The Chinese people are deeply influenced by the philosophy of the mean, no matter how severe the punishment rules are formulated above, the executors at the bottom will often automatically adjust to be somewhat flexible, compared with the blacks who were trafficked in the early days, the Chu army can be said to be very merciful to prisoners of war and earth monkeys, as long as the physical foundation is okay, survive the most difficult first year, and the mortality rate will be lower and lower.

Wang Kefan does not interfere with this, the specific proportions are all grasped by the people below, it doesn't matter how many prisoners of war and earth monkeys die or live, the key is to squeeze their labor force at the least cost, if they really do a good job, you can choose the most active release of the group, and those who are willing to stay will be treated as normal people, and create an example for others who can get through hard work.

"Speaking of which, there is one thing that just needs to be decided by the military." Tian Jianxiu said: "I led the army to the Northern Expedition this time, and I encountered the surrender of the Eight Banners many times, and when Hefei City was broken, there were nearly 100 Eight Banners with red flags kneeling down together, and they were all beheaded according to military regulations. ”

"Yes, I also met in Zhejiang, the Eight Banners used to be a few sparrows, they had a strong temper, they couldn't survive, and they never surrendered, but since the Battle of Ningzhen, more and more Eight Banners soldiers surrendered in each battle." Wang Sheng said: "What General Tian said is quite reasonable, please make a decision by the military gate." ”

Wang Kefan thought about it, turned to Cheng Wen, and asked for his opinion, Cheng Wen also agreed, the battlefield is fought with human lives, if the enemy fights to the end one by one, the Chu army will have to do its best in every battle, and it will bring great losses in the long run.

Wang Kefan hesitated for a while. said: "In this way, let the Han army flag surrender first." Forget about the Eight Banners, I'm still the same sentence. The whole family of Manchu Tartars is only one million, kill one less one, let one go and give birth to a litter in the future, we must cut the grass and eradicate the roots. ”

The Han military banner is all Han people who surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, in other words, it is impossible to kill, the Qing court still has a certain strength, as long as the opening is loosened, there are many traitors who want to be high-level slaves, and simply allow the Han military banner to surrender. Even if they are all sent to mining and opening mountains, at least there will be a group of coolies.

"The work of hard work can be done by captives and earth monkeys, but we must be kind to those refugees who fled from Jiangbei, they are different from the locals in Jiangnan, the clans have been scattered, as long as they find a way to make a living, they can take root in Shanghai, and they will be the most loyal to our Chu Xun in the future." Wang Kefan said: "The problem of people. It will be solved next spring at the latest, don't worry, after taking Jiujiang Mansion and Wuchang Mansion, our sailors will open up the entire Yangtze River waterway. The manpower and material resources of Huguang and Jiangxi can go down the river, so that Shanghai changes every month, and shows the people of Jiangnan our ability to govern the world. ”

The importance of water transport in this era. No matter how much emphasis cannot be overemphasized, the Yangtze River waterway is a gift from God to the Han civilization. The transportation cost is low and the volume is large. The speed is relatively fast, and after opening up the Yangtze River waterway, Shanghai can get the full support of the rear, and the construction speed can be greatly improved.

"Actually, Shanghai is changing every month, and the gentry and people in Jiangnan are all frightened, saying that our Chu Xun has a secret method of paving roads and building houses, shrinking the land into a ruler, and overwhelming the mountains and seas!" Cheng Wen smiled and introduced to Wang Sheng and Tian Jianxiu: "In fact, there are any secret methods of the immortal family, they are all led by the students of the Stone Drum Academy, and the students of the Stone Drum Academy are amazing, they have the talent to help the world, and they can put down their bodies and endure hardships, I think they should be rewarded with a show of talent and fame, and they are worthy of these children." ”

The students of Shigu Academy, study very hard, although the academy has only been open for two years, the first batch of graduates have been freshly baked, under the instruction of Wang Kefan, the current education model of Shigu Academy is fast-tracked, Qing theory, practical, more like a Ming Dynasty Lanxiang technical school, after two years of study, the knowledge level of this batch of graduates is roughly equivalent to the high school students of later generations (not high school graduates, not to mention the humanoid mobile library that knows astronomy and geography before the college entrance examination), and has relatively complete knowledge of mathematics and physics, And it can be applied to practical work. Thanks to their efforts, together with nearly 10,000 coolies and tens of thousands of people, the construction speed of Shanghai far exceeded the level of this era, and the shipyards, wharves, and living quarters all began to take shape, like a new city suddenly rising overnight.

