Xie Erren has been busy with the aftermath work for more than ten days. At first, he only felt that everything was difficult to handle, and he was short of food and money. Unexpectedly, the team of people from the aftermath bureau were really able to get things done. Not only did they successfully raise part of the food funds, thousands of
Many of the troubled things began to be dealt with one after another. Although there were still many problems before him, he finally saw a glimmer of light. His original views on the aftermath of the aftermath and the retention of personnel also changed - although in
I had warned them during class that these people were "useful but not trustworthy", but in terms of "use", these people were quite capable. If they had to rely on the few people they brought in by themselves, they probably wouldn't even have finished picking up the corpses.
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So now he no longer sends cadres out to be "supervisors" like "sprinkling pepper", but lets them do more important things. For example: raising food.
Of course, raising food is not about raising food on the spot. Wuzhou's food stocks are limited. According to the aftermath bureau, various food stores can barely maintain normal food sales for a month, and they will not be able to sustain it for more. But Xie Erren knows that Lao Cai
We are the best at crying about poverty, and there is at least half a month of moisture in these words.
Even if there is moisture, it will be difficult to sustain food for one and a half months. There are still several months until the autumn harvest, and there is no food tax. As for collecting reasonable burdens from the landowners in the four countryside, he has so few people that he does not dare to send cadres to the countryside at will -
Banditry is serious in the four villages. Not to mention whether the landlords are willing to pay, even if they are willing, there is a great risk in transporting the grain back.
As for the food shipped by the First Brigade of the Joint Logistics, although it had been handed over to the local government at that time, prisoners of war, labor teams and refugees all consumed a large amount of food. Zhu Quanxing's camp food supplies also came from this part of the food stock.
At best, "public food" can only guarantee the normal food supply for those who "eat public food", and it is impossible to divert some of it to supply the market.
Under the shadow of "food shortage", the price of food in Wuzhou city slowly rose. Within a few days, the price of food reached the upper limit of price increase stipulated by him. Although no one dared to violate his food price limit order, various food companies
Shops have begun to restrict sales. Although some shops do not restrict sales, they are only open for an hour or two every day. Stimulated by panic, citizens rush to buy, which further amplifies the tension. Don't look at the "emotions" of the citizens at the moment.
"Stability", in fact, panic has always existed. If it were not for the instability in the countryside, many people with farms or relatives in the countryside would have fled long ago.
Since ancient times, food has been the basis for the stability of the people. Xie Erren knew that his price limit order was only a temporary solution but not the root cause. Even if he issued another order ordering grain merchants to operate 24 hours a day, it would not be effective. If he could not ensure the food supply quickly, Wuzhou would sooner or later fail.
War leads to chaos.
In desperation, Xie Erren discussed with Xu Xu, firstly, he was going to start "counting allotment" in Wuzhou City, and secondly, he wanted to ask Xu Xu to go back to Sanshui and go to Lao Hong to get some military rations.
"Planned distribution" is called "planned supply" in old time terms. Whenever there is a food shortage, this policy will be introduced. Xie Erren can't produce food for the time being, so he can only resort to this method.
As for asking for permission to go back to get food, it is naturally because of the respect of the elders. If Zhao Fengdao is sent back, Sanshui will only have "official business". Young Master Xie Erren must first report to the district chief of Guangdong Region.
Wait for his approval before mobilizing grain. This process is too long for Xie Erren, so it would be faster to just ask for permission to go to Sanshui to "borrow grain".
"Anything is fine. Those military rations that can kill people travel at night, so we're not picky."
"It's no problem for me to go to Sanshui," Xu Xu promised. He has been busy interrogating prisoners and understanding the situation in Wuzhou and Guangxi these days. He originally planned to find an opportunity to return to Zhaoqing and report on the situation. He will make another trip.
Sanshui has nothing to do with it.
"But you have to calculate the ration and sell grain, which is not a simple job. The household registration system here has not been established yet. Apart from the retained yamen, there are no police. What is the basis for the grain distribution book? Only those registered in Wuzhou City
The registered population is almost 30,000 - the Ming Dynasty's Yellow Register numbers are inherently inaccurate. After such a war, those who escaped, those who died, those who ran in from outside...the number of people who came in and out was a huge number!
"
Xie Erren shook his head and said: "You are right. But building a police team does not happen overnight. The Qiongya Column sent me Zheng Ergen as the chief of the Wuzhou Police Department. He brought a total of two policemen. Now I can only
First, use the retained government officials from Cangwu County and Wuzhou Prefecture in the temporary security team - these government gangsters cannot be expected to do such detailed work: firstly, they will not be able to do it, secondly, they will definitely cheat, and the good things will definitely go bad."
Xu Xu thought to himself that Xie Erren was quite clear about the problem, despite his usual romantic life.
Xie Erren smiled bitterly and said: "Don't forget that I was a reporter! What ugly things have not been seen in society?! Since ancient times, the grassroots level has been the same. The people we train ourselves can feel more at ease, and leave it to those who
"Xiao Li, that's all right - using wolves to shepherd sheep."
