As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the sunshine during the day is no longer so intense.
In the past few days, under the supervision of the Shen family's servants, the newly recruited regiment training warriors stood in rows under the sun, performing forbidden formation training.
Most of the recruits don't understand it in their hearts, but fortunately, this kind of training does not take much physical effort. It is more about tempering the will and tempering the tolerance to exposure and other pains, and the endurance will pass.
Since ancient times, we have never heard that people can successfully lose weight by basking in the sun and standing in a military posture. This kind of training seems to cause a lot of sweating and tempers the will, but in fact it does not consume much energy. Drink more water and replenish electrolytes and you will be fine.
Shen Fu and other officers did not inflict any excessive corporal punishment. The soldiers trained in these formations were given the opportunity to drink pickle water to replenish their body fluids every half hour. The sunshine in the eighth lunar month would not cause heatstroke. .
If you really get tired of standing and feel impetuous, then go out and maintain formation to climb mountains and do some explosive cardiorespiratory training. If no one is left behind when a team comes back, and the entire team maintains its marching formation well, you can add a piece of pickled vegetables and tofu as an extra meal in the evening.
After a few days, the discipline of the team has really improved a bit. At least they won't rush into things and disperse when they get frightened.
In the blink of an eye, time came to the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival. As the situation gradually stabilized, the rear supply fleet that Chen Shuren had been waiting for day and night also arrived, bringing Chen Shuren his urgently needed ordnance supplies, talents, and a small number of escorting servants. sailor.
Chen Shuren had been communicating with his hometown in Suzhou through letters, and he also knew who was coming for reinforcements this time, so he went to the dock in Huangqikou Town to greet them in person.
…
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Shen Tongzhi, I haven't seen you for more than half a year. Things are really different now. I will pay my respects to Mr. Tongzhi."
At Huangqikou Pier, the first and largest ship in the sand fleet has just docked, without waiting for the pedals to be completely laid.
A civil servant who was in his mid-twenties and looked quite brave and strong jumped up to the trestle with great agility, and started joking with Shen Shuren by putting their arms around each other.
Chen Shuren slapped the other party's arm away and responded jokingly: "Okay, cousin, don't belittle me. There are no other superiors, so why are you talking about being an adult? Tomorrow I will introduce you to several other magistrates in this state. You It’s never too late to do business properly.”
It turned out that this person was Zhang Huangyan - after the provincial examination last year, the Shen family sponsored him with 5,000 taels of silver to buy the Eighth Grade Dianshi from Tongcheng County, Anqing Prefecture next door.
Zhang Huangyan himself is quite up to date. In the past ten months, he has been diligent in government affairs and worked under Shi Kefa, and his political achievements are not bad.
Shi Kefahuang Degong also made great achievements during this period. It is said that he repelled Lin Chengcheng and wiped out the rebel forces that spread to the Huainan Plain. The main force of the rebel army had to retreat deep into the Dabie Mountains.
In this way, Zhang Huangyan made some small achievements, and the Shen family was willing to spend money on this potential stock. He was finally promoted from the eighth-level Dianshi to the seventh-level county magistrate.
Such a promotion speed is impossible under normal circumstances.
But Zhang Huangyan is also courageous. I heard that the Shen family needs to establish power in Huangzhou, and Huanggang County, the capital of Huangzhou, is now in the hands of Liu Xiyao. The original prefect, Tongzhi, and county magistrate were all killed when Huanggang fell.
So Zhang Huangyan volunteered to be the magistrate of Huanggang County. After Shi Kefa helped him apply, Yang Sichang also nodded, and the matter was settled exceptionally.
After all, the area under his jurisdiction as the magistrate is still in the hands of thieves, and he needs to regain the territory before he can actually take office. No one else would want to take this kind of hard work, and even if he can't sell his official position, he might as well make an exception and promote him Where is Zhang Huangyan?
…
"I haven't seen you for so long. You are now the seventh-level magistrate of the county. You have experienced too many things in the past ten months." Shen Shuren sighed with a sense of the difference between things and people.
Zhang Huangyan gave him a push: "Come on, don't be a good boy. Who knows that you are already a member of the Sixth Grade, and you are also a member of the Eighth Grade and Two Ranks of Jinshi. Your future is limitless. We are just trying to get some fame.
I really can’t understand that you didn’t even take the provincial examination last year, but you managed to do it in the final examination. Luck is unpredictable, so you really have to believe in fate.”
Chen Shuren laughed at himself: "Okay, my brother, let's not say these hypocritical words. I will treat you to a drink tonight, enjoy the moon and reminisce about the past, and let Brother Tinglin keep you company - but as promised, you are not allowed to play with those poems and poems. Flower life that sings the moon."
