Songjiang Prefecture, Shanghai County.
During this period, Songjiang Mansion was already one of the most prosperous areas in Jiangnan.
It is said that "Su and Song occupy half the world", but the most developed county in Songjiang is Huating County, which later became Shanghai Songjiang District.
The Huangpu River bank in front of Su Ze is currently just a desolate fishing village.
No one would have imagined that the area with the highest housing prices in Shanghai in later generations would now look like this barbaric state.
Today, Shanghai County is just a small county, with a combined population of less than 20,000. The county is mainly engaged in fishing and is very rundown and backward.
Su Ze stood on the edge of the Huangpu River, known as the "Bund" in later generations, looking at the ships passing by on the river. Su Ze turned to Lin Deyang behind him and said: "That's where the camp of our Shanghai Anti-Smuggling Group Training Center will be built!"
The location Su Ze pointed to was the best location on the entire Bund. According to Su Ze's memory, this should be the location of the Customs Building on the Bund.
I have to say that the location of this place is really good. You can see the entire Huangpu River from here. If you build a dock here, you can control the entire Huangpu River.
The new recruits who followed Su Ze had bitter expressions on their faces, and many of them already regretted it.
The prosperous Songjiang Mansion did not wait, and he followed Su Ze to this remote place in Shanghai County to suffer.
Moreover, Su Ze built a military camp directly on the riverside outside the county seat, not even entering Shanghai County. Seeing the desolate appearance of the Bund, the regiment training recruits did not understand why Su Ze, the regiment training envoy, was so excited when he saw this piece of ruined land.
The recruits sighed, knowing that their lives in the next year would be very miserable.
In order to support Su Ze, Fang Wanghai allocated all the last remaining funds from the Customs Department to him. He took the 200 regiments raised from Suzhou Prefecture to train new recruits and set up docks and military camps on the Bund.
Ten days later, five Yong boats from Ningbo also arrived at the simple dock.
The Yong boat is a flat-bottomed boat that can sail in rivers and seas. According to the specifications of the Ming Dynasty, this is a small boat with a weight of less than 100 pieces.
The flag leading this fleet is called Sun Haijiao. He was originally a hereditary military household stationed at the guard station near Ningbo. Now he was reorganized by Hu Zongxian and then sent to Songjiang Prefecture with a transfer order.
Originally, Sun Haijiao was very happy when he heard that he could work in the prosperous Songjiang Mansion. However, when he docked at this dilapidated pier, Sun Haijiao's heart dropped. How could he make money in this place where no one can shit?
Sun Haijiao directed the Yong boat to dock, and when he saw Su Ze who greeted him, he showed an unhappy expression.
Why did this group of trainers choose such a place where no one can shit?
Sun Haijiao gave Su Ze a blow on the spot.
"The regiment training envoy, wearing armor, cannot perform the full ceremony!"
Sun Haijiao just clasped his fists, and then said: "Tuanlian Envoy, my brothers have worked hard coming from Ningbo, can you please give me the reward first?"
The smile on Su Ze's face disappeared, and Lin Deyang behind him glared angrily.
Sun Haijiao said slowly: "According to the old rules of our Zhejiang officers and soldiers, the helmsman is 2 taels of silver, the sea crossing is 2 taels of silver, the port stop is one tael of silver, and the cloth flower is one tael of silver. This time I have brought fifty brothers. I have already trained the regiment. The envoy has calculated it, each person has six taels of silver, and the regimental commander only needs to give me three hundred taels of silver."
Su Ze asked coldly: "How is this money calculated?"
Sun Haijiao thought there was something going on, so he immediately clapped his fingers and said: "Let the regiment know that steering the ship at sea is a hard job. As a rule, those who go to sea have a helmsman, and crossing the sea is also dangerous, and crossing the sea is also common practice. Stop the ship now Landing is also a technical job, so we naturally have to collect the port money. As for the cloth money, we have to ask for the money to buy new clothes for the brothers."
Sun Haijiao finished speaking in one breath, but Su Ze, the regiment trainer's expression, made it difficult for him to understand.
Generally speaking, when a soldier asks for a reward, the commander has only two reactions.
One is to not care and directly promise to pay. After all, the rewards belong to the court. As long as they work hard in the war, many officers do not care about paying.
The other type is furious and refuses to give. However, this kind of thing is usually not a matter of death. After all, if the price is high and the money is paid, no matter how tough the chief officer is, he will give some money in the end. If there is a mutiny, of course no one will be willing to pay. Better off.
But Su Ze's expression was very calm. He didn't agree, but he didn't get angry either. Instead, he looked at Sun Haijiao with cold eyes.
But Sun Haijiao is also a veteran who has been in the army for ten years. How could he be frightened by Su Ze's eyes.
Su Ze said calmly: "What if I don't give it?"
Sun Haijiao showed a ferocious smile and said: "If the regiment training envoy doesn't give it, then the brothers will have no choice but to go home."
This set of asking for rewards before the battle was also a routine operation of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers, but Su Ze did not expect that this group of people would be so unscrupulous, asking for six taels of silver per person, and threatening to run away if they did not pay.
