Unexpectedly, the cold spring chill shocked the people. Soon after the weather got warmer, spring plowing continued.
Tongzhou is different.
As the gateway to the east of Beijing, the water here meets and merchants gather, especially the passing of rail carriages, making the place even more lively.
Of course, the decisive factor is economics.
This is where Taicang of the Ming Dynasty was located. Food from all over the world was gathered and hoarded in Tongzhou, and then slowly transported to Beijing to supply the army and officials.
It is precisely because of this that an industrial chain centered on Taicang has been formed.
One of the four major battalions of the Beijing Camp was stationed here, and tens of thousands of people were stationed to eat, making the entire Tongzhou economy more prosperous.
Zhao Ernuo carried a load of radishes and wandered to the market town near the military camp. He found a plot of land, picked up a piece of wood and sat down directly.
At this time, the sky was only slightly bright, but the sound of the military bugle was already heard in my ears, which was the wake-up call.
He understood that business was coming soon.
Sure enough, in less than half an hour, hundreds of cooks hurried out of the camp and began to purchase dishes.
Having been near the military camp for many years, he already knew some of the conditions in the army.
For example, in addition to rice for meals in the Jingying camp, the rest of the wine, meat, vegetables, salt, vinegar, etc. must be purchased by oneself.
Among them, each team has its own team headquarters, with three to five cooks responsible for feeding a team of 100 people, which is extremely hard work.
It is precisely because of autonomy that the military has stipulated food standards:
There are 100 people in each team, and monthly meals are 100 yuan.
On average, based on a team of 110 people, the average monthly salary per person is 4 cents, or 800 cents.
That's about twenty-five cents a day, which is extremely abundant.
After all, most of the food grains are provided by the army in unlimited amounts.
Each team has similar standards, but the food is different.
Similarly, the cooks also have vegetable vendors they are familiar with, and after entering the market, they start looking for them in a hurry.
Zhao Ernao soon saw an acquaintance.
A fat man.
"Ten cabbages, ten catties of green vegetables, thirty catties of radishes..."
"In addition, I brought you ten pounds of meat."
The fat man raised his head and rolled his eyes: "The New Year is almost over, don't tell me that you are killing the New Year pig?"
"Wild boar." Zhao Ernuo said with a naive smile: "I bought some of the wild boars that were just hunted in the village, so I didn't want to improve my food."
"The wild boar meat is added separately. The meat is not fat and is too hard. I will give you ten cents per catty!"
As he said that, he took out his wallet without any explanation, counted out three silver coins, and then added another silver cent: "There is still a shortfall of 100 yuan, which will be made up tomorrow."
"Okay!" Zhao Ernuo agreed readily, then drove the donkey cart and the cook to the military camp and entered the kitchen.
After unloading the vegetables and fruits, he nodded with satisfaction: "That's right, they are all round and not a few are rotten."
"That's right, I, Zhao Ernuo, am a member of the military. How can I deceive our brothers in the Beijing camp?"
"By the way, I forgot to ask you, which camp in Beijing is your son in?"
Hearing these words, Zhao Ernuo raised his head, as if he had practiced it many times, and said in a straight tone: "The Xishan Camp is very long now."
"Hey, if this goes a step further, he will be the captain of the team, the rank of right sergeant, and he will receive two salaries."
The cooks all cast envious glances.
After showing off for a while, Zhao Ernuo returned home satisfied.
Unexpectedly, the smoke from the kitchen was curling up in the house, and the aroma of wine came unknowingly.
"You bitch, why don't I cook some meat or vegetables?"
Zhao Ernuo shouted hurriedly: "Boss, I have saved this wine for many years, why did I just take it out for the banquet?"
When he crossed the threshold, he was pleasantly surprised.
"My son, why are you back?"
"Dad!" Zhao Liangchen showed a smile. He looked at the timid elder brother and couldn't help but said: "I'll let you drink."
"What's good about this today?"
Zhao Ernuo squinted his eyes: "Coming back before your holiday is over, there must be something good going on."
"Dad, I was promoted to team leader yesterday."
"That's a great thing!"
The wrinkles on Zhao Ernao's face instantly unfolded, like a blooming chrysanthemum, bursting out with visible joy.
"I heard that your army has promulgated some new regulations. You can become a captain of any kind, and you don't need to bow to the county magistrate!"
"With my son's ability, he will definitely be able to honor our ancestors and get this captain."
"Dad, I'm going to Annan -" Suddenly, Zhao Liangchen showed a wry smile.
