Chapter 38

The flag is a symbol of an army and is of great importance. Especially in ancient times, many soldiers were illiterate, and in the chaos of battle, they could only distinguish friend from foe by the patterns and colors of the flags and the styles and colors of the uniforms.

In Qi Jiguang's military manual, there are very detailed descriptions and settings for flags, with a wide variety of them.

Liu Jun had previously commissioned the Lu family to make a batch of flags, and the Nine-Headed Bird flag served as the emblem of their cavalry unit. It was six feet long, with a diagonal border, and the flagpole was adorned with pheasant feathers, standing fifteen feet tall.

In addition to the Nine-Headed Bird flag, Liu Jun also had a batch of other flags made.

First, there was the banner of the battalion commander, which was two feet square, with a diagonal border, and a spearhead on the pole, nine feet long, inscribed with the words "Vibrant Valor." This was Li Chunjiang's flag, serving as his command banner.

Below the battalion commander, there were three flags for the left, center, and right. The flag commanders were no longer qualified to use the recognition flags. According to Qi Jiguang's settings, they were to wear a small flag on their back, which was two feet five inches long, with a pole three feet six inches long.

Further down, the company commanders did not wear back flags but instead placed small flags on their helmets. The helmet flags were six inches long, much smaller than the back flags, and inscribed with the company number.

Ordinary soldiers had tassels on their helmets but no flags.

The settings for various flags were quite clear.

The entire unit had a Nine-Headed Bird flag, Li Chunjiang had a "Vibrant Valor" recognition flag, and the three flag commanders each had a small back flag. The six company commanders had small helmet flags on their helmets, and ordinary soldiers had gray tassels but no helmet flags. The hierarchy was clear, and the ranks were well-defined.

Li Chunjiang handed the Nine-Headed Bird flag and the recognition flag to his two servants, who held them up in front. Then he, Liu Jun, and the flag commander of the center flag each inserted a small back flag on their backs. The company commanders had not yet received their helmets, so they placed the helmet flags on their hats.

"Target: Queen City, let's go!" Li Chunjiang, full of spirit, drew his sword from his waist and pointed forward. The troops, organized into units, slowly marched out of the city.

Four men in a row, three rows in a unit, under the rhythm of the drum beats from the center flag's drummer, the over a hundred men marched in a semblance of order.

The fifty-mile journey took most of the day. Every half an hour, the troops had to stop to rest and reorganize. By the afternoon, they finally reached Queen City.

It was already mid-afternoon, and everyone, marching under the scorching sun, was nearly sunburned. Even Li Chunjiang looked somewhat listless, and everyone was eager to reach their destination to drink some cool well water.

In the distance, the earthen walls of Queen City were in sight, and a large crowd was waiting to welcome them.

"Yuan Cheng, go see what's happening," Liu Jun called to one of the Thirteen Protectors, Zhu Yuan Cheng, who was temporarily serving as a squad leader in the center flag's night patrol unit.

"Yes!" Zhu Yuan Cheng galloped over and soon returned, accompanied by several mounted men.

"Report to the flag commander, those are the elders and leaders of Queen City, along with the local gentry and merchants, all here to welcome our arrival. These are a few of the local gentry, Lord Zhang, Lord Liu, Lord Wang, and others."

As Zhu Yuan Cheng finished speaking, the mounted gentry dismounted and bowed to Li Chunjiang with a smile, "Oh, Lord Li Chunjiang, we are late in welcoming you, very late indeed." He then introduced himself, "Three years ago, when Lord Li Chunjiang passed the provincial examination, I, on behalf of the gentry of Queen City, went to the Li family to congratulate you. At that time, you even bestowed a calligraphy piece upon me. It is a fine piece, and it still hangs in my study, to be passed down as a family treasure."

Li Chunjiang carefully examined the gentry member, but he still couldn't recall who he was. He then said with a smile, "Ah, it's Lord Zhang."

They exchanged a few pleasantries, and then the troops followed Lord Zhang into the city.

At the earthen city gate, as the leaders of the cavalry unit, Li Chunjiang and Liu Jun had to exchange some polite words with the local gentry and merchants.

Liu Jun could see that the gentry and merchants of Queen City were not genuinely welcoming their arrival, or perhaps they were half-welcoming and half-fearing. They welcomed them because the bandits were becoming more powerful, especially after Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Ruzai rebelled again in Gu Cheng and Jun Zhou this month. Queen City, a wealthy rural market town, was naturally afraid. It was very rich, with many shops, but only had an earthen wall and no guards.

Now, with Li Chunjiang leading a hundred or so local militia to garrison here, it was naturally a good thing for the gentry.

However, they were also worried that the local militia would demand too much, acting like bandits, and they would be inviting wolves into their home. But the garrisoning of the local militia was not up to them; it was the decision of Mei Zhihuan, and the county also agreed. Now they could only hope that Lord Li Chunjiang, the provincial examination winner, would be different from ordinary officers.

