gnovel Chapter 48 The "Hands-off Manager" Takes Office!
Chapter 48 The "Hands-off Manager" Takes Office!
Guo Jia was eventually kicked out of the room by Lu Yong.
But judging from his humming a little tune and his light-footed manner, you could tell he had gotten a huge advantage.
Lu Yong closed the door and lay down on the bed, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
All I do is hunt geese, and today I've been pecked in the eye by one...
If word gets out tomorrow, won't it ruin my reputation?
Lu Yong sat up, walked to the desk, ground ink, spread out silk, and wrote a line of words.
Once the ink had dried, he carefully folded the silk and tucked it into his sleeve before lying back down.
The following morning, Lu Yong found Guo Jia.
Guo Jia was writing and drawing on a scroll of bamboo slips, muttering to himself, clearly digesting the pinyin he had learned the night before.
Upon seeing Lu Yong enter, he didn't even raise his head, only saying:
"Huai'an, you've come at the right time. I'm a little confused about how to spell this 'zhi'..."
Lu Yong walked up to him with his hands in his sleeves and placed the folded piece of silk on his desk.
Guo Jia looked up and reached out to take it.
Lu Yong pressed down on the silk and said solemnly:
"This is an advanced way of using pinyin that I figured out last night."
It is specifically designed to transmit more complex intelligence.
I'll give it to you.
Guo Jia's eyes lit up, and he quickly snatched it and unfolded it.
There are no Chinese characters on the silk, only a few lines of pinyin.
Guo Jia frowned and began to spell out: "guo...guo... jia...guo jia... shi...shi... da...da... sha...sha...zi..."
His voice suddenly stopped.
Guo Jia stared wide-eyed and spelled out the entire line of pinyin again.
"Is Guo Jia... a complete idiot?"
He looked up abruptly, but Lu Yong had already vanished.
Guo Jia held the piece of silk, a slight smile playing on his lips: "You're not exactly petty, are you..."
He then resumed his study of the letters on the bamboo slips.
Lu Yong left his house and went first to Mi Zhu's residence.
Mi Zhu was checking the account books that had been transported from Xuzhou when he saw Lu Yong enter. He stood up and bowed, saying, "Strategist, so early?"
Lu Yong didn't stand on ceremony and went straight to the point: "Zizhong, I need money and provisions."
Mi Zhu invited him to sit down and asked, "How many strategists do you need?"
"I plan to recruit 6,000 new soldiers, bringing the total to 10,000, in addition to the existing force. I also need to recruit a group of blacksmiths, carpenters, bamboo craftsmen..."
Mi Zhu's body stiffened instantly.
He raised his head, stared at Lu Yong for a couple of moments, and cautiously asked, "Strategist, will your newly recruited troops still be treated the same way they were in Xuzhou?"
Lu Yong replied matter-of-factly, "Those are the military regulations we set, so of course we have to act according to them!"
Even someone as wealthy as Mi Zhu couldn't help but gasp in shock: "Strategist, when you were in Xuzhou, you raised 5,000 soldiers, and you only managed to survive by raiding Zuo Rong's house. Now, our foundation in Danyang is not yet stable, and we still have many expenses. How can we possibly provide so much money and supplies?!"
"I'll figure out a way to handle the money and supplies."
Lu Yong said in a slightly mysterious tone:
"Just allocate a portion first, and I'll make up the rest. Besides, we'll have endless money to earn in the future!"
Mi Zhu stared at Lu Yong for a long while, and finally sighed:
"When the strategist spoke, Zhu dared not disobey."
But Zhu must report the truth to his lord.
"Of course."
After leaving Mi Zhu's office, Lu Yong went to Sun Qian's office.
Sun Qian is drafting a proclamation to appease the people of Wanling.
Seeing Lu Yong enter,
He quickly got up to greet them.
"Strategist, what brings you here today?" Sun Qian asked with a smile.
"Gongyou, could you help me put up a notice recruiting craftsmen and also a notice looking for sugarcane?"
Sun Qian paused for a moment, then put down his pen: "Recruiting craftsmen is easy; posting notices should be enough to recruit some."
But what does the strategist need sugarcane for?
