After resting for a night in Tongzhou City, Wu Shigong left Tongzhou City and returned to his military camp as soon as the city gate was opened in the morning. The civilians had already packed their luggage and were waiting for Wu Shigong to come back and collect them.
After two buckets of grain, I went home.
Wu Shigong called Zhou Xun, He Fei and other officers over, and asked them to announce to the people: As long as these people are willing to stay with Wu Shigong, Wu Shigong will pay each of them three taels of silver as a settlement fee, and arrange for them to go to Runing.
The battalion serves as an auxiliary soldier and gets 30% of the military pay. After passing the training, it can be converted into a regular soldier and gets full military pay.
To be honest, Wu Shigong's conditions are indeed very attractive to these civilians. However, firstly, they are unwilling to leave their hometown, and secondly, the reputation of the Ming Dynasty's officers and soldiers is simply too bad. Even if they have personal experience in Wu Shigong's camp,
I learned that Wu Shigong's army did not deduct military pay and could still have enough to eat every day, but still few civilians were willing to stay.
In the end, only sixty or so civilian husbands with no family members or worries were willing to follow Wu Shigong to Runing Mansion. Wu Shigong was somewhat helpless about this situation.
Wu Shigong's current household slaves and military households in Qianhu Station are actually very inconsistent in population ratio. There are fewer young and strong men, and there are more women, children, old and weak. In the previous process of deploying soldiers, Wu Shigong even transferred the military households in Qianhu Station
A large part of each household has been transferred. Therefore, even some strong women are now working in the farmland of Qianhusuo.
In the process of this military expansion, Wu Shigong did not want to recruit more locals from Henan. Because Wu Shigong was an outsider after all. When there were few people at that time, the guards he brought from the capital could still suppress him. But if the locals
If there were too many, Wu Shigong was afraid that they would hug together in the future and look like they were too big to lose. So Wu Shigong set his sights on the refugees outside Tongzhou City.
When Wu Shigong arranged for the articulate Shu Mo to take people to the refugee group to recruit refugees, the whole refugee group was boiling. If there were not hundreds of soldiers guarding Shu Mo and the others, maybe Shu Mo and the others would
He will be trampled to pieces by those refugees.
Wu Shigong's instructions to Shumo were very simple. As long as they had any skills, Wu Shigong would need them. As long as they could read and do accounts, they had skills such as carpentry and blacksmithing, they could raise horses and ride horses, and they knew how to do tricks.
Wu Shigong would accept even just a few superficial skills.
But what Wu Shigong didn't expect was that his standards had been set so low. In the end, among the tens of thousands of refugees, he only recruited more than 200 people. Including their families, there were only more than 500 people.
What Wu Shigong didn't know was that those with some skills could already find a job in Tongzhou City and support their families. Who would hang out in the shacks? And the only thing the remaining refugees can do is to know how to do it.
Farming.
There was no other way. After thinking about it, Wu Shigong asked the soldiers to move a large stone weighing more than fifty kilograms, and asked Shu Mo to announce that as long as someone could lift the stone, Wu Shigong could still recruit him. However,
The number of places is limited, and Wu Shigong only recruits 500 people.
This news immediately caused confusion among the somewhat disappointed refugees. They all rushed forward. If Wu Shigong had not mobilized soldiers later, punched and kicked the refugees, and announced that if they did not line up properly, the event would be cancelled.
Refugee recruitment qualifications. Then Wu Shigong's recruitment work would not be able to start.
Although this big stone only weighs more than fifty kilograms, it is indeed a hurdle for the semi-starved refugees. Only nearly one-third of the refugees can lift it successfully.
Wu Shigong smiled and looked at the refugees who were testing in front of Shumo, and thought to himself: "These refugees who can pass without having a full meal must have no big problem with their physical condition. As long as they practice well, they will be able to
To become a good soldier."
Chi Erwa is only eleven years old this year and lives in a village near Tongzhou. This time when the Tatars came, Chi Erwa fled with her parents and a seven-year-old sister. During the flight, she was separated from her parents.
He could only take his sister and follow the flow of refugees to the outside of Tongzhou City.
After that, Chi Erwa and his sister got involved in a group of little beggars. They went around begging for food every day and did some petty theft. Chi Erwa and his sister barely survived.