Li Chunjiang took out the letters from County Magistrate Lu Jinxi and the local militia leader Mei Zhihuan and showed them to Lord Zhang and the others, "I am Li Chunjiang, and I have been ordered by County Magistrate Lu and Mr. Mei to lead my cavalry unit to garrison Queen City. In the future, I hope for the support of the local gentry."

They were just local militia, with no official appointment letters or orders, so the letters from County Magistrate Lu and Mr. Mei represented their garrisoning orders.

Lord Zhang, as the spokesperson for the local gentry and merchants, took the letter and glanced at it casually, completing the formalities, and then said flatteringly, "We have already heard about this. It is a great honor for Queen City to receive the care of County Magistrate Lu and Mr. Mei, sending Lord Li Chunjiang and Lord Liu Jiyeh to lead the cavalry unit here. With the presence of the two lords and their cavalry, we will no longer have to worry about bandits and thieves."

Another gentry member, Lord Liu, also stood up, "Indeed, we were all delighted to hear of your arrival. We have already prepared a place for you. It was originally a weaving workshop, with a large area, over a dozen rooms, and several large open spaces. It is located in the north of the city, right next to the city gate, perfect for garrisoning over a hundred local militia."

As he spoke, Lord Liu stood up and took out a deed, "We have collectively purchased this property and now present it to the two lords as a token of our welcome."

Lord Zhao also stood up, signaled, and two servants carried a chest. When opened, it revealed a dazzling pile of silver.

"This is a small token of appreciation from the gentry and merchants of Queen City. It is not much, just a thousand taels of silver, but we hope you will accept it."

Li Chunjiang was still declining, but Liu Jun had already stood up and said, "Since it is a token of the people's affection, I, on behalf of Lord Li Chunjiang and the local militia, thank you all."

Seeing this, Li Chunjiang could only smile and say no more.

The gift of a property and a thousand taels of silver made Liu Jun realize that Queen City was quite wealthy and that they were also quite wary of them.

"Having received such a generous gift from the people, I, Liu Jun, promise that we are local militia, the sons and daughters of this land. We will live in harmony with everyone and will not allow any of our men to bully the people. If any of our men act unlawfully, you can come to me, and I will give you a satisfactory response."

"You are too kind, Lord Liu, too kind," the gentry members hurriedly said, but Liu Jun could see that their expressions had visibly relaxed after hearing his words.

"In the future, we will rely on the support of all the people here."

"Let's not stand here talking. We have prepared a banquet at the Yue Donglai Inn in the east of the city to welcome the local militia. Lords, please come."

"Please!"

That day, the local gentry, merchants, and scholars of Queen City held a banquet to welcome Liu Jun and his men. The banquet was excellent, with each table costing five taels of silver, equivalent to the price of two pigs or a young maid.

The meal lasted for most of the day, and finally, everyone was well-fed and satisfied. Lord Zhang personally led Liu Jun and his men to the camp they had prepared for the local militia.

Upon entering, Liu Jun was very satisfied with the camp.

It was originally a workshop, a textile factory. Regardless of anything else, the space was enormous, with a two-zhang-high wall surrounding a large area. Inside were over a dozen tiled houses, along with stables, wells, storage rooms, and kitchens. There were even two large open spaces that could serve as drill grounds.

He roughly estimated that it covered at least thirty acres, about the size of three football fields. This was in a town like Queen City; if it were in Macheng County, such a large area, even if it were just empty land, would not be cheap.

Now, with such a suitable camp, many things would be easier. Once the military equipment arrived, they could start training in earnest.

"This is our territory now," Liu Jun said to Li Chunjiang with a smile.

"Yes, our territory," Li Chunjiang replied, his face full of excitement.

"When will the horses arrive?"

"They will be here tomorrow. I have prepared one hundred and twenty fine horses. Who in Macheng can get one hundred and twenty top-quality horses in such a short time? The last time, the families collectively sent forty-six horses, and I have managed to get seventy-four more in the past two days. These horses are enough for our current three flags."

"Then I will arrange for the stables to be cleaned and purchase some hay and fodder. Additionally, we need to thoroughly clean the camp, as it has been abandoned for some time. We need to tidy it up. Since this is our garrison, we need to start setting up guard posts and patrols, and no one outside our unit should enter without permission."

"Also, no one in the camp should leave without our orders."

"Isn't that too strict?" Li Chunjiang asked.

"Although we are local militia, we are no longer ordinary civilians. As a military unit, we need strict discipline and must follow military regulations."

"What are our military regulations?"

"We don't have them yet, but I will draft and implement them within three days. Without rules, there is no order," Liu Jun insisted.

"Alright, I'll leave that to you. I feel a bit dizzy from the alcohol. I'll rest for a while," Li Chunjiang waved and left.

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