The Qing army was defeated. One hundred thousand troops bombed the camp. The Imperial Guards fought to the death in the rear. Three thousand cavalry were all killed under the joint attack of armored chariots and Ming army cavalry. More than 20,000 Qing and Han troops were captured. The army camped.
Countless weapons and equipment were seized, all eight artillery pieces were burned, and a large amount of fodder was burned.
The Qing army was severely weakened. Although there were still tens of thousands of troops and horses, the camp supplies and siege equipment were all gone, so they had to retreat to Yanzhou.
The troops of the Ming Dynasty were continuously transported to the front line through canals and railways. 130,000 troops gathered on the Xuzhou front line. Taking advantage of the new defeat of the Qing army, they crossed Xuecheng and advanced to the Qufu area, regaining the hometown of the saint.
Boiling. The Qing army could no longer move south. The Ming army encountered strong resistance in the Tai'an area and did not dare to rush north. The two sides began negotiations, and the war came to an end for the time being.
Liu Ziguang handed over the suede dragon boots. If it was a pair, he would be interested in wearing them. These stinky boots were constantly played with by the court officials. They were the best trophies, definitely better than those many.
The bloody and braided head wanted to please the Holy Emperor and the Nine Thousand Years Old Emperor. Even the Qing Emperor's boots were captured by our army, which shows the embarrassment of his escape and the bravery of our army.
The capital commander Yuan Chonghuan personally wrote an eloquent memorial, praising the heroic deeds of the officers and soldiers of the Northern Jiangsu Capital Command who bravely killed the enemy and forced the Qing army to retreat hundreds of miles. By the way, he also expressed his merits for the Liguo Iron Works.
, ** fought against an army of 100,000 people for a whole day, bought time for reinforcements to arrive, paved the way for final victory, etc.
The boots of the Qing emperor were placed in brocade boxes and sent together with the memorials on a paddle steamer in the canal. They were rushed to Nanjing for 800 miles. Thousands of relatively complete human heads were placed in lime boxes and accompanied by
Several Eight Banners leaders and assistant leaders set off together. As for the 20,000 prisoners of war, according to the old rules, they were sold at the price of twenty-five taels of silver per person. The iron factory gave priority to the 5,000 able-bodied ones, and the rest
He was taken to Xuzhou Mansion by the Forbidden Army and sold.
The prefect of Xuzhou also submitted a memorial, naturally bragging about how he had the foresight to send reinforcements to the iron factory early to assist the iron factory in defending the city, and how heroic the Longjing Lieutenant Huang Zhen was.
A man riding alone broke the chain of horses, which weakened the Qing army's spirit.
As for the Yu Hualong rebellion, everyone tacitly didn't mention it. Since it didn't succeed, just pretend it never happened. The Xuzhou government sent troops to help defend the city. Some iron factory previously colluded with the Qing Dynasty to rebel.
That is purely a rumor, and the Xuzhou government will strictly investigate the rumor makers.
Gao Wei was in a bit of trouble. A relative of a Forbidden Army soldier saw a head that looked like General Niu hanging around his horse's neck. When these words reached Niu Yong's ears, he naturally understood what was going on and secretly told him that he would be killed.
He killed Gao Tai to avenge his brother, and Gao Shubei was so frightened that he did not dare to come within three miles of the Forbidden Army camp.
During this period, Liu Ziguang's 500 slave army had been stationed outside the north gate of the iron factory, living in the captured Qing army's ox-hair tents. They were worried about the iron factory settling accounts in the fall and did not dare to enter the city. Two or three hundred thousand troops from both sides gathered in the north.
It was obviously a lunatic's idea to have hundreds of people join in the fun. Someone suggested going to Weishan Lake to become water bandits. However, among the 500 people, there were only some who had been sailors. They were not familiar with fighting in freshwater lakes. It was not enough to rush there rashly.
Stuff the teeth of the local water bandits.
Factory owner Peng valued the armed forces of these five hundred men very much and wanted to recruit them as iron guards. It was no wonder that the original iron guards of the iron factory had lost a lot, and the newly added slaves needed guard strength to repair the city walls and mine.
These five hundred people were originally slaves, but now they don't even need training to be guards.
Liu Ziguang expressed his firm opposition. He could be an iron guard, but he had to ensure the unity of command, sign a contract, and get a commission. He was determined not to be a slave guard.
