Qu Yuan and Zhuang Xin here and greeted Meng Zhong.

During the ceremony, Qu Yuan explained: "My old colleague Zhuang Xin came to Yeyi yesterday to visit Xia, hoping to see Fangchengling. Therefore, I was reluctant to recommend Sima to the recommendation."

Meng Zhong suddenly realized and immediately summoned Wu Ying, Wei Xu and others who were training new soldiers, and asked them to continue to take Zheng Shi and Cai Wu to visit the surrounding area, while he took Qu Yuan and Zhuang Xin to invite them to the county government in Fangcheng.

When he arrived at the county government in the city, he ordered people to send tea. Meng Zhong looked at Zhuang Xin politely.

At this time, Zhuang Xin was also looking at Meng Zhong. Seeing Meng Zhong's words and deeds and behaviors were gentle, he was really surprised.

He smiled and said, "I heard that Fang Chengling defeated the Qin army's general in the Battle of Yique. I thought he would be so brave, but I never thought that he was so elegant..."

After hearing this, Meng Zhong smiled slightly. After all, he had heard too many similar words.

Indeed, as long as he takes off his armor and puts on his robe, most people will mistakenly think that he is a child of a scholar and a scholar. Few people can see through it. He is actually a general who leads troops to fight.

The main thing is the issue of temperament. As a disciple of the three famous Taoist Confucian scholars, Meng Zhong does have a kind of elegant temperament that ordinary generals do not possess.

"Doctor Zhuang is too proud, and it was just a lucky chance at that time."

"Hey. Fang Chengling said this too humble... I had a night talk with Doctor Qu yesterday. Doctor Qu is very respectful to him..."

"Oh?" Meng Zhong turned his head to look at Qu Yuan in surprise.

Qu Yuan smiled slightly, and did not deny it, nodded slightly.

Indeed, he had a great affection for Meng Zhong. After all, Meng Zhong guided him how to save Chu State.

Perhaps seeing that Meng Zhong was still a little distant to him, Zhuang Xin joked: "I heard that Fang Chengling is the master of Master Zhuang, and his surname is Zhuang. Isn't it enough to make Fang Chengling slightly closer to him?"

Hearing this, Meng Zhongyi couldn't help laughing.

In fact, although Zhuang Zhou and Zhuang Xin both had surnames Zhuang, Zhuang Zhou was descendant of "Prince Feng of the Song Zhuang", and Zhuang Xin was descendant of "King of Zhuang Zhuang of Chu". Both of them took the posthumous titles of their respective ancestors as their surnames, but they did not come from the same branch at all.

But despite this, Meng Zhong still had a great affection for Zhuang Xin, who was the same surname as his teacher Zhuang Zi. Therefore, after listening to Zhuang Xin's words, he smiled and nodded repeatedly to say yes.

In this way, the atmosphere in the main hall suddenly became more harmonious, and Zhuang Xin was finally able to ask some more sensitive questions.

He asked Meng Zhong: "Fangcheng Order, when I went to Yeyi yesterday, I saw a camp building on Fangcheng. I asked for a little while and heard that Wei State had transferred two more troops..."

Meng Zhong turned to look at Qu Yuan after hearing this. In his opinion, Qu Yuan should have been informed about this matter.
To be continued...