Chapter 75 Although the shipping is very good, it is a pity that it is not suitable for collecting m
After negotiating the operation of the Wanfu official position and reaching a "long-term strategic cooperation intention" with Zhou Yanru.
The communication atmosphere between the two parties finally became completely harmonious, which was also within Shen Shuren's plan.
Because after all, he would still use Zhou Yanru for more than a year, or even nearly two years.
If you can talk about long-term profit sharing, don't talk about a one-time deal with one thing for one price. Only in this way will the other party have the motivation to always do good things for you.
Moreover, in order to help Zhou Yanru subtly strengthen this understanding and feel that both parties are "partners who can prosper together," Shen Shuren quickly put forward a new, harmless supplementary demand.
I only heard him say without leaving a trace: "I am so grateful to you, I would like to persuade your Majesty to entrust this official with a heavy responsibility. I should do my best to report your majesty's heavenly kindness and reward your Majesty for your appreciation."
Xianguan suddenly thought that there is one more thing to do. Xianguan can share the worries of the court and make contributions to the elders. The elders don't have to pay any price. As long as they help mediate and allow Xiaguan and his son to do things expediently, it will be both public and private.
"
Zhou Yanru felt nervous again at first, thinking that Shen Shuren was trying his best and wanted more official positions. He quickly looked at him warily and asked cautiously: "What kind of job do you want to ask for?"
In his opinion, the so-called "sharing the worries of the imperial court" means asking for a new official position!
As soon as Shen Shuren saw the other person's expression, he knew that he had misunderstood, and he quickly said with a smile: "Mr. Ge is worried too much. He can't even talk about errands. That's what it is - you should know that our Shen family has been together since two years ago.
Then he was authorized by His Majesty to reorganize water transportation and transform water transportation into sea transportation.
In the past two years, our Shen family has built one or two hundred Yellow Sea sand ships every year, and now they can carry half of the imperial court's grain. Originally, His Majesty promised to spend five years to gradually and completely transform water transportation into sea transportation.
Although only half of it has been changed now, this transportation capacity is enough to transport all the official and military rations needed by Liao Dynasty directly to the Bohai Sea coast via the Jiangnan sea route. If it is used to transport people, according to the Shen family's existing four to five hundred ships
The transport capacity of large ships is more than a hundred people per ship. As long as the ships are packed together, it is more than enough to transport 50,000 troops across the sea..."
Zhou Yanru frowned more and more after hearing this. He didn't know what Shen Shuren's plot was for a while. He quickly raised his hand to stop Shen Shuren from further laying the groundwork: "Just be straightforward and keep the story short! What exactly are you going to do!"
Chen Shuren took a deep breath: "Xiaoguan is sincerely sharing the worries of the imperial court - Mr. Ge must have heard that Commander Hong was defeated in the field battle between Songshan and Huang Taiji in September last year. Eight of his subordinates were defeated.
Four of the soldiers fled and one died.
"First Evolution"
The remaining three generals are only in the three fortresses of Songshan, Xingshan and Tashan, clinging to the city and lingering. With the imperial court unable to reinforce the army and breaking the siege, I am afraid that when the food is exhausted, Governor Hong will die heroically.
.
The lower official and his father had been favored by the country. Although they were unable to fight the Tatars, they still wanted to be authorized to do so cheaply. When transporting grain to Liaodong by sea, they often patrolled the coast to learn about the latest war situation and reported it to the court.
If we can, we will respond. If the imperial troops and horses in these three fortresses are defeated, or if they break out of the siege and can escape to Tashan or Beacon Mountain, I, Caoding of the Shen family, will rescue and withdraw from the sea, so as to serve the imperial court.
Save a few more of Liaodong's elite and brave warriors——
These soldiers all defended the isolated city for Governor Hong for more than half a year. They were the most loyal and brave soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. It would be a pity to die in vain at the hands of the Tatars.
It's just that this matter, after all, is not within my father's authority. My father only has the power to transport food for the Liaodong army and cannot participate in the war. Therefore, I am afraid that I will need Mr. Ge to help operate it after he returns to Beijing.
My Shen family does not need the imperial court to allocate food and supplies to the people. All we need is the title of "canal protector", so that the canal protectors under my father can do things easily.
And if you can gain something, it will be a political achievement that cannot be underestimated for you, Mr. Ge. Hong Chengchou's mess was caused by himself. At that time, Mr. Ge had not been reinstated, but after you took office, you helped solve it.
Part of the mess, Your Majesty will definitely trust you more and more."
