At the Guangzhou Wharf, Chen Qice and Li Changrong's naval ships are all here. In the naval barracks on the wharf, the pot of food carried out from the kitchen of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming Army was delivered to the camp in the canteen of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming Army camp. The soldiers of the naval army lined up in order of coming first and then arrived to receive the meals.

Like the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there was a meat dish for every meal, which was naturally particularly popular with the navy. Because the meat dish was consumed too quickly and the queue was stagnant, the experienced chefs specially made more meat dishes, but the supply was still in short supply.

It was pitiful to supply meat to the lower-level soldiers. The Qing army of the Yongli Dynasty swept Guangdong. At that time, the Ming army in Guangdong, except for being killed or surrendered, all retreated to islands along Guangxi or coastal Guangdong, as well as remote areas such as inland mountainous areas. Later, Li Chengdong was still trying his best to supply Li Chengdong's headquarters troops. The older Ming army was still eating braised vegetables. When Shang Geng and the other fan battles entered Guangzhou, the life of the Guangdong rebel army would be even worse.

Over the years, the officers have been a little better, but the soldiers are often hungry and full. It is good to have a meal on weekdays. At most, they go out to sea to catch some fish, and the officers must first serve them. Unlike now, the officers and soldiers have the same meal, but they can have meat and vegetables for every meal, whether it is pig, cattle, sheep, or anything else. The temptation of meat makes them envious of the treatment of the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

"When His Highness the King of Yue gives us some food, we can live this life sooner or later."

"Come on, if you have meat, you will be the officers. We pawns will still eat braised vegetables."

Veterans have seen many such cases than new recruits. They have not been to the camps of the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. They cannot see the phenomenon of officers bullying soldiers at all. They can always see military judges and military supervisors inspecting everywhere. It is said that there are such regulations in the military law that officers bullying soldiers must be punished in public, and officers at the higher level will be punished in joint punishment, which is not a joke.

"Brother, do you say that Your Highness King Yue is supporting us like this? Is the Grand Marshal intending to follow Your Highness King Yue in the future?"

From the beginning of joining the war, Chen Qice and Li Changrong's troops received food and pay from the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This is a luxury for the rebels who usually have food to eat and the money they earn in the army is often used to make weapons. Eating food and paying wages is often a luxury. The Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was well fed, with stable wages and money, and can divide the land with military achievements. This is a great thing for ordinary soldiers. So when these words were said, the soldiers around them stood up.

After a week of scanning, the experienced veteran said slowly: "The ancestral system of the State Dynasty uses civil and military control, and is a general rule. It is logical that our general is unlikely to pass. Even if our general is willing, the governor Guo and the governor above will not agree."

As soon as this said, everyone was depressed. Unexpectedly, the veteran took a sip of soup and lowered his voice and said, "But I heard that His Highness, King of Yue, has impeached the incompetent commander Guo and his men, causing chaos in Guangdong, and asked the emperor to punish him. Those civil servants are afraid that they will not have the idle mind to care about these matters for the time being."

"oh."

While everyone was suddenly enlightened by the sudden realization of hope, the new recruit took the lead in understanding the veteran's implication.

"That means it depends on our handsome guy."

“That’s exactly that.”

After eating, I always have some longings and reverie while having nothing to do, but it is also a clip and episode that happens in many corners of the military camp. If I accept Chen Wen's restraint, I have to adapt it, which is not a good thing for the generals who regard the army as private property.

"Brother Chen is still complaining about how happy he promised?"

After staying for a while, Chen Qice and Li Changrong left Chen Wen's headquarters. How could they not understand the meaning of what Chen Wen said about the South China Sea Fleet under the Navy? Chen Wen was asking them to accept the adaptation and become part of the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the South China Sea Fleet under the Navy, which was side by side with the army. In fact, it was because of the old-style naval navy of the Ming court as a distinction, and the other was showing the guarantee of their status.

In China, the army is the key to the decisive victory, and the navy has never been highly valued. Even now, Chen Qice is the leader of the Guangdong navy, and the Jiangmen victory even made a good start in the Battle of Xinhui. However, he was just a general of Linghai. In such a time, he had not even had an earl. This shows the position of the navy in the hearts of the court.

