After Zhu Aao left the matter of selecting and preparing flying hands to the red lady, she took people to inspect the government offices, official warehouses, etc. in Chengdu according to yesterday's idea.

Although Hao Guangming's "drone beheading plan" surprised Zhu Yuyao, and even found it amazing.

But she knows very well that no matter how good the weapons and plans are, they still need people to use and execute them.

Moreover, she cannot completely rely on the things of later generations to conquer and rule the world. Even if she can succeed, it will not last long.

Therefore, what needs to be done must still be done well.

Yesterday, she allowed the officials in Chengdu to be reimbursed for their salaries and the soldiers of the Liu Zhenfan tribe to be reimbursed. Today, she also reimbursed the money and food owed to the craftsmen.

A lot of money was spread out. If the corruption situation in the yamen of Chengdu Prefecture does not change, I don’t know how much of the money she spread would fall into the stomachs of those silverfish.

While inspecting various departments of the Chief Secretary's Yamen, Zhu Ayao met Liu Zhibo.

To be precise, Liu Zhibo came to see her specifically.

"I heard that when the supervisor inspected the Ordnance Bureau in the morning, he announced that the craftsmanship under his rule would be abolished, and that craftsmen recruited by the government must be hired at market prices. I wonder if this is true or false?"

Zhu Yuyao said: "Of course it is true. I will ask Governor Li to draft the specific decree as soon as possible, and then it will be officially promulgated and implemented."

Liu Zhibo's expression changed after hearing this, and he immediately said: "You can't supervise the country! If this decree is really implemented, not to mention what impact it will have on people with civilian, military and other household registrations, it will be the money and food needed by the government to pay the wages of craftsmen in the future.

It will be a huge number!

I know that the supervising country has received a lot of money and food from the Prince of Shu's Mansion, but no matter how much it is, it will be used up one day, and it really shouldn't be wasted like this!"

Liu Zhibo remonstrated directly, and there were many officials watching around, but Zhu Auao was not angry.

She said calmly: "The money and food in the Shu Prince's Palace may one day be used up, but we should not save the money and food that should be used.

Why should the craftsmanship certificate be abolished, and why should the government hire them at market prices? I gave a speech at the Ordnance Bureau. If Liu Xunjian doesn't know, you can go and find out.

In short, this decree must be implemented. As for the issue of money and food, saving money is certainly one aspect, but the most important thing is to increase revenue.

Only by obtaining more money and food, and allowing the country to use more and more money and food in various aspects, will the country become more prosperous and powerful, and people's lives will become better.

I hope Liu Xunjian can think carefully about the truth behind my words."

After saying this, Zhu Ailao signaled the accompanying officials and soldiers to continue to the next department.

Liu Zhibo was stunned on the spot for a moment, with Zhu Aona's words still echoing in his mind.

He came here to give advice, but he didn't expect that Zhu Auao's words shocked him and made him realize something.

···

It was the fourth day of the seventh lunar month in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen.

Zhang Xianzhong has captured Chongqing for more than ten days.

In these days, not only were most of the prefectures and counties in Chongqing Prefecture captured by his four adopted sons and the generals under his command, but the soldiers from all the battalions that had participated in the battle to capture Chongqing were also almost rested.

So today Zhang Xianzhong took the oath of surrender in Chongqing, leaving only one force to guard Chongqing, preparing for the land and sea army to attack Chengdu in three ways.

As long as Chengdu is captured, it can be used as a foundation, Jianyuan can be proclaimed emperor, and his dream of becoming the emperor of the West can be realized.

Outside Chongqing Prefecture, there are military camps.

This should have been a very shocking scene, but Zhang Xianzhong's battalions did not have uniform uniforms, and even the tents set up were of various colors and materials.

At first glance, one can only think of a refugee camp.

But if you take a closer look, you will see that although these variegated tents are ugly, they are quite particular in layout and are mainly divided into three layers: inner, middle and outer.

The innermost one is naturally Zhang Xianzhong's middle camp, also called the old camp.

Zhang Xianzhong has been fighting all year round. Due to certain experiences and personal personality reasons, he now feels very insecure.

Therefore, even after Chongqing was captured, he did not go to sleep in the deep mansions in the city, but still slept in the old camp.

In addition to the nearly ten thousand elite soldiers who were absolutely loyal to him, this old camp also had many concubines and maids who served him alone.

It is worth mentioning that Zhang Xianzhong got so many women not because he was a womanizer, but simply because he felt that he should enjoy it, or that only so many women were worthy of his current strength and status.