As he said that, Shen Fu had already brought two horses to the side and was waiting for the young master and his cousin to mount them.
Zhang Huangyan seemed to have remembered something, and quickly ordered: "Why are there only two horses? Let another one come out."
With that said, he turned to Chen Shuren: "I was so excited to meet you just now that I forgot to tell you about a surprise - look at who is coming off the next few boats."
Chen Shuren turned around and looked around. While he was talking just now, the second and third ships on the pier had also docked and were unloading passengers from the pier.
The second ship was under the banner of military attache, and dozens of well-trained and formidable soldiers disembarked. The leading officer, Shen Shuren, looked familiar.
After careful identification for a while, Shen Shuren recognized that it was Zuo Zixiong who had driven away bandits with him when he first transported grain to Shi Kefa in Feishui last year.
"Brother Zuo, isn't he from Feishuiwei? This is really an unexpected surprise." Chen Shuren came up to greet him, and the three of them reminisced about old times together.
Zhang Huangyan explained from the side: "I have been taken care of and appreciated by Shi Futai this year. This time when he saw me volunteering to serve as an official in the enemy-occupied area, he also cherished my talent and was afraid that I would make a mistake and remove Brother Zuo from Mr. Huang's command. Called——
In fact, strictly speaking, it does not count as a change of court. After the Huangzhou boundary is restored, it can also be regarded as the defense area of Huang Zongzhen. Brother Zuo was transferred from the regular guard post to the regiment training, and can be directly promoted to the capital. If he has made meritorious service, he can be promoted again. , we don’t consider it to be delaying anyone’s future.”
There are several thousand households in a guard house, and the Dusi is a higher-level "du commander" and the top leader of the guard house.
Zuo Zixiong was originally in the regular army, but now he has been transferred to the regiment training, so of course he needs to be upgraded. Originally, there was a half-level "guard" between Qianhu and Dusi, so he skipped it directly.
When Zhang Huangyan introduced him, Zuo Zixiong came over to greet him with small steps. It seemed that he was quite afraid of civil and military superiority.
When Shen Shuren called him Zuo brother, he waved his hands in a hurry and dared not say it: "I have long thought that Sir Tongzhi is gifted with talents and is not an extraordinary person. Later, I heard that Sir Tongzhi, a young man, has won two rankings of Jinshi, and his future is boundless. He can It is a general's honor to work with you."
Chen Shuren didn't hesitate and just nodded kindly: "That's it, that's it. From now on, everyone will be commensurate with their official positions. Zuo Dusi, the training of the Huangzhou regiment depends on you. I estimate that Liu Xiyao will join the bandit during the autumn harvest." , some daily drills and improving military discipline also require you to pay more attention."
The three of them chatted while riding back to the city, leaving the dock workers and servants there to unload the goods, check them, and load them for transport.
"How much supplies did you bring this time? Do you have all the weapons I want? Is the Hongyi instructor who can speak Chinese also here?" Shen Shuren asked casually.
Zhang Huangyan replied with all the details: "Instructor Hongyi is on the boat behind, and he will settle down in a while. I brought another thousand firearms this time, including 600 bird blunderbuss, 200 miscellaneous fire blunderbuss obtained from outside, and turtle doves." Guns and other red barbarian guns, two hundred.
The clan spent a lot of money on this, and some of them even asked Zheng Chenggong, and the price he gave was quite fair.
Not to mention swords and guns, we have also replenished a batch of fine ones for you, which should be enough for our own servants and sailors. As you said in your letter, the few stocks in Huangzhou's arsenal should be enough to equip the brave recruits. of.
In terms of armor, we got dozens of pairs of expensive red barbarian armor, about three hundred sets of military iron-clad cotton armor, and a thousand pairs of low-priced cotton armor without iron-clad armor. The firearms cost a total of more than 60,000 taels of silver. Armor is more expensive. If this happens a few times, your family's millions of dollars may not be able to withstand it."
The official pricing of firearms in the late Ming Dynasty was not expensive. According to the "Continuation of the Coastal Defense Examination of Two Zhejiang Provinces", the purchase of materials by Qi Jiajun in the early years of Wanli was only nine taels of silver per gun. Even with inflation in the last years of Chongzhen, it was only three taels at most. .
However, the official pricing only calculates the cost of materials, that is, the depreciation of steel and tools, and does not include the labor expenses of craftsmen.
Chen Shuren, who cannot take the formal government procurement route, will definitely not be able to enjoy such a low quotation. In fact, the labor cost for a weapon with complex processing like a gun will be several times the material cost.
