Chapter 10: Vacancy Rules

Wang Lifang immediately replied: "Lord Wu, in the past, our rear sentry did not have a sentry officer and was directly under the command of Lord Qian, which is why Lord Qian's side deducted more. Now that we have a sentry officer, we no longer need to leave this vacancy. Because every month, the salaries of the soldiers below the rank of sentry officer are deducted by one-third, officially referred to as the general camp expenses, but in reality, it still ends up in Lord Qian's own pocket."

Wu Shaoting nodded, his expression unchanged, and continued to ask: "What have you all done with the twenty vacancies typically used for operational duties?"

The four team officials exchanged glances once again

Wu Shaoting immediately discerned that Wang Lifafa had undoubtedly embezzled from this sum. However, he chose not to expose this layer, as he did not wish to involve himself in past matters, nor was it feasible for him to do so.

Wu Shaoting suddenly retracted the smile on his face, revealing a serious expression, and stood up from the earthen embankment. He spoke with great authority: "Starting this month, there will no longer be any empty positions to fill; from now on, all vacant positions at the rear post will belong solely to me! Do you understand?"

They hesitantly agreed for a while, and then hurried back to the camp to convey the message

Chen Qun nodded in agreement and said, "Other posts are the same; it is sufficient to submit the total camp expenses."

However, after a stalemate for a while, the eldest Li Wenqi finally stepped forward and said with a flattering smile: "Lord Wu, we have discussed this among ourselves over the past few days. Since we now have a sentry officer at the rear, the camp officers will naturally not occupy this vacancy anymore. In addition, you could take on two more squad leaders and ten soldiers each month. How do you feel about that?"

Wu Shaoting conducted a brief inspection, and after changing into their uniforms, these individuals finally exhibited a semblance of military demeanor

"Why are there only four of you as team officials?" Wu Shaoting asked in confusion

He stood before the crowd and said solemnly: "I know that you all think of me as a difficult character, and you might even find me troublesome or pretentious. That's fine; as long as you don't openly insult me to my face, I don't care."

The four team officials exchanged glances, and then Li Wenqi said, "Lord Wu, we really have no choice. We can only receive the full salary for all eight teams each month. If we merge the eight teams into four, then we will only be able to receive half of the salary each month."

Wu Shaoting glanced at the disappointed and helpless expressions of the four team officers and smiled as he said: "Rest assured, I do not intend to monopolize these vacancies. If you wish to earn more salary each month, starting tomorrow, just follow my command diligently."

He paused for a moment and then said: "According to what I know, each soldier in our fire brigade receives a monthly salary of one tael of silver, while each team officer receives a monthly salary of one tael and eight cash. The year-end integrity allowance is calculated separately. After deducting the total camp expenses, a soldier receives seven cash per month, while a team officer receives one tael and four cash. Based on the vacancies allocated earlier, you can earn nearly three taels in a month, correct?"

Wu Shaoting was somewhat surprised and said with a smile, "So it turns out that Shanziying is still a heroic unit"

At noon, Wu Shaoting did not go to the officers' mess at the headquarters for lunch; instead, he stayed at the rear outpost and had a meal with the soldiers. He originally thought that the food at the officers' mess was already quite poor, but today he discovered that the soldiers' rations were even worse, consisting of coarse rice paired with a large pot of vegetables, with a pitifully small amount of oil and salt.

Wu Shaoting understood; no wonder the quality of the old army has increasingly declined. The soldiers, in their pursuit of a little more pay, have complicated mechanisms that could have been simplified. Such a force no longer considers its own combat effectiveness, but solely seeks to gain some trivial benefits.

However, there is no way around this; the system of the old army is such that the lower level must obey the higher level. A sentry officer can appoint or dismiss a squad leader without needing to seek approval from the headquarters, and can issue orders directly. The four of them do not have anyone backing them at a higher level, and if they truly go against Wu Shaoting, they might find themselves packing up and leaving by tomorrow.

None of the soldiers dared to speak up, yet they felt quite displeased in their hearts. No other sentry had ever encountered such a troublesome officer, and it seemed they had drawn the short straw! They truly did not know how to get through the days ahead.

How should we explain this to the Li Ying official? he asked tentatively

Li Wenqi said with a smile: "Lord Wu, in fact, everyone is aware of the situation. After all, the other sentry officers do not wish for their posts to be fully staffed, otherwise they would lose a considerable amount of bonuses each month for no reason."

The four team officials suddenly became awkward, pushing each other back and forth, and for a while, no one dared to step forward to respond

Without waiting for others to ask, Wu Shaoting commanded in a serious tone: "This morning is your last leisurely day. After lunch, I require all soldiers to change into their uniforms. Regardless of whether your uniforms are clean, moldy, torn, or damaged, those who cannot wear winter uniforms must wear summer uniforms, and those who cannot wear summer uniforms must wear winter uniforms. If you cannot wear either, your salary for this month will be fully deducted"

Li Wenqi, Wang Yun, and Chen Qun all pointed at Wang Lifafa and said in unison: "This must be asked of Scholar Wang!"

