Chapter 101
Guan Ningjun is the largest horse dealer in the Ming Dynasty. Who dares to believe it?
This is actually a fact. Jiannu sold the endless war horses to Guan Ningjun, who then sold them to the gentry and nobles in the pass.
Huang Taiji knew very well that Daming was rotten from head to toe.
Even if Huang Taiji did not sell horses, if Ming Dynasty had money, he could still buy war horses from Mongolia. In the late Ming Dynasty, Mongolia had split into three major tribes: Monan, Mobei, and Moxi. Monan Mongolia was further divided into Horqin, Chahar, Tumed, and Urad tribes. Mobei Mongolia is also known as the Khalkha tribe, Chechen Khan, Tuxietu Khan, Sanyinnuoyan, Zhasaktu, etc. Desert Mongolia, also known as Erut Mongolia or Oirat Mongolia, includes the Junggar Tribe, the Heshuote Tribe, the Torgut Tribe, the Durbot Tribe, etc.
Precisely because Mongolia is now in disarray, even if Huang Taiji is unwilling to sell the war horses to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty can still get the war horses they want from Mongolia. The blockade is just a matter of shutting the door and playing by oneself.
In this case, Huang Taiji further suppressed the market for war horses, and the war horses were originally worth more than a hundred taels of silver, but were sold for more than a dozen taels of silver, or even seven or eight taels of silver. In this way, when the Mongolian tribes trade with the Ming Dynasty, they will find that the Ming Dynasty does not offer high prices at all, making the Mongolians think that they have been fooled.
It not only alienated the relationship between the Mongolian tribes and the Ming Dynasty, but also monopolized the source of the Ming Dynasty's war horses. The transactions between Guan Ning's army and the slaves were all realized on the war horses. The two parties negotiated the price and found an opportunity to fight. Of course, it was a fake attack. Jiannu threw a few cannon fodder, or coated the slaves, and Guan Ning's army attacked and captured hundreds or thousands of horses in one fell swoop. Sometimes, it could be tens of thousands of horses. The victory was beheaded by five or six levels, or dozens. class.
When Guan Ning's army traded with Jian Nu, both sides also fought a battle. Jian Nu attacked and Guan Ning's army retreated. Hundreds of civilians and the grain they escorted became the spoils of war for Jian Nu.
Both parties get what they need and everyone is happy.
Huang Taiji also knew that the horses purchased by Guan Ning's army were not to expand their cavalry, because cavalry is a very money-consuming service. The cost of one cavalry plus war horses costs more than thirty taels of silver.
Zu Dashou couldn't do it, Song Wei couldn't do it, and Wu Xiang couldn't do it even more.
Guan Ningjun only buys horses for profit. A foal worth seven or eight taels of silver can be worth seven or eighty taels of silver when sold to Jiangnan, and can be worth five or sixty taels of silver when sold to Henan. The huge profits here are really too great. Taller.
More than thirty taels of silver can easily feed ten infantrymen. In the current Ming Dynasty, even if they don't pay a penny, they can raise an army of tens of thousands of people with just two meals. Human life is actually quite cheap.
So the question is, if Zu Dashou is rich, why doesn't he use his own money to recruit servants like Cheng Shijie and quickly form an army?
Of course, Zu Dashou's situation is different from Cheng Shijie's. Now Guan Ningjun has transformed and has become only interested in money, just like a bus, anyone who gives money can get on. Cheng Shijie could recruit a large number of servants from the military households in Dengzhou Weizuo Qianhu Station, and these servants were quite loyal to Cheng Shijie.
Because what Cheng Shijie faces is just a group of poor people who are too miserable to survive, just like street writers like Lao Cheng. Can other website editors wave their hands and write eighty thousand words? Lao Cheng would definitely write without hesitation. If you are a big boss of Wanding, if you give him two hundred thousand words, he will directly say: "Get out!" If you are a great master, you will start with two thousand words, and if it is less than two thousand, it is an insult to them.
Cheng Shijie could recruit honest servants at a very low cost, but Zu Dashou could not. He could also recruit servants without spending a lot of money, but would he dare to use these servants? When he clearly knew that someone inside Guan Ning Army was setting him up, he still used the young people inside Guan Ning Army? It's hard to say who will listen to the servants who spend money to support them.
