He had not needed to become the commander of an army himself. Back when he was distributing cloth to the refugees at North Camp, Liu Cheng had already realized that "white robes" were hardly a good thing... White cloth was the completely undyed fabric commoners handed over as taxes, the least valuable kind. Issuing white robes to an army practically amounted to giving it the worst treatment possible. Even the Way of the Celestial Masters knew to use crimson to distinguish its followers and strengthen their sense of belonging.
Clearly, that White-Robed Army had received little attention at first. It was only because Chen Qingzhi had miraculously fought his way to Luoyang before his army collapsed that historians had seized upon it and made much of the story.
Now, as the commander of an army, having personally marched these four or five hundred li, Liu Cheng could be absolutely certain—if historical reenactment had truly gone to his head, and he had insisted on sending out seven thousand soldiers of the White-Robed Army instead of dressing them in ordinary black and gray jackets and trousers, they would probably have become a motley-robed army by the time they reached Luoyang, without fighting a single battle.
Backpacks, on the other hand, were what the marching army needed most right now. Especially since they would soon pass Chen County, beyond which there would be no waterborne logistical support, making the march arduous. Even with carts and civilian laborers carrying supplies, the things the soldiers carried on their persons were still a disorganized mess.
Having backpacks at a time like this would be an enormous help.
There was good reason backpacks had become essential equipment for almost every army in later ages.
Still, even the backpacks had sent Liu Cheng scrambling for a while. At