Zhang Yanling and his party set off on their way home by boat on the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. The affairs in Guangzhou Prefecture went very smoothly. With Wang Shouren's great assistance, the officials from all levels of Guangzhou Prefecture also cooperated very well, so the progress was very fast.
Guangzhou has always been a port city, and the business atmosphere is already good. Local businessmen are flexible, good at business, and know how to seize opportunities. Therefore, when various preferential policies were promulgated, there was an immediate boom.
At Zhang Yanling's suggestion, the local government and local merchants jointly plotted several pieces of land around the Pearl River Pier. A gathering place for the construction of workshops, dyeing, weaving, lacquerware and other handicraft workshops. According to the plan, an industry will be formed
Centralized large-scale workshops facilitate centralized procurement of overseas goods.
In addition, a large shipyard and a medium-sized shipyard were planned in the deep water area on the other side of the Pearl River Pier. The funds were raised by local businessmen themselves. But Zhang Yanling made a promise to them, and Zhang Yanling was the matchmaker in terms of shipbuilding technology and talent training.
They select people to go to Longjiang Shipyard to study, and will send shipbuilding masters from Longjiang Shipyard to provide guidance for half a year, so that they can quickly master the technology of manufacturing large and medium-sized sea-going ships.
In addition, the expansion of the Pearl River Wharf is also being carried out by the Guangzhou Shipping Division. As the outlet for southern maritime trade, the original wharf must be transformed to meet the large amount of cargo handling work in the future.
The Port Authority under the Guangzhou Shipping Department is responsible for expanding the wharf, building cranes, and building large cargo yards and storage areas. Although the budget for these facilities is as high as one hundred thousand taels of silver, the Guangzhou Shipping Department does not have that much money for the time being. But Zhang Yanling asked them to
Raise funds through share bidding.
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This was actually an empty-handed approach. Officials thought they would not be able to raise this amount of money. However, on the first day of the announcement, the one hundred thousand taels of silver, which accounted for 30% of the port's shares, was provided by a
It was claimed by someone who did not want to reveal their specific identity.
The officials of the Municipal Shipping Department were surprised. How did they know that the backend of this mysterious merchant who did not want to reveal his identity was the Ming Dynasty Trading Company established by Zhang Yanling and several princes.
Investing in this kind of infrastructure is the most cost-effective. After the dock is built, the leasing of the ships at the dock, the cargo yard, the warehouse, and the usage fees of various facilities on the dock. That is a steady stream of money. Zhang Yanling is not a saint.
, if the Ming Dynasty Trading Company wants to make money, it must take advantage of the development of sea trade to make a fortune, so it is natural to give priority to being close to the water.
Zhang Yanling was quite conscientious. For one hundred thousand taels of silver, he only received 30% of the shares, and 70% went to the imperial shipping company. This was Zhang Yanling's consideration for the imperial court.
Moreover, Zhang Yanling does not earn money solely for the purpose of enriching his own pockets. The amount of money he has invested in the research and development and manufacturing of the arsenal has already exceeded three to four million taels. He does not make money for his own enjoyment, but will further invest in it.
, including the subsequent research and development of various firearms, as well as the construction of the Machinery Manufacturing Bureau that Zhang Yanling is conceiving.
Zhang Yanling actually had the idea of the Manufacturing Bureau for a long time. The smelting and manufacturing process needs continuous improvement. It cannot be achieved by just relying on piecemeal work. It requires the concentration of specialized talents to study, from quantitative changes to qualitative changes, and to brainstorm to complete some breakthroughs in technology and manufacturing.
This kind of thing may sound hopeless, but Zhang Yanling knows that the development of human science and technology will inevitably continue to advance. What is needed is to provide suitable soil, and eventually it will be like the stars in the sky, one by one.
lights up, eventually forming a brilliant galaxy filled with stars.
There were only more than twenty days before the New Year, and the Star was heading north along the sea route against the wind, so it had to use manpower to row the boat to speed up. On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Yanling and his party arrived in Nanjing.
The reason why I passed through Nanjing Mansion again was to pick up Zhu Qingyi, her son, and Xu Youtang's mother back to the capital. Zhu Qingyi had stayed in Nanjing to deal with the shipping company's affairs, and did not follow Zhang Yanling to Guangzhou Mansion. They had arranged to go back to Beijing to celebrate the New Year together.
Mrs. Xu went to the capital to take care of her daughter because she found out about Xu Youtang's pregnancy.
When arriving at Nanjing Pukou Pier, Zhang Yanling unexpectedly saw Chen Shiyi on the pier. He was immediately surprised.
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Chen Shiyi obviously came to the dock specially to wait for Zhang Yanling.
Zhang Yanling stepped off the boat, and Chen Shiyi immediately stepped forward to salute.
"Why did you come to Nanjing? What happened?" Zhang Yanling was keenly aware that something must have happened.
Chen Shiyi pulled Zhang Yanling aside and quickly reported the news that the imperial court had sent troops to retake Hetao and conduct a large-scale battle with the Tatars. Zhang Yanling was so shocked that he could not speak for a long time.
"Did I hear you correctly? How come they suddenly sent troops to the Hetao? A large-scale battle with the Tatars? In such a season, braving the severe cold and carrying out a large-scale battle with the Tatars? Is this crazy?" Zhang Yanling was dumbfounded.
"It's absolutely true. Duke Ding and Duke Ying failed to stop him. So I was sent to Nanjing a month ago to report to the Duke and ask him to return to the capital immediately. It snowed twice in the capital, the roads were not smooth, and the rivers were frozen.
It took me nearly twenty days to arrive in Nanjing by land
.But I learned that you have already gone to Guangzhou. I heard Mr. Xu Gao say that your father-in-law is going back to Nanjing to pick up someone, so I stayed here to wait for him. After all, if I rush to Guangzhou again, it will cost more than ten dollars.
