Zhu Ci looked at him in surprise: "Don't you know that there's a resettlement fee every month for those who are discharged?"
Huh?
Only at this moment did Zhu Ci realize that many of his previous policies were unknown to others. He shook his head and said, "I only want elite troops; I am not asking the discharged men to go to their deaths."
In fact, Zhu Ci's own policy at the beginning was to provide a severance package to discharged soldiers, but He Gang reminded him that if a lump sum was given directly, it would likely end up in the hands of their families, leaving the discharged soldiers with nothing.
Especially for those older soldiers with physical disabilities, it would certainly be difficult for them to survive after returning home.
Zhu Ci thought for a moment and felt that the issue of soldier resettlement also needed to be put on the agenda.
He had many ideas, but looking at the rough men around him, he decided to just write down his thoughts in an imperial edict later, then let the Grand Secretariat and the Censorate deliberate on them.
Regardless, downsizing the military was a certainty. Zhu Ci had originally thought many would oppose it, so he had prepared himself to implement it with an iron fist. However, he hadn't expected that those being discharged would be chatting and laughing together as they left in groups.
Zhu Ci said with his hands tucked behind his back, "They seem quite happy."
Not only were they happy, but some were even moved to tears, kneeling and kowtowing before Zhu Ci's camp.
Jiang Xueyan spoke bluntly: "If people could go home, who would want to fight?"
Those capable of achieving great feats are ultimately a minority; unless driven to desperation, no one in this era would enlist in the military.
Especially since they would receive money every month after being discharged, even if that money was very, very little—at most, it would only maintain a state of being neither full nor starving, but at least it would allow them to survive.
Zhu Ci sighed after hearing this.
Sigh, there's still a lack of money.
If he could, he would want to give more money, but he has none.
It seems he'll have to urge Zhu Ying once he gets back.
Thinking of this, Zhu Ci turned to look at Jiang Xueyan and said, "By the way, when you write to Hua Niang, tell her to prioritize recruiting those who have served in the military, especially disabled soldiers."
Jiang Xueyan immediately responded.
Although Zhu Ci's Xinghuo Weaving Factory is currently composed entirely of female weavers, the manufacturing and maintenance of the looms and spinning machines are all handled by men. As the scale of the weaving factory gradually expands, more manpower will be required.
Not to mention that the weaving factory itself requires patrol guards, which are also positions.
Zhu Ci had originally intended to mention the resettlement of veterans into civilian jobs, but he suddenly remembered that there were not enough positions available to accommodate them now, so he simply kept his mouth shut.
The Great Ming of now was no longer the same as it was when he had only a thousand men under his command; he had to think carefully before doing anything.
The first group to reorganize was Li Zicheng's subordinates, as they had suffered heavy casualties while being pursued all along; of course, the main reason was that Zhu Ci wanted Li Zicheng to fight Ajige.
Li Zicheng was willing himself; he had been so frustrated by being chased by Ajige all this way without a single chance to retaliate, now that he could finally launch a counteroffensive, he would have requested the command even if Zhu Ci had not assigned it to him.
Additionally, Li Zicheng also wanted to prove himself.
After Li Zicheng led his troops away, Zhu Ci also had to lead his troops back to Fengyang Prefecture.
Shi Kefa had been stationed in Pizhou for a long time, during this period, he had been engaging in small-scale skirmishes with the Xu Province garrison, with both sides alternating in victory and defeat. Overall, for the Ming Army, which lacked Red-coated Cannons, besieging cities—especially key defensive areas like Xu Province—remained quite difficult.
Zhu Ci could not help but write a letter to Fu to ask: When will our Dingyuan General Bronze Cannon be ready?
Fu replied: At least another ten months.
Ten months.. by then, the flowers will have withered.
Thus, Zhu Ci now faced a choice: whether to continue the forceful assault on Xuzhou or wait for the Dingyuan General Bronze Cannon to be completed.
The reason for the choice was primarily because the weather had turned cold again overnight.
As the ninth lunar month began, the weather turned noticeably colder. Based on Zhu Ci's experience, it might start snowing by November.
After thinking it over, Zhu Ci decided to launch an offensive before the weather turned cold.
Wait until the weather turns cold, then switch to defense.
It wasn't that he felt the cold weather would make fighting impossible, it was just that for the Tartars, the cold weather at the start of winter would not affect them much.
Especially since the temperatures in the south were always somewhat higher than in the north, but for the soldiers under Great Ming, winter was simply too difficult to endure.
On the way to Fengyang Prefecture, Zhu Ci passed by Dingyuan and took the opportunity to pay respects at those two ownerless ancient tombs.
Although a long time has passed, the ancient tombs have yet to be fully excavated.
The people Zhu Ci arranged are not tomb robbers, so the protective excavation would certainly be a bit slower.
After he respectfully offered incense and silently prayed for his ancestors' protection, he prepared to leave.
As a result, he had only turned and walked two steps before stumbling, as if he had stepped on something hard.
He looked down with some confusion, only to see a corner of a stone peeking out from beneath the soil; the stone bore traces of carving and had a color that was neither quite green nor quite blue.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: My Grand Secretary is truly a capable helpmate. A happy kitty rolling in grain. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 128
Are there cultural relics here as well?
