The merchant fleet I saw along the way had a deep impression on Shanxi prisoners. Green camp officers like Mo Huaizhong knew that this meant that the Ming army in Chengdu was much stronger than those promoted by the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty. At least, along the way from Baoning to Chongqing, Shanxi Green Camp had never seen so many ships. Last time Li Guoying's navy came out of the Jialing River, he had amazed these Shanxi soldiers. But compared with the Chengdu navy, the Qing navy was obviously nothing.

Of course Mo Huaizhong didn't know that most of the river ships in the entire Yangtze River basin are owned by Deng Ming, and the ships downstream have almost been divided by Deng Ming and Zhang Huangyan. Except for the canal ships in the hands of some of Deng Ming's related households, merchants on both sides of the Yangtze River have not had many ships to use. The Qing army constantly requisitioned civilian ships because of various needs. When the ships arrived in the hands of the Qing army, they would naturally be snatched away by Deng Ming as the equipment of the enemy, and they would be destroyed by various reasons for leaving or being destroyed by the war... The Qing army continued to requisition civilian ships because of military and transportation needs, and then they were snatched away by the Ming army. In the end, the Qing army and the people had no ships in their hands, and the ships were all on the side of the Ming army.

In addition to war, there were also natural losses. Since the Ming army had to leave the ship workers, the shipbuilding industry in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River was also hit hard. Many local officials of the Qing Dynasty noticed that shipyards would always attract the attention and attack of the Ming army. They spontaneously destroyed many shipyards under their jurisdiction to ensure that their jurisdiction was not attacked by the Ming army.

In addition, the Qing court in Beijing began to implement a sea ban, which was systematically destroying the shipbuilding industry in coastal areas, which gave the Yangtze River shipping industry a final and fierce blow.

Chengdu is now suffering from labor shortage, while the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have encountered the same severe ship shortage. After the Ming army returned to Sichuan, the Yangtze River shipping not only did not recover, but instead fell into a more terrible shipping cutoff due to the departure of the Ming army, which had a large number of ships, and the freight costs soared, which increased by more than 20 times compared to before Zheng Chenggong's first attack on the Yangtze River two years ago. Merchants with backgrounds with Nanjing or Nanchang were not bad, such as the Zongli Yamen of the Deng Zongli could use the fleet of Chongming Island to transport goods, while commercial banks without backgrounds were beginning to suffer a large amount of losses and bankruptcy, and the business shrinks quickly, which was faster than Deng Ming's previous life after the Qing court issued a ban on sea ban.

Because of surprise at the strong strength of the Ming army, Mo Huaizhong and others asked more about the situation in Chengdu from the officers and soldiers who were monitoring them or the accompanying Ming army. They learned that they would be sent to Xuzhou first and then transferred to Chengdu. As for the specific arrangements, Ming army officers guaranteed that anyone who was willing to work hard would have no worries about food and clothing. The Ming army officers used the word to get rich, but Mo Huaizhong and others did not believe it. They believed that if most prisoners could be a garrison in the Ming army's military garrison, they would be very lucky to get food and clothing, so they automatically understood the guarantee of Ming army officers as they could obtain the status of serfs.

Whether it is the armorless soldiers sent from Shanxi or Shaanxi, they can only accept their fate and go to the Ming army's military garrison after being captured. It is normal for these recruited civilians to be unable to return to their hometown alive. The luckiest people may be valued by a certain officer as armored soldiers. If the rest of them survive, they will generally be arranged to go to a certain military garrison to settle down. The possibility of armored soldiers returning to their hometown is extremely small. In addition to war, the epidemic treats armored soldiers and armored soldiers equally. If Mo Huaizhong survived until after the war, he would probably be adapted into a green camp stationed in Sichuan. Since no one thinks that the war will end in a short time, these green camps drawn from Shanxi will be unlikely to return home, and Xuanda will not reserve a position for them for a long time but will recruit new officers and soldiers.

The question facing Mo Huaizhong now is not whether he should serve the Ming army, but whether he should serve the Ming army under the command of other generals if he is not valued by Deng Ming. Most of Mo Huaizhong's colleagues think this is unacceptable, because if he is under the command of other generals, they will not be trusted and will only be used as cannon fodder and scapegoats. Just as other generals do not trust Mo Huaizhong and others, it is difficult for Deng Ming to trust their benefactor unconditionally. In this way, according to the law of the loyalty chain, Mo Huaizhong and others theoretically are almost impossible to enter the loyalty chain system for Deng Ming at the top.

"Why do you want so much to do when you are captured?" Mo Huaizhong felt sad in his heart. He reminded himself that it would be good if the captive could save his life. The benefactor has not died, and his life is still there. No matter how slim the hope is, he can finally live in the military camp. He may encounter any adventures in the future. Or if his benefactor has the opportunity to find a place in Deng Ming's loyalty chain system, he will definitely think of old subordinates like him at that time.

What Mo Huaizhong hates the most now is the Eight Banners of Han. Sun Sike commanded randomly and used Shanxi Green Camp as cannon fodder. When the situation was not good, he fled first. What comforted Mo Huaizhong and the others was that the unlucky one was not only their family, but also the Ganzhou Green Camp that fought side by side failed to escape. The officer of the Ganzhou Green Camp who persuaded the Ming army to surrender seemed to be Wang Xincheng's personal military camp. When he walked into the encirclement, his eyes were red. When he persuaded Shanxi Green Camp to recognize the situation and surrender, the guerrilla even cried bitterly.

