Chen Shuren finished transporting food to Shanhaiguan and the Ming army outside the customs. When the last stop arrived at Ningyuan, it was already the second day of February.
The fleet unloaded the grain at the dock of Juehua Island outside Ningyuan City, and Ningyuan guard general and his soldiers carried it into the warehouse. The whole process did not occur without any accidents.
At present, the Qing army's maritime power is still extremely weak, and it is completely unable to create obstacles for the Ming army.
Fang Yizhi, who was accompanying him, still didn't understand why Shen Shuren insisted on personally delivering the food to Ningyuan.
But he was quite loyal and didn't ask any questions. He stayed with me all the way and tutored me on my eight-part essay every day when I had free time.
Chen Shuren, of course, had already made up his mind. He insisted on getting to know Wu Sangui in person, and was planning for the future——
According to his plan, since Chongzhen cannot be saved in the future, the capital is destined to be captured by Li Zicheng. According to historical inertia, the probability that Wu Sangui will surrender to the Qing Dynasty in the future is not small.
All Shen Shuren can do is to try to reverse the situation, reduce the losses of the Han people, and alleviate the problem of the elite Ming army surrendering to the Qing Dynasty. He cannot guarantee the specific extent of what can be achieved, and can only take it one step at a time.
Fortunately, his father Shen Tingyang's water transportation was changed to sea transportation, which gave the Shen family an opportunity to "transport military supplies directly to Shanhaiguan and Liaoxi Ming armies by sea."
If we can use these few years to make good friends with Wu Sangui's generals, when the weather changes in the future, we can evacuate those generals of the Guan Ning Army who are unwilling to surrender to the Tatars to the south, at least to Denglai.
If you can pull one, that's one.
Of course, Shen Shuren knew very well that it would definitely not be that easy to make this thing work.
The generals in western Liaoning are so intertwined that they have not listened to propaganda for more than a year or two. The reasons for this are very complicated. Some people who have the potential of being hardcore traitors cannot be expected to casually persuade them to surrender. In the end, they must be ruthless.
This time it’s just a matter of setting up a bridge first, and we’ll make long-term plans later.
…
The plan was wonderful, but Shen Shuren was not sure how to implement it.
Only having an eighth-grade official position became the biggest obstacle for him to make connections. He could never meet officials with higher grades.
After entering Ningyuan City, Shen Shuren could only cast a wide net and approach every Guan Ning Army officer he saw with a smile on his face.
Fortunately, there was a tradition in the Ming Dynasty that civil servants were superior to military officials, so the military officers were quite grateful to see him greeting people with such a smile.
Even a fifth- and sixth-grade military officer, Du Si, would not be domineering in front of an eighth-grade civil servant.
The person who handed over the work to Shen Shuren was a fifth-grade Haidao Dusi under Wu Sangui named Zhang Guozhu. He was usually responsible for the patrol and defense of the sea near Juehua Island. Now he was naturally responsible for guiding the grain fleet, unloading and accepting goods.
Chen Shuren was very polite. When the other party signed for the grain and grass, he also gave him a few large silver coins and quietly requested:
"Zhang Dusi, we have been wandering by sea for more than half a month, and we have to get here from Suzhou. It is inevitable that there will be turmoil. Some of the outer layers of the grain bags may be damp. Please sort them first, and dry them in the sun on a good day before putting them in storage."
Zhang Guozhu touched the two silver ingots in his hand. They were both large ingots worth fifty taels. It was a great honor for a civil servant to give him a favor of one hundred taels for his high status.
Zhang Guozhu originally thought that Shen Shuren was so low-cost because the food delivered was shoddy and short of good. There were many problems that he needed to cover up.
After careful inspection, I found that it was really only a little damp, and there were no other defects. I was immediately surprised.
"Brother, it's just a little moisture. I don't think it's a big deal. It's your first time transporting food, right? You're too careful. To tell you the truth, we have been outside the customs for five or six years, and this is the first time we have seen food being transported inside the customs. The civil servants who come here are so full and have no deductions.