Zhou Yanru's frowned brows relaxed.
Indeed, this is purely a good thing that brings huge profits. Anyway, if nothing was done, Hong Chengchou and his people would be regarded as a complete loss. The Shen family is willing to spend their own money to rescue one by one.
I had just been re-appointed by Chongzhen, and I really needed the new official to make some achievements in all aspects to stabilize his position. Recovering some military losses in the Tartar battlefield was also a very important political achievement.
Zhou Yanru still couldn't believe it, so he couldn't help but ask more deeply: "What exactly does the Shen family want? Are you willing to spend such a large amount of money?"
When Shen Shuren heard him ask about the specific details, he knew that there was something serious about this matter, and he was at least 80% accurate.
He hurriedly said: "For example, if some of my Shen family's cronies are given military titles such as naval deputy general and staff general, and they are in charge of maritime escort, then our Shen family will have a legitimate name, and some of the servants and sailors will be converted into imperial cavalry. Finally,
The authorization for this matter should be flexible and not urgent.
After all, the war situation is changing rapidly. If we have planned in advance and His Majesty has expectations, if we have to rescue any of the defenders in the three cities mentioned above, we will inevitably be handcuffed. Once the information is leaked, it will be easier for the Tatars to
Those who take advantage of it will be harmed by it.
It's not that I can't trust the Gonggun princes in the court, but that there are really too many greedy and traitorous people in the Ming Dynasty. From Nu'er Hachi to today's Huang Taiji, all the ministries in the capital are probably all
Some have collected Tatar gold and silver and sold information to the Tatars.
As long as more people know about His Majesty's decisions on Liaodong, there will be no one who will not leak the secrets in the end. If this matter is to be successful, we must not impose any tasks on the Shen family. Don't let His Majesty know from the beginning to the end, and let us act according to the situation.
Give up if you don’t have a chance. It’s not too late to report the matter after it’s done.”
When Zhou Yanru heard the end, he felt quite ashamed and pulled his beard twice.
He also knew that the Ming court's intelligence secrecy was rubbish. The Tatar traitors could spy on it every time, and they could often use counterintuitive tactics against the Ming Dynasty.
The Shen family wants to make their own decisions and act expediently, and they really have no reason to refute it.
As for what benefits the Shen family wants to gain, Zhou Yanru has not yet fully figured it out. However, through rough deduction, he can also guess that the Shen family may want to gather some defeated soldiers, capture them, and take advantage of the opportunity to serve the country and the people, and also slightly strengthen them.
Check your own strength.
But Zhou Yanru felt that this was nothing. Others took risks to do things, and there was nothing wrong with him getting a little by the way.
The number of troops that will be rescued at that time will be discounted in terms of establishment, and some defeated troops who are unwilling to go to Liaodong to die will be recruited by themselves. This is something that the imperial court can keep in the accounts and conceal the past.
Even if Zhou Yanru wanted to break his head, he couldn't be bold enough to think that Shen Shuren wanted to be a warlord. At most, he thought that Shen Shuren was responsible for chasing down Zhang Xianzhong, and was worried that he didn't have enough elite soldiers under his command to fight against the bandits in the future.
, this is just to shake more people.
As long as His Majesty is there, who acts vigorously and resolutely to prevent the slightest change, it is impossible for a real warlord vassal town to appear in the land of Ming Dynasty! There is nothing to worry about!
Zhou Yanru finally made up his mind: "Okay, this matter is up to you. Anyway, just don't delay the transportation of military supplies to western Liaoning. What else do you want your servants and ships to do? As long as you have merit, I will
I will give you posthumous recognition and ask for credit afterwards."
Shen Shuren strikes while the iron is hot and deepens the other party's stereotype:
"Thank you, Mr. Ge Yucheng. It seems that providing your house with year-round dividends and monopolizing the new spinning machine business in Changzhou House is the most fortunate decision made by our Shen family. In this way, our Shen family dares to be shameless.
This time I ask for help from Mr. Ge."
Zhou Yanru was stunned for a moment and was finally caught up in this set of words.
It turns out that the Shen family was so serious about giving money every year, instead of giving it every time, because they expected to cooperate with him all year round and share the credit.
However, the Shen family is indeed capable and can often make meritorious deeds. This kind of cooperation is a win-win situation and there is nothing wrong with it.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yanru was completely pulled onto Shen Shuren's warship.
