After Chen Hongfan and Zhao Yuanheng left Huguang, they walked non-stop for nearly three months. Halfway through, there will be some unexpected and unexpected changes, some are military disasters, others are martial law, in short, they have to take a detour. Therefore, it was only in early March that he arrived in Linqing Prefecture in Shandong.

Linqing Prefecture is one of the important transit stations along the Cao River because of the establishment of government-run warehouses, gates, wharves, etc., and the Cao River is a canal, which is named after the Cao River. The various industries in the state rely on the vigorous development of Caoyun, merchants gather, goods filled, the population reached one million in the heyday, it is said that "the prosperity of the two capitals, the rich Jiaqi County".

However, when Chen Hongfan and Zhao Yuanheng arrived, Linqingzhou was obviously deserted. There are few people in the streets and alleys, and occasionally one or two are also described as rushed. The original scene of thousands of sails competing on the Cao River is only the mooring and congestion of countless rusty boats, and there is no bustle and prosperity of the noisy traffic of cars and ships in the past.

Along the river, you pass through a courtyard, which is connected to a storehouse, covering a wide area. However, the gate of the courtyard, which should have been magnificent and solemn, was full of sand and gravel, overgrown with weeds, and from time to time there were flying insects passing by, showing dilapidation and barrenness.

This is the former site of Linqing Dock, and Nanjing Dock and Qingjiangpu Dock are the same government-run docks under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry to build ships for Caoyun. However, in the early years of Jiajing, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War adjusted the work, in order to save expenses, the Ministry of Industry assigned the Nanjing Dock to the Ministry of War for the construction of warships and ships belonging to the Ministry of War, and at the same time, on the basis of being too far away from the source of raw materials required for shipbuilding, all the indicators of the ships in the Linqing Dock were transferred to the Qingjiangpu Dock in Huai'an Prefecture, and the Linqing Dock has since declined.

"I heard that the Qingjiang Pugong part of the division has since become a fat poor, how many people have sharpened their heads to get this position, every year just from the inspection of wood, bamboo, iron, hemp, coal, lime, tung oil and other transit materials, you can make a lot of money. This seemingly small position is also one of the focuses of the competition among those ministers and nobles in the center of the capital. Chen Hongfan looked at the vicissitudes of the dockyard site and sighed, "About seven years ago, in order to push their own people to the position of the head of the Qingjiang Pugong Department, several adults in the DPRK and China fought openly and secretly for a long time, and I also got involved, and I did a lot of errands for them." In the end, I remember that Wen Tiren, the first assistant at that time, fell down, and Cao Huachun and Cao's father-in-law took the throne. I worked for Gonggong Cao, and then I got a piece of the pie, and I was re-employed and transferred to Huguang to work for Prime Minister Xiong Wencan Xiong at that time. ”

"The ministers of the DPRK and China are fighting to such an extent for this small position?" Zhao Yuanheng was slightly surprised.

"Haha, political disputes have always been life and death, and there is no affection. Of course, Qingjiang Pugong is not a bargaining chip for them to play on the table, but it is just an accessory like me re-using. Chen Hongfan, who had gray temples, thought about the past and couldn't help but feel melancholy, "In a blink of an eye, so many years have passed, and many of the people who were in power at the beginning have become dry bones in the grave." And the Longtan Tiger's Den in Beijing, which once could pull the world, is also insignificant in today's general trend. ”

Zhao Yuanheng said: "The world is impermanent. Dad used to say that if people can't create the situation, they should follow it. When the world is stable, the battle in the temple is in dire straits, but if the enemy is still only fighting for each other, it can only be swallowed by the general trend. ”

Chen Hong Fan Lang said with a smile: "What he said is reasonable, your father is an understanding person, so he can do things clearly." Then he said, "I remember a sentence that your father often sighed by the railing, 'The bleak autumn wind is now again, and the world has changed'." Hehe, I often feel this way, and many things in ancient and modern times are laughed and talked about. Maybe that's why I was able to talk to your father! Although he is old, he is in good spirits, and he is full of energy when he speaks, and his voice is loud.