Factory owner Peng was surprised. The conditions offered by Liu Ziguang were very unusual: the 500-slave army could not accept outside officers. It must maintain its independent organization, receive wages in peacetime, and receive commissions according to the difficulty of tasks when there are tasks. It must not serve as slave camp guards.
Compensate them for the mental and physical losses they suffered while working as slaves, as well as wages for lost work.
It sounds like it is excessive, but Liu Ziguang feels it is not at all, and is even a bit disadvantaged, because the mental damage caused to him by the slave life in the past two years cannot be measured in money. He dictated and Ding Libin wrote out detailed compensation terms.
, bringing his true qualities as a bookkeeper to the extreme.
The specific compensation conditions are as follows: It turns out that 5,123 slaves had to take coercive actions to restore their freedom in order to protect their lives during the turmoil unilaterally caused by the iron factory. The 4,607 deaths caused among them should be compensated on a per-person basis.
The standard compensation is 10 taels of silver. Since these people have died, the 46,070 taels of silver should be given to the survivors as a fund.
The remaining 516 people will be compensated 10 taels for mental injury and 10 taels for lost work per month based on the length of time they were enslaved. For less than a month, the compensation will be 300 copper coins per day.
Among them, those who have been beaten by guards and have whip scars on their bodies can be compensated at the standard of 1 tael of silver for each scar. Those who have caused other physical injuries will be compensated according to the degree of disability, with the highest compensation of 1,000 taels of silver, such as blindness, broken eyes, etc.
Even minor disabilities such as a broken toe on the leg will require compensation of 50 taels of silver.
In addition, because the slaves performed heavy labor in the iron factory, contributed to the construction of the iron factory, and made huge contributions, the iron factory should pay wages at the standard of 20 taels of silver per month.
Even reform-through-labor prisoners should be paid, Liu Ziguang said plausibly.
In addition, in order to protect the two young ladies and the iron factory, the slaves participated in the bloody battle with the Qing army and paid a bloody price. Each of them should be given a reward of 50 taels of silver, or a commission.
Liu Ziguang himself has outstanding military exploits and helped the iron factory shine. He should be given a personal reward of 500 taels of silver. Recommended by Liu Ziguang, the five leaders with outstanding performance should also be given 300 taels of silver each.
Calculated in this way, most of the slaves worked for two years, with a monthly compensation of 20 taels and a salary of 20 taels. Multiplied by two years and twenty-four months, the average is 960 taels per person, and a total of 49 taels for 516 people.
Fifteen thousand three hundred and sixty taels of silver, who doesn't have a few scars on his body? Each whip mark is one tael, so each person can get more than ten taels. For the time being, based on the average of fifteen taels per person, it is 7,740 taels.
Adding in the war commission of 50 taels per person, the combined average slaves are
960 plus 15 plus 50: a total of 1025 taels.
Fortunately, most of these 516 people were elites who survived, and not many were physically disabled. The total disability compensation was 8,450 taels.
The war reward for Liu Ziguang and other outstanding individuals was 2,000 taels.
The total cost that the iron factory had to pay to the slaves was 579,270 taels of silver.
Seeing the numbers specially written in capital letters by Ding Libin, although Factory Owner Peng was calm and restrained, he couldn't help but secretly take a breath.
Five hundred and seven thousand ninety-two thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven ten taels of Kuping silver.
It's going to kill me.
The iron factory experienced civil strife and invasion by foreign enemies. The houses and city walls were greatly damaged, and a lot of weapons were consumed. A large amount of money was needed to purchase coal and repair the houses and cities. Although the newly purchased slaves did not need to be paid wages, the twelve twelve months had already been paid.
Fifteen thousand taels of silver were not brought by strong winds.
There are also hundreds of thousands taels of labor military payment paid to the imperial guards. The iron factory's own casualty pension also costs hundreds of thousands taels. These large expenses are enough to drain the iron factory's bottom line.
The treasury originally had one million taels of silver, but after paying the slave payment and labor expenses, there was still 775,000 taels, of which 300,000 taels were the loan from Rishengchang bank. Liu Ziguang was close to him with his big mouth open.
Six hundred thousand taels is unsatisfactory no matter what.
The two sides held talks on the north gate wall in an attitude of friendly consultation. The slave soldiers were not officially ordered by the iron factory, so they still wore various clothes and armors, but they still showed strong military qualities. Five hundred people were divided into
The five centurions elected their captains, formulated simple military regulations, and set up their tents meticulously.