There is still a possibility of missing the twenty days." Chen Shi said.
Zhang Yanling calmed down, frowned and said: "You mean, this incident happened a month ago? It happened at the end of October?"
Chen Shiyi said: "It's the end of October."
Zhang Yanling said: "In other words, the imperial court has sent troops?"
Chen Shiyi said: "Yes, I am leaving on the second day of November. The day before my departure, the imperial court issued an order to divide the troops into four groups from Datong, Yansui, Ningxia, Xuanfu, to attack Hetao at the beginning of November."
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Zhang Yanling frowned and said: "So anxious? You are deliberately avoiding me. Whose idea was it? Why did the emperor agree?"
Chen Shi said: "I'm not very clear about the details. I just heard from Duke Dingguo that the Tatars were gathering in Hetao and there seemed to be signs of attacking Yansui. Yang Yiqing and Yansui's general Ma Ang reported to the court. For some reason, Bao Bao
The Duke suddenly proposed in the palace to recover the Hetao and unexpectedly annihilate the main force of the Tatars.
Yang Tinghe and others strongly agreed. The emperor did not object and decided on the matter quickly. Duke Dingguo proposed to wait for you to return to Beijing before deciding, but they were rejected. They said that there is no need to wait for the Duke Protector of the country to decide this matter.
Return to Beijing, because this is a matter for the outer court and the frontier army, and the military situation is urgent and cannot be delayed."
Zhang Yanling cursed angrily, closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, and understood everything. This was of course Yang Tinghe's fault. After his previous proposal to attack the Hetao was rejected by himself, he took advantage of his departure from the capital to concoct this incident. Then
Zhu Hui must have colluded with him.
Naturally, the foreign court used this matter to reverse their situation. But Yang Tinghe's doing so was an extremely dangerous adventure. It was likely to lead to a catastrophe.
"This group of people are so cruel that they are all crazy. These damn dogs are so crazy that they don't care about the safety of the country. Your Majesty... oh... why did this stupid thing lose his head again? This
Has it only been quiet for a few days? This stupid thing
.The Northern Expedition in the middle of winter? It’s simply ridiculous. Are the Tatars just papery? If they are so easy to be annihilated, how come the Ming Dynasty has been unable to do anything about them for so many years? Why are they still being beaten passively? If you want to fight, you can’t be so hasty, I’m afraid it’s going to happen
Something big happened."
Zhang Yanling didn't know how to feel in her heart, but she was quite helpless. She thought that the emperor could become more cautious and smart, but in fact this was not the case. She thought that those people would have a bottom line in national affairs and would not be crazy. Facts have proved that they
It's also wrong.
But, what can I do? The Ming Dynasty is so huge that even the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty cannot control everything, so how can I do it? In terms of status and position, my power is actually very weak, and I can only control a part of what I can control.
.
Zhang Yanling felt waves of powerlessness.
"Master, what should I do? Do you want to prepare your horses and rush back to the capital? Stop this?" Chen Shi asked in a low voice when he saw Zhang Yanling's gloomy expression.
Zhang Yanling originally wanted to prepare his horse and rush back to the capital immediately, but he quickly gave up this idea.
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"No need, just rush back to the capital before the year as planned. I will pretend that I don't know about this matter. What if I rush back to the capital now? It has been more than a month, and the border troops have probably entered the Hetao and started fighting.
The deal is done. What will happen if I go back? The Emperor has already decided, so how can he take it back? The Emperor has already decided.
He was not deceived, he wanted to do this in his heart, otherwise how could he have issued the order. I went back to see him, and he would not give up. My only hope now is that they can defeat the Tatars in one fell swoop.
Or...after being defeated, we can quickly wake up and escape with the minimum cost." Zhang Yanling sighed.
…
South of the Hetao, on a vast stretch of desolate Gobi, a severe snowstorm was raging. The weather was freezing cold, and there was no life or habitation for hundreds of miles around.
But in this severe cold wind and snow, the four armies from the Xuanfu area of Yansui, Datong, Ningxia are marching hard in the wind and snow. They are entering the Gobi Desert south of the Hetao from four directions, heading for the attack
The Ming Dynasty border troops in Baichengzi, where Tatar soldiers and horses gathered.
In early November, the imperial court officially issued a decree to recapture the Hetao. The Left Route Army, commanded by Yang Yiqing, the Trilateral Commander, and Ma Ang, the Yansui Commander-in-Chief, crossed the Great Wall Pass on the Ming Dynasty border from Ningxia Town and Yansui Town and broke into the Hetao area.
Attack the two towns of Baichengzi from west to east with 50,000 troops each, totaling 100,000 troops.
The 100,000-strong right-leg army led by Zhu Hui, the protector of the country, and Li Junqing, the deputy general of Datong, attacked Baichengzi from east to west.
At the same time, Cao Yuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, personally went to Yulin Town to take charge of the task of arranging food, fodder and logistical supplies for the troops. Yang Tinghe formed the Military Aircraft General Affairs Department in the capital to comprehensively handle the logistics of troops and horses.
The imperial edict was issued in early November, and twenty days later the four armies gathered and set off. They braved the severe cold and set foot on the Great Gobi Desert, marching towards Baichengzi in the freezing wind.
Along the way, the Ma'ang Division of the Left Route Army occupied three Tatar forts on November 22, annihilating three Tatar troops stationed at the forts, and annihilated more than 400 enemies. Li Junqing of the Right Route Army captured the Red Salt Pond.
, rush to the southwest and cut off the northeast passage of Baichengzi.
The two armies formed a pincer shape and surrounded Baichengzi. The Tatars seemed to know nothing except sporadic attacks.