Lu Yong didn't know how to explain it to him, so he said, "Just help me put up the notice. I want to promote sugarcane planting in the future."
"This..." Sun Qian hesitated for a moment, then nodded and replied, "I will post the notice for the strategist, but I cannot guarantee how many we can find."
"Just do your best." With that, Lu Yong got up and left.
Sun Qian was left shaking his head helplessly.
……
Lu Yong strolled leisurely to Xu Sheng's military camp.
After being a hands-off manager for a long time, Lu Yong has finally decided to personally train the new army.
He plans to incorporate modern training methods to create a truly iron-blooded army.
However, we can't rush things; we need to start with the basics for now.
The basics are nothing more than drills, physical fitness, discipline, and tactical training, plus literacy education.
Lu Yong instructed Xu Sheng to gather the current two thousand elderly people.
Xu Sheng had been training them all, and he had done his best, even consulting with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and others.
But the content of his training,
It's nothing more than the usual tactics used in the military: forming ranks, fighting, and archery.
There are only a few positions to keep going.
Lu Yong strode to the earthen platform in the center of the training ground and said loudly:
"All troops, listen to my command! From today onwards, daily drills will be conducted, divided into three subjects: formation, physical fitness, and housekeeping."
In addition to the three subjects, there are two more lessons: literacy and signal recognition.
Those who pass will have meat added to their lunch; those who fail will be punished with camp work until they pass!
The audience erupted in uproar.
"You can read? Did I hear that right?"
"Isn't that something only men can do? We can do it too!"
"Who cares about all that? If it adds meat, I'll do it!"
"What about housekeeping?"
"..."
Xu Sheng stood at the front of the line and glared at the soldiers below, which gradually calmed their murmurs.
Lu Yong raised his hand and pointed to the open space on the east side of the training ground:
"Let's start now, with the most basic queueing!"
"Attention, everyone! Right turn!"
Most of the two thousand people were stunned for a moment before turning around in various ways.
Regardless of whether the direction of the turn was correct, the command was executed anyway...
The line that was originally facing the earthen platform turned into one that included people from all four directions: east, west, south, and north.
People in the front and back rows bumped into each other.
Someone's shoe was stepped on and fell off.
Some people even covered their noses and squatted down...
Lu Yong remained expressionless and shouted again, "Turn left!"
Another loud crash.
About half of the people who turned in the right direction just now turned in the wrong direction.
When the group finally managed to stand still, the line was in disarray, as if it had fallen apart.
Xu Sheng covered his face, unable to bear to look.
Lu Yong stepped down from the earthen platform and walked up to a burly soldier.
The man had turned in the wrong direction twice, and now his face was flushed red as he lowered his head, not daring to look at Lu Yong.
"What's your name?"
"Reporting to...Reporting to the military advisor, my name is Niu Er."
"Niu Er, raise your right hand."
Niu Er stretched out both hands, looked at them, hesitated for a moment, and then raised his left hand.
A soldier nearby couldn't help but whisper a reminder: "That's your left hand! You're raising it wrong!"
Niu Er quickly switched to his right hand, his face turning even redder.
Lu Yong didn't scold him. After taking a deep breath, he turned to the entire army and said:
"From today onwards, everyone will learn a mantra with me. I'll say one line, and you'll say one line."
The soldiers below the stage looked at each other in bewilderment.
Lu Yong cleared his throat and raised his left hand: "Hold the knife with your left hand!"
"Hold the knife in your left hand!" the two thousand men shouted in unison, raising their left hands simultaneously.
This time, no one was wrong, because everyone was watching him.
Lu Yong raised his right hand: "Right hand holding the gun!"
"Right hand holding the gun!" They all raised their right hands in unison.
"Turn left!"
"Left... eh?" Someone shouted before realizing they should turn around.
This time, most people turned correctly, but over a hundred people still turned to the right.
Niu Er was one of them.
Some people couldn't help but laugh when they saw Niu Er's embarrassed appearance due to his repeated mistakes.
Lu Yong stood on the stage, expressionless, waiting for the laughter to subside before speaking:
"During formation training, we learn when everyone can distinguish left from right, and when we stop."
"Lunch is canceled before we stop!"
The laughter abruptly stopped.