As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the daytime sun is not so intense.

In the past few days, the newly recruited regimental training villagers, under the supervision of the Shen family, stood in rows under the sun, carrying out the queue training that was forbidden by order.

Most of the recruits don't understand it in their hearts, but fortunately, this kind of training doesn't take much physical effort, and it is more just to hone the will, hone the tolerance to exposure and other pains, and the patience is over.

Since ancient times, I have never heard that people can lose weight successfully by basking in the sun and standing in a military posture, this kind of training seems to sweat a lot and temper the will, but in fact, it does not consume much energy, drink more water and replenish electrolytes will not have an accident.

Shen Fu and other officers did not engage in excessive corporal punishment. These soldiers trained in the queue can get a chance to drink pickle water to replenish their body fluids every half an hour, and the sunshine in the eighth month of the lunar calendar will not cause people to suffer from heat stroke.

If you are really tired of standing and are in an impetuous mood, then pull out to keep the formation and climb the mountain, and do some explosive cardiopulmonary training. When the team comes back, no one is left behind, and the whole team is in good shape, and you can add a piece of pickle tofu in the evening.

After a few days, the discipline of the team has really improved a little. At least you won't encounter things rushing up and being frightened and scattered.

Time came to the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival in a blink of an eye. As the situation gradually stabilized, the rear supply fleet that Shen Shuren had been looking forward to day and night also arrived, bringing Shen Shuren the ordnance materials, talents, and a small number of escorted sailors.

Shen Shuren has always maintained correspondence with his hometown in Suzhou, and he also knows who came to reinforce this time, so he personally went to the dock in Huangqikou Town to greet him.

……

"Tut-tut, Shen Tongzhi, I haven't seen you for more than half a year, it's really different from what it used to be, and the next official will meet Lord Tongzhi."

On the pier of Huangqikou, the first and largest ship in the sand fleet had just docked, and it did not wait for the pedals to be completely paved.

A twenty-five or sixteen-year-old civil official who looked quite heroic and tall jumped onto the trestle bridge with vigor and joked with Shen Shuren on his shoulders.

Shen Shuren slapped the other party's arm away and responded playfully: "Okay, cousin, don't scold me, there are no other officials, and you still say something about adults and adults." Tomorrow I will introduce you to several other magistrates in this state, and it will not be too late for you to get to business. ”

It turned out that this person was Zhang Huangyan - after the township test last year, the Shen family sponsored him for 5,000 taels of silver to buy the history of the Eight Grades in Tongcheng County, Anqing Mansion next door.

Zhang Huangyan himself is still competitive, in the past ten months, he has been diligent in government affairs, working under Shi Kefa, and his political performance is not bad.

It is said that he repelled Lin Chengyang, and the part of the thief army that spread to the Huainan Plain was eliminated, and the main force of the thief army had to retreat to the depths of the Dabie Mountains.

In this way, Zhang Huangyan made a little contribution, and the Shen family was willing to spend some money on this potential stock, and he finally rose from the history of the eight-grade classic to the seventh-grade magistrate.

Such a speed of promotion would not be possible under normal circumstances.

But Zhang Huangyan also had the courage, I heard that the Shen family needed to deploy forces in Huangzhou, and Huanggang County, the government of Huangzhou, was now in the hands of Liu Xiyao, and the original prefect, Tongzhi, and Zhixian were all killed when Huanggang was lost.

So Zhang Huangyan volunteered to be the magistrate of Huanggang, and after Shi Kefa helped him report, Yang Sichang also nodded, and this matter was done exceptionally.

After all, he, the jurisdiction of the county, is still in the hands of thieves, and he needs to recover the territory himself before he can actually take office. If you change this kind of drudgery, you don't want to take it at all, and you can't sell it if you sell your officials, so the officials might as well promote Zhang Huangyan out of the ordinary.

……

"I haven't seen you for so long, and you're also in Qipinzhi County, and you've experienced too many things in the past ten months." Shen Shuren has a bit of a feeling that things are right and wrong.

Zhang Huangyan pushed him: "If you have it, don't be obedient, who doesn't know that you are all the same as the six grades, or you are still from the Eight Classics and the Two Rankings of Jinshi Examination, and the future is limitless." Let's just mix up some fame.

I really can't see it, you didn't go to the township test last year, and in the end, you can actually do it, and the fortune is impermanent, you really can't help but believe in fate. ”

Shen Shuren laughed at himself: "Okay, my own brother, don't say these hypocritical words, I invite you to drink and admire the moon tonight, and let Brother Tinglin accompany you - but okay, don't play those poems to Yongyue." ”

As he spoke, Shen Fu next to him had already brought two horses and waited for the young master and the young master to get on the horse.

