The question of the captives is indeed a big one.

If these captives were left in Li Zicheng's hands, the method of dealing with them would be much simpler. Adapt these people casually and send some weapons. If you don't have a weapon, you can have a farm tool or a stick in your hand.

No armor? That's not a problem. There was very little armor in the Dashun army, and the only armor was used to equip those old battalion soldiers of Li Zicheng's lineage, as well as the personal soldiers used by various generals to equip themselves, where there was any surplus to these captive soldiers.

Some people may say, didn't the Dashun army defeat and incorporate a lot of Ming troops, the Ming army should have armor for everyone, how could there be only such a little armor.

This problem is actually easy to understand, in the early and middle Ming Dynasty, the treasury was abundant, the military expenditure was naturally sufficient, and the soldiers were basically all wearing armor.

Because the cost of armor is not cheap, after all, in ancient times, it was made by hand. One is that the technical cost is too high, and the other is because it is the same as building weapons, it is completed by a craftsman from beginning to end.

As a result, armor is very inefficient and expensive to manufacture.

And even if he wears armor, he is the first to guard the frontier with the equipment of the frontier. In many places, the soldiers of the guard post are only qualified to wear armor, only some generals and commanders, as well as some of the generals' personal soldiers.

It's good that ordinary soldiers can have the uniform of a regular army.

In the late Ming Dynasty, the national strength declined, and the treasury gradually dried up. Coupled with the corruption of officials at all levels, military spending is even less. Not to mention the ordinary guards and soldiers, even the border army can't guarantee that everyone will wear armor.

Moreover, with the progress of the equipment and power of firearms, the iron armor that was heavy and had poor defense against firearms gradually did not adapt to the needs of the battlefield.

In this case, cotton nails and paper nails were born, which sound a little strange.

In order to resist firearms, cotton armor in the Ming Dynasty began to be lined with iron sheets and fixed with copper nails on the outside. The cotton armor of the Qing army was originally captured from the Ming army, and later improved by itself.

Cotton armor is easy to make, inexpensive, and unlike traditional heavy armor, which needs to be tailor-made, it is convenient for mass production, light weight, and has strong protection against early firearms (bullet wounds are not serious).

The method of making cotton armor is also relatively simple, with 7 seven catties of cotton, with cloth in the jacket, the thick thread is sewn tightly, soaked in water, taken out to pave the ground, with the foot down-to-earth, to not fat and swollen as the degree. It is ready to use after drying.

Most of the armor we saw in film and television dramas in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties was actually cotton armor. This kind of cotton armor is good for early firearms, but it is very poor for cold weapons such as bows and crossbows. On the contrary, the iron armor is more effective against cold weapons.

Paper armor, as the name suggests, is a simple protective armor made of paper, framed with hard cloth, and then prevaricated with paper tendons.

Paper armor is light in weight and light to wear, and has a certain protective effect on bows and crossbows, but it is useless against firearms. This kind of paper armor is generally used more on soldiers in the southern region or in the naval division.

However, it is a bargain like cotton armor and paper armor, and not everyone in the Ming army can have it at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and most of the Ming soldiers are wearing mandarin duck robes.

In such a situation, it is naturally impossible for the Dashun army to have extra armor to equip the recruits.

Moreover, Li Ziyuan himself used these recruits as cannon fodder.

Jiang Chuan's thoughts are naturally different from his. As mentioned earlier, these captives were the source of labor and reserve soldiers in Jiang Chuan's eyes.

What he wants is the complete return of these captives, whether they are ordinary people or soldiers in the end, they must be truly loyal and grateful to him Jiangchuan, not the kind of cannon fodder soldiers who follow him in desperation just to survive.

Understanding what Jiang Chuan meant, after the three of them pondered for a while, Bai Shan said: "Lord, since this is the case, we will first rectify here for a few days, and according to the performance of those captives in these days, we will separate those who are willing to continue to be soldiers and those who are unwilling to be soldiers and want to be civilians again, and then according to their physical condition, those who are healthy and eligible will be left behind, and the remaining old, weak, sick and disabled will all be dismissed." Those who stayed were sent back to Liaodong for the military division to settle. ”

Di Qing and Shanjia also agreed with Bai Shan's opinion.

Jiang Chuan pondered for a moment and nodded, "That's it." Another thing to keep in mind is that in the selection process, a criterion is set, for example, men between the ages of 16 and 30, who are in good health and have normal intelligence, are given priority to be integrated into the army, and personal will is the second consideration. The rest of those who are in good health and still have the ability to work will be transferred to the households. ”

"You are responsible for this matter, Baishan." Jiang Chuan explained.

"The last general obeys!" Bai Shan got up and took the order.

"My lord, there are still a lot of women among the captives, how should they be placed?" Di Qing asked again.

Although men and women are equal, in all the wars throughout human history, especially in the wars of plunder carried out by nomads against developed peoples, women are plundered as well as cattle and sheep, and property.

The reason is naturally understood by everyone, one is to be the personal slaves of those who are victorious, and the other is that these women will be rewarded to those warriors who have made great achievements.

With more women, the tribe or nation can give birth to more people, so that more warriors will be obtained, and the strength will be stronger.

In a way, women have even made history.

Although for Jiang Chuan, who has received a modern equal education, it is a cruel thing to treat these captive women as fertility machines and targets of plunder.

But he can't change this fact for the time being. After all, this is a troubled time. What he can do now is to let these poor people who were born in troubled times shelter under his wings and gain more dignity and security.

That's what he can do now.

As for what kind of equality between men and women is being pursued at present, it is obviously unrealistic.

He paced twice and then turned around and ordered: "For these women, those who are willing to go to Liaodong will be sent to Liaodong to be incorporated into the households, and those who are unwilling will be resettled on the spot." Now there are a lot of wastelands in the whole of Beizhili, including the vicinity of Tianjin Wei. These people are incorporated into the private households, and the system of protecting the armor is carried out. ”

"By the way, including the old, weak, sick and disabled among those men, those who are willing to be resettled on the spot are also incorporated into the households."

Bai Shan received the order in a deep voice.

After saying that, Jiang Chuan deeply felt that the speed of the advance was too fast, so that now he had to stop to digest and consolidate these results.

And these things should have been the responsibility of Liu Ji's civil affairs yamen. However, Liu Ji is now in Liaodong, and he still has a bunch of things to do, and there are not enough people at all.

But he couldn't stay here forever and be entangled in these things.

After thinking about it, Jiang Chuan turned to Di Qing and said: "General Di, you and General Baishan are temporarily responsible for the appropriate size of Tianjin Wei, and Baishan is mainly responsible for the diversion and placement of prisoners. Shanjia, three days later, you will take the people of your headquarters to the capital with the king. Jinan Mansion is not in a hurry, they can't run. ”

"The last general obeys!" The three of them stood up and shouted in unison.