Zhu Ci was somewhat surprised; according to the structures identified during previous excavations and surveys, the area where he was located was not within the scope of those two tombs.
However, thinking about it, there seemed to be many tombs of vassal kings around Dingyuan; over time, the tomb structures would be damaged, so it was normal for some relics to appear.
He thought about it while bending down, preparing to dig out that "stone."
However, Jiang Quan beside him reacted faster, immediately squatting down to slowly dig out that stone.
As the soil was peeled away, it could faintly be seen that this "stone" was square or rectangular in shape. The whole object was buried at an angle in the earth, with one corner facing upwards—the exact part that Zhu Ci had stepped on just now.
Zhu Ci bent down to look for a while and said, "This should be a seal."
Jiang Xueyan also leaned in beside him to take a look, asking curiously, "An imprint this large?"
This seal was indeed very large; from the looks of it, it was slightly larger than a Rubik's Cube from a later era, its overall shape appeared to be square.
Once the entire seal was excavated, Jiang Xueyan immediately said, "Huh? Why is there a piece of gold here too?"
Zhu Ci looked at the corner of the seal inlaid with gold, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
He pulled a silk handkerchief from his sleeve, carefully took the jade seal that was entirely cyan-green, observed the carvings upon it.
Hmm, I can only tell that they are dragons, specifically five of them, but I don't recognize what kind of dragons they are.
He carefully flipped it over to take another look. Hmm, he still couldn't make it out.
He could only see that there appeared to be eight characters carved upon it.
Jiang Xueyan and Jiang Quan looked at Zhu Ci's solemn expression and couldn't help but feel curious: "Your Majesty, what is this?"
Zhu Ci took a deep breath and said, "I don't know either. Come, let's return to Fengyang. By the way, send someone to Fengyang to find out if there are any antique masters."
After he finished speaking, he carefully wrapped the seal in a silk handkerchief and tucked it into his bosom.
Although he said he didn't recognize it, he had some suspicions in his heart.
He did not recognize the characters on this seal, but looking at the script, it was not Clerical Script; it should be from an even earlier period, from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods to the early Han Dynasty.
If the time period was indeed during that era.. Zhu Ci was a bit afraid to think any further.
It felt impossible; perhaps it was a later imitation.
After Zhu Ci arrived in Fengyang Prefecture, he also found talents skilled in appraising jade and other antiques.
After all, Fengyang Prefecture was the birthplace of the dynasty, so there were still talented people to be found.
Zhu Ci handed the seal to Jiang Quan and said, "Let them go and authenticate it."
Zhu Ci did not go to see those people in person, because he still needed to approve memorials and, at the same time, communicate with Shi Kefa to finalize the time for the siege.
However, even though he did not meet them personally, those people were led into the adjacent side hall, Zhu Ci could hear them speaking even while he worked in his study.
As Jiang Quan took the seal out, the several bailiffs from the large pawnshops exchanged glances, realizing in their hearts that His Majesty was trying to create an atmosphere of divine mandate.
Fine, they would cooperate fully.
However, I'll have to tell His Majesty later that we need to find someone with even greater prestige.
They only had a bit of fame in the Fengyang area; if you expanded it to the entire Great Ming, it wouldn't cut it.
As they thought about this, the attendants gathered around, taking out their various tools and preparing to take a proper look.
Sun Chaofeng, who was closest, took out a single-lens magnifying glass, which was still a relatively rare item these days.
A magnifying glass is a hand mirror, this tool is extremely helpful for appreciating the details of antiques; with this thing, even elderly antique appraisers wouldn't need to retire early.
Sun Chaofeng had taken out the magnifying glass just to make a show of it and take a quick look, but as he looked, he couldn't help but freeze in place.
He held the hand mirror, leaning down to take a serious look all around, couldn't help but gasp and whisper, "This.. how does this look real?"
Wang Chaofeng curled his lip, acting quite the part.
No, he had to perform well too. Although he hadn't been able to see the Emperor's face, there were others in the room, some were bound to see His Majesty.
Wang Chaofeng also refused to be outdone and pulled out a hand mirror to look into.
Never mind him, the other two were the same.
However, everyone looked on with increasing seriousness; they spent an entire quarter of an hour just staring at the seal knob.
During this quarter of an hour, no one spoke, no one even reached out to touch the seal.
After a long while, the few of them slowly straightened their backs, rubbing their waists while exchanging glances. The expressions on their faces were somewhat strange, the shock in their eyes far outweighed any pretense.
After all, they were all in the same circle, competing with and cooperating with one another, they were the ones who understood each other best.
They could almost tell what the other was thinking just by a single glance, but no matter how much he looked at this thing, it looked more and more real!
Jiang Xueyan watched as they remained silent one by one, couldn't help but feel a bit anxious: "What is it exactly? What kind of thing is it?"
Sun Chaofeng couldn't be bothered to argue with an illiterate, so after a moment of contemplation, he said, "A Square Jade Seal, the material might be Lantian Jade."
Wang Chaofeng continued, "It is an oversized Chilong Knob and an Intertwined Five-Dragon Knob."
The other two also spoke, "The patina is warm and smooth."
“It has a natural patina.”