Shen Youlong, the governor and governor of Jiangsu, Wu Yi, the governor of water transport and salt transport envoy, Chen Zilong, the chief envoy of Jiangsu, Gu Yanwu, the sub-inspector of Susong, and other leading battalions or regiments arrived.
The frozen canal bank is like a lively temple fair.
It has even become a hot marriage market, with countless people coming with teenage girls at home. The Marquis of Jingnan and the Admiral Wang Xiang of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have announced to the people that they will marry the soldiers.
The emperor was willing to pay ten taels of silver as a gift to the soldiers. Due to the current situation, he now added one stone of grain as a gift. This condition was very attractive to the people of Jiangnan.
A year or two ago, the people of Jiangnan would have dismissed such conditions. Jiangnan was the richest in the world, what could ten taels of silver do?
Even if an ordinary landlord's family gets married, it may cost hundreds of taels of silver, and for an ordinary family, it will cost far more than ten taels.
Marrying a wife and a daughter has become a huge burden for the people in Jiangnan. Those who marry have to pay a very high gift, build a house, furnish furniture, hold a wedding, etc. And marrying a daughter also requires a heavy dowry. If it is less, the dowry will be paid. stay home.
But times have changed, and the situation is no longer what it used to be. The war is chaotic, and the wealthy water towns in the south of the Yangtze River have become battlefields. The south of the Yangtze River is in decay, and the people are facing famine.
At this time, ten taels of silver and one stone of grain were a huge deal.
Not to mention, in the current chaotic situation, if the daughter can marry a soldier in the imperial camp, wouldn't she have a guarantee in the future?
Don’t you see, many landlords, gentry and gentlemen have also sent their daughters to their concubines and servants. In the past, even the daughters of their concubines and servants, those gentry and gentlemen would never be willing to marry a stinky soldier, but It's different now.
The gentry in Jiangnan are now like pigs and leeks, harvested and slaughtered at will.
The Ming army married wives for its soldiers. This was a policy adhered to by His Majesty the Emperor. It was not only a welfare for the soldiers, but also the cornerstone of long-term peace and stability.
If you want to build an army that can fight and dare to fight, you must first have enough soldiers, pay them well and train them well. In addition, you must let them live with dignity, let them have a job, wives and children, fields and houses, and let them have social status. .
Of course, not every soldier can receive this benefit, and there are conditions.
There are a few hard and fast rules: you must be at least a second-class soldier, and those with long military service and high military merit are given priority.
This is also to motivate the soldiers to work hard.
Yongwei Town has 5,000 soldiers, and the other towns of Yulin, Zhongsu and Navy Zhenyuan also have 5,000 soldiers. In addition, there are 20,000 provincial battalions in four towns in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Together with local regiment training, there are many soldiers.
However, except for the four towns on the right side of the imperial camp, the other armies are still short of many troops.
But if the right wing is full of soldiers, there will be 40,000 soldiers, and there will be tens of thousands of auxiliary soldiers and rural regiments. If everyone really wants to get married, even if one person has ten taels of silver, it is not a small number, not to mention that the soldiers who get married have pens. Dowry allowance, etc.
You can only come in batches.
The conditions announced by Wang Chuangzi were very good, and many poor people came just for that one stone of food, while many gentry came to establish relations with the Ming army so that they could have a backer again.
Countless girls were sent to the military camp.
The officials at the food station in the right wing of the imperial camp were dazzled by their busy work.
In addition to registering the daughters and sisters sent by the enthusiastic people, they also had to arrange for them to undergo preliminary physical examinations and prepare them for marriage for the camp guards. Of course, they could not be careless.
There are several basic hard conditions, such as being at least four feet sixty-eight (150) tall, preferably fifteen to twenty years old, and preferably in good health without disabilities.
After these girls are screened and inspected one after another, they are sent to a temporary women's camp. There will be specialized women who will be responsible for giving them some precautions for blind dates and marriages, etc., and even arrange for them to take baths, remove insects, etc.
In addition to these, the grain station is also responsible for purchasing various materials, grain, cloth and other necessary things from nearby people on the spot. Although the army also carries them, naturally they cannot let go of those that can be collected locally.
Buy according to price and trade fairly.
This also attracted countless merchants from the common people, including unsaleable goods and some unused items at home. They were even forced to exchange some of their belongings for what they needed to tide over the difficulties.
Inadvertently, the area outside Suzhou became a lively gathering, not only for the army to purchase supplies from the people, but also as a large market for people to trade and exchange.
Some handicraft merchants and craftsmen also took the opportunity to set up stalls here and resume their old business.
It was a lively scene with people repairing pots and basins, treating illnesses and injuries, forging iron, selling firewood, cutting clothes and making shoes.
In just a few days, Liangtai reported to Wang Chuangzi that three thousand young girls had passed the screening and were registered and sent to the women's camp.
"It seems that our imperial soldiers are very popular."
Wang Chuangzi was very satisfied. He was also very busy these days. He personally besieged Suzhou City and divided his troops to attack other places. He strictly abided by His Majesty's imperial edict. This time, Su Song was to be swept away quickly. Before the main force of the Qing army went south to Jiangning, Wang Chuangzi was very satisfied.
The Qing army on Su Song's side was dealt with.
Starting from Zhenjiang, the two prefectures and counties in Changzhen basically waited for the wind. There were basically no Qing troops in the two places. The original Green Camp was almost destroyed by Yan Wogong. In addition, Wu Shengzhao and others, the situation was even more serious.