"You guys, Shaanxi guys! They don't fight like men, so they can only cry like women!" At that time, Mo Huaizhong despised the officer of the Ganzhou Green Camp who was crying. Because since the beginning of the battle, the Ganzhou Green Camp had been hiding behind and not rushing forward. Of course, the final fate could only be to be captured and sent to the military camp to death as a cattle and horse. Because they were both sick, Mo Huaizhong forgave these brothers and brothers, but they still felt a little angry. The Shanxi Green Camp was all men, but they also ended up with the Shaanxi Green Camp and could not escape the fate of being captured.

At this time, a cheerful military song came from the front. Mo Huaizhong listened to it, and couldn't help but feel a little suspicious. The military song had a clear Shaanxi accent, and the content seemed to be the same as the military songs of the Shaanxi Green Camp that he had heard.

"Is it the reinforcements coming?" Mo Huaizhong concluded that the Ming army would not use the Qing army's military songs, so it was only Chongqing who sent new reinforcements.

"You came too late, we were all captured." In an instant, Mo Huaizhong even wanted to jump off the side of the ship and bet on his life to see if he could swim back to the shore, and had the idea of ​​finding troops. As long as he worked hard and fought bravely, Mo Huaizhong thought that he could still find a new person who appreciated him and was on the loyalty chain of the Qing Dynasty again. In any case, this future would always be better than being exhausted in the military camp.

Thump, thump, and then, Mo Huaizhong saw figures jumping down the boats in front and behind and jumping into the rolling river water. However, none of them could swim ashore, but were quickly swept away by the river water.

A new question arose in Mo Huaizhong's heart. It was this question that prevented him from learning from his colleagues who had the quickest movements and jumped into the Yangtze River to commit suicide: "Why are reinforcements singing so cheerfully?"

"Save people, save people quickly!" The Ming army officer did not order the arrows to shoot, but shouted, putting down the boat to salvage the prisoners struggling in the torrent.

After a riot, the returned boat failed to bring back the people who jumped from the ship - their fate depends on the salvage team of the subsequent ship, but brought back a Shanxi Green Camp officer who jumped from the ship in front and attempted suicide.

This Shanxi officer, whose water quality is obviously not comparable to that of Wang Jinbao, had already drunk several sips of water in the river. He was dragged onto the deck and beaten for a long time before he vomited the water in his stomach.

At this time, the Ming army's fleet had approached the singing team. To Mo Huaizhong's surprise, he saw that the Qing army was not traveling east and west. After seeing the Qing army's flag, Mo Huaizhong's eyes became even more straight: "This...this is..."

It was Wang Xincheng's troops who were moving towards Chongqing happily. Mo Huaizhong always thought that they were captured like him and were transported to Xuzhou by the Ming army first, but now he saw Wang Xincheng's army holding green flags, singing majestic military songs, and walking proudly on the road to Chongqing.

The Ming army fleet seemed to have not seen this Qing army at all, and the performance of the Ganzhou Green Camp was similar. They continued to sing their military songs, and even soldiers waved to the Ming army warships passing by, as if they were saying hello to an old friend.

"They...they..." Mo Huaizhong sorted out his thoughts for a long time, but his mind was still messy. After glaring again and again, he confirmed that he had read it wrong, he loudly questioned the Ming army officer who was accompanying him, regardless of danger: "Why will Deputy Wang be on the shore?"

"Why can't they be on the shore?" The Ming army officer who was asked seemed a little confused.

"We...they..." Mo Huaizhong pointed at himself, then pointed to the Ganzhou Green Camp on the shore, and shouted unbearably: "Why are we captured, they are doing well?"

The Ming army officer looked at Mo Huaizhong deeply, turned his face and looked at the other captured officers with confusion, and said meaningfully: "Because you are all captured, they are doing well."

...

After reacting, Mo Huaizhong felt that his chest was about to explode, and he no longer cared about cannon fodder or scapegoat. He rushed to the Ming army officer and shouted: "Why don't the officers and soldiers (referring to Deng Ming's army) go to kill these thieves on the shore? The villain is willing to act as a vanguard!"

Other officers from the Green Camp in Shanxi also volunteered to swear to beat Wang Xincheng into a pig's head. These officers also hysterically informed the situation to the dejected soldiers under the deck. The entire ship was immediately infuriated. The people in Shanxi were shocked at first, and then everyone was furious and vowed to fight to the death with Wang Xincheng's troops.

"Oh, do you want to join the army? It's not possible yet." The Ming army officer who accompanied him explained patiently: "You must stay in Chengdu for a year first, and then pay at least one hundred yuan in taxes or protection fees. After becoming a fellow scholar, you can wait for the recruitment."

"And," the sentence that accompanied the Ming army officers were suspected of adding fuel to the fire: "Because of the strong assistance of Deputy General Wang of Baoning to the officers and soldiers in this battle, the admiral ordered that no one should take the initiative to attack Deputy General Wang's troops within fifteen days, otherwise military law will be dealt with."—
Chapter completed!