Peng Jiayao was not the only son in the family, nor was he married, so the impact on the Peng family's life was not great.

The family of Martyr Sun Shaolin in Yunxiao County is a bit more miserable, because Martyr Sun Shaolin is the backbone of the family, and the guards are not saying that they will not accept the only son in the family.

Sun Shaolin asked to join the army on his own. He was married and had a two-year-old child. He also had several younger brothers at home, but they were all underage.

When Dong Liang arrived at Sun's house, he found that the family lived in a thatched house, but there was some food in the house. However, Dong Liang saw that there was no trace of rice being cooked in Sun's pot.

It was obvious that these grains had just been delivered.

Dong Liang sent away all the officials from the county office and the captain of the production brigade, only to find out that the Sun family was assigned the worst field in the brigade because of the lack of men.

It's the kind of dry land where sweet potatoes can only be grown. And because my grandson's father is weak and sick, his two younger brothers are still young.

The work at home can only fall on the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Even in rural areas in later generations, a family with a small number of males will be ostracized by the villagers.

Especially in this era.

Again, the establishment of the Chinese ethnic group cannot immediately change everything in this society.

Dong Liang was very good at talking and quickly figured out the ins and outs of the matter.

The above policy obviously changes at the production brigade level.

The Sun family is a minor surname in the village. Sun Shaolin used to be quite good at fighting, and he had a grudge against the Huang family, a wealthy family in the village.

Most people in the whole village have the surname Huang.

Therefore, after Sun Shaolin died, those people were stuck in the policy on the families of martyrs.

Logically, the village should organize people to help the martyrs' families farm, but this brigade did not.

Dong Liang knew very well that if he went mad now, the situation of the Sun family in the village would be even more difficult.

Even if he removes the head of Huang's production team, those Huang's people will only intensify their abuse of the Sun family.

Dong Liang asked people to leave some consolation money to the Sun family and let them move to Fuzhou to live. Sun Shaolin's widow could be arranged to work in a factory, his two younger brothers could attend free schools, and someone would help treat Sun's father's illness.

As for this production brigade that did not respect the martyrs, Dong Liang had people directly dismantle it and move it out. Moreover, it was dispersed and moved out.

The official in charge of the welfare of the martyrs at the county office was dismissed and handed over to the Integrity Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs for investigation.

The journey was non-stop from Fujian Province to Guangdong Province and then to Guangxi.

It's already New Year's Eve.

At this time, in the Guangxi battlefield, with the defeat of the Qing army in Wuzhou, the escort army went upstream along the Xunjiang River, successively occupied Xunzhou and Liuzhou, and attacked Guilin together with the six detachments of Shanyao who had earlier occupied Leping.

The seventh detachment went directly from Lianzhou to Nanning Prefecture, another important town in Guangxi. Most of the local chieftains of the Qing army in Nanning dispersed instantly after seeing the strength of the escort.

Some of them fled back to their villages, while others fled along the border into Annan.

Daxu Town in the southeast of Guilin Prefecture has now become a military town.

Shan Yao's eastern headquarters was set up here. The Qing army set up three lines of defense in the southeast of Guilin City.

The governor of Guangxi, Lao Chongguang, put on makeup and fled before the city of Wuzhou was captured.

He seemed to have expected that Wuzhou City could not be defended, so he had people set up a defense line in Guilin in advance. He also borrowed 3,000 soldiers and horses from Zeng Guofan, a fellow from Hunan.

Of course, Zeng Shatou would not lend his troops to Lao Chongguang in vain.

The money loaned by Lao Chongguang was enough for Zeng Guofan to recruit another three thousand troops.

This account is very easy to calculate, and the soldiers and horses lent belong to the Hunan Army.

It was with these three thousand fresh troops that Lao Chongguang temporarily stabilized Guilin's defense line.

Memorials requesting reinforcements arrived in the capital one after another, but the troops and horses of the imperial court could not quench the thirst of those who were near.

If the Guards attack forcefully, they are actually capable of breaking through these lines of defense.

But Dong Liang's order to Zhao Liewen was to let the soldiers take a rest.

These soldiers fought all the way from Guangdong and hardly had a good rest for nearly half a year.

And many of them are still new recruits, and many of them have grown up slowly in battle.

Recovering Guangdong and Guangxi is not so much a battle as a training exercise.

The Chinese went from twelve brigades to twelve detachments, and each detachment had eight brigades, which meant that the size of the army suddenly expanded to eight times its original size.

For such an expansion of the army, the proportion of new recruits will be too high.

Therefore, after taking Guangdong, Dong Liang asked Zhao Liewen to slow down the attack.

