?
"Uncle, is this okay?" Wei Changrong glanced at the brand-new troops and turned around to speak to Vézé in a low voice.
In the blink of an eye, the team of more than 300 expanded to nearly 1,000. The team that was purely composed of male soldiers now had both genders. As for the age, it ranged from newborn children to 50-year-old elders. The original team's sharpness, honed through blood and fire, began to fade amidst the shouts of children and the cries of babies.
"There are many of us. Let's get to Wuzhou first." Vézé's voice was also a bit stiff.
Many modern literature and literature promoted the ruthlessness of modern industrial society. Although the productivity of people living in ancient times was not as developed, they were more humane than modern people. And Vézé personally lived in this era that was "full of humanity" in many propaganda. He finally understood how warm modern society really was.
Modern industrial society basically recognized that there was no longer a practice of family ties. If the husband broke the law, as long as the wife did not participate, she would not be implicated. Although this was not absolute, countries would more or less maintain family ties. For example, in the 1960s, all industrial countries without exception had the problem of large-scale family ties. Even in the 21st century, this problem still existed.
A resident of New York in the United States recorded a video with his phone. The New York police thought that a guy was selling cigarettes and used a chokehold technique to put him down. In the end, the guy died. Vézé still remembered that in most of the posts that mocked the United States as a police state, there was also a comment: Look at the United States, at least they allow bystanders to freely stand on the side and record.
The New York City Medical Examiner's Office announced that the forensic results showed that the police's "chokehold" was the main cause of the person's death. The police's actions were ruled as "homicide." Three days after the forensic results came out, the guy who shot the video was arrested by the New York police for "possession of weapons." Two days later, the wife of the guy who shot the video was also arrested. The reason was that the wife of the guy who shot the video "tried to attack him during an argument."
Did the United States police feel embarrassed about their actions? Of course not! The largest New York police union, the Patrolmen's Welfare Association, issued a statement saying, "Criminals like Mr. XXXX who carry weapons illegally are the biggest beneficiaries of the demonization of the police."
It was already the second decade of the 21st century, and there was still no way to eliminate the association. In 1852, there was no need to consider whether the Qing Army and the common people would discuss subjectivity and objectivity, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Vézé gave the Village Chief two choices: leave with Vézé, or stay. The village chief did not hesitate and decisively chose the first option. The entire village joined Vézé's army.
The villagers of Li's Village all knew that more than 200 Qing Army soldiers had died in the village. If the villagers couldn't follow Vézé, the moment the Qing Army arrived at Li's Village, it would be the time for Li's Village to be completely destroyed.
Vézé himself did not want to bring a group of men, women, old and young with him. He only wanted young people. In the "cold" modern industrial society, even the elderly, women, and children could survive on their own. For a long time, the main force of China's rural areas were the elderly, women, and children. With the agricultural machinery, especially the combine harvester, every year the crops would be harvested from the south to the north. Even during the busy farming season, the strong laborers who worked in the cities didn't have to go home.
But in 1852, especially in Guangxi in 1852. If there was only the elderly, women, and children in a village in Guangxi, the village would inevitably face destruction. Without strong laborers, it was impossible to plant the land well. If they couldn't plant the land well, they would all starve to death. This was only a matter of productivity. A village without strong laborers would suffer all kinds of looting and difficulties.
Of course, Wei Changrong did not like the fact that Vézé brought so many people with him. An army needed elite soldiers. Not such a vast and mighty crowd. That was why he questioned Vézé. Vézé could only take it one step at a time. In such a "warm and affectionate agricultural era," there was no difference between the strong abandoning the weak and directly killing the weak.
Wei Ze was having a headache over another matter. How should he organize such a group of people? Vézé once felt that the Taiping army's policy was inhumane and unreasonable. For example, if a man visited the women's camp, he would be beheaded. Even if a husband and wife met in private, they would be beheaded. In Yongan City, Hong Xiuquan publicly beheaded Taiping army officers and soldiers who violated the discipline more than once.
After Vézé personally led the various men, women, and children, reality taught Vézé a lesson. This kind of system might not be a good system, but it was the "least bad" system in the current situation. First of all, if a pregnant woman was brought along during the march, the life of the pregnant woman would be in danger. In this era, there were no birth control measures. Once a couple had sex, there was a high possibility of pregnancy. If they didn't want a pregnant woman to appear, then they couldn't have any "couple sex."
So Vézé could only organize his troops according to the Taiping army's system. First, he organized the men's camp and the women's camp, and the women's camp established its own system of officers. Even if it was his wife, the husband couldn't visit his family.
First, he would bring the troops to Wuzhou. This was Vézé's only thought.
Originally there were only three soldiers, but now there were seven soldiers. The women and children of the Li Family Village were organized into one soldier, the young men were organized into one soldier, the young men were organized into one soldier, and some "old people" were also organized into one soldier. The oldest of the so-called old people was only 61 years old. In an era where the average life expectancy was over 40, this was considered a very old person.
According to the original plan, Vézé and the others would be able to reach the vicinity of Wuzhou in another three days. Such a troop took another five days to reach the vicinity of Wuzhou with their supplies.
Hu Chenghe was the first to go to the vicinity of Wuzhou to scout for information. He quickly brought back information that the brothers of Tian Di Hui had already begun to besiege Wuzhou. They invited Vézé to meet them at Tian Di Hui's current base.
"Why didn't they come to see us?" Wei Changrong asked.
"Because we don't have food." Hu Chenghe's answer was straightforward. The meaning behind Wei Changrong's words was that he wanted Tian Di Hui to support the Taiping army. Hu Chenghe told Wei Changrong very bluntly that this was impossible. Without food, there was no way to survive. When Vézé and the others went south, they brought a lot of food. After the Li Family Village joined Vézé's troops, they also brought all their own food. However, this food was only enough for Vézé's thousand or so people to eat for over a month. If other troops joined the ranks of the Taiping army, there wouldn't be enough food to eat at all.
"Commander Zhang, go find a base right now. Find a place that is closer to the city and easier to defend, "Vézé ordered. After arriving in Wuzhou, Zhang Yingchen's title was officially promoted to commander of soldiers. Of course, his official position was still that of a military major.
"Inspector, what should we do?" Wei Changrong ignored Hu Chenghe and instead asked Vézé.
Vézé replied, "What we need to do is first find a place to stay and then start training the troops. Right now, we're just a group of men, women, old and young mixed together. Through training, we'll squeeze these people into a group. Commander Wei, you've also participated in the training, so you'll be in charge of this temporarily. Commander Hu and I will go meet the heroes of Tian Di Hui. "
"What can we achieve in a month?" Wei Changrong was a bit embarrassed and asked with a grimace.
"No matter if they're men, women, old or young, they all have to learn one thing through training. Everyone is a part of the Taiping army. They no longer only need to work for themselves and their own small families. Right now, the Taiping army is the home of everyone in the Taiping army, "Vézé replied.
After saying this, Vézé thought about it and reluctantly said, "You can let Lin Ahsheng and Ke Gongyu preach to them first."
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