Chapter 74: The State (6)
The recruitment of soldiers for the long march progressed extremely smoothly. Ten days before the deadline set by the Emperor, Li Kuo submitted a list of soldiers to Xingqing Palace for the Emperor’s review.
Solving such a major problem in just over twenty days filled Li Longji with great joy. He ordered Cui Qian, the Deputy Minister of War, to register these soldiers in the military records and issued an edict assigning ten thousand of them to various armies in Anxi. Among them, the more than a thousand selected by Li Kuo were all assigned to the Shule Army as a reward for the young man.
As for Li Kuo himself, due to the young man’s repeated refusals, Li Longji did not promote him to a substantive position but instead granted him honorary titles and ranks as compensation. Thus, Li Kuo’s full official title was Commander of the Shule Army—General of Manifesting Might—Imperial Gentleman of Direct Appointment—Colonel of Light Chariots—Marquis of Dingxiang County.
Reading these successive titles aloud was certainly awkward, but they reflected the Emperor’s supreme favor toward the young man. Which young man in the ten provinces of the Tang Dynasty could hope for such recognition? To show his confidence in the young man, the Emperor even issued an imperial decree stating that his title would be hereditary, meaning his descendants would be marquises from the third rank from birth.
Grateful for the Emperor’s recognition, Li Kuo went to the military camp in the south of the city every day to supervise the training of the new recruits. He was confident he could train them into warriors with an iron will. The actual strength of the Shule Army was supposed to be twelve thousand five hundred men, but in reality, it could never reach that number. The total number of troops available to Gao Xianzhi in Anxi was only forty to fifty thousand. If all of them were sent to Shule, how could the defenses of other fortresses be maintained?
In fact, even including the thousand long march soldiers assigned to the Shule Army, Gao Xianzhi could only provide Li Kuo with five thousand troops. When the establishment was not full, border towns had their own ways of dealing with it. According to the traditions of the Anxi army, camps would be set up directly under the army to fill the quota. Although this practice seemed like putting on an act, it was still better than having many military units only half full.
Among these five thousand men were soldiers from the Tongwu, Zhenwu, and Xiongwu camps, newly recruited recruits, and experienced veterans from Anxi’s battles. Balancing and coordinating the relationships among these soldiers was something Li Kuo needed to consider, but for now, he clearly didn’t have to worry about such issues.
The veterans from Anxi were still in Shule, facing the sandstorms, and he had no need to worry about resistance from newcomers. What he needed to do now was to make his troops perform even better, so as not to be laughed at by those veterans once they arrived in Shule.
Therefore, despite having been married not long ago, Li Kuo moved with his trusted subordinates to the barracks outside Chang’an. He needed time to integrate with these new recruits and become one with them.
Li Kuo had his own methods of leading troops. He selected lower-ranking officers such as fire commanders and platoon leaders from the three main battalions to serve as battalion commanders and brigade leaders for the troops composed of these new soldiers. This approach helped the new units maintain the operational style of the original three battalions while also strengthening Li Kuo’s personal authority.
After all, his brigade leaders and battalion commanders constantly talked about great victories such as defending the Great Wall fortresses, launching surprise attacks on Fusi City, and flooding Jiuqu City—all of which were planned and executed under his leadership.
Most importantly, Li Kuo treated each soldier like a brother, sharing meals and sleeping under the same sky with them, never discriminating against anyone based on status. How many such good leaders could be found in the Tang Dynasty? Li Kuo was extremely fair in rewards and punishments; those who had shown bravery on the battlefield were now promoted to battalion commanders and brigade leaders. With such examples right before their eyes, how could these new recruits remain unmotivated?
These new soldiers who had joined the Shule army were truly grateful for having chosen to follow Li Kuo. As long as they trained hard and fought bravely, why worry about achieving fame and glory?
The stronger their desire for fame and glory, the harder they trained. In just half a month, Li Kuo had transformed these inexperienced soldiers into a more disciplined force. Although they still couldn’t go into battle to fight the enemy, at least outsiders would be impressed by the army’s strict discipline.
Strict military discipline and prompt obedience were what any commander desired most. Although the Shule army hadn’t yet reached this level, Li Kuo’s authority had undoubtedly taken root in the soldiers’ hearts.
It was another pleasant day. After conducting the routine inspection of the new recruits’ formations, Li Kuo returned to the main tent in the barracks and began studying The Art of War by Wei Gong. He was no longer just a battalion commander leading a few hundred men but now a military commander in charge of an entire army. At this moment, he was eager to expand his knowledge of military strategy to better command his troops. A general is the soul of an army; if he couldn’t be confident, how could his army have combat strength?
As for the matter of the Luo Shu Jue, it can be put on hold for now. He has already dealt with the two traitors, Gao Xiuyan and Li Linfu, and without their support, a few Tibetan monks can’t cause much of a stir. It is the matter of the Qing Chen Song that worries the young man somewhat; after all, this matter was silenced by the Emperor and ultimately remained unresolved. Last year’s strange disappearance of Dezi further filled him with unease—such a well-organized group must have some high-ranking court official backing it. If it’s not Li Linfu, then who is manipulating it? Why hasn’t the Emperor pursued further investigations? Could it be that this matter touches on some secret? If not for these two incidents, the young man would almost have forgotten his identity as a hermit. Having reached such a high position as Military Commander despite being just a hermit, could he be considered the Emperor’s most successful pawn? With a bitter smile, the young man leaned back in his chair. “Brother Kuo, Brother Kuo!” Zhang Yanji rushed in, out of breath, holding a piece of paper. “What’s the rush? What happened?” Li Kuo stood up and walked toward his friend. “Come and take a look—what’s written on this piece of paper.” Zhang Yanji handed the paper to Li Kuo and shook his head with a bitter smile. “These kinds of papers are everywhere in Chang’an these days. It’s only because we stay in the military camp all the time that we’re isolated from news and clueless about everything!” Li Kuo took the paper with one hand and frowned after reading just two lines. “How could such absurd rumors spread? I and the Imperial Concubine are merely master and disciple. Yet they claim…” Li Kuo couldn’t bring himself to say those vulgar and embarrassing words; his throat tightened as he struggled to swallow. “This isn’t the time to talk about this. What’s important is to find out where these rumors are coming from!” Zhang Yanji clenched his fists, his eyes flashing with fury.