Shen Shuren himself can not be in a hurry, and can delay his return to Wuchang in Nanjing until mid-February and ensure that he returns to his post before the end of February. The edict of his new official appointment will also be sent directly from Beijing to Wuchang.

However, Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen can't wait for this journey.

According to the practice of previous years, shortly after the Lantern Festival, the sea transport can go north, because by the time the fleet sails for half a month and arrives in the Bohai Sea, the vicinity of Tianjin Bay in the Bohai Sea has also thawed and can sail.

Two years ago, Shen Shuren and Fang Yizhi personally took food and went to Beijing to take the exam, didn't they go north on the second day of the Lantern Festival.

It's the end of January now, ten days later than usual. Calculating the days, when the fleet arrives in the Bohai Sea, not only Tianjin Bay will thaw, but even the mouth of the Xiaoling River, the northeasternmost corner of the Bohai Sea and the most difficult to thaw, is estimated to have melted.

It was also the time when the Tartar patrols were the most lax and prone to flaws, and they had to be seized. If no Ming army is rescued at this time, the follow-up hope will be even slimmer.

Because in winter, when the river is cut off and the riverbed is frozen, the Tartars are not afraid of the Ming sailors at all, and it is impossible to think of a sailor to send them to death. The cavalry could run directly on the riverbed of the Great and Small Ling River, and the side relying on the warship could do nothing at all.

It was only after the rivers thawed and the early floods that the water levels began to rise, creating a short window period.

Therefore, Shen Shuren was only in Nanjing City, and gave Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen a short reward for spending all day and wine, and then had to send them off.

After all, the troops are going to carry out the task of licking blood with knives, even if it is just to respond, there is a high probability that they do not need to fight land battles with Tartars, but in the face of Jiannu, who was famous like a tiger in the late Ming Dynasty, if you don't motivate it, I am afraid that it will definitely be demoralized.

The southern troops under Shen Shuren, except for a few old thieves and soldiers who returned to Shun, had never fought with Jiannu, and at most they fought the peasant army.

After this experience, as long as he can come back, it will certainly be a full baptism of military discipline and courage for the troops. In the future, I can blow a sentence: We also came back from fighting with the Tartars.

And because Zheng Chenggong was going, the Zheng family also came forward by Zheng Hongkui and rewarded the escort warships, sailors and soldiers that the Zheng family would follow. Therefore, the Shen family only needs to worry about their own descendants.

On the Shen family's side, after discussing with his father, Shen Shuren allocated 5,000 elite family members, at least nominally, to participate in this grain transportation and response mission. Other sailors do not count.

The so-called 5,000 family members, in fact, only 2,000 people are real family members, and they are outlaws who have been accumulated by the Shen family for many years of running the sea and performing escorts.

There are 3,000 people left, and they can only be regarded as "comrades who have been colleagues with the Shen family", and then they were transferred back by Shen Shuren in reverse.

When Shen Shuren went to Huangzhou to take office, didn't he bring a thousand elite soldiers, and later dismantled and filled in the two guards in Huangzhou and Suizhou, bringing the old with the new, and also training some elite soldiers.

Therefore, according to the ratio of three in one belt, Shen Shuren tried to pick the new army trained by the Shen family, who were good at water-based and amphibious warfare, and fed back 3,000 people to join forces with the real family.

If he drew too much, Shen Shuren was also worried that Zhang Xianzhong would make a move on Huguang's side and after the beginning of spring, which would excessively weaken the defensive forces on the Huguang battlefield.

On the other hand, the troops trained by Shen Shuren in Huguang are also those soldiers who were born as dock workers, and they are not bad. And many soldiers from miners, hunters, and old bandit camps can't even swim, and being sent to fight by sea will only help.

If you only carry a soldier with good water ability, you won't be able to get more people.

