Around the Dragon Boat Festival, including the southern maritime merchant team led by Zhou Keshan, the commercial system of Qunmu Institute in charge of Li Yun, the ports in Shandong supervised by Wang Shixian, and even a group of merchants Du Shisheng was familiar with in Shandong, all confirmed the news. , the Great Song Dynasty will take measures, and the grain trade will be unsustainable.
In response to this, Zhongdu quickly responded, asking responsible officials from various departments to send capable subordinates to report specifically to Zhongdu and count the gaps in supplies.
When orders from Zhongdu reached the south, delays were inevitable. When the messenger arrived in Jiaoxi, Mizhou, Zhou Keshan happened to board the ship and left the foray, going to Qingyuan Mansion, Mingzhou, Zhang Kai's hometown, intending to use the power of the local clan to find out what was going on in the Shipping Department.
The ones left behind at the moment were senior Ding navy officer Zhao Bin, and the seven or eight ships and sailors they had assembled one after another as they circled the sea.
The wind and frost at sea hit me hard, and Zhao Bin looked older than he had two years ago, but his movements were much more powerful. After all, he is no longer the leader of a small team, but the leader of the escort of a large merchant on the sea. He secretly leads the navy and has the command of at least seven or eight hundred men who roam the sea and kill without scruples.
Back then, the three of them started with a thousand-material ship left by Zhang Kai's father and grandfather. By this time, there were two large ships with five thousand materials and four medium-sized ships with two thousand materials resting in the forecourt alone. ship.
Zhao Bin took the order from the commander's office and did not dare to neglect. He immediately selected two capable leaders from the fleet and caravan subordinates who were more familiar with the figures of material imports and exports. He also counted the import and export records of previous years overnight, and finally called his own Two hundred of his trusted followers came, and he was asked to take ten elite soldiers to accompany him to Zhongdu.
As a result, in the evening, two Gang Shouyu came to visit and carefully asked Zhao Bin for advice, asking Marshal Guo what his temper was like and whether there were any taboos in his words.
After arguing for a while, the two said again, after all, Marshal Guo's status has been different from that of ordinary nobles since he entered Zhongdu. We are also subordinates recruited from abroad. If we meet for the first time, if we use rude words, it will be very bad. As for Wang Erbai, his sea skills are very solid, but his verbal skills are very problematic. If he takes the escort, he always feels that something will happen sooner or later.
Zhao Bin felt dumbfounded by this. He himself was a veteran who had followed Guo Ning in the Xijunhe camp. In his mind, Guo Ning was always the same heroic young man. Even when he became a high official, there was no change, so he didn't understand what the two of them were worried about.
But they were worried about Wang Erbai... Zhao Bin thought about it carefully and felt that it was not unreasonable.
It was simply the beginning of May, the monsoon had not yet risen, and the season for offshore merchant ships was not yet here. Zhao Bin decided on the spot that he would go out personally and accompany the two leaders on a trip.
The next day, he chose a multi-oared boat used on the coast and took his men straight to Zhigu Village.
The journey at sea took six days. We went to Zhigu Village to present the official documents and change the credentials. Then the ship entered Lushui from Xin'an Sea and went all the way north. Along the way, ships of all sizes were seen coming, and several flags were familiar to them. The trackers and mules and horses pulling fibers by the waterside helped to empty the warehouses so that the camel team could cross the shallow water. Among its members, it could be seen that there were many surrendered soldiers under supervision, and there were also many Mongolians mixed in.
The weather in May has begun to get hot. Under the sunshine, these soldiers were sweating profusely, and everyone's clothes were soaked. When unloading excess supplies and reducing the draft of the large ship ahead, the Mongols were particularly agile.
Seeing this scene, everyone couldn't help but sigh.
The ship arrived in Tongzhou three days later, then transferred to a post station and arrived in Zhongdu on the same day. Zhao Bin naturally pointed along the way and told his friends about his family's battle in Zhongdu.
The group entered the city through Fengyi Gate, handed over documents to the Marshal's Mansion, which was like a huge fortress next to Wengcheng, and moved into the building. As soon as he put down his luggage and the chair was not even warm, someone came to deliver the order and Marshal Du was summoned.
The summoning place was in the backyard of the Capital Marshal's Mansion.
The group of people walked around two gates and realized that the backyard was almost the same as the school grounds where the guards practiced martial arts every day. There were heavily armed guards standing guard around the school grounds. These core guards were almost all veterans from the Hebei Army. All of them were battle-hardened and had a murderous spirit. Zhao Bin recognized several of them, but he didn't dare to say hello. He just followed the waiter's lead and bowed his head forward.