It was empty, and the few soldiers they had were basically transferred to Zhenjiang, Jiangning and other places.
They captured every city easily.
Some Qing officials in several counties still tried to resist, but were tied up by their subordinates in the middle of the night, and some were killed by the gentry in the city who led their servants into the yamen first.
Only two cities resisted, but the strong people led by the officials and squires in those places were vulnerable to the attack of the imperial camp. They were originally county towns and there were no soldiers to defend them. The Ming army attacked with cannons and artillery, and then quickly
Entered the city.
Once the soldiers entered the city, there was no fighting spirit in the city.
The Jiangnan area around Taihu Lake can be said to be a piece of meat that has been stewed for a long time. The Ming army has raided it several times before, and local armies such as Wu Yi and Shen Youlong have been developing. Therefore, the villages outside the city have long been
It had already escaped the control of the Qing court, and the remaining prefectures, counties and towns had basically been infiltrated like a sieve.
I have long been familiar with the details of the Qing army, including which prefect, where the county magistrate came from, who they were in the past, their subordinates, what their relationships were with the gentry, etc.
Now that the Ming army has returned, everything is going very smoothly.
Just follow the clues.
There are even many county magistrates, Dianshi, etc. who have long been secretly converted to the Ming Dynasty. As soon as there is an attack here, they will immediately raise their flags to rebel.
It's like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
If it weren't for the cold weather in the twelfth lunar month of winter and the weather restrictions on the march, Wang Chuangzi's right wing of the imperial camp would only be more violent. The rivers and lakes were frozen, which greatly slowed down his speed.
The main problem Wang Chuangzi faces now is not the Qing army in the Susong area, nor the Qing army in western Zhejiang. The real Qing army in the Taihu area is actually just the more than 6,000 Manchu soldiers scattered in Suzhou.
Songjiang and Hangzhou.
The rest of the Green Camp of the Qing Army, especially the Green Camp in western Zhejiang, is known to the outside world as the nemesis of the Ming Army and the elite of the Green Camp of the Qing Army. In fact, they are all their own people.
The admiral of Zhejiang, Duke Chaoyong Zheng Jiwu, the Marquis of Haiyan and Jiaxing's general Zhu Gang, etc., are all our own.
Even Li Yuchun, the governor of Zhejiang who claimed to be invincible across Zhejiang, and Pan Yinglou, the governor of Zhejiang, were actually controlled by the Ming army.
The main problem Wang Chuangzi faces now is how to establish a long-term foothold in Jiangnan and how to stabilize the main force of the eight towns in the four towns of Yuying Youxiang and the four towns of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
How to meet the military needs of the 40,000 soldiers in these eight towns on the spot is a big problem.
After this round of sweeps, we must begin to follow the reforms in eastern Zhejiang and start a new tax system, allocate tiles into acres, merge land into one, restart commercial tax, levy lijin, salt tax reform, etc.
Only if these things are clarified and implemented can Jiangsu and Zhejiang be able to raise these 40,000 combat soldiers and more than 10,000 auxiliary troops, as well as improve local regiment training, militia, etc., so that the Qing army will not have the opportunity to take it back in the future.
Wang Chuangzi was not afraid of fighting, but these things gave him a headache.
It's better to marry the soldiers, it's just a matter of paying money.
Shen Wenzhong, the governor of the right wing, is more experienced, "There has been a long-standing example in eastern Zhejiang, and now it is being implemented smoothly. We can just follow the cat's example and imitate the tiger."
"Now that we have raided various places, our first task is to clean up the remnants of the Tatar forces, and then we will take advantage of the winter to organize local areas to count the fields, sort out the acres, and conduct a household census. We also need to organize people to rescue famines, mobilize food for work relief, and arrange for people to move around.
Water conservancy, cleaning up rivers to avoid floods next year, etc.”
"Another thing that is also very important is that after clearing out the land that has been returned to government officials and military camps, it must be immediately arranged to sell it to the soldiers."
Selling land to soldiers instead of dividing it directly was a system established in Yanzhou.
Although it is said to be for sale, the price will not be very high. This is quite a benefit for the soldiers, and it also allows repayment in installments with low interest.
"Soldiers who are married can have priority to purchase land. Each soldier is limited to twenty acres. From now on, he can subscribe to purchase another ten acres every year, up to a maximum of one hundred acres of welfare land."
Wang Chuangzi waved his hand, "Lao Shen is responsible for all these troublesome things. I will be responsible for fighting and figuring out how to capture Suzhou City."
Shen Wenzhong smiled.
"The key to Suzhou City is the 1,800 Manchurian soldiers, but the most important person is Cao Jiang, the temporary governor and admiral of Suzhou. This man is an old acquaintance of ours. He can be outmaneuvered without a strong attack."
Wang Chuangzi pinched his chin, "We still have to watch out for Songjiang's He Tuo. He also has two thousand and five Manchurian soldiers who will arrive at any time. Where do you think we should choose to entertain them?"
"The Marquis can ask Governor Shen and Governor Wu for advice. They are familiar with the place and may have good suggestions."
While talking.
Shen Wenzhong's Chinese army came in and delivered a letter.
After seeing it, he smiled and said, "Tuguo Tu wants to meet us."
Wang Chuangzi smiled and said, "It seems that this local national treasure is indeed what the rumors say. If so, let him come directly to our military camp tonight to meet and talk."
"Let's see if he has the courage and some sincerity."