Today I heard that an adult was recruiting refugees, so Chi Erwa also came with his sister. Due to their small stature, Chi Erwa and her sister squeezed through the gap in the crowd and squeezed into the front row.
But after recruiting refugees, Chi Erwa found that it was impossible for him to meet such a requirement. Looking at the sallow and skinny sister next to him, Chi Erwa suddenly became excited. He saw the adult standing behind the stall recruiting refugees.
. Suddenly let go of his sister's hand, and suddenly ran towards the adult from among the soldiers maintaining order.
The guards around Wu Shigong suddenly saw a little beggar running towards Wu Shigong. They immediately pounced on the little beggar and pressed the little beggar to the ground. Some of the guards pulled out their knives and held them against the little beggar.
on the neck.
Chi Erwa felt the knife on his neck and felt extremely frightened in his heart. He cried hoarsely: "Sir, just do it. Accept us brothers and sisters, and we will work for you as cows and horses for the rest of our lives."
Wu Shigong looked at the appearance of the little beggar and felt that a teenage child should not be a threat to him. So he asked the guards to put away their knives. Although Wu Shigong felt a little pitiful looking at the little beggar, the little beggar should also be
Very clever. But Wu Shigong definitely couldn't agree to this little beggar on the spot. That would be throwing sparks into the powder keg of refugees.
So Wu Shigong pointed at the little beggar and shouted loudly: "If you dare to attack me, take him and his sister to the military camp." After receiving the order, the guards immediately took Chi Erwa and his wailing beggar.
My sister was dragged away.
By dusk, Shumo finally had recruited five hundred people. The excitement of the refugees who had been recruited and the disappointment of the refugees who had not been recruited formed a sharp contrast.
After Wu Shigong announced the withdrawal of the team, the refugees who had not been recruited made deafening pleas. Wu Shigong was indifferent to this. It was not that he was hard-hearted, he just did not have the ability to fully rescue these refugees.
In fact, the refugees who were recruited did not receive any good conditions. In addition to the fact that they had to be transformed into slaves of Wu Shigong's family, they only provided food for them and their families within six months, without any income.
After half a year, they can get a small amount of reward based on their performance. However, for these refugees who are struggling to die from starvation, someone can recruit them as domestic slaves, which is already very good.
After returning to the camp, Shumo came over and asked for instructions: "Master, what should we do with those two little beggars?"
Wu Shigong rolled his eyes at Shumo angrily and said, "What can we do with them? Should we kill them? Master, I am not a butcher. We have two children, and it doesn't cost much food, so just keep them."
"Oh!" Shumo agreed with a smile.
Wu Shigong then ordered: "Go again tomorrow, bring two hundred shi of food, cook some gruel for charity. Then go and recruit some male orphans aged ten to fifteen who have no parents. Remember, you can recruit as many as you can."
.”
Shu Mo asked Wu Shigong with some confusion: "Master, what's the use of recruiting some children?"
"You know nothing. You can understand my thoughts, young master. How should I behave, young master?" Wu Shigong scolded Shumo away with a smile.
During the process of Wu Shigong's service to the king, the soldiers fled. In the final analysis, the soldiers were not loyal enough to Wu Shigong.
When Wu Shigong was in Guide Mansion, he discovered that apart from the guards he brought from the capital, the most loyal to him were the dozens of orphans led by his apprentice Tao Xin.
After Wu Shigong saw this little beggar today, he suddenly thought of recruiting such a group of orphans. Although they may not be useful for a while, in a few years, when those orphans grow up, they will become the most loyal
His own group of people. And all Wu Shigong has to pay is to feed and clothe those orphans in the past few years.
Wu Shigong didn't feel any guilt at all about recruiting child labor and scouts. As long as it was beneficial to him, to hell with those morals.
In the end, Wu Shigong recruited a total of more than 260 refugees with skills and 500 able-bodied refugees. Including their families, there were more than 2,200 people in total.
Shumo has recruited more than 600 male orphans in total. What is sad is that more than 300 of them are not orphans. They were given to Wu Shigong and others because their families could not support them.
After doing all this, Tang Liu also sent someone to inform Wu Shigong that their fleet was about to arrive at Tongzhou Pier. Wu Shigong immediately asked He Fei to lead 300 soldiers as an advance guard to receive these ships. He led the fleet, broke camp and set off.