When Guo Song captured Lanzhou in Longyou, he took a fancy to the Yellow River water transportation here. In the past two years, the Hexi Army built a large number of warehouses in Jincheng County to stockpile grain, grass and military supplies. In addition to having a complete supply of grain, grass and supplies, transportation tools were also a top priority.
Hexi itself does not have ships. Although it can build ships, it will take at least two or three years for Hexi to build ships on a large scale. Water far away cannot quench the thirst of the people nearby, so finding ways to use the existing ships has become a top priority.
After the Hexi Army recaptured Shuofang, they obtained more than 140 cargo ships of over one thousand stone from Fengzhou, including sixty two-thousand-stone cargo ships and eighty-seven thousand-stone cargo ships. This was also accumulated over the years after the imperial court approved Fengzhou's shipbuilding.
vessel.
But one hundred and forty-seven ships were still not enough, and the Hexi Army needed to obtain more ships.
There are nearly two hundred cargo ships moored at the Yellow River wharf in Lanzhou, all of which are large ships with two thousand stone. They come from the east of the river, transporting 150,000 pieces of cloth to the west of the river in exchange for three thousand war horses.
This fleet was a one-way delivery, and the war horses did not take the water route when returning, but took a detour directly from Fengzhou. At this time, nearly two hundred large ships had been temporarily detained by the Lanzhou government, waiting for Cang Cao to join the army, Zhang Xu, to arrive from Zhangye.
On a large ship at the pier, the shipowner Jiang Quan was sitting boredly on the deck basking in the sun. The fleet steward sat next to him and whispered: "I found out last night that they didn't monitor at night. We can leave at night."
Captain Jiang glanced at the steward and said: "If it wasn't for the boat, I could leave now and leave us alone, but what about the boat? Where can the boat escape if it escapes at night? They are all in Longyou, Hexi, and Shuofang
They want us to escape and then find an excuse to confiscate the ship."
"What...what should I do?"
Shipowner Jiang sighed, "Now I finally understand the principle of 'Everyone is not guilty, but he who possesses a jade is guilty'. The Yuan family keeps saying that they are renting our ship, but so far, they have not paid a penny. This
I lost nearly a thousand dollars on one trip, and I was worried that the fleet would be forcibly requisitioned by the government when it returned to Hedong. There are currently 500 cargo ships in Hedong, and we only account for 40% of them. The other 60% is still with Li Huaiguang.
, the Yuan family will definitely plot against the fleet, and if they accuse me of collaborating with the enemy, they will behead me, and then confiscate the fleet."
"What does the proprietor mean by saying that we can't go back?"
"I don't know either. Let's see what the Hexi government means!"
At this time, someone shouted: "Proprietor, Magistrate Liu is here!"
Captain Jiang quickly stood up and saw the county magistrate Liu Ying hurriedly approaching with an official. Captain Jiang quickly stepped off the boat, bowed and saluted: "Jiang Quan, a humble citizen, pays homage to the county magistrate!"
"You're welcome, Shipowner Jiang, let me introduce you to him."
Liu Ying smiled and introduced the official next to him: "This is our Cangcao Zhang Canjun of Jiedu Prefecture in Hexi Province. All our money, food and materials are under his control."
Captain Jiang hurriedly greeted him, and Zhang Shu smiled and said, "Where is Captain Jiang from?"
"I am from Anyi County, Xia Puzhou."
"No wonder the accent is a bit familiar. I'm from Wenxi County, Jiangzhou."
Captain Jiang said in surprise: "My wife is from Wenxi County, the same hometown as Zhang Canjun!"
"It's rare! I met a fellow countryman in Hexi."
Zhang Xun smiled again and said: "I came here specially to see the ships of Boss Chiang."
"Zhang Canjun, please feel free to take a look."
Shipowner Jiang was a little nervous. He didn't understand what the Hexi senior official meant by looking at the ship.
He accompanied Zhang Xu on the big ship and introduced: "This is the lead ship, with three thousand stones. It is usually used to store food and supplies. There are many iron rings on the hull, which are used to tie ropes and control the speed and direction of the fleet. It is also the lead ship.
The ship is responsible.”
Zhang Shuzai carefully inspected more than a dozen ships. These ships were well maintained and were 70% new. He asked with a smile: "Has Dongzhu Jiang's family always been in the shipping business?"
"No, I was originally a grain merchant and needed ships to transport grain. Three years ago, the owner of a transport ship company that I had always had a relationship with died. His son wanted to sell the ships piecemeal. I was afraid that I couldn't find a ship to transport grain.
So he bought the entire fleet, a total of one hundred and ninety-eight grain ships."
Zhang Xu nodded, "I'll make it clear that we are in urgent need of ships now. There are two options. One is that we rent the fleet of Boss Jiang, and the other is that we buy the fleet, and Boss Jiang can choose either one."