Zhang Huangyan seemed to remember something, and hurriedly ordered: "Why are there only two horses?" Let another one come out. ”

As he spoke, he turned to Shen Shuren: "I was so excited to meet just now, I forgot to tell you about a surprise - look at who came down from the boats behind." ”

Shen Shuren turned his head to look, and as he was talking just now, the second and third boats on the pier had also docked, unloading passengers from the trestle.

The second ship was under the banner of a military attaché, and dozens of well-trained and powerful soldiers came down, and the leading officer, Shen Shuren, looked a little familiar.

Shen Shuren carefully distinguished for a while, and then recognized that it was Zuo Zixiong, who had driven out the thieves with Shi Kefa when he first transported grain to Shi Kefa in Weishui last year.

"Isn't Brother Zuo from Shushuiwei? It was a real bonus. Shen Shuren greeted him, and the three of them reminisced together.

Zhang Huangyan explained: "In the past year, I have been taken care of and appreciated by Shi Futai. This time, seeing that I volunteered to be an official in the occupied area, he also cherished his talents, and was afraid that I would make a mistake, so he transferred Brother Zuo from Huang Zongzhen-

In fact, strictly speaking, it is not a change of door. The boundary of Huangzhou here has been restored, and it can be regarded as the defense area of Huang Zongzhen. The left brother was transferred from the regular health center to the regimental training, and he could be directly promoted to the capital division. If you have made meritorious contributions, you can be promoted again, and we will not delay people's future. ”

A guard has several thousand households, and the capital division is a higher level of "capital command envoy", and it is also the leader of the health office.

Zuo Zixiong was originally in the regular army, but now he is transferred to regimental training, of course, he has to be promoted. Originally, there was still a half-level "garrison" between Qianhu and Dusi, so it was directly skipped.

When Zhang Huangyan introduced, Zuo Zixiong came over to greet him in small steps, and it seemed that he was still quite afraid of the civil and military dignity.

When Shen Shuren called him his left brother, he also hurriedly waved his hand and said that he didn't dare: "The last general has long felt that Lord Tongzhi is talented and extraordinary. Later, I heard that adults and teenagers won the two lists of Jinshi, and their future is limitless. It was an honor to work with adults. ”

Shen Shuren didn't get entangled, just nodded kindly: "That's it, that's the case, everyone will be commensurate with their official positions in the future." Zuo Dusi, this Huangzhou regiment training guard, but it depends on you, I estimate that Liu Xiyao will be in the Kou when the autumn harvest is made, and some daily drills and rectification of military discipline also depend on you to worry more. ”

The three of them chatted as they rode back to the city, leaving the dock workers and their families there to unload and count, load and transfer the trucks.

"How much supplies did you bring this time? Do I have all the armor I want? The Hongyi instructor who can speak Chinese has also arrived, right? Shen Shuren asked casually.

Zhang Huangyan replied with a few treasures: "Instructor Hongyi is on the boat behind, and it will settle down in a while." I brought with me another 1,000 firearms, including 600 birds, 200 miscellaneous firearms, and 200 turtledoves.

The clan spent a lot of money on this, and some of them still asked Zheng Chenggongyun, and the price he gave was fair.

Not to mention the knives and guns, I have also replenished a batch of excellent ones for you, which should be enough for our own family sailors - as you said in your own letter, the little stock in the Huangzhou arsenal should be enough to equip the township brave recruits.

In terms of armor, dozens of expensive Hongyi armors were made, as well as more than 300 sets of iron cotton armor in the army, and 1,000 pairs of low-cost cotton armor without iron armor. The firearms cost a total of more than 60,000 taels of silver, and the armor is even more expensive. ”

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the official pricing of firearms was not expensive, according to the "Continuation of the Examination of the Two Zhejiang Coastal Defenses", the purchase of Qi Jiajun in the early years of Wanli, the material cost of each bird gun was only nine dollars of silver. Even if Chongzhen was inflationary in the last years, it would be three taels at most.

However, the official pricing only calculates the cost of materials, that is, the depreciation of steel and tools, and does not take into account the labor expenses of craftsmen.

Shen Shuren, who can't take the path of formal government procurement, will definitely not be able to enjoy such a low price. In fact, the labor cost of such a complex weapon as the bird gun will be several times the cost of materials.

