Southern Ming Rebel Army

In the camp outside Hangzhou City, some soldiers were cleaning their weapons and equipment, carefully checking for damage or any parts that needed repair.

In the camp, the auxiliary soldiers were busy preparing food and water. Meng Jun had returned to the camp. Although the Governor's Mansion was very nice, with beautiful gardens, rare plants, various strange stones, and ponds, Meng Jun still felt that he felt safer and more comfortable in the army. This might be a disease, a manifestation of a lack of inner security.

All affairs in Hangzhou were handled by Yang En. In the past, the promotion and demotion of minor officials in the government offices were all decided by Yang En. When there were vacancies in government offices, scholars who were willing to serve the country were selected to fill them.

Meng Jun also said to Gu Yanwu, "There is a lot of work to be done at this time. If you have a suitable candidate, please recommend him."

Gu Yanwu nodded, then went back to the tent and began to write letters to his old friends, including Zhang Erqi, Xu Ye, Zhang Guangqi, and his close friend Li Yindu, urging them to come to Suzhou.

After several days of hard fighting, they finally succeeded in capturing the city of Hangzhou. However, this victory came at a huge price. Meng Jun's army suffered a heavy blow, with casualties of about 6,000. Changlin Town also suffered heavy losses, with more than 2,000 soldiers killed or injured. Han Xiong's Kewu Town also suffered no less than 2,000 casualties.

In contrast, although the auxiliary troops encountered some difficulties in clearing obstacles and pushing siege equipment, their losses were relatively small, with less than a thousand casualties.

The 70,000 troops that marched south, together with the 20,000 loyal soldiers, lost nearly 10% of them in the Battle of Hangzhou alone. Meng Jun discussed with the generals and believed that the loyal soldiers had fought hard in this battle and could be changed into a garrison. All the surrendered soldiers from the Green Camp in Hangzhou could be incorporated into the army and a loyal camp could be established. Although only more than 5,000 people from the Green Camp in Hangzhou surrendered alive, Meng's army was now able to intimidate these surrendered soldiers and they could all be incorporated into the cannon fodder army.

The arsenal in Hangzhou City was also unremarkable. The available equipment had long been transferred by Zhang Cunren to equip the Green Camp, so Meng Jun did not gain much in terms of weapons. The money and food supplies were also incomparable to when he captured Suzhou at night.

After Meng Jun conquered Hangzhou, he immediately summoned all the craftsmen in the city and gathered them together to form an assembly line. All the weapons and iron objects on the city walls and under the city walls were re-forged. Those that could be repaired were repaired, and those that could not be repaired were sent back to the furnace for remaking.

Meng Jun did not forget what he had promised, and immediately ordered Yang En to open the treasury. Although the treasury of Hangzhou was not rich, some gentry in Hangzhou strongly supported Zhang Cunren when Meng's army attacked the city. Meng Jun did not intend to let these people go. Naturally, some people were forced to do so, but these could all be investigated.

After the victory of the war, it was natural to hold a celebration banquet. The soldiers naturally had no idea what was happening on the battlefield in Huguang thousands of miles away, and Meng Jun did not mention these troubles at all.

"Cheers to the Grand Commander!" All the soldiers raised their wine bowls and shouted to Meng Jun.

"Hahaha, drink." Meng Jun drank a bowl of wine in big gulps, and then said, "After we drive out the Tartars and restore the country, wherever I go, the soldiers will follow me. In the future, everyone will definitely have land and houses, and then the land and houses will be passed down to our descendants. Everyone will live with us, drink wine and watch plays on weekdays, and enjoy the peaceful days together. Come and have another bowl."

Everyone was excited and drank another bowl of wine.

The soldiers laughed and celebrated the joy of victory.

The generals raised their wine bowls and toasted the soldiers, recalling the fierce battle on the battlefield a few days ago. The soldiers looked at each other with pride and honor in their eyes.

Meng Jun talked about the achievements of the siege. The soldiers felt that they had contributed a lot to the capture of Hangzhou. When they were drunk, Meng Jun changed the subject and said, "The soldiers conquered Hangzhou in a few days, but Bolo is still hanging around not far away. Everyone, get ready to fight. I still say the same thing. If the captain flees, behead him. If the lieutenant flees, behead him. If the general flees, behead him. If I run away, chop off my head."

"Don't worry, Governor. I, Old Qian, will be the first one to go up and will never bring discredit to you." There was still some wine on Qian Biao's beard. He wiped it casually and said loudly.

The soldiers around him said yes, boasting that they were definitely not cowards and would fight the Tartars to the end...

In Hangzhou, at the gate, a tall flagpole was erected with a message to expel the Tartars and restore the country. The recruitment scene was as lively as a festival, and the officials of the government office were passionately promoting it.

Among the crowd, there were thin young men, middle-aged men with broad arms, butchers, vegetable sellers, scholars, and even beggars. They might be coming for a meal, for money, or with the dream of serving their country, and they lined up in a long queue at the recruitment office.

"Hey... hey, hey, why are you here, beggar? We are going to fight, not to queue up for porridge," a yamen runner in charge of maintaining order shouted at a beggar.

"I know. I have all my hands and feet. Can't I join the army to fight the Tartars?" The beggar changed his humble appearance and answered loudly.

"Good, good, well said," the onlookers cheered.

"Okay, okay, okay, go ahead and let me see if they want you," the bailiff said unhappily.

Soon it was the beggar's turn. The clerk in charge of filling in the list was stunned when he saw the ragged beggar. Then he asked in a businesslike tone, "What's your name, where are you from, how old are you, and do you have a guarantor?"

"My last name is Huang, my name is Sheng'er, I'm from Hangzhou, I'm eighteen years old now, and I have no one to guarantee me," the beggar answered in a low voice.

"Huang Sheng, from Hangzhou, 18 years old, guarantor, Zhao Wen, five taels of silver for settling down." The clerk Zhao Wen wrote on the paper quickly, saying, "Take this bag of silver, next one..."

Zhao Wen recognized this beggar and knew he was pitiful. He often took care of other beggars. Zhao Wen knew where he lived and was not afraid that he would take the money and run away. Even if he did, Zhao Wen could afford to compensate him with this little money.

Huang Sheng'er looked at the silver in his hand with surprise, and looked around cautiously, fearing that it would be snatched away again. Then he avoided the crowd and walked carefully towards home.

The army rested for two days. Changlin Town and Kewu Town were short of personnel, so strong auxiliary soldiers were selected to fill the gap. The original service army was reorganized into Wuxing Town and Wuning Town. The two towns were short of people, so auxiliary soldiers were directly transferred to fill the gap. Qian Biao was the commander of Wuxing Town, with Chen Lei as the deputy commander, and Wang Fugui was the deputy commander of Wuning Town, with Guo Hu as the deputy commander. After a secret talk between Meng Jun and Bai Yongfu, Bai Yongfu agreed to temporarily submit to Meng Jun's dispatch. His original 8,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry remained in Suzhou, under the command of his son Bai Tianchujie. Meng Jun named it Guwu Town.