Chapter 1171: Raising Soldiers

"I really want to clear out those war criminals from the barracks," Chen Xi thought with frustration, recalling the three or four thousand mentally unstable Xiliang soldiers who fought each other with real weapons in the camp daily.

"Heh, don’t you know that those three or four thousand Xiliang soldiers are the true elites among the Xiliang troops?" Li You said, rolling his eyes. "If you give them a shared sense of purpose, they could even form a military soul. They’re almost like..."

"When you formed the Feixiong Army, what exactly did you tell them?" Jia Xu asked, remembering that the soldiers for the Feixiong Army hadn’t gone through rigorous selection. They simply picked out a group of the most outstanding Xiliang cavalrymen to serve as Dong Zhuo’s personal guard.

Since the Xiliang cavalry was already exceptionally strong, the ones chosen for the Feixiong Army were naturally brave and fierce. All they lacked was a reason to fight.

"I just told them to be as powerful as a bear and as agile as a leopard, and then ordered them to protect..." Li You sighed, reminiscing about the past, now like fleeting clouds.

"They embraced that belief and thus developed a military soul. Whether it was you or the former leader, you became the spiritual banner of the cavalry," Jia Xu whispered, his words revealing the heart of the matter.

"But these soldiers might eventually start killing for pleasure. We are still in the Han Empire, and the people they would be killing are our own. Wenru, don’t tell me you’re unaware—they don’t stop once they start killing," Chen Xi said, finally voicing his concerns. Those men were abnormal and would have been in dire need of psychological counseling in modern times.

"The problem is that disbanding them would create even bigger problems," Li You said, casting a glance at Chen Xi. "They don’t know how to make a living in any other way. All they know is killing, and they rely on their military achievements to survive. If you disband them, it will undoubtedly lead to chaos."

Chen Xi massaged his temples, his headache intensifying. This issue was truly unsolvable. If they were released back into society, they would cause greater problems, but keeping them in the army meant dealing with daily headaches.

"Is there any way to make them stop killing?" Chen Xi pondered. He knew it was a psychological issue, but he wasn’t equipped to handle it.

"Why are you thinking about making them stop killing?" Jia Xu looked at Chen Xi, puzzled. "You already know it’s unrealistic. Why not think of another solution—like sending them to fight the Hu people? You wouldn’t care how many they kill then."

"I guess that’s the only option," Chen Xi said helplessly. Honestly, even he felt reluctant to discharge the Xiliang soldiers. They were truly elite warriors, and as soon as he mentioned disbanding them, Wei Yan and the others would surely scoop them up into their own armies.

"So there’s really nothing to worry about," Jia Xu said indifferently, not at all concerned about the deaths the Xiliang soldiers might cause. For the strategists and generals of this era, soldiers killing was just a fact of life, nothing worth losing sleep over.

"Sigh, if it were possible, I’d really like to give them some psychological counseling," Chen Xi said with a bitter smile. He genuinely felt sympathy for these men.

As Jia Xu and Li You had pointed out, these soldiers were the most elite warriors, but apart from fighting, they didn’t know how to do anything else. If they left the battlefield, they wouldn’t even be able to support themselves. All they knew was death and killing.

Chen Xi didn’t even know how to compensate them. These men had no families, no wives or children, and their parents were long gone. They were alone, with no dependents to worry about. The only world they knew was the battlefield and the barracks. Their comrades were the only people they were familiar with.

These men were the most suited for war, and they likely loved the battlefield. They might not fully understand why they fought, but they certainly knew how to fight better than anyone else.

"Maybe they actually enjoy this kind of life. Who needs psychological counseling?" Li You said coldly. "Zichuan, since when did you start speaking about things you don’t understand?"

Chen Xi fell silent, realizing that Li You had a point. Why was he focusing on issues he couldn’t solve? For these soldiers, who were essentially war addicts, perhaps all they needed was a good meal. They certainly weren’t as fragile as soldiers of later generations.

"During the five days of the New Year celebration, don’t skimp on meat and wine. Replace their weapons and armor with the best available, especially for those who engage in real combat during training," Chen Xi said after a moment of reflection. This was probably the best reward for the Xiliang soldiers. Giving them money wouldn’t matter since they had no place to spend it.

"Ten million coins for five days," Jia Xu said, quietly calculating the cost as he turned to Chen Xi.

"Our lord won’t mind a mere ten million coins. As for the other camps, if they’re unhappy about it, let them challenge us in battle," Li You said with a cold sneer, understanding Jia Xu’s hidden concern about unequal treatment.

"Fine, let them challenge us," Chen Xi said, resigned. Five days of unrestricted meat and alcohol, along with the best weapons and armor—ten million coins was indeed a bargain for such an expense. Feeding twenty thousand soldiers for five days during the New Year wasn’t cheap.

Fortunately, only half the soldiers would be on duty during the holiday, and other camps wouldn’t be enjoying the same lavish meals every day. Still, even with the garrison and mobile forces, plus the county troops, the costs would add up to tens of millions of coins just for food.

"Raising soldiers is really expensive," Chen Xi sighed. What was worse was that he was in charge of the money. The fact that they hadn’t gone bankrupt yet was a small miracle in itself.

"Let’s avoid expanding the army further," Li You said, wryly tugging at the corner of his mouth. It was much easier to raise soldiers back when they were in Liangzhou—horses were self-supplied, spears were handed out, and feeding the soldiers was about all they needed to do.

"I couldn’t agree more," Chen Xi nodded. Raising an army was a bottomless pit. He almost wished that Cao Cao and Sun Ce would follow his example and implement a welfare system—within moments, their economies would collapse.

"With the current situation, we may need to support a standing army of a million once the entire Han Empire is unified," Li You said, his headache becoming more pronounced.

Chen Xi’s welfare policies were incredibly expensive. After unification, maintaining an army of one million, along with their weapons and equipment, would cost around six billion coins annually.

This was a figure capable of bankrupting any normal empire. While the benefits were immense, the long-term sustainability was questionable. If, a hundred years later, the state couldn’t afford such expenses, it would undoubtedly lead to disaster.

Anyone who doesn’t plan for a thousand years is unfit to govern for a single moment. Li You’s thoughts weren’t just about one generation; he was already considering the implications for the future. Although creating a system where the military acted as a third pillar alongside the nobility and the common people seemed ideal, could the Han Empire really sustain it?

Li You had once held the reins of power over the entire empire and knew better than anyone the state’s annual revenues. He also understood Chen Xi’s capabilities. The problem was, Chen Xi was just one man—not a system. And people, no matter how capable, are not immortal. This wasn’t something that could simply be solved with "I can handle it."

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