With 100,000 elite soldiers at the start, what should you call me?

……

Jianning Prefecture.

Inside a restaurant.

Jianning Prefecture, relying on the convenient waterways of the Jianxi and Songxi rivers and the modern management and operation of the new army, underwent tremendous changes after more than two months of recuperation.

The streets are clean and tidy, and the residents here have all taken on a new look. The emaciated beggars are almost nowhere to be seen, and the dirty and dark slums have disappeared.

Instead, bustling markets and regulated street vendor economy have sprung up.

The policy of distributing land to the new army allowed landless laborers to return to work, while those with health problems, the elderly living alone, and orphans were cared for by welfare institutions.

Huang Zongxi and his party got up early in the morning, ate breakfast, and sat in the lobby of the restaurant to observe the scene outside the street.

Several days later, he still felt it was unbelievable.

Although Jianning Prefecture was small and not particularly magnificent, it gave people a feeling that was more comfortable than staying in Nanjing.

"Incredible, this new army is incredible!"

Zhang Anmin, who was standing to the side, took a sip of soup and made a satisfied sound.

"Brother Huang, why don't we take another stroll around the city?"

"You can go sightseeing anytime you want, but it's getting late. The second-in-command of the new army wants to see us today, so we need to go ahead," Huang Zongxi said.

Chen Yonghua, who was rather taciturn, hummed in response.

After tidying themselves up, the group arrived at the government office of Jianning Prefecture.

After informing the guards, they were soon led into the government office.

Zhang Yonghao had been waiting for a long time and greeted the group with a smile.

"Welcome to the new army, friends. I am Zhang Yonghao, deputy commander of the First Army of the new army. Welcome, this way please."

Huang Zongxi quickly smiled and cupped his hands in response, "General Zhang, you are too kind."

The group arrived at a reception room. In the quiet room, several spacious chairs were arranged around a table, which was somewhat different from the way they were used to receiving guests.

After Zhang Yonghao sat down, the others sat down as well, exchanged introductions and pleasantries, and Huang Zongxi got straight to the point.

"General Zhang, let's be frank. A few of us intend to join the new army to fight against the Qing and revive the Ming Dynasty. Can your army accept us?"

Huang Zongxi wasn't one to beat around the bush, and when he raised the question, Chen Yonghua and An Min both looked at Zhang Yonghao.

All three men were prominent figures. Huang Zongxi had served under the Hongguang Emperor in his early years, but because he criticized the Donglin Party as locusts and the Fushe Society as nymphs, and participated in writing the "Public Proclamation for Preventing Chaos in the Capital," he was wanted, arrested, and imprisoned.

After the Hongguang Emperor fled and Nanjing fell, Huang Zongxi took advantage of the chaos to escape to Yuyao, where he gathered his friends Sun Jiaji and Xiong Rulin to raise an army against the Qing. He was also appointed by Prince Lu as the Director of the Military Affairs Department of the Ministry of War.

However, his resistance against the Qing dynasty was not smooth, and he was soon defeated. He fled to Hua'an Mountain to escape the pursuit, and Prince Lu fled to the sea again.

Now that Prince Lu has started a rebellion in Fujian and the new army has repeatedly defeated the Qing army, Huang Zongxi saw hope in resisting the Qing and chose to join the new army.

Chen Yonghua was from Tong'an, Fujian. When the Qing army captured Tong'an, he was fifteen years old and watched his father hang himself. After the Qing army entered the city, he fled in panic and bumped into Huang Zongxi and others, and together they came to Jianning Prefecture.

Zhang Anmin was from Zhenghe County, Jianning Prefecture. When the Qing army suffered a major defeat, he rallied his fellow villagers to rebel against the Qing. Now, hearing that the new army was recruiting righteous men, he decisively led his fellow villagers to join them.

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Zhang Yonghao remained calm and spoke.

"I know what you all think, but before you join, there are some things I need to say upfront."

"First, our new army is an independent entity."

"Second, joining our army requires unconditional compliance with our army's regulations."

"Third, the core ideology of our army is to revitalize China, lead the world, and move towards the future."

"If you agree with the above three points of our army and are interested in joining our army, I welcome you on behalf of the new army."

"You can think about it before you do."

Zhang Yonghao stated frankly.

The meaning couldn't be clearer: the new army is currently an independent regime, not an appendage of any regime, and will certainly not undertake any measures to revitalize the Ming Dynasty.

Huang Zongxi's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing this, Chen Yonghua remained calm, and Zhang Anmin frowned slightly.

These three sentences express the new army's stance, demands, and ideology.

"General Zhang, please allow us to reconsider this matter further." Huang Zongxi did not agree.

After all, the requirements were too demanding, and he had a group of people behind him; he couldn't agree on behalf of everyone else.

Zhang Anmin was in the same boat; if he had to unconditionally obey the New Army's arrangements, he probably wouldn't have been able to remain a military leader.

The three men's reaction was exactly what Zhang Yonghao had expected; "If you've made up your minds, you can choose to join us at any time."

After the meeting ended, the group left, and the three conditions for joining the new army were secretly spread among various righteous armies and scholars.

It deterred most speculators in an instant.

However, quite a few insightful people still joined in.

Huang Zongxi returned to a temporary residence, where many scholars and friends gathered to inquire about joining the group.

"Brother Taichong, will the new army accept us?"

"Brother Taichong looks so gloomy. Could it be that the new army is ungrateful and has rejected us?"

Huang Zongxi calmly and deliberately stated the conditions for the new army to join, and everyone fell silent upon hearing this.

Wan Tai, a close friend, sneered, "They're nothing but a bunch of nameless and incompetent bandits. They even dare to emulate the Shun bandits. I resolutely refuse to join them. Tai Chong, why don't we head south and support Prince Lu together?"

"Yes, we will join Prince Lu in revitalizing the Ming Dynasty and replicating the achievements of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty!"

"Big brother, say something, and we'll follow you." Huang Zongxi's two younger brothers, Huang Zongyan and Huang Zonghui, both looked at him.

Huang Zongxi hesitated. If he truly wanted to revive the Ming Dynasty, he wouldn't have come directly to the new army to test them.

He poured his heart and soul into writing "A Public Proclamation for Preventing Chaos in the Capital," risking his life, but what was the result?

It was slander, it was a manhunt, and in the end, he was arrested and imprisoned.

Moreover, when his friend Xiong Rulin was murdered by Zheng Cai, Lu Jianguo didn't dare utter a single word.

To be honest, he was very disappointed with the Ming Dynasty's court.

"I've decided to join the new army."

"Since Brother Taichong has made up his mind, let's part ways here." Wan Tai would never join the new army, so he led a group of people away from the mansion.

Chen Yonghua was young and had no say, but he stayed behind without saying a word.

Meanwhile, Zhang Anmin and his leaders discussed the matter and decided to join the new army.

There was no other reason; the territory they occupied was under the control of the new army, and the villagers under their command, having been allocated land, all had their hearts with the new army.

Zhang Anmin had no choice but to agree.

Ministry of Military Industry.

At this moment, Li Tian was unaware of Zhang Yonghao's recruitment of talents from all sides. Looking at the boxes and rows of brand-new weapons in the arsenal, he couldn't help but smile.

"Over eight thousand Jian'an-made rifles and forty-two 60mm mortars—excellent! That's enough to fully equip a Longxiang Army!"

"After we've sorted out this mess in Fujian, our next step is to move into Zhejiang."