1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 70 Recruits ([-])

As more and more local people came to work near Tiandu Iron Mine, a small market gradually formed not far from the No. [-] base of Chuanzhong.Every five days, nearby mountain people bring all kinds of mountain goods, fruits, furs and other commodities here to trade with the people.Through word of mouth, people from a radius of dozens of miles know that the Haihan people here can continuously provide various living materials, and the prices are quite cheap.The influence of this market is rapidly increasing. A few days ago, there was even a salesman from Phoenix Town who came here to set up a stall and sell goods.

Among the trading materials provided by Chuanzhong at present, the most sought after by the local people are salt and pig iron products.The executive committee specially recruited seven or eight local people with experience in blacksmithing, and built a blacksmith shop under the guidance of metallurgical experts, specializing in making farm tools such as shovels, hoes, harrows and plows for sale to the locals, as well as iron kitchen knives and iron pots. Because the output is quite limited, it has become a hot commodity in blacksmith shops, and it has even reached the point where it is necessary to pay a deposit and wait for goods.The reason why this kind of bilateral transaction can become very lively in a short period of time is that the trading conditions are very loose in the cross-border, and the local people can trade with silver or various commodities designated by the cross-border People who can't get anything can also get what they need by working on the construction site.

The local Miao and Li people had not received pig iron for a long time due to the deliberate control of the imperial court. Now the situation has finally improved, and iron products can be used on a large scale.Although these iron products are still expensive, compared to the predicament of having nowhere to buy them before, they are now very pleased that they can exchange agricultural products and livestock for iron products.

Similar to the situation of ironware, there is also salt. After the Salt Works Commune was put into operation, the current output has reached about 300 catties per day.Considering the existing manpower situation and outdated production technology in the salt field, this output is already considered to be at an upper-middle level. To increase the output on a large scale, it must be achieved through later technological transformation.Although this output is still seriously insufficient to supply the raw materials for the chemical industry, it is more than enough to be used as a commodity.The salt farm even hoarded some salt, which they plan to sell to Yazhou and other towns when conditions are ripe in Luo Shengdong.The price of salt that Li and Miao people traded from Chuanzhong was also half the official price before. This kind of benefit also allowed them to maintain enough goodwill towards Chuanzhong.

Today is the day to go to the market again. The people from the nearby areas arrived at the market early with various items, intending to seize a favorable position closest to the gate of No. [-] base first.People who often come here to trade know that these short-haired Haihans are very generous, and they buy everything they see in a basket. It's not like those who used to go to the village and haggle for a long time. Willing to trade.

However, the people who came here today found that there was a row of tables outside the No. [-] base, and there were about a dozen Haihan people sitting there, looking like they were going to buy something on a large scale.At that moment, someone who was more courageous went to ask, and only then did they know that the Haihan people did not want to buy items, but to recruit people to organize a militia group.

The militia is nothing new. Phoenix Town, Tianya Town, Nanshan Town and other places have militia groups organized by landlords and squires, and Miao Village and Lidong also have paramilitary organizations similar to the militia groups.In places where there is no official security organization, militia groups have always been an important means of self-protection for civil associations.However, the militia organization is not a permanent organization, and it usually gathers to act when the world is not peaceful. The militia group that the Haihan people will set up seems to be somewhat different.

Soon the loudspeakers at the entrance of the base began to announce the recruitment policy and treatment in several different languages ​​in turn, which immediately attracted a large number of local people to gather.

The simple people may not understand the deep meaning behind the vigilante groups organized by the Transcendence Group, but they can distinguish whether the treatment they get by participating in the vigilante groups is good or bad.The people soon discovered that the benefits of joining a militia group were even higher than those of the communes that had almost smashed their heads some time ago, so how to make a choice was very simple.What's more, the Haihan people also said that if they signed up to join the militia group, they would be dismissed because of unsuitable conditions, and they would have the opportunity to be selected as the next batch of commune members first.

The militia's requirements for applicants are not too strict, as long as men over the age of 16 and under the age of 45, in good health and without disease or disability, can sign up.Such conditions undoubtedly greatly lowered the barriers to entry, and soon a large number of applicants flooded in.After learning from the previous conscription in the two communes, the military and police department began to pay more attention to physical fitness when facing conscripts, and the young and strong from the Li and Miao ethnic groups lived in the mountains for a long time. Young Han Chinese who hunted in the wild for a living, and whose physical strength was significantly better than those who farmed and fished in coastal areas, became the main targets of this conscription.

