On July 21, 1881, Ma Ronghe, the governor of the Green Battalion on the left road of Fujian, was allowed by Li Henian, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, to set up recruitment points in Changle County, Minhou County, Houguan County and other places in Fuzhou to recruit new soldiers.

"The Green Battalion on the left recruits new recruits, and anyone who has reached the age of sixteen and is in good health can be recruited into the army! The big guys are looking at it with their eyes wide open!

Recruit 600 infantry, the monthly salary of the infantry leader is 4 taels and 5 yuan, and the regular soldier is 3 taels and 5 yuan.

100 artillery soldiers were recruited, and the artillery leader was paid 5 taels a month, and the regular soldiers were 4 taels and 2 dollars.

Recruit 300 engineering and logistics soldiers, and 3 taels and 1 yuan per person per month! …………”

A group of twenty or thirty infantry of the Green Battalion looked at the gong and loudly agitated, "As a soldier to serve the imperial court, you will make meritorious contributions in the future, and the imperial court and the admiral will be indispensable to your rewards. ”

"This official, a few years ago, Marshal Zuo recruited soldiers, and the military salary was 4 taels and 5 yuan per month for each regular soldier, and recently the price of rice and flour and grain has risen, and 3 taels and 5 yuan of silver can't support a family of four, what does it mean to be a soldier under you!"

"Lord Admiral is a little stingy, the infantry and artillery only give three or four taels of silver a month, if you become a soldier of Lord Ma, the brothers are not allowed to drink the northwest wind!"

A few soldiers in their uniforms mixed in with the crowd cheered.

"Bold! The Admiral was ordered by the Governor to recruit new soldiers, where is it the turn of a few ** to make trouble, if you dare to act like this again, this official will immediately take you down and ask for the guilt! ”

"Haha, a small general, the official is not big, the official is not small, Lao Tzu is still standing here, what can you do with Lao Tzu!"

Out of the crowd came an officer of the Green Battalion with a knife, looked at the chief officer in front of him, and said in an arrogant tone.

"My lord is angry, the person on the other side is Wang Qianzong under the command of Jianning Town, there are one or two hundred soldiers under his command, and he acts arrogantly, and he has always been at odds with our Mazi battalion."

An officer and soldier of the green battalion stood beside the general and reminded carefully.

"What about Mr. Qianqian in Jianning Town! Lao Tzu is not an officer and soldier under his name, what are you afraid of him doing! ”

"Our Mazi battalion has the support of the Admiral, and we are not afraid of them Jianning Town, but the general soldier of Jianning Town is the favorite general of Zuo Dashuai, if we offend him, we will be in big trouble."

"Humph! What bullshit, others don't know his details, Lao Tzu has been in the army for 20 years, and he still doesn't know his identity as Cai Yuanlong, but a rebel general who surrendered on his knees, took the path of Zuo Dashuai, changed his name and surname, and really thought he was a court general with strong roots! ”

The general officer was Ma Ronghe's henchman, who fought with him during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so as a Taiping general who surrendered earlier, he knew more about Cai Yuanlong's true identity than ordinary Qing court officers.

Cai Yuanlong joined the Taiping Army at the age of sixteen, his people fought bravely, resourcefully, in the defense of Taicang City, the use of fraudulent surrender, defeated the Qing army led by Li Hongzhang's younger brother Li Hezhang, and thus formed a grudge with the Huai army faction.

At the end of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the overall situation was declining, in order to save his life, Cai Yuanlong chose to surrender to Zuo Zongtang, and after Zuo Zongtang accepted Cai Yuanlong, not only did not kill the surrendered troops, but also let him command the original subordinates, reduced the surrendered Taiping army to eight battalions of 4,000 people, and appointed him as a four-grade official.

Knowing that Zuo Zongtang accepted Cai Yuanlong, Li Hongzhang sent the general Cheng Xueqi to ask for someone, but Zuo Zongtang refused.

Later, in order to reduce trouble, Zuo Zongtang changed Cai Yuanlong's name to Cai Yuanji, and his wife Li changed his surname to Yang.

The Taiping general is a taboo thing in the Qing army, and his own chief officer is the Taiping general, even if the chief officer knows Cai Yuanlong's true identity, he can only vent a few words in front of his subordinates, and dare not say it in public.

watched as several officers and soldiers from Jianning Town gradually stopped at the recruitment point.

Summoned three or four of the chief officers, and ordered, "Today is the first day to erect a flag to recruit troops, and the dogs in Jianning Town will come over to make trouble, and it is clear that they can't get along with the Mazi battalion, and you will wait until they leave, and then quietly follow behind them to see if they have any out-of-the-ordinary actions, if you find out about the situation, come back immediately to report, and you can seize some handles, and you can join them in front of the governor!" ”

"The little one understands, it is rumored that the officers and soldiers of Jianning Town in the camp are colluding with the gangs and local militia groups, and a lot of the breech money in the Fuzhou militia group flows out of Jianning Town.

"The smuggling of arms, the sale of ammunition and weapons, the green battalions and patrol battalions on the left and right roads of Fujian have done it secretly, and it is not good for everyone to make trouble on the surface, but as long as they have the evidence of their arms smuggling, and then hand over the evidence to the Admiral, they can also make them suffer a little."

"Yes, the little ones do what the adults tell you to do." …………

"Lord Admiral, the best Wuyi Mountain rock tea, you can taste it."

On the left road of Fujian, a businessman in brocade talked with Ma Ronghe.

"Yes, the aroma is tangy, the aftertaste is long, and it is really a good tea."

"It's good if the adult likes it, there is just a batch of freshly picked tea in Liu's shop, and I will send it to the adult immediately."

"The kindness of the shopkeeper Liu is understood by the official, the tea is forgotten, if there is anything, although the shopkeeper Liu says it directly, there is no need to be polite with the official."

"I can't hide the eyes of adults, Liu came to visit adults this time, and he really has something to ask for."

Liu Yiguang put down the teacup and said respectfully, "Fujian is narrow and densely populated, and there is a shortage of local materials, and we, the people in the coastal areas, rely on God's face to make some hard money at sea. ”

After Liu Yiguang finished speaking, the servants around him immediately presented a boxy brocade box and put it on the table.

"One hundred taels of gold, the right to be used as a congratulatory gift to celebrate the inauguration of the adults, as for the hard-earned money of the military masters, Liu will send someone to the adult's mansion every month in the future."

"Lord Zhongtang presided over the Westernization Movement, supported the establishment of industries and the development of overseas trade, although this official is a military attaché, but the party in office, is still very supportive of commercial trade in the jurisdiction."

Ma Ronghe said with a gentle expression: "Although the shopkeeper Liu has his heart in his stomach, as long as the goods traded by the gentry in Jinjiang meet the requirements of the imperial court, the officers and soldiers of the green battalion on the left road promise not to embarrass you." ”

"We and the people of Fujian are all law-abiding court people, and they will definitely not do anything to embarrass adults, but sometimes the merchants bring some special goods, which is not convenient to pass through the coastal ports, and when the time comes, we will have to bother the officials under the adults to help."

"It's easy to say, at that time, the shopkeeper Liu said hello in advance, and the matter of goods leaving the port will not be in trouble."

Ma Rong waved his hand generously, full of joy, governing one side, holding thousands of soldiers and horses in his hands, and the way to make money did not need to be found by himself, just send it to the door, wouldn't it be much better than sitting on a cold bench.