To give a fairly straightforward example, Zu Dashou now wants to get married and have a son. One is his lost lover, the relationship is still there, and both parties know each other relatively well, and the other is a half-hidden family with eight hundred lovers and benefactors.
As long as Zu Dashou didn't get kicked in the head by a donkey, he would know how to choose. He dared to find Banzhemen to give him a son. Whose seed would this son be? I'm afraid Zu Dashou doesn't know that in this case, Zu Dashou actually has no choice. He can only redeem these captured hostages from Cheng Shijie.
In fact, if you think about it, the Laiyang Zhang family has been running the business for several generations. The biggest official position is just the minister of Dali Temple, but the Laiyang Zhang family has accumulated millions of wealth (including land, shops, and some fixed assets). The Zu Dashou family is the fourth generation of generals in the generals of Liaoxi. It is not surprising that he can give out 1.3 million taels of silver.
As long as Zu Dashou still has more than 8,000 old men in his hands, even if these old, weak, sick and disabled are no longer strong, the problem is, Zu Dashou spent 1.3 million taels of silver to redeem them, how will they face Zu Dashou? Birthday?
He must be very grateful and loyal.
When Zhou An came to Jinzhou, he only had a small team of a dozen people. They would definitely not be able to bring back a thousand war horses. Zu Dashou expressed his disdain and asked Zu Dabi to lead more than a thousand cavalry, plus hundreds of doctors, and hundreds of civilian men. Carrying more than 8,000 stones of grain, he returned with Zhou An.
…
The Ning Haijun General Military Mansion in Jinzhou Acropolis, if this can barely be regarded as a general military palace, is because this simple general military palace, although it was the original command office of the Jinzhou Guard, was destroyed three times by Jian Nu. The original Dengzhou Weizuo Qianhu Office was still in ruins.
The Dengzhou Guard Zuo Qianhu Station still has a roof frame, but the Jinzhou Guard Commander’s Office only has one foundation left. That’s right, it’s the foundation. All the ruins are broken, and there are no walls more than one and a half meters tall. However, , the foundation is there, everything is easy to handle.
As the brick and tile kiln factory in Jinzhou Acropolis began to be put into operation, Zhou Yandong immediately mobilized all the productivity to produce new bricks with warm bricks and tiles until the former Jinzhou Acropolis Commander's Yamen was brought to the original foundation. Construction began on the.
Instead of using cement, glutinous rice juice was mixed with quicklime. The first step was to build the gate of Ning Haijun's general military mansion, which finally gave Ning Haijun a decent place.
But the problem is, apart from the tall and majestic gate, there are only two small courtyards with a small area. Cheng Shijie moved into this courtyard and began to train and teach Generals of the Dongjiang Army and General Ning.
Although this small courtyard has just been built, it has a fireplace and a fire wall, so it is not too cold.
As usual, Cheng Shijie walked into the classroom with the lesson plan he had prepared.
"stand up!"
Most of the generals of the Dongjiang Army from Huanglong on down came here to listen to the lectures. It was not how good the lectures given by Cheng Shijie were. The key issue was that Cheng Shijie distributed equipment and took care of the meals for the generals who came to listen to the lectures.
Cheng Shijie took the chalk and wrote on the blackboard: "Basic principles of combat. Combat is a science. It is a science of how to better protect yourself and kill more enemies."
Cheng Shijie turned around and looked at the generals and said: "As a commander of an army, as a soldier in the army, everyone must do their best to protect themselves in battle, and also kill the enemy to the maximum extent! The basics of combat The first principle is, no matter how powerful your enemy is, you must have the courage to rush forward and face your enemy head-on. As the saying goes, the brave will win when they meet on a narrow road, and the wise will win when two armies meet..."
"Report!"
"Report!"
"Report!"
As Cheng Shijie just wrote this sentence, the generals below all actively answered the questions, because for every question answered, Cheng Shijie gave the generals a reward. Of course, this reward was not money, nor promotion and wealth, but two or two pot heads.
On a bitterly cold day, having a sip of Erguotou with a temperature of 53 degrees Celsius is quite delicious, making the class atmosphere very lively.
