Zhu Ci pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Why kill them?"
He didn't mind his subordinates killing, but he hoped these people would have a moral baseline, knowing in their hearts what should be killed and what should not, not acting solely based on personal whims.
Jiang Quan gritted his teeth and said, "This bunch of bastards.. It's not just that they surrendered to the Qing Army themselves, they also took the lead in finding all the officers who had hidden the civilians, they even.."
Zhu Ci raised his hand and said, "Enough, I understand."
Even without Jiang Quan saying it, Zhu Ci could guess what these people had done.
After all, they were new subordinates, if these people wanted to preserve their lives and property, they had to prove their worth.
Perhaps it was to silence them, or perhaps to cover up their guilt; they would instead treat their own compatriots even more ruthlessly than the enemy.
Zhu Ci said as before, "Next time, remember to wait until after the trial before killing them; the rest are to be executed collectively after three days."
Jiang Quan responded and, while doing so, presented the total amount of the inventoried assets.
When he brought it up, he specifically said, "Young Master, our people didn't steal anything, but some of the newly attached ones were caught. How should we handle this?"
Zhu Ci said casually, "Don't let it happen again. Tell them that if they have the guts, they should go and rob the Tartars, instead of laying hands on the property of our own people."
These people have only recently become followers and have not undergone long-term ideological education; combined with their ordinary backgrounds, it is quite normal for them to have greed.
Zhu Ci would not be too harsh on them; with Jiang Quan and the others leading the way, these people would slowly learn.
There were quite a lot of things uncovered in Huaian Prefecture. Most importantly, the Qing Army had already looted the area once, so many things hadn't been transported away in time. They had also specifically clarified the land holdings, which saved Zhu Ci a great deal of effort.
Zhu Ci glanced at the current population within Huaian Prefecture and estimated that, following the previously established rules, only about half of the landholdings in his hands could be distributed.
He sighed, which meant that the city's population had decreased by more than two-thirds.
Not only that, but there were also many orphans.
Unfortunately, he could only make hasty arrangements, having people clear out a space to settle these orphans, while simultaneously sending Jiang Xueyan to gather people to look after them.
Especially those whose families had no men left, leaving only widows and orphans, they could also move in; the women would be responsible for taking care of these children, ensuring that she and her children would be well-fed and warmly clothed.
As for what remained.. he could no longer care.
Whether attacking a city is difficult or easy, defending it is what truly tests a person.
He was unsure whether the Qing Army would bring Red-coated Cannons again, so he directly ordered the requisitioning of ironware, having all the ironware melted into molten iron—one part to reinforce the city gates, the other to reinforce the city walls.
In addition to that, there were also materials for collecting firearms.
Rockets cannot be manufactured for the time being. There are no craftsmen among the people he brought, the craftsmen in Huaian have never made such things, so it will be difficult to mass-produce them for a while.
However, grenades are easy enough, then there are the simplest explosive charges and landmines.
As long as the gunpowder's properties are stable, all of these can be used.
Zhu Ci arranged for people to place sharp bamboo splinters inside both the explosive packs and the landmines.
Actually, he had wanted to put in some rusted iron shards; that way, even if they didn't kill anyone, they would at least cause tetanus with every wound.
Unfortunately, there were already not enough iron products in the city right now, making it even more impossible to use them in explosive packs and landmines, so he could only settle for the next best thing.
Because the soldiers under his command were also responsible for patrolling and defending the city, he could only recruit manpower from the common people.
As a result, before he could even figure out how to pay their wages, rumors had already spread, many people immediately gathered in front of the prefectural office.
Zhu Ci did not know why these people were gathering; he thought perhaps some wrongful case had occurred or his subordinates had disobeyed orders and committed acts of arson, slaughter, or looting.
He immediately stood up and asked with a serious expression, "What is going on?"
Jiang Xueyan said with a slightly strange expression, "Young Master, these people are all here to apply for the job."
Zhu Ci froze for a moment, he asked blankly, "Who spread the news? The wages haven't even been decided yet."
He had gold, silver, jewels on him, but he didn't have much when it came to silver and copper coins, the two most important forms of currency, which was why he was currently deliberating over the wages.
“Young Master, they said they don't want money, they just want food.”
Zhu Ci's expression immediately turned serious. "The rations weren't distributed?"
A large part of the Qing Army's military provisions had previously been obtained by plundering the local populace; they had no intention of leaving the people a way to survive, seizing everything edible and leaving nothing behind.
After Zhu Ci entered the city, he immediately took stock of the grain and fodder. While ensuring that the soldiers had a twenty-day reserve, he distributed as much of the remaining supplies as possible to the common people.
Oh, he also sent people to plunder the Qing Army's provisions.
There was no other way; Huaian was currently a mandatory route for the Qing Army's grain transport, the baggage train would not easily change its location before the Qing Army received news.
However, it is highly likely that this will be the last time. While current communication channels are somewhat backward, they aren't so backward that they wouldn't know something for ten or fifteen days.
Jiang Xueyan said immediately, "They have all been sent out, but they said they came voluntarily. There are also some people who want to enlist to help defend the city; they said they do not want the Young Master to leave, because the Young Master gives them land and grain."
Jiang Xueyan tilted her head. "Young Master, is this what Teacher Qiu once taught, that those who follow the right path receive much assistance, while those who do not receive little?"
Zhu Ci let out a long breath. "I suppose so. Remember this for the future: just because they haven't been educated doesn't mean they are stupid. Ordinary people are the most submissive; as long as they have food to eat and can sustain their lives, they won't rebel."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the scout's report: "Young Master, traces of the Qing Army have been spotted thirty li away."
