Chapter 70: Rapid Expansion (Part 1)

  Tianjin, with its proximity to the sea and the Grand Canal, boasts advanced transportation and a gathering of merchants, with all kinds of materials converging here. This is ideal for expanding our forces on a large scale, especially for establishing a truly new army that belongs to us, one that is thoroughly modernized from head to toe using new methods.

  Having thought of this, Gu Zhenhua's emotions were stirred up, and all the fatigue in his body disappeared, filling him with fighting spirit. He threw off the covers and sat up suddenly.

  "Ah!"

  Mei Juan hastily covered her eyes: "You, so shameless, quickly put on your clothes!"

  Gu Zhenhua saw the little beauty blush and pout, and immediately revealed a triumphant smile, saying: "Miss Mei, isn't it good to be honest with each other? I have no reservations about you!"

  "Thick-skinned, nobody cares about you anymore!"

  Mei Juanruo was about to turn around and leave when a sturdy arm suddenly blocked her waist. Gu Zhenhua used one hand to exert force, and in an instant, he hugged Mei Juanruo into his arms and placed her on his thigh.

  "What do you want to do?" The beauty cried out in a flurry.

  "Shut up, rest assured I absolutely have no malicious intent!"

  No! You've been deceived. Mei Juan's face turned red with shame and anxiety, tears welled up in her eyes, and the broken pearls rolled down.

  Gu Zhenhua pressed his face against the little beauty's shoulder, the hard stubble stimulating her delicate skin, a strong masculine breath enveloping Mei Juanruo, making her mind go blank, and her whole body couldn't help but tremble.

  "Mei'niang, you've lost a lot of weight since leaving Beijing, you must have suffered a great deal!"

  Listening to Gu Zhenhua's words, Mei Juan regained a bit of spirit and said resentfully: "Others are originally destined for hardship, their loved ones have all died, they still have to wander into the hands of bad people, being bullied at will, it's better to die!"

  Gu Zhenhua smiled slightly, his two hands grasped Jiarong's waist, and his rough big hands pressed against her smooth waist. He clearly felt Jiarong's whole body tremble.

  "Mei girl, I only want to tell you two things. First, from the moment I first saw you, it was destined that you couldn't escape my grasp, this is the arrangement of heaven."

  "Hum, robbers are just robbers, what's the point of pushing it onto Heaven?"

  Gu Zhenhua didn't care about the little beauty's anger and continued to say: "Second, I will treat you well with all my might, hold you in the palm of my hand, no matter what you want, I'll help you get it!"

  Not sweet nothings, but a man's firm vow!

  Mei Juan had never seen such a domineering guy in the play, but somehow this overbearing behavior didn't annoy her, and instead left a hint of sweetness in her heart!

  "Plum little sister, remember my words."

  Gu Zhenhua smiled and let go of Mei Juanruo, hastily changed into casual clothes, and strode out quickly.

  "I... " Mei Juan'er looked at the tall back figure and couldn't help but lower her head: "I just want to live a stable life!"

  ……

  "Gentlemen, our time in Tianjin will not be long. The Qing army will soon march south, and Li Zicheng can only fight a winning battle. After occupying the capital, the morale of the troops is even more scattered, and it won't last for too long. Therefore, we must use the limited time to complete two things: first, reorganize the troops and recruit new soldiers; second, gather population and resources, in preparation for finding a base in the south."

  Gu Zhenhua got straight to the point and indicated the direction of the next step. The people present also nodded frequently, very much in agreement.

  Li Jibei smiled and said: "To recruit soldiers in Tianjin, it's actually not difficult. Before Jiajing, there were already more than 10,000 military households in Tianjin. As the situation in Liaodong worsened, the court also transferred two batches of troops here, with a total number of over 10,000. In addition, Tianjin has grain transport soldiers, salt workers from Changlu Salt Field, and shipbuilding laborers. If you, Zhongyongbo, are willing, you can command tens of thousands of soldiers in no time!"

  "That's not an army, it's a plague!" Gu Zhenhua said bluntly: "The military system of the Ming Dynasty has been rotten from the inside out until now. It's a tumor. If we recruit them all, I'm afraid they'll die even faster."

  Sun Cheng furrowed his brow and couldn't help but say: "Even if we can't take everything, choosing the best ones should be fine, right?"

  Gu Zhenhua shook his head bluntly: "This time in Tianjin recruitment, I want to start from scratch, rather be short of than have too many, even if only a thousand useful soldiers can be recruited, it's better than ten thousand useless ones. Tianjin is destined to be just a brief stop, the next step will be southward, and the battlefield will be even more deadly, so every soldier must be good steel, must be able to withstand the cruel test of battle!"

  Kuo Yun-lung had been a guerrilla fighter and was in full agreement with Ku Cheng-hua's words, smiling as he said: "That's right, we must be strict in our selection, but what specific standards should we use, and how should we carry it out?"

  Gu Zhenhua had a plan in mind, so he smiled and said: "Firstly, the soldiers must have a clean family background, whether they are from a military or ordinary civilian family, they must be of peasant origin, and merchants' sons are not allowed. Secondly, their age should be under 20, physically healthy, mentally agile, and able to pass the test. It's best if they have a certain level of cultural knowledge, and are loyal to the country!"

  "Seventh brother, why don't you want a merchant's son?" Lu Yong couldn't help but ask.

