Shen Yi is not a god who can pinch things and calculate things.
All judgments he made were basically situation analysis based on existing information.
Calculating the accounts, over this period of time, the Qi people stationed along the Huaihe River in the Southern Conquest Army may have suffered casualties ranging from 10,000 to several thousand people.
This number can no longer be described as broken muscles and bones, it can even be said to be missing arms and legs.
After beating himself to the point of being "little crippled", no matter what orders the Northern Qi court gave to the Southern Conquest Army, the performance of the Southern Conquest Army was enough to deliver a satisfactory report to their court.
In other words, before the follow-up troops from the Northern Qi Dynasty arrive, as long as the general of the Southern Army is not stupid, he will not waste his own troops out of thin air.
Of course, the reason why Shen Yi was so certain was not only relying on his own speculations, but also the collection of intelligence from the Di Reporting Department and the internal guards to make such a judgment.
Sure enough, after Shen Yi and others left the Hongze Lake camp and returned to their Huai'an defense line, the Huaihe defense line was calm for half a month. There was no more fighting. Even the Northern Qi spies were not as many as before.
Mr. Shen was also able to return to the imperial mission and rest for a few days, making up for all the energy he had lost during this period.
At this time, it is already the autumn of Hongde's eleventh year.
By the Huaihe River, it is gradually getting colder.
In the study room of Shen Yi's imperial envoy, a young man dressed in commoners stood in front of Shen Yi, bowed his head slightly to Shen Yi, cupped his hands and said: "Sir, a total of fifty telescopes were sent on this trip, all of which are newly made and tuned.
OK."
The person who called Mr. Shen Yi and could deliver a telescope was naturally no one else but Xu Fu, a wealthy businessman from Jiankang.
After Xu Fu paused, he continued: "Compared with the previous batch, this batch of telescopes are clearer and should be helpful to the young master."
Having said this, he paused and continued: "There are also winter clothes that the young master wants. I have sent some in advance and put them in the military warehouse."
Shen Yi was writing a letter at the moment. After listening to Xu Fu's report, he pointed to the chair in the study and motioned for him to sit down and talk.
After Xu Fu sat down, Shen Yi rubbed his eyes, yawned, and then said: "Originally, the Ministry of War or other yamen in the imperial court should be responsible for things like cotton-padded clothes, but I'm afraid that something might happen to them.
, I asked you to send some in advance to prevent problems."
Shen Yi smiled and asked: "Is it not affecting Zixing's business?"
Xu Fu shook his head quickly: "It's a small amount of money, it doesn't matter. The young master may not know that Liulichang's business is very good."
Shen Yi nodded, thoughtfully: "I have rarely been in Jiankang during this period. I really don't know the situation in Jiankang. What is Liulichang like now?"
Xu Fu thought for a while and then said with a smile: "Let me tell you this, Master. During the time when Master was away from Jiankang, at least ten family members of officials of third rank or above came to Liulichang to look for me."
He paused and continued: "Basically, they come here to buy stocks."
"Shit goes in the ass."
Mr. Shen rolled his eyes and said angrily: "Aren't they all jealous when they see you making money? Then they went to ask for money with a face full of shame?"
Xu Fu said with a smile: "Young Master can scold them like this, but I don't dare to offend those great masters."
"You are an imperial merchant, what are you afraid of?"
Xu Fu nodded and said with a smile: "After knowing that it was palace business, they all quit. Some even gave me money, saying that they would just pretend they had never been here."
Mr. Shen curled his lips.
"Fly camp dog dog dog."
After making such a "critical comment", Shen Yi looked at Xu Fu and asked, "Have you learned anything from those two foreigners?"
"It's seventy-seven or eighty-eight."
Xu Fu said: "We no longer need them to make colored glaze. It's just some new things that we still need to study with them."
"That's good."
Shen Yi said with a smile: "In the future, we will invite more foreigners to come over and learn all the good things from them and use them for our own use."
