Zhu Aao and Hao Guangming were not surprised by the inventory data of Zuojun Jiangxia City reported by the Red Lady.

Since Zuo Liangyu can command an army of 800,000 men, it is impossible for him to have no grain in his hands.

It should be noted that normally, even in non-war times, 10,000 soldiers need to eat 200 stone grains a day.

If it is during a war, you will only eat more.

So Zuo Liangyu's 800,000-strong army must consume more than 500,000 stone grains a year.

Although not all of Zuo Liangyu's 800,000-strong army are combat soldiers, and they are definitely not all counted according to the normal daily rations of Ming Dynasty soldiers, the annual consumption of 500,000 shi of grain is already estimated at a young age.

In the past two years, Zuo Liangyu has been either in Huguang or in Jiangxi and Huaibei, which are considered grain-producing places. Huguang is also known as the granary of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Even though they experienced wars, Zuo Liangyu's troops often robbed food to collect food, and because of their actions of depleting the land and fishing, there was naturally no shortage of food reserves.

As for the 1.7 million taels of silver on the books, it was slightly less.

It should be noted that even if the monthly military pay for soldiers is only one tael, Zuo Liangyu's 800,000-strong army still needs 800,000 taels of military pay per month.

Even if it is reduced due to various reasons, four to five million taels will still be distributed.

As a result, the 1.7 million taels of silver on the books were only enough for three months.

What's more, raising an army not only requires paying military salaries, but also taking care of various military supplies - which is even more expensive.

Lady Hong was once the leader of a rebel army and knew all about raising an army. Therefore, after looking at the accounts of the Zuo army, she concluded that the Zuo family and his son must have a small treasury, otherwise they would not be able to support an army of 800,000.

···

After listening to the report of the two men, Zhu Yucao said: "You first start the reorganization of the prisoners and the soldiers who surrendered in Jiangxia City."

Zeng Yingdao: "The Zuo Army has surrendered too many troops. We still need to use troops to guard against other Zuo Army troops that have not yet surrendered. I'm afraid we don't have enough manpower."

Zhu Yuyao said: "I have sent a telegram to Du Yinxi, asking him to bring a group of people to Wuchang to help reorganize the army and stabilize the county.

However, you yourself must also find ways to overcome the difficulties and reorganize the left army as soon as possible while ensuring stability and security.

By the way, Du Yinxi said before that He Tengjiao was invited to Wuchang by Zuo Liangyu, but I don’t know if he is still there now.

Madam Hong, please ask Zuo Liangyu. If He Tengjiao is still there, ask him to come to see me.

In addition, if Zuo Liangyu wakes up, he will immediately release the news to stabilize the hearts of Zuo soldiers stationed elsewhere."

"yes."

After finishing the intercom conversation with the Red Lady and Zeng Ying, Zhu Yusao asked: "Ms. sir, how many troops do you think we can reorganize from the left army this time? And how to deal with them?"

Hao Guangming said with a smile: "I just happened to read an article about the historical materials of Guan Zuo Liangyu's army, and I can give it to you for reference.

First of all, the figure of 800,000 troops is definitely false. It is estimated that even including the families of Zuo Liangyu's soldiers and the civilians driven and enslaved by them, the number may not really reach the figure of 800,000.

However, judging from what we know now, if not 800,000, there are at least 600,000 to 700,000 people.

As for the composition of the soldiers and horses, I estimate that only the generals, generals, and guerrilla servants can barely be considered elite soldiers.

A commander-in-chief can be considered good if he can have hundreds of servants around him, but at least it can be estimated that there are only dozens of servants.

As for these generals, generals, and guerrilla soldiers who dare to fight, there should be many. After all, Zuo Liangyu was able to suppress Zhang Xianzhong last year.

In terms of reorganization, I think you can follow the original method in Chengdu, selecting only elite soldiers and those who dare to fight and reorganize them into the army.

Those who were eliminated were either organized into households as civilians or formed into workers and garrisons, and the government guided them to open up wasteland and cultivate fields.

Along the way, you have also seen that although Huguang is the granary of the Ming Dynasty, after several years of war, there are a lot of abandoned fields."

Zhu Yasuo nodded slightly after hearing this, "After your analysis, I have a clue."

···

Jiangxia City.

He Tengjiao lay straight on the bed, eyes closed, but not at all sleepy.

Because he had already finished sleeping, and the most important thing was that he was hungry - he had not eaten three times since last night.

It was not that he wanted to go on a hunger strike to show Zuo Liangyu that he would not follow Zuo Liangyu's firm attitude of "taking the emperor's side", but that his guards forgot to bring him food and locked him in the room.

'Is it possible that my dignified Governor of Huguang is going to be forgotten and starve to death?'

'However, what happened in Jiangxia City that made Zuo Liangyu's people forget about me, the dignified governor?'

Yesterday morning, He Tengjiao heard an unusual noise outside. At that time, he asked the guard who stayed outside the house, but unfortunately he did not get an answer.

By yesterday afternoon, several guards outside his house had fled and have not shown up yet.

Therefore, he concluded that something was wrong with Jiangxia City.

