On Saturday, April 25, 1643, the eighth day of the third month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Empire.

Now that the guard system has existed in name only, the Hainan Wei Command Envoy Haikou Thousand Households has already become a part of the coastal port of Qiongshan County, Qiongzhou Prefecture. In the early years, the dilapidated castle was used by the local guards as a warehouse for participating in the maritime trade.

Since the New Deal in Qiongzhou promoted by the Nanhai Firm, the lives of ordinary households have improved somewhat, but the military households in Qiongzhou, who have been reduced to free labor for officers, are still dilapidated and poor. Since the beginning of the Wanli year, the military households in the Haikou Thousand Households Office have fled Yan Zòng, and now the military households still in the office are less than 300 people with the old and the young.

In addition to the symbolic annual inventory of the military household register, the court received a shortage of food and salary. Including the thousands of households in Haikou, the entire Hainan Wei was completely left with a sloppy skin and still hung half-dead, and the remaining military households were either assigned by the officers of the guard to work on the docks, or to cultivate crops imported from the Nanyang for others.

Today, the Haikou Thousand Households Office is very lively, crowded with thousands of young and strong men from Qiongshan County, Lingao County, Ding'an County and other surrounding places, and even includes young military households in Changhua Thousand Households, Nanshan Thousand Households, Qinglan Thousand Households and other places.

Compared with Guangzhou, where the personnel environment was more complicated and it had to deal with more troubles before it could be started, the recruitment of troops for the Qiongzhou battalion of the Guangdong New Army began soon after the spring sowing.

The young peasants in patches and straw hats craned their necks curiously, looking at the pergola at the end of the line, and talking to each other, probably meaning that even if they were not selected, they could still have a full meal. In the meantime, you can also see a number of capable men who are obviously not dressed as Han people, they are Li hunters from the Shuli settlement, and now they are also eager to try.

The unkempt beggar-like soldiers were taken behind them by their guards officers like slaves to be sold, standing on the edge of the cleared Haikou City Drill Ground. I am also waiting for the selection of the recruiting group. A few hundred households sat comfortably in the pergola drinking tea and chatting, chatting about the upcoming harvest, while the military households could only be exposed to the hot sun or hung their heads or looked numb.

But no matter what kind of background, basically most people's eyes fall on a dozen strangely dressed men in the selection area. I saw that these people were strong and powerful, dressed in dark gray delicate short-sleeved military uniforms that were completely different from those of the Ming Dynasty official army, with big boots on their feet, short-brimmed cloth hats, and almost all of them had a circle of whips in their hands. It looks fierce and vicious, and even a few people are blonde and blue-eyed!

Standing in the selection pergola next to the wall of the guardhouse, which had collapsed most of the time, and beating Makarov, who had personally presided over the selection work since he entered the selection ground today, the tangled expression on his face covered with flesh did not change. A smooth and beautiful Chinese language flew up and down, splattering everywhere, while the few small officials in Qiongshan County who stood beside him and were responsible for recording were sweating, with bitter expressions and expressions that were difficult for someone to serve.

"Damn it. This is the result of your previous primaries? This kid is not as tall as a rifle, even if he is a rabbit, he may not be qualified! ”

Faced with a small boy who looked no more than ten years old, Makarov directly ripped off the cloth mark on the opponent's arm, which was used as a first-round primary.

"My God, is this army devoid of fatherly love. Need an old man to charge into battle?! Or do you need a whole company of chefs with a lot of life experience? ”

The dozens of gray-haired old peasant men in the team made Makarov's eyes widen, and after a few seconds, he pointed helplessly to the sidelines.

"Hell. Again, I emphasize that moving is moving, but there is really no need for soldiers with two legs of the same length here! ”

A lame military youth was identified by Makarov at a glance. While personally pulling out of the crowd in line, he unceremoniously blew his beard and glared at a certain Ming army colonel beside him.

"No, no, no, young man, you're brave, but you're too thin, I'm sure you won't last a week's training, so go home!"

Makarov shook his head at a thin, stubborn young tenant farmer, and although he could admire the simple and tough gaze of the other man, he did not think that such a soldier could go into battle.

"I said, who can understand what he just said?"

A Li hunter chirped a lot, patted his bow and arrows and looked up, but Makarov still showed a confused expression after a minute.

