Chapter 125: Prisoners of War Sell for a High Price
"Lord Wang, do we really want to marry Yuying so far away in western Sichuan? Or do you want to be a concubine for that bandit marshal? A Manchu woman in her fifties said with red eyes. She is the king of Dingjun, Aijueluo? Puxu's Fujin Ma Jia clan. When she thought that her little daughter would marry so far, she was very reluctant to be a mother.
"Lafayette has already spoken, can we still resist the decree? Besides, now that the west of Sichuan is strong, Yuying will not suffer if she marries in the past. Maybe one day if Sichuan West wins the world, then we will become relatives of the emperor! Dingjun Wang Puxu said.
"Ahh Lord Wang, you are a member of the Qing Dynasty, how can you say such a thing? Fujin Ma Jiashi looked stunned. This Qing world is what they love Jue Luo! How can anyone with his own family looking forward to outsiders taking over the world of his own family?
"Hey, didn't I talk about it at home? Everyone knows that I, Pu Xu, am a useless person, and the world of the Aijue Luo family has something to do with my Pu Xu. On the contrary, if Yu Ying marries in the past, if Sichuan West succeeds, then our Dingjun Wangfu is a first-class family in the world, and we will no longer need other people's faces! Pu Xu said. He doesn't like to be an errand boy, firstly because he doesn't have much ability in this area, and on the other hand, because in the clan of the Qing Dynasty, he is relatively low-level, and when he encounters those who have not yet grown their hair, they have to call this uncle and that grandfather, and they are often bullied by these people. Therefore, he simply did not go to the errand, so as not to find anger. Who would have thought that at this age, there would be such a good thing. With the powerful foreign aid of western Sichuan, in the future, in these four or nine cities, he will be able to really raise his eyebrows. And he, Puxu, can also raise his head and be a man in front of many clans.
"But, sir. Didn't Yuying have a marriage contract with the child of the Duolong family? What can I do? Fujin Ma Jia said with some worry. One daughter and two marriages, this reputation is not good!
"Humph! Woman's view! This is Lafayette's frightened will, does he dare to say more than half a word? I'm sure that in less than two days, their Duolong family will definitely send someone to leave their relatives. Pu Xu said with great certainty.
Really. Two days later, the people of the Duolong family took the initiative to withdraw from their relatives, and. I don't even want the bride price I gave when I got married. For Pu Xu, the king of Dingjun, he also tried his best to stammer, which made Pu Xu very happy. The daughters have not yet married, and there has already been such a change. This change made Pu Xu very satisfied. Although he has not seen what his future son-in-law looks like, he is already very satisfied with this son-in-law.
On the 7th of the month, all the war reparations of the Manchu government were transferred to the West Sichuan Bank. After receiving the money, the western Sichuan army naturally had no reason to stay in Beijing anymore. On the same day, Wang Yuze led the army back to Chengdu. Liang Xingrong, who came to participate in the negotiations, also returned to western Sichuan with Wang Yuze, while Song Zhengping temporarily stayed in Beijing to deal with follow-up affairs. For example, hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war were captured in western Sichuan, whether these prisoners of war should be redeemed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, at what price, and so on. Other than that. It's Wang Yuze and Yu Yinggege's family affair. How to arrange it, etc. Song Zhengping was in charge of staying in Beijing and had full authority to deal with it. In order to protect his safety, Wang Yuze specially left a company of soldiers.
"Young marshal, aren't you going back to Chengdu if you don't see your fiancée?" On the way back, Liang Xingrong made a joke about Wang Yuze. In this war, Sichuan West has gained a lot, and all Sichuan people are very happy.
"What is visible? It's the same anyway! Wang Yuze said indifferently. The reason why he agreed to marry this Gege. In the name of meddling in the affairs of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. No matter how Gege is married, even if it looks ugly. That doesn't matter. However, the Manchu Qing Dynasty will not deliberately marry an ugly Gege to deliberately disgust him!
This time. Returning to Chengdu from Beijing, Wang Yuze was no longer walking the Gobi. The previous attack on the Beijing Division was to achieve secrecy. Had to go to the Gobi and the steppe. Now, they have won the war, and they don't need to suffer that anymore.
The army of western Sichuan set out from Beijing, passed through Baoding to Taiyuan and Linfen in Shanxi, and arrived in Xi'an at the end of the month. Along the way, the neat military appearance and full morale of western Sichuan deeply inspired the people under the rule of the Manchu Dynasty. Previously, the Manchu Qing Dynasty also promoted western Sichuan as a bandit who only knew how to kill, but as the goods of western Sichuan continued to pour into thousands of households. This time, the Manchus were defeated by the western Sichuan Dynasty. It immediately enhanced the status of western Sichuan in the hearts of the people. Many people can't help but have such an idea in their minds. "Come, the change of dynasty is about to begin again. The world of Tartar is unstable, and it is time for the Han people to come to power! Although, after more than 200 years of slavery education, the majority of the Han Chinese have come to agree with the rule of the Manchus. But there are also many people with lofty ideals who have not stopped resisting, and the victory of western Sichuan has undoubtedly pointed out a path for these people. In the following time, many elites rushed to western Sichuan from all over China and threw themselves into this great era.
