Zhu Daolin once again came to the earthen mountain near the mouth of the river, looking at the Chongming Islands on the mighty river like a green flat boat, and the tens of thousands of people who were carrying cement and steel at the bottom of the mountain were like ant colonies, coming and going along the winding muddy road, and they were extremely busy.

The Yangtze River estuary in front of you is wider than hundreds of years later, the width between the north and the south is as high as more than 90 kilometers, most of the Qidong County located on the north bank of the estuary is still soaked in water now, Chongming Island, which is 80 kilometers long and 18 kilometers wide after a few hundred years, is now only four islands that are not connected to each other, from east to west are Nansha Island, Changsha Island, Sansha Island and Chongming Island.

Changsha Island and Sansha Island located in the middle section are the smallest in area, one south and one north are the closest, except for the smallest Sansha Island is deserted and uninhabited, the other three islands have thousands of military households of the sailor and a hundred households settled.

The Wolf Mountain Thousand Households Office, which belongs to Baoshanwei, is located 12 kilometers southeast of Nantong Prefecture, 30 kilometers away from Chongming Hou Island in the vast river, and 70 kilometers away from Baoshan Acropolis on the south bank of the Jiangkou.

The west and south of the Wolf Mountain are full of surging rivers, and the coast is covered with lush reeds like the Chongming Islands, and the original Wolf Mountain Guard was wiped out in a major flood a hundred years ago, and has not recovered so far, leaving only the Wolf Mountain with a height of about 110 meters still standing on the riverside.

Zhu Daolin has never been to Wolf Mountain, and he is not in a hurry to rebuild the Wolf Mountain Acropolis, I heard that the place has beautiful mountains and clear waters, unique scenery, has been occupied by a group of monks and nuns, and a considerable scale of temples have been built around Wolf Mountain and several surrounding low hills.

Zhu Daolin was very unhappy with this, and he had made up his mind to complete the construction of Baoshan Port and the military camp, and then send more than 1,000 recruits to the very strategic location of Wolf Mountain to station, build the military camp and build the fort, and then slowly settle accounts with the local heroes and monks who encroached on the land of the guard.

At noon, a total of 529 officers with or above small flags from Wusong Qianhu, Chongming Qianhu stationed on Chongming Hou Island, Chongming Chongzhong stationed on Changsha Island, and Chongming Qianshu stationed on Nansha Island gathered at the Baoshan Acropolis.

Among them. The oldest is Chongming Qianhu Qianhu Yuan Zhizhong, who is 62 years old this year, and the three sons he brought are the 39-year-old eldest son and deputy Qianhu Yuan Bozhen, the 35-year-old second son Baihu Yuan Zhongzhen and the 28-year-old youngest son Baihu Yuan Jizhen.

The Yuan family is the most powerful traditional military household in the Chongming Islands, and after several generations of painstaking camps, it is now a local powerhouse with more than 5,000 acres of land and six fishing ports.

The total number of people in the entire Yuan family is more than 300 people. It has more than 260 large and small fishing boats, but only 22 large and small warships, including 2 or two dhow galleys with a displacement of more than 80 tons, 7 sailing clippers with a displacement of about 50 tons, and the rest are all paddle boats with a length of less than 10 meters.

The entire Chongming Thousand Households Office nominally had 1,250 officers and soldiers, but in fact the number was only about 420, of which 170 were hereditary military households above the small banner, more than one-third of the number of people at the meeting.

In comparison, the officers of Wusong Qianhu and Chongming Zhong and Chongming Qiansu were much inferior. They gathered in groups and sat around the 35 dining tables neatly placed on the right and back of the courtyard, and the 20 dining tables on the right side of the courtyard had been occupied by more than 170 officers of all sizes brought by the Yuan family's father and son, and only the 15 dining tables in the front were still empty.