Cheng Shijie looked at the general's hands in front of him, which seemed like swaying sugar cane. His eyes fell on Mao Chenglu: "Mao Chenglu, tell me what you think!"
"yes!"
Mao Chenglu stood up and bowed: "Cheng Shuai, you have preached before. Fighting to the death is reckless and not advisable..."
Cheng Shijie interrupted Mao Chenglu and said: "I have never said that fighting hard is not advisable. You must always remember that courage is something that soldiers should not throw away. If an army has no courage, no matter how good the equipment of the army is, Well, train hard and never try to defeat the enemy!"
"Report!"
"Mao Chenglu, keep talking!"
"Isn't this a contradiction?"
Cheng Shijie smiled faintly: "Actually, there is no contradiction, because the soft ones are afraid of the hard ones, the hard ones are afraid of the horizontal ones, the horizontal ones are afraid of the stunned ones, and the stunned ones are afraid of life-threatening ones. Do you understand?"
The crowd roared with laughter.
"Don't laugh, everyone. When we meet on a narrow road, the brave will win. This is an eternal truth. Weapons will become more and more sophisticated, and equipment will become more and more advanced. But the problem is, the ones who operate these weapons will always be humans!"
Cheng Shijie continued: "Just like in the Battle of Jinshishan, our brothers from Ning Haijun all saw the courage of Jiannu. At that time, our Ninghai navy fired all guns and artillery, causing heavy losses to Jiannu. But the problem is, Jiannu suffered heavy losses." They continued to charge until the casualties exceeded one place. They didn't even think of retreating. If they were not charging more than 300 people, if they were 3,000 people, or 30,000 people, we would still have to use artillery and blunderbuss to kill them. Keep out of range?"
"Report!"
"Liu Qingsong, tell me!"
"cannot!"
"correct answer!"
Cheng Shijie nodded seriously and said: "The barrel of a firecracker will turn red if fired for a long time, and the barrel of an artillery fire will turn red if fired for a long time. As long as Jiannu is not afraid of death, they will definitely be able to rush in front of our Ning Haijunzhuang. At this time, Our muskets can't fire bullets, our artillery can't fire, and our crossbowmen can't fire in time. If we want to win, we can only rely on hand-to-hand combat and the courage of our soldiers!"
The generals began to think thoughtfully.
Cheng Shijie continued: "The bullets will be used up, the cannonballs will be used up, and the crossbows will be shot empty. The final competition in war is courage. A courageous unit, even if it is unarmed, must learn how to use your fists and knees." , elbows and even teeth to attack the enemy and kill the enemy. This is the difference between soldiers and civilians.
"Common people can be timid and fearful when faced with a large number of heavily armed enemy troops. They can raise their hands and surrender, or they can turn around and run away, but soldiers can't. It's not that soldiers can't surrender, but that soldiers can't give up fighting. As long as they have a breath left, they can't give up. We have to fight for our lives with the enemy. There is no excuse or reason. Fighting is the bounden duty of a soldier. As a duty, we have only one goal. No matter who they are, as long as they are our enemies, we will kill them. Eliminate, completely eliminate mentally and physically!"
A blizzard came unexpectedly. The soldiers of Ning Haijun and Dongjiang Army looked at the blizzard in the sky and cheered loudly: "Finally, we no longer have to engage in long-distance training."
"That's right, there's no need to stand in a military posture. People will freeze to death in this weather!"
"Let's just stay in the house and take a good nap!"
The soldiers who were talking a lot did not see the instructor in the snow outside the house, with a happy smile on his face.
You young men, you think too much!
Amidst the sounds of gathering sentries, these Ning Haijun soldiers and Dongjiang Army soldiers were mixed together in a mixed manner, that is, three Dongjiang Army divisions and one Ning Haijun division. The four divisions were temporarily mixed together and began to go up. Listen to the lecture.
The courses for soldiers are absolutely different from those for generals, but they are roughly divided into morning and afternoon. They teach about military regulations and disciplines and various rules and regulations that are different from other battalions. Literacy begins in the afternoon, and every soldier must learn literacy every day.