To the east of the courtyard, there are several houses, stables and a tower. A group of civil servants were busy on that side, apparently building a wall to separate the school grounds from the buildings. Some people were also carrying some flowers and trees in on carts, as if they were going to be slightly decorated.
The main body of the courtyard was entirely paved with fine sand, and several archery targets were hung along the high walls, as well as several rows of heavy human-shaped wooden targets, which should be targets for chopping with swords. The wooden target has been chipped into uneven shapes.
The tall Guo Ning was shirtless, standing in front of a wooden target, and casually threw a straight knife on the weapons rack. You Gangshou had a keen eye and immediately saw the famous Iron Bone Flower placed on the shelf.
Because he had just undergone high-intensity training, Guo Ning was covered in sweat and stained with a lot of fine sawdust, and the muscles in his waist and back were obviously stretched, like copper poured into iron.
When Zhao Bin was at sea, he often told his subordinates stories about the fighting in the past to gather people's hearts. He was a capable senior officer. When he told the story, he mainly touted the advantages and disadvantages of the navy. Occasionally, he casually mentioned how he met Marshal Guo in Changzhou and how he fought and retreated from the Mongols' pursuit. He arrived in Hebei; and how they fought side by side in Zhongdu in the end, so they got the position of leader of the fleet.
This kind of self-promotion from the side is much more effective than serious bragging, so now the leaders of the fleet almost all regard Zhao Bin as Guo Ning's old friend.
At this time, Zhao Bin did not dare to be rude when meeting formally. He solemnly bowed and signed up from a distance, and the two leaders also knelt down quickly.
Guo Ning strode up, grabbed Zhao Bin, and prevented him from kowtowing. He laughed loudly and said: "I was overjoyed when I saw the document! Why don't you guys come here quickly? Haha, haha, Lao Zhao! We have to We haven’t seen each other for two years!”
Having said this, Guo Ning hugged Zhao Bin hard and punched him on the back.
Zhao Bin also kept laughing. He subconsciously wanted to hug Guo Ning, but he really didn't dare. Because the top of his left arm was not a palm but an iron hook. He was afraid that the iron hook would touch Guo Ning, so he had to raise it high.
The two leaders behind them were shocked when they saw Guo Ning and Zhao Bin being so affectionate. At first, I was shocked to find that my commander-in-chief really had a deep friendship with the marshal. We have embraced this thigh on the sea, and we must hold it tightly from now on. Secondly, I never thought that the powerful warlord who drove thousands of people to sweep across the vast territory of Dajin and hundreds of military states in a short period of time would be such a young warrior with no pretensions!
"Come, come and sit."
Guo Ning put on a short round-collared robe and waved to the attendants to bring in tables and chairs and set out tea. He sat next to the wooden target and began to ask Zhao Bin and others about the details of the import of maritime supplies.
He was obviously not familiar with the climate and hydrology at sea. Sometimes when he asked a question, everyone had to explain it carefully. Later, he simply sketched it on the gravel ground. But he has obviously done his homework on the fleet's establishment, scale and even route settings, and appears to be very familiar with it.
When Zhao Bin introduced the two leaders, he immediately talked about some of the deeds of the two leaders after joining the fleet and praised them. When the leaders reported on the material transactions, he listened with interest and asked a few questions from time to time. The leaders had to quickly check the account books to understand.
Everyone chatted for a while, and seeing the shadow of the sun getting longer, Guo Ning stood up without finishing his thoughts: "I finally understand. In other words, in the past half month, six groups of fleets that had agreed to go to Jiaoxi had missed their schedule. The corresponding total amount of grain is around 100,000 shi. After the Dragon Boat Festival, the south wind is approaching, which is the time for the fleet to arrive in large numbers. However, there are very few grain ships gathering in Qingyuan Prefecture and Pingjiang Prefecture, so it is estimated that from the Dragon Boat Festival to October During this period, food imports from the sea will be reduced by 60%."
"exactly."
Guo Ning nodded: "Okay, that's enough."
He smiled and said to Zhao Bin and others: "I have other official duties, so you can go and rest. However, it is very rare for heroes from the sea to come here. I will treat you to dinner tonight!"
Zhao Bin and others were flattered and agreed and exited the backyard.
It wasn't until they were nowhere to be seen that Guo Ning sighed heavily and his face darkened.
The next moment, he picked up the iron bone flower with his backhand and smashed it with all his strength. The thick wooden target in front of him was hit with huge force, shook violently several times, and snapped into two pieces.
