Chapter Seventy-two: Urgent and Decisive

  In modern times, Li Meng received a complete primary and secondary school history education, as well as his experience in the army and at work, where he came into contact with historical knowledge. He didn't know much about Kong Youde, but during his primary and secondary school days, it was generally said that Kong Youde was the executioner who led the Qing dynasty to enter the pass and slaughter the Han people. However, when he started working, the TV dramas and films he watched changed their tune, saying that Kong Youde was a great hero who promoted national unity and integration, a common hero of both the Han and Manchu ethnic groups.

  Li Mengdao was not confused at all, and he knew that this person was a traitor during the modern era, and was a shameless traitor, no different from those puppet soldiers during the Anti-Japanese War.

  However, Li Meng was not clear what harm this Han traitor Kong Youde had done. The next day after receiving the letter, the training of those "household guards" was handed over to Chen Liu to take charge of, and Li Meng himself called in one by one the Liaodong army households who were taken as slaves to ask questions.

  For more than half a year, the Liaodong military dependents had been living in comfort and warmth, but on this day they were all nervous and fearful. Every time someone entered, Li Meng's face would darken, and Guo Dong, the leader of the Liaodong people, was even more terrified, searching for several trusted individuals to ask around if anyone had recently made a mistake or embezzled money.

  As a result, everyone denied it. Li Meng's family enforced military law, and he was not angry but majestic, making everyone fearful and respectful. Moreover, the people of Liao knew that their current peaceful life was thanks to Li Meng's kindness, so they were also grateful. No one dared to do anything bad. Guo Dong was confused, and the fire gun was still being tested and manufactured continuously. However, Li Meng was always dissatisfied. Was it because of this that he got angry? But just two days ago, he was smiling and told him not to worry about spending money, just experiment and make the best one.

  Li Meng was unhappy for reasons unrelated to the people around him, but because Kong Youde defected to the Qing dynasty's Huang Taiji, according to what the Liaodong people said. The combat strength of Kong Youde's troops didn't need to be mentioned, but their firearms equipment was one of the strongest in the Ming army, with nearly 40 large and small cannons, including the powerful red cannon. In a troop of over 10,000 people, nearly 40% of the soldiers were equipped with firearms.

  Since the rise of the Eastern Barbarians and Jin, field battles and siege warfare have been absolutely advantageous for the Ming army. The only thing that can still restrain them is the firearms equipment of the Ming army.

  Now this advantage is about to change with the addition of Kong Youde and his troops. Kong Youde's army, under the guidance and training of firearms expert Sun Yuanhua, has mastered the operation and manufacture of firearms. With these people, the Later Jin also had a firearms unit.

  Moreover, Huang Taiji also had the ability to train and expand his firearms troops, which is why Kong Youde, a surrendered Ming general, received such high treatment from Huang Taiji that he was on an equal footing with the Eight Banners and the Shuo Beile, in other words, already on the same level as Dorgon, Duoduo and other Manchu nobles.

  Li Meng was indeed angry and depressed. When surfing the internet, he also saw sayings like "Golden Finger" which said that someone traveled back in time to ancient times and ended up making flavor enhancer from seaweed. He even opened a wine shop with an overbearing attitude. He also dug up the treasure of the Eight Tigers and overthrew the Jiajing Emperor, unifying the country.

  Look at yourself, working hard to transport private salt and make money. Every month, the silver you get is spent on these people under your hands. In the past, there was a logistics department in the army. There is an administrative department in the transportation company. Coming to the Ming Dynasty, everything has to be taken care of. Li Meng himself racked his brains to make money, but the number of people under him did not expand to a large scale, and now it's only around 2,000 people, 200 horses, 30 bows and arrows, and more than ten sets of armor.

  But Huang Taiji did nothing and suddenly had more than 10,000 troops who were skilled in firearms, and his strength increased greatly overnight. Isn't this cheating?

  In Li Meng's hazy historical knowledge, he still knew that this matter was not caused by his arrival in the Ming Dynasty, but a butterfly effect, which was a real historical event. To say it, this is heaven cheating.

  Indeed, after the Qing dynasty obtained Kong Youde's Han army, their ability to capture fortresses was greatly enhanced. Many cities that would have required heavy casualties to take were instead breached with cannons, and it can even be said that the Ming dynasty's downfall was accelerated by Kong Youde's surrender.

  It wasn't until a day later that Li Meng's emotions had recovered, and he immediately began making arrangements with lightning speed. In the past, Li Meng was meticulous in his actions, afraid of attracting the attention of the government and the imperial court. However, his current movements were reckless and impulsive, directly arranging for people to go to various places to recruit salt workers.

  Di Mo County's Diaolou Mountain Guard, apart from geographical location and Ling Shan Guard having all the differences, the rest of the situation is simply out of the same mold. Li Meng used to think that Ling Shan Guard was after all a familiar place with many acquaintances, making it easier to control. Diaolou Mountain was unfamiliar, and it was also a large Ming army garrison, not easy to touch.

