Chapter 154 Seeking talents
Also not included is Zhang Chong from Mou County.
Ever since Zhang Chong set up a banner to recruit troops in Mou County and posted an order asking for talents, something no one expected happened, and there was an endless stream of people who joined the army. Not only all the poor people in the city surrendered to the army, but even the communities in several surrounding villages came after hearing the news.
At first, Zhang Chong thought it was because the reputation of their Taishan Army in the Taishan territory was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but he later found out in person when he went to the recruitment point to investigate. These are all victims of the disaster. They all came here after hearing that food was taken care of here.
Looking at these skinny Guizhou people looking at him expectantly, Zhang Chong finally agreed to take them in. However, these people were really not suitable for joining the army. Zhang Chong still asked the recruiting officers to select suitable brave men from them. He opened an old camp for the old, weak and young, and provided a heavy supply team to take care of them.
In this way, the poor people in the four fields continued to run to Mou County. Fortunately, when Zhang Chong captured Mou County, he took out 200,000 grains from the warehouse, and Yu Jin got another 300,000 shi. . With the current reserves, we can handle it. As for the future, we still need to guide these disaster victims to resume production, otherwise no matter how much gold and silver they have, they will not be enough to consume.
But looking at the bright side, as long as this disaster relief is successful, not only can these tens of thousands of people be saved, but also many brave and reliable people can be recruited into Taiping Road. Even after this news spreads, their Taishan side will really have someone in Taishan. The people's support.
When the time comes, no one will be allowed to say a word about them:
"Righteous teacher."
You must know that from being a bandit in the mouth of the people to becoming a righteous teacher, how can the transformation be justified.
Just because of this change, this disaster is worth saving.
And not to mention the emptiness of people's hearts, more practical things will come immediately. Because of the disaster relief, the recruitment order really attracted talented people.
Just now, during the military report outside the hall, several groups of people recommended themselves and came to ask for their talents.
Zhang Chong was overjoyed and immediately called them in.
Five people came in at once. Two of them wore military bennan and were obviously samurai. The three of them were handsome, but judging from their attire, they were only of modest means.
As soon as the five people came in, they bowed to Zhang Chong. Zhang Chong hurriedly helped them up one by one, and then led the five of them to sit down with a smile.
Zhang Chong asked the five people their names, origins and talents. Zhang Chong asked very directly, without so many falsehoods.
The two Wu Ben among them were obviously two brothers. One of the elders stood up first and worshiped:
"General, my brothers and I, one named Li Fu and the other Li Bi, are both leaders of the clan in the southeast of Mou County. My two brothers formed a stronghold to guard the mountains. Now that I know that the general led the rebels and punished him, I The two discussed each other and came to join him because of the general's benevolence."
This was the first time for Zhang Chong to hear the title Zongbu. Just as he was wondering, He Kui had already whispered to him over there:
"Zongbu, also called clan thieves. In fact, they are just like us who grew up in the mountains, but they are mainly clan-based."
When He Kui said this, Zhang Chong understood.
After Li Fu introduced himself and the two of them, he continued:
"I, the Li family, have been stationed in Yishan for several generations. My younger brother and I have both acquired martial arts and learned the art of war. My younger brother in particular is very talented and has read countless books. He especially likes to read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, and he can't stop reading it day and night. , when he encounters something he understands, he often sighs and says: 'I will use this to support peace and gain fame.'"
Li Fu is also a person, and he doesn't feel embarrassed at all when he praises his younger brother on such occasions. But he was not embarrassed, but his younger brother Li Bi was too embarrassed to get out of the way.
He said resentfully:
"Brother, what a shame. The talk about talent among country boys is just blind reading."
But Zhang Chong immediately took over the words and encouraged:
"Two good and strong men cannot be self-righteous. Don't you know that prime ministers must be born in the state, and strong generals must be sent to the army. If the country is not upright, there will be sages in the countryside. So don't look down on yourself as a countryman."
