PFC Chapter 21: Finally, they had their own sphere of influence.
Chapter 21: Finally, they had their own sphere of influence.
[Congratulations, player! You have acquired your first territory and have subjects willing to pledge their allegiance to you! You now possess your own sphere of influence!]
[The village has a total population of 547. Your loyalty is high, and you have been granted an additional 55 population slots!]
Wow, finally I have my own territory and can get population quota from it, it's been so hard!
Rock was immediately beaming with joy and in an extremely pleasant mood. Moreover, he never expected that Liujiatun had only just submitted to him, yet their loyalty to him had already reached the level of popular support!
Rock didn't know that although he seemed not to have done much for these villagers, he had already made them very grateful to him for helping them kill the bully Liu Sanpang and giving them a good venting of their anger.
What truly made the villagers grateful to him was that Rock not only destroyed all the IOUs and contracts left behind by Liu Sanpang, wiping out all their past debts and indentures, but he was also willing to help them fend off the bandits from Black Dragon Mountain!
Although Rock did charge them a security fee, compared to the various fees Liu Sanpang had previously charged, Rock only charged a security fee, and only half of the original amount, which was actually not much.
And most importantly, Rock and his crew are genuinely willing to do things for money!
Liu Sanpang and his gang claimed to be collecting security fees, but the Black Dragon Mountain bandits who usually exploited them were none other than Liu Sanpang himself. So how could this be a security fee?
This is clearly extortion!
But when they came to Rock, not only did they charge significantly less, but they were also genuinely willing to help them fend off bandits, which was the most important thing!
Those bandits from Black Dragon Mountain are no joke; if you really fight them, you might end up risking your life!
Even so, judging from Rock's demeanor, he still didn't seem to be turning around and running away with his men, which naturally moved many villagers.
It is precisely because of this that he was able to gain popular support here.
While Rock was still somewhat stunned, one of the elders gritted his teeth, a determined look on his face, and suddenly said to Rock:
"Lord Luo, the Black Dragon Mountain gang is powerful; it's said they have over a hundred muskets! If they really come and smash our kiln, we absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait to die!"
Immediately afterwards, he turned around and shouted to the villagers behind him:
"Gentlemen, Lord Luo has helped us so much, even going so far as to hold off the bandits from Black Dragon Mountain for us. This is an immense favor we owe him. Are we really going to let our benefactor fight alone in front of us while we cower behind?"
"Young men of the Zhang family, bring out your weapons! Let's fight those bandits! Every man counts, and we can't let the Luo family army shed blood for us like this!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the other elders quickly echoed his sentiments:
"Old Zhang is right, our Li family will fight them to the death too!"
"And our Wu family too! We'll fight those thugs to the death!"
Rock nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the scene before him.
The people's hearts are reliable! That's why the people's hearts are reliable!
Judging from the current situation, he didn't know if these villagers would still be willing to follow him if he directly raised the banner of rebellion. But if it was just a battle with the bandits, these villagers would still be very willing to follow him.
Rock's eyes lit up, and he realized that it was time for him to expand his team.
So he immediately said to the villagers:
"Fellow villagers, thank you for your kindness! Since that's the case, our Luo family army will recruit a group of men here, looking for some good young men to join us. I wonder if anyone is willing to work with us?"
"Let me make it clear beforehand: anyone willing to join us will receive two taels of silver every month, guaranteed in full, no discounts! If you pass our Luo Family Army's assessment and are directly promoted to a regular soldier, you'll receive four taels of silver every month!"
"Luo's Army is only recruiting 30 people this time, first come, first served!"
Upon hearing Rock's words, the villagers, who were already prepared to fight to the death, suddenly began to breathe heavily.
"Does Lord Luo mean what he says? If he does, then my three brothers and I will do it!"
"That's right, we'd love to do it!"
In the blink of an eye, a large group of villagers crowded in front of Rock, eagerly requesting to sign up.
If it weren't for the cavalry maintaining order next to Rock, these guys might have crushed people to death!
Rock was also taken aback by them; he really didn't expect that these villagers would be so eager to sign up.
But then he thought about it again and realized it wasn't surprising that these people came to sign up, since the benefits he offered weren't bad.