"Annan, what the hell is that place?"
Zhao Ernao was stunned, but looking at his son's face, this must not be a good place.
"Thousands of miles away from the capital, my son was selected this time. After being promoted to a higher rank, he went to Annan to fight."
"Clang——"
At this time, the woman holding the dishes suddenly dropped the pottery bowl, and the dishes full of dishes fell directly to the ground. The atmosphere in the entire room fell into an eerie silence.
"Son, you are only 20 years old and you don't even have a mother-in-law. What should you do if you go to the battlefield?"
My mother was crying so hard.
The sister-in-law on the side was packing the vegetables, quickly picked them up on the ground, washed them with water, and presented them again.
Hearing my mother's words and seeing my sister-in-law bending down, Zhao Liangchen couldn't help but feel awkward.
"Okay, stop crying."
Zhao Ernuo sighed, glanced at his eldest son, and said, "Your eldest brother is also useless. After three years of marriage, he still doesn't have a son or a daughter."
"If you are gone, our old Zhao family's incense will really be cut off."
"Dad, there is nothing we can do. This is a military order from the imperial court. Those who disobey it will not have good consequences."
"In such a hurry, I don't even have time to find a wife for you." I cried and said: "My son, why are you so miserable..."
Zhao Ernuo sighed alone, glanced at the timid eldest son and his wife, and shook his head.
This dinner was naturally tasteless.
But after all, they are poor people who are reluctant to waste, so everything is forced into their stomachs.
Zhao Liangchen was lying in the cubicle, feeling bad.
Although he has a good name, it was just a name that my father spent ten years begging for from a fortune teller. He only started to learn to read when he joined the army.
It's a pity that after serving in the army for several years, I finally climbed to this position without even having any heirs. It's really uncomfortable.
He was tossing and turning, the moon shining brightly outside the window made his heart bright.
At this time, the door suddenly opened, and a slightly slender figure entered the window. Then he took off his clothes before his eyes, rolled into the quilt like a white sheep.
"Sister-in-law?"
Zhao Liangchen was shocked.
"Second uncle, don't make any noise——"
The woman's words were like the moan of mosquitoes, radiating heat all over her body.
"My parents said it was too late..."
"I want to leave a queen for the Zhao family..."
For a moment, Zhao Liangchen had mixed feelings.
What nonsense is this?
…
In the capital, Zhu Jing walked around the capital camp. He didn't pay much attention to ordinary soldiers.
After several years of beating and training, even the new disciples who have joined the camp have become strong with sufficient food and training.
Only officers are the top priority.
Because today's team leader may be a battalion leader tomorrow, and in two years he may be a group of guerrilla generals.
Therefore, he often chooses some experienced old officers, or some who are depressed and have few opportunities. They are the foundation for future military expansion.
What's more important is that almost all of these people are single and married, and he basically doesn't want them.
Yes, Zhu Jing is preparing to expand the army.
This does not mean that he does not trust the emperor and does not have any support, but this battle is special.
His trip was not to destroy the country, but to completely conquer it.
In this case, military expansion is inevitable. Recruiting a large number of local soldiers can greatly alleviate the obstacles.
At the same time, a large number of singles can get help in a short time by marrying local people.
After all, the relationship between relatives is the most common and strongest in this world.
Zhu Jing even imagined that as long as one hundred thousand soldiers were sent and all single men were married, Annan would be as stable as a mountain in a few years.
King Qin was puzzled at first, but after learning the truth, he couldn't help but marvel.
After two months of busy work, the five thousand soldiers also returned home and stayed for a few days. After feeling calm, they marched out with their troops.
The emperor did not come to see him off, only King Qin was reluctant to leave.
He held Zhu Jing's hand: "Brother Thirteen, everything depends on you."
"Don't worry, Your Highness." Zhu Jing said confidently: "A mere Saigon is nothing."
After saying that, he left with his head held high and his back showing unspeakable confidence.
A group of people came to Tianjin by boat, and with the help of the Beihai Navy, they arrived at the Zhoushan Islands.
Here, the Donghai Navy relay was sent to Xiamen.
Sun Lin, the commander-in-chief of the Nanhai Navy, held a grand banquet.
He and Zhu Jing were old acquaintances, so they had to give him a good banquet at this time.
Sun Lin said: "If the imperial court captures the huge Annan, looking at the South China Sea to the east and the land to the west, it will be able to intimidate the South China Sea, and the Khmer, Siam, etc. will definitely be afraid."
"It can even be said that those Westerners will shake the port."