"Ahem...... This horse sect leader, if you continue to choose like this, I'm afraid you won't be able to raise it in another month, right? ”

Shen Tingyang, who was sitting in the distance and observing, finally couldn't see it. Not to mention that he was obviously unqualified, even the young man who seemed to have no problem in Shen Tingyang was eliminated by Makarov with such and such a scolding.

Seeing that these Huamei consultants are meddling to such an extent, I feel a little dissatisfied. If it weren't for Zhao Youheng's clear statement that the selection of troops must follow the opinions of Zhang Jianye and Huamei, and he also had the heart to observe, he would have returned to the city a long time ago.

"Honorable lord, you must know that they are going to fight in the future, and I don't want to let the opponent's results expand inexplicably." Makarov raised the whip in his hand and pointed to the guide, "This is the task given to me by my commander before departure, I must do my best, don't you need to see a great army full of strength?" ”

"It's good to be selective, but there are only three days left in the selection period, so it's better to relax a little bit."

On the other side, Zhang Jianye, who was the chief instructor of the New Army and accompanied the Huamei Advisory Group to be responsible for the whole process of recruitment, could not hold back. Although he knew that these Chinese military leaders had countless times higher requirements for the physical quality of their soldiers than those of Daming, the new battalion in Qiongzhou was an army controlled by the Ming Dynasty after all, and it was no problem for the consultants to express some opinions, and it was a bit too much to pick and choose in person.

"Really...... Okay, maybe I'm too harsh......" Glancing at the Ming officials present again, as well as the crowded Ming youth, Makarov finally shrugged his shoulders and said that he had indeed been too involved in the drama before.

However, Makarov seemed to remember something again, twisted his neck and looked around several times before turning back to the Chinese sergeant behind him who was measuring the height of a recruit and asked, "Sergeant, where is your Sergeant Yushan?" Hell, I'm so busy right now that I almost forgot about God, and there's so much he needs to care about here! ”

"Report to Sergeant Major Makarov, Sergeant Yushan is chatting with a few friendly people outside." The Chinese sergeant turned around and replied in a sonorous and forceful manner.

"Friendly people? This idiot. Has he forgotten his duty? Makarov muttered, handed over the draft to his deputy, and walked towards the pergola, intending to drink saliva to soothe and moisten his mouth, which he had not stopped for almost two hours.

"Don't push, come one by one. After measuring the height, take the red cloth strip to the other side and continue to line up! ”

The Chinese sergeant who took over the task nodded politely to Zhang Jianye on the side, and resumed the selection work, but this time, the selection work was much faster.

……

And in the process of Makarov's dry mouth selecting soldiers, Yu Shan was at the dock in Qiongshan County. Sitting in a small tea shop with a few middle-aged men dressed as businessmen.

“…… Need soap, perfume and cigarettes? No problem, I can offer all the collections from low-end to high-end, as many as you want! I made a note of it, but it would take about a month to ship from Wolkeek City. ”

"Is it necessary for a first-class finely dyed cotton and linen blend? Absolutely high-end goods, I can give you a lower price than Nanhai Firm! I have 500 horses in my hand now, and it will only take a few days to get them! ”

"Three sets of small animal-powered traction combines, brand new, with spare cutter heads. One set can make 100 acres of land in one day. I'll count you a hundred taels of silver, and I'll only earn one freight, absolutely accounting! ”

"Five thousand stone rice? This amount is too large to make much money. It's bad luck, I don't need it for the time being, can I change it to something else......"

"Mm-hmm, it's okay if you don't have money to settle the bill. Raw silk, tea, wood and porcelain can all be paid, copper and tin ingots are even better. The price is easy to say, but the ugly words are ahead. I'm going to get the best of the best! ”

A small abacus was placed on the tea table, Yu Shan took a cigarette in his mouth and pulled it, while desperately recording it in a small notebook, his expression was bright, his face was ruddy, and the depression of ten days ago was swept away. And a few small businessmen in Qiongzhou were even more happy, excited that this gorgeous soldier from Nanyang still had a way to get gorgeous seafood. You must know that most of these gorgeous seafood goods are covered by the sea merchants of Guangzhou, and the price of the secondary agent in their hands will be much higher.

After remembering the last stroke, Yu Shan's heart was already happy. Sure enough, Makarov was right, business is doing very well now, and coming to the Far East to take up a post is like a fish in water for him. The nearly $2,000 worth of goods brought this time were sold for 40% of the profits, and they also bought Daming goods that were much cheaper than those in China.

