As soon as they heard that killing the natives did not violate military regulations, let alone royal law, Xue Chengcai's men immediately danced with joy. This was the lifestyle they loved most...
Sunshine, beach, blue sea, blue sky, there are fruits, you can fish, you can farm, the scenery is beautiful, the climate is pleasant, and you can kill the natives!
This kind of life is perfect, who can not love it? ? ?
Although the weather here is extremely hot, it is almost the same as the hottest time of the year in Shaanxi.
But as long as there is no court to control it and you don't have to be angry with those officials who talk nonsense, it is a good place to stay.
Pretending to be a good person in the country and having to behave in everything is the most uncomfortable thing for these former bandits.
It’s hard to find a place where you can release your natural instincts, so of course you have to enjoy it.
Whoever dares to stop them from releasing their nature will be sent to see the Lord of Hell!
However, Xue Chengcai also strictly prohibited his men from carrying out raids like herding sheep. If they failed to ensure that no one was killed, they were plotted by the natives.
All mopping up operations are carried out according to combat units, and must reach at least thirty or fifty people.
Masbate Island is neither big nor small. Its shape is close to the shape of a "herringbone" and it covers an area of nearly 3,700 square kilometers.
Xue Chengcai didn't know exactly how big the area marked on the map was, but the prince told him that it was equivalent to the size of a local government.
Born as a rogue, he first became the chief military officer of the imperial court. When he came to Nanyang, he also owned a land. The imperial court did not care about the island, and he became the prefect.
Now he has become a versatile man in both civil and military affairs?
I really met the most noble person in the world!
He has grown into a talented person, and now he has become an all-rounder in both civil and military affairs. It seems to be his destiny!
If there is nothing to fight in the future, we can still settle the case to relieve our boredom!
Wouldn't it be wonderful to live the addiction of being a magistrate every day?
On the mainland, one mansion is enough to support five thousand soldiers and horses.
Although the climate in Nanyang is unpleasant, it is rich in products and can fish and eat seafood. It should be easy for the island to support tens of thousands of troops.
There is one more important thing, that is, where is the most appropriate place to place the government seat.
Xue Chengcai didn't have much ink in his stomach. He only had soldiers, horses and chassis. When it came to governance, he had to point to the dog-headed military advisor under his command.
Even a bandit leader will more or less be accompanied by a few military advisors. He may not come up with good ideas, but there are endless bad ones.
For Xue Chengcai, it costs money to raise soldiers, and it also costs money to raise military advisors. Why is raising soldiers something other than raising them?
The capable dog-headed strategist suddenly had an idea, and he had at least a hundred or so soldiers!
"General Rong, from what I see below, it is better to camp at a higher place nearby. After thoroughly exploring the terrain of the island with the map, it will not be too late to find a location to establish a settlement!"
"General Rong, I believe that the government should be built on the seaside or not far from the seaside. Firstly, it is convenient to receive many items sent from the mainland, and secondly, it is convenient for fishing."
"General Rong, I think it might be better to capture some natives who can speak Ming language and ask them first. If there are Ming people living on the island, we can get twice the result with half the effort!"
"General Rong..."
After the four dog-headed military advisors around him finished speaking, Xue Chengcai felt that what they said was very reasonable. It seemed that there was no need to rush into this matter and that it should be carefully considered.
As for why they have four dog-headed military advisors?
At that time, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had a lot of military personnel around them, and Liu Bei was the worst. Didn't he also have Wolong and Fengchu?
It’s not like I can’t afford the money. I can’t have at least two military advisors, right?
Although it is not the opening of a court, opening a mansion is no small matter. You must pay attention to the cards!
Xue Chengcai treated them well, giving each person ten taels of silver per month, one stone of polished rice, thirty kilograms of meat, one piece of cloth, and salt, tea, sugar, porcelain, etc. in addition.
To a juren, this kind of thing is completely disdainful, but these four are not even scholars, they are just the poor scholars who studied hard for ten years and ended up being useless. They are still old scholars.
They are literate in Chinese characters, know some things about this dynasty and the previous dynasty, can do some fortune-telling and divination, plus name their children. They know what the street vendors know...
Illiterates were everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, but scholars like this who failed to succeed were no better than illiterates.
After studying for a lifetime, I didn’t even get back the cost of studying.
By working for Mr. Xue, you can at least make a living and get a wife.
Their wives were Minnu whom Xue Chengcai snatched during the battle in Huguang.
If you can't play with them, you'll reward these four with the ugliest ones. Anyway, it's not about how beautiful they are, as long as they can live a good life.
When Xue Chengcai came to Beijing with the order, the dog-headed military advisers also came up with an idea for him, which was to pay a visit to Xue Guoguan, the first assistant.
