Chapter 36: Lifting Weights Lightly and Gaining Popularity
 The sky was slightly bright, mist filled the entire city of Xi'an, thick snowflakes pressed on the houses, and the ground was already frozen.
Early in the morning, the powerful gentry were shivering and sent people to find out the news. Strong servants carrying swords and guns kept patrolling.
The ordinary poor people poked their heads out timidly, their sallow faces full of exhaustion. Last night had made them extremely miserable.
Although they had a peaceful night, they still had to go out and look for work the next day, otherwise the family would go hungry.
"Ah?" The beard on Tian Laokan's face suddenly exploded, his cloudy eyes suddenly widened, his face full of disbelief.
"Master, what's wrong?"
My wife, who was as thin as a stick and wearing an apron, rushed over impatiently.
"Look -" Tian Laokan was holding a bamboo pole and pointing to the street outside the window.
The wife was curious and cautiously stuck her head out.
I saw a group of soldiers appear on the dark and icy street, each wielding a long shovel, sweating, and constantly shoveling away the snow.
There were small snowdrifts almost every three to five feet, and the mule carts walked slowly to transport the snow away.
After the snow has accumulated, large amounts of filth and mud are constantly being picked out and transported away from underground ditches and the twists and turns of streets.
The once dirty streets have now changed their appearance, making them, the native people, quite uncomfortable.
What is even more difficult to adapt to is that these group of workers are actually the Qiu Ba people who fought yesterday. This group of warriors who show off their power are actually working?
In an instant, many doors and windows on the street were opened, and many heads poked out, with curious faces on their faces, as if they were watching a play and enjoying themselves.
Even though I was hungry, such a novel thing made the whole city of Xi'an lively.
The soldiers who were being watched were all thin-skinned, blushing when they saw them, squeezing their buttocks, and working hard.
When Wang Chunqing saw the stubble-faced Li Qi, with his burly figure and huge butt twisted in a way that made people sick to his stomach, he went up and kicked him:
"You kid, what are you so ashamed of? You are not the eldest lady of Xiulou, you are disgusting."
"Boss, can this be the same?"
Li Qi lowered his head, looked at her secretly, and said in a loud voice: "There are so many people, and there are many young and old girls!"
"Pooh!"
Wang Chunqing didn't care, spat, and said loudly to his men: "Do a good job for me, you can make a show today."
"Although the work is tiring, if a girl likes you, you will be lucky. I will personally be the matchmaker for you."
"Of course, if any of you don't want to do it anymore, you can go back..."
These words instantly aroused everyone's anger.
"Boss, we don't like girls, we just want to show our strength!"
Li Qi, who had a big butt, raised his voice and said loudly.
"Yes, we defeated the intruders yesterday, and we are very happy to benefit the village now."
"We just like Xi'an, and we will never miss the autumn. Our monthly salary is only two taels of silver. If we don't do some work, I feel sorry for King Yu..."
As soon as these words came out, although it was noisy, they made the doors and windows of the neighbors open wider, and the shy appearance of the older girl and younger daughter-in-law became clearer and clearer.
This time, the work became more efficient.
In almost one morning, the huge city of Xi'an has been tidy and tidy, as if it had been rebuilt.
After some cleaning work, the people of Xi'an slowly accepted the return of the Qin army.
Of course, what's more important is that the doors of shops controlled by Shaanxi merchants are opened, which instantly activates the market.
The city of Xi'an has completely come to life.
At noon, in units of troops, a large number of Qin soldiers beat gongs and drums, walked through the streets, and shouted continuously and repeatedly:
"The King of Yu returns to his hometown with great honor. There will be no harm in the autumn, there will be no worries for the neighbors, and the people will be at peace..."
Those who knew a little bit about writing were immediately relieved and realized that they were local soldiers and one of our own.
Nowadays, many people have never left the city of Xi'an in their entire lives. They have strong feelings about their hometown, and the township party plays a very important role.
Similarly, no matter how cruel the army is, it will not go too far towards the hometown, and can even do no harm.
For example, the dog-meat poet general Zhang Zongchang plundered Shandong, but he built bridges and repaired roads in his hometown of Laizhou. He was diligent and considerate.
This kind of rural party sentiment was especially strong in the late Ming Dynasty.
Hearing such crisp Shaanxi dialect, Zhu Yixi's mouth showed a smile, and he looked at the busy streets below:
"Xi'an, it's decided!"
"Your Highness's method is very good."
Wang Guangen hurriedly flattered him.
On the side, Feng Xianzong's eyes were red and bloodshot, holding a ledger and breathing rapidly:
"Your Highness, after a night of calculations, we can now roughly calculate the losses."
"Tell me first how many people the intruders captured and how many they took away."
Zhu Yixi's face was rosy. It was obvious that she had a good night's sleep last night and looked good.
"Yes!" Feng Xianzong nodded. His train of thought was interrupted. He flipped through a few pages before saying:
"About 90,000 intruders were captured on the battlefield. Only about 15,000 were killed by us. We trampled, accidentally killed, pushed, etc., about 10,000 people."
"Nearly 50,000 people fled in all directions. Among them, there were only less than 10,000 cavalry who followed Li Zicheng."
"Nearly 30,000 people were forced to surrender in Xi'an."
"In other words, even including those unlucky ones, the real number of casualties is only 30,000?"
Zhu Yixi was surprised.
"The army unanimously concluded that the firearms battalion was used to destroy the enemy's morale, and Bai Guangen and others were stabbed in the back. The most critical blow was that Zhu Tong changed the banner of the city, causing the intruder army to completely collapse..."
Feng Xianzong was inexplicably jealous at the end.
"Who is the first to contribute?"
King Yu smiled knowingly and said he didn't care.
"Everyone agrees that the Firearms Camp is the primary contributor, and Zhu Tongzhi (Zhu Meng) is the secondary contributor—"
The first merit is ten points, the second merit is nine points, and the ordinary merit is eight points.
In this battle, King Yu was extremely generous.
"Where are our casualties?"
Zhu Yixi was in a good mood and continued to ask.
"There were not many casualties. They were all in the firearms battalion and the cavalry battalion. Taken together, there were only five thousand people. Yes, there were less than five thousand people."
Feng Xianzong confirmed again, with a very strange expression on his face.
In this battle involving more than 200,000 people, only 20,000 to 30,000 people were killed or injured. It was really weird.
Zhu Yixi also guessed a little bit, maybe this was due to morale!
From Li Zicheng's defeat in Beijing to the present day, more than 100,000 elite troops have been killed or injured in the invasion army. What's more important is that neither northern Shaanxi nor Luoyang has ever won a victory.
Nowadays, Chuangjun's morale is extremely low and he is extremely fragile. After his home was stolen from Xi'an, his morale immediately collapsed and he has no fighting spirit.
This is also an important reason why the Shun army was forced to surrender to Nanming in history.
They are eager to use national justice to reunite the loose military morale.