Lord Wu may not be aware that our Mountain Camp was previously known as the Dry Camp, under the command of Governor Feng Zicai of Guizhou. It is said that we even fought against the French. After several twists and turns, our camp was assigned to the Guangzhou defense zone and renamed Mountain Camp. Since that time, the five-post structure has never been fully staffed. The oldest among us, Li Wenqi, has spent the longest time at the post and naturally has a good understanding of the history of the troops. At this moment, he eagerly began to recount it. Since that time, the five-post structure has never been fully staffed. The oldest among us, Li Wenqi, has spent the longest time at the post and naturally has a good understanding of the history of the troops. At this moment, he eagerly began to recount it

A total of only four veterans came to report, and they all appeared to be of advanced age, with the youngest being over thirty. As per usual, they first introduced themselves: Li Wenqi, the team leader of Team 1; Wang Lifafa, the team leader of Team 3; Chen Qun, the team leader of Team 4; and Wang Yun, the team leader of Team 8

A complete detachment consists of eight squads, with each squad comprising ten soldiers excluding the squad leaders. Therefore, the total number of personnel in a fully staffed detachment, including the officers, should be eighty-nine.

Wang Lifang silently calculated in his heart and repeatedly nodded, exclaiming: "Lord Wu is truly exceptional in arithmetic; this is indeed the correct number"

Captain Wang Yun of the Eighth Team stepped forward with a smile and lowered his voice slightly, saying: "In response to Lord Wu, we previously had a total of three vacancies in our watch, which are four team leaders, forty soldiers, and one watch officer. According to convention, each of us four will take an additional vacancy for a team officer and five soldier vacancies. The battalion officer will take one watch officer vacancy, and the remaining twenty soldier vacancies are typically used to manage battalion affairs."

In the twenty-first century, anyone who has attended middle school is aware of the events surrounding the Qing Dynasty general Feng Zicai's resistance against the French invaders. Although the Sino-French War was won under the joint efforts of Feng Zicai and the Black Flag Army, it ultimately gave rise to a deeply resonant proverb: "to be defeated without losing, to win without victory"

Upon witnessing such a scene, the four individuals immediately recognized that Wu Shaoting was a ruthless character who concealed his malice behind a smile, causing them to feel a chill down their spines. With such a sentry officer, they feared that their days ahead would not be easy.

After lunch, all the soldiers immediately became busy. They hurried back to their respective barracks to change into their uniforms. A few soldiers who could not wear their uniforms had no choice but to borrow from other posts. After about half an hour, all the soldiers had successfully changed into their uniforms and reassembled for inspection

The four team officials were taken aback upon hearing this; what exactly did Wu Shaoting intend to do

Wang Lifang's expression became awkward, and he nervously chuckled for a while before saying: "My lord, I have already mentioned that most of the vacancies for those twenty soldiers have gone to the camp officers. The remaining amount is not much; it is mostly used to buy some wine and meat for the brothers during festivals, and sometimes in summer and winter, we also add items like bedding."

Wang Lifang tugged at Wang Yun and stepped forward to add, "Lord Wu, in fact, the vacancies for the remaining twenty soldiers are taken by the camp officers for at least seven months out of the twelve months in a year"

Wu Shaoting questioned, "What is the reasoning behind this? Clearly, there are only four officers, so why not disband the units without officers and fill the soldiers into the units with officers and the library? Forty soldiers would perfectly form four fully-staffed units, making management much simpler."

Wu Shaoting nodded slightly, knowing that what Li Wenqi referred to was the issue of vacancies. He took a deep breath and further inquired, "How many personnel do we currently have at the rear outpost?"

Team leader Wang Lifafa of the third team had previously taken the scholar examination. He has been responsible for logistics and miscellaneous tasks at the post. He replied repeatedly: "Sir, currently the first team has 5 members, the second team has 4 members, the third team has 4 members, the fourth team has 5 members, the fifth team has 7 members, the sixth team has 5 members, the seventh team has 6 members, and the eighth team has 4 members. Excluding the officers, there are exactly 40 soldiers in total at the post."

"Forget about the old rules; starting from this month, what plans do you all have?" He deliberately elongated his voice as he asked, his gaze sweeping over the four team officers one by one

The expressions of the four team officers suddenly changed dramatically. They had initially thought that the officers who had studied abroad would have a more principled mindset, and Wu Shaoting had always been amiable from the very beginning, appearing to be anything but a person driven by greed. However, they never expected that the saying "one cannot judge a person by their appearance" would hold true; Wu Shaoting unexpectedly made an exorbitant demand, shattering their illusions in an instant.

Wu Shaoting chuckled and said, "I understand."

I asked you, how do you allocate the vacancies in our post?" He sighed and asked earnestly

Wu Shaoting discerned the implicit meaning in Li Wenqi's words. Naturally, the primary concern for the four of them now is the distribution of their future interests. Although these individuals are somewhat tactful, they are willing to relinquish nearly half of the vacancies for themselves. However, the remaining vacancies that Li Wenqi did not mention actually imply that they are to be evenly divided among the four of them