"If our war situation is unfavorable, or someone needs to make a major sacrifice to win victory... the one who may be sacrificed is you. At that time, will you still be willing to stand with us?"

Beiwei's words were sharp and pointed to the heart. Zhang Lu was speechless for a moment. However, Beiwei said these words not to accuse or tease him, but continued to say seriously:

"So envy of the winner and yearning for glory alone cannot support a soldier's belief. The reason why Qiong Haijun is invincible is not only because of weapons and tactics, but also because every soldier has a clear

Faith, they know what they are fighting for.”

"for what?"

Zhang Lu couldn't help but ask. Beiwei pondered for a moment and responded:

"Four words: Protect the home and the country."

"Defend the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhang Lu's face looked very surprised. Apparently even he, a young man from Shaanxi Province, knew that although Qiong Haijun was recruited as one of the military towns of the Ming Dynasty and defeated many enemies for the court, he actually had no loyalty to the Ming Dynasty court.

Word.

Bei Lai just sneered at this and shook his head:

"The concept of defending China and the entire Chinese nation is still a bit empty. So we usually preach the more practical concept of defending one's own family and protecting one's own family. If you don't have a family in places like Hainan Island...or Luzon, Taiwan, etc.

Guardian, then how can we believe that you will still be willing to stand with us at the critical moment?"

Zhang Lu was stunned. He was a very honest young man. He had not yet learned to tell lies with his eyes open. It was useless even if he told lies. He could not hide it from the professional scout Bei Wei.

"So we require those who join the army to have lived here for at least one year, because only in this way can they truly understand our policies and know that we are the only regime in the world that can truly bring benefits to the people, so they will

Willing to fight for this. We require those who join the army to be locals or have a family here, because only in this way can we educate him with confidence to fight to defend his hometown and protect his family."

"The Qiong Navy has been undefeated so far, just because for a long time we have encountered only weak troops. Including the army of the Ming Dynasty... In fact, it is not an army in the true sense at all, it is just some armed groups, a group of scum."

"Ahem...Well, the Ming Dynasty's army wasn't that bad, after all. It drove out the Meng Yuan and defeated the Japanese pirates."

Next to him, Zhang Ling finally couldn't help but interjected that he and Beiwei were old friends and had had arguments in this regard before, but at that time Beiwei had never said such fierce words. Moreover, when talking about the Ming Empire expelling the Mongolian Yuan and reshaping China,

He also clearly expressed his admiration for the feat of defeating Japanese pirates in Korea.

"The Ming Dynasty once had a real army, and the Red Scarf Army knew exactly what they were fighting for... Unfortunately, after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the stupid military household system turned soldiers into prisoners, and they could never be liberated.

That kind of thing, the Ming Dynasty’s army has deteriorated since then.”

"However, even so, there were still opportunities for change along the way. When Qi Jiguang established the army, he clearly told the soldiers why they were fighting... It is a pity that the Qi family army disappeared in the end, but those who survived in the Ming Dynasty actually

He is a private soldier like Li Chengliang, who replaced the normal military system with adopted sons and servants, tied his loyalty to individuals, and fought only for personal favors and financial rewards."

"In today's Ming Dynasty, the national army has been turned into this kind of private army. And this kind of mercenary-type armed force is nothing more than a group of armed thugs in front of the army that really protects the country... bullying the weak and fearing the strong

, flee when encountering force. Friendly forces do not trust each other, and the superior commanders know nothing about military affairs, not to mention that there are often a bunch of bureaucrats and eunuchs behind the scenes trying to hold them back... To deal with such an enemy, even if we use the same weapons as them

, and can defeat it easily."

"But in this world, there are not only useless snacks like the Ming Army. The Hou Jin Army in Liaodong region, a bandit group tempered in a harsh environment; the refugee army who came from your hometown in Shaanxi and was driven to desperation by natural disasters;

There are those European powers that you have never seen that are on the rise, such as the national armies of Britain and Spain... One day, we will face such enemies. And our weapons and technological advantages may not be there by then.

Even if we can play a decisive role, we may fail.”

Beiwei stood in front of Zhang Lu and looked deeply at the young man:

"Xiao Luzi, it's a good thing that you want to join the Qiong Navy. We also welcome ambitious men like you to join. But the biggest difference between our Qiong Navy and other armies of this era is that we have a disciplined and observant army.

An army of rules. Victory is not a natural attribute of the Qiong Navy. Strong belief and strict military discipline are the biggest features that distinguish us from other armies in this world. In the Qiong Navy, military discipline is greater than heaven. You must remember this.

.”