In Chen Wen's words, he mentioned that there are not only Japanese pirates along the coast, but also ships of the Taixi countries also clashed with the Ming army. The Spaniards occupied Luzon, the Dutch occupied the majority, and the Portuguese occupied Macau. The threat has reached the gate of China. Sooner or later China will face the north-south attacks between the Northern Territories and the Taixi countries at the same time, and it is also appropriate to improve the naval status.

When they cooperated with the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they were not blind, and they could clearly see the vitality of this military and political group. Earlier, Zhang Zisheng, who was in Jiangxi, had only more than 10,000 men, women, young and old, and now he is a Duke, and there are tens of thousands of soldiers under his command. Since Chen Wen was willing to guarantee their status, his future will only be even greater.

Faced with Chen Wen's straightforwardness, Li Changrong quickly expressed his willingness to surrender, but Chen Qice was still a little hesitant and expressed his hope to consider it for a day or two before answering.

It was not that Chen Qice, the army regarded the private property and refused to let go. He still understood the more truths he would get tomorrow. However, he was born as a military scholar, and it was not uncommon for military generals to resist the orders from the Chongzhen Dynasty. However, Chen Wen's current strength is here, so he couldn't help but think about other things.

"The four words "His Royal Highness of Yue are now famous and powerful," which are no exaggerated. I am afraid that there will be something I can't bear to say in the future, but then I will still be infatuated with the infatuation of the Lord's ungratefulness."

Chen Qice was brave enough to make him sigh, and Li Changrong sighed and was silent. After thinking for a long time, Li Changrong expressed his thoughts: "Brother Chen, look at the current situation, this troubled times may be completely over in a few years. You and I are now just generals at the first level of the general, and we cannot decide what we will do in the future."

"Yes." Chen Qice sighed and replied: "In the eyes of those soldiers, we are all rare big shots, but we are not even a big deal with King Xining, King Yue and even the emperor. As Brother Li said, what you and I can do in the future will not be decided by you or me."

Speaking of this, Chen Qice pointed to the military camp in the distance and even the group of Ming soldiers from Jiangsu and Zhejiang who came out at the gate, and then sighed: "And even if we really want anything, I'm afraid the soldiers below may not be unwilling to have a second thought."

……………………

Chen Wen himself was sincere enough to recruit Chen Qice, Li Changrong and others. It is indispensable to control the navy in Guangdong, but it is not convenient to ships from Jiangsu and Zhejiang across the middle.

Whether it was Chen Qice or Li Changrong, they were experienced navy generals, especially the former. Chen Wen could not accept the so-called ancestral system of the big and small generals. Everyone had selfish intentions, and they were surrounded by so-called friendly troops who did not listen to the orders. It would be strange if they could win battles. Now, the Qing Dynasty was not over, and he also had a deep understanding of how he felt that he was constrained by others. Naturally, he still had to try to absorb the Guangdong Ming army into the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming army.

However, annexation of friendly troops was a taboo. Although Chen Wen had long wanted to deal with Sun Kewang, he still refused to fight against Li Dingguo, Zheng Chenggong and others at the same time. Therefore, he persuaded friendly troops to join by themselves to block the mouth of Youyou. As for the military merger, it would be better not to use it.

Now, Li Changrong has expressed his desire to surrender and is willing to hand over the military power of the department and accept Chen Wen's restraint. This is a good starting point. Chen Wen regained Guangzhou and killed Shang Kexi. A large number of Ming troops from Guangdong and Guangxi were also on the way to visit. As for how much they could absorb, it is still unknown, but Chen Wen was not in a hurry.

The army is still advancing, and the officials and garrisons in Fujian took the lead in taking the position, and in the end they have taken advantage of the closer journey. The training of civil servant training classes in Jinhua has never stopped. From Jinhua to Quzhou, and then passed Xianxia Pass to Fujian, Chen Wen had already had three prefectures in Fujian before, but now there are only three more prefectures and one state, so the follow-up speed of the personnel is still very fast.

Many things still take time in Guangdong. Chen Wenshen is in Guangzhou and has returned to the busyness he had just recovered from Jiangxi and last year when he recovered Nanjing. The documents he needed to review every day were as numerous as a cow, and he also needed to walk around from time to time to inspect.

The war involving Guangdong and Guangxi is still in progress, but a series of construction in Guangzhou must be carried out first. The officials of various prefectures and counties are not afraid of taking their positions. The military will be in control for the time being, so that the military officers and military judges can cooperate with the military staff to do things first. In Guangzhou, the first thing to bear is the issuance and review of aftermath loans, which requires a lot of visits. In comparison, the restoration of the Guangzhou city wall seems much simpler.

