The black-clothed guard, who had visited Chen Wu several times, used the secret envoy of the pseudonym "North Wind" and once again walked into Dengzhou.

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The fastest updated novel may have changed hands in a short time, and compared to a few months ago, Dengzhou has not had time to change.

Although the aftermath of the Wushan Bloody Case and Yue Hongwen's suicide had not yet dissipated, Beifeng did not feel anything obvious unusual.

Stopping and watching the reign of the new master, he finally entered the Doge's Palace, which he was already somewhat familiar with.

Chen Wu is still the same Chen Wu, but his status and strength are very different from before.

When he was ordered to persuade Chen Wu to go south the first few times, Chen Wu was only the leader of a rebel army.

After that, the Taiping army really went south, but unfortunately the target of the attack was changed.

With the merits of the First World War, the other party sat on the envoy of Tiannan, the governor of Songjiang, and became an upstart in the imperial political situation.

Even if the power of the Songjiang Army is still limited to Songjiang County and has not penetrated deep into Tiannan, it seems that it is only a matter of time before Tiannan is fully mastered.

However, this is not a reason for the north wind to change its attitude.

Even if the strength of the Songjiang army becomes stronger, it is still not worth mentioning compared to the Omani Kingdom.

Chen Wu's Songjiang Army is only two counties in the sky, and it has to face the invisible pressure of the empire.

On the other hand, the Kingdom of Oman has hundreds of thousands of troops in the land of the Seven Counties, and there are almost no other opponents!

However, despite all the reasons to be proud, this time the North Wind secretly came to the door, but had to put on an unprecedented low profile.

The reason is simple, he has a request for others!

For this black-clothed envoy who was almost the size of an acquaintance and the size of the No. 1 acquaintance, Chen Wu still chose to meet him after a short period of surprise.

And the other party's intention was not what Chen Wu expected.

Probably knowing that intimidation and co-optation would not work, the north wind almost straight to the point put forward the request of the Kingdom of Oman.

Redeem the defeated soldiers of the captured Valanga Division!

Throughout the Battle of Tiannan, the Taiping Army and the Tiannan Army captured a total of almost 6,500 prisoners.

Among them, almost 6,000 people were captured in Chen Wu's raid on Gu Qingguan.

As one of the main forces of the Kingdom of Oman, these 6,000 men are still worth a lot.

If it can be returned from the Taiping army, the Kingdom of Oman can completely use these 6,000 captives as the backbone to rebuild the Waranga Division in just half a year.

In addition, the return of these captives was also a great help in calming the pressure at home.

"Let's talk about our offer first."

Beifeng knew that this task might be arduous, so he threw out an extremely high price as soon as he came up, hoping to impress Chen Wu: "If the general is willing to release the people, we are willing to pay a one-time payment of 400,000 gold coins for this, or change each able-bodied prisoner with a set of weapons and armor." ”

Six thousand elite strong men and soldiers, it's definitely worth the price!

After the assessment of the black guards, the new government of Songjiang is carrying out reforms and expanding the army, and the financial responsibility should be large, and there is also a huge gap in weapons and armor.

Starting from these two aspects, Chen Wu may have a certain possibility to loosen up.

Even if the 6,000 people can't get all of them back, they can redeem half of them.

This price code is indeed quite tempting.

Chen Wu was silent for a moment, and said a reply that made Beifeng almost think it was a success: "The matter of the captives is not negotiable...... However, it is not possible to exchange immediately. ”

"What does the Governor mean?"

Beifeng was a little unsure of Chen Wu's attitude, whether it was just an excuse or whether he was really willing to let go.

"It's literal."

Chen Wu repeated, his face a little stern: "These Omanis have caused great sacrifices to my soldiers and the people of Tiannan County. In order to atone for their sins, they had to undergo labor reform. We will not consider the return of the captives until we have paid for the sins we have committed. ”

"Labor reform?"

Beifeng tasted this new word, and probably understood what it meant, and to put it bluntly, isn't it free coolies?

He sighed and asked, "So, how long will my Omani compatriots have to be reformed through labor?" ”

"It depends."

Chen Wu leaned back in his chair and spread his hands: "Three years at the least, five years at most." ”

"Five years?"

The north wind was a little out of shape, and his voice was high.

What kind of treatment coolies are treated, he knows very well in his heart, the natives of the Oman Kingdom who conquered the Western Desert are used as coolies.

No matter how strong a person is, it will basically be useless in two or three years.

The Kingdom of Oman ransomed these soldiers in the hope of using them as the backbone to rebuild the Waranga Division, not to buy back a batch of discarded people.

Moreover, this time is too long!

"Can't you be accommodating?"

He asked tentatively, "For example, do we pay more wealth to compensate the soldiers who died in battle?" ”

"At least three years, there's nothing to talk about!"

Chen Wu was well aware of the purpose of the Omanis to redeem their captives, and he would never let the tiger return to the mountain until he had built up a strong enough army.

Moreover, the construction of the current Songjiang Tiannan County does require a lot of low-cost manpower.