The soldiers of Ning Haijun were okay. They had undergone similar training and could barely tolerate it. However, the soldiers of Dongjiang Army had heads as big as buckets. Each of them held a knife and a gun in his hand, and when he held a pen, it felt like it weighed more than a thousand pounds. .
Many soldiers applied to the instructor: "Instructor, we are not good at standing in military posture. How about we humble ourselves and stand outside in the snow for an hour?"
"One hour is not enough, at least two hours are needed!"
The instructor smiled with a smile on his face: "Commander Cheng has an order. Soldiers who don't want to be generals are not good soldiers. You should just learn to read here honestly!"
"I want to cry!"
"I want to fucking die!"
"How about we go back to Shuangdao?"
"I want you back!"
"I won't go back!"
Although Ning Haijun's training is rigorous and can be called the 19th level of hell, the problem is that almost all the Dongjiang Army soldiers have suffered from hunger. For the Dongjiang Army soldiers who have suffered from hunger, the taste of starvation is more terrifying than death... …
Fortunately, the heavy snow only lasted one day and one night. Early the next morning, more than 26,000 soldiers of the Dongjiang Army, plus more than 10,000 soldiers of the Ning Navy, quickly got up, put on their clothes, shoes, socks, and leggings and rushed out. Go out to gather and start morning exercises. The gate of the military camp opened, and groups of soldiers carrying about thirty kilograms of equipment poured out. They lined up in a neat queue and started running along the avenue. Countless feet were raised and lowered at the same time. It was very rhythmic, as if Every step touches people's hearts, which is really spectacular.
When Zu Dabi and Zhou An came to Gaizhou Guard, they discovered that there was no Cheng Shijie in Gaizhou Guard. They had to go south from Gaizhou Guard and all the way to Jinzhou Guard.
When he was guarding Gaizhou, Zu Dabi didn't feel anything strange. After all, Gaizhou was just the frontier of the Ning Navy. It was impossible for Gaizhou to develop vigorously until the threat of slave-building was eliminated.
Arriving in the territory of Jinzhou Wei, Zu Dabi was the first to see countless smoke pillars, which were all chimneys of factories burning coal. Even in the ice and snow environment, Jinzhou's infrastructure and factory construction did not stop. The managers of these factories were all It is very clear that the time left for them by Jiannu is running out.
Once spring begins, even if Jiannu does not come to attack Liaonan, Cheng Shijie will vigorously develop farming. Now there are as many as 217 100-household farming stations in Ninghai Navy, which is equivalent to 21,170 households. Military household in the field. When everyone goes to work in the fields, who will work for them?
Taking advantage of the fact that the field work had not started, they could only rush to work overtime to construct a large amount of sand and gravel, and military households began to work. This scene fell into Zu Dabi's eyes. These were all Ning Haijun's troops, and they were really too many.
Zu Dabi was a little worried, Ning Haijun was coming with bad intentions.
Especially when he saw Ning Haijun training, he was secretly surprised.
I was so surprised to see such a neat queue and such a tacit understanding. How did they develop it? Guan Ningjun definitely couldn't do it anyway.
"Your Marshal Cheng's soldiers are well trained, very good!"
Zu Dabi was a little excited, "Thousands of people are one, advancing and retreating at the same time. This momentum alone is very scary! They must have advanced like a wall on the battlefield, with swords coming and going, and spears stabbing them." Come on, attack with spears, no one will advance or retreat without authorization, such an army is terrifying!"
Zhou An waved his hand and said: "General Zu doesn't know something. They are not the main force of our Ning Navy!"
"Isn't this an elite?"
Through a simple comparison, Zu Dabi found that the gap between Guan Ningjun and Ning Haijun was quite big.
"Then your elite troops are..."
"this……"
Zhou An hurriedly shut up: "This is a military secret. If General Zu wants to know, he can apply to Commander Cheng. If Commander Cheng agrees, General Zu can have close contact with Ning Haijun's elite troops."
Zu Dabi frowned slightly.
The problem is that he dare not mention this kind of military secret. Even if he brings it up, Marshal Cheng Shijie probably won't agree.
When Cheng Shijie learned that Zhou An was back, especially when Zhou An told Cheng Shijie word for word how to negotiate with Zu Dashou, Cheng Shijie felt that this scene was somewhat familiar.