"What do you plan to do?" Since there are no police and no subordinates, Permit is a bit confused.
"The National Army!" Xie Erren said, "The National Army will arrive in Wuzhou in the next two days. Bei Wei told me that the National Army in Wuzhou will be equipped with a brigade - not a squadron."
Because Wuzhou is located at an important transportation hub and is on the front line, Xie Erren was allocated a brigade.
"This brigade will be used as a police force for a while, at least to get the police work started." Xie Erren has already made a plan. As soon as the National Army arrives, they will first get the household registration and do a thorough survey of the city.
Xu Xu nodded. Although the quality of this water-injected version of the National Army is questionable, it is more reliable than the retained government officials. The key is that now Xie Erren has to rely on retained personnel for many things - over time, arrogance will inevitably develop.
As soon as the Nationalist Army arrived, the balance within the regime was established, and the remaining personnel would be more restrained.
While the two were talking, the correspondent came to report: "The Wuzhou Brigade of the National Army has just arrived. The captain of the brigade is already here."
"Hurry and tell him to come in!" Xie Erren was refreshed.
Not long after, a young officer strode in, stood at attention, saluted, and said loudly: "Report: Captain of the Wuzhou Brigade of the Guangdong Squadron of the National Army, Lieutenant of the National Army, Zhu Si reports to you!"
Xie Erren was quite happy to see that the visitor was young, dark-skinned, well-dressed and capable. He stood up to welcome him and said, "It's been a hard journey! How was it? Did it go well on the way?"
"We are riding on a steamer, and we have guns. No one dares to mess with us on the road - just..."
"What's that?" Xu Xu asked, "Don't hesitate, talk when you have something to say."
"Yes!" Zhu Si stood at attention again, "There are often unidentified armed activities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. When the ship stopped to rest at night, there was an attempted sneak attack."
"Oh." Xu Xu frowned. He was aware of the commotion on both sides of the Xijiang River, but he didn't expect that in just a few days, it would already start to affect shipping on the river - the Yao chaos is developing too fast!
"Is it Yaotong's armed forces?"
"Report: It's not very similar." Zhu Si said, "There are soldiers from the Ming army in our brigade. According to them, these people are not from Yaotong, but there are indeed Yao people in the teams we encountered several times."
"Are you a member of the local warrior group?"
"They said the same thing, but the Ding 1st Class of the Township Warriors are all on guard in their own villages and strongholds. It is rare for such large groups to gather together for activities."
Xu Xu thought to himself, this is a new situation! He realized that this "Yao Rebellion" was not only fierce and wide-ranging, but also probably caused a new form due to his own involvement in historical changes. He only relied on historical records to judge the future.
The trend is no longer reliable.
He should rush to Zhaoqing as soon as possible to sort out the situation collected by the troops. Thinking of this, he decided to leave early tomorrow morning.
Xie Erren didn't care about this, he was more concerned about the situation of the troops.
"How is the situation with the troops?"
"Our brigade has a total of three squadrons and one directly affiliated squad, with a current strength of 332 people. Among them, three are sick - all with minor illnesses."
"Okay, okay." When Xie Erren heard that more than 300 people had arrived, his confidence soared.
"The weaponry is not ideal. Only one squadron has Nanyang-style rifles, and the other squadrons have standard spears..."
According to the original plan, Cangwu County was equipped with only one squadron, and now it is temporarily expanded into a brigade. Zhu Si said that the expanded troops are mainly composed of surrendered Ming troops from the Guangzhou Prefecture area. The training and discipline are not very good.
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"They are all officers and soldiers of the former Ming Dynasty...can you rest assured?" Xie Erren was a little worried. It has only been a few days since these officers and soldiers were recruited and surrendered, and they have not gone through political study and internal cleansing. What about their loyalty?"
Zhu Si looked nonchalant, "Although these former Ming officers and soldiers have recently surrendered, the leader does not need to worry: firstly, they are all well-established and have their families in Guangzhou; secondly, I, the Senate, have surrendered to them.
They paid off the false salary arrears, and the military salary was given preferentially. Even if they are fools, they should know where to work for. Thirdly, one of our core squadrons is composed of naturalized civilians and is allocated
They are all Nanyang rifles."
Xie Erren was still a little worried, and Xu Xu was actually not at ease either. He whispered: "Old Jie, you don't have to worry. When the Manchus entered the Pass, did they not rely on the Green Camp to fight the war? The Green Camp was different from the officers and soldiers of the former Ming Dynasty.
The remnants of the peasant army? The Manchus did not necessarily have any political knowledge. They did not conquer the world by relying on the two simplest principles of 'paying wages on time' and 'clear rewards and punishments'..."
What Xu Xu did not say is that this is only part of the truth: in the early Qing Dynasty, incidents involving green camp generals were commonplace - but Xu Xu believed that the personal dominance of the green camp generals was relatively large, and the feudal army soldiers and generals were very dependent on themselves. But now.
The National Army consists of soldiers from the Ming Army and does not have a core of officers, so this risk is much smaller.
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 349