Surrounding Zhang Xianzhong's old camp, that is, the middle part of the continuous camp, are the camps of his four adopted sons.

These four adopted sons were the most trusted and relied upon by Zhang Xianzhong, so they were qualified to have his camp guard around the old camp.

Regardless of whether the four righteous sons are in the camp or going out to fight with their troops, the camp arrangement is the same.

At the same time, the troops commanded by the four righteous sons were also the elite of Zhang Xianzhong's command.

Due to their different abilities, the four men commanded different numbers of soldiers and horses, which ranged from twenty to thirty thousand to forty to fifty thousand.

Generally speaking, the eldest son Sun Kewang has the most troops, followed by the second eldest son Li Dingguo.

The number of troops commanded by Liu Wenxiu, the third oldest, and Ai Nengqi, the fourth oldest, were about the same.

At the outermost edge, there are the five generals including Feng Shuangli, Bai Wenxuan and other miscellaneous generals under Zhang Xianzhong.

The number of soldiers and horses commanded by these generals varies, and the areas occupied by their camps also vary in size.

There are elite ones, and the layout of the camp looks similar to that of the elite army at first glance; but there are also the poorly arranged ones, where the camp is almost the same as a real refugee camp.

When they invaded Sichuan in the spring, Zhang Xianzhong's troops claimed to have an army of 600,000, which was naturally a lie, but there were more than 400,000.

Among them, there are 100,000 or 200,000 capable soldiers, and 70,000 to 80,000 can be called elite soldiers.

Now more than half a year has passed, Zhang Xianzhong's troops have captured Chongqing Prefecture, most of Kuizhou Prefecture, and a small part of Shunqing Prefecture, and their prestige has been greatly enhanced.

Many local peasant armies from Sichuan came to seek refuge, and even the Ming Dynasty official army formally surrendered.

Therefore, even though there have been many defeats in the past six months, Zhang Xianzhong's troops not only did not decrease, but actually increased.

Zhang Xianzhong doesn't know exactly how many people he has under his command now, but he thinks it's somewhere between seven and eight hundred thousand.

So he is preparing to call himself a million-strong army!

In the morning, it was cloudy and no rain.

On the huge school field cleared outside the continuous military camp, a 19-foot general point platform was built.

Zhang Xianzhong beat a drum himself. After the four righteous sons and all the generals in the camp arrived and stood in front of the general stage, he sat down on the Taishi chair at the edge of the general stage.

Zhang Xianzhong glanced condescendingly at the generals and the countless soldiers around him, and he couldn't help but feel proud, his face glowing red.

So he shook his long beard and asked with a smile: "Have you guys had a rest these past few days?"

Sun Kewang, who was standing on the far left of the first row, immediately raised his hands and said: "Father, I have rested a long time ago. As soon as my father gives the order, I will lead the troops to defeat Chengdu!"

"Hahaha!" Zhang Xianzhong laughed after hearing this, "Well said, I like your spirit!"

Next to Sun Kewang, a tall and handsome young man with a short beard on his upper lip said: "Father, after all, Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan, and the city is tall. Moreover, we have been preparing for war for more than half a year since we entered Sichuan in the spring. I am afraid it will not be easy to fight."

Zhang Xianzhong's brows twitched slightly after hearing this, but his smile did not change.

Sun Kewang just glanced at the young man and said nothing.

The short and stocky young man on the far right who had grown a sparse beard couldn't help but said loudly: "What did the second brother say? Chongqing has been preparing for nearly half a year, why don't you ask your father to fight it down?"

Even if the city of Chengdu is taller, the moral character of the officers and soldiers cannot be maintained.

Second brother, just wait and see, when we get to Chengdu, I will definitely be the first to build the city wall!"

It turned out that the tall and handsome young man was Li Dingguo, the second of Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons.

The bearded young man is the fourth child, Ai Nengqi.

Standing between the two, the one with the more delicate appearance is Liu Wenxiu, the third child.

Of course, these four people still take Zhang Xianzhong's surname as Zhang.

Seeing that Liu Wenxiu had no intention of speaking, Zhang Xianzhong smiled and stroked his beard and said: "What the second brother said does make some sense. Chengdu is a bigger city and the government has taken longer to prepare. However, it is more difficult to fight than Chongqing.

not necessarily.

As early as when we captured Chongqing, I prepared two big gifts for the dog officials in Chengdu. Who among you knows what these two big gifts are?"

After Zhang Xianzhong finished speaking, the four adopted sons all looked thoughtful.

It took about ten breaths before anyone spoke.

This time it was Liu Wenxiu, the third child.
Chapter completed!