"I came here this time just to tell you about this matter."
Xu Fu stood up, walked to Shen Yi's table, stretched out his hand to pour a cup of tea for Shen Yi, and then said softly: "Although I have been in Jiankang in the past few months, Dazhong Tea Company and Fuzhou Chamber of Commerce have gone overseas.
Business has never stopped."
"Our second batch of merchant ships heading out to sea have already docked in Fuzhou Prefecture."
He looked at Shen Yi and smiled: "This time, we have brought back a dozen Westerners. There should be some talents that the young master wants."
Shen Yi's eyes lit up.
What he wanted most was naturally someone who could make guns and cannons.
However, in the past two years, as his status has gradually risen, his understanding of weapons has become deeper than before.
Although in the future, Western muskets and artillery may be much more powerful than those in China, at least for now, the level of firearms on both sides can only be said to be about the same.
The only difference is that until now, neither the Northern Qi nor the Southern Chen have paid special attention to the development of firearms.
Since the level of firearms between the two sides is similar, Shen Yi is not so enthusiastic about Western firearms craftsmen. What he wants now is scientists among Westerners to use in the future to leave a legacy in this eastern land.
A little seed of modern science.
However, it is also a good thing to have Western gunsmiths.
Mr. Shen's status is not low. With his current status, he can ask the imperial court for a group of firearms craftsmen from the Bingzhang Bureau. When the time comes, let them get together and "combine Chinese and Western", and maybe they can improve the muskets.
There is no need for a gun of the level of later generations. It only needs to be as high as a flintlock gun, and it can be used on the battlefield on a small scale.
Of course, this may take a long time, maybe two or three years, or maybe twenty or thirty years.
But in everything, having hope is always better than having no hope at all.
Thinking of this, Shen Yi looked at Xu Fu and said in a deep voice: "These Westerners are all trying to be sent to Jiankang and find a yard for them to live in."
"Then ask them clearly what they each know and what abilities they have."
Xu Fu nodded and said: "I know that you value these Westerners, sir, and I have already sent people to pick them up in Jiankang. I predict that they will definitely be able to get to Jiankang before the end of the year."
Shen Yi nodded.
"There's no rush for this. Just do it step by step. There's no need to rush."
Xu Fu nodded deeply.
In the following time, the two people chatted about many specific things. It was not until they finished talking for more than half an hour that Xu Fu took out a letter from his sleeve, handed it to Shen Yi, bowed slightly, and said with a smile: "Master, this is from
Since the letter from Fuzhou could not be delivered to Brother Jiang, it was delivered to me and asked me to deliver it to the Young Master."
Shen Yi silently took the letter and glanced at the word "叶" on the envelope. His brows jumped. After opening the letter and reading it once, Mr. Shen closed the letter. He looked at Xu Fu with some helplessness: "
she…"
"Why do you want to come to Jiankang all of a sudden?"
"The Fuzhou Chamber of Commerce is doing very well, and its business is gradually growing."
Xu Fu thought for a while and replied honestly: "I guess I came to Jiankang and have business to do."
Hearing this, Shen Yi rubbed his temples with a headache and said, "Okay, I understand."
He looked up at Xu Fu and said, "It's been a hard journey for Zixing. Let's go and rest first. If anything happens, we'll talk tomorrow."
Xu Fu bowed and left Shen Yi's study.
After Xu Fu left, Master Shen was still in a daze in his study, when his door was knocked again.
"Sizheng, my subordinate Luo Yong..."
Master Shen came back to his senses and coughed: "Come in."
Luo Yong opened the door carefully and walked in. He handed a few envelopes to Shen Yi, lowered his head slightly and said, "Sizheng, this is the information about the Northern Qi reinforcements collected by the brothers."
"Please take a look at it, Secretary Zheng."
Shen Yi unfolded it and after reading it once, he frowned slightly and took a long, deep breath.