Zhao Yuanheng didn't know why Chen Hongfan had a smug look on his face when he said this, so he could only smile in return. When I turned around the corner of the old site of the Linqing Dock, I saw that a narrow alley was full of unclothed people. Among them, there were men, women, and children, most of whom described them as withered and skinny, and when they heard the noise, they all looked vacantly in the direction of the alleyway.

Suddenly there was a mournful cry from the depths of the alley, Chen Hongfan and Zhao Yuanheng stopped and stared, and soon saw three or five officers and soldiers dragging and dragging two starving bodies out of a pile of people. Behind them, a few half-grown children followed them with vague steps, but when they approached the entrance of the alley, they saw many people standing outside, and they stopped timidly, just looking at the two hungry corpses and weeping.

The leader of the officers and soldiers saw that Chen Hongfan, Zhao Yuanheng and others were dressed decently, not like ordinary people, and came up to salute. He claimed to be Zhang, the general banner of the Caojun in Linqingzhou, and received an order from Zhizhou Jinbao to search for patients throughout the city. The men, women, and children who seemed to be homeless people lying in the alley actually belonged to the Cao Army.

In addition to Shandong and Henan, the grain of Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang had to be transferred to Beijing and other places through the Cao River. In addition, the main source of royal treasury money, gold and silver, was converted from part of the grain, which also had to be transshipped through the Cao River. The imperial court set up the Caoyun Governor and the Caoyun Commander-in-Chief to be responsible for the transportation of the entire Caohe River from south to north, of which the Caoyun Governor was dominant. Generally speaking, the governor of Caoyun will let the governor of Fengyang concurrently serve, so the governor of Fengyang is often referred to as Caofu, but now the governor of Fengyang, Ma Shiying, does not concurrently hold this position, but the newly appointed governor of Huaiyang, Lu Zhenfei, is entrusted with the governor of Caoyun.

This is actually not difficult to understand, because although the imperial court did not deal with Ma Shiying immediately considering the stability of the situation, Ma Shiying was once Zhou Yanru's party after all, and it is impossible to say how much trust he has received. On the other hand, Lu Zhenfei belongs to the latest Beijing official assignment, and in connection with the discussion of Emperor Chongzhen's southward migration, which was very popular earlier, it is reasonable for Emperor Chongzhen to hand over the economic lifeline on which the dynasty relied to survive to trustworthy people in advance.

All localities along the Cao River are guarded, and all Cao troops are responsible for the implementation of Cao Yun. Most of the positions related to Cao Yun are fat, but that is only for the officials in charge, and the Cao Jun who does specific things is actually not having a good time. Although they have 12 stone of grain on their books every year, they occasionally have a subsidy of grain or money. However, since the beginning of the Wanli Dynasty, the Cao army's due grain has been in arrears, and the reward money is mostly distributed in the form of paper money, which is completely worthless, and in the past two years, it is almost common for the grain to be in arrears. However, if the Cao ship is damaged or the consumption of Cao grain is reduced, the Ministry of Household clearly stipulates that the officers involved in the Cao Army need to make up the gap by themselves. This gap is nothing to the imperial court, but it is not a small amount when it falls on individuals, and most of them can bankrupt the officers. The officers had no choice but to distribute it to the soldiers of the Cao army, so the Cao army was facing great pressure to survive from top to bottom. Some people have to take advantage of the convenience of transportation to do some private work of reselling goods to subsidize their families.

It's a pity that even such a lingering breath has been broken by years of war in the north and south over the years. The Ming court was constrained by expenses and had to order the dismissal of a large number of Cao troops. In addition to the retrenchment, there was no small transition of tens of millions of Cao soldiers, such as Linqingzhou, an important transit point for Cao Yun, and a large number of Cao troops were dismissed, and they had nowhere to find a livelihood, and most of them became beggars and refugees in the streets and alleys as they saw in front of them.

