"Uncle, Xuyi is lost, and the Qing soldiers have crossed the Huai River. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Back at the camp, as soon as he entered the big tent, Li Yan greeted him directly, with a hint of excitement in his eager words.

In the big tent, Mao 18, Song Liben and others were already waiting in the tent to discuss the next step. In fact, there is not much to discuss, and the reinforcement of Yangzhou is a measure that has already been discussed.

"Now that we know the news of the loss of Xuyi, then the imperial court must also know, everyone is ready, and we will send troops to the imperial court early tomorrow morning."

Although Ren Siqi has no reverence for the Nanjing Imperial Court, the procedures that should be taken must be followed, of course, regardless of whether Ma Shiying agrees with Ren Siqi to leave Nanjing, Yangzhou must go to reinforcements.

In the past two days, Ren Siqi was busy dealing with the affairs of the court, and the rest of the Daishan Army was not idle. Li Yanzhi and Mao Shibai were responsible for further reorganizing the 20,000 new boatmen recruited in Zhenjiang, and Ren Siqi did not intend to bring them to Yangzhou. An untrained army will not only fail to improve the combat effectiveness of the Daishan army, but will be a drag on the contrary.

Of the remaining 20,000 troops, 10,000 were sailors, which were not suitable for Yangzhou at all, and although there was a canal leading directly from the Yangtze River to Yangzhou, the "Princess" and other sea ships could not enter the canal at all. So Ren Siqi ordered Mao Shibai to go to Chongming Island with 20,000 recruits and half of the naval army. And he took 10,000 infantry troops and 5,000 sailors to Yangzhou by water to support.

"This can't work, Xiucai, I didn't catch up with the battle of Qingzhou, and I can't help but go to Yangzhou." Mao 18 expressed strong dissatisfaction.

"Eighteenth brother, you are the commander of the navy, who will lead if you don't command the sailor?" Among the three major sailors, Sima Nan led the team to Luzon Trade, Oliel was in charge of guarding Daishan, and only Mao Eighteen was left.

"You can let Lao Song lead the team, or Director Li can do it." Mao Eighteen played tricks.

"Song Liben and Li Yanzhi both have their own responsibilities, and besides, they don't know how to fight." Ren Siqi said with a smile.

"Besides, Brother Eighteen, don't think that it is easy to lead sailors in the Yangtze River, the Qing army is large, and most of the Ming troops in Jiangbei are unreliable, and it is good that the more than 10,000 people who have entered Yangzhou can hold Yangzhou without losing it. The Qing soldiers could have taken out part of their forces to besiege the city, and the others crossed the Yangtze River and went straight to Nanjing. Therefore, Brother Eighteen, your water army is our strong defender. ”

Of course, Mao Shibai knew the seriousness of the matter, but Ren Siqi personally went to Yangzhou to fight with the Manchurians, and he could only watch from afar on the river, which made him feel comfortable!

"If you don't show it, you stay in the navy, and I'll lead the team to Yangzhou!" Mao Shibai solemnly proposed, he was really worried about Ren Siqi's safety.

"How can that work," Ren Siqi knew that Mao Eighteen was worried about himself, and felt warm in his heart, "Brother Eighteen, don't fight, in fact, the burden on your shoulders is not easier than mine at all, our Daishan territory is too narrow, and the strength is only this person." You have to train these 20,000 recruits as soon as possible, and quickly turn Chongming Island into our territory. ”

"Okay." Seeing that Ren Siqi had made up his mind, Mao Shibai could only agree reluctantly.

After appeasing Mao Eighteen, Ren Siqi continued to assign things. Originally, when he was in Tongling, Anthony had been sent to recruit craftsmen in Nanjing, but Anthony said that there were not many craftsmen who were willing to go to Daishan. So Ren Siqi ordered Anthony to take people to the gathering place of craftsmen overnight, whether it was coercion or inducement, in short, most of the craftsmen must be plundered to the ship tomorrow and brought back to Daishan.

Other people don't know the preciousness of these craftsmen, Ren Siqi naturally will not be unaware, and Nanjing can be said to be a place where craftsmen in the world gather to do more, and there are thousands of craftsmen in the artisan camp outside the city, these are the most valuable technical talents, Ren Siqi will naturally not let go.

The Longjiang Shipyard, located outside Nanjing, is home to the most valuable shipbuilding talents of the Ming Dynasty, and the treasure ships of the Three Treasure Eunuchs to the West are made there.

"Uncle, there are thousands of artisan households in Nanjing, shall we plunder them all? Will it be too much movement? "Anthony is embarrassed.

There are thousands of craftsmen, including five or six thousand people, and if they want to take them all away overnight, whether they can be done or not will definitely attract the attention of the imperial court.

"Well, let's pick up the important shipwrights, the blacksmiths who can make firearms, and the craftsmen who make weapons, bows, crossbows, and armor and take them away." Ren Siqi thought for a while.

Hearing this, Anthony breathed a sigh of relief, in this case, the target was only a few hundred people, and the movement was much smaller.

"Tomorrow I will apply to the imperial court to allocate some craftsmen to the Daishan army." Ren Siqi thought for a moment and added.

If you apply to the court for the transfer of some craftsmen, I believe that the first assistant Ma Shiying will not give himself this face.

After the agreement, Anthony immediately led his troops out of the barracks and headed towards the target that had already been locked.

At night, there was a commotion in the gathering place of craftsmen outside the city of Nanjing, and the noise caused the defenders on the city wall of Nanjing to look out, not knowing what was going on, and not daring to go out of the city to investigate.

During the peaceful years of more than 200 years, the population of Nanjing City became more and more, and by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the population was 2 million. Many poor people and low-status artisans were placed outside the city, and the southwest of the city was a gathering place for artisans.

Hundreds of soldiers of the Daishan Army, under the leadership of the Enemy Intelligence Division, went along the Qinhuai River to the gathering place of the craftsmen, knocked on the door, and began to "persuade" the craftsmen to leave their homes.

Although the Daishan army promised that each craftsman would be compensated with fifty taels of silver and would build a house for them in Daishan. However, after living in Nanjing for more than 200 years, most craftsmen still did not want to leave.

But in the face of bright swords and guns, and in the face of the Daishan army in the name of the imperial court, they can only obey. There are also craftsmen who are young and vigorous, and they refuse to leave home despite persuasion, and they have to wait until dawn. For such a person, the soldiers of the Enemy Intelligence Division will naturally not be polite, beat him hard, and forcibly take his family away first, then no matter how arrogant he is, he can only submit. There are very few people who dare to stand up to the army.

"Am I being too ruthless in doing this?" In the camp, listening to the crying and noise in the distance, Ren Siqi's face turned pale and said straight to Li Yan.

"Uncle is willing to give them a large amount of silver as settling-in expenses, and move their useless family members away, which is already very kind." Li Yanzhi shook his head and said.

Is it merciful? Ren Siqi smiled bitterly.

However, if these craftsmen do not take them away, after the fall of Nanjing, they will become a great help to the Qing soldiers, making weapons and casting cannons for the Qing soldiers to use against themselves. (To be continued.) )