Dominate the Country

The cold winter enveloped the earth. Whether in the north, south, east or west of China, this season is the most leisurely time of the year for the people. Who makes the vast majority of China's population live in rural areas? Winter is the time when there is the least formal farm work.

Diligent farmers will take advantage of this time to go out and do short-term work. The wages may be very small, but they can also supplement the family income, and more importantly, solve their own personal food problem. For thousands of ordinary farmers in China, the food rations for a grown man are a heavy burden for the family.

But just when the whole country was cold, the general's mansion in the northwest of Henan, which was in the midst of war, took advantage of this rare gap and spent a lot of money to recruit migrant workers. The 300,000 people in Yunyang who entered the territory from Nanyang before could not meet the shortage of manpower in the general's mansion. The red paper and black words on the recruitment notice clearly stated - women are also needed.

Two meals a day, ten copper coins for wages (the general's mansion implemented the silver dollar system, but did not abolish copper coins. The financial relationship was too big and too tricky). This is the standard for a healthy woman. The wages of men depend on their physical fitness, and the basic wage of ten copper coins can be increased by zero to ten. Of course, the pigtail tax is indispensable. For the most ordinary farmers, this wage has already satisfied them. If it was not the general's mansion that issued the notice, but the original government, how good would it be?

The refugees from Yunyang are the easiest to teach. As long as they are fed and clothed, these people will work hard without complaint. They don't know that they have become the big fat meat in the eyes of the heads of various departments of the Construction Bureau under the general's mansion. The heads of engineering construction, transportation and water conservancy construction, mineral development and the most important factory are short of manpower.

Especially the latter, with the expansion and consolidation of the general's mansion, steel smelting has also moved out of Lushan, from a smelting base to Baofeng, Ye County, and Wuyang. Four steel production sites. At the same time, the cement manufacturing industry has also expanded rapidly. In order to ensure the safety of the general's mansion, it is inevitable to build a permanent defense position. The demand for cement in the general's mansion is extremely high. These are all big households that eat labor. Not to mention the development of coal and iron ore, wherever the steel base expands, the development and mining of coal and iron ore will also go there. In this era, if you want to develop coal and iron ore, you can't develop it without enough manpower.

The prisoners of war captured by the Fu Han Army are obviously not enough for the Construction Bureau. The large-scale introduction of migrant workers is imperative. However, many local people in Ruzhou and Nanyang still lack confidence in the General's Mansion, and the General's Mansion also remains skeptical about their loyalty. The arrival of the refugees from Yunyang Mansion is like a drizzle, which makes the troubles of the General's Mansion disappear.

In the competition for this batch of manpower, the biggest enemy of the Construction Bureau is the army. It is estimated that 40,000 young and strong refugees from Yunyang will be recruited into the army. Their joining the army to fight is the premise for the General's Mansion to feed their families and give them fields, houses, farm tools, livestock, food and other generous treatment. No one dares to guarantee that there are still people among the families of the 40,000 recruits who are willing to go out to work instead of happily working on their own land. Three hundred thousand or so refugees from Yunyang may seem like a lot, but after deducting the four military regions, the population is cut in half.

Now, fortifications in Ruzhou, Nanyang and Xuzhou are rising one after another. The Construction Bureau is in urgent need of manpower.

Many local people in Nanyang and Ruzhou are tempted by the salary, but compared with the needs of the Construction Bureau, the number is still too small.

The Construction Bureau must complete the task assigned to them by the General's Mansion before the beginning of next spring - to build a large number of fortifications at key terrain and transportation points in Ruzhou and Nanyang. Although they are not permanent buildings made of cement and iron bars, the inferior cement currently produced by the General's Mansion cannot be used in winter at all. The weather is too cold and the effect will be greatly reduced. The projects currently being worked on by the Construction Bureau are all civil engineering masonry structures. It is very difficult for such fortifications to withstand heavy artillery bombardment, but at least they can stop the Qing army's cavalry from advancing.

Things need to look ahead. The Qing court's cavalry is being mobilized from Mongolia and the northeast to the interior. There are few Qing cavalry on the battlefield in southwest Henan now, but what about next year? When the grass grows and the warblers fly, the Qing cavalry from Mongolia and the northeast will inevitably go to the battlefield. They have no way to deal with fortresses and cities, but when it comes to dealing with ordinary people and villages and towns, it's like autumn wind rolling up fallen leaves.

The General's Mansion is prepared for a rainy day, to prevent the Qing soldiers from repeatedly attacking the city and releasing the cavalry to kill the generals and slaughter the people in the hinterland of the General's Mansion.

Chen Hui is not a good person, but he can't be cold-blooded and ignore the thousands of lives being buried. Not to mention that the General's Mansion cannot be in chaos. If the people are in chaos, the military will be finished. The General's Mansion is at an absolute disadvantage in terms of "public support". Taking advantage of the winter gap to build these civil engineering projects is killing two birds with one stone. If the Qing troops dare to rely on their speed and rush in next year, they will be courting death.

"Why is it higher again?" In the Grain Bureau, Ren Meng angrily slammed the table. The person in charge of the project in Xiang County is too outrageous. The food demand of the construction site has increased by more than 10% for three consecutive months. Does he think that he can fool himself with a list?

"Come here, send these to Master Wu." The person in charge of the construction site in Xiang County is Chen Quan's cousin. Ren Meng endured it for Chen Laowu's sake, but the other party did not stop when he saw the good, but repeatedly pressed the limit. This is intolerable.

But this was just a small episode in the daily operation of the General's Mansion. Ren Meng threw the account book to Chen Quan, but did not report it directly to his boss, let alone the court separated by two walls. This is the national conditions of China. No matter how big the law is, it is not bigger than the relationship between people.

Confucianism came up with a "relatives hide each other", which really cut off the roots of Legalism in inheritance. Although some people say that the human rights principle in the Western tolerance system is also "relatives hide each other".

Chen Hui did not know that his confidant had compromised with Chen Quan once. Now he was focusing all his attention on the training of new recruits. The influx of more than 300,000 refugees from Yunyang did have an impact on the work of the General's Mansion in an instant. But these refugees had a simple order before entering Nanyang, which greatly facilitated the resettlement measures of the General's Mansion.

The "military district" was the part that the General's Mansion resettled most attentively. They settled 80% to 90% of the population of the four "military districts" in the counties of Ruzhou in units of "bao", and only a small number of people were settled in the south near Ruzhou. From this point of view, the defense strategy of the General's Mansion can be clearly seen. If necessary, they would rather give up the Nanyang Basin than give up the steel production base of Ruzhou.

Chen Hui knew very well that whether the Chen family's foundation could survive the Qing court's attack after the beginning of next spring would depend on the ability of these 40,000 new soldiers this winter. So he fed these people with good food and drink, and also gave them strict training.

In the future, the General's Mansion will not be short of these 40,000 people with armored weapons and guns. There are also muskets and artillery! Even the old nest is still short of gunpowder...