It took only one and a half days for the Military and Police Department to collect the number of people it lacked.The news of Haihan people recruiting people to form a militia group with generous treatment quickly spread in the surrounding areas. Even three or four days later, there were still people who came to sign up. The Executive Committee did not waste these talented young people. Incorporated into the commune as an alternative for the next batch of enrollment expansion.Anyway, the commune has lost a lot of labor force due to conscription. After these people are recruited, they can temporarily make up for the current manpower gap.

Three days later, 120 local youths were conscripted to board a ship at Shengli Port, and after crossing the mouth of the Tiandu River, they came to the sandbank that was used as a shooting range by the military and police department.The actual number of recruits was 20 more than planned, because the military and police department believed that some people might be eliminated due to various reasons during the training process, so they prepared [-] more to make up for the quota.Anyway, the eliminated people will also enter the commune as labor force, and Ning Qi, who originally had some complaints, did not raise any objections in the end.

The area of ​​this sandbar is nearly one square kilometer, and it is the main traffic road that guards the entrance of Victory Port. The Military Police Department thinks it is a pity that it is only used as a shooting range, so it simply set up the future soldier training camp here.In this way, one is to isolate the land traffic from the base camp, which is convenient for the management of these recruits; the other is to be close to the shooting range, so that they can be accompanied by the sound of guns every day, and they will be more courageous in the future.

The tattered clothes and shoes and hats that the recruits wore when they entered the camp were forcibly changed, piled together and burned cleanly, and then they were allowed to enter the newly built bathhouse, and exchanged brushes and soap with each other. Clean up and down.As for the hair, considering that the sources of these recruits are relatively complicated, the forced haircut may lead to dissatisfaction among them, so this one is put on hold for the time being.

The new military uniforms are already ready, a full set of military green training uniforms including underwear, military caps, liberation rubber shoes, canvas belts, and a 35-liter canvas backpack for each person to hold personal luggage items.Of course, the quality of the clothes provided to the recruits is still much different from that of Chuanzhong's own equipment, which is basically the level of the military training clothes of later generations.

When the Executive Committee first ordered this batch of clothing, there were still some internal objections, thinking that although the money was not a lot, it seemed a bit wasteful to prepare military uniforms for the naturalized army in advance.The Military and Police Department insisted on purchasing this batch of supplies, and believed that a neat military appearance is one of the best ways to give naturalized civilian soldiers a sense of identity and a sense of collective honor. Uniform attire is also more convenient for daily management and wartime command.In the end, the opinions of the Military and Police Department prevailed. The executive committee spent nearly 10 yuan to purchase 500 sets of training clothes, and it is estimated that [-] naturalized civilian troops will be prepared.

Gu Wei, with his hands behind his back, stood on the side of the boat and watched the recruits get off the boat to the beach.Some people are blank, some are downcast, some are excited, as if they have come to some interesting place, they only know that they are here for training. People have clear concepts in their minds.

Gu Wei shook his head, picked up the iron horn beside him, held it up in front of him and said loudly: "Everyone listen, put down your backpacks, half a column of incense hours, and arrange a column for Lao Tzu in groups of ten. If one person fails to line up, the whole team is punished, if one team fails to line up, the whole team is punished! Start!"

There was a special translator nearby who repeated it in both Li and Miao languages, and the beach suddenly became chaotic.Although they don't quite understand what a column is, and why they should be punished if they don't line up well, it is clear that being punished is not a good thing, and they still have to try their best to line up.

In the chaos, some people pushed me, some people shouted loudly, and some people silently counted their heads to see which group they should join.Gu Wei watched all this with cold eyes, and did not intend to command or interfere.

The time for Banzhuxiang passed quickly, and there was not even a single team lined up on the beach. Those who could form a team alone according to the number prescribed by Gu Wei were only four teams, and everyone else was still there. Turning around like a headless fly, unable to find the way.

"Time's up!" Gu Wei loudly announced the end of this farce. He went down from the gangway to the beach, pulled out a group that had already been divided into groups, and arranged the ten people in a column. Then he picked up the iron horn and said loudly. : "This is a column of ten people. I will give you half a column of incense time. Arrange it like this. If you can't do it, the punishment will be doubled!"

This time, the recruits did not let Gu Wei down again. After the template, the speed of queuing has also improved a lot. Soon, the second and third teams were lined up next to the first column according to the gourd drawing... No wait At the end of the timer, the arrangement of the twelve columns was completed.

(End of this chapter)