It is very cold in the northern Naoli entering the winter.

Although there has been no snow in the drought in the north this year, and the water in the canal has not frozen, the puddles on the ground have frozen into ice slag, which have been crushed by wheels and trampled on, and soon turned into dirty mud, and the breath of people and animals has come out of clouds of white mist, and frost has condensed on the messy beards of many officers and men.

In the evening, hundreds of officers and soldiers of the garrison who were used as coolies finished loading all the 200,000 catties of copper.

The 300 cavalrymen in bright armor of the imperial horse supervisor escorted the endless convoy and slowly left the dock and rushed to the capital.

The owners and men of several liquor shops waiting outside the checkpoint immediately led the ox carts and horse-drawn carts full of food boxes and lined up to enter the heavily guarded dock.

More than 630 officers and men of the Navy Division under Zhu Daolin's command were waiting in front of the empty warehouse, and saw a truckload of steaming steamed buns, flatbreads, pork and mutton being delivered.

After counting the foodstuffs, the chief flag officers in charge of logistics of each ship immediately paid the balance to the shopkeepers of the liquor stores who came with the car, and paid as much as they could, without owing a penny.

The shopkeepers who came with the car in the wine shops held silver and copper coins, and sighed with emotion, thinking that it would be good to be able to recover most of them, but they didn't expect this sailor from the south of the Yangtze River to pay off in full, and they all sighed that such a benevolent army is rare to see!

A shopkeeper quietly asked everyone if they had heard of the legend of General Zhu Daolin?

Someone immediately replied that this army was the sailor under the command of General Zhu, and perhaps the immigrants from Yingzhou Island far away in the East China Sea were sent by them.

Another well-informed old shopkeeper also spoke: "General Zhu's ten major military regulations have long been spread all over the world, and it is rumored that the Jiangnan New Army under General Zhu is different from all the armies of my Ming Dynasty, using all muskets and artillery, strict military discipline, and no crime in the autumn. It's just that the distance is too far, and I don't know if it's true or not, but today I saw it. ”

In the afternoon, many officers and soldiers with Jiangnan accents went to the streets to buy leather goods and Korean ginseng, and frightened the shopkeepers of several leather shops and medicinal herb shops, thinking that they were not poor and clanging passers-by came to extort money. As a result, the officers and soldiers of the people took out the white silver and the newly minted Chongzhen Tongbao with gold, and immediately paid a lot of money after saying that they set the price, and it was quickly spread all over the street. ”

"It's the same for us now...... It can be seen from this that General Zhu is not only rich enough to rival the country, but the army under his command is also well fed and paid, otherwise a sumptuous feast like today, which is full of pancakes, sauce elbows, and mutton soup, would ordinary troops be blessed to enjoy? ”

No matter what the people on the streets of Tongzhou and the shopkeepers of several liquor shops said, Zhu Daolin, who was gathered around the bonfire with his officers, had already eaten with a mouth full of oil.

Zhu Daolin ate two pancakes and a sauce elbow in a row, and picked up a bowl of hot and fragrant mutton soup. While drinking, he said that the taste was really delicious, and that the peppercorns were not too much or too much to be appropriate, and he went back and told the men to learn how to do it, which made the brothers laugh.

Yang Junwu, who was sitting on the side, waited for Zhu Daolin to finish eating, and immediately gave him a clean cloth towel to wipe his hands, and quietly told Zhu Daolin how he encountered obstruction and ridicule when buying horses.

Zhu Daolin was very surprised after hearing this: "What is the origin of this mule and horse shop in Tongzhou?" ”

Yang Junwu truthfully told Zhu Daolin the ins and outs: "It is the Tongzhou branch of the famous Shanxi business name 'Wanxingchang', and the general number is located in Datong, Shanxi. ”

"'Wanxingchang' has been open for more than 30 years. Specializing in mule and horse business and copper and iron goods business, the branch is all over Shanxi and North Zhili. Today's Baoding Mansion Tongzhi Wang Qian is the son of Wang Chonggu and the major shareholder behind 'Wan Xingchang'. ”

"Many senior officials in the yamen and Beizhili in the capital were protégés of Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu back then, so the strength behind Wanxingchang Commercial Bank is very great......"

"The business community in Beizhili knows that every time there is a business dispute, a lawsuit arises. No one can win the 'Wan Xingchang', so after the guy who bought the horse came back this morning to complain, his subordinates had no choice but to let them buy it elsewhere. ”

"Who knew that the shopkeeper of 'Wan Xingchang' had already released his words, and the good horses in Tongzhou Luoma City began to rise from 45 taels of silver to 60 taels of silver per horse the day before yesterday. The mules and horses pulling the cart rose from 16 taels to 30 taels each, and the subordinates couldn't stand this nest of gas, and they were afraid of ruining the reputation of Bofu Qianzhuang, so they simply didn't buy it. ”

Zhu Daolin nodded: "You did the right thing!" How many good horses have you bought in the past half a month? ”

"230 horses, all purebred Mongolian war horses between the ages of two and 5, and all of them have been tamed, with an average price of less than 37 taels of silver, and they will come over tomorrow morning to load the ship." Yang Junwu replied.

Zhu Daolin thought for a while: "How many horses are there in the horse circle of the Wanxingchang branch now?" ”

"The largest mule and horse shop in the whole North Zhili is Tongzhou 'Wanxingchang', now has no less than 600 good horses, if you add mules and foals, no less than thousands, the largest horse circle in the southeast corner of Luoma City and the shop in front of half a street, all are Wanxingchang's industry."

After Yang Junwu answered, he suddenly felt wrong, and immediately looked at Zhu Daolin nervously.

Zhu Daolin turned to Zheng Zhicheng, the captain of the "Yichun", and Liu Changyang, the captain of the "Shangyuan", on the left: "Lao Zheng, Lao Liu, how many horses can you fit on the two ships?" ”

Zheng Zhicheng, who was stocky, and Liu Changyang, who was over 30 years old and full of beard, hurriedly stood up, and Zheng Zhicheng replied that the "Yichun" had already been loaded with a quarter of the warehouse of tanned leather, and could only fit up to 200 more horses.

Liu Changyang, captain of the "Shangyuan," said that it would be smooth sailing and that he would be able to reach Baoshan Port in seven days at most, and that the ships had been covered with chaff and straw, and that if they were squeezed, his ship could fit 450 to 500 horses.

Zhu Daolin smiled with satisfaction: "After you go back, your two transport ships will be driven back to the shipyard for maintenance, and then handed over to the newly established 'Four Seas Commercial Bank'." ”

"A 700-ton Galen ship and an 800-ton Galen ship that I ordered from the Spaniards a few months ago will arrive at the latest early next month, and after replacing our steering wheel system with lifts and booms, we will continue to use the 'Yichun' and 'Shangyuan' to replenish the freshwater fleet."

"After the two of you go back, you have to hurry up, go to the new barracks in Shangyuangang to select soldiers to make up for the establishment, and train strictly, if you have any ideas, take advantage of this time to think about it, as soon as the new ship arrives, it will enter the factory for refit, and there will be a task when it is over, and time waits for no one!"

Zheng Zhicheng and Liu Changyang were overjoyed.

Once they are replaced with a new ship of more than 700 tons, the two will be changed from acting captains to official captains, and the rank of test hundred households on their heads will also be promoted to one level, becoming the official hundred household officers of the Ming Navy, and the number of brothers under them will also increase from 120 to 185, and they can be equipped with 6 to 8 guns and 30 fire-fire muskets.

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