Chapter 45 The Role of the Army’s Banner

After the registration was completed, the newly recruited young men gathered at the threshing ground, each squad and team standing together in formation.

Li Yi ascended the newly built wooden platform and gazed at the group of recruits he had enlisted.

These men were dressed in tattered cotton clothes, their hair disheveled and faces grimy, huddled together in a chaotic mass to keep warm. Many of them shivered uncontrollably from the cold.

They looked up at Li Yi, their eyes filled with eagerness, doubt, awe, and envy.

Li Yi waved his hand; he did not deliver any lengthy speeches, nor did he attempt to rouse their spirits, but simply raised his voice and spoke two words.

"Let's eat."

With just those words, the entire crowd erupted in cheers.

The squad leaders carried over large wooden tubs, bringing forth fragrant wheat cakes, milky-white mutton soup, and a generous tub of pickled vegetables.

At the sight of this food, the young men could not help swallowing hard, their stomachs rumbling with hunger.

It was the dead of winter, and each day they subsisted on two bowls of watery gruel, barely enough to keep them alive.

Last year’s poor harvest, coupled with the burdens of tax, had left them with nothing.

Each of them was emaciated, their faces sallow with malnutrition.

Suddenly confronted with such abundance, their eyes shone green with hunger, as if they could leap forward and devour it all.

Each squad leader, wooden spear in hand, stood tall and proud, watching over his men.

When Li Yi nodded, they shouted, "Line up properly, one at a time!"

Those who failed to heed the warning were promptly struck two or three times; if they dared disobey again, they were immediately expelled from the militia.

After making a few examples, the rest quickly fell in line.

They stepped up, took their clay bowls, and filled them with food, squatting off to the side to devour their meal in great gulps.

Some, in their eagerness, took large mouthfuls of hot soup, burning their tongues but refusing to spit it out.

With each sip of hot soup and every bite of solid wheat cake, their faces radiated pure contentment.

It had been so long since they had eaten their fill.

When the meal was done and the pickles finished, many even licked their bowls clean with their tongues, polishing them until they shone as if freshly washed.

The squad and team leaders looked on with a mixture of disdain and amusement.

They had forgotten that they themselves had once been no better off.

Once the young men had eaten, their hearts finally settled.

No matter what happened, as long as they were fed, they knew they had come to the right place.

But what happened next astonished them even more: baskets of copper coins were carried out.

“You’re in luck,” the squad leaders announced loudly to the crowd. “The captain has said that, knowing your families are struggling, you’ll be paid half a month’s wages in advance to help support your households.”

The news that they would receive pay on their very first day filled the recruits with exhilaration.

Though their own bellies were full, their parents, wives, and children were still hungry at home.

If they could use this money to buy grain and bring it home so their families could eat as well, it would be a blessing.

Excitement mixed with anxiety churned in their hearts.

Only when each squad leader began distributing coins to his men did they finally feel at ease.

Many were moved to tears at the thought that they could finally buy food, gazing up at Li Yi on the platform with eyes brimming with gratitude.

With food in their stomachs and money in hand, these young men silently vowed that they would rather die here than leave this militia.

Those who had not been chosen watched with deep regret, wishing they could slap themselves.

Li Yi took in every change of expression.

He knew he had captured their loyalty; from now on, so long as he gave the order, they would do whatever it took to obey.

From having nothing to eat or spend, to enjoying both, once accustomed to such days, they would never wish to go back.

Wasting no words, Li Yi announced directly: from now on, three meals a day, monthly wages.

And for outstanding performance, there would be rewards as well.

Hearing of these benefits, the young men felt as if they were dreaming.

So when Li Yi gave a command, no one complained or shirked; all threw themselves into training with unprecedented zeal.

Yet their training soon differed from before.

As their numbers increased, maintaining formation became ever more difficult.

There were now twenty-six squads in the militia, yet only four team leaders: Li Zijing, Old Gao, Liu Dayong, and Gao Jie.

Each managed three or four times as many men as before.

Squads could manage training separately, but when all teams or the entire militia drilled together, chaos ensued—recruits couldn’t find their squad leaders, squad leaders couldn’t find their team leaders.

Only then did Li Yi understand why, in ancient depictions of armies, the most striking feature was the multitude of different banners.

On the battlefield, finding someone among hundreds or thousands was difficult; only by recognizing various banners could people locate those they sought.

Realizing this, Li Yi had Yun Niang gather several women to sew banners.

The largest banner bore the words "Ganquan Militia."

Each of the four teams had a square banner, sewn from different colored cloth, with their respective numbers marked.

Each squad also had its own banner: a triangular pennant attached to the squad leader’s spear, distinguished by color and squad number.

With banners for identification and to signal orders, the militia’s drilling together became far more effective.

Li Yi recorded all his experiences in training and building the force, and in his spare moments, discussed them with Gao Jie and the others.

None of them had ever served in the army; all these lessons had to be learned through trial and error.

Just as the militia’s training was in full swing, an unexpected visitor arrived.

Word came that the assistant magistrate from Xi’an Prefecture was coming to Li Village to investigate a case.

Li Yi’s brow furrowed at the news.

Gao Jie and the others turned pale, trembling as they looked to Li Yi.

“Captain, it seems the authorities have found something out. What should we do?” Liu Dayong asked anxiously.

Gao Jie, his heart pounding, suggested, “Why don’t we take the silver and flee while we still can?”

Li Yi himself did not know why the authorities were visiting the village. Thinking back on the robbery, aside from Wang Tong fleeing with his men, there had been no mistakes.

Besides, Wang Tong had killed the steward of the Ai family and fled, effectively betraying them. He had no reason to report to the authorities.

“Don’t panic just yet. Go supervise the militia and reassure everyone. I’ll meet with this magistrate myself.”

Having given his instructions, Li Yi followed the messenger to the ancestral hall.

The assistant magistrate was a deputy official of the prefecture. Only in Shuntian and Yingtian Prefectures did this post carry a sixth-rank title; elsewhere, it was seventh rank.

They oversaw criminal cases and had the authority to review and re-examine cases tried by county and prefecture courts. In other words, for cases at this level, they could serve both as first and second instance judges.

Such an official, wielding great power, was already a figure of immense authority in the eyes of the villagers.

Upon entering the ancestral hall, Li Yi saw Li Zicheng.

These days, Li Zicheng had been busy repairing farm tools and dividing the fields; it had been some time since Li Yi had seen him. Clearly, he had come specifically to accompany the magistrate.

Beside Li Zicheng stood a young civil official, vigorous in bearing and refined in appearance.

At that moment, the official was standing outside the schoolhouse, listening intently as the students recited the multiplication tables.

When the children finished reciting without a single error, his face lit up with pleasure and he nodded with a smile.