The original bunch of scum, when they left the Ministry of Household Affairs, they were eager to cut you two or three percent first, and it would be good to get half of it in the end. If we weren't also eating empty wages, there wouldn't actually be that many people to support, and we could do some farming in the customs. Tian, otherwise we would have starved to death."
Zhang Guozhu saw that Shen Shuren was in love with him and was generous with his wealth, so he refused to see him outside. He even let out an open secret such as free money.
Of course, this kind of casual chat is inherently unfounded, and you are not afraid of being caught, as long as you don't reveal specific data.
When Shen Shuren heard this, he understood immediately and said that he and his father had done this business trip very conscientiously.
It turned out that those dog officials were so greedy! They had to repeatedly exploit military rations! No wonder the Ming Dynasty was over.
Thinking this in his heart, what he said was: "Hey, my family has lived in Suzhou for a long time, and I don't know much about the hardships of the Nine Frontier Army in the north. But we also know one thing:
Jiangnan can enjoy peace and tranquility only because the soldiers of the nine sides resisted the Tatars. Otherwise, even if we have tens of millions of wealth, we will not be able to hold it."
When Zhang Guozhu heard this, he sighed with emotion: "Brother! You are a sensible person! If only 10% or 20% of the civil servants in the Ming Dynasty were as understanding as you, they would not be where they are today!"
It's a pity that you, who cares about the border troops, can't be a high-ranking official, you're just an eighth-grade official. If roughnecks like us have the final say, I'd love for you to join the Household Department."
"Hey, be careful what you say, don't take it seriously."
After some prodding, Shen Shuren quickly established a network of contacts with a group of military officers. After roughly inspecting the food and grass, they all felt that Shen Shuren was too righteous and reported his good deeds one after another.
…
In less than half a day, not only Wu Sangui knew about it, but even Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong stationed in Ningyuan, knew about it.
Most of the governors in the Ming Dynasty were from the second rank, but some jurisdictions had only a few prefectures. Those who were not satisfied with the temporary governor of a province were from the third rank.
Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, currently has only a few cities left in his jurisdiction, but at least he is treated as a third-class official. Under normal circumstances, he would not even look at Shen Shuren.
But today I heard that the imperial court had reorganized Guan Ning’s army’s logistics and improved its food supply, and that Wu Sangui’s generals were helping to brag and praise them.
Qiu Minyang paid a courtesy to the corporal and hosted a banquet in person for Shen Shuren and his party without any pretense. Ningyuan's commander-in-chief Wu Sangui and some of his subordinates also accompanied them.
The Liao land was bitterly cold, vegetables, poultry and livestock were relatively rare, and the living conditions of the soldiers were not good, so the banquet mainly relied on seafood and game.
The wine was also very light. In the end, Chen Shuren brought some good wine from the fleet and drank it with Liaodong civil and military officials.
After sitting at the table, Shen Shuren saw Wu Sangui for the first time and couldn't help but look at him secretly for a long time.
After all, this is the first person he has met since time travel who can change the direction of history. Although Yang Sichang and Shi Kefa he met before are also celebrities, they did not make much waves after all.
Wu Sangui is only twenty-nine years old now, but he already has a full beard and a neatly groomed mustache on his upper lip. He looks much more mature than his actual age.
Perhaps because he became a commander in chief in his twenties, he had to look as rough and bold as possible in order to convince everyone.
No matter how Chen Shuren looked at it, he could not see any "traitor" characteristics directly from this face. It is true that people cannot be judged by their appearance.
After drinking for a few rounds, Qiu Minyang, the governor of Liaodong, took the lead in provoking the topic:
"Nephew Shen Xian, you have handled this mission conscientiously. I have thanked all the soldiers. From now on, will the imperial court change the situation to transporting grain directly from the south of the Yangtze River to the front of the Liaodong Army?"