When Zhang Zongqi learned that Chen Hongfan and Zhao Yuanheng were from the Yamen of the Huguang Governor, his attitude was more respectful, and he recounted some of the things that happened a few days ago. It turned out that Liu Zeqing, the general soldier of Shandong who was supposed to be summoned to the north to Qinwang, lied that he had fallen from his horse and was injured when he marched to Linqingzhou, and then plundered Linqingzhou and led the army south, causing a surge in the number of displaced people in Linqingzhou, who were already in ruins. And that's not even counting the fact that the "pimple disease" that has recently spread from Gyeonggi, Tianjin Sanwei and other places has begun to wreak havoc inside and outside Lincheongju by taking advantage of the situation of displaced people migrating in groups. Zhizhou Jinbao and the general Cao capital Yu Shi Tian Yang, who is currently staying in Linqing Prefecture, knew that this was the plague that had been circulating in Beijing, Shanxi, Henan and other places for a long time, and the infection was extremely strong, for fear that the spread would be further expanded, so they immediately ordered the Cao army and all the soap officials in the prefecture and county to go out to search for the sick and deal with them in a unified manner. The dismissed Cao army had a small habit of gathering and low resistance, so it became the hardest hit area of the plague outbreak.

"What to do?" Zhao Yuanheng watched the Cao soldiers rudely throw the two corpses onto the cart, and his brows were furrowed.

Zhang Zongqi replied: "Master Jin has ordered, the dead people are pulled to one place, burned and buried together, and not a single hair is allowed to be left." The living person was sent to the empty courtyard vacated by the state school, isolated from the outside, and observed and processed. ”

"Do you heal the living?" Zhao Yuanheng asked again.

"This ......" Zhang Zongqi heard this, and was embarrassed.

Zhao Yuanheng saw him like this, and guessed the answer in his heart. Presumably, the state gathers the sick in order to take care of them and prevent them from infecting outsiders again, as for the patients, I am afraid that it is very good to be able to get a bowl of gruel provided by the state every day to regulate their lives, whether they are dead or alive, it all depends on the individual's creation. Linqingzhou forcibly locked the patient in one place, maybe he could save outsiders, but the patient's own living conditions were too poor, so he didn't die for a while, and sooner or later he died. In contrast, the situation in Huguang and other places, which were also plagued by the plague, was very different. With Zhao Dangshi's attention, the soldiers and civilians who suffered from the plague, regardless of their status, would be sent to a specially established courtyard to live separately and independently, and the supply of three meals a day was more than that of ordinary people, not to mention the careful care of an outstanding doctor like Wu Youxing.

Chen Hongfan noticed that Zhao Yuanheng's face was uneasy, and after saying two words, he hurriedly sent Zhang Zongqi and the other Cao troops away, turned back and patted Zhao Yuanheng's back and said: "Linqingzhou is not as rich as Huguang, and it is a last resort to give up the light and take the heavy, and abandon the less to save the more, and it is not surprising that there is such a scene." ”

Zhao Yuanheng was silent for a long time, shook his head and said: "This is not about whether you are rich or not, but about the good and evil of people's hearts. He said in a low voice, "I really hope that my father can lead the troops here as soon as possible, and don't let such a tragic thing happen again." ”

Chen Hongfan looked at Zhao Yuanheng, felt something, and secretly thought: "If there is a father, there must be a son." ”

The group continued to walk a few steps, and will go out of the city through the city gate cave, Chen Hongfan stopped in front of the city wall, looked at the notice posted on it, and said with a smile: "Today, the saint has issued an edict again." If you remember correctly, together with last month, less than a month, this is the second edict. ”

The sullen Zhao Yuanheng glanced at the notice that was a little reflective in the sun, shook his head and said, "If things are not done well, what's the use of saying more?" Even if a hundred criminal edicts are issued in a month, they may not be able to drive the thieves out of Gyeonggi. ”