This is like selling a rabbit to a camel in later generations. Cheng Shijie himself thought that offering each prisoner one tael of silver a day to Zu Dashou was already evil. However, Zhou An took the initiative to mention five taels of silver per person per day. To be fair, even the chief minister of the current cabinet could not have such a high food expense.
In the Ming Dynasty, the salary of the Minister of the Ministry of War was as high as sixty shi per month, which is equivalent to 720 shi of rice a year. Indeed, the Minister of the Ministry of War was high. In terms of the system, the salary of each Ming army soldier was one stone of grain. The Minister of the Ministry of War was Sixty times that of a soldier, but the problem is that even sixty times, it is only more than fifty taels of silver per month, but Zhou An's asking price is one hundred and fifty taels. According to the current eight taels of silver per stone of grain, it is one tael. One hundred and eighty-seven dan is almost equivalent to the monthly salary of three ministers of the Ministry of War and the monthly salary of one hundred and eighty-seven soldiers.
But the problem is that Zu Dashou is very wealthy. Not only did he not make a counter-offer, he also gave away a thousand war horses as an extra gift.
It was really hard to compare, and Cheng Shijie was startled by the comparison. Only then did Cheng Shijie feel how poor he was.
However, the exchange has been agreed to now, and Zu Dashou's free will not only allowed Zu Dabi to bring a thousand war horses, but also 1.3 million taels of silver, which were divided into 100 taels per ingot and 50 taels. One ingot, two specifications, including 8,000 silver ingots worth 100 taels, 5,000 taels of silver, and cloth worth 250,000 taels.
Guang Yinzi pulled more than a hundred carts, and as the accounting room of the Ning Haijun Military Affairs Bureau began to be delivered, Cheng Shijie sent an order to the Luomashan Coal Mine.
Luomashan Coal Mine now has a daily production capacity of 3.6 million kilograms of coal, and more than 8,000 free laborers work hard here without complaint. There is no need for supervisors at all, they have developed muscle memory.
In fact, on the first day these ancestral army soldiers came here, they secretly colluded and prepared to launch a mutiny while the supervisors were not paying attention. You must know that Ning Haijun is not very good at making rebellions. Guan Ningjun is the most professional.
However, on the first day when these ancestral army prisoners were sent to the Luomashan Coal Mine, the first thing they did was to feed them. The weather was so cold and there was not enough coal in southern Liaoning that many people would freeze to death, especially those responsible for managing the coal mines. The person in question is Zhang Ruyi, the former secretary of Weizuo Qianhu Office in Dengzhou.
Zhang Ruyi came from a poor family. When he was a child, three people in his family starved to death, especially his father Zhang Shengbing. He coughed up blood and died because he had tuberculosis and had no money for treatment. He has endured hardship and knows how miserable the common people are. He originally wanted to study and become a Jinshi, and be a pragmatic official. He did not seek to be remembered in history, but could provide the people with a full bowl of food. He would be satisfied if he was not scolded as a "dog official" a few times.
Zhang Ruyi's idol is Pan Jixun, but it's a pity that he took the exam for eighteen consecutive years, from a childlike boy to a gray-haired boy, but he didn't even pass the exam and remained a child student.
Later, he went to Zuo Qianhu as a secretary. After meeting Cheng Shijie, especially after Cheng Shijie became a guard of Ning Haijun, he and Zhou Yandong were responsible for managing various factories of Ning Haijun.
Zhang Ruyi knew that all prisoners of war or bandits wanted was to have a good meal, so when he used free labor, he also learned the management style of Ning Haijun's soldiers, not seeking good food, but seeking to be well fed.
In this way, more than 8,000 ancestral army soldiers under Zu Zerun arrived at Luoma Mountain and ate hot porridge made from old grains. These prisoners of war began to cry.
Although they arrived in Gaizhou, Liaonan, with more than 13,000 people, in fact, these prisoners of war, including those under Zhang Chun's command, totaled more than 23,000 people. They were able to survive because they had eaten human flesh.
When some people die, they will be eaten by others. Anyway, Jiannu did not give them a grain of food. Only a few senior generals such as Zu Zerun and Zu Zehong could get a little sorghum rice. Even ordinary soldiers had to force If you endure stomach acid and eat human flesh, you will either freeze to death or starve to death.