Moreover, this time the Shen family's fleet is also regarded as the main force, before the original Cao Yun changed to the sea, the Shen family had nearly 200 sea ships, according to Chongzhen's "five-year sea change" plan, within five years, the Shen family should build more sea ships year by year, and reach the scale of more than 800 sea ships after the expiration of five years, in order to ensure that most of the imperial court grain is transported by sea.

Now that this plan has only been carried out until the beginning of the third year, the total number of sea-going ships owned by the Shen family is now close to five hundred.

Shen Tingyang assigned more than 100 ships for emergency and daily maintenance of grain transportation. The remaining two-thirds were used to carry out this mission, and in the end, the actual statistics showed that as many as 3340 sea-going ships were used.

After careful calculation, each ship was equipped with an average of 15 capable sailors and 15 soldiers who were good at water, a total of 30 people, more than 300 ships, and tens of thousands of people were also used, half of the sailors and half of the soldiers.

When I go, I will be full of military rations needed by the defenders of Shanhaiguan and other places for a year this year.

After unloading the military rations, if the time is right on the return trip, theoretically each ship can carry 70 or 80 people and carry supplies, and return to Liujiagang in Suzhou by direct sailing. That would be equivalent to being able to rush back more than 20,000 people.

If there is a limit to how many people can be saved, it is also possible to carry more than 100 additional men per ship, bringing the total number of 150 people, including sailors.

It's just that the supplies will be relatively short, and they will not be able to return to Suzhou directly, so they will have to dock on the Shandong Peninsula to replenish fresh water and food.

Of course, Shen Shuren believes that this back-hand plan is basically useless. Hong Chengchou's troops trapped in the last three lonely cities, how could there be as many as thirty or forty thousand?

Even if there were, it would not be possible to save them all.

Once the first rescue is successful, the Tartar soldiers in the other two cities will definitely be alert to strengthen the siege and will not give another chance.

……

The most willing thing for the Shen family to spend is silver, so this time they went to sea to carry out the mission, and each person gave at least ten taels of silver to settle in, both soldiers and sailors.

Among the soldiers, those who will carry out the task of going ashore to meet them will be added an additional five taels. With these two expenses alone, a team of nearly 10,000 people directly sent out hundreds of thousands of taels.

But compared to being able to rescue some Ming elite diehards for their own use, this price is definitely worth it.

Hundreds of thousands of taels are just a direct reward. Before leaving, Shen Shuren also gave some fish, meat, grain and oil directly to the local sailors in Nanzhili, and was well versed in the essence of the welfare of state-owned enterprises in later generations.

Directly give the silver is inconspicuous, and the silver ingots of ten taels are invisible.

Rice, meat, oil, and wine are distributed in kind, and a few pieces of cotton cloth are given to the family, which looks much better, and can please the families of the expeditionees, so that they can encourage their sons, husbands, and fathers who go on the expedition, and cut off their worries.

In addition to sending supplies to the family, the daily wine and meat rewards before setting sail are also inevitable, all the soldiers found a port town outside Nanjing, and the feast lasted for three days, and the wine and meat were enough.

These soldiers are all foodies, and they eat meat openly without eating, and it is no problem to eat four or five catties a day.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, prices were expensive, and a pound of pork around Nanjing cost seven or eight cents of silver, but it was not used for five cents during the Wanli period. The three-day reward is just the money for the meat eaten by each soldier, which is worth more than one or five cents, and it can be close to three taels if you count the wine and food.

Shen Shuren also invited half-closed doors and secret kilns in various places inside and out, and chartered a woman to come over to vent for everyone. However, because of the large amount, of course, all the places I look for are the cheapest places that can be given for one or two dollars of silver.

Shen Shuren didn't think there was anything wrong with it, although his nature was relatively modern, but these soldiers were all going to take risks with the Tartars, and they were all fighting for the interests of the nation.

As for high-end places such as Meilou and Meixianglou, Shen Shuren also spent a lot of money to invite people, but mainly invited generals such as Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen who were about to go to battle, and ordinary officers were not treated so well.

