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Anyone with a little insight could easily see that the Ming Dynasty's fortunes were declining and it was time for a change of dynasty.
In this chaotic last days of a dynasty, the flags on the city walls are ever-changing. No matter what, it still depends on your strength. Only when others see your strength will they be convinced that there is hope in following you.
At the gate of Changsha City, Qin Mu defeated Zhang Wenxiu's army of more than 10,000 with his own strength and tyranny, and built a tall tower outside the city with thousands of heads.
This is just like his large flag with the word Qin on a black background and red characters, which vividly displays his deep, cold, solemn, mysterious, powerful and authoritative side.
The gentry in Changsha both respected and feared him. As long as it was a decision made by him, no one dared to say no, not even to do anything behind his back.
As soon as he posted the recruitment notice, people came to join him in an endless stream, which enabled him to quickly build an administrative structure to govern the people's livelihood.
Once the administrative structure was set up, the first thing Qin Mu asked these officials to do was to return the land clearly recorded in the imperial register to the gentry and wealthy households. Now that the war was not over, this matter would not progress quickly;
But after this gesture was made, it was like drawing a big pie in the sky for the gentry and wealthy people who were in dire straits, and it immediately won their enthusiastic support.
Qin Mu also posted the "Three Major Disciplines and Eight Points for Attention" and opened warehouses to release grain to provide relief to the lower classes in order to win the support of ordinary people in Changsha.
In front of the two major military camps in the east and west of the city, Meng Ke and Liu Meng each pulled a cart of silver and placed it in front of the camp. Each person who applied was immediately given ten taels of silver as a settlement allowance. In a short time, there was a huge number of applicants, and 47,000 soldiers were recruited on the first day.
Of course, Qin Mu couldn't give them two taels of silver per month. He did this in Huichang to quickly train a detachment of soldiers, so he didn't hesitate to pay them high salaries.
Those veterans in Ganzhou will either serve as royal guards or be sent to recruit camps as officers in the future. It doesn't matter if their salaries are higher. Qin Mu won't be the one who gets taken advantage of by recruiting a large number of soldiers now.
Some of those who came to respond to the call were former soldiers of the Ming army, and some were former soldiers of the rebel army. After some brief reorganization or training, they could roughly form a battle formation.
Qin Mu was not picky. As soon as the weapons were issued, he immediately ordered Huo Sheng, Ling Zhan, Ning Yuan and others to lead the troops to attack the surrounding counties and seize strategic locations.
When Zhang Xianzhong attacked Huguang, his officers and soldiers surrendered without fighting many decent battles, which means his army had never been tempered by war.
Now the Dashi Rebellion is unpopular, and with the loss of Changsha, Zhang Wenxiu's army of more than 10,000 was chopped off like melons and vegetables by Qin Mu's 1,000 men. Their heads were chopped off and built into a Jingguan, which will definitely have a huge deterrent effect on the rebels in the surrounding counties.
In contrast, if Zhang Xianzhong could make the officers and soldiers of Huguang surrender at the first sight of him, why couldn't Qin Mu make the rebels surrender at the first sight of him
What surprised Qin Mu was the Niu brothers. They were both well-known martial arts masters in Huguang, and they had nearly two hundred disciples. Most of them had practiced martial arts since childhood and were strong and healthy. With a little training, it would not be difficult for them to become a powerful force.
In addition to their own army, the Niu brothers also sent out invitations to various powerful people to join them, and they got more than 400 people. These people often traveled around and most of them were good at riding. Qin Mu sent some of them to Su Jin's cavalry camp;
And from the more than 100,000 people who came to apply, two thousand people with better riding skills were selected and assigned to Su Jin, which increased Su Jin's cavalry camp to 2,500 people at once.
That’s it, Qin Mu still has nearly 7,000 spare war horses.
When he attacked Changsha, he had nearly 6,000 war horses, and he seized more than 2,000 horses in Changsha city, totaling nearly 10,000 war horses. Unfortunately, one cannot become a cavalryman just by being able to ride on a horse, so he can only train slowly in the future.
Qin Mu also asked Huang Lianshan to form a scout camp of more than a thousand people, including two hundred martial arts heroes, who would be responsible for scouting intelligence, not just military intelligence. Huang Lianshan was overjoyed when he received this assignment, as it was clearly the assignment of the Jinyiwei commander!
Qin Mu had said at the beginning that if Changsha could be successfully taken, he would be credited with the first achievement. Now he has fulfilled his promise. What else could Huang Lianshan say? He accepted the order with awe. He was a chivalrous man who traveled the world. He was well aware of the tricks of the third-rate and nine religions. This job was exactly what suited his profession, so he was naturally full of confidence.
Yang Shen was chosen by Qin Mu for his calm character and outstanding talents. He was appointed as a military secretary, in charge of military correspondence, helping Qin Mu draft various official documents, manifestos and assisting in military affairs.
Another one, Shao Hua, was a professor at Yuelu Academy, 41 years old. After being interviewed by Qin Mu himself, he was appointed as a military judge, specializing in rewards and punishments for military crimes.
Another person was a clerk in the former Changsha governor's office named Liu Boquan, a 33-year-old Changsha native. When Zhang Xianzhong entered Changsha, he had joined the rebels. Qin Mu, regardless of past grudges, resolutely appointed him as a grain officer, and entrusted all the financial income and expenditure of the army to him.
Under him were officials in charge of food and weapons. Their power and responsibilities were as great as those of the Qin army's "Minister of Revenue".
When receiving the appointment, Liu Boquan knelt in front of Qin Mu, tears streaming down his face. He cried for a whole cup of tea, kowtowed to Qin Mu several times, said nothing, and got up to work day and night.