Liu Ziguang was still wearing the armor of the Imperial Guards of the Qing Dynasty. He was wearing warm clothes as he said this. He sat on the side of the negotiation table and acted like a general. Anthony brought twenty people as guards. Ding Libin was now the accountant and secretary of the slave army.
He was a young man with a lively appearance, sitting next to him with a brush and abacus, ready to help General Liu calculate the amount of money.
Factory owner Peng sat on the other side of the negotiation table covered with green felt, staring at the compensation bill issued by Liu Ziguang for a long time. Liu Ziguang rapped the table with his middle knuckle very carelessly, and from time to time he picked up the hot tea and blew a breath of hot air.
, he also knew that the price he offered was too high, asking for prices all over the place, and paying back the money. There was still a bottom line, that is, five hundred taels of silver per person, and he did not dare to be too overbearing, after all, five hundred people were still very weak.
After all, the Iron Guard still has thousands of troops, and there are also many officers and soldiers nearby. It is best to strive for a win-win situation where everyone is happy.
Factory owner Peng was still thinking about it. The person standing behind him was Hu Xianjue. Captain Hu tracked Liu Ziguang into the Qing's sphere of influence that day, and was robbed and killed by people from the military aircraft department. Most of his team was lost. Later, he was besieged by the scouts of the Qing army.
, was chased and fled everywhere, and it was not until night that he disguised himself and sneaked into the Qing army camp. The fire Liu Ziguang found on the city wall was set by him. Later, he escaped with his strong martial arts.
Factory owner Peng slammed the table, and the guards around him were so surprised that they put their hands on the hilts of their knives, but they heard the factory owner say slowly: "I agree to all the amounts quoted on this order."
Before Liu Ziguang could be happy, the old man continued: "However, the factory currently does not have so much cash. Even if it did, it would have to buy bricks, tiles, coal and grain first. The 579,000... will be calculated as 580,000 taels."
Come on, let me count what I owe you. Each of you will receive forty taels of silver in advance and a full set of ironworks armor. What do you think, Xiao Liu?"
"Okay, the factory owner is really happy, but when will you give me the remaining money?" Liu Ziguang asked.
"Then it's up to you." Factory owner Peng smiled mysteriously. "Come on, let's study the identity of the five hundred iron guards..."
After friendly and candid negotiations between the two parties, the 500 slave army was hired by the iron factory. Pay attention to the employment rather than the recruitment. It became a military group that was personally loyal to Liu Ziguang and responsible to the employer. The iron factory issued armor, horses and weapons. They were responsible for the outside of the north gate.
Each person was paid ten taels of silver per month for scout investigation and part of the city's defense. In case of war, there was also a subsidy, and the injured could be given priority in arranging miscellaneous work in the iron factory.
The contract lasted for three years once it was signed, and could be renewed when it expired. In order to ensure the performance of the contract, the iron factory temporarily withheld each person's security deposit of two hundred taels of silver, which was paid out of the compensation mentioned above.
The contract was a roll of white silk with the terms written on it, and the bright red seal of the iron factory was stamped at the end. The owner of the factory also waved his wolf hair and signed his name "Peng Jianguo".
This name is very modern, Liu Ziguang thought as he pressed his seal. The stonemason in the team helped him carve it overnight. On the one hand, it was the official defense of the slave army, and on the other hand, it was Liu Ziguang's private seal. Now this
The army had its own name. The "Death Battalion" was majestic and murderous.
The 516 slaves excitedly pressed their fingerprints on the white silk one after another. Each of them received one thousand and twenty-five taels of silver. They could never make money in this life. It was good to follow General Liu. They would have meat to eat and money to make.
.
Brand new armor was worn on the soldiers of the death camp, and the newly embroidered flag fluttered in the wind. Three hundred infantry, one hundred cavalry, one hundred chariots, five centurions, five flag bearers, and one general,
They were inspected by senior leaders of the iron plant in the open space outside the north gate.
During the inspection, Hu Xianjue said dissatisfiedly: "Master factory owner, is it worth spending so much money on these five hundred people? Even if you recruit 10,000 iron guards, it won't cost that much."
Factory owner Peng smiled slightly: "Do you think I care about these five hundred people? In today's Ming Dynasty, what is most important? Talent!"