It is not clear whether Zhang Chong has great talent among these two people, but he knows very well whether they are brave or not. Each of these two is a proficient level warrior, not inferior to the bearded warrior.
Everyone wants to be listened to and listened to, and the two Li brothers are no exception. When they heard Zhang Chong praise them, the two of them really liked Zhang Chong twice as much, and their originally a little uneasy feelings became much calmer.
The two brothers couldn't help but feel uneasy. They went out to seek refuge with Zhang Chong. In fact, they brought their clan to Zhang Chong to beg for food. The capital of Guizhou outside the mountains has no food, and those in the mountains are even poorer. If the two brothers don't find someone to rely on, the whole family will starve to death.
Hearing Li Fu say that his younger brother read Sun Tzu's Art of War, Zhang Chong was amazed. This was not something ordinary people could read. However, compared with the "Five Classics", it is difficult to read the sentences and the meaning is subtle. This "The Art of War" is much easier to read. It is often an intermediate reading book for the transformation of some Confucian classics families. It is reasonable for the Li family to read "Sun Tzu's Art of War".
Seeing that Li Bi was interesting, Zhang was eager to take the exam.
He asked Li Bi:
"I have read many military books, but none of them are from Sun Wu, and none of Sun Wu's thirteen articles are from the false and the true. When you use troops, if you know the true and false power, you will be victorious. You can tell me the way of the false and the true."
Li Bi sighed in his heart, thinking that the Taishan bandits were just a group of thieves who got lucky for a while and became a group of bandits. I didn't expect that Qu Kui knew the military so well that he could tell the truth about how to use the military in just one sentence.
Li Bi did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly told his own understanding of leading the clan soldiers:
"The way between virtuality and reality lies in the exchange of right and wrong. What is right? The one who comes out first to join the battle is right, and the one who comes out later is strange. Right and wrong can be offensive and defensive, forward and retreat, main and auxiliary, and right and wrong can change. For example, the previous moment was The main force attacks first, and then the auxiliary troops attack. The good will become strange, and the strange will become right. But those who use their troops well will always be right, and will always be strange, making the enemy unpredictable, so the right will win, and the strange will win."
Zhang Chong kept nodding his head, and his explanation of the Zhengqi Way was the easiest way to test the general's military understanding. Anyone who regards Zhengqi as the art of conspiracy is obviously a person who does not know how to fight.
Judging from Li Bi's words, this man knows the military well and is more than capable of being a good general, but...
Here Zhang Chonggang was thinking, and over there Li Bi finally said:
"Thousands of words can be said to be "meaningful to others but not harmful to others"." Huh? As soon as these words came out, Zhang Chong really looked at Li Bi with a different eye. This is a talent.
Why?
In Zhang Chong's view, he divides talents into three echelons.
Those in the first echelon can use it but cannot speak it. It means that I have practical ability, but I cannot accurately express what I think.
The second echelon is those who are able to speak and speak. This type of talent can already summarize and refine their own practice, and can clearly communicate with others about many aspects of their practice process. But unfortunately, the words are too annoying and cannot be understood by ordinary people.
The third echelon is those who can use and teach. If you can refine what you have refined further and tell it in ten sentences, the last sentence can make it clear. At this point the person has a very high level of understanding of the field in which he or she practices.
If Li Bi said so much about Zhengqi before, he is considered a second-tier talent. Because he could only communicate with people like Zhang Chong who had experience in leading troops. Anyone who has never led a soldier has no idea what Li Bi is talking about. But Li Bi's last words were directly promoted to the third echelon of talents. Those words were touching but not harmful to others, which revealed the essence and even the entire secret of the art of war.
This coincides with what Zhang Chong himself refined. Zhang Chong believed that the art of war is just one sentence:
“Take the initiative.”
Therefore, Zhang Chong was particularly satisfied with Li Bi and immediately sighed:
"With two people helping each other, there is no need to worry about failure."
