The end of the Ming Dynasty swept the world

Chapter 573
Quanzhou, Fuzhou, White Tiger Camp.

In October, Hong Xu was ordered to form a new army. According to Zheng Zhilong's request, it must reach the elite level of Ding Yi's Buying.

On the same day, Hong Xu agreed without hesitation, and the next day Hong Xu went to Zheng Zhilong alone and proposed three key points for building a new army.

As I said before, this Hong Xu is Zheng Zhilong's number one good general, possessing both ability and political integrity, Zheng Zhilong's other generals combined are not as good as him alone.

It was only because he was not surnamed Zheng Heshi that he had not been valued. Later, he was valued in the hands of Zheng Chenggong.

Hong Xu said, all of our troops were born pirates, the military discipline is lax, and the quality is uneven. It is okay to fight a smooth battle, but it will be defeated if it loses a battle.

I want to recruit troops from the whole province of Fuzhou and use the sons of good people, and I hope to get the general's consent.

Zheng Zhilong immediately said, yes.

Hong Xu said again that the Ming army was defeated in the first battle with Jiannu, and the soldiers were weak. It wasn't because the Ming army couldn't fight, but because the Ming army didn't have food, or the superiors withheld food. Enough food and pay, who would work so hard.

The general collects tens of millions of flags every year, and at the end the general wants to ask for payment to train soldiers.

Zheng Zhilong's meeting is the highlight moment of the flag. There is no opponent at sea, and Ding Yi will pay him.

He received 3 cash per ship, and countries such as Ming, Japan, and North Korea at home and abroad, even if there were only ten ships on average every day, it was [-] taels.

In fact, there must be more than a hundred ships a day during the peak period, and five ships a day in the off-season. After all, Quanzhou and Fuzhou, the two most prosperous ports of Ming Dynasty, are in his hands at this time.

Moreover, there were sea bans in other places in the late Ming Dynasty, but Fujian did not take it seriously at all.

In addition, this period is at the beginning of the age of great voyages. Even the senior officer Ding Yi has hundreds of ships coming and going every year, let alone his side.

Zheng Zhilong is really rich.

But he didn't have Ding Yi's careful selection, he didn't know how to manage money and develop financial resources, and he didn't know that food is as important as money in this era, so in the later period he had no money and was often short of food. When it was passed on to Zheng Chenggong, he was still short of food.

After hearing what Hong Xu said, Zheng Zhilong asked, how much money do you need a year?
Hong Xu asked, General, how many elite soldiers do you want?
Zheng Zhilong thought about Ding Yi's soldiers and horses, and estimated that Ding Yi had at least tens of thousands of soldiers, and only the big officers on the opposite side must have more than [-].

"I want a battalion of [-] elite steps."

Hong Xu said, I want 80 silver per year.

Zheng Zhilong's face changed slightly, and he said, you need 80 to train 80 soldiers and horses?And [-] per year?

Hong Xu didn't change his expression. According to the Ming Dynasty's standard, 20 soldiers and horses cost more than 30 yuan. This is a situation that cannot be deducted. The general must be more elite than Ding Yi, at least [-] yuan.

Then all the ordnance, including armor, firearms, and horses, cost another 30 each year.

In addition, it is not enough to only train without training, and you have to be pulled out from time to time to fight against bandits. Death and wounded in battle need compensation, and rewards are needed for killing enemies and making meritorious deeds, all of which are money.

Logistical support is also required to establish its own craftsmen, doctors, and food stockpiles in the camp, all of which require money.

80 or less, if you want more cavalry, it will cost more.

Hong Xu even suggested to Zheng Zhilong that instead of just hoarding gold and silver, hoard more food and grass, which may be more valuable in the future.

Zheng Zhilong likes to hide gold the most. He hid a lot in his hometown Nan'an, and later in Xiamen.

When his son Zheng Chenggong was captured by the Qing soldiers in Xiamen, the Qing soldiers looted more than 90 taels of gold, hundreds of 镒 of jewels, and hundreds of thousands of rice millet, worth tens of millions of taels of silver.

At that time, he listened to Hong Xu's words and expressed his opinion on the spot.

It is agreed that Hong Xu recruits good people and establishes the White Tiger Camp.

Agreed to an annual salary of 100 million.

Agree to hoard food.

Hong Xu agreed to all three requests that day.

Hong Xu also left happily.

But the next day, when Shi Fu, Shi Daxuan, Shi Yong, and even Zheng Zhifeng, Shi and Zheng's family heard that Hong Xu paid nearly a million dollars a year to train [-] recruits, they all cursed.

"What does he want to do? Brother, give me [-] yuan, and I will train [-] new recruits a year." Zheng Zhibao said on the spot.

"What soldiers and horses cost close to a million a year? If Ding Yi has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, how many millions a year? Can Ding Yi support him?"

"Is this money for military training, or for Hong Xu himself?"