When he said this, his voice was a little louder, and an officer who was guarding the gate of the city to inspect the passers-by heard it, and came up with a displeased face and raised his finger and shouted: "What dare you slander the court in public!" ”

Seeing this, Chen Hongfan hurriedly went up to persuade him, but the Bai Zong seemed to be holding his stomach and was looking for someone to vent, and he couldn't stop scolding. At some tense moments, Chen Hongfan's sharp eyes and squinted to see an official on the city wall slowly going downstairs, rushing up with an arrow step, shouting: "Lu Banban, long time no see!" ”

Everyone looked up, but saw a tall middle-aged eunuch walking down the stone steps. The middle-aged eunuch was stunned at first when he heard the voice, and when he saw Chen Hongfan clearly, he smiled on his face and said in a sharp voice: "Who is our family, it turned out to be Chen Zongrong, how many years have you not seen him?" ”

Then Zhao Yuanheng and Mr. Bai got closer, and Chen Hongfan introduced to Zhao Yuanheng: "This is Lu Companion, who worked beside Gonggong Cao in the palace in his early years. I'm an old acquaintance. ”

Zhao Yuanheng listened, and vaguely remembered that Chen Hongfan had told him a lot of past events on the road, and there was indeed a eunuch named Lu Weining who appeared, and he was not lazy at the moment, and bowed and said: "Zhao Yuanheng has seen Lu Companion." ”

Chen Hongfan said with a smile: "Lu Banban, this is the son of Zhao Shuai, the governor of Huguang, who is walking with me today to go to the north to do business." ”

Lu Weining praised "The tiger father has no dog", and asked what happened to Mr. Bai. How could Mr. Bai not know what was going on, and he vigorously said that he had misunderstood, and Chen Hongfan and Zhao Yuanheng didn't care about it, so they let him go.

"I don't know if Companion Lu is not in the deep palace, why did he come here?" Chen Hongfan asked with a smile.

"Well, it's not for thieves." Lu Weining sighed and said, "At the beginning of the month, in order to coordinate the military affairs of Beizhili and other places, a number of lieutenant officials, including our family, were specially assigned to go out to supervise. Guan, Ji, and Ning Yuan are sent by Gao Qiqian Gao Gonggong, Zhending and Baoding are directed by Fangzhenghua Fang's father-in-law, Du Xun, Wang Mengbi, Yan Siyin, Niu Wenbing, Yang Maolin, etc. Our family was assigned to the director of Tongzhou, Tianjin, Dezhou, Linqingzhou and other places, and just arrived here from Dezhou yesterday, only after inspecting the city defense. ”

"It's hard work. Chen is far away in the world, and it is difficult to enter the palace often to meet you and reminisce about the past, which is very regrettable. Chen Hongfan's face was flushed, "I will definitely visit to make up for it when I have the opportunity." ”

"There is a chance to ......" Lu Weining sighed, and did not continue, but changed his words, "Chen Gong is going to the north, but you need to be careful." ”

"How?"

"A few days ago, I heard a report from Tang that Liu Fangliang, the general of the thieves, led the army out of Shanxi, and was rushing from the south to the direction of Gyeonggi, in an attempt to cut off the connection between the Beijing division to the south. If you are unlucky, you will ...... bump into it" Lu Weining was very worried, "At such a time of crisis, what else will Chen Gong go north?" ”

"Some private matters." Chen Hongfan smiled, "With the busy military affairs, I don't have to worry about Chen's trivial matters." ”

"Lord Jin and Lord Tian are still waiting for our family to go, so let's say goodbye first. When you have a chance in the future, sit down and talk. ”

Lu Weining, who was sweating profusely, was uneasy, and when he heard that Chen Hongfan refused to reveal more, he didn't ask more, and after a few idle words, he left in a hurry with his entourage.

