Chapter 30: Drilling the Troops

Gao Yang transferred twenty-five thousand elite soldiers from the Capital Garrison to Gao Yin; these men were professional warriors. Since the reign of Emperor Shenwu, the Qi state had upheld a policy of favoring the Xianbei people, utilizing them exclusively for military campaigns while exempting them from taxes and labor duties.

Emperor Shenwu, Gao Huan, once told the Xianbei: "The Han people are your slaves. The men plow for you, the women weave for you, and they provide you with grain and silk so that you may be well-fed and clothed. Why, then, do you bully them?"

He also told the Han people: "The Xianbei are your tenants. For every ten bushels of grain and every bolt of silk you give them, they drive away your enemies and secure your peace. Why, then, do you fear them?"

Under this guiding ideology, the Han people were inherently marginalized, while the Xianbei military households held an extremely high status. Beyond these central forces were the regional armies, largely composed of Han soldiers. Though numerous, they were not the backbone of the Qi military; instead, they served as provincial and garrison troops, dispersed across the state to maintain control. Consequently, while Han soldiers were common in the provinces, there were few armed Han groups in the capital, Yecheng. This, of course, excludes the private militias and retainers of the Han aristocratic clans. While these could have been a formidable force, their morale had been shattered ever since the treacherous murder of Gao Aocao, and they were unwilling to commit themselves easily.

To safeguard the feudal privileges of the Gao family, Gao Yang had to make concessions to the institutions of the former Wei, which meant maintaining the policy of favoring the Xianbei until the Qi state and the imperial authority were firmly established. Once stability was achieved, it would be time to dilute the influence of the Xianbei. Given the political landscape of Qi, Gao Yin—a crown prince with a Han-leaning temperament—was the most suitable candidate for this task. Over the years of his reign, Gao Yang had done his utmost to suppress the Xianbei nobility, ensuring that the forces surrounding Gao Yin were primarily Han, thereby creating the possibility of forming a Han political faction in the future.

Had history followed its original trajectory, Gao Yin would have been deposed and killed, signifying that the Xianbei nobility had coerced the Gao clan and suppressed the imperial power. The "Bafu" (the power of the military aristocratic headquarters) would have triumphed over the "Imperial Court" once more, leading to a total collapse of the Han influence, leaving them unable to regain political footing at the high levels of Qi, much like the situation in the Zhou state. To restore imperial authority, Gao Wei would later have to execute military leaders like Hulü Guang and Gao Changgong, relying instead on sycophants to expand the throne's influence. While this bolstered imperial power, it crippled the combat effectiveness of Qi, allowing the Zhou state to seize the opportunity and conquer them in one stroke.

However, that grim moment had not yet arrived. The Northern Qi, at its inception, suffered from innate flaws and maladies, carrying too much of the "Xianbei stench" inherited from Northern Wei. But as long as Gao Yin remained, there was a chance for a purge. Gao Yang could no longer do it himself, so Gao Yin was his only hope. These twenty-five thousand capital soldiers, along with the authority granted to Gao Yin to recruit and train his own troops and enhance the power and prestige of the Grand Marshal’s Office, represented Gao Yang’s greatest support for his son. In a sense, this was even more important than the appointment of a crown prince, for only by holding military power could one ensure one's own survival.

Need one be reminded of Fusu, who held an army of three hundred thousand, yet was deceived into suicide by a single forged edict? Had he torn up that decree, denounced it as a fabrication, and led those three hundred thousand men to mourn for the First Emperor, the fate of the Qin Dynasty might have taken a different turn.

If Gao Yin could control the capital garrison, he would not only be able to suppress a coup by Gao Yan or Gao Zhan, but he could even pull off a "Xuanwu Gate Incident" sixty years ahead of schedule. Before that, however, he needed military merit. The generals of the Prince of Qin’s mansion—and even the death-row prisoners of Chang'an—dared to follow Li Shimin only because of his brilliant military record.

"Emperor Taizong braved the wind and rain, personally facing arrows and stones, only then to pacify the world and bequeath it to his descendants." These words were spoken by Di Renjie.