Wang Sheng smiled and said to Cheng Wen: "Ability is good, the fame of Xiucai is to read dead books, there is no big use, I was a Xiucai at the beginning, I can't do anything except study, I am useless to be a scholar, I think it is a disadvantage to give them Xiucai fame!" ”

Tian Jianxiu nodded: "Capable craftsmen, all the craftsmen who came out of Shigu Academy are capable craftsmen, I have heard about it a long time ago." ”

"No, not only can they be craftsmen, they can also be officials, and they can also be big officials." Wang Kefan interjected: "Who said that to be an official, you must take the imperial examination, our Chu election officials look at their ability, second, their merits, and thirdly, they don't necessarily have the fame of the imperial court, and one day in the future, the diploma of our Shigu Academy is more valuable than the fame of the imperial court!" (The word diploma was coined in the Tang Dynasty.) ）

In Wang Kefan's future development plan, the Yangtze River route and Shanghai have an irreplaceable and important role, and this kind of strategic development direction is not a secret in Chuxun's high-level management, from Wang Sheng to Cheng Wen to Tian Jianxiu, they are full of confidence in this.

The topic turned back and forth to the southwest, and this time everyone's attention was no longer limited to the war in Guangxi, but extended to the entire southwest, and there was a heated discussion on the western army and the Yongwang Zhu Cihuan.

The development of the Chu army to this day, everyone is full of confidence in defeating the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the Longwu court often adds to the chaos, but Wang Sheng, the representatives of the "hawks", do not take them seriously, judging from the current shape, it is the Western Army that poses the greatest threat to the Chu army.

"Guilin may be able to hold this time, maybe it can't be held, if Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo continue to increase troops to Guangxi, sooner or later the imperial court officers and troops will not be able to withstand the day, if Guilin is lost, the Chu army must do their best to take her back." Tian Jianxiu analyzed the map: "How can you allow others to sleep soundly next to the couch, Guilin is close to the south of Huguang, if you don't pull out this nail, let's not want to sleep peacefully." ”

"Then you still have to ......fight," Wang Sheng said in a deep voice: "The Western Army is brave and good at fighting, Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, and Liu Wenxiu are all famous generals in the world, and our army will not fight." If you are at war with them, you should do everything in your power to win. I am afraid it is not appropriate to rely only on Tan Xiao and Zhou Guodong. ”

"Yes, although Tan Xiao and Zhou Guodong are both good generals. I am afraid that it is still slightly inferior to the three kings of the Western Army, and it is best to wait for the battle of the Yangtze River to end before transferring the army south. Tian Jianxiu said very politely, comparing Tan Xiao, Zhou Guodong and Li Dingguo with a generation of war gods, it seems to be derogatory and praised, and the way of speaking is very skillful, of course, in this time and space, Li Dingguo has not yet had the brilliant record of two famous kings, and most people think that he and Sun Kewang and Liu Wenxiu are all in between.

Cheng Wen nodded and said, "The two generals are right. In the rich provinces south of the Yangtze River, in addition to Nanzhili and Zhejiang, it has to be Guangdong, if the western army is allowed to enter Guangdong, Sun Kewang is like a tiger with wings, and sooner or later it will become a big trouble for the army. The military gate can be accomplished. ”

"Kill a thousand enemies, and lose eight hundred." Wang Kefan rubbed his brows and said: "The Western Army has more than 100,000 elite soldiers, and it occupies the danger of Yunnan-Guizhou terrain, even if our army does its best. It may not be able to wipe out the Western Army, but it was taken advantage of by the Manchu Tartars. If peace can be reached, we should do our best to promote it. In addition to not being able to enter Guangdong, you can't occupy Guilin. Other conditions can be promised to Sun Kewang. ”

"I'm afraid that people are harmless and tigers are harmful, and tigers hurt people." Tian Jianxiu said: "Wang Junmen wants to negotiate peace. Sun Kewang may be salivating over Huguang, he is under the banner of Yongwang Zhu Cihuan, if he doesn't start this morning and let him sit big, he will not be able to control it in the future......"

Among the generals of the Chu army, many advocated that after the end of the Yangtze River Campaign, they should immediately move south and engage in a decisive battle with the Western Army, even if they could not be completely eliminated, they should be crippled and defeated, so that they would not dare to enter Guangxi for half a step.

Wang Kefan is different from what they think, of course the traverser knows that the Western Army is by no means easy to mess with, if it were not for Sun Kewang and Li Ding's domestic bars in history, only with the skills of the two big traitors Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui, they may not be able to attack Yunnan in another ten years. Under the current conditions, there is still some room for maneuver between the Chu army and the western army, and there is no need to make a situation of endless death, otherwise both sides will really lose.