Not only do the chief assistant and Xue Chengcai have the same surname, they are both from Shaanxi. If they can embrace this thigh, Xue Chengcai will be able to rest easy in the future.
Regarding this matter, Xue Chengcai was naturally very happy and went there with five thousand taels of silver, but was rejected.
The reason given by Xue Guoguan is very clear. There is a clear distinction between civil and military officials, which means that civil servants are not allowed to collude with military commanders.
The converse is also true, especially since Xue Chengcai's reputation is really bad. Except for the prince, no Shaanxi fellow in the capital is willing to receive him.
Fortunately, the prince was kind-hearted and gave Xue Chengcai a way to survive. Then he received the order with fear and gratitude and led his troops to Luzon, which saved a lot of money.
Seeing that hugging the legs failed, the dog-headed military advisors gave their master another idea.
Xue Chengcai planned to follow the example of many vassal kings who moved to the "Northland", occupy the entire island, and use his accumulated wealth to do business.
Not to mention anything else, if the people under my command manage the farmland well, they can sell grain to the court in exchange for some local specialties. If farming is not good, they can also graze.
In the words of the prince, if you can starve to death in Luzon, you are not starving to death, you are stupid!
"Report~! General Rong! Brothers caught a rich native and confiscated a lot of copper blocks and a little gold!"
"Oh? Is there such a financial backer on this island? Bring me here! Let me, General, take a look!"
Two soldiers with big muscles and round waists pushed up a black native. After being exposed to the wind and sun, it seemed to be no more white than soil. The color was completely different from the people from the Ming Dynasty, so it was easy to identify.
"Is there anyone in our army who can speak native language?"
"...It seems to be rare!"
"How will this general interrogate you?"
Xue Chengcai was suddenly in trouble. It was one thing to catch the natives, but it was another thing to let the natives speak, let alone whether he could understand what the natives said.
"Aroroy! Aroroy! Aroroy!"
The native's eyes suddenly lit up and he kept mumbling one word.
"What do you mean, Shen Zi? Spare your life?"
Xue Chengcai was stunned after hearing this. Looking at the expressions, demeanor, and body movements of the natives, they seemed to want to survive.
It's easy to get around his life, but you have to ask where the copper piece came from.
If there were copper mines on the island, wouldn't he be rich?
"Be bold!"
Suddenly, the kneeling native struggled to stand up from the ground. The soldier was so frightened that he yelled and immediately pulled out his sword.
"It doesn't matter!"
Xue Chengcai wanted to see what this monkey-like thing wanted to do.
Anyway, the other party doesn’t have a weapon in his hand, so he can still strangle himself to death?
"Aroroy! Aroroy! Aroroy!"
The native kept talking, making everyone even more confused.
"Untie him!"
"ah?"
"Untie!"
"yes!"
The relieved native raised his hand, pointed at the gold jewelry on Xue Chengcai's body, and muttered "Aroloi" again!
Now anyone who is not a fool will understand the meaning of "Aroloi".
But what shocked everyone more was yet to come. When the native saw the map, he walked to the table, looked at the map carefully for a long time, and then raised his finger.
"Aroroy!"
"Hi~!"
Maybe this should be a place where there are either buried treasures or a gold mine.
"Okay! Come here, treat this native well, serve him well, and don't neglect him!"
"yes!"
"Tomorrow we will gather two thousand soldiers and horses. I, the general, will go to this place in person..."
"Aroroy!"
"Yes! Take a look at the place called Aroroy and see what treasures there are!"
Xue Chengcai felt that having a copper mine on the island would satisfy him.
If a gold mine is discovered, it will truly be a manifestation of the ancestors!
The gold mined in a year is worth tens of thousands of taels of silver, which is enough to feed his five thousand soldiers and horses.
Calculate the distance according to the map and it will take up to two days to arrive.
Xue Chengcai decided to bring both the Fo Lang machine and the iron barrel cannon. If it was a gold mine, even if it was a copper mine, he would snatch it and devour it to the death!
After arriving near the destination two days later, Xue Chengcai sent a scouting horse to report that there were indeed a large number of indigenous people mining in the target area. It was not clear whether it was a copper mine or a gold mine.
Xue Chengcai was overjoyed when he heard the news. God helped me. I will get rich in the future.
It's just that the other party is not a kind person. There are thousands of miners and nearly a thousand indigenous armed guards nearby.
It's okay. We have cannons, cannons and grenades. What are we afraid of? Was it difficult to defeat the officers and soldiers back then?
Come here, if two thousand people can't defeat more than a thousand natives, how can they have the dignity to live on the island?
As soon as the cannon fired and shells flew, the miners were immediately frightened and the birds and animals scattered.