Even if it is the most ordinary sister in Meixiang Building, it can only guarantee that officers of President Qian and above can participate.

Other civil officials who do not go on the expedition can only accompany these generals to drink, and when they are drunk, they can only get their turn if there are generals who can't serve them, or they simply support them at their own expense.

Last year, because Shen Shuren made Hou Fangyu and Gong Dingyu and others stink, Gu Mei didn't want to be entangled by Gong Dingyu anymore, so she chose to redeem herself and jumped out of the circle. So now the top brand Oiran on the top of Meilou has no reputation.

The girls on the other floors didn't seem to be aware of the changes of the times, and they still had the idea of worshipping literature and suppressing martial arts in their hearts.

At the beginning, I heard that Shen Daotai spent a lot of money to entertain them, and they all came with joy, who didn't know that after Li Xiangjun was bought by Shen Shuren last year, in the end, Shen Shuren was so righteous that he didn't let in the slightest under the pressure of Zuo Liangyu.

Hearing that his family didn't like him to "make a mistake" like this, Shen Daotai still resisted his parents' orders and insisted on refusing to treat Li Xiangjun badly.

In the eyes of upright gentlemen, gentlemen, and doctors, these deeds must be bad deeds, and even a little unfilial.

But in the eyes of Qin Huai's sisters, it is a great act of kindness. If he can cover Li Xiangjun like this, he must be a person who pities the fragrance and cherishes the jade. It's just that he is still the richest man in Nanzhili, who doesn't want to go to the field invited by this kind of person?

It's a pity that when I arrived at the place, the girls in Meixianglou and Meilou were all like falling into ice caves.

The fantasy of accompanying Shen Daotai himself to drink did not happen, but let them accompany those rough martial artists.

Among the women, the one with the highest "status in the rivers and lakes" is naturally Liu Rus.

Liu Ru should have been ransomed by Qian Qianyi at the end of last year, but now because of the butterfly effect, he has not yet established a relationship with Qian Qianyi-

Historically, Qian Qianyi had a relationship with Ruan Dacheng, and Ruan Dacheng tried to whitewash the people around him after Zhou Yanru took office, so Qian Qianyi should have been whitewashed with Ma Shiying.

Now, Zhou Yanru's entry into Beijing has been delayed, and the benefits of Ma Shiying, Qian Qianyi and others have also been delayed. Qian Qianyi's own affairs haven't been solved yet, and the criminal's hat hasn't been taken off, so he doesn't have a face that is too public, and he just hangs Liu Ruis for a long time.

Anyway, whether he redeems his body or not, he wants to see Liu Ru at any time. He is a sixty-year-old man, and he is not jealous of a woman who is twenty-four or five years old and has been immersed in the party for more than ten years.

Even if Liu Ru will accompany other men in the past few months, he doesn't care, it's not a little bit of time.

At this moment, after the girls came, they felt bitter in their hearts, and they also wanted to see what Liu Ru was looking forward to, to see what she said, whether she could have a little friendship with Shen Daotai, and euphemistically excuse herself, don't let the sisters accompany those thousand chief military attachés.

However, Liu Rushi is considered to be one of the Qinhuai women who is more discerning and cares about current affairs, and is not too rigid about civil and military dignity.

She asked Shen Shuren a few words in private, what mission these soldiers are carrying.

It was impossible for Shen Shuren to leak military information, so he casually said: "Now that the East China Sea is not quiet, and the reform of grain into sea has been tried for three years, the surrounding maritime forces are aware of it. The Hongyi and the Japanese had already stepped up their raids last year, trying to take advantage of the chaos to loot the imperial court's fortunes.

Therefore, this year, we need to add more manpower to escort them, these soldiers are all licking blood with knives, and they want to fight to the death against the Japanese and Hongyi, and of course the officials will be rewarded heavily. I, Shen, never send hungry soldiers. ”

Shen Shuren understated it, saying that the matter of guarding against the Tartars was Hongyi and Wakou, Liu Ru had never run across the sea after all, and he didn't understand the details of the market, so he believed it.

