Xie Erren has been busy with the aftermath for more than ten days. At first, he just felt that everything was difficult to handle, and he was short of food and money. Unexpectedly, the people in the aftermath bureau were really good at getting things done. Not only did they successfully raise part of the food funds, but they also started to take care of many complicated matters one after another. Although there were still many problems before him, he finally saw a glimmer of light. The original views on the aftermath of the aftermath and the retention of personnel have also changed - although they were warned during class that these people "can be used but not trusted", but in terms of "use", these people are quite capable. With the few people I brought here alone, I probably haven't even finished picking up the corpses yet.
So now he no longer sends cadres out to serve as "supervisors" like "sprinkling pepper noodles", 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, but they will not be able to sustain it for more. However, Xie Erren knows that wealthy people are best at crying about poverty, and there is at least half a month of moisture in his words.
Even if there is moisture, it is difficult to sustain food for one and a half months. There are still several months before the autumn harvest, so we can't count on the grain. As for collecting reasonable burdens from the landlords in the Four Townships, he has so few people that he dare not send cadres to the countryside at will - the banditry in the Four Townships is serious, not to mention whether the landlords are willing to pay, they are willing, and there is a great risk in transporting the grain back. .
As for the food shipped by the first joint logistics brigade, 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, these "public grains" can only guarantee the normal food supply for those who "eat public grains." It is impossible to divert some of them 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 one or two hours every day. Citizens were stimulated by panic and rushed to buy, which further amplified the tension. Although the citizens appear to be "emotionally stable" on the surface, panic is still there. If it weren't for the instability in the countryside, many people with farms or relatives in the countryside would have run away 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 of any use - if the food supply could not be ensured 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 a "count-based allotment" in Wuzhou City. Second, 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 the old time and space terms. Whenever there is a food shortage, this policy will be introduced. Xie Erren could not produce food for the time being, so he could only resort to this method.
As for asking for permission to go back and get food, it was naturally because of the senator's reputation. If Zhao Toyota is sent back, Sanshui will only have to "do official business." Young Master Xie Erren had to first report to the district chief of Guangdong Region and wait for his approval before mobilizing food. This process was too long for Xie Erren, so it would be quicker to just ask for permission to go to Sanshui to "borrow food."
"Anything is fine. Those military rations that kill people travel at night. We are not picky."
"It's no problem if I go to Sanshui for a run," Xuancheng agreed. 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 to report on the situation. Another trip to Sanshui doesn't matter.
"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, and there are no police except for the retained yamen. 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, and 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 Wuzhou Police Station. He only brought two policemen in total. Now I can only First, use the retained yamen servants from Cangwu County and Wuzhou Prefecture in the temporary security team - these yamen gangsters cannot be expected to do such detailed work: firstly, they will not be able to do it, and 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 Subordinate officials, that's all right - using wolves to shepherd sheep."
"What do you plan to do?" Since there are no police and no subordinates, Xuancheng is a little 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 is just for being a policeman for a while, at least to get the police work started." Xie Erren has already made a plan. As soon as the National Army arrived, they first set up household registration and went to the whole city to find out.
Xu Xu nodded. Although the quality of this water-injected version of the National Army was questionable, it was still 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, he will inevitably develop arrogance and laziness. Once the National Army arrives, the balance within the regime will be established, and the retained personnel will 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 has already arrived."
"Call him in quickly!" Xie Erren was refreshed.
After a while, 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 and said in greeting: "It's been a hard journey! How was it? Did the journey go well?"
"We are riding 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 knew about the commotion on both sides of the Xijiang River, but he didn't expect that it would only take a few days to affect the shipping on the river - the Yao chaos is developing too fast!
"Is it Yaodong's armed force?"
"Report: It doesn't look like it." 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 brave group?"
"They said the same thing, but the Ding 1st Class of the Xiangyong Regiment are all on guard in their own villages and strongholds. It is rare for such a large group 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 took a new form due to his own involvement in historical changes. It is no longer reliable to rely solely on historical records to judge future trends.
We should rush to Zhaoqing as soon as possible and sort out the information 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." Xie Erren's confidence soared when he heard that more than three hundred people had arrived.
"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, but now it is temporarily expanded into a brigade. Zhu Si said that the expanded troops were mainly composed of surrendered Ming troops from the Guangzhou Prefecture area. Training and discipline were poor.
"They are all officers and soldiers of the former Ming Dynasty...can you rest assured?" Xie Erren was a little worried. It had only been a few days since these officers and soldiers were recruited and surrendered, and they had 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, our Senate has surrendered to them, Then they paid off the false pay arrears, and the military pay 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 they are allotted They are all Nanyang rifles.”
Xie Erren was still a little worried, and Xu Xu was not at ease either. He whispered: "Old Jie, you don't have to worry. When the Manchus entered the Pass, didn't they rely on the Green Battalion to fight the war? The Green Battalion was different from the officers and soldiers of the previous 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 generals were highly dependent on themselves. But now that the National Army is composed of soldiers from the Ming Army and does not have a core of officers, this risk is much smaller.
Next update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Chapter 349
