On that day, Liu Zhaosun, Wanli and Fang Congzhe had friendly negotiations and the opinions reached were basically as follows:
1. The emperor must pay 130,000 taels of internal money;
2. The Ministry of War will provide 10,000 kilograms of gunpowder, 1,000 rifles, 1,000 spears, and palladium;
3. The Ministry of Household Affairs must allocate 5,000 shi of grain and 500 oxen;
With the money sent by Kang Yingqian, the staff of the six departments were very active and collected the supplies in only two days.
Of course, except for the 130,000 yuan, which was sufficient, all other supplies were discounted.
Just 50% off.
There are three thousand kilograms of gunpowder, five hundred rifles and bows, five hundred spears and palladium, three thousand kilograms of grain, and no cattle.
In other words, the eighteen thousand taels of silver Liu Zhaosun spent on gifts were exchanged for these things.
Kang Yingqian did a rough calculation and finally concluded that they had suffered a big loss this time, and he couldn't help but become furious.
"It can be considered as making some acquaintances,"
Liu Zhaosun comforted Master Kang.
Huang Kezuan, Minister of the Ministry of War, became an acquaintance of Liu Zhaosun. Historically, this man stepped on the two boats of the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party without capsizing, and he was also a good man.
Huang Kezuan received several thousand taels of silver from Liu Zhaosun. Seeing that his colleagues in the Sixth Department had deceived the young commander-in-chief like this, he felt guilty, so he asked the head of the Ministry of War to take Commander-in-Chief Liu to the Shenji Camp to find some treasures as compensation for him.
The upright person in charge received two hundred taels of silver and took Liu Zhaosun to the Shenjiying warehouse to search for treasures. He suggested that General Liu bring some firecrackers back as a gift for buying gunpowder.
Liu Zhaosun inspected the blunderbuss and found that the blunderbuss bodies were covered with mildew and decayed, and the barrels were also rusty, so he decisively declined the Beijing official's kindness.
These fire cannons had been stored in the arsenal for who knows how many years, and they could easily explode when used. After learning the painful lesson from the last battle of Hunjiang, Liu Zhaosun decided to make his own fire cannons in the future.
Kang Yingqian felt unhappy because he was being tricked by officials from the Six Ministries. He encouraged Liu Zhaosun to go to the Six Ministries again to ask for supplies, from the Ministry of Husbandry to the Ministry of Punishments. No one could be spared. After the money was given but nothing was done, was there any justice?
Liu Zhaosun knew that except for the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War, the other yamen wanted nothing at all. He gave the money as if he was a familiar face, and everything should be discussed in the long term.
Kang Yingqian, however, refused to give up. He scolded Liu Zhaosun for being stupid and spent more than 10,000 taels of silver in vain.
Liu Zhaosun laughed and asked Lao Kang to go to the Ministry of Punishment to ask for a few pairs of shackles or the "Da Ming Law", because these were the only things the Ministry of Punishment could give them now.
"Complaining too much can prevent heartbreak. People should take a broad view of the environment."
Lao Kang stopped talking after hearing this.
On April 30th, the 47th year of Wanli reign, it was at Guangqumen, the capital.
Thirty-six carriages passed slowly through Zuo'anmen, with Liu Zhao and Sun riding in front. The fanatical capital officials threw grains, vegetables and cloth onto the carriages to show their reluctance to leave General Xuanwu. Several Mongolian women even paid homage to General Xuanwu. Throwing silver and jewelry in the car.
"People's hearts can be used!" Kang Yingqian squinted his eyes and said thoughtfully.
The dark and thin Yuan Chonghuan had never seen this scene before, and he was very excited. This man who was about to go to Kaiyuan to take up the post of military commander was very courageous. He stuck his head out of the carriage window and expressed his gratitude to several enthusiastic Mongolian girls. He had just stretched out his arms. When you show your head, you will be attacked by a few rotten vegetable leaves...
Half an hour later, Liu Zhaosun, the commander-in-chief of Kaiyuan, looked back at the blossoming capital for the last time and resolutely rode eastward.
Behind him was a long line of carriages, followed closely by the Commander-in-Chief's Chinese Guards, followed by two hundred and forty soldiers.
During this trip to the capital to offer prisoners to Xuanjie, the proceeds far exceeded Liu Zhaosun's expectations. It can be said that he returned with a full load.
After leaving the capital, Liu Zhaosun asked Kang Yingqian and Yuan Chonghuan to ride ahead and rush to the Tianjin port in advance to purchase grain. He himself escorted the carriage convoy behind.