The indigenous armed forces were also frightened, but under the chief's order, they mustered up the courage to attack Xue Chengcai's troops.
Although the combat effectiveness of Xue Chengcai's troops is inferior to that of the regular army, they still have basic combat capabilities and are rich in experience.
It is a typical unit that bullies the weak and fears the strong. It is easy to engage in such tasks as attacking the natives and seizing territory!
The two hundred heavily armored infantrymen with the strongest defense were lined up in a row and positioned at the front.
Behind them are the sword, shield and spear soldiers, and then the archers.
This battle was no small matter and there was no room for failure. Xue Chengcai wore his helmet and rode behind to personally supervise the battle.
The soldiers ran wildly and pounced on the invading enemy. Unexpectedly, the enemy had weapons that made smoke and noise, and killed many people.
When they were about to rush to the front, they threw a bunch of mallets, and then there were explosions all over the place, which immediately frightened the soldiers into chaos.
"Fire the arrow!"
Xue Chengcai knew that although firearms were powerful, gunpowder was not easy to obtain. The next time the local fleet arrived at the island, he had to save some.
It would be great to use cold weapons to solve the problem. At least arrows can be made on the spot. Although it is slower, it can eventually be replenished.
The effect of shooting at close range was excellent, killing more than a hundred people in an instant. Then the spearmen slowly pressed forward and stabbed them, and the offensive of the native soldiers disappeared in an instant.
"Humph! What a loser!"
Xue Chengcai looked at the corpses of the native soldiers everywhere and really sneered at the fighting power of these native soldiers.
It's such a waste to let the natives occupy such a good place. What kind of natural resources are they called?
I can't remember it, but that's what it means.
What's even more annoying is that none of the prisoners can speak Ming Dynasty Mandarin.
After completely occupying the mining area, the soldiers found a large number of small gold nuggets, each only the size of a fingernail, but the total weight was no less than a thousand taels.
There must be more families belonging to the owners of this gold mine, but Xue Chengcai is now suffering from the inability to communicate with the natives and does not know the location of the gold owner's family at all. Otherwise, he could go straight to his lair.
But being able to get a gold mine is as exciting and exciting as a dream. It means that you no longer have to worry about military pay in the future. This battle will be fought with a decisive plan.
According to the prince's explanation, there are no more than 100,000 natives living on this island. According to this number, the number of native soldiers will not exceed 20,000.
We have 5,000 troops and are facing 20,000 native soldiers. Although we are at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, we have an absolute advantage in weapons, especially firearms.
And if the various indigenous tribes cannot unite, they can be defeated individually.
The number of soldiers Xue Chengcai had to face in each battle would not exceed three to five thousand. In this way, the chance of victory would be greatly increased.
Maybe it's a little difficult to beat ten, but if you beat four or five, it's no problem.
Xue Chengcai is quite familiar with the combat prowess of his men. He can't raise a group of losers who can't even defeat the natives, right?
When a battle is won, soldiers must be rewarded. Gold cannot be touched for the time being and must be used as military expenses.
According to the roster, everyone who participates in this service will be rewarded with one tael of silver, two catties of fish, and one catty of fruit.
This is credit, but it can also be regarded as a business rule. At least now everyone knows that the general has a gold mine and will not be owed wages.
Before the expedition, Xue Chengcai also announced that after completing the sweep of the island, each soldier would be given an indigenous woman!
Women in the Ming Dynasty can't afford it, so just adapt to local conditions. It's free anyway!
The prefect decided to let the soldiers marry the indigenous women!
Xue Chengcai believes that what his subordinates lack is women. As for a woman's figure, appearance, skin color, and education, it doesn't matter!
If you want to marry a local woman, you have to save a lot of money. It is impossible for ordinary soldiers to have a woman in a short time.
Even if it is a disaster-stricken woman, it will cost a lot of money to transport it to the island, and her future husband must pay for it.
The soldiers all have families, mainly parents, brothers and sisters, so it is easy to get married to each other.
But it is obvious that the families who can come out to make a living these days have more boys than girls, or even some boys but no girls.
After excluding those who can be married, what will happen to the remaining men?
Either save money and wait to marry a native woman, or just get a free native woman.
The indigenous women wear their hair disheveled, just like the savages, but if they are hungry and not selective about food, they can make do with it.
Those chief's women seem to be very attractive, and after some tidying up, they should be able to get married.
Whenever Xue Chengcai encountered a problem, he would take the prince's advice and take a look.
Various resources on the island, including indigenous women, can be put to use.
Only by making good use of all resources can we and the people who will come to the island subsequently live a good life.
The male natives farm, herd, and mine, while the female natives serve as wives for the soldiers. The division of labor is very reasonable!
