Chapter 25 The Bandits Go Down the Mountain
"I think it's possible!"

"Isn't this how the commanders and centurions of the garrisons used to make money?"

The crowd was talking about all kinds of things, but generally they were skeptical about what Wang An said. Some of those with dark minds even regarded Wang An as a powerful person with ill intentions.

Wang An did not refute the situation, but just watched coldly. When the discussion in the crowd gradually subsided, he scanned the whole audience and said slowly:
"I know you don't believe it, but I believe you should also know that I came here to be a fief. From now on, Jizhou is my fiefdom!"

"Since this is in my territory, my words are the law, and my rules are the rules! Since I said that you can leave if you don't want to serve in the army, then it is naturally true!"

Seeing that Wang An spoke in a serious tone and without any sign of falsehood, the soldiers began to be skeptical.

Wang An raised his hand and pointed at the gate of Guancheng City when he saw this. "Anyone who doesn't want to be a soldier can leave now. I can guarantee that no one will cause trouble for you!"

Chen He and Chen Huaian were stunned by this scene. Zhao Yi's garrison troops had just withdrawn, and the two of them were already worried about the safety of Jizhou.

And now Wang An wants to disband the garrison troops. This move immediately dumbfounded them.

Although the garrison troops were indeed useless, at least there was a title of 3,000 men here. Even if they could not fight, at least they could stabilize the people's hearts.

If even these 3,000 garrison troops were gone, I'm afraid that once the barbarians attacked, the common people in the city would have to flee for their lives.

Chen He wanted to persuade him, but looking at Wang An standing on the podium with a determined look on his face, he didn't know what to say.

Seeing the people below the stage whispering to each other, looking doubtful, Wang An smiled and said, "Why, no one wants to leave, do you all want to stay and serve as soldiers?"

As soon as these words were spoken, some people in the queue immediately tried to walk out.

Seeing that Wang An had no reaction, and the black-armored guards riding tall horses had no intention of stopping them, some people slowly began to walk towards the city gate.

He was almost out of the city gate, and no one stopped him.

Now the remaining people finally believed what Wang An said was true, so a large number of soldiers began to leave the ranks and head towards the city gate.

Seeing more and more people leaving, Chen He couldn't help it, and hurried to the stage to say to Wang An: "Your Highness, we can't let them leave anymore, otherwise the stage will be empty!"

Glancing at Chen He's anxious expression, Wang An said calmly, "Those who want to leave can't be kept, and those who want to stay can't be driven away."

"As the saying goes, there is no construction without destruction. Instead of spending a lot of energy to correct the habits of these soldiers, it would be better to start over and recruit new soldiers."

"This..." Chen He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, but he didn't know how to refute.

It was indeed as Wang An said, these soldiers of Jizhou Wei were already full of bad habits. It would take a huge amount of time and energy to train them. It would be easier to start over.

However, the autumn harvest is about to begin, and it is not easy to recruit strong laborers again and make them into an army capable of going to the battlefield.

"Alas... it's just the youthful vigor after all!" Chen He sighed softly, feeling emotional in his heart.

In just less than a quarter of an hour, the training ground that originally had 3,000 people suddenly became sparsely populated.

Wang An took a quick look and saw that there were less than 200 people left. Excluding the old and weak who were missing limbs and determined to wait for death in Jizhouwei, there were probably less than 100 people who could barely meet the standard of young and strong.

Wang An didn't want to investigate why these people didn't leave, but since they stayed, they had to follow his standards.

"I am very happy that you are willing to stay and serve the country, but let me be frank with you. From now on, our gathering place is not a place where you can just eat and wait for death!"

"I am not an unreasonable person, and my requirements for you are not high. From now on, our training will be based on the standards of recruiting elite soldiers from Daliang."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone hesitantly said, "Your Highness, forgive me for being so presumptuous, but if our garrison soldiers are to be trained according to the standards of elite infantry, then why don't we just go and recruit soldiers?"

"At least the recruits get paid every month, but we soldiers have to work in the fields to earn our own food."

Wang An looked at the person who was speaking. He was not angry because of the other party's questioning. Instead, he appreciated it and said, "Good question. What's your name?"

The man was probably in his early thirties, tall, but his face was very pale due to long-term malnutrition.

After hesitating for a moment, he replied, "Your Majesty, my name is Xu Huang."

"Xu Huang, I will tell you why now!" Wang Anzhen said solemnly, "Because those recruited soldiers are all foreign soldiers. If they lose the battle, they can escape. But if we lose the battle, not only will we have nowhere to escape, but we will also have to watch our wives, children, relatives and friends being slaughtered by the barbarians!"

"Of course, I am not the kind of person who only teaches people moral principles. Besides protecting your own hometown, you can also get salary just like recruiting soldiers!"

"Payroll?"

The remaining two hundred people caused a small commotion. The land of Jizhou had never had a vassal king, and the garrison soldiers naturally had never received the legendary salary. Even having enough food to eat was an unimaginable luxury.

Everyone did not suspect that Wang An was lying. After all, Wang An had just disbanded almost the entire Jizhou Guard.

With just a few of us left, lies and deception are meaningless.

However, no one had high expectations. After all, in Jizhou where the average annual income per capita was less than eight taels of silver, how much military pay could Wan An give even if he was willing to?
The military farms in Jizhou Wei were barely enough to supply food to the army, so Wang An could not profit from them.

However, Wang An firmly raised a finger and said, "One tael of silver. I will give you one tael of silver as salary every month, and there will be rewards for killing the enemy!"

"If your performance satisfies this king, I may increase your salary in the future."

There was a commotion in the parade grounds. One tael of silver seemed like a small amount.

But it is enough to maintain the basic needs of a family of three, and in Baicheng, most people can only earn a few coins a month.

One or two taels is already considered a high salary.

However, before everyone could digest the news, a garrison soldier rushed in from outside the pass riding on a donkey.

"Oh no! The bandits from Crescent Mountain are coming down the mountain!"

(End of this chapter)