Ten soldiers escorted Liaodong's patrol commander and Lord Bingbeidao and disappeared on the official road.
As we get farther and farther away from the capital, the roads are muddy and the pedestrians on both sides become sparse. Occasionally, we can meet a few vegetable farmers carrying burdens. When they see this group of soldiers who have returned from offering prisoners, they all stay away as if they have seen a ghost. .
Only the refugees in ragged clothes were not afraid of Liu Zhaosun and the others. They just rolled their eyes and looked at the grain and cloth in the car like evil spirits.
Liu Zhaosun knew that many of them had killed people, because only those who had fallen into hell had such vicious looks.
He had seen an eunuch in Zuo'anmen whose legs were broken by the soldiers and horses. He was sitting paralyzed by the moat, looking up at the passers-by with the same look.
Most of these people were bankrupt farmers nearby, who were forced into this state by the local powerful and evil gentry, turning from humans into ghosts.
Jin Yuji stretched her bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at an eager refugee. Liu Zhaosun stretched out his hand to stop her and said calmly:
"These people don't have the guts to attack us. This place is not far from the capital. Don't kill anyone."
After Liu Zhaosun finished speaking, he took the three-eyed gun from Jin Yuji's hand, pointed it at the sky and pulled the trigger. There was a burst of explosion, and the surrounding refugees dispersed in a crowd.
After passing Shuntian Mansion, there were more and more homeless people on the roadside, and they became more dangerous. Some strong men, three or five people, got together to rob lone pedestrians in broad daylight.
Liu Zhaosun looked coldly at the refugees not far away from his horse. He held a lance in his hand and his eyes were sharp. The refugees consciously stayed away from this murderous god.
At this time, the area the carriage passed through was only a few dozen miles away from the capital, but it could be so chaotic. The refugees were robbing the official roads during the day. Even Liu Zhaosun found it a bit incredible.
Qian Zong Wang Erhu ordered the soldiers to strengthen their vigilance. Fifty soldiers armed with long guns drove away the groups of refugees. The special service team released five people who stayed at night to conduct sentinels for five miles around.
Liu Zhaosun rode forward, and Jin Yuji quickly followed.
Song Yingxing was chatting with several soldiers at the back of the team, walking hard on the official road on the muddy dirt road.
He could not ride a horse and did not want to ride in a carriage, so he fell behind the team. Liu Zhaosun was afraid that the scholar would be robbed by the refugees, so he sent two soldiers to protect him.
Song Yingxing's current identity is no longer the impoverished Juren of Jiangxi Province, but the magistrate of Anle Prefecture in Kaiyuan.
In the sixth year of Yongle (1408), the Ming court established Anle and Zizai prefectures in Kaiyuan. Since Liaodong was a foreign land at that time, the Ming Dynasty had extremely limited control over the Kaiyuan area. Although these two prefectures were established, they were actually just Set up in Kaiyuan City.
To put it bluntly, these two states have no actual control areas, they are just two short-term units, because after leaving Kaiyuan City, the Jurchen and Mongolian territories were outside. If you want to control others, you have to ask whether they agree.
Apparently, the Mongols and Jurchens disagreed. Later, Zizai Prefecture moved to Liaoyang, leaving Anle Prefecture in Kaiyuan, which also became a virtual shell.
Liu Zhaosun observed along the way and found that Song Yingxing was kind-hearted, but sometimes a little stubborn and did not know how to adapt. He was completely opposite to a political veteran like Kang Yingqian.
Liu Zhaosun thought a lot about letting Song Yingxing serve as the magistrate of Ge'anle Prefecture.
In the Ming Dynasty, the rank of magistrate was Cong Wu. For Song Yingxing, this was an exceptional promotion. After all, he was just a civil servant. It should be noted that the top three scholars like Yuan Chonghuan and Sun Chuanting started their career as county magistrates in remote areas.
The magistrate of Anle Prefecture does not even have an office at this time, and is listed under the name of the General's Office. It is a completely idle job (at least for now), which is especially suitable for Song Yingxing to take time to engage in his scientific research.
Song Yingxing was also very satisfied with this arrangement. Before leaving, he bid farewell to his brother Song Yingsheng, told his brother to take good care of his mother, and then embarked on the long journey to Liaodong with General Liu.
The team continued eastward without talking all the way, and arrived at Tianjin Wei Zhangjiawan in the afternoon of the second day.
