Yixing Fengxiantang Shen lineage, although now it is not famous. But Chang Yao learned some anecdotes behind this family. More than ten years ago, Yuci Chang's family went out of Shanxi and tried to develop its business in the Jianghuai area, thanks to Shen's help. Only a few clan elders of the Chang clan knew the clues, and Chang Yao was the son of the person in charge of liaising with the Shen clan at that time.

The Shen clan was originally a large clan in Henan, during the Three Kingdoms and the Jin Dynasty, migrated to the south of the Yangtze River, and then after many years of war, the Shen clan scattered to various parts of the south, Yixing Fengxian Hall is one of the inconspicuous branches.

Fengxiantang is not visible in front of people, but Chang Yao knows some of the deeds of this low-key and introverted family back then. Yuci Chang's march into Jianghuai, during which he was sniped by the Jianghuai clan, fortunately, the Chang family at that time was helped by the Shen family, which gradually gained a firm foothold, it can be said that the Chang family can have today's situation, all thanks to the help of Fengxiantang.

And what surprised Chang Yao even more was that the head of the Shen family at that time turned out to be a woman. Speaking of which, this is also the misfortune of the Shen family, the old master of Fengxian Hall, only has two daughters under his knees, the younger daughter has been separated since she was a child, and only the eldest daughter stays by her side. At that time, the old head of the Shen family was seriously ill and lingered on the sickbed, and only this eldest daughter could rely on. Therefore, this eldest daughter was raised as a boy from an early age. Therefore, outsiders also know that the Shen family has a "son-in-law".

Although she is a woman, this daughter of the Shen family has a talent for business that even men can't match, and the Shen family is in her hands, and in just a few years, she has become a big family in the south of the Yangtze River. However, the withering of the Shen family's male Ding cast a shadow on the subsequent development. The old head of the Shen family has no brothers and heirs, and he has only one daughter under his knees. Therefore, when Shen's business became more and more prosperous, the crisis quietly came.

On the one hand, the major clans in the south of the Yangtze River frequently make people come to the door to propose marriage, hoping that by marrying the Shen family's son-in-law into the family, the Shen family's family property can also be rightfully occupied; On the other hand, other branches of the Shen family, in order to seize the property of Fengxiantang, spared no effort to squeeze and squeeze out the father and daughter of the Shen family.

So in the third year of the Apocalypse, the father and daughter of the Shen family had to leave their hometown and go north to Beijing. Before leaving. Even the thousands of acres of land in the family were distributed to the clansmen, and the two left their homeland and went to Beijing.

After that, Chang Yao didn't get any more news about the Shen family. Years have passed. Until the seventh year of the Apocalypse. The emperor rode the dragon. The society was in turmoil, and only then did I vaguely hear that the Shen family had suffered a catastrophe in Beijing. The old family master and the son-in-law of the Shen family all died overnight in chaos. For this reason, the old master of the Chang family was also heartbroken, and it didn't take many days for him to travel to the immortals. The young head of the family, Shen Wei, inherited the family business. Chang Yao also came to Dengzhou, Shandong from Jianghuai to develop.

Chang Yao was also embarrassed about what happened to the Shen family, originally thinking that the Shen family's Fengxian Hall would disappear from then on, but the year before last, he unexpectedly met Shen Mingxian. As a child of the Chang family who contacted the Shen family back then, Chang Yao and Shen Mingxian have known each other for many years, Shen Mingxian was just a relative of the Shen family's son-in-law, and he thought that he also died in the catastrophe in Beijing, but he didn't expect to meet in Dengzhou again.

Chang Yao only found out at this time that Fengxian Hall had always existed. A group of henchmen and relatives who originally followed the old head of the Shen family and the son-in-law are now scattered all over the world, but they are guarding the name of Fengxian Hall, and their loyalty is amazing, but now who is at the helm of the Shen family, Shen Mingxian did not mention a word.

When old friends meet, they are naturally full of emotion. But whenever Chang Yao mentioned the affairs of the Shen family, Shen Mingxian always talked about him left and right. In this way, it is inconvenient for Chang Yao to ask again, but he also vaguely feels that the Shen family's current style of acting is more mysterious than it was back then. Thinking about it, this is also human nature, after all, the emperor died suddenly, and I heard that there was chaos in the Beijing division for a while, and then Wei Zhongxian was expelled from the Beijing division and died in Fucheng, Hejian Mansion. During this period, I don't know how many heads fell to the ground, and how many wealthy families were killed, and I think it was at that time that the Shen family was connected to it. After this difficulty, the Shen family will inevitably be more cautious and cautious.

As a result, Chang Yao and Shen Mingxian got closer, and the two also worked together to do a lot of business. But for the Shen family, Chang Yao always felt as if he was separated by a thin veil, and he couldn't see clearly in a hazy way.

But today, Shen Mingxian's sudden visit has alleviated Chang Yao's worries a lot. The merchants of Shanyou forced the Shanxi merchants of Dengzhou not to enter the trade zone, clearly to oppose the government, and they had a wide network of contacts in the court, so naturally they would not be implicated. However, just like the Deyu firm, these coerced merchants were doing business honestly, but they didn't expect that they would be able to fall into this troubled water. Shen Mingxian has been in Dengzhou for many years, and he has a lot of knowledge and faces, so he may be able to come up with a good way.

