Chapter 23: Sister, I'm All In, I Swear to Fight to the Death with Xue Ming!
“But what?”
Initially, Zhang Shu Zhen didn't hold much hope for forming her own guard unit.
After all, she was a woman, even though there were many female bandits in the Northeast.
However, there were no female generals in the regular army.
Seeing Zhang Xue Ming's eagerness, a spark of excitement ignited within her.
She immediately leaned in closer.
Zhang Xue Ming, with a mysterious smile, whispered something in Zhang Shu Zhen's ear.
In an instant, even Zhang Shu Zhen, with her thick skin, couldn't help but blush.
She pondered for a full half minute.
Finally, she gritted her teeth and said.
“Alright, deal, but you have to be gentle later.”
A gentle nudge is better than a hard push.
Seeing that he had earned a free hand, Zhang Xue Ming revealed a smile.
These past few days.
As various infrastructure projects began construction.
The entire city of Daqing transformed into a vast construction site.
Although Zhang Xue Ming had a vast amount of basic materials from the system’s rewards.
He knew that he couldn’t just rely on those, so he also established a lumber mill, a coal mine, and a quarry.
The lumber mill and quarry were relatively safe.
But this coal mine was a highly dangerous profession.
Even decades later, there would be numerous accidents and casualties in coal mines around the world every year.
And now, without any safety measures, it was basically using lives to exchange for coal.
He dispatched the cavalry regiment to capture bandits and raid their strongholds everywhere.
Of the 6,000 bandits they had captured.
They selected 1,000 of the most heinous criminals.
All of them were now sent to the dark coal mine to dig for coal.
However, these selected bandits also knew the dangers involved, and since they were cunning bandits, they were constantly trying to escape every day.
As his scope expanded.
Zhang Xue Ming increasingly felt the shortage of manpower, soldiers, materials, and even food!
Nothing was in abundance in Daqing at the moment!
After all, he was building a city out of thin air.
The manpower and resources required were astronomical.
Even with the system, Zhang Xue Ming felt like he was reaching his limit.
Zhang Xue Ming carefully calculated his assets.
“The Close Guard Cavalry Regiment has 1,000 men, divided into 5 companies. Right now, 3 companies are out suppressing bandits, 1 company is responsible for guard duty and supervision, and 1 company is rotating for rest and recuperation.”
“We have over 6,000 prisoners now. After excluding the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, there are about 5,000 strong men!”
“Of them, 4,000 are on the construction sites, building various buildings and factories!”
“The remaining 1,000 heinous prisoners, 150 are at the lumber mill, 250 at the quarry, and 600 at the black coal mine!”
“The system also provides 100 engineering machinery operators and 300 Russian construction experts!”
“I only have less than 8,000 people under my command!”
These 8,000 people seemed like a lot, but in a city, they were like pepper sprinkled on a pancake, barely noticeable.
Keep in mind that Zhang Xue Ming still planned to develop heavy industry in Daqing.
Such as steel mills, arms factories, and petrochemical plants.
These factories!
They were all labor-intensive enterprises.
In the future, Bao Steel, the largest steel mill in the country, had 260,000 employees.
The Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, which had been fighting in the Russo-Ukrainian War for a long time, was a city within a city.
And the Daqing Oilfield, in the future, was also a super-large enterprise with 100,000 employees.
It’s safe to say, Zhang Xue Ming was eager to expand his 8,000-man force to 800,000!
He slapped Zhang Shu Zhen's round buttocks.
“Hurry up and put on your pants, go to the warehouse and look for some weapons captured from those bandit lairs, pick out a few hundred good guns that can be used, and get out there to suppress bandits now!”
Bandits in the Northeast were as numerous as mosquitoes.
If they were all wiped out, even at a 10:1 rehabilitation ratio, he could gain several tens of thousands of troops.
At this time, Zhang Shu Zhen was dumbfounded.
This was too fast. Just now, she was approved to form a guard unit.
The next second, she was being sent out to suppress bandits.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“My lord, please have mercy on me, I’m exhausted, can you let me sleep for a while before I go!”
Zhang Xue Ming glared.
Who was it just now who was shouting, “Sister, I’m all in, I swear to fight to the death with Xue Ming!”
How come she suddenly turned into a coward?
Zhang Xue Ming raised his hand and delivered another strike to Zhang Shu Zhen's buttocks.
“Last chance! If you don’t go, then you'll stay home and learn needlework and become a wife and mother!”
Learn needlework?
Become a wife and mother?
In an instant, Zhang Shu Zhen’s hair stood on end.
She struggled to climb off the bed.
“Lord! I’ll go! I’ll go right away!”
Meanwhile, Gu Rui Yu, who had been quietly observing everything, was completely stunned.
Was this man really the second son of the Zhang clan of Fengtian?
How could he not be gentle at all?
In the world of opera, because life was so hard.
People often said that the troupe leaders treated women like men and men like beasts.
Now, the young marshal was even better, skipping the first step.
In his hands, women were becoming beasts!
They had to work for him even after completing their tasks!
What about me?
Will I be singing opera for his troops in the future?
Just as Gu Rui Yu was lost in thought.
Zhang Xue Ming seemed to have remembered something.
He said in frustration, “Right! What about the job advertisement I put in the newspaper? Why is there no response at all?”
“Could it be that I didn’t trick Zhang Liu Zi this time?”
“No way!”
…
As Zhang Xue Ming pondered.
Newspapers across the country had already published his “job advertisement”!