  Gu Zhenhua burst out laughing: "Most of the merchants in Tianjin are engaged in grain trade, and they may have colluded with the Manchu Qing dynasty. These grain merchants, as well as salt merchants, are exactly the fat sheep we want to slaughter. If we take their sons, aren't we afraid that these people will inform the Qing out of jealousy and serve as spies?"

  "This is going to be a bloodbath!" Li Jibei said: "The Manchu may not be weak in combat, but it's not like the Jurchen army can't be defeated even with tens of thousands of soldiers. If there were no merchants supplying them with food and salt, they would starve to death just from hunger. In the end, these unscrupulous merchants are also one of the main culprits of the country's downfall, they should be killed, and killed mercilessly!"

  Gu Zhenhua immediately implemented the task, Li Jibo and Xia Shouli, with the assistance of Sun Cheng and Gao Hongtu, thoroughly investigated officials and businessmen in Tianjin, searched for supplies, and hoarded energy that could be sent south.

  As for the recruitment of soldiers, Gu Zhenhua personally took charge. Whether it was the guards or the Beijing garrison, whether it was the Gengjing Army or Zhou Yuji's battalion, they all carried the color of the old army. Although their combat effectiveness was not weak, they still couldn't truly become a battle-hardened team. Moreover, the number was limited, and there was no way to contend with the Qing dynasty. Relying solely on the old army, they would eventually be eliminated.

  Drawing lessons from history, building a new army and forging an army that completely belongs to one's own has become a necessity.

  ……

  Overnight, Tianjin changed hands, and the common people were still confused. When they plucked up their courage to go out onto the streets, they found that everywhere was plastered with notices, and there were also many soldiers beating gongs and drums to spread the news.

  "Fellow villagers, citizens, Zhongyongbo has an order to hold a public trial meeting at the Yunhe dock, to punish Han traitors and national thieves. Anyone who participates in the meeting can receive two catties of salt!"

  There's a lively show, and gifts are given out. For the common people who love excitement, it has an extremely great appeal. Everyone rushes to tell each other, all heading to the dock. In no time, there are tens of thousands of people packed in like sardines.

  Gu Zhenhua had already arranged for soldiers to patrol the perimeter, and although there were many of them, they did not appear disorganized. As the crowd seemed to have arrived in full, Gu Zhenhua stood on a raised platform that had been set up, bowing slightly to the people below.

  "Fellow villagers, fellow elders and brothers, during this time, the situation has been changing unpredictably, many people may still be confused about what happened. I can tell you that first, the Great Shun destroyed the Ming dynasty, then Li Zicheng led his army to attack Shanhai Pass. Wu Sangui, the traitor, surrendered to the Qing and colluded with the Qing army to enter the pass, defeating Li Zicheng. Before long, the Qing army will march south and occupy the rivers and mountains!"

  This era is completely incomparable with later generations; if something happens in any corner of the world, several hours later, the whole globe knows.

  Tianjin has many merchants from the north and south, and they are quite well-informed. Many people know that the Ming dynasty is finished, and some have even heard that Li Zicheng was defeated at Shanhai Pass. However, as for Wu Sangui surrendering to the Qing, they were completely unprepared.

  As soon as the explosive news was heard, the whole scene was in an uproar, with a buzzing noise like that of tens of millions of flies. Everyone was terrified and didn't know what to do.

  Gu Zhenhua didn't speak either, waiting for everyone to digest this information before saying: "The Qing army has entered the pass several times, burning, killing and looting. They have done countless evil deeds, and everyone is certainly clear about that. This time, the Qing army will enter the pass with all their might, and there will definitely be corpses everywhere, rivers of blood flowing, and every single person present here will risk losing their head!"

  Ah!

  What should I do? What can be done?

  Everyone's heart rose with intense fear, for decades the imperial court and the Manchu had been at war, almost never winning. The Tartars were in the eyes of ordinary people, a flood beast, a jackal tiger leopard with a bloody big mouth open.

  Tens of thousands of beasts charged into the Central Plains, and everyone wondered what would happen next. At the mere thought of it, every person's legs turned weak and almost collapsed to the ground.

  "Gentlemen, what should we do? Please give us a clear direction." Several elderly scholars couldn't help but plead.

  "Friends, we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands. The imperial court cannot protect us, so we must act ourselves. The Qing dynasty is nothing to be feared, they are also flesh and blood. Just recently, I led my brothers to a victory."

  Gu Zhenhua said, with a wave of his hand, and over 200 prisoners were escorted onto the high platform by soldiers.

  When beheading and building the capital, everyone was excited to kill, even wanting to behead all these captives. However, Gu Zhenhua considered that they still had uses, so he kept these people.

  Now these captives are all brought up here, let the people of Tianjin see them with their own eyes.

  "It's true, it's really true! Just look at their queues!"

  The common people pointed and whispered, a few curious and bold young men even climbed up to the high platform for a closer inspection. In this era, there was still a big difference in appearance between Tartars and Hans, and it was easy to tell them apart.

  After these captives, there were more than a hundred Guanning Army and fifty or sixty Tatars. After identification, all these young people were shocked beyond recognition.

  "Sir, you've caught so many Tartars, didn't you kill a few of them?"

  "Haha, of course I killed them. I beheaded over a thousand Tartar heads and thousands of Han traitors, and have already built a spectacle in the capital. Let those Tartars know that the Han people are not to be bullied!"

  "Great divine power, seeking great protection!"

  In an instant, all the people on and off the stage knelt down to the ground, taking Gu Zhenhua as their reliance.