Su Ze's tone became even colder, and he said: "The Yong Ship was allocated to our Anti-Smuggling Corps by Mr. Hu. You can't take it away."
Sun Haijiao showed a ferocious expression and said: "This boat is where our brothers eat, so of course we have to take it away! Besides, can you play with the boat if you leave it behind?"
After saying this, the Ningbo soldiers behind Sun Haijiao drew their weapons and stood on the boat to confront Su Ze.
Behind Su Ze were twenty soldiers of the Changning Guard. Lin Deyang also took the blunderbuss from his waist and lit the match rope on the blunderbuss.
Sun Haijiao was very surprised by Su Ze's tough move. Generally speaking, when a superior officer encounters a request from his subordinates, he will make certain concessions. After all, the Ming Dynasty's army is like this. If the reward is not enough, who is willing to fight for it? .
Moreover, the bodyguards behind Su Ze were strong, and the one who escaped turned out to be a standard blunderbuss!
Guard posts along the southeast coast also began to equip bird guns, but the bird guns manufactured by the imperial court were of poor quality and often exploded.
But now the Japanese pirates invading Zhejiang basically use Folangji birdguns. The birdguns of the soldiers behind Su Ze looked like imported exquisite birdguns. This also made Sun Haijiao, who had seen the power of birdguns, flinch a little. .
Sun Haijiao said in a stern voice, "Even if I leave it to you, will you be able to move the boat?"
This was Sun Haijiao's last threat. After all, sea and road were different. Operating a ship was a technical job. This was why Sun Haijiao had no fear to ask for reward from Su Ze. He had forced the chief officer to give in several times before when he asked for reward. It's because no one can drive a Yong boat without them.
Su Ze was still not threatened by Sun Haijiao. Lin Deyang had already loaded the lead bullets and raised his gun to aim at Sun Haijiao.
Sun Haijiao broke into a cold sweat, and Su Ze said: "Leave the boat behind. If you want to go back to Zhejiang, go back. I will inform Hu Futai of the whole thing."
Sun Haijiao looked at Su Ze, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "I'll give you the boat! But it depends on how you drive it! Get out of the dock, we still have cargo on board!"
Su Ze waved his hand and said, "Let your people unload the cargo and leave the ship behind!"
Sun Haijiao looked at Su Ze unwillingly, but saw that Su Ze had a firm look on his face and had no intention of bargaining.
Sun Haijiao had no choice but to let his men unload boxes of various sizes from the ship.
These were the goods that Sun Haijiao purchased from Ningbo after receiving the order. They originally wanted to bring them to Songjiang Mansion to make a lot of money, but they did not expect to encounter such a tough opponent as Su Ze.
Sun Haijiao rolled his eyes and instead of leaving with his subordinates, he built a small camp directly next to Su Ze's anti-smuggling headquarters camp.
Su Ze did not stop Sun Haijiao from building the camp. He directly regarded Sun Haijiao and his party as imaginary enemies and began to train the anti-smuggling group to set up camp and patrol at night.
Just in time to set up camp and watch at night. This can be regarded as the most basic marching and fighting skills. It is perfect for training the new recruits of the Anti-Smuggling Corps.
Sun Haijiao didn't know that he had become the imaginary enemy of Su Ze's training soldiers. He asked his men to take the goods to Shanghai County and Huating County for sale, while he stared at the Yong boats on the dock.
Su Ze was busy building camps and training new recruits these days. After a few busy days, he finally found time to board the Yong ship.
Su Ze took Lin Deyang to board the ship. The structure of the Yong ship was much simpler than that of the Fu ship. There was only one cabin under the deck, and there was only one vertical sail on the ship. This kind of flat-bottomed ship could only sail in offshore areas, and the wind and waves were slightly stronger. It will capsize at a moment's notice.
"This ship is too bad." Lin Deyang said with a look of disgust.
"Just use it first. I have already written to Changning Wei, asking hundreds of households to send people to prepare for the construction of the shipyard."
Lin Deyang knocked on the mast with his hand: "The material used for this mast is quite good, but it would be a pity to use it to build a broken ship like this."
"Although the Yong boat is small, it is suitable for use on the river. A large ship like the New World is not flexible."
Lin Deyang also nodded and agreed with Su Ze's words.
"We brothers can all drive this kind of boat."
Lin Deyang and the others grew up by the sea, and it was natural to drive small boats like Yongzhou.
Su Ze said with a smile: "I don't want you to operate the ship, but I want you to teach these new recruits how to operate the ship. From today on, you will be the deputy training envoy, and the task of training the crew will be left to you."
Lin Deyang immediately said with great joy: "I will definitely live up to the entrustment of the Tuan Lian Envoy!"
Su Ze looked at his navigation skills that had been upgraded to Level 5 and couldn't help itching his hands and said, "Let me try it."
Sun Haijiao watched the Yong boats on the port leave the shore with a mocking smile on his face.