After arriving in Xi'an, Wang Yuze left the army, let the army rest in Xi'an, and returned to Chengdu with a small number of guards and Liang Xingrong and Cai Yun. Now that the war has come to an end, the focus of western Sichuan will once again turn to construction. Especially those provinces that have just been occupied require a lot of investment. These areas should not become a burden to western Sichuan, but should contribute to the strength of western Sichuan, otherwise the battle in western Sichuan will be fought in vain.
At the same time, Song Zhengping, who remained in Beijing, began to quarrel with the Manchus again. The Manchus wanted to rearmament, weapons could be ordered from the Great Powers, but what about soldiers? You can't ask the great powers too! Even if the great powers agreed, could the Manchu rulers agree? They don't want to be puppets!
In this war, the Manchus invested millions of troops, but now there are only about 200,000 left, except for more than 200,000 killed and wounded on the battlefield, and a small part of the rest has been dispersed. The remaining 500,000 people went to prisoner of war camps in western Sichuan. Among them, there were more than 30,000 Mongolian cavalry of the Horqin Department and more than 50,000 Janissaries. The rest are the Manchu army and the green battalion, but these are all Han Chinese. The Manchu side did not attach so much importance to it.
"Director Song, now that we have signed an armistice treaty, your army should be able to release those captured soldiers of my Great Qing Dynasty, right?" Prince Gong Yixin found Song Zhengping and wanted to take back the captured 500,000 troops. In this way, after heavy training and equipped with weapons imported from abroad, you will be able to quickly become an army. It's much more than heavy recruitment and training.
"Of course. However, we have been raising these captives for two months in western Sichuan, and the various expenses are not small. If you want them back, you have to pay for them! Song Zhengping said.
The corners of Prince Gong's mouth twitched, and the gang in western Sichuan really fell into the eyes of money, Sven swept the floor! In addition, Sichuanxi's appetite is too big, he extorted 120 million taels of silver from the Qing Dynasty before, and now he still wants money, which is simply shameless!
"Then I don't know how much silver the imperial court needs to ransom these prisoners of war?" Prince Gong Yixin asked. Sichuan West is powerful, he has to bow his head!
"I'll do the math! Food, accommodation, nutrition, medical care, lost work, ....... In this way, one hundred taels of silver for each prisoner of war, and we will pack and sell all the 500,000 prisoners of war to you! Song Zhengping said.
When Prince Gong Yixin heard this price, he almost fainted without a black in front of him. A prisoner of war is 100 taels, and 500,000 prisoners of war must not cost 50 million taels of silver! With such a large sum, where can Daqing get it!
"Director Song, this price is too expensive, can it be cheaper. You know, now that the treasury of the Qing Dynasty has long been empty, and there are still a lot of foreign debts, where is there so much money to redeem prisoners of war! Prince Gong Yixin said.
"Well, ninety taels of silver for a prisoner of war, that's already a big concession I can make. Originally, when the young marshal was leaving, he asked for two hundred taels of silver for each prisoner of war, but I also took into account the difficulties of the Qing Dynasty and reduced the price by half! Song Zhengping looked like he was thinking about the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Yi Xin was almost angry with Song Zhengping, how could this middle-aged man who went up to be elegant be so shameless?
"Director Song, there are so many prisoners of war, it's also a big burden for you to keep them in western Sichuan! It's better to sell it to us at a low price, and it can also reduce the burden on western Sichuan! Prince Gong Yixin said.
"It's okay! The young marshal said. If the Qing Dynasty didn't give money to ransom them, we would have sent all these prisoners of war to build roads and mine in a month's time. Now that the territory of western Sichuan has expanded a lot, how many railways and highways have to be built! It takes a lot of manpower! Song Zhengping said indifferently.
"It's too ruthless! Actually sent to work as coolies, so you can't die of exhaustion on the construction site? Yi Xin was very speechless, and the western Sichuan side was simply settled.
"Director Song. Then we will redeem only the Mongol cavalry and the Janissaries. Yi Xin said. Since the asking price in western Sichuan was too high, they could only redeem the Mongols and bannermen, which were the basis of the Qing Dynasty's rule. As for the Han soldiers, it would be good to recruit them when the time comes. Anyway, there are so many Han people.
"Yes. One Mongol cavalryman was three hundred taels of silver. A Praetorian Guard is also three hundred taels of silver. The Mongol cavalry and Janissaries totaled more than 90,000 people. Erase the odds, even if you are 90,000 people. A total of 27,000,000 taels of silver will do. Song Zhengping said.
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