"Is there anyone else in the house?" The big bull asked again.

"Two younger brothers, and a four-year-old sister." The corners of Zhu Huajue's eyes were a little moist, but fortunately, others couldn't see them.

"How nice is that? I used to have a younger sister, but unfortunately she died, and the whole family died. Da Guniu's voice gradually lowered, and he was silent for a moment and then said: "I can save fifteen taels of silver a year, and I can save fifty taels of silver after three years, and buy a few acres of land after beating away the tartars, and then ask a mother-in-law to have a few more dolls, and it is a lively family, and I will not let the ancestral tablet break the incense." ”

He spoke a little loudly, the snoring in the camp suddenly disappeared, and several soldiers stared silently in the darkness, thinking about their future, and the life depicted by the big bull filled them with longing.

"Fifty taels of silver in three years?" Zhu Huaqi frowned, fifty taels of silver is indeed not a small amount, but for the palace, it is just a sumptuous banquet when entertaining distinguished guests.

Da Gu Niu was mistaken, thinking that this number frightened Zhu Huaqi, and hurriedly said: "Yes, our Chu army has never deducted military salaries, and it doesn't cost money for food and clothing, and you can receive additional rewards if you make military merits, and you will definitely be able to save fifty taels of silver in three years!" You can do a good job in the future, don't talk back to the commander again, it's nothing to get a few strokes of the stick, if you deduct the reward, it won't be worth it......"

He was talking happily when veteran Wu suddenly walked in from outside and slapped him on the head: "Big bull, the third watch in the middle of the night is still not a corpse, what are you talking about?" ”

He glanced at Zhu Huaqi, but didn't say anything. From Wang Yi, he vaguely felt that this unqualified recruit might have a big background, as long as it wasn't too out of line.

The big bull quickly closed his eyes. shrunk into a round ball and began to sleep, but someone gently poked him in the shoulder, and when he opened his eyes, Zhu Huaqi was looking at him obliquely.

"Thank you!"

Zhu Huajue's lips didn't make any sound, but he deliberately slowed down his movements, and Da Guniu could see it clearly, and he hurriedly stretched out a finger to block his mouth. Then he frowned and closed his eyes, and shook his head twice in a small increment, signaling not to speak again. He looked frightened and scared.

Zhu Huaqi laughed silently and closed his eyes......

The soldiers have already fallen asleep, and Wang Kefan and other generals are still studying the next step of the battle plan.

Although the Xiangjiang River was easily crossed, the Qing army burned down the granary as soon as the city was broken. The Chu army did not receive much supply. The 30,000-strong army was mobile and fought, and the pursuers of the Qing army followed closely behind, and there was no time to collect grain on a large scale, and the pressure on grain and grass was very great.

After some discussion, everyone decided to attack Anren County, the capital of Hengzhou, which was originally the territory of the Hunan warlord Huang Chaoxuan, and later voluntarily surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, only three or four thousand puppet troops who had just shaved their heads to guard. It has not been looted by the war, and the attack is not difficult. High earnings are expected.

After carefully arranging the combat deployment, the generals returned to the camp to rest, but Wang Kefan stopped Wang Yi.

"Zhu Huaqi has been with you for more than 20 days, how are you doing?"

"It's good, he killed a Tartar with his own hands today, but he doesn't seem to know what to do." Wang Yi watched the six roads on the battlefield and kept paying attention to Zhu Huaqi's movements.

"It's not hard to kill people with guns, it's hard to fit into the collective." Wang Kefan said: "Chu Jun already has his own style and soul, and he will not make changes for the sake of a son, so it can only be Zhu Huaqi who makes changes to adapt to the rules of Chu Jun, and it is best not to impose two sets of standards on him." ”

Wang Yi said: "Please rest assured, the last general has been reminding himself to treat him as an ordinary soldier." ”

Wang Kefan smiled: "Since you have to remind yourself all the time, you don't really treat him as an ordinary soldier, you still have some care." ”

Wang Yi lowered his eyes and didn't dare to look at him: "The military gate is clear and clear. ”

"It doesn't matter, this is earned by Zhu Yunyu for him, it's not too much to take care of it. I just received the news that Zhu Yunyu has been executed by the Manchus, none of the men in the family have been spared, and the female dependents have been sold into slavery. Wang Kefan looked at the jumping candle flame and said slowly: "Huaxia has been inherited for thousands of years, and has been repeatedly invaded by foreign races, we can't ask everyone to sacrifice their lives for righteousness, but at least we must straighten our backs and be a man, Zhu Yunyu can do this, of course, we have to take care of his orphans." ”

Wang Yi said: "Since the handsome man has the intention to cultivate Zhu Huaqi, why put him in the musket team as a small soldier? In the end, he is a nobleman of the heavenly family, and he has read poetry and books since he was a child, which is a bit overkill. ”

Wang Kefan shook his head: "If the jade is not cut, this kind of noble prince concubine, who has been fighting with ordinary soldiers for two years, just went to his arrogance, and it will be of great use in the future." ”

Wang Yi bowed down and said yes, put down Zhu Huaqi's matter, and raised another question: "Recently, I have been fighting continuously with the Tartars, and the recruits have not had time to train and are directly integrated into the ministries, but they have pulled everyone's hind legs. ”

"Recruits are definitely not as good as veterans, but if you meet the right seedlings, you can't let them go in vain." Wang Kefan said with a smile: "In this way, the recruits recruited in the future will be arranged in separate camps, and no new recruits will be added to you for the time being." ”

As the war continued to spread, the people of Huguang fled one after another to become homeless refugees, and the source of soldiers suddenly became extremely abundant. Wang Kefan, however, adhered to the principle that the soldiers should be good but not many, and only selected 2,000 hard-working young men from among the displaced people to replenish the losses, and did not take the opportunity to expand the troops.

Wang Kefan is not not unwilling to expand the army, the key is that he can't afford to raise it, the Chu army is not only well-equipped, but also to ensure three meals a day, often have meat to supplement physical strength, 30,000 horses and horses will cost 80,000 or 90,000 taels of silver a month, Wang Kefan brought from Guangdong should have spent the silver should have been spent a long time ago, fortunately, the Chu army was strong, first in Chenzhou Mansion and Baoqing Mansion to get a vote, and then in Yongzhou Victory harvested a lot, constantly looking for the weak links of the Qing army to start, relying on the method of war to save a batch of food and materials, can hold on for about two more months.

But what about two months later? According to Wang Kefan's prediction, the Battle of Huguang is about to enter the stage of counteroffensive, and the consumption of money and grain will increase by a large margin, and if the logistical problem is not properly solved, the course of the entire campaign will be affected.

There is no good way, so I can only scrape together, ask for some from the Longwu court, and save some by myself...... But this is far from enough, Wang Kefan took out a pen and paper while thinking about the next target of robbery, and wrote a handwritten letter to the four brothers and sisters of Li. (To be continued......)