This can reduce soldiers' casualties and allow soldiers to become familiar with various tactics in actual combat.

Dong Liang has always felt that the Chinese people are developing too fast.

Just like building a house, the construction speed is too fast, and the owner always feels that the quality of the house is not good.

If the foundation is not solidly laid, the upper floors will eventually collapse no matter how high they are built.

So wouldn’t all the previous efforts be in vain?

Dong Liang has also been worried that his pace is too fast, and will the Chinese government he finally established with his own hands be able to sustain it?

Daxu Town is on the edge of the Gui River, and Dong Liang took a gunboat upstream.

Zhao Liewen had arrived in Wuzhou before. He was the commander-in-chief of the former enemy and could not leave the front line for too long.

He came back as soon as the meeting was over.

In Guangxi now, the most important battlefield is in Guilin.

The remaining areas that have not been pacified are some remote chieftain areas. It is not difficult to conquer these areas, but the costs and benefits are not proportional.

If you grind it slowly, maybe these toasts will surrender on their own.

They are just a bunch of grassroots, whose edges have long been worn away by the Qing Dynasty's policy of returning natives to rural areas.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty completed the policy of reforming the land and returning it to the people, which had not been completed for hundreds of years by the previous dynasty.

In the military camp in Daxu Town, Shan Yaodong was visiting his soldiers from barracks to New Year greetings.

The Logistics Department produced many fat pigs and sent them to the front line. During the New Year days, the soldiers could eat meat almost every meal.

But none of these can cover up everyone’s homesickness.

This is the first time for many people to celebrate the Chinese New Year outside. Although the food during the Chinese New Year at home was worse than now, the whole family is enjoying themselves.

"Yuan Feng, we still have to continue training tomorrow. We can't take any time off. I think the soldiers are quite homesick. Wouldn't they be even more homesick after they have time off?"

Yuan Feng is a captain under Shan Yaodong and once participated in the Battle of Xiamen.

He can also be regarded as an old man in the Guards.

"Indeed, after all, everyone has been out for half a year and fought several tough battles. It is impossible to say that you miss home. I also heard some people complaining privately." Yuan Feng said.

The two were walking in the middle of the barracks. Under the light of the campfire, the shadows of the two officers were long.

In the barracks, the soldiers were gathering for a meal. A large pot of cabbage stewed with pork was added with spicy pepper, which was very tasty in the mouth.

Steamed sea fish, when picked open with chopsticks, the fish meat is like rice grains.

The fish rice eaten by Cantonese people is almost like this.

"This is inevitable. If you find someone complaining, don't be too harsh. People must have a way to vent." Shan Yaodong said.

He also grew up from a little soldier.

When soldiers feel dissatisfied, they like to complain to each other behind the officers' backs.

Just like if everyone thinks the food is not good, they will bury the chief secretary behind his back.

If you don't even give others a way to vent your anger, then you won't be able to protect yourself. During the war, someone will shoot you behind the back.

Shan Yaodong came outside a barracks. The soldiers inside were eating and bragging.

"Zhang Laoer, what do you think it feels like to sleep with your wife?" A stout-looking man loudly asked a married soldier in the same team.

This Zhang Laoer is the oldest soldier in the team and the only one who is married.

"Mother-in-law is like cotton, soft and watery, like watermelon, and like honey, sweet and delicious." This guy said directly without being pretentious.

Everyone looked forward to it.

"I have been fighting for half a year, and I have earned more than ten Chinese yuan. Why don't I take a vacation? I just go back and use the money to marry a wife." A Guangdong soldier named Ma Laoliu said.

This Ma Laoliu has rosacea, a big mouth, and the facial features on his face are really not that good. His eyes, nose, and mouth are all uglier than the last. Putting them together is a superposition of three kills.

"Ma Laoliu, can you get a wife for ten yuan?"

"Of course, for ten Chinese dollars, I can get the village flower." Ma Laoliu said firmly.

"You can just brag. You might be able to let others go, but you Ma Laoliu probably won't be able to marry you. Once they see your appearance, they will definitely ask you to pay more, hahaha."

At this moment, the room suddenly became quiet.

The soldiers put down their bowls and chopsticks one after another, stood up and saluted at the door.

"Hello, Commander, Hello, Captain!" the soldiers in the barracks said in unison.

"Hahaha, okay, let's all sit down and eat. It's Chinese New Year, so don't be so serious." Shan Yaodong said with a smile.

"After the battle of Guilin, the head of state promised to let each army take turns to go back to rest."

"When the time comes, I will give each of you a task."

The team leader asked: "Commander, what is the mission? We will definitely complete it."
Chapter completed!