Daqin arrests alchemists, what does it matter to me as a qi refiner?

"Well, I understand. Marshal, please rest assured that we will fight to the death to maintain public order and will never give the rebels any chance to take advantage." Xu Shiji said with a firm expression.

Liu Ruji, who was standing beside him, asked with a smile: "Congratulations, Marshal, on your victory!"

Xu Shiji also echoed, "Yes, Marshal, how did you anticipate the enemy's moves and predict in advance that the rebels would attack Jeju City today?"

Yang Ling laughed and said, "It's very simple. This is common sense in military tactics. Anyone who has read a little bit of military books will understand it."

"Oh, I see." Xu Shiji and Liu Ruji looked at each other and smiled bitterly. They felt that Yang Ling's explanation was a bit perfunctory, but they did not dare to ask too much for fear of causing Yang Ling's displeasure.

"Oh, Marshal, I heard you were injured in the battle. How is your injury now?"

"It's nothing serious, just rest for a few days."

Yang Ling chatted with Xu Shiji for a while, then ordered: "Let's go, let's talk slowly after we enter the city."

As soon as they walked into the Jinan government office, soldiers brought chairs. Yang Ling sat down in the main seat, and everyone followed suit.

At this time, Liu Ruji reported the situation in Jeju to Yang Ling: "General, there are currently more than 40,000 young and strong people in Jeju, including 36,000 men and more than 5,000 women. However, many people have fled out of the city to avoid the disaster, and there are still many people in the city."

After Yang Ling heard this, he felt relieved. Fortunately, the population of Jeju Prefecture did not decrease much, otherwise there would be big trouble.

Yang Ling asked again: "How are the young men, women and children doing?"

"It's still relatively stable at the moment. The old, weak, sick and disabled can still work, but the young and strong have basically all fled. Many young men, women and children have fled to other counties. I guess they're afraid of being drafted and killed."

Yang Ling sighed secretly. These people were ordinary people, unlike his subordinates, who were well-trained and did not have to worry about being forced to participate in the Northern Expedition. That was why Yang Ling asked his soldiers to evacuate them. After all, no one knew what the rebels' goal was. Bringing along those burdensome young and strong people would actually be a burden, and if things went wrong, they would backfire, which would be a big problem.

"What is the current situation of the officials?" Yang Ling asked after a moment's hesitation.

Liu Ruji replied: "The officials in the government are fine. They are all officials drawn from various places according to your order. These people are relatively honest and have not caused any trouble. However, these people were selected from the local area. I am afraid they are not good people. How about we change a few batches of people?"

"No need!" Yang Ling waved his hand and refused.

Liu Ruji and Xu Shiji looked at each other with puzzled expressions. Since Yang Ling had already decided to use those officials, why was he unwilling to change his original intention?
Yang Ling saw the doubts in the two men's hearts, so he explained: "I now have more than 4,000 soldiers and horses. If those people in the government are replaced, then this army will be leaderless. It will be difficult for us to control the situation, and we may even be in danger of being destroyed."

Xu Shiji and Liu Ruji suddenly realized that what Yang Ling said made sense. If those officials were replaced, the army would inevitably be in chaos, and it would then be very difficult to suppress the chaos. Therefore, Yang Ling would rather continue to use these officials in order to use the officials' prestige to control the army.

Liu Ruji thought for a moment and said, "Then how should we deal with those officials?"

"I'll leave this matter to you. Find a few smart people to write a detailed memorial about what happened in Jeju Prefecture in the past few months and report it to the court. Say that there was a large group of bandits in Jeju City and the government of Jeju Prefecture was overwhelmed and had to abandon the city to save their lives. At the same time, you should send people to secretly contact the prefectures and counties in other places and ask them to mobilize as many young and strong as possible to organize an army to defend the king."

After hearing this, Liu Ruji immediately agreed and turned around to arrange specific measures.

Yang Ling looked at Liu Ruji's departing back, and thought of what Liu Ruji had asked him just now. He couldn't help but touch his nose and sighed: This kind of political operation is really complicated, worthy of the ancient power-seekers.

When Yang Ling and his companions arrived at Jeju Prefecture, the news quickly spread throughout the prefecture. Many people, after being panicked, came to see the hero who saved Jeju with a try-it attitude.

Yang Ling was quite happy to see the officials, gentry and common people of Jizhou Prefecture. After all, these people were all loyal ministers and generals of the Ming Dynasty. If they could be used by him, it would be of great help in fighting against the Qing army.