But as soon as Zhang Chong finished speaking, one of the remaining three people came out and refuted directly:
"This is a big fallacy. I strive for supremacy with my strength, but sometimes my strength is poor. I am known for my strength by my wisdom, but sometimes my wisdom is short. Qu Kui uses the two brothers of the Li family as his lackeys and wants to compete for the world with his intelligence. I will see that he will perish."
As soon as these words came out, the two brothers Li Fu and Li Bi looked at each other angrily. Among them, Li Fuxiong, the younger brother, was even more fierce. He directly scolded:
"Where is the corruption here that is so shameless and boastful? Doesn't it know that He Jian is beneficial to everyone?"
The person who said this had a robe full of patches, but his eyes were clear. Even when being scolded by a hero like Li Fu, he remained calm.
He ignored the two Li brothers and directly addressed Zhang Chong, the leader:
"General. Intellect can cause chaos, but the status is secure. It's like a rabbit walking down the street, and a hundred people are chasing it. Why? The division has not yet been decided. But if the market is full of rabbits, and people ignore them, it is not because they don't want the rabbit, but the real division has been decided, so it can't be done. Fight. This is the strategy for long-term peace and stability."
Zhang Chong was horrified. He looked at each other and saw the shock in the other's eyes. Anyone with such knowledge is enough to serve as a minister of the country.
Then Zhang Chong immediately walked up to this person and worshiped:
"Sir, you are a great talent. Just one word can make people suddenly enlightened. I don't know how to call him."
This man was also very satisfied with Corporal Li Xian of Zhang Chong and knew that he was a knowledgeable person. To put it bluntly, a legalist like him can only be effective in the hands of people who know the goods.
Zhang Chong was satisfied in his heart, but he didn't dare to put himself on airs, so he hurriedly bowed and responded:
"I dare not use the general's courtesy. My servant's surname is Zhao Mingda. He is from Langyaju County and cannot be considered a great talent."
Zhang Chong waved his hand, meaning I know it, so there is no need to say these kind words.
Then he looked at the two people behind him. The Li brothers and Zhao Da in front had already surprised him. They didn't know what they were capable of.
One of the two brought in a crown of virtue, straw sandals, and a young scholar in linen clothes came up and said respectfully:
"A servant has no skills and cannot teach a general. I only hope that the general can be open-minded and generous, know people well and do their job well, not like killing people, be able to advocate benevolence and righteousness, win people's hearts, and not be greedy for their children, treasures, and silk. In the past, when the Qin Dynasty was in chaos, the Han Dynasty was a commoner and open-minded. He is magnanimous, knows people well, and does not like to kill people. In five years, he has become an emperor. Now that the Yuan and Han Dynasties are in disarray, the world will fall apart. If the general follows Han Gao's story, he will not be unable to achieve great things. "
"What's your name, sir?"
"Father Fan Chang of Mount Tailiang."
Zhang Chong is satisfied that this is also a talent. If he is properly cultivated, he can be retained as a secretary under the curtain. The Li brothers in the past could serve as minions, and the Legalist Zhao Da from Juxian County could control military law and check the lawlessness of generals. If there is no problem later, you can work with He Kui to help keep the document confidential.
After harvesting a full wave of talents, Zhang Chong turned to the last person. This person was more embarrassed than the other four. Not to mention his nose was bruised and his face was swollen, he was also wretched and vulgar, which made people unhappy just to look at him. But Zhang Chong naturally does not judge people by their appearance, Wen Yan said with a smile:
"Can you teach me?"
The man's face turned red and he looked a little ashamed. He managed to steady his trembling legs and mustered up his courage:
"I am the county magistrate of this county, Wu Yong. I know how to be an official!"
"Useless? Don't you know how to be an official? How do you call yourself useless?"
Wu Yong blushed even more and muttered:
"The servant's surname is Wu and his name is Yong."
(End of chapter)