Another thing is that Qin Mu recruited three staff officers, who ignored practical matters and were responsible for assisting Qin Mu in military and political affairs, giving him advice and making up for his shortcomings. One was Zhuge Min, 46 years old, and the other two were Li Yuan and He Liang, both in their 30s.
Qin Mu trusts people he employs and does not employ people he does not trust. Once these people are appointed, power is entrusted to them. Qin Mu just watches from the sidelines and examines each person's true ability to do things.
With the expansion of the business and the establishment of these administrative structures, all affairs can be carried out in an orderly manner. People come and go in the governor's office, each doing their job. The work is tense and efficient, which makes Qin Mu very satisfied.
"Jinzhi! Please help me draft another notice." Qin Mu, who was handling official business at the desk, suddenly looked up and said to Yang Shen.
"What kind of proclamation does your Excellency want to draft?" Yang Shen quickly stood up and bowed slightly, waiting for orders.
"To be precise, it's a bounty list. You list the names of Zhang Xianzhong and the rebel generals. For Zhang Xianzhong, the Great Western King, the bounty should be 100,000 taels, and the others should be listed in decreasing order. Remember, don't put Sun Kewang on the list. Well, that's it."
"Sir, Sun Kewang is the top general under the thief Zhang..." Yang Shen suddenly stopped talking and said in a daze, "Sir, Zhang Xianzhong adopted Sun Kewang as his adopted son and has always trusted him. Now he has been ordered to lead an army of 100,000 to guard Yuezhou against Zuo Liangyu. I'm afraid your plan will not work."
"If we only rely on this bounty list, it will not work, but this is just the beginning. We can slowly add more ingredients and think of ways to stir up trouble in other aspects. If we do it well, it may make Zhang Xianzhong suspicious. Of course, even if we can't alienate him, we won't lose anything." Qin Mu smiled calmly and said to Zhuge Min, Li Yuan and He Liang, "You might as well think about this. If this is successful, it can be worth 100,000 soldiers."
"Yes, sir." Zhuge Min and the other two stood up and saluted. Qin Mu was very careful about how he dealt with them, that is, he gave them enough respect while maintaining the dignity of a superior. He would never laugh or scold like he did with Liu Meng and Su Jin.
The two are completely different. The laughter, anger and scolding with brothers like Liu Meng and Su Jin who have been through life and death together are feelings tempered in blood and fire. Moreover, people in the army do not like clichés, and they feel closer to each other when they are a little rough and unrestrained.
If you behave like this with these scholars, they will only think you are frivolous and rude, and that you will never achieve anything great.
At this time, Liu Boquan came outside the door with a stack of account books to ask for an audience. Seeing that his eyes were red and swollen and his lips were chapped, Qin Mu invited him in and personally poured a cup of tea and said, "Boquan, you don't have to be like this. Although accounting is important, you also have to take care of your health. You work day and night like this, your body won't last long. Where can I find such a good forage officer? Come on, have a cup of tea first, and then we can talk."
Liu Boquan held the account book in his arms, bowed hastily, and said with deep fear, "My Lord, I am so humble. Your kindness to me is as great as a mountain. I shall repay you with all my heart. How dare I complain about the hardship or fatigue?"
Among all the new officials, Liu Boquan was the most cautious in front of Qin Mu. He was born as a minor official with a low status, and he also defected to the rebels, which made him even more despised.
But Qin Mu treated him the kindest. Every time he heard the caring words of Qin Mu and Yan Yuese, his eyes would become moist. He wished he could take care of everything in order to repay this kindness.
Qin Mu offered him tea, but he didn't dare to take it. He just kept bowing and saying he didn't dare.
Qin Mu laughed and said, "Hasn't Boquan heard that it is better to obey orders than to be respectful?"
Liu Boquan then hurriedly put down the account book and took the teacup, his eyes already moist.
Qin Mu picked up the account book he had put down and flipped through it casually, frowning, feeling something was wrong.
Liu Boquan didn't even bother to drink his tea. He bowed and reported, "Sir, all the seized gold, silver, treasures, food and supplies have been counted. I have also personally checked the expenditures for the relief of the people and the recruitment of soldiers in the past two days. They are all recorded in this account. Sir..."
Qin Mu waved his hand, threw the account book away, then took out a piece of white paper and began to draw grids. Liu Boquan thought there was something wrong with the accounts. He couldn't help sweating profusely and feeling remorseful. He cursed himself for not checking it again. He messed it up the first time he did it. How could he be worthy of Qin Mu's trust
Qin Mu finished drawing the grids, then took an account book and copied the first page back into the grid. He handed it to Liu Boquan and said, "Take a look at it first and see if you can understand my new accounting method."
Liu Boquan took it and looked at it. He was a little confused at first, but soon he was ecstatic. He saw that the amounts Qin Mu had recorded in the grid, including expenditure, income, and dates, were all clearly visible.
Qin Mu then explained to him: "I call this the debit and credit accounting method. The trick to accounting is very simple. If there is a debit, there must be a credit, and the debit and credit must be equal."
"Your Excellency is truly a god. This accounting method makes the income and expenditure clear at a glance, making it difficult to falsify, and further making it difficult for the accountant to embezzle. That's great, Your Excellency... You are truly a god!"
"Hahaha, you can understand this debit and credit accounting method in such a short time. You are almost a god. I really didn't make a mistake in you. Well, from now on, all accounts will be recorded using this debit and credit accounting method."
"Yes, sir."
Zhuge Min and others gathered around at this time, but they were still confused about Qin Mu's accounting method and could not help but ask Liu Boquan for advice.
Liu Boquan knew that they usually looked down on him to some extent. Now that they were humbly asking for advice, he felt very comfortable and looked at Qin Mu with more gratitude.
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.(To be continued.)
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