On August 22, the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Emperor Zhu Youxiao died at the age of 23. Zhu Youxiao lived shorter than his short-lived father, but fortunately, he was the emperor for seven years, and his father only served for two months. If it is according to Chen Xin's standards, Tianqi will not be too much of a loss in this life. On August 24, his younger brother Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne and set the next year's year name Chongzhen.

The emperor died, everyone just spread it and talked about it, and no one cried on TV, anyway, he was the Zhu family, and the people couldn't choose an emperor to come out, and life went on as usual. No one else was in a hurry, but Chen Xin looked at the street outside the door every day, looking forward to Song Wenxian and Dai Zhenggang coming back, and almost became the Wangfu Stone at the door. Lu Donkey bought a good house in Beijing, and returned to Tianjin on the 10th day of September, Liu Min's garment shop business did not improve much, although it was better than other garment shops, but it was too far from the Issey Miyake in his mind, so he went to the garment store early every day, and heard that he was developing new products.

This wait is September 30, Chen Xin looked at the door as usual, and finally waited for Song Wenxian and Dai Zhenggang, Chen Xin saw the two, jumped up excitedly, and hurriedly greeted him, Song Wenxian looked proud.

"Brother Chen, fortunately, the documents of the Shandong Metropolitan Government have been completed." As soon as Song Wenxian sat down, he took out the entry-level documents in the baggage, Chen Xin glanced at his baggage, and took the documents casually.

Song Wenxian sighed: "I also heard on the road that the emperor died, and I heard that the new enthronement is Xizong's younger brother, who is seventeen years old. ”

Chen Xin thought about this Zhu Youzhen, he had not been comfortable for a few days since he ascended the throne, the Tartars had gone to Liukou, the eunuchs had gone to Donglin, and more than 50 ministers had been changed in general, but to no avail, since he became the emperor, he was strictly economical, although the legend of the patching of clothes was too exaggerated, but it was indeed trapped in the finances in the next few years, and even all the silverware in the palace was given to the silver bureau and turned into silver ingots, and he was diligent and diligent all his life, and he did not enjoy any blessings, and finally fell into a rumor of tens of millions of taels of silver, he was the emperor of the last days, it was not a good thing, In contrast, his carpenter brother, although short-lived, was considered free.

But now is not the time to sympathize with him, this young son of heaven who aspires to be the king of Yao Shun is now full of ambition, judging from his calmness and calmness in dealing with Wei Zhongxian, his scheming and scheming are also very accomplished, if the world is fine, to be a prince of peace, most of these courtiers will not be able to fight him.

Chen Xin put away the paperwork and said to Song Wenxian: "Mr. Song, you and Brother Dai have worked hard all the way, but I will let you rest for a day at most, and I am in a hurry to go to Beijing." ”

Song Wenxian hurriedly said: "At this time, I'm afraid that the Jingshi may not be in a hurry to go, once the son of heaven and a courtier, the shape of the Jingshi is undecided, I will wait, what if it hurts the pond fish." ”

Chen Xin said with a smile: "Then I'll set the fire first, since I am a young man, maybe I will make every effort to reform the old system, and if I stop accepting the level after a while, where will I go to complain." Taking advantage of the fact that all the ministries are old people now, let's get things done first. ”

"Aren't newcomers doing the same thing?"

"Mr. Song has been in the shogunate for a long time, it should be clear, you also said that once a son of heaven and a courtier, if he knows that the official position is not long, he will do what he can do quickly, the money, how much can be collected, if he waits for a new official to come up, people will spend money to rise, and if there is less, he will not do it."

Song Wenxian suddenly said: "It turns out that Brother Chen is in a hurry for this, but Brother Chen has seen this matter thoroughly." and the brother will listen to you. ”

Dai Zhenggang's joy was overflowing: "Then Brother Chen will soon be a thousand households." ”

Chen Xin smiled: "When the time comes, Brother will also go to Weihai with me, and I will definitely let you have a prospect." ”

Song Wenxian said: "Brother Dai is really born with divine power, people push a cart uphill, a few people can't push it, he pushes it up alone, Brother Chen is in the army, he should bring Brother Dai, over time, he must be a fierce general like Lu Bu and Zhang Fei." ”

Dai Zhenggang hurriedly humbled himself.