In a way, being an emperor and being a gang leader are essentially the same thing. An emperor requires the support of his ministers, money, provisions, and an army. These are the three most important metrics for surviving in the underworld: status, money, and fighting capability. The most fundamental of these is money; only with money will people risk their lives for you. Status is something that can only be utilized once the foundation is laid and one has reached a certain level of influence.

But money alone is not enough. An army is, in some sense, similar to a street gang: you might try to reason with them, but they may not be convinced. Yet, if you can fight better than they can, they will absolutely submit; those who do not, die. This was the very reason why Gao Yang’s elder brother, Emperor Wenxiang, Gao Cheng, personally led 110,000 infantry and cavalry to attack the city of Changshe held by Wang Sizheng, and why he oversaw the battle himself—he needed military merit to establish his authority.

At this moment, Gao Yin needed it even more than Gao Cheng ever did.

Arriving at the camp, the soldiers were undergoing training. Seeing the Crown Prince arrive, the officers' shouts and the soldiers' slogans grew even louder. Gao Yin had no intention of making his soldiers practice standing at attention or performing trivial drills. It is a ridiculous thing to judge the ancients from the perspective of later generations. They were limited by their era and environment; they might have lacked the common knowledge of later times, but they were not fools. Especially in the professional work of killing, every single one of them was an expert; if these men, who lived by the blade, were incompetent, they would never have survived.

Ultimately, the key to training soldiers boils down to three things: the will of the commander, rational training, and money and provisions.

"If the commander is weak, the whole army is weak." If the commander's will is feeble or he is not respected by his men, even the fiercest soldiers cannot fully unleash their combat potential. Rational training is also essential; humans can be taut for a while, but not forever. In a place as critical as a military camp, one misstep could lead to a mutiny or a panic.

Most important, however, are money and provisions. No matter the training or the fighting, the soldiers' nutritional intake must exceed the physical energy they expend. If the money and provisions are sufficient, they will treat the state as their home; if not, they will come to *your* home.

Gao Yin had no worries about the latter two. He was one of the rulers of this country—and soon, he would remove the "one of"—and he could guarantee the funding for the troops. The training methods were already arranged by seasoned officers, and he himself was there to learn from them.

It was the commander's will that was rather tricky. To put it bluntly, why should these men obey you instead of someone else? It is naturally because you possess something special. This "specialness" comes in various forms: being exceptionally wealthy, having high prestige, or holding a high official rank. Of course, what soldiers appreciate most is a commander who is exceptionally skilled in battle, one who can bring everyone back home in one piece and, ideally, secure some merit and wealth along the way.

As of now, Gao Yin’s only "special" quality was that he was the Crown Prince. It was natural for them to work for him, but to what extent? That degree was certainly not high. Gao Yin had to establish his own prestige to truly harness their strength. Otherwise, the old disaster might repeat: the commander charges into battle, turns back to call for his reserves, only to find that upon hearing the front line was struggling, the reserves had already fled.

There is one classic, albeit slow, method: let time grind it out. It is like falling in love; seeing each other every day eventually builds familiarity, and eventually, some affection. However, "love without material foundation is like a pile of loose sand; it doesn't even need a breeze to blow it away." Sufficient pay can solve the vast majority of these problems. As for the rest, it cannot be solved by money alone; one must use strength or skill to win their heartfelt submission.

Many excellent commanders rose from the ranks as fierce warriors, because if they were not fierce first, they could never show their brilliance and be promoted. But Gao Yin could not play that game; he was only thirteen, too old to start martial arts, and it would be difficult to awe others with physical prowess. He had no choice but to resort to unconventional methods.

If all else failed, Gao Yin had one final method: to be like his father, Gao Yang—kill. Kill until others are afraid, until they cannot fathom his intentions, and until they are unable to resist him. Use fear to govern. It was a ruthless strategy, however. Once unleashed, one could only win, never lose; for in defeat, one would be devoured by one's own people.