Late that night.
Some Yuyuan Army leaders and their soldiers quietly evacuated from outside Puzhou City.
These are people who are unwilling to accept amnesty.
There are many reasons for not accepting the amnesty.
Some people think that the official position is of low status, some think that the salary is low, and some think that the policy is bad.
Is the official position small?
First of all, the position of the Fifth Grade Camp Chief is not low.
You should know that Song Jiang in "Water Margin" did not hold any official position after accepting the amnesty. He was only granted the positions of Wude Doctor, Chuzhou Pacifier, and General Manager of the Army after he conquered Fang La.
(New surrenderers who have not yet made any contributions should not be given official titles. They can be given official titles and rewards after they have made meritorious contributions in the future...)
Secondly, the rebels were all from the common people.
A monthly salary of more than one or two taels may seem like little to a wealthy family, but it is definitely not low for ordinary people.
The official position is not small and the salary is not low, so the policy cannot be said to be bad.
The reason why the Yuyuan Army had this idea was because of distrust.
They neither believed in the court's sincerity in offering amnesty, nor did they believe that the court would be able to implement the amnesty policy after accepting it.
Actually.
Before they rebelled, the court's policies and the actions of local officials, like wild beasts hunting, tore their trust apart bit by bit.
After losing all trust.
They were completely disappointed with the court and so they rose up in rebellion.
Now the imperial court has sent an imperial envoy to tell them that if they lay down their arms and submit to the imperial court, they can become officials and eat royal food...
It’s like someone beats you up first, and when you want to hit him back, he tells you that as long as you don’t fight back, you can enjoy all the good things he has to offer.
If it were you, would you believe it?
Some people will believe it, some people won’t.
Those who believed stayed in the camp, ready to accept the amnesty.
Those who did not believe left at night and returned to Yuyuan.
"Report! The rebels outside Puzhou City are evacuating. May I ask whether the general should send troops to ambush them?" When the Yuyuan Army was evacuating, the messenger informed Li Dingguo of the news in time.
Li Dingguo thought for a while and shook his head: "Continue to explore, no ambush."
"Yes." The herald left.
The reason why Li Dingguo did this was due to both Wang Fuzhi's factors and his own concerns.
What Wang Fuzhi wants is long-term stability.
The use of force can only solve a temporary problem, but cannot bring about long-term stability.
Furthermore, fighting at night is a taboo in military strategy.
The slightest carelessness will result in accidental injuries, which will have a huge impact on morale.
This tactic will not be used unless it is absolutely necessary.
The next morning.
When Wang Fuzhi came to the Yuyuan military camp again, he found a large open space inside the camp.
Deng Yue, a captain of the Imperial Guard, said with some concern: "Sir, it seems that many thieves in Yuyuan have escaped. If the court knew about it, I'm afraid..."
"It's okay," Wang Fuzhi said confidently, "It's better than surrendering first and then rebelling."
With the arrival of the two, the gate of Yuyuan military camp opened.
Leaders Ren Qi, Zhang Qi, Liang Min, Huang Zhenshan and others took the lead and walked out.
Wang Fuzhi looked around carefully but did not find Fan Ciwu and Wang Jun.
The two of them were among the leaders of the rebels.
The number of rebels under his command is not small and they are quite strong.
The fact that they are not here now means they refuse to accept the amnesty.
"It seems that this matter of recruiting the amnesty cannot be accomplished in one go!" Wang Fuzhi smiled bitterly and continued to move forward.
When he was about ten feet away from Ren Qi and others, Wang Fuzhi stopped.
"The bandit leader of the Yuyuan Army, Ren Qi, leads Zhang Qi, Liang Min, Huang Zhenshan and others to welcome the Imperial Envoy!" Ren Qi took the lead in kneeling in front of everyone.
The others followed suit and knelt.
Wang Fuzhi put his hands behind his back and asked everyone loudly with a serious expression: "Are you willing to accept the imperial court's offer of amnesty?"
"We are willing to accept the court's amnesty, but our previous actions violated the court's laws. We hope the court will forgive our crimes without holding a grudge." Ren Qi, the leader of the Yuyuan Army, took the lead in answering.
Wang Fuzhi turned to the north and bowed deeply, then turned to everyone and said, "Pardon me!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor..." Ren Qi and others saluted at the same time.
After the ceremony, Ren Qi took the lead again and said: "From now on, Ren Qi is willing to serve the court with all his heart. If I lie, I will be struck by lightning!"
"We are willing to serve you wholeheartedly. If we are false, please be struck by lightning!"
The others repeated it and kowtowed to Wang Fuzhi again.
After completing the process, the Yuyuan Army opened all the camp gates, and all the soldiers lined up in a long line to meet the enemy and be counted and inspected.
The purpose of counting the number of people is to prepare for future work-for-relief programs.
The purpose of examining the soldiers was to retain those who were qualified to serve as official troops, and to disband the unqualified ones on the spot and wait for relief from the court.
After a day of counting, Li Dingguo counted the numbers.
He came to Wang Fuzhi and said, "Sir Wang, there are a total of 29,433 rebels outside Puzhou City, of which only 3,128 meet the requirements to become official soldiers. The rest must be disbanded on the spot and wait for relief from the court."
"How many days will the army's food supply last?" Wang Fuzhi asked.
"Based on the calculation of two kilograms per person per day, it is only enough for five days," Li Dingguo replied.
"That's enough," Wang Fuzhi breathed a sigh of relief. "The first batch of relief grain has arrived in Jining Prefecture via the canal. It should be able to reach Puzhou within five days."
"The combined number of rebels in Cao County and Fan County is about 7,000. Ren Qi has already sent a letter ordering them to surrender on the spot," Li Dingguo said. "But the magistrates of the two counties have been killed. How should these people be resettled?"
Wang Fuzhi thought for a moment, "Aren't General Li's men outside Cao County? Let the army take over the defense of the two counties first, then find a few extremely vicious people among the rebels and let them pay for the county magistrate's life. No matter what the county magistrate did wrong, only the court and the law can punish them, and the people cannot deal with them arbitrarily, otherwise there will be chaos!"
The authority of the law must be unchallengeable.
For grassroots prefectures and counties, the prefect and county magistrate are the law and the authority.
Killing them would be tantamount to challenging authority.
Wang Fuzhi did this to maintain his authority.
Unfortunately, Wang Fuzhi was limited by the times.
If it were Chongzhen, he would instigate a major purge in the city before the rebels surrendered, and get rid of all class enemies...
Wang Fuzhi continued, "After dealing with those extremely vicious people, select those who are qualified to join the government army, and the rest will be disbanded on the spot and wait for relief."
"What about work-for-relief?" Li Dingguo asked again.
"Don't worry. I have already ordered the nearby prefectures and counties to send people to arrange this matter." Wang Fuzhi said, covering his head.
The disaster relief work becomes more and more complicated as time goes by.
For Chongzhen, it was just a matter of two words: OK!
When it comes to the six ministries, all you need is good silver to buy food and supplies, and send people to preside over the work and supervise its execution.
When it comes to the prefectures and counties, the work becomes extremely complicated.
Set up porridge factories, prevent plague, arrange for dike repairs, supervise engineering works...
Although these tasks were not presided over by Wang Fuzhi alone, he also had a share in them.
Add to that the matter of Zhao'an, and the pressure can be imagined.
"Next," Wang Fuzhi paused for a moment and looked up at Li Dingguo, "I will inform the court of the progress of Zhao'an, and then... together with General Li, I will focus on dealing with those Yuyuan bandits who have not surrendered."
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