The other end of the phone was silent, but Shao Bei was not worried about Lao Wu's silence. Lao Wu is a politician who is far more mature than everyone else or can be said to be cunning. Faced with this win-win situation, he had no reason to refuse. The unfortunate death of the female national hero Qin Liangyu turned the Miao soldiers who could have been a pillar into an unstable factor threatening the existing situation in Nanming. This is a fact. It is also true that Australia is short of troops.
Hire Miao soldiers and nearly 20,000 white-armed soldiers. These battle-hardened warriors who have been dealing with the Manchus in the Sichuan Basin for four years only need a little training to carry out the stability maintenance tasks desired by the Australian government. The most exciting thing is that Shao Bei calculated that the Australian government only needs to spend one-third of the Australian military expenditure for the same number of people to get these cheap Miao soldiers. So, why not?
The other end of the phone let out a long breath, and Old Wu spoke, but he was talking about an unrelated topic: "Shao Bei, are you in your thirties this year?"
Shao Bei was stunned for a moment, and then hesitantly reported his age: "Thirty-three." He reported one year younger. In fact, this was his first birthday. If calculated from the mother's womb, he was already thirty-four years old. . To Lao Wu, thirty-four-year-old Shao Bei was still young and dazzling, but Shao Bei didn't think so. He was about to enter middle age and was unprepared, and was very afraid of it. It's not the kind of woman's fear of aging and beauty turning into bones. It's the fear of looking back and doing nothing.
"Thirty-three" Old Wu pondered for a moment, and then said: "I believe that no one can compete with you in the general election ten years from now." After saying that, Old Wu hung up the phone. He never said whether he agreed with Shao Bei's plan from beginning to end, but there was no doubt that he had agreed.
Shao Bei put down the phone and fell into thinking for a long time. Thinking about things that are more troublesome than young Werther, he is about to enter middle age, what on earth he wants to do, what he wants to do, what he can do He will not go to participate in a competition ten years later, as Lao Wu hopes. An Australian Prime Minister election? That is meaningless, a waste of time and life, and it requires countless brain cells to always be wary of competitors' overt and covert attacks. It may even completely damage your own reputation. Mark Twain, who was not yet born, completely proved this point with an article full of gray humor. While the truth may not be that exaggerated, it's certainly more sinister than that.
Shao Bei fell into confusion and fear about the future, and the Ma family in Sichuan also fell into such fear. The difference is that their situation is much more dangerous than Shao Bei's At least Shao Bei's life is not in danger for the time being, while the Ma family has reached a critical moment of life and death.
Dressed in filial piety, Ma Wannian held his sword tightly and frowned, standing in the back garden like a sculpture. Less than thirty years old, the young general has already been tempered. The Ma family is a loyal family. His grandfather Ma Qiancheng was killed by the wish of a traitorous eunuch. His uncle died in the war, his father died in the war, and his mother died in the war. Grandma was fighting for the country of the Ming Dynasty until she died. It is such a loyal Ma family, but now it has become a thorn in the flesh in the eyes of the court.
In the past, they were white soldiers who relied on the imperial court, but now they have become gangsters who may rebel at any time.
"Brother." A low voice came from behind, and a young man who seemed to be exactly like Ma Wannian stood behind him and said, "Does the court have any intention? I have heard some bad rumors recently."
"Rumors?" Ma Wannian snorted coldly: "The city is full of Tartars' meticulous work. Rumors cannot be trusted."
"I think the rumors are true" Ma Wannian's younger brother Ma Wanchun looked around, then stepped forward and said, "It is rumored that the imperial court plans to imitate the Western Army All my brothers and I will enter the Whampoa Military Academy, with 20,000 white poles." Select the best soldiers carefully, eliminate the waste and retain the best, and disperse and disrupt the troops into various armies"
"Nonsense!" Ma Wannian was furious. Twenty thousand white-pole soldiers are the foundation of the Ma family. They were established by grandmother Qin Liangyu. It took decades to reach today's situation. These are troubled times, and even if you don't think about making achievements, you can't give up 20,000 white soldiers simply for self-protection. There is another more important reason. Most of these white-pole soldiers are Miao soldiers. The late Ming Dynasty was no different from later generations, and there was a serious gap between Han and Miao. The Ma family was interested in Sinology because of Qin Liangyu, but this did not mean that all Miao soldiers were like this.
With different living habits, different eating habits, and different languages, integrating Han and Miao soldiers without any buffer will inevitably cause conflicts. What is certain is that according to the court's custom, there must be more Han soldiers and fewer Miao soldiers in the army. In this way, Miao Bing must be the one who suffers every time. If things go on like this, something will happen even if nothing happens.
Anger was followed by retort: ??"How could the court be so short-sighted? Stop talking nonsense."
Ma Wanchun stared at his brother: "Brother, if the court is really so short-sighted, do you and I have to sit back and wait for death?"
?"This" Ma Wannian hesitated. In the past few days, the friendly forces who had fought side by side had vaguely surrounded the white-pole soldiers as if they were facing a formidable enemy. The ammunition that was once plentiful became scarce, and it was gone as soon as it was used up. God knows when it would be replenished. It was also difficult to supply food and grass. No matter how angry and urged Ma Wannian was, the quartermaster would always ask them to wait. Even a fool can see that the Ming army is wary of these Miao soldiers.
Those fine works of the Manchu and Qing dynasties swarmed up like flies. From Ma Wannian down to the junior officers in the army, these guys came everywhere to lobby for surrender.
Just when Ma Wannian was speechless, someone from the primary school rushed in and respectfully handed over a telegram. He took it with confusion, and after looking at the title of Ma Wannian, he knew that this was a telegram sent by Wang Fei from Australia, because no one else would call him Mr. Ma.
After reading ten lines at a glance, Ma Wannian's expression changed unpredictably, and finally turned into a long sigh. To his brother who looked at him with wide eyes, he said in a low voice: "Inform all the ministries to assemble, we are about to set off."
¡°Fight the Tartars?¡±
"No, we are going to North Korea." After a pause: "We will go to the ferry the day after tomorrow, take the Australian ferry to Shanghai, and then transfer to a warship."
"Ferry? Australian boats can transport up to five hundred people at a time."
"That's right so some people sit on the Australian ferry in front, and most people take the wooden boat pulled from the back. Give the order, the white-poled soldiers are now hired by the Australians."
The biggest problem after Qin Liangyu¡¯s death has been solved. Although it does not satisfy everyone, it at least effectively alleviates the crisis. The white soldiers were barefoot, carrying long spears and rifles, with large earrings hanging on their ears, and began to gather towards the ferry from all directions. Then we took a barge, nicknamed the Yangtze River train by Australians, and went down the river wave after wave.
At the same time, Sun Chuanting's Guangwu Army had entered Sichuan.