Elite soldiers are undoubtedly the best choice.

No matter what aspect it is, Chen Wu's attitude is very resolute, and there is nothing to talk about.

However, he smiled slyly and said to Beifeng: "I need to explain to you that this thing of labor reform is not the kind of coolie you imagined. For humanitarian reasons, we have no intention of torturing them. On the other hand, if you are willing to pay a fee for nutrition, Songjiang will be happy to reduce some of their labor intensity and provide sufficient food security to ensure that they can be returned to you in good health after three years—of course, at that time, the cost of redemption will be negotiated. ”

What kind of humanitarianism is it, Beifeng has never heard of it, but Chen Wu's mention of yì he is tempted.

In the case of determining that Chen Wu is unwilling to return the captives in advance, it is not impossible to consider being able to guarantee that they will be brought back in a sound manner after three years.

The Valanga Division was not formed too early, and the average soldier could serve for at least another ten years.

It's only three years, the Kingdom of Oman can afford to wait, and this is a result, which can give the country a passable explanation.

Moreover, with the temper of His Majesty Saladin, the north wind did not think that he could endure the losses he had suffered before.

Maybe before it took three years, the kingdom's army would go north again and break through the Matsue army.

"Okay."

He nodded, and basically agreed with Chen Wu's suggestion.

After a brief negotiation, Beifeng reached a deal with Chen Wu on behalf of the Kingdom of Oman.

From now on, 10,000 gold coins will be paid to the Songjiang government every month to subsidize the food of the 6,000 soldiers of the Waranga Division, as well as not overwork.

At the same time, the Songjiang Army allowed the Omani Kingdom to send regular visits to these captives to ensure that the Songjiang Army would not rebel.

This deal is acceptable to the Kingdom of Oman, but it is a pie-in-the-sky good thing for Chen Wu.

Originally, these 6,000 captives were almost free labor, but now they don't even have to pay for basic food, and someone pays for the Songjiang army.

10,000 gold a month is not much, but it is 360,000 in three years!

"Well, then, Lord Governor, I have one last request."

After paying the month's gold in advance, the north wind offered to meet the captured Varanga soldiers in person.

One is to make sure that they are still alive, and the other is to tell them that the kingdom and His Majesty Saladin have not given up their soldiers, and will take them away in three years.

Whether there is hope and conviction is very important for an army.

If you just do three years of hard labor in a gangster, even if the soldier is still healthy, the spirit of the person may be wasted.

On the contrary, if they knew that His Majesty the Emperor had been paying attention to him and would be able to return home in a few years, the six thousand soldiers would always have a breath of relief in their hearts.

"Yes."

Chen Wu didn't embarrass Beifeng at this point, but reminded him: "However, these soldiers are not in Dengzhou now. ”

"And where are they?"

The north wind asked.

If he doesn't surrender his troops in person, he can't rest assured.

"They're in Mirror Lake!"

……… Jinghu County!

As one of the county towns under the jurisdiction of Yuyang Prefecture, it was the first city to be captured by the Taiping army.

On paper, there is nothing special about the small town except for its close proximity to the largest freshwater lake in Songjiang, Mirror Lake.

However, a valley called Kanggu made this a place of Chen Wu's attention.

In the middle of this valley, there is a liquor spring that can be used to make fine sake.

As early as when the Taiping army had not yet entered Dengzhou, Chen Wu had already sent a large group of soldiers and Fu Du Chun, who was in charge of winemaking, to arrive here to make preparations and plans in advance.

However, because Liquan is not close to Jinghu County, if you want to make wine on a large scale, you must first build roads, so this plan was not immediately implemented.

This situation quickly changed with the defeat of the Omani army by the Songjiang army at Tiennam County.

Most of the captured soldiers of the Waranga Division were escorted to Songjiang County.

Because the basic plate of Songjiang County is very good, and the water conservancy and irrigation system and road traffic are basically no problem, Chen Wu thought about it, so he sent them to Jinghu County to build roads in this small city.

In the plan, there are two sections of road that need to be repaired in order to prepare for the construction of this winery.

The first section starts from the official road ten miles north of Jinghu County, and detours all the way to Kanggu, with a total distance of about 20 miles.

The second section is the winery in Kanggu, which is connected to Jinghu Lake six or seven miles away, and then connected to the Qingjiang waterway, which is convenient for both selling wine and transporting raw materials.

Because the capacity market in the first phase is limited, the land route is enough to meet the transportation needs, so the focus at this stage is to repair the first road.

Under the supervision of heavily armed soldiers of the Songjiang Army, 6,000 prisoners of the Waranga Division were distributed with simple shovels, hoes and carts, and began the arduous "labor reform"

。

In addition, a group of people were dragged to the mountains in the Kang Valley to open the mountain and quarry.

It's not that no one has tried to escape or resist, but after dozens of people have been arrested and taken back to be held responsible, no one has made such futile attempts.

It was under these circumstances that Beifeng arrived at Jinghu accompanied by his counterparts from the Songjiang Military Intelligence Department.

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