Shen Shuren hurriedly said modestly: "I don't dare to take the position. It's just my duty as an official. The laws of the imperial court are not something that we can predict. I only know that this is a pilot project. If it can really save money, the Liaodong Army will not do anything about it." If you are satisfied, it will probably become a regular practice.
Therefore, if Qiu Futai and General Wu really think that our direct transportation of military rations to Su Song is better, please feel free to report it to the court. In this way, this matter can be advanced faster."
Qiu Minyang was a civil servant and it was hard for him to act too arrogant. At the moment, he was just stroking his beard and thinking about his words.
Wu Sangui on the other side had no such scruples. He had already stood up with a wine glass and walked to Chen Shuren:
"Brother, what are you talking about? Zhang Guozhu has already reported it. You Su Song can fully allocate military rations without being exploited by the Ministry of Household Affairs. We, from top to bottom in the Guan Ning Army, are all eager for this. Who in the army dares to say that this is not good? I, Wu Sangui, was the first to deal with him."
Chen Shuren is neither humble nor arrogant: "General Wu knows right from wrong and manages the army with strict discipline. The subordinates admire him."
Wu Sangui didn't have as many formalities as civil servants, and since Ningyuan was basically his sphere of influence, Qiu Minyang actually had nothing to do with him, so he spoke more casually after drinking.
He took Chen Shuren's arm, had a drink with him, and asked bluntly: "Brother, I have a question. Being an official for thousands of miles is just for wealth. It's the same up and down the Ming Dynasty. You are the only one I have ever seen who gives The Ministry of Household Affairs Office almost makes no profit and no deductions, so what are you trying to do?"
Chen Shuren knew that it was useless to say nice things in this situation. These rough guys didn't believe in propriety, justice and shame at all.
So he rolled his eyes and took this opportunity to answer Wu Sangui and convey a message to the other generals of the Guan Ning Army present:
"Mr. Wu is so ridiculous. I don't love money. To be honest, our Shen family is the richest man in Suzhou, with hundreds of ships at sea. Our business is so big that we can even do it in North Korea."
My father donated his official position ten years ago and has been serving in the Ministry of Household Affairs ever since. He can honestly say that he has never been greedy for a single tael of silver - our aunt, the Shen family, really doesn't like the little fortune that comes from the Ministry of Household Affairs.
We only hope that the world will be peaceful and all the states along the East China Sea will be under the control of the Ming Dynasty. Only then will we be able to sell goods to the world and continue our business. Of course, the Tatars will help the run if they can."
When talking about this, Wu Sangui suddenly realized: "Suzhou Shen family? Remember, your father is Shen Tingyang of the Ministry of Household Affairs, right?"
Shen Tingyang's official position as head of the sixth-grade household department is not valuable, and others don't know him because of his official position. But the Shen family is the largest force in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. Anyone in the north who comes into contact with the sea knows the Shen family, and Wu Sangui is also known because of it. This is what I thought of.
After thinking about it, Wu Sangui was also surprised: "Master Shen is very loyal to the country. He even asked his son to personally escort such a hard and ups and downs job. Brother, you are a cheerful person, I give you a toast."
You guys, please come over and have a toast. The Shen family in Suzhou is famous for being impatient and devoted to justice. It is your good fortune to see Mr. Shen today."
Chen Shuren was not confused by the flattery at all. While he was drinking, he knew very well: Up to now, others were polite to him not because of his official position, but purely because of his family's millions of taels of silver and hundreds of large-scale ships. .
"Mr. Wu, I'm so impressed. I'm escorting you on the ship just in time for the meeting. I have to go to Beijing to take the Spring Examination, so I'm just on my way. The roads in Shandong are rough, and it's easy to be robbed by thieves if you use the canal."
Wu Sangui and other generals were quite surprised: "You are still just a civil servant? You have already become an official and you have to take the exam again?"
Chen Shuren didn't hide it either: "I'm not afraid of jokes, I'm just a supervisor. I bought this supervisor."