As for swords, guns, cotton armor, etc., it is the materials that account for the bulk of the money. A set of high-quality cotton armor inlaid with iron sheets costs eight taels of silver for the main material alone, and at least a dozen taels of silver for all the accessories.
The armor of the late Ming Dynasty no longer made the armor pieces too small, so polishing them was not as troublesome as the armor of the Song and early Ming dynasties, and there was no need to drill, thread, or sew the armor pieces.
Just line the large iron sheet directly between several layers of strong rolled cotton, and then sew vertical and horizontal grids to fix it. It is somewhat similar to the principle of body armor inserts in later generations. The price is the defense of the seams. It's relatively low, much lower than Zhajia.
After Zhang Huangyan gave an overview of the accounts, he also advised his cousin to find a way to build his own workshop and hire craftsmen to make ordnance in the future, which would save some money. The premium of buying spot directly was too high.
Chen Shuren also agreed, saying that next year he would build his own factory in the Dabie Mountains to build ordnance. This year, because he needed it urgently, he spent a lot of money to buy it first.
Chen Shuren had also read many time-travel novels in his previous life, and knew that as the protagonist, he should take the entire supply chain into his own hands to ensure his "strategic supply security."
Anyone who hands over his ordnance supply to outsiders will be given the same reputation as "the prodigal woman surnamed Song next to Chang Kaishen who put the money to buy airplanes in the bank to earn interest."
But he will also analyze specific problems in detail. Right now, it is urgent to follow the authority. Those things that can be made by anyone and do not have technical secrets, it is okay to outsource them temporarily. Supply chain companies like Xiaomi were just assembly plants when they first started. , in the future, if the technology content is developed, the self-research rate will of course be increased.
Everything happens naturally, there is no fixed rule.
The group of people reminisced about old times and quickly rode back to Qizhou County.
Zuo Zixiong moved into the Tuan Lian Guardhouse, while Zhang Huangyan and Chen Shuren continued to stay at Zhao Yunfan's county government office.
Who let Huanggang County be in the hands of the enemy? The Qizhou County Government has already crammed two magistrates and one with the same magistrate. All the rooms are occupied, and they can only occupy a few nearby private houses.
Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I will be watching the moon and drinking wine soon. Shen Shuren is also very happy to have a few relatives and friends visiting, so he takes a shower and changes clothes first to avoid being disgraced and unable to enjoy the full time.
After returning to the back house, his eyes suddenly lit up and he noticed that several of the personal maids he had left at home were actually among the family members who were picked up today. At this moment, they had already packed their clothes and bathtubs, and wanted to take a bath. Wait for him to change clothes.
Chen Shuren couldn't help but be startled: "Moju Dailan, are you here too? My cousin didn't tell me just now. The war here is chaotic. I didn't bring more women to take office because I was afraid of not being safe."
When the personal maids saw the young master, their eyes were red and they bit their lips to express their loyalty: "We are not afraid of anything if we can stay with the young master. The wives and aunts at home have also been ordered to serve the young master. Everyone is coming -
Young Master, you should also understand my wife's intentions. Before you get married, you come to serve as an official in such a dangerous and dangerous place. It would be better to have more people around you to serve you.
In fact, I heard that in April, when you had just won the imperial examination and been awarded the Imperial Academy, I was already helping you negotiate a marriage. Unfortunately, it was later heard that you wanted to go to Huangzhou on your own initiative, so the officials from the capital who were originally interested gave up. Regarding the marriage, I told my wife in my letter at home that she would like her, and whether you take a wife or not, you must stay as a heir as soon as possible."
Chen Shuren was speechless after hearing this. It can only be said that parents in the feudal era were too concerned about whether their son could have a grandson as soon as possible after he became an official. Especially when his son went to be an official in a dangerous place, this consideration changed. It becomes more and more intense.
This is the need of ethics and education, and has nothing to do with whether you are good or not.
Chen Shuren held his forehead and sighed: "You two are the only ones here?"
Dai Lan and Mo Ju both admitted: "Actually...Miss Chen and Miss Dong were also sent here. Madam and aunts already know that Miss Chen is already the son of the young master. Miss Dong was a filial piety last year and has now been born." They are filial piety. But they don't know how to wait on others and are taking a bath in the wing. The two of us will wait on the young master to take a bath."
really.
Shen Shuren couldn't say he cared about this kind of thing, but he couldn't say he rejected it either, so just let it be.
"You have worked hard too. Hurry up and hurry up and finally arrive at the Mid-Autumn Festival. Let's wash off the dust and enjoy the moon together in the evening."
——
PS: It’s just a transitional chapter that intensively explains the characters’ reappearance. There won’t be any emotional drama, so don’t worry.