When Chang Yao said the worries in his heart, Shen Mingxian laughed and persuaded Chang Yao not to be embarrassed by this. "Brother Xian is too worried, you and I have cooperated a lot, and we are all people who have been rolling in the business for many years. Where the business opportunities in the trade zone are, the discerning people can see at a glance, the Beijing division also has news, the establishment of the city is a sure thing, such a great opportunity to miss, it is a pity. ”

Chang Yao nodded again and again, what Shen Ming said first was that it was really a tyrannical thing to let go of the money sent to him and not make money. But the Shanyou Fan family and the Wang family are forcing each other step by step, if they disobey their will, the business of the hometown in Shanxi will inevitably be affected, not to mention, they still have the power to rely on in the court, once they are given a small shoe to wear, the Chang family will never be able to afford it.

"That's easy!" Shen Ming clapped his hands first, "It's not a secret, now it's not only my Shandong merchants who intend to get a piece of the pie in the trade zone." As far as Brother Yu knows, now people from Jianghuai, Liangguang, and even Yungui and Fujian are rushing to Shandong to ......! ”

"There is such a thing!" Chang Yao was taken aback, he didn't expect the matter in the trade zone to have such a big impact. Shen Mingxian has a good relationship with himself, and he doesn't think he will deceive himself with such a thing.

"So, Brother Xian, you must hurry up!"

Chang Yao became an ant on a hot pot for a while and stood up. Walking around the room, his hands kept rubbing, but he still couldn't make up his mind.

Shen Mingxian smiled lightly, "Brother Xian doesn't have to be embarrassed, in this way, Brother Yu will first take some shops in the name of Fengxian Hall." The virtuous brother felt that there might be something to be done, so he secretly booked some here with the foolish brother, and waited until the rumor passed, so as not to offend the two families of Jinhe and Jintong. ”

Chang Yao's eyes lit up, but he suddenly shook his head again. "Thank you, brother, for your kindness. But if this matter is known to the Fan family and the Wang family, the younger brother doesn't care, I'm afraid that the head of the contemptible family will be embarrassed by this! ”

Shen Mingxian understood what Chang Yao meant. When even explained: "You and I both know in our hearts what those people on the right side of the mountain have done all these years. The imperial court also understood. But it's just a matter of not being able to do anything. Now the methods of our deputy chief soldier in Dengzhou. Maybe you know. If they dare to commit such a crime, wouldn't it be a self-defeating end? ”

"But ...... they are in the court?" Chang Yao said hesitantly.

Shen Ming picked up the folding fan and unfolded it first, shaking it gently. "They do, but don't the commander-in-chief not? You and I are just businessmen, just doing business to earn what we need, and the rest, I don't care so much. What's more, you and I rely on the geographical advantage to win some shops, even if there is an incident later, you can sell it to others, which is also a sure thing! ”

"Brother mean, ...... you and the chief soldier?" Chang Yao suddenly thought of a little and hurriedly asked.

Shen Mingxian smiled, "Wait and see what happens, watch what happens!" Foolish brother here to take down the shop first. Brother Xian might as well take a look at the situation first. It's just one thing, after the situation calms down, there may be a time when the Shanshan fellow Dao is hesitant, Yuci Chang's family is a Jin merchant everyone, and the foolish brother hopes that when the time comes, the virtuous brother can come out to stabilize the situation! ”

……

The trade zone is in full swing, and the construction of the new army has not stopped. The goods of the Fan firm that Zhu Ping'an ate in Fengyang played a great role. With a large amount of gold and silver poured in, coupled with the power support of the López Franco Merchant House, the structure of the new army swelled in an instant. Of the original 500 veterans, Zhu Ping'an only left 100 people, and the remaining 400 people were assigned to Yue Jinfeng, Qiu Ze and Li Dingguo.

Tong Guò rectified the four guards and returned the fields to the hands of the military households, and the enthusiasm of the children of the military households was immediately aroused. In addition to Weihaiwei and Zhu Ping'an's plan to establish it in the form of a military port, the troops of Chengshanwei, Jinghaiwei, and Dasongwei all entered the high-speed expansion.

As a matter of fact, Zhu Ping'an has decided to abandon the original military household system and the conscription system, and intends to replace it with a compulsory military system. In addition to reducing the old, weak, sick and disabled to quit the army, or joining the auxiliary camp, or returning to their hometowns to farm, the four guards were collected and recruited 8,000 soldiers. The elite of them were selected to enter the new army troops, enter the Dengzhou training, and the rest of the soldiers were assigned to the guard troops, led by Yue Jinfeng, Qiu Ze, and Li Dingguo for training, and after the formation and training of the new army was completed, the troops of the three guards will also be reorganized, and what is currently being carried out is only similar to the training of recruits in later generations, with the purpose of cultivating the discipline and team consciousness of the recruits.

Of course, for ideological work, Zhu Ping'an also did not relax. The 400 veterans assigned to the three guards continued such a role, leading the training of recruits during the day, and at night they began to consciously instill the "Soldier's Drill Code" and some easy-to-understand theories of family and country into the soldiers.

The composition of the Forces nouvelles was soon finalized. There are five arms: pikemen, musketeers, grenadiers, sword and shield men, and artillery battalions. This is also a class of troops determined according to the needs of the tactics of Gustav's phalanx. Complete firearms armament can only be a dead end in the current war, and even European countries cannot meet that standard. Zhu Ping'an had no choice but to draw on the experience of various countries on the European continent first, combine hot and cold weapons, and then decide on new tactics as weapons were upgraded.

At the same time as the recruit training was carried out, Zhu Ping'an also appointed Yin Shigang and Shen Mingxian to review the identities of the recruits one by one, and found good seedlings in the record. In order to delineate the training list after the end of the first phase of intensive training, because Dengzhou's health school has also been renovated on a large scale, in addition to attracting some military children to enroll, there is also a special class that will circle the good seedlings and a small number of military children who are interested in serving in military positions into Weixue.

This class will become the cradle of the middle and low-level officers of the New Army in the future, and Zhu Ping'an named it "Jiangwutang." (To be continued......)