?
A few days ahead of the army, Vézé led the security troops back to Anqing. It was not common for thousands of troops to march in the mountains. Having them carry out this kind of armed parade was very helpful in promoting the Taiping army's fighting ability. Vézé, on the other hand, had too much work to do. If not for this, he would have stayed in the army to deter the local forces from Liu'an to Anqing.
Compared to when Vézé had left Anqing a month ago, Anqing city did not seem to have changed much. Perhaps the biggest change was the figures of the newspaper boys on the streets. In addition, there were more bulletin boards on the streets. Vézé paused in front of the bulletin board for a while, then he was delighted. The bulletin board was about the size of a common advertising space on the streets in the 21st century. In other words, the place where the bulletin board was posted was more than two meters long and one meter high. There were quite a few notices on it.
"Our army has captured Shucheng!"
"Our army has captured Luzhou!"
"Prime Minister Wei has captured Ningyuan!"
"Prime Minister Wei has captured Shouzhou!"
"The natural moat has become a road! Prime Minister Wei has built a pontoon bridge on the Huai River. The army has crossed the Huai River and captured Shangcai! "
"Liu'an garrison has fled without a fight. Prime Minister Wei has liberated Liu'an without firing a single shot!"
"Prime Minister Wei is about to return to Anqing with a hundred battle-hardened troops!"
This last one was not very good! Vézé thought. This was obviously the kind of propaganda that the imperial army used before returning from an expedition. Now that Vézé and the others were surrounded by enemies on all sides, it was not suitable to do this.
However, seeing such a large bulletin board, Vézé was in a very good mood. There was no time to think so much when marching and fighting. In hindsight, Vézé had done a lot of work along the way.
As soon as they returned to the yamen, Wei Changrong, who had stayed behind, rushed up to grab Vézé. "Fourth Uncle, you're back!"
"Changrong, you've defended the city well! But why do you look thinner? "Vézé laughed.
Wei Changrong replied, "How can I not be thin? Now, there are more than 6,100 soldiers in the city. I'm in charge of training them day and night! There were also more than two thousand people who were not suitable to join the army and refused to leave the city. No matter what, they want us to take them in and at least give them something to eat. I'm still waiting for Fourth Uncle to come back and resolve this matter! "
"Got it!" Vézé knew that he had something to do. "Chang Rong, spread the news to me right now. Find me someone who knows how to grow cigarettes!"
"Fourth Uncle, what are your plans?" Wei Changrong was stunned.
"We've seized so much land. I want to plant tobacco and make foreign cigarettes," Vézé answered.
These days, foreign cigarettes were selling well in China. As early as the Jintian Uprising, the high-ranking officials of the Taiping army all had the hobby of smoking foreign cigarettes. Of course, most of the foreign cigarettes sold in China were cigars. This time, Vézé went to Anhui and found that the wasteland in Anhui was more than he expected. Even the land near the water might not be suitable for growing crops.
For the youth of the 21st century, it was absolutely impossible to hang on to a single tree. If they couldn't grow food crops, they might as well grow cash crops. Cigarettes, on the other hand, had a market in any era. When Vézé fought his way to Shouzhou, he found that in this inland city, there were actually people who dabbled in foreign cigarettes. It was only because of the high price that there were few people interested.
This made Vézé have an idea. Silk tea was bound to be the main export of China in the future, but that was a matter for the future. Although cigarette manufacturing was a notorious industry, it was the same as modern blended alcohol. It was a profiteering industry on the level of a money printing machine.
Right now, Vézé needed to quickly solve the problem of the production team in this industry. After seeing the foreign cigarette dealer in Shouzhou, Vézé had already confirmed that he wanted to join a new cigarette manufacturing factory in the military industry.
Wei Changrong was originally not a person who was particularly curious about other industries, especially after becoming the head of the combat training department. He didn't have the time to get involved in so many new fields. However, he couldn't handle this group of refugees. "Fourth Uncle, how many people know how to grow tobacco? Can you give them something to do? "
"That definitely won't work. It's just that at this time, we can slowly find something for them to do." Vézé smiled.
When this topic was brought up, Wei Changrong suddenly thought of something. "Fourth Uncle, the foreign devil who sold you guns in Tianjing came looking for you again. In any case, he was speaking in gibberish, and I couldn't really understand. He said that you violated the contract you signed in Tianjing. He said that if you still need the things you want, then you'll have to pay more! "
Vézé then remembered the arms dealer, Smith. "Did he say when he would come again?"
Wei Changrong answered, "In the next few days. I saw that he had the travel pass he got from Tianjing. It seems that Tianjing didn't do anything to him. Fourth Uncle, what did you ask him about this time? "
"He bought some spring bayonets and other accessories for the broken guns. With these accessories, the broken guns can be repaired and used again." Vézé answered.
After hearing Vézé's words, Wei Changrong immediately said, "Fourth Uncle, let's not use flintlock guns. I think we should all use firearms! With matchlock guns, those new soldiers have to practice for a month before they can use them skillfully. The new soldiers who are trained to use firearms can use them in half a month. The soldiers who are trained to use firearms can use bayonets as long as they are long spear soldiers, which is much stronger than the matchlock guns. These foreign devils' guns are very sturdy. After testing them, I feel that these guns can barely block an expert's attack. If we were to compete with trash like Qing Yao, as long as we practice well, we won't be at a disadvantage in a bayonet fight … "
Vézé stopped Wei Changrong from talking incessantly. Currently, Vézé's subordinates had basically reached a consensus on the establishment of a new army. New firearms, new training methods, including the General Staff Headquarters, these were all things that were not controversial within the army. Thus, Vézé told his confidant Wei Changrong the truth. "Changrong, if I didn't know these things, why would I work so hard in this direction? But this needs money. Right now, we can't make firearms. The sulfur and saltpeter for gunpowder have to be bought from outside. The bigger the war, the more it will cost. Without money, it won't do. Oh yes, in order to train an army that can win, how much money did we spend on training? I'm afraid the money spent on this is more than the war! "
Listening to Vézé's complaints, Wei Changrong laughed and said: "Fourth Uncle, you are not willing to plunder the city. You said that you are short of money, isn't this obvious?"
Vézé also laughed bitterly. The Taiping army attacked the landlords and robbed the rich along the way. Their methods were quite fierce. Not to mention the landlords in the countryside, even the rich families in the city were not spared by the Taiping army. Under the leadership of the poor, robbing the wealth of the rich was just a drizzle. Everywhere the Taiping army went, they were not lenient towards the rich. Even if they did not kill, they would still "borrow money" from the rich. In other words, they would write an IOU to the rich, saying: "Today, I borrowed XXXX gold and silver from XXX family. After we eliminate Qing Yao and build a small kingdom, I will repay you in full."
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