He has not yet expressed his position, Cheng Wen first stood up against it, as a civilian official, Cheng Wen believes that it is the best policy to surrender without a fight, and a direct decisive battle with the Western Army is worth the loss.

The civil officials and the military generals were in dispute, Wang Kefan finally made a decision and adopted a compromise approach: "You can fight, but you can only fight small battles, you can only fight skillful battles, you can only win and not lose, there is no need to fight with the Western Army, just let them know that they are powerful, it depends on Tan Xiao and Zhou Guodong, they don't have to fight a big victory, as long as they can beat the Western Army, Sun Kewang will no longer dare to provoke me." As for Yongwang Zhu Cihuan, it will be the most beautiful for a year and a half, such as today's shape, it is too naïve to want to sit in the world just by virtue of the name of a Chongzhen prince, Sun Kewang will lift a stone and hit his own foot sooner or later. ”

The Western Army is not monolithic, the Intelligence Bureau has begun to vigorously infiltrate the southwest in the past two months, and there are many tricks that can be used in the future, so we can wait and see.

Since Wang Kefan made a decision, everyone had no objections, and then discussed some details, mentioning the sale of artillery and new bird guns to Zheng Chenggong, Wang Sheng did not understand very much.

"In the last few major wars, the new bird guns and cannons are the key to our army's victory over the enemy, and they should be strictly controlled so as not to leak to the outside, but the military gate was sold to Zheng Damu, aren't you afraid of raising tigers in the future?"

"It's okay, I just don't sell it, Zheng Chenggong can also find a way to imitate it, instead of letting others pit his silver, it's better for us to pit it." Wang Kefan said: "Zheng Chenggong bought our new-style bird guns, and he will be subject to me in the future, all kinds of accessories have to be bought from us, and he may not be able to imitate paper shell bullets. ”

Wang Sheng shook his head honestly: "I didn't understand." ”

"Hehehe." Wang Kefan said with a smile: "The new bird gun is too complicated, the bolt and other accessories will be constantly damaged, and there is a lot of attention to ammunition, we are doing a long-term business with him, first sell him a bird gun, if there is any problem in the future, he has to buy it from us at a high price, this is a long-term business, and some ...... do it."

Although the flintlock pistol is more powerful and the firepower is more fierce, the cost is far higher than that of the bird gun, and it has lost a lot on the battlefield, and it is not easy to replenish it in the future, so the new bird gun will continue to be used for a period of time in the future. If Wang Kefan didn't sell this new type of bird gun to Zheng Chenggong, he would also try his best to imitate it, in recent years, the Chu army has been fighting all kinds of battles, and there are a lot of flintlock pistols and new bird guns flowing out, Zheng Chenggong got some samples to imitate, it is not impossible to happen.

Chu Jun sold the new bird gun to Zheng Chenggong, and he had no motivation to make his own gun, just like buying a printer and having to match a toner cartridge, all kinds of vulnerable accessories and even ammunition had to rely on Chu Jun, which was equivalent to being choked by the neck.

At the end of the conversation, the topic turned to the Manchu side.

In the last few months, the Chu army has attacked from all sides, and it has blossomed in many places, but the reaction of the Qing court is very strange, basically passive, very sluggish, and completely different from the enterprising style of previous years. Wang Sheng and others are very strange about this, although the Qing army was beaten in the Battle of Ningzhen, but the follow-up response was quite agile, and Kong Youde was sent down the river in time to rescue Tan Tai from Nanjing, which shows that the Qing court was not stunned because of this fiasco, no matter how things have passed, the Qing court has become more and more heavy.

Isn't there some kind of trick behind this?

The Chu army is now too open on the front, and the relative flaws are not small, if the Qing army hits a large-scale counterattack, the spring that has been stretched to the limit is likely to break, Wang Sheng and others are a little worried about this.

"Fight when you need to, don't think so much, the Tartars won't fall from the sky...... Wang Kefan encouraged everyone to concentrate on fighting the Yangtze River Battle, and the Qing court's abnormal reaction didn't need to pay attention to him.

According to the reliable information of the scouts, Dolgon's recent illness has worsened, and he is bedridden again, after the death of Prince Zheng Zilharang, the contradictions and struggles within the Qing court have become more and more intense, and unlike the violent death in history, Dolgon has recently been seriously ill, bedridden for a long time, and has a certain premonition of his death, taking advantage of the energy to allow, a cruel purge was launched within the Qing court, as long as the southern war does not collapse in a large area, he does not care about it at all. (To be continued......)