In theory, a regular soldier in the Green Standard Army would receive about 1.5 taels of silver per month, but due to the layers of deductions within the Green Standard Army, they would actually receive less than half of that amount.
Most Green Standard Army soldiers might actually receive five qian of silver a month if they were lucky. But since Rock promised to pay the full amount in front of everyone, it's safe to assume that at least for the short term, he'll receive two taels of silver a month in military pay.
Such military pay was better than that of the regular soldiers of the imperial court. Moreover, they were originally going to fight bandits and protect their village with Luo Ke, so their goals were the same.
If that's the case, why wouldn't they be happy to join Rock's team?
Moreover, they heard that the two taels of silver paid back monthly was only temporary. If they could get the chance to become regular soldiers, wouldn't four taels of silver a month be wonderful?
When Rock offered his treatment, he naturally considered this aspect, but he had no intention of emulating the Green Standard Army.
Based on the historical experience accumulated by Rock, a unit with particularly high pay is not necessarily particularly good at fighting. However, unless it is a unit armed with faith, a unit that is generally good at fighting will definitely not have low pay.
He can't play the faith game now, since a certain harmonious divine beast is always watching this place. He could easily step on a landmine in this area and be destroyed by the Heavenly Dao.
This means that if Rock really wants these villagers to have enough fighting power, he must pay them enough money.
If he were to distribute money in the same way that the Green Standard Army did, all he would gain in the end would be a bunch of clones of the Green Standard Army.
Among a group of young men who wanted to enlist, they carefully selected 30 who looked to be in the best physical condition and who weren't particularly smart.
According to the training methods of Qi Jiguang's army, simple and honest farm boys like these were high-quality soldiers and the group most likely to be formed into combat forces.
Immediately after recruiting all the soldiers, Rock assigned them instructors and also issued them guns.
To train these villagers, Rock recruited ten guerrillas and then acquired 30 sets of guerrilla equipment through purchase.
These items didn't cost much in total, only five hundred taels of silver to Rock. The guerrillas' simple gray cloth clothes, which Rock considered quite plain, were perfect for the villagers, as they served as a kind of uniform.
When the guns were being distributed, Rock told them that the flintlock muskets they were holding were not a gift, but merely a temporary loan.
Once they become regular soldiers, these flintlock muskets will be officially handed over to them, and a musket presentation ceremony will be held!
When they first received these guns, the villagers were overjoyed to see all the brand-new foreign guns in their hands.
Although they disliked fighting, after arriving in this harsh and cold land beyond the Great Wall, they knew all too well the importance of having a gun in their hands.
Only by having a gun in their hands can they stand tall; otherwise, they can only be bullied by others!
That's why, when they heard that once they became regular soldiers, these guns would truly belong to them, the villagers were immediately filled with enthusiasm.
"...Haha, it looks like they won't be slacking off in training for a while!"
Rock noticed the change in the villagers' eyes and excitedly muttered to himself.
Just then, a cavalryman next to Rock suddenly asked in a low voice:
"General, I don't understand. Why don't you just recruit a group of regular French soldiers to train them, instead of letting those disorganized and undisciplined guerrillas train them?"
"Excuse my bluntness, but those guerrillas themselves weren't qualified soldiers. It's probably not a good idea to have them train these people, is it?"
Rock shrugged, a helpless smile on his face, and said:
"Sigh, I have no choice. After all, if we were to recruit regular French soldiers, the cost would be too high."
"A French infantryman costs 50 taels of silver. Even if I buy equipment at half price, I would still have to spend 25 taels of silver to get a musket and a set of French uniforms. This price is obviously not worthwhile."
"Besides, those guerrillas have at least mastered the most basic formations. All we need to do next is teach these villagers the most basic formations and volley fire, and that will give them basic combat capabilities."
Since this is only an emergency measure, Rock doesn't expect these villagers to become qualified soldiers. As for the flintlock muskets in their hands, as long as they can learn how to form dense ranks and fire, they will have basic combat capabilities.
This is also why musketeers were able to replace archers and other medieval troops as the main force of the army, because they were so easy to train.
Leaving aside elite troops, for musketeers with only basic combat capabilities, it is sufficient to teach them how to fire and form ranks.
A group of musketeers like this are already capable of killing enemies on the battlefield and inflicting considerable casualties. As for the willpower aspect, that can only be honed through subsequent training and combat.