Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 30 Different choices
Zhou Shixian's words were direct and rude, but very effective. He could have used a softer tone, but that would not have been enough to appease these cunning boat tracker leaders.

If officers like Chen Fu and Chang Denggui, who have been in the army for many years, were to come, they would probably be even more rude and simple, or even brutal, but this was not what Zhu Cilang wanted to see.

He needed to completely suppress these tracker leaders to prevent them from thinking that they could bargain for anything. If they developed a lucky mentality and wanted to make a fuss to get a reward, it would be a big disaster.

But he also knew very well that if he wanted to truly convince others, he had to explain the truth clearly in a way that others could understand, and using both kindness and severity was the only way to solve the problem fundamentally.

These small groups of trackers are all from the same hometown and have a natural cohesion. They have also formed a good tacit understanding when they usually fight while pulling the tow ropes. If you want to suppress them by force, you will inevitably end up making things worse.

If they are split up and reorganized without training, the final combat effectiveness of this new army will inevitably be greatly reduced, which goes against Zhu Cilang's original intention.

After Zhou Shixian's roar, the forty or so boat tracker leaders all quieted down. They were originally afraid of the shining swords and guns held by the surrounding soldiers, and now they saw that this young prince consort was not someone to be trifled with, so how could they dare to play any tricks?
However, among so many people, there are always a few who are brave and extremely cautious. Even if they are afraid, they must ask a few more questions for the sake of their own lives and the lives of their fellow villagers.

Zhou Shixian's attitude remained tough. He now represented the army under Li Banghua, so being gentle was impossible. Before recruiting these boatmen into the army, he had to tell them that the army was not a place for bargaining and absolute obedience was required.

At the same time, Li Banghua finally spoke to appease them. As soon as he opened his mouth, the aura of a high-ranking official in the court overwhelmed everything. After a quick glance around, many things were decided.

The leaders of the trackers had originally wanted to take advantage of the long distance to get some benefits, such as more rice, grain and silver, and even wanted to take their families with them, but now they all kept their mouths shut.

Many of them had heard about officers withholding money and food in the army. Some of the trackers were even soldiers themselves, and in the end, because they had no food to eat, they had to take the opportunity to escape when the army set off.

Li Banghua naturally knew the doubts and worries in the hearts of the dozens of people in front of him. He could not prove himself, nor did he need to prove himself. With his identity, how could he answer whatever others asked?
Moreover, it was impossible to prove his innocence in this kind of issue, so he chose to restore the majesty of the court by using his image as a high-ranking official of the court.

At a time like this, how could they be picky?
"This conscription is a great favor bestowed by the Emperor out of His Majesty's generosity. If you believe the court is short of men and you are indispensable, then you may as well give it a try. No one will try to stop you."

Li Banghua bowed towards the north, then turned his head and looked at the dozens of boat track leaders. He said with a serious and respectful expression:
"Remember, if you had walked a little slower in the past two days, you would definitely not have this opportunity to serve the court now."

"The porridge is already cooked. It's right there. It's up to you to eat it or not. If the president wasn't kind-hearted, he would have asked for half of you at most. Don't be ungrateful.

Furthermore, the fleet will depart tomorrow, continuing southward. No more rations will be distributed. Those who wish to stay can register with their badges, and all their families will be transferred aboard. This is non-negotiable."

Zhou Shixian also did not directly answer the questions of the boat tracker leader. Although he was not arrogant, he had never had any contact with these boat trackers before. He never felt that he was the same kind of people as these lower-class people, so there was no need to be polite.

"Before nightfall tonight, each leader will select the strongest and most clever tracker from among his own trackers. The commander-in-chief will bring him under his wing and train him. His food and wages will be double the normal amount. Someone will inspect him later. If he's not strong and clever enough, he'll be sent back and someone else will be selected from another team."

These requirements were naturally set by Zhu Cilang himself. After bringing along the families of these trackers, the amount of food and fodder the fleet had to carry would increase rapidly. Although they obtained a batch of food and fodder from the bank and county treasury in Linqing, it was only enough for these seven or eight thousand people and more than four hundred horses to feed for ten days.

The dozens of trackers leaders whispered to each other again, and soon a tall, thin, dark-skinned, and very mature-looking tracker leader stood up and said loudly:
"Since the General Secretary and the General have said so, I, Zhao Zhengdong, have nothing to say. I'll be a soldier, and I'll earn my living wherever I go!"

"Your name is Zhao Zhengdong?"

Zhou Shixian stared at the leader of the boatmen in front of him. He was surprised that he didn't show any fear at all and answered straightforwardly:

"Yes, Zhao Zhengdong, from Jingzhou. He's been towing the canal for five years. He has thirty-seven men under him, all of them capable men."

"Do you have any family?" Zhou Shixian looked at the other person and felt a little surprised and happy.

"There's a woman."

"Okay, come here and get the token, then take this token back to your team and take them to drink porridge. After drinking porridge, someone will take you to the open space over there to gather and then count the number of people." Zhou Shixian waved his hand.

Zhao Zhengdong swallowed his saliva when he heard this, then took the sign from Zhou Shixian, knelt on the ground and kowtowed to him and Li Banghua, then immediately walked towards the direction of the dozens of big pots.

After someone took the first step, most of the other forty or so tracker leaders changed their previous wait-and-see attitude and hurried forward to get the badges. Seeing this, Zhou Shixian immediately ordered the soldiers to maintain order and let these people line up one by one.