Driving a boat is different from that on the shore. Although this young regiment commander is very good at training soldiers, it is not that easy to drive a Yong boat and fight in a Yong boat!
The reason why Sun Haijiao camped near Su Ze's camp was because he was sure that Su Ze would not be able to handle these Yong boats and would eventually have to ask his brothers to sail the boats.
Then they can offer a higher price.
But when Sun Haijiao saw the Yong boat leaving the port, he quickly raised its sails, then made a graceful circle along the Huangpu River, and "drifted" into the port. His eyes were so surprised that he almost fell out of his head.
There is such a master of sailing in this training regiment! No wonder he is so confident!
Sun Haijiao was now entangled. He was blackmailing Su Ze to get some reward money, and his original intention was not to break up with Su Ze.
If they return to Zhejiang like this, they will definitely be held accountable.
Now that the initiative fell into Su Ze's hands, Sun Haijiao's forehead was sweating anxiously. What should he do now?
Su Ze was concentrating on training on the Bund in Shanghai. Lin Mojun was inspecting the newly cultivated fields on Dong'ao Island off the coast of Changning Wei.
Seeing that her younger brother started to grow taller, and now Lin Mojun took her younger brother Lin Liangjun with her no matter what she did, she felt a sense of urgency for no reason and wanted to hand over the errands of Baihu to her younger brother as soon as possible.
"Hundred households!" The woman who opened the land put down her hoe and saluted Lin Mojun. Lin Mojun nodded slightly, then walked over to check his farm tools and said:
"Your farm tools are dull. Send them to the island's blacksmith shop for re-sharpening."
The woman grinned and said, "It's not in the way, it's not in the way. The hoe can still be used. Why bother bothering the master craftsmen?"
Lin Mojun said seriously: "A good hoe can plow the land better. The most important thing in farming is the season. If the utensils are late for the season, it will be a greater waste. You can go to the blacksmith shop now and sharpen the hoe flower." In a short time, Baihu Office won’t accept your money.”
The woman quickly thanked Lin Mojun and walked down the mountain to the village at the dock of Dong'ao Island with her hoe.
"Sister, you don't farm, why do you care about these things?"
Lin Mojun said seriously: "When your brother Aze was here, he would patrol the fields every month. Isn't he more knowledgeable than me?"
"If you don't know how much food your land produces, how will you fight in the future?"
“If you don’t know the difficulty of farming, how can you know how to cherish food?”
Lin Liangjun, who was suppressed by his bloodline, could only lower his head and respond.
Lin Mojun said: "Let's go to the dock to have a look."
Lin Mojun took Lin Liangjun to the newly built dock on Dong'ao Island, where Lin Zongyuan was busy with his apprentice.
"Uncle Zong Yuan!" Lin Liangjun greeted enthusiastically.
Lin Zongyuan ignored him, but saluted Lin Mojun: "Hundred households."
"Master Lin, how is the new ship?"
Lin Zongyuan rubbed his head and said: "The drawings left by Mr. Su are very detailed, but our wood is not strong enough and cannot withstand the impact of waves. The last trial-produced new ship fell apart after just one day at sea."
Lin Mojun frowned and asked: "In other words, we can't build the clipper ship that Mr. Su mentioned yet?"
Lin Zongyuan said: "There are also issues with rigging and sails. Captain Alfonso and I have also communicated that the current canvas woven by Changningwei does not meet the requirements. We need denser and stronger canvas."
Lin Mojun nodded and said, "I'll go back and talk to Lu's sister-in-law and ask her to weave the cloth more densely. I'll go back and ask Little Eunuch You to think of a solution for the rigging."
Lin Zongyuan said: "I heard Captain Alfonso say that there are many Annan merchants in Malacca, and there are good timber trees there that are hundreds of years old."
Lin Mojun said: "I understand, I will let the Ryukyu people think of a way to get good wood."
Lin Mojun asked again: "Are there any other difficulties?"
Lin Zongyuan said: "There are too few apprentices who can write and calculate. Can the children in the nursing home give me a few?"
Lin Mojun shook his head and said: "Those children still have to go to school. If that doesn't work, pick the smart ones from the health center and let them go to the health school. Mr. Chen and Mr. Lin also teach arithmetic in the health school."
Lin Zongyuan sighed and said: "That's all we can do. What we learn now is always not as good as the basics taught by Mr. Su himself, but there is nothing we can do. Let's learn arithmetic while learning shipbuilding."
After the business talk was over, Lin Zongyuan changed his tone: "Did Aze write a letter?"
Lin Mojun nodded and said: "I just received his letter from Quzhou. Counting the days, he should have arrived in Nanjing."
Lin Zongyuan nodded and said to Lin Liangjun: "You boy, study hard. After Mr. Su leaves, you will also take care of the affairs of the health center for Baihu!"
"When you are doing business, call me Master Lin. Otherwise, when you become a hundred households, everyone will be your uncle and brother. How can you lead the guard station?"
Lin Liangjun lowered his head. It turns out that it is so difficult to be a hundred households!
(End of chapter)
