At the end of the first month, the armies of Zheng Haizhu and Ma Xianglin returned from the north and south and successfully entered the Pass through the Great Wall at Gubeikou.
Ma Xianglin and Mangui went west and entered the Longmen Guard garrison in Xuanda Town.
Zheng Haizhu and Ma Xianglin's lieutenant went east to meet Jun Jun in Jizhou.
First, Zheng Haizhu wants to return the hundreds of Sichuan troops who followed Chahar to Jun Song. After all, the court has not yet issued an order. Even if these hundreds of soldiers are like the elite servants, they were still eating the military pay provided by Qin Liangyu and Ma Xianglin half a year ago. , Now we can't just let Young Master Ma take him directly to the Longmen Guards.
Secondly, Zheng Haizhu was about to deal with Jun Song. After all, Jizhou Town not only has Shanhaiguan, but also if Daning Town, Xiaolinghe Military Fortress and other national defense facilities are rebuilt, if Daning goes to Chahar and Outer Mongolia's commercial Once the road is opened, Jizhen City will be the starting point for military logistics output, and will also be the starting point for merchants from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the sea to come from the south.
Speaking of juniper, historically it was supposed to have died in the Battle of Sarhu between the Ming Army and Hou Jin Dynasty in the 47th year of Wanli Period. In this time and space, due to changes in the historical trajectory, Juniper not only survived, but after Taichang Emperor Zhu Changluo ascended the throne, he replaced Shaanxi fellow Wang Wei as the new commander-in-chief of Ji Town, and the government office also moved from Shanhaiguan to Jizhou. . It was only because Ma Xianglin, who was originally prepared to replace him as the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, was on the sidelines. Although Shanhaiguan was under the jurisdiction of Jizhen, but had an independent commander-in-chief, Du Song continued to take charge of Shanhaiguan.
"Mrs. Zheng, today, Du can finally thank you in person for the hundreds of heads you gave me."
In the Jizhou General Military Mansion, the sound of juniper trees sounded like a bell, and they heartily bowed their hands to Zheng Haizhu.
Du Song was born as a general and served in the army all his life. With his solid military achievements, he sat in the same position as Qi Jiguang. He was known as "Grand Master Du" at the border. It was unusual for him to come to entertain Zheng Haizhu in person.
The clerks and scribes in the hall, even though they had heard about the Battle of Luanhe River a few years ago, could not help but look at the woman sitting at the bottom with curious eyes.
He is not very young, he is not very old, and his body does not look like someone who can carry a gun and mount a horse. It is really hard to tell that he is also a man who raised a battalion in Nanzhili.
Zheng Haizhu calmly pretended to be eye-level with Du Song, and only spoke with a somewhat gentle tone of a junior: "Mr. Du, you are too polite. The heads of the Tatars in Zhenglan Banner were chopped off by the Sichuan army. Although they They are guest troops, and they are also brought by the General Manager. Naturally, we will be sent into the pass the next day. Besides, the General Manager went to the court to report his merits, which means he reported the merits for me and General Ma. The matter of beating the Tatars , is the loudest now. I believe that even before we entered Chahar, the Long Live Lord, the elders in the pavilion, and the ceremonial supervisors had already mentioned my and General Ma’s names.”
Juniper was blowing tea foam with his head down. When he heard the woman's last few words, he put down the teacup and started laughing.
The smile soon changed to a somewhat cynical joke: "Girl, I have never seen you speak so directly. Are you walking or riding a horse? Oh, can you ride a horse?"
"Go back to the boss. I know how to ride, but I can't go into battle. I'm on my way without delay."
"Well, no matter whether you are walking or riding a horse, are you always thinking about how you can add a few more credits to your list of achievements?"
Zheng Haizhu became more and more calm: "Mr. sir, how can any of our military commanders not want to earn military merit? The younger generation also has Zheng Ziying in South Zhili. The person who made the first contribution in Luanhe this time is me who came from Chongming Island. Gunner group. After this battle, those civil servants who once dragged our artillery factory into the Tatars in front of Long Live Lord, and then continued to impeach me endlessly, can they stop?"
Jun Song sneered: "If I don't say anything about you, a little girl, you should be more young in this court situation. How can those censors, swordsmen, and pen officials stop calming down!"
Zheng Haizhu thought to himself, men, regardless of their seniority or seniority, when they are in a good or bad mood, they all like to find a sense of superiority in front of women because of their experience and sharp insights. He deliberately asked a question in a shallow way, Mrs. Du The teacher immediately became a teacher.
It's good. It just has this effect, giving the other party some emotional value to gain a sense of accomplishment, and the atmosphere for negotiating conditions will be better. For people who really do things, who cares about being taken advantage of by them?
Sure enough, Jun Song quickly figured out that the woman in front of him who knew the rules of the world was actually the same as herself. She was often bitten by civil servants like a leech because of the accidents and negligence that she would inevitably encounter when she was "out there". Blood, in exchange for their political achievements and reputation.
"Teacher Du" could not help but feel a little pity because things hurt his kind. He Yan asked: "You have soldiers and factories. Is the money given by the court enough?"
Zheng Haizhu smiled and said: "No... that's not enough. The firearms factory can just be paid back. The Ministry of War has come forward to take advantage of it and set up rules. The firearms will be shipped directly to Fujian and Liaodong. Governor Shang and General Zhang will collect the money without much delay. . However, when I left the capital for Xuanda last year, I heard from my subordinates who were transporting goods from my hometown that the wages for the soldiers in the Chongming camp had not yet been paid. Fortunately, the soldiers in the Chongming camp began to marry locals, and their families could grow cotton seeds. Food, and the juniors do business two years earlier than recruiting soldiers..."