He stretched out his hand and patted Zhang Lu on the shoulder:

"Your brother and sister-in-law have a manor and property here. We can recognize it as you having a family here, but the rule of living for one year must also be followed. This year will also allow you to understand us more clearly and understand us."

Clear yourself up. After one year, if you are still willing to join the Qiong Navy, I will personally come to pick you up."

Bei Wei's words made even Zhang Ling speechless, let alone Zhang Lu. After a while, he lowered his head and said:

"Then...then I'd better do farm work here for a year."

Bei Wei smiled and nodded:

"Yes, this is the best arrangement."

…………

Now that he had decided to settle down here, Zhang Ling no longer delayed, and in the next few days he successively arranged for his family to live here. Fortunately, it is not far from Qiongzhou Mansion, and it is easy to ride a horse from the Baisha Port Pier, which Zhang Ling manages daily.

It doesn't take much time. Zhang Ling usually lives in the military camp and comes over to reunite with his wife during holidays, which is very convenient.

But once they settled in, they naturally didn't want those plots of land to be left vacant, so they began to think about recruiting people to open up wasteland. Then they discovered Shorthair's "sinister intentions". Everything else was easy to handle here, except that he couldn't hire people.

.The entire Hainan Island is basically in a state of labor shortage, and all walks of life need a large number of workers. Even those who farm can directly apply for jobs on short-haired farms and get paid confidently, so why accept private employment?

Zhang Lu didn't know how powerful he was at first, and said, brother, don't you have a lot of soldiers? Just send some to help farm the land, but Zhang Ling unceremoniously knocked him on the head. What Brother Bei taught you that day was all in vain.

Oh! Do you think the soldiers here are private soldiers like our hometown? Even though they still wear Ming military uniforms, their military pay is all issued by the Qiong Navy, and their training is based on the standards of the Qiong Navy. Isn't this the rule?

I can take them to the battlefield to fight, but I can never send them to do private work!

So Zhang Lu had no choice but to shut up, but there seemed to be no other labor available. After much deliberation, Zhang Ling finally had to smile bitterly and discuss with his wife whether to write a letter back and summon more people from his hometown.

come over?

Shaanxi has been hit by continuous disasters in recent years, with more and more refugees, and there is no way to farm the land. Headed by the Zhang family in Baoji, including his wife's family, and the dozen or so large families who are in contact with each other, every household has a problem.

The young and strong "Ding Yu" has some time to spare. There are not so many places in the court to serve as a soldier, and there is no income from farming, so it is not a problem to stay at home all day long.

If Zhang Ling was a serious official in the Ming Dynasty, and he was in his position, a large number of relatives from his hometown would have come to defect to him, and he would be easily accommodated as a servant or a soldier. But he happened to be a short-haired man, and the court rehabilitated him.

Not long after the decree was issued, his hometown had not yet adapted to it, so the old man had to secretly return his nameplate to his ancestral temple.

It is also far away in Hainan, thousands of miles away from my hometown. These days, there are only a few people who dare to travel thousands of miles and cross the ocean to make a living. If Zhang Xiaomei hadn't made the life in Hainan so exciting after returning, there is another person who is determined to live in Hainan.

The fiancée who is looking for a man is determined to follow her. This time, there is no chance that anyone will turn to him.

But now that people are here and see that everything here is better than Zhang's, and there is indeed a village and land but no one to farm, it is reasonable to continue to mobilize more people from home to come. After some discussion, Zhang Ling

He and his wife wrote letters to their families, suggesting that we simply bring out all the extra people in our hometown, no matter how many tens are too few, and no matter how many hundreds are too many.

While Zhang Ling and others were busy cleaning up the new manor, it was as Zhao Lide and others said: the manors here are extremely popular, and you can often see people from "real estate companies" coming with new buyers.

Look at the place. Chi Zhengjie is the big boss. He is not a good friend like Zhang Ling or a super big customer. He usually does errands more often by a young man named Suertai. He is very smart and quite flexible.

The accent is a little weird.

Naturally, new customers often ask to enter the estates that have been sold along the way and communicate with the owners who have purchased the property, as one of the ways to understand the situation. So Sultai often comes to say hello. Zhang

When Ling was not at home, Zhang Lu stepped in, and the two young men of similar age quickly became familiar with each other.

In Zhang Lu's eyes, although this "Brother Su" was about the same age as him, he was much more mature than him in his conduct and behavior. He was also a figure next to the leader of the Qiong Navy. He admired him in every aspect, so he consciously thought more about it.

Learn from him. And the other person seems to be relatively lonely here, so he is willing to make a friend like him.

So the two often hung out together, until one day, they drank together and drank too much...
Chapter completed!