Chapter 30

"Alright, then please show us your skills. As long as you meet the conditions, I will recruit you." Liu Jun smiled, waved his hand, and invited them to the testing area.

There was no need to test their age and height. These monks were all young and strong, with shaved heads, but they were very robust, mostly over 1.7 meters tall. The martial monks who practiced regularly were indeed different.

The third test, which was to test their strength, was no problem at all.

Under the watchful eyes of countless onlookers, the eight monks stepped forward one by one. Instead of lifting the stone locks, they walked directly to the 200-pound Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

This iron-cast large blade, borrowed from the Guan Gong Temple, was incredibly heavy.

However, the monks who stepped forward one by one wielded it with ease, as if performing a set of sword techniques. This was the most impressive performance in this test since the recruitment began, and it immediately earned a round of applause from the onlookers.

Liu Jun was also greatly surprised. He hadn't expected these monks to be so impressive. A 200-pound blade, which he could barely handle, was wielded by these monks without breaking a sweat. Their strength was truly remarkable.

"Excellent, the masters have divine strength."

The leading monk, however, remained calm. "Please bring the horses."

"Wang Qian, bring the horses over."

Wang Qian and the others led their mounts over. Eight tall, strong horses lined up, and the eight monks walked forward, took the reins, and mounted the horses in unison, their movements smooth and impressive. The horses were extremely well-trained, showing no resistance and moving in perfect harmony with the monks.

"Go!" The eight bald monks, dressed in monk's robes, began to trot in the enclosed area. Some of them even performed tricks, such as hiding in the stirrups, and one even stood on the saddle, hands spread wide, without holding the reins.

This impressive display of horsemanship immediately earned another round of louder applause. Liu Jun's eyes lit up. He himself didn't have such skills.

He looked at Li Zhen, the head servant of Li Chunjiang, and asked, "What do you think?"

Li Zhen smacked his lips. "It takes at least seven or eight years of practice to achieve this level."

With such a professional's confirmation, there was no doubt about the horse riding test. Liu Jun personally scored the monks the highest marks in this category.

"What are your names, masters?"

"Desireless, Selfless, Mindless, Thoughtless, Actionless, Evilless, Colorless, and Voidless."

Holding the pen, Liu Jun couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, then he smiled. "Good names."

The final test was archery.

Ten bows were set up on the field, ranging from five to fifteen stones.

This time, the monks didn't directly choose the fifteen-stone bows. They stepped forward one by one and chose the ten-stone bows, which were equivalent to about 100 pounds of draw weight, the same as the bows Liu Jun used.

The eight monks with the "Wu" prefix stepped forward one by one, first for mounted archery, then for foot archery.

Mounted archery at 25 paces, foot archery at 80 paces. Each shot ten arrows, and most hit seven or more out of ten. This was an excellent score. Moreover, these monks were literate. They were all orphans who grew up in the temple, trained as martial monks from a young age, and also studied Buddhist scriptures. Therefore, they were not only skilled in martial arts but also educated.

Liu Jun sighed inwardly. If they weren't monks, they would be perfect new recruits. However, being monks wasn't a problem.

That day's recruitment was a significant success, with the eight monks being the biggest gain. They continued recruiting for the rest of the day, but no one else was as outstanding as these monks. In the end, they selected another twenty men.

Among them were about ten hunters from the mountains in the north of Macheng. The area was poor, and hunting was the main livelihood. Many were skilled hunters, good at archery, and setting traps. Liu Jun carefully selected about ten of the best archers who were also young, tall, and strong.

They also chose a few with good horsemanship. These were originally postmen from the relay stations, who had excellent riding skills. After the stations were cut, they had no steady income and were now doing odd jobs. This time, they earned a good job with their skills.

Finally, they recruited a few craftsmen, including a veterinarian, a surgeon, a blacksmith, a carpenter, a cook, and a stable hand. These people were considered support staff.

Liu Jun finally looked at the roster. They had recruited forty local militia members and ten support staff that day. Adding Liu Jun's twelve brothers and Li Chunjiang's eight servants, their cavalry unit was initially fully recruited, with seventy members, plus Li Chunjiang and Liu Jun, making a total of seventy-two people.

"Everyone will be given buns and steamed buns, two of each." Li Chunjiang finally returned from home, bringing several carts of freshly made buns and steamed buns. He also brought pots and stoves to cook congee and egg soup on-site.

"Today, we recruited forty people." Liu Jun handed the recruitment roster to Li Chunjiang.

Li Chunjiang looked at it, then glanced at the forty newly recruited militia members sitting under the willow trees. Seeing the shiny bald heads and the monk's robes, he was somewhat surprised. After seeing Liu Jun's detailed notes on the eight monks' test results, he didn't say anything more.

"Should we continue recruiting tomorrow until we have a hundred people?" Li Chunjiang asked. In his view, forty people were too few. He didn't count his servants and Liu Jun's brothers as part of the militia, considering them part of their personal retinues.

Liu Jun shook his head. "I think it's enough for now. First, we've recruited most of the suitable candidates today. Recruiting more might not yield better results. Second, it's not about the number. We should train these first, and if needed, we can recruit more later. Too many new recruits are hard to manage, and more soldiers mean higher expenses. Just the settlement silver is a significant amount, and we can't just recruit soldiers. We also need to pay them and buy horses, equipment, and weapons, which are the biggest expenses."

They were a local militia, so they didn't receive any government pay. Liu Jun didn't want to recruit soldiers without the funds to equip them.

"Don't worry about the money. I'll take care of it. The horses and military equipment are not a problem," Li Chunjiang said calmly. "But since you think this is enough, I'll follow your lead."

"Tonight, the Li family will host a banquet, inviting all the local gentry, wealthy landowners, and merchants. We need to make an appearance. I've brought a thousand taels of silver. First, give everyone their settlement silver, then a month's pay, and then take them to the tailor to get new clothes. They need to look sharp tonight."

The Li family's banquet? Liu Jun's mind raced, and he had a hunch. "Gongji, are you planning to ask your uncle to help us raise funds?"

Li Chunjiang smiled lightly. "We are forming a cavalry unit to protect the area. It wouldn't be fair for us to do all the work and pay for it. Of course, those with money should contribute money, and those with strength should contribute strength. Don't worry; by the end of tonight's banquet, we won't have to worry about funds for the army."

Liu Jun, however, felt that things wouldn't be that simple.

In history, when Emperor Chongzhen wanted to mobilize the Guan Ning Army to defend the capital, he needed a million taels of silver. The imperial treasury was empty, so Chongzhen asked the officials to donate silver and created a list based on their ranks to raise the required amount.

However, the officials were all masters of pretending to be poor. Chongzhen asked for 50,000 taels, but they only donated 500, or even 100 or 50. In the end, they couldn't raise the required amount.

Now, trying to get the wealthy gentry of Macheng to contribute would likely be just as difficult.