…
"I didn't expect my nephew to be so knowledgeable about calligraphy and painting. Judging from your knowledge, you are not inferior to me back then. I'm afraid you are a talented person. You only got a low ranking the year before last. You must have been trapped by someone who flattered you. Next time
When you have time, you must come back to discuss appreciation.”
When Zhou Yanru and Shen Shuren left Qiu Weizhen's study, chatting and laughing happily, they talked about Tang Yinwen Zhengming's calligraphy and paintings naturally with such acting skills.
Outsiders can't see any awkwardness at all. Even if a knowledgeable person gets closer and hears the details clearly, they will only feel that Mr. Zhou Ge and Shen Daotai are indeed elegant people. The details of their comments and appreciation can hit the point.
It's a pity that everyone is a smart person. Qiu Weizhen already knew what they were going to do, but he could only pretend not to know, to give each other face, and to chat with Tang Yin for a while.
The reason why Qiu Weizhen is so supportive is not because the Shen family has paid him a lot of money temporarily, but because the Shen family has always been very polite to him.
Shen Tingyang has been serving as the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing for more than half a year. Basically, during every year and festival, he would give Qiu Weizhen gifts ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of taels of silver.
This kind of friendship that is laid before nothing happens is stronger than giving money temporarily when something happens. Shen Tingyang is actually very clear about his thoughts. He is already famous. He just hopes that Shangguan will not cause trouble to him in the last two years, and everyone will strive for a smooth transition.
.
Qiu Weizhen's age is there. Historically, it was the sixteenth year of Chongzhen's reign that he should retire and return to his hometown. He would be sixty-seven by then. Shen Tingyang had merit, energy, and money to pave the way. By the sixteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, he was promoted to another rank.
Everyone was happy to have accepted the title of Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing.
The banquet had just ended, so after everyone returned to the hall, they chatted around the newly served tea and fruit. A group of people who had their own interests, but there was no conflict of interest, negotiated in such a cowardly manner that they would share all the stolen goods.
When the time came, everyone unknowingly started talking about Zhou Yanru's trip north to Beijing in two days.
Out of professional habits and to express goodwill, Shen Tingyang made an impromptu comment, complaining that Zhou Yanru still chose to go north via the canal, which was quite inconvenient, and there were also small groups of thieves running along the road.
"... Mr. Ge probably doesn't know much about shipping. In fact, since the imperial court experimented with water transportation instead of sea transportation, Ming Dynasty's sand ship technology and size have made a lot of progress in the past three years. Now we can take a sea ship to go north to Tianjin.
It’s not bumpy at all, and it can avoid bandits along the canal.”
However, as soon as this statement came out, Zhou Yanru felt a little embarrassed, so he had to forcefully say that he was old and frail and could not tolerate any bumps in his life, and dropped the topic.
Only Shen Shuren reacted quickly and immediately kicked his father under the table to signal his father not to brag about this issue. Shen Tingyang was disappointed and stopped.
It wasn't until evening that everyone left Qiu Mansion and dispersed. On the carriage home, Shen Tingyang asked about what had just happened: "Lin'er, what did you mean just now? As a father, you can only brag about water luck when you meet someone.
The advantage of sea transportation is that Mr. Zhou Ge came to Beijing to be the chief assistant. Let the chief assistant know more about the advantages of sea transportation. Even if he knows that he cannot take sea ships, there is no harm."
Chen Shuren shook his head helplessly: "Of course there are disadvantages! Although my father is just talking about the matter and not the person, he only wants to emphasize the technical advantages of maritime transportation, but how will it be interpreted in the ears of a caring person?
Doesn’t Zhou Yanru feel that you are disgusting him, sarcastically urging him to restrain himself, and blocking his way to make money? Even if Haiyun takes office, there are many advantages, but there is one biggest disadvantage. It is destined that I, a Ming official, will never choose to go north to Beijing.
——
We took the sea route and arrived in Tianjin in just a short breath. How could we find excuses to stop at each city for a few days and let others pay their respects to the dock?
Zhou Yanru went to the capital, Huai'an, and Linqing. Every node on the canal was a place of great wealth. The local guards looted and looted countless times. Liu Liangzuo of Huai'an and Liu Zeqing of Linqing had no chance to honor Zhou Yan.
Confucianism?"
Shen Tingyang was stunned for a moment, and immediately shut up in shame. With his experience in officialdom, of course he would not be able to see this clearly, so he made it clear.
In the final analysis, he still suffered from the occupational disease of touting shipping. He started his career as a maritime businessman and has always been proud of it in his heart throughout his life. He couldn't hold it back for a while.