"
"this....."
Captain Jiang lowered his head and thought for a moment and said, "If I sell it, how much money can you offer?"
Zhang Xu smiled slightly and said, "Based on the original price that Captain Jiang paid for the boat, plus another 20%, this price should be pretty good!"
Captain Jiang blushed and said: "To be honest with Zhang Canjun, the old shipowner's son was eager to get money to pay off his gambling debts and didn't understand the market. I bought the fleet at a very low price, only 40,000 yuan."
, this fleet is worth at least one hundred thousand gold."
Zhang Xu laughed and said: "It seems that Captain Jiang has taken a big advantage, but with all due respect, in these war-torn times, it is very risky to privately own such a fleet. The son of the former owner may not be really stupid. I believe that Captain Jiang understands me."
meaning."
Captain Jiang was a little helpless. The other party was much smarter than he thought and saw the risks clearly. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment and said: "I just maintained these two hundred ships three months ago and repainted them with tung oil three times.
All the rotten parts were repaired, which cost 5,000 guan. There are also five-year contracts for thirty crew members. I don’t want more. The one-time price is 60,000 guan. Can Zhang Canjun accept it?”
Zhang Xu thought for a while and said happily: "Then it's settled, sixty thousand guan!"
Captain Jiang quickly added: "Is it okay to give part of it in cash and part to land?"
"I wonder where Captain Chiang wants the land?"
"The land east of Hedong, Taiyuan Prefecture or the south of Taiyuan Prefecture is fine."
Zhang Xu smiled slightly and said: "Then half and half! Give us 30,000 yuan first, and we will give it to Laoqian. The other half will give us a mansion of 20 acres in Taiyuan City and a manor of 50 acres. We will make a contract.
!”
Captain Jiang was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, "I completely agree!"
.........
Three days later, Zhang Xu personally led a fleet of more than 340 ships to Suizhou. The fleet was fully loaded with food and armor supplies. In addition, nearly 2,000 soldiers traveled by boat to protect the fleet.
Safety.
At the same time, the 30,000-strong Hexi Army also began to gather. In order to prevent the news from leaking and cover up others' eyes and ears, Guo Song ordered the entire army to conduct a cavalry drill. He led the 30,000-strong army to leave the military camp silently at night and march eastward.
........
The 30,000 Youzhou Army was also assembled, and was personally commanded by Zhu Tao. They set out from Jixian County. In the evening, the army camped in Yixian County. In a large marching tent, Zhu Tao was discussing the strategy of capturing Taiyuan Prefecture with several generals.
Zhu Tao was also very obese, slightly two years younger than his brother Zhu Si. He actually took away his brother Zhu Si's inheritance, which caused the two brothers to fall out against each other for many years.
However, Zhu Si had no children, so he made Zhu Tao's second son Zhu Sui his heir apparent. The two brothers completely reconciled. They began to plan to establish the Zhu family empire. The territories of the two brothers must first be connected, and then the north should be unified.
.
Three years ago, when Zhu Si was preparing to launch a mutiny, Zhu Tao acted simultaneously in an attempt to open up the connection between the two and launched the Hedong Campaign. However, he encountered the famous general Li Sheng.
state.
At this time, there were no more famous generals in Hedong, and Zhu Tao had regained his strength. He launched another battle in Hedong and captured Taiyuan Prefecture.
"Everyone, according to the intelligence from the scouts, there are not many troops in Taiyuan City. There are only 15,000 people. The remaining 30,000 people are distributed in the south, in the direction of Jingxing and Feihuxing. Among them, there are 10,000 troops stationed near Guangjingxing Pass.
Six thousand people, accounting for almost half. In addition, their soldiers are divided into first-class and second-class soldiers. The first-class soldiers are the 20,000 people they initially recruited. They have generous military salaries and extremely high training levels. They use the armor of the Tang army. The soldiers
The quality of the armor is very good, and it is the elite of the Yuan army."
After a pause, Zhu Tao showed a trace of contempt on his lips, and continued: "The 30,000 troops recruited last year were second-class soldiers, and their armor was obviously inferior. They generally used leather armor, and the iron quality of their weapons was also relatively poor, and they were not well trained.
, all the officials want to make money, while the soldiers have almost no military salary and just want to live by eating military rations. The combat effectiveness of these 30,000 troops is very weak, and our 5,000 troops can defeat them."
A general said: "Your Majesty wants to go to Feihuxing instead of Jingxing. Could it be related to the combat effectiveness of the enemy soldiers?"
Zhu Tao smiled and nodded, "My scouts and spies have received accurate information. The three thousand enemy troops guarding Fei Huxing made trouble a few months ago because they didn't have enough to eat. Their morale was low. The general Mao Jin'an has been used by me with three thousand guns."
Bought with money,"
Everyone suddenly realized that if this was the case, wouldn't Fei Huxing's defense be useless?