  For the past year and a half, Li Meng had also figured out what was going on in Weisuo's military camp. It was simply that the commander-in-chief of Weisuo and the thousand households led hundreds of armed soldiers to manage the agricultural farm. There were many surplus people with no way out, because among the 5,000 military households of Weisuo, only the eldest son or the person who was a soldier could inherit the land.

  The people on the other side of Ao Mountain Wei can't help but envy the young people who have become salt sticks and salt dings in Ling Mountain Wei. They walk with their heads held high, and their families don't have to work themselves to death farming the land just to get by. Their reputation is also good, and whenever a young man from a certain family becomes a salt ding, the neighboring families all take the initiative to come and propose marriage.

  All sorts of rumors had already spread to the other side of Ao Mountain Garrison. These people often lamented why our place has such good feng shui, yet no heroes like Li Erlang emerged?

  Now someone comes here to recruit salt workers, everyone is in high spirits, and everyone signs up, fearing that the number of recruits will be limited, and there will be no such opportunity after leaving this village.

  Li Meng still wanted to control the impact of this recruitment as much as possible, but the news was not so easy to control. Young people from nearby Dengzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture rushed over, hoping to secure a position among them.

  So this time's assessment of physical fitness indicators is much stricter than the previous ones, for example, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and long-distance running have all been raised, it's really hard for boys who are not strong enough to pass, but there are also some special projects this time.

  For example, if you can ride a horse, the assessment indicators will be lowered accordingly. If you bring your own horse, the assessment indicators will be further reduced. Being able to shoot arrows, use firearms, and manufacture firearms are all relaxed requirements for admission. There are several such relaxed requirements, and many Liaoning people scattered in Dengzhou also came to sign up. These Liaoning people have relatively stronger military skills than the soldiers in the Dengzhou area, and they also master more skills.

  However, there are various special selections and relaxations of standards. So many people signed up, but the final result was stunning to Li Meng.

  After April, Li Meng came to the mansion in Jiaozhou City more often than before, and regularly went to the porcelain shop and strolled along the river, always hoping to meet the young lady from the Zhizhou family. As a result, he handled all official business and matters at the Patrol Office.

  It's early June now, but the weather is still quite cool. Li Meng leaned back in his chair and listened carefully to Ning Qian's report, with Zhao Neng and Wang Hai standing on either side of him. Since the implementation of the shift system for guarding the checkpoints, there was usually only one team leader following Li Meng, but now there were two.

  However, Zhao Nai and Wang Hai both looked embarrassed, Ning Qian Gui held a few papers in his hand and said loudly:

  "Five hundred and thirty robust men from Ao Mountain Wei, Lai State, Deng State and other places have been recruited. Additionally, forty skilled horsemen with their horses, thirty skilled archers, and forty-six skilled gunners have also been selected. They are all currently stationed in the nearby village of Ling Mountain Salt Field, awaiting your arrangements."

  After finishing speaking, Ning Qiangui bowed to the three people sitting there and was about to leave the room when Li Meng spoke up:

  "Lao Ning, you go to Hou Shan's side and discuss it, finalize the expenses for food, clothing, shelter, and travel for these new recruits, as well as their military equipment and armor. Report back to me here, and send someone to deliver a message to Ma Gong, telling him to switch shifts with Xiao Hai."

  Ning Qian Gui on the other side nodded in agreement and immediately exited the house. Li Meng's face turned gloomy as he turned to Zhao Neng and Wang Hai, speaking in a cold tone:

  "No wonder, Kong Youde was able to make a big fuss in Dengzhou for three years, and half of Shandong couldn't find a thousand strong men. Those who are good at riding skills, I went to see them, they were all mountain bandits and robbers, wanting to become good citizens and come to rely on me. Those who know archery and firearms are all defeated soldiers from Liaodong."

  Zhao Nai and Wang Hai exchanged a glance, both feeling very awkward. Zhao Nai, who was closer to Li Meng, cleared his throat and spoke up:

  "Director Li, this time our standard is a bit high. The salt dings we recruited are all around half a year of training to reach this level. If we relax it a bit..."

  Zhao could speak, and Li Meng was also in a bad mood. He felt a bit anxious, rubbed his forehead with his hand, sighed, and didn't speak until half a moment later:

  "Relax the standards, this time we need to recruit at least 3,000 people. The noise is still too loud, and I'm getting anxious. Xiao Hai, go find our old brothers and have them follow those skilled horsemen, learn from them, and keep an eye on them. These people reek of wildness, I'm afraid something else might happen, take care of it now."

  Wang Hai stood up and hastily agreed, turned around and walked out in big strides. The room was left with only Li Meng and Zhao Neng, their conversation also became more casual. Zhao Neng looked at Wang Hai's back and smiled:

  "A year and a half ago, Xiao Hai was still a young boy, but now he has some semblance of a military general!"