She just said suspiciously: "Shen Gongzi is benevolent and righteous, a civil official of the Ming Dynasty, who can be so considerate of the military generals and soldiers, the little girl has not seen the second one in more than ten years." is not only to protect the family and defend the country, but to accompany the drinking, singing and dancing, but it is nothing. ”

Liu Ru responded, and he didn't become a leader again. And after all, she is the best among these women, and she has the qualifications to choose her own drinkers.

Looking at it, among the people who went out to fight in the civil and military forces, only Zheng Chenggong, who was a six-grade official, was a civil official, and he didn't look very lustful when he was young, so Liu Ru sat down generously at Zheng Chenggong's table, helped pour wine, and asked Zheng Chenggong what song he wanted to listen to.

Other famous female branches with lower status had to go to Zhang Mingzhen and others in turn, and it would be good to be able to accompany a deputy general, a staff general, and a guerrilla, but they were big officials.

Shen Shuren looked at this scene, and he was also quite emotional in his heart. Historically, Zheng Chenggong should have just come to Nanjing this year, but now because of his butterfly effect, he has advanced it by three years.

The original Zheng Chenggong should have worshiped Qian Qianyi as his teacher, and when he was apprenticed, Liu Rushi had just entered the door, and he was his little teacher. Now, it is ironic to ask the master of the previous life to accompany the late student to drink and be taken advantage of.

Still, there's nothing to spray on.

Shen Shuren is not a very possessive person, and he didn't say that Qin Huai Bayan wanted to be known by him.

Liu Ru is old after all, three years older than Shen Shuren, at the age of twelve, he became the concubine of Zhou Daodeng, the old man of the pavilion at that time, and was sold to Qin Huai at the age of fourteen, this is a veteran in the Fengyue Field.

Shen Shuren never thought about possession, and he didn't dislike it, but he just felt a little unhappy that a woman like Liu Ru was a little backbone, and finally fell into the hands of a soft-boned traitor like Qian Qianyi.

Therefore, as long as Qian Qianyi can be a little greener, interact more with the righteous people who resist the Qing Dynasty, and don't associate with traitors, Shen Shuren can add fuel to the fire.

Zheng Chenggong is still young, and he is not very, he became a relative last year, and now he can't feel this kind of woman who is six or seven years older than him, not to mention his feelings, just curious.

Shen Shuren looked around the audience, and he was not reluctant to those who were unwilling, but just said a few words impassionedly to boost morale:

"I, Shen, will never look down on people who run all walks of life, but even if it is a Qinhuai woman, she can choose what kind of person she becomes, if she becomes Liang Hongyu, she will be famous in history.

Now that it is difficult to be, if you still respect literature and belittle martial arts, it is inevitable that the merchant girl will not know the hatred of the country. Whether it is Meilou or Meixianglou, if you don't give me face, our Shen family will never support it in the future. ”

Zhang Mingzhen and other generals listened to it and were quite moved in their hearts. This is the first time that a civilian official has truly shown the equality of civil and military affairs in this kind of matter, and if the officials of the Ming Dynasty could do this, the morale of the army would not be so depressed.

On the fourth day of the second month, Shen Shuren personally went to Jurong Wharf to send Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen to lead 5,000 soldiers and 5,000 sailors to set sail.

A considerable part of the fleet was stranded in Taicang, Suzhou, and not all of them came to Nanjing, where only more than 100 ships were gathered, which was enough to transport all the men and weapons.

In order to make the trip go smoothly, Shen Shuren even equipped Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen with a batch of bayonet Lu Mi guns, as well as a few newly forged Hongyi cannons from Daye County, Wuchang Prefecture, as naval guns on the main warships.

Shen Shuren personally rode a high-headed horse, held a sword and a fan, drank alcohol in the river, repeatedly admonished, and watched the crowd go away.