Yang Ling was also relatively friendly towards officials, gentry and common people, except for those troublemakers, whom he would arrest and detain directly, and then hand over to Xu Shiji, Li Yan and others for trial. As for those who had not committed any crime, he would reward them as appropriate.

During the time Yang Ling stayed in Jeju, the situation in Jeju gradually stabilized. This was not only due to the help of Xu Shiji, Liu Ruji and others, but also the unity and cooperation of the local residents of Jeju.

Under such circumstances, Yang Ling did not care about much else and gathered all the young and strong men in Jizhou City into the army to ensure that the troops could effectively maintain public order and eliminate bandits.

Under such circumstances, the atmosphere in the officialdom of Jeju became increasingly tense, with many impeachment memorials to Yang Ling received every day, and of course, more insults. However, Yang Ling was happy to be quiet, and he lived a leisurely and comfortable life every day.

On this day, Yang Ling was having dinner with his concubine Shen Bingyi when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside. Then the door curtain was lifted and Zhou Weiguo ran in, looking exhausted.

Seeing this, Yang Ling hurried forward and said eagerly: "Brother Weiguo, you are finally back."

Zhou Weiguo bowed and said, "I pay my respects to the commander-in-chief (Yang Ling). I have been ordered to lead my soldiers to quell the rebellion and return!"

Yang Ling took Zhou Weiguo's hand and said, "Brother Weiguo, welcome back!"

"Thank you for your concern, Marshal!" said Zhou Weiguo.

Then Zhou Weiguo pointed to several soldiers behind him and introduced them: "General, these are my deputy generals Guo Donghai, Zhu Wu, Huang Dexiang, Wu Jun, and Zhao Bingjun. They have made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion. In particular, Deputy General Guo is said to have made the greatest contribution in the Battle of Pingyang, because he led his troops to break through the siege during the attack on Pingyang and escaped. Later, the soldiers who survived by chance recommended him as deputy general."

Upon hearing this, Yang Ling could not help but observe Guo Donghai carefully. He saw that he was about 27 or 28 years old, with a handsome appearance, a strong and sturdy build, and muscles all over his body, making him look strong and powerful.

After reading Guo Donghai's information, Yang Ling nodded with satisfaction and praised: "Good boy, what's your name?"

"Your Excellency, my name is Guo Donghai!"

"Oh, so your name is Dong Hai, not bad, not bad, a good name."

Then Yang Ling turned to Zhou Weiguo and said with a smile: "Brother Weiguo, you have made the greatest contribution to this victory, but as the eldest brother, I cannot be too partial. Let's put it this way. Guo Donghai will stay in your army for the time being. You can ask your immediate superior Chen Xinjia for instructions on his behalf. After you have asked Chen Xinjia for instructions, let him come to report."

Zhou Weiguo bowed slightly and said, "I obey your command!"

After saying that, Zhou Weiguo ordered Guo Donghai, "Why don't you come over and pay your respects to your commander?"

"Yes!"

Guo Donghai immediately stepped forward, knelt down and kowtowed, saying: "I, Guo Donghai, greet the Marshal, and wish you a long life!" Yang Ling laughed and helped Guo Donghai up, then patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "You're welcome, the fact that you were promoted to deputy general by Weiguo shows that you are brave and resourceful, and you will definitely achieve great things in the future."

"I swear to follow you, Marshal, even if it means sacrificing my life!" Guo Donghai said loudly.

"Well, work hard!" Yang Ling said, and then said to Yang He: "Old Yang, you have worked hard these years!"

"No, no, it's what subordinates should do!" Yang He replied modestly.

Yang Ling then said to Zhou Weiguo: "Weiguo, today we two brothers will have a drink to celebrate Dong Hai's promotion to deputy general."

"Yes, I will follow the Marshal's orders!"

Yang Ling then ordered people to prepare a banquet to entertain Zhou Weiguo, Guo Donghai and others.

During the dinner, everyone drank and chatted, talking about the current situation of Jeju Prefecture and its future development.

Yang Ling pondered for a moment and said, "We have already established a firm foothold in Jeju. Although we have not yet completely mastered the military and political power of Jeju Prefecture, the entire Jeju Prefecture has fallen into our hands. We only need to slowly eliminate the internal traitors and consolidate the actual control to turn Jeju into a county of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, I will appoint you as the prefect of Jeju and the governor of Guangdong."

Hearing Yang Ling's words, Guo Donghai said excitedly: "Marshal, you are going to entrust me with an important task. How can I be so worthy and incompetent!"

"Haha, you are a brave and wise boy, a rare military talent. The reason why I appointed you as the governor of Jeju is that I think you can stand alone against thousands of troops and defend Jeju, so I plan to assign the three counties of Jibei, Changli and Linyi to you for governance. Do you have the confidence to take on this responsibility?"

