Although Qin Jian did not want to cause trouble for himself and rejected Yang Jin's proposal to increase prisoner labor, his persistence did not mean much in terms of the current situation. Within two days, the Haihan Army distributed a new batch of prisoner-of-war workers to various docks.
This is not to say that Yang Jin ignored the opinions of the foremen. He actually did not want trouble in the place he managed. But now a large number of Ming army prisoners were piled up on the Nanjing front line and could not be transported away in time, causing the prisoner of war camp to be overwhelmed.
The command headquarters directly issued an order to the logistics department to arrange for more prisoners to participate in easy-to-manage labor projects such as material transportation nearby. This would at least relieve the pressure on logistics.
Although some troubles will inevitably arise due to the relaxation of regulatory measures, senior officials believe that compared with the benefits of arranging captive labor, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Yanziji Wharf has also ushered in the peak cargo volume since the war began, with a large number of materials and personnel unloading and shipping here every day. After assigning a large number of prisoners to work here as laborers, there were even more people working on the dock than before the war.
Qin Jian has also become a lot more haggard these days. In fact, none of the foremen on the dock have had an easy time during this period, and all of them have lost a lot of weight.
Although the income has increased a lot, it is really tiring to have to go to the dock every day before dawn and keep busy until nightfall before I can rest.
Qin Jian secretly kept a close eye on the number of prisoners of war transported from the area he managed every day. He calculated that there were two to three thousand prisoners these days. If several other areas are included, the number of prisoners of war shipped out from Yanziji Wharf alone should be in five figures, and this is only in the north of Nanjing.
At this rate of progress, even if there are 100,000 defenders in Nanjing, it will only be a matter of time before they are emptied out.
But one thing he didn't understand was why the Haihan Army had such a huge advantage, but it had not yet launched a general attack on Nanjing City. The sound of artillery had become sparse in recent days. Could it be that the Haihan Army was still waiting for a special attack? opportunity?
This is not actually because Shi Diwen does not want to fight, but because Hangzhou has already discussed preliminary intentions with the Ming Dynasty envoy, and the executive committee decided to suspend the offensive against two key targets in Nanjing and Beijing, waiting for the Ming court's next response.
With the strength of the Haihan Army, it is certainly possible to capture these two cities with a hard attack, but after all, these are the two fortified cities that the Ming Dynasty has been operating for the longest time and invested the most in. The Haihan Army may have to pay a high price to achieve its goal. .
The Executive Committee hopes that the cost of victory should be as small as possible. It would be best if the defenders could be forced to open the city and surrender on their own. The current battlefield situation is obviously more favorable to Haihan, and Ming Dynasty has almost no hope of making a comeback, so the Executive Committee is willing to give its opponent a little more time.
In addition, for the Donghai Region, which has achieved great results, the governance of the newly occupied areas must also be put on the agenda.
In a manor at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain, Shi Diwen was holding a red flag and marking towns on the huge sand table.
These marked areas are all new territories captured from the Ming Dynasty in this war.
As the commander of the victorious side, it is undoubtedly a pleasant thing to personally mark these results on the sand table.
However, for Shi Diwen, the process of marking on the sand table can also be used to think about personnel appointments and garrison arrangements for these newly occupied areas.
In this battle, Haihan captured Changzhou Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture, Guangzhou Prefecture, the eastern part of Ningguo Prefecture, most of Huizhou, and almost all of Yingtian Prefecture south of the Yangtze River. There were more than twenty county towns alone. This does not include the city of Nanjing that is about to be acquired.
If Haihan wanted to replace Ming's rule in these areas, he first had to appoint officials to take over local government affairs, and at the same time, he had to station a certain number of troops to maintain local security. It is not an easy task to arrange so many people to fill the gaps and how to consider and determine the candidates.
For these vacant positions, on the one hand, rewards should be given based on merit and those who have served meritoriously in the war should be rewarded. This includes not only the officers and soldiers of the Haihan Army who directly participated in the war, but also those famous families, local powerful people, and business giants who contributed money and efforts in the rear to provide support for the Haihan Army.
They supported Haihan's war against the Ming Dynasty, and of course they expected the official to get something in return after the war. Being a member of the Donghai Region Council can no longer satisfy some of them. The best reward Shi Diwen can give them is to arrange for relevant people to become officials.
On the other hand, Shi Diwen is also preparing to release some of his close associates to give them a chance to prove their ability to take charge of their own affairs and at the same time strengthen the foundation of his rule in the newly occupied areas.
This is also a common practice in the Haihan bureaucracy. Many officials who were sent to serve in the newly occupied areas had long-term experience working with senior officials. These people are more loyal to Haihan and have a better understanding of the officialdom ecology, so they can quickly take up new positions.
Arranging who will take which position, how to achieve optimal staffing, and how to balance the forces of all parties, these are all issues that Shi Diwen must consider during this process.
Every time a small flag was placed on the sand table, Shi Diwen said the corresponding personnel appointment, which was recorded by the secretary standing next to him.
However, this process is very long, during which Shi Diwen will stop and think from time to time, and this pause often lasts for a long time.
This even consumed Shi Diwen's energy more than commanding a battle. At the end of the day, he only planted a dozen flags on the sand table.
During dinner, Yan Chujie stepped on the meal and saw Shi Diwen still standing in front of the sand table in a daze. He couldn't help joking: "Old Shi, tell me, is it more difficult to conquer the world or to rule the world?"
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Shi Diwen came back from his thoughts and responded with a smile: "When I was leading the army, I thought it would be difficult to conquer the world. But when you really start to conquer the world, you will understand the difficulty of governing the world."< br>
"Look, just the personnel appointments in these several state capitals consume quite a lot of brain cells. I've been working here all day and I haven't finished the list yet."
Yan Chujie said: "Didn't you consider these personnel arrangements before the war?"
Shi Diwen did not pretend to cover up, and admitted honestly: "Of course I have considered it, but the current situation is constantly changing, and some candidates have to make corresponding adjustments. Some people have contributed more and made greater contributions, so we will make arrangements according to the original plan. It’s a little inappropriate.”
"There are still some candidates who may need to be temporarily placed in. If these are like carrots and pitfalls, other people will have to move places."
"In case there is an unsuitable candidate, the executive committee will call you back after applying, which is also a troublesome matter."
Yan Chujie nodded and said: "That's right... then you should choose the person as soon as possible. In a few days, you will probably be busy taking over Nanjing City."