Zhu Ci took a deep breath. "They're coming. Everyone, get ready."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: It's a bit strange to go from being the besieger to being the defender. A kitten crouching on the city wall, looking around. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 91
Zhu Ci knew that the Qing Army would definitely turn back to reclaim Huaian; Huaian falling into his hands was equivalent to the Qing Army's vanguard being caught in a pincer attack from two sides.
But now, the one caught in a pincer attack is him.
Can Huaian be held?
Zhu Ci had no answer in his heart. He had already sent messages to Yangzhou and even Suzhou; it remained to be seen which of the two sides would arrive to support him first.
It's hard to say about Yangzhou, but for Suzhou to provide support, they would essentially have to commit their entire force, it remains uncertain whether Fu would take the opportunity to occupy Suzhou when the time comes.
Thinking about it this way, Zhu Ci felt as if the entire world was his enemy, which was truly a massive headache.
Zhu Ci arranged his subordinates at the four gates, assigning Jiang Quan to lead the defense at the North Gate, while Zhu Ci went to defend the South Gate, where the first contact would occur.
As he stood atop the city walls watching the Qing Army come whistling toward him, he also faintly saw the appearance of two Red-coated Cannons.
Zhu Ci took a deep breath, knowing that this would be a tough battle.
Once the vanguard troops entered range, Zhu Ci immediately ordered them to fire arrows.
This batch of arrows were Exploding Arrows, but the opposing Qing Army was clearly quite familiar with the firearms in his hands, dodging these arrows with great agility.
Regardless of anything else, these people who grew up on horseback truly have excellent horsemanship; they actually managed to avoid the explosion range of the arrows as much as possible.
Of course, it was impossible to avoid them completely, but clearly the opposition had already studied the explosion range of the arrows, which allowed them to avoid them as much as possible.
But what was the use of dodging? Zhu Ci's purpose in firing the arrows wasn't to drive back the Qing Army with this single volley; his goal was to detonate the gunpowder buried underground.
There was no other way; there was no time to design a mechanism to make the explosive charges or landmines detonate automatically, so they could only be detonated manually.
As the violent explosions rang out, the gunpowder buried underground began to detonate in a chain reaction.
The explosives Zhu Ci had ordered to be buried were spread over an extremely wide area; they didn't just blow up this wave of vanguards, but even caught many of the Qing Army following behind in the blast.
Unfortunately, amidst the vast clouds of smoke, he could not see clearly how many losses the other side had actually sustained.
Once the smoke cleared and the Qing Army cavalry temporarily retreated, they instead ordered the Red-coated Cannons to move forward.
At this moment, Zhu Ci realized that the enemy's purpose in arranging the vanguard battalion to charge was to probe the defenses and, at the same time, exhaust a wave of gunpowder.
If the Red-coated Cannons were truly ordered to move forward directly, they would most likely be targeted with heavy fire.
Using human lives to protect the Red-coated Cannon.. one can only say the enemy commander is truly ruthless.
Zhu Ci sighed. This method was almost impossible to counter; what could you do if the enemy was willing to use human lives to fill the gap?
Moreover, the ones on the opposite side aren't necessarily Manchus; there are many Han soldiers and generals who have surrendered along the way, so why would they use Manchus to die for them?
He stood on the city wall calculating the firing range of the Red-coated Cannon. This was his first time facing a Red-coated Cannon, it was impossible not to feel nervous.
He didn't know how many rounds of ammunition the molten iron he had poured on the city walls could withstand, nor did he know if the rockets he had left would be enough to destroy those two cannons.
As the Red-coated Cannon began its bombardment, Zhu Ci also began arranging for people to launch Single-shot Rockets, targeting the Red-coated Cannon and the soldiers surrounding it.
The accuracy of the Red-coated Cannon was not particularly good; not all of the cannonballs struck the city walls, but even the ones that hit the ground caused vibrations that Zhu Ci could feel.
The soldiers he had trained were all facing the impact of the Red-coated Cannon for the first time. Many of them turned pale, staring blankly at the large craters on the ground outside the city, momentarily unable to react.
Zhu Ci took a deep breath and shouted, "What are you standing there for? The Tartars won't be able to break in for a while, so get back to what you were doing!"
Amidst the roaring artillery, Zhu Ci's voice was not very clear, yet it woke them up effectively.
The first to react were the soldiers who had defected along the way and those who had joined after arriving in Huaian.
They knew very well what they would face once the city fell.
It was not easy to come across such a benevolent gentleman, who gave them food and distributed land to them; as long as they could hold the city, they would be able to survive.
Besides that, they also wanted to avenge their loved ones!
The firing range of the Red-coated Cannon was ultimately longer than that of the rockets; Zhu Ci studied it for a long time and could only manage to wreck the carriage of one of the Red-coated Cannons.
But even without this one, there was still another.
Zhu Ci had only one Fire-Dragon Water-Spout left in his hands; the rockets he had brought earlier were already exhausted. He had someone make a simple catapult on the spot, after lighting the gunpowder bags, he threw them out one by one.
This also destroyed the carriage of the other Red-coated Cannon.
When the Red-coated Cannon crashed to the ground, not only did Zhu Ci breathe a sigh of relief, but even the soldiers beside him were cheering.
Everyone knew that as long as the Red-coated Cannon was destroyed, they could continue to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
Zhu Ci breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at the cheering soldiers. Just as he was about to warn them, he heard Jiang Xueyan cry out, "Young Master, watch out!"
Zhu Ci turned his head and saw everyone around him rushing toward him, while an arrow was flying toward him with a sharp whistling sound.
He directly raised his hands to push everyone away and decisively threw himself to the side.
Unfortunately, that arrow came too fast and too suddenly, it was aimed directly at his heart; even if he tried to dodge, he could only dodge the vital spot.
In the end, that arrow still pierced his left shoulder.