Not to mention Ding Haijun who set up camp neatly.
The Song envoy was forced to sail at night, which was much more troublesome and dangerous than during the day. In order for the ships to move forward smoothly and smoothly, the guides were shouting at the front and back of the fleet, the sailors operating the sails and helms were rushing along the planks of the ship, and the strong men pulling fibers outside were also shouting one after another.
Even so, the hull or bottom of the ship would occasionally scratch the mud at the bottom of the waterway. The whole ship would suddenly shudder like a frightened animal, and then continue to move its huge body forward with the efforts of many people.
Under such circumstances, Ding Yan and Hou Zhongxin could not rest in the cabin.
The two simply stood on the bow of the ship, watching their subordinates rushing about, and also looking at the Jin Army cavalry following the fleet by the Lushui River, holding pine torches. The gray eyes of the Jin Army cavalry occasionally turned to the fleet, and the two immediately looked further into the distance, looking at the rows of black silhouettes of men and horses.
"These are the Yi army cavalry of the Jin people." Ding Yan said: "During the Kaixi year, the Jin people used half of the world's strength to march south, driving the Yi army as the vanguard. There were 30,000 people, and they were called Xiaoqi. This generation is indeed elite. ,only……"
"It's just that you're a bit lustful and jealous?"
"Yes..." Ding Yan thought thoughtfully: "The strength of the Jurchens themselves must have weakened to a terrible extent. Their country was attacked by foreign troops, but the Jingqi who dared to leave the city were another foreign force. What about the Jurchens' own Meng'an army? Not to mention, the Dinghai navy came across the sea as Shandong's foreign troops... It's just a thousand people, but the Jurchens dare not allow them to enter the capital? If they don't have this kind of tolerance, the Chinese How empty is the capital?"
"Also, bachelor, think about it, the person leading the front of the Ding Navy is just a commander. In order to stop him, the Zhongdu side sent two to three thousand cavalry, with a commander and an envoy of the valet personally coming forward. What are the Jurchens afraid of? This kind of thing only requires an edict, no, just a military order is enough!"
Hou Zhongxin said with great interest: "There must be something special about the Ding Navy, but the imperial court has no idea about their situation. If we still go back by sea, bachelor, we have to find a way to go deep into Shandong and find out the details of the Ding Navy!" "
Ding Yan twisted his beard and smiled: "It is indeed necessary. However, the first thing to do is to take advantage of the panic of the captive leader and the central government to vigorously display the power of the Song Dynasty!"
Hou Zhongxin bowed and said, "It is inevitable that the bachelor will make a prestige in the Central Plains and amplify the ambitions of the Yan and Song Dynasties!"
Ding Yan laughed.
Hou Zhongxin followed closely: "However, I also have urgent matters to do right now..."
Ding Yan understood immediately. He smiled and said repeatedly: "Yes, yes. We should share these things together, haha! Let me think about it... I will pay five dollars! I also brought a few jars of good wine with me on this trip, so you can bring it too stop!"
Hou Zhongxin, the deputy envoy, has a very heavy task in the mission.
Just because Ding Yan was the bachelor who gave him the purple gold fish bag, he will definitely be promoted again after his return. Such a noble person will not pay attention to complicated and complicated affairs. The other officials in Sanjie were too low to make decisions.
Therefore, Hou Zhongxin was in charge of all matters related to the mission's trip, including contacting maritime merchants, hiring a fleet, and recruiting young men to follow.
Hou Zhongxin was from Sichuan and had been an official in the court for only two years. He actually knew nothing about the land routes to Huainan and Huaibei and the sea routes to Shandong.
Therefore, to contact the maritime merchants, he entrusted the son of a family friend named Jia whom he had met when he was an official in Sichuan. He is now serving as the prime minister of Wan'an County, Jia She Jia Jichuan.
Jia She was quite good at running the family business and had great vision in this regard. Therefore, Hou Zhongxin contacted a leader named Zhang from Mingzhou in the Song Dynasty to come forward and arrange the fleet.
This person whose surname is Zhang is a son of a wealthy family who has passed down a family of poems and books. Together with his accountant Mr. Zhou and the guard leader Zhao, he is very reliable in handling matters. Hou Zhongxin has thought about it, and he may be able to use this relationship in the future. Try to make some money from the sea.
There were not many strong men accompanying the ship from the beginning. When the fleet was replenishing water in Wandu Village, Haizhou, it was almost besieged by the remnants of the Red Coat Army. There happened to be another group of stragglers from the Jin Army nearby, and they fought hard to disperse the remnants of the Red Coat Army.