Chen Xin said with a smile: "Brother Dai is not only born with divine power, but also has a very good character, and now he is also very good at writing some words, so I don't want Brother Dai to only be a fierce general." ”

Song Wenxian looked at Dai Zhenggang with a little surprise: "It turns out that Brother Dai can still write, it's really rare." ”

Dai Zhenggang's face was slightly red, but fortunately, his face was relatively dark, and it was not easy to see: "I just learned two or three hundred words, and I can't write well." ”

Chen Xin and Song Wenxian both laughed, after the clothing store business was less during this time, Liu Min began to teach a few people to read and write again in the evening, and the unexpected thing was that Wang Daixi had the best academic performance, and he could recognize words quickly, and his abacus was now smoother than Chen Xin, and he had the potential to become a female account room. And when studying every day, several people are very serious, perhaps because there are too few educational resources in this era, many people can't even write their own names in their lives, and crosses and circles abound when drawing, so several people cherish the opportunity to learn, and no one has ever said that they don't want to study because they are tired. The only one is Zhang Dahui, who usually works in the Qinglou to sell miscellaneous clothes, and only comes back once in a few days, and has learned a lot less, and now the business of the Qinglou is also less, Chen Xin is planning to let him come back.

Chen Xin smiled before he said: "It's good to write squarely, we are not calligraphers, as long as we can recognize it." ”

Dai Zhenggang didn't have any confidence in his words, so he quickly bypassed this topic: "Brother Chen, when I went back this time, some of the original brothers who were slender men together also wanted to follow the adults to Weihai, I thought it was a big deal, and I didn't dare to agree rashly." ”

Dai Zhenggang and his group of people who have been slender men are all the best soldiers in Chen Xin's opinion, most of them saw that Lu Donkey and Dai Zhenggang had made money, and they had to follow them under the heat, of course people wanted it, but not everyone could. Chen Xin thought for a while and said: "If you want to come, but you have to divide it in batches, it must be hard to go just now, and you may not be able to take care of your family, there are thirty people in the first batch, as long as you are single, and you have to say in advance that you may have to die, and if you are injured and die, it will be thirty taels of silver." ”

"Got it, Brother Chen, I'll go to the dock and ask that fellow villager to bring the letter back. It's up to them whether they come or not. As soon as Dai Zheng finished speaking, he hurriedly went out and headed for the dock.

Song Wenxian squinted his eyes and said leisurely: "Brother Chen's pattern is not small, I'm afraid it's not just a thousand households." ”

Now there are only two people left, both of them are raccoon dogs, Chen Xin doesn't care about it, and said lightly: "Dongyu is rampant, it is the time for men to make meritorious contributions, and when will they stay if they don't do it at this time." ”

Song Wenxian looked at the Chen Xin in front of him, went to sea with an account room, hid with a gun and killed people, but killed his prestige, he also understands the world, and he may still have a future in the officialdom, but he has to be a guard officer, which really makes Song Wenxian a little incomprehensible, and at this time he said that he wants to rely on martial arts to gain fame.

After thinking about it, Song Wenxian still decided to persuade him: "Brother Chen, that Jiannu is not so easy to fight, since the old slave started the army with seven hatreds, my Ming Dynasty has almost no victory, and the deputy generals of the general army have died countless times, so it's better for us not to wade into this troubled water." ”

"Last year, there was Ningyuan's victory, and this year's Ningjin victory, Liaodong still has a lot to do."

Song Wenxian was afraid that this partner would be sent to death, so he hurriedly said: "Brother Chen asked knowingly, how can the words of the imperial court be taken seriously, the so-called Ningyuan victory, just look at the first series, Brother Chen should know what it is, since ancient times, I have heard of the great victory of beheading two hundred, only to say that Juehua alone, there are tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and the dungeon forts in western Liaoning go to eight or nine." In this battle of Ningjin, the big and small Ling rivers also made people dismantle ......"

Chen Xin added on the side: "Huang Taiji also helped Guan Ningjun collect the winter wheat by the way, if you want to say that people are still kind, they came all the way to help." ”

Song Wenxian smiled: "Of course you have to accept it, otherwise people can't take care of North Korea when they come back to rest, what is the picture, I don't know who is the big victory, let's laugh now, it's okay to really go to Jiannu, Brother Chen, don't believe the words of the Di Bao"

Chen Xin looked at Song Wenxian's anxious face and couldn't help laughing.

"Oh, Brother Chen, you are still laughing, the imperial court invests three million Liao a year, raising 1120,000 soldiers inside and outside the Guanguan (Note 1), and 20,000 or 30,000 in Dongjiang Town (Note 2), so many soldiers can't beat Jiannu, you can know the ferocity of Jiannu. If we want to be famous, we don't have to work as hard as a martial artist. ”

"That little brother has something unclear, since Mr. Song has been a showman, why didn't he go to the imperial examination to gain fame, but instead went to sea like a martial artist like me?"