"But let me tell you, taking Saigon is as easy as picking something out of a bag."
"After all, the Khmer Kingdom has shown signs of defeat at this time. It is no match for our Ming Dynasty, but it is easy to win but difficult to govern."
"However, it is easy to conquer but difficult to manage."
Having said this, Sun Lin smiled slightly and then lost the rest of the sentence.
Zhu Jing understood, but she was calm about this: "Brother Sun, what can you teach me?"
"The King of Qin is young, so the court naturally doesn't have much help, but everything in the world is for profit, and Saigon must rely on businessmen to run it properly."
Sun Lin leaned forward slightly and said seriously: "Zining, I have been in the south for too long, and my mind has been filled with vulgar things unconsciously, but who in this world can be as clean as water?"
"For example, among the Nanhai navy, many soldiers were tired from traveling all year round. When they saw the wealth of the merchants, they naturally started to think of blackmail."
"I will turn a blind eye to some other personal belongings as long as I don't delay the navy."
"Old Sun, don't talk nonsense to me, just tell me!"
Zhu Jing waved her hands.
"Okay." Sun Lin said with a smile: "Many people in Fujian are short of food. Although Guangdong and Guangxi have a surplus, the price is high, and Jiangnan is also plundering it by sea at this time..."
"I heard that Annan, Saigon and other places have fertile land. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Champa rice was even used. This shows that this place is rich."
"When the time comes for you and me to do business, you collect the grain and I transport the grain. When the time comes, it will be 30-70."
Sun Lin's face was serious: "You are seven, I am three."
"no--"
Hearing this, Sun Lin looked ugly.
"Fifty-five points." Zhu Jing held out five fingers.
Sun Lin was startled.
For a while, the two of them laughed heartily.
When the army arrived in Saigon, there was only one small town.
The army took over in an instant.
However, it is said that the Khmer Kingdom at this time was already in extreme decline.
Two hundred years ago, the glorious Angkor Dynasty fell; sixty years ago, the Khmer Kingdom was invaded by Siamese troops and besieged the capital, and the king fled to Laos.
Today's Khmer king also ascended the throne with the support of Siam and gradually became a dual client of Siam and Vietnam.
Saigon, formerly known as Pego, was renamed Saigon by the Annan Nguyen clan when they invaded the rich Mekong Delta region of Cambodia.
Because of the struggle between Siam and Annan, the Khmer Empire had 22 kings in the past fifty years, and the government was extremely chaotic.
Therefore, Saigon occupied by the Ming army at this time was theoretically the territory of the Khmer Kingdom, but in fact it was occupied by Annan.
As the center of the Mekong Delta, Saigon's status is self-evident.
As soon as she captured Saigon, Zhu Jing couldn't wait to recruit civilians on the spot to expand the city.
The first thing built in the city was not a royal palace, but a Confucian Temple.
"Martial arts are not long-lasting, but literary skills are eternal. This is the best principle in the world."
To be honest, five thousand uniformed soldiers are not a dimensionality-reducing strike for Indochina.
, but it can be considered very powerful.
After Saigon was captured, the Nguyen family was naturally unwilling and immediately sent troops to test the situation.
Facing tens of thousands of people, Zhu Jing remained calm and calm, and simply used her strength to overwhelm their soldiers and horses. There was no strategy, just sheer strength.
The Annan army had almost no armor, and the weapons in their hands were even made of wood, which is surprising and inexplicable.
In this case, the heavily armed Ming army almost overwhelmed its military formation and won the victory without using any force at all.
Immediately afterwards, the Khmer Kingdom sent envoys to express its attachment.
Later, the neighboring kingdom of Champa, which was as big as a palm, also sent envoys to contact it, hoping to get rid of its vassal status.
However, the biggest threat to the Ming army at this time - mosquitoes, caused them to suffer a lot.
Malaria exists because of mosquitoes.
In this case, cinchona can only be supplied in large quantities to alleviate the situation, and the cost is difficult to measure.
Zhu Jing realized that this was unreasonable, and immediately asked the locals for help, and learned about a plant that burns to form smoke, which can smoke away mosquitoes.
Sure enough, after some experiments, the results were great.
In addition to malaria, diseases such as acclimatization, wind and cold, and heatstroke emerged in an endless stream. In addition, snakes, insects, and wild animals caused trouble, and the expeditionary army was devastated.
In just over half a month, non-combat casualties reached 2/3.
This is due to drinking hot water frequently, otherwise it would be even more tragic.