"What does he mean by conscripting the people? They are not our brothers in the sea. In the future, will this soldier be a soldier of my Zheng family or his Hong family?"

"Why do we stockpile such food? Quanzhou, Fuzhou, where merchants from all over the world gather, how much food do we need? Is it moldy?"

Zheng Shi and his family had big opinions and accused Hong Xu one after another.

Zheng Zhilong listened, and it seemed to make sense.

His subordinates are all his pirate brothers in the early years, and now they are suddenly recruited from the common people, and they will be trained in the future. Isn't this Hong Xu's soldier?

In a few days, he called Hong Xu over, stated his position again, and overturned all the promises made to Hong Xu last time.

Zheng Zhilong said, I can only give you 40 taels of silver a year.

Hong Xu was very disappointed when he only cut 80 to 40.

It would be fine if Zheng Zhilong said that for the first time, but Hong Xu was very disappointed by first agreeing and then repenting.

Zheng Zhilong also said that many of your subordinates are pirates, and they have trained well. Not all of them have to be selected from good people. You draw 5000 people from our brothers, and then recruit 5000 people from good people. Try to use our own brothers as much as possible.

When Hong Xu heard this, he realized that Zheng Zhilong didn't trust me, and he was even more disappointed.

Zheng Zhilong finally said, we are a land of fish and rice, and there is no shortage of food. You can rest assured to train soldiers, and I will take care of your food.

As for other craftsmen, doctors, etc., don't mention it at all.

Hong Xu shook his head secretly. He heard that wherever Ding Yi went, he first looked for craftsmen, then doctors, and then scholars.

Iron materials and food are things that Ding Yi purchases every year.

When Lushun first developed, Ding Yi sent Ruan Siqing over every year to exchange various things and special products from Lushun for grain and iron.

Zheng Zhilong's vision is far worse than Ding Yi's.

Zheng Zhilong didn't even know how important a senior official was, and asked Ding Yi to take possession first.

In short, after Hong Xu came out of Zheng's residence, he was disheartened and very depressed.

But that being the case, he still has to train troops as usual, and in November, he will select [-] soldiers and horses from the Zheng army, and recruit [-] soldiers from the common people.

It was very easy for him to recruit soldiers among the common people. He reported the food, salary and treatment, and he would be recruited in less than ten days.

But when choosing Zheng Jun, many people had heard his name and knew that he trained harshly and worked very hard, so they fled and ignored Hong Xu.

Hong Xu tried to pick and choose, and was obstructed by various obstacles. He hadn't drawn 5000 people in a month, and finally reported to Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong was furious and forced several battalions to be drawn to Hong Xu.

After finally getting together [-] troops, Hong Xu chose a place to build a large camp, and at the same time named the White Tiger Camp in the name of the flag they sent out.

In December, Hong Xu went to give lectures to the newly recruited civilian soldiers.

He went straight to the point, and said loudly, now he has to choose the brave man.

Every 12 people choose one person, you can choose yourself.

As a super commander, you should be the first soldier, and you must take the lead in every battle and charge forward.

Does anyone want to.

Many people are afraid to speak out when they hear that they are going to charge forward.

Among the 30 good militiamen, only more than [-] volunteered to apply.

Two of them caught his attention.

One person asked loudly: "Can I apply to be the captain, Mr. Ba, Mr. Qian?"

Shhh, there was booing all around, and many people smiled and looked at him.

The other person said in a deep voice: "I want to be a blunderbuss soldier. I can shoot blunderbuss, and I can shoot accurately."

The two were quickly summoned by Hong Xu to confront each other.

One of them was Yuan Gui, who claimed to be from the north, and said without hesitation that he had served as an officer and general in the past.

The other is Huangshi, also known as the one from the north, who served in the army and was the captain of the gunslinger.

Hong Xu was overjoyed at the time. At this time, most of his troops were pirates under Zheng's subordinates, and most of them were southerners. Now there are finally northern soldiers.

And the two of them didn't hide anything. They learned from private communication that one was defeated when Houjin entered the customs and fled here.

One is the rebels who came out of the Kong Youde Rebellion.

The two confessed to Hong Xu that Hong Xu took a look at them.

But Hong Xu is not an ordinary person, and secretly sent someone to investigate.

One came to Quanzhou in 1634 when Hou Jin entered the Customs for the second time. Now he still gathers local wives in Quanzhou and gave birth to a son.

The other one, after the Kong Youde Rebellion, fled here. He had been working as a small worker in Zheng's shipyard before, and this time he signed up to join the army.

When the two arrived in Quanzhou, it was a year before Ding Yi was in charge.

So one of the two was appointed as the commander of the infantry battalion, and the other as the commander of the artillery.

The two strictly follow Hong Xu's military training methods, abide by the discipline and law, strictly follow the law, lead by example, and are quickly accepted by Hong Xu as his confidantes.

(End of this chapter)