An hour after the work started, the group of prisoners Qin Jian was responsible for was quite satisfactory, and there was no deliberate trouble. However, the efficiency of the work was indeed not as good as that of his laborers.
But after all, having more people can work faster, and the same amount of labor is distributed to more people, so it is relatively less tiring.
However, on the other side of the pier, there were prisoners who refused to accept the arrangement. After a few words of argument, they started fighting with the foreman. The helpers and other troublemakers swarmed over and there was chaos.
But before the fight was over, a group of Haihan troops on duty on the pier quickly arrived and suppressed the situation unceremoniously.
Since these prisoners were unarmed, they naturally couldn't make a fuss and quickly calmed down.
After the troublemakers were captured, the Haihan Army tied them up and hung them on a nearby dock for public display.
Not long after, Yang Jin also came after hearing the news. After asking about what happened with a livid face, he pretended to order the troublemakers to be shot in public. A group of prisoners were so frightened that they knelt down and begged for mercy on behalf of their companions.
Even the foreman who was beaten earlier softened his heart when he saw this posture, and said a few words of mercy.
Seeing that the prisoners had been frightened, Yang Jin announced his decision: "It's a great blessing for you people to be chosen to work at the dock. Since some people don't cherish it, don't blame me for falling out. ! ”
"As long as there are no serious consequences, I will spare you once. However, death penalty can be avoided, but living crime cannot be avoided!"
"The rules to be followed were announced to you yesterday. Anyone who dares to cause trouble will be severely punished! Since these people have taken the initiative to run into the gun, well, I will sentence them to be sent overseas to serve ten years of hard labor! ”
Exile overseas and ten years of hard labor, no matter which one it is, is enough to make people despair, let alone the two punishments added together. After this trip, you may not be able to return to your homeland in your lifetime. This is not much better than the death penalty, and it is even more cruel because of the long torture.
After such a commotion, Yang Jin took the opportunity to scare the monkeys, and the effect seemed to be pretty good. Until dinner was served at noon, similar situations did not occur again at the docks where prisoners of war were arranged.
Taking advantage of the lunch break, Qin Jian asked his subordinates about the origins of these prisoners.
It turned out that this group of people were garrison soldiers who were sent to garrison at Qixia Mountain in the east. They were supposed to block the Haihan Army coming from the direction of Zhenjiang.
However, their Qianhu master was killed by a cold gun attack from the Haihan Army at the beginning of the war, so this army was defeated and scattered, giving up resistance directly. The Haihan Army sent cavalry to intercept them, and those unlucky ones who failed to escape in time became prisoners.
Many of these guardsmen are not professional soldiers. They serve as soldiers for the people in peacetime and in wars. They actually do not pose much of a threat to Haihan.
The Haihan Army should have considered that the ability to transport prisoners of war to the rear is seriously insufficient, so they can only prioritize transporting away some Ming army prisoners who are more dangerous.
As for the garrison soldiers with low combat power and no organization, they would first arrange labor nearby, using this method to slightly reduce the operating pressure of the prisoner of war camp, and make other arrangements based on their performance after the war.
If you perform well during this period, there is a chance that you will be exempted from the punishment of exile.
Therefore, for these prisoners, working at Yanziji Wharf was not only a job as a coolie, but also a way out for themselves.
But even if there is such an opportunity, there will still be some unscrupulous people who are unwilling to endure this period of time. However, under the supervision of the Haihan Army, these resistances never came to fruition, and any signs of resistance were immediately suppressed by force. As we chatted, the topic began to involve the current war situation.
These people were in the middle of the war before they were captured, so they naturally knew the situation of the Ming army much better than outsiders. Now that he was behind bars, he had nothing to keep secret, so he confided a lot of military information to Qin Jian and others.
Even before they were captured, the Ming army was already very pessimistic about the prospects of resistance. The defeated troops retreating from other state capitals and the increasingly unstable supply of supplies continued to shake the confidence of the Ming army.
Someone couldn't help but ask: "So, many Ming troops have been captured in other state capitals?"
The prisoner who spoke responded: "I heard from people who retreated from Zhenjiang that the number of troops who were blocked in the city and did not escape must be six to seven thousand! When we get to Nanjing, the whole camp like us was captured. It is said that there are quite a few!”
Everyone gasped when they heard this. According to what he said, the Ming army might have lost tens of thousands of people in this battle this year.
Even if the war ceases immediately, such huge losses cannot be made up in a short time.
Someone asked Qin Jian what he thought, and Qin Jian responded: "This is the Ming Dynasty, I don't think there is any chance of a comeback... But having said that, no matter who is in charge, we have to live in this life, we just have to do the errands we are doing. That’s fine.”
"Brothers of the Ming Army, don't have any other thoughts. As long as you obey the arrangements and work hard, I will definitely say more good things for you in front of Mr. Yang, so that everyone can get out of the sea of suffering as soon as possible."
Qin Jian was afraid that the prisoners of war would cause trouble, but he was still thinking about the opportunity Yang Jin had mentioned to him, so he could only find a way to appease their emotions and make them give up the idea of resisting Haihan.
Before dark, officers came to count the number of prisoners and then escorted them back to the prisoner-of-war camp located in Waiguo City.
After the handover was completed, Qin Jian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This job was really troublesome for him, and he couldn't fish as usual, so he had to spend a whole day on the dock.
The next day, when Qin Jian went to Yang Jin to settle the wages for the previous day, she met several other foremen and realized that the accident yesterday was not just the one in the morning. There were also some minor disturbances in other docks.
Some prisoners even jumped into the river to escape while others were unprepared. However, Haihan's warships have been patrolling the river. After a warning signal was sent from the shore, the warships quickly rushed over to deal with the escapees.
Qin Jian could only lament that he was lucky. The prisoners assigned to him were quite honest and did not cause any trouble.
After seeing him, Yang Jin was generous with his praise, praising him for his ability in leading the team, and even asked him if he had any ideas to take in more prisoners.
Qin Jian knew that nothing happened on his side because he was lucky enough. If there were another hundred and eighty people, the probability of something happening would definitely increase greatly. He was unwilling to take advantage of the situation and quickly said that he was not familiar with the existing manpower and was still figuring out how to manage these prisoners. He hoped that Yang Jin could give him a few more days to adapt.
Yang Jin didn't insist, but just told him to straighten out his management methods as soon as possible. It would be best to come up with a plan that can be promoted so that other terminals can learn to implement it.