Song Wenxian opened his mouth and didn't say anything, after half a ring, he looked at the door, and after making sure that there was no one, he whispered to Chen Xin: "I won't hide it from you anymore, you know, my talent is also fake, but it's not that I can't pass the test to others, it's just bad luck." ”

Chen Xin saw that he finally admitted that he was satisfied, he had always doubted that Song Wenxian looked like he was keen on power, if he had a fame, he would never be so willing to be a staff member, he used to say that he had been a showman, it was a lie, but he said that he had the strength of a show, Chen Xin believed it.

Song Wenxian exposed Chen Xin once, and Chen Xin also exposed him once, and the two were even, proving once again that the two were truly a raccoon dog. Song Wenxian was not embarrassed at all, and drank tea leisurely.

Chen Xin didn't laugh at him, he smiled and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Song, do you think if I do sea trade now, what is the difference between me and Zhao Haiming?" ”

Song Wenxian was slightly stunned: "Brother Chen's civil and military ......"

"Brother Song, don't be polite, I'm no different from Zhao Haiming now, to put it ugly, it's the green skin on the sea, and it's quite united on the ship, and as soon as you go ashore, it's a rabble, and they disperse. If there is a foothold in Weihai, the people's hearts gather, the pattern will be very different, the same sea trade, can be a boat, can also be three or five boats, can go to Japan, can also go to Jiangnan, and not only earn this bit of silver, so, whether Mr. Song is a staff member or famous, you and I support each other, is the long-term strategy. ”

Chen Xin will not give a share to Song Wenxian, although he has more money to choose the share after leaving, but with the energy of one of his staff, it is not enough to take so much silver, under normal circumstances, the silver given to him each time will not exceed one thousand taels, unless it is like this time to grab the boat, but when it can't be grabbed, it is the majority. The biggest reason for Chen Xin's cooperation with this person is Song Wenxian's familiarity with Dengzhou officialdom, and Chen Xin's strength and sea trade share are also strong support for Song Wenxian's status in the governor's yamen, so Chen Xin took advantage of this time to clarify such a strategic partnership with him, so that he could seriously help him do something.

Song Wenxian is cunning and cunning, and he quickly understood, but he mainly values the profits of sea trade in his heart, with this thing, his position in the governor's yamen is very stable, as for the support that Chen Xin said, he didn't like it, Song Wenxian was somewhat infected with the atmosphere of contempt for military generals in the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Song Wenxian readily agreed, and he also hoped that Chen Xin could make the sea trade bigger. Maritime trade is not a canal, not at any time can go to sea, Jiangnan and Fujian maritime merchants generally run Japan twice a year, most of them go together, go to Japan in June and July along the northward current monsoon, and return along the southward current in August and September, go to Japan after September, the time is long, plus the time to buy goods by themselves, generally have to wait until the winter to come back, before Zhao Haiming sometimes only ran once a year, if there is one more boat, the profit can be doubled.

But the boat is easy to find, the sailor is not easy to find, the sailor does not dare to use the manpower, with the fishermen have to be slowly cultivated, once the last bloody battle, the loss of manpower is not easy to replenish, if there is a territory, recruit some homeless people, the problem of manpower can be solved.

Thinking of this, Song Wenxian asked Chen Xin, "Do Black Cannon and Scar plan to follow you?" ”

"Scar came to me and said he wanted to follow me, and now he has rented a shop near the dock, where he and Zhu Guobin live. The black cannon is still helping Zhao Dong's family guard the tomb, and he said that he will guard it for a year. ”

"Scar and Black Cannon are quite popular, many sailors listen to them, if you want to go to sea, you have to use these two people."

Chen Xin agreed, thinking of another person on the boat: "Mr. Song, that Han Bin is in Dengzhou on weekdays, this time he lost his position, is there any change after he goes back." ”

Song Wenxian snorted: "Han Bin is narrow-minded and mean-hearted, except for a few of his fellow villagers, no one wants to listen to him, he has been in the Qinglou Gambling House every day since he returned to Dengzhou, and his more than 3,000 taels of silver will not last long." ”

After Chen Xin pondered for a moment, he said softly: "If he runs out of silver, Mr. Song should pay more attention to it, he knows everything about the ship, and he may use his crooked brain when the money runs out." ”

Song Wenxian sneered: "I will let Wang Yong stare at him......" ----------------------------------------------------------------

Note 1: The number of soldiers inside and outside the Guan, the number of soldiers in the seventh year of the Apocalypse is 117,000, and it is difficult to say the actual number of soldiers.

Note 2: Dongjiang Town has 28,000 soldiers.