"Are these coolies still obedient?"

During this expedition, some experienced officers were also drawn from the Coolie Camp in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so the Guangdong Coolie Camp was quickly set up. As for the Coolie, they were still captured Han military flags and officers and soldiers from the Green Camp, and are now working vigorously.

"Please rest assured, no one dares to disobey."

Yes, if you are hungry for a few days first, you will be whipped in public if you are disobedient. From time to time, you will be pulled out a few hanging from the gate of the coolie camp as decorations, and you will naturally be cured.

"That's good. After repairing the city wall, there are still many things they need to do."

Guangdong is a newly occupied area, and even if it can be used, many infrastructure buildings need to be properly renovated. Fortunately, the war in eastern Guangdong was not too fierce, and the proportion of population decline was acceptable. However, the eastern part of Guangdong was in tug-of-war since the Yongli and Shaowu competed for the throne. During the ten years, during which Li Chengdong, Shang Kexi and Li Dingguo came in turn, and the huge population loss was really shocking.

The population decline is not only due to the population that the government can control, but also the hidden households are also decreasing significantly. After all, natural disasters and man-made disasters are not paid or not. In addition, Chen Wen also has tens of thousands of troops under his command, and some auxiliary soldiers have been summoned along the way. Although most of them have returned to the local area, now in Guangzhou and the army is advancing westward, the manpower shortage in Guangzhou is obvious.

"King, there are many black ghosts in the city. It's better to pull them to act as coolies if you have the strength."

The advice of the staff reminded Chen Wen of some recent experiences in Guangzhou. There were roughly two types of black people who came to China during the Ming Dynasty. One was the Niglido people scattered in Southeast Asia, which was the so-called short black people, and the other was the Nigro people, which was the African black people. The former was mostly from the early Ming Dynasty. After all, it was relatively close to Southeast Asia. It was not uncommon to record the vassal states in Southeast Asia that used short black people as tributes to enter the country, while the latter was sent by European human slaves in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

As for the purpose, there are generally two types. One is to act as a slave, which is not much different from the "children of a family must get a black friend, but it is not called becoming an official" in the wealthy family in the capital at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. The other is to fight in the Ming army. For example, Liu Jing had many black soldiers under his command in the Battle of Sarhu.

Some generals of the Ming Dynasty loved their bravery, raised them as servants, and fought with their own soldiers. Among them, the Zheng group had black troops from Zheng Zhilong to Zheng Chenggong. However, Chen Wen had opposed going to Japan to beg for a military service in his early years, so his aides naturally had no intention of asking for this boring plan. They simply proposed to act as a coolie, which could be regarded as a relief to the human resources tension.

"It's okay. I'll transfer those black ghosts from Shang Kexi's family to act as coolies. But don't be exhausted. When this period of time passes, I'll sell them to Yanping's vassal, and each one will cost dozens of taels of silver."

After inspecting the progress of the city wall repair and returning to the headquarters, Chen Wen continued to handle official duties. The situations in different parts of the world are different, and the same is true in Guangdong. Not to mention anything else, there is a Macau in southern Guangzhou now under the control of the Portuguese.

The Ming court initially resisted the Portuguese's existence in Macau, but later it acquiesced to the Portuguese's right to live in Macau due to the need for war. However, the Ming Dynasty still set up an official there to rule, accepted the land rent paid by the Macau Portuguese every year, set up customs to collect ship tax, set up Macau officials to implement administrative management rights and implement the final judicial disciplinary power, etc., which were not as proof that some later generations forced to prove to be in vain the Qing Dynasty, Macau was already a Portuguese colony during the Ming Dynasty. In the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Yongli Dynasty borrowed troops from him to guard Guilin. In the palace, except for the Emperor Yongli, they all believed in Catholicism.

However, Macau's support for the Yongli Dynasty was limited to that war. Later, as the situation became increasingly biased towards the Qing Dynasty, the Portuguese in Macau also left the church behind without hesitation. However, after this capture of Guangzhou, Chen Wen dug out several letters of communication from the old paper pile in Shang Kexi's study, which were exactly the letters of communication between Shang Kexi and Macau Governor Bugalu.
Chapter completed!