Jun Song stopped abruptly when she mentioned the word "business". Instead, he showed an expression of "Isn't that right?" and said to the confidants on the left and right: "Look, now... When the Ming Dynasty led troops, how could they not do some business at the same time? Just like the Qi family army, the result was that they lost their lives just to get some money. Losing their lives didn’t count, but they also got spit on by that bastard named Wang and became a traitor. The stigma of the military.”
The cronies sighed in embarrassment. The Qi Jiajun's pay dispute happened in Jizhen decades ago. Their master, who was originally from Shaanxi, did not seem to shy away from scolding his predecessor.
Zheng Haizhu hurriedly answered: "The boss is really a sweet-tempered person. I would like to ask, what kind of goods does the boss like here?"
With a thought in his mind, Jun Song narrowed his eyes and said, "Why do you want to do business with me?"
Zheng Haizhu then described the main products of his "Haoming Trading Company" such as cotton, velvet, brocade, and black tea. Because of his real experience of traveling to Chahar, black tea and cotton can be exchanged for Mongolian fur goods and horses. The price seems particularly credible.
Du Song got many Tatar heads for nothing from Zheng and Ma. He also saw Ma Xianglin's deputy general and his elite soldiers honestly following Zheng Haizhu back to Jizhen. The young Shanxi merchant who claimed to be Zheng's follower also went to Du The government sent two large carts of leather goods. Jun Song had a very good impression of Zheng Haizhu. Now that he heard that she was turning to business cooperation, he ordered his confidants to call his wife, brother and youngest son.
For border generals, the family's business is often managed by relatives such as brother-in-law, but one or two legitimate sons are also placed in it.
Zheng Haizhu had seen this kind of routine operation in Liaodong, Fujian and Xuanda, and understood that Jun Song was really interested in discussing cooperation. She then bluntly told the Du family that if her goods traveled through the canal, several customs taxes would be unavoidable. However, since the Songjiang River had been opened and closed, her ship could transport firearms to Lushun or deliver grain to General Mao's Pi Island. When transporting black tea and cotton cloth, if Du Zongbing can pick up the goods at Shanhaiguan's private port, the price of black tea and cotton cloth will be lower.
Jun Song secretly thought, this woman has so many bad intentions. With her method, it would not be difficult to quietly set up a private port in Tianjin to receive goods, and then transport them to Beijing by land. However, she must be afraid of the many eyes in the capital staring at her, so her own goods in the capital always go through the canal. Pay taxes honestly and don’t smuggle goods by sea.
But by cooperating with him, Juniper, he came up with the idea of entering a private port for shipping. Firstly, it can lower the price of goods, which is more conducive to the Du family's buying low and selling high. Secondly, he also took the initiative to tie up with his Juniper on a rope. It showed that she would not sue him one day for selling juniper and getting rich while complaining to the court about his poverty and asking for pay.
Jun Song touched the gray beard on his chin, smiled at Zheng Haizhu and said, "Let your subordinates talk to Quan Zi directly later."
Zheng Haizhu said: "Thanks to Uncle Du for taking a liking to our gadgets. In two months, this year's first crop of black tea will be shipped from Fujian to Songjiang. Let's try it first and give it to the soldiers in the camps on both sides. Save some money for summer clothes.”
Jun Song curled his lips meaningfully and waved his wife, brother and younger son to leave first. Then he said to Zheng Haizhu: "Girl, you have already called me 'uncle', and I can't pretend to be confused. Are you?" Do you have anything else to say for Ma Xianglin?"
Zheng Haizhu smiled: "Uncle Du is so considerate. However, we don't just want to take away the Sichuan troops from Ji Town to declare Da Ning University. Instead, we want to ask Uncle Du to report to the court together and rebuild Daning Town. General Ma's Soldiers, we are going to Daning Town, and we are guarding the Daling River. This pair of Ji Town and Xuanda are more useful than the four thousand elites staying in this town! Uncle Du has been in charge of the town's military situation for a long time, he must understand Yes, how important it is to have a strong army besides Jizhen and Xuanda that dares to fight the Tatars in the field."
Du Song leaned back on the Grand Master's chair and stared at Zheng Haizhu. After a moment, he nodded: "The Sichuan Army's heart is not with me, so it is useless to force him to stay. I can return it to General Ma, as long as the court approves it. I can also rebuild Daning Town." Mention it to the Ministry of War. But girl, I have to remind you that if there are thousands of soldiers stationed in a place, there will soon be tens of thousands of mouths."
"My uncle is right. Therefore, the trade routes should be opened up. Tax money is accumulated in Daning, and private grain merchants will transport grain there. This is not enough. Farming is needed there. Rice and wheat can be grown near the Xiaoling River. On the hills where rice and wheat grow, sweet potatoes can be grown.”
"Sweet potato?" Juniper chewed on this unfamiliar name.
He had lived in the north for a long time and had never been to the south. He did not know that this species, which was smuggled from Luzon into the Ming Dynasty, had been planted on a large scale in the Sheshan area of Songjiang through Xu Guangqi's vigorous promotion.
"Yes, Uncle Du, sweet potatoes are an imported product from overseas Tibetan countries. They are good to grow and can be managed well. You can also try it in Ji Town. Also, I heard in Xuanda that the famine in Shaanxi is getting worse. The folks in Uncle Du's hometown You can also try it."
Juniper hummed in response.
What he was most concerned about at the moment was that the Tatars and the small Mongolian tribes should not seize and plunder from the north, and whether the servants he raised in the town had enough salary.
As for his hometown in Shaanxi... In the early spring of 1621 AD, Jun Jun and hundreds of other military officers and officials of the Ming Dynasty would have never imagined that the people who would eventually bury the Ming Dynasty were the rogue bandits who started in Shaanxi a few years later.