And knives, guns, cotton armor and the like are the materials that account for the majority of the money. A set of high-quality cotton armor inlaid with iron sheets costs eight taels of silver for the main material alone, and at least a dozen taels for all the auxiliary materials.

The iron armor of the late Ming Dynasty will no longer make the nail piece too small, so it is not as laborious to polish as the iron armor of the Song and early Ming Dynasty, and there is no need to drill holes and thread and sew the nail piece.

As long as the large iron sheet is directly lined between several layers of rolled and strong cotton, and then sewn a vertical and horizontal grid to fix it, it is similar to the principle of body armor inserts in later generations. The cost is that the defense at the seams is relatively low, much lower than that of Zajia.

After Zhang Huangyan roughly explained the accounts, he also persuaded his cousin to find a way to build his own workshop and hire craftsmen to build ordnance in the future, which would save some silver. Buying the spot premium directly is too powerful.

Shen Shuren also agreed, saying that he would build his own factory in Dabie Mountain next year to build ordnance, and this year he spent a lot of money to buy it because he was in a hurry.

Shen Shuren had also read a lot of time-traveling novels in his previous life, and knew that as the protagonist, he should grasp all the supply chain in his own hands to ensure his "strategic supply security".

Whoever hands over his ordnance supply to outsiders will be given the same notoriety as "the loser surnamed Song around Chang Kaishen keeps the money to buy airplanes in the bank for interest."

But he will also analyze specific problems in detail, and at the moment it is urgent to follow the power, those things that can be built by anyone and have no technical secrets, there is nothing to outsource for the time being. Just like a supply chain company like Xiaomi, it was an assembly plant when it first started, and it will make technical content in the future, and the self-research rate will of course be improved.

Everything is a matter of course, there is no law.

The group reminisced about the old days, and soon rode back to Qizhou County.

Zuo Zixiong lived in the regimental training guard, and Zhang Huangyan continued to live in Zhao Yunfan's county government with Shen Shuren.

Who let Huanggang County be in the hands of the enemy, this Qizhou County Ya has been stuffed into two counties and one Tongzhi, all the rooms are occupied, and only a few houses near the left can be occupied.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I will enjoy the moon and drink wine for a while, and I can have a few relatives and friends to visit, and Shen Shuren is also very happy, so I will bathe and change my clothes first, so as not to be disgraced and unhappy.

After returning to the back house, his eyes lit up, and he noticed that several personal maids who had been left at home by him were actually among the relatives and dependents who were picked up today, and they had already packed up their clothes and bath tubs at this moment, and wanted to wait for him to change their clothes.

Shen Shuren couldn't help but be stunned: "Mo Ju Dailan, you are also here?" My cousin didn't tell me just now. There is a shortage of soldiers here, and I didn't bring many female dependents to take office, because I was afraid that it would not be safe. ”

When the personal maids saw the young master, their eyes were red, and they bit their lips to show their loyalty: "If we can follow the young master, we are not afraid of anything." The ladies and aunts in the family were also ordered, so that the people who served around the young master came along-

Young master, you should also be considerate of the old lady's intentions. Before they got married, they came to this kind of dangerous place to be an official, and it would be good to have more people around to serve them.

In fact, I heard that in April, you had just been awarded the Jinshi and Hanlin, and the lord was already helping you negotiate marriage. It's a pity that I heard that you took the initiative to release Huangzhou, and those Beijing officials who were originally interested gave up the marriage, and the lord told his wife in his family letter, so that Mrs. can be careful, whether you marry a wife or not, you must stay as soon as possible. ”

Shen Shuren was also very speechless when he heard this. It can only be said that parents in the feudal era were too concerned about whether their sons could get their grandchildren as soon as possible after becoming officials. Especially when the son goes to a dangerous place to become an official, this consideration becomes more and more intense.

This is the need of etiquette, and it has nothing to do with whether you are good or not.

Shen Shuren raised his forehead and sighed: "Just the two of you?" ”

Dailan Moju both admitted: "Actually...... Miss Chen and Miss Dong were also sent, and the ladies and aunts already knew that Miss Chen was already a young master, and Miss Dong had filial piety last year, and now she has also been filial. But they don't know how to serve people, they are bathing in the wing, and the two of us are here to serve the young master to bathe. ”

Really.

For this kind of thing, Shen Shuren can't say that he cares, but he can't say that he rejects it, so let it be.

"You have also worked hard, hurry up and hurry up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, wash the dust for a while, and enjoy the moon together at night."