"Don't worry, Marshal. I will live up to my mission and will never let you and everyone else down." Guo Donghai said firmly.

Yang Ling nodded and praised: "Where there is a will, there is a way. Ambitious people are our kind."

"You are so kind, Marshal!"

"Okay, since you agree to serve as the Governor of Guangdong, then hurry up and familiarize yourself with the place. I will send a ship to take you to Guangzhou in a few days. Someone will receive you there. You can discuss the details with the Governor of Guangdong."

Yang Ling continued, "You must be unfamiliar with the place since you just arrived here. You may want to go back and rest for two days to adapt to the environment. Then we can consider how to deal with the 40,000 refugees and integrate them into this new city as soon as possible."

"As you command, I'll take my leave!"

After saying that, Guo Donghai left the Jeju government office and went to the nearby Port Arthur to rest.

After seeing Guo Donghai off, Zhou Weiguo and Yang Ling continued to discuss the current situation.

Yang Ling asked: "Brother Weiguo, what do you think of the current situation?"

Zhou Weiguo thought for a moment and said, "According to my humble opinion, the main task at this stage is to recruit soldiers. As for the rest, don't worry too much for now!"

"Well, you are right. Our foundation is still weak, so there is no need for us to conflict with those bandits. After all, those bandits are just a minor infestation now. It is not difficult to get rid of them, but if we force them to rebel, it will be more trouble than gain. It is better to wait until we have really gained a firm foothold!" Yang Ling said.

"I thought so too, but I don't know how many soldiers we should recruit?"

"I think this is the way to go. I will take some time these days to investigate the situation in each village and township and find out the specific situation in the local area. After I figure it out, I will recruit qualified young and strong men."

"Okay, let's do it according to Big Brother's idea, but I think this is going to be difficult to accomplish unless we can offer conditions that are tempting enough. After all, who doesn't want to have a little more food?"

"That's right. There is no free lunch in this world. Both the poor and the rich like to take advantage. What's more, we are helping the disaster victims. If there is no benefit, why would they work so hard? But then again, if there is no such generous conditions, I am afraid that we will not be able to attract people!"

"Yeah, there's nothing we can do about it!"

"Okay, then let's do as Big Brother says. You go run errands when you have time, and we'll make plans after we figure out the situation!"

"no problem!"

In this way, Yang Ling led the officials of Jizhou Prefecture to collect grain and recruit soldiers in the four prefectures, and at the same time set up soup kitchens outside the city to provide relief to the victims.

At the same time, Yang Ling also ordered people to notify the county governments and major clans in all counties and prefectures that anyone willing to donate grain or goods would be given priority, but the price was relatively high, and each household only needed to pay 10 shi of grain and five pieces of cloth.

Naturally, the wealthy families in Jeju Prefecture responded to Yang Ling's move because they were all short of money.

Although they usually spend a lot, they have money at home and don't have to worry about starving. More importantly, Yang Ling promised that each of them can be exempted from the heavy taxes of 10% and 2%, and only need to pay jin of millet or asbestos cloth. Such a good thing is hard to find even with a lantern.

Not only the wealthy families donated food and fodder enthusiastically, but also other poor people, who donated rice, grain and oil. Even the bandits and pirates said that they would not charge for their food and would give it directly to Yang Ling.

Yang Ling would naturally not refuse. Purchasing these grains would also increase his fiscal revenue. As the saying goes, money makes the world go round.

In less than half a month, eight or nine towns around Jeju Prefecture were filled with tens of thousands of disaster victims conscripted by Jeju Prefecture.

Of course, the eight or nine towns around Jeju Prefecture were not only flood victims, but also countless refugees. Most of them had fled here after the nearby villages were ravaged by floods. Since there were no supply points along the way, they could only flee eastward.

When passing through Jifu, tens of thousands of disaster victims poured in, and in the end only less than a thousand people were left. It can be said that this was the most serious time for fleeing the disaster area in recent years.

After the victims arrived, they were immediately arranged to build houses in various places, and porridge kitchens and various charity granaries were set up nearby to ensure that the victims had enough food and clothing.

After the granary was repaired, the officials in Jizhou City also organized the victims to build shacks outside the city for them to live in. At the same time, Yang Ling also transferred people from various places to Jizhou City to help these victims build houses.

During this recruitment process, Yang Ling also personally led the team to participate in the recruitment, but he did not rush to win over these disaster victims, but instead let these disaster victims make their own choices. (End of this chapter)