Many landlords in Jiangnan set the land rent at 60%, and if you don't rent land for farming, there are still many people who have lost their land rushing to rent it.

The Guo family is quite benevolent, and the rent of cultivated land is only 40%.

"It is possible to lose your life in a war, and you must be mentally prepared to sign up for the army. However, in the event of a death in battle, General Guo would give a pension equivalent to five years, and if he was disabled and unable to work, he would also have a pension. ”

With such treatment, the tenants have no worries and are eager to sign up.

The villagers all praised Guo Wendong for being a good landlord, with a lower rent for cultivated land than most other landlords, and such a generous salary for military service.

The vast majority of people on the scene are interested in joining the army, but the number of places in the Shenji Battalion is only 6,000, and the nursing homes recruited in April will be converted into soldiers of the Shenji Battalion. The remaining 3,000 places will be selected from a large number of applicants.

Two days later, the training ground at the southern foot of Shenlie Mountain.

Under Guo Wendong's order, 3,000 nurses gathered here.

If it had been placed in the past, it would not have been possible for so many people to gather at the same time, otherwise it would have been suspected. Now it's different, it's the officers of the Beijing camp who recruit soldiers.

In the front of this training ground, there is a wooden platform with a height of three meters.

On the stage, Guo Wendong was wearing a six-grade official uniform, with a Qingfeng sword hanging from his waist, and Chen Zilong, Yu Yufeng, and Liu Jifang stood in the left and right positions.

As the head of the guard, Chu Yuan and several guards, guarding the master.

Yu Yufeng raised the horn and said, "All assemble!" ”

The voice spread far away, and all the personnel quickly gathered and lined up neatly on the basis of each team.

"Take a break!"

"Stand upright!"

"Count!"

For all kinds of instructions, the team members are very familiar with and execute them accurately.

After more than a month of training, although they have not yet trained their combat skills, they have the most basic organizational discipline and are able to carry out orders and prohibitions and obey orders.

Chen Zilong witnessed this team, the team was neatly arranged, everyone held their heads high, full of energy, and the novel way of gathering, the instructions he had never heard before, he was amazed.

There is also such a magical thing as the "trumpet", which is used in the army, issuing various orders, and officers making speeches, which could not be more suitable.

Now that Guo Wendong has become a general, the nurses who are usually equipped with sticks will be replaced with real knives one after another.

Ordinary people can't go out with knives, and with the identity of an officer in Beijing, it's different.

Chen Zilong said: "My lord, I have heard of the humble position, and I heard that you have been recruiting people to practice since the beginning of April. ”

These trainings were not carried out in secret, and many people in the Nanjing area knew about them.

Guo Wendong said: "Yes! Letting these people with a foundation become soldiers of the Shenji Battalion will greatly shorten the training time. ”

Chen Zilong was puzzled: "My lord, are you prescient?" I have a premonition that the Qing army will enter the customs and invade the south of the Yangtze River, so take precautions and prepare in advance? ”

In late April, Wu Sangui released the Qing troops into Shanhaiguan, and later the Qing troops entered Beijing, and this news has spread to the Jiangnan region.

Guo Wendong smiled, did not answer directly, and there was no need to explain everything to others.

Unless the police interrogate the prisoner, or the immediate supervisor cross-examines the prisoner, the answer must be answered.

He said: "My Shenji battalion needs to be equipped with a large number of hot weapons, mainly hot weapons, supplemented by cold weapons. ”

What is a thermal weapon? What is a cold weapon? Chen Zilong was puzzled again.

Guo Wendong gave a brief explanation.

"If you want to deal with the cavalry of the Eight Banners, you can either form cavalry to attack against each other, but Jiangnan lacks good horses, which is simply unrealistic, and it is a good choice to use muskets to deal with cavalry."

Chen Zilong frowned and said, "But I listened to the people in the army, in the past, when the Ming army fought against the Qing soldiers, the muskets were only fired once, and the Qing cavalry rushed up. ”

For these problems, after several dignitaries arrive, Guo Wendong will say a unified solution.

This training ground will be used as one of the training grounds of the Beijing camp, and a military camp will be built nearby.

Guo Wendong said to Yu Yufeng: "Captain Yu, let me introduce you, this is Chen Wozi, who once served as a military officer, and is now the general manager of the Shenji Battalion. ”

Yu Yufeng and Chen Zilong fought each other.

Yu Yufeng whispered to Guo Wendong again: "Young master, I was also a Ming soldier before my humble position, but unfortunately I didn't meet a good general, I really didn't expect it, and I hope to lead troops to fight on the battlefield again." ”

It's not that he doesn't want to join the army, he just wants to have a good leader, the previous leader Zuo Liangyu was a bastard, forcing him to leave, and Guo Wendong is a good leader, and he is the person Yu Yufeng wants to follow for the rest of his life.

Guo Wendong patted him on the shoulder and said: "Heroes should be useful, and I will guarantee you to the imperial court as the president of the Shenji Battalion, and you will be the seventh grade." ”

"Thank you, sir!"

Yu Yufeng knelt down on one knee at him and saluted respectfully.

Guo Wendong said to Liu Jifang again: "Liu Jifang! ”

Liu Jifang turned to face Guo Wendong and said respectfully: "My subordinates are here!" ”

Guo Wendong said: "I will guarantee you to the imperial court as the vice president of the Shenji Battalion, from the eighth grade!" ”

"Thank you, sir!" Unexpectedly able to become an officer, Liu Jifang was very excited.

Guo Wendong did two things next, the first choice was to choose the address of the arsenal.

After many field investigations, the site was finally selected in the northwest of the city, and after the selection was made, the original house was transformed into an arsenal suitable for the manufacture of weapons and equipment.

After Song Yingxing arrives, let him manage the affairs of the arsenal.

Originally, Guo Wendong opened many blacksmith shops and many craftsmen, and he happened to be arranged to work in the arsenal.

Second, it is to build a military camp, the southern foot of Shenlie Mountain outside the city is one of the important military camps, and it is also necessary to build a military camp in the city, which has dormitories, training grounds, weapons warehouses, etc.

For the address, Guo Wendong also went through a field investigation and chose the site not far north of Guo's mansion, which is also for his own consideration, his home is close to the military camp, which is more convenient to control and manage.

Originally, Guo Wendong's many blacksmith shops had many craftsmen, and they happened to be arranged to work in the arsenal.