Author: Zero Romance

After listening to the information reported by all parties, Shi Diwen had already made a rough judgment on the situation of the Ming army.

It is obvious that the Ming army in Changzhou Prefecture has begun to prepare for war, but has not yet fully entered combat mode. These small groups of Ming troops are still going out to carry out plunder, which is enough to show that the other party's command system is not really functioning, and the various troops are still in a state of war.

A stage where everyone goes their own way.

This made Shi Diwen feel a little relieved. It seemed that the Ming army stationed in Yixing was not an elite army, and the subsequent battle should not cause too much difficulty to the Haihan army.

Shi Diwen looked at the anxious shopkeeper and waiters who were waiting with their heads down, and asked casually: "You have a double-color flag hanging outside your inn, so you probably didn't escape being robbed, right?"

Shopkeeper Ding responded quickly: "Sir, the Ming army did intend to vacate the Cao Min's inn, but before they could move their things out, the Haihan army arrived in the town, scaring them so much that they dropped their things and ran away."

Shi Diwen nodded: "Then you are pretty lucky. I heard that there is a wealthy family named Qi in the town. Because he hung a double-color flag, the Ming army attacked him and even killed him."

Shopkeeper Ding said in astonishment: "Mr. Qi used to be the master of the county government. These people are really ruthless!"

Shi Diwen said calmly: "When the war is in chaos, human lives are like ants. Not to mention the masters of the county government, even if they are relatives of the emperor, they are the same in wartime."

Just as Shi Diwen was about to ask the two civilians to retreat, the man asked: "Sir, I really don't understand. Isn't the duty of the Ming Army to protect us civilians? The Haihan Army is very polite to us.

, how come it’s one of our own who robbed us?”

Shi Diwen responded: "The reason is actually very simple. They know that they will definitely not be able to defend this place. Everything here, including your inn, will become the property of our country. So robbing you is equivalent to robbing you in advance.

Haihan. If we can rob this place, it will be a strong defense and clear the country, and maybe it will cause problems for our army's supplies."

"No wonder so many people are fleeing south..." Shopkeeper Ding murmured.

Shopkeeper Ding and the waiter looked at each other and found that the other person's face looked extremely ugly at this time.

A few days ago, he saw a large number of refugees passing through Sudong Town and heading south. He thought that these people were surrendering themselves to a trap, but only now did he understand that these refugees had probably fallen into insecurity before the war started.

In such a situation, if you choose to flee to Haihan, your chance of survival will actually be greater.

"Where can you go to report? The county town is forty miles away from here. By the time you rush over there overnight, the fighting may have been finished there. Besides, even if you go to report, can the Ming army trust you? If you say anything wrong, they will kill you.

Drag him out and behead him as a spy!"

But doesn’t this mean that the Ming army has decided to abandon Sudong Town and the people here before the war has begun? No wonder the Ming army did not hesitate to rob the people in the town, but ran away as soon as they saw the Haihan army. This is probably not the case.

I have the intention of taking this place back again.

The two of them had nothing to do. After dinner, they lay on the railing on the second floor of the lobby and watched these Haihan officers discussing the military situation around the map.

"The Haihan Army doesn't shy away from us when discussing military affairs. Aren't they afraid that we will tell the truth?"

But what Shi Diwen said just now made them realize that the government didn't seem to care about their life or death, nor did they treat them as "one of their own". But the ones who were really willing to treat them kindly were the original "

enemy country".

"Shopkeeper, the Haihan Army just posted a notice outside our inn. I went to ask. They are recruiting civilian men to accompany the army and transport heavy supplies. They will be given one tael of silver every three days. I should be able to do this job, right?"

Although they had been robbed by the Ming army before, they still regarded themselves as citizens of the Ming Dynasty. Even if they prepared the two-color flag in advance, they only regarded it as a temporary measure to deal with the Haihan army.

Shopkeeper Ding waved his hand and said, "You'd better not go. At worst, I'll give you an increase of two taels...three taels of silver for this month's wages!"

After Hai Hanjun took over the inn, shopkeeper Ding and his waiters were not restricted from moving, but they were not allowed to go to the areas related to food preparation in the inn. When it was time to eat, someone would also distribute food to them, which saved them a lot of worry.

.

"Shopkeeper, is this a war? It doesn't seem that scary. Hanging a flag at the door can handle it."

The clerk said: "I just really want to see what the real battlefield looks like."

The waiter didn't say anything. It was obvious that how much remuneration he could get was not his priority. The curiosity seemed to be far greater than the temptation of money.

"You know nothing! It's our luck that the two sides didn't fight in Fudong Town, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to save the inn with just one flag!"

On weekdays, the government publicizes how powerful the Ming army is, and also claims that when the time is right, it will send troops to recapture the coastal states and drive the Haihan people out of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. But when things came to pass, the performance of the Ming army was so miserable. How many people can accept this?

Such a big gap.

Shopkeeper Ding saw that he was silent, so he changed his face and said: "If you run away, I will find someone else to do the job at the inn. Don't come back to beg me then!"

Shopkeeper Ding and the waiter had never heard of such a theory before. At first glance, they thought it was ridiculous, but after careful consideration, it seemed that it was indeed what Shi Diwen said.

Shopkeeper Ding's face changed slightly and he said: "As a follower of the army and civilians, you have to go to the battlefield. Do you think you have a long life? Be careful if you live to make money but not to spend money!"

"For us, sooner or later this place will become our country's territory, and you will also become citizens of Haihan. So wouldn't robbing you be equivalent to robbing ourselves? You think you and the Ming army are our own people, but in fact you and we are just the same.

They are our own people. Think about it, is this true?"

The guy smiled and said, "Then I'll think about it again."

No matter what the clerk thinks, a civilian job that can earn ten taels of silver a month is extremely attractive to most ordinary people.

Early the next morning, there was a long queue of people who came to apply for the job outside the inn. There were as many as a hundred people. The officer in charge of logistics borrowed tables and chairs from the inn, set up a stall at the door, and processed the applications for these applicants on the spot.

Registration procedures.

After completing the formalities, they were immediately issued an identity card and three days' wages, were incorporated into a civilian team, and were taken to the Taihu Lake to carry supplies delivered by cargo ships.
Chapter completed!