Two quarters of an hour later, Zhou Shixian looked at the last nine people left and said coldly:

"Have you thought it through? If you don't make a decision now, you won't regret it later. I won't say any more nonsense. Either come up and get your badge right now, or take your people and get out. The Ming Dynasty doesn't need a few of you."

The nine remaining tracker leaders stood together at this time, looking at each other, not daring to say anything, but in this situation, they couldn't leave, and they couldn't stay either.

After this period of hesitation, three more tracker leaders approached Zhou Shixian and received the token. The remaining six seemed unconvinced, and after whispering among themselves, they chose to leave. They had long heard about the Ming Dynasty's precarious situation, and also knew that "King Chuang's arrival did not require taxation." They even thought that once the other trackers left, the canal business would be theirs!

Everyone in the tide of the times is making choices that determine their own destiny, but no one can accurately predict what impact the choice made at that critical moment will have in the future!
Soon, the banks of the canal outside Linqing City were filled with shouting and cursing. The guards and soldiers of Linjiazhai, who were responsible for registering the men in each team, separated the big pots filled with thick porridge from the team of boatmen. One person was registering, and the other was holding swords and guns to prevent these hungry young men from rushing in.

In order to better restrain and control these trackers, Zhu Cilang asked Li Banghua and Zhou Shixian to immediately organize these new recruits and their families after conscription.

Lin Yongan's subordinates who were usually responsible for accounting, trade and logistics, as well as the dozen or so officials recruited from Dezhou and Linqing, played a huge role at this time.

After Li Banghua boarded the ship to report the conscription situation to Zhu Cilang, Zhou Shixian took his guards and began to patrol the crowd, especially those soldiers and clerks who were registering, to see if they were deliberately making things difficult or privately soliciting bribes.

He looked at the smiles on the faces of the boat trackers and their families who had already drunk the porridge, and felt quite proud. All of this could be attributed to him!

At this time, the team of trackers who had completed registration one after another had gathered around the pot and started to drink porridge, each of them unable to hide the joy in their hearts.

And every time, as long as the clerk in charge of registration waved his hands and shouted "Okay, you can go and drink porridge", at the same time, the armored soldiers who were blocking in front of them with long spears withdrew their weapons, a large group of people would rush towards the nearest cauldron.

In addition to the adults, there were also many children with skinny bodies, dirty faces, and hair tangled into hemp ropes. Some were three to five years old, and some were eleven to twelve years old. These children had been starving for a long time, and they stumbled towards the big pot from which the fragrance wafted.

From time to time, children would fall to the ground while running, perhaps because they were too hungry. After falling, they would just shed tears but could not cry out loud, and then get up immediately. But most of the younger ones could not run anymore after falling, and could only be pulled up by their parents who turned around and continued to stagger forward.

Many of the children who rushed to the pot first took a bowl of hot porridge and wanted to drink it directly. Many of them were too anxious and got their hands and mouths burned, and they couldn't bear it and cried out "Ah ah".

Zhou Shixian was momentarily distracted by the scene, sighed silently, and then turned away. He had been on the boat with Zhu Cilang before, and had no idea how miserable these boatmen were.

However, as more and more teams of trackers completed registration, each pot was soon crowded with people, and those short children with dirty faces were suddenly submerged in the crowd.

Zhao Zhengdong was the first to receive the sign and was already organizing his men to eat in the back. They had just filled their stomachs and drank several bowls of thick porridge.

"Brother, this porridge is really thick!"

Sitting in front of Zhao Zhengdong, a skinny young boatman named Gu Defu wiped his mouth, with a bright smile on his face and bright eyes. However, the long scar in front of his left ear made his smile look a little weird.

Hearing this, Zhao Zhengdong looked at the large ship that Li Banghua had just walked towards, nodded, and said meaningfully: "We have followed the right person this time."

"We have surrendered to the imperial court this time and followed Master Li. I'm afraid we will have a chance to make meritorious deeds!" Gu Defu's eyes were full of hope. He had long wanted to stop being a boat tracker and suffer bullying, but his father entrusted him to the boat tracker team before he died, and Zhao Zhengdong would not let him do anything wrong.

"Don't think about these trivial things. In this world, being able to have enough food to eat is a blessing." Zhao Zhengdong narrowed his eyes, then poured himself another bowl of porridge and started drinking it again.

Gu Defu usually likes to fight and be aggressive. Whenever there is a conflict with other tracker teams, he is the first to rush up to fight. Zhao Zhengdong is very worried about him.

He has to protect all those who follow him, not to mention Gu Defu's father, whom he brought up.

At this time, the few petty officials recruited by the Linqing Bank had contacted the merchants in the city under the instruction of Zhu Cilang, and soon bought two large carts of white flour buns and several baskets of meat.

As the first leader to receive the token, Zhao Zhengdong quickly received orders that they could be the first to get the steamed buns.

This made the other trackers, who were still holding their badges and waiting in line to register because of their hesitation, smelled the fragrance of porridge, steamed buns, and meat, and regretted that they should have been the first to agree.

However, they were not able to enjoy the meat, as it was used to reward the guards and the guards of the Lin Family Village.

Zhao Zhengdong and Gu Defu quickly brought the steamed buns back. Gu Defu grabbed the steamed bun and took a bite slowly. He had just eaten porridge and was no longer hungry. He was chewing slowly, letting the sweet fragrance of the steamed bun fill his entire mouth. He had not experienced this wonderful feeling for a long time.

"Brother, this steamed bun smells so good!"

　Thanks to book friends Yuekenlu Dazhuang and 20181107124212127 for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)