"Just fighting a few scattered bandits and you become a Deputy Commander?"
Li Bao's eyes widened.
Although the Deputy Commander of the Xiang Army was indeed worthless now, completely incomparable to a Deputy Commander of the Imperial Army.
But even if he was worthless, his rank and seniority were real!
In these times, bandit suppression operations were happening everywhere, and he had never heard of anyone being able to get promoted and rich to this extent just by eradicating a few scattered bandits.
"If it were solely based on this military merit, it certainly wouldn't be possible at this time!"
Wu Lin stopped speaking at this point. Wasn't it obvious?
If the two of them were just ordinary people with no backing, their merits in bandit suppression would likely have been snatched away by the big bosses above.
Let alone promotion, it would be considered a blessing if they were even given a bit of reward money at the end.
But the problem was, they were personally selected by Prince Xin.
When Zong Ying received the list handed over by Han Mo, he took Prince Xin's personal letter and went to the Ministry of War to mobilize troops the very next day.
With this connection, which of the generals under the Six Routes of the Southern Pacification Commissioner's Office would dare not give them face?
As a result, the merit, which was originally just three hundred beheadings and eight hundred captured, turned into three thousand beheadings and ten thousand captured after some back-and-forth.
With only a few hundred men, achieving such a record, wouldn't promotion and wealth become easy?
When he finally received the appointment, even Wu Jie himself could hardly believe it. After confirming it more than ten times, he joyfully accepted his new appointment.
Although he wasn't old, he had already experienced more than a dozen of those dark matters since entering the army.
He was even somewhat accustomed to the situation where his own hard-earned military merits were stolen by others.
But this time, where a small merit from suppressing bandits was exaggerated into a great achievement of breaking ten thousand with a hundred cavalry, he had truly never encountered such a thing.
However, after the two brothers met Zong Ying, they immediately understood what was going on.
In the beginning, Wu Jie still felt a little uncomfortable, as this position was not obtained through his own military merits.
But after a deep conversation with Zong Ying, his feelings changed.
Although this position was not obtained through his own efforts, if he didn't have the real ability, no matter how much Han Mo supported him, he wouldn't be able to hold onto this position.
After all, it was no longer a time of peace, and their Xiang Army had to go to the battlefield.
If his position wasn't high enough, it was possible that the elite army he had painstakingly trained might be used as cannon fodder by someone else at any time.
Even for the soldiers who had always followed him, he had to strive to climb higher.
Moreover, Han Mo had gone to such great lengths to recommend him directly to Prince Xin. If he didn't seize the opportunity to advance quickly, should he let Han Mo wait for him for 10 or 8 years before providing only insignificant assistance?
"Alright, now that Big Brother has set off, I can rest assured. Although this trip south is just to quell the rebellion, Big Brother and Second Brother, you still need to be careful on the battlefield, as swords have no eyes!"
Li Bao had only recently joined Han Mo, and Han Mo didn't want to reveal too much of the dark side of officialdom to him.
Giving the two of them a look, he directly changed the subject.
"If I could become a Deputy Commander in my lifetime, I would be content!"
"Hahahaha, if you only want to be a Deputy Commander, then you're too lacking in ambition! A true man's ambition lies in all directions. You are still so young. If you are content with being just a Deputy Commander, it would be a pity for your abilities!"
Hearing Li Bao say this, Han Mo burst into laughter and refilled his wine bowl.
"Hahahaha, Third Brother speaks wisely!"
As they were talking, the inn's staff quickly replenished their wine and food.
The Wu brothers came from a military background, and their personalities were straightforward, matching Li Bao's perfectly.
Before this meal was over, their relationship had already become much closer.
Although Li Bao currently had no achievements, both Wu Jie and Wu Lin understood that since Han Mo valued him so highly, this fellow must also possess his own extraordinary abilities.
Just like Yue Fei back then, a young man of unknown origin with martial arts skills that were no inferior to theirs.
Moreover, although he lacked experience in leading troops in battle, when it came to military strategy, he was eloquent and insightful.
Although Yue Fei was still just a squad leader under Wu Lin at the moment, both of them understood that with Han Mo supporting him from behind, it wouldn't be long before Yue Fei could also be their equal.
When friends meet, a thousand cups of wine are not too many. They drank until midnight, all of them slightly drunk, before finally parting ways.
The next morning, before Han Mo had even opened his eyes, a noisy sound of footsteps could be heard from outside the door.
"What's going on? Why the noise so early in the morning?"
Waking up with a hangover was difficult, and being disturbed at this moment made Han Mo quite irritable.
"My Lord, a group of soldiers has come to the door. It seems they are here about yesterday's matter!"
"Yesterday's matter? Who is leading them?"
Hearing Jiang Yan say this, Han Mo immediately frowned and asked.
"You know the leader..."
As Jiang Yan said this, his expression became strange.
"I know? Who?"
"Do you remember Xin Xingzong from Jingkou about ten days ago?"
"What does this matter have to do with him?"
Hearing Jiang Yan's question, Han Mo was stunned.
"He has been assigned the duty of patrolling the city of Suzhou..."
Truly, it's the enemies that meet. At this moment, even Han Mo couldn't help but smile wryly.
Yesterday, only Li Bao and Han Mo had seen Jiang Yan take action, but the number of people who saw Li Bao take action, if calculated carefully, was quite significant.
With this matter falling into Xin Xingzong's hands, it was really not good news for Han Mo...