The Qing court's strict handling of the various officials after the Battle of Fenghua and the Central Plains and the revolt in Jiangxi made local officials shudder. Although the officials who escaped the disaster secretly gladly thanked their luck, they could not help but feel the sad ending of those officials who were dealt with and their families, especially those who were important and old ministers such as Yin Huaxing.

When the news came to Ningbo, all the surrendered generals led by Yang Xu were expressed as Zhu Yicheng, especially Yang Xu. Now, he not only hated Nian Gengyao, but also had hatred for the entire Qing court. He refused Zhu Yicheng's appointment to preside over the work of the General Staff, and begged Zhu Yicheng to let him continue to lead troops. He said that he didn't care about the officials, even if he was given a hundred households, as long as he could continue to lead troops, he would have the chance to cut off Nian Gengyao's dog head with his own hands.

In response, Zhu Yicheng considered this and agreed to Yang Xu. Due to the increasing territory and strength of Ningbo, Zhu Yicheng adjusted the military system with the flow, and at the same time, he also issued additional officials and rewards to all soldiers since sending troops to Susong.

Dong Dashan and Ma Gongcheng were promoted to commander by Tongzhi, and all their subordinates should be rewarded. Wang Dong and others were also promoted to one level on the Navy. Boss Pan led the newly formed Chongming Navy with Tongzhi. According to Zhu Yicheng's idea, Ningbo Navy, as a powerful force, could not have been stationed in Chongming forever, and only played the role of blocking the Yangtze River and assisting Su Song's rebel army.

In Zhu Yicheng's view, with the continuous expansion of maritime trade and the current situation, the original plan to attack Taiwan was time to be implemented. How could the Ningbo Navy, as the most powerful maritime force, be absent? As for the current tasks, the Chongming Navy, which was organized as the main body, be responsible for the Chongming Navy, who was organized by the Luo Cult, and Zhu Yicheng is still confident of Boss Pan's ability. As long as some warships are allocated from the existing Ningbo Navy, this newly established Chongming Navy will soon form a good combat power.

Of course, Zhu Yicheng would not give him a single hundred households. As a former general and a local official of the Qing court, Yang Xu was able to use it for himself, both political and military aspects. Originally, Zhu Yicheng planned to be the newly formed General Staff Department by Yang Xu. Zhu Yicheng had long had the idea of ​​the General Staff Department, especially during the Battle of Fenghua, he had made up his mind to form it as soon as possible after the war.

Yang Xu was once the general and a general who had many battles. He had rich experience in the battlefield. Moreover, Yang Xu was familiar with military books and wrote good writing. From these points of view, he was the right candidate for the General Staff. Unfortunately, Yang Xu is determined to take revenge and does not look down on the position of chief of staff that the so-called General Staff even promised to him. In his opinion, this is just the previous military participation. How can he take revenge if he agrees?

Therefore, in the end, the General Staff was in charge of the original deputy Zhuang Yan. As for Yang Xu, considering his requirements and previous status, Zhu Yicheng bought a horse bone and directly gave him the position of commander. This unexpected joy made Yang Xu almost say. In his opinion, even if he could make him a surrendered general, he would never be high. But who would have thought that Zhu Yicheng would be so generous and gave him such a high position directly? You must know that the commander was the only one who was the commander, except Zhu Yicheng, was the only one who was Dong Dashan and Ma Gongcheng.

Thankful Yang Xu secretly vowed to be loyal to Zhu Yicheng. In the following days, Yang Xu not only took charge of the reorganization of the Qing army and the training of the new army, but also under his advice, many people took the initiative to surrender in the eastern Zhejiang area controlled by the Ningbo rebel army. Several of them were young but were children of local families, and some were even local officials. This made Zhu Yicheng overjoyed. Now he was the time to use people, and he quickly settled these people who came to visit according to their abilities.

Since occupying Ningbo, Zhu Yicheng has never given up on research on military ordnances, especially firearms. After more than half a year of hard work, Ningbo's firearm manufacturing has finally made progress. First of all, the advancement of steelmaking technology. A small blast furnace that had been experimented less than a hundred times a month ago was finally successful. Although this small blast furnace is far from reaching the technology of later generations, its service life is only less than half a year due to the refractory materials of brick walls, it is a revolutionary breakthrough in this era.

The completion and put into use of the small blast furnace have given Ningbo the most important foundation for industry - steel. Although the output of steel is still not much, it has made great progress compared to the past. On this basis, the development of firearms has naturally become one step further. Now Ningbo's muskets have gradually deviated from the initial simple form and are developing towards modern muskets. Iron-made cannons and even small steel cannons have been successfully tested, but because of the technology that cannot be formally equipped, this is good news. He believes that as long as this continues, he will eventually surprise him one day.

In addition to these, the shipbuilding industry, textile industry, processing industry and even chemical research are constantly improving. In addition, Ningbo has overseas trade support and does not lack food at all. Moreover, a wide range of various commodities can be transported to Ningbo through other channels. While the entire Ningbo exudes vitality, it also gives people an extremely secure sense. This is extremely rare in the current fierce Qing Dynasty.

"Is this Ningbo?" At the gate of Ningbo City, a man in a scholar's robe stared at the busy streets with wide eyes. He dressed up obviously as if he was a scholar, and his head was still shaved with a rat tail of money and a bag on his back. He knew he was an outsider at first glance.

Zhu Yicheng did not force the braids of ordinary people after taking Ningbo last year, because at that time he was just a lucky "rebel" in the eyes of all the people in Ningbo City. As the saying goes, the big king flag changes on the top of the city. God knows how long Zhu Yicheng can stay in Ningbo. If he gives an order to cut braids, then the entire Ningbo will have to resist him in order to save his life.

As the saying goes, the braids on the head are easy to cut, but the braids in the heart are not easy to cut. Therefore, in order to stabilize the place, Zhu Yicheng did not do this. However, as time went by, Zhu Yicheng's rule in Ningbo gradually began to stabilize. After defeating the Fujian Navy, some people who were willing to defect to Zhu Yicheng took the initiative to cut off the braids on their heads to show their loyalty. In addition, most of the Ningbo rebels had already gone to braids, so half of the people in Ningbo city had their braids.

Then, as Ningbo's power grew stronger and stronger, especially after the attack on the battles of Susong and Fenghua, Ningbo's power had suddenly expanded to half of Zhejiang and Susong areas. Moreover, from the perspective of the Qing court, rebellions occurred in the Central Plains and Jiangxi, and Ningbo has officially become a "warlord" who separatist the country, so more people took the initiative to remove their braids.

So now, most people in Ningbo City have already worn their braids. Even those who still have braids do not look like the ugly money rat tail before. There is much more hair left on their heads than before. The braids behind are temporarily kept because these people often have to deal with or trade with areas controlled by the Qing court, just keep them for convenience.
Chapter completed!