Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 172 Changing the Battle Plan
Humans are strange creatures. They can't be too good or too bad.

Just like a couple, if they are too good, they will act up, and if they are too bad, they will complain. But they can't be too dull, otherwise life will be boring.

You have to give her a few whippings occasionally, and you have to give her some sweet treats occasionally.

Chen Gu has never been married, but he has trained military dogs and knows that while training and practicing, you also have to give the dogs good dog food so that they will be obedient.

At this time, the people inside and outside the city of Luzhou were in a state of panic, and they had been exploited too heavily by officials and gentry, so Chen Gu treated them better temporarily and allowed them to recover as soon as possible.

After explaining the various rules and regulations of the new yamen to the clerks, minor officials, and bailiffs of the previous yamen, everyone slowly dispersed. Just as Chen Gu was about to go back, Han Jun and Dong Chuansong ran over breathlessly.

Han Jun is the Minister of Industry, in charge of all kinds of trades. His current task is to check various workshops inside and outside Luzhou City, such as blacksmith shops, textile workshops, carpentry workshops, papermaking workshops, etc. All workshops of a certain scale need to be verified.

If the owner has run away, the property will be temporarily taken over by the government. If the original owner is still there, it will also need to be registered in preparation for taxation and armaments production.

Dong Chuansong was in charge of mountains, rivers, lakes and marshes, which were actually mainly various mines, such as quarries, logging camps, coal mines, iron mines, and even gold, silver, copper mines, etc.

"Leader, those big families have taken away all the master craftsmen from each workshop!" Han Jun didn't even have time to salute, he ran up to Chen Gu and said hurriedly.

Dong Chuansong also said: "All the master craftsmen in the mines were also taken away by them."

There are many professional craftsmen in workshops and mines, and the master craftsman is the one with the highest technical level, or one of the best. Ordinary workers can be found easily, and ordinary craftsmen are not too rare, but the master craftsman is different.

The techniques mastered by some great craftsmen can even be patented, and Chen Gu also hopes to bring these great craftsmen together to develop something for future generations.

Jiangjin County was taken peacefully. Chen Jue was reluctant to take action against the wealthy families in Jiangjin, and he adopted a lenient attitude towards their workshops and mines. As long as they paid taxes, everything would be fine.

But Chen Gu in Luzhou has his own ideas. It would not be good if these master craftsmen ran away now.

Chen Gu thought for a moment and asked, "Did the families of those master craftsmen also leave with them?"

"Some left together, some didn't!" Han Jun said.

"My family didn't leave, that means they were forced to leave by the big clan. There are too many of them to move fast. You two should go there in person and bring everyone back to me. What does it mean that you only promise to let their clan members leave and take the craftsmen with them?"

Chen Gu sneered and said, "Warn them, don't be shameless. If you make me angry, I will take action when they leave Luzhou. Let's see how fast they can run."

"Yes, the two of us will definitely bring back all the master craftsmen and their families!" Dong Chuansong said excitedly.

To intercept those who are escaping is not as simple as just bringing back the master carpenter and his family. We can also make things difficult for them in the name of a search. Not to mention other things, just by stopping them from leaving immediately, those people will panic and have to spend money to buy safety.

A bunch of stray dogs can be manipulated as you like. Anyway, as long as they are let go in the end and Chen Jue doesn't break his oath, it will be fine. What's more, they were the ones who went too far first. Letting you go is good enough, but what do you mean by taking the master carpenter away?
After Dong Chuansong and Han Jun left, Chen Gu turned around and was about to go back to the yamen, but he stopped immediately because he heard the sound of horse hooves from behind him. Except for messengers, people were generally not allowed to pass by on horseback on the main street of the yamen.

After all, the clerk of the sixth room is right at the gate of the yamen. How can the clerk of the sixth room do his job if you kick and stomp all day long?

Chen Gu turned around and was surprised to find that it was Zhang Haomin who came with a few people carrying Buddhist treasures.

Zhang Haomin also saw Chen Ju at the gate of the yamen, and dismounted from his horse and walked over from a distance, saluting, "Leader!"

"Haha, why is our chief steward here in Luzhou? Come in and have some tea!" Chen Gu laughed.

The people Zhang Haomin brought with him were naturally greeted. As the two entered the government office, Zhang Haomin explained the reason for his visit, "Lao Piao mobilized the mother-and-child artillery, and I was not very reassured, so I also escorted a batch of bullets, detonators, bulletproof vests and other weapons."

Chen Gu was stunned for a moment, then nodded without saying anything more.

Zhang Haomin was a little nervous when he saw this, and asked, "How about we quickly notify Lao Piao not to use the mother-and-child cannon?"

Chen Gu shook his head and said with a wry smile, "It's useless. That guy will definitely use it as soon as he gets it. Let Wu Hua speed up the production of ammunition and move the gun-making and cannon-casting workshops to Luzhou to speed up production."

Fobao is still too remote, and it is not convenient to transport materials. The arsenal still has to be built in a place with developed shipping such as Luzhou. After all, the consumption of copper and iron is very large.

Luzhou is a big city with sufficient industrial base and craftsmen.

Arriving at the lobby, Chen Gurang served tea. He drank a few sips to moisten his throat, thought for a moment, and continued, "Why don't we just let Lao Piao attack the Chishui River and keep fighting inside? We will completely control the material exchange channel with Guizhou. You will guard Luzhou, and I will personally lead people to Chengdu. What do you think?"

Zhang Haomin frowned and thought for a while, then asked, "With such a division of forces and fighting on several fronts, will we have enough troops and ammunition?"

"It should be about the same. After all, the imperial court's troops in Sichuan have been completely wiped out. The demand for main combat troops is not great. The main need is for troops to maintain local stability. Although a large number is needed, it does not require many elite soldiers.

The problem of ordinary soldiers is actually very easy to deal with. The joint defense team of Jiangjin County has been under construction for several days. We can pick out three to two thousand elite soldiers from them to come to Luzhou to maintain public order, and at the same time speed up the construction of the Luzhou joint defense team.

We train and carry out tasks at the same time.

As for attacking Chengdu, I can slow down the pace a bit and wait for the army to be built in the rear. Of course, the speed cannot be too slow. The court will not give us too much time, so you need to speed up the army construction and weapon manufacturing in the rear."

"All these require money, but you have let all the officials and wealthy families in Luzhou run away. I'm afraid we don't have that much money to support the construction!" Zhang Haomin said with a wry smile.

"There is nothing we can do about it. If we attack Luzhou by force, we will certainly be able to seize a large amount of silver, but the entire Luzhou will probably be destroyed. It is hard to say what will be left of the Qi Family Courtyard and Luzhou City, let alone so much food and supplies."

(End of this chapter)