These people originally planned to go south along the coast and make a living in Huainan East Road and Chuzhou Shanyang area in the Song Dynasty. Hou Zhongxin saw that all of them were brave and admirable, so he recruited them to serve on the ship.
Although those strong men were rude and rude, they were indeed hardworking and helped Hou Zhongxin a lot along the way.
Therefore, when the fleet was replenishing water at three private ports in Qushan, Haizhou, Jiaoxi, Miss., and Chengshan, Ninghai, it recruited several more people one after another, and finally reached a scale of about two hundred people.
These people are laborers, but not trackers. Hou Zhongxin was really touched that they could step forward to pull the track.
After all, he is an official of the Privy Council. He usually relies on his status and rarely interacts directly with these strong men.
For more than half a month before, the fleet had been at sea. Twenty or thirty boats, each separated by miles, were scattered in a long line on the sea. So even if he wanted to, he couldn't go one boat at a time to comfort so many strong men.
But at this time, as an employer, Hou Zhongxin felt that he should come forward to encourage morale. He also planned to use these people for the Song Dynasty when he returned and even in the future!
At that moment, Hou Zhongxin took a sack with money, followed by two people carrying wine jars and two people carrying food. They got off the boat as it approached the shore and hurried to the front of the queue of young men.
At this time, the Yi army cavalry who pushed the strong men the hardest had already impatiently galloped to the front. The serious soldiers of the Song Dynasty in the mission followed lazily, and no one continued to urge them.
But the strong men on the shore still made heavy chants and worked hard to stretch. The rough ropes cut deeply into their shoulders, which showed that they had exhausted their strength. Hou Zhongxin could see clearly that the movements of these men were very different from those of real trackers. They were all laymen and did not know how to pull trackers at all. They just wanted to do their best for the fleet!
Their efforts in selling have far exceeded what they promised when they collected the money! Hou Zhongxin really didn't know they would work so hard. No wonder the maritime trade route to the north via Shandong has been so prosperous in recent years. It must have something to do with the character of Shandong people, right?
It is said that Shandong is a place with simple and honest folk customs, and it really deserves its reputation!
If such a force can be used by the Song Dynasty court, it will definitely be of great help. Even if the Song Dynasty court does not use them, I, Hou Zhongxin, will still find opportunities to make use of them!
Hou Zhongxin strode to the front of the trackers' queue, and immediately saw the two young men he was most familiar with, and immediately called out loudly: "Busy! Brother Xing! Let's take a rest first, drink some wine, and warm up!" Everyone, please take a rest! There’s no need to rush!”
Yu Man'er, a Shandong native, was still pulling hard, but the rope had already torn the clothes off his shoulders, and he didn't seem to care. Yu Xing, whose ancestors were said to be from Zhongdu, heard Hou Zhongxin’s words and immediately collapsed to the ground with his arms and legs crossed: “Ah! Mr. Hou, Lieutenant Hou, I really can’t survive!”
Hou Zhongxin laughed loudly, poured a bowl of wine for him personally, and called to the rest of the people: "Come, come, come and have a drink! This is the good wine and cakes given by Bachelor Ding. I also brought them to everyone." A chicken!”
What a good official! What a generous act! For a chicken!
Not to mention the contempt in the hearts of the strong men and the sounds of saliva in their mouths, it was almost a loud gurgle.
These strong men are naturally not ordinary strong men, but capable soldiers summoned from various departments of the Ding Navy under a special order issued by Guo Ning a few days ago.
Everyone is already used to the good treatment of the navy, not to mention that most of them are selected experts and serve as junior officers in their respective units?
Compared with their usual meals, the food they eat these days is indeed a bit shabby. But after landing, every move was under the surveillance of the Song Dynasty people, so they had to show that they were extremely hardworking and willing to work hard.
In just two or three days, several soldiers have secretly complained about losing weight.
It was rare that the official of the Song Dynasty gave him a chicken. Everyone was very happy and looked at Hou Zhongxin with particularly eager eyes.
Hou Zhongxin was very satisfied with being watched eagerly by everyone, so he personally grabbed the chicken legs and planned to tear the chicken apart and distribute it to everyone.
Behind him, a ship was slowly passing by.
There was a fat man on the bow holding a thick iron rod. He was dozing off with his legs crossed. At this moment, he smelled the aroma of chicken. The fat man suddenly opened his eyes, touched the short hair on his head that looked like a steel needle, and shouted: "Give me the chicken butt!"
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