Chapter 283 Recruiting troops
Through a series of measures, Yan Xu finally stabilized the unstable factors in the outside world.

But he had no time to rest at all because there were too many things he needed to deal with.

Now Yan Xu had completely forgotten about traveling and tempering his mind, and he didn't even have time to think about it.

Besides, any worldly experience could be more profound than the insights he has gained now. This is about governing a region.

As soon as the situation became more stable, Yan Xu sent a telegram to publicize the matter. To put it bluntly, he was saying that he was very awesome, so this piece of land belonged to him, and anyone who disagreed could come and try.

This can be regarded as a characteristic of this era. Warlords of all sizes did almost the same thing. They were all very simple and honest. They just robbed people and made money and territories, and they felt justified in doing so. Therefore, Yan Xu's move was to adapt to local customs.

As for whether doing so would alert the enemy, it's funny, just like how a rebellion can be concealed.

Rather than trying to cover up one's mistake, it is better to announce it openly so as to demonstrate one's full confidence and scare off those villains who intend to take advantage of one's advantage.

For example, the bandits and bullies in the surrounding areas, if he doesn't intimidate them, who knows what kind of trouble will happen. He doesn't intend to waste his energy on these small characters at this critical moment.

Fortunately, Yan Xu's reputation as the killing king of Magic City was enough to keep the situation under control. Not many people dared to try. Occasionally, a few showed up, but they were sent away by him overnight, which was considered an opportunity to release the pressure.

As for the problems of character, abstaining from killing, or anything else, Yan Xu no longer cared.

The group of newly appointed deputies worked hard and were able to maintain normal operations, so Yan Xu didn't have to kill a chicken from time to time to cheer them up.

However, Yan Xu knew that this state would not last long.

These people have long been accustomed to the corruption of the Qing Dynasty and will soon forget the pain once the wounds have healed.

Especially when these people form a group and think that you cannot live without them, they will become more and more aggressive and constantly test your bottom line.

If we want to change this situation, we must add enough new blood to make them feel a sense of crisis.

But this takes time, and what Yan Xu lacks is time.

Yan Xu could only endure this and deal with the imminent crisis first.

After barely stabilizing the internal situation, Yan Xu immediately raised the recruiting flag and began to recruit soldiers in preparation for expanding the army.

It is indeed a prosperous place, with a total population of over one million, and a large number of outsiders pouring in every year. If no cost is spared, it is enough to raise an army of 100,000.

If we really have to arm ourselves, not only will the Buddha be unable to sit still, but even the foreigners will have to think carefully.

Unfortunately, Yan Xu couldn't do it. Even if he disbanded all the 1,000 guards and replaced them with old ones, there was still a serious shortage of officers and technical arms, such as machine gunners and artillerymen, so he planned to recruit 5,000 people for training first.

Looking at the young, strong, honest and dutiful guys in front of him, Yan Xu simply accepted them all, because they were all excellent sources of soldiers. If he accepted them now, at most the cost of maintaining the soldiers would be higher, but it would be convenient to expand the size of the army again in the future.

"Let them sign and seal, and then go to the dock to carry grain." Because there was no money, Yan Xu didn't plan to pay out of his own pocket and develop a habit of relying on him, so he simply distributed grain directly, 50 kilograms of grain per person per month as food and salary, and if they were converted to regular employees, the salary would be doubled.

As for where the food came from, not to mention the reserves in the warehouses, just the cargo ships detained at the dock that were delivering food to Galeries Lafayette had mountains of food in them.

Giving them food directly is more pleasing than giving them money, because even if they are given money, they still have to buy food, and the price is not cheap, and the price of food has been rising recently. It is normal for food prices to rise, because anyone with a discerning eye can see that a war is coming, and when a war breaks out, the price of food will naturally rise first.

Merchants are profit-driven, so even if Yan Xu killed a chicken to scare the monkeys, it would only provide temporary relief, so he simply released grain to lower the price.

Opening your own grain store is time-consuming and laborious.

Not only will you offend grain merchants, but you also have to be wary of your competitors purchasing goods from you.

Because you cannot know the identities of all the customers. If they are your competitors who come to purchase goods, you will not sell to them or not.

We have no choice but to do large-scale business, because we cannot stop the other party from hiring people to buy food on our behalf.

People these days are illiterate and have no sense of right and wrong. If you give them a little advantage, many people are willing to work hard.

If you ask him to buy 100 kilograms and keep one kilogram, he will run to all the grain stores for you in one day. If you refuse to sell, they will even dare to block the door and cause trouble.

So Yan Xu simply used food instead of soldiers' pay. These 8,000 people were more than 8,000 households. Fifty kilograms of food a month might not be enough for them to eat, but it could greatly relieve the pressure and they didn't have to rush to buy expensive food.

More than 8,000 strong men each carried a bag of grain from the dock. They didn't feel the weight at all. They walked with a breeze under their feet and smiles on their faces all the time.

These days, soldiers can’t even feed themselves with the food they eat, and as for their pay, they may not even see it until they die.

Unlike General Yan, who was worthy of being Guan Gong's disciple, he directly distributed food to the children and asked them to carry it back home.

The army provides food and accommodation, and 50 kilograms of food are sent home every month. If you become a regular employee, the amount can be doubled.

Such a good thing could not be found anywhere, so the morale of this new army, which had not yet undergone any training, was already as stable as a weight. Especially Yan Xu swore in front of Emperor Guan that even if they died in battle, the food would be distributed until their children reached adulthood, their wives remarried, and their parents passed away.

As soon as the news of this treatment spread, tens of thousands of people gathered around the recruitment point that had just been evacuated and refused to leave. It was only when Yan Xu had someone issue a notice saying that this was only the first round of conscription and there would be a second and third round in the future that people dispersed.

With this move, those who were still watching in the city suddenly realized that this person had completely become powerful and could no longer be viewed in the same light as before.

As a result, there was a sudden wave of donations from the public, and merchants and gentlemen from all walks of life jointly donated money and grain. The previously high grain prices miraculously returned to normal.

Faced with the real gold and silver sent to him, as well as the warehouses full of grain, Yan Xu was very considerate and asked his lawyer to hold a banquet in the Concession Hotel to entertain philanthropists from all walks of life, giving them enough face. Then the list of donations was engraved on a stone tablet according to the amount, and then placed in front of the government office, and Justice of the Peace plaques made of gold, silver and bronze were presented according to three, four, and five digits.

Although it was not stated what the badge was used for, those who knew about it understood it, so another donation was received and a lot of gold and silver badges were issued.

Even though we know that even the golden medal of immunity from death can be used to deceive people, who doesn't want to add insurance in troubled times? The rich are even more afraid, after all, they are the first to bear the brunt of war.

In fact, these people were willing to spend money mainly because General Yan had an excellent reputation. Not to mention his care for the people and his soldiers, he also treated the imprisoned Qing officials according to the rules.

Although the people were arrested, their bodies were not chopped up or their homes were confiscated. The rules were followed. No one knew who was an official and who was a traitor, so they were really willing to spend money to buy insurance from this person.

(End of this chapter)