……

Three days later, the recruitment of soldiers for the new battalion of the Qiongzhou New Army in Guangdong finally came to an end.

Although the people's livelihood in Qiongzhou has improved a lot in recent years, it is only a relative state. The vested interests of the New Deal were different, and ordinary tenants or yeoman farmers were still honest people at the bottom of the society who were severely oppressed. In this recruitment of the new battalion, the local officials of Qiongzhou Prefecture only made a slight publicity, raising the monthly salary of the new battalion soldiers to one tael or three yuan of silver, and bringing three stones of rice to settle down in the army, and more than 7,000 people from all over Qiongzhou responded. In addition, the guards greeted each other in advance, and more than 10,000 soldiers participated in the primary election.

Sorting out the guards and recruiting military households is one of the most important links, and the long-term yin and yang weirdness and lack of greed in Guangzhou, the new policy in Qiongzhou also patronized the local guards of thousands of households, hundreds of households, general banners and other large and small officials, they have long been linked with the local gentry, some directly become important raw material planters, some simply joined the government and business union, and also have a small stake in the various businesses in Qiongzhou.

As long as each military household is selected, the guard can get two taels of silver and four stones of rice. After weighing the long-term gains and losses, the Hainan Wei command envoy decisively chose to follow in the footsteps of the Qiongzhou gentry, and cooperated with Shen Tingyang to complete the recruitment and compilation of the new camp in Qiongzhou. Like a package for sale, the military households sent to the election, and the top and bottom of Hainan Wei were all happy.

The 3,000 recruits included military households from various local guard centers, tenant farmers or domestic slaves "recommended" by the gentry of Qiongzhou, refugee households who had migrated into Qiongzhou from other places, and a small number of mature Li youths from Li ethnic areas. Among them, military households accounted for nearly one-third, ordinary tenants or children of civilians accounted for half, and the rest were immigrants or acquaintances from other places.

At the same time, the number of official positions in the new battalion promised by Zhao Youheng and Shen Tingyang also came down, and in addition to some of the officers and clerks from the local guard station, at least one-third of the low-level officers were all "recommended" by the Qiongzhou gentry. As the Wang family in Ding'an County secretly proclaimed, Qiongzhou Xinying is basically the children of Qiongzhou, and it is natural for them to take care of their own territory.

At the end of the selection work, a group of children from big families in Qiongzhou, who had never had any experience in the army, wore bright officer clothes and armor, and ate and drank in the restaurant in Qiongzhou City for a day, which made Shen Tingyang, who was directly in charge of the affairs of the new battalion, and Zhang Jianye, the chief teacher, smile bitterly.

At present, it is still an old tradition to be noble and martial, even if you can become a military attaché, the children of large families will not take it lightly. Therefore, the group of people who the squires of Qiongzhou worked hard to get in were basically the children of the partial houses of various families, and even the children of slave families.

There is a difference between the concubines, and those sons and daughters of the long house are naturally studying or in charge of the family's future, so it is difficult for these people to get ahead in the clan, and they also live a low life on weekdays, and one day at a time. Young people who think that they are from low backgrounds and have no future, also regard entering the Qiongzhou camp as another way to fight in life, and they can also serve as a tool for the squire clan to covet and control the Qiongzhou camp.

On the Huamei side, these newly recruited officers and men of the new battalion in Qiongzhou of the Ming Dynasty will be organized into four infantry troops, a baggage brigade, and an artillery army, each with a general as a consul, a number of other minor officers, and six hundred teams and a number of posts such as a thousand generals, capital divisions, and garrisons.

As for the post of the highest guerrilla general in the new battalion in Qiongzhou, there is fierce competition for candidates at present, and both the Qiongzhou side and the Guangzhou side are secretly competing with each other, and it is said that even the governors of the two cantons have their own thoughts.

All of this made it difficult for Zhao Youheng to decide who to choose, but Zhang Jianye, a person with low authority, did not care much, and he got the position of chief instructor of the garrison of the Guangdong New Army very smoothly, and was responsible for the training of the New Army in Guangzhou and Qiongzhou.

At least for now, no matter what happens in Guangzhou, the shelves of the new camp in Qiongzhou are up, but except for the food that Shen Tingyang and the local gentry put together to barely supply in place, the clothing and weapons and equipment are almost blank.

Now that the ducks are on the shelves, Zhao Youheng and Shen Tingyang no longer have much room for maneuver and entanglement. (To be continued......)