'It can't be that Zuo Liangyu has already led his army to Nanjing and wants to deliberately leave me here to starve to death, right?'

Thinking of this, He Tengjiao felt that he could not wait any longer and had to do something.

He got up, looked for something in the house, and prepared to break open the window and go out.

He didn't do this before because he felt that Zuo Liangyu's people were probably guarding the courtyard outside the house, so he would be humiliating himself by smashing the window out.

But now he wants to give it a try.

However, just after he picked a sturdy and useful chair and came to the window, he heard footsteps approaching quickly.

So He Tengjiao immediately put down his chair and sat down at the table - since Zuo Liangyu remembered him again, of course he couldn't lose his honor as a dignified governor.

The door was quickly opened, and two groups of people came in. One group was Zuo Liangyu's personal soldiers, and the other group didn't seem to be Zuo Liangyu's soldiers.

The armor and weapons looked too sophisticated, and their temperament was different from Zuo Liangyu's soldiers.

"Commander Zhou, please take a look, this is Inspector He." Zuo Liangyu's personal commander said respectfully to the leader of the other group of officers and soldiers.

Commander-in-Chief Zhou clasped his fists at He Tengjiao and said, "I am Commander-in-Chief Zhou Da of the First Army of the Imperial Guard. I have been ordered by Admiral Red to pick up Governor He. Please!"

Zhou Da said and made a gesture of invitation.

He Tengjiao frowned and said, "Who is Admiral Hong? Where is Zuo Liangyu? Let him come to see me!"

"Master He, the Marquis is seriously ill and bedridden. As for this person, he is the commander-in-chief of the personal soldiers under the command of the Imperial Guards Admiral Hong Niangzi."

"Supervisor? Imperial Guard?" He Tengjiao frowned even more. Thinking of the strange stories from Sichuan he heard in Changsha, he couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Are you Princess Kunxing's people?!"

Zhou Da nodded, and then said: "If the supervisor wants to see Supervisor He, if he has any questions, Supervisor He will naturally be able to ask them when he meets the Supervisor."

He Tengjiao didn't want to ask questions about these low-level Qiu Ba, so he nodded and left with Zhou Da.

Immediately, he saw the red lady who was supposed to be a traitor general under Li Zicheng, but was now the admiral of the Imperial Guard.

Mainly because the matchmaker confirmed that he was really He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang.

Afterwards, He Tengjiao was put on a sailboat and came to Jinkou Town, where he boarded a black warship that seemed to be covered in iron armor.

The ship carried both the sun, moon and dragon flag representing the Ming Dynasty royal family, and the vertical flag of "The Ming Dynasty Supervisor". At this moment, He Tengjiao was sure of the identity of the person he was about to meet.

When he got on the boat, He Tengjiao saw a girl who was heroic but not angry or proud.

He Tengjiao hesitated for a moment, then saluted immediately and said, "Your Majesty, He Tengjiao, pays homage to Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Zhu Yuyao stood on the balcony on the second floor of the palace, looking down at He Tengjiao. When she saw him addressing him and saluting like this, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart: She had to go through the identity and qualification certification again...

It took more than a quarter of an hour to take out Chongzhen's edict and the video of the edict, and also demonstrated the magical power of "traveling to future generations". Zhu Yu'ao successfully made He Tengjiao change his mind and surrender to her.

Although He Tengjiao had not yet fully digested the large amount of information he had just received and was still in an inexplicable excitement, Zhu Yusao was not prepared to wait any longer and talked to him directly about the business.

"He Budang, now that I have ordered Zuo Liangyu to surrender, the next step is to reorganize Zuo's army.

Wuchang Prefecture and some surrounding prefectures and counties have been under Zuo Liangyu's control in the past year or two.

Now that Zuo Liangyu has been defeated and surrendered to the palace, and the army has to be reorganized, if the people in the local area are unstable, there may be a lot of chaos.

Therefore, I hope that He Budang will inspect these places as the governor of Huguang and appease the local officials and people on my behalf."

He Tengjiao came back to his senses and immediately bowed and responded: "This is my duty, and I will try my best to do it well. It's just..."

Seeing He Tengjiao hesitating as he spoke, Zhu Auao asked, "Just what?"

He Tengjiao said: "There are many bandits in the area now, and many of the prefectures and counties controlled by Zuo Liangyu are bordering the Shun bandits. In addition, there are many mountains under the Zuo Army. Now I don't know if any of these people are unwilling."

Return yours to the prison state.

In order to successfully complete the mission of the Supervisory State, I hope that the Supervisory State can send a battalion of soldiers and horses to accompany us for protection, which will also help to intimidate the local area."

Zhu Aoi thought to herself: It turns out that this is what He Tengjiao was planning to do even if he didn't tell her.

With a growl in her heart, Zhu Aao said: "That's right."

"Thank you, Supervisor!"

···

That night.

After the red lady took some precautions, she talked about her military affairs with Zuo Liangyu, who had recovered a little.

After it was over, the matchmaker reported to Zhu Ayao through the intercom.
Chapter completed!