"The commander sent General Zhu to—"

With the shouting of the star officer on duty, everyone in the courtyard stood up and looked up at the low main hall gate inside, who knew that Zhu Daolin came in from the front door surrounded by Shi Qingyang and more than 20 other generals. Suddenly, the hundreds of people who whispered and looked up were embarrassed, and they all bent down and clenched their fists to salute Zhu Daolin.

Zhu Daolin hugged his fists in return as he walked. came to the big table near the center in front of the left, and greeted the four Yuan family father and son kindly, and said a few kind words that stunned the audience:

"There are Lao Yuan's seniors and you are rushing, the official has been in office for a short time, and he has been ordered by the Wei State Army to rectify the military affairs of the guard, so he has to hastily convene the seniors and colleagues to come together. I couldn't go to Chongming Back Island to visit my seniors, and I ask my seniors to bear with me! ”

Yuan Zhizhong, who was full of wrinkles, was stunned for a moment, and immediately lowered his head and hugged his fists in return, and his still tough waist bent lower: "The general's words are serious, his words are serious!" Shame on old age! ”

Zhu Daolin smiled slightly: "Seniors don't need to be polite, these heroic heroes." Presumably it is the famous Yuan Sanying, right? ”

"I don't dare to be a general so praised, the humble position is Yuan Bozhen, the deputy of the Chongming Thousand Households, and I greet the general!" Yuan Bozhen, who was tall and had deep eyes, saluted respectfully and gave his name.

Under the stern gaze of the old man, Yuan Zhongzhen, the second man with a strong figure and dark skin, reluctantly bent down and clasped his fists and saluted: "Humble Yuan Zhongzhen, Chongming is a hundred households." ”

The tall youngest son Yuan Jizhen is very similar to his father, with a square face, wheat-colored skin, a straight nose, and slender eyes that are shining, without his father's hint, he bent down and hugged his fists, and gave Zhu Daolin a deep salute: "The lowly Yuan Jizhen has seen the general, and please take care of the general!" ”

He stepped forward cordially and held up Yuan Jizhen's arm, and said that the future will take care of each other, then he walked to the back of the large square table set up separately in front of him, turned around and glanced at the 529 officers with different ages and expressions in the audience, and stretched out his hands to signal everyone to sit down:

"All of you have worked hard, sit down and talk! Old Shi, tell your brethren to sit down as well, and stand unable to speak. ”

The officers in the audience sat down one after another with apprehension, and looked nervously at Zhu Daolin, who was still standing straight in front of him.

After a loud seat movement, the audience fell silent.

Zhu Daolin knew that his style of doing things and what he did in Jinling had reached the ears of these people, and at this moment, when he saw these soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Traditional Guard, each with his own intentions and hegemony, he couldn't help but think of Shi Qingyang's repeated requests for his own careful handling before.

Zhu Daolin weighed it slightly, quickly changed the established strategy, and said politely and loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, since the second year of Chongzhen, our brothers in Baoshanwei have never received the full amount of military funds from the imperial court, not to mention the arrears for three or five months, it would be good to have half of the military salary in hand. ”

"Since the first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, the situation has been even worse, except for the officers above the small banner who can still receive half of the military salary every month, all the non-commissioned officers have been penniless, so it is no wonder that a large number of non-commissioned soldiers have gone to various families to serve as guards and shipwrights......"

"It is quite good that we have about 1,720 soldiers left in the three thousand households and three hundred households in Baoshanwei, although it includes the 1,250 officers and soldiers of the Baoshan Thousand Households that were replenished in the first half of the year."

"Speaking of warships, our guards are even more pitiful, there are only 3 warships left with more than 500 materials, and they are old ships that have been used for more than ten years, but I want to say that the responsibility for this bleak situation is not you, the responsibility lies with the Ministry of War, and the responsibility lies with the imperial court!"

After a brief period of astonishment among the officers in the audience, there was a sparse voice of approval, which soon attracted the echo of most people, and many officers loudly agreed with Zhu Daolin's words, saying that General Zhu was on the point. (To be continued.) )