Kang Yingqian, Yuan Chonghuan and the others were waiting at Zhangjiawan Pier early. When they saw Liu Zhaosun coming with his troops, Kang Yingqian let out a long sigh.
Liu Zhaosun dismounted from his horse and looked around and found dense sacks piled up on the dock, all containing purchased grain.
Hundreds of trackers and refugees gathered around the grain, and a few green men were making noise outside.
The ten soldiers brought by Kang Yingqian formed a circular formation with long spears. They were not afraid of the crowds and stood firmly around the food.
The skinny Yuan Chonghuan also drew his sword and stood in front of the soldiers. This Guangxi native with a Jinshi background had the Cantonese fighting gene flowing in his blood, and he was not afraid to fight with a group of Tianjin trackers.
"General Xuanwu is finally here. I'll be carrying a knife to kill people soon!"
Kang Ying wiped the sweat from his forehead, took the coconut scoop handed over by Liu Zhaosun, took a sip, and continued without enough time to wipe off the water drops on his beard:
"It's true that the commander of the Tianjin Guards said that he would send soldiers from the water camp to help us buy food. Niang Xipi, I bought food, but not a single soldier was killed. Instead, here came this group of trackers who killed thousands of people, and Qingpi,"
Kang Yingqian, Yuan Chonghuan and the others arrived at Tianjin Guard yesterday and soon found Mr. Lu, the commander of Tianjin Guard.
After sending two hundred taels as a meeting gift, the deal was quickly completed. It cost more than 10,000 taels to buy 5,000 shi of grain, and another 3,000 taels to hire fifteen lucky boats. The money and goods were cleared.
When the food was about to be moved to the ship, Commander Lu suggested that the Liaodong Patrol Guard should spend some money to hire Shuiying soldiers to guard the food. There were many refugees coming to Tianjin Guard these days, and they were worried about food insecurity.
Kang Yingqian was furious after hearing this. He didn't bargain much for the tens of thousands of taels of silver. He didn't know how much money the man named Lu made. Now he wanted to rip off himself. Kang Yingqian usually did it to others. This time he went to the capital and was tricked twice in succession. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He felt that he also led troops and did not need to worry about a few thieves, so he decisively rejected the greedy commander.
As a result, the next day, that is, today, hundreds of trackers suddenly came to the Zhangjiagang pier, and some green skins were instigating in the distance. Thousands of stones of grain on the lucky ship, together with those on the shore that had not yet been loaded onto the ship, were destroyed. They blocked the port. It was said that Kang Yingqian and the others blocked the trackers' business and asked them to pay before leaving, or to leave a thousand stones of grain on the shore that had not been transported to the ship.
Fortunately, Liu Zhaosun and his soldiers arrived in time, otherwise if it were delayed for another half hour, the consequences would be disastrous.
After Liu Zhaosun understood the reason, he sneered and said:
"Master Kang, when you buy food on Commander Lu's territory, of course you must follow his rules."
Kang Yingqian was about to scold Liu Zhaosun for speaking for others, but saw him take off a heavy knife from his horse and slowly draw it:
"But Mr. Lu, after taking our money, he also wants to extort food. It's too dark!"
At this time, several green men came towards this side with their heads tilted. They glanced at Liu Zhaosun's civilian clothes and thought that Liu Zhaosun was just a commander of guest soldiers who were aiding the Liao Dynasty. Everyone had a look of disdain on their faces.
Tianjin Wei is adjacent to the sea to the east, the Haihe River to the west, water transportation to the south, and the capital to the north. The geographical location is extremely advantageous. It can be said that it is the transportation throat between Liaodong and the capital. Before the Saarhu, a large number of guest soldiers gathered in Tianjin and entered Liaodong.
Tianjin's gangsters are among the best in the north. These gangsters are ruthless and vicious, ranging from threatening officials passing by to bullying ordinary people, and they dare to do anything outrageous.
Behind the rampage of Qingpi is the support of the masters from Tianjin Biaoying and Shuiying. They love to bully merchants passing by from other places. Generally speaking, merchants who suffer losses outside will only consider themselves unlucky. There is no way to retaliate.
In addition to the merchants, they are also merciless to the guest soldiers. As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake, and what kind of guest soldiers are they are all well-known. Many soldiers from Henan are not even allowed to wear fat coats and are so skinny. Worse than a beggar on the street.
Seeing that he could extort some money again today, this little boss with a white cloth on his head suddenly appeared in front of him. How could he not hate this young man who had been waiting here all night?
"Kill him! One leg costs ten taels, one hand costs five taels! Come on together!"