Seeing Lu Weining's figure disappear into the city, Zhao Yuanheng sighed: "When the national crisis is at hand, I don't think about reorganizing the armament, and I send these birdless people to intervene in local military affairs. In addition to the fact that there are many political departments and cannot unify the powers, what is the use? ”

Chen Hongfan smiled and comforted him: "This is a matter for the imperial court, let him go." Lu Banban said, Liu Fangliang's army is on the way, let's take care of ourselves first and hurry north. Speaking of this, he took a deep breath and said slowly, "Let's go, let's go for two more days, and after Tianjin Sanwei, we will arrive at Shanhaiguan." ”

Shanhaiguan, these three words flashed in Zhao Yuanheng's mind, and his heart also became heavy.

"Volume 5 Jin Ge Iron Horse Gong Angry" ends

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Note: Some book friends pointed out that Zheng Zhilong's official position at this time should not be a coastal defense guerrilla. It is indeed a mistake in the book.

Zheng Zhilong's position may be set up in the 42nd year of Jiajing's Fujian town guard general military officer, but checking the information, the records of the officials who took office as the Fujian general army appeared densely appeared in the Jiajing Dynasty when the Japanese were rampant, after the Jiajing Dynasty, but there were few incumbents, and the reappearance was Ma Weixing (Ma Weixing was already a Southern Ming Dynasty and his person was a Qing general at that time) claimed in the "Mizhi County Chronicles" and the 23rd year of Kangxi set up a general military officer to guard Fujian Taiwan. Therefore, it is not excluded that after the Jiajing Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court abolished the Fujian General Army (but in the third year of the Apocalypse, Xie Longyi repelled the Hongmao people for the general army, and the Ming Dynasty General Army except for a few important defense areas, most of which were abandoned and set up, depending on the matter), and changed to the deputy general and staff general directly subordinate to the governor ("Zhangzhou Mansion Chronicle" contains that Fujian originally had two generals of sea and land sentinels, and later the province was divided into two generals in the north and south, and in the provincial capital of the middle road, there were three generals, and Jiajing 41 years changed to Zhangzhou South Road as the deputy general general).

Some records say that Zheng Zhilong was promoted from a guerrilla in coastal defense to a general, perhaps a general who was nominally subordinate to the governor of Fujian. "Chongzhen Dynasty and Wild Records" mentions that the title of Zheng Zhilong's crown when he played Emperor Chongzhen in the last years of Chongzhen was the general soldier of Zhangchao, and the activities of the author Li Xun were at the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the content of the record should be referenced. Ji Liuqi, who was also a native of the late Ming Dynasty, also mentioned in "Ming Ji Beiluo" that Zheng Zhilong was first promoted from coastal defense guerrilla to deputy commander-in-chief of Zhangchao and Chaozhou, and then promoted to the general army of Fufu and Fujian provinces in the last years of Chongzhen. Therefore, it is certain that Zheng Zhilong should not still be a coastal defense guerrilla at this time in the book, and he generally has the level of a general soldier.

The local military system of the Chongzhen Dynasty was chaotic, and it was common to increase the number of general soldiers, but if Zheng Zhilong was taken as the general army of Zhangchao, there would be a large overlap with the original garrison of the two prefectures in terms of authority and functions, and it seemed unnecessary. Therefore, it is more likely that Zheng Zhilong will be appointed as the chief soldier of Fujian. Considering the particularity of the Zheng family's armed group, Zheng Zhilong, the general army, may not be able to control the whole province of Fujian, and I am afraid that the sphere of influence is limited to coastal areas such as the Zhangchao Bureau, and it is more reasonable for the inland to be dominated by the governor.

In the book, for the sake of convenience, Zheng Zhilong was taken as the general soldier of Fujian, and the former military governor was the governor of the palace. The previous text is revised synchronously, and there is basically no impact on the content, and book friends understand it. Thanks also to the book friends for pointing out the mistakes!