This hot meal made them feel like they were alive again.
Because they can eat well, these prisoners of war did not cause trouble. Compared with the Daling River, the work in the Luomashan Coal Mine is actually not difficult. The people here are very reasonable. As long as they complete the set target number, they will not miss it. If you beat people for no reason, you will not deduct their rations.
Many Ancestral Army soldiers even believed that being able to dig coal in Luoma Mountain would be a good result.
Of course, this is just what ordinary people think. Zu Zerun, the eldest son of Zu, curses Zhang Ruyi almost every day. As long as there is someone around him, he will be reported. Then he will be given the treatment of cleaning his stomach and intestines, and also the treatment of moving his muscles and bones.
It wasn't until Zu Zerun saw Zu Dabi that he realized that Zu Dashou actually paid 1.3 million taels of silver in order to redeem them.
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "Second General Zu, if we count today, it will no longer be thirty-two days, but thirty-four days. According to the previous agreement, this should be 1.38 million taels of silver. Consider When Master Zu gave Cheng a thousand war horses, Cheng didn’t want the 80,000 taels of silver anymore!”
"Thank you Cheng Shuai for your generosity!"
Zu Zerun lowered his voice and said: "I can do it again..."
"Snapped……"
Zu Dabi slapped Zu Zerun on the face: "Shut up!"
"You are reckless, my nephew is going to accuse Cheng Shuai!"
"Little things, little things!"
Cheng Shijie has always been generous and tolerant towards his customers, his God of Wealth. Although this is the first time, it will definitely not be the second time.
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "If in the future there are soldiers in Guan Ning's army who are captured by slaves, Cheng will also be responsible for snatching them back. Next time we will give them a 20% discount!"
"Farewell!"
"Let's go, don't send me away!"
Zu Dabi also had the urge to beat Cheng Shijie violently. Looking at the generals around Cheng Shijie and countless Ning navy soldiers, Zu Dabi decided to endure it.
A small leak will sink a great ship.
The key is that none of the more than 10,000 Ning navy soldiers from Zu Dabi and below dared to bare their teeth at the Ning navy officers and soldiers, who could easily push Jiannu to the ground and rub them.
Even Cheng Shijie didn't know that he and Ning Haijun became famous all over the world in this battle. Emperor Chongzhen's record in the Battle of Southern Liaoning was fueled by jealousy and told to the world.
Although Cheng Shijie was not promoted, he received a personal reward from Emperor Chongzhen and entered the palace to meet the emperor.
Now it's Cheng Shijie's turn to have a headache. The Chinese New Year is coming soon and he has a lot of troubles. Fortunately, at this critical moment, Cheng Shijie has an excuse to evade.
Li Fang, who had always wanted to get promoted and make a fortune, took the initiative to ask for an audience again.
"Meet the Marshal!"
"No gift!"
Cheng Shijie pointed at the Ning Haijun Military Mansion, which was decorated in a strong industrial style, and said, "Everything should be simple now!"
"Commander!"
Li Fang said hurriedly: "It's time for us to kill the pigs and eat the meat!"
Cheng Shijie was stunned by Li Fang's words: "Kill pigs and eat meat?"
"Yes, a big fat pig, if you kill it and eat its meat, you can have a fat year!"
Li Fang saw that Cheng Shijie had indeed forgotten and reminded him: "The remaining members of the White Lotus Sect!"
"Meng Xianhan!"
Cheng Shijie remembered that it had been too long, and there were too many things. Cheng Shijie thought about it for a while. With the influx of refugees from Liaodong into southern Liaoning, Cheng Shijie could only eat food for half a year at most, so he needed to prepare for a rainy day.
At first, Cheng Shijie did it because he had no strength. Now that the entire Dengzhou Navy has the surname Cheng, he has the absolute strength to kill Meng Xianhan first.
As Li Fang said, killing a fat pig is a good way to celebrate the New Year.
PS: Finally the code is out. The update is slow, so Lao Cheng won't